MetLife Sponsors Toyota HBCUNY Football Classic, Reinforces Commitment To HBCUs

The MetLife Stadium will host a Morehouse College versus Howard University football game to kick off homecoming week.

The MetLife Foundation announced its partnership with the Toyota HBCUNY Classic on Sept. 12. In its commitment to support HBCU students, Metlife’s new sponsorship is a step in its enduring initiative to bolster inclusive economic mobility for underserved and marginalized communities worldwide.

The HBCUNY event on Sept. 14 will highlight an anticipated football match between Howard University and Morehouse College at the MetLife Stadium, which will kick off HBCU homecoming week. The game will feature rousing drumline performances and a battle of the bands during halftime.

The HBCUNY Classic, which takes place over multiple days, focuses on celebrating the Black culture and communities of historically Black colleges and universities.

Outside of this event, the MetLife Foundation has contributed over $1 billion to the communities it serves and has continuously built a history of supporting economic mobility through access to education for thousands of HBCU students.

Chief Marketing Officer at MetLife Michael Roberts said in a press release, “MetLife’s sponsorship of the Toyota HBCUNY Classic presented by Walmart is a testament to its long-standing history of supporting HBCUs through organizations like UŃCF. We are proud that MetLife had the vision almost eight decades ago to support HBCUs and we remain dedicated to building more confident futures through access to quality education.”

Albert Williams, president and CEO of the producers of the Classic, Sports Eleven05 LLC, expressed his gratitude. “We extend our thanks to MetLife for their ongoing support of the Toyota HBCUNY Classic, the world’s largest HBCU homecoming hosted at MetLife Stadium. We deeply appreciate MetLife’s partnership in uplifting our students and championing HBCUs,” he said.

During the football game’s live broadcast on CNBC, MetLife plans to show an in-broadcast segment to highlight its continued commitment to its cause. The segment will highlight the organization’s 78-year partnership with UNCF and will feature Warren Williams, regional director at UNCF, and Reginald Goins, a former UNCF scholarship recipient and graduate of two HBCUs. The video will show the undeniable importance of supporting HBCU students as they move on to make an impact on their communities in the future.

In addition to sponsoring the HBCUNY game, MetLife recently granted a total of $2.5 million to several different HBCU-related initiatives, including its scholarship: the MetLife Foundation Legacy Endowed Scholarship at UNCF. It provides yearly need-based scholarships to college students who attend HBCUs and major in STEM, business, and finance accounting.

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