Scott to leave Hudson and Holland Scholarship position

Hudson and Holland Scholarship Program associate director Anthony Scott has decided to leave his nine-year position.

He will become the director of admissions and student services at the IU-
Purdue University Indianapolis Herron School of Art on Jan. 23.
 
“I didn’t want to stay in the same position for too long,” Scott said. “I was looking for opportunities to advance throughout the University. I saw that as a viable option, and I applied for it, and, surprisingly and thankfully, I was asked to come in to interview, and they offered me the job.”

Scott started at IU as a multicultural marketing strategist in a dual position working for Vice President of Engagement Bill Stephan and former Vice President of Academic Support and Diversity Charlie Nelms.

About a year later, Nelms offered Scott the opportunity to replace the HHSP interim director when she took maternity leave.

During his time at the HHSP, Scott was persuaded by Nelms and Maurer School of Law professor Kevin Brown to complete his law degree in addition to his familial and job commitments.
 
“Charlie Nelms had contacted me at least two times about how possible promotions within his office, and both times, when he looked at my records, he saw that I didn’t have a master’s degree,” Scott said. “The only way I could get a promotion was if I was to get a master’s degree. I thought that it would be too tedious and too hard for me with all that I had going on.”

Scott said he was inspired to go to law school because of his students.

“After mentoring the students and talking to them about their dreams and aspirations, the students really encouraged me to go back to school,” Scott said.

“Every now and then, I would talk to a student, and they would ask me how school was going, and that was what really kept me going.”
 
Brown, who was his law school mentor and a former HHSP director, believed Scott’s departure is a tremendous loss to the University.

“You know ... Anthony was a great mentor. He cared about the students but more than just cared,” Brown said. “For four years while he was associate director, he was also going to night school to get his degree in law. He really exemplified the person that Hudson and Holland students should be like.”

Brown said he recalled a time when the HHSP staff debated on whether or not they should admit a high school student with “not-so-good grades” to the program.

“Anthony said, ‘Please let him in, and I will be the one that makes sure he succeeds,’ so, when we let him to the program, the kid ended up doing outstanding work,” Brown said. “He’s now in his third or fourth year at New York University Medical School. He wouldn’t have been in the program, had it not been for Anthony. Anthony did that kind of thing.”

Ghangis Carter, the director of recruitment and retention for underrepresented students in the School of Education and an instructor and program-advisor for HHSP, said Scott’s departure will be bitter-sweet.

“I knew him when he arrived, when he was aspiring to come to IU,” Carter said. “We began as colleagues, we’re great friends and also fraternity brothers. It’s a blessing for him to move forward and to take a different path and still have the opportunity to be a good work and make an impact on students, as well as the Herron School of Arts up there at IUPUI.”

He said he believes IU has lost a gem of an individual.

“He’s been faithful to IU and the Hudson and Holland Program through challenging times,” Carter said. “He’s a constant professional — one who has a sincere heart for the students he services — I’ve seen it throughout the years. He works tirelessly for the University (and) not just during business hours.”

Lakenvia Ledford is just one of the Hudson and Holland students Scott has mentored as part of the program.

“If I needed advice or help with anything on different types of topics or aspects in life, I could go to him,” Ledford said.

“But, to find out he was leaving, I was like, ‘Oh my gosh ... I don’t know.’ Out of everybody, he was one of the ones that I really looked up to.”

Ledford bonded with Scott because of their similar aspirations.

“I told him I want to be a medical student, and I think he was going after law, and I think that — especially for African Americans — those type of positions and those aspirations are really hard. You have to work really hard. I admired him pursuing to become a lawyer.”

Scott said that, despite all the challenges HHSP has faced in recent years, he appreciates what the students have given him.

“The best part of Hudson and Holland are the students and seeing some of the great things that they’ve done,” Scott said. “It’s just the joy of my life to see that.”