A major contributor to this article appears to have a close connection with its subject.(August 2018) |
Akil Patterson | |
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Born | |
Education | University of Maryland, College Park California University of Pennsylvania Washington University in St. Louis |
Occupation(s) | Youth Programs Coordinator, Athlete Ally & Community Organizer, Sugar Free Kids |
Akil Sadiki Patterson (born January 1, 1983) is an American former college football player and former wrestler, and advocate for LGBT athletes.
Patterson attended Frederick High School, Maryland, where he was an All-State Athlete in Football, Wrestling, and Track & Field as a shot-putter. He attended the University of Maryland, but left in 2003, after being indefinitely suspended from the football team, for violations of team rules. He later attended the California University of Pennsylvania, where he was a two time Division-II All American. In 2006, he graduated with a B.S. in Sports Management. [1] [2] [3]
Patterson came from a wrestling family, and he wanted to try his hand at the sport once he graduated from college. As a former all-state heavyweight wrestler, Patterson began training as a Greco-Roman wrestler and joined the Terrapins wrestling team at the University of Maryland as a volunteer coach. [4] He went on to lead the Terrapin Wrestling Club, which trains young athletes. [5] He is also a four time Greco-Roman wrestling All-American, and a four time World Team Trials Qualifier.
In 2020 Mr. Patterson ran in the 13th district for the Baltimore City Council, but was unsuccessful in his bid. [6]
Mr. Patterson is a graduate of Washington University School of Law with a dual Certificate in Project Management and Negotiations [7]
As the community affairs coordinator at Athlete Ally, Patterson works with corporate partners, need based organizations, local organizations, campus programs and youth programs to coordinate their anti-discrimination initiatives. According to Doug Sanbourn, who serves as manager, community, commerce and partnership coordinator at MillerCoors, they chose to work to Mr. Patterson "because of the work he has taken on as a leader. He embodies what we should all be doing to secure equality everywhere." Athlete Ally also provides training and outreach for collegiate and professional teams in addition to the NBA Draft Combine individual professional teams, and campus athletic departments. Athlete Ally actively reaches players, coaches, administration, and staff throughout sports in North America. [5] [8] [9] [10]
As a blogger for The Huffington Post , Patterson spreads the message of equality and allyship. In addition, he gives his interns and athletes a platform to share their stories in Huffington Post Voice-to-Voice Interviews. [5]
Patterson has been featured in The Advocate 's 40 under 40 issue. [10] In addition, he has been featured in news media such as The Baltimore Sun , The Huffington Post, and The Washington Post . [11]
In 2022 Patterson became the first Social Equity and Economic Development manager in the country where he worked on Social Justice related to Cannabis tax Revenue.[ citation needed ]
Ralph Harry Friedgen is a former American football coach. He was most recently the special assistant coach for Rutgers in 2015 after serving as their offensive coordinator in the 2014 season. He was the head coach at the University of Maryland, College Park from 2000 to 2010. After the 2010 regular season, it was announced that Friedgen would not be returning for the 2011 season, ending his ten-year run as head coach. Friedgen was previously an offensive coordinator at Maryland, Georgia Tech, and in the National Football League (NFL) with the San Diego Chargers.
The Jones-Hill House is an indoor collegiate sports training complex located on 14.5 acres (5.9 ha) of land on the campus of the University of Maryland in College Park, a suburb north of Washington, D.C. Jones-Hill House is situated in the center of the campus, adjacent to Capital One Field at Maryland Stadium, near Stamp Student Union and McKeldin Library. The building was constructed between 1952 and 1955 at a cost of $3.3 million and served for nearly 50 years as the home court of the Maryland Terrapins men's and women's basketball teams. A multi-phase, $196 million renovation commenced in 2015 to transform the capacity 14,956-seat basketball arena into a 356,000-square-foot (33,100 m2) sports and academic complex that includes an indoor practice facility and operations center for the university's football program, a sports science and sports medical research center, and an incubator for entrepreneurs. The facility was formerly named the William P. Cole Jr. Student Activities Building, commonly known as Cole Field House. In April 2021, the facility was renamed in honor of Billy Jones and Darryl Hill, the first Black men to integrate basketball and football at Maryland, respectively.
Mount Saint Joseph College is a Catholic college preparatory school and secondary school / high school for young men from ninth to twelfth grade sponsored by the Xaverian Brothers and founded in 1876. It is located within the Archdiocese of Baltimore, Maryland.
The Maryland Terrapins, commonly referred to as the Terps, consist of 19 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletic teams that represent the University of Maryland, College Park in National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I competition. Maryland was a founding member of the Southern Conference in 1921, a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference in 1952, and a member of the Big Ten Conference since 2014.
The Maryland Terrapins football team represents the University of Maryland, College Park in the sport of American football. The Terrapins compete in the NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and the Big Ten Conference. The Terrapins joined the Big Ten Conference on July 1, 2014, following 62 years in the Atlantic Coast Conference as a founding member. Mike Locksley is the head coach of the Terrapins.
