The NCAA and Texas A&M’s Laboratory for Diversity in Sport announced recipients of the 2008 Diversity in Athletics Awards this week.

The awards, which center on overall excellence in diversity and also honor NCAA institutions in seven specific categories, were established in 2005-06. This year, Divisions I and II institutions are being honored. Division III schools will be recognized in 2008-09.

Winners were chosen based on responses from surveys mailed to the top six administrators at each Division I and Division II institution. Only schools with two or more responses were included. Researchers also relied on U.S. Department of Education and Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act data.

Recipients of the 2008 Diversity in Athletics Awards will be publicly recognized by the NCAA Office for Diversity and Inclusion and the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport during the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics Convention June 9-12 in Dallas.

The Division I colleges and universities honored for overall excellence in diversity are Central Florida, Colorado, Drexel, East Tennessee State, Kansas State, Long Beach State, Miami (Florida), San Jose State, Stanford, Ohio State, UTEP and Wright State.

The Division II colleges and universities honored for overall excellence in diversity are Queens (New York), Goldey-Beacom, Florida Tech, New Haven, Oakland City, Slippery Rock, Palm Beach Atlantic, Lock Haven, Cal State Stanislaus, Cal Poly Pomona, Alaska Anchorage, New York Institute of Technology, Saint Leo and Indiana (Pennsylvania).

Schools also were recognized for diversity strategy, gender diversity of department employees, racial diversity of department employees, value and attitudinal diversity of department employees, graduation of African-American male student-athletes, graduation of African-American female student-athletes and gender-equity compliance (substantial proportionality). 

Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA vice president for diversity and inclusion, lauded the award-winning institutions for embracing all aspects of diversity.

“You can look at the number of schools being recognized this year and see that many NCAA colleges and universities openly embrace the benefits of having a diverse workforce and a diverse student-athlete body that achieves high standards in academics,” Westerhaus said. “The Diversity in Athletics Awards not only provide visibility for member schools with good practices, but also create dialogue that focuses on the essential need for diversity and inclusion in athletics and higher education. We recognize that significant programs to enhance diversity are underway in Division III and we look forward to appropriately recognizing those efforts in the coming year.”

George Cunningham, director of the laboratory and chair of the division of sport management at Texas A&M, said the wide-ranging size, type and regional location of this year’s awards recipients was encouraging. “This suggests that is it possible to excel in diversity no matter where you are,” he said.

That diversity was clearly apparent in the overall excellence in diversity category. Of the 12 Division I schools that received the distinction this year, Stanford was the only repeat winner from last year.

“We’re proud of the work we’ve done. Having a diverse environment is part of the fabric of our department and the university,” said Bob Bowlsby, director of athletics at Stanford. “We don’t do it for the recognition, but it’s always nice to have the recognition.”

With multiple years of data for comparison, Cunningham said some trends are beginning to emerge. For instance, some schools, like Stanford in the overall excellence in diversity category and Nevada in gender diversity, are excelling year after year in specific areas. In addition, Cunningham said many Diversity in Athletics award-winning athletics departments are part of universities that also are recognized as leaders in diversity.

It is too early to determine if any meaningful differences between Divisions I and II are revealed in survey data collected for the award. Those that do exist, Cunningham said, will be uncovered during in-person visits with award winners later this year. 

Because the 2007-08 NACDA U.S. Sports Academy Directors Cup tabulations are currently ongoing, it also is too soon to tell if the data continues to support a link Cunningham previously discovered between the diversity of athletics departments and those programs’ performance in the competition. However, the researcher noted that several of this year’s honorees, including Stanford, Slippery Rock and Alaska Anchorage, have performed well by the measure this year and in the past.

Alaska Anchorage was ranked 32^nd out of 186 Division II schools in the final winter Directors Cup standings. Director of Athletics Steven Cobb said the diversity reflected in the Seawolves athletics department is a result of the university’s long-held policy of recruiting the most talented individuals to serve student-athletes.

“We simply concentrate on attracting hardworking, talented individuals without regard to other factors,” said Cobb, who believes that the NCAA has come a long way in its diversity efforts. “As with any change, local and cultural factors have created varying degrees of success, but overall, I believe the membership is making outstanding progress and will continue to do so in the future.”

Stanford’s Bowlsby said it is tough to measure from one year to the next, but agrees the Association is heading in the right direction and progress is being made on the diversity front.

“There are lots of programs in place. Some of them are just beginning to bear fruit and some have borne fruit. As a profession, we are getting past the phase of seeking to interview a diverse pool and, instead, we are seeking to employ from that diverse pool. I think that’s a real milestone. It isn’t about the search; it’s about the end result. People are recognizing that those who bring varied backgrounds and diverse perspectives are valuable to any organization.”

For a complete list of winners in each category or for more information about the Texas A&M Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, visit http://lds.tamu.edu/Default.htm.