The Westerhaus Way
With the newly created position of vice president for diversity and inclusion, the NCAA hopes to improve the hiring practices of their member schools
By Ronald Roach
In 2005, the NCAA took a significant step towards combating one of the most consistent criticisms in intercollegiate athletics. Despite the growing visibility of women’s sports and the abundance of excellent minority student-athletes, most of the top college coaching and athletic administration jobs have remained largely closed off to both women and minorities. That changed when the NCAA established a senior-level office of diversity and inclusion. The selection of veteran academic and corporate diversity specialist Charlotte F. Westerhaus to head the new office has boosted speculation that the NCAA could be ready to break new ground in getting its member schools to improve their hiring practices.
Since assuming her post last August, Westerhaus has convened a
strategic planning committee to explore the issues and come up with strategies and recommendations for improving the diversity in college sports’ power positions. Made up of athletic directors, conference commissioners, coaches, student-athletes and even university presidents, the 45-member NCAA Diversity Leadership Strategic Planning Committee is also charged with coming up with strategies to diversify student-athlete participation and strengthen the position of women’s sports in intercollegiate athletics.
“I think that the committee has tremendous potential. The creation of it and the office for diversity and inclusion can give some strategic direction to the issue of diversity within the context of intercollegiate athletics,” says Bernard Franklin, the NCAA’s senior vice-president for governance and membership.
Notable committee members include Dr. Joe Crowley, the interim president of the University of Nevada; Dr. Kenneth Shaw, the chancellor emeritus of Syracuse University; Lisa Love, director of athletics at Arizona State University; and Tyrone Willingham, the head football coach at the University of Washington. Andy Geiger, a former athletics director at The Ohio State University, co-chairs the committee along with Westerhaus.
