Joseph Moses, a long-serving head coach for Xavier University of Lousiana’s cross country and track and field programs, has resigned after 13 years.
A reason for the resignation was not detailed in a release, but officials thanked Moses for his distinguished record of performance in the Gulf Coast Athletic Conference.
“We are proud of the accomplishments of coach Moses and his teams, and we thank him for his work and success with the track and cross country programs,” said Jason Horn XULA director of athletics & recreation. “Our track and cross country programs are on a solid foundation and poised to gain additional national recognition and contend for championships on the conference and national levels. Best wishes to coach Moses in the next chapter of his career.”
According to a release, the 2017 GCAC coach of the year in women’s track won a combined 27 Gulf Coast Athletic Conference team championships: 11 in women’s cross country, 10 in men’s cross country and six in women’s track and field.
This past season XULA won GCAC titles in women’s cross country and track and field and finished second in men’s cross country and track. XULA in 2018 set a GCAC women’s track record for most points at the conference meet (258) and largest winning margin (96). XULA men’s track scored in 2018 its most points ever, 123, at the GCAC meet.
“I am proud to have been a part of building the track and cross country programs at Xavier University of Louisiana,” Moses said. “I am especially proud of the student-athletes that received both athletic and academic awards here. I am grateful to have worked with other great coaches, and I will miss the Xavier community.”
Moses won a combined 37 coach-of-the-year awards at the GCAC and Louisiana levels. He was GCAC Coach of the Year in women’s cross country and track this past season and Louisiana Coach of the Year in women’s track a year ago.
I am sure he is going to be coaching at another collegiate program. Do not be surprised if his name shows up at a DI program soon.
De Bois made some perceptive points, but I think he was too negative in his predictions. I’ve only attended general American schools both public and private (my grammar school was in a heavily Asian district in Northern California). I felt that black history was adequately represented in all of my institutions. We learned about African Empires like Mali and Songhai. My New England prep school covered blacks in the Revolutionary war, blacks in the civil war, WWII, reconstruction, civil rights, all over multiple years. We read L. Hansberry’s Raisin the Sun, Langston Hughes and other black writers. The required courses at Columbia, my Alma Mater, included Black Like Me, more WEB Du Bois, Frederick Douglas, and others. I know civil rights activists over the years have fought for black inclusion in the curriculum. And honestly, they were successful. And furthermore, black families should be covering this at home anyways, if they were really as interested in black history as they purport to be. My family didn’t wait for the school system to teach me about my history, even though the school system did a far more comprehensive job than my mother ever could.
I think most HBCU’s should close down. Maybe 60-70% of them. We have to integrate. It’s what’s best for our people. We already proved that separate but equal doesn’t work. Why we are still trying to make HBCU’s work post-integration is beyond me. Plus, if we save just a few HBCU’s, like Morehouse and Spelman, pooling the resources could really set them on the map again, make them more selective and help raise the profile of African American graduates. Personally, I think we are trying to hold on to this 1920’s to 1950’s image that older people have in their heads; but it is simply not the reality today.
From what I can tell, HBCU’s changed after the late 60’s and the profiles of the blacks going shifted. Also I think the focus should be more on educational competitiveness and less on culture. Less band, homecoming, activism, straight vs natural hair, and more coding or finance study. Like Hidden Figures. You don’t need to know about black people or history to become proficient in astronomy, engineering, calculus, economics, computer science, chemistry etc. And you can still be plenty inspired by Plato, Faulkner, Jane Austen, and whoever white authors. Where did the hunger for education go? It’s like after civil rights, we decided that if it ain’t black, then I don’t want it. The best way to have power is to learn the system, work your way up, and then make changes. Booker T. Washington doesn’t get his due. He was going to have us make us necessary (again) to the economy by starting at the bottom, working our way up in plain view of white people. Learn a trade and thereby make yourself useful and independent. You’re always employable anywhere you go. The German and Swedish immigrants in the Midwest came over with carpentry skills and ended up cornering that industry. Founded big and successful furniture making and engineering companies, solidifying themselves in the middle and upper middle classes. Lead with what you’re good at, and then exploit it to your own advantage. I think we missed an opportunity there. We went more the activist route which had many advantages but some major disadvantages. Detroit didn’t need to burn. And the South side of Chicago shouldn’t be what it is today.