NORMANITE IN THE SPOTLIGHT

Jordan Evans

For Norman native and current Cincinnati Bengals linebacker Jordan Evans, education has been at the forefront of how he tackles the issues he has faced, whether on the football field or off.

Evans was a standout linebacker at Norman North High School and the University of Oklahoma, completing his Sooner career in 2016 with All-Big 12 honors on defense while leading the Sooners with 7.5 tackles a game and four interceptions. He was a sixth-round pick of the Cincinnati Bengals in the 2017 National Football League Draft and will enter the 2021 season with a fresh one-year contract worth $1.2 million he signed in March.

Stopping opposing offenses come naturally to Evans, who also grew up playing basketball and running track. However, he is now turning his attention to stopping another hard-charging opponent off the field, the uptick in racial, cultural and social division that has gripped the country over the past few years.

Evans is partnering with Norman Public Schools in the creation of a new course that will be offered at both Norman North and Norman High School. The Introduction to Ethnic Studies course is an outgrowth of what Evans says he has seen off the field in America.

“It’s a course designed to help people understand cultures different from their own,” Evans explained. “I have a firm belief that in order to get rid of a lot of the ignorance that’s in the world today, you have to educate people. And, in order to educate people when it comes to cultures, you have to have those uncomfortable situations and conversations and learn to be able to understand different views so you can live better with people that do not look like you do.”

Evans began discussing the idea with NPS in 2020 and over the past year they’ve worked together to develop curriculum and search for faculty to teach the course. According to the NPS course description, the course objective will be to teach students to “be global citizens, engage in civil discourse, value their own cultural identity, appreciate the differences around them and understand worlds different from their own.”

“Norman Public Schools affirms and values the experiences and identities of all our students,” Stephanie Williams, executive director of diversity, equity and inclusion with Norman Public Schools, said. “Introduction to Ethnic Studies is an interdisciplinary elective course that offers a unique opportunity for students to gain a better understanding of the world around them and the experiences of others. We are fortunate to have the support of Jordan Evans, who is also a former NPS student, in helping to make this course a great success.”

For Evans, the objective is simple.

“I hope what we see is people that understand each other and understand each other’s cultures and have a better living environment,” Evans explained. “I know there are kids

that have questions out there and might feel scared to ask, they don’t want to look bad or look like they don’t know what they’re talking about. I want them to be able to put it all out there as completely transparent as possible, just so they can have a better understanding of the world.

“I know at first is going to be very difficult, it’s going to be very new. And that’s why we’ve gone through a thorough process on the course and finding out who our teacher is going to be. We really want our teacher to be educated in this field so that they’ll be able to run the class the way it needs to run, and kids will feel comfortable.”

The district plans to have a faculty member split time between the two high schools. The course will meet social studies and general elective credit requirements.

Now living in Florida during the NFL off-season, Evans’ ties to his hometown run deep and that’s part of the motivation for collaborating locally on the project.

“I’m truly grateful for the opportunities that have come to me and I’m very proud of where I’m from and happy that it all happened in Norman,” Evans said. “The memories I made there and the everlasting bonds I developed with friends and teammates growing up make Norman always feel like home. Obviously, my family’s there (his parents, Scott and Teneka), my sisters are there, my church family. It’s always going to be home no matter how far I live from it.”

One of Evans’ younger sisters, Jacie, a member of the Harding University basketball team, is not surprised to see her older brother giving back to his childhood home.

“My dad was very adamant about all of us knowing Black history, just kind of how things were and how it wasn’t always acceptable for mom and dad to be together,” Jacie pointed out about coming from a multi-racial family. “My dad made that very clear for us at a young age. Jordan went to a majority white high school. Now, and at OU, he has experienced a lot more by being around African American culture. And so, I think him just trying to educate (people about) the differences between how it was at North and OU and now is where I think this class came from. It’s making sure people know other perspectives and how it’s not always just one way and how we grow up is different.”

Jacie Evans believes the seed Jordan is planting with high school students will have similar impact as the influence he has had on her and their youngest sister, Jessica.

“He can take pretty much any situation and do something good with it,” she said. “I’m very proud of him. My sister and I look up to him. We talk to him all the time. When we have questions about college and stuff like that, and how we should deal with teammates, and coaches and stuff like that, he knows. He’s gone through it. He knows what he’s doing. He’s obviously very successful, so I look up to him and I’m very proud of him.”

Evans is working to share the success he’s had through his new foundation, Ironheart, which holds figurative and literal meaning for him.

“Going into the fourth grade, I had heart surgery and they put some metal in my heart. I had a hole in my heart, like a heart murmur, but the hole kept growing,” Evans explained. “It was growing at a significant rate, and they decided it needed to be closed up before it got out of hand.”

His vision for Ironheart, the foundation and the man, is to continue to grow and serve.

“I really want it to be a foundation where it’s really open to a lot of things,” Evans said. “I mean, at first, it focused on the diversity class. Now, maybe I’ll run a camp or do a school drive. I just want it to be where it’s always helping and giving back to the community.” – BSM