It’s been a year of mixed emotions for HBCUs—including a pandemic that forced students back home, months of protests filled with continued calls for racial justice, and a contentious election triumphantly resulting in the first Black woman—and HBCU grad (H-U—you know!)—elected vice president of the United States. With traditional homecoming festivities postponed by the ongoing pandemic, the celebration of this momentous milestone may feel anticlimactic, but leave it to homecoming’s other queen to give us more to cheer about this fall, with help from fitness juggernaut Peloton.
Per a release sent to The Glow Up:
Peloton (NASDAQ: PTON), the world’s leading interactive fitness platform, and GRAMMY® Award-winning global entertainer and entrepreneur, Beyoncé, today announced a broad, multi-year partnership rooted in the celebration of music—a central component of the Peloton class experience—and pro-social initiatives.
The launch of the collaboration with Beyoncé, the most requested artist by Peloton’s global community of more than 3.6 million members, is commemorating Homecoming season, an annual fall celebration for students at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) that honors tradition and legacy. While most of this year’s Homecoming festivities shifted to virtual celebrations due to the global pandemic, Beyoncé and Peloton worked closely to create a series of themed workout experiences to help extend Homecoming to Peloton members via classes across multiple fitness categories, including indoor cycling, running, strength, bootcamp, yoga and meditation.
For 10 HBCUs—Bennett College, Clark Atlanta University, Grambling State University, Hampton University, Howard University, Morehouse College and Morehouse School of Medicine, Spelman College, Texas Southern University, and Wilberforce University—the deal gets even sweeter. Beyoncé and Peloton are gifting two-year Peloton Digital memberships to students by the end of November (just in time to help us work off that stay-at-home Thanksgiving weight gain).
“Peloton and I both believe that the power of music can help uplift, motivate and inspire those on their fitness journeys,” said Beyoncé in a statement. “I’ve been a Peloton member for several years, and I’m excited to partner with a company that helps people, young and old, be the best versions of themselves, in an innovative and adaptable way. I’m proud to celebrate the students at HBCUs with this donation, to encourage them to find and embrace their own wellness regimens.”
No bike (or Ivy Park athleisure wardrobe) is necessary—the gift includes access to a full library of fitness classes through the Peloton App that can be used with or without equipment. More importantly, “Peloton will build on its relationships with each of these schools to pursue long-term recruiting partnerships at both the internship and undergraduate levels,” the release states.
Not an HBCU student? No problem. We can all try Beyoncé’s special content for free via a 30-day trial on the Peloton App (available on any iOS or Android device, Apple TV, Fire TV, Roku TVs, and Chromecast and Android TV), as well as through the Peloton Bike, Bike+ and Tread+. Peloton has given us a preview of the Beyoncé Artist Series Class Schedule.
On Demand
30 min Beyoncé Two for One Ride with Alex Toussaint & Tunde Oyeneyin
Wed. Nov. 11 @ 7:30 PM ET
30 min Beyoncé Yoga Flow with Chelsea Jackson Roberts
10 min Beyoncé Meditation with Chelsea Jackson Roberts
Thu. Nov. 12 @ 7:30 PM ET
20 min Beyoncé Full Body Strength with Robin Arzón
20 min Beyoncé Outdoor Run with Robin Arzón (Audio Only)
Fri. Nov. 13 @ 5 PM ET
30 min Beyoncé Ride with Ally Love
Sat. Nov. 14 @ 10 AM ET
60 min Beyoncé Bootcamp with Jess Sims
But wait, there’s more: “In the coming months, Beyoncé will continue to work closely with Peloton on various forms of class curation across all workout disciplines, touching on areas of importance to her, including music, movement, fitness and wellness,” the release reads. “The collaboration with Beyoncé is part of Peloton’s unyielding pursuit to continuously provide an engaging and motivating experience for its members and leverage its products, platform and expertise to positively impact people’s health and well-being.”
“Beyoncé’s commitment to empowerment and artistic expression is an inspiration to the entire Peloton community,” said Peloton’s Head of Music Gwen Bethel Riley. “It is a privilege to be able to work closely with her and her extraordinary team to broaden access to our platform and collaborate on incredible offerings we think our members will love.”