Meet Rev. Bob Hall ’74, philosophy, president of the Christian Council of Delmarva and a planned gift donor to UMBC. Through his work, Rev. Hall is able to combinethestrengths of traditional churches to address needs in his community — and he sayshe got the grounding he needed for this work as a student at UMBC. We can’t waitto hear about who inspired him most. Take it away, Bob!

Q: What’s one essential thing you’d want the Retriever community to know about you?

A: I am a clergyperson who has worked in the faith-based non-profit sector for most of his career. I got a great liberal arts education at UMBC that created in me a love of learning and applying learning to participation in the community. My major was philosophy and its role as a parent to other disciplines led me to keep my interests varied.

Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?

A: I found the commitment to student success to be a foundational part of the UMBC culture, something that will not change. The faculty and administrators were accessible and engaged.

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

A: I was inspired by several of my teachers, including Dr. John Titchener and Dr. Thomas Benson in philosophy, and Dr. Walter Sherwin, in ancient studies. They helped me to see my studies in these (very much related) areas as the beginnings of lifelong learning. I also am grateful to Dr. E. Richard Watts in physical education, who encouraged me to be a more active, well-rounded person.

Speaking of Dr. Watts, a friend and I asked him if we could have a fencing team at UMBC.  Both of us had fenced in high school but wanted to try our skills at the college level.  To our surprise, Dr. Watts agreed and the athletic department soon fielded a fencing team.  We played a pretty rigorous schedule, including Duke, College Park, Johns Hopkins, and the Naval Academy.  We were not great, but it was a fantastic experience.  I think that my Dad was more excited about my UMBC letter in fencing than he was my academic achievements.  

Q: Tell us about what you loved most about your academic program.

A: I attended seminary right after I graduated from UMBC. While most of the other seminarians had attended private, church-related undergraduate schools, I sincerely felt that I was better prepared for graduate study than most of them. My studies at UMBC helped me to see my church work within the context of the culture and to understand the role of the church as an agent of both cultural preservation and cultural change.

Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place?

A: I did not experience a call into the Christian ministry until after high school. So I came to UMBC (as opposed to College Park) because it was smaller and I felt that it would be a better place to learn subjects such as philosophy, psychology and sociology. At the same time, I wanted to attend a public university because I wanted to have opportunities to build a program that would support future studies.

At UMBC I had the opportunity to take the courses that would lead to my degree and to take courses in related fields that would be useful in seminary.  Friends from high school who had gone to other schools, especially private colleges or universities, seemed to have much less flexibility in picking their courses.  I really enjoyed that at UMBC and I have continued to be interested in subject matter beyond my major. 

I was right in choosing UMBC because of the size of the classes and the accessibility of the faculty. The classes were never easy, but the encouragement of the instructional personnel and others, including peers, gave to me a lot of learning that I still value.

Q: Tell us about why you choose to continue to engage with UMBC as an alumnus and a planned gift donor.

A: I appreciate being engaged with the university community, especially the 1966 Society. I consider myself a Retriever for life. I am aware of how much UMBC is respected in the community, both in Maryland and beyond, and I want to help to sustain that. I also want to keep the humanities a strong part of the broader university.

* * * * *

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.
Make a planned gift to support UMBC’s mission today!

By Susan Thornton Hobby

The first question on the Jacqueline C. Hrabowski Endowment scholarship application is “How did you develop such a passion for service?”

Jackie Hrabowski answers that one easily: Her parents.

Growing up in rural Virginia, Hrabowski remembers her parents constantly serving others. For years, young Jackie accompanied her parents as they filled out forms, calculated taxes, built brick walls, or repaired houses for her parents’ combined 28 siblings or for the rest of the town. As a teenager, she once pouted, “Why does it always have to be us that helps everyone?”

Her father answered simply, “Because we can.”

“Those are the role models that I saw,” Hrabowski said. “You grow up with that in your DNA. And that’s been the thing that has moved me forward throughout my entire life.”

Hrabowski is a former vice president of community involvement at T. Rowe Price, a passionate advocate for child welfare, and the wife of Freeman. She has been mentoring the recipients of her endowment’s scholarship for 20 years. Because she can.

One of Hrabowski’s mentees, Nia Hampton ’13, media and communications studies, struggled with expectations at the internship that Hrabowski found for her. After Hampton’s rough first day with the company, Hrabowski responded by buying Hampton clothes, getting her hair done, and counseling her on professional behavior.

Now a freelance journalist, multimedia artist, and still a self-proclaimed “rebel,” Hampton recently texted Hrabowski, thanking her for her support. 

“Mrs. Hrabowski was really good at connecting me with people who could see me and understand me. I kinda knew I would be something she may not know what to do with,” Hampton said, but Hrabowski didn’t give up, instead connecting Hampton to UMBC Vice Provost and mentor Yvette Mozie-Ross ’88, healthy science and policy. To help mentees toward success, Hampton said, “sometimes it takes all kinds of people.”

Thomas Southerland ’22, economics, met Hrabowski at the scholarship recipients’ cohort dinner she gave at Baltimore’s Center Club.

“She was very supportive and very wise,” he said, and he and many of the scholars took notes while they chatted with their mentor. The connections he made will serve him well in his career in finance after graduation, he said.

You Can’t Be What You Can’t See

Hrabowski excelled at math, even beating her future husband Freeman on their calculus test scores. But she majored in psychology at Hampton University, because a role model, a Fisk University graduate who taught Sunday School at her church, was also a psychology major.

She often quotes the saying posted in her husband’s office: “You Can’t Be What You Can’t See.”

