Sports scholar named fellow at Yale’s new student center
PHOTO | Contributed
Neftalie Williams
A scholar and artist who currently serves as the first-ever U.S. Sports Envoy for Skateboarding has been named a fellow at Yale’s Schwarzman Center, the new student hub funded with a $150 million gift from private equity billionaire Steven Schwarzman.
Neftalie Williams, a sociologist who studies issues of race and equity in action sports, was named a visiting fellow in Race, Culture & Community. At Yale, Williams is charged with shaping programs at the Schwarzman Center “rooted within New Haven and its culturally diverse communities,” according to a university statement.
As the first Sports Envoy for Skateboarding for the U.S. Department of State, Williams introduced the concept of skateboarding as a tool for cultural diplomacy in international projects with Syrian refugees and young people in Cambodia and Cuba.
Williams will also help organize a New Haven skateboarding festival now in development for 2022-23.
“As a scholar, artist, activist, diplomat and skateboarder, Neftalie breaks boundaries by blending identity, arts and sports, making him an exciting addition to the YSC community,” said Schwartzman Center Executive Director Garth Ross.
The Schwartzman Center, slated to open this fall at the corner of Grove and College streets on the Yale campus, was renovated in recent years to house an expansive cafeteria, a bar, a dance studio and art galleries.
Schwarzman’s support for former President Donald Trump raised controversy on campus about his role in the center, but Yale President Peter Salovey reaffirmed the new facility’s name earlier this year.
Contact Liese Klein at lklein@newhavenbiz.com
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