By Bill Sheehan
Jay Darden was born and raised in Portland, Oregon, so it's fitting he's become a trailblazer.
Hired in May as the Cal State Fullerton Athletic Department's inaugural assistant athletic director of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, Darden has been given a free hand to develop a program that will serve the sports administrators, coaches and student-athletes. He is believed to be one of the nation's first DEI directors dedicated solely to intercollegiate athletics.
With no templates to guide him, Darden is truly building the program from scratch.
"I'll be honest. Every day has been a challenge. But this is also a great opportunity," said Darden, who was a three-year starting cornerback for Division 2 Western Oregon University. "I can lay the groundwork and say that I created a DEI program at a Division 1 school.
"I want to create a true environment where everyone is accepted. I had times when people would tell me, 'Jay, watch what you say in predominantly white settings.' People shouldn't feel that way. They should be able to be themselves. It's on me to create an environment where student-athletes are being comfortable in who they are."
Jim Donovan, Fullerton's director of athletics, said the school is fortunate to have Darden on board. "Jay has a wealth of knowledge in DEI – both at the collegiate and nonprofit sectors -- and we're excited about how he'll implement plans for the entire department.
"We want all our student-athletes to feel welcome. Jay will be integral in ensuring we have an inclusive environment. The NCAA is looking to have student-athletes receive more support, and Jay will play a big role in helping us do that. In fact, the DEI director position may become required at some point by the NCAA, so we're ahead of the curve with Jay's hiring," said Donovan, who is in his 11th year at Fullerton.
"Titan Athletics is a 'Leadership Laboratory,' and every well-rounded leader for the 21st century needs to have a good understanding of why diversity, equity and inclusion are so important. Jay will lead our efforts to provide specific education so our graduating student-athletes can bring this knowledge with them as they go forward in their lives and careers."
Asked to define what DEI means to him, Darden provided a snapshot view:
--"Institutions promoting diversity want the best of the best from all areas of the populace. They are giving students without the resources a chance to succeed. In turn, that benefits the entire university.
--"Equity doesn't mean equal – it means giving equal access for a particular group or individual, such as what Title 9 has done for women student-athletes.
--"With inclusion, we're striving for balance. We don't want to leave someone out who deserves a chance."
Darden, whose full name is Jeff Darden II, arrived at Fullerton after a 26-month stint as a senior academic advisor at Cal State San Marcos. He has spent the summer meeting with Titan administrators and coaches and learning the ins and outs of campus life.
He formed a DEI committee to assist him. Serving on the panel are Gabriela L. Dupree, academic counselor; Dr. Michael Perez, sociology professor and faculty athletics representative; Monica Todd, assistant track and field coach; and Carolyn Gill, Titan Athletics director of marketing.
The committee held a Zoom meeting this month to discuss the establishment of best practices, mission goals and principles as well as setting up measured outcomes. The panel also discussed launching activities such as having guest speakers, panel discussions and student mixers where student-athletes from across Titan Athletics could exchange thoughts and ideas.
Darden also plans to hold training sessions three times a semester for coaches and athletics staff members.
"We really want to do everything in a meaningful way," said Darden. "Students today are much more comfortable voicing their opinions. Parents and coaches are encouraging students to speak out more, especially when it concerns their mental health. We want to decrease any sense of isolation that might exist among student-athletes."
The committee members also emphasized the importance of keeping the sports DEI efforts aligned with the university's overall DEI efforts.
Cecil Chik, Cal State Fullerton's interim assistant vice president of Diversity, Equity & Inclusion, said Darden can play a major role in promoting DEI.
"In most situations with DEI work, people have a goal blueprint or history attached to it. There is a challenge starting a program from scratch. But it also comes with a level of excitement. You get to pick the material," said Chik.
"Jay will have much autonomy, so his impact on the student-athletes will be great. He will be able to craft a story for our student-athletes. And Jay is not alone. He can lean on our campus community and our blueprint. For us, we aggregate the data looking at things like engagement, graduation and retention, which can start to paint a picture."
Darden's father, Jeff, said his son's life experiences give him an enhanced perspective on what a DEI job is all about.
"From the time he was elementary school – fourth or fifth grade – I took it upon myself to ensure Jay really understood the challenges that minorities and women's face. From an academic and political standpoint, he was really dialed in. In high school. He was involved in Urban League programs and projects like food drives and community work. A lot of those things helped get him interested in diversity and inclusion," said Jeff, who has served as a technology consultant and project manager for Kaiser Permanente, Molina and other healthcare systems.
"Jay is very much a people person who is humorous and very easy to get along with. He has a deep passion for athletics as well as helping athletes to ensure they have the academic background they need for post-school jobs."
Darden's life journey has had many twists and turns. Born to teen-age parents, Darden and his three younger siblings – two sisters and a brother -- were primarily raised by their father Jeff and their paternal grandmother Lucinda Baldwin. "My father was in the Army, and I lived in Hawaii for two years as a kid before we moved to Portland," he said.
A basketball and football letterman at Lincoln High School, Darden graduated in 2002 and enrolled at Western Oregon University in Monmouth.
At Western Oregon University, Jay Darden was three-year starter at cornerback for the Wolves football team.
"In high school, my main objective was to stay eligible. But when I got to college, I applied myself and started to excel. By the time I was an upperclassman, my teammates looked to me for guidance," said Darden, who played four years on the Wolves football team.
"My dad was my first coach. During my college years, he would drive two-hours one way to watch me practice. He has always been there for me, providing support, and we remain very close.
He received a bachelor of science in general education at Western Oregon. Darden was the recipient of a Diversity Scholarship Award and became a member of the Omega Phi Psi Fraternity Inc.
Jay Darden meets up with his father, Jeff, after a Western Oregon football game during his freshman year. "My dad was my first coach. He has always been there for me, providing support," said Darden.
After graduating in 2007, unsure of his next move, he worked for a year as a security guard at Fred Meyer in Portland. "During that time, I was forced to think, 'What am I naturally good at?' I considered becoming a physical education teacher or a football coach. But I didn't really want to teach, and a I needed a break from sports. But I was good at academics and organizing, setting and reaching goals. And I have time management skills, which I got from my dad and his military background."
With the long-range goal of becoming a college athletic director, he enrolled at Seattle University in a two-year master's program in sports administration and leadership. While attending the Jesuit college, he interned as an assistant athletic director at Rainer Beach High School in southeastern Seattle for nearly two years. He also worked as a personal fitness trainer.
Darden received his master's in 2010, but he was unable to launch a path toward an athletic director position. He decided to move to Southern California, first working at a Nike outlet in Ontario Mills shopping center and living with friends in Pasadena.
He learned of an opening for an admissions representative at San Joaquin Valley College, private for-profit institution with multiple locations in California. One of his former Seattle University lecturers convinced him to take the job to gain experience in college administration.
Darden spent two and a half years at the college's Corona satellite, coordinating recruitment activities and quarterly admission goals. And he got his own place to live in Corona.
While working for San Joaquin Valley College, he also did a 10-month internship as an academic mentor for UCLA at-risk football student-athletes during the Jim Mora era.
In later years, he served as a program manager with Executive Fitness in Long Beach, managed a Cal State Dominguez Hills program aimed to improve life and educational outcomes for minority males and was as an education advisor for Volunteers of America Upward Bound Los Angeles.
In 2014, while representing Upward Bound at a work conference in Washington, D.C., he met Rashetta Fairnot, who worked for the FDA. A bicoastal romance ensued.
A year later, Darden returned to Portland for an enrollment services specialist job with QuinStreet, a marketing company. But he wasn't satisfied being back in his hometown.
"Rashetta worked for the FDA in Washington, D.C. I was about 30, and I didn't want to stay home. I decided I would take some chances to further my career and headed to D.C."
He briefly worked at Howard University as a Student Success counselor, advising students and student-athletes on major and course selections as well as analyzing retention-related student data. But for Darden, the turning point was accepting a job with the United Negro College Fund. He spent six years there, managing scholarship programs, interacting with donors, students and department staff.
"They were all black and brown people there, and I had never experienced that before – being able to be myself. I could go in there and not have to code-switch or being my authentic self," said Darden. "I had been taught, when you are in this [predominately while] environment, you must conform."
Code-switching is the ways in which a member of an underrepresented group, consciously or unconsciously, adjusts their language, syntax, grammatical structure, behavior and appearance to fit into the dominant culture.
"Many of the African Americans at UNCF were from Harvard and elite Historically Black Colleges and Universities. They were really sharp and presented really well, which I had never seen in a large setting. I really found myself working there."
His also began a new chapter in his personal life. Darden and Fairnot had a daughter, Raegan, and became engaged. They later married and had a second daughter, Journey. The girls are now 6 ½ and 3 years old.
Rashetta is director of Outreach & Communications for the FDA's Office of Women's Health. She has a bachelor's degree in psychology from Georgia State and a master's in clinical/medical social work, and previously worked for the federal Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services administration.
Darden's desire to explore job opportunities in Southern California brought them to Cal State San Marcos, where he spent just over two years as a senior academic advisor.
"It's been a huge adjustment moving to the West Coast" for the San Marcos and Fullerton jobs, said Rashetta, who was born and raised in Connecticut and later attended high school in Atlanta after a family move. "I've been working remotely since the pandemic started, and my schedule allows me be to be free when my older daughter gets out of school."
The Darden family is getting more familiar with Cal State Fullerton life. Clockwise from top left, Jay, his wife Rashetta and daughters Journey, 3, and Raegan, 6 ½. They reside in Chino.
"The Fullerton job is a dream for Jay. So far, it's been a lot of learning, asking questions and building relationship. He will excel in building and shaping the new program," she said.
Darden hopes his experience as a DEI director will be step toward his longtime goal of becoming a college athletic director. "Right now, I'm focused on DEI. But if I work hard, there might be an opening in the AD lane for me down the line."
He's grateful to Rashetta for allowing him to pursue work at California colleges. "I wouldn't have been able to accept the opportunities without my wife's support. Rashetta had a great situation in D.C., with her friends and family there. And she uprooted everything for me."
"All thanks to her. But she doesn't let me forget it," he said, smiling.
