Photo by Danny Fulgencio

The Southern Methodist University football team showed support for local small businesses in a Twitter video posted last week.

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The video, which has 1,800 shares and over 120 comments, features Hardeman’s BBQ on South Westmoreland Road and Rudy’s Chicken, among other Dallas businesses.

SMU football also took out a billboard reading “Pony Up, Oak Cliff.” They even bought ponyupoakcliff.com, which redirects to this bio of Oak Cliff native Chevin Calloway.

The advertising campaign drew criticism from those who accuse the school, in mostly white and wealthy Highland Park, of pandering to Oak Cliff and Black Dallas. But at least they’re trying to reach our neighborhood, which is a far cry from Highland Park’s past.

These ponies are on the right trail, setting an example for other SMU students, as well as residents of the park cities, to support mom and pop.

Nicolas Heller, aka @newyorknico on Instagram, recently argued that students of New York University should be more supportive of locally owned small businesses. He suggested that NYU business students should be assigned to help small businesses with their business plans, finances and marketing. and that inspired the National Assignment, encouraging university professors everywhere to play along.