Panel Formed to Guide CSUN on Athletics

In response to concerns about the future of intercollegiate athletics at Cal State Northridge, university President Blenda J. Wilson announced Wednesday the formation of a blue-ribbon advisory commission, chaired by Ira Michael Heyman, former chancellor of UC Berkeley.

Members of the commission are: Vivian Fuller, Northeastern Illinois athletic director; Robert Krause, Kansas State vice president; community leader Katherine Mulholland; Ronald Lemos, an assistant vice chancellor in the Cal State system, and Don Dyer, a partner in a prominent accounting firm.

Ron Kopita, Northridge vice president for student affairs, will supply the commission with all campus reports pertaining to athletics in the past five years before the commissioners visit the campus Dec. 14-15. He also will serve as a liaison between the commission and Northridge’s athletics oversight advisory board.

The commission is expected to interview students, student-athletes, faculty members, coaches, athletic administrators, boosters and community leaders and prepare a report by the end of January.

Wilson was unavailable for comment, but Kopita said the commission will study community and campus support, funding and the philosophy of the program.

“We want to ask, ‘What should athletics be about at Cal State Northridge?’ � Kopita said.

The commission also will review various reports that derived from concerns raised by African-American student-athletes about the athletic program, including poor student-athlete graduation rates, and a lack of academic advising and minority coaches.

Northridge Athletic Director Bob Hiegert is pleased with Wilson’s decision to seek outside help and the short time frame in which the commission is operating.

“I think they are looking for an unbiased view,� he said.

Hiegert believes that when the commission follows the paper trail that led to the university’s decision to move to Division I in 1990 (in all sports but football), it will see that the jump was studied for several years before any steps were taken.

With certain factions of the faculty calling for CSUN Foundation funds to be diverted from athletics, and others calling for football to be dropped and the other sports to return to Division II, Hiegert seeks direction.

“We’ve been asking for a determination, where we should be going,� he said. “Then, let us do our job, instead of people questioning us.