Hogs UNITED is a collaborative effort between the student-athletes, coaches, and staff at the University of Arkansas Athletic Department. This effort is aimed at education, advocacy, and action in promoting a culture of belonging.

We have regularly scheduled meetings to facilitate open discussion around a variety of past, current, and future events. The mission of this group aligns with the university’s Guiding Principles and the work in the area of Belonging. Hogs UNITED will communicate those messages throughout the Department of Athletics and beyond and will collaborate with the Human Resources Manager and the Title IX Officer, while  keeping up with and supporting relevant research on Belonging within Athletics.

Education:
The focus of our educational pillar is towards ongoing conversations and training opportunities for the staff, coaches, and student-athletes.

Advocacy:
The focus of our advocacy pillar is on alerting coaches, student-athletes, and staff about ways to get involved in the department, on campus, and around the community when it comes to belongingness initiatives.

Action:
The focus of our action pillar is putting into action those educational and advocacy efforts for student-athletes, staff, and coaches.

Every two years, the department engages in a dialogue around a focus for our work around belongingness. This originated from a working group that our Athletic Director initiated and included student-athletes. This started in 2020 and resulted in the Focal Word for Fall 2021- Spring 2023 being Equality. That word was then displayed on playing surfaces and on student-athlete uniforms.

In 2022, the conversation about the next Focal Word began. In collaboration with the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee within the department, Hogs UNITED and student-athlete groups chose the word Together as its focus for Fall 2023- Spring 2025. Together was defined as a condition of unity or coherence.

In 2024, this process began again. In a similar way to the 2022 process, student-athlete groups were engaged and the discussion resulted in the choice of the word Empowerment. That will be the Focal Word for 2025-2027. Empowerment for our purposes was defined as the creation of an environment in which individuals from varied backgrounds and with varied abilities and experiences can fully participate in decision-making processes and operations.

Diversity – The understanding that everyone is unique and recognizing the individual differences that exist. These differences can be along the dimensions of race, ethnicity, gender, sexual orientation, socio-economic status, age, physical abilities, religious beliefs, political beliefs, or other ideologies.

Inclusion – Inclusion is involvement and empowerment, where the inherent worth and dignity of all people is recognized, and everyone is made to feel valued as being essential to the success of the team, group, and/or organization.

Equity & Equality – Equity is giving everyone what they need to be successful. Equality is treating everyone the same. Equality aims to promote fairness, but it can only work if everyone starts from the same place and needs the same help.

Inclusive Excellence – This is intended to be understood as an extension of inclusion – to be excellent at the implementation of inclusive practices. This requires active engagement of student-athletes, coaches, staff, alumni, and community partners.

Privilege – The ease with which one moves through a situation or life in general. More definitionally: a special right, advantage, or immunity granted or available only to a particular person or group.

Anti-Racism – an active and conscious effort to work against the multidimensional aspects of racism that involves – at its heart – personal accountability and action.

Feel free to contact our group through our Chair, Chris Bader (cbader@uark.edu).