Oberlin College Athletics

Al Wellington was a standout in two sports during his time at Oberlin, earning three varsity letters in basketball and in lacrosse.

During his freshmen year, Wellington and his teammate Randy Miller signed and sealed a written pledge that said, “ We solemnly pledge to work hard to improve our skills and conditioning and win the Ohio Athletic Conference Championship in basketball before we graduate from Oberlin.” Wellington was named co-captain for his junior and senior campaigns. Sticking with the original pledge, the team’s hard work paid off as he and his Yeomen teammates in 1970 won the OAC Tournament Championship defeating Wittenberg 65-58. The team’s achievement is still highly regarded as one of the greatest moments in Oberlin athletics history. That year, he averaged an impressive 18 points per game, and during the 4-game championship series, he raised his average to 23 points per game, making 41of 69 shot attempts.

Success also followed Wellington to the lacrosse field where he was second on the team in scoring and was named to the All-Midwest Second Team during his senior season.

After earning his bachelor’s degree in sociology, he was hired by the College as an Assistant Director of Admissions, responsible for minority recruitment. In 1972, he ran for office as an at-large city councilman for Oberlin and won. At 23, he was the youngest elected official in Ohio.

In 1975, Wellington earned a master’s degree in marketing from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania. In 1978, he founded The Wellington Group, which became a dynamic force in the African-American consumer marketing industry.