SAN FRANCISCO – In coordination with Monday's national launch by the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation, Arizona head coach Sean Miller joined all of the head men's basketball coaches from the Pac-12 Conference in pledging their support to participate in the McLendon Minority Leadership Initiative.
The dozen coaches from the Pac-12 join a contingent of their colleagues across the country – led by Kentucky's John Calipari and Harvard's Tommy Amaker – in establishing the Minority Leadership Initiative, which will provide minorities a jump-start to their careers through practical experiences, opportunities to build their network, and instilling the values of John McLendon: Integrity, Education, Leadership, and Mentorship. Participants in the initiative will be known as MLI Future Leaders. Learn more about John McLendon here.
Each of the league's 12 head coaches have pledged a four-year commitment to provide funding to the MLI program, which will establish athletics administration educational experiences for minority candidates on each Pac-12 campus. The coaches will act as liaison with the McLendon Foundation and serve as ambassadors and mentors to the MLI Future Leaders. The Conference's Athletic Directors unanimously approved the men's basketball coaches' recommendation to create the opportunities within their administrations last week.
"In order to advance diversity in sports, it is important we develop minority administrators and leaders who will go on to hire the next generation of college coaches. We are only a small part of what we all hope will become a larger initiative. The Pac-12 coaches are excited to be involved with the McLendon Foundation and to become part of the solution," said Oregon's Dana Altman on behalf of the Conference's head coaches.
Earlier this month the Pac-12 Conference announced its initial steps to promote social justice and combat racism which includes plans to support member and department initiatives to further the movement.
"I am proud of our head men's basketball coaches for collectively supporting the McLendon Foundation and taking action to effectuate social change within our membership", said Pac-12 Commissioner Larry Scott. "As our league continues its efforts to promote social justice and anti-racism, it is critical to foster and cultivate meaningful opportunities to develop minority leadership and influence organizational change not only within our athletic departments, but across the sports industry."
Click this link for the full press release from the McLendon Foundation.
About the John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation
The John McLendon Minority Scholarship Foundation is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded and administered aby NACDA that provides educational opportunities and serves as a vehicle for networking, information and advocacy on behalf of the profession. Since its inception, the Foundation has awarded 123 students with scholarships in the amount of $1,245,000.
