Is sport bigger than competition?

What does it mean to be an athlete?

For Arshay Cooper — a former athlete whose story has become a national example of how sport can transform lives and communities — the answer goes far beyond wins and losses. It’s a belief shared by an Arizona State University faculty member in the School of Historical, Philosophical and Religious Studies, who argues that sport is one of the most powerful social forces we have.

According to Victoria Jackson, a sports historian and director of two initiatives at ASU — the Sports at Humanities Institute and the Great Game Lab — sport is much bigger than a little friendly competition. Her work explores how the games we play (and watch) reveal deep truths about the communities — local, national and global — in which we live.

“Sports are one of our last standing public squares,” Jackson says. “Sports bring people from diverse backgrounds and experiences together to learn from and about each other, do the messy work of democracy, and emote together and form unexpected bonds

"There’s a vulnerability in sport that makes us more empathetic and caring: People are doing a hard thing and trying their very hardest to achieve ... and they might fail, publicly, while trying very hard at that very hard thing. There's something very raw and emotional about that, and there's a goodness that has the potential to be leveraged for broader societal goodness in all those raw, sweet emotions.”

Despite all of this, Jackson says she feels that the conversation around sports over the past decade has been increasingly about business, making money and building one’s brand. To counter the conversation, she and Sports at Humanities Institute launched the annual community service award to celebrate what has been the heart of American sport for generations: service, community and volunteering.

On Wednesday, Jan. 21, the Sports at Humanities Institute will celebrate Cooper — a former athlete turned author, advocate and community leader — as the recipient of its annual community service award, honoring a career defined by service, inclusion and the belief that sport can change lives.

A rower, bestselling and award-winning author, two-time Golden Oar recipient for his
contributions to the sport of rowing, and motivational speaker, Cooper grew up in a tough neighborhood on the West Side of Chicago in the 1990s. When he noticed a boat and poster encouraging students to “join the crew team” in the school lunchroom, he took a chance by joining the nation’s first all-Black rowing team where he learned resilience, unity and the power of doing things unafraid.

The experience changed his life so much that it became the subject of his first book, “A Most Beautiful Thing," which was later developed into an award-winning documentary — and then, a movement.

Cooper founded a nonprofit organization — A Most Beautiful Thing Inclusion Fund — dedicated to supporting dozens of rowing programs in the United States, making the sport accessible for young athletes of color, students from lower income brackets and individuals for whom rowing seems inconceivable. Most recently, he published a memoir, "Let Me Be Real With You: Inspiring Lessons on Living a Life of Service."

In her nomination letter, Elizabeth Manley, chair and professor of history at Xavier University of Louisiana, says Cooper is "a model of a life lived in service to others. ... Across the past decade, Cooper has become a leading light of change in our sport by calling people in at a time when the tendency has been to call out and create division."

An active member of the rowing community, Manley will present Cooper with the community service award at the ceremony, where Cooper will deliver a special keynote and engage in conversation with her and Jackson about his work. A reception and book signing will follow.

“Cooper extends an invitation to all to commit to a life lived in service to others," Jackson says, "and while this is a timely message for our society generally, I believe it is especially so for the sports world.”

Watch a special message from Arshay Cooper on Instagram.