Meet Poulomi Banerjee, a double alumna—earning her degree in health administration and policy in 2016 and her M.P.P. in 2021—and current public policy Ph.D. student at UMBC who believes in the power of this community! She has her sights set on becoming just the 141st triple alum in UMBC history (bachelor’s, master’s, and Ph.D. from UMBC). When she’s not working toward Retriever history, Poulomi works as the associate director of annual giving and alumni communications at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. In her spare time (we’re just as surprised as you that she has any), you can find Poulomi with her camera taking family portraits, at a Philadelphia Union soccer game, or reading with her best friend, Sarah Lilly ‘17, information systems, and her two cats, Gizmo and Dolly. Take it away, Poulomi!

Q: Tell us about what you love about your academic program.

A: I love the practicality of the grad programs in the School of Public Policy. Throughout my time in both the master and Ph.D. programs, I’ve been able to have my assignments directly correlate with my work and research goals. In fact, my professors have made it such a wonderful experience that I continued after my master’s degree with my Ph.D.—something I never thought would be in my academic journey.

Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.

A: I attribute a lot of my UMBC experience to my best friend, Emma Hagen ’14, media and communications studies. She made me excited about going to UMBC from her Tumblr posts before I became a student and we’ve made amazing memories together as students and continue to as alumni.

(Pictured left: Banerjee sitting on the True Grit statue after her undergraduate Commencement.)

Q: What is your WHY? What brought you to UMBC?

A: I came to UMBC because they accepted me. It’s not glamorous or inspiring, I know. I’ve lived in Maryland my entire life and people who know me know I did not want to go to UMBC in the first place. I wanted to transfer after my first semester, but now I’m working on my third and final degree here and I think that’s an important story to tell. As I mentioned earlier, I used Tumblr to get excited about UMBC once I was accepted and that’s where I found Emma posting about a zip line, a cotton candy machine, and concerts from the Student Events Board.

I also would spend time talking to Yoo-jin Kang ’15, interdisciplinary studies and modern languages and linguistics, and Asif Majid ‘13, interdisciplinary studies, whom I went to high school with, about their experiences at UMBC. I wanted to find a community, and I wanted to have a purpose and a meaningful experience at UMBC. From my conversations with Yoo-jin and Asif, I felt hopeful about being able to do that.

Q: What’s your favorite part of Retriever Nation?

A: The unlimited Google storage space with my UMBC email. Just kidding! My best friends and so much of my community comes from UMBC. So much of who I am today is because of the people I met and continue to meet from UMBC. When you lean into the Retriever spirit, there’s really nothing you can’t do with the support that this community provides.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone to know about the community support you find here?

A: To tap into the magic that is UMBC, you have to seek your community. Everyone who is a part of my network didn’t come into my purview on their own. I found people who would help me enjoy my time and be as successful as possible at UMBC and beyond. Once you find those people, the opportunities you can receive are endless.

Q: Tell us about your HOW. 

A: I started getting involved in different groups to find my community and purpose. I joined organizations like SGA, the Student Events Board, Tea Club, and started researching sororities at UMBC. What really changed everything for me was the STRiVE Leadership Retreat. That’s where I truly learned the impact I could make at UMBC and in my community. It’s where I started forming my network at UMBC.

STRiVE is why I fell in love with UMBC and why I’m still a student to this day. Once the spring semester started my first year, I hit the ground running at UMBC and haven’t looked back since. I grew closer to Emma through the Student Events Board and she ended up bringing me into commonvision, UMBC’s design and print center, where I learned about graphic design and printing. Sarah Lilly, Kelly Robier ’15, political science, and Bentley Corbett-Wilson ’17, M.A. ‘20, all taught me about leadership and organizing, and all of them, along with Emma, are also always helping me grow and be a better person. This is just the tip of the iceberg.

There is an endless list of staff, faculty, and students who are now alumni who have shaped me into the person I am today. I attribute so many of my accomplishments to the folks I’ve met at UMBC. Had I not stayed, had I not found my community, and had I not made the effort to take advantage of what UMBC had to offer, I, 100 percent, would not be as successful as I have been both in my personal and professional life.

Q: Tell us about your current job. What do you like most about it?

A: I’m the associate director of annual giving and alumni communications at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. My favorite part of fundraising in higher education is getting to help students have an incredible experience while on their academic journey. I studied public health in undergrad so being back in that space is a nice full-circle moment for me too.

Q: What drives you to support UMBC?

A: As someone who works in and studies higher education funding and fundraising, I understand that there’s so much a university wants to do to help students but can’t because of limited funding or not wanting to significantly increase tuition. That’s where the alumni community comes in.

I’m happy to donate to Retriever Essentials or The Women’s Center so they can provide the most resources to students during their time at UMBC. I’m of the belief that every dollar counts. I graduated with a hefty amount of student loans, but I know that I can give $10 or $20 every year on a day of giving or when I get an email from the dean and still make an impact on a student’s life.

(Pictured right: Banerjee wearing a Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health sweatshirt.)

* * * * *

UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.

Learn more about how UMBC can help you achieve your goals.

It’s been a good year for the UMBC Swimming and Diving team. After defending their America East championship title for the third year running, sending one athlete to the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio, having another qualify for the Olympic Trials and earn bronze at the NCAA Championships (again!), and seeing several of their own compete internationally, you might even say the season’s been going swimmingly.

So, too, are the team’s fundraising efforts: with the help of their famously close-knit alumni community, the team raised nearly $40,000 on their recent giving day.

