Five years ago, the Black Coaches Association (BCA), represented by basketball coaches John Thompson, John Chaney, Nolan Richardson and George Raveling along with former BCA Executive Director Rudy Washington, met with representatives of the NCAA, including Cedric W. Dempsey, Judith Albino, chair of the NCAA Presidents Commission, and NCAA President Joseph N. Crowley. A threat of a boycott by basketball coaches over a lack of minority opportunities was the catalyst for the meetings.

The Community Relations Service (CRS) of the United States Department of Justice helped mediate an agreement between the two parties. Professor Linda Greene of the University of Wisconsin, Madison, Law School stated in the Community Relations Service's press release on the agreement: "It is also significant that the BCA and the NCAA have agreed to make the NCAA governing process open to and inclusive of all constituencies in the intercollegiate athletics community. Participation in sport is a part of the American dream and black men and women must be involved at every level -- as coaches, administrators and policy makers, as well as athletes -- to fully share that dream."

A boycott supported by coaches -- black and white -- was averted at the 11th hour. Hopes were raised in the minds of basketball coaches of the National Association of Basketball Coaches (NABC) and BCA that meaningful change would result and minority opportunities in core management at the NCAA national office and in athletics departments would increase noticeably.

Nearly two years ago, the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee published its "Race Demographics of NCAA Member Institutions' Athletics Personnel." The report clearly showed the lack of people of color in positions of athletics director, associate athletics director, assistant athletics director, senior woman administrator, faculty athletics representative and head football coach throughout NCAA Divisions I, II and III. The BCA/NCAA agreement of March 23, 1994, stated that the NCAA agreed to the following priority: "to renew its commitment to ensure the significant participation by ethnic minorities in every aspect of NCAA governance."

It has been five years since the CRS mediated the agreement and the NCAA "renewed its commitment to ensure significant participation by ethnic minorities." Nearly two years have elapsed since the Race Demographics Report was published, which presented factual evidence that "significant participation by ethnic minorities in every aspect of NCAA governance" was not occurring. In retrospect, the only tangible result of the BCA/NCAA agreement was that the boycott was averted and a few people of color were hired to core management positions at the NCAA national office.

Recently, my hopes were raised that the NCAA policy makers were bringing light to the racial discrimination occurring in our nation's colleges and universities. A headline in the January 31 issue of The NCAA News caught my eye. It was titled "Diverse paths." The piece highlighted the NCAA women's and ethnic minority enhancement programs and those who had participated in those programs. As I was reading the piece, my mind was drawn to the data contained in the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee's report on diversity in athletics departments. With the exception of the historically black colleges and universities, the positions of director of athletics, associate athletics director, assistant athletics director, senior woman administrator, faculty athletics representative and head football coach are being denied to people of color. There exists an invisible line of discrimination that is capping the upward mobility of people of color and preventing them from attaining positions of directorship of the intercollegiate athletics enterprise. The stonewalling of this issue must stop and university presidents must be held accountable.

Beginning with the BCA/NCAA agreement of March 1994, wisdom shouted for inclusion of people of color in all aspects of athletics administration. Five years later, experience indicates the agreement was meaningless beyond the NCAA national office. Apparently, commitment to diversity by NCAA member institutions was not a priority then, nor is it today.

Today, student-athletes of color walk through athletics departments observing other people of color coaching and working in support positions within the athletics department. Do we think that they are oblivious to the fact that top management positions are all white administrators? Our African-American student-athletes and others of color need to observe people of color in leadership positions within the athletics department. The message it sends is that that they too can fill core management positions in athletics, business, industry and government. Must intercollegiate athletics face a crisis, not the threat of a crisis, to do the right thing?

There was such a crisis 30 years ago. African-American student-athletes were angry and demanded that white head coaches hire people of their color to positions in college basketball and football. African-American coaches, who were not considered worthy of hire months earlier, were hired in abundance. Within a few years, African-American assistant basketball coaches, having been given an opportunity, proved themselves worthy of hire as head coaches. Today, more than 30 percent of the basketball coaches in Division I are African American. As was proven in basketball, there are people of color who would perform well in core athletics department positions, but with some exceptions they are not working on historically white university and college campuses. Through their observations as students, they realized they could not rise within those athletics departments to core administrative positions, and found their talents and skills more attractive to corporate America.

My purpose for writing this piece is not to condemn university presidents, but rather to convict all of us who are in positions to affect change. Racial discrimination exists on our nation's campuses. This discrimination of which I speak is not wrapped in rage, burning crosses and physical threats of harm. The discrimination I speak of is much subtler. It is invisible and exists in the hearts of you and me.

Each and every university and college president can break the shackles of discrimination on his or her campus through bold and decisive leadership. Five years have been lost since the NCAA agreed to "significant participation by ethnic minorities in every aspect of NCAA governance."

Let's not lose even one more day.

Jim Haney is the executive director of the National Association of Basketball Coaches.