The Centennial Conference provides a welcoming and inclusive environment and equitable opportunities for all student-athletes. As a conference, we are committed to safety, fairness, and respect for all student-athlete participants. 

The Centennial Conference is committed to creating, sustaining, and supporting a culture of diversity, equity, and inclusion. We believe all student-athletes should have equal opportunities to participate fully and safely in athletics activities. The well-being of our student-athletes is of the utmost priority.

The Centennial Conference Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designees will meet at least once every academic year to review the conference's policies and practices, ensuring they are up to date and consistent with the mission of the conference. However, the objective of the Centennial Conference ADIDs is to support and educate those at their institution (e.g., staff and student-athletes) about diversity and inclusion and support diverse and inclusive practices related to athletics.  

INCLUSIVE PRACTICES WITHIN THE CONFERENCE  

• The Centennial Conference encourages its membership to create institutional policies and best practices for student-athlete participation and inclusion. The policies should include: 
  • Dress code and team uniforms- Policies for dress code should be gender inclusive. Coaches, staff, and student-athletes will ensure that trans and non-binary student-athletes can dress consistently with their gender identities, which includes uniforms, formal attire, or any other team dress code.
    • Accommodate religious dress in uniforms- Athletic Departments should allow athletes to cover their heads or bodies according to their religious beliefs. 
  • Facility access- Policies shall provide access to facilities that accord with the gender identity of team representatives. When requested by a student-athlete, the Athletic Department will work to provide changing, showering, and toilet facilities for the student-athletes to use. Wherever possible new athletic facility construction should include all-gender facilities.
    • Athletic facilities and equipment should be accessible to individuals with disabilities, including locker rooms, training and conditioning facilities, competition and scrimmage/practice facilities, and spectator areas.
  • Travel accommodations- Centennial Conference members should make needed travel accommodations for student-athletes to find facilities in accordance with trans and non-binary student-athletes' preferences. This includes accommodation for hotel rooms and facilities while on the road.
  • Enforcement and non-retaliation statement- Centennial Conference members should have written policies to protect the rights of transgender and non-binary individuals and to ensure retaliation does not occur to any transgender or non-binary individual.
  • On-campus diversity and inclusion contacts- Centennial Conference members should provide contact information for on-campus diversity and inclusion personnel and resources. 
    • The athletics department should establish a relationship with the campus-wide office serving students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and accessibility services to seek opportunities to partner on programs and events.

• All student-athletes, athletics staff, and college staff will provide transgender and non-binary student-athletes with equal opportunities to participate in sports. 
• Institutions will recommend or provide student-athletes, coaches, athletics staff members, and athletic communications staff with ongoing educational resources about transgender inclusion and the most current NCAA guiding principles around participation by transgender and non-binary student-athletes.
• The conference and the athletics staff will encourage student-athletes to engage in learning and leadership opportunities (e.g., MARCA Ethnic Minority Careers in Athletics Symposium, NCAA DIII Immersion Program, Snell-Shillingford Symposium).
• Athletic Departments will include gender equity and inclusion among the professional development and training opportunities provided for athletics department staff, coaches, and student-athletes.
• Coaches, administrators, and staff will provide necessary accommodations for students with documented disabilities.
• Coaches and athletic department staff should be knowledgeable about and able to articulate their institution's (if applicable), the Centennial Conference, and NCAA policies and procedures regarding diversity, equity, and inclusion.
  • A designated point person on campus should meet with transgender students to review eligibility requirements and procedures for approval of transgender participation.
• All college and athletic department representatives who are authorized to speak with the media will receive information about appropriate terminology, use of names and pronouns, as well as college policies regarding the participation of trans and non-binary student-athletes.
• The Centennial Conference will establish an annual conference-wide forum for student-athletes to be able to share ideas related to diversity and inclusion. 

• Institutions will ensure a welcoming experience for all student-athletes at competitions. Student-athletes will have the opportunity to designate their name, gender identity, and pronouns (e.g., she/her/hers, he/him/his, they/them/theirs, ze/zie, hir/hirs, or using names instead of pronouns). Student-athletes are not asked to explain their designations. These designations will be observed in all internal and external references to the student-athlete (game stories, award nominations, etc.). All public use of names/pronouns should align with those of the student-athlete's choosing.
  • Before traveling to other sites of competition, coaches, and administrators will work with student-athletes to determine the pronouns that will be used in announcements and game write-ups. If students would like announcers/coaches/officials/etc. to use specific pronouns, the traveling school should notify the host school before the team's arrival to ensure this occurs.
  • If a student-athlete requires a particular accommodation to ensure access to appropriate changing, showering, or bathroom facilities, the athletics department, in consultation with the transgender and/or non-binary student-athlete, will notify the home institution prior to competition to ensure that the student-athletes have access to facilities that are comfortable and safe. This notification should ensure that the student's identity as a transgender or non-binary person not be disclosed without the student's expressed written permission. Protecting the privacy of trans and non-binary student-athletes is a top priority.
• Athletic Trainers and Sports Medicine staff will provide inclusive healthcare to student-athletes. This includes using the student-athlete's correct pronouns, treating a student-athlete's assigned sex at birth as confidential medical information, and not inquiring into a student-athlete's history or treatment regarding their gender transition when unnecessary.
• Athletic Trainers should understand how patient values such as gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status, religion, etc. can affect the delivery of appropriate health care. Athletic Trainers will respect the patient's beliefs and values (e.g. ensuring privacy during physical assessment, providing wet towels for fasting players to cool down on hot game days when they are unable to drink water, etc.)

