A 6-year-old boy lay intubated in a hospital bed this week after nearly drowning in a University of the District of Columbia pool where the lifeguard had walked away for lunch and left three dozen children unsupervised — and the publicly funded institution's response is bureaucratic boilerplate and administrative leave slips.
Adonis Jackson was found at the bottom of the pool at UDC's E.B. Henderson Sports Complex on July 20 while attending a Nike Soccer Summer Camp operated by FourSoccer, according to a UDC police report. Roughly 30 children were in the water. The lifeguard manager told investigators he had left for his lunch break and that no lifeguard was on duty when the boy was discovered.
A camp counselor jumped in first but couldn't pull the child out, the report states. FourSoccer Director Benjamin Mortimer then entered the water, removed Adonis, and began CPR until first responders arrived. D.C. Fire and EMS stabilized the boy and transported him to Children's National Hospital. The family's attorney, Dominique Calhoun, told WTOP the child remained intubated. WJLA reported the family says his future remains "long and uncertain."
So a private camp operator had to save a child on a public university's watch because the hired safety staff simply left the pool unattended. Now UDC President Maurice Edington has placed the Director of Athletics, the lifeguards on duty, and the Aquatics Manager on administrative leave — but made sure to emphasize in a letter to the campus community that the move "is not a disciplinary action and does not indicate that any of these individuals have been found of wrongdoing."
The university said it "cannot comment further on personnel matters" while the investigation continues. The pool will stay closed until the investigation and a safety review are complete.
WTOP framed the incident as a drowning; WJLA more precisely called it a near-drowning. Neither outlet pressed the university on the core question: why was a campus pool with 30 children left without a lifeguard on duty in the first place? The police report already confirms the lifeguard walked away. What exactly is left to investigate before acknowledging that basic safety protocols collapsed?
UDC is a public institution funded by District taxpayers. A child nearly died on its property under its supervision. The camp — bearing Nike's brand — was operating on campus. The public deserves specifics: who authorized the lifeguard break schedule, what the camp's contract with UDC requires for supervision, and whether any policy exists mandating overlap coverage. Instead, the university is offering the standard institutional playbook — paid leave, vague promises of transparency, and a closed pool until the heat dies down.
The open question is whether anyone at UDC will be held meaningfully accountable, or whether administrative leave and a closed pool will be the extent of consequences for a child fighting for his life.
