GW Athletics Hall of Fame Spotlight: Robert C. 'Rocky' Wright
1/26/2022 11:00:00 AM | General
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Robert C. "Rocky" Wright was born in Chester, Pa., in 1944, the son of a pioneering judge and a well-known school teacher. His grandfather was a trailblazing detective who owned a tavern that was listed in the famed Green Book as a welcoming rest stop for Black travelers.
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It's little surprise, then, that Wright arrived at GW in 1962 ready to make his mark.
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"He came from a family of firsts, and he definitely carried that spirit," said Florence Wright of her late husband.
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Wright forged his own path at GW, ultimately clearing the way for generations of future students and leaving a legacy worthy of celebration today.
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Upon his arrival in Foggy Bottom, Wright walked on to the freshman basketball team, thereby integrating the athletics department. The 5-foot-10 guard played just that one season for the Buff and Blue, averaging six points per game for a squad led by George Klein that took on other local rookie outfits, junior colleges and prep schools.
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Wright left behind basketball but continued the push for racial justice at the university, becoming one of the first Black members of the fraternity system with Tau Epsilon Phi  and helping to push boundaries during a period of social awakening in the nation's capital.
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Wright has a story that stretches far beyond his hardwood contributions. After graduating with a degree in Political Science in 1966, he became a lawyer and ultimately joined his father's practice back home before going on to serve his community as a state representative and judge.
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In recognition of his instrumental place in Buff and Blue history, Wright, who passed away in 2014, will be honored alongside fellow Black pioneers Garland Pinkston and Norman Neverson, as part of the GW Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2022.
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"It is something that everybody should know about," his long-time friend Jamir Ahmed said. "He didn't take GW from last to first place, he didn't put 'em in the playoffs, but when you're the first, it means other people have an opportunity because you did."
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For Ahmed, a friendship that lasted more than five decades began on the basketball court at the Chester Boys Club. The athletic teenager known as "Rock" was always one of the better players in the gym back then.
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"When I first saw him at 13, everybody noticed him," Ahmed remembered. "Because he could jump so high, and his shot was deadly."
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Wright was a standout academically and athletically at Douglass Junior High and then Chester High, including three seasons of varsity hoops with the Clippers, before heading to GW to continue both pursuits.
Wright joined a GW men's basketball program that had gone more than 50 years without a Black student-athlete. The squad then competed in the Southern Conference, which didn't see its first Black basketball student-athlete in varsity competition until two years later in 1965.
Wright was highlighted in his hometown Chester Times in April 1963 after his freshman season for breaking the color barrier at GW. Later, he was among three rising sophomores listed in the program's media guide for the 1963-64 campaign before ultimately opting to pursue his myriad other interests, including his academic focus on a career following in his father's footsteps.
Wright pictured with the 1963-64 squad
Ahmed, then stationed at nearby Andrews Air Force Base, was a constant companion during Wright's time in Foggy Bottom. He remembers a hard-working guy whose passions included music and customizing his mother's old Ford dubbed the RockMobile (which he outfitted with a record player among other upgrades), and he notes Wright continued to get his hoops fix through weekend pick-up games at the Tin Tabernacle and intramural competition.
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"He was a real Renaissance man," Ahmed said. "If you had to define the term, that was him. He was so well-rounded, so clear thinking, and he just had this really special ability to fit in any group in any situation.
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"If you met him and knew him, you liked him. Because he was a real guy. He was a genuine article, and that came through to everyone who met him."
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Beyond basketball, Wright found a family with the brothers of TEP. The Jewish fraternity had recently welcomed their first Black member in Vincent Gray, and Wright went through the pledging process soon after in his sophomore year.
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They made for an interesting pair: Gray was a Democrat who'd grown up in the District on a path to becoming a clinical psychologist, while Wright was from a Republican family from the Philadelphia suburbs with his sights set on law school, but they found a common purpose at GW.
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"You know what? None of that mattered," said Gray, who served as mayor of the District from 2011-2015. "What mattered was being able to recognize that we were African Americans and that we were going to work as hard as we possibly could to create as much of an opportunity for each other as well as other people as we could."
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Gray would become a two-term president of the TEP fraternity before graduating in 1964, while Wright served as secretary and social chair during his time in the fraternity. Along with contemporaries like the late Peggy Cooper Cafritz, who founded the university's Black Student Union, they pushed for equality in all aspects of campus life.
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"Rocky was somebody that I had a long and wonderful friendship with," Gray said. "We went through a lot together, and we were fortunate to have each other during a very, very difficult period."
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After graduation, Wright would head back to his home state for law school at Villanova before going onto a decorated career as an attorney and community leader.
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He was elected to represent Pennsylvania's 159th district in the House of Representatives in 1981 and went on to serve five terms in office.
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When Wright was elected as judge in the Delaware County Court of Common Pleas in 1992, he and his father Robert A. Wright became the first father and son to serve on that court at the same time, and he stayed in that role until his retirement due to health concerns in 2008.
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All the while, Wright kept ties to his alma mater through the many friends that he made in Foggy Bottom. Florence saw those close bonds on display during a memorable TEP reunion, and despite health challenges amid his battle with ALS, her husband was able to be in D.C. for Gray's inauguration in 2011.
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Gray spoke and a strong contingent of GW pals made the trip to Pennsylvania for his funeral in February 2014.
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"Bob was just an honorable man, truly a man of integrity," said Florence Wright, who plans to be in attendance when the Hall of Fame festivities are eventually held, along with her children Josie and Robert Jr. "He really valued friendship, and all of those friendships that he made at GW were very, very important and meant a lot to him."
