A new student union opened its doors today on the Ohio State University campus to all sorts of fanfare—ribbon cutting ceremony, giveaways throughout, etc.  To celebrate the opening, there are a myriad of activities planned for the first 30 days.

I’d like to specifically direct your attention to the GLBT functions (the entire list of events is here).  I’m going to try to make it to as many of these as possible and to report my experience accordingly.  If anyone wants to tag along, let me know.

Tuesday, April 13th
11-1pm: “Movies &Munchies”
Multicultural Center Lantern Room
“Early Works of Cheryl Dunye” In these smart & funny stories, black lesbian filmaker Cheryl Dunye explores issues of race, dating, friendship, and love. A facilitated discussion will follow.

Friday, April 16th
All Day: GLBT National Day of Silence
West Plaza

11-1pm: GLBT &Ally Community Resource Fair &Cook-OUT
West Plaza
Meet GLBT student organization leaders and Central Ohio Community organizations. Enjoy free food, games, and prizes. GLBT students and allies will mix, mingle, and discuss ways to build community.

Saturday, April 24th
7pm: The Red Party for AIDS Awareness
Cartoon Room

Cheryl Dunye, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University Hide

Outlook Columbus interviewed Ohio State Football Head Coach Jim Tressel, and in doing so, became the first GLBT publication to interview a Division I NCAA football coach one-on-one.  (At least, so is stated in the reprinting of the interview in OutSports, and I have never seen a similar interview that would invalidate the claim.)

Michael Daniels, who performed the interview, asked Tressel some excellent questions and received equally poignant responses.  I’ve extracted my favorites.

Daniels asked how the principles of faith and belief in one’s self that Tressel writes about in his book, “The Winner’s Manual,” can apply to understanding people of other races, genders or sexual orientations.

Tressel’s response: “We try to tell our guys that an authentic you is the best you.”

Daniels asked Tressel why he felt it is more common for athletes to come out after they retire rather than during their careers.

Tressel spoke about how as an elite athlete, your identity since you were young is that of an athlete.  “You’re the tallest, you’re the fastest, you’re the best player. All their feedback has come in terms of their role as a player, and they are often hesitant to go beyond that narrow role.”  Then, referring to his role in the process as a collegiate coach, he adds: “An opportunity, and a real challenge, we have when they come to college is to get them to see themselves with a broader lens.

“The greatest achievement we can have as coaches is that a young man leaves us with a concept of who he is, what he wants from life, and what he can share with others – someone who is ‘comfortable in his own skin,’ and that identity can go in a number of directions.”

Daniels then asked him a big question: how would the team, fans, and university accept a gay player at OSU?

Tressel, continuing with a string of wonderful responses: “We strive to teach and model appreciation for everyone,

“One, we are a family. If you haven’t learned from your family at home that people have differences and those strengthen the whole, then you are hopefully going to learn it as part of the Ohio State football family.

“Two, every part of our team is important and every role has value – no job is too small and no person is irrelevant – that’s a great lesson that transcends into society. […]

“Whatever a young man feels called to express, I hope we will help him do it in a supportive environment. Everybody is important, and maturity is learning to find and appreciate those differences in others.”

As a gay student at Ohio State, I was extremely proud to see this article posted today.  I frequently write about how organizations, coaches, etc. can have a profound influence in battling homophobia—even the ability save lives—if they are explicit with their support.  I am thankful for Tressel’s willingness to do the interview and the perspectives he shared.

Jim Tressel, Michael Daniels, Ohio State Athletics, Ohio State University, Outlook Columbus, OutSports, The Winner’s Manual Hide

On Friday, February 26, the Sports & Entertainment Law Association (SELA) at Ohio State University, Moritz College of Law hosted its 3^rd Annual Sports Law Forum.  The forum was titled, “The Impact of Social Media & New Technology on Sport,” and it featured a distinguished four-person panel in an open-ended question and answer format.  The forum concluded with a networking session for the students in attendance to personally speak with each panelist.

The panelists* for the event were:

• Larry Silverman, Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Pittsburgh Pirates
• Henry Ford, Senior Vice President and General Manager, Fox Sports Ohio
• Ray DeWeese, Director of Sponsorship Sales, Ohio State Sports Marketing & IMG College Partnership
• Jason Hillman, General Counsel, Cleveland Cavaliers

(*) Bios for each can be found here, written by Adam Primm of SELA for his introduction of each panelist.  (Trust me, they’re all impressive.)

One of the most noticeable elements of the forum was how the panelists provided a great diversity of perspectives and ideas as sports collide with social media and new technologies.  Henry Ford provided the perspective from a media company broadcasting live events (and also from his previous experience as a journalist).  Larry Silverman and Jason Hillman represented the views of professional teams and were able to note instances where baseball and basketball were different.  Lastly, Ray DeWeese rounded out the panel as the topics relate to amateur athletes.

