INSTITUTION: Delaware State University is a 4,000-student university located in Dover, Delaware. Established in 1891 as The Delaware College for Colored Students by the provisions of the Morrill Act that created land-grant state colleges and universities, Delaware State is the only historically Black university in the state. It is one of only seven institutions of higher education in Delaware and one of only three public postsecondary schools.

HOMETOWN: Detroit

MAJOR: Accounting

D’Vontae Scott says he puts a lot of thought into living up to the legacy of those HBCU students who came before him.

“I use that as kind of pressure in a way to motivate myself just to see what others have accomplished, this taking from their endeavors and then learning from it,” he said. “I think that they will be proud if they see what I was doing because all the upperclassmen I talk to now, they’re all like, ‘Wow, you’re doing it all so early.”

WHY DELAWARE STATE UNIVERSITY? His job as a caddy at a golf club led to him learning to play, which opened up an opportunity he couldn’t refuse through a golf-based college preparatory after-school program, the Midnight Golf Program.

“I’ve been caddying for four years, so I’ve been around golf for a minute now,” Scott said. “I think I’ve been golfing for what I can say is a year. Delaware State University wasn’t really on my original list. It popped up through the Midnight Golf Program. They put me on a Zoom call where we talked about the summer academy. Ten days later I was here.”

EDUCATION-CAREER CONNECTION: He entered Delaware State University as an accounting major with a minor in financial planning, and was able to obtain a summer internship with Rocket Mortgage that opened his eyes to possibilities beyond just numbers and ledgers.

“It wasn’t just stuff that was in the office,” he said. “I could go shadow another department. I’ve been able to go in the trades department. I’ve been able to talk to designers.

And the access to variety allowed Scott to examine his career path.

“Do I really want to go into accounting?” he recalled asking himself. “Do I really want to be behind a desk, or do I want to do something that’s more in the public eye? After that internship, my direction might change a little bit. Now I’m looking more into nonprofit consulting.”

ON BEING A STRADA SCHOLAR: Scott is grateful for the opportunities he has gained by being a Delaware State student and a Strada Scholar. And he said he wants to set an example for other Strada Scholars, encouraging them to hold steadfast to their goals to get into and graduate from college as a Strada Scholar.

He said he appreciates “being able to have this scholarship making it financially feasible for me to not only come here, but to thrive at this university. Change happens. So being able to stay on your route, even things change … you can’t let that change you or the route that you’re on.”