Racial isolation in NYU Sports

As a young dancer from Cary, North Carolina, Dalia Leggard’s dream was to get cast in a crucial role in one of her dance performances.

After being cast as the biracial mother in The Nutcracker, Leggard’s mother was approached by the mother of a young black dancer who told her how much of a role model she had been to her young daughter.

It was this defining moment in Leggard’s dancing career that represented the significance of representation in sports for her. Leggard’s role in The Nutcracker was significant because of the representation of women of color and the unification of women of color on set.

Athletes of color, such as Leggard, have faced feelings of isolation and lack of representation as players for predominantly white institutions. The scarcity of representation of women of color on NYU sports teams has had a drastic impact on those players.

“Sad as it is to say, I have accepted that as a person of color, I will most likely always be the minority in the room, but I try not to let that get to me,” Leggard said.

Leggard, 19, said that the lack of women of color on the dance team can be attributed to the typical rates of white women in dance and art education.

“Since dance is a fairly expensive sport, and is stereotypically a white sport, I didn’t see many women of color in the sport,” Leggard said. “I also realize the gap in art education between communities of color and predominantly white communities. Now, even though more and more women of color are dancing, it is still a disproportionately low number.”

Millery Polyne, associate professor of Caribbean and American Studies at NYU said that the lack of women of color in sports can steer players away from joining the teams.

“‘How good are the scholarships? In what ways are they going to help out with financial aid?’” Polyne said. “[The lack of POC] is problematic and questionable but I think it’s important to ask questions on the recruitment, where they’re going, financial aid, and more.”

60% of employees in the workplace have felt feelings of isolation and depression as a result of a lack of diversity, according to Harvard Business Review. Taking this into consideration, the lack of representation for college athletes is often devalued as the grade for racial inclusion has decreased by 21% in 2021.

Jolie Le Fauve, a swimmer for the NYU Swimming Team, has said that as a result of a lack of diversity on the team, she often keeps feelings of isolation to herself.

“I will say that the one other girl on the team is black which makes it easier for us to relate to physical appearances like our hair,” Fauve said. “We can relate to each other a little bit more on that level, even though it’s small, it’s better than not having anyone to relate to at all.

According to NYU.edu, NYU’s rates of diversity have increased by over 5% with the class of 2026. With the increasing rates of diversity being brought to campus, hopes for more diversity in the sports teams have begun to rise.

Le Fauve said that the level of representation for women of color on the team was better than in her hometown but still low.

“I would say in Maryland it’s about 90% white whereas at NYU it’s about 55% white and the rest of the team is Asian with a few black swimmers,” said Le Fauve. “I would say the proportion of white swimmers went down and there are definitely more swimmers of color.”

Le Fauve, who is one of three Black swimmers on the team, said that the shift in representation of women of color on the team never bothered her.

“The shift in the number of women of color on the team didn’t really affect me that much,” Le Fauve said. “Obviously it would be great if there were more women of color on the sports teams here at NYU, but it’s just our current reality that there isn't any.”

Despite the history of sports teams at NYU remaining predominantly white, Leggard stresses the importance of representing women of color on sports teams at PWIs.

“What everyone saw on that stage that night was important; it acknowledged the changing faces and families in our world today,” Leggard said. “It showed all of the young black dancers in my company that dancing in the family scene of the Nutcracker was possible. Sometimes someone just needs to see it to believe it and that’s why representation is essential.”