Xavier University voted to officially add rowing to its roster of varsity sports in 2025, which means it will be the first HBCU in the nation with a coed varsity crew team, the school says.

Why it matters: "What Xavier is doing … is so far beyond the scope of just what happens at Xavier but setting a precedent that rowing can exist at HBCUs," team leader Elizabeth Manley tells Axios New Orleans.

What happened: Rowing has long been viewed as an exclusive sport for the wealthy.

• The New Orleans Rowing Club is working to bring the sport to new communities, Manley says, and it worked with Xavier to launch the sport as a club team in 2023.
• Now, the team will join the university's varsity roster next year. They'll get a full-time coach and compete against other collegiate programs.

Public health junior Victoria Duffey wanted a new, structured workout. "I thought it would be fun to do a side quest," she says.

• That brought her to the history-making Xavier rowing team.
• "It's cool and remarkable, so I think it's important that we continue to let people know," she says.

Between the lines: Xavier's rowing team will join a growing group of HBCUs that are bringing some sports long thought to be exclusionary to new audiences.

• Howard University is making history with the first all-Black swimming team, and Fisk University made history with the first all-Black gymnastics team.
• "I can understand why there are many communities around this country that just don't see [rowing] as an option," Manley says, "so Xavier making this a men's and women's program says there's another story here to be told about Black excellence and water sports."

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New Orleans health officials are urging an expansion in sexually transmitted infection testing, treatment and prevention after a new report says the city saw a sharp increase in HIV cases among 15- to 19-year-olds.

The big picture: Louisiana has for years maintained one of the nation's highest HIV infection rates, but New Orleans carries an outsized portion of the state's cases, data shows.

• Though a lifelong condition, HIV is treatable, and testing can help to reduce transmissions.

Zoom in: The number of New Orleans teens ages 15-19 with HIV diagnoses increased from 3 to 9 people between 2022 and 2023, the New Orleans Health Department said in the report.

• That "signals an urgent need for targeted interventions to address the rising incidence among adolescents," the report says.
• One solution is already in the works, thanks to a new sexual health education program the health department plans to roll out to New Orleans schools later this year.

By the numbers: The STI report pointed to other alarming trends, including:

• A chlamydia infection rate that exceeds state and national averages.
• A 71% increase in gonorrhea cases for a single New Orleans East ZIP code (70129).
• People of color, young men and pregnant women continue to experience disproportionately high STI rates.

Go deeper: Read the full report.

🥊 Wrestlemania will be in New Orleans next year, The Rock said during WWE Smackdown at the Smoothie King Center on Friday. (WWE)

🚌 RTA has announced its Mardi Gras service changes. (Details)

⚖️ A judge reopened a lawsuit challenging the state's execution protocol after two death row inmates were given execution dates. (AP)

• Yes, but: One of those inmates, Christopher Sepulvado, 81, died in hospice care over the weekend, his lawyer tells us.

🧑‍⚖️ The legal battle between New Orleans Public Schools and the Cantrell administration is on pause until a March 25 hearing as lawyers for both sides draft memos on related legal issues. (Fox 8)

⛪️ Pope Francis remains in critical condition. (New York Times)

💰 Gov. Jeff Landry wants to put nearly $100 million toward private school vouchers for the next school year. The funds would support his LA GATOR scholarship that lawmakers approved last year. (Louisiana Illuminator)

Fatal drug overdoses fell in Louisiana faster than the national rate from 2022 to 2023, per new CDC data.

Why it matters: The state has had one of the highest age-adjusted death rates, which is one factor leading to its population decline, the Data Center's Allison Plyer has said.

Driving the news: Overdose deaths seem to be falling as pandemic-era isolation ebbs and access to life-saving medications like Naloxone grows.

Zoom in: The age-adjusted rate of U.S. fatal drug overdoses fell from 32.6 per 100,000 people in 2022 to 31.3 in 2023, the CDC says.

• Though still well above the national rate, in Louisiana, it fell from 54.5 to 50.6.

More on the national outlook

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The first big weekend of Carnival kicked off beautifully on Friday and continued Saturday. See photos from The Times-Picayune.

• But every parade yesterday was postponed or canceled, officials say, as steady rain fell over the metro.

What's next: Sunday's Uptown parades will roll Tuesday night, Atlas moved to Thursday and Barkus will ramble in the French Quarter on March 9. Full schedule.