Impact Of A Scholarship: Richie Harris

In the modern college athletics landscape, many student-athletes have never understood their worth more than they do now due to social media, NIL, and the overall scale of their impact. 

However, that doesn’t mean that athletes who came before them didn’t understand it either. 

Richard Harris, better known as Richie Harris when he was a wide receiver on the University of Maryland football team in the late 1980s to early 1990s, was always mindful of his worth and the scholarship that he earned. 

Harris, a graduate of Mount St. Joe’s in Baltimore, caught 78 balls for over 800 yards and three touchdowns for the Terps in his time in College Park, but football wasn’t the only thing he was focused on. He was determined to maximize everything that being a Maryland student-athlete provided him, and now it’s paying dividends in his life. 

“I think one of the things that being a student-athlete allows you to do and why it's so important is because it improves your sight lines as to what you can possibly do in life,” Harris said. “The impression that I had [of Maryland] was that this was a place where I could grow and develop into becoming the best version of myself, athletically, academically, and socially.”

The Maryland native used his talents as a football player to earn a scholarship to Maryland, but what he did while in school and what he did after it made it so meaningful. The former receiver is now a lawyer in the Philadelphia area, where he counsels employers on crisis management and litigation avoidance, among many other things.

Sitting on the Board of Directors and as the co-Chair of its Jury Trial Practice Group, Harris looks out for those who need help as he provides counsel for the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA), Americans with Disabilities Act as Amended (ADAA), discrimination, harassment, and whistleblower litigation.

Harris has tried more than 50 trials in state and federal court, quickly becoming one of the most respected professionals in his field. 

While Harris is an impressive man in the courtroom, he still makes time for another of his passions: Maryland football. 

The Terps have remained a big part of Harris’s life, and it was because of his time at Maryland that he 

I was able to develop meaningful relationships with members of the institution, faculty staff, and athletic department,” Harris said. “After I graduated, I worked in the athletic department for a couple of years, before I went to law school, and so that experience showed me what it means to be active and what it means to be a supportive alumnus.”

Now a successful professional, Harris earned the opportunity to become a booster. With his eyes now open to what his support could mean, he decided to jump in wholeheartedly to support his family.  

“Being a supportive alumnus changed my sightlines about how you can have an impact on not only student-athletes lives but the institution as a whole,” Harris explained. “That's why I've been an active booster. That's why I continue to be a large supporter of Maryland.”

Staying close to the athletic department, and specifically, the football program, allows Harris to stay close to such a big part of his life. Seeing the Terps play almost every weekend brings back a flood of memories for any alum, especially Harris. 

But even more importantly, it reminds these athletes of the bonds they forged on the gridiron, in the training rooms, and in classrooms. 

“Big wins and all that stuff are important, but I would say the best part about being a student-athlete are the meaningful relationships that you develop between the ages of seventeen and twenty-two,” Harris said. “That's extremely important in your development and growth. The fact that we were able to work towards a common goal, that collaborative model is something that I have utilized in every aspect of my life.”

Harris is a big believer in teamwork, and it’s a necessary tool to have in such a high-profile and high-stakes line of work. It’s a skill that takes years to develop, and it’s one he developed at Maryland while working with his teammates every single day over four years.

“I don't approach any problem by myself,” Harris said. “I try to bring as many team members as I can along the way. That's something I'd directly learned by being a student-athlete.

Being a Terp fan over the years means Harris has seen some great experiences that the program has had. 

Whether it was playing in NFL stadiums, playing conference rivals, or taking down traditional blue blood programs, Harris savored all of the top moments. There are a few moments over the past 20 years, in particular, that stand out to him, but it’s what’s ahead that has Harris equally as excited.

“When the team played in Giants game against Notre Dame in Giants Stadium, that was such a great experience,” Harris said, thinking about his favorite Maryland games. “The Texas game at the University of Texas a few years ago, I thought that was just a great experience. I had said before we went there that we were going to win the game, and I have partners in Dallas who are big UT fans, and they said no way in the world could Maryland compete with Texas. I knew that we were going to win and we did it was just a fantastic game. I'm happy when we get to compete on that stage, and we demonstrated it.”

As a Terrapin Club donor, Harris has seen firsthand the kind of impact that people in his position can have. 

The University of Maryland and athletic boosters have invested heavily in the football program, with no bigger sign being the newly minted Jones-Hill House, the training facility of Maryland football.

Harris believes a well-funded football program and athletic department as a whole will trickle down to the rest of the student body and that the donors hold the keys to unlocking the University’s potential. 

“If you look at schools across the country that have invested heavily in their athletic department, you'll see a direct correlation in the school improvement as well,” Harris said. “If you want to make sure that your University continues to improve…the best way of doing that is by supporting student-athletes.”