Students come to UMBC’s Emergency Health Services program for many reasons. Some already work as EMTs or as physicians, while others hope to get into health policy or disaster relief. What brings them together, says program chair and professor J. Lee Jenkins ’97, biological sciences and EHS, M.S. ’99, EHS, is a shared desire to help people in need.

“The students here are very altruistic, and they are the classic ‘Wanna change the world, wanna make it a better place,’ people with big ideas,” she said. “Being able to help people immediately and make a difference at a very stressful moment in their lives is really meaningful for us.”

Founded in 1980 at the request of Dr. R. Adams Cowley, a pioneer in the development of the trauma center concept and the namesake of Baltimore’s main shock trauma center, the EHS program at UMBC is one of the oldest emergency medical baccalaureate programs in the nation. Alumni of the program can be found all over the world, providing leadership in clinical and disaster settings, determining policy at all levels of government, and teaching the emergency health professionals of the future.

With an aging population and increasingly complicated primary care options, the emergency medical services community has diversified over the years to meet changing demands, Jenkins said. Partnerships with local rescue outfits allow EHS researchers and workers to integrate health units through better use of data and communication between parties, making service more efficient and targeted by client.

Looking ahead, the EHS department is also embarking on more interdisciplinary research, and recently launched a joint Ph.D. program with the department of public policy, which offers the choice of a concentration in emergency health services. With nearly a thousand EHS alumni currently in the field, Jenkins knows the department is making an impact across the globe.

“We really do have leaders and policy makers all over the world at this point. We have physicians. We have state EMS medical directors. We have people working in ASPR,” or assistant secretary for preparedness and response, at the federal level, she said. “It’s pretty incredible.”

Read about the EHS Search and Rescue excursion.

UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III, takes your questions.

Q: With the success and momentum from events around the 50th celebration, what are the best lessons learned in how to engage and develop new generations of UMBC alumni for the next 50 years?

— Nate Dissmeyer ’07, information systems management

A: The number one lesson comes from the faces of the alumni who came back. So many were surprised to see how UMBC has developed and evolved over the years. The lesson was that we have to find ways of getting graduates back to campus—not simply to see the growing beauty of the physical setting, but, even more important, to talk with students and faculty and staff; to see other alumni; and to see how much this setting represents community and family in the best senses of those words.

During the celebration, alumni remembered when they were younger. Whatever the age, there’s that sense of nostalgia, and it’s also satisfying to connect to one’s alma mater. Some people were surprised to hear us saying anybody who graduated in the first 50 years would be considered a part of the founding group. Well, whether one graduated in the ’70s or the ’90s or in 2010, all are part of that founding group because we forget how short a period 50 years really is.

The fact is that years from now, when we are 150 years old, people will look back at that first 50 years and say, “Those people helped to found that place.” They had faith that the place was going to be better and better and better. And so there’s a sense of pride people can take in being a part of the foundation of the university. It’s not every university that can talk about its founding graduates or founding alumni and founding faculty and staff, but we are fortunate in that way.

So our graduates have helped to create the institution. The university is only as impressive as its alumni. Universities are fortunate to have superb faculty and staff, but the fact is alumni are always part of the university. That’s the most important message from them—that this is always their university, and will always be their alma mater.

Q: Knowing your intense schedule and commitment to our university, when do you get the time to just be Freeman Hrabowski? How do you kick back and relax?

— Ron Pettie ’82, English

A: This is going to sound really nerdy: Studying French. Literally reading French literature and philosophy, talking with students on campus in French, and having them correct my pronunciation is as relaxing as anything I could possibly do because I’m learning. I’m always learning new vocabulary and new structures of sentences and new ideas. I’ll give you just one idea that will give you the point. I’m studying the differences between American culture and French culture. One of the differences is the French understand that you will cut them off before you finish a sentence. There’s a rhythm to it, where having an exciting conversation means you never finish your sentence. Somebody gets the point, and they just cut you off, and it goes back and forth.

