-- Charles Whitcomb, chair

NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee

Most of the attention that has been given to minority and gender demographics in intercollegiate athletics hasn't been positive. And with good reason.

The overall percentage of black administrators and coaches still lags far behind the percentage of black student-athletes. Fewer than 10 percent of senior administrative-level positions in athletics (director, associate or assistant director, senior woman administrator or faculty athletics representative) are held by minorities. Women's numbers aren't much better, accounting for just over 16 percent of athletics director positions and about 20 percent of the Association's faculty athletics representatives.

But despite those numbers, there are enough success stories out there to prove those groups aren't down to stay. And those success stories are the ones that advocates believe can serve as the cornerstone in the renovation of the hiring culture in college athletics. Advocates such as Charles Whitcomb, faculty athletics representative at San Jose State University and chair of the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, say that mentoring, recruiting or just serving as an example -- a face people can see to prove that it's possible -- can generate growth in numbers.

"The trainers are those of us in the membership," Whitcomb said. "We're the teachers -- we have the best faculty in the world. All of those faculty have the credentials that have made them successful and to help those behind them to become successful."

Whitcomb said the challenge in changing the picture is all in the exposure. For minorities and women, particularly women of color, there are not many role models to emulate. But several NCAA programs have worked over the years to diversify the portrait of intercollegiate athletics. The Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Program postgraduate scholarships and the Ethnic Minority and Women's Internship Program and, most recently, the NCAA Fellows Leadership Development Program have worked to filter women and minorities into decision-making positions.

Door openers

The NCAA's Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Program awards 24 postgraduate scholarships annually in an effort to increase the pool of and opportunities for qualified women and minorities in intercollegiate athletics. The scholarships were established in 1988, along with the internship program, which provides on-the-job learning experiences for women and minorities pursuing a career in athletics administration.

The Fellows Leadership Development program was first proposed in 1994 before a pilot program was implemented in 1995. The pilot program fellows graduated at the 1998 Convention, and the next class of six administrators was selected last year. The fellows program is intended to give women and minority administrators an opportunity to advance to higher-level positions.

All of those programs are intended to be door openers, either for candidates who otherwise might not know of a way into the field or for those who may be seeking to advance.

"I didn't know how to get into athletics administration until my mentor at Duke pointed me in the right direction," said Keith Gill, who has gone from NCAA intern to director of compliance at Vanderbilt University in just a few years.

Gill played football at Duke University before landing an NCAA internship in 1994. He began in professional development and youth services at the national office, then moved to compliance services and eventually was hired as a full-time compliance coordinator. He accepted the Vanderbilt position two years ago.

"I didn't know a soul in the business," Gill said. "That's the case with many candidates because they don't have any exposure. That's a roadblock that could confront anyone, but it can be exacerbated if you're a woman or minority because you don't have the same network or the same depth of network because you're not into the same circles as other folks.

"There's definitely a need for these types of programs to keep opening doors and giving folks hope. In my own head, I thought without a program like that, there's no way I can get into athletics."

Lori Ebihara, who is the director of compliance at the Big 12 Conference, also started out in the internship program. She began in 1992 in the administration/finance area before joining the then-Big Eight Conference as a legislative assistant.

"The internship opened the door for me," she said. "I was trying to change careers at age 27. Without that internship I'm not sure where I'd be. I always had enjoyed athletics, but I never thought about a career until I did the internship."

Ebihara said the programs serve to enhance opportunities for all people whose opportunities are otherwise limited. She said it is unfortunate that particular constituents need such programming, but until there is a shift in the demographics, those programs will remain necessary.

"Ultimately, everyone should have a fair opportunity to these programs, but until we can increase the numbers for ethnic minorities and women, those groups will need the help," she said. "You can't legislate morality, but you have to be sure to enhance opportunities for groups that are underrepresented. Once we get those numbers up, there shouldn't be special attention to race, gender or age in this type of programming."

