Latye Workman earned undergraduate degrees in business and sociology from Brandeis University in 2018 before earning a master’s from the school in project management. He completed his basketball career at Brandeis as a graduate student in 2018-19, helping lead the Judges to the ECAC Division III title and an 11-win improvement over the previous season. Workman is the founder and Chief Executive Officer of Collage NYC, which develops logos, promotional graphics, and website and apparel designs.
The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.
Lack of Diversity
“I didn’t have any white friends before college. From elementary school through high school, all my peers were Black or Hispanic. We had zero white kids in school. I had seen white people on television and in passing, but I had no real exposure,” Workman recollected. “It was so different when I got to Brandeis. I stayed with sophomores and it was the first time I had been with white people in an intimate space for any period of time. It was different, but I wasn’t uncomfortable.”
Fortunately for Workman, one of those sophomore basketball players would quickly become a good friend and teammate. “Jack Fay was my first white friend. He was very welcoming and inviting. He made the whole transition a lot better, especially considering I had never been exposed to white people in close contact before,” he reiterated.
Challenges at a Predominantly White Institution
“I dialed back who I was a little bit in my first semester at Brandeis to try to fit in or really try not to stand out. I wasn’t being the outgoing person that I naturally am due to being in this foreign environment for me. I had convinced myself the best way to ‘fit in’ as a minority was to make myself less visible. For example, I would never wear my do-rag on campus, unless I was running to a different building to do laundry,” he laughed. “My dad joked with me that I better take it off. At some point, I just stopped caring and decided I was just going to be me. The thing is everybody was fine with it anyway.”
Workman knew some of the things people said about him, directly or indirectly. “If I wasn’t smiling all the time, people said that I looked mean,” said the very affable Workman. “Mostly, the common theme was that if it weren’t for basketball, I wouldn’t be at Brandeis in spite of how seriously I took my education.”
What he found most difficult was people letting microaggressions and small jokes slide without saying anything. “The slightest joke can make someone feel uncomfortable, even if it seems like an innocent joke or wasn’t that serious. Something some could consider minor could be hurtful or perceived differently. The issue is that people, particularly those who are not of color, are hesitant to speak up as an ally,” he commented. “Silence is harmful in a lot of situations and when you don’t speak up, you are almost as bad as the person who made the original remark because you didn’t check them. It is as easy as saying, ‘Maybe you didn’t mean it like that, but it can be seen that way.’ Silence is harmful for people of color.”
Advice for Other Black Student-Athletes
“The hardest part of college initially for me was finding a space to be authentically me. I had never had this struggle before, as I was always 100 percent me. However, coming into a completely different environment and trying to maintain who I was while trying to fit into a groove was challenging. I would wonder ‘Is it okay to be like that here?’” Workman recounted. “I put myself in limbo trying to figure out whether to be me and free or to adjust these things to be accepted or liked. I was seeking a balance, but the reality is there shouldn’t have to be that balance. Be who you are and be accepted or not based on that, rather than who you are not.”
Being at Brandeis, which has a reputation for social justice, helped Workman be his true self more quickly. “When I started to be my full self, everyone was accepting. The Brandeis community is different from many schools in what is focuses on and preaches. It is a very inviting space. Regardless of whether you feel ‘different’ because of your race, sexual orientation, gender, or anything else, being yourself may sound cliché, but it is very important. If you are being yourself and end up in a setting not accepting of who you are, that is not the setting for you and that is okay. You don’t have to find where you fit in if you are being your true self. You will naturally find your fit. What’s for you will be for you and come to you.”
Where balance did come into play for him was being a student-athlete. “Being both a student and an athlete is about time management, balancing and prioritizing your time. If you don’t do that well, you cannot succeed as a student-athlete,” he supposed. “When you prioritize the right things and dedicate yourself to managing your time well, you can get into a rhythm and still have fun.”
Role of Allies and Teammates
“Saying something even in the smallest moments is critical. A lot of people post on their social media. That’s great and I encourage people, especially if you are not a person of color, to continue to do so, but actually being vocal is important. It is one thing to post something on Instagram or Twitter, but if I see you in person and your behavior doesn’t match your content, what good is that doing anyone?” Workman asked. “It is so easy to share things online, but the real challenge is to do things in person, signing petitions, and taking real action. Use your voice, even if it is just a conversation with your friend, just the two of you in your dorm room. Help enlighten others, which can be as simple as explaining why an event or something someone said was not okay.”
Workman believes the combination of being a student-athlete adds both visibility and responsibility. “Being an athlete can add popularity and often people look at you in a different light depending on how you carry yourself. Use that platform to further important conversations. By letting people know where you stand, others may follow or ask questions to learn more,” he stated. “A lot of others with a platform are not speaking out. When you are on a team, you have ample opportunity to speak out. You may not even realize how many people are watching you.”
Role of the Head Coach
“Because of the makeup of our team (in his third year on the team in 2017-18), reaction to the then coach’s now well-known racist behavior was different for different people. I had never seen anything to make me think any of my teammates were racist. People were not accepting of the behavior and some white players did speak up. Some guys were always saying something about what the coach was saying and pointing out things that just weren’t right,” Workman explained. “What if that behavior is happening with a different team? The racist comments could ignite others to be more racist, more open about those beliefs, and that could be really dangerous. Coaches and anyone with power can have a great effect on other people’s behavior. Even the slightest comment can make others feel more comfortable saying or doing racist things.”
Workman saw a complete shift in culture and behavior when Jean Bain took over the head coaching duties in 2018-19. “It was powerful immediately when he came in preaching teamwork, togetherness, and holding one another accountable on and off the court. He made sure our behavior matched those values he put in place as soon as he got there,” reported Workman, who noted that Bain was almost a carbon copy of his high school coach, who he remained close with. “He wanted us to do everything the right way, whether it was in a drill or in the way we speak to each other. That bonded us and made us better together.”
He noted that in addition to reinforcing those values, the head coach is responsible for the team’s image in multiple ways. “Coach stressed that we should strive to be successful in basketball, but also academically. He came in and rebuilt the program immediately. It was especially different for me, Chandler (Jones) and Lawrence (Sabir) to have a coach who looked like us in the locker room. That made him more relatable for us, but he related to all the players,” he expressed. “That was a dramatic change. When the coach is approachable, then healthy discussions can happen individually and as a team. There is space for important conversations that go well beyond the sport.”