BATON ROUGE, La. — A nearly weeklong boycott by the Grambling State University’s football team including forfeiting its game at Jackson State has made more people aware of the campus’s financial struggles and drummed up interest from donors around the country, Grambling’s president said Tuesday.

For its part, Jackson State said late Tuesday night that its losses over canceling its homecoming game Saturday could cost the school and the city millions and that it “plans to pursue litigation against Grambling State and others,” which could cause Grambling even more headaches.

Grambling President Frank Pogue told the University of Louisiana System board that oversees the historically black college that “it’s a rarity for any athletic team to come together to abandon their commitment to an institution by walking off the field. It’s a very unique experience. But we’re using this as an opportunity of learning, a teachable moment.”

Pogue said he’s used the national attention Grambling has received as a way to highlight campus academic and facility needs and that the complaints lodged by football players about inadequate facilities are symptomatic of larger financial troubles on campus.