College Athletes and the Systems that Silence Them

Sports have long been an arena where civil rights and civil liberties questions have taken center stage: Track and field star Tommie Smith raised his fist for racial justice on the 1968 Olympic podium. Tennis great Billie Jean King fought for equal pay for women. And, Olympic runner Caster Semana challenged intersex bigotry to be able to compete.

But one group of athletes has often kept quiet during social movements: college athletes — largely because the institutions they play for silence them. At a time when racial justice conversations have ignited across the country, we’re taking a look at how universities silence their athletes and the barriers to holding those universities accountable.

Joining us to talk about college athletes and free speech is Frank LoMonte, First Amendment lawyer and director of the Brechner Center for Freedom of Information at the University of Florida, and Toren Young, former football player at the University of Iowa.