Dr. Tony Gaskew, professor of criminal justice at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, has been appointed to a three-year term on the NCAA Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, effective September 2019.

The NCAA established the committee in 1991 to enhance commitment to foster racial equality and diversity in collegiate athletics.

The committee is responsible for reviewing issues and promoting NCAA programs and policies related to student-athletes, coaches and administrators who are ethnic minorities, LGBTQ or who have disabilities.

The committee is designed to champion the causes of minorities by fostering an inclusive environment, thereby creating a culture that promotes fair and equitable access to opportunities and resources.

The committee comprises 18 members, including a current chancellor or president from each division in the NCAA. There are six members from each of the NCAA's three divisions. One student-athlete from each division is also included on the committee.

"I look forward to serving as an advocate for the NCAA's commitment to inclusion and equity in intercollegiate athletics," Gaskew said. "Athletics can play a significant role in changing the culture of a campus."

Gaskew is uniquely qualified to serve on the committee. From 2012-2015, he served as the Chair of the President's Advisory Committee on Diversity at Pitt-Bradford. In 2016, he graduated from the prestigious Emerging Leaders Program of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities in Washington, DC.

Gaskew is also a graduate of the esteemed NCAA Faculty Athletics Representative Fellows Institute. Since 2016, Gaskew has served as Pitt-Bradford's faculty athletics representative to the NCAA.

As the faculty representative, Gaskew plays a vital strategic and tactical role in overseeing the university's institutional responsibilities in the NCAA's three broad areas of academic integrity (including academic reform initiatives), institutional control, and student-athlete well-being. He also represents the university to the Alleghany Mountain College Conference. He also serves as the senior faculty advisor to the Office of the President in the area of athletics.

Gaskew is professor of criminal justice, director of the criminal justice program and founding director of the Prison Education Program at Pitt-Bradford.

Story written by Kimberly Weinberg, Pitt-Bradford Assistant Director of Communications and Marketing