In America, we think it’s disrespectful to cut someone off, and the French would use the word “boredom.” They think it’s rather boring that we wait until one person finishes talking. These are things that we would not think about without having a chance to study those differences. The  reason I enjoy relaxing that way is that I enjoy learning new things, and I enjoy students seeing that there’s so much I don’t know—and that they can correct me! I think that’s a lot of fun. It really is.

The other thing I would say is I enjoy reading in different centuries. I particularly like the pace of the 19th century, whether it’s British or French literature. I love studying different centuries, getting away from the fast pace, being able to slow down and think about an envelope and the smell of a letter. I need that. I need the slowing down process. I also meditate. I both pray and meditate. Very different things, but people don’t know it and I’m not ashamed to say it. I pray all day for all of us. I think we need it.

And finally, I will tell you the most fun thing I’ve done is working with children. I love going to third or fourth grade and sitting on the floor working on math problems with children. I really enjoy that. I enjoy kids because they will always say, “Please don’t go.” You go to leave, and they take your heart. I love it. I’m still thinking about Lakeland Elementary when the little girl said, “Please don’t go.” I told Greg [Simmons ’04, vice president of institutional advancement], “I just may stay.” It’s that innocence of a child that gives me such hope. It really does.

To send a question to President Hrabowski, visit umbc.edu.

Dear Retrievers,

There’s nothing quite like snow seeping through your boots to wake up the brain and tune you into what’s really important. This happened for me in April, when staff photographer Marlayna Demond ’11 and I traveled to western Maryland to witness UMBC’s 33rd annual weekend-long Emergency Health Services (EHS) “Search and Rescue” wilderness training workshop.

We arrived to find ourselves in less-than-spring-like conditions. As I stood freezing my toes off on a snowy hillside of trees, waiting for a group of students to appear over the ridge where they were conducting a practice grid search, I realized three major things:

1. My sad, leaky boots were not made for anything other than Baltimore weather. More importantly, though…
2. Despite the bone-chilling wind, these students were smiling, seemingly oblivious to the cold. They were doing their work with the gusto of people who know how important it is and would continue to do so again and again all weekend, without complaint, long after Marlayna and I had departed for the warmth of our beds, because – quite honestly – they love helping people.
3. That love extends past their work and into the EHS community. More than twenty former search and rescue alumni from the program’s nearly 40-year history stood in the woods and the cabin as volunteer trainers beside them, many of them coming back for the second or tenth or twentieth year in a row because they share that same guiding desire to help people.

This is not just an EHS attribute, of course, but one that runs through UMBC. During my twelve years working in the loop, I’ve been knocked over time after time by the sheer selflessness that drives our community to learn, perform, and make positive change. In this issue of UMBC Magazine, you’ll see numerous examples. Researchers working to understand the brain in ways that will help Alzheimer’s patients and astronauts and children. People from all disciplines at UMBC working to connect with our neighbors in Baltimore. You’ll meet this year’s winners of the Legends of Excellence award – including one staff member and alumna who has served UMBC’s students since 1966. And this is just the tip of the iceberg of our Retriever community near and far.

In my new role as editor of UMBC Magazine, I look forward to continuing the work of capturing and sharing the best of these stories with you. Standing on that snowy hill in western Maryland reminded me yet again of just how lucky I am to get to see it all up close.

— Jenny O’Grady
Editor, UMBC Magazine

P.S. Thank you to the hundreds of you who shared your thoughts about UMBC Magazine via our web survey this spring. Your voices will help us continue to share the types of stories you love best.

Cyber Winners

UMBC’s Cyber Defense Team took first place at the 2017 National Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition held in San Antonio, Texas in April, defeating nine other regional winners from across the country in a contest to protect their networks from cyber attacks and threats efficiently and effectively.

“We are as excited about the national cyber defense competition as we are about an NCAA athletic competition,” says UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski. “UMBC is developing brainpower to protect our nation and build the economy in the Baltimore region… Our campus is an ecosystem for cybersecurity talent development.”

