People of Color in Predominantly White Institutions

Different Perspectives on Majority Rules

10th Annual National Conference (November 6-8, 2005)
Cornhusker-Marriott Hotel
333 South 13th St., Lincoln, Nebraska

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Sport as a Bridge Across the Racial Divide

Richard Lapchick, Director, Institute for Diversity and Ethics of Sport, University of Central Florida

Abstract
In racial tumultuous times, it is not easy to find ways to build a bridge to close the gap between various racial groups. New Orleans in the aftermath of Katrina forced America to confront race and poverty in ways we have not be able to do in recent years. With college campuses being the third biggest site for hate crimes in America today, the concept of teamwork in sport presents us with a rare opportunity to bring different racial groups together on an equal playing field. The presentation will focus on this special role sport plays but also elaborate on how we can transfer the lessons of teamwork into society.

Richard Lapchick is a human rights activist, pioneer for racial equality, internationally recognized expert on sports issues, scholar and author Richard E. Lapchick is often described as "the racial conscience of sport." He brought his commitment to equality and his belief that sport can be an effective instrument of positive social change to University of Central Florida where he accepted an endowed chair in August 2001. Lapchick became the only person named as "One of the 100 Most Powerful People in Sport" to head up a sport management program.

Lapchick helped found the Center for the Study of Sport in Society in 1984 at Northeastern University. He served as Director for 17 years and is now the Director Emeritus. Sport in Society has attracted national attention to its pioneering efforts to ensure the education of athletes from junior high school through the professional ranks. Sport in Society Project TEAMWORK was called "America's most successful violence prevention program" by public opinion analyst Lou Harris. It won the Peter F. Drucker Foundation Award as the nation's most innovative non-profit program and was named by the Clinton Administration as a model for violence prevention.

Sport in Society Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) program, a gender violence prevention program, has been so successful with college and high school athletes that the United States Marine Corps adopted it in 1997. Athletes in Service to America, funded by AmeriCorps, combines the efforts of Project TEAMWORK and MVP in five cities across the nation.

Sport in Society helped form the National Consortium for Academics and Sports (NCAS), a group of over 215 colleges and universities that have adopted Sport in Society's programs. To date, more than 22,000 athletes have come back to NCAS schools. More than 9,000 have graduated. Nationally, the NCAS athletes have worked with more than 10 million students in the school outreach program, which focuses on teaching youth how to improve race relations, develop conflict resolution skills, prevent gender violence and avoid drug and alcohol abuse. They have collectively donated more than 11 million hours of service. Richard Lapchick serves as President and Chief Executive Officer of NCAS.

Lapchick was the American leader of the international campaign to boycott South Africa in sport for more than 20 years. In 1993, Sport in Society launched TEAMWORK-South Africa, a program designed to use sports to help improve race relations and help with sports development in post-apartheid South Africa. He was among the 200 guests specially invited by Nelson Mandela to his inauguration.

Lapchick is a prolific writer. His tenth book was published in November 2001 with a foreword by Muhammad Ali. He is now working on three books which are all scheduled for publication in the summer of 2004. Lapchick is a regular columnist for The Sports Business Journal. He has written more than 450 articles and has given more than 2,600 public speeches.

Considered among the nation's experts on sports issues, Lapchick has appeared numerous times on Nightline, Good Morning America, Face The Nation, The Today Show, ABC World News, NBC Nightly News, the CBS Evening News, CNN and ESPN.

Lapchick also consults with companies as an expert on both managing diversity and building community relations through service programs addressing the social needs of youth. He has a special expertise on Africa and South Africa. He has made 30 trips to Africa and African Studies was at the core of his Ph.D. work.

Before Northeastern, he was an Associate Professor of Political Science at Virginia Wesleyan College from 1970-1978 and a Senior Liaison Officer at the United Nations between 1978-1984.

He is listed in Who's Who in American Education, Who's Who in Finance and Industry, and Who's Who in American Business. He was named for six consecutive years as "one of the 100 most powerful people in sport."

He is widely known for bringing different racial groups together to create positive work force environments. Lapchick has received 7 honorary degrees. In 1993, he was named as the outstanding alumnus at the University of Denver where he got his Ph.D. in international race relations in 1973.

Lapchick received a B.A. from St. John's University in 1967 and an honorary degree from St. John's in 2001.

Richard is the son of Joe Lapchick, the famous Original Celtic center who became a legendary coach for St. John's and the Knicks. He is married to Ann Pasnak and has three children and one grandchild.