Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars left reinvigorated after visit to MLB HQ

NEW YORK -- Often when Major League Baseball hosts college students at its headquarters, the room is filled with bright-eyed young people pursuing a career in sports. Last Friday’s event, however, had a broader goal.

As part of the Jackie Robinson Foundation Scholars program’s annual Mentoring and Leadership Conference, MLB hosted a sponsor luncheon for a group of scholars who are majoring in a wide variety of fields and not necessarily seeking to work in sports directly.

But, as senior vice president of corporate social responsibility April Brown noted, there are many “traditional” business departments like law and finance at MLB, just like any other company. One of the league’s key CSR pillars is to invest in young people regardless of any affiliation to baseball or sports in general. That mission, combined with MLB’s strong connection to Jackie Robinson, makes it a perfect fit to sponsor the scholars.

“Each and every year, we carry out his legacy in all of the work that we do within communities,” Brown said. “But this really speaks to the legacy of the Robinson family, setting up young people for success, ensuring they have the resources that they need while they're in their college journey, and being able to pour into them as they continue that.”

The JRF Scholars program is a four-year college scholarship that supports college students who demonstrate financial need, academic excellence and interest in community leadership. MLB has been a program sponsor since 2012, and the 33 scholars it hosted on Friday represented the 30 MLB clubs and the league office.

These scholars hail from schools nationwide, from Ivy League institutions like Brown University to HBCUs like Spelman College and Howard University. Most of Friday’s attendees were sophomores in their second of four years in the program. They represented over 25 different majors, including public health, professional pilot/aviation management and even viola performance.

Throughout the day, both Brown and the scholars spoke about how an important part of Robinson’s legacy was his multifaceted work after his playing career. From becoming a VP of Chock Full O’Nuts to working as a civil rights activist and political advisor, Robinson’s post-baseball life had many layers of impact.

“He was one of the early trailblazers, not only in terms of being a Black athlete, but showing that we can do it all,” said Johnathan Dye, a JRF Scholar from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

Friday’s festivities began with remarks from Brown and MLB director of community affairs Kevin Moss. Scholars then helped themselves to a hearty lunch of pasta, meatballs and salad before enjoying a keynote presentation from Edward Acuna, director of social sponsorships at MLB.

He gave the scholars an inside look at MLB’s social media strategy, how his group approaches celebrity partners and how MLB’s social accounts strive to celebrate baseball as part of broader culture. The presentation was lively and interactive, including a “Drake vs. Kendrick Lamar” poll that ignited some energetic debate. (Kendrick was the clear winner.)

Acuna made room for many thoughtful questions from the scholars, as nearly all of them use social media -- even if they aren’t pursuing it as a career. Those questions ranged from inquiries about how MLB uses data to inform content decisions to how the league’s social channels promote up-and-coming players alongside superstars. One overarching message throughout the presentation was about the importance of showcasing the players authentically and staying true to their genuine personalities and interests.

With the conference theme of “Building on the Past, Designing Our Future” in mind, the scholars took away valuable lessons about creating social media content in a business setting and how to build their personal brand moving forward.

“Social media is not my field,” said Camille Owen, a JRF Scholar studying at San Diego State. “But as a consumer of the media that he is producing, I think that it was incredible to hear his answer to my question about the inclusivity of the players that maybe aren't in the spotlight, and how he touched on how important that was.”

Owen also spoke fondly about the networking opportunities and connections that the scholarship has given her, a sentiment echoed by other scholars. With the pressure of paying for college alleviated by the scholarship, she has been able to fully dedicate herself to her kinesiology major. While sports medicine isn’t necessarily a field found at the league office, as a lifelong Padres fan, getting a behind-the-scenes look at MLB HQ was a dream come true.

“I bet you no one in my school can say that they've been to MLB headquarters,” Owen said with a smile. “My dad is also super interested, so I'm gonna go call him after this.”

Perhaps the biggest cheer of the day came when, right before a scheduled office tour, Moss announced that all the scholars would receive $100 vouchers courtesy of MLB to shop in the flagship store. That shopping spree closed out the afternoon, as the scholars sifted through merchandise of their favorite teams and players, and took selfies while trying on hats.

It was a spirited event all around. As Dye put it, at the conference, the scholars learn not only from Jackie Robinson and the sponsors, but also from each other. Seeing “the power behind everyone’s mind” can be quite invigorating for a motivated student among like-minded peers.

“Every time I get back to school [from the conference],” Dye said, “I'm hungrier than ever, I'm ready to get after it, and it's such an incredible feeling I couldn't even describe.”