Cyber Dawgs’ faculty advisor Charles Nicholas, professor of computer science and electrical engineering, explains that the competition puts the team in a realistic attack scenario, requiring them to use resources and work together to keep their network accessible and make sure systems are not brought down by hacks or cyber attacks.

“We are absolutely ecstatic with our win at Nationals. We have worked very hard to be the first team from the Mid-Atlantic region to win nationals,” said Christian Beam ’18, computer science.

In early April, the Cyber Dawgs beat teams from Towson University, the University of Maryland, College Park, and Drexel University to place first in the Mid-Atlantic Collegiate Cyber Defense Competition, solidifying their spot in nationals.

— Megan Hanks

Read more at UMBC News.

Celebrating UMBC Legends

In May, the UMBC Chapter of Black and Latino Alumni (CBLA) gathered for what has become a highly anticipated event – the Legends of Excellence Award Brunch. Held once every five years, the event acknowledges the extraordinary contributions of faculty and staff who have made an impact in the lives of UMBC’s African American and Latino students during their tenure at the university.

The 2017 awardees are:

• Earnestine Baker, Former Executive Director, Meyerhoff Scholars Program
• Willie Lamousé-Smith, Professor Emeritus and Former Department Chair, Africana Studies
• Simmona Simmons ’74, American studies, Service and Special Projects Librarian
• Jamie Washington, Former Assistant Vice President, Student Affairs

“This was an outstanding slate of award winners, and it is fitting that they are being honored during UMBC’s 50th anniversary year,” said Stanyell Odom, director of alumni relations, who  helped CBLA with planning the event. “They represent grit and greatness, and it was wonderful to have so many alumni come back to campus to recognize the extraordinary impact they’ve made in the lives of hundreds and thousands of fellow Retrievers.”

Through this event and others, the CBLA supports the Second Generation Scholarship and the Esperanza Scholarship. Both scholarships provide support to students who meet minimum GPA standards, are involved in community service, and have demonstrated a commitment to the advancement of minorities.

Read more about Simmons in this issue of UMBC Magazine.

50th Anniversary and Beyond

As the 50th anniversary year comes to a close, UMBC continues to have much to celebrate – including record numbers of alumni and campus community participation in events and giving all year long.

During last fall’s 50th Anniversary Celebration Weekend, September 16-19, more than 3,300 people attended a range of special events on campus, including a Roots of Greatness Luncheon, GRIT-X talks, Stoop Stories featuring our earliest graduates, a fireworks show with the UMBC Symphony, a celebration of Founders Day, and more. In the months preceding that, hundreds of alumni also attended special events at Light City Baltimore, a Fab Four Reunion, and elsewhere, a dramatic increase over past years.

Linda Dunn ’71, history, who travelled from Delaware to take part, said she enjoyed a number of events throughout the weekend, including the Fab Four dinner.

“At the end of the dinner, they had various people give little vignettes about what they remembered about UMBC, and it was very touching and well-thought-out,” she said. “It served as a wonderful memory to hear all about the things you hadn’t thought about in a long time. It made me smile.”

The “Grit & Greatness” of the 50th also sparked an increase in giving, with a 40% increase in alumni giving at the end of calendar year 2016 over the previous year. Longtime donor and former Alumni Association board of directors member Brian Cuthie ’84, M.S. ’94, computer science, says it just makes sense to support his alma mater.

“I really feel like I owe UMBC a lot. Whenever I’ve been involved in the campus, I’ve felt like everybody is so generous. That, to me, is a sense of obligation,” he said.

In a video released after the Celebration Weekend, President Freeman A. Hrabowski thanked the entire UMBC community for its support and participation, saying, “We’ve laid the foundation… and now we’re ready to begin the next 50 years.”

— Jenny O’Grady

Serving Her Country

Rear Admiral Sylvia Trent-Adams, Ph.D. ’06, public policy, has been named acting Surgeon General following the resignation of former Surgeon General Vivek Murthy. The April appointment is the latest step in a career focused on improving access to care for poor and underserved communities. Prior to her role as Deputy Surgeon General, she served as Chief Nurse Officer of the U.S. Public Health Service (2013-2016), and before that held positions in the Department of Health and Human Services, the HIV/AIDS Bureau, and the Commissioned Corps of the USPHS. She also served as a nurse officer in the U.S. Army.

