TINA MCDUFFIE: At historically Black colleges and universities, athletics unite and inspire the community.

MAN: The Bayou Classic is, you know, one of the greatest rivalries in, in college football.

MCDUFFIE: These highly anticipated events are about much more than the game.

MAN: Really, what the CIAA is producing is leaders.

MCDUFFIE: From Maryland Public Television, "HBCU Week: Beyond the Field" on Local, U.S.A. ♪ ♪ The Central Intercollegiac Athletic Association is the oldest Black athletic conference in the U.S. Today, its impact stretches far outside of the sport itself.

- The CIAA stands for the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association.

It is the nation's oldest Black college basketball tournament, postseason Black college basketball tournament, and it is one of the top three revenue-generating basketball tournaments.

A.C.C., Big Ten-- it's on that status, typically yielding about $50 million in economic impact for its local community.

Recently, in, the CIAA came to Baltimore, Charm City, after about a 15-year run in Charlotte.

There are 13 CIAA schools that are basically in the Mid-Atlantic and the Southeast region, and those schools have descended on Baltimore for their annual tournament.

SCOTT: Well, listen, we know we do sports in a different way.

When you think about the bands, you think about the cheerleaders, you think about the alumni, the trash-talking, the dancing in the stands, us coming together, this is more like a family reunion than it is like a basketball tournament.

That's what it's about.

It's about the opportunity for us to come together and celebrate each other in peace and love.

WOMAN: The connection with Baltimore allows us to really connect our community and to align with our mission, not just by culture, but we want these students in Baltimore City and around Baltimore, and in the state of Maryland and DMB, to see all 12 of our member institutions as an avenue to get their education.

And if they want to play sport, they can also play.

SHALONDA STOKES: The city is electric right now, so I'm proud of every part, from our streets to the conferences to the games.

I love it all.

But what means the most to us right now is engaging our businesses, engaging our students, and getting them excited about college and what the next level of achievement means.

AL HUTCHINSON: Well, look, the number one thing is, we went after this tournament because of the economic impact it would have on the city and the state.

A lot of money is going to be left in this community, tax revenue-- we're very excited about that, but that wasn't the only reason we went after it.

Great basketball, we want to celebrate, but also, we wanted to connect to the community.

- The CIAA, of course, is not just about athletics or about education, it's about a celebration.

This year, of course, we're celebrating women in athletics, the 50th year of Title IX, and celebrating all of the Black women who have made incredible strides in athletics in the HBCU space, including, of course, our commissioner, Jacqie McWilliams, the first commissioner of an HBCU conference who's a Black woman, who's doing an incredible job and helped bring us to Baltimore.

And so every year, we celebrate something a little different.

Sometimes we just celebrate the idea of coming together.

But part of the CIAA is a celebration of Blackness and the Black community.

PAULETTE DILLARD: The CIAA, by its very founding, was the only place that institutions, historically Black colleges, could play competitive sports.

And so the CIAA stands as, you know, one of the first "colored" conferences.

HAKIM LUCAS: It's a space where we get to celebrate, first and foremost, athletics, sports, and the power of sports in the Black community and in Black higher education.

But beyond the sport, it also allows us to celebrate the uniqueness of our people.

To be what others sometimes think we can't be, which is to gather, to celebrate success, to cry when you sometimes lose, but to come together and understand that this year might not be yours, but this year is somebody's who worked just as hard as you, who was able to score a basket at the right time.

DILLARD: The John McLendon Hall of Fame.

Coach McLendon, well-known.

You know, he is just the epitome of what it is to coach and develop talent.

And so when I think about what the CIAA has done on that front, sports was critical in the advancing of race relations in the U.S. LUCAS: Historically Black colleges and universities and their positioning is best said by one of my colleagues, President Makola Abdullah of Virginia State University.

He always reminds us that HBCUs are the first diversity, equity, and inclusion opportunity and project of the United States of Amer... coming out of a post-Civil Rights Era.

If it was not for historically Black colleges and universities, you would not have the continued survival of the freedom fight for people of color, not just in the United States, but across the world, because the world sends its people of color to HBCUs to continue to inspire them to grow and to advocate for change.

- (cheering) - Mama!

Mama, we did it!

We did it, Mama!

Ma!

Daddy!

(talking indistinctly) - (cheering) MAN: When you think about the history of the CIAA-- and this is not just about athletics-- we have a long and a thriving and a beautiful legacy of athletic contributions.

But really, what the CIAA is producing is leaders, right?