Here are some of the key questions, answers, and discussion points that I noted during the event:

Why have restrictions on social media by players around game-time?

I had always assumed the restrictions leagues placed on players tweeting before and after games was merely to maintain the professionalism of the sports—that tweeting made a mockery of the sport.  However, the real purpose, or a purpose, is that it protects the value of the pre-game and post-game interviews for traditional media outlets.  Those interviews important to news and sport outlets, and if you allow a player to tweet his feelings directly after a game, rather than speak to media, the value to the media is then lost.

How much can organizations (teams/leagues) control use of social media?

This was an important question that came up for discussion a few times during the panel.  The question original arose in reaction to Ozzie Guillen’s personal twitter and the Chicago White Sox wanting him to take it down.  Guillen insists every tweet will be personal and not be as a representative of the team, but still, the team is worried that lines may be crossed and their brand may suffer.  The diversity of perspectives from the panel was helpful on this issue.  The noted that it is easier to restrict the use of social media for front office staff and for amateur athletes than for professional athletes.  The distinction: professional athletes represent an individual brand—themselves—that is harder to restrict, while amateur athletes and front office staff are representatives of the entire brand.

What are future technologies?

In one sense, we do not know what future technologies will bring, and the landscape of how we view sports will be drastically different in the next few years.  The panel agreed that many new technologies are already available, and in the near future, they will be much more prevalent.  They mentioned things like watching games on your phone and streaming online, and with both of those options, more freedom to choose from multiple camera angles, select your own highlights to watch, and have live interaction with the broadcast.

China as a growth market.

Hillman presented a staggering figure about China.  There are ~300 million people in the United States; there are ~300 million in China that watch basketball.  That is remarkable, especially considering that the market is underdeveloped with significant opportunities for marketing.  He noted that there is a single entity, NBA China, that each team in the NBA chips in to manage marketing in that market, but that each team still has control within their own territory to make partnerships with Chinese marketers.

How can traditional media react to validity of sources with social media?

This question was brought up in light of instances when imposters in social media can affect traditional media outlets or the reputation of celebrities.  One instance was someone who impersonated Tony La Russa and made remarks on an issue that were contrary to his views, thus damaging his reputation.  La Russa filed suit claiming that Twitter’s lack of operational control led to his reputation being damaged.  As a response, Twitter has since increased its efforts to validate celebrity accounts.  It was also noted that social media websites like Facebook, Twitter, and YouTube are protected by a new digital information act.  The protection provides that even if defamatory content is posted, the website will not be liable so long as they take it down within a reasonable time after becoming aware of the content.

“Conduct detrimental to the team” as it relates to social media.

This issue was brought up in light of the incident with Larry Johnson.  Hillman noted that player contracts have a “general moral turpitude” clause that allows a team to fine or suspend a player for conduct that is detrimental to the team.  It is different in the NFL where contracts are not guaranteed, so the Chiefs were free to cut Johnson, even if the Twitter remarks were not the sole cause for them to do so.  In the NBA, or other leagues where a fine or suspension is more appropriate, Hillman said that an incident that arises through social media would be cited to as a teaching tool for other players to learn from, more than be seen as a reason for disciplinary actions.

How does social media affect recruiting, drafting, and trade deadlines?

DeWeese noted that all contact, whether it be telephone calls, text messages, Facebook, or Twitter fall within the restrictions for recruiting high school or collegiate athletes.  Hillman also noted that a team would never resort to social media as a form of contact for a player under a restricted contract with another team because there is too much at stake in doing so.  Hillman added that social media has significantly increased the amount of information available regarding drafts and trades; he said his daily commitment to reading hoophype.com increases from about 20 minutes to 1-2 hours around the trade deadline.

Do teams prepare players for exposure and risks of social media?

Silverman said that every spring the baseball players get basic training on how to deal with the media, publicity, etc, but that the training has not extended to the use of social media, at least for the Pirates and he doesn’t know if other teams do or not.  He told a quick story of how a player had posted a picture of his new Mercedes, acquired after getting his signing bonus, on his Facebook page.  He warned that all this does is make the car and the player a target.  DeWeese mentioned that with the NCAA, training with using social media comes from the compliance departments.

How do negative stories affect organizations?

There have been countless stories that result from or spread like wild fire through social media: Larry Johnson, Greg Oden, George Hill, and Gilbert Arenas were all referenced.  Hillman remarked that the main problem with the Arenas situation was how he went from a contrite apology to then mocking it, thus undoing any good he may done with the apology.  He said that these incidents have the potential to implode an entire organization and can destroy an entire brand

How will American Needle Supreme Court case impact sports?

Although there have been differing views on how the American Needle case will impact the sports industry, Hillman was joined with the side that it has the potential to chance the entire scope of sports.  He noted that it was an interesting and aggressive strategy from the NFL for seeking single-entity status, similar to the anti-trust protection that MLB enjoys.  Silverman also conceded that, sure, baseball has some strong monopoly power within itself, but he made a point to say that the competition with other sports and forms of entertainment are still strong.

