Midwest Conference

2010-11 MWC Diversity and Well Being Representatives

NCAA Diversity and Well Being Information

NCAA Show Me the Money
2009-10 Race and Gender Demographics of NCAA Member Institutions' Athletics Personnel Report
2009-10 Race and Gender Demographics of NCAA Member Conferences' Personnel Report

Recent Diversity and Well Being News

Grinnell College dorms: Where gender doesn't matter

Male, female, transgender, no gender, gay, lesbian, straight. Labels don’t matter at Grinnell College. Students can share a dormitory room, bathroom, shower room or locker room with any of the above, if they choose.

This fall, the progressive private liberal arts college on the Iowa prairie added a gender-neutral locker room to its mix of gender-neutral dormitory options.

The locker room in the athletic complex is for those using the recreational facilities, physical education students, varsity athletes or spectators of athletic events.

It’s the next step for Grinnell College, which became Iowa’s only college three years ago to offer an option for males, females or others to share the same dorm room, part of a growing trend nationwide. The University of Iowa and Cornell College are among Iowa colleges also considering the option in coming years, while more than 50 mostly private colleges across the country have been joined recently by a few public universities with gender-neutral housing.

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NCAA Inclusion Group hosts minority coalition meeting; summit will be next focus

The NCAA inclusion staff and influential leaders from minority and advocacy groups have identified and strategized on issues that impact student-athletes and administrators of color in an effort to develop a more inclusive culture in athletics and higher education.

All Graduating Seniors from Urban Prep Pledge to Attend College

All Graduating Seniors from Urban Prep Pledge to Attend College: MyFoxCHICAGO.com

One hundred and four: that's the number of students in the senior class at Urban Prep Charter Academy for Young Men on the south side.

They are all graduating and "college bound." They "signed on" to their futures in a special ceremony on Wednesday.

Every senior who graduates must sign his name, and the name of the school he'll be attending, in the Credimus Book. That is Latin for “we believe.”

"You are part of something bigger than yourselves, more important than just you,” CEO of Urban Prep Academies Tim King told the graduating class. “You were part of transforming our entire society."

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NCAA summit addresses violence on campus

NCAA President Mark Emmert at today’s violence prevention summit in Indianapolis called for more collaboration and idea-sharing on campuses in an effort to curb egregious acts and behavior.

The NCAA-sponsored summit, “Focus on Prevention and Intervention of Interpersonal Violence,” featured a variety of experts who brainstormed on resolving an issue that vexes campuses across the country.

“I don’t know a campus in the country that hasn’t tried from one degree or another to combat this issue,” Emmert said. “It has special resonance for us in intercollegiate athletics and we want to make sure we’re doing all that we can.

“What we can’t do is pretend this isn’t a problem.”

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Ethnicity Report Reveals Impact of NCAA Diversity Efforts

Updated research on the composition of NCAA member institutions’ administrative and coaching staffs since 1995 shows not only dramatic increases in opportunities but also a much broader demographic distribution of those opportunities.

The NCAA’s Race and Gender Demographics Report for 2009-10 shows significant increases in the number of administrative personnel in the last 15 years, primarily because of increases in NCAA membership but also because of expanding staffs at individual schools to reflect the growth in athletics participation overall (more than 430,000 student-athletes compete in NCAA sports now compared to about 330,000 in 1995).

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Executive Committee Proposes New Diversity Structure

The NCAA Executive Committee put a plan in motion at its meeting Thursday to better position the Association’s governance structure to deal with a broadening array of diversity and inclusion issues.

The plan enhances the Association-wide Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Women’s Athletics – the two primary diversity bodies that have been in place for two decades – by expanding their rosters from 15 members to 18 (to allow adding one president from each division) and specifying equal distribution of members among Divisions I, II and III.

It also establishes a new “inclusion oversight body” composed of representatives from the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee and the Committee on Women’s Athletics (including presidents from those panels) and creates subcommittees to address issues involving everything from age, race, sex, class and creed to educational background, disability and gender expression.

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Enrollment of minority students at all-time high at Monmouth College

The college was officially able to announce its 2010-11 enrollment figures earlier this week, and the numbers show that of the 413 new students on campus, 99 are American minorities. The incoming class, which includes more than 14 percent African-American students and more than 7 percent Hispanic/Latino students, is the most diverse in MC’s history.
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MWC Hosts 2010 Diversity Summit

The Midwest Conference (MWC) recently hosted it’s first-ever Diversity Summit at Lake Lawn Resort in Delavan, Wis., on June 1-2. The event, funded through the Division III Strategic Initiative Grant, focused on the recruit­ment and retention of ethnic minority student-athletes and staff at MWC member institutions.

The Summit was a continuation of a two year study of ethnic diversity within the league which included surveys of coaches, data collection, outside consultant reviews and a Diversity Report, the first in league history.

“We are proud of the attention and commitment we have brought to this subject but we still have much work to do,” said MWC Commissioner Chris Graham. “We have identified many key issues across our predominantly white institutions and believe there are actions our athletic departments can make to improve our inclusive environments.”

Three separate presenters and a panel of ethnic minorities who were former athletes at predominantly white institutions joined over 50 representatives from the ten member institutions during the intensive two-day event. The educational ses­sions were led by keynote speaker Dr. Eddie Moore, Jr., the Director of Diversity at the Bush School in Seattle, Wash., and a former multi-sport athlete in the MWC. Dr. Moore’s messaged focused on the groundwork needed for ethnic diver­sity in athletics. “Integration without preparation does not work,” stated Dr. Moore during his presentation. “There are so many opportunities in small college athletics, especially for minorities, and it can be a very positive situation for them.”

Participants were also entertained by Preacher Moss with his “End of Racism Comedy and Lecture Tour.” Moss’ blunt and honest viewpoints are designed to help his audience eliminate the anxiety of behind understanding diversity and multicul­turalism.

Cecil Youngblood, Director of Intercultural Affairs at Beloit College, guided participants in the final sessions as they iden­tified core issues and developed action plans to address the recruitment and retention of ethnic minority student-athletes and staff.

The summit was coordinated by Assistant to the Commissioner/Director of Championships Nnenna Akotaobi.

The Inclusion group is the new structure assembled last October at the NCAA national office that will focus on developing policy to create more inclusive environments; engaging presidents and chancellors surrounding inclusive issues; and collaborating with national and influential organizations that have diversity or inclusion as their primary mission.

Discussions at the minority coalition meeting, conducted at the recent convention of the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics, included education-related challenges; agent interference and other external influences in high-profile sports; and increasing opportunities among underrepresented sports, minority student-athletes and professional women.

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