In the CCAA's second public service announcement of the 2020-21 academic year produced by Bay Area Online Sports Network (BAOSN), the conference is highlighting the commitment to the value statement of diversity & inclusion.

The piece was narrated by a familiar face to the league as San Francisco State alumnus Joaquin Wallace provides his rich tones. Wallace played baseball for the Gators in 1986 and '87, helping the squad to the NCAC Championship in his first season on the diamond. After graduating in 1989 with a B.A. in Economics, Wallace went on to earn a master's and doctorate in business administration from Golden Gate University. 

A stint in the San Francisco Giants front office working in player development as well as head basketball coaching experience at his alma mater has provided Wallace a wealth of experience and unique perspective behind the mic around the Bay Area sports landscape.

"It was truly an honor to work on the diversity project as the CCAA has been instrumental in my personal growth," Wallace noted. "As a former player, adjunct instructor and in my broadcasting career, the CCAA has been my launch point.
 

"I have a unique relationship with the CCAA as a former student-athlete and graduate [at a current conference institution] places my loyalty unparalleled. Furthermore, as a Minority Coach being one of a few during my tenureship was again special as the CCAA allowed me to follow my passion to coach at the collegiate level. Moreover, the opportunity presented from coaching was instrumental in me beginning my broadcasting journey."

Complementing the CCAA strategic plan, the series of PSAs began with a look at Excellence across the conference landscape. Now, the CCAA turns its focus to strength and unity through Diversity and Inclusion. As explained in the strategic plan, the conference is dedicated to being better together than apart while valuing and embracing differing viewpoints to strengthen our collective voice. 

With 12 member institutions in the CCAA - all a part of the California State University System - some valued points of diversity and inclusion that encompass the league include:

• The CSU is the largest four-year public university system in the United States with 482,000 students in the most diverse state in the nation.
• New chancellor-elect Joseph Castro is the first native Californian and Mexican American to head the system.
• One-third of undergraduates system-wide are the first in their family to attend college.
• More than 51 percent of CSU employees are women and more than 38 percent of employees are people of color.
• Over 60 percent of the general student body are people of color, and of the over 3,500 student-athletes across the conference, 63 percent identify as people of color.
• All 12 CCAA members are certified Hispanic serving institutions, with 62 percent of all bachelor's degrees granted to California's Hispanic students conferred by the CSU.

Throughout the communities of each of our valued CCAA member institutions, diversity is our strength; inclusion - our commitment; and social justice - our passion. 

Along with providing his voice to the PSA, Wallace has been heard calling multiple recent CCAA Tournaments, both on the court and in the diamond. The professional voice over actor is also a play-by-play and color analyst for Stanford Athletics and a broadcast analyst in the booth for the Santa Cruz Warriors of the G-League.  

With the tagline "Game On - Live and Later," BAOSN delivers cost-effective, high definition, quality broadcasts of Bay Area high school and college sporting events over the web. The CCAA and BAOSN previously teamed up together in 2018 and 2019 to produce and broadcast multiple CCAA Championship events on the fields, diamonds and courts around the conference.