When Liberty Mora stepped into the gym at the Super 16 gymnastics meet in Las Vegas with her Fisk University teammates to compete for the first time in 2023, the crowd rose to its feet before they even began. For a moment, the significance hit all at once: They weren’t just competing — they were […]
college sports
Posted inMental Health
Kyren Lacy’s Death at 24 Sheds Light on Black Male Suicide Crisis
Kyren Lacy was a 6-foot-2 Southeastern Conference football player with a broad, if often absent, smile, a love for Buffalo Wild Wings and lemonade. Some sports analysts even predicted that the Louisiana State University senior might go to a National Football League team as early as the second round of the draft this year. Instead, […]
Posted inHBCUs, Sports
HBCUs Are Keeping Black Baseball’s Legacy Alive With Limited Resources
Cydney Cooper has been playing softball since she was 5 years old. Playing the sport in South Carolina came with being the only Black girl on the team, or one of a few Black players. As a shy, dark-skinned girl, Cooper said people often thought she had an attitude, but she was just quiet and […]
Posted inHBCUs, Partner Content
Black Student-Athletes Tired of Being the ‘Odd One Out’ at White Schools
When Ronald Davis III was deciding where to attend college in 2021, he was drawn to Eastern Washington University. He was recruited by the small school as defensive back, and being a kid from Seattle, staying home on a good football scholarship was all he could ask for. But once he got there, he felt […]
Posted inEducation, HBCUs, Partner Content
‘Money Like That Would Not Come to Someone Like Me’
Rayquan Smith, a running back at Virginia State University who has landed 88 brand deals, fancies himself as the “King of NIL.” That’s “name, image, likeness” — a set of rules allowing athletes to sign endorsement deals and earn money while in college. The National College Athletic Association enacted the policy in 2021, a major step […]
Posted inCulture, Sports
Racism Pervades College Sports. It’s Taking an Alarming Toll on Athletes.
LOS ANGELES — Sometimes, fans would hurl the N-word. Other times, they’d tell her how much she looked like a man. Occasionally, in less of a low blow, they’d talk down to her, calling her “girl.” The slurs are not uncommon to Koi Love. Playing college basketball in the Southeastern Conference meant traveling to majority white […]