Professor E. Champ and Alma Warrick
When Dr. Warrick Barrett’s grandparents met as members of the Wilberforce University Class of 1908, they began a legacy entrenched in education, service to their country and love for their family. This legacy inspired Warrick in 2017 to establish the Professor E. Champ and Alma Warrick Scholarship Fund in their memory through the African-American Community Fund of The Dayton Foundation.
“I first learned of The Dayton Foundation when Googling Waverly Glover, who was a longtime family friend,” said Warrick, a staff physician for Concentra in Indianapolis, retired colonel in the U.S. Air Force Reserve Medical Corps and co-author of two books. “At that time, I learned that Waverly had established a scholarship fund through The Dayton Foundation. I wondered if I could do the same.”
This scholarship fund is an excellent way to honor and thank my grandparents for the love they showed me during their lifetimes.
– Dr. Warrick Barrett, Dayton Foundation donor
The fund helps select area high school seniors, who are planning to major in the liberal arts, to further their education at Wilberforce or Central State universities, schools with which his family has close ties. “My grandfather, E. Champ Warrick, and his family moved to Ohio from Kentucky around 1900, when my great-grandfather, Paul Warrick, accepted a position at Wilberforce University as the caretaker of one of the principal buildings on campus,” Warrick said. “After graduating from Wilberforce, my grandfather earned a second bachelor’s degree from the University of Wisconsin and a master’s degree from the Ohio State University, and became a professor of education at Wilberforce. He taught a variety of subjects, as well as served as the chairman of the athletic department. He remained at Wilberforce until 1948, when he took at position at what is now Central State University until his retirement in 1956.”
While E. Champ served during World War I as one of a few African-American officers in the U.S. Army, Alma was busy teaching at a school and serving as a community volunteer in her hometown of Wheeling, West Virginia. After they married, they moved back to Wilberforce where Alma became a homemaker and longtime volunteer at Greene Memorial Hospital in Xenia.
Warrick credits his grandparents for nurturing in him a desire to give back and teaching him that “helping others is a wonderful way to establish a better world.”
Scholarship recipient Amari Floyd
Amari Floyd, a sophomore majoring in graphic arts at Central State Univers-ity, received a scholarship from the fund in 2020. He’s on track to graduate in 2024, with hopes of working at a graphic arts design firm and pursuing a graduate degree.
“In 2015, I experienced a life-altering event that pivoted me into seeking positive outlets where I could grow and develop positive leadership skills. By staying involved and active in these outlets, I found avenues to be mentored and make good choices in life,” Amari said. “I am very grateful for The Dayton Foundation and Dr. Barrett’s scholarship fund for offsetting the financial burden on my single mother, who was paying out-of-pocket for me to receive a quality education. I am so thankful for this wonderful opportunity.”
Assisting students like Amari is why Warrick established the fund, as he feels that helping others to further their education is a meaningful way to serve the community.
“My grandparents helped foster my desire to earn an education,” he said. “My education has been important to me and my family. Several members of my family became educators. This scholarship fund is an excellent way to honor and thank my grandparents for the love they showed me during their lifetimes.”