The MSR recently attended the 2025 Black Student Athlete (BSA) Summit in Chicago, a four-day experience (May 21-24). It brings together both students and professionals from all backgrounds across the college sports ecosystem. In an occasional series we will feature interviews and panel discussions from the BSA. This week: What is the Black Student Athlete Summit?
CHICAGO, IL. – Now in its 10th year, the Black Student Athlete Summit (BSA Summit) is the brainchild of Dr. Leonard Moore, a longtime history professor and author to address the needs of Black college and university student athletes. This year the BSA Summit was held away from a college campus for the first time since it was founded in 2015.
Whether on stage, or sitting in the front row at McCormick Place main ballroom, or walking to and fro with Black students and professionals, speaking to them in evangelistic tones, Moore is unabashedly pro-Black as he spreads the gospel of the importance of being your authentic self no matter where or what.
“It’s not about the title but about doing the work,” preached Moore in his “What do I do with my life?” opening night address. “Do what God called you to do.”
Moore said he accepted his calling after high school, showing the audience his senior year transcript on the overhead screens — a D average. “I never had any academic stress,” he joked.
He went on to college and graduated from Jackson State, an HBCU, in 1993, then went to Ohio State where he earned his doctorate in history in 1998. He taught at LSU (1998-2007), then at the University of Texas at Austin (2007-present), and has authored four books.
In addition to being a husband and father of three children, Moore ranks the BSA Summit among his greatest contributions.
It was my first time at the Summit, and my first time meeting Moore. In what was originally intended as a short sit-down interview based on time, the history professor switched roles and started interviewing this longtime reporter.
“Come on, Charles,” pleaded Moore, eager to hear more about me and satisfy his curiosity once he learned that I was coming to the BSA and wanting to meet me in person. “When you emailed me saying you’re coming, I said yeah,” he admitted.
“At LSU and at Texas, I saw young men and women who, when they finished playing ball, didn’t know what was next,” said Moore when asked what led him to start the BSA Summit. “We don’t talk about this in the Black community a lot. When [Black athletes] are done playing, we kind of forget about them.”
As a result, the Summit is “basically designed to bring people together from across the country to find ways to better support Black student athletes, but also to help athletes themselves maximize these opportunities,” explained Moore.
The first year in 2015 it involved around 70 student-athletes; it has grown to over 1,000 this year. The numbers might have been down due to the anti-DEI fervor whipped up politically in every aspect of life in America. Nonetheless, Black student athletes from coast to coast, across all three NCAA divisions, NAIA and HBCUs, were here to listen to various speakers besides Moore and participate in breakout sessions and other related activities designed for Black athletes.
“I’m just built to fight,” Moore told the students. “I’m just built to stand, and it’s just how God uses me,” he said of his life mission. “It’s just in my DNA.
“I can’t help it sometimes. It’s impacted my career, but I’m okay with that.”
Next: She first began checking in attendees and is now on the BSA leadership team — our interview with University of Massachusetts Professor A.J. Keaton.
Charles Hallman welcomes reader comments to challman@spokesman-recorder.com.