The National Collegiate Athletic Association has recently recognized diversity in Division III collegiate athletic programs across the country, with the John Jay College of Criminal Justice earning the highest distinction: Overall Excellence in Diversity. John Jay was one of only nine institutions out of the 450 nationally in Division III to earn the prestigious title.
Baruch College joined John Jay as one of the seven top schools in the country in regards to racial diversity, while the College of Staten Island was cited as one of eight schools nationally in gender equity.
The study was conducted by the independent Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University, and was supported by the NCAA. Founded in 2003 as part of the Center for Sport Management Research and Education, the Lab is dedicated to producing and disseminating research related to all forms of diversity within the sport and leisure context.
Through the research conducted by the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, the overall excellence in diversity award winners are those that have achieved the highest combined scores in the areas of diversity strategy, gender equity compliance (Title IX Proportionality), value and attitudinal diversity of department employees, gender diversity of department employees, and racial diversity of department employees.
“John Jay College of Criminal Justice is an extremely diverse College and it is a great honor for the College to be recognized for the diversity it has,” said director of athletics, Dan Palumbo.
The awards will be presented at the Division III Business Session at the 2010 NCAA Convention in Atlanta in January.