A football game and so much more
A football game is a football game is a football game. But the Angel City Classic -- now this is a party.
The game Saturday at the L.A. Memorial Coliseum pits Prairie View A&M; University against North Carolina A&T; State University, but the action on the gridiron is only one component of a day full of activities showcasing life at historically black colleges and universities, or HCBUs.
Before the game, African American fraternities and sororities put on a spectacle known as “stepping” -- in which members sing, chant and pound the pavement in rhythmic drill movements that were dramatized in the movie “Stomp the Yard.” The halftime show features marching bands and dance teams from both schools, and a “drumline,” in which the drum sections of both bands meet at midfield and duel for rhythmic supremacy.
The Angel City Classic and its festivities are as much an outreach program for HCBUs as they are a chance for the schools’ Southern California alumni to get together.
Renee Dorn, a 1992 Prairie View graduate who is a liaison between El Camino College and Inglewood High, said the event is about more than football.
“It’s a celebration of all the historical black colleges and universities,” said Dorn, who is president of the Prairie View alumni chapter in Los Angeles. “In California you don’t hear anything about them. Students on the West Coast know about USC, UCLA, Stanford and the UCs. And the HBCUs should be among their first choices instead of being a last resort.”
Sixteen percent of African American college students are enrolled in HBCUs, according to Black Educational Events, the event organizer. But the schools, which are primarily in the South, admit students of all races and ethnicities. Some HBCUs have added Latino outreach programs and are incorporating Latino studies programs into their curricula.
Ulysses Cozart Jr., a 1977 North Carolina A&T; graduate who serves on his alumni association’s national board of directors, looks forward to the experience. “The weekend not only brings out alumni from the schools but other people from the Los Angeles area,” said Cozart, who is traveling from San Francisco for the game. “It’s about the other activities and this environment -- the glad-handing, and the memories abounding from alumni experience.”
The football game kicks off at 2:30 p.m., but the day’s activities begin at 9 a.m. Included: a college-and-career expo; a Pop Warner football game between the Pomona Steelers and the Long Beach Browns; and a battle of the bands featuring the units from Long Beach Jordan, Inglewood and Crenshaw high schools.
As for the collegiate contest, the Prairie View Panthers staggered through a 3-7 season in 2006. Things were worse for North Carolina A&T; the Aggies were winless in 11 games.
Can you say fresh start?
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Angel City Classic
Where: L.A. Memorial Coliseum, 3939 S. Figueroa St., L.A.
When: 9 a.m. Saturday (youth football and high school bands, 10 a.m.; drumline and step show, noon; Prairie View A&M; vs. North Carolina A&T;, 2:30 p.m.)
Price: $20 to $45
Info: (323) 293-0940; www.angelcityclassic.com.
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