By Maddie Loverich ’22
Only days after the death of George Floyd and a subsequent protest movement that began to sweep the country in May 2020, staff members in Linfield’s athletic department came together to create a way for students to process and discuss what was going on in the world. With that, WildXchange, or WildX, was born.
“Initially, WildX started because we wanted to have a space where students and staff could come together and talk through what had happened,” Associate Director of Athletics Jane Samuels said.
The weekly Zoom event rapidly evolved to include guest speakers, panelists and various advocacy groups on campus, including Linfield Pride, LatinX Adelante and the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. The athletic department also collaborated closely with Linfield’s Office of Inclusion, Access and Diversity to manage the event.
Conversations at WildX centered on race and social justice. Speakers included McMinnville Chief of Police Matt Scales and Jen Fry, an activist focused on educating student-athletes on issues of inclusion, diversity and equity.
“We talk through various aspects of the challenges that we’re facing right now across the country, and then specifically try to bring it back to our Linfield community,” Samuels said. “What are we seeing here? What do we want to see? What culture do we live in, what culture do we want to live in? And how do we make that happen?”
Keaton Wood ’21, a football player and decathlete, regularly attended WildX and ended up leading the final one with Andy Starkel ’22 to speak on the topic of masculinity and its role in athletics.
“WildX creates the unique opportunity to have engaging and thoughtful conversations about topics that people aren’t always willing to have,” Wood said. “It’s been an unbelievable learning experience for Linfield, as the community has been able to grow in ways that it never has before. Personally, WildX helped me become a better listener and realize that constantly challenging and re-evaluating your own views is one of the most important tools for growth.”
Samuels said she and her colleagues will look to continue providing the platform to encourage meaningful conversation and elevate student voices on campus in the upcoming academic year.
“This event was started by athletics, but really it’s not exclusive to athletics,” she said. “It’s open to anyone across campus, and we really appreciate that it’s a community conversation.”
