Football season has brought back revered traditions well known to HBCU students and alumni. It also marked the return of the P&G HBCYOU Tour, powered by HBCU GO, a sports media provider that not only showcases the athletic excellence at HBCU institutions but also highlights their rich history and cultural depth.
The HBCYOU tour included stops at Southern University, Texas Southern, Howard, Spelman, Morehouse, Hampton, Florida A&M and North Carolina A&T. The goal of the tour is the shared mission of P&G and HBCU GO to celebrate students and create memorable experiences. P&G generously shared its brands in the P&G House of Everyday Essentials.
“We have a booth that we took out to a certain amount of schools starting in the latter part of August. We had a DJ in there and merchandise,” said HBCU GO president and co-founder Curtis Symonds. “Then we had another phase where they were giving gift bags. The last phase of it was at some football games. … We got a good response on each campus that we went on with at least 2,000 to 3,000 kids coming by.”
Symonds is a graduate of Central State University, an HBCU in Ohio. Wanting to share not only HBCU sports but also the culture of these institutions, he kept promoting the concept, which in 2021 was acquired by Byron Allen of Allen Media Group.
“We created a show called ‘Crowned’ with P&G as the sponsors,” said Symonds. The original docuseries went behind the scenes of campus coronations. “People hadn’t seen what it takes to become a king and queen on an HBCU campus.”
Symonds noted that HBCU culture includes incredible halftime shows at football games. Some people just attend the tailgate festivities outside the stadiums, and HBCU GO wants to make people excited to go into the stadium, watch a game and see the amazing entertainment.
“In these five years I’ve worked hard on bringing the tailgate into the stadium,” Symonds said. “We’ve been able to start moving slowly some of that traffic into the stadiums. … Another thing, the games have gotten better and better over the years. That’s driving more people into the stadiums.
“Each university has a story,” he added. “We started with sports, but the overall premise of the network was about the history, the legacy, and the HBCU culture.”
