Making history in Michiana: Notre Dame vs. TSU more than just a game
ST. JOSEPH COUNTY, Ind. - There’s so much hype surrounding Saturday’s game between the Fighting Irish and Tennessee State Tigers. Not just because it’s Notre Dame’s home opener, but because this will be the first time ever the program will face a Historically Black College and University.
It’s a game that has so much impact on and off the field.
The strong school spirit of HBCU’s like Tennessee State University have been ringing throughout the nation for decades.
HBCU’s, or Historically Black Colleges and Universities, were founded before the Civil Rights Act in 1964 to give African Americans access to higher education when they weren’t allowed to attend white institutions.
“They are important because they really teach you who you are," said Earl Townsend, who attended HBCU Mississippi Valley State University. “It means a lot because northern people haven't seen anything like that before. The tailgates is totally different. The food is totally different. The band is totally different.”
On Saturday, that HBCU pride will be right at Notre Dame Stadium.
For the first time since Notre Dame Football took the field more than 130 years ago, they’ll go head-to-head with an HBCU.
“I think there’s a great opportunity for it to be a first as well as a great responsibility for us to help steward what that means for our fan base, for our campus, and really beyond that,” said JP Abercrumbie, the Executive Associate Athletics Director - Culture & Engagement at Notre Dame.
Abercumbie, with Notre Dame’s athletic department, has helped organize the matchup that’s been over a year in the making.
She says it’s not only a way for HBCU’s to get more exposure by playing top ranked D1 programs, but a chance to learn more about them.
“It’s an opportunity for us to learn more about what it even means to be an HBCU,” said Abercrumbie. “What it means to be a PWI, and a faith based but also do something about it, to engage with the different community.”
The excitement about Notre Dame’s historic home opener is spilling over to the high school level, especially for South Bend Riley Football Head Coach Darrick Lee and his players.
“It makes you feel as a coach yourself, especially, you know, being an African American coach, that, if that's something you want to do, the opportunity is there,” Lee said. “So it's very inspiring, and it gives us something to really look forward to, keep striving, to push for.”
And for fans like Johnny Johnson, whose house sits just a few blocks away from Notre Dame’s campus on Eddy Street, the game between the Fighting Irish and the Tennessee State Tigers is still much bigger than football.
“To be on a national scene with two black coaches facing off at these historical colleges...historical Notre Dame, the one and only, and then you got Tennesse State, the one and only, they just bring something else to the table other than the football game, and then they’re bringing the bands,” said Johnson.
On top of this historic home opener, two black head coaches, Marcus Freeman and Eddie George, will be playing at Notre Dame Stadium.
In addition to the game, there are lots of events this week highlighting an HBCU coming to Michiana.