Xavier debuts first-ever rowing club; Hosts kickoff and community event at Bayou St. John
January 22, 2024
For the first time in Xavier’s history, the university will debut a new rowing club program, the second HBCU to currently launch an active rowing team. Xavier Rowing Club (XRC) came into fruition through the efforts of New Orleans Rowing Club (NORC) members Dr. Elizabeth Manley, a professor of history, and chair of the History Department at Xavier, and Chloe Jobin, Xavier’s corporate and foundations coordinator within the Office of Institutional Advancement.
“Two of the things I love and care about [Rowing and Xavier] have come to be really important parts of my life,” Manley said. “I kind of started thinking about them together because rowing is a sport that should be open and available to all, but it is very much viewed as a white-elite sport,” Manley explained.
“One of the things that combines my interest and things I care about has been thinking about how do we change that narrative? How do we change the way we see rowing?” Manley added.
Although Manley and Jobin were instrumental in the club’s development, they credit the students with initiating its inception.
“I’m honestly the most excited for the students that get to participate in it. This is something that I care about, but it is also not my story. We’re not doing it for us. We’re doing it to try and show that there is space and that there are opportunities for celebration of diverse voices in rowing,” Jobin said.
Both Manley and Jobin credited Kennedy Sledge, a history major at Xavier, who inspired their initiative to find resources to start the club.
“Are you going to keep talking about this, or are you actually going to do something?” Sledge asked Manley.
“Kennedy was really instrumental in helping us spread the word. She helped get that initial meeting off the ground,” Manley said. “Students have been incredibly excited and engaged. I can tell you that it’s them and their excitement about this that really makes it, for me, a thing I love doing.”
The rowing team will collaborate with St. Augustine University in Raleigh, N.C. which launched its rowing team in 2022. Howard University is the last HBCU to have a rowing team in the mid-1960s but since then the sport has had no participation in collegiate events from HBCUs.
“We reached out to St. Augustine University, which also has a rowing program, and talked to them about how they have gone about creating their club,” Jobin explained, outlining ways the group has organized the club. “We also talked to the athletics department and had a few students that were really willing to lead the charge and get things started up.”
In addition to student involvement, several organizations played huge parts in funding and sponsoring XRC. Amongst these organizations was NORC, which continuously provided the club with apparatus.
“New Orleans Rowing Club has basically given, in kind, all of the equipment such as the boats, the boathouse, the facilities…they pretty much told us that they want to do what they can
to support this [XRC] and getting it off the ground,” Jobin said. “Nearly all the grants that we have received have been through NORC and people have designated funds.”
Concept2 which manufactures indoor rowing machines, provided six new rower ergs to the institution’s fitness center. J.L. Athletics, a clothing manufacturer for which Manley and Jobin served as brand ambassadors, was also among the other sponsors.
The club’s official training started in September 2023 with a total of 15 official members on the roster. Locations for practice consisted of the NORC training facility at Bayou St. John. When it comes to competing in future tournaments, XRC is extremely adamant and determined to showcase their talent. The team plans to compete in the upcoming regattas, a competition for row races. The first race will be held at the Indoor Rowing Championships on Jan. 27, 2024. Next, the goal is to appear at the State Championships with Louisiana State University, Nicholl State University, and Tulane University in mid-April. Lastly, in the latter part of the that month, the team plans to compete in the Southeastern Intercollegiate Rowing Association (SIRA) Regatta.
“The goal is to be able to do all three of those and we are really excited!” Manley said.
As a way of celebration, the club hosted a semester kickoff and community event on Friday, Jan. 19, 2024, with two-time rowing Olympian, David Banks, and owner of the first black-owned rowing organization, Brannon Johnson as co-hosts. During the event, students shared their perspectives on rowing and how it became an essential part of their lives.
“It’s new to me. I’ve never been in a rowboat, but I came here and said ok, let’s try it. Now, I want to take this seriously,” said Margo Davis, a Louisiana native and freshman psychology major. “I feel like [the event] will bring a lot more attention to the sport, Xavier, and HBCUs in general.”
Zach Williams, a California native who is a junior, psychology major, was a non-rowing member at the event that grasped a new connection with the sport.
“Coming out here, I thought it would be really complicated. All you got to do is just follow directions and it was pretty simple. [With] being an athlete already, seeing the fundamentals weren’t too different from I do,” Williams said.
XRC has more plans for the future, including becoming more sustainable, acquiring additional equipment, and obtaining a system that sees continuous recruitment.
“One of the things I’d love to do is to start working with some students on building out a history of African American rowing in this country,” Manley said. “We want to create a culture at Xavier that is excited and supportive of rowing, so that the program is self-sustainable, and it has all the resources that it needs to continue for as long as students are interested.”
