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While President Donald Trump signed executive orders to strip diversity, equity, inclusion and accessibility programs from the federal government, Aretha Fuqua traveled to Atlanta to accept the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion award on behalf of the West Louisville Tennis Club at the United States Tennis Association Southern Division awards presentation.

USTA Southern considers diversity, equity and inclusion efforts essential to the sport's growth. "We are committed to ensuring that people of all backgrounds have access to and feel authentically welcome in the game and business of tennis," it reads on their website.

Fuqua, who has a doctorate in education, is the president of the West Louisville Tennis Club -- a more than 100-year-old organization whose home is the historic Chickasaw Park in Louisville, Kentucky. Frederick Law Olmsted designed Chickasaw Park in 1923, and it is believed to be the only park designed by the Olmsted firm specifically for the Black community during segregation. Chickasaw Park is also where the young Louisville native Muhammad Ali trained, and the park even has a dedicated butterfly and bee pollinator meadow in Ali's honor.

Because West Louisville Tennis Club's history was rooted in segregation, they became known as "the Black club," Fuqua said, but that was a title they didn't want to carry. The club wanted to be more inclusive, so they set a mission to welcome people from all walks of life who were interested in the sport. They also developed youth programming to focus on "character development of our youth," Fuqua said.

Summer clinics for kids are free with West Louisville Tennis Club. No equipment is necessary. The club provides kids with rackets, balls and whatever else they might need to participate. Kids can even play in the junior tennis league and compete in tournaments.

"We don't really care where the kids come from," Fuqua said. "We're going to love them anyway."

Chickasaw Park has 12 tennis courts, six of which need repair. Working with Olmsted Park Conservancy, they are raising funds for those repairs so they can continue to maximize the efforts of the tennis club for the benefit of the community.

"The West Louisville Tennis Club members are our eyes and ears of Chickasaw Park," said Jesse Hendrix-Inman, director of communications for Olmsted Parks Conservancy, which was established to restore, enhance and protect Louisville's Olmsted Park System. "The West Louisville Tennis Club is one of our most vital partner organizations," she added. "They have shaped the history of the park and we consult with the club's leadership to ensure that our park stewardship and improvements honor that history."

Fuqua says that intergenerational relationships in the community have been lost over time. So through tennis, the club connects kids with community elders. "It's got to be bigger than us," she said of the club's DEI efforts. "We want to be able to pull in these kids from everywhere, while we have the resources, so that we can get them started on a good path." Kids getting to communicate with older club members is beneficial for everyone.

Fuqua is on to something. Marc Freedman writes of his research for Greater Good Magazine that "when younger and older connect, the intergenerational relationships built are a route to success in early life and a key to happiness and well-being in our later years."

The outreach and connection happening in Louisville's historic Chickasaw Park matters not just for the West Louisville Tennis Club, but for the community and the future of the kids who participate.

The irony of the timing of the West Louisville Tennis Club's Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Champion award is not lost on Fuqua. In her acceptance speech, she noted Trump's attempt to mandate the elimination of DEI: "You can't legislate or mandate morality." Fuqua said, "Just do the right thing, because that's simply what it's all about. It's treating people the way that you want to be treated. So you can call it 'tomato,' you can call it 'tomahto,' but we're still going to be doing it here in Chickasaw Park."

To support the restoration of the tennis courts in historic Chickasaw Park, make a donation at www.olmstedparks.org/donate/.

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