Bayou Classic draws crowds, funds HBCU scholarships | Entertainment / Living

For 6-year-old Tanner Mabry, it’s the Southern University cheerleading squad.For her 15-year-old cousin Carter Jackson, it was soccer game itself.It was a friends and family reunion for Tanner’s father and Carter’s uncle Trainelle Marbury

“We’ve been coming for the last 40 years. We’ve never missed a Bayou Classic,” Trenier Mabry said.

Mabry’s father, Leslie Mabry Jr., was president of the Tangipahoa Parish Chapter of the Southern University Alumni Association until his death in April. That makes participation in the 2022 Bayou Classic between Southern State and Grambling State a mixed bag.

But everyone in the family wants to see the South take the trophy back from Gramlin State, and Breaks the 24-24 tie Two historically black colleges in the 49th annual Bayou Classic on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Kaiser Coliseum

“We’re looking forward to this win,” Trenier’s wife, Michelle Mabry, said. “It’s the S on our chest that makes us the best players,” agrees Marbury.

crowded roster

The Bayou Classic includes 48 hours of luncheons, workshops, parties, a Black Business Showcase, two Battle of the Bands (one for the six high schools and one for Southern and Grambling), a parade, a flag football game and a fan festival, in addition to Southern-Grambling tackle game. This year’s classic is the largest yet, said Dottie Belletto, chief executive of the New Orleans Convention Corporation, which manages the event.

It attracts more than 200,000 visitors and occupies 90 percent of New Orleans’ hotel rooms. All 32,628 seats at Battle of the Bands were sold out, more than ever before, thanks to the Superdome renovation.

“Bayou Classic is a competition, but it’s also a family because we’re all working toward the same goal: raising money for scholarships to get these kids a college education,” Belletto said.

Drayden Dunn, who presented his Shreveport-based business Envision Media & Marketing at the Bayou Classic Vendor Village, said the event was an important hotbed for black entrepreneurship.

“Being able to build and pass on generational wealth is why we’re here,” Dunn said. “We’re fighting for black excellence. It can’t stay on the field.”

Proceeds from the Bayou Classic fund scholarships through the Southern University System Foundation and the Grambling State University Foundation. In addition, the company donates and provides “students much-needed resources for continued success, ultimately helping to have a long-term impact on our community and preserving HBCU’s legacy for future generations,” said Grambling President Rick Gallot, announcing the move from Diageo Liquor and Beer Company received a $250,000 donation.

“Both have roots”

Junior Agye Mintah, originally from Seattle, said Southern University’s HBCU culture drew her to the school. “It’s exciting and fun to experience everything from tailgates to Pretty Wednesdays when students have DJs, food trucks and Greek walks on campus,” she said.

Grambling junior Ariel Box, wearing a sparkling tiara and also a member of the school’s royal court, strolled arm in arm at Friday’s coaching luncheon at the Hyatt Hotel jacquel brooks, Grambling’s Student Council President. Both said the University’s sense of camaraderie supported them both in and out of the classroom.

As a cautious business owner, Dunn won’t say whether he’s rooting for Southern’s “Human Jukebox” or the Grambling Tiger Marching Band on Friday night’s Battle of the Bands.

“It’s about pageants,” he said. “Almost every family has relatives [who] Is a Grambling and Southern alumni. No matter where you go to school, you are rooted in both. “