— Jenny O’Grady

Photo courtesy of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

Wish You Were Here!

More than 60 alumni wrote 1,400 personalized notes to admitted students in April, giving a new crop of potential first-year students a true Retriever welcome. Top: On-campus alumni gathered to write postcards together. Middle: “As an alumna, I was overjoyed to participate in such a warm and welcoming endeavor,” said volunteer postcard writer Catrice Greer ’13, English. Bottom: Current students from the Center for Women in Technology also mailed notes to potential CWIT Scholars.

Thomas Sadowski ’89, political science and public administration and policy, is all about turning opportunity into reality. A first-generation college graduate who until recently headed up the Economic Alliance of Greater Baltimore, Sadowski last year was appointed vice chancellor for economic development for the University System of Maryland. In this role, he is uniquely positioned to see and nurture the possibilities ahead for Maryland’s universities – including his alma mater, UMBC.

Twenty-five years in economic development have afforded me the opportunity to work with leaders from industry, government, education, and civic organizations from all over the world. There are many leadership styles and approaches to fostering growth, investment, and economic opportunity. One of the things I have enjoyed the most is traveling to other markets to learn and share best practices in how to build an ecosystem, encourage community reinvestment, grow and retain jobs, and attract new business and investment. From Austin, Texas, to Boston, Massachusetts. Silicon Valley to Silicon Alley. Detroit to Dallas. The UK to Japan. Every experience offers things to emulate and avoid.

What were some of the big takeaways? Have a bold vision; build on your history, assets, and strengths; have a plan and commit to execution but be willing to be flexible; don’t fight the market; foster deep and authentic relationships amongst industry, government, education, and civic leaders; collaboration trumps control; celebrate your rock stars and champions; tell your story; and most importantly – celebrate success.

Which of these comes first or second depends on the market, available resources, and specific circumstances. Ultimately the combination of all these, once achieved, creates a sustained sense of buy-in and pride that can make a market more resilient, dynamic, able to attract attention, and seize new economic opportunity. You have heard the term “it’s better to be lucky than good.” Well, in short, there are markets that have been so good at organizing themselves in such a way that they make their own luck and inspire new opportunities that were never considered possible at the start.

What I have just described can easily be applied to the evolution and growth that we have proudly witnessed at UMBC. It has, in turn, inspired new opportunities for students, faculty, alumni, and the institution that were never considered 50 years ago.

It was for this reason I was so honored when asked to contribute this piece to UMBC Magazine. There was no shortage of material to draw from, particularly after UMBC commissioned an economic impact study by Sage Policy Group entitled “The Power of 50: Tracing the Impact of UMBC and its Alumni After Five Decades”. But the more I thought about the piece and studied the numbers, the more I wanted to go beyond the data. I wanted to get to the heart of what the data were saying.

Among the many findings included in the “Power of 50” study was the fact that UMBC has become “an engine of economic opportunity.” It was determined that a key reason UMBC has reached the level of excellence and diversity that it has is due to its ability to foster “academic prowess among students with humble financial backgrounds”. I was one of those students – a first-generation college student, paying my own way. I can’t say I achieved a level of “academic prowess,” but I can say the knowledge I gained and belief I developed in myself was tied to my UMBC experience. It inspired me to try and do the same for others. This same experience has been replicated many times over as the “Power of 50” data suggest to the betterment of communities, organizations, research partnerships, the state’s economy, and beyond.

Best-selling author, three-time Pulitzer Prize winner, and New York Times columnist Tom Friedman (a Marylander) once said, “It is not what you know, but what you do with what you know.” It is that act of “inspired doing” that differentiates UMBC and its alumni. It is part of the culture. This has in turn translated UMBC into a magnet for new students of all means, races, religions, cultures and/or ethnic backgrounds from throughout Maryland and beyond. It is a vital intangible that sustains the momentum UMBC has established and will continue to drive its future. Equally important is the fact that major employers, research laboratories, venture capital investors, government agencies, civic foundations, and others, have taken notice and want to get in on the UMBC experience.

