Clark Atlanta gets its own Nike Air Max 97 in new HBCU collection
Clark Atlanta University is getting its own Nike Air Max 97.
CAU is one of five historically Black universities featured in a limited-edition sneaker collection arriving this holiday season. North Carolina A&T, Tuskegee, Coppin State and Mississippi Valley State universities are also part of Nike’s Yardrunners Collection, according to HBCU Gameday.
The red-and-black CAU sneakers, accented with white detailing, pay homage to the university’s band culture and feature the school’s emblem on the insoles.
The release comes three years after Nike gave two other Atlanta HBCUs — Spelman and Morehouse — their own Terminator sneakers as part of a larger “HBCU Pack.” The five-school collection also featured Tuskegee, Alabama A&M and Tennessee State universities.
Sneaker enthusiast Branden Peters, a member of CAU’s class of 1999, said he’s happy Nike chose a silhouette “people actually like.”
“The 97 is just a cool shoe,” Peters said. “It’s a shoe that can match with a lot of stuff. You can wear it with shorts, you can wear pants, you can wear it with a bunch of different stuff, and I think it’s going to do really well.”
But Peters found the design a little basic. He would have preferred more separation between the red and black to create a starker contrast, similar to the Yardrunners designs for North Carolina A&T and Mississippi Valley State.
MaKisha “Mickie” Funderburke, a self-proclaimed “budding sneakerhead” and 2004 CAU graduate, agreed. She wanted more white “to make the shoe pop.”
Regardless, Peters said he’s still “going to represent” his alma mater and get a pair.
Funderburke is less certain. She worries limited availability could make the shoes difficult to find or leave buyers paying inflated prices to resellers, which she said has happened with past releases.
“I don’t have any expectations,” she said. “It would be nice (to get a pair), but I don’t want to go through the hassle.”
Still, she said she hopes Nike produces enough shoes for CAU alumni who want them.
“Hopefully, there is enough availability to go around or enough stock to go around so that any alumni who would like to purchase can purchase easily with no problems,” Funderburke said.
Nike launched Yardrunners in 2020 as a celebration of HBCU culture. Last year’s collection featured Air Max 95s.
Kiwi Durham, a 2008 CAU graduate and digital media personality, called the Air Max 97s “amazing” and said she wished they had been released in time for homecoming next week.
But she is even more excited about what the collaboration represents.
With “A Different World” returning to television and HBCU culture enjoying renewed attention, Durham said the timing felt right.
“Back in the ’90s, we used to wear (HBCU) sweatshirts all the time on TV,” she said. “Just to see it in real life … that’s major.”
Peters said he was glad Nike is also shining a light on smaller HBCUs, including Mississippi Valley State and Coppin State. He said he hopes to see more HBCU collaborations and wants students to benefit financially from those partnerships.
“I would like to see all of the HBCUs represented,” he said. “Most people who are alumni of HBCUs, we’re very passionate about our schools.”