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Andscape roundtable: ‘Absolutely gutted’ Talladega gymnasts fight to save program
In its inaugural year of competition, college became the first HBCU program to win an NCAA-sanctioned meet
A year ago, Talladega College became the second historically Black college and university to offer gymnastics, alongside Fisk University. However, college President Walter M. Kimbrough announced Monday the program would be shut down effective July 31 due to a lack of resources.
In its inaugural year of competition, Talladega became the first HBCU program to win an NCAA-sanctioned meet, and freshman gymnast Kyrstin Johnson won the USA Gymnastics national championship in the vault.
Johnson and fellow Talladega freshmen gymnasts Alexa Chuy and Kiora Peart-Williams, who described the program’s end as “absolutely gutting,” and Derrin Moore, founder of Brown Girls Do Gymnastics, sat down with Andscape reporters Mia Berry and Ari Chambers. They discuss their fundraising efforts to try to save the program, their initial response to learning their program will be shut down and why Talladega has been special for them.