Forty-five years after landmark legislation was passed that ensured equity in higher education, including athletics, how much progress has been made? An examination of how Title IX came to be and its effect on a generation of young women. Though progress has been made, the road to true equality remains long and winding. Jack Ford with Amy Wilson, NCAA director of inclusion.

How do small schools in far-flung locales manage to maintain an athletics program? What logistical and budgetary hurdles do they face? How do student-athletes who take numerous road trips of hundreds of miles balance their obligations to sports and school? An administrator from one of the NCAA’s most remote universities shares how his program tackles those challenges. Jack Ford with Gary Gray, director of athletics at Alaska Fairbanks.

At the highest level of NCAA governance — the NCAA Board of Governors — representatives from all three divisions debate issues and initiatives that can have profound effects on schools at each level. Division I has more seats at the table, but the other two divisions make sure to have their voices heard. A Division III perspective on how the biggest decisions are made. Jack Ford with Alan Cureton, president of Northwestern-St. Paul and vice chair of the Division III Presidents Council.

Division II welcomed Simon Fraser, a Canadian university, to its ranks via a pilot program in 2012. That program is now permanent, and other international schools have expressed interest in joining the NCAA. Division II is weighing whether to open its doors to schools in Mexico, and some administrators are eager to see international expansion. Jack Ford with Les Wong, president of San Francisco State.

The job of the small team that coordinates travel to the NCAA’s 90 championships is most frenetic in March. They must help ferry men’s and women’s basketball teams — among those from several other sports — through the month’s madness. A dive into the behind-the-scenes chaos and what it takes to ensure everyone reaches their destination before tipoff. Jack Ford with Juanita Sheely, NCAA director of travel and insurance.

As college campuses across the country grapple with incidents of sexual assault, the NCAA Commission to Combat Campus Sexual Violence is considering college sports’ role in not only preventing sexual violence, but in influencing the culture that amplifies the problem. Jack Ford with Lt. Gen. Robert Caslen, co-chair of the commission and superintendent at Army West Point.

In 1972, women coached more than 90 percent of college women’s teams. Today, they coach fewer than half. One Champion magazine reporter was determined to find out why. The answer, she learned, wasn’t simple — nor are the solutions that could reverse the trend. Jack Ford with Champion Assistant Editor Rachel Stark.

The enrollment of a small college in Michigan has roughly doubled since 2005. How? The new college president invested in athletics facilities and expanded the college’s sports programs, making Adrian more appealing to a wider swath of students. He feels other small colleges struggling to maintain enrollment and stay solvent can adopt similar strategies and details how, precisely, Adrian has transformed in recent years. Jack Ford with Jeff Docking, president of Adrian.

College sports suffer from a dearth of minority and female coaches and administrators. A conversation about the obstacles minority candidates face as they seek to climb the ladder and details about programs made available in recent years that help close the gap. Jack Ford with Bernard Franklin, NCAA chief inclusion officer.

The NCAA Sport Science Institute is tasked with addressing a litany of health and safety concerns — concussions and cardiac health among them. But the group’s principal challenge? Mental health. A discussion about how difficulties with mental health can affect college athletes and what services some schools are offering to help. Jack Ford with Dr. Brian Hainline, NCAA chief medical officer.