File Photo: A common view of the ground during the Yale Bulldog vs. Harvard Crimson Football game at the Harvard Stadium of Boston, Massachusetts.
Adam Glenzmann | Getty images
A new tradition for HBCU football can begin in one of the oldest football stadiums in the country on the campus of Harvard University.
“This is actually a cultural phenomenon,” said Derek Brown, co-founder of the Essence HBCU Classic,, an NCAA football game among teams historically black colleges and universities. This year’s Inaugural match-up Morhouse College Marun Tigers and Johnson c. Smith University is with Golden Bulls during Labor Day Weekend on Saturday.
Brown said, “Football is definitely a part of the weekend. But I would say that it is an appetizer, and everything that comes with it is an entry.”
Four-day program co-established by Campus Rise, which also built Hbcu ny classicA pap rally, tailgate, battle of the band and a step show in which an HBCU will have to show a step with the goal of creating the same environment.
“We are trying to increase HBCU and amazing people going to those schools,” said Mitchell Ghee, Chief Material Officer of Title sponsor essence. “What a wonderful opportunity to say, ‘Yes, HBCs are producing great students just like Harvard.” ,
The organizers of the incident said that they chose Boston due to a large number of HBCU alumni in the region and chose Harvard Stadium for their historical importance.
In 1971, Howard University and University of Maryland Eastern Shore played one Sports held at the stadium By the Urban League of Eastern Massachusetts.
“Boston is actively working to shape a new story,” John Borders IV said, a Morhouse Graduate and Boston Office of Sports, Tourism and Entertainment head, noting Mayor Michelle Wu, is trying to remove the city from his history of racial stress actively. “Boston has a rich black history. While people historically have an assumption about Boston, a different dimension.”
Morhouse and Johnson c. Smith’s presidents say that the game will similarly give both HBCU an opportunity to inform people of their rich history and build their national presence.
Chairman of Morhouse F. Dubois Boman said, “This is really an opportunity for that broader performance and to bring the product of the Morhouse, to show the product of HBCU’s pride on the road,” F. Dubois Boman, President of Morhouse.
Johnson c. Smith president Valerie Kinloch said, “I think there are a lot of questions that we have to ask ourselves about representation, about the role that color people, especially black people, play in this country.” “When we talk about crossing different types of spaces, we have to understand how historically black colleges and universities have a widespread impact, and it also includes impacts on the spaces that we usually do not represent.”
In addition to the essence, the game is being sponsored by betting legend Drafting And a subsidiary of cash app, a subsidiary block,
In a statement, Jack Ashley, the global head of the brand partnership in the cash app, said, “This partnership shows who we are and for whom we are standing for.” “We are honored to bring Essence HBCU classic to Boston and to help celebrate the excellence, pride and history of these institutions, while they provide real world benefits to communities they serve.”
Brown said that sponsorship is a clear acknowledgment of the value of HBCU and their alumni during a time when many companies are ending their diversity, equity and inclusion programs.
“This is a new tradition, but it’s not a new consumer,” Brown said. “I think all our companions believe that it is a consumer he wanted to target. They are not donating, they are sponsoring the event because it gives them great access to a consumer who is very important for their business.”