With so much potential for problems, are social media efforts worth the trouble? This was my favorite question of the forum for two reasons: (1) so much of the discussion was in reaction to negatives of social media, so it was a very worth question to consider, and (2) because each panelist had an excellent point to make.

• Ford, who had made this point earlier in the panel, highlighted that social media enhances traditional media outlets and live broadcasts.  He focused on the value of access and distribution with viewers.  He said that every opportunity to connect with the public is valuable.
• Hillman, adding to Ford’s remarks and mentioning the broadcast partnership with the Cavs and Fox Sports, stated how cool it is that viewers can send questions to the on-air talent and have an answer in real-time over the broadcast of the games.
• Silverman spoke about how every game of March Madness is available online, and although there was fear at one time that this may cannibalize the television ratings, ratings have not gone down.  He attributes this to the fact that allowing games to be viewed online increases the overall interest in the sport and the event.  And so long as the distribution is regulated so that all interests of the media, advertisers, teams, and leagues are covered, it is a good thing.  Silverman also noted that overall the developments of social media have been positive, but like any other type of media, it is only the bad stories that get told.  Lastly, he said that there are issues on the legal side that have not even been considered yet.
• DeWeese compared social media to a double-edged sword: it has the great potential to spread a brand because it is so accessible, but also warned that it is also harder to control with so many people capable of representing the brand.

Cleveland Cavaliers, Facebook, Fox Sports Ohio, Henry Ford, IMG, Jason Hillman, Larry Silverman, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State Athletics, Ohio State University, Pittsburgh Pirates, Ray DeWeese, Sports & Entertainment Law Association, twitter Hide

Last week, I was able to attend two OutLaws events at Moritz.  The first, co-hosted by ACLU (American Civil Liberties Union), titled, “Struggling for Equality: The Progress of GLBT Rights in Ohio,” was held on Tuesday in our auditorium.  The second, on Thursday, was a small discussion group with a partner and an associate from Jones Day about being openly gay at a large firm.

The “Struggling for Equality” event was split into two parts.  Kim Welter, from Equality Ohio, started with a presentation on the current state of gay rights in Ohio.  Based on a handful of objective criteria, Ohio was tied for second to last for state legislation for the LGBT community.  Wow.  Columbus is such a gay friendly city, and although I knew it was not the same across the state, I would not have expected Ohio to be below the middle of the pack.  Kim pointed out that although many of the cities and counties in the state are doing a decent job for protecting LGBT rights, outside those boundaries, the pertinent state laws are lagging behind.

They handed out an excellent pamphlet with glaring statistics to highlight the areas where the Ohio state laws do not match the values of the population.  The statistic with the most disparity?  91% of Ohioans say people should have a guaranteed right to visit their partners in the hospital; Ohio law allows hospitals to keep them apart.  Another interesting one was that 63% of Ohioans say that students should be safe from bullying based on real or perceived orientation or gender expression.  I’d really like to know what the other 37% think.  With multiple recent suicides among young students resulting from bullying based on perceived sexual orientation, it is remarkable that anyone would consider this bullying behavior as acceptable.

The second half of this presentation was by Tara McKenzie Allison from TransOhio.  Her presentation went through the succession of case rulings in Ohio pertaining to Title VII protection from discrimination based on sex under the Civil Rights Act of 1964.  I loved the excerpt she pulled from a case opinion relating transitioning transgendered people to a convert of any religion.  An employer cannot say they are okay with Jews and Christians, while discriminating on those that convert; thus, Title VII should also protect those that are in the process of transitioning their sex or gender.

The second event of the week, the discussion group with staff from Jones Day, was less relevant to gay rights in general and to even my own aspirations, but it was still an excellent event to attend.  Greg Gorospe, a partner who is also involved in their diversity initiatives, said all the right things.  But he also acknowledged that simply saying the right things, or having the right policies on the books, cannot substitute for an opening and accepting culture.  I was glad that the discussion group also included Travis Jackson, an openly gay associate at Jones Day.  His remarks about the business culture and how welcoming the company has been to him and his partner were important.  The disparaging revelation came not from Jones Day, but rather, the lack of response for the other large firms that the OutLaws co-chairs Drew and Kara contacted.  Their silence or reasons to not participate indicate that although some firms, like Jones Day, may be good work environments for the GLBT community, many still have remnants to the unfortunate white, male, conservative roots of the legal community.

I want to thank Kara and Drew for helping to plan these events and Kim, Tara, Greg, and Travis for their presentations. I’d encourage you to check out the links above if you want to learn more about the organizations or their initiatives.

ACLU, Equality Ohio, Jones Day, Moritz College of Law, Ohio State University, OutLaws, TransOhio Hide