Returning to the Gridiron, Part 1
Benedict, a success on and off the field
Bonitta Best
BCSP Correspondent
The 2001 football season may be all but over but the sport is making a
comeback.
At Shaw, St. Augustine's,
Central State and Maryland-Eastern
Shore, that is.
The four schools are the latest historically black colleges and
universities with plans to re-instate their
dormant programs. In doing so, they'll be following the lead of
Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., who has been so
successful at it that it is now the posterchild for
how it's done and done right.
The Plan
 In
1994, David Swinton, a noted economist, was named president of Benedict.
At that time, 1,207 students were enrolled at the institution. One of Swinton's
first moves was to revive the football program by investing $250,000 from Benedict's
general fund.
Led by Swinton, Athletics Director Willie
Washington, and the overly generous giving of alumni, the Tigers
were back on the field again within three months of approval by the board of trustees
after a 29-year hiatus.
"Once we decided we were going to bring it back, we had good
support," Washington said. "We had no
facilities, no equipment, no coaches, nothing. We went to the other Division I schools in
the area, and they said they were willing to support our effort. Football was
approved in June, and we played in September."
Benedict played at the club level for two years before jumping in the
waters with the big boys on the NCAA Div. II level. And yes, it was feeding fodder
at first.
Opponents just love start-up football teams. But the story is not about
what went on on the field, but the behind-the- scene wheeling and dealing that has
administrators' phones ringing off the hook from advice seekers.
Accommodating Alumni
While many HBCUs decry the monetary neglect of their alumni,
Benedict stands above the crowd.
When the Tigers kicked off their 2000 season against
Fayetteville State in the Pre-Labor Day
Classic, they drew nearly 7,000 fans. In a game against
South Carolina State, a historic rival from the
Tigers' previous playing days, 24,000 fans appeared, with 10,000 more turned away.
"We have an alumni travel club that travels with the team," Washington
said. "We pre-sell all of the tickets. If we get
the alumni association and the other facets on campus to buy in, everyone else will too."
Increased Enrollment
Benedict's student population has risen from 1,200 to 1,300 since
football returned. More importantly in that mix is the increase of African-American males.
"The last four years we have had more male freshmen than female,"
Williams said. "Before that, of our 1,200 students, almost 1,000 were female. Once
we get them (males) in, they can get those degrees. But without football
programs, many males say 'I ain't going to
college.' You're going to lose some by the
wayside, but we're concerned about those we can save."
Community Involvement
Benedict floated three bond issues that brought in $30 million. The
money was used to build three dormitories, a student center, a parking garage and
extensive renovations, all told close to $45-60 million worth of renovations and
new buildings including a $25 million football stadium that's in the works.
Swinton also purchased and renovated dilapidated houses in the
surrounding area. One of the new dormitories sits across the street from the campus and
has a dozen remodeled homes surrounding it.
Everybody Benefits
Every student/athlete at Benedict is benefitting from football in some
form, Williams says. With football has come better insurance policies, charter
buses, new and renovated locker rooms, and an updated weight room that other
athletic programs use once football season is over.
Benedict's success has made Williams and Swinton hot prospects on
the lecture circuit.
"We get calls all the time,"
Williams said. "We're going to start doing
some seminars this spring on how we set the program up and what we did.
"We worked at it, now, it just didn't happen. We put in a lot of long hours,
and we put in the time. We feel good about what we've been doing."
© 2001 Azeez Communications, Inc.
| 
