Fagan To Speak To Buffs Student-Athletes, At CU Commencement
February 27, 2017 | General, Alumni C Club, Neill Woelk, Psychological Health & Performance
BOULDER — Author, ESPN personality and former Colorado basketball standout Kate Fagan will return to her former campus twice this semester to speak to CU students.
The first instance — a Tuesday evening talk and discussion with CU student athletes and administration — will be a relatively intimate affair.
Her second appearance will be a slightly larger stage. Fagan is scheduled to deliver the university's 2017 spring commencement address on May 12 at Folsom Field.
Fagan, a columnist and feature writer for espnW, ESPN.com and ESPN the Magazine is also a regular panelists on ESPN's Around the Horn and also appears on First Take and His & Hers. Prior to ESPN, she spent three years with the Philadelphia Inquirer.
In 2015 Fagan gained critical national acclaim with her in-depth feature and companion video, Split Image, the story of former University of Pennsylvania track and field athlete Madison Holleran, who died by suicide. The story has produced more than 3 million hits and the video has been viewed nearly 7 million times.
This summer, Fagan's book on the topic is scheduled to be published under the same name.
Fagan's discussion with CU athletes on Tuesday will center on Split Image, a story that tells the two very different sides of Holleran's life and the various influences in her life, in particular social media.
"I think for all kids — middle school age, high school, college, as well as parents — it's really a look at counseling, growing up today and what influences are out there," Fagan said. "It's a look at kids growing up in this age and their struggle with social media and their place in the world. Everything they absorb on a minute-by-minute basis and how kids these days are affected by that."
Fagan can identify with the drive necessary to be a top-level Division I athlete. A standout player at Colorado who helped CU to four NCAA Tournament appearance in her four years with the Buffs, she knows the pressure associated with sports at that level — and how it can affect student-athletes and their peers.
"When I was younger, I really hadn't developed my empathy yet," Fagan said. "So when I saw some of my teammates struggling — whether they just had to step out of a sprint or maybe were considering a transfer — I saw it as a referendum on their character, that it was a weakness. They were impinging on our pursuit of greatness, which is what you are told is your ultimate goal. You see those kinds of signs around every athletic department: 'Team is a weakness leaving the body.'"
But, Fagan said, there are times when stepping away might be necessary for an athlete's mental health.
"Sports is about seeing a hurdle and clearing it," Fagan said. "When you want to give up and you don't, most of the time you grow from that. But there are certain moments when quitting — whether it's in a sprint or whether you truly need to step away from the sport or you need to leave school and go home — sometimes it's actually the healthiest thing you can possibly do.
"For athletes, I'd like them to understand that it's OK to be a little more well-rounded and empathetic when it comes to those situations. I'm not going to come in there and say, 'Well, let's just all quit everything.' But I do think we need to reset the conversation with student-athletes about how much they are working through and that it is actually OK to talk about some of these things by talking it through."
While she has written along "conventional" avenues about sports for much of her career, Fagan has also taken the opportunity to delve into societal issues she believes are important. Her story and upcoming book on Holleran is quite clearly something she believes is important.
"The thing that's really relevant for every student athlete is that for the most part when you are growing up, when you are 8, 9 10 years old, being an athlete is the cool thing," Fagan said. " It's not that hard. You get better and it's good and it's fun. But you haven't necessarily registered that it is your true passion in life. You started playing it, you're good and you like it — but you haven't been put through the fire. It's often not your true pursuit and true choice.
"Then when you get to college you realize it's really, really hard. Then you ask yourself — I like this sport, but do I like it enough to get up at 6 a.m. every day for training and then have two-a-days and make it the main focus of my life? Meanwhile there are other things that you may really love that you aren't doing. I think that might be causing more turmoil with student-athletes than they are willing to talk about because of the culture surrounding it."
Fagan said she hopes to engage in a "low-key" discussion with CU's student-athletes.
"I want to make it an environment where it's not just me preaching to them, but saying, 'Hey, I've been where you are," she said. "I know how I felt. Maybe some of them will be able relate, maybe others won't — but I hope they come away with the idea that maybe they can understand their teammates a little better when some of those difficult situations arise."
As for the commencement address, Fagan said she was surprised when CU officials called.
"My initial reaction was to say no way," Fagan said with a laugh. "That sounded really scary. Maybe in 10 years — but then, I thought, who knows if they'll ever ask again? My habit is if something scares me, I just do it and figure it out as I go. A commencement speech is actually quite scary to me — but I'm sure I will figure it out."
Contact: Neill.Woelk@Colorado.edu