As a small boy, Erick Chavarria lived with his grandparents in Guatemala in the village of Loma de Chavarria (“village of Chavarria”), where everyone had the same last name. At the time, there were only dirt roads.

“Everyone — and I mean everyone — was dirt poor. My grandparents’ house was made of mud,” he recalls.

Life changed when he was six years old, and the village got running water and electricity. Sometime shortly after, his grandparents got the first television in town. Nearly the entire village would show up at his home during the day to watch Mexican soap operas. “The TV would be on from like 8 a.m. until midnight,” says Chavarria. “This was such a huge thing in the village. Everyone was so engaged with what was going on on the soaps.”

When their electric bill got too high, Chavarria’s grandmother started charging people to watch. “My job was to go around and collect five cents from everyone,” says Chavarria.

The draw of the television soaps made Chavarria think about acting. And with that thought, his whole life would change.

“It’s What I Always Wanted to Do”

When he was 15, Chavarria and some of his extended family decided to head to the United States to live. He spent 23 days walking, riding in 18-wheelers, and once in a fruit truck. His backpack with all his belongings was stolen, and the pocket of his jeans got stuck on a barbed wire fence and ripped off.

Chavarria’s plan was to work for three years in the States and then return to Guatemala for his education. Then living with family in Laurel, Maryland, he enrolled in high school and got a work permit to bus tables. After graduating, Chavarria enrolled at Howard Community College as a business administration major, but then he took an acting class. “It’s what I always wanted to do — be an actor. But my father thought it was the funniest thing ever,” he says.

After five years in the States, Chavarria became an American citizen, and once he finished his AA degree, he transferred to UMBC. He didn’t make it into the theatre program right away; so he took acting classes, worked on his craft, and was accepted the next year.

After he graduated, he didn’t go directly into acting. After a stint as a loan officer, then a real estate agent, Chavarria lost all his money in the real estate crash. With just $500 in his checking account and nothing much to lose, he decided to go head west.

“I said, ‘If I’m broke here, I might as well be broke in LA.’”

“One Day She Called Me In”

Chavarria began working as a server at a restaurant while he took acting classes. Armed with a demo reel made while at UMBC, he secured both theatrical and commercial agents and began auditioning. He began sending introduction letters to casting agents, and Gwen Hellier, who was then casting for General Hospital, stood out. Chavarria made a point of keeping in touch with her.

“I told her how I used to watch the soaps with my grandmother or that I just did a little commercial,” recalls Chavarria. “One day she called me in.”

He was given a script and told to go to the lobby and read it over, and then come back in. That’s when Chavarria realized that he was the only one auditioning for the bartender role. He got the part.

Chavarria was on six episodes of GH, played a recurring character on Eastbound and Down and Borderline, and has appeared in movies like Office Christmas Party. He has also acted at the Frida Kahlo Theatre in downtown LA and in commercials, and has a healthy IMDB profile to show for it.

The greatest reward, Chavarria said, is to be able to make a living acting. “I think a million people could’ve told me the stories of how hard it is to get into acting, and I still would have gone into acting. The most important thing is being happy.”

— Michele Wojciechowski

Image: Josue Pena

Many observers will point to March 16, 2018, as the date that UMBC Athletics came of age. But there are numerous, more subtle signals that #RetrieverNation is maturing in intercollegiate athletics.

In short order this past spring, UMBC doubled the number of former student-athletes who have risen to the pinnacle of the coaching ranks and become Division I head coaches. Temple University hired Brian Rowland ’03, economics, as its head men’s soccer coach, while America East rival Binghamton University tapped Bethann (Shapiro) Ord ’89, psychology, (pictured above) as its head women’s basketball coach.

The duo joins Michael Casper ’00, psychology, and Jen (Kasper) O’Brien ’05, psychology, who have previously directed their charges against their alma mater. (Ord will when Binghamton plays at UMBC on February 13, 2019.)

Pride and Competitive Spirit

For all of them, coming back to coach against their own team brings a mix of pride and competitive spirit.

