If you are living anywhere near the D.C. area, you’ve no doubt heard the blaring announcements on your radio about the upcoming festivities for the Howard University homecoming. We know where Howard is in the pantheon of black college academics – its regarded by many as the Mecca of higher education for African-Americans.
But we know that the same is not true for black college sports, particularly for the money sports of football and basketball.
Is black college sports well-served with Howard University as a perennial favorite?
In the SWAC, there’s no doubt that the conference is better suited with the success of teams with substantial fan bases. A SWAC with a successful Southern University or Grambling State University athletic program is a happy SWAC.
The same is true for Tuskegee and Morehouse in the SIAC. The CIAA has been so decimated with defections to the MEAC, teams such as Hampton, North Carolina A&T and FAMU capture the loyalties of the MEAC and much of the CIAA, except for when the CIAA Basketball Tournament rolls around.
Which brings us back to Howard. The Bison have not fielded a competitive team in the major sports in a number of years, and by all observations, don’t appear to be headed in that direction anytime soon. Their facilities significantly lag behind other teams in their conference, and in black college sports as a whole. Yet, its financial well-being exceeds that of all HBCUs, with more than $200 million of annual federal support alone.
We all recognize the importance sports plays in enhancing the profile of any university. So with Howard’s apparent abandonment of progression for its athletic program, does it take away from its importance to black students and alumni?
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