Aug. 11, 2003 In conjunction with the grand opening of the Dr. Martin Luther King (King) Library and the events connected with "Literacy Week," San Jose State University and the Literacy Classic organization will host a symposium, "Diversity Dialogue: Issues in Athletics." The panel discussion will be held on Friday, August 22, at 9:30 a.m. (PDT) in the King Library on the San Jose State University campus. Panelists for this discussion include:
And
Dr. Charles Whitcomb, the first chair of the National Collegiate Athletic
Association's (NCAA) Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, who
will serve as moderator.
"We expect our conversation and discussion to stimulate and generate
innovative ideas regarding diversity issues," says Whitcomb, who serves as
the executive assistant to the Provost at San Jose State University.
Topics the panel will discuss include:
1.) Hiring practices of coaches in college football
2.,) The student-athlete experience
3.) Graduation rates
"We are delighted to have a distinguished panel in San Jose to discuss
these issues in the brand new Dr. Martin Luther King Library. The King
Library will become one of the premier learning centers for the general
public and college students in the western United States and our football
program wants to contribute to its excellence and growing educational
reputation," says Hill. "The topics our panelists will discuss are in the
forefront of college athletics today and should generate further discussion
and research. The dialogue should be spirited and may be controversial, but
we are counting on a healthy exchange of ideas and facts."
There is no admission fee to attend the symposium. Seating is limited to
the first 300 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Parking is
available across the street from the King Library in the five-story garage
located at the corner of Fourth and San Fernando streets.
BIOGRAPHICAL INFORMATION ON THE PANELISTS
DR. RICHARD LAPCHICK is regarded as "the racial conscience of sport." He
also is described as a human rights activist, pioneer for racial equality,
scholar, author and internationally-recognized expert on sports issues.
The founder of the Center for the Study of Sport in Society in 1984 at
Northeastern University became nationally known for its focus on educating
athletes from junior high school through the professional level. Sport and
Society helped form the National Consortium of Academics and Sports - a
group of 215 colleges and universities that adopted Sports in Society's
programs. Named "one of the 100 most powerful people in sport," he is known
for integrating different racial groups to create positive work force
environments. A prolific writer and nationally-requested public speaker, he
has written more than 450 articles, authored 10 books with three more in
production and delivered more than 2,600 speeches. Lapchick earned his
Ph.D. in international race relations from the University of Denver and has
received seven honorary degrees.
DR. TED LELAND is the director of athletics at Stanford University and
hired Tyrone Willingham as the Cardinal's head football coach in 1994.
Since taking over the reins of Stanford's intercollegiate athletics
program, the school has won 40 National Team Championships and eight
Directors' Cup Trophy, emblematic of the top athletic program in the
nation. In 2000-01, Leland was honored by NACDA (National Association of
Collegiate Directors of Athletics) and the Street & Smith's Sports Business
Journal as the "Athletic Director of the Year." The award recognizes an
Athletic Director for demonstration of commitment to higher education and
student-athletes, continuous teamwork, loyalty and excellence, and the
ability to inspire individuals or groups to higher levels of
accomplishments. After serving six years as a member of the NCAA Management
Council, he completed a two-year term as the council's chair. In 2002 and
2003, he was a co-chairman of the United States Secretary of Education's
Commission on Opportunity in Athletics. The 15-member panel examined ways
of strengthening enforcement of Title IX and expanding opportunities to
ensure fairness for all college athletes. An athletics administrator for
more than 20 years, he earned his Ph.D. in education/sports psychology from
Stanford in 1982.
MARK PURDY has been a sports columnist at the San Jose Mercury News since
1984. He previously worked at the Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald, Chicago
Tribune, Cincinnati Enquirer and Los Angeles Times. He has been a
contributing columnist to the Sporting News and has made television
appearances on ABC's Nightline, Court TV, Fox Sports Net, ESPN Classic, and
several Bay Area programs. On five occasions, he has been named to the
Associated Press Sports Editors' annual list of America's Top 10 Sports
Columnists. The South Bay's Metro Weekly has named him the "Best Local
Sportswriter" and he was twice selected as Ohio Sportswriter of the Year by
his colleagues while working in Cincinnati. A native of Celina, Ohio,
Purdy is a 1974 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of
Journalism. In the Bay Area, he is known as the columnist who named
"McCovey Cove," the body of water behind rightfield at Pacific Bell Park,
as a tribute to former Giants' slugger Willie McCovey. In 1989, he was a
member of the Mercury News staff that received the Pulitzer Prize for its
coverage of the "World Series earthquake" that struck the area just before
Game 3 at Candlestick Park.
RALPH WILEY is one of America's most distinguished African-American
writers. A former sports reporter and columnist for the Oakland Tribune, he
went on to write for Sports Illustrated. As a senior writer, he authored 28
cover stories on the athletes of our time. Presently, he is a columnist for
ESPN.com. Wiley is the author of several books on African-American sports
personalities and racial issues in this country. His books include "Why
Black People Tend to Shout," "Dark Witness: When Black People Should be
Sacrificed (Again)," "Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir," and "Serenity:
A Boxing Memoir." Wiley has broadened his writing career into motion
pictures producing scripts for films produced by Spike Lee.
DOUG WILLIAMS is the head football coach at his alma mater, Grambling State
University, located in Grambling, La. Williams is entering his seventh
season as a college head football coach. He was named the head coach at
Morehouse College in 1997 and replaced the legendary Eddie Robinson as the
school's head football coach in 1998. Grambling begins the 2003 season as
the three-time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion.
Williams was a star quarterback who became a first-round draft choice of
the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1978. The highlight of his professional playing
career was in 1988 when he became the first African American quarterback to
play in a Super Bowl. Williams led the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 win
in Super Bowl XXII and was named the game's "Most Valuable Player." Pro
Football Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs labeled Williams, "...one of the most
talented people I've ever seen. Even when he was young, he was a natural
leader."
DR. FITZ HILL is the head football coach at San Jose State University.
Entering his third season at San Jose State, he is one of four African
Americans who is currently a head football coach at a NCAA Division I-A
member institution. Hill also is one of two head football coaches at this
level who has earned a doctoral degree. In 1997, he earned his Ed.D. in
higher education from the University of Arkansas. His doctoral
dissertation, "Examining the Barriers Restricting Employment Opportunities
Relative to the Perceptions of African American Football Coaches at NCAA
Division I-A Colleges and Universities," is an objective review of the
plight of African Americans in the college football coaching profession.
Hill has given speeches and oral presentations across the country on this
subject. A veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he was
awarded a Bronze Star for service to his country.
MODERATOR
DR. CHARLES WHITCOMB is the executive assistant to the Provost at San Jose
State University. Dr. Whitcomb served nearly 20 years as the school's NCAA
Faculty Representative and served as the Western Athletic Conference's
representative on the first NCAA Management Council.. From 1991 to 2001, he
served as the first chair of the organization's Minority Opportunities and
Interests Committee. This NCAA committee raised the awareness of issues
concerning women, ethnic minorities and diversity in the college athletics
workplace and among its student-athletes, coaches and administrators. He is
currently the Dean of the NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic Minority
Males and serves as a consultant to the myriad of diversity programs
sponsored by the association. A full professor in the department of
recreation and leisure studies at San Jose State, he was department chair
until he accepted his present position in the Provost's office. Dr.
Whitcomb earned his Ed.D., from the University of Northern Colorado in
1976. His publications include, "The Extended Black Family Concept" and
"Ethnic Awareness of Black Senior Citizens."
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