Athletics News

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 JoseState University and the Literacy Classic organization will host asymposium, "Diversity Dialogue: Issues in Athletics." The panel discussionwill be held on Friday, August 22, at 9:30 a.m. (PDT) in the King Libraryon the San Jose State University campus.

Panelists for this discussion include:

Dr. Richard Lapchick, founder of the Center for the Study of Sport inSociety now based at the University of Central Florida (Orlando, Fla.)

Dr. Ted Leland, director of athletics at Stanford University (Stanford,Calif.)

Mark Purdy, nationally-known newspaper columnist of the San Jose Mercury News

Ralph Wiley, senior writer for ESPN.com and author of several books onrace relations in sports

Doug Williams, head football coach at Grambling State University

Dr. Fitz Hill, head football coach at San Jose State University whosedoctoral dissertation focused on employment opportunities for AfricanAmerican football coaches at the NCAA Division I-A level.

And

Dr. Charles Whitcomb, the first chair of the National Collegiate AthleticAssociation's (NCAA) Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, whowill serve as moderator.

"We expect our conversation and discussion to stimulate and generateinnovative ideas regarding diversity issues," says Whitcomb, who serves asthe 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 discussthese issues in the brand new Dr. Martin Luther King Library. The KingLibrary will become one of the premier learning centers for the generalpublic and college students in the western United States and our footballprogram wants to contribute to its excellence and growing educationalreputation," says Hill. "The topics our panelists will discuss are in theforefront of college athletics today and should generate further discussionand research. The dialogue should be spirited and may be controversial, butwe are counting on a healthy exchange of ideas and facts."

There is no admission fee to attend the symposium. Seating is limited tothe first 300 participants on a first-come, first-served basis. Parking isavailable across the street from the King Library in the five-story garagelocated 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." Healso 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 atNortheastern University became nationally known for its focus on educatingathletes from junior high school through the professional level. Sport andSociety helped form the National Consortium of Academics and Sports - agroup of 215 colleges and universities that adopted Sports in Society'sprograms. Named "one of the 100 most powerful people in sport," he is knownfor integrating different racial groups to create positive work forceenvironments. A prolific writer and nationally-requested public speaker, hehas written more than 450 articles, authored 10 books with three more inproduction and delivered more than 2,600 speeches. Lapchick earned hisPh.D. in international race relations from the University of Denver and hasreceived seven honorary degrees.

DR. TED LELAND is the director of athletics at Stanford University andhired Tyrone Willingham as the Cardinal's head football coach in 1994.Since taking over the reins of Stanford's intercollegiate athleticsprogram, the school has won 40 National Team Championships and eightDirectors' Cup Trophy, emblematic of the top athletic program in thenation. In 2000-01, Leland was honored by NACDA (National Association ofCollegiate Directors of Athletics) and the Street & Smith's Sports BusinessJournal as the "Athletic Director of the Year." The award recognizes anAthletic Director for demonstration of commitment to higher education andstudent-athletes, continuous teamwork, loyalty and excellence, and theability to inspire individuals or groups to higher levels ofaccomplishments. After serving six years as a member of the NCAA ManagementCouncil, he completed a two-year term as the council's chair. In 2002 and2003, he was a co-chairman of the United States Secretary of Education'sCommission on Opportunity in Athletics. The 15-member panel examined waysof strengthening enforcement of Title IX and expanding opportunities toensure fairness for all college athletes. An athletics administrator formore than 20 years, he earned his Ph.D. in education/sports psychology fromStanford in 1982.

MARK PURDY has been a sports columnist at the San Jose Mercury News since1984. He previously worked at the Dayton (Ohio) Journal Herald, ChicagoTribune, Cincinnati Enquirer and Los Angeles Times. He has been acontributing columnist to the Sporting News and has made televisionappearances on ABC's Nightline, Court TV, Fox Sports Net, ESPN Classic, andseveral Bay Area programs. On five occasions, he has been named to theAssociated Press Sports Editors' annual list of America's Top 10 SportsColumnists. The South Bay's Metro Weekly has named him the "Best LocalSportswriter" and he was twice selected as Ohio Sportswriter of the Year byhis colleagues while working in Cincinnati. A native of Celina, Ohio,Purdy is a 1974 graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School ofJournalism. 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 amember of the Mercury News staff that received the Pulitzer Prize for itscoverage of the "World Series earthquake" that struck the area just beforeGame 3 at Candlestick Park.

RALPH WILEY is one of America's most distinguished African-Americanwriters. A former sports reporter and columnist for the Oakland Tribune, hewent on to write for Sports Illustrated. As a senior writer, he authored 28cover stories on the athletes of our time. Presently, he is a columnist forESPN.com. Wiley is the author of several books on African-American sportspersonalities and racial issues in this country. His books include "WhyBlack People Tend to Shout," "Dark Witness: When Black People Should beSacrificed (Again)," "Growing Up King: An Intimate Memoir," and "Serenity:A Boxing Memoir." Wiley has broadened his writing career into motionpictures producing scripts for films produced by Spike Lee.

DOUG WILLIAMS is the head football coach at his alma mater, Grambling StateUniversity, located in Grambling, La. Williams is entering his seventhseason as a college head football coach. He was named the head coach atMorehouse College in 1997 and replaced the legendary Eddie Robinson as theschool's head football coach in 1998. Grambling begins the 2003 season asthe three-time defending Southwestern Athletic Conference champion.Williams was a star quarterback who became a first-round draft choice ofthe Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 1978. The highlight of his professional playingcareer was in 1988 when he became the first African American quarterback toplay in a Super Bowl. Williams led the Washington Redskins to a 42-10 winin Super Bowl XXII and was named the game's "Most Valuable Player." ProFootball Hall of Fame coach Joe Gibbs labeled Williams, "...one of the mosttalented people I've ever seen. Even when he was young, he was a naturalleader."

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 AfricanAmericans who is currently a head football coach at a NCAA Division I-Amember institution. Hill also is one of two head football coaches at thislevel who has earned a doctoral degree. In 1997, he earned his Ed.D. inhigher education from the University of Arkansas. His doctoraldissertation, "Examining the Barriers Restricting Employment OpportunitiesRelative to the Perceptions of African American Football Coaches at NCAADivision I-A Colleges and Universities," is an objective review of theplight of African Americans in the college football coaching profession.Hill has given speeches and oral presentations across the country on thissubject. A veteran of Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, he wasawarded a Bronze Star for service to his country.

MODERATOR

DR. CHARLES WHITCOMB is the executive assistant to the Provost at San JoseState University. Dr. Whitcomb served nearly 20 years as the school's NCAAFaculty Representative and served as the Western Athletic Conference'srepresentative on the first NCAA Management Council.. From 1991 to 2001, heserved as the first chair of the organization's Minority Opportunities andInterests Committee. This NCAA committee raised the awareness of issuesconcerning women, ethnic minorities and diversity in the college athleticsworkplace and among its student-athletes, coaches and administrators. He iscurrently the Dean of the NCAA Leadership Institute for Ethnic MinorityMales and serves as a consultant to the myriad of diversity programssponsored by the association. A full professor in the department ofrecreation and leisure studies at San Jose State, he was department chairuntil he accepted his present position in the Provost's office. Dr.Whitcomb earned his Ed.D., from the University of Northern Colorado in1976. His publications include, "The Extended Black Family Concept" and"Ethnic Awareness of Black Senior Citizens."