I believe UMBC has arrived at that moment in time, like Austin or Silicon Valley, where its reputation is known and there is a buzz about the institution, its people, and the work that is done there. As members of the UMBC community, it’s important we keep up the good work, continue to “make our own luck,” and celebrate our collective success.

Anyone who has had the pleasure of a rooftop visit with Freeman A. Hrabowski knows the joy UMBC’s president takes in pointing out the Baltimore skyline from the top of the Administration Building. That’s because Baltimore — to him, and to UMBC — is not just a nearby spot on a map or a place to watch a baseball game. It’s a life source for the university, providing internships for our students, jobs for our graduates, and culture for all who may choose to take advantage of it.

As much as UMBC receives from the city, however, it also gives back in immeasurable ways, in service and partnership. Every day, members of the UMBC community — faculty, students, staff, and alumni — collaborate with neighbors across the city through art, civic and social service, environmental activism, storytelling, and education projects. The stories that follow highlight just a few of the many, many ways UMBC is making an impact in its beloved Baltimore.

Full STEAM Ahead

It has been a year since UMBC and Northrop Grumman launched a partnership in three Baltimore City schools, sparked by a $1.6 million commitment from the Northrop Grumman Foundation. The partnership, which includes Baltimore City Public Schools and the Department of Recreation and Parks, boosts science, technology, engineering, arts, and math (STEAM) education both in and out of school. The work is centered at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in Southwest Baltimore and is changing how these students, and their families, see science in their futures.

A primary focus of the program will be the development of a state-of-the-art STEAM Center at Lakeland that will feature science labs, a makerspace, digital video and sound studio, computer lab, parent resource room, and community meeting space. The recreation center attached to the school is in the process of getting a complete makeover, but even during construction planning, the new STEAM programs are already happening. After school, girls are learning to design and build apps in the Technovation club, and students are working on robots for Vex Robotics.

Students showed off the work in the first ever STEAM family night, bringing almost 70 students and community members to the school to learn about science together. With more than just financial support, volunteers from Northrop Grumman are now a constant presence in the school, serving as coaches, mentors, and even celebrity readers.

Four years ago, UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski and Lakeland Principal Najib Jammal met to lay the groundwork for collaboration inspired by the vision and philanthropy of George and Betsy Sherman. The partnership that emerged brought UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program, Shriver Center Peaceworker Program, and The Choice Program to Lakeland.

“The impact of this partnership goes beyond institutional philanthropy. It provides meaningful learning opportunities for all partners, from Lakeland and UMBC students, to teachers and professors, to STEAM professionals,” explains Rehana Shafi, director of the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program at UMBC.

Beyond STEAM, the partnership also helps Lakeland and other schools build stronger communities. Northrop has supported the expansion of The Choice Program, a highly successful national model for community-based intervention that has served more than 20,000 youth and their families from Maryland’s highest risk communities for almost 30 years. Through the partnership, The Choice Program has expanded to serve students and their families, including former Lakeland students, at Benjamin Franklin High School at Masonville Cove and Excel Academy at Francis M. Wood. At Lakeland, STEAM center staff plan activities for parents, including a food pantry, community Zumba, and free tax preparation. Once the new computer lab is complete, the center will also start offering job training classes.

“We are going to work with our colleagues to prepare these children to compete against anybody, anywhere in the world,” said President Hrabowski. “We want to be saying that we can take children from any background…and make them best in the world. It takes that village, and it takes…hard work.”

— Max Cole and Marie Lilly

Hands-On Science

What exactly is in our water? Through a partnership between UMBC and area schools, students can explore worlds beyond what’s visible by the naked eye.

