Maurice Edington, Ph.D.
University President
Maurice D. Edington, Ph.D., is the 10th President of the University of the District of Columbia. He began his tenure in August 2023. Edington brings over 20 years of higher education leadership experience to the University. Dr. Edington is an accomplished scientist, educator, and university administrator with a proven track record of improving student retention and graduation rates. Dr. Edington most recently served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer at Florida A&M University (FAMU), where he guided strategy for vice presidents and other senior administrators to improve institutional outcomes on key performance indicators and sustain operational excellence. Direct reports included the provost and vice president for academic affairs, vice president for student affairs, vice president for research, vice president for strategic planning, director of communications, and executive director of Title III programs.
Dr. Edington previously served as the Provost and Vice President for Academic Affairs (2018-2022). In that role, he was responsible for all matters pertaining to academic programs, activities, and services in the 14 colleges/schools, including overseeing all institutional and specialized accreditation activities. He managed an annual operating budget of $99 million for 9,200 students and over 500 full-time faculty.
Roslyn Clark Artis, JD, Ed.D.
President and CEO, Benedict College
Dr. Artis was unanimously appointed by the Board of Trustees as the 14th and first woman President of Benedict College on June 30, 2017. Previously, Dr. Artis served as the 13th and first woman President of Florida Memorial University in Miami Gardens, Florida.
Intentional, professional, and thoroughly committed to the proliferation and transformation of colleges and universities that serve underrepresented men and women of color, Dr. Artis’ leadership has been recognized locally and nationally. In 2018, she was named “Female HBCU President of the Year” by HBCU Digest. In 2019, Dr. Artis was named to Diverse Issues in Higher Education’s “Top 35 Leading Women in Higher Education.” That same year, Benedict College was awarded the American Council on Education (ACE) Fidelity Investments Award for Institutional Transformation and recognized as the HBCU of the Year by HBCU Digest. In 2020, Dr. Artis was named “President of the Year” by Higher Ed Dive for her leadership in navigating the unprecedented challenges of 2020. In 2021, President Artis was appointed to the National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI). NACIQI advises the U.S. Secretary of Education on matters concerning accreditation, the Secretary’s recognition process for accrediting agencies, and institutional eligibility for federal student aid, through the Committee’s public meetings. Most recently, in 2022, President Artis was named one of Columbia Business Monthly’s 50 Most Influential people in South Carolina.
Dr. Artis is the Chair of the Presidents’ Advisory Board for Title III Administrators, is a member of the Educational Testing Service (ETS) Presidents’ Advisory Council and is a Member of the Board of Directors for the American Council on Education (ACE). She also serves as a Board Member of CIEE – Council on International Educational Exchange and previously served on the Board for the Forum on Education Abroad. She is the Vice-Chair for the “Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) HBCU/MSI Collaboration” and has been named an “Equity in Energy Ambassador” for the United States Department of Energy. She previously served on the Education Advisory Committee to the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security, Jeh Johnson, during the Obama Administration.
Artis has been a trailblazer for much of her life. A prolific speaker, critical thinker, and fierce advocate for educational access. Dr. Artis is frequently engaged as a mentor, lecturer, and catalyst for strategic transformation. She is a widely respected innovator and thought leader on issues of higher education, specifically as it relates to underserved and vulnerable populations, having published countless articles and editorials on topics related to higher education equity and inclusion as well as the complexities associated with leading minority serving institutions. Artis is the founding Co-Chair for the Historically Black College and University Annual Sustainability Summit, which is in its 6th year. She has received more than 300 awards and recognitions locally and nationally for her work.
Dr. Artis is a graduate of Vanderbilt University, where she earned a Doctorate in Higher Education Leadership and Policy. She also holds a Juris Doctorate from West Virginia University College of Law, and her Bachelor of Arts degree in Political science from sister HBCU, West Virginia State University. The consummate professional, Dr. Artis also holds a Certificate of fundraising Management from Indiana University and a Certificate of Mastery in Prior Learning Assessment from DePaul University.
