“We believe that that memory must open a channel to human rights. Why human rights? Because we realize that when a people is threatened, it doesn’t remain threatened alone. When a group is singled out, it affects all other groups.” – Elie Wiesel
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HUMAN RIGHTS AT UCONNExamining the most pressing human rights questions and preparing the next generation of human rights leaders.

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Highlighted Events

Sport and Human Rights, the 2025 Summit at The Dodd Center for Human Rights. October 22-24, 2025 at The Dodd for Human Rights Center, Storrs, CT.

Sport & Human Rights

October 22-24, 2025
The Dodd Center for Human Rights

Sport is anchored in human rights values.  It promotes fairness, non-discrimination, respect, and equal opportunities for all.  As it reaches billions, including young people, it is a conduit for advancing human rights standards around the world.  Wherever people are at play, they are always, without exception, rights holders.  But sport, often referred to as “the forgotten right,” also faces many challenges.  Too often, those who claim to love sport fail to uphold its standards.  Available research and data across the globe highlight repeated and serious violations of human rights in sport, including racial and sexual discrimination, financial exploitation, and neglect and curtailment of participatory rights and freedom of expression.

Believing in the transformative power of sport to promote and protect human rights, the University of Connecticut is pleased to host the second bi-annual Dodd Human Rights Summit October 22-24, 2025 at the Dodd Center for Human Rights.

The Summit, titled Sport and Human Rights, brings together prominent professional and collegiate athletes, thought leaders, policymakers, activists, scholars, students, artists, and business leaders from around the world to examine the promise, too often unfulfilled, of sport as a safe, inclusive, and equitable environment for everyone, no matter one’s color, race, religion, ethnicity, tribal affiliation, socioeconomic status, gender or sexual orientation.

The Summit will serve as a critical venue for sharing insights, building relationships, and inspiring action to align the world of sport with the principles of human rights.  Through a mix of high-profile keynote addresses, fireside chats, and panel discussions, the Summit will engage a range of global and domestic issues at the intersection of sport and human rights, including: Gender, Sport, and Human Rights; Race, Sport, and Human Rights; Disability, Sport, and Human Rights; Business, Sport, and Human Rights; Children, Sport, and Human Rights; and History, Sport, and Human Rights.

Learn more about the Summit

UConn Today News

In the News

UConn 360: A Special Summit Comes to UConn

August 21, 2025

James Waller joins podcast hosts Mike Enright and Izzy Harris of University Communications to discuss how the summit theme came to be selected, its significance and unique connection to UConn, and to preview several panel topics on gender equity, business practices, disability and sport, and athlete advocacy.

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AI Odyssey at Hartford Public Library’s Albany Library

October 17, 2024

A partnership between the Hartford Public Library, University of Connecticut, and the Connecticut/Baden-Württemberg Human Rights Research Consortium culminated in a two-day event, AI Odyssey, aiming to bridge the digital divide in AI and support teens learning to harness innovative technologies.

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