National Collegiate Athletic Association Division I Athletic Department Mission Statements and Diversity

• In Event: Context for Innovation in Athletics: Policy-Relevant Research for Intercollegiate Programs and Leadership

Abstract

Given the increasing number of student-athletes of color in college sports, the athletics department is rarely considered as needing to address diversity; yet, diversity goes beyond numbers. With the import of written documents as a first step in expressing a value for diversity, this study examined how NCAA Division I athletic department mission statements address diversity. Recognizing the athletic departments' position within the larger institution, Chesler and Crowfoot's (1989) organizational analysis of racism framework was used, and forty department and university mission statements were examined using an iterative content analysis approach. Findings show that the majority of statements address diversity, but the nature and extent of that inclusion varies greatly by document type, affecting the clarity of the messages conveyed.

Author

• Laura Bernhard, University of California - Los Angeles