The Firebirds have experienced recent success in men's and women's tennis winning the East Coast Conference team titles their first season as a part of the conference; with the women's tennis team making it all the way to the "Sweet Sixteen" in the NCAA Division II tournament.

Since December 2008, the athletic department has been headed up by Patricia Thomas, who is the university's first female African American to serve in this position.

Thomas came to University of the District of Columbia with over 30 years of experience in intercollegiate athletics, including many years serving as a senior associate athletic director at Georgetown University, where she also served on the NCAA Division I Management Council.

[6] The department also has five associate athletic directors, Joseph Lang (Compliance), Mike Riley (Internal Operations), Patrick Knapp (External Operations), Matthew Rienzo (Marketing & Communications), and Kendra Greene (Academics/ Senior Woman Administrator).

Ruland most notably is remembered for his years as a center in the National Basketball Association (NBA), where he played for the Washington Bullets and was an All-Star Selection in the 1982–83 season.