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Providence Men's Basketball 6/1/2020 3:08:00 PM

A Statement From Ed Cooley
Us, We, Together, Family, Friars
When I became the Head Men's Basketball Coach of Providence College, I thought long and hard about who we really are and what I wanted our core values and culture to be. I developed our core mantra of "Us, We, Together, Family, Friars." This is the essence of how we have built our winning culture at Providence College. However, our mantra, "Us, We, Together, Family, Friars" is diminished and stands for nothing without stating unequivocally that all lives matter. But at this very moment in our country, the matter at hand is that Black Lives are ending abruptly with the loss of precious life in our communities. As an African American man, I am heartbroken, saddened and outraged over the deaths of George Floyd and many others over the years. His death and the ones that came before him bring into full view the clear injustice and change of heart that is needed in our country. Stop the killing at the hands of hatred!

I am the husband of a former police officer. There are thousands of law enforcement officers who serve our great cities, towns and communities. They work hard every day to protect us and keep us safe. Those in law enforcement that abuse the power need to be stopped.

Us, We, Together, Family, Friars means we will not ignore the violence against people of color in our country!

Us, We, Together, Family, Friars means that, no more, will we allow fear and hate to permeate our communities.

Us, We, Together, Family, Friars means inclusion, love, acceptance and peace.

Us, We, Together, Family, Friars means we stand together, we help each other, and we love one another.

And, most importantly, Us, We, Together, Family, Friars means we must advocate for change! We must change!

Statement From The BIG EAST Conference
Jun. 02, 2020 General

The BIG EAST Conference shares the nation’s grief over the deaths of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery and the many before them whose lives were lost to callous and senseless acts of violence and bigotry. We and our schools condemn systemic racism in all of its forms, and we are deeply saddened that a country so enriched by its diversity finds itself at yet another agonizing juncture in its history.

In college athletics, we are educators above all, and the values of inclusion, tolerance, respect and equality are at the core of the academic and athletic missions of all of our schools. BIG EAST institutions are located in or near major cities, where diversity is a prized and vibrant part of the fabric of everyday life. We believe passionately in the power of sports to bring together people of all races, ethnicities, sexual orientations and creeds, and we are committed to using our platform to erase the stain of persistent racial inequalities in our society and to serve as a force for healing and change.

To that end, the BIG EAST will actively engage our Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Working Group and our Student-Athlete Advisory Committee to guide us in our efforts to educate, engage, lead and, most of all, listen in the coming weeks and months. In our work, we will find inspiration in the words of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., who said that injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. We are extremely proud of our student-athletes, who represent many diverse populations, and we know that they, together with their counterparts across the county, will be part of the solution as we come together to devise a path forward.

Dr. King also told us that the time is always right to do what is right. As we now reckon with who we are and what we stand for as a nation, let us all agree: the time is now.

I'm not sure why these leagues and sports team feel the need to put out a release. The Big East quotes MLK. He would be outraged in what is going on in all levels. The link below if from a man who walked with the great MLK.

Still waiting on or release from the Big East for the violence and cops being shot and business being gutted out.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnew ... s-race.amp

MUPanther wrote:I'm not sure why these leagues and sports team feel the need to put out a release. The Big East quotes MLK. He would be outraged in what is going on in all levels. The link below if from a man who walked with the great MLK.

Still waiting on or release from the Big East for the violence and cops being shot and business being gutted out.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnew ... s-race.amp

"What this forum needs is a shift from BE college basketball to more political posts."
- No One Ever

GumbyDamnit! wrote:

MUPanther wrote:I'm not sure why these leagues and sports team feel the need to put out a release. The Big East quotes MLK. He would be outraged in what is going on in all levels. The link below if from a man who walked with the great MLK.

Still waiting on or release from the Big East for the violence and cops being shot and business being gutted out.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnew ... s-race.amp

"What this forum needs is a shift from BE college basketball to more political posts."
- No One Ever

Then you might want to post this on the Marquette thread as well. Was going to PM you, but it doesn't to be a feature of this board, or at least I can't seem to figure out how to send one. Seriously, the last thing I want to do is start a huge political flame war. I can go anywhere else on the internet to find those, especially now.

Westbrook#36 wrote:

GumbyDamnit! wrote:

MUPanther wrote:I'm not sure why these leagues and sports team feel the need to put out a release. The Big East quotes MLK. He would be outraged in what is going on in all levels. The link below if from a man who walked with the great MLK.

Still waiting on or release from the Big East for the violence and cops being shot and business being gutted out.


https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.foxnew ... s-race.amp

"What this forum needs is a shift from BE college basketball to more political posts."
- No One Ever

Then you might want to post this on the Marquette thread as well. Was going to PM you, but it doesn't to be a feature of this board, or at least I can't seem to figure out how to send one. Seriously, the last thing I want to do is start a huge political flame war. I can go anywhere else on the internet to find those, especially now.

You're not wrong... Mea culpa. I dipped my toe in the water on the Marq forum...just supporting my man 'Git. It's hard not commenting and everyone certainly is entitled to their opinions, MUPanther as well.

Just want to explain...

I started the thread cuz the coach of my team felt current events warranted that he issue a statement to share his thoughts. Ed Cooley rarely does this. I then noticed that our Big East administration also issued a statement.

Both statements, in my opinion, are not at all controversial, and they both offer messages of hope and positivity and unity.

Is there any BE MBB head coach who didn't put out a statement?

I'm all for this site to have zero political side to it. Since, a thread was posted, that is what the comments are for!?!