Spanish-speaking members of the Division II Management Council and the NCAA staff have collaborated on a Spanish translation of the Division II strategic-positioning platform. 

The purpose was to make the platform available to Division II member schools in Puerto Rico, as well as others in the United States that customarily serve students whose primary language is Spanish. 

Division II has done this sort of translation before with other products, including banners and other items on the Division II purchasing Web site.

Karen Soto, faculty athletics representative at Puerto Rico-Mayaguez and member of the Division II Management Council, was among those who helped with the translation. She noted that according to the 2000 U.S. Census, Hispanics are the nation’s largest minority.

“Giving Hispanics the opportunity to understand the Division II strategic-positioning platform is a way of reaching out to this growing sector of the population and letting them know that they are important to our membership,” she said. “Also, with four Spanish-speaking institutions from Puerto Rico in Division II, we guarantee that the platform is understood by all their members in the university community.”

Soto added that the Spanish version of the platform also might help attract more predominantly Hispanic universities to the division. “It demonstrates that we care and are willing to diversify as we improve communication among our membership,” she said.

In that vein, Division II Vice President Mike Racy said the division is looking into the feasibility of a meeting in October among Division II Presidents Council members and presidents/chancellors of Hispanic-serving institutions to discuss other ways the division can help make their Division II membership more meaningful and useful to their students.

“This has been a particular focus of Presidents Council Chair Stephen Jordan, who noted that many NCAA member schools that serve Hispanic students reside in Division II,” Racy said.