Redefining Athletic Standards, or RAS, is a student organization designed to create a safe space for black male student-athletes at Ohio State, and connect these athletes to black students around campus.
RAS members with journalist Wil Haygood
The creation of RAS was, in part, a response to an article in The Lantern, the student newspaper at Ohio State, discussing the low enrollment of African-American males at the university. In Summer 2018, several black male student-athletes and Prince Moody, program manager of diversity and health initiatives in the athletic department, came together to discuss what could be done.
“It started with Prince and other advisors getting us together and talking. We said, ‘Let’s make this happen. Let’s make this a group,’” RAS President and football senior Austin Mack said. “We started throwing around names, developing our purpose and took it from there. We did everything during the summer to be registered to be an official organization.”
Though RAS is less than a year old as an organization, its impact is noticed throughout campus. In the fall, the organization hosted “Like Black Lives, Mental Health Matters Too!” an impactful panel discussion about black men and mental health.
RAS meeting, Oct. 2018
This semester, RAS, the Student Athlete Support Services Office (SASSO) and the Black Student Association (BSA) partnered to host the annual Kick it at the Woody, introducing and teaming up students with their student-athlete counterparts for a series of games and obstacles.
RAS’ influence has moved beyond Ohio State’s campus as well. In January, a small group of student-athletes presented at the Black Student-Athlete Summit at the University of Texas. The Buckeyes were the only student-athletes to present.
For more information about RAS, please visit https://u.osu.edu/rasmen/.
Courtesy of www.ohiostatebuckeyes.com
