NIRSA founding HBCU spotlight on Tuskegee University

A National Historic Site, Tuskegee University was founded in 1881 by Booker T. Washington. The campus and surrounding forest—nestled in Macon County, Alabama, between Birmingham and Auburn—span more than 5,000 acres and approximately 3,000 individuals make up a student body that is coeducational as well as racially, ethnically, and religiously diverse. The academic programs are organized into five colleges and three schools, and the university offers over 50 degrees.

About Intramural Sports and Recreation

The department of Intramural Sports and Recreation within the Office of Student Life and Development oversees intramural sports and recreational activities at Tuskegee  and offers intramural opportunities, esports, fitness and wellness activities, sports, and board games. The Logan Hall Fitness Center provides students access to cardio equipment, strength and endurance equipment, free weights, and wellness staff. In the Tompkins Hall Game Room, students have access to billiards, table tennis, air hockey, foosball, cornhole toss, and table games.

Celebrating NIRSA’s founders

From the time two state schools in the Midwest devoted spaces and resources to campus recreation, a century of ever-growing commitment to programming, participation, inclusion, and outside-of-the-classroom learning has prevailed for students and faculty in higher education.

As more and more campuses began to offer recreational sports, these programs caught the attention of scholars who were interested in their positive effects on campus culture and students’ quality of life.

Dr. William Wasson was one such scholar, who discovered the value of intramurals studying Physical Education under Elmer Mitchell at the University of Michigan in 1946. He went on to develop his own intramural program at Dillard University, and in 1948 commenced a study, with funding from the Carnegie Foundation, titled “A Comparative Study of Intramural Programs in Negro Colleges.”

The results of his study were shared with the institutions that participated in his research. The discussion culminated in an Intramural Summit at Dillard on February 22, 1950, where the 20 intramural directors gathered there, representing 11 Historically Black Colleges & Universities, formed the National Intramural Association. The NIA was the first organization of its kind, bringing intramural program leaders to share skills and wisdom to advance the good work of their profession. Tuskegee University, through Major Cleveland Leigh “Cleve” Abbott, was one of the 11 schools represented at NIRSA’s founding.

Tuskegee’s football stadium is named Cleve’s honor, where he was the head coach of the Tuskegee University Golden Tigers football team for 32 seasons; he also coached two high jumpers to Olympic gold medals. In 2021, Cleve was celebrated as a Distinguished Alumni by the South Dakota State University Alumni Association.

Most NIRSA members know that this association owes much to the HBCUs that have been part of the Association since its inception. But many may not know that NIRSA has a dedicated HBCU Coalition committed to providing resources and avenues for networking for today’s crop of HBCU leaders in collegiate recreation.