You Can Play launches partnership with America East conference

The America East has become the first NCAA conference to enter into an official partnership with the You Can Play project. The partnership is designed to end homophobia in the locker rooms of the conference’s athletic departments. The universities currently in the America East are: Albany, Binghamton, Boston University, Hartford, Maine, Maryland-Baltimore County, New Hampshire, Stony Brook and Vermont. “This project and partnership provides a great opportunity for America East to make our programs a more safe and respectful place for all student-athletes,” stated Bob Corran, Associate Vice President and Director of Athletics at the University of Vermont.  “By focusing on athletes’ skills, commitment, work ethic, and competitive spirit, we can help eliminate homophobic behavior and attitudes, and challenge the locker-room culture.” You Can Play co-founder Patrick Burke described a comprehensive partnership that will manifest itself on various levels.“In short, this is the full buy-in we’ve been looking for,” Burke told Outsports. “Each school is committing to school-specific LGBT training for every athlete, coach, and administrator, while promising to work with us on bigger culture changes on campus through videos, print ads, in-game announcements, etc…."