Sports and Public Service

Myles Brand is president of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). Brand previously served as president of Indiana University (1994-2002) and the University of Oregon (1989-1994).



There are two profound instances of social change within the sports world that became catalysts for major social progress. These two cases, coincidentally, involve my two personal sports heroes.

The first is really a sports hero for the ages – Jackie Robinson. As a youngster growing up in Brooklyn, I had the privilege of watching Robinson play for the Dodgers and to observe him exhibit heroic courage in the face of daunting challenges.

Race relations within the United States have been addressed in a number of ways, but none more powerfully than Robinson’s breaking the color barrier in professional baseball in the 1940s. It was a significant moment, and it had great impact on how America views people of color. While Robinson did not solve the problem by himself – certainly the Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s played a critical role – he was a catalyst and precursor of change.

That moment was made part of the American fabric on a localized basis through intercollegiate athletics as teams became integrated, particularly in regions of the country where black men and women struggled to have even a semblance of equality.

Over the past decade and a half, intercollegiate athletics have played an integral role in increasing the number of African-Americans who have higher-education degrees. Today, African-American student-athletes graduate from 11 points for males to 16 points for females better than their counterparts in the general student body. Robinson helped push open the door, and African-American student-athletes have been able to take advantage of the opportunity.

Even though Jackie Robinson opened the doors for athletes of color to participate on an equal footing more than 60 years ago, intercollegiate athletics have not been able to ensure that people of color have access to leadership positions. Recently, two African-American head football coaches took their teams to the Super Bowl. It was the first time that occurred, and it was the first time an African-American head coach won. Over the past few years, the National Football League (NFL) has made significant improvement in the number of African-American head coaches, but college football has not done as well.

There are embarrassingly few African-American head coaches in college football. As of 2008, there is two African-American head football coaches in Division III, one in Division II and 10 in Division I, including six among the 119 Football Bowl Subdivision (Division I-A) schools. All together, there are 13 African-American head coaches among 616 football-playing schools, when the Historically Black Colleges and Universities are excluded.

Despite five new African-American head coaching hires in the past two years, there is inadequate progress. At the current rate, it will take many years for the percentage of African-American head football coaches to equal the percentage of African-Americans in the general population.

What more can be done? Two years ago, the NCAA created the Office of Diversity and Inclusion to address issues around hiring and leadership for minorities and women. Division I conferences, singly and jointly, are now providing opportunities for athletics directors to meet informally with African-American football coaches, so that when head coaching vacancies occur, there are already networks in place. Search firms are also beginning to take notice of those who have been involved with the NCAA academies and in other ways to identify leadership talent among coaches of color. Encouragement is being given, at least more so than in the past, to successful NFL coaches to consider college head coaching positions.

Every college and university has its own broad-based hiring policies designed to ensure open and diverse searches. Those policies need to be followed in the case of hiring head football coaches – and, indeed, in all searches for athletics personnel. The lasting answer in college football depends on a commitment to the value and values of diversity and inclusion on the part of those doing the hiring. Responsibility for hiring lies, properly, on the campus. This issue remains a challenge to be met.

II. My second sports hero did not even play sports. Birch Bayh was a senator from Indiana in 1972, when he authored a piece of legislation that has changed the face of higher education – and intercollegiate athletics. Bayh is the author of Title IX, clearly one of the most important pieces of civil rights legislation affecting higher education in the last half of the 20th century. Originally proposed to open the doors of post-baccalaureate professional schools to women – for example, in medicine, law and business – Title IX may have had its greatest impact on intercollegiate athletics.

Prior to Title IX, there were no NCAA championships for women. There were very few college athletics scholarships for women, and there were few opportunities for competition. There was virtually no media coverage of the few competitive opportunities that did exist, and no television coverage.

According to a 1971-1972 survey of NCAA member institutions, fewer than 30,000 women were participating in sports and recreation programs, compared to more than 170,000 men. Today, nearly 165,000 women are competing in sports at NCAA member institutions. 44 of the NCAA’s championships in 20 sports are for women, and there are three coeducational championships. According to a recent membership survey, women now account for 41 percent of the participants in intercollegiate athletics and receive about 42 percent of the scholarship dollars. While disparity continues to exist, especially since women now comprise the majority of undergraduates in many schools, there is no question that progress has been made.

The key question underlying Title IX and its future is this: If we believe athletics benefit those who participate in them for developing characteristics central to good citizenship – teamwork, hard work, self-discipline, self-sacrifice and the pursuit of excellence – why should women benefit any less than men? The answer is, of course, they should not.