KNIGHT COMMISSION

College-sports commission hears testimony from NCAA

NCAA President Cedric W. Dempsey headed a panel of Association leaders that testified before the Knight Foundation Commission on Intercollegiate Athletics August 28.

They touted the Association's progress in the 10 years since the original commission's report and expressed a willingness to listen to what the reconstituted group suggests to address lingering concerns in intercollegiate athletics.

Dempsey testified on behalf of the NCAA along with Pennsylvania State University President Graham B. Spanier and Southern Methodist University President R. Gerald Turner.

Staff contact: Kevin C. Lennon.

MEMBERSHIP

Total NCAA membership at record number of 1,261

NCAA membership stands at a record 1,261 active, provisional, conference, affiliated and corresponding members, a net increase of one over the previous academic year.

The latest membership report shows a net gain of four new active members .

Staff contact: Jim Johnson.

DIVERSITY

BCA plans to develop minority-hiring report

The Black Coaches Association announced August 23 that it will develop a campus-by-campus report card on minority hiring for all NCAA member institutions.

The report will be based on a questionnaire that will be sent to presidents at all NCAA member institutions. It will be issued in 2001, probably at the annual BCA convention.

NCAA FOUNDATION

USA Today grant to recognize graduation-rate achievements

The NCAA Foundation has received a gift of more than $2.5 million from USA Today to establish a scholarship program recognizing colleges and universities that are graduating student-athletes at the highest rates.

This is the largest single gift the NCAA Foundation has received.

Staff contact: Marion Peavey.

HONORS PROGRAM

Nominations due for fall sports for Today's Top VIII recognition

Nominations for fall sports candidates for the 2000 Honors Program must be received at the NCAA national office by November 1.

Nomination folders have been mailed to athletics directors, faculty athletics representatives and sports information directors at all member institutions.

The folders contain nomination forms for the 2000 Today's Top VIII and the Award of Valor. The awards will be presented at the Honors Dinner January 7, 2001, during the NCAA Convention in Orlando, Florida.

Staff contact: Kellie Leeman.

HONORS PROGRAM

Ten finalists selected for NCAA Woman of the Year

The 10 finalists for the 2000 NCAA Woman of the Year award include three Olympians, a member of the WNBA's Minnesota Lynx, a Rhodes Scholar finalist and the female winner of the Walter Byers Postgraduate Scholarship, the NCAA's highest academic honor.

A winner will be selected from the 10 finalists and announced at the 2000 NCAA Woman of the Year dinner October 15 in Indianapolis.

YOUTH PROGRAMS

Executive Committee changes NCAA-NYSP relationship

The NCAA Executive Committee has approved emergency, noncontroversial legislation from the Divisions I, II and III Management Councils and presidential bodies to eliminate the Association-wide National Youth Sports Program Committee as part of a restructuring of the relationship between the NCAA and National Youth Sports Program (NYSP).

Staff contact: Ed Thiebe.