In the United States, where football, baseball, and basketball are king, swimming and diving are sports that only come around to the public consciousness in Olympic years. This often means that Olympic sports at the collegiate level lack for funding compared to sports that bring in advertising dollars and endorsement deals, and can be more vulnerable to university budget cuts as a result.

That’s where the alumni network comes in, says UMBC director of aquatics Chad Cradock ’97, psychology, who coaches the swimming and diving team: “We don’t have what a Michigan or a Stanford or an Arizona would have, but we do pretty well for who we are because of [our alumni] involvement and their help.” He says alumni stay connected to campus in a variety of ways, from the annual Alumni Day to the team’s expansive Facebook group.

“We try to think of UMBC Swim and Dive as a family,” says senior Emily Escobedo ’17, psychology, one of the swimmers who helped to promote the giving day. “We’re a family right now, and [our alumni] are like long-lost cousins that you don’t see all the time, but that you get to meet and you get to know.”

The giving day was heavily advertised in advance via email and social media, and student athletes like senior team captain Katie Ross ’17, psychology, made calls to alumni throughout the 24-hour period. Ross says what surprised her the most was how receptive alumni were to the idea of a giving day.

“Nowadays, it’s hard to get anyone on the phone for anything,” says Ross, but she says she had several conversations with alumni who weren’t just excited to give to swimming and diving, but interested in her athletic career as well.

“I’d get on the phone and talk to someone, and we’d get sidetracked, and they’d start asking me about swimming or what I’m studying,” she says. “They cared. They actually cared about the athletic department, specifically swimming.”

Ross says fundraising is particularly important given the team’s size and relative diversity: with donations from alumni, the team is able to adopt a broad based recruiting philosophy, expanding the UMBC footprint both across the country and around the world. Student-athletes participate in a championship experience, traveling to away meets as a family. When the whole team is able to cheer each other on, it strengthens their bond.

“Recognizing that this sport really does bring people together, even if it doesn’t necessarily make money” is what’s important, she says.

—Julia Celtnieks ’13

Have a cause close to your heart? Make a gift to UMBC today.

Diverse. Innovative. Up-and-coming. Those are just three words often used to describe UMBC’s campus and culture. Another word, one that’s no less a part of who we are, is caring. We care about our students’ success, both academically and in their home lives. With initiatives like the Stay Black and Gold Fund, an emergency fund for students whose financial need stands between them and their studies, we’re creating that culture of caring from the ground up.

Unlike many scholarship and grant programs on campus, the Stay Black and Gold fund is a student-led initiative. A committee of representatives from the Student Government Association (SGA), the Student Alumni Association (SAA), and other groups on campus, with the help of a staff advisor, will review emergency aid applications from their peers and decide how awards are allocated. While the idea has been around for years, it’s finally coming to fruition thanks to the work of dedicated students like Lillianne Keplinger.

The current sophomore and SGA Senator was inspired to take action on the fund last spring, when she was serving as Assistant Director for Leadership Development for SGA. “I’m a student who takes out loans, and I realize that not everyone is…able to,” she says. “ So it’s unfortunate for people that have to leave the institution because they can’t afford school.” The fund will assist students who experience unexpected life crises that affect their ability to pay for current tuition, fees, books, and other school-related expenses.

Along with with fellow SGA Senator Chiamaka Ugboh and SAA Vice President Ariana Nogin, Keplinger has been working with departments across campus to finalize the committee’s membership and secure an advisor. The fund is already accepting contributions from students, alumni, parents, and friends online.

Leanna Powell ’08, English, UMBC’s Assistant Director of Annual Giving, has worked closely with the students throughout the process. “We hope this will…become a way to help students understand the real impact of philanthropy on campus, and help them become leaders in giving,” she says.

Whether you’re on or off campus, by making a gift today, you can help build and sustain UMBC’s culture of caring.

— Julia Celtnieks ’13

UMBC students understand the importance of charitable engagement and giving back: they know that making a difference in the lives of others is what makes the world go around. That’s why we’re celebrating our students and our community on National Philanthropy Day. This special day is a unique opportunity to acknowledge the importance of giving, volunteering, and charitable engagement to our society and our world.

So, in honor of National Philanthropy Day, UMBC is proud to highlight three student initiatives that are lending a helping hand:

Making connections, building friendship.

Students will spend the week at the ARC of Carroll County, where they’ll get to know and offer support to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Learn more and support this project.

Examining the stigma, lending a hand.

Students will make a difference right here in Baltimore as they learn about the experiences and challenges of homelessness and reflect on approaches to addressing the issue through public policy and community action. Learn more and support this project.

Clowning around to change lives.

UMBC students explore alternative healthcare and interact with patients to bring laughter, joy, and creativity as an integral part of the healing process. Learn more and support the project.

 Celebrate National Philanthropy Day and support a student project! 

UMBC’s fiscal year ended on June 30, 2014. As we pause to reflect on accomplishments of last year, we’d like to thank the generous alumni, faculty, staff, family, and friends who make our great work possible. Because of Retriever Believers like you, our students have fantastic opportunities here at UMBC.

Throughout this fiscal year, our alumni – including 456 first-time donors – pulled together to give back $396,415, surpassing the goal for alumni by over $46,000. Parents of our students and alumni donated $143,521.02, and our wonderful faculty and staff contributed $81,399.46. Thanks to every gift, big and small, UMBC received $621,335.48, which is over $55,000 more than the fiscal year for 2013.

Thank you to all those who supported UMBC – we’re excited for the 2015 fiscal year. Go Retrievers!

Give back to UMBC today!