An open letter from University of North Florida Athletics Director Richard E. Gropper to new NCAA President Myles Brand:

Dear Dr. Brand:

I'm writing this letter to you as I travel back to Jacksonville, Florida, after attending the annual NCAA Convention in Anaheim. I didn't anticipate writing to you; I've generally spent my career as the quiet guy in the background. I do feel compelled, however, to share a few thoughts on something very dear to me -- our Association.

Like many among the membership, I was eager to hear from our new president. I had followed the selection process and even seized the opportunity to share a few thoughts with the principals of the search firm when we happened to meet by chance in an airport on an earlier trip home.

Before your opening Convention address, I arrived early and chose a seat front row center. It was important for me to be able to look into your eyes as you spoke. I do believe that the eyes are the windows to the soul.

You seem to be a good man. I believe that your speech reflected a genuine desire to build on the success of Ced Dempsey and move the Association forward. I'm optimistic about the future; I believe that you were a good choice.

In spite of my optimism for the future, I do have a concern for the welfare of our Association and its members. My concern is the visible loss of a significant portion of our membership, which becomes more pronounced with each passing Convention.

I've spent close to 30 years in higher education, almost 20 as an intercollegiate athletics administrator. I remember vividly the excitement that I felt attending NCAA Conventions as a young man. The thrill of seeing and interacting with icons of our profession served as a very real motivating influence for me. I couldn't have been more proud of my profession and career path.

Those icons are no longer visible at the Convention, and the interactions are no longer taking place.

Since the restructuring that took place several years ago, I have sensed a feeling of disenfranchisement on the part of many of my Division I friends and colleagues. That terminology may be too clinical, too sterile. More accurately, I sense frustration, resentment and a general feeling that their voices no longer matter.

From my perspective, the NCAA has no greater issue before it than to repair what appear to be cracks in the foundation of the Association. I liken our current situation to that of parents faced with children who choose to disassociate with the family. As a caring parent, I can't imagine any issue that would be more serious to me than bringing my children back into the fold. Their presence, their voices and their influence on all that constitutes our family is far too precious to lose.

I hope that each division within the NCAA recognizes that we don't function within a vacuum. The absence of any segment of our family has sometimes subtle but, in the end, profound effects on the whole.

I hope that as you settle into the new job, you will address the disappearance of an important member of our family. From my perspective, you have no issue of more importance and no greater challenge before you.

Richard E. Gropper is the director of athletics at the University of North Florida and a member of the Division II Management Council.