FAYETTEVILLE — Some athletes at the University of Arkansas will wear jerseys that include the word "equality" stitched into the uniform top this season.
UA athletics director Hunter Yurachek told the UA Board of Trustees on Thursday that representatives from the Razorbacks' Student-Athlete Advisory Committee and African-American Athlete Leadership Council requested to wear the patches. The patches will also include the Razorback logo and the outline of the state of Arkansas.
The NCAA passed legislation earlier this year that allows players to express viewpoints on the front or back of their jerseys, similar to the NBA.
"What I asked our student leadership groups to do was to come forward to me with something that was not divisive, not controversial, and I think they nailed it," Yurachek told trustees. "How they defined equality: Equality is about ensuring every individual — regardless of race, gender, religious beliefs or sexual orientation — has an equal opportunity to make the most of their lives or talents."
According to the NCAA, patches on the front of a jersey cannot exceed 2 ¼ square inches. Athletes are not required to wear the patches, but patches that are worn must be identical throughout a team.
Yurachek said the patches will first appear on the Razorbacks' men's and women's cross country uniforms during a meet at LSU, and on the soccer team's uniforms for a home game against LSU. All of those competitions are scheduled for Saturday.
"We’ve told our players, ‘If that’s something you’re not comfortable with, cool, let us know. I will have your back either way. This is not about me telling you something you should or shouldn’t believe, this is about your ability to use this platform if you want,'" Arkansas soccer coach Colby Hale said.
"And to be quite frank, we have a lot of players who don’t necessarily see this as an opportunity. They want to play soccer, and that’s cool, too.”
Hale said it is important to athletes to have an outlet to express their views, but he understands the perspective of those who prefer social issues be left out of sports. He said he hopes the term "equality" can be appreciated by everyone.
"I mean, certainly we stand for that," Hale said. "That’s something that we believe in and I’m glad our players are passionate about that."
In addition to the patches, athletes across the SEC will wear on-field warm-up shirts that read, "Together it just means more," prior to their season-opening events. In a statement, SEC commissioner Greg Sankey said the shirts give athletes an opportunity "to have a positive influence on our society."