It's producing leaders who are impacting our community and impacting our society in a multitude of different ways, whether they be in the business world, whether they be in science, whether they be in government, whether they be in education, whether they be in health-- no matter what it is, you are seeing how this rich legacy is touching on so many different aspects and people in our lives, and so you know how, for, especially for these student athletes, where they're coming in and they're getting a great athletic journey, and they're part of a great athletic, a great athletic pathway.

But really, the thing that they're also getting is the education, leadership skills, and networking that is then going to help set them up for the rest of their life, which is going to end up helping out our entire society and our entire community as they continue to contribute in the way that they will.

♪ ♪ MCDUFFIE: The annual Bayou Classic in New Orleans is held every year over Thanksgiving weekend.

Days of school spirit and fanfare help to build up to the big game featuring HBCU rivals the Grambling State University Tigers vs. the Southern University Jaguars.

♪ ♪ - Well, the Bayou Classic is the granddaddy of them all.

Grambling-Southern-- you're talking about the Hatfields and McCoys.

You're talking about rivalry personified.

So in Louisiana and in the nation, the Bayou Classic is one of the most epic matchups of all time.

And so the reality is that America discovered HBCUs because NBC decided to air and broadcast the Bayou Classic over 30 years ago-- 40 years ago, they began airing it over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and so the Bayou Classic is considered the model of excellence for HBCU classics.

AHMAD RASHAD: Welcome to New Orleans and Black college football's ultimate house party.

Hello, everybody, I'm Ahmad Rashad... PETE RICHARDSON: Most people want to play that game-- and it's the last game of the season-- they want to play that game first.

You have two outstanding programs here that can have a great opportunity in getting the national exposure you need on national television, which is second to none.

♪ ♪ MAN: The Bayou Classic is, you know, one of the greatest rivalries in college football.

- I would say the granddaddy of them all, when you're talking about classic.

I think it's important.

I think it's something that is needed, especially for Louisiana, but for Black colleges as a whole, from a cultural standpoint.

- This is an opportunity for Southern University and Grambling State to show all of the rich traditions and history of the two institutions on a national stage.

- But not only that, it is what I think is probably more of a sibling rivalry.

- Everybody thinks it's a big rivalry between the two schools.

I say it's a healthy competition.

RANI WHITFIELD: It's a national TV game.

Tons of eyes of owners, tons of celebrities are there.

Folks are coming from all around the country to see this game, with two schools whose students predominantly come from the state of Louisiana.

- I had always believed that you could play, that Southern and Grambling could play in any cow pasture or any place else in the state of Louisiana, and that as many people as could find their way there would actually come to see us play.

♪ ♪ GALLOT: The New Orleans Area Convention and Visitors Bureau provides an estimate of economic impact, and they have estimated approximately a $50 million economic impact to the greater New Orleans area.

And that's significant.

When you think about on that Friday, we've got the Battle of the Bands, which is something that is, it continues to sell out every year.

WHITFIELD: I have to debate every year if I'm gonna go to Battle of the Bands, or there's a gala the night.

The gala really honors our dignitaries, folks that have donated to the school.

We always have a great musical artist.

It's an intimate setting.

You know, even though it's a big party, it's very intimate.

Most times, you get to meet the artists.

GALLOT: Greek Show-- so you've got the Greeks who are, you know, competing.

We've got the Coaches Luncheon, which is similar to what you would see at most bowl games.

It's not just football, it's not just band.

There are other activities that students can participate in.

ROEBUCK: Everybody in the community, you start talking about Bayou Classic in August, and for everybody to prepare, you would eat Thanksgiving dinner, and it was, "Let's leave Thursday in preparation for the weekend."

SHIELDS: This is an event that builds, starting actually from the end of the event the year before.

- I am there every weekend from Thursday to Sunday.

- It's a family affair, and just, you know, just, just as though my family is entwined within Grambling, we'll ensure that all of the, many of the other Southernites' families are entwined in Grambling.

- In my dad's family, you know, he went to Grambling, three of his siblings went to Southern.

I mean, it was just, you see that through the generations.

WILLIAMS: It's a family reunion, because all of us have had-- I went to Grambling.

I have people that go to Southern.

People who go to Southern have people that go to Grambling.

RICHARDSON: A lot of the players on each team played against each other in high school.

Some of them even played together.

And I think more than anything else is for the state of Louisiana to have two HBCs that have such a prominent game on national television get the exposure.

ERIC DOOLEY: To me, it's like a holiday.

You know, I was fortunate enough to play for a legend, and then I was also blessed enough to coach and work with a legend.

So the Bayou Classic is a big ordeal for me and my family.

(both greeting) - Don't leave, baby, don't leave!

Don't leave, don't leave!

Stay here!

GALLOT: Some of my earliest memories of Bayou Classic actually dates back to the old Tulane Stadium.

