UCSB Athletics Celebrates Black History Month

 SANTA BARBARA, Calif. - UC Santa Barbara Athletics is proud to once again promote the celebration of Black History Month. As part of the celebration, UCSBgauchos.com will revisit a series of video interviews of Gaucho African-American athletes and coaches that have been created by the UCSB Athletics Department.  

The first video interview was with UCSB Director of Academic and Internal Affairs for men's basketball, David Campbell. Campbell's father, like former Gaucho basketball player Lowell Steward, was a Tuskegee Airman and the first African-American to drop a bomb on an enemy target.

To view and listen to Campbell's interview about Black History Month and his father's experience as a Tuskegee Airman, click here.

The second interview was with Gaucho women's basketball player Sweets Underwood, a junior out of Compton's Centennial High School. Underwood shared her thoughts on the significance of Black History Month and the pioneers it celebrates. To see and hear Sweets' interview, click here.

The third interview was with UCSB men's basketball player Orlando Johnson, a senior out of Palma High School in Seaside, Calif. He sat down to share his thoughts on the significance of Black History Month and the heroes it celebrates. To see and hear Orlando's interview, click here.

To read more about black history, check out the History Channel's Black History page by clicking here. 

To visit UCSB's Black Studies Department, click here.

UCSB Athletics' celebration is part of the department's BE Great initiative. In 2008 UCSB Athletics unveiled the BE Great initiative. BE Great is dedicated to maximizing leadership ability, strong on-campus interaction, and general welfare for all 450 student-athletes and Intercollegiate Athletics staff at UC Santa Barbara. BE Great also focuses on personal and career development, diversity, and social awareness, along with ensuring academic success.