This week, First and Pen announced a new partnership with Vanderbilt’s Sports & Society Initiative.
The partnership focuses on telling stories at the intersection of sports and social issues through the voices of professors of color.
“I launched First and Pen to inform, inspire and connect through voices of color in sports, so I’m extremely happy and excited to partner with Vanderbilt’s Sports & Society Initiative to amplify these voices,” said First and Pen CEO & Founder, Yussuf Khan, in a statement. “Sports have always been a reflection of society, so it’s important that those that are often overlooked or dismissed have a home to inform, inspire and connect through the passion, lessons, histories and stories sports creates.”
The synergy between the two organizations made the partnership an easy one to materialize.
“We are proud to support this effort to elevate voices of color and to further support the idea that sports is a vital area of scholarship,” said Andrew Maraniss, special projects coordinator at Vanderbilt Athletics and manager of the Sports & Society Initiative. “The world of sports provides a fascinating lens to view the most pressing matters in our society.”
The Sports and Society Initiative was established in January 2018 by the late Vanderbilt Athletic Director David Williams to “study the intersection of sports, race, gender, and politics.”
The two parties will explore these intersections through original editorial content and will expand to include video and audio content in the future.
All content will appear on First and Pen and will be shared across social media.
You can follow Vanderbilt Sports & Society Initiative (Twitter: @SportsSocietyVU) and First and Pen (Twitter: @Firstandpen) and DM them for more information.
