Harvard Stadium hosted the first-ever Essence HBCU Classic football game Aug. 30, where the Morehouse College Maroon Tigers faced the Johnson C. Smith University Golden Bulls. The game marked the first time in over 50 years that two historically Black colleges competed in Boston. 

The United States Department of Education announced in a Feb. 14 letter that schools had until Feb. 28 to cease all efforts considering race in decisions pertaining to scholarships, hiring, administrative support and more, threatening a potential loss of federal funding to institutions that do not comply.