They connect the past to contemporary topics,” he says. Some students debate how much — or little — things have improved since Bias’ death, Thomas says. They quote reports showing UMD had the second-lowest graduation rate — 10 percent — among the 65 teams that qualifi ed for this year’s NCAA men’s basketball tournament.

“We wind up talking about the education system as a whole,” he says. “I want them thinking about how sports can sometimes be the great exception to racial inequality. And, sometimes it’s not. Hopefully, students become better citizens because of it.” Dr. Jane Clark, UMD kinesiology chairwoman, describes Thomas as a valuable voice because many of his students aspire to careers as athletic trainers and physical therapists.

“His perspective on sport, power and race brings a critical aspect to the study of kinesiology (because) exercise and sport take place in a social and cultural context,” she says. “He challenges students to think critically about sport and culture in ways that are new to them.”

While considering dissertation topics, Thomas, who earned his doctorate in American history from the University of California, Los Angeles, began using sports as a lens to examine African-American life. He worked as an intern in the Los Angeles Lakers’ marketing division. And while growing up in urban Los A n g e l e s , he noticed B l a c k p a r e n t s showing up more o f t e n at their children’s basketball games than to parentteacher conferences. “These parents saw sports as the way out of the neighborhood,” he says.

Thomas titled his dissertation “‘The Good Negroes: African-American Athletes and the Cultural Cold War, 1945-1968.” He is writing a book manuscript based on it.