One of the highlights of the NCAA Convention this week is a Wednesday session that aims to fortify a principal NCAA cornerstone.

The 1:45-2:45 p.m. Association-wide panel discussion on sportsmanship will feature presidents from each NCAA division and will serve as the launching pad for an ambitious new campaign to restore and strengthen the membership’s commitment to sportsmanship.

Presidents James Barker of Clemson, Stephen Jordan of Metropolitan State and Kathleen Owens of Gwynedd-Mercy are among the panelists making the case in support of sportsmanship.

“I believe our universities and colleges are anchors of community, and athletics is often the first experience the community has with an institution,” said Metro State’s Jordan. “If we don’t have a positive game environment for those people when they attend our athletics events, we will lose the opportunity to attract them to our music events, speakers series, theatre events and all the other things we do.”

Session attendees also will get the first look at the new sportsmanship campaign spearheaded by the NCAA Committee on Sportsmanship and Ethical Conduct. The comprehensive two-phase effort, which is based on extensive public and membership surveys, will focus on addressing negative fan behavior and encouraging student-athletes and coaches to take the lead in creating a culture of sportsmanship and respect.

John Blanchard, a senior athletics director at North Carolina and the chair of the sportsmanship committee, said one goal of the campaign is to encourage institutions to create environments that support the home teams and in which opponents and their fans feel good about the experience.

“We are institutions of higher learning and we are about educating,” said Blanchard. “We have in our fan base an awful lot of young people. They are learning, and we need to create an environment so they know what respect looks like in the athletics arena.”