Two Sports Illustrated writers, a professional sports agent and a World Series-winning former major league baseball player will be featured at a Sports Journalism Symposium at Linfield College Thursday, Feb. 26.

The group will discuss a range of current issues in sports coverage during an evening panel presentation. Participants will also visit classes and meet informally with students throughout the day.

The panelists are: Chris Ballard, senior writer at Sports Illustrated; Scott Brosius, a former MLB player and Linfield baseball coach; Lindsay Kagawa Colas, a sports agent from Portland whose clients include major WNBA players and Olympians; and Lindsay Schnell, an SI writer and former Oregonian sportswriter.

In addition, the ESPN documentary “Let Them Wear Towels” will be screened earlier in the day and a discussion will follow. The film was produced as part of ESPN’s “Nine for IX” series on Title IX. Produced, directed and written by Annie Sundberg and Ricki Stern, it documents the issues of access that women sportswriters confronted in covering sports in which they were not allowed in locker rooms after games while male sportswriters were given access. Schnell will discuss the film and her experiences following its showing. It includes interviews with Melissa Ludtke of SI, Claire Smith, Lesley Visser and Christine Brennan.

Other films by Sundberg and Stern include “Knuckleball,” “Joan Rivers: A Piece of Work” (2010 Sundance Film Festival Winner: U.S. Documentary Best Editing), and the 2008 Gotham- and Emmy-nominated “The Devil Came on Horseback.”

Linfield has a winning tradition in sports.

• The baseball team has won multiple regional titles and in 2013 won the NCAA Division III national title. The team has taken the Northwest Conference crown five of the seven years since Brosius has been coach.
• The football team was crowned NCAA Division III National Champion in 2004 and at 59 years and counting has the longest string of winning football seasons in any division.
• The softball team won the NCAA Division III National Championship 2011 and 2007 and was runner-up in 2010 and 2012.

The panel will be at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 26 in Ice Auditorium in Melrose Hall. It is free and open to the public. It will last about an hour with time devoted to audience questions. “Let Them Wear Towels” will be shown at noon the same day in 201 Riley Hall.

Sponsors of the events are the Mass Communication Department, Nicholson Library, the Sport Management program and its allied departments, with additional funding from the Office of Academic Affairs.

For more information, contact Professor Brad Thompson, 503-883-2291. Participant bios and mugshots are available separately.