Re: ‘Playing volleyball here was a nightmare’: Inside the Dartmouth women’s volleyball team’s culture
As current members of the women’s volleyball team, we were contacted at 10:10 p.m. on Thursday, April 16 by a reporter from The Dartmouth concerning the recent article about our team. The article was published the following Friday morning, less than 10 hours after we were contacted. In her text message, the reporter gave us a midnight deadline to comment or decline to comment. We declined to comment. We were blindsided by the fact that an article was being written about our team, and we believe the decision to contact us last minute was intentional and designed to either evoke an emotional response or depict us as voiceless and scared. We are neither.
This article cannot claim to be “inside the Dartmouth women’s volleyball team’s culture” without giving all current members a legitimate chance to comment. If the reporter wished to account for all perspectives, we would have been given the fair opportunity to comment.
We do not wish to be spoken for by former members of the team, so we are speaking now. Everyone is entitled to share their own experiences, and we are doing the same. We have not experienced “bullying” or a “psychologically unsafe” environment under Coach Kevin Campbell. We chose, and continue to choose, to play for her because we believe in her ability as a coach and her vision for our team. We have always felt safe under Coach Kevin’s leadership, and we believe she genuinely cares for us not only as student athletes, but as people.
Sincerely,
The Dartmouth Volleyball Class of 2029
Zori Brown ’29
Riley Imamura ’29
Elle McCreery ’29
Annika Roberson ’29
Julia York ’29
Zori Brown’29, Riley Imamura ’29 and Elle McCreery ’29 are members of the Dartmouth women’s volleyball team. Guest columns represent the views of their author(s), which are not necessarily those of The Dartmouth.
