Glen Crevier

Sandy Rosenbush and Leon Carter were present at the birth of the Sports Journalism Institute in 1992. Actually, it was their idea to create opportunities for more women and minority print journalism students.

They were part of a task force at the NABJ convention that year. One of their goals was to redefine diversity so that it did not mean the same group of people moving from one paper to another, playing musical chairs around the country.

They have succeeded in a big way, and APSE has long benefited from their efforts. Over the years, SJI has trained hundreds of students who are now productive members of our sports departments.

But the program has had its share of ups and downs, from the initial grant of $75,000 from the Freedom Forum in 1993 to the controversies of this past summer at the Ritz-Carlton Hotel in Orlando, which included a racial incident in the hotel bar and bitter feelings by some sports editors that stories in the daily convention newspaper were poorly written and edited, lacked balance and contained too many inaccuracies.

Despite it all, Rosenbush and Carter have persevered and have steered the program around the many obstacles often in its path.

In the early days, when SJI was flush with grants from the Freedom Forum, students attended a two-week boot camp at a college followed by a week at the APSE convention. It was a successful beginning to an ambitious idea. By 1996, funding from the Freedom Forum was gone as it concentrated on building the Newseum in Washington, D.C. And Rosenbush and Carter were left to scramble for funds — every year — to keep the program alive.

Many of us now know SJI for its convention newsroom and newspaper and for the students stopping us in the hallways, seeking interviews, mingling at social events and silently slipping us their resumes.

What many APSE members don't know is how difficult it is to cobble together funding for the program each year. Think about the expenses: travel, lodging, food, computers, tech support, high-speed Internet, phone bills, and scholarships for the students. In most years, expenses run about $35,000. In Seattle in 2002 they reached $41,000. Since the Freedom Forum dropped its support, SJI has never had a sponsor contribute more than $20,000.

Expenses have been somewhat lower the past two years, largely because of the efforts of Jim Jenks of the Philadelphia Inquirer and Lynn Hoppes of the Orlando Sentinel, who played important roles in obtaining outside help setting up and running the newsrooms at the conventions. But that kind of commitment cannot be expected every year as the convention moves from city to city.

And there are hidden costs, like time away from work for various editors and alumni who help run the newsroom, train the students, edit their work and provide valuable feedback.

Needless to say, keeping SJI moving forward has become almost a full-time job for Carter and Rosen-bush, and both already are gainfully employed, Carter as the sports editor of the New York Daily News and Rosenbush, a past APSE president, as an editor at Sports Illustrated.

When they returned from Orlando this past summer, the stress and strain of the experience weighed heavily, and both agreed it was time to reevaluate the SJI program. Is the present format best suited for the students? Their answer was no.

As a result there will be several significant changes next year. But the good news is that both Carter and Rosenbush will continue as the program's leaders and remain committed to its mission: to train minority college students to become better print journalists.

SJI will align with the Poynter Institute in St. Petersburg, Fla., which wants to add a sports educational component to its curriculum. It's a perfect match for both.

"Sandy and I feel we have to get SJI back in a classroom setting," Carter said. "The classroom worked well for us during the first few years ... As funding got tighter, we moved to hotels hosting the APSE convention. Some years the distractions were greater than others. Those distractions take valuable time from our mission."

Next June, SJI students will attend a boot-camp classroom for several weeks, where Poynter faculty members will assist in the training. The students will cover local sporting events on deadline, including, hopefully, a Devil Rays game. And APSE members can still expect phone calls for stories, as the students will publish a 12- to 16-page newspaper that will serve as a convention preview and will be available when editors arrive in Las Vegas. The students will not attend the convention.

"But they should be better prepared when they enter your newsrooms," Rosen-bush said. "And that's our goal."

The agreement with Poynter will also ease SJI's financial pressures. Poynter will supply laptops and a wireless classroom, as well as offer a hotel rate — including breakfast and free high-speed Internet access — considerably cheaper than the MGM in Las Vegas. Additionally, the hotel will provide transportation free.

What's important to note is that APSE's support for SJI remains firm and steadfast. We will contribute $10,000 to the program next year, and both Jenks and Mike Fannin of The Kansas City Star, future APSE presidents, have pledged continued support.

Few sports departments are satisfied with their record of diversity. Some of us are ashamed of it. SJI plays a vital role in preparing women and minorities to enter our workplace. And the move to Poynter is a logical next step in improving that process and one that will ultimately serve both the students and our newspapers well.

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You can reach Glen Crevier of the Minneapolis Star Tribune at (612) 673-4748 or via e-mail at gcrevier@startribune.com.

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