The press conference will focus on the June election of 14 new members to the 90-member committee, once again excluding women. Several women nominated to the Sugar Bowl Committee failed to garner enough support among members to gain access to the committee.
"Sugar Bowl Committee membership is a sweet deal -- for men, that is," Ireland said. "The men obvously savour the power and prestige that comes with bowl membership; power to broker vendor deals, television coverage and advertising, hotel and travel packages, all generating millions of dollars.
"The Sugar Bowl is the only major bowl without a female committee member, while the Fiesta Bowl has a female president. Although football is an all-male game, bowl games and their impact extend far beyond the playing field.
"As conservatives in Congress are leading the charge on repealing affirmative action, what better example of the need for these programs than the New Orleans Sugar Bowl Committee, which is 100 percent male and more than 90 percent white? We're not even talking about instituting affirmative action, with its gentle goals and timetables; we're talking about ending blatant gender segregation and outright discrimination against women," she said.
Ireland is in New Orleans for the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and will serve on a panel examining affirmative action strategy. She was alerted to the discriminatory practices of the Sugar Bowl Committee by the Greater New Orleans NOW chapter, headed by Ivory Madison. ##