COLUMBUS, Ohio - The Ohio State Department of Athletics was honored Wednesday with the Diversity in Athletics Award in the category of Overall Excellence in Diversity Wednesday. Gene Smith, Assistant Vice President and Director of Athletics at Ohio State, accepted the honor at the 43rd annual National Association of College Directors of Athletics Convention in Dallas.

"This truly is an honor," Smith said after the award announcement in May. "At Ohio State, we strive for diversity at all levels and will continue to do so in the future. This is a testament to the commitment of staff throughout our department to the values and goals we have set for ourselves. It is special to be recognized as a leader in this area by our peers in collegiate athletics." 

Using independent research conducted by the Laboratory for Diversity in Sport at Texas A&M and supported by the NCAA, the award winners are those that 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.

For more information, contact Westerhaus at the NCAA offices at (317)917-622.

About Ohio State Athletics

The Ohio State University Department of Athletics sponsors 36 fully funded varsity teams – 17 for women, 16 for men and three co-educational. The department is committed to providing its more than 900 student-athletes with the finest in academic and athletics support in order to ensure a quality and life-enhancing experience. The Department of Athletics is completely self-supporting and receives no university monies, tax dollars or student fees. In Fiscal Year 2007-08, the Department of Athletics will transfer back to the University more than $25 million in assessments, including nearly $17 million in grant-in-aid costs.