Casper, who played for head soccer coach Pete Caringi, Jr., led his St. Francis Pennsylvania side against UMBC in September 2009, dropping a 3-1 decision to the Retrievers. O’Brien, who scored 86 goals as a fouryear starter for UMBC women’s lacrosse, brought a first-year program from Virginia Commonwealth University into UMBC Stadium in February 2016, and the more experienced Retrievers prevailed, 20-5.

Rowland made his head coaching debut against his former mentors in the 2018 season opener for both squads. UMBC scored a late goal to prevail over Temple, 1-0.

“It was nice that [my debut] was here. It was familiar,” said Rowland, who starred as a goalkeeper for UMBC from 1999 to 2002, and was inducted into the UMBC Athletics Hall of Fame in 2014. “[The UMBC staff] are great coaches, great examples. Pete was always a fantastic players’ coach. I’ve always remembered that and try to emulate it as much as possible — the understanding of the player.”

Ord returns to her home state of New York after serving as head coach at Weber State for the past seven years. “I’m excited to be [coming] back and see all the changes on campus, including the new gym,” she said. “It has been a long time and I look forward to seeing a lot of my [former] teammates and people that still work at school.”

Feeling Connected

O’Brien and Casper both vividly recall how they dealt with their emotions in those games versus UMBC.

“Every time I face UMBC, at home or away, I am filled with an immense amount of pride, appreciation, and love,” O’Brien said. “I am so proud to be a Retriever. I am grateful for the opportunity [head coach] Monica [Yeakel] gave me and I absolutely loved my time at UMBC with teammates that became family.”

Casper said he really wanted to win against UMBC — for a variety of reasons.

“I was excited to bring our team [St. Francis] to campus and compete against my alma mater,” he said. “I really wanted to show Coach Caringi, and Coach Anthony Adams [’97, history], who I have a ton of respect for, that we were a good team, and that I was a good coach.

“I was disappointed we lost, but at the same time, had we won the game, I think it would have been hard to really be excited about the win. I remember leaving [and] thinking, unless we play in the NCAA tournament, or I get a job in the same conference, I never wanted to play [UMBC] again. It is hard to compete against a school, a coaching staff, and a team that you love, that you still feel connected to, and really respect.”

— Steve Levy ’85

Image: Casey Staff, Binghamton University

Bridging the gap between military service and becoming a civilian university student isn’t always easy for our nation’s veterans. That’s why Veteran Student Services (VSS)—formerly Vets to Vets—in Off-Campus Student Services (OCSS) works to make those transitions easier for UMBC’s own veteran population.

Air Force veteran Donovan Garrett ‘19, business technology administration, switched to the reserves in order to attend school full time. He joined VSS in December 2016 as an undergraduate assistant so he could help other veterans make the leap. Since then, he has worked to find ways of serving the community he is so much a part of.

“What we’ve done in OCSS is revamp the program to where we’re a lot more active in the veteran community,” said Garrett, whose focus is helping UMBC’s more than 550 veterans make real connections with people and resources on campus. “Not only with the benefits, but with the way we reach out.”

The semester begins with a welcome event and tour of the campus, with introductions to people who can help them in all aspects of their time at UMBC, including academic advising, health services, and career planning.

“We organize a resume/transitional outlook workshop to prepare them for the Career Fair later on in the year,” said Garrett. “Christine Routzahn—the director at the Career Center—met with the veterans a few weeks before the Career Fair to review their resumes, and help them translate their military service skills into a civilian workforce-style resume.”

VSS also builds community by offering fun social opportunities for vets—like monthly coffee talks, movie nights, and games of laser tag—as well as November Veterans Week events that build awareness of veteran issues, including mental health services.

“It’s something that has helped us create community and consistency in the community, and hopefully it will help us grow our number of veterans served each semester,” he said.

Support For Those Who Serve

Randy Deinlein ‘19, mechanical engineering, says it’s helpful to be around other students with similar life experiences.

