HBCU All-Star Dream Classic showcases educational and career opportunities
The second annual Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCU) All-Star Dream Classic was held on August 10 at Holcombe Rucker Park in Harlem. The event featured 40 of the best men’s and women’s HBCU basketball players from close to 30 different schools representing the Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association (CIAA), Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC), Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (SIAC), Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC), the HBCU Athletic Conference (formerly known as the Gulf Coast Conference), National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA), and independent college conferences. Sponsors included Champion, M&T Bank, Charles Pan-Fried Chicken, Wilson, Tri-State Sports, SLAM, Pure, HBCU Only, Cirkul, Citywide CCS, Aloft Hotels, and Rucker Pro Legends. Among those in attendance were basketball icon and Harlem native Richard “Pee Wee” Kirkland, who was a prolific scorer for HBCU Norfolk State in the late 1960s, and New York City Councilman Yusef Salaam, who represents the 9th council district of Harlem.
In the women’s game, Althea’s Aces bested Harris’ Hoopers 84-79, and ML Kings defeated Dinkins’ Dunkers 124-119. The teams were named after HBCU alums and luminaries: tennis great Althea Gibson (FAMU), United States Vice President Kamala Harris (Howard), former New York City Mayor David Dinkins (Howard), and civil and human rights activist Martin Luther King (Morehouse).
The HBCU Dream Classic founder and organizer Darryl K. Roberts expressed that he conceptualized and implemented the event as a means to expose youth to pathways toward higher education at HBCUs, as well as various career options.
“There are opportunities and there are resources for you to receive access to certain things, whether it’s higher education, whether it’s a trade or a job,” said Roberts, who also serves as the CEO of Bridging Structural Holes, a non-profit organization focused on fostering strategic partnerships with corporate, community, and philanthropic institutions to address economic, educational, and social inequities. “So we’re hoping by doing events like this, they’re able to see the sponsors that we have, and they’re also able to see how we get organizations involved and provide us with volunteers, and then they’ll see the educational components and think that, well, why not? Maybe I should go to an HBCU. I see all these great things, all these great athletes.”Roberts, a graduate of Lincoln University and member of Omega Psi Phi Fraternity, detailed integral aspects of HBCU history and culture.
“Fraternities and sororities were created because of the same reasons that HBCUs were created: because of racism, discrimination, and segregation. Predominantly white institutions did not want people of color to become organized and members of [their] fraternities and sororities,” he elaborated, “because they always thought that, okay, I could deal with one black person, but if I had to deal with a whole army of them, that’s a problem. So they did not want us to become part of those organizations.”
For more information on Bridging Structural Holes and its initiatives, contact Roberts at 212-658-1913 or dkr@bridgingstructuralholes.com.
The post HBCU All-Star Dream Classic showcases educational and career opportunities appeared first on New York Amsterdam News.