I was delighted to read in the February 17 issue of The NCAA News that the NCAA has allocated $180,000 to develop an NCAA Coaches Academy for football coaches. While this action is profound, it also is greeted with sadness and confusion because once again society has failed to understand the simple elements of life: equality and opportunity.

Opportunity is the fabric of success. It builds character and provides the foundation for strategic life development. While this nation struggled with slavery, fought through a civil war and battled over civil rights, the cry from the oppressed was for equality. As a young America grew and developed, blatant and overt racial injustice was dramatically reduced. However, we still face and experience covert denial.

In January, at the 2003 NCAA Convention, President Myles Brand stepped to the podium and provided tremendous optimism and vision when he called upon the individuals in decision-making positions to become change agents. Those individuals who have legitimate authority -- athletics directors, chancellors, presidents and board of trustee members -- must become the catalysts in providing opportunities to everyone who seeks the opportunity to be part of the coaching or administrative environment. The road blocks must be replaced with E-Z passes.

Many people would have you believe that racial, ethnic and gender discrimination do not exist -- or if they do, that such cases are isolated. However, the numbers speak for themselves. The representation of the protected class in key positions is extremely lacking. This was painfully obvious to me during the recent spring meetings of the Divisions I, II, and III Management Councils. The 2002 report on race demographics was PowerPointed to all the Management Council members who attended the midday presentation.

As I viewed the screen and thumbed through the handout, the data once again reinforced the painful prevailing circumstance. Black administrators at NCAA member institutions remain a rarity, except for a slight increase in academic advisors. Black coaches at NCAA member institutions remain a rarity, except for a slight increase in black assistant coaches. For me, the underlying message, which leaps to the forefront, is clear: Blacks can advise, but not direct, and Blacks can assist, but not lead.

I am equally dismayed at the belief that Blacks lack the "necessary skills" to be coaches or administrators. This, quite frankly, falls in line with a plethora of ignorant and arrogant statements or perceptions that deny opportunity. Nonetheless, the battle to erase I am equally dismayed at the belief that Blacks lack the "necessary skills" to be coaches or administrators. This, quite frankly, falls in line with a plethora of ignorant and arrogant statements or perceptions that deny opportunity. Nonetheless, the battle to erase myths that consume our lives must be fought with strength and courage by individuals willing to stop the injustice and provide equity and balance to an uneven, empirical playing field.

In keeping with great Americans such as Charles Sumner and Thaddeus Stevens, who gallantly fought for the rights of the oppressed, those of us in leadership positions must devote our time and effort to provide opportunity to all individuals willing to put in a fair day's work with their "40 acres and a mule." As with the current diversity initiatives being implemented by the NCAA, the process of building equality must begin today. In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.: "For years I have heard the word 'wait.' It rings in the ear of every Negro with piercing familiarity. This 'wait' has always meant 'never.' It has been a tranquilizing thalidomide, relieving the emotional stress for a moment only to give birth to an ill-formed infant of frustration. We must come to see with the distinguished jurist of yesterday that 'justice to long is justice denied.' We have waited for more than 340 years for our constitutional and God-given rights."

I applaud the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and NCAA President Myles Brand for their courageous effort to promote diversity.

Clyde Doughty Jr. is the athletics director at New York Institute of Technology.