“Veteran Student Services reiterates that I am not the only one that is in my situation,” he said. “Being an adult learner or a non-traditional student, sometimes it’s hard to relate to other students, because we’re older and tend to have more real life experiences…Just being around other veterans in and of itself has supported me and encouraged me to complete my goal.”

Alleviating isolation among veterans is only one part of the equation. The GI Bill has helped many veterans go to college, but it doesn’t cover all financial burdens. In 2016 the Leslie and Courtney Wilson Fund for Veterans was established through a bequest to provide support for veterans attending UMBC who are experiencing financial difficulty. This can include funds to help a veteran pay for a fifth year of school; finance a veteran’s graduate degree at UMBC; or allow VSS to hire additional graduate assistants.

“My father was a World War II vet,” said Leslie Wilson ’74, MA ’76, psychology. “He always taught us that we were very fortunate and a privileged family because of the opportunity he was given to go to college on the GI Bill. As a family we knew that his service changed his trajectory of his life and ours. My father’s dreams had never included anything like a successful career at Westinghouse until his Navy experiences revealed that he had a very strong talent in radar and engineering. I wanted to do what I could to support today’s veterans, to pass it on, and make sure that they have the ability to make their dreams come true. Veterans have a lot to offer, and I want their families to have the opportunity to have a better life.”

“Coming back—after a number of years serving in that capacity—anything we can do to help them reintegrate, re-educate, and jump start their careers is really where my heart is,” said Courtney Wilson. “Both of us having a heart for people that have served our country is really the incentive for us to step up and support the program.”

Veteran Student Services will continue to make improvements in the coming year as the new director of OCSS, M. Antonio Silas, works to strengthen the veteran community and realize his vision for the program with more veteran-specific programming and a peer-to-peer program to help veterans become more acclimated to student life.

“If we are not serving our veterans like we serve everyone else I believe we’ve failed as an institution,” said Silas. “They deserve to have a world class education like everyone else.”

– Eddie Jenkins

Header image: Donovan Garrett ’19 helps a veteran student in the office of Veteran Student Services. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine.

The first time Lafayette Gilchrist ’92 touched a piano was the summer before his first semester at UMBC. He was taking an English class in the Fine Arts Building and wandered into the recital hall, which was empty and completely dark with the exception of a single spotlight on the nine-foot Steinway piano. The 17-year-old felt drawn to it.

“It sounds like a movie but it is actually the truth. I sat down at the piano, put my foot on the pedal to the right and began to play; first I played just the black keys, then just the white keys,” said Gilchrist.

Today his life is music.  A celebrated jazz pianist and composer, he steadily leads both the New Volcanoes – a band he began as a quartet in 1993 and grew to an octet and sometime nontet over the years –  and the Sonic Trip Masters All Stars. Both are genre-defying bands that reflect his deep experience playing and listening to jazz, hip-hop, and African rhythms and his commitment to musical collaboration. In addition to the two bands and his solo work, he has been playing, recording and touring with saxophonist David Murray in his quartets and octets since 2000, touring and playing festivals around the world. And, this past spring, he received a Baker Artist Award for his years of hard work.

An Artist’s Beginnings

Gilchrist grew up in Washington, D.C., and later Prince George’s County, and was planning to join the Army until his mother and stepfather urged him to go to college. He agreed to try it for a year. He started at UMBC as an economics major that first year, in deference to the wishes of his mother, and graduated with a degree in Africana Studies in 1992 that still enriches his life today, he says. But most significantly, when he left UMBC he was a musician.

At the recital hall that first time at the piano, another student, Michael Wutah, from Salisbury by way of Ghana, wandered in and assumed Gilchrist could play. They ended up as first year roommates and musical friends for life. Lacking the formal training that most have before majoring in music in college, Gilchrist instead pursued a musical training of his own design while at UMBC, noting “the resources I was able to tap as a student were no less formative to me than had I been a music major.”

Checking out records and videos from the AOK Library to expand upon his musical and artistic knowledge, he spent evenings, as he puts it, haunting the practice rooms in the music department. “I had access to the best pianos at UMBC,” says Gilchrist, who sometimes was able to convince members of the cleaning crew to let him into the practice spaces.

