When alumnae of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. Lambda Phi Chapter reunited during this month’s Homecoming weekend, it was more than just the predictable flurry of pink and green and catching up on each other’s lives.

That’s because the women added a philanthropic component to their event, raising nearly $700 to support UMBC’s Second Generation Scholarship Fund. Thirty-eight alumnae contributed to the fund, which was founded in 1986 to support students who have taken at least one Africana studies course and demonstrate a commitment to improving the lives of minorities through community service, extracurricular activities or other community involvement.

Event organizer Dr. Tamara L. Lewis ’92, psychology, presented a check to Gary M. Brooks ’79, history, a member of the scholarship board. Lewis is a member of the UMBC Alumni Association Board of Directors and President of the Chapter of Black and Latino Alumni.

“The Second Generation Scholarship Fund started from some alumni who wanted to give something back,” said Brooks, who explained the need for scholarship funding has increased sharply over the years.

“Back when I was in school in the ’70s, if you could write your name on the X, you’d get enough scholarship funds to go to school. It wasn’t a question of money,” he said. “As time went on, those behind us found out that it is a problem [finding the] money.”

Read more about the Second Generation Scholarship Fund here.

Anne Rubin, associate professor of history, has been named the president of the Society of Civil War Historians. Rubin is the author of A Shattered Nation: The Rise and Fall of the Confederacy, 1861-1868

The Society of Civil War Historians (SCWH) is an association of scholars dedicated to exploring slavery, the sectional crisis, Civil War, emancipation, and reconstruction roughly from the 1830s through 1880. SCWH’s goal is to bring greater coherence to the historical field by encouraging the integration of social, military, political, and other forms of history and generally to promote the study of the Civil War era.

In a video for the blog “The Civil War Monitor,” Rubin discusses her new role and her aspirations for the next two years of her presidency.

“I’d like the society to have a voice in the ongoing conversation about the Civil War sesquicentennial,” Rubin said. “I’d like us also to have more of a digital presence, more of a social media presence.  We’re historians, we like the past, but the digital world is upon us and it’s a great tool for outreach and to get the message of the society out there to a broader and younger public.”

The video can be seen here.

Jodi Kelber-Kaye, associate director of the honors college, was featured in a recent Baltimore Messenger story on phone banking for marriage equality.  Kelber-Kaye has joined the pro-marriage equality efforts at Bolton Street Synagogue.

“I’m extraordinarily hopeful” that Question 6 will pass, Kelber-Kaye told the paper. Kelber-Kaye was one of the plaintiffs in a 2004 lawsuit challenging a state ban on same-sex marriages

The story, “Bolton Street Synagogue trying to get out the vote for marriage equality,” appeared online on October 22.

FROM: Philip Rous, Provost and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs
TO: The UMBC Community
RE: Warm Support for the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation

I am delighted to share news of the tremendous support we have received from alumni and friends, the local community and businesses, and state and national leaders as we launch the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation.

Over the last few months, hundreds of people across the state and nation have given of their time, talents, and resources, including about $5.5 million in gifts honoring President Hrabowski’s 20 years of dynamic leadership. Of that amount, more than $3 million was given in support of the Innovation Fund.

As Tim Nohe, President of the Faculty Senate, shared: “The community support that lifted the Innovation Fund to such heights also makes it clear that people and businesses believe in the vision and mission of our university, and I am grateful that faculty and students have been supported with such extraordinary generosity … Freeman has involved each of us in a great and growing university that we make, day by day, with extraordinary effort and a little bit of magic.”

Indeed, the outpouring of support recognizes the lasting contributions of UMBC’s faculty, staff, students, and alumni to the social fabric of our region, to Maryland’s economy, and to advancing public education nationwide. It also shows our supporters’ enthusiasm for the impact UMBC has had as a national model for excellence in teaching and learning across the disciplines.

Mayo Shattuck, Chair of the Board of Visitors, had this to say: “It is wonderful to see such a warm and generous response to the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation. It demonstrates just how many people know what my wife, Molly, and I have known for some time—that the faculty and staff at UMBC are focused on finding ways to help students from all backgrounds be at their best.”

As many of you know, the Hrabowski Fund for Innovation will enable the University to invest in initiatives that reimagine what it means to teach and learn; challenge students to take an active role in their education; fuel creativity and enterprise; and transform classrooms into laboratories of the mind.

The first Hrabowski Fund for Innovation Competition is focused on faculty initiatives, such as course redesigns, and is already underway. We received 19 applications for the spring awards, and a committee will select the inaugural recipients from that strong group by the end of this semester. As this next phase of our work gets underway, I hope you will join me in reflecting on how far we’ve already come and on the incredible appreciation the broader community has shown.

All faculty, staff, students, and alumni should be proud of the contributions they’ve made to this gem of a university we call our UMBC.

