Signs of patriotism are deeply embedded in sports at every level: high school, collegiate and professional. Florida Atlantic University is no different.
The national anthem is played at the start of every sporting event. Athletes and guests alike take off their headwear and put their right hands over their hearts as the anthem plays. Florida Atlantic hosted Army West Point for Military Appreciation Day, with military members walking out holding the U.S. flag and conducting the coin toss alongside the team captains.
In 2023-24, FAU advanced from Conference USA to the American Athletic Conference (AAC), displaying how “America” as a brand is prevalent in college athletics.
FAU does not shy away from sharing its American pride through its sporting events, but where do athletes stand when it comes to politics?
Enrique “Rico” Toro, a sophomore cross-country athlete who majors in political science, has led the charge to inspire students and student-athletes alike to get more involved with politics.
Toro, who moved to the U.S. from Puerto Rico in 2017 after Hurricane Maria, credits his parents and upbringing for his interest in public service.
“The culture of service was kind of instilled [in] me from a very young age and it isn’t lost on me at all,” said Toro.
Toro says he began using his platform as a student-athlete after he “ruffled some feathers” during a panel at an AAC conference in San Antonio. There, he shared his take that student-athletes should be considered university employees and get paid along with name-image-likeness (NIL) deals.
“I thought I absolutely screwed it up. I was like ‘Here I am in front of all these admins saying we should be considered university employees for all the intangibles we do for the university profile, brand, etcetera,’” said Toro.
Expecting some discipline from the school, the opposite happened. Stephen Engle, Professor and NCAA Faculty Athletic Representative for FAU, instead reached out to Toro, nominating him to speak at Freshman Convocation, where FAU students and faculty alike offer words of advice to the incoming freshmen class.
As a closing remark to his speech, Toro said:
“ …Remember that even though you may be far from home, voting is your civic duty. Make sure your voice is heard and uphold the most sacred pillar on which our great country was founded — the pillar of democracy. Young people like us are among the least likely population to vote. Let’s change that this year; regardless of your political standing, remember to vote.”
While Toro is firm in his belief that student-athletes should utilize their figure to advocate for political causes, the general population lacks the same perspective.
The UP direct messaged 129 student-athletes on Instagram asking if they would consider themselves politically involved and if they discuss politics with their team.
Out of the 129 athletes, nine saw the message and didn’t respond. Those who responded shared a similar message: “I’m not politically active.” Two expressed that they are international students, so they don’t have any involvement in U.S. politics.
Redshirt freshman Jack Johnson, FAU men’s basketball guard, said that politics comes up occasionally but isn’t a large focus of the team. “We kind of stay out of that. I would say everyone is engaged in the political race that’s going to happen in November, but I don’t think anybody on the team sways in any direction,” he said.
FAU women’s basketball head coach Jennifer Sullivan said the coaching staff engages their players in political conversation. She, along with her staff, made sure that all of their players were registered to vote prior to the deadline. Sullivan believes that it’s important for them to understand what voting and politics are all about.
“I think my assistant coaches do a great job, having conversations with them and understanding how it works, whether that’s locally or nationally,” said Sullivan. “We’re proud of that; the goal is when they leave here, they go and serve and be a part of the community. I think that starts with voting.”
FAU history professor Jermaine Scott believes that with today’s heightened political climate, “politics tends to turn people off actually.” He elaborated, saying that among student-athletes, there’s a larger fear of discussing politics and posting their viewpoints on social media due to uncertainty about how it will be received by their university.
“I think student-athletes — because they are student-athletes, because they’re constantly under a microscope, because they are so governed in many ways differently from other students — they kind of feel that heightened pressure to not say anything, right? To shut up and dribble,” Scott said.
Florida Atlantic has a handbook that goes out to all student-athletes including information about school policies and guidelines. There is no formal writing about the rules of political discussion on public platforms or guidance on how to get involved.
In 2020, the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA), published a report that took 24,974 NCAA student athletes’ answers from a survey that examined student-athlete civic engagement.
The results of the survey showed that 84 percent of men and women’s sports discussed politics, while 65 percent of women’s sports and 53 percent of men’s sports publicly communicated their opinion about a case. The numbers declined further when asked if they actively demonstrated for a cause: 37 percent of women and 29 percent of men said yes.
While Scott thinks that student-athletes are concerned of the consequences of discussing politics, Toro shared a different perspective. He doesn’t believe the lack of public political involvement from student- athletes comes from a place of fear or discipline.
Toro says that unless a student-athlete commits a clear violation of team rules, he doesn’t believe anyone would be dismissed for sharing ideological and political beliefs.
“Everybody has the freedom to say whatever they want to say. They have their own free will…,” Toro said. “I just feel that more young people should be out there voting, should be out there engaging with democracy because at the end of the day, right now, the choices that you make, you’re going to see the ripple effects of those choices 20, 30 years down the road. We’re setting ourselves up for our own future.”
Despite the presence of free will in the U.S., history has shown, athletes speaking out on politics isn’t always accepted by outsiders.
In Scott’s American Sports History class, his lessons explore the complex history of sports in America and how different moments of controversy over the years involved politics and activism.
Moments like all-time great boxer Muhammad Ali refusing to be drafted into the Vietnam War for his stance on the war in 1967, or African-American Olympians John Carlos and Tommie Smith raising their fists at the winner’s podium in protest of civil rights at the 1968 Olympics.
“I think what some scholars are starting to propose is the idea that sports and politics are inherently mixed…When we think about the Olympics, right? These are inherently political events,” Scott said. “Where you have your nations and you have your patriotism and your nationalism, all of these are political symbols.”
Scott teaches sports history in this manner to shed light on the influence that sports and athletes hold in the U.S. and illustrate how its position is more nuanced than initially led to believe. In most cases that Scott teaches about in his classes, athletes were criticized by the public for their political protests.
“Free speech always seems to have its limits. ‘You can’t say that. You can say this, but you can’t go that far and say that, or you can’t say it like that,’” Scott said.
Toro believes that the reason more student-athletes aren’t politically engaged is because they may not have invested in forming an opinion on politics in the U.S.; instead, focusing on their craft.
“They’re here to perform. I mean, it’s basically a job. You’re here to do your job and whatever happens, happens. If it doesn’t affect you all that much, then you don’t really care,” Toro said.
Toro notes that student-athletes, despite not being encouraged to, should speak on the issues that matter to them.
“While you might be afraid of punishment, of repercussion, live unapologetically and be your true self. If it’s something that you’re truly passionate about, speak on it,” said Toro.
JD Delcastillo is the Managing Editor for the University Press. For information regarding this or other stories, email him at [email protected], DM on Instagram @jd.delcastillo or on X (Twitter) @jd_delcastillo.
Megan Bruinsma is the Sports Editor for the University Press. For more information regarding this or other stories, email her at [email protected] or DM her on Instagram @megan_bruinsma or X (Twitter) @MeganBruinsma.