Host Institution - University of the District of Columbia (UDC): The University of the District of Columbia (UDC) is a public historically black land-grant university in Washington, D.C. It was established in 1851 and is the only public university in the city. UDC is a member school of the Thurgood Marshall College Fund. The full university system offers workforce and certificate programs, in addition to, Associate, Baccalaureate, Master's, professional, and Doctoral degrees. The university's academic schools and programs include the UDC Community College, College of Arts and Sciences, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, School of Business and Public Administration, Colleges of Agriculture, Urban Sustainability & Environmental Sciences, and David A. Clarke School of Law.
The University operates a flagship campus at Van Ness in the Northwest quadrant of the city with several branch campuses across Washington, DC. Other campuses and sites include the Lamond-Riggs Campus, Congress Heights Campus, aviation facilities (Hangar #2) at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport and the UDC Firebird Farm Research Farm in Beltsville, Maryland.
HistoryDennard Plaza at the Van Ness campus. University of the District of Columbia was consolidated on August 1, 1977, with the merger of Teachers College, Federal City College, and Washington Technical Institute. Normal School for Colored Girls
Main article: Normal School for Colored GirlsMyrtilla Miner with six pupils founded the Normal School for Colored Girls against considerable racist opposition. On December 3, 1851, it started operations in a rented room about fourteen feet square, in a frame house then owned and occupied as a dwelling by African American Edward Younger. This was the first normal school in the District of Columbia and the fourth one in the United States.
Myrtilla Miner (1815–1864), founder of the Normal School for Colored Girls in 1851, predecessor to UDCThe school trained young black women to become teachers. Among its benefactors were the Society of Friends, Henry Ward Beecher, and his sister Harriet Beecher Stowe; Stowe donated $1,000 from the sales of her book Uncle Tom's Cabin. Although Mayor Walter Lenox believed that education would make Blacks a "restless population" and local residents formed some mobs in opposition to the school, the school remained open until the Civil War began.[6] Reopened after her death, by 1879 the Normal School for Colored Girls was then known as Miner Normal School. It joined the D.C. public education system.[when?]James Ormond Wilson Normal School
Main article: James Ormond Wilson Normal SchoolIn 1873, Another institution for white girls was established in Washington D.C. in 1913 was named the Washington Normal School, and it was renamed the Wilson Normal School[7]
District of Columbia Teachers College
In 1929, the United States Congress made both schools Miner Normal School and James Ormond Wilson Normal School four-year teachers' colleges and designated Miner Teachers College for African Americans and Wilson Teachers College for white people. On July 1, 1955, following Brown v. Board of Education, the two schools merged into the District of Columbia Teachers College.[8]
Federal City College & Washington Technical Institute
U.S. Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon and Representative Ancher Nelsen of Minnesota sponsored the District of District of Columbia School Reform Act, it was enacted on November 7, 1966, as (Public Law 89-791), which established two additional institutions: $7.24 million (~$52 million in 2023)
- The Federal City College was created as a four-year liberal arts college. It was originally planned to be a small, selective college of about 700 students. By the time the college opened in 1968, however, admission was open and applications had soared to 6000; students were placed by lottery.[9]
- The Washington Technical Institute was established as a technical school.
Both institutions were also given land-grant status and awarded a $7.24 million endowment (USD), in lieu of a land grant. The Middle States Association of Colleges and Schools (MACS) initially accredited the Washington Technical Institute in 1971 and Federal City College in 1974.[10]
University of the District of ColumbiaEfforts to unify the D.C. Teachers College, Federal City College, and Washington Technical Institute under a single administrative structure began in earnest after the passage of the District of Columbia Home Rule Act. A merger of the institutions was approved in 1975, and on August 1, 1977, the three institutions were formally consolidated as the University of the District of Columbia, with Lisle C. Carter named its first president. The Council of the District of Columbia later passed legislation merging the District of Columbia School of Law with the University of the District of Columbia in 1996.
Beginning with the 2009–2010 academic year, UDC's programs were split into two separate institutions under an umbrella "university system"-style setup. A new Community College (UDC-CC) assumed UDC's associate's degree, certificate, continuing education, and workforce development programs, while the UDC Flagship campus continued with its bachelor's and graduate degree programs. While UDC-CC maintained an open enrollment policy for entry to its associate degree programs, a high school diploma no longer guaranteed admission into UDC's flagship programs.[11]
*Information compiled by Wikipedia