MASCOTS

Restrictions remain in place after two institutions appeal

Bradley University and Newberry College remain on a list of universities and colleges subject to restrictions on the use of Native American mascots, names and imagery at NCAA championships after a review of ap-peals submitted by the institutions.

The staff review committee designated by the NCAA Executive Committee to review facts related to institutions' appeals found no new information that would reverse the Executive Committee's initial determination that the schools' nicknames -- and in one of the cases the use of associated imagery -- leads to a hostile or abusive environment.

"By continuing to use Native American references in nicknames and imagery, institutions assume responsibility over an environment that they cannot fully control, and fans, opponents and others can and will exhibit behaviors that indeed are hostile or abusive to Native Americans," said Bernard Franklin, NCAA vice president for governance and membership.

Bradley and Newberry have an opportunity to appeal the decision in writing to the Executive Committee.

The staff committee to date has acted on appeals from six institutions, and removed three -- Central Michigan University, Flor-ida State University and the University of Utah -- from the list of universities and colleges subject to the restriction. The Univer-sity of North Dakota remains on the re-stricted list after its appeal.

The policy restricting the use of Native American mascots, nicknames and imagery at all championships goes into effect Febru-ary 1, 2006, at the end of the window for the review process established by the Executive Committee.

SCHOLARSHIPS

Online forms now available for postgraduate programs

The nomination form for the NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship and application form for the NCAA Ethnic Minority and Women's Enhancement Programs' Post-graduate Scholarship for Careers in Athle-tics are available at NCAA Online.

Deadlines for NCAA Postgraduate Scho-larship nominations are December 9 for fall sports, February 24 for winter sports and May 6 for spring sports. Eligible student-athletes must have an overall undergraduate minimum grade-point average of 3.200 (4.000 scale) and must be in their final season of eligibility for the sport in which they are nominated.

The form is available at www1.ncaa.org/ membership/ed_outreach/prof_development/postgrad_scholarships.html. A nomination folder also recently was mailed to faculty athletics representatives, athletics directors and senior woman administrators at member institutions and to conference commissioners.

Applications (including official transcripts) for postgraduate scholarships for careers in athletics must be received in the national office by January 18. Thirteen ethnic minorities and 13 women will be selected to receive a $6,000 postgraduate scholarship, and three additional scholarships will be awarded in both groups to representatives of Division III institutions. Recipients must be United States citizens who have not taken any postgraduate hours and who are interested in pursuing a graduate degree in a sports-related field.

Staff contact: Teresa Smith .

MEMBERSHIP ISSUES

Executive Committee appoints group to study division growth

The NCAA Executive Committee has charged a working group consisting of presidents and chancellors from all three divisions with studying division membership issues and their Association-wide ramifications. The group is expected to forward recommendations to the Executive Committee by January 2007.

The need for such a review stems from a proposal submitted for the 2006 Convention by the North Coast Athletic Conference to cap Division III membership after institutions that currently are reclassifying or are in their provisional-membership progression complete those commitments. Division III membership is expected to be at 455 institutions by that time, about 100 more than just a decade ago.

Both the Division III Management Council and Presidents Council reviewed the cap proposal during their fall meetings.

For more information: see page 1.

Staff contact: Dan Dutcher .

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