Pitt's Heather Lyke hopes schools can 'lift' student-athletes' voices

In a time of social injustice and student-athletes developing a voice in response, Heather Lyke said Tuesday universities “need to be there to lift it.”

“Our student-athletes need to have a voice if they want to have a voice,” she said Tuesday on 93.7 FM. “A lot of us need to listen and learn what they’ve been through and what they are going through.”

She said Pitt has reached out to student-athletes and their parents. She said the Panthers United Group, consisting of student-athletes and staff members, was formed to discuss current issues, develop plans and “focus on equity and inclusion.”

“It may be uncomfortable at first, but the more you talk about it, the less uncomfortable it is and, frankly, the more understanding we will have for one another,” Lyke said. “It will be an important topic that does not go away in our athletic department or our university.”

She also said she met with football coach Pat Narduzzi and his staff about recent criticism from former players on his use of the word “thug.”

“Coach addressed it as he would always do, just right head-on, honestly and candidly,” she said. “And from an understanding that language will not be used in our building or in our program. I’m confident of that.

“I think it opened the doors to an opportunity for him to meet with all the student-athletes and talk these things through. Kids want to express themselves. Young people have a need and a desire and an opportunity that we need to provide them.

“(Narduzzi) handled it as well as possible. When he says, ‘We don’t tolerate things,’ we don’t tolerate things.”