新澳门六合彩内幕信息

Brittney Griner鈥檚 Storytelling Shines at Chancellor鈥檚 Colloquium

New Book 鈥楥oming Home鈥 Details Russian Incarceration, Prisoner Exchange

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Standing on top of an illuminated theater stage are two people. To the left, a man in a blue suit smiles and look at his notes while on the right a woman in a dark blue suit is standing and pressing her right hand to her left, honoring the standing ovation she is receiving. The man on the left is Chancellor Gary S. May. The woman on the right is his guest, Brittney Griner. Silhouettes of a standing ovation are present in the bottom of the photo.
Brittney Griner is the guest at the Chancellors Colloquium with Chancellor Gary May on November 3, 2024. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

Olympic gold medalist and WNBA all-star Brittney Griner received a standing ovation at the Mondavi Center Sunday (Nov. 3) after talking with Chancellor Gary S. May about her time in a Russian prison, her release via prisoner swap, her upbringing and more.

Her visit to campus was part of the Chancellor鈥檚 Colloquium Distinguished Speaker Series, and was in support of Griner's new book, Coming Home.

Chancellor May noted in his introduction that Griner鈥檚 book 鈥渄etails the campaign that finally brought her home. Her story is one of faith, survival and unbreakable bonds.鈥

In an engaging and thoughtful conversation, Griner described growing up in Houston, Texas, as a self-proclaimed 鈥渃ountry girl鈥 who considered her parents her heroes. Her father served as a police officer while her mother 鈥渉ad the hardest job鈥 raising Griner and her siblings. Griner grew up idolizing not basketball players, but pro skateboarder Tony Hawk, dreaming of riding half pipes on a skateboard. She didn鈥檛 discover basketball until the ninth grade, when Griner 鈥渉ad to give up the short tights鈥 of volleyball for hoops. 

Though Griner initially thought she鈥檇 follow her dad鈥檚 footsteps by enlisting in the armed forces and eventually becoming a police officer, her athletic career took flight when she went viral in highschool uploading a video of herself slam dunking to her YouTube channel, generating over one million views. She graduated Baylor with a bachelor鈥檚 of science degree in education and joined the WNBA鈥檚 Phoenix Mercury, for whom she still plays, earning a WNBA championship in 2014. 

Two individual are seated in chairs on an illuminated theater stage. On the left in a light blue suit with their legs crossed in Chancellor Gary May. On the right is Brittney Griner, sitting in a dark blue suit, facing the Chancellor with her hands near her chest.
Brittney Griner in conversation with Chancellor May at the Mondavi Center (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

On Coming Home

May and Griner then discussed Griner鈥檚 new book, Coming Home.

Earlier in the event, Jeremy Ganter, executive director of the Mondavi Center, had noted the many 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis student groups in attendance, including the Cross Cultural Center, LGBTQIA+ Resource Center, Center for African American Student Success, King Hall Black Law Student Association and the entire 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis women鈥檚 basketball team. They and the rest of the crowd fell silent as Griner detailed her daily experiences of her Russian nine-year prison sentence that began upon her arrest in February 2022 until her sentence was commuted upon her release in December 2022.

Griner described how she 鈥渃ouldn't tell this story [while] hurt鈥 and needed time to psychologically heal from her incarceration before attempting to share her story. She described her living condition in Russian prisons as 鈥渇ilthy鈥 with 鈥渂lood stains on the sheets鈥 given to prisoners, who were forced to watch and listen to state propaganda on TV monitors. Griner spent upwards of 23 hours of her day with a fellow inmate in a small cell that she said was barely bigger than the two small area rugs decorating the Jackson Hall stage. She also described later working in Russian penal colonies. Seeing a sunset as a free person led Griner to remember seeing it from behind prison bars.

Still, Griner noted that when she was detained, she was traveling to Russia to play and fulfill her commitment to her Russian league teammates at UMMC Ekaterinburg, and how the team had 鈥減rovided for my family to live a comfortable life.鈥

A crowdsourced Q&A session followed, with attendees able to submit questions to Griner digitally. Questions included the growth and future of the WNBA and the new domestic league Unrivaled, a player-owned 3-on-3 league enabling women to stay in-market and not play overseas during the WNBA offseason. Griner identified her toughest opponent as the now-retired Sylvia Fowles, and shared lessons she learned from teammate and WNBA icon, Diana Taurasi, on how to balance being a professional athlete with life at home with her wife and newborn son. She also addressed the pressures of being a highly visible queer athlete in the public eye and encouraged the captive audience to exercise their civil right to vote in this year鈥檚 election.

Amidst her many experiences and challenges, Griner鈥檚 message to the audience, particularly students, was clear.

鈥淒on鈥檛 change yourself for anyone,鈥 Griner said. 鈥淏e your authentic self.鈥

A young woman in a grey puffy coat is taking a selfie with Brittney Griner who is standing with her hands crossed in a dark blue suit.
Brittney Griner also spent time with the 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis Women's Basketball team. Chance Sims, a team manager, snapped a selfie. (Gregory Urquiaga/新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis)

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Jos茅 Vadi is a writer for Dateline 新澳门六合彩内幕信息 Davis, and can be reached by email.

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