He learned to play and compose at the same time, auditing Stuart Smith’s new music composition classes, and pestering his music major friends to help him translate his compositions to paper for weekly assignments as he caught up. He especially credits Michael Cerri, former head of music recording, with “helping me separate the distance of what was in my head to a recording.” So immersed was he in music, Gilchrist’s cousin, a fellow student on campus, occasionally had to find him in the practice rooms and remind him of his other classes.

Making His Mark

Gilchrist mentions that 2017 was a big year for him professionally. It’s a bit of an understatement.

His composition, “Assume the Position,” was selected in 2017 as the outro music of each episode of David Simon’s latest HBO series “The Deuce.” Gilchrist, who reworked the piece for the series, chuckles and says it’s his “moneymaker.” The new arrangement is included on Deep Dancing Suite, Lafayette Gilchrist & The New Volcanoes’ latest album, released in July.

That same year, the band released their New Urban World Blues album and the song and video  “Blues For Freddie Gray,” dedicated to the young West Baltimore man who died in 2015 of severe spinal injuries sustained while in the custody of the Baltimore City Police. Gilchrist, who lives in West Baltimore, remembers the days surrounding the death of Freddie Gray; the song was inspired by his experience and listening to the way friends and neighbors processed Gray’s death and the eruption in the city that followed.

I want to know that there’s a day that’s coming soon and fast
I want a justice and a peace that’s made to last and last
Don’t ya tell me
That we can’t all get it done
You see I got this little one on my shoulders.

— excerpt of lyrics from Blues For Freddie Gray

Gilchrist says “Blues for Freddie Gray is a cry…it’s a response” to the horrific events of Gray’s death and the fact that none of the police officers connected with his death was convicted of any crime.

“People don’t have guns, media, voices — the only power we have is in numbers,” says Gilchrist. “I thought what can I do to have an impact, I could get in the street, I could carry a sign, but that is not what I do best. What I do best is music.”

In May 2018, Gilchrist received a Baker Artist Award, an honor granted to accomplished artists, and a cash award that will help him continue to compose, perform, and record.

“I was surprised and honored,” he said. “As a Baltimore-based artist laboring in the vineyards for quite a few years, often taking more losses than wins in order to keep the band afloat and get the music out, the award means a great deal to me because it’s confirmation in many ways that it’s been worth it.”

While the process of composing and writing can be lonely, he says, “the Baker Artist Award for me is just another sign to know I’m not alone.”

— Catherine Borg

Header image by Theresa Keil.

For Annica Wayman M6, ’99, mechanical engineering, this fall marks a homecoming wrapped up in a new beginning. After eight years with the U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), building programs from the ground up to support research projects that address international development challenges such as global health, agriculture, food security, and renewable energy, Wayman is ready for a new chapter.

Wayman, who holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering with a bioengineering emphasis from Georgia Tech, sees parallels between what she did at USAID and her new role at UMBC as the College of Natural and Mathematical Science’s associate dean for Shady Grove affairs. In particular, a UMBC campaign t-shirt with “Transform Lives” in large, bold print caught her attention.

“That’s what I was doing at USAID,” Wayman says, “and that’s what I have a chance to do here through science and engineering.” As leader of the charge to launch UMBC’s new Translational Life Science Technology (TLST) undergraduate program at Shady Grove, “There’s still a theme of translating scientific discovery to solutions that transform society, so I’m able to do that, and I’m also transforming students’ lives so they can go on to do those things.”

Building a New Program

The brand-new TLST program, which is administered through the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences (CNMS), trains students in the work that happens “behind the scenes,” Wayman explains—between discoveries in basic science and fully-forged applications in practitioners’ hands, such as drugs or medical devices. Often, gaps in communication and a lack of translational science professionals prevent promising new therapies from ever getting past the earliest stages of development.

The TLST program hopes to change that by training people in the “in between” tasks, such as conducting animal studies and clinical trials, developing processes to scale up production of promising treatments, and learning how to make sure new products are the ones practitioners actually need to help patients.

