By Jeremiah Harrison
Staff Writer
It was HBCU night at the Paycom Center, and despite having studied at an HBCU my entire time in college, I wasn’t sure I should be there.
The last time I was at the Paycom Center was December 21st, 2022. It was the last game I worked as an Oklahoma City Thunder Public Relations Intern. The night was relatively normal, and the Thunder got a slim 3-point victory over the Trailblazers.
My job as a PR Intern was straightforward. At the beginning of the shift, we hand out media passes to those who need them as they enter the building. Right before tip-off, the interns separate to the different areas where we’re stationed: broadcast booth, upstairs, and courtside.
We wait patiently for timeouts or for a quarter to end, and we hand the broadcasters in our respective areas the current updated stat sheet for the game as they print. We do this until the game is over, then we head down to the interview room for the postgame interview.
There, we just hand the mic between the reporters as they interview the players until it ends, then we head home. Not a bad job at all, by my standards.
The issue lied with one of our secondary tasks: Twitter reports. Before Twitter’s name went under the knife, it was my job to log into the app before and after the game to record data about game stats and logistics, the players, and the opinions of Thunder fans.
The night of the game against the Trailblazers, me and two of my coworkers (interns as well) were talking about the twitter reports in the interview room just prior to the postgame interview. We spoke about how we were following the template but weren’t sure if they were being done correctly. I mentioned that no one had ever even replied to my Twitter reports in the 3 months I’d worked there, and how I wondered how the information helped PR.
Some of the reporters overheard our conversation, and asked about the task, and what we needed to do to complete it. The reporters were shocked to hear that we recorded their tweets for data and seemed to show distaste. As if the Thunder were watching their tweets for ulterior motives.
We tell them that we believe it’s for data and keeping up with what Thunder fans like and continue our night as usual. The postgame interview ends and we’re about to head home for the day. The Head of PR stops us and asks us to have a conversation with him. He tells us that we’re not in trouble, but that we can’t talk about the twitter reports in front of the reporters as they could take it the wrong way, and we want to keep a good rapport between the reporters and PR. We agreed and went home for the day.
The next morning, I received an email saying that “After discussions as a department, [they’d] made the decision that [I’d] be suspended from working games through the Jan. 3 game against Boston.” It went on to say that some of my recent conduct had been “unacceptable and not up to [their] standards”.
What was this unacceptable behavior I had exuded? Did I embarrass myself and my university somehow? I had just been told something completely different just hours prior to this, so how could this be the case?
Fast forward to February 2nd, 2024. It’s HBCU Night and all my friends and fraternity brothers are planning to head to the Paycom Center for a night of fun and celebration.
Naturally, I was reluctant. I didn’t like the way they made me feel. I never went back after I saw that email the next morning. They’d just undermine me and make me feel unwelcome in their space again if I did. But it’s Black History Month, and all my friends are attempting to have a good night out.
Who am I to not appreciate the efforts of my ancestors and celebrate the things they’ve done? Why should I rob myself of a potentially exciting time and memory because of fear of how I might be treated? I told myself that if there was ever a time I should go back, that this day would be the day.
So, I went. And boy, was it worth it.
The Paycom Center transformed from this thing I didn’t want to associate with, into a hub of excitement and cultural celebration, paying homage to Historically Black Colleges and Universities. The event’s objective is to highlight the rich and diverse legacy of HBCUs. This brought together students, alumni, Divine Nine organization members, and basketball enthusiasts from all around for an evening of entertainment and appreciation. From the moment I entered the arena, I was immersed in HBCU culture. Langston alum DJ Keilo DJ’d
on the Blue Carpet as fans entered the arena and during the post-game party. Displays were featured throughout the arena of Black History Facts, and some highlights of notable HBCU alumni and their contributions to society. There was even a Black History Month themed chalk wall as well.
The vibe of the night was heavily influenced by our daily culture as HBCU students. Popular songs you’d hear on an HBCU campus were being played and the arena was riddled with Langston students and Alumni, rocking their Greek paraphernalia or school gear.
Some Langston students even had the chance to work HBCU Night through the Thunder Fellows program. Students were able to do different tasks in assisting with HBCU Night, like a live broadcast commentary of the game and designing the HBCU Night T-shirt.
Junior Broadcast Journalism major and Thunder Fellow, Aniyah Robinson, weighed in on what it was like to design the shirt. “We had a big thing where we brainstormed everything that we wanted to be on the shirt. Different themes of things that embodied HBCU culture, and that is how the shirt came about.”
Quinzaria Tatum, another LU student and Thunder Fellow, helped design the shirt and participated in HBCU Night as well. She described the night as, “a dream come true.” When I asked her how it felt to represent Langston and HBCU’s everywhere that night, she said, “Since I was a child, I always wanted to attend an HBCU. I grew up watching A Different World on TV and seeing how they had so much pride in their school made me want the same experience and I was able to get it that night.”
She went on to say that it “felt like I had a one-day contract with the Thunder that night. It was empowering and motivational because this is what I want to do in my career and HBCU Night gave me that little taste”.
And what exactly did she gain from just this small taste of her desire? She said that “Participating in HBCU night helped me mentally as an HBCU student…this night was for us, and it made me feel like I could actually achieve what I had been working for my entire high school and college career.” I asked Robinson the same question, and she said “It made me get out of my comfort zone a lot and it allowed me to speak with top executives in the Oklahoma City Thunder front office which is where I want to be in my career. I want to work in sports eventually down the line, so it definitely helped me with my professional development especially with the mentorship and all the tours.”
During HBCU Night, students are not only being celebrated, but they are being put in a position to achieve their dreams and elevate their mentality about their goals. The representation of their success from just one night allows them to be bold in their visions of their future.
The game went on and the Paycom Center radiated with vibrant colors during an electric performance from the Langston University Marching Pride Band performed during halftime. As the final buzzer rang, the Thunder secured a large victory over the Charlotte Hornets.
HBCU Night had not only served as a powerful reminder of the importance of unity, diversity, and cultural celebration, but reopened my heart to the Thunder organization and the public relations profession.
I asked Robinson and Tatum if they would recommend attending HBCU Night next year as well. They both agreed, with Robinson saying, “I personally would definitely recommend participating in HBCU Night next year. I really loved it and once you’re a thunder fellow, you’re always a thunder fellow, so I definitely want to continue working with them and just continuing to build on that so that way we could bridge the gap between not only the thunder fellows, but Oklahoma City Thunder and Langston University. So, I personally would definitely recommend not only participating but going just to spectate next year.”
HBCU Night was special in many more ways than one. The Thunder seem to have a great grasp on how to support HBCU’s and their students, and how to appreciate us in a way that makes us feel welcome. Even when we didn’t expect to.
Jeremiah Harrison is a senior broadcast journalism major.
