I believe understanding our shared history enables and empowers us to work together to build the UMBC of our hopes. “In the Archives” is my series highlighting the ways people have co-created this campus and its traditions. In response to my very first “In the Archives”, UMBC staff member Delana Gregg suggested that I write about the history of UMBC’s Free Hour, the hour without scheduled classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That struck me as a strange idea, because the free hour is, at face value, a gap in the schedule; the real story, it seemed to me, was what took place free hour: the club meetings, rehearsals, brainstorming and creative work. But as it turns out, free hour has a fascinating story of its own. (Read more)