When and how does a series of seemingly small and random events become so prevalent as to become a trend? That is the subject of a best-selling book by Malcolm Gladwell called "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference." Apply that premise to intercollegiate athletics and it is easy to see why improving fan behavior has "suddenly" become a point of emphasis for many institutions.

For the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference, the tipping point was reached late last fall.

After a lot of group work and two NCAA Division III initiative grants, the AMCC recently announced a fan sportsmanship campaign that aims to set a new standard for behavior at conference-member events. It is not particularly complex, original or expensive. But that didn't mean the path was easy, or even obvious. And it certainly didn't happen overnight.

The challenges were several:

* Get people to agree that there
was even an issue. Because no single school had cornered the market on bad crowd behavior, getting widespread agreement that an issue even existed was the first hurdle in the process. The first response is usually along the lines of, "Let's handle this within the family." That is where the commissioner has the advantage of a bird's-eye view. What seemed like isolated campus incidences, when taken together, added up to a hefty couple of handfuls for the conference overall. While no one was in total denial over the mounting seriousness of the matter, there is nothing like a president embarrassed at his or her own campus event, particularly while hosting another conference-member school, to help kick-start a discussion and, consequently, a campaign. We had reached the tipping point.

* Convince people to agree to use a group approach to address the problem. Sometimes you know you have a problem and just can't get the help. Sometimes you think you're doing all you can to address a problem but nothing seems to work. Sometimes you think what you're doing to address a problem is just fine, yet the problem persists, at least in the eyes of others (the old "perception is reality" thing). Picture that "Whack-a-Mole" game at an amusement park and you get a sense of the frustration that was setting in on all sides.

After listening to enough complaints, it became evident that a group effort was crucial. Let's face it, it's difficult to be an island -- one school can find it daunting to make a difference, but a conference working together can. A conference alone is not going to see as much progress as a division. Once there are enough programs in place, it gets easier to get folks committed. This was the second tipping point in our process.

* Encourage people to agree on a solution. Let's not kid ourselves that there is any one, definitive solution. There are lots of effective approaches, and we'll probably try many of them to see what works best at each member institution. But the light went on when we realized we were putting the cart before the horse: We were punishing behavior without educating our fans about the crime. As everyone knows, one fan's vulgarity can be another's favorite chant. If we don't tell them up front what is acceptable and what is not, we will be forever reacting to their poor judgment.

So, with the support of our Presidents' Council and a committee composed of an athletics director, senior woman administrator, faculty athletics representative, a vice-president for student life, coaches and two student-athletes, we agreed upon four conduct rules and put them in simple language, with an overarching slogan: Be Loud, Be Proud, Be Positive.

The initiative includes five parameters for fans:

1. Cheer for your team, not against the visitors.

2. Don't get personal in comments about players, coaches or officials.

3. No profanity, vulgarity, racist or sexist comments.

4. Stay away from the playing area and team bench areas.

5. Alcohol will not be tolerated at any contest.

Our simple plan is to put that message on signs, Web sites and game programs. Play it over PA systems. Have our presidents write letters to the editors of student newspapers, and run a few ads while we're at it. Call it education or call it marketing, the solution is the same: Get the message out clearly, early and often. In other words, engineer a new tipping point.

• Finally, get people to implement the solution. Our plan to get the message out is dependent on each president and athletics director carrying the banner on their campus, with a second line of support provided by the coaches and student-athletes. And we have to be willing to take action when the message is not heeded. Without consistent implementation and support, we will have no impact whatsoever on the trend.

Education may be time-consuming, and it often has a cost. However, as more than one president in our conference can attest, the consequences of poor fan behavior can travel well beyond the competition arena. And as many athletics directors already know, it invariably passes through their office.

For the AMCC, recognizing the negative tipping point was just the first challenge; engineering a new, positive tipping point is the second, and arguably the greater challenge for our members. As one reviewer of Gladwell's book says, "To create a movement, you often have to create many smaller movements first."

We encourage all NCAA member institutions and conferences to help us create this movement.

Donna Ledwin is the commissioner of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference.