Khirey Walker has seen many modifications inside Elon College's sports activities administration division since returning as a professor. The previous Phoenix defensive lineman graduated from Elon in 2011 earlier than returning in 2022 to show sports activities administration.
One side that has notably grown within the common subject of sports activities administration is the rising variety of alternatives for black professionals. Walker mentioned he's beginning to see extra organizations place a higher emphasis on range.
Former Phoenix defensive lineman Khirey Walker graduated from Elon in 2011 earlier than returning in 2022 to show sports activities administration. Photograph courtesy of the Elon Athletics Archive.
“Some organizations have been very intent on rising the variety of black professionals,” Walker mentioned.
Whereas Walker acknowledged the progress made at the moment, he believes there are nonetheless methods to additional broaden the alternatives for black individuals in that exact enviornment.
Walker recognized a manner for individuals of shade to have an excellent higher presence is for them to carry positions that impression not simply the sports activities administration trade, however all sports activities.
“You see the alternatives which can be accessible, however it's placing African-Individuals in these impactful positions like a head coach or perhaps a high-level administrator, not simply as an athletic director,” Walker mentioned. “The expansion has been there, however I nonetheless suppose there's much more that should occur to actually maximize the chance.”
One other space for enchancment, based on Walker, is making black girls within the sports activities administration enviornment a precedence.
“It’s a must to be intentional together with your method. Which means black girls know it is a place so that you can flourish,” Walker mentioned. “It's not simply saying, 'Oh, you are able to do advertising and marketing' — you might be chief compliance officer, director of improvement, no matter you need to be.”
Between Walker's years as a scholar and as a instructor, he attended Louisiana State College, the place he earned a Ph.D. He then taught for 5 years at Ball State College.
Walker on February 18, 2011 at Phoenix Evening. Photograph courtesy of the Elon Athletics Archive.
For his first-class, Walker was instantly thrown into the combo, which included 151 college students. However with time, he acquired extra used to the job by regarding his college students.
“It’s a must to develop your class primarily based on the scholars which can be there,” Walker mentioned. “We had a variety of college students concerned, so we made it extra of a discussion-based class, and it labored.”
Whereas educating at Elon, Walker tried to function the identical sort of affect for different black student-athletes in his scenario. That is very true of scholar athletes, as Walker can relate to their expertise from his time as a scholar athlete at Elon.
Relating to Walker's expertise educating sports activities administration, he expressed his gratitude to others in his subject who’re doing the work he hopes to proceed.
“There are such a lot of others who’re doing such an amazing job creating areas for African Individuals to actually flourish,” Walker mentioned. “While you see somebody who appears like you’ve got a stage of success in sports activities, it offers a superb feeling, and I can do this.”
A scholar athlete who has fashioned a detailed friendship with Walker is a redshirt freshman linebacker Will Lankfordwho contemplate him a big affect.
“There's not a variety of black individuals on this campus, so to have the ability to have one other particular person that appears such as you and speak to them was fairly huge for me,” Lankford mentioned.
As for Walker's platform within the sports activities administration division, Lankford mentioned it's an enormous deal for him to see a man like Walker in a distinguished place. In response to Elon's web site7.6% of Elon's full-time college is black, 72% is white.
“I feel that's fairly enormous, particularly to have somebody , who will get the platform and the chance to be in a rising enterprise,” Lankford mentioned.
Nonetheless, Walker's friendship with Lankford goes past the sports activities administration division as they usually work together on campus.
“If I see him at McEwen, I'll speak to him,” Lankford mentioned. “He additionally involves coaching, so typically he offers me a sign of how I might change one thing to make myself a bit higher as a participant. Each time we see one another, he places a smile on my face in addition to his face.”
Outdoors of Elon's sports activities administration division, Walker can be concerned in iBELONG mentoring program the place a professor is paired one-on-one with a black male scholar on campus.
This system offers Walker one other outlet to attach with college students on campus and easily speak to them about life whereas with the ability to assist information them typically.
“It's useful to listen to about life in perspective from somebody who's not their instructor, somebody who's not their educational advisor, however somebody who's actually making an attempt to put money into data,” Walker mentioned. “It's one thing I see myself actively concerned in.”
Walker mentioned it's necessary that college students not solely put money into the educational side of Elon, but additionally in the neighborhood as an entire.
“When you’ve got the chance to actually immerse your self in the neighborhood, you are feeling extra linked to it and you may construct extra relationships,” Walker mentioned. “Lecturers might change, college students might change, however these people in the neighborhood don't change, they keep.”