“Science is premised on asking questions about our world and seeking answers through the scientific method. Students learn best through doing,” says Dean Bill LaCourse of the College of Natural and Mathematical Sciences. Unfortunately, many schools have limited resources to practice science using advanced instrumentation, he explains, but UMBC’s RAIL, or Remote Access Instrumentation Laboratory, can help close that gap.

Through the generous support of Battelle, UMBC is using RAIL to leverage technology to bring high-end analytical instrumentation to elementary, middle, and high school students across Maryland. Housed in UMBC’s Molecular Characterization and Analysis Complex, RAIL aims to increase teacher content knowledge while inspiring the next generation of scientists and researchers in STEM.

Teachers receive training at UMBC to use remote-access software to connect computers in their classrooms to the instrumentation in the RAIL studio. They also learn procedures for collecting water samples RAIL can test – from the Patapsco River to a playground puddle – which they send to UMBC for analysis on RAIL. When the teacher and class make contact with RAIL, a UMBC scientist is available to answer questions via the lab’s two-way video capability. Then the class can remotely operate the instrument as it analyzes their samples and view the data it produces in real time – from pollutant content to salinity. Over the last year, the system has been implemented in schools in Baltimore City and Harford County, and the goal is to greatly increase the reach of the program.

“RAIL will be the basis of a new model for outreach by UMBC,” LaCourse shares, “to provide opportunity and inspiration to students from every corner of the state, including Baltimore City.”

— Sarah Hansen M.S. ’15

Making the JUMP to College

Nepal is a world away from Baltimore in miles of land and ocean. But for those who find they must leave their home there, making that trip is only the beginning of their journey.

“I cannot speak what’s on my mind. I stop because of my language barrier,” said Sushmita Thapa, a Western High senior who had to leave Nepal with her family in 2015 because of the political unrest. Despite the difficulties, she says, “I want to be a doctor. I want to be an independent woman, and I want to help others.”

Thankfully, she has an ally in that process – Hannah Sadollah, UMBC sophomore and mentor in College JUMP (Journey Upward Mentoring Program). Since September, Sadollah has met with Thapa weekly, giving her tips on how to take the next steps to getting into college – from crafting essays to navigating financial aid.

“It hurts my soul that she has the potential to get into college but she wouldn’t have been able to get in because she doesn’t know how to apply,” said Sadollah, who is studying to become a psychiatrist.

Sadollah and other college students acting as mentors in College JUMP aim to enable high school juniors and seniors who are refugees (or asylees, seeking asylum) with crucial college application and life skills. The program came about two years ago through a partnership between UMBC and the Baltimore City Community College Refugee Youth Project.

Christie Smith ’15, global studies, coordinates the program through AmeriCorps. She says partnerships like Thapa and Sadollah’s work well because “they build off each other’s energy” and are both so motivated. It also helps that, like most of the mentors, Sadollah’s family has an immigrant background. She came here from Iran when she was a baby.

“This gives me an awesome opportunity to give back,” said Sadollah, who learned these skills in high school. She said Thapa is “soaking it up,” to the point where four of her college applications have been accepted, including one to UMBC. Now, like all college-bound seniors in the U.S., she has to figure out what will work for her in her ongoing education.

“I’m learning every day,” said Thapa, “I’m trying to fit into this society every day.”

— Karen Stysley

Charm City Connections

It’s a little chaotic during closing bell at Excel Academy, located on Baltimore’s west side. Teenage students, giddy with the excitement of an unseasonably warm March day, flow in and out of the library — drawn equally to the PlayStation that has been set up and two young men just a few years older than the high school students themselves.

UMBC students Ramses Long ’17, biology, and Jabari McLain ’19, financial economics, are visiting the library to tutor, mentor, and connect. They are members of Charm City Connection, an organization of UMBC students, most of whom also went to school in the city and who want to build relationships as role models and mentors with Baltimore City students.

