Noted Sports Researcher and Sociologist Scott Brooks to Hold Discussions at W&L The two-day programming will be headlined by a conversation featuring Brooks and DeLaney Center fellow Drew Harrell ’24 on Thursday, Sept. 5 in the Watson Galleries.

By Brian Laubscher
August 29, 2024

Washington and Lee University and the DeLaney Center are pleased to announce that Dr. Scott Brooks, director of the Global Sport Institute and associate professor of sociology at Arizona State University, will kick off the DeLaney Center programming for the 2024-2025 school year with an interactive conversation in the Watson Galleries at 5:30 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 5. The discussion is free and open to the public, and appetizers and drinks will be served.

Brooks will spend two days at W&L, engaging the campus and Lexington communities at several scheduled events. The Thursday evening discussion is the headliner for Brooks’ visit, as he will engage in sports-specific dialogue with Drew Harrell ’24, the DeLaney Center’s new postbaccalaureate fellow and a former W&L men’s basketball team member. The event will celebrate Harrell’s past, present and future academic and athletic achievements as he discusses his research work in progress. Brooks and Harrell will also address the local youth sports scene with support from several Rockbridge community youth coaches.

“Athletics offers a rich stage for observing Southern racial realities,” said Michael Hill, director of the DeLaney Center and professor of Africana studies. “Through prior programs focused on desegregation, the DeLaney Center showed how leisure activities fit into the broader project of social progress. The Center’s new postbaccalaureate fellow, Drew Harrell, will supervise fresh outreach and research on this front. As Drew’s work begins, his ability to interact with Dr. Brooks will be invaluable. I look forward to their conversation and its effects.”

On Friday, Sept. 6, Brooks will participate in a series of events in tandem with the W&L Department of Athletics. He will begin in the early morning by meeting with all head coaches, followed by a later morning interactive discussion with everyone on the coaching staff about inclusive programming and team-building. In the afternoon, Brooks will have lunch and a small group discussion with a select group of W&L scholar-athletes.

“We are excited to have Dr. Brooks on campus to meet with our coaches and student-athletes,” said Jan Hathorn, Michael F. Walsh Director of Athletics. “We will engage him in a conversation about inclusivity in sports and seek insights into his sports coaching and leadership expertise. We look forward to working with him.”

A sports researcher and sociologist, Brooks’ primary interests include youth and sports, inequality in sports, coaching and leadership, and community-based sports interventions. He is a frequent consultant with the National Football League (NFL), Major League Baseball (MLB), colleges, high schools and individual athletes, and a senior fellow at the Wharton Sports Business Initiative and the Yale Urban Ethnography Project. Brooks published the book “Black Men Can’t Shoot,” which mentions the myth of the natural Black athlete and speaks to the importance of exposure, networks and opportunities toward earning an athletic scholarship.

Scott holds a Bachelor of Arts in political economies of industrial societies from the University of California, Berkeley, a Master of Arts in sociology from California State University, East Bay and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Pennsylvania.

Brooks’ visit was co-organized by the Office of the Provost, the Department of Athletics, The DeLaney Center and the Department of Africana Studies.

“What thrills me the most about this two-day programming is that it was organized by several campus groups and by a prominent scholar from elsewhere,” said Leslie Wingard Cunningham, associate provost for faculty development and professor of English and Africana studies. “In other words, we were truly collaborative in the planning. It has been a joy to witness our creative minds operating in sync, and it has been encouraging to hear from so many W&L scholar-athletes, professors, coaches and members of the Lexington community, who are all eager to meet and learn from Scott Brooks.”

The Arizona State University Global Sport Institute examines critical issues that impact sport through internal projects and by supporting research in various disciplines. With an emphasis on expanding research, sharing knowledge, supporting innovation and advancing education, the institute’s mission is to use sport to create positive change throughout the world.