Black History Month Spotlight: Robert Carlisle

During Black History Month, App State Athletics highlights some of the accomplishments and perspectives of coaches, administrators and staff who serve as role models for our student-athletes.

Today we hear from Robert Carlisle, App State’s director of athletics for student-athlete development. He, his wife, Ebony, and their two children have been in Boone since 2022, after serving as an academic advisor and guidance counselor at Texas A&M from 2014-21. A native of Detroit, Carlisle was a two-time Division II champion football player at Grand Valley State University in Allendale, Mich.

Q: Describe your role in App State Athletics.

Carlisle: My role in athletics is technically as an individual who helps student-athletes develop outside of their field. I help implement programming that focuses on professional, personal, leadership and identity development and help them achieve community service opportunities. My role in a nutshell is that I have been blessed with the opportunity to walk through life with student-athletes.

Q: Why is celebrating Blackhistory important to you?

Carlisle: Celebrating black history is important to me because it gives not only myself, but others the opportunity to be educated about various historical and current figures. This is especially important to me for the current landscape of our country and the school of black history leaving history books.

Q: Does Blackhistory have a character in their historyresonate with you in particular?

Carlisle: It’s hard to find one person that resonates with me because so many have great qualities, stories, and journeys. I appreciate the patience and approach Reverend Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. showed to protest injustice in a non-violent and peaceful way. I appreciated his thoughts and approach to economic equality as it applies to African Americans. Another is Frederick Douglass, how he was born into slavery and yet taught himself to read and write and became a prominent leader during the merit movement and a public speaker. She was also one for women’s rights. Malcolm X, who strives to uplift the self-esteem and heritage of African Americans, has one of the best quotes that states, “A man who stands for nothing falls for nothing.”

Q: How do you share Blackhistory with App State student-athletes and/or staff?

Carlisle: With student-athletes, information is shared through tutorials in addition to dialogue, either in passing or in my office. My staff and I will be sending out a weekly email during the month of February highlighting various historical figures from the past and also the present. Each week has a different theme, from music to sports to love, etc.

Q: Why is it important to be represented in athletics?

Carlisle: Simply put: because representation matters! It is important to be able to physically see, feel, touch, talk to and look at an individual who appears to be successful. We often watch characters on TV that we may never meet, so having access to people who represent “you” is paramount. “If you only see what you see, you’ll never see all there is to see.” – Tony Evans

Q: What is the biggest piece of advice you would give to someone looking to pursue a career in college athletics?

Carlisle:
1) Do it for the right reasons.
2) Get a mentor and a network you can really rely on.
3) Know who you are (values, morals, ethics, character) and own your identity because if you don’t know who you are, you will be told who you are.
4) Understand that you are in the service industry, not the service industry.
5) Always be kind! We cannot control our emotions, but we can control how we react to those emotions.