Chicago is well known as a city synonymous with sports: from the two-time three-peat and “The Super Bowl Shuffle” to breaking the curses of the Black Sox scandal and the Billy Goat. Even now, the city is buzzing with exciting new developments. Yet despite Chicago’s sports legacy, much of the South Side has not seen the same level of long-term investment and opportunity in athletics. That’s what makes Chicago State University’s football program so significant.
Last December, the Chicago State board of trustees unanimously approved the addition of the city’s only NCAA Division I program. We’re living in the middle of a history-making moment; not just for the university, but also for the community it serves.
What we’re building at Chicago State isn’t a one-time development project, and it’s more than football. It’s an institutional, people-centered investment — rooted in students, education, opportunity, team pride and long-term outcomes that extend well beyond the field.
College football naturally extends beyond a campus footprint. A Division I program creates recurring opportunities for local economic activity — restaurants, retail, hospitality, transportation and more. For the South Side, Chicago State football will help contribute to the long-lasting vitality of the surrounding area.
As a Bronzeville resident, I’ve seen a shift in energy on the South Side; people are starting to see it as a desired destination thanks to developments such as the 95th Street corridor project, the Illinois Quantum & Microelectronics Park and the Obama Presidential Center. With increased visibility comes new opportunities and more potential for sustained economic growth.
We hope to continue that growth with Chicago State football. It’s exciting to already see an uptick in applications tied to the program, because as university enrollment increases, so does its impact on the surrounding neighborhoods. The sights, sounds and pageantry that make up college football can come to life at the corner of 95th Street and King Drive. We see our institutional investment building over time, strengthening both the university and the community it serves.
At a predominantly Black institution such as Chicago State that serves as a gateway for a large portion of first-generation students from diverse and often underrepresented backgrounds, football is about far more than wins and losses.
A Division I program is an investment in students that can better position Chicago State on the map. Football introduces more students and families to the university and reinforces that a local, affordable higher education option with Division I athletics exists right on the South Side. For many young Chicagoans, especially first-generation students, seeing a program like this in their own backyard expands what feels possible for their future. Kaymen Coleman, an incoming freshman wide receiver from Von Steuben Metropolitan Science Center, saw the opportunity as one he couldn’t pass up.
“As a Chicago native, helping build Chicago State’s football program from day one means everything to me,” Coleman said. “It’s a blessing to play the game I love at the Division I level in the city I call home.”
In a city where sports shape culture and identity, football at Chicago State gives the South Side something uniquely its own: a Division I program to rally around and a story we can all take pride in.
Pride in our rising football team is already apparent across campus and is growing throughout the surrounding neighborhoods. Football is a connector of generations, just like the Red Line from 95th to Howard is a connector. And for our university, it’s an anchor to help develop young leaders, drive economic growth on the South Side and make Chicago State a household name.
While football may be the catalyst, the true impact extends far beyond the field. This program is an investment in student success, a source of pride for the South Side, and a foundation for sustained community and economic growth.While we are committed to the growth and excellence football brings to the community, we are here to win football games. As head coach Bobby Rome often says, we are not just looking to kick the ball and celebrate that we are playing, but to ensure we are building a comprehensive Division I FCS football program that is competitive. I have high expectations for Chicago State football and the visibility it will bring to our other sports programs, university faculty and other programming because of the support we’ve received from the community through each monumental step we’ve made in building this program.
Our season kicks off Aug. 29, at SeatGeek Stadium. We hope to see the city show up and support its first ever Division I football team. If we don’t show up for our Cougars, who will?
Monique Carroll is vice president and director of intercollegiate athletics at Chicago State University.
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