SMU's first ever Director of Inclusive Excellence helps bring diversity to campus
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) – When you walk into the Loyd All-Sports Center on Southern Methodist University's campus, you're greeted with an array of athletic accolades and trophies.
However, the true measure of victory isn't on these walls, but rather in the strides being made in diversity through a new program on campus.
"I learned about SMU, I'd never been to Dallas before," SMU track and field team member Jasmine Jolly said. Getting acclimated to a new culture has been one of her biggest hurdles…
"I mean it's been a massive adjustment," Jolly said. "I've learned so much just about myself. I've learned so much by just coming to America."
Jolly moved to North Texas from London right when the pandemic hit. The adjustment, she said, has been a journey.
"Domestic students could go back home, but I couldn't do that," Jolly said. "It was really hard not being able to see my parents for like a whole year, but I've been lucky enough to get a good group of friends out here and have a support system."
One of the pillars of her support system is Brenda Scott, SMU's first-ever director of inclusive excellence.
"My job is to make sure all of our student athletes have a safe space and a person they can go and talk to," Scott said.
Scott is a former student athlete and former coach. Now she's on the sidelines crafting a game plan to restructure the culture on campus. She said her job isn't about race, rather about embracing diverse thoughts, dispelling perceptions, and welcoming everyone's religion and background.
"They're trying to adjust, they're trying to figure out the do's and the don'ts of campus, the do's and the don'ts of the community, on top of just being an athlete," Scott said. "Having someone in my position really allows them to have access to me, where it's, 'what do you need? What's going to make the situation better? What's going to make your experience better?'"
An experience that extends beyond SMU.
Scott said she wants to "get into the South Dallas community a little bit more. We do have a lot of recruits in that area, and we want to community to know that we're not just here to recruit the students and [then] you don't hear from us."
She's working to partner with organizations in the community with the hope of inspiring young kids and showing them college is attainable.
"Those little boys and girls, maybe they haven't even thought about SMU. But if they start seeing our student athletes going down there helping them with reading, helping them just throw the ball around, shoot the ball with them, play games, and just interact, that can start changing their minds and perceptions," Scott said.
Some student athletes say Scott's presence and purpose is already making an impact.
"Before I knew Brenda, I didn't really have anyone to mentor me and look up to that kind of looked like me here at SMU," SMU Volleyball player, Alex Glover said.
"It's actually been really helpful for me; I've got a great relationship with Brenda," Jolly said. "She was actually the one who encouraged me to get involved with the Black Student Athlete Committee," an organization that supports and encourages black students.
Scott's blazing a path forward one step at a time, knowing progress is a marathon and not a race.
"I think that it's changed a lot over the years, and it's gotten a lot better with Brenda coming here," Glover said. "So, I've seen SMU kind of diversify as I've grown up with it."
"Those are those type of spaces that excite me, and that I know that I'm doing my job, I'm doing what I'm supposed to be doing with helping these young people figure it all out and also have a good time in college," Scott said.