EAST STROUDSBURG – East Stroudsburg University has announced the introduction of a 12-part speaker series entitled, "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in College Athletics: A Call to Action".
The monthly speakers' series, which will begin on March 18 at 7:00 p.m., will run through February 2022. Every month will feature a guest speaker, with ESU alumnus and Warriors' men's basketball assistant coach Muhamadou Kaba '15 kicking off the campaign.
The speaker series, which will begin on Zoom, is open to everyone inside and outside the ESU community. Each presentation will last approximately 20 to 30 minutes and will offer an opportunity for viewers to submit questions through the chat function. Each installation of the series will be recorded and will be made available to watch on-demand. Zoom links for each presentation will be made available on ESUWarriors.com/DEI.
"We are excited to announce our new speakers' series entitled "Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in College Athletics: A Call to Action," said Dr. Gary R. Gray, Director of Athletics. "We are equally excited to announce our first speaker for this 12-part series will be ESU assistant men's basketball coach, Muhamadou Kaba. Coach Kaba is one of the top assistant basketball coaches in the country and has been publicly recognized as such. We are very much looking forward to his thoughts concerning this important topic in today's world."
In his four seasons on the men's basketball coaching staff, Kaba has helped the Warriors to an 86-34 record including a pair of trips to the NCAA Division II tournament and a pair of PSAC East regular season championships. In 2018, he helped guide ESU to its fourth-ever PSAC Championship and its only NCAA Atlantic Region Championship in program history.
"I'm honored and excited to be a part of the Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion in College Athletics speaker series here at ESU," said Kaba. "I look forward to sharing my perspective on where we are now in our society and sharing my personal experiences as a black man in college athletics."
Kaba has been honored nationally multiple times throughout his coaching tenure in the Poconos. In 2020, he was named as one of the top Division II men's basketball assistant coaches in the country by the Minority Coaches Association (MCA) and was recognized as one the "50 impactful Division II Assistants" by Silver Waves Media. In Spring 2018, he was one of just six Division II coaches to be recognized on the National Association of Basketball Coaches "30-Under-30" list.
As a student-athlete at ESU, Kaba was a four-year letterwinner from 2011-15 and a member of two PSAC Championship teams. He also played on three straight NCAA Tournament teams, and his 2013-14 squad finished with a 30-2 record, marking a program high for victories. He served as a co-captain of the men's' basketball team and was member of the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee during his undergraduate career.
