Queens Receives 2008 NCAA Excellence in Diversity Award

FLUSHING, N.Y.  -- Queens College’s Athletics Department has been selected to receive a 2008 Diversity in Athletics Award for Overall Excellence in Diversity from the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA). The award will be presented at a ceremony/reception on June 11 during the National Association of Collegiate Directors of Athletics (NACDA) convention in Dallas.

Honorees from Division I and II colleges and universities were chosen based on their responses to surveys from the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University. The award winners were those institutions that had achieved the highest total combined scores in such areas as overall excellence in diversity; diversity strategy; gender, racial, attitudinal and value diversity of employees; graduation of African-American male and female student-athletes; and gender-equity compliance.

“Diversity has always played a major role in the cultural environment of our department and of Queens College in general,” says Richard Wettan, Director of Athletics. “Our students come from over 100 nations and speak scores of languages. The contributions they have made through their varied backgrounds and diverse perspectives have proven invaluable to our growth and success.”

The other Division II colleges and universities that will be honored for overall excellence in diversity are Goldey-Beacom College; Florida Institute of Technology; University of New Haven; Oakland City University; Slippery Rock University of Pennsylvania; Palm Beach Atlantic University; Lock Haven University of Pennsylvania; California State University, Stanislaus; California State Polytechnic University, Pomona; University of Alaska, Anchorage; New York Institute of Technology; Saint Leo University; and Indiana University of Pennsylvania.

Charlotte Westerhaus, NCAA Vice President for Diversity and Inclusion, praises the award-winning institutions for embracing all aspects of diversity. “The Diversity in Athletics Awards not only provide visibility for member schools with good practices, but also create dialogue that focuses on the essential need for diversity and inclusion in athletics and higher education.

Queens College is the only City University of New York (CUNY) college that participates in Division II sports. QC’s Athletics Department is a member of NCAA and a founding member of the East Coast Conference (ECC), one of the strongest conferences in the nation, with teams competing in a dozen sports. There are 11 women’s and nine men’s Division II Varsity sports teams at the college.