ESPN anchor Sage Steele (left), with broadcaster Debbie Antonelli at the 2007 NCAA Woman of the Year ceremony, will host the Symposium on Women of Color in College Sports.

Minority Opportunities and InterestS Committee

Tradition lives in symposium

By Leilana McKindra

For nearly two decades, the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee has tackled issues related to ethnic minority and female student-athletes, coaches, administrators and officials. That tradition will continue at the 2008 Convention in Nashville with the Symposium on Women of Color in College Sports.

While the expectation is that the January 11 symposium will generate new ideas, best practices and solutions on key issues facing women of color, the initiative is actually a remake of a previously successful MOIC-sponsored program.

The MOIC backed summits in 1999, 2001 and 2002, that were designed to foster programming and support for women of color in intercollegiate athletics. Although the small gatherings of selected representatives from the membership and various NCAA affiliate organizations proved successful, the initiative went dormant until recently when the national office staff began seeking ways to creatively re-energize existing programming. With the involvement of MOIC, the summit re-emerged as a symposium that will debut at the 2008 Convention.

The half-day symposium will consist of panel presentations and roundtable discussions and targets a broad audience of male and female coaches, administrators and student-athletes across all sports and divisions as well as others who have supported or want to do more to encourage the advancement of females of color in intercollegiate athletics.

The MOIC applauded the effort at its most recent meeting in September. Rudy Keeling, committee chair and commissioner of the Eastern College Athletic Conference, said the symposium and related programming helps prepare the membership to better deal with the issues.

“It’s important to the MOIC because our mandate is to address inequities that surround ethnic minorities – male or female – and this issue is something that’s important to us,” Keeling said.

The MOIC will review a summary of the symposium’s proceedings at a future meeting and determine if further programming or new initiatives should be created.