Greivis Josué Vásquez Rodríguez is a former Venezuelan professional basketball player, who spent six seasons in the NBA. He is currently a coach, most recently working as the associate head coach for the Erie BayHawks of the NBA G League. Vásquez also represented the Venezuela national team in international competitions, as he was born in Caracas and moved to the United States to attend high school at Montrose Christian School in Rockville, Maryland in 2004.
The Crab Bowl Classic is the name given to the Maryland–Navy football rivalry. It is an American college football rivalry between the Maryland Terrapins football team of the University of Maryland and the Navy Midshipmen football team of the United States Naval Academy. The two institutions, located in close proximity in the state of Maryland, first met for a football game in 1905. Since then, the series has often been marked by controversy, with incidents by players and supporters occurring both on and off the field. The winner of the game is awarded the Crab Bowl Trophy.
The 2009 Maryland Terrapins football team represented the University of Maryland during its 57th season in the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Terrapins played in the Atlantic Division of the conference, and competed against all five divisional opponents, two Coastal Division opponents on a rotational basis, and one permanent cross-divisional rival: Virginia. The rotating Coastal Division opponents were Virginia Tech and Duke. In 2009, Maryland played its second game of the home-to-home series against California, this year in Berkeley.
Michael Anthony Locksley is an American football coach. He is currently the head football coach at the University of Maryland, a position he has held since 2019.
Old Byrd Stadium, also known as Byrd Stadium or Byrd Field and nicknamed "the Byrd Cage", was the home stadium for the University of Maryland from 1923 until 1947. It was located in College Park, Maryland, east of Baltimore Avenue on the site of the school's present-day fraternity row. The seating capacity for the stadium was 5,000.
Charles Alan Pastrana was an American football quarterback. He played college football for the University of Maryland from 1965 to 1968. In 1966, he set the Atlantic Coast Conference record for single-season passing touchdowns with 17. At Maryland, Pastrana also played on the lacrosse team and was named a first-team All-American defenseman in 1966. The Denver Broncos of the National Football League (NFL) selected Pastrana in the 11th round of the 1969 NFL Draft. He played for Denver for two seasons, including three games as the starting quarterback. After his playing career, Pastrana coached football, lacrosse and wrestling at Anne Arundel Community College, where he taught as an associate professor, and coached football at the Severn School.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) persons in the U.S. state of Maryland enjoy the same rights as non-LGBT people. Maryland has had statewide protections against discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation since 2001 and gender identity since 2014. Legislation to legalize same-sex marriage in Maryland was approved by voters on November 6, 2012 and went into effect on January 1, 2013. Today, the state of Maryland is regarded as one of the most LGBT-friendly states in the country, with a 2022 Public Religion Research Institute showing that 87% of Marylanders support LGBTQ anti-discrimination laws. Additionally, a ban on conversion therapy on minors became effective on October 1, 2018. In October 2020, Montgomery County passed unanimously an ordinance that implemented an LGBTIQ+ bill of rights.
Hudson Taylor is an American wrestler and submission grappler, and the founder and executive director of Athlete Ally, a former wrestling coach at Columbia University and a prominent straight ally and civil rights activist of LGBT rights.
Wade Alan Davis II is an American speaker, activist, writer, educator and former American football player.
You Can Play is a social activism campaign that aims to eliminate homophobia in sports, based on the slogan, "If you can play, you can play." The campaign was launched on March 4, 2012, by three co-founders: Patrick Burke, Brian Kitts, and Glenn Witman. The tragic passing of Brendan Burke, son of Brian and brother of Patrick, played a significant role in inspiring the campaign. Notably, "You Can Play" is an official partner of the National Hockey League, with Wade Davis serving as the former executive director of the organization. Presently, Wade Davis holds the position of Director of Professional Sports.
Athlete Ally is a nonprofit LGBTQ athletic advocacy group based in the United States. They focus on making athletic communities more inclusive and less discriminatory and helping athletes to advocate for LGBTQ equality.
The homosexual sports community in the United States, like the country itself, enjoys one of the highest levels of acceptance and support in the world. A vibrant and rapidly growing community, it is enjoying an exponential growth. The public opinion and jurisprudence has changed significantly since the late 1980s; by the early 2020s, an overwhelming majority of Americans approved of the legality of same-sex marriages.
During the lead-up to the 2014 Winter Olympics, protests and campaigns arose surrounding the rights of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) people in Russia.
Harold Theo Hunter Jr. was an American football coach. He participated in football, wrestling and track at Canonsburg High School in Canonsburg, Pennsylvania. He played college football at Pittsburgh, where he was a three-year letterman at offensive guard and linebacker. Hunter earned Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American honors for his senior season in 1955. He was also a three-year letterman in wrestling at Pittsburgh. He signed with the Pittsburgh Steelers in 1956. Hunter was a football coach at various high schools and colleges from 1956 to 1976, mainly serving as his team's offensive line coach. He was then the head coach at California State College from 1977 to 1980, accumulating a record of 9–30–1. He began his professional coaching career as the Hamilton Tiger-Cats' offensive coordinator in 1981. Hunter later served as an assistant coach for several National Football League (NFL) teams from 1982 to 1992, including a one-game stint as the interim head coach of the Indianapolis Colts in 1984.