Folder photo: A general view of the field during the Yale Bulldogs football match against Harvard Crimson at the Harvard stadium in Boston, Massachusetts.
Adam Glanzman | Getty images
A new tradition for HBCU football could start in one of the oldest football stadiums in the country on the Harvard University campus.
“It’s really a cultural event,” said Derek Brown, co-founder of The Essence Hbcu Classic, an NCAA football match between teams of college and historically black universities. This year’s inaugural match is between the Morehouse College Maroon Tigers and the Golden Bulls of Johnson C. Smith University on Saturday during the Labor Day weekend.
“Football is definitely part of the weekend. But I would say that it is the aperitif, and everything that comes is the entrance,” said Brown.
The four -day event co -founded by Campus RISE, which also created the HBCU NY Classic, will showcase a PEP rally, Tailgate, Battle of the Bands and a PAS show in order to create an atmosphere similar to an HBCU return.
“We are trying to amplify the Hbcu and the incredible people who go to these schools,” said Michele Ghee, content director of the petrol title sponsor. “What an incredible opportunity to say:” Yes, HBCUs produce big students like Harvard. “”
The event organizers said they chose Boston due to the large number of former HBCU students in the region and have chosen the Harvard stadium for its historical importance.
In 1971, the Howard University and the eastern bank of the University of Maryland played a match at the stadium organized by the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.
“Boston is actively working to shape a new story,” said John Borders IV, a graduate of Morehouse and head of the Boston Office of Sports, Tourism and Entertainment, noting that the mayor Michelle Wu actively tries to distribute the city of his history of racial tensions. “Boston has a rich black story. Although people have a perception of Boston historically, there is a different dimension.”
The presidents of Morehouse and Johnson C. Smith also say that the game will also give the two HBCUs the possibility of informing people of their rich history and of strengthening their national presence.
“This is really an opportunity to have this broader exhibition and to bring the product of Morehouse, the product of the pride of the HBCU on the road to present,” said F. Dubois Bowman, president of Morehouse.
“I think there are many questions that we must ask ourselves about the representation, on the role that people of color, especially blacks, play in this country,” said Valerie Kinloch, president of Johnson C. Smith. “When we talk about crossing different types of spaces, we must understand how large colleges and universities have a large impact, and this also includes an impact on the spaces in which we will not be represented.”
In addition to gasoline, the game is sponsored by the betting giant Drabings and an application in cash, a subsidiary of Block.
“This partnership reflects who we are and what we defend,” said Zack Ashley, a global manager of brand partnerships at Cash App, in a press release. “We are honored to help bring the HBCU Classic essence to Boston and to celebrate excellence, pride and history of these institutions while offering real advantages to the communities they serve.”
Brown said sponsorship is clear recognition of the value of HBCUs and their former students at a time when many companies end their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“It’s a new tradition, but it’s not a new consumer,” said Brown. “I think that all our partners recognize that it is a consumer that they wanted to target. They do not make charity, they sponsor this event because it gives them excellent access to a very important consumer for their business.”