Wayman will also lead a re-launch of the Master of Professional Studies degree in biotechnology at Shady Grove, which had previously been offered at main campus. Other new programs may follow.

Wayman says UMBC is well-suited to offer such programs at Shady Grove for several reasons, including the Rockville campus’ location in the heart of Montgomery County, where 75 percent of Maryland’s 2,300 life science companies have set up shop. In addition, “UMBC is not scared to take risks,” Wayman says, “and we look for those cutting-edge opportunities to be at the forefront of what careers and industry needs are out there, so that we can prepare students for what is to come and not just what’s already here.”

UMBC’s culture of inclusive excellence is also an asset. “You really need a diverse set of folks—not just diverse in disciplines, but also a diversity of thinking and ethnicity,” says Wayman, who is an alumna of the Meyerhoff (M6 cohort) and MARC Scholar programs. “UMBC has always been really good at fostering an equal playing field,” she adds, “so that all people feel like their voices matter and they can all equally achieve and work together.”

A Supportive Community

Wayman credits her own success in part to the supportive culture she experienced as an undergraduate. “When I was here, I felt that the Meyerhoff staff and the faculty just had such a caring approach,” she shares. In addition, “as an engineering class, we were great peer mentors to each other… Being an African-American female in engineering, I was looking to be sure I could get the support I would need and UMBC delivered greater than my expectations.”

On top of her strong STEM background, Wayman understands that the success of the scientific enterprise is driven by interdisciplinary collaboration. “From where I come from at USAID, that’s huge—we realize that understanding the technology alone is not sufficient to solve a development challenge. You have to understand the culture, the people, the political context, the history of the country.”

“UMBC is continuing to try to push the envelope into what’s the next wave of innovative education, not just in STEM but also blending it with the arts and humanities,” Wayman says, and she’s looking forward to being part of that push.

Learn more about UMBC’s new Translational Life Science Technology and Master of Professional Studies in Biotechnology programs.  

Neither Rick Wade ‘85, nor his daughter Meagan Wade ‘13, considered a career in teaching until they each found themselves in elementary school classrooms by happenstance.

Rick had intended to major in political science at UMBC, but began to reevaluate when he did poorly on an exam in a government class. He transferred into one of the few classes still open – an education class.  Through the required weekly practicum at Arbutus Elementary School, he discovered he really liked working with kids, and ended up majoring in education and history.

Although Meagan grew up with a teacher for a father (in fact, Rick was Meagan’s 4th grade math teacher at Hampton Elementary, the same school where he still teaches today), she had never envisioned following in her father’s footsteps.

“I saw how much work was involved, and I was like, I don’t want to have to do that,” she explains.  

Not to mention the fact that it’s not always easy being the daughter of the teacher. On having her father for 4th grade math, she says playfully, “It’s kind of like a running joke – he was the only teacher that year that gave me a B and everyone else gave me an A. I still hold it against him.”

After graduating from UMBC with a psychology major, Meagan began looking for a job in social work, but her dad suggested she apply for an opening at his school as an Additional Adult Assistant, supporting students with special learning needs. She got the job, and before long, Meagan fell in love with the classroom, much to her own and her father’s surprise.

“Then I saw the other side of it, and then I understood. I had never seen that side of teaching before. It was really nice to see the classroom side of it and how rewarding it could be,” says Meagan, who earned her master’s in teaching in 2016.  

Rick believes his influence may have been indirect. “I didn’t overtly encourage her,” he says. “What I did, I guess, was just enjoy what I was doing.”

After two years as a 4th grade teacher in Harford County, Meagan has now joined her father in Baltimore County Public Schools, where he has been teaching for more than 25 years. She is  teaching 1st grade at Norwood Elementary. Theirs is a unique father-daughter bond, enhanced by their professional relationship.  

“I definitely ask him for advice a lot – like how I can get  a student to focus more, or I may run a lesson by him,” Meagan explains, but adds that it goes both ways.  

