USA Today: UB athletics is busting racial barriers

An article on the front page of the sports section of USA Today reports that UB is making sports history as the only Division I-A school with African-Americans in the three most visible posts in its athletics department. The article quotes UB President John B. Simpson, who said "I'm very pleased that it turned out this way, but I think honestly we hired in terms of excellence, not in terms of who happens to be an African-American. It's an embarrassment for the country that we're the only Division I school that has this particular constellation. Statistically, that shouldn't be the case, certainly in terms of the talent pool." The article also quotes Warde Manuel, director of athletics, who says, "I don't ever want it to be misconstrued that this was done to be the first. I didn't even know until somebody told me. Then I said to myself, 'Yeah, that makes sense. I should have realized that.' Hopefully there will come a time when this doesn't need to warrant the interest that it has." The article includes an accompanying story on men's basketball coach Reggie Witherspoon and his experiences, not only as a basketball coach, but as a member of a family of civil-rights leaders. Go to article.