INDIANAPOLIS – The Illinois State swimming & diving team junior standout Eva Reyes has been selected to represent ISU at the prestigious 2024 NCAA Inclusion Forum to be held in Indianapolis from April 24-26 at the Hyatt Regency Indianapolis.
Reyes will participate in the inaugural Student-Athlete Symposium, to be held in conjunction with the 2024 Inclusion Forum. Student-athletes will participate in programming to engage, equip, and empower them to actively participate and contribute to the DEIB initiatives within their teams, in their athletic departments, on their campuses and in their communities.
"We are extremely proud that Eva was selected to represent Illinois State and her fellow Redbird student-athletes at the inaugural Student-Athlete Symposium as part of the NCAA Inclusion Forum," ISU Interim Director of Athletics Dr. Jeri Beggs said. "This will be a tremendous opportunity for her to hear from inspiring keynote speakers and learn alongside other talented student-athletes from all over the country. NCAA sponsored events like these can have a lasting impact on attendees, and we cannot wait to hear what Eva brings back with her after the conclusion of the symposium."
The NCAA Inclusion Forum will bring together leaders within higher education and intercollegiate athletics, including student-athletes, to engage in powerful programming and enhance efforts on diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging initiatives. Educational programming focuses on each of the office of inclusion's five core areas of disability, international, LGBTQ, race/ethnicity and women.
The forum will also include panels with keynote speakers, including South Carolina National Champion head coach Dawn Staley, award-winning ESPN basketball analyst and host LaChina Robinson, Professor of Business/Hip Hop/Sport at Central Florida Dr. C. Keith Harrison and Op-Ed Columnist for the Los Angeles Times and ABC News Contributor, LZ Granderson.
"I'm extremely excited and honored to represent ISU and all the Redbirds in such an important event," Reyes said. "I can't wait to learn from all the amazing speakers and meet student-athletes from around the country. I'm eager to bring back as much as I can to ISU."
Reyes recently finished a stellar junior season, which saw her win the Missouri Valley Conference 1M Dive championship for the third straight season. With that win, she became the second diver in program history and just the third diver in MVC history to win three-straight 1M dive titles, joining ISU Athletics Percy Family Hall of Famer Krystal Featherston (2003-2005) and Southern Illinois' Sherry Zhang (2014-2016). The Tijuana, Mexico, native earned First Team All-MVC honors in 1M and 3M boards for the third-straight season and qualified to be a NCAA Diving Zones participant in both diving events for the third straight year.
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