“He’s come and helped me set up and break down my classroom the last two years, so some of the things he’s seen me do, he says, ‘that’s a good idea,’ like using fabric instead of paper on bulletin boards, things he’s done a certain way for years and has never thought of doing (differently),” she says.

Rick concurs and recalls how he consulted Meagan when Baltimore County began using a technology-based program for recording students’ reading abilities that she had been using in Harford County for two years.  He says she also offered suggestions about how to handle classroom management while administering the test to students individually.

They recollect fondly how they collaborated on a class writing project while they were both teaching 4th grade. In a previous year, Rick’s class had written to penpals in Wales, so he proposed a penpal project to his daughter as a fun vehicle for teaching writing skills.  

“Her class and my class were pen pals together,” Rick says.  “We had the kids write by hand so they could work on handwriting and practice paragraph writing skills and going through the  writing process.”

Meagan adds with a chuckle, “We talk about work a little bit too much. I know it annoys my mom when we’re at dinner.”  

— Cait James ‘01

Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine

Longtime UMBC men’s soccer coach Pete Caringi regularly refers to Retriever Soccer Park as “one of the best kept secrets on campus.” With all due respect to Caringi, it looks like the secret is out.

This past summer, NCAA.com named Retriever Soccer Park among the nine best stadiums in the country to watch an intercollegiate soccer game, which put UMBC on a list with such schools as Penn State, Texas A&M and University of South Carolina.

Retriever Soccer Park features a beautiful Bermuda grass playing surface and lights for night games, but those are just a couple reasons why the venue is special.

“We play at other schools, a lot of which have really nice stadiums, but the fans are far away from the field. Here, you’re so close to the action that you need to be careful because a ball may come up into the stands,” Caringi said. “It’s also unique because of the great support we get from our students and the many soccer fans in the Baltimore area.”

Indeed, the atmosphere gives Retriever Soccer Park its distinctiveness, and there’s no bigger reason for that than the Lot 17 supporter’s group.

Named after the parking lot where students convene before games, Lot 17 gives UMBC a homefield advantage that few other college soccer programs have. The group chants, waves flags and bangs on drums throughout games to support their team.

“Lot 17 is about creating a fun, vibrant atmosphere,” said Bradley Ingram ’18, media and communication studies,  one of the main leaders of Lot 17 before he graduated. “Everyone is full of energy and passion. There’s a really strong community element for us too – we’re not just supporting random players, but our fellow Retrievers.”

It’s a passion that’s thoroughly appreciated by UMBC’s soccer programs.

“Some of the kids we have were recruited by schools with bigger reputations, but they came to one of our games and wanted to play soccer in that environment,” Caringi said. “After games, the players always go over to the crowd to clap and show their appreciation. They love playing here.”

– Wick Eisenberg

* * * * *

There’s still plenty of soccer season left! Learn more about upcoming games here.

Enjoy a soccer game during Homecoming

Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine.

Rooted in the far corner, a leafy green plant has grown nearly across the office, curling around a large ticking clock, and hugging framed photographs a proud father has mounted on the wall. It keeps going, its stem and leaves circling the desktop monitor, dangling just beneath the ceiling.

Below it sits its owner, “Bookstore Bob” Somers, mustachioed manager of the UMBC Bookstore. He brought a much smaller, nearly-dead version of the plant with him when the shop moved to The Commons from the University Center 16 years ago.

“I thought I’d kill it right away,” he says, with his signature gravel laugh.

Somers will sell his last book this week. But even as he greets retirement after 28 years on the job, the guy who says he wakes as if “shot from a cannon,” the guy around which an energetic marketing caricature has been built, the guy who powered through one of the biggest sales months in store history following last year’s March Madness, shows absolutely no signs of slowing down.

And this plant is a gentle reminder not only of the time he’s spent here, but the deep roots he has built with his bookstore family.

Bookish Beginnings

Anyone who happened to pick up the February 27, 1990 edition of the Retriever Weekly knew that Somers was coming soon. It made the front page, in fact (although below the fold). In the story, then-acting manager Gina Thurston ’83, sociology – who has since returned to the same position to manage the store post-Somers – noted the new hire as an experienced seller, with years at several university bookstores.

