November 15, 2024

Dear Firebird Community,

The red and gold have been rolled out and Homecoming 2024 is well underway at UDC!

I’d like to share a few personal thoughts on the tradition of Homecoming, a custom that has long held a special place in my heart.

As a young college student at Fisk University in Tennessee in the ’90s, Homecoming was new to me. I grew up on the West Coast and wasn’t that familiar with the Black family reunions common to the South; Homecoming at Fisk, I’d soon realize, was very much akin to a family reunion—a gathering that left new and returning “family members” feeling rejuvenated, recharged and deeply connected. Each year that I returned to my alma mater, I felt reaffirmed and re-energized.

Perhaps no other event at Historically Black Colleges and Universities captures the spirit of HBCUs quite like Homecoming. The tradition showcases Black excellence. Fosters a sense of empowerment. Provides much-needed nourishment. And breeds the kind of connection that lasts for decades. Homecoming—and the spirit it embodies—is deeply engraved in who I am today.

This week, UDC is celebrating our legacy and our future as a source of access and opportunity for all. And we’re also celebrating our family, the people who made (and continue to make) this institution what it is today.

At Homecoming 2024: A Firebird Reunion, we hope you feel reaffirmed and re-energized as you gather with your UDC family. Whether you’re a student, alum, faculty or staff member, our team has worked hard to help you feel supported and sustained by the week’s events. And even after the basketball court has been cleared and the balloons have been deflated, we want that connection with your fellow Firebirds to remain.

To all our Firebirds, come on home this week and have a safe and spirited Homecoming!

In service,

Maurice D. Edington, Ph.D.
President
University of the District of Columbia