Dr. Edward Scott
Associate Professor of Philosophy
As we pondered bestowing an Excellence in Diversity Lifetime Achievement Award, we considered one name. Because when you think about someone at Mary Baldwin University who has a substantial body of work in the area of diversity, equity, and inclusion, the first name that comes to mind is Dr. Edward Alan Scott.
Dr. Scott was MBU’s first faculty member of color — his presence denotes a rare and special commitment to fill our campus with voice, history, and story. This special award represents a lifetime of work: 33 years of teaching, participating, advocating, and making a difference.
Dr. Scott’s trailblazing years have been marked with what John Lewis would call “Good Trouble.” He has helped shape diversity within our community in his reasoned, passionate way. He was the muse for creating the Annual King Celebration. He was firmly grounded in the room when the Office of African American Affairs (now the OIE) was conceived. He was there when we expanded our study abroad explorations to include South Africa. It was his brainchild to develop the African American Studies Minor — an interdisciplinary marvel that has emboldened, empowered, and changed the lives of many of our students. His course offerings on Martin Luther King Jr., African American religion, and African American thought were early exercises in decolonizing our curriculum.
Dr. Scott has been like a force of nature in our midst — not necessarily like a bull in a china shop, or a bellowing whirlwind — but more akin to a gentle stream that steadily carves and shapes the rock that surrounds it. Through his steady activism, he has helped make our community healthier and more open to the celebration of difference. He is the type of educator, critical thinker, and humanitarian we should all aspire to be. He is a revolutionary that ignites a fire in the minds of every scholar he encounters, and his legacy is immense.
Remarks Honoring Dr. Edward Scott
By: Dr. Roderic L. Owen, Professor Emeritus, Philosophy and Religious Studies
Wow, Edward, here you are on the cusp of retirement from MBU. Of course, anyone who knows you well realizes that you will never fully retire from teaching and preaching.
This award is referred to as a “Trailblazer,” and when you arrived at MBC in 1990 there were just a handful of minority students, no African American faculty, no Office of Inclusive Excellence, no meaningful or visible commitment to support African American and other minority students, staff, and faculty; and hardly any curricular focus on diversity as defined in any number of ways. And right now I need to point out that Edward did not arrive in Staunton on his own, he brought his bride along (and baby Ellington too). Within a couple of years of their arrival, Andrea was in a leadership role and also blazing the trail for MBC. Of course, we wouldn’t be here tonight if it were not for Rev. Andrea too. No way …
Now when one is a trailblazer, you have some choices to make: both implicit and explicit. I think Edward must have asked himself at some early point: Why did I come to MBC and not go to an historic Black college or to a larger and more diverse university? What role might I play beyond being an excellent and caring instructor in the college’s Philosophy and Religious Studies Department? Edward might have thought: Well I could just blend in cautiously, not kick up too much of a fuss with the powers-that-be and settle in as a productive faculty member for the next several decades. Or, he might have thought: these seem to be nice people but they have a hell of a lot to learn and a long way to go in order to truly address the systemic effects of racial discrimination. It would be best to not only teach philosophy but aggressively live my philosophy and faith by challenging loudly and frequently the sleepy status quo of this mildly liberal women’s college — knowing that it could make many people very uncomfortable, if not defensive and angry … but that’s how to ensure lasting change.
But then there is the Rev. Dr. Edward Scott way — drawing upon such a unique and powerful set of tools and characteristics to blaze the trail. There are his considerable credentials as an existential philosopher, his experiences teaching in Nigeria, his pride in the tradition and practices of the African American Episcopal Church and the legacy of Richard Allen. And there is his love of the music of John Coltrane, Clifford Brown, Duke Ellington and the jazz greats. For Edward there is a sacred connection between the flow, rhythm, the sound of jazz and Christian faith. How many philosophy professors teaching aesthetics around the world have been able to truly integrate and connect the visceral experience of jazz with the intellectual analysis of what constitutes an artistic experience?
When Edward teaches ethics he brings a dual engagement with both the students in his class and with the rich, nuanced, and critically insightful theories and ideas about right and wrong; what it means to lead a good life; the place of reason, emotion, faith, and skepticism — while also subtly exposing centuries of implicit assumptions and values so often rooted in gender, race and ethnicity. Like all great professors, Edward has been engaging all along with Socrates, Plato, Aristotle, Augustine, Hume, Kant, James, and many others while bringing students into the centuries-long dialogue. But being “Dr. Scott” he has done this in a way that avoids an authority-driven homage to intellectual tradition and instead opens doors and encourages thoughtful skepticism while avoiding cynicism. Years ago, I audited Edward’s newly introduced course on African American Philosophy, and I learned so much about W.E.B. DuBois, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, and I also was introduced to the works of such current influential philosophers as Anthony Appiah, Cornel West, and Angela Davis. Indeed, what greater compliment can a fellow teacher give than to say “I learned so much from you over the years” … and Edward I have!
The list of Edward’s Mary Baldwin accomplishments and awards is lengthy but given Andrea’s time constraints, I am only mentioning a handful. I want to make sure that you all know that Edward served as the interim vice president for academic affairs and the dean of Mary Baldwin for three years; that he is the recipient of the Virginia Foundation for Independent Colleges Award for Outstanding Faculty Member of the Year; and he has been the chair of our philosophy/religion department for many years. With his department’s support, Edward began the annual Rev. King shared college and community service, coached our distinctive ethics bowl team, and has regularly taught in our honors program.
But the greatest gift Edward has given us is Love Supreme: (Note: we’ve been listing to Coltrane’s Love Supreme) Rev. Dr. Edward Scott has generously given Love Supreme to his students, colleagues, to Mary Baldwin, to Allen Chapel, and to the larger community. Edward, from the heart and soul: Thank you not only for blazing a trail and for all you have done for this college and community but for being you.