The Centennial Conference has launched a comprehensive three-year plan dedicated to diversity, equity and inclusion.
Along with a consulting firm called The Red Brick Road Consulting and Coaching, the Division III conference announced the plan Monday. In a 12-page document, Centennial laid out how it would foster DEI and ensure compliance across its 11 member schools.
“As a perennial athletic conference, we believe that diversity and inclusion enhances learning and should be representative of the general population,” said CEO Portia Hoeg. “We have made the decision to not only establish DEI as a cornerstone of our conference; we want to be a leader in this space.”
So let's dig deeper.
CLICK HERE FOR MORE SPORTS COVERAGE ON FOXNEWS.COM
The Centennial Conference DEI Plan in 3 Parts
Centennial's new DEI strategy focuses on three key areas:
Complement learning and programming opportunities related to diversity, equity, and inclusion
The conference promises to “foster an inclusive environment” by promoting awareness and providing DEI educational materials to schools and student-athletes.
A good example of this initiative is the monthly “diversity briefing” email sent to staff members at Johns Hopkins University, a member of the Centennial Conference.
A generic basketball photo of the referee standing on a basketball. (Mark Sobhani/NBAE via Getty Images)
Create visibility of DEI communication and outreach throughout the conference
In other words, Let's publicly congratulate ourselves frequently on how diverse and inclusive we are.
Improve inclusive policies and practices in all member institutions
This is the big one.
The Centennial Conference promises to “recruit and retain diverse representation among conference members, athletic administration, coaches, staff and student-athletes.”
Under this policy, your chance to make the team could come down not to your athletic prowess, but to your skin color or sexual preference.
The conference will also provide annual DEI report cards for all member schools.
So what does this mean to move forward?
It's hard to say.
DEI is certainly all the rage right now, both in corporate America and in academia. And what it teaches is that things like skin color, gender identity, and sexual orientation are more important than grades, talent, and competence.
As long as you check the right boxes, you can hold a high-ranking position in the White House, become president of an Ivy League university, or even be in a Disney movie.
However, up to this point, athletics has been the last beacon of meritocracy. College and professional sports teams hire the most skilled and athletic players because they don't want to lose. And they definitely don't want to lose money.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
But the Centennial Conference is a little different. DIII schools don't give scholarships, their student-athletes don't rake in millions in NIL money, and they aren't beholden to multimillion-dollar television deals.
In other words, they can afford to make a virtuous signal. Even if it creates a culture of division, victimhood and mediocrity.
