HBCU football's winningest program set to make history

Miami Herald

19-05-2025

Tuskegee University, the winningest program in HBCU football history, will host its first-ever home night game on September 6, 2025-a milestone decades in the making. The historic moment comes as part of a larger transformation underway within the athletic department, led by Director of Athletics Reginald Ruffin.
The addition of lights at Cleve L. Abbott Memorial Alumni Stadium are more than a game-day upgrade-it's a strategic investment in the future of Tuskegee's athletes and the university's broader goals."We have lights to practice with. We have lights for our first upcoming night football game in the history of a home football game for Tuskegee University," Ruffin said during an interview with HBCU Gameday's Steven J. Gaither.
That game, set against Central State University, will be nationally televised and billed as a "mini homecoming." It represents more than just a scheduling novelty; it's a signal of modernization and institutional alignment."We have a president that's at every game. We have a president that's showing up. We have a presidents that has us at the table, has athletics at the table - which we are the front porch to any man university," Ruffin said, emphasizing the critical support he receives from university leadership, including President Mark Brown.
Ruffin explained that the decision to install lights wasn't primarily about adding a primetime feel to football games.
"Everybody thought we were trying to get lights for to be able to play games. Night games. That wasn't the problem… The purpose was to be able to just align our students to opportunity, to be able to set their schedule according to the availability of practice time."In essence, the lights provide scheduling flexibility so student-athletes can prioritize academics-something that remains central to the HBCU mission.
Beyond athletics, the new infrastructure also benefits the broader student body.
"We have movie nights for our regular students, our students, to be able to come to the field, to use the jumbotron at night," Ruffin noted. "We had classroom presentations out there on the field, at night." The lights have quickly become a tool for both academic enrichment and student engagement.
Ruffin pointed out that the issue of extreme heat was also a major factor in the push for change as he had personally witnessed emergency services having to go into the stands to help people suffering from heat exhaustion."The lights was more than me thinking about a football game. But it was more than thinking about the health and safety, the well-being of our student-athletes, our student body, our fans, our parents and alums.
As one of the winningest programs in HBCU football history, Tuskegee's commitment to modernizing while honoring its legacy speaks volumes. Ruffin added historical context by noting that legendary coach Cleve Abbott proposed the idea of stadium lighting back in 1926. Nearly a century later, his vision has come to life.
For Ruffin and Tuskegee University, this moment is about more than football-it's about evolving the HBCU experience while keeping its values intact.
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