Nick Thomas (Football) joins Mark Packer and Taylor Tannenbaum on ACC PM to discuss Boston College’s civic engagement programming during ACC UNITY Week
College speaking of the whole Unity week for the ACC Nick Thomas from Boston College joins us Nick first of all great having you on the program we appreciate the time uh Unity week all right uh what are we doing working with the community up there in the beautiful Boston area
Big picture because I know you got a big smile on your face with this one um yeah so uh it’s been first of all thank you guys so much for having me here it’s truly a pleasure um so for us we have a lot of different activities
That we can do and we have a lot of groups that are involved so we have about 12 groups here at BC and luckily and happily I’m a part of the eboard for four of them which is sack which is our student athlete advisory committee BMI which is our black mes Initiative for
Our black student male student athletes e4e which is equal for equality which is a very important group for us because that’s when we get the most engagement and then campus school which I’m a part of with through Joshua bman who is part of our team who helped me get involved
With that so for this week we doing a lot of Engagement with each other having setting a lot of meetings with each other making sure that we can Branch out and do better for our community and understand that we’re all inclusive we’re all together and that the Times
Like These really matter the most when you want to make a change for the future Nick I know uh that the educational experience at BC is no joke there are no corners being cut there I know football is important for you too which we’ll get
To later on but man you got a Full Slate don’t you I mean to have four events like that that are going on which I know are timec consuming and that’s from the heart too that’s the kind of stuff you just say me I can’t you know I’m just
Going to make time for that to happen how difficult is it scheduling all this together because I got to figure man you are going 200 miles an hour here um usually I would say it’s a little difficult but in this caseo we’ve been planting this out for so long so it
Makes it feel natural for me to be able to manage all these things at once and when it comes to it it’s biger bigger than I am it’s bigger than our football progam is it’s bigger than BC it’s about what we want to do to better the world
And better us each other so it’s not that difficult for me and I truly enjoy these moments like these I love it man you beat all those little kids in that game you didn’t let any of them win well I was I was trying to be nice
And I was trying to let them win but then they started smack talking back and forth for me so I was like okay uh I’m I gotta let my competitive side take over a little bit welcome to real world baby once that smack talk was happening is
Like hey all the gloves are coming off right we’re we’re going to play for real game’s on right it’s the way it go yes sir the life lesson I I’m so bad at that game because my attention span is is very small Civic engagement is the theme
For a Unity week around the ACC and obviously that involves the initiative to go out there vote have your voice heard because as you mentioned these are things that pan out for the future and determine what the future looks like uh for you you why do you feel like voting
And and Civic engagement and preaching that to people is so important well I feel that athletes around the country we put in a lot to our craft and what we do and in order for us to get the recognition that we deserve and understand that we are here
Not for only ourselves but for our families and for future Generations who want to follow on our footsteps we need to have that voice and have a change within what we want to do so for me it’s it’s important for me to use my platform
Use my voice in any way shape or form possible so that kids who grew up like I did or kids who have aspirations to go to the next level for college for sports they understand okay he did it he’s using his platform to do this so how can
I be better and make a difference now and starts doing that change for few later on you know Nick it’s interesting uh the position that we’re in we have a chance to interview Unity week student athletes for the last couple years whether be the Packer and durm show or
This one and it’s always interesting to me regardless of who we’re talking to uh to see how natural it is for that student athlete to feel that hey giving back is part of the gig where did this start for you was this was this something from Mom Dad or was this
Something that you just said hey you know what this is what I need to be doing where’s it come from it it comes from my parents they raised me to be the man I am today and I’m so grateful for them they’ve raised me to show compassion and show honesty with others
And be there for other people and show that yes sometimes it’s okay to put yourself first but at the end of the day we’re Collective we’re a society and as as Society we want to betterle ourselves and move forward so how can I contribute
To that in my own way well said for you you got to do the unity Tour last summer which I know a lot of ACC student athletes get to do that I was you a couple of football players some other athletes from uh the Boston College
Campus and you got to go to Washington DC and and learn a ton what did you take from that experience I was able to take away that connections can go so far in life because I met so many people from other schools in the ACC that I built a
Connection with and relationship with that I talked to to this day actually we have own little group chat and to hear them telling me like what they’re doing with their school and how they’re getting engaged and involved and making all these events happen it’s it’s really
Inspiring to me to be that voice from my school and to try and change the dynamic up here here as well cuz when I hear what they’re doing there at their schools and how they’re feeling it’s it changes the whole culture there and I want to do the same thing here in Boston
Nick we got about a minute before we have to go to break I’d be remissive if I didn’t ask you a football question Bill LeBron’s a new man in charge have you had a chance to see coach and really what’s the vibe right now around BC
Football um I’ve had a chance to see coach I got a chance to meet with him and talk to him and he’s honestly a great guy we’re looking forward to moving on and and we wish coach halfy the best but we’re ready to move on and
We’re ready for for the future we want to have this next season to turn things around and just keep an eye out for us because we’re gonna be coming ready and prepared because Bill Oyen got us and we got him yeah I have no doubt about that
We’re big fans of Jeff affley we you know wish him the very best of the Green Bay but you’re getting a guy with NFL experience guys coached at Penn State’s coached at Alabama and you know what he’s a tough guy and I know how you guys
Got that mindset up there at VC about being tough and physical I think he’s going to fit in just perfectly listen keep up the great work away from the classroom in the classroom and on the field and we appreciate you joining us today thank you guys so much for having
Me have a great day you got
