Michigan hockey player Scooter Vaughan used to surprised reaction of strangers

Scooter Vaughan

The glances come in restaurants and at airports.

People see Scooter Vaughan in his Michigan athletic gear and assume he's traveling with one of the university's athletic teams. When they find out that he plays hockey, they're routinely surprised.

"I am a player on the hockey team, but I am also a black player on the hockey team, so it probably is easier to pick me out of 23 or 24 other guys," Vaughan said.

Vaughan rarely makes issue of his race. But during Michigan's road trip to Northern Michigan last week, he noticed the glances he's experienced before -- this time in a Marquette restaurant during dinner with his teammates.

That led him to type the following on Twitter: "Getting some pretty funny looks in Marquette, MI when people see a black guy roll up with the @Michigan_Hockey crew, segregation is over."

The tweet was more stream of consciousness than anything, he said, but he felt the need to address the situation. He's also gotten similar looks in other CCHA stops -- in Sault Ste. Marie, in Oxford, Ohio, in various airports.

The senior forward is one of 12 black hockey players competing at the Division I level, according to an NCAA minority report. Blacks make up 0.7 percent of the college hockey population.

He said most strangers assume he's a soccer player or runs track. Although he realizes the number of African Americans playing hockey has grown in the past decade, the glances from strangers don't surprise him.

"I'm used to it and I know people and I know how society is, and it doesn't bother me," Vaughan said. "It's not going to make me lose sleep over anything or make me think twice about it. It is what it is."

"I wouldn't say it's an issue but there are times, when I am like, 'Oh yeah, I am a black hockey player."

Jeff Arnold covers Michigan hockey for AnnArbor.com and can be reached at (734) 623-2554 or by e-mail at jeffarnold@annarbor.com. Follow him on Twitter @jeffreyparnold.