HBCU schools and universities have garnered a great deal of interest over the last few years, becoming recipients of both financial and athletic attention. On Thursday, Morgan State joined the party by announcing the revival of their long-dormant wrestling program.
After a 24-year hiatus, wrestling is back at Morgan State thanks to a $2.7 million gift from HBCU Wrestling, which partnered with billionaire philanthropist Mike Novogratz to bring wrestling to HBCU campuses.
The first stop was in Baltimore at Morgan State, which had been working with Beat the Streets, a nonprofit created to bring the lessons learned through wrestling to urban communities.
“The purpose behind this donation is to create access and equity which will serve to further diversify the sport of wrestling by providing opportunities for student-athletes that do not currently exist,” said Edward Scott, Ph.D., vice president and director of Intercollegiate Athletics at Morgan. “We are extremely grateful to Mike Novogratz and HBCU Wrestling for this tremendous contribution to Morgan State University Athletics. This gift is the largest in Morgan athletics history and believed to be one of the largest donations to any HBCU athletics program from a private donor.”
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