As part of their annual tribute during Black History Month, the Tennessee Black Caucus of State Legislators (TBCSL) honored the Fisk University Gymnastics team on February 27.
The Fisk team is the first Historically Black Colleges and Universities gymnastics team ever to compete at the NCAA level. Last month, in the team’s first tournament competition in Las Vegas, the Bulldogs finished fourth. They were led by top-recruit Morgan Price, who earned the meet’s highest score of 9.9 on the vault.
In an interview, Price said she “had dreamed of being an HBCU gymnast even before there was a team.”
“It feels really cool,” Price said. “We have a lot of eyes on us because we are the first and because we are making history, so it’s just so exciting to be a part of the first team ever.”
TBCSL Vice-Chair Representative Jesse Chism of Memphis said as Black History Month winds to a close, caucus members wanted to honor trailblazers both past and present.
Also honored was Sampson Keeble, the first Black legislator to ever serve in the Tennessee General Assembly and Barbara Cooper, who served long enough to become the oldest lawmaker to sit on the House floor.
