Whites ‘dominate’ as FBS execs

RALEIGH, N.C. — A diversity study finds that white men continue to “dominate” leadership positions at the Football Bowl Subdivision level of college athletics.

Wednesday’s report card from The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES) issued identical letter grades from last year with a D overall, a C for racial hiring and an F for gender hiring. The study examined positions that include university presidents or chancellors, athletics directors, faculty athletics representatives and conference commissioners, using data submitted by the NCAA.

Richard Lapchick, the institute’s director and lead report author, noted there were some positives such as the highest percentage of people of color serving as athletics directors in the study’s history as well as two black men — Kevin Warren in the Big Ten and Keith Gill in the Sun Belt — becoming the first people of color to serve as FBS conference commissioners.

Overall, whites held 337 of 400 campus leadership positions in the study (84.3%), down slightly from 85.4% last year.

More specifically, white men held 77.7% of president or chancellor positions and 76.2% of the 130 positions as athletics directors, according to the study.

The study noted 24 people of color serving as FBS athletics directors, up from 20 last year, the highest percentage recorded by the study dating to 2002. Women made the most gains as faculty athletics representatives, going from 31.6% of those positions last year to 35.7%.