“Whether by policy or by practice, you can effectuate change in an entity or their culture,� Mehri says. “There are different routes to the same place. The route that’s going to work on Division I-A is going to be in the form of guidelines, which will set a best practice. All the athletic directors will be judged against that best practice.

“In any organization, it requires more than just a policy. It requires commitment from the top and it requires a lot of diligence,� Mehri says, adding that the association hopes to have this “Eddie Robinson Rule� in effect before the next hiring cycle begins next month.

Although the BCA welcomes the progress, Keith says the organization will also consider litigation as a means of pushing diversity forward. “I hope we don’t have to go there, but we’re not afraid to do that,� he says. “You hope you don’t have to have a train wreck to draw a crowd.

What the AD group is considering, Keith says, is “probably the first sign I’ve seen on the administrative level to address the problem. That’s a positive … . But we’re not seeing enough movement. At the end of the day, it’s numbers and the numbers don’t show there’s any change happening.�

Mehri understands that criticism, but notes that change takes time. “You’ve got to start with a small victory and then have that become a standard by which business is being done,� he says. “That’s what we hope will take place, but it will take three to four years before we see whether it has been achieved.�

--Lois Elfman

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