On behalf of the entire Phillips Academy Athletic Department, coaches and athletic trainers, we join together with a nation in both an expression of solidarity as well as a genuine commitment to action in response to the recent killings of not only George Floyd, Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor but too many others in the black community whose lives were senselessly cut short.

The power of team is one that student-athletes and coaches understand in a unique way and at this moment, there is no team goal more important for our world, our nation and this community than actively addressing systemic racism, most particularly as we experience or perpetuate it through athletic behaviors, attitudes and systems.

Moving forward, members of the Phillips Academy Athletic Department commit to joining together with our student-athletes and coaches/colleagues of color, to listen, learn and most importantly, act in order to dismantle systemic racism as it exists in athletics.

Lisa Joel, Director of Athletics