CASE SELECTIONS

Our Research Inspires Solutions

In the wake of Simone Biles’s pacesetting achievements, DWC explores the history of African American women’s gymnastics participation, defines barriers to diverse representation in high level gymnastics, and proposes potential paths to rectify gymnastics access inequity. This case study examines the career and impact of the late elite gymnast and 2021 USA Gymnastics Hall of Fame inductee Dianne Durham, as a launchpad for diversity in the sport.

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Kim Ng’s career success is the marvel of women and girls the world over – the MLB’s first woman general manager. The racial and gender biases she overcame may account for the long delay in her rise to the top. “Long. Time. Coming: The Inspiring Story of Kim Ng’s Rise to Become the MLB’s First Woman General Manager” is an academic case study exploring Ng’s career and the leadership qualities we can all learn to follow her example of perseverance.

Explore the impact of Doug Williams’ legacy in collegiate and professional football on racial disparities in sports. This case study provides a look into some of the historical and present-day challenges facing HBCU student-athletes and uses an overview of Williams’ career to shed light on statistical insights to inspire solutions.

How Sac and Fox Native American, Jim Thorpe lost his Olympic gold medals and records from the 1912 Olympics is discussed in detail showing the part racism played. Despite this crushing blow to his life, Jim did not turn bitter, but went on to become a successful professional athlete in football and baseball, playing both each year for 16 years, and becoming the co-founder and first president of what is today the National Football League.

Historically, amateur athletes participating in amateur sports in America have enjoyed social interest and cultural popularity for more than a century. For non-white Americans, amateur sports have been something less than that, yet, given the dominance in sport that Black athletes have established since being allowed to play on the same fields and courts as their counterparts – sometimes something more as well.