Happy Monday: GRIT-X: This Belongs to Us

Dear UMBC Community,

Recently, I attended our 10th anniversary GRIT-X celebration—an extraordinary showcase of research, innovation, and creative achievement by UMBC faculty and alumni. I left filled with pride in the many ways their work is making a difference in our neighboring communities and around the world.

A special highlight was hearing from our Founding Four, members of UMBC's first class of students and graduates. As they shared reflections from their oral history, This Belongs to Us, I thought about the extraordinary gift they gave to generations of Retrievers who would follow.

And there we were, 60 years later, witnessing what has grown from those beginnings. GRIT-X reminded me of the gift of belonging to something that began before us and the privilege of contributing to a university that continues to be shaped and enriched by each of us today.

Happy Monday!

President Valerie Sheares Ashby