Dr. Maurice D. Edington on Thursday officially entered his role as president of the University of the District of Columbia (UDC) during an investiture ceremony that brought together university officials, elected officials, and people whom Edington met along his way to the UDC presidency.
As a newly robed leader, Edington spoke before the UDC community, he reflected on the litany of friends, family, colleagues, mentors and former students who paved his path to personal and professional success. Such experiences, he said, prepared him to provide UDC students the same level of support, primarily through the fulfillment of his five-year strategic plan.
“We want to be a world-class flagship university for the nation’s capital, a national model for student success, workforce economic mobility, a research and innovation hub to solve the District’s most critical challenges, and a university that unites all of its stakeholders,” Edington said on Thursday in UDC’s Theater of the Arts.
“We’ll get there, not because we have a new comprehensive strategic plan, but because we are driven,” Edington continued. I’m not the only individual with this mission mindset. We are inspired by a similar call. Now’s our time to come together and let the power of alignment move us forward.”
The UDC Board of Trustees approved Edington’s five-year strategic plan in early February. It’s available for public review until April 22.
Elements of the strategic plan, titled “Delivering on the Promise,” include an enhancement of academic and workforce development programs, institutional branding, the bolstering of student life and campus culture, attracting and retaining qualified, passionate and diverse faculty and staff, improving campus infrastructure, and increasing contributions from alumni and corporate partners.
The plan, developed through surveys, focus groups, board meetings and working group meetings, also strives to establish UDC as a premiere research partner in the D.C. metropolitan region.
Once actualized, it will build upon strides that UDC has made in recent years, including full-ride scholarships for District public and public charter school valedictorians and salutatorians and its partnership with the Advanced Technical Center, through which District high school students accumulate college credits.
On Thursday, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser (D) spoke highly about Edington, articulating what she described as Edington’s significant role in fulfilling the District’s post-covid comeback plan.
“His energy is unmatched,” Bowser said. “His higher education expertise makes him perfect for UDC, to take UDC to the next level. He has a passion for students and a focus on their outcomes. He’s focused on connecting them to great opportunities in D.C. or wherever their passion takes them.”
In his new role, Edington replaces Ronald Mason Jr., who served as UDC’s president for eight years before stepping down last year.
Edington, in his eighth month at UDC, previously served as executive vice president and chief operating officer at Florida A&M University (FAMU). In that role, he guided vice presidents and other senior administrators in improving institutional outcomes and sustaining operations at optimum levels.
His previous roles at FAMU include provost and vice president for academic affairs, vice president for strategic planning, analysis, and institutional effectiveness and founding dean of the FAMU College of Science and Technology. In total, Edington boasts more than 20 years of higher education leadership experience.
The investiture ceremony culminated a week of events that took place in celebration of Edington. It started with a procession followed by a presentation of colors facilitated by the Metropolitan Police Department’s ceremonial guard unit.
After that, Jeffery Fleming, acting dean of the UDC College of the Arts and Sciences, gave the invocation. The UDC Choral gave its rendition of the National Anthem before singing “Lift Every Voice and Sing” Guests included Bowser, D.C. Council member Matt Frumin (D-Ward 3), Deputy Mayor for Education Paul Kihn and D.C. Public Schools Chancellor Dr. Lewis D. Ferebee.
Christopher D. Bell, chair of UDC’s board of trustees, counted among several leaders from UDC, FAMU and D.C. government who sang Edington’s praises. On Thursday, he asked that the university community assist Edington in taking UDC to the next level.
“The university looks vastly different and remains a beacon of opportunity for so many,” Bell said. “Our new president is the ideal leader to carry on that mission. He has demonstrated time and time again that he’s a visionary when it comes to higher education. He’s someone who knows how to make big ideas happen.”
Administrators and staff members from FAMU also came out in support of their former colleague.
Shortly after stepping up to the podium, FAMU President Dr. Larry Robinson asked them to stand. He later captivated audience members with a story about how Edington often leveraged his wisdom and experience to mediate critical discussions about university operations.
“He is a great listener but an even greater influencer in the classic sense of the term,” Robinson said. “That’s his intellectual brilliance. His success didn’t surprise us in the HBCU community because that’s what we do.”
He continued to celebrate Edington’s journey to UDC’s president.
“It’s been an incredible journey but it’s by no means over. We knew we couldn’t contain him at FAMU. He had big plans for us and himself.”