Reporting on report cards

IU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan is facing criticism for a comment he made in an article appearing in the Oct. 21 edition of The Indianapolis Star. \nUpon hearing that the coach recruitment program at Army, where he was formerly the athletics director, received a C by the Black Coaches Association, Greenspan said, "Without getting into a public dispute, if there's not a minority coach you feel strong interest in, or feel there isn't a great interest in you, I'm not prepared to go through a gratuitous process to get an A on a report card, to be candid with you." \nThe BCA is mad, but ultimately, Greenspan had a point.\nIf a school knows of no minority coaches interested in their program, and no minority coach expresses interest in a program, is it worth an exercise in pointlessness just for the sake of appearances? We don't think so. \nWe know that the hiring of football coaches, or any athletic coach for that matter, is often a Good ol' Boys Club. It's an elite world, and it's hard for minorities to break in. But it's not worth going through the motions just so the sports world can say, "Ah, look, they're really trying." \nGreenspan was also right in saying he wanted to avoid a public dispute. He's been in the limelight for a long time, and he surely understands the value of watching his words. Should he have said anything at all? Maybe not, but his point was well taken.\nAn organization like the BCA should promote its cause and be a watchdog for discrimination, and they should encourage real action rather than meaningless motions.\nDissent\nIU Athletics Director Rick Greenspan is facing criticism and, darn it, he very well should be.\nArmy's, and in turn, Greenspan's less than-excellent-grade concerns me, considering the criteria, which, according to www.indystar.com, included "the number of times a school consulted the BCA or the NCAA committee on minority opportunities in the hiring process, percentage of minorities involved in the hiring process, percentage of minorities given official interviews, time spent on the job search ..." and so on.\nGreenspan argues that "there was some correspondence (with the BCA)" and that the search included some minorities, but I wonder just how many minority prospects were considered in the final cut. I also question the amount of effort and time the Army hiring committee spent in its search.\nGrades aside, it's Greenspan's attitude that concerns me most.\nBlack players, disproportionately, comprise almost half the players in both Division I-A and Division I-AA schools, and yet, out of the 220 schools rated, only 5 head coaches are black. There's something wrong with that.\nGreenspan's argument that "if there's a not a minority coach you feel strong interest in, or feel there isn't a great interest in you," probably fits right in with the responses from the other Division I-A and I-AA institutions that received lackluster grades.\nThe hiring process in any industry is indeed a Good ol' Boys Club. Any authority who combats an extraordinary problem with average effort is an authority who doesn't recognize his responsibility.\n Melanie Sims