These after-school sessions are only one of the club’s endeavors, but it’s unique in simplicity and impact. Long, McClain, and the other members are not trying to change policy or act as saviors. They have partnered with UMBC’s Shriver Center to help students with homework, studying, writing a paper – or maybe just getting them into class – on a weekly basis. Excel Academy is an alternative high school for students at least two years behind grade level – usually over-aged, under-credited, and facing a plethora of problems in their homes and neighborhoods.

“We’ve gotten students to commit to their goals. One student didn’t come to school on a regular basis and never came on Fridays. We got him to start coming to school on Fridays,” says Long about the basic nature of their approach. “Another student needed help writing a paper and was behind. We worked on the paper during the after-school session, and she got it in on time.”

Understanding the small steps to achievement like attending class, completing homework, and a few hours of studying, make the Charm City Connection mission humble and effective. Showing how accomplishments like passing a class and moving to the next grade level put goals like graduation, college enrollment, and job placement within reach.

The PlayStation might be a trick to get students into the library after the closing bell rings, but it works. Charm City Connection members have built an honest relationship with Excel Academy students, beyond just tutoring.

“We engage students in conversation to help them contextualize their experiences, so they aren’t as confused by the obstacles they are facing,” says Long. “We want to empower these students to do something for themselves and communities.”

— Alice Crogan

Proof of Life

UMBC student Amy Berbert ’17, visual arts, is in the midst of an ambitious yet somber project: using photography to memorialize each of the 318 victims of homicide in Baltimore in 2016.

Berbert began taking photographs at crime scenes in the city last year with the goal of bringing visibility to the traumatic impacts of violence on people and communities. Her year-long senior thesis project, which she posts on the Instagram feed @stainsonthesidewalk, is described as, “An Exploration of Homicide in Baltimore City. Same Day. Same Time. Same Place. One Year Later.” Each death is memorialized with a picture taken precisely one year later at the location of the homicide.

The photographs “are respectful of the people involved,” she told Mary Carole McCauley in the Baltimore Sun. “They don’t judge anyone. It’s just a moment of silence to remember these people, and the fact that they lived and died in that place.”

Though Berbert’s senior exhibit concluded her college career, she is dedicated to continuing the rigorous project through the end of the year, planning her life in 2017 around the lives that were lost in Baltimore in 2016.

By focusing on increasing awareness of lives lost through violence, Berbert hopes to encourage others to engage with and support communities facing challenges. She shares, “As a community we need to educate ourselves and others about the root causes of violence…step out of the bubble of campus and immerse ourselves in understanding the issues that people right down the road from us face every day.”

The broader impacts of Berbert’s work aren’t yet fully realized, but she’s already felt the project’s effects on herself. As she told the Baltimore Sun, “Before I started working on this project, I knew I had stereotypes. But, every time I go out I’m faced with them. I don’t know if this project is going to change anyone else. But, I think it’s changing me.”

Berbert notes the similarity in age of herself and many of the victims as well as perpetrators. “It has inspired me to learn how differences in circumstances and environment can lead two equally human people down two very different life paths. We all want to feel safe, provided for, accepted, and sometimes noticed. As I have read about the victims and the perpetrators of these homicides as well as spend time in the neighborhoods and talk with people who experience the struggles of these neighborhoods, I have learned that we really are not so different.”

— Catherine Borg

Walking the Walk

When the students disembark the UMBC Shuttle at MLK Boulevard, their tour guide Kate Drabinski, lecturer in gender and women’s studies, turns the group to face the subject of the day: a part of downtown Baltimore they have likely not explored before this day.

They start walking, stopping to discuss the B&O Railroad Museum, the Bromo Seltzer Arts tower, and other landmarks. With each of these points of interest, however, there is a division as tangible as the short brick wall dividing one side of MLK from the other. The rise and fall of industrialization, the spread of the arts community, and the building of new neighborhoods comes at the expense of demolishing others.

The group goes quiet at the University of Maryland Biopark, a physical reflection of what comes down when something new is built. Boarded-up houses still surround vacant lots reserved for development.

