Five young women at North Carolina’s Saint Augustine’s University are making history. They will compete as the first historically Black university women’s crew team, ever. “We are trailblazers. We are literally Black history,” sophomore Breanna Dorway said. “I’m just really excited for what’s in store for us.” Saint Augustine’s is a small liberal arts university established in 1867 by the Episcopal Diocese of North Carolina.
Rowing first came to Saint Augustine’s as a virtual sports program in the School of Business, Management & Technology. There, Professor Mark Janas has introduced students to golf, motorsports and cycling that may have otherwise been unavailable at the school with an enrollment of nearly 1,000 students.
Rowing is not a cheap sport to participate in, which is why it’s more common at Ivy League institutions like Harvard and Yale. That is until the Howard University men’s crew team made history as the first HBCU crew team in the mid-1960s. Saint Augustine’s women do not pay to participate in the sport and will rely on fundraising to obtain the money they need to compete.
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