The Springfield College School of Physical Education, Performance and Sport Leadership presented the 2022 Peter V. Karpovich Lecture featuring University of Massachusetts Vice Chancellor and Chief Diversity Officer and Professor of Sport Management Nefertiti A. Walker, PhD, on Thursday, October 13, in the Cleveland E. and Phyllis B. Dodge Room. This event was part of the year-long Springfield College celebration of 50 years of Title IX.
Walker shared how her research on how organizational exclusion in sport has provided the foundation for redesigning organizations to be inclusive. Her methods, which are fundamentally intersectional and adhere to critical theoretical approaches, have guided her towards an equity-minded, intersectional approach to inclusive organizational design in sport and beyond.
A social scientist who studies organizational culture, Walker specifically examines organizational inclusion and exclusion, seeking to understand the experiences of people with marginalized identities, and using those insights to design more inclusive organizational cultures.
Springfield College established the Karpovich Lecture in 1973 in memory of its former faculty member, Peter V. Karpovich, who was an internationally recognized exercise physiologist and one of the principal founders of the American College of Sports Medicine. Karpovich joined the Springfield College faculty in 1927 serving as a professor of physiology. He was named director of health education at the College in 1947 and was appointed research professor of physiology in 1955.
The long and storied Springfield College history of the pioneering spirit of progress, of equality, and of social justice are being celebrated in 2022-23 as the College community marks the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX. Convened by President Mary-Beth Cooper, PhD, DM, the Title IX Commemoration Steering Committee continues to plan College-wide events to celebrate the breadth of impact Title IX has had on education.
