Get In The Game

Get In the Game is a social justice initiative that educates and empowers youth to take action to address issues of inequity in their communities. Our mission is to enhance cross-racial communication for middle and high school students by creating programs which incorporate peer-to-peer learning, group activities, and multimedia tools to enable students (known as GameChangers) to engage in important conversations about racial equity. Wake Forest University head baseball coach Tom Walter, in collaboration with his former player Kevin Jordan, founded GITG in the summer of 2020 amidst the nationwide outcry for racial justice and equity. The two men share a unique bond that served as a platform to use their story to inspire change. In 2010, Walter learned that his freshman player, Kevin Jordan, was suffering from Anti-Neutrophil Cytoplasmic Autoantibody (ANCA) vasculitis and would need a new kidney to survive. Upon hearing that none of Jordan’s family members were suitable donors, Walter immediately got tested and turned out to be a match. In February of 2011, Walter, a white man, donated his kidney to Jordan, a young Black man, saving Jordan’s life and inspiring a nation to see beyond the color of a person’s skin. At the time, Walter and Jordan spread the message that, regardless of skin color, “our blood is the same.” Nearly a decade later, the two men recognized that the world needed to hear their message of shared blood more than ever. They decided to build on their story of togetherness and create Get In the Game.