Colleges

Diversity hard to find at top of I-A

By wire services
Published January 26, 2006

ORLANDO - When Kansas State needed someone to replace retiring football coach Bill Snyder, Wildcat consultants were told to watch for promising black coordinators, senior associate athletic director Jim Epps said. K-State wound up hiring Virginia offensive coordinator Ron Prince, an African-American.

That kind of commitment to diversity wasn't so evident at many NCAA Division I-A schools, according to a report released Wednesday by University of Central Florida researchers.

The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport determined that white males still make up an overwhelming majority of leaders at Division I-A programs, from presidents and athletic directors to football coaches and coordinators. Though small improvements have been made in certain areas, whites hold 330 of the 357 campus leadership positions at the 119 schools, according to the report.

Eighty-one percent (97) of college presidents are white men, even with a 0.8 percent increase from last year in minority presidents. Black men headed four schools (Bowling Green, Indiana, Middle Tennessee State and Ohio), and Latinos led three (Akron, Florida International and New Mexico).

Fifteen women, all white, were listed as university presidents, including Judy Genshaft at South Florida.

Charlotte Westerhaus, the NCAA's vice president for diversity inclusion, said the organization recognizes a diversity problem and is doing more to promote qualified minority hires - including the creation of her office last year.

Three black men were head coaches this season (Karl Dorrell at UCLA; Sylvester Croom at Mississippi State; and Tyrone Willingham at Washington), the fewest since the early 90s. Since then, Prince was hired and Buffalo chose Turner Gill.

GEORGIA: The school's athletic board of directors approved a new eight-year, $16-million contract for coach Mark Richt that includes added incentives if his players meet high graduation standards. The deal boosts the annual salary for Richt, a former Florida State assistant, to $2-million from $1.5-million.

MIAMI: The Hurricanes will host Boston College on Thanksgiving night, the first time in two decades that UM will play on that holiday. Florida State visits Miami on Labor Day night to open the season.

TENNIS: The Florida women won their opener, sweeping visiting Central Florida 7-0.

[Last modified January 26, 2006, 01:02:16]