[Congressional Record Volume 164, Number 193 (Thursday, December 6, 2018)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E1609]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




            HONORING ALCORN STATE UNIVERSITY'S FOOTBALL TEAM

                                  _____
                                 

                        HON. BENNIE G. THOMPSON

                             of mississippi

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, December 6, 2018

  Mr. THOMPSON of Mississippi. Mr. Speaker, I rise today to honor the 
Alcorn State University's Football Team on becoming the 2018 SWAC 
Champions.
  On Saturday, December 1, in Lorman, Mississippi at the Jack Spinks 
Stadium, Alcorn State's Football Team contested against Southern 
University for the SWAC Championship. This made their fifth consecutive 
SWAC Championship visits since 2014. The Braves have competed for the 
title winning three of the five, years 2014, 2015, and 2018.
  The SWAC Championship Game is an American college football game that 
is held annually on the first Saturday in December by the Southwestern 
Athletic Conference (SWAC) to determine its football champion. The game 
pits the champion of the Eastern Division against the champion of the 
Western Division in a game that follows the conclusion of the regular 
season.
  From 2015 onward, the winner of the game has represented the SWAC in 
the Celebration Bowl. Since 2013, Toyota has been the title sponsor and 
the contest is officially named the Toyota SWAC Football Championship.
  In brief, Alcorn State University, formally known as, Alcorn A&M is a 
historically black university located northwest of Lorman, Mississippi. 
The university was founded in 1871 by the Reconstruction-era 
legislature to provide higher education for freedmen. It is the first 
black land grant college established in the United States.
  One of the institution's most notable alumni was Medgar Evers, a 
civil rights activist, who graduated in 1952. The university is a 
member-school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The student body 
has grown from 179 mostly male students to an enrollment of almost 4000 
as of Fall 2018.
  Mr. Speaker, I ask my colleagues to join me in recognizing Alcorn 
State University's Football Team for becoming the 2018 SWAC Champions.

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