- When you look at it realistic, you got to say it's gotten bigger.

Number one, because you got a TV audience, you know?

In '74, we didn't have a television.

We just had, you know, what was there and the people who was writing about it and things like that.

- All I have ever wanted to do was to give something back to our society.

All I want to do is stand for something that's good for the American youth.

HUE JACKSON: I walk into this game understanding it's a game that you need to win, in order to have all those rivalries that we've talked about, whether sibling rivalries or student rivalries, because you want to be able to carry the flag for that particular group.

- I was a assistant coach for Southern University.

I was a former player for Grambling State University.

I also was a assistant coach for Grambling State University.

I'm kind of, like, mixed blood.

- It's quite a rivalry at, you know, between Grambling and Southern.

And we want to do our part to support that, our end of the rivalry.

WOMAN: What do you mean, support your end of the rivalry?

What do you have to do?

- Well, simply try to outperform the other band.

- As a little girl, age about four or five, I just watched the Grambling State University World-Famed Tiger Marching Band.

My Uncle Joe, actually, was assistant director of bands in the '80s.

I had no clue at that time that little girl sitting at the bottom of the ladder would one day climb to the top of the ladder and lead the World-Famed Tiger Marching Band.

- For a student in the band, it was very big for me, because I don't, I didn't get that opportunity as a kid.

Growing up, you know, you'd play at performances, but it was never anything like the Bayou Classic, and anybody who's ever performed, they will never forget that experience, because I don't think there's anything bigger than the Bayou Classic, definitely for HBCUs.

- You may say that you might like Grambling's band and another individual might like Southern's band.

It's just a matter of which one you like.

It's not a matter of morals, it's a matter of taste, which one you like.

GALLOT: I think if you look back over time, you know, early in the 1900s, you know, if you were a Black professional, chances are you were a teacher, right?

And so you basically had two choices if you were here in Louisiana.

Either you went to Southern or you went to Grambling.

- There's no Southern without Grambling.

I think they should feel the same way.

HBCUs exist because at one point, African Americans could not attend the PWIs, so we had to find places to go and teach our students.

- You could have a husband that went to Grambling, you could have a wife that went to Southern, or you gonna have someone within that family went to a different university.

- I have more relatives living and working at Grambling than I have here.

(trumpets playing) - So for the Battle of the Bands, Dr. Greggs and Conrad Hutchinson started it many years ago, and now, today, the Battle of the Bands is huge.

When you talk about-- some people just go to the Battle of the Bands, don't even go to the game.

You know, because they know that it's all about what?

The band.

And they get an experience like never before.

WHITFIELD: Two schools march in, you know, all of the energy, and it's the musicianship that's so important.

- It's a huge experience, and it's one that's really indescribable.

- When you have the number of people that's been coming to the Bayou Classic, when you can put 85,000 people into a stand, and the demand that we have for tickets, if we had 100,000 seats, we could sell 100,000 seats at the Bayou Classic.

GALLOT: This year is going to be one for the record book.

It's going to be epic, and when it's all said and done, you know, Grambling and Southern will both, you know, be the beneficiaries of having this one-of-a-kind event.

- It's going to be a great weekend.

Again, 50 years of this game, nationally televised, bringing much attention to two programs that need to be seen.

- This shared experience in one place, in this fabulous event, I think means a lot, not just to the Jaguar Nation, but I think also to the Tiger Nation, too.

- It's nothing like being a part of as a player and then as a coach and now as a spectator.

Man, I've seen all faces of it, and at the end of the day, it's still the same competitive mentality that you're going to have on the field, off the field, what have you, but when it's over with, hey, we had the Bayou Classic, and it was a good one, and we got a great crowd.

♪ ♪ (crowd cheering) MCDUFFIE: HBCU Week is an initiative celebrating and telling stories of historically Black colleges and university on Maryland Public Television, exclusively about the HBCU experience.

HBCU Week offers films about the untold stories of sacrifice, courage, innovation, and hope in the archives of these important American institutions.

The national curator of HBCU Week at Maryland Public Television is here with us, Mr. Travis Mitchell.

♪ ♪ Travis Mitchell, welcome to you.

- Thank you so much for having me.

It's a joy to be with you today.

- Absolutely.

Thank you for spending some time with us.

So tell us about the idea of HBCU Week.

- I grew up on the campus of Shaw University, the oldest HBCU in the South.

And when I came to Maryland Public Television, I thought I wanted to bring the stories of the cultural significance, the contemporary relevance, and the historic role that HBCUs played to the airwaves to reflect not only my childhood experience, but the experience of so many people.

