ROME – (Staff Report from Official News Release) – BIG EAST Conference Commissioner Val Ackerman was joined by representatives from four BIG EAST member schools at the recent International “Sport for All” summit held on September 29-30 in Vatican City. More than 250 participants from 40 countries participated in the event, which brought together international federations, professional sports leagues, governmental officials, faith-based organizations, non-profits, media companies, corporations, and educational institutions. The purpose of the Summit was to promote the social and inclusive dimensions of sport in society and to encourage sports programs that foster human, educational and spiritual growth.
The Summit featured remarks by His Holiness Pope Francis and International Olympic Committee President Thomas Bach, both of whom spoke to the power of sports to promote solidarity, global peace and positive social change. In prepared remarks, Pope Francis encouraged the participants to “make sport a home for everyone, something open and welcoming” and noted that “the Church supports you in this educational and social commitment.”
The Summit concluded with the release of a “Declaration of Sport,” which outlined the goals of developing sports programs that are cohesive, accessible and tailored to each person, including the socioeconomically disadvantaged, young people, refugees and migrants, women and girls, and persons with physical and intellectual disabilities.
Ackerman, who moderated two of the Summit’s working group sessions, was joined by Marquette’s Kate Braasch (Chief of Presidential Affairs), Sarah Bobert (Executive Associate Athletic Director – Internal Operations/SWA) and Matt Mitten (Professor of Law and Executive Director, National Sports Law Institute); Seton Hall’s Renee Robinson (Interim Dean, College of Communication and the Arts) and Jane McManus (Executive Director, Center for Sports Media); Georgetown’s Debora Tonelli (the university’s representative in Rome); and Creighton’s Max Engel (Associate Professor, Department of Theology).
The Summit was an outgrowth of “Sport at the Service of Humanity: The First Global Conference on Faith and Sport” held at the Vatican in October 2016, for which Ackerman served as an advisory member. That event was followed by three U.S.- based, invitation-only, Sport at the Service of Humanity (SSH) conferences exploring similar themes, held at Villanova University (2017), Loyola Marymount University (2018) and Georgetown University (2019).
“The BIG EAST was honored to be included in the Vatican’s Sport For All Summit, the goals of which align perfectly with the mission of our schools to develop the athletic, academic and spiritual dimensions of our student-athletes and to bring the many societal benefits of sports to our greater campus communities,” said Ackerman.