Legacy Over
Image
Noor Ahmed
sport:
year:
major:
hometown:
Women's Golf
Senior
History
Folsom, California
Noor Ahmed is a senior on the women’s golf team here at UNL. Originally from Sacramento California, Ahmed is an Egyptian American with dual citizenship in both the U.S. and Egypt.
As a member of MSAC, Ahmed is part of the group that sent out the Legacy Over Image letter to ask for more diversity, representation, and equity within Nebraska Athletics, and organized the rally to promote the voices of minority student-athletes.
“I’ve definitely been called racial slurs on campus and sometimes even at golf courses,” Ahmed said. “But as soon as they find out that you're an athlete, that kind of attitude changes, they become much more respectful.”
Interactions like these were also one of the main drives in establishing MSAC.
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“What I hear from a lot of athletes, especially athletes of color is that, I’m not respected as a human being.” Ahmed said. “We know that being a student-athlete is an honor and something that we’ve earned, but we want to walk outside and know that we’re being respected because we’re human beings, and not necessarily just because they recognize us from our games or tournaments.”
Ahmed is one of the co-writers for the letter that sparked the Legacy Over Image Movement. She points out the importance of putting the legacy of minority student-athletes over the image of the athletics department.
“The [Legacy Over Image] hashtag was basically saying... we need to think about our legacy and what we’re leaving behind to the next generation instead of what our images are in that moment,” Ahmed said. “I feel like sometimes really large and really respected athletic departments don’t want to tarnish what they feel is a good image, and sometimes it prevents us from building a great legacy.”