UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Olympic medalist, WNBA hall of famer and mental health advocate Chamique Holdsclaw will headline this year’s Osaze Osagie Memorial Lecture taking place at 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, March 31 in the Hintz Family Alumni Center’s Robb Hall (Room 110).
Holdsclaw was a basketball superstar who was once hailed as the “female Michael Jordan.” From leading the University of Tennessee Lady Volunteers to three straight NCAA national championships to participating in the Olympics and enjoying a hall of fame career in the WNBA, nearly no one had more focus or drive on the court. Yet underneath, Holdsclaw said, she was pushing down mental health issues that eventually led to a total mental and physical breakdown. She suffered from serious bouts of depression and manic episodes, attempted suicide, and was involved in an incident in Atlanta involving a firearm. After the episode in Atlanta, she said, was finally open to getting help, and was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and severe anxiety.
After a long journey of learning to manage her illness, Holdsclaw has come back just as fierce. But this time, she said, she’s dedicated her life’s work to mental health and wellness activism — including sharing her personal struggles with depression in a documentary, “Mind|Game: The Unquiet Journey of Chamique Holdsclaw.”
Holdsclaw said she will share her experience with lecture attendees in the hopes of inspiring or helping others. Clarence Lang, Susan Welch Dean of the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts, will moderate the conversation with Holdsclaw.
The Osaze Osagie Lecture is named to honor the memory of Osagie, a former Penn State student who was shot and killed by local police in 2019 while experiencing a mental health event. It is the featured event in the annual “Global Black Communities and Mental Health” series led by the African Studies Program in the Penn State College of the Liberal Arts, which seeks to elevate attention to issues of mental health among Black communities across the African Diaspora and other communities of color; foster meaningful connections between scholarly research in the social and behavioral sciences and the humanities; and advance everyday applications of this research for families, service providers, advocates and allies working to improve the quality of life in Black communities.
Other events scheduled in conjunction with the series include and lunch and a screening of “Mind|Game” at 1 p.m on Monday, March 30, and a “Lunch and Learn” with Holdsclaw at noon on Tuesday, March 31. Both events, which are free and open to the public, will be held in the Paul Robeson Cultural Center (21 HUB-Robeson Building); however, advance registration is required.