Texas Southern University celebrates the Ocean of Soul’s Super Bowl performance with Beyoncé and highlights Black Rodeo culture.
HOUSTON — Texas Southern University is showing off all the things they have to be proud of with a special rodeo-themed celebration!
They are celebrating the Ocean of Soul’s Super Bowl performance with Beyoncé as well as Women’s History Month and Black Rodeo culture.
It’s been nearly three months since TSU’s band Ocean of Soul was showcased worldwide.
“I think it was the best Christmas gift ever,” Vice President of Development for TSU Charlie Coleman III said.
It’s hard to beat performing with Beyoncé on Christmas Day at a Houston Texans game.
“What other opportunities has this opened up not just for TSU but also Ocean of Soul,” Reporter Amanda Henderson asked.
“It has opened up so many doors for us to be on a worldwide stage. for us to be able to connect and engage,” Coleman III said.
Friday night students packed TSU’s Hold Em’ event, which celebrated the band’s accomplishment and Black Rodeo culture, which is a cornerstone of Beyoncé’s iconic halftime performance.
“I just know that if I was in the performance I would’ve started crying because I love Beyoncé,” Broderick Toler said.
“I realized things were really growing as far as our representation in all aspects of the rodeo community,” Miss Rodeo Houston Tammie McKnight said.
We also got our first glimpse at behind-the-scenes footage of the band learning they would be performing with most-awarded artist in Grammy’s history.
“They’ve been in [major performing] situations but Beyonce is totally different. The air changes in the room when she walks in,” TSU Assistant Band Director Trenton Hunter said.
Hunter said re-living the moments leading up to the performance has left him beyond proud.
“It’s just and exciting time for us to celebrate our students,” Hunter said.
The event had a TSU specialized hat branding station with money going to scholarships, a mechanical bull, line dancing and several ties to the history as well as legacy of Black Rodeo culture in Houston and on a worldwide stage.
Photojournalist Cesar Nunez contributed to this report.