During February, we celebrate Black History Month and recognize the achievements, the history, the culture and the contributions of Black and African Americans throughout U.S. history. We also reflect on the advancements toward racial equality and the continued fight for racial justice. The NCAA has a commitment to acknowledge and celebrate all student-athletes. As such, we honor the contributions made by generations of Black and African American athletes on and off the field.

The NCAA office of inclusion has a resource for membership to commemorate the occasion.

NCAA research

According to the NCAA demographics database, Black student-athletes make up 16% of the student-athlete population, and 14% of athletics directors and 11% of coaches are Black. 

From opportunity to the Olympics

Anita DeFrantz, a former Olympian and lifelong advocate for athletes, had a unique start to her college athletics journey. Beginning her career as a basketball student-athlete, she discovered rowing, the sport in which she would eventually earn an Olympic bronze medal, by chance. In January, DeFrantz was honored as the recipient of the 2024 NCAA President's Gerald R. Ford Award.  The award is presented to an individual who has provided significant leadership as an advocate for intercollegiate athletics on a continuous basis over the course of the individual's career. 

Conviction. Vindication. Determination.
 

Those are just some of the words that describe the members of the Black 14, a group of Black student-athletes who were kicked off the Wyoming football team 53 years ago for raising the possibility of showing solidarity with a campus protest. At the 2023 NCAA Convention, members of the Black 14 were recognized with the NCAA Inspiration Award. Learn more about their story here.

Student-Athlete Activism and Racial Justice

An NCAA research study on student-athlete activism and racial justice in the fall of 2020 found that within the six proceeding months 94% of Black student-athletes had conversations with family or friends focused on race or racial justice, 43% of Black student-athletes attended a protest or rally about racial justice. Learn more about student-athlete activism and racial justice here.

Highlighting HBCUs

Historically Black colleges and universities were first established in 1837 with what is now Cheyney University. They were created to provide educational opportunities for gainful employment to free Black Americans. Many HBCUs focused on teaching, theology and industrial arts to provide an educational foundation to support economic independence and self-sustainability. These institutions were founded during a time of legal segregation, and for many years afterward, Black students were generally denied admission to historically white institutions. Thus, by providing access to higher education, HBCUs contributed substantially to the educational, social and economic progress of Black Americans. 

Today, more than 100 HBCUs exist, with more than 228,000 students enrolled. Approximately 89% of all HBCUs are in the southern region of the U.S. While HBCUs were originally founded to educate Black students, there are levels of diversity within this unique classification of institutions across race, socioeconomic status and other student demographics. In addition to their academic prowess, HBCUs have produced numerous world-class athletes, such as Althea Gibson, Edwin Moses, Alice Coachman, Wilma Rudolph, Shannon Sharpe, Walter Payton, Jerry Rice, Steve McNair and countless others.

There are 53 historically Black colleges and universities competing as active/provisional members of the NCAA during the 2022-23 academic year. Of those 53 HBCUs, Division II is represented by 30 HBCUs, while Division I boasts 23 members.

With 14 of its 15 members holding HBCU distinction, Division II’s Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference has the largest number of HBCUs in a single conference. Division II’s Central Intercollegiate Athletic Association and Division I’s Southwestern Athletic Conference are exclusive HBCU conferences with 12 members each.

Fab Five: The MEAC’s female directors of athletics

With women taking more prominent roles in the world of college athletics, the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference has become a national leader and trendsetter. When Sonja O. Stills was appointed the first female commissioner of the MEAC, it was unprecedented.
 
But that was only the beginning.
 
“The MEAC is clearly showing that female leaders are the norm, and that given the opportunity, we will rise to the occasion,” Stills said. “What an amazing way to show the progress of Title IX during its 50th anniversary.”
 
The conference, made up of eight historically Black colleges and universities, currently has five women serving as athletics directors: Tara A. Owens (Maryland Eastern Shore); Alecia Shields-Gadson (Delaware State); Melody Webb (Norfolk State); Dena Freeman-Patton (Morgan State) and Keshia Campbell (South Carolina State). Read More > 

NCAA national office namesake rooms

Throughout the NCAA national office in Indianapolis, several meeting rooms and displays have been dedicated to recognize the achievements and contributions of Black and African Americans.

James Frank Room – Named for a true college athletics visionary, who served as a student-athlete, a coach, educator, university president, 15-year commissioner of the Southwestern Athletic Conference and the first African American membership president of the NCAA. During his 10 years as president of Lincoln (Missouri), Frank served a two-year term (1981-83) as the NCAA membership president under the leadership of Executive Director Walter Byers. Together, Frank and Byers integrated women’s athletics at the NCAA and established the Minority Opportunities and Interests Committee, a group devoted to giving diversity a greater voice in Association policymaking.

Althea Gibson Room – Named for the pioneer who helped pave the way for women and minorities in athletics. Gibson became the first African American athlete to win a Grand Slam professional tennis tournament, the 1956 French Championships singles event, and later became the first Black champion at Wimbledon. A winner of 56 national and international singles and doubles titles, including five Grand Slam singles titles, the Florida A&M graduate retired from tennis and later became the first African American woman to join the Ladies Professional Golf Association tour in 1964. Gibson became the first woman to receive the Theodore Roosevelt Award – the NCAA’s most prestigious honor – in 1991.

Jesse Owens Room – Named for arguably the greatest track and field athlete of all time, who was a four-time gold medalist at the 1936 Olympic Games and an eight-time NCAA champion. Owens also set three world records and tied another in less than an hour at the 1935 track and field championships for the Western Conference, the precursor to the Big Ten. The feat is widely considered as the greatest 45 minutes in all of sport.