At UMBC, Somers quickly built a team of student and alumni workers, many of whom work in the store to this day. Even as other schools’ bookstores have been swept up by the Barnes & Nobles of the world, he’s kept UMBC’s store independent—a fact he’s very proud of. This has worked both because of the support of his leadership, he says, but also because of the true dedication of his staff.

“One thing about Bob,” said Ralph Anderson. “No matter how busy things were in the store you could always go to Bob about any personal issues and he would give you his time and genuine concern and would always follow-up to make sure you were doing OK.”

Famously frugal and quick on his feet, he has kept his door open to all.

“I think most employees here wake up and are excited about what is going to happen at work,” says Somers. “The people I work with are extraordinary human beings. I’m so lucky. Somehow I end up with these great employees. I don’t know quite what I did to deserve that.”

Family Atmosphere

Many on the bookstore staff consider their co-workers their family. And that atmosphere extended to Somers, who during his tenure at the store also raised three kids who graduated from college as Retrievers.

“One time, (my brother) Jordan (’15, theatre) and I got to spend the night on campus while Dad worked throughout the night to keep systems running. We pulled chairs together and made forts, had scavenger hunts of the inventory, and read a bunch of kids books,” said Marlie Somers ’13, media and communication studies. “He talks now about how guilty he feels, for dragging us to work with him, but I appreciate so much that he was able to balance his responsibilities at his job with his responsibilities as a single parent.”

Daughter Kayleigh Somers ’08,  environmental science and English, said her dad’s passion for education and UMBC convinced her to attend as a student.

“He often told me that UMBC was the school to go to if I wanted to get a well-rounded and thorough education,” she said. “He was completely right. Having him on campus was an extra perk, especially being able to have regular lunches in his office where I could talk through whatever crisis I was in the middle of, or tell him about the most interesting thing I’d learned.”

If there’s one thing Somers tried to instill in them during that time, it was to follow his lead and find work that really energized them.

“I was able to get through to them, don’t choose a job for the money. Yeah, it’s nice to have money, but if you are miserable, you will never succeed. Find something you like to do,” he says. “So, my kids have really taken that on. And all three of them are doing what they want to do. As a parent, what more can you ask for?”

March Madness

Every business has its ebbs and flows, and Somers and his crew have weathered many, including moves, expansions, and cuts to staff. But the biggest by far was the exciting-yet-still-extremely-crazy retail aftermath following the men’s basketball team’s historic trip to the NCAA tournament last spring. Talk about hustle.

You can look at this time in terms of numbers, or in terms of people. Numbers-wise, the Retrievers’ win over top-seeded UVa meant almost an immediate and drastic jump in online orders.

“In a normal year, we were about 90 percent textbooks, and we did about 1,500 (orders) and in that week after the game, we had over 5,000,” says Somers, who ordered round upon round of new t-shirt stock to keep up with demand, which stayed strong through May.

And let’s not forget the fact that during that particular point in March Madness, UMBC was on spring break. Which means, much of the staff came back into to the office from vacation, literally from sunrise to sunset, to keep up with it all. Students from the Residential Student Association even kicked in extra hours to help out.

“Were we tired? Oh my God. I think I went through four pairs of shoes in that week,” recalls Somers. “You know, you keep going even when there’s no end in sight. You’re behind the eight ball. But it was great. We learned a lot about ourselves.”

The Legend of Bookstore Bob

Getting through the tougher times takes good leadership, but having a great sense of humor doesn’t hurt, either. So when a couple of Somers’ staff proposed a marketing campaign centered around their boss, he shrugged and went along with it.

“A few years ago our then marketing manager, Austin Kidwell ’13, interdisciplinary studies, decided that Bob, without realizing, had created the perfect marketing character, ‘Bookstore Bob,’”said Erin McGonigle ’08, English. Bookstore Bob made his debut as a superhero in the bookstore’s first-ever new student summer comic book, “Super Bookstore Bob & True Bit: Back to School V.1.”

