Monica Harrison is the Carnegie Mellon University Head Softball Coach and NCAA Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee. She was named the program’s inaugural head coach in 2017 and the team began play in the spring of 2019. She earned her bachelor’s degree in economics with a concentration in sociology, and minors in legal studies and African-American studies from Bucknell University, where she was a four-year letter-winner, earning National Fastpitch Association and Patriot League all-academic honors. She recently penned a story for the NFCA Fastpitch Delivery.

The UAA “Conversations About Race and Racism” series seeks to lift the voices of people of color and recognize the challenges faced in both athletics and academics at the collegiate level. By sharing personal stories, we hope to elevate the conversation about race to raise awareness and bring about change.

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Over the past few months with all that is going on in our nation, Harrison has reflected on her experiences to try to understand how we got where we are today. In order for her to be able to articulate a response to her team, her family, and her young children, she first had to come to terms with her own experiences and how she has dealt with things in the past and what needs to be done in the future to bring about change. She has concluded that all actions — small and large — have lead us to this inflection points and all experiences must be discussed to promote growth towards a better future.

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