I always cringe when anyone uses percentages because you seem to indicate that because a majority of players 50% are Black then there should be a corresponding number of Black coaches or at least a much higher percentage. If that were so, then why in institutions where the majority is white, should that institution have affirmative action to hire underrepresented categories? I would never state because there is such a percentage of this or that then we should have leaders whether they be coaches or executives in comparable percentages that must be that color. We are then basing hires on race and not on qualifications.

I have 89% women and minorities working at my institution with many departments being nearly 100% Black. I have had the Black departmental heads ask me how they could hire White employees to have true diversity since at this time they do not. My answer to both is the same. You have to hire the best qualified person for the position regardless of their background, national origin, or color. I agree with you with the Auburn hire which I consider an absolute farce and they should be investigated by the EEOC and the OFCCP.

My question has always been in college football that don’t all colleges and universities that accept federal money, i.e., student loans, grantes, etc. require an Affirmative Action plan? Of course they do and the OFCCP should look into the “good faith efforts” that universities are required to take when hiring any staff member. In Auburn’s case, that just did not happen. If we are to hold people accountable then having a university forfeit their federal money in the even of not taking good faith efforts might be the way to go.

Coach Willingham just was not a good coach in the situations he faced with Notre Dame and lately with Washington going 0-12 in his last season and 4-9 the year before Any coach in today’s NCAA environment would have been scrutinzed and/or fired and he was this year as well.

It has taken a generation or so but there are quality Black representation in the NCAA ranks within the pipeline such as Offensive and Defensive Coordinators, etc. that are and should be given high priority consideration.

Your point with the percentages again of athletic directors and college presidents say something I feel is not fully merited. That is because as we all know the vast majority of colleges and universities are extremely liberal and have multiple diversity and multicultural programs in place for hiring faculty and staff members. It would be an anathema to them not to hire a qualified Black professional given the chance to do so. Again, those who do not and the applicants passed over who are more qualified should file an EEOC complaint or one with the OFCCP. Maybe then we will see some action taken to continue to hire the most qualified and not, as Auburn insisted, was the “best fit” for the university. The “best fit” comment is another one that chills me because that is bad faith not good faith efforts.

This is necessary for practical reasons. If were completely color blind or gender neutral, then this would create a different problem.

Your daughter, assuming she was qaulified, may have had scores equal or comparable to the few minority students who have also achieved qualifying scores. If we ignore race, we’d overlook this small group of kids. The public school would then be completely white and no minorities would benefit.

There is usually anywhere from 10 to 20 qualified white kids per black child with qualifying scores. The problem with ignoring race and only considering other factors such as poverty, single parent home, etc., is that there are several qualified students from the majority that meet this criteria as well. They would likely acquire those slots as well, because many would have higher scores then the minority kids. I am not saying that these students don’t deserve to get in, but they should be admitted by using some of the slots reserved for white students.

And to be quite honest with you, there is no reason to assume that your child would have been admitted if that one slot was not reserved for a minority. Another white child with higher scores may have beaten her out. There usually are more qualified candidates than there are available slots in those TAG programs.