Cem Kullukcu ’21 was born in Turkey but has lived in many countries around the world. The list includes Switzerland, the United States, the United Kingdom, Poland and the Philippines.
The one thing he found everywhere: the love of football, a universal way to connect with people.
“It had a big impact on my life,” he said. “Given all these different cultures, it’s the only language I can communicate with others.”
Unfortunately, not everyone has always been so welcoming.
Playing in a senior league football match outside his native Turkey when he was a teenager, Kullukcu was verbally abused by opposing fans because of the color of his skin.
“Even though there were 22 players on the pitch, the fans just harassed me,” he said.
As he was being substituted off the field, he turned toward the crowd of opposing fans and saw a parent holding a child’s hand. It was then that he realized that racism was passed down from generation to generation and that the way to eliminate it was to stop it in its tracks.
Through his research paper “At a Loss of Words: Analysis of Racism and Hate Speech in Football Based on Fan Expressions on Social Media,” Kullukcu, member of the undergraduate honors programwas able to share his experiences with the world and raise awareness of this distressing issue through data.
The problem in the Premier League
Kullukcu conducted his research for the project, which began in April 2019, by identifying the 80 most followed Premier League players on Twitter. It then analyzed all tweets directed to player accounts during the 2018-2019 season.
What he discovered was unfortunately what one might expect.
“We found that Black, Asian, minority or ethnic players are more vulnerable to tweets containing hateful terminology,” Kullukcu said.
In response to ongoing discriminatory abuse received online by players and others connected to the game, English football will unite in a social media boycott from Friday 30 April at 3:00 p.m. BST until Monday 3 May at 11:59 p.m. BST.
Full story ➡️ https://t.co/YINlwNb7d0#No place for racism pic.twitter.com/vp6aVovqIS
–Premierleague (@premierleague) April 24, 2021
The Premier League has recently taken steps to eliminate this long-standing problem of racism in football. In March 2019, it launched its No place for racism campaign. Following the death of George Floyd in May 2020, Black Lives Matter Nameplates and patches were added to uniforms, and the players kneel before the start of each match.
Then, on April 24, the Premier League and its clubs announced that they would be shutting down social media the following weekend in response to the discrimination their players had faced on social media.
“Racism itself is institutional. Macro-level initiatives must continue,” Kullukcu said. “Through education we can begin to solve these problems. »
Analysis without borders
Kullukcu’s research was submitted last month to the sixth annual Analytics Without Borders conference and placed second out of 24 projects.
“There were so many strong submissions,” the Babson College professor said. Mike McGuirk, member of the Analytics Without Borders student research competition committee. “Cem Kullukcu’s research stands out because he chose a very important and personal topic regarding racism and hate speech towards football players on social media. His research and analytical approach were impeccable.
Kullukcu said the honor validated months of work.
“You understand that your research, which you care so much about, actually has value and meaning,” he said. “Babson provided me with the outlet.”
“Cem did a fantastic job researching a topic close to his heart,” said the assistant professor Babak Zafari, who also served as Kullukcu’s educational advisor. “Looking back, I’m proud of what he accomplished.”
Kullukcu played a little college football at Babson, and although he no longer competes at the NCAA level, he still finds a way to put on a show for everyone who watches him.
“I’ve played football my whole life,” he said. “When you play football, you play for a larger community: your team, your family and your fans. I think my article is akin to a performance, something to give back to the community that taught me so much.
Readers can watch videos of all Babson College Honors Program participants from the Class of 2021 on the 2021 Specialization Project Presentations Website. Congratulations to all of these graduates for their impressive work!
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