Who you know

Jacqueline Campbell, the assistant commissioner for compliance at the Atlantic-10 Conference, has benefited from two NCAA programs. She was awarded a women's enhancement scholarship that helped her through the master's of sports administration program at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, before becoming an NCAA fellow last year. In between, Campbell served at the NCAA national office as a legislative assistant and as the Division I assistant chief of staff.

Campbell said the programming is vital, not only in providing learning experiences but in allowing participants to establish contacts and develop a network.

"So much of getting people to the next level is making sure that person has someone who knows the ins and outs, who can be the 'who' in 'who you know.' You need those people to help show you the ropes," Campbell said. "The who-you-know route is a big deal when you get above the entry-level positions, because they know people like themselves."

"Generally, people hire people who are like themselves," Gill echoed. "That makes it difficult when the person sees that you're not like them."

But the internship, scholarship and fellows programs are helping candidates develop that network.

Floyd Kerr, assistant director of athletics at Youngstown State University, said the power of a group trumps the power of an individual. As more women and minorities penetrate athletics administration, the more likely it will be that the candidate pool behind them will be diverse.

"What's going to make that happen depends on what happens with the current group," said Kerr. "It's up to us to serve as mentors and to form a web or a network -- that's when there's movement."

Kerr said the fellows program allows participants to experience the broad side of intercollegiate athletics, even beyond the campus scene. Those kinds of experiences, if nurtured, translate into leadership positions. Kerr, in fact, is in the process of interviewing for an athletics director slot. Three other fellows have matriculated into higher-level roles, too, including Dell Robinson, who is now an associate commissioner at the Mid-American Athletic Conference; Kathleen Worthington, who was hired as an associate director of athletics at the University of Maryland, College Park; and Sean Frazier, who is now the director of athletics at Manhattanville College.

"What the fellows program has done is to leap over some of those barriers," Kerr said. "I know six people now who have been given that opportunity to build that network."

Changing the culture

As happy as people like Kerr are with current programming, the supply of candidates still outnumbers the available slots. The internship, scholarship and fellows programs account for only about 30 to 35 potential candidates per year, but on a national scale, that infiltration doesn't render a quick fix to the problem.

"The opportunities have been limited in the past," Kerr acknowledged. "Even though the NCAA has enormous resources, there still aren't enough people in the programs -- the needs are much greater than the opportunities that are provided. But as the programs continue to grow, the more likely it is that opportunities will be generated."

"Our current programs are as adequate as we can define adequate as being," Whitcomb said. "But we're trying to find ways to create more opportunities. Our job is to prepare the individuals and then help them find those opportunities. But it's like obtaining your college degree -- it's a good idea, but it doesn't guarantee that you'll get a job. You just have to educate people as best you can and then getting that first job is both up to the candidate as well as the member schools."

"The culture is changing, but it is changing pretty slowly," said Gill. "You still look at the numbers and the demographics and they're such that you don't think you have a chance. It's one in a million -- am I going to be that one? The numbers don't give you much optimism."

Campbell agreed.

"The culture is still uphill," she said. "Women have made strides, and minorities need to make some of those same strides, but both groups still have a ways to go. As you get newer, younger people in some of these higher-level positions, I think you'll see some change, but it's still going to take some time. Schools need to be open to new people and understand that you're better off when you don't have a group composed of everyone who is alike."

Ebihara thinks the culture has changed, albeit slowly, largely because of the fraternity of interns, scholars and fellows that has grown steadily since the late 1980s. And as potential candidates find out about the programs, they are calling on those who have gone before them for assistance.

"I encourage people to apply for the internship. Candidates are getting the former interns' names, calling them and asking how to apply and what to do. We feel the need to give back and provide the opportunity for others," Ebihara said.

"Changing the culture to me means taking away the excuses," Whitcomb said. "We have too many excuses now that we can't find these candidates, that they don't have the experience. The more we prepare these young people, the more we diminish those excuses."