Founder of Athlete Ally visiting Salve Regina

The Campus Activities Board’s spotlight committee and the Alliance invite the Salve Regina community to join them at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 6 in the Bazarsky Lecture Hall for a presentation by Hudson Taylor, founder of Athlete Ally.

Taylor is a wrestling coach at Division I Columbia University. He graduated from the University of Maryland in 2010 as a three-time Division I All-American wrestler and currently ranks among the top five pinners in NCAA history.

Committed to civil rights and social justice, Hudson wore a Human Rights Campaign sticker on his wrestling headgear in college to show solidarity – as a heterosexual athlete ally – with the lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender community. This single act drew media attention around the country and prompted thousands of inspiring, personal messages.

With this encouragement, Hudson became committed to speaking louder as an advocate. He founded the nonprofit organization Athlete Ally as a resource to encourage athletes, coaches, parents, fans and other members of the community to respect all individuals involved in sports, regardless of their perceived or actual sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression.

Hudson was recently honored for his work with PFLAG (Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays) with the 2011 “Straight for Equality in Sports” award.

For more information, contact Jivanto van Hemert, director of the spotlight committee, at (401) 341-2339 or jivanto.vanhemert@salve.edu.