May 7, 2008

LAWRENCE, Kan. - Kansas Athletics has won a "Diversity in Athletics" Award in the category of Diversity Strategy. It will be presented in June at the National Association of Collegiate Athletics Directors convention in Dallas.

The award comes as a result of independent research conducted by the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M University and supported by the NCAA.  The research produced "Diversity in Athletics" Award winners in various categories on the NCAA Division I level.

NCAA Vice President Charlotte Westerhaus, in a letter to Kansas Athletics Director Lew Perkins, said the award winners are those who "have achieved the highest total combined scores in the areas of diversity strategy, gender diversity of departmental employees, racial diversity of departmental employees, value and attitudinal diversity of departmental employees, graduation of African-American female and male student-athletes, and gender equity compliance."

Perkins said diversity represents an important component of Kansas Athletics' strategic plan. "We are grateful for this award," he said, "because it validates our efforts in this important area."