Whitman County is no one’s candidate for multicultural capital of the world, but that just makes it all the more notable that Washington State University’s athletic program has been recognized for excellence in diversity.

There in the rural and relatively isolated Palouse, the Cougars are being held up as a model for other universities to follow if they want to foster a diverse environment for their own student athletes.

Says who? George Cunningham, director of the Texas A&M Laboratory for Diversity in Sport, that’s who. The laboratory just released the names of 10 Division I-A schools listed as winners of the first-time award. The other nine include the University of Washington, but among those on the list only Nevada is in as non-diverse a locale as WSU.

Consider it an accomplishment of necessity if you wish. To compete at the Division I-A level, a school like WSU has to make itself tolerable if not attractive to student athletes from all over the country and, increasingly, the world.

A quarter-century ago, when Congress had just legislated a requirement that universities receiving federal funds had to treat women and men equitably, Washington State was sued over imbalance in its interscholastic athletic programs. Men’s teams enjoyed more scholarships, bigger budgets and better facilities and equipment, and their coaches were paid more than in the women’s programs, complained the 14 coaches and 39 student athletes listed as plaintiffs.

After a two-month trial, WSU lost the suit, but quickly began to take a series of steps intended to rectify the situation. That was in 1979. By 1997, on the 25th anniversary of the legislation known as Title IX, only nine of 108 Division I schools were said to be in compliance. WSU ranked as fifth best.

The university’s progressive approach paid off then, and it has done so again, showing that, with dedication, predominantly white institutions – and communities – can transcend their demographic limits and make themselves as welcoming as a global culture demands.