Fresno State Athletics
Fresno State Receives Commendation for Athletics Diversity
2/27/2007 12:00:00 AM | General
Feb. 27, 2007
FRESNO, Calif. - A national study that examined athletics departments from every NCAA Division I-A program has found the Fresno State Athletics Department is among the national leaders in diversity.
Fresno State was recently informed it has been honored for its diversity by the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University.
According to Dr. George B. Cunningham, the director of the Lab at Texas A&M's Department of Health and Kinesiology, the Award is designed to honor and recognize high achievements in athletics diversity.
"Consistent with the mission of the Lab, this Award is aimed at recognizing the athletics departments that excel in the area of diversity. While many reports underscore the negative diversity-related issues in athletics today, this Award is aimed at highlighting the diversity success stories."
In determining the rankings, data was collected from each Division I-A institution for the 2006-07 academic year. The information gathered for the ranking system came from a variety of sources, including hard data from each institution and survey responses from each department. To rank the graduation rates, the most recent NCAA four-year graduation rates were used.
The report recognized 10 institutions unranked in the following categories:
- Overall Excellence in Diversity
- Title IX Compliance
- Diversity Strategy
- Employee Diversity: Race
- Employee Diversity: Sex
- Employee Diversity: Values and Attitudes
- Graduation Rates for African American Males
- Graduation Rates for African American Females
Fresno State was recognized as one of the 10 best athletics departments in the nation in two of the eight categories, graduation rates for African American male student-athletes and for the racial diversity of the athletics staff. Fresno State was one of 20 schools to be honored in multiple categories.
Diversity in Athletics Award Recipients for Employee Diversity: Race
University of California, Berkeley
Fresno State
Florida International University
University of Hawaii
Mississippi State University
New Mexico State University
San Jose State University
Stanford University
University of Texas-El Paso
University of Tulsa
African American Graduation: Male Student-Athletes
Ball State University
Fresno State
University of Cincinnati
Kent State University
University of Louisiana, Lafayette
University of Louisiana, Monroe
Marshall University
Northwestern University
San Diego State University
University of Southern Mississippi
The mission of the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport is:
The Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University is dedicated to producing and disseminating research related to all forms of diversity within the sport context.
As the world continues to change and diversify, so too do the persons with whom people associate. People are different with respect to demographics, values and attitudes, educational and professional backgrounds, and various other group memberships. Thus, within sport organizations and athletic teams, people are now working along side dissimilar others, more so than ever before. The purpose of the Laboratory is to examine and seek to understand how such heterogeneity impacts team and organization performance, member affect, and member behaviors. Therefore, research from the Laboratory is aimed at investigating under-represented persons and groups, diverse dyads, heterogeneous teams, and individuals' outcomes when surrounded by dissimilar others. Such research allows for a greater understanding of how diversity impacts individuals and teams, as well as the benefits of diversity.
For more information about the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, go to: http://lds.tamu.edu/
