Case of Interest Divergence: An Athletic Department’s Anti-racist Book Club

In this article, we present the implementation and eventual dissolution of anti-racist programming within one athletic department as an exemplar case. The anti-racist programming represented the potential of a counter-hegemonic effort to disrupt White supremacy in athletic organizations. It also represented a unique partnership between faculty and athletic practitioners. Throughout, we share the larger context in which the case emerged, discuss the challenges and opportunities in designing and implementing the anti-racist programming, and describe how and why the programming and partnership dissolved. Our accounts and observations are framed through the critical race theories of interest convergence, divergence, and imperialist reclamation (Bell, 1980; Guinier, 2004; Nishi, 2022). We conclude with implications for higher education activists interested in engaging in similar efforts at their institutions.