BEST PRACTICES FOR ATHLETICS STAFF INTERACTING WITH MEDIA 

Best practices for interacting with the media focus on the importance of understanding basic information about diversity, equity, and inclusion and respecting the confidentiality of student-athletes.

• The school or athletics department should provide training to all athletics staff who may interact with the media.

• Respect the confidentiality of all student-athletes when interacting with the media. 

• Model inclusive language and communication between athletic staff, administrators, and athletes.

• Use appropriate language in media interviews or presentations and insist that this terminology be used in media reports.

• Focus on the importance of providing equal opportunities for all students to participate in athletics. 

• Describe how departmental policies provide equal opportunities for all students to participate in athletics.

• Recognize, acknowledge, and educate about special days and events such as Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Mental Health Awareness Month, International Transgender Day of Visibility, etc.

Language

• Names — In all cases, teammates, coaches, and all others in the school should refer to transgender and/or non-binary student-athletes by a student's preferred name.

• Pronouns — Similarly, in all cases, pronoun references to transgender and/or non-binary student-athletes should reflect the student's gender and pronouns.

Confidentiality

• Protecting the privacy of transgender and/or non-binary student-athletes must be a top priority for all athletics departments and affiliated school personnel, particularly when in the presence of the media. All medical information shall be kept confidential in accordance with applicable state, local, and federal privacy laws. 

Language is adapted from the NCAA Transgender Student-Athlete Policy

DEFINITIONS 

Our conference recognizes that the below words have complex meanings, and for the purposes of this document we are using general but operational definitions:

• Cisgender is a term for someone who exclusively identifies as their sex assigned at birth. The term cisgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life.
• Disability is a physical or mental condition that limits one or more major life activities. 
• Discrimination refers to the treatment or consideration of or making a distinction in favor of or against, a person based on the group, class, or category to which that person belongs rather than on individual merit. 
• Nonbinary (also non-binary) is a preferred umbrella term for all genders other than female/male or woman/man, used as an adjective. Not all non-binary people identify as transgender and not all transgender people identify as non-binary.
• Sex assigned at birth refers to the assignment and medical classification of people as male, female, intersex, or another sex assigned at birth often based on physical anatomy at birth and/or chromosomal makeup.
• Transgender is sometimes used as an umbrella term for people whose gender identity differs from the sex they were assigned at birth. The term transgender is not indicative of gender expression, sexual orientation, hormonal makeup, physical anatomy, or how one is perceived in daily life. Being transgender does not imply any specific sexual orientation (attraction to people of a specific gender). Therefore, transgender people have a sexual orientation in addition to their gender identity. 
• A transgender woman is someone who may have been assigned male or intersex at birth and identifies as a woman.
• A transgender man is someone who may have been assigned female or intersex at birth and identifies as a man.

ENSURING FULL PARTICIPATION FOR TRANS AND NON-BINARY STUDENT-ATHLETES

1. NCAA Men's Team. Regardless of sex assigned at birth or gender identity, a student-athlete may participate (practice and compete) with a men's team, assuming they meet all other NCAA eligibility requirements.
   • Medical Exception Process. Please note, student-athletes taking a banned substance (e.g., testosterone) must complete the medical exception process.
2. NCAA Women's Team.
   1. Student-athlete assigned male at birth.
      1. Competition. A student-athlete assigned male at birth may not compete on a women's team.
      2. Practice. A student-athlete assigned male at birth may practice on the team consistent with their gender identity and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes who are otherwise eligible for practice.
   2. Student-athlete assigned female at birth.
      1. Competition. A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may not compete on a women's team. If such competition occurs, the team is subject to NCAA mixed-team legislation, and the team will no longer be eligible for NCAA women's championships.
      2. Practice. A student-athlete assigned female at birth who has begun hormone therapy (e.g., testosterone) may continue practicing with a women's team and receive all other benefits applicable to student-athletes who are otherwise eligible for practice.

ANNUAL REVIEW OF THE STUDENT-ATHLETE INCLUSION POLICY 

In consideration of changing medical science, the terminology around gender, and NCAA recommendations, these policies will be reviewed yearly by all members of the Centennial Conference Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designees.

If anyone has any suggestions as to how this guide's language might be improved to be more inclusive, please feel free to contact the conference Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee at any time via email at athomas4@centennial.org.
 

Bryn Mawr
Carla Coleman, Head Women's Basketball Coach, ccoleman1@brynmawr.edu

CENTENNIAL CONFERENCE BIAS INCIDENT RESPONSE 

Report bias incidents at any Centennial Conference member school using the designated links below. The Bias Incident Reporting Tools are for NON-EMERGENCY incidents. If your immediate safety is at risk, you are witnessing violence, or perceive imminent harm to yourself or others, please immediately dial 911.

Bias-related misconduct may include speech acts such as slurs, invective, racial epithets, and images (including social media) that discriminate, demean, harass, intimidate, or threaten individuals or groups of people.

PROGRAMS/ORGANIZATIONS   

SCHOLARSHIPS/GRANTS  

RESOURCES   

page last updated on 02/07/2025