“From there, we ran with it, creating a cartoon version of Bob to use for all of our marketing campaigns,” she says. “It worked; people would see Bookstore Bob and know something was happening at the Bookstore. From Bookstore Bob Bucks, Bookstore money given away during promotional events that can be spent as real money in the Bookstore and Yum Shoppe, to a poster at the bus stops to an annual Comic Book, his cartoon self was everywhere!”

Every so often, Somers is asked what he thinks of it all. He replies honestly: “I want to go run and hide every time I see it.” And yet, he plays along, posing for images, and even singing a rap about affordable course materials. (It’s on YouTube, by the way.)

“It’s about as embarrassing as it gets. But if it’s good for the bookstore, I’m going to do it.”

Onward and Upward

So, what does life after UMBC look like for Bookstore Bob?

“I can’t be bored, or I will lose my mind,” he says, totally serious.

He has a million ideas: Picking up where he left off writing his 27-installment cat-centric fantasy novel series. Finding some alone time in the woods, or maybe even working at a park. Growing his hair long enough for a ponytail (work began on this project earlier in the summer). Visiting his kids whenever he feels like it. The sky’s the limit, really.

“Life for Bob has come full circle,” said longtime colleague Kay Smith. “When I started at the Bookstore, he wore cowboy boots and had a long ponytail and he is leaving with enough hair for a new ponytail. All he needs is the boots!”

All jokes aside, his kids are hoping this ball of energy will take a moment to reflect on what he’s built.

“I remember something Dr. Hrabowski said at a graduation I attended: take a moment to pause in your journey be proud of the accomplishments you’ve made, even as you look ahead,” says daughter Kayleigh. “I hope my dad takes some time to do just that!”

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Epilogue

In the weeks leading up to his retirement, Somers cleared out a drawer behind his desk and filled it with the makings of one final project.

With the help of Smith (who devised the plan), the day after Somers left, his staff each found a cutting of his now-famous office plant on their desks. A goodbye, yes, but really more of a thank you.

“These are great people,” says Somers. “That’s why my job was so good and so much fun. The long days didn’t matter, or the long commute. It was a privilege to work with these people.”

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the UMBC Alumni Association recognizing alumni and faculty who have made outstanding contributions to the University, their professions, and communities. In October, the individuals below will be honored. Interested in learning more about the award recipients? Profiles will be posted here at UMBC Magazine leading up to the awards ceremony.

REGISTER TODAY: Join us Thursday, October 4, to celebrate these individuals at the Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall.

2018 UMBC Alumni Award Winners

Outstanding Alumna in Engineering & Information Technology
Kimberly Ellison Taylor ‘93, Information Systems
Global Strategy Director, Oracle

Outstanding Alumna in Humanities
Saira Khan ‘09, English
Director of Social Media, The New Yorker

Outstanding Alumnus in Natural & Mathematical Sciences
Dr. Mark Doms ‘86, Mathematics and Economics
Former Undersecretary for Economic Affairs, US Department of Commerce

Outstanding Alumna in Social Sciences
The Honorable Wanda Keyes Heard ‘79, Political Science
Chief Judge, 8th Circuit Court of Maryland (Baltimore City)

Outstanding Alumna in Visual & Performing Arts
Dr. Mina Cheon M.F.A ‘02, Imaging & Digital Arts
Professor, Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA)

Distinguished Service
Mimi (Haw) Dietrich ‘70, American Studies
Quilter,  Teacher, Writer

Rising Star
Zainab Alkebsi ‘09, Political Science
Policy Counsel, National Association of the Deaf

Outstanding Faculty Award
Mariajosé Castellanos
Senior Lecturer and Undergraduate Program Director, Department of Chemical, Biochemical & Environmental Engineering, UMBC

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For more information about the Alumni Awards, please contact Sara Lerma Jones, Associate Director of Alumni Relations, at 410-455-2276 or via email at slj@umbc.edu.

Read more about past Alumni Award winners here.