Student Ghyslaine Tchouaga, biological sciences, is currently serving as Miss Africa USA.

Tchouaga, who goes by “Gigi,” was crowned Miss Africa on November 13, 2011 in Silver Spring, Maryland. She is a Cameroonian native, born and raised in Yaoundé. She moved to the United States six years ago to pursue her education.

Tchouaga appeared on Afrotainment television’s  “Point of View” to discuss why she chose to compete in a beauty pageant.  “The reason I got involved with Miss Africa USA is because it has a beautiful purpose. You have a platform, and the focus is on what you can bring to the African continent,” she said.

She also appeared on the network’s “Samy Priso Show,” where she said that the humanitarian efforts she is participating in through the pageant are helping to prepare her to possibly attend a graduate program in public health.

Tchouaga plans to use her title as Miss Africa USA 2011-12 to raise awareness and funds to Fight Against Hunger in the Horn of Africa, particularly in Somalia; promote the education of orphans in Cameroon; and provide medical equipment, supplies and medications to underserved communities in Cameroon.

She also plans to promote self-help, entrepreneurship and empowerment amongst Cameroonian youths by establishing an Afripolitan Club.

The Miss Africa USA Pageant is the biggest pageant that features African Queens in the United States of America. The pageant is a celebration of African beauty in North America through a showcase of culture, talent and leadership. The pageant is committed to building the self-esteem of young African women and empowering them as goodwill ambassadors to serve communities in need. The goal of the Miss Africa USA pageant is to groom a new generation of African women leaders to impact their communities in Africa, America and the rest of the world.

You can follow Tchouaga’s reign as queen through Miss Africa USA’s Facebook page.

Donald F. Norris, professor and chairman of UMBC’s Department of Public Policy, commented Sunday on the Washington Post‘s finding that out-of-state gambling companies and their allies have spent $56 million in the fight over Question 7, which would allow a Las Vegas-style casino to be built in Prince George’s County.

A Post poll revealed that 51% of likely voters say Maryland’s existing slots program has been a “good thing” for the state, but that 55% are not confident that the plan to expand gambling will produce more money for schools, as proponents suggest.

“I think one has to conclude the ads are making a huge difference,” said Norris, continuing, “People don’t trust politicians, and they’re being told politicians sold them a bill of goods. I think that resonates.”

The Department of Mathematics and Statistics hosts Dr. Qin Wang of Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU) for its Fall 2012 Statistics Colloquium this Friday, October 26, from 11am to 12pm in Room 401 of the Mathematic and Psychology (MP) building.

Dr. Wang’s contribution for this week is entitled “A general SDR approach via Hellinger integral of order two.” It deals with the concept of sufficient dimension reduction (SDR), which according to the abstract is “a useful tool to study the dependence between a response and a multidimensional predictor.” The focus will be on a new approach to SDR called the Hellinger Integral of order two, a collaboration between Wang and Drs. Xiangrong Yin at University of Georgia and Frank Critchley at The Open University of UK, and which has a number of advantages such of minimal assumptions, relative effiency, and its unitary aspects of previous methodologies, among others.

Refreshments will be available in MP 422 before the event. Those desiring to meet with Dr. Wang should e-mail Dr. Yaakov Malinkovsky at yaakovm@umbc.edu.

The Center for Urban Environmental Research and Education (CUERE) welcomes  Dr. Chris Hennigan, Associate Professor of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering, as guest for the seminar “Closing the Gap on Missing Sources of Organic Aerosol in the Atmosphere” this Friday, October 26th.

The seminar is the latest for CUERE’s Fall 2012 Seminar Series, which has been held annually since 2003. It begins at 2 PM, and will be hosted in Room 206 of the Technology Research Center, and is free and open to the public.

An op-ed by George Derek Musgrove, assistant professor of history, recently appeared on The Root DC blog on the Washington Post website.

In the piece, Musgrove and co-author Chris Myers Asch discuss why current discussions of gentrification in the Washington D.C. region can be so heated.

“Simply put, people do not want to be gone or forgotten,” they write.

“Displacement and struggles over who “owns” the city have a long history in Washington. Ours is a city both Southern and transient, where the constant churn of newcomers has amplified the importance of place and rootedness.”

The authors conclude that “We must also help create the conditions in which a diverse population can flourish now and in the future.”

The story, “Not gone, not forgotten: Struggling over history in a gentrifying D.C.” appeared online on October 19.

Diane Lee, Jill Randles and Jarrett Kealey from the Office of Undergraduate Education, along with Sarah Jewett from the Office of the Provost, presented “UMBC Transfer Seminars: The Future of Transfer Student Success” at the 19th National Conference on Students in Transition in Philadelphia on October 15.

The annual conference provides the opportunity to share and learn from each other the latest trends, initiatives, best practices, ideas, research and assessment strategies focused on supporting student success.