As UMBC heads into its 50th year, we’ve been looking back on our tales of grit and moments of greatness. What better time to do that than the Endowed Scholarship Luncheon, a yearly event where donors meet the students who’ve benefited from their contributions? Throughout this spring’s luncheon, speakers stressed the importance of investing in young people, and how education can bring forth greatness from humble beginnings.

Sylvia Brown came from such beginnings in rural Virginia, and said that she wouldn’t have been able to get where she is today – teacher, administrator, philanthropist – without the help of caring parents and teachers in her youth. She’s since dedicated much of her life to ensuring access and opportunities for young people across the Baltimore area. She and her husband Eddie Brown were some of the first donors to invest in the Meyerhoff Scholars Program, and they have provided abundant support to UMBC over the years.

Mrs. Brown spoke of the importance of giving, and said that it fills her with gratitude to see a beneficiary of her gifts turn around to help someone else. As she looked around the room at students sitting with the donors who funded their scholarships, she said, “I think it’s been working.”

Jackie Hrabowski, former faculty member at UMBC, current board member at T. Rowe Price, and wife of UMBC President Dr. Freeman Hrabowski, also cited key influences from her childhood on her choice to give back. Her parents were known in their community for their generosity, and she remembered asking her father, as a teenager, why their family had to be the ones to help out all the time.

Her father answered, quite simply, “Because we can.”

The people who have established scholarship funds for UMBC students have done so not out of obligation, but because they could, because they wanted to invest in the success of future generations. Scholarship recipients, in turn, have a habit of paying it forward.

Awardees use their gifts not only to put themselves through school, but to give back to the institution and the community. One such beneficiary is Parker James ’16, health administration and policy, who, as a France-Merrick Fellow and Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar, co-created Students for a Healthy Baltimore, an organization that places undergraduate volunteers at health clinics throughout the city. He says these opportunities have affirmed his commitment to removing barriers to health care access for the underprivileged.

As Vice President of Institutional Advancement Greg Simmons ’04, M.P.P. public policy, put it, stories like these matter, and the establishment of endowed scholarships demonstrates the university’s commitment to elevation. Dr. Hrabowski agreed, citing UMBC’s contribution to the growth of the middle class and to the next generation of leaders.

As Dr. Hrabowski said, if we can do all this in 50 years, imagine where we’re headed next.

— Julia Celtnieks ’13

Give our students a hand, and pay it forward by making a gift today. For more photos from the event, head to Flickr.

One of the things that makes UMBC great is how wonderful our alumni, students, faculty, and staff are. Because of these amazing people, UMBC often finds itself “in the news,” so each week, we’ll be sharing with you a round-up of the most newsworthy achievements from our community.

• Dr. Hrabowski discusses his experiences in the Civil Rights movement on the Kojo Nnamdi Show
• Amy Hurst, information systems, studied assistive technologies in the maker community and created tools to help the public make useful objects.
• Maryland Unites: UMBC Community Service Leave
• Justin Vélez-Hagan, School of Public Policy, Weighs in on Puerto Rico’s Fiscal Crisis
• Erickson School and Sociology and Anthropology Featured in the Baltimore Sun for Work with St. Agnes Hospital
• UMBC’s student conduct referral rate is mentioned in an article about the University of Maryland, College Park’s on-campus drug violations.
• Greg Simmons, institutional advancement, discusses UMBC’s successful fundraising efforts, which are expected to double the university’s goal for the year.
• Clifford Murphy, American studies, is the new director of folk and traditional arts for the National Endowment for the Arts.
• Chris Corbett, English, recounts the actions of Baltimore police and political leaders in the months after Freddie Gray’s death.

Read more at UMBC Insights!

Here in the Office of Alumni Relations, we spend a lot of time telling stories about and talking with our wonderfully supportive alums. However, we’ve decided to turn the tables and take time to get to know the people behind the scenes – the advancement and alumni relations staff members who are hard at work on behalf of our alumni