Amplifying Voices: Guelph Gryphons Tadiwanashe Murewa

The OUA Amplifying Voices Series will share the stories, the efforts, and the impacts of the OUA’s champions of equity, diversity, and inclusion (EDI), from those who have earned conference awards within their respective sport to those who continue to make a difference within their team, their campus, and their community.

Burlington, Ont. (via Hayley McGoldrick) - For Tadi Murewa of the Guelph Gryphons men's rugby team, Black history is more than just a month – it’s his life, his legacy, and the foundation for a path in the future he hopes to pave for not just other students of colour or Gryphons athletes, but for anyone he can impact with his advocacy.

Murewa, a recipient of the OUA's Champion of EDI Award in men’s rugby, is a 22-year-old from Harare, Zimbabwe, who has used his platform as a student-athlete and continued to be involved in multiple other organizations and initiatives to create space, resources, and celebration for fellow students in Guelph to celebrate their talented, diverse community.

“It is a lot being a student-athlete and also being in courses, but the one thing that mainly got me into this was leaving. After I leave, I want to put other people of colour, or just in general, get people the opportunity that I was afforded,” said Murewa.

“It's just showing that we're also capable, we should be on the same team, and also just diversifying everything that I can whilst I'm still in school.”

He was selected as one of 10 students from across the OUA to participate in the SponsorshipX Black emerging leaders academy, which was a two-day event that took place during the 2024 NHL All-Star Weekend, and was also one of five student-athletes representing the Gryphons at the 2024 Diversity in Sports Conference hosted by the ICSN (Inclusion in Canadian Sports Network).

Being able to represent not only the University of Guelph or the men’s rugby team, but the various other students and community members that Murewa constantly works with is what makes the work so rewarding.

“It was a wonderful opportunity that I got to take, and forever grateful for the opportunity, because as I delve deep into the conversations at these conferences, I could bring back everything that I've learned and try put it out here at Guelph, on the rugby team and even other smaller groups, just students as well, and just make sure that everyone feels the belonging,” said Murewa.

“We've had conversations leading up into the seasons beforehand, before that it was more of just one person speaking. I feel like once I joined the team, it was like, we can actually get an outlet and someone who can actually relate to a lot of things that maybe Black student athletes or people of color [who are] athletes didn't get that platform… I was able to be that platform, and just make sure that through teachings, and teaching other student-athletes as well, that they can also make not just Guelph rugby, but the whole of Guelph a more inclusive place.”

In addition to his active involvement with initiatives close to his heart and being a student leader at national events, Murewa has shown a commitment to supporting and uplifting Black, racialized, and Indigenous students on campus.

A third-year student at the University of Guelph, Murewa is majoring in food, agricultural, and resource management on top of his commitments to rugby and his community.

“It’s never for the accolades, it's nice to be nominated and actually be seen as someone who has been making this big difference… I've always been someone who represents himself with his best foot forward, it's just continuously building on from the award,” said Murewa.

“I feel like I still have a lot of unfinished business here. There's continuously building on, like I said before - that was the starting point, and we still have some work to do. To continuously grow the program and make sure that it's not just a winning program, but also very inclusive program as well, to leave myself with a legacy that the next person of colour or just a student-athlete that feels down can actually be looking up to someone who's possibly done it before and been in those shoes and actually made it out.”

The responsibility of being a student, athlete, and champion of diversity and equity in the community can be exhausting, and Murewa does acknowledge that it can get overwhelming at times.

But knowing that the work he puts in will help to nurture and grow the champions of tomorrow is worth balancing all that life has to throw at him today.

“At some point it does get a little overwhelming, knowing that you've set a tone. But with that tone comes great responsibility and knowing that it's not just me who is going on the rugby field or going into class, it's finding out that when I walk into these places, it's also certain Black athletes, which is not just rugby and other sports, do realize that there's someone else out there who's representing them,” said Murewa.

“I don't represent myself only, I represent a community. So where I go, they go, and what I do, they will also want to make sure that I'm doing it in the right state for them as well. It's not for me, it's more of a community thing and uplifting every single athlete, because I feel like being an athlete, you want to include everyone, and that the person who wants to be included wants to be a part of team and a family.”

Murewa may not have been born in Canada, but he has found a home in the country, a community at the University of Guelph, and a purpose beyond being a student-athlete – creating a pathway for other young people of colour to be able to have the opportunities that he has.

He credits the school, the OUA, and his community groups for being able to find what he is passionate about beyond the classroom or the field and hopes that what he does is just the beginning of meaningful work within those spaces.

“It's all started from my team all the way to the OUA themselves, I feel like with the conference which I went to as well, which was the OUA, I felt like I met a lot of really influential people in the OUA of colour, and it felt really good knowing that someone was exactly in my shoes, and they've made it this far,” said Murewa.

“I feel very well supported, just being mentioned for an award, and being put out there with everyone else's award is just honestly really nice to see. I just feel like it's just a continuous cycle of building, so the more it builds from my award, and then something else, it will be continuously building more and not looking back.”