“When we cut those people off from our imagination, then it makes it easier to destroy them,” says Drabinski, who offers the walking tour in conjunction with the Women’s Center Critical Social Justice Week. “From talking to students, their parents say ‘Don’t go to Baltimore. Baltimore is so dangerous.’ But that kind of rhetoric is dishonest … and it justifies the civic abandonment of these places and that is not ok.’”

At the end of the tour, Drabinski leaves the students with a final lesson. They must find lunch and figure out their own way back to campus so they can learn not only about the layers of history within the different places, but also the logistical barriers of getting there and back.

“Stuff that is a little bit scary,… part of the struggle is having someone give you permission to go into that space,” says Drabinski. “As a tour guide or as a teacher I can say, ‘I invite you;’ that is the first step. Just like in class, if I call on you on the first day and you hear your voice, you are more likely to talk through the rest of the semester. With the walking tour, if someone takes you somewhere and shows you how to do it … someone shows you the first steps they are more likely to do it again.”

— Kristen Russell

Making Good CHOICEs

At the dinner table, J’Monnie Walker and his four high school clients act like a family. Their plates piled high with the abundance only a college all-you-can-eat buffet can provide, they joke over ice cream, mac and cheese, pizza, and smiley face french fries, with day glo green soda to wash it all down. They ham it up for a group photo like siblings.

Then Walker, a fellow with the Choice Intensive Advocacy program, which is run by UMBC’s Shriver Center, gets serious.

“Tell me what this program is about,” he says, directing the question to 15-year-old Ja’Bria, a city high school junior who wears a cat ear headband and a welcoming smile.

“When I started the program, I was not a happy person,” explains Ja’Bria, who has missed more than her fair share of school days over the last semester for reasons we don’t discuss tonight. “But now … I’m a happier person. I try to be warmer.”

“Do you feel better?” he asks her. She nods. And her attendance record reflects it.

Students who are referred by a state agency into the six-month program find themselves paired with a fellow, like Walker, who visits the school at least twice a week, and the home once a day. Walker is like an extended member of the family, he says, even teaching the students how to cook. Tonight, they’re at Loyola University for a “College Night,” which he hopes will help them see opportunities beyond the challenges of their lives.

“I just want people to see them the way that I do,” and not judge them by their transcripts, he says. “The best part is the progression you see, the window that opens.”

— Jenny O’Grady

Calm in a Storm

Intimate partner violence (IPV) can happen anywhere, and it largely goes unreported and untended. For veterans in the Baltimore area, however, a pilot program created and staffed by UMBC alumni and faculty is setting new standards for care and prevention of this particular type of violence. The Baltimore Veterans Administration Medical Center is among the first of 17 national pilot sites for Strength at Home, a 12-week group-based program developed by Casey Taft Ph.D. ’01, clinical psychology.

“Our programs focus on preventing violence from occurring in the first place, or else ending that violence once it begins,” says Taft, who originated the program at his home base of Boston, and whose recently published trials prove the program to be a bona fide success.

Over the course of three months, small groups of veterans who have been referred to the program meet for two hours at a time to discuss in depth the best ways of responding to stressful situations, the difference between assertive communication and aggressive or passive communication, and other related topics.

“We have been amazed at the receptiveness that we have received at the Baltimore VA, and how invested folks there have been in working to end violence in military and veteran families,” says Taft. “We expect to see the program continue to grow and to be considered the place to refer veterans and service members who are experiencing difficulties with anger and aggression in their relationships.”

IPV Assistance Program Coordinator Julia Caplan ’07, modern languages and linguistics, notes an added benefit is having Taft’s mentor Chris Murphy, professor and chair of the psychology department, just a short drive away. An expert in abuse and violence in intimate adult relationships, Murphy also serves as a trainer for the program.

“We are lucky that we have Chris down the road because they’re training people all over the entire United States. So Casey is in Boston, his co-coordinator is in Texas, and Chris is here,” she said, and Taft agrees.

“His presence there ensures that there will always be incredible local expertise in partner violence intervention and a steady stream of highly competent providers and trainees who will carry on this effort.”

— Jenny O’Grady