UDC’s first football captain continues to champion the University

Barrington Scott brings a unique perspective and passion as an alumni representative to UDC’s Board of Trustees and Foundation, Inc. Board. As a student, he was the University’s first football team captain and has also been inducted into the UDC Athletic Sports Hall of Fame. Since his time as a Trustee, he has been instrumental in scholarships, alumni support and advocating for student life activities.

“At its beginning, UDC’s enrollment was around 14,400 students because of the merger of the three schools,” Scott said. He started at Federal City College, which merged with UDC in 1976, before coming to UDC and remembers what he calls “the good old days.”

“We had great student support, especially when we won the NCAA Division II National Basketball Championship in 1982. Homecoming was always grand, and our 125-piece marching Striders Band took the city by storm. UDC provided the opportunity for urban city kids to get an equal quality education to that of other institutions in the area at a reasonable cost. I am still excited to tell people I’m a Firebird and one of the University’s proudest alumnus.”

Completing college came with its challenges for Scott, who became a father at the age of 20 while juggling classwork, football, a night job and having a double major.

While at UDC, he organized student protests in support of making Martin Luther King Day a national holiday by coordinating students from UDC, Howard, American, Georgetown and George Washington University.

“It was the greatest thing that ever happened to me as a student at UDC,” Scott said. “We galvanized students from all over this city, standing in the cold and singing with recording artist Steve Wonder to support the MLK holiday bill. That opportunity taught us we can make changes and a difference when we stand together.

Scott continues to put his commitment in action serving his second term as an alumni representative to the Board of Trustees and UDC Foundation Board.

He is a 1982 graduate and earned a B.S. in Recreation Therapy with a concentration in physical education. He has 41 years of experience in health care and serves as the director of therapeutic activities at a long-term care facility in Washington, DC.

Scott is known for bringing people together to get things done. He was an advocate in speaking out about the importance of restoring UDC’s nursing and mortuary science and nursing programs. He was also instrumental in reactivating the student branch of the NAACP and obtaining approval for 50 students to attend the organization’s national convention.

Scott created the Academic Excellence Award and raised money to recognize the ten brightest graduating seniors each year with the highest-grade point average on campus.

He spearheaded efforts to recognize and preserve the legacy of the grandfather of Black basketball, Dr. Edwin Bancroft Henderson. A 1904 graduate of Miner Normal School #2, a UDC legacy institution. Henderson paved the way as an educator, basketball pioneer, writer, Civil Rights advocate, coach and referee in the District of Columbia.

Scott is raising money for a 7-foot statue in the likeness of Henderson to be placed outside the Sports Complex in June 2023, at the University of the District of Columbia.

“I am excited to have the opportunity to work on these projects along with co-chair Trustee Antoinette White Richardson,” he said. “We are looking forward to the unveiling in June.

“With the campaign the endowed scholarships will provide the opportunity for students, especially in Wards 7 and 8 to attend sports camps and clinics. The vision is to have students come from around the country in the summers to learn more about E.B. Henderson. We will take students to the African American museum and have DC recognized as the birthplace of Black basketball.”

Committed to helping students go to college, Scott was instrumental in obtaining scholarships for DC high school seniors to attend UDC through his fraternal ties with the Most Worshipful Grand Lodge of the District of Columbia Jurisdiction PHA F&AM. He convinced them to move the Masonic Classic Basketball Tournament to UDC.

He also encouraged The Prince Hall Grand Lodge F & AM and Grand Lodge Masons of Washington DC to meet on campus for the 300th Anniversary of Masonry in the United States. They pledged $400,000 over the next ten years to support the UDC Foundation Inc. with scholarships to attend UDC.

His love of his alma mater is apparent, as he shares his experience with future students every opportunity he gets. He credits President Ronald Mason, Jr. for his recruitment efforts supporting the District’s valedictorians, salutatorians and honor students.

“One of the things that was done under President Mason is the DC-UP program, which recruited the best and brightest minds from this area to consider UDC. We are able to provide free tuition and housing to make UDC even more competitive.”

Scott co-founded the Calvin Coolidge Alumni Association, Inc. in 1986, raising more than $3 million since its inception to send graduating seniors to college. As a life member of the Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, Inc., he served as the 34th Polemarch of the Washington DC Alumni Chapter during the Million Man March in Washington DC, which boasted the largest gathering of its national body at a Civil Rights gathering.

He is a Silver Life member of the NAACP and several other national organizations and is the recipient of numerous awards, including the 2017 UDC PathMakers Award, Calvin Coolidge Alumni Association Founders Humanitarian Award, the National Academy of Recording Arts & Sciences’ Award for supporting education, and the Kappa Alpha Psi Eastern Province Council Meritorious Service Award.