Howard University … Hampton University … Morgan State University …
Morehouse College all have a Lacrosse Team at the Club Level (National
College Lacrosse League).  There is presently a campaign to identify
Lacrosse Athletes at Historically Black Colleges & Universities
(HBCU). 

http://hbculacrosse.ning.com/ is a network that was
recently created to connect HBCU Lacrosse athletes at their present and
perspective schools.  Tell a friend … looking to play lacrosse at an
HBCU … check out the network.

http://hbculacrosse.ning.com/ is a network that was recently created to connect HBCU Lacrosse athletes at their present and perspective schools.  Tell a friend … looking to play lacrosse at an HBCU … check out the network.

Reaching out to all conferences!!!

1. Deleware State is an HBCU (and I’m not going to be racial here), so it will be pretty easy recruiting people of diverse races onto this team. If you have a good enough reccruiter, you can get a good number of african american players that have talent and were overlooked, especially in the Baltimore Area.

2. If DSU works hard to build a successful program in men’s lacrosse instead of trying to find a way to make a quick dollar out of it, it can culturally attract both students and alumni into the game. Morgan State has one of the top basketball teams in the MEAC conference, and they get A LOT of attention on campus. DSU’s football and basketball teams are sub-par to say the least. So all the men’s lacrosse team has to do is at least win a conference championship and bring some flare on the field to attract students and alumni to the game

3. A rivalry against Deleware would be a great way to get people of DSU interested in lacrosse. Since those are the two most known schools in the area, it wouldn’t be surprising if they did do something like that. The only thing is that DSU’s men’s lacrosse team would have to build their team up pretty good to do something like that, but with good recruiters and a decent coach it can be possible. A rivalry between these two schools can attract alumni in both schools AS LONG AS the rivalry is close and not a blowout every year.

In conclusion, adding DSU men’s lacrosse can be possible if the administration actually puts work into it being successful, and that the biggest problem. When it comes to HBCU’s a lot of them just try to try out a different sport to attract different students to their schools. The administration does not try to build a legit program, but tries to say “hey we have this sport, come to our school” so students can join. Also, the administration can take HBCU too far and make the ENTIRE TEAM black. Sure it can make people interested because it will be the few schools having a legit black team (reminiscent to the Morgan State Lacrosse Team), but it lack diversity in that team, and sometimes will bring in bad talent. If DSU adds the right coaching staff, and has the right recruiting, DSU’s men’s lacrosse team can be more tha  just possible.

To say that lacrosse is unlikely to be added for men is an understatement, and the cultural significance of the sport plays a large role.  Add in the rivalry (if you can call horrible race relations a rivalry) with the University of Delaware, and I doubt it happens in our lifetime.  Political and cultural barriers play a definite role here, I’m not bringing up the race issue to rabble-rouse.

Morgan State is the only HBCU to have a team so far, you can read about them here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Morgan_State_Bears_lacrosse

There are 3 ways to comply with Title IX:
1. Providing athletic participation opportunities that are substantially proportionate to the student enrollment. This part of the test is satisfied when participation opportunities for men and women are “substantially proportionate” to their respective undergraduate enrollment. 
OR
2. Demonstrate a continual expansion of athletic opportunities for the underrepresented sex. This part of the test is satisfied when an institution has a history and continuing practice of program expansion that is responsive to the developing interests and abilities of the underrepresented sex (typically female).
OR
3. Full and effective accommodation of the interest and ability of underrepresented sex. This part of the test is satisfied when an institution is meeting the interests and abilities of its female students even where there are disproportionately fewer females than males participating in sports.
So, without knowing more about the situation, we cannot say whether a men’s lacrosse team would be acceptable under Title IX. That said, let’s hope that it would be…