The inaugural class of participants in the NCAA's Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males will graduate this month. The primary theme for this 14-month comprehensive learning experience has been "Preparing Diverse Leaders for a Dynamic Athletics Community."

The Institute experience has been both challenging and educational, and it has fostered a strong spirit of brotherhood within the group. This spirit emanates from the commonality of our struggles to achieve success in life and in our chosen field, and the open sharing of those experiences.

Our sessions have reminded me of a concept taught to me by an educator some years ago -- "learning by abrasion." It was that teacher's belief that as we go about our daily tasks, we have opportunities to learn from the people we encounter, especially those traveling a common path or returning from a distant journey. "Take time to bump into them and gain from the experience," he would say. The Institute has afforded me the chance to learn from -- and share with -- talented and dynamic young administrators from across the nation who hold different responsibilities within intercollegiate athletics administration.

Sport has a never-ending challenge to be fair, to represent what is fair. On the field of competition, the rules are clear and ardently enforced. Outside the lines, there are no clear-cut standards or requirements for success. Hiring practices aimed at diversifying professional and collegiate sports administrations have historically been, safely stated, poor. Many decisions about who is qualified to handle what responsibilities are subjective, and thereby exclusive because the tendency of human nature is to go with what or who you know. The Institute was born from calls to tear down the invisible walls that have prevented qualified non-white applicants from ascending to key decision-making positions. The lack of diversity within intercollegiate athletics core management positions, as reflected in hiring practices, at best reflects a policy of inattention and at worst seems biased.

Because the NCAA is recognized as a protector of individual civil rights and champion of what is fair, it has taken an active position on the diversity-in-hiring issue. The Institute is a sensitive, direct response to the needs of member institutions wishing to diversify their athletics departments. The goal remains to hire the best person available for the position while expanding and enhancing the pool of candidates.

First and foremost, the Institute experience has been a validation of the requisite skills we possess and successes we experience, without fanfare, fulfilling our daily roles. We solve problems and get results, juggle multiple priorities, plan and implement various projects, and meet deadlines. With the successful completion of those types of responsibilities, the art of effective communication becomes a powerful weapon in the arsenal of the administrator. As we re-examine and re-evaluate our routine triumphs, our confidence grows, our wit sharpens, and we become more valuable contributors in our home environments.

Second, the academic program of study has exposed the group to ideas and concepts at the forefront of the field. Imparted by human-resource trainers, college professors, national office personnel, and past and present athletics directors, the breadth of knowledge shared through this formal training has broadened the horizons we can envision.

A third benefit from the Institute experience is the immediate support and resource network that has grown from our coming together. The ability to work and dialogue with other ethnic minority males from varied backgrounds is a rare and valuable experience in our business setting.

Can the race factor ever be expected to be a non-issue? Socially speaking, the world of sport mirrors the greater society. Until the social conscience is changed, race always will be a factor in daily life. The racial theme of this program could have prompted some strong feelings -- thoughts of affirmative action and quotas may come to mind. But the Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males does not provide guaranteed opportunities at its conclusion or require member institutions to attain a certain level of diversity. But it does attempt to create the proverbial "level playing field" by providing reality-based training experiences to enhance and expand the applicant pool for key decision-making management positions. And it provides an opportunity for a group of individuals to come together and boost one another.

Our lives have been tied to intercollegiate athletics in many capacities, including as student-athletes, coaches, teachers, mentors and role models. We can attest first-hand to the lack of inclusion, to the scarcity of role models within the upper-management levels of collegiate sports organizations. Does the perception persist that says ethnic minorities are generally less capable? Often times, the impression that remains is that ethnic minority applicants need to be "perfect" in order to be hired and steered toward upper-level administrative positions.

Human-resource staffs at member institutions have the opportunity to create an upwardly mobile pool of applicants for future core administrative decision-making positions, which would be a positive step in the effort to create diversity within intercollegiate athletics programs. The Institute's class of 2002 stands ready to meet the challenges a more diverse landscape will present. We are dedicated to the task of teaching student-athletes the foundations of living through participation in intercollegiate athletics, and committed to the goals and objectives of the NCAA and its member institutions. As intercollegiate athletics moves into the 21st century and tackles the problems associated with sport, we look forward to the varied and new challenges of administering athletics programs.

Samuel Hanger, an associate athletics director at Fayetteville State University, participated in the 2002 NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority Males.