It was a place where I saw Black excellence personified.

It was a place where a little boy thought that you could be anything that you set your mind to, because I had reminders all around me.

So it just so happens that when I went to college, I chose an environment that reminded me of my youth.

And so I came to Morgan State University in Baltimore, Maryland.

But I went on after leaving Morgan, and I received further training at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government.

I have a master's degree from the University of Pennsylvania Graduate School of Education and Wharton in educational entrepreneurship.

And I'm currently pursuing a PhD at Penn State University.

But what I take with me through all of these academic journeys is a confidence in who I am.

And I think when you are going through a process of self-discovery as a young person, when you're at an HBCU, you can be all that you're capable of being.

You're pushed to go beyond what maybe the confines of your community or your neighborhood may have suggested.

And so, when I was able to come to Morgan, the were no limitations on the possibilites of my American Dream.

- And so tell us a little bit about some of the content that someone can see when they watch HBCU Week.

- So it's a mix of documentary films about both the HBCU experience, which includes the schools themselves.

They're documentaries about the founding and the history of several prominent HBCUs from across the country.

So if you never knew the historical backdrop for a very well-known HBCU, you can see the film of its origin and why it's important today.

We, in our local market, we use the opportunity to get a state of the union from the presidents of the HBCUs, and we talk to the alums.

And most importantly, we find out what's new by way of programmatic developments.

And we help people understand that HBCUs are historically Black, but HBCUs were some of the first interracial places in the country.

So diversity, equity, and inclusion began at HBCUs.

And HBCUs maintain a great diversity of a student population.

It's not just Black students that go to HBCUs.

HBCUs have a diversity of cultural representation on the campus.

And so we showcase that diversity.

We also showcase HBCUs' role, historic role, in the Civil Rights Movement.

So it's a mixture of everything.

If you like sports, we showcase the HBCU leaders who have emerged and become Hall of Fame members in their various sports backgrounds.

HBCUs have played a pivotal role in the students that made the sacrifices at 18, 19, 20 years old, to open public facilities, restaurants, open up the American economy for full access and participation.

They also put their lives on the line so that we could have equal access to participate as voters in this democracy.

And so we gained full citizenship through their struggle.

So had it not been for the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, there would be no Civil Rights Act, there would be no Voters' Rights Act, and there would not have been a historic presidency for President Obama.

And so HBCUs are intricately linked to the best that is America.

And that's why we thought it was important to tell all the stories that we can about hope, heroism, and the history of these important American institutions.

- And how would you say HBCU athletics impacts the greater community, not just the college community?

- Well, the economics speak to the viability of HBCU athletics.

The Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association annually produces about a $50 million impact on cities.

It had a 15-year run in Charlotte, so by the time it left Charlotte, North Carolina, the annual impact was $50 million.

It takes a while to build up to that number, but Baltimore has experienced, for instance, a decade-long high in hotel occupancy and revenue being spent in terms of people patroning downtown businesses.

And for a city like Baltimore that's on the rebound, this is huge.

So in terms of economic return on investment, I believe the city was very close to a $30 million impact last year.

This is coming up on the fourth year of the tournament's run in Baltimore, and they've signed up for two additional years.

SCOTT: when you think about the CIAA you think about Black excellence.

MOORE: Watching the CIA and the importance of what that is to our country, to the culture, to the sport, and the fact that they choose Baltimore for its home and its long term home, it means everything to me.

♪ ♪ The Bayou Classic in Louisiana, featuring Southern and Grambling, on NBC.

It's one of the first nationally televised sporting events of Black colleges on NBC.

It's had an annual run over the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, and it draws millions of dollars to the economy in Louisiana.

- For a first-time viewer of HBCU Week, what do you hope they walk away with?

- I hope viewers walk away with understanding that HBCUs, in a real sense, if you understand their history, are models of possibility, of inclusion.

They are places that inspire hope.

They're places of academic excellence.

The nation's, I think it's 14 HBCU engineering schools produced the majority of the nation's STEM majors.

Think about that for a moment.

And so in the nonprofit world, we simply are taught to ask the question-- question zero.

"What happened if this did not exist?"

I could only imagine what would happen if HBCUs did not exist.

From a personal standpoint, no Shaw University, no Morgan State University, no me.

And many of us can say that.

So without the HBCUs at the forefront of change in America, many of the freedoms that we all enjoy to go to the schools of our choosing would not have been possible.

That's what I want people to walk away from HBCU Week with.

- Travis Mitchell, thank you so much for bringing the HBCU experience to the screen for viewers to enjoy.

We wish you all the best with HBCU Week.

- Thank you so much, Tina.

♪ ♪ ♪ ♪