In the spirit of the spark provided by an Ohio Wesleyan graduate's signing of Jackie Robinson as the first black major league baseball player, the North Coast Athletic Conference is kicking off its "Branch Rickey Initiative" today with its first Hiring Workshop for Women and Minorities.

Rickey, the Brooklyn Dodgers general manager whose 1947 signing of Robinson helped energize a movement that soon led to desegregation of the military, public schools, hotels and restaurants, now is the namesake of the conference's initiative to promote diversity and inclusion in the hiring and retention of coaches of men's and women's sports.

Rickey's alma mater is one of the conference's 10 member schools, and the 1904 Ohio Wesleyan graduate also served as athletics director and football and baseball coach at Allegheny, also an NCAC member.

"The Branch Rickey Initiative will honor Mr. Rickey's historic commitment to break the color barrier in pro sports, but it also recognizes the historic commitment of the NCAC institutions to promote inclusion in its athletics programs and staff," said Earlham President Douglas Bennett, who serves as conference president.

Conference members are committing to extensive recruitment of under-represented groups for open coaching positions and observance of "best practices" in creating diverse hiring pools, said Oberlin President Marvin Krislov, a member of the NCAC's Branch Rickey Initiative Committee.

Specific steps planned by the conference during the initiative include, but are not limited to:

Creation of internship opportunities for diverse populations.

Promotion of the conference's commitment to inclusive hiring.

Evaluation and analysis of member schools' efforts to promote diversity in light of national trends.

Recognition of exceptional efforts by member schools and of programs.

Today's workshop in Granville, Ohio, will bring together experts on diversity and inclusion and on Title IX with more than 50 presidents and administrators representing conference schools.

It is the type of programming that was encouraged by the NCAA Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee, a group that worked during the past two years to develop an agenda for fostering diversity and inclusion, said NCAC Executive Director Dennis Collins. Collins served on that 40-member panel formed by NCAA President Myles Brand, as did Garnett Purnell, director of athletics at NCAC member Wittenberg.

Purnell chairs the conference's Diversity and Inclusion Committee, which planned the workshop. Panelists at the event include Clint Bryant, director of athletics at Augusta State and a former chair of the Division II Management Council; Bridget Belgiovine, director of athletics and recreation at Wellesley; Stan Johnson, whose firm consults with employers on upgrading  current staff skills and securing and retaining a diverse employment base; and Valerie Bonnette, a Title IX specialist and president of Good Sports of San Diego.