DENVER – One of the beauties of the MSU Denver campus and student-body is its celebration of diversity.
 
Racial, cultural, religious, age, gender and sexual orientation are among the many types of diversity embraced by Roadrunners.
 
That includes the MSU Denver Athletics Department, where not only do Roadrunners take pride in being part of an Hispanic Serving Institution, a significant number of student-athletes and staff are also African-Americans proud of their heritage and history. Also proud of that heritage and history is the entire athletics department.
 
February is Black History Month in the United States, and as the month draws to a close, MSU Denver Athletics reflects on the significance and impact of black history. The origin of Black History Month is to recognize the significance and contributions of black Americans in history, which have been largely ignored in formal schooling.
 
In a recent interview with the Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference, MSU Denver student-athletes Laolu Oke from the men's basketball team and Mikayla McClinton from the volleyball program reflected upon the impact of black history in their past.
 
"I feel like for me and where I grew up it was definitely not just in the month of February," said, a native of Kansas City, Mo. "It's definitely a year-long thing, talking about experiences while being black in America, and also just trying to dive more into our history. I remember when I was younger and my mom would make me write papers on different important black figures outside of MLK and Rosa Parks, just to widen my perspective on black history. It was very enlightening to teach more than just what we learn in school."
 
Oke acknowledged that he's also well-versed on the impact of Martin Luther King, Jr., but that he has also sought out deeper understanding.
 
"I've just tried to learn more about the African-American leaders who did pave the way for us," Oke said. "You aren't taught a lot about it in school, so I've tried to get as much information on my own and by doing my own research. There's just so much out there to find out."
 
In particular, Oke noted the influence of Jack Johnson, the boxer from the early 1900s who was the first African-American heavyweight champion and was famous – considered a hero by many, and a villain by others – at the onset of the Jim Crow era in American politics, when racial inequality became codified in many areas of the country. Oke, from Aurora, Colo., learned about him in high school during an African-America studies class.
 
"He changed the way boxing was looked at," Oke said. "They saw that he did it and that inspired others. I couldn't possibly imagine what he had to do to overcome that. I'm sure everyone was against him and for him to be able to come out on top is a real success story."
 
McClinton pointed to the story of Claudette Colvin, who was arrested at age 15 in Montgomery, Ala., for refusing to give up her seat on a segregated bus – nearly a year before Rosa Parks famously did the same in what many consider an early touchpoint in the story of the civil rights movement.
 
"I learned about her history and why she isn't talked about more, because she was young and she was also pregnant at the time and was a teen mother," McClinton said. "She didn't necessarily fit the criteria of what we wanted to be displayed as we were trying to validate ourselves in society. Not all the activists are necessarily perfect people. We're all human and we all make mistakes."
 
As star student-athletes who excel both in the classroom and in competition, both McClinton and Oke have prominent roles in their campus and personal communities.
 
Both are aware of their status and understand challenges that present themselves.
 
"You have to work extremely hard, and there are going to be people who might not welcome you in spaces," McClinton said. "I haven't experienced that but being black you have to be prepared for that so that you aren't blind-sided by it."
 
Said Oke: "I've learned that you should be yourself, and whether you are accepted or not, you can't control it. So you continue to be a good person, respect everybody and show respect to everybody, and you will gain respect. That's what I was taught at a younger age."