Cincy State celebrates the legacy of Dave Parker

Cincinnati State expresses our deepest condolences to the family and close friends of the great Dave Parker, Major League Baseball Hall of Famer and 1970 graduate of Claude V. Courter Technical High School (Courter Tech), the location that later became the site of the College.

On June 25, 2025, the College hosted a luncheon to honor Mr. Parker’s recent election to the National Baseball Hall of Fame, with his induction to take place on July 27, 2025.

The luncheon was organized by the leadership of Courter Tech and Central High alumni, who are part of the Cincinnati State Alumni Association.

Cincinnati State President Monica Posey and Chief of Institutional Advancement Elliott Ruther presented a plaque to Mr. Parker’s brother Jimmy and wife Kellye, and announced plans to install an identical plaque at the College (see photo below). The Central High-Courter Tech High School Lunch Bunch raised the funds to purchase the plaques. Mr. Parker could not attend the lunch due to his health, and he passed on June 28, 2025.

Cincinnati State is proud of our ties and connections to Mr. Parker’s legacy.

• In 1984, Mr. Parker was appointed by the College Board of Trustees to serve as a director of the Resource Development Fund for the College (then called Cincinnati Technical College). To celebrate his appointment to the position, the College held a celebrity roast of Parker in January 1985.
• The David G. Parker Endowed Scholarship fund was created two years later, and in September 1987 Parker presented two students with the first scholarships, in an event held on the field at Riverfront Stadium, former home of the Cincinnati Reds.
  
  Deserving students have continued to receive Dave Parker scholarships for several decades. Cincinnati State hopes to grow this fund and further share Mr. Parker’s legacy as we support students in achieving their dreams.

In April 2009, the Cincinnati State Technical and Community College Alumni Association and Interim Cincinnati State President John Henderson made all alums of Central High School and Courter Tech an official affiliate group of the College’s alumni association. The College’s Main Building at 3520 Central Parkway was built in the 1950s as Central High School in the Cincinnati Public Schools system, and later became Courter Tech.

Mr. Parker participated in the 2009 announcement, which included the dedication of a permanent display case featuring Central High School and Courter Tech history, with alumni Bob Thomas, Gus Perdikakis, Mary Jo Williams, William “Bootsy” Collins, and more. The College’s historical display contains a baseball bat and other items provided by Mr. Parker. He was involved with the affiliate alumni group and participated in several events at the College.