“Role modeling means having to see actual images of what it looks like to be what you want to be,” said Hrabowski, who taught educational psychology and early childhood education at UMBC in the 1980s. “You can sit and talk until you’re blue in the face about what you need to do and how you need to behave. Words alone aren’t enough. They’ve got to see it.”

Alicia Wilson ’04, political science, Hrabowski’s first mentee, agrees.

“Jackie was one of the first Black women I’d ever met in corporate America at the highest level,” said Wilson, now the vice president for economic development at Johns Hopkins University and Health System. “She’s a wonderful mentor—she imparts her knowledge and her experience in a spirit of love and caring and support.”

Jackie Hrabowski and Alicia Wilson in 2017, courtesy of Jay Baker.

Now Wilson is mentoring seven Retrievers, making sure she “meets students where they are,” at the UMBC dining hall or outside their dorms.

Wilson, and so many others, clearly learned lessons from Hrabowski.

“You use the talents that you have, not so much for your own purpose, but to make life better for others,” Hrabowski said. “Because when you do that, your universe expands in a positive way as well.”

Read more about the Hrabowskis’ philosophy of mentorship in the Equation of Change.

President Freeman Hrabowski welcomed the Hilltop Society—individuals and organizations that contributed $1,000 or more in the previous fiscal year—to campus this week to thank them for their generosity and support.  In addition to festive conversations and mingling with friends, donors learned about research conducted by University professors.  

Erin Lavik, professor in the Department of Chemical, Biochemical, and Environmental Engineering, talked about three major projects her lab is pursuing.A graduate student, Nuzhat Maishah, further described using nanoparticles to stop bleeding, which has practical applications for first responders treating serious traumas.

Kevin Omland, professor in the Department of Biological Sciences, described his studies on the critically endangered Bahama Oriole.Each year, he takes a group of students to the Bahamas to record bird populations and examine possible reasons for their demise.Undergraduate student Matt Kane then described his research on the Black Rat, which may be a predator of the Bahama Orioles.

See more images from the evening here. Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine.

Learn more about how you can become a member of the Hilltop Society here.

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the 10th Annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction hosted by our Chapter of Young Alumni. By attending the event, you helped us raise nearly $5,000 for student scholarships. In fact, since 2009, together we’ve raised almost $30,000 to support UMBC students.

We’re also grateful to our generous sponsors, whose contributions came in at nearly $7,500 this year. Without their support, this event would not be possible.

We loved seeing you all there and hope you had as good a time as we did! We’ve shared just a few photos from the event below, but we hope you’ll check out our full gallery on Flickr.

Click here to view more of our grads!

As the first day of summer approaches, we’d like to look back and congratulate the class of 2014 for completing their undergraduate years at UMBC. This class created memories, opportunities, and relationships that are unlike any others, and were able to take part in many events while completing their degrees here. Thanks to the investment of donors like you, our grads are holding their heads high as they look to a future full of bigger and better things.

While it may not be immediately recognizable, your donations, no matter how big or small, all contribute to the livelihood and well-being of our campus, our faculty, and our students. We are grateful for every gift and show of support that you are able to offer.

Thank you for the past year of giving, and take a look at this video from one of our newest grads about the class of 2014!

Thanks so much to everyone who came out to the 9th Annual Wine Tasting and Silent Auction hosted by our Chapter of Young Alumni. By attending the event, you helped us raise more than $6,500 for student scholarships. In fact, since 2009, together we’ve raised almost $25,000 to support UMBC students.

We’re also grateful to our generous sponsors, whose contributions came in at nearly $7,000 this year. Without their support, this event would not be possible.

We loved seeing you all there and hope you had as good a time as we did! We’ve shared just a few photos from the event below, but we hope you’ll check out our full gallery on Flickr.

See more photos from the Wine Tasting!

It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air! For all of us here at UMBC, it’s a great day to tell you, our donors, how much we appreciate you and all that you do for UMBC.

When you give to the University, you make it possible for our students to get the highest quality education. You ensure that our faculty and staff have the resources to do amazing things. You invest in a place that strives for greatness. And though that investment means more to us than words can convey, we still want to say thank you. So we asked a few of our faculty and staff to say thank you to a donor who has made a difference to them:

“We’re so appreciative of the support that Ken Pittman ’80, economics, gives to our university. He is generous with his time through his service on our alumni board, and he and his family regularly contribute to several of our scholarship funds. His willingness to give back helps make UMBC a great place.”

~Stanyell Bruce, Director of Alumni Relations, UMBC

“We are so grateful for Next Century’s support of this software engineering course. Their gift helps students learn about the fundamentals of Software Engineering and the software development lifecycle. The students are getting a great opportunity to work with a ‘real-life’ application, developing a student alert system. Next Century personnel are acting as ‘customers’ for this project, which gives students valuable training in working with real customers. The students are also going to present their project in Next Century’s offices and will get an experience of actual office/industry setting.”

~Karuna Joshi, Research Assistant Professor, UMBC

“Through his work as a student caller with UMBC’s Phonathon, Jordan, class of 2014, has done exceptional work on behalf of UMBC and the Meyerhoff program. He has had hundreds of conversations with alumni and parents, helping to secure many gifts for the  LaMont Toliver Alumni Memorial Scholarship. This fall, Jordan himself made a contribution to the LaMont Toliver Alumni Memorial Scholarship. I was really impressed by his leadership as a student and donor. UMBC’s students often give back of their time and talent, but it’s more rare for students to part with their hard-earned paychecks. Jordan’s commitment to helping future generations of UMBC students excel was a really moving act that leaves a lasting legacy in Mr. Toliver’s name.”

~Dayna Carpenter, Director of Annual Giving

Check out UMBC’s Donor Roll, where we say thank you to everyone who has supported us each year.