Students are not the only ones receiving final grades this week. The Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport (TIDES), located in the College of Business Administration, has released the 2012 Major League Baseball (MLB) Racial and Gender Report Card, just one week after the celebration of the 65th anniversary of Jackie Robinson breaking the color barrier.
The MLB once again recorded an “A” for racial hiring practices, but their grade for gender hiring practices dropped from a “B-“ to a “C+.”
Richard Lapchick, the primary author of the study and the director of TIDES and chair of the DeVos Sport Business Management Department said, “Despite the decrease in the grade for gender, there was more good news for MLB. Commissioner Bud Selig recognized the need for diversity in baseball long ago and made tremendous strides for inclusion and diversity, as is exemplified by the high grades for both race and gender in the MLB central offices where the combined grade was an A. With Magic Johnson being part of the new ownership group for the Los Angeles Dodgers, MLB became the only one of the major sports leagues to have two teams owned by a person of color. However, there is always room for improvement, especially at the team level.”
The Racial and Gender Report Card is issued sport-by-sport.
This is the first report issued in 2012 and will be followed by the releases on the National Basketball Association, the Women’s National Basketball Association, the National Football League, Major League Soccer and College Sport.
The complete Racial and Gender Report Card will be issued hereafter.
Read the full TIDES [1] report.