The Texas A&M Department of Athletics was represented at the recent NCAA Inclusion Forum by All-America swimmer Turker Ayar and two members of the Center for Student-Athlete Services, Chris Barttelbort and Kristi Mejias.
The trio was invited to speak at the prestigious forum in Providence, R.I., April 21-23 on the best practices of working with international student-athletes and on the current processes implemented within Texas A&M Athletics. Ayar was the lone current student-athlete selected as a speaker at the event, and the trio’s presentation was titled: “Cómo Se What?!” Helping Translate the Cultural Divide for International Student-Athletes. The forum was attended by more than 400 coaches, student-athletes, athletics administrators and university staff from the NCAA’s member institutions.
Ayar, from Istanbul, Turkey, finished his Texas A&M athletic career earlier this spring at the 2017 NCAA Championships with All-America citations in the 400 medley relay and the 200 freestyle relay. Barttelbort and Mejias previously presented on international students at the N4A conference in June 2016, bringing Ayar to the Inclusion Forum to provide the insight of a student directly impacted by A&M’s programming.
The NCAA Inclusion Forum brought together higher education and intercollegiate athletics leaders and student-athletes passionate about improving the educational and professional environment for student-athletes, coaches and staff. Sessions engaged on a broad range of topics related to policy, research and best practices that support racial and ethnic minorities, women, LGBTQ and international student-athletes, and athletes with disabilities.
For more information on the NCAA Inclusion Forum, go to NCAA.org/InclusionForum.
