The effects of staff diversity on organizational performance are complex: some studies show negative effects while other point to a number of benefits (for reviews, see Mannix & Neale, 2005; Williams & O'Reilly, 1998). The equivocal nature of the findings suggest that moderators could potentially influence the relationship between diversity and subsequent performance. The purpose of this study was to examine this possibility within the context of intercollegiate athletics. In drawing from the information/decision making perspective (Gruenfeld et al., 1996), it was hypothesized that the diversity of the staff would result in greater performance, as measured by the success of the athletic teams (hypothesis 1). However, this relationship was thought to be moderated by the diversity strategy employed within the athletic department. Specifically, in drawing from Fink et al.'s (2001) framework, it was expected that athletic departments that had high staff diversity and that followed a proactive diversity management strategy would outperform their counterparts (hypothesis 2). Data were collected from multiple members of 75 NCAA Division I athletic departments. The diversity of the staff and the strategy employed were gathered through questionnaire data. Department performance was measured using NACDA Director's Cup points, an objective measure of team performance. The number of head coaches and total expenditures by the department (collected from the Equity in Athletics Disclosure Act website) served as control variables. Regression analysis indicated that, after accounting for the effects of the control variables, staff diversity uniquely contributed 9% to department performance (beta = .31, p < .01); thus, Hypothesis 1 was supported. Moderated regression analysis indicated that, after accounting for the controls and first order effects, the staff diversity-by-diversity strategy interaction term accounted for 3% unique variance (beta = .17, p < .05). In support of Hypothesis 2, departments with high diversity and that followed a proactive diversity management strategy had the highest performance. Results from this study show that while racial diversity was directly related to departmental performance, the effects were qualified by the strategy employed. Specifically, the positive effects of racial diversity were increased when coupled with a proactive diversity management strategy. Such a strategy is likely to allow for the conditions necessary to capitalize on the benefits of diversity—conditions such as active debate of issues, freedom to express doubt as to the efficacy of the adopted approach, and cooperative interdependence (see van Knippenberg et al., 2004).Keyword(s): administration/mgmt, multiculturalism/cultural diversity, sport management