Howard University made history last weekend in the same manner as Fisk last year and TSU will in the future, by doing something in the athletic world no one expects or anticipates an HBCU will do. Thanks to Jordan McCreary Graham as well as students like Cheyenne Walker and Maya James, Howard is the first HBCU school to compete in figure skating.
Just as when Fisk announced it would begin fielding a gymnastics team and Tennessee State announced plans to begin a hockey program, there was nationwide curiosity and questions regarding why a Black university would even want to be involved with a sport so heavily viewed as the province of rich, entitled and mostly white athletes. There were stories in multiple mainstream newspapers and features on three major broadcast network news programs.
Graham had tried to start an ice skating program at North Carolina Central, only to be told in no uncertain terms that “Black people don’t skate.” She ignored that nonsense, continued her efforts, and now Howard University has a skating team, more accurately it’s the Howard University Skating Organization. They became the first HBCU to compete at a collegiate competition last Saturday.
“I don’t think it’s hit me yet how big it really is,” James, the team’s president and a psychology major, told NPR. “I’m just happy that we actually were able to move this thing forward. This small idea really turned into a big one.”
“It is such an amazing thing to see how we’re bringing people into the sport and really diversifying the sport,” Walker said. “And at the end of the day, that’s really what the goal is.”The club attracts new members from Howard to learn to skate on Monday nights, which Walker loves.”
They get on the ice and they have so much ambition and drive and they’re just excited to be here,” she said. “I think that’s what’s most important about being in this sport is that you can start at any age and you’re still going to be able to have a good time.”
There remain major challenges to the program. Howard doesn’t have access to top rinks and their small, outdoor facility isn’t up to Olympic muster. Fund-raising and facilities improvement will be key areas that determine how ultimately successful this project will be.
But in the meantime, there’s considerable excitement, buzz and high hopes for Howard University’s ice skating organization.
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