Morgan State Students Invited To Bowie State Homecoming Game

The doorway to Bowie State College in Bowie, Maryland. | Supply: The Washington Publish / Getty

Historically Black schools and universities’ (HBCUs) ongoing exhibiting of solidarity with one in all its personal after an on-campus mass capturing is constant in an unprecedented style because the annual homecoming season will get underway this weekend.

After Morgan State College canceled its homecoming festivities following Tuesday evening’s gun violence exterior of a dormitory constructing in Baltimore, a fellow Maryland HBCU is stepping as much as additional reveal that Black schools are one large household rallying round one another throughout exhausting occasions.

That fact revealed itself on Friday night when Morgan State’s college students have been prolonged a benevolent invitation to journey about 45 minutes south to Prince George’s County to attend Bowie State College’s homecoming soccer sport in opposition to Virginia State College on Saturday afternoon.

“We stand in solidarity and welcome @MorganStBears to benefit from the celebrations of Homecoming at Bowie State. Collectively, we’re HBCU Sturdy,” Bowie State posted on the social media app previously often called Twitter. “We’re providing a free sport ticket to @MorganStBears college students!”

The social media put up included a hyperlink the place Morgan State college students keen on attending the sport might click on to safe their tickets. As of Saturday morning, a message on the web site the place tickets could be obtained stated that the sport was bought out, suggesting there was a big response from Morgan State college students.

Previous to inviting Morgan State college students, Bowie State introduced it had taken steps to bolster its campus safety for its personal homecoming festivities.

“There’s going to be an occasion most likely day-after-day the place we have now to regulate and alter,” Mark Cummings, Bowie State’s police chief and director of public security, advised NBC Washington.

Bowie State’s beneficiant gesture to Morgan State was among the many overtures being made by HBCUs within the wake of this week’s mass capturing that injured at the least 5 individuals — together with 4 college students — described as “unintended” targets. Regulation enforcement has stated there have been two gunmen, however they remained unidentified and at massive greater than three days later.

The Baltimore Police Division appealed to the general public for assist and introduced a $9,000 reward for any info resulting in the arrest and safety of anybody accountable for the capturing, which got here firstly of per week of Morgan State’s annual homecoming festivities.

On Wednesday, Morgan State introduced it could cancel or postpone homecoming actions for the primary time within the faculty’s historical past following the third consecutive on-campus capturing throughout homecoming week.

Shooting At Morgan State University Leaves 5 Injured

Police tape is proven exterior of Thurgood Marshall Corridor at Morgan State College on October 4, 2023, in Baltimore, Maryland. | Supply: Anna Moneymaker / Getty

“Relating to Homecoming, regrettably for the very first time in Morgan’s historical past all actions deliberate round Homecoming will likely be both cancelled or postponed till the perpetrator(s) of this atrocity have been discovered and delivered to justice,” Morgan State College President Dr. David Wilson wrote in a message to the campus neighborhood in reference to deliberate actions like a live performance, events, a pep rally, a parade and a soccer sport scheduled for Saturday.

Aide from Bowie State, the capturing at Morgan State sparked an outpouring of compassion from different HBCUs that expressed each sympathy and unity for what their fellow Black faculty was coping with.

Earlier within the week, Bowie State College President Dr. Aminta H. Breaux put issues in perspective.

“Not simply one other day, nor ought to or not it’s,” Breax wrote in a press release on social media. “The @BowieState campus neighborhood has @MorganStateU in our ideas with hope for peace & therapeutic for these injured within the mass capturing and all the campus neighborhood, and for options to be discovered to cease the violence in our society.”

The capturing at Morgan State happened at a time when HBCU leaders and advocates have been demanding extra funding from the federal authorities to additional safe traditionally Black faculty campuses.

Lodriguez V. Murray, UNCF’s senior vice chairman for public coverage and authorities affairs, stated in August that Congress hasn’t matched the urgency proven by the scenario at hand.

“All yr lengthy, we have now requested Congress to guard HBCUs, and now could be the time to cross the Homeland Safety appropriations invoice with language that directs the Federal Emergency Administration Administration (FEMA) to offer $100 million for HBCUs (yearly) by way of the non-profit grants’ safety program,” Murray stated in a press release. “This program should administer the funds on to HBCUs, not by the state governments. It will assist HBCUs to be protected in opposition to threats by growing safety, creating plans on find out how to reply past merely calling the police, heighten using expertise to observe campus entry factors, and make our environments the protected haven for studying they need to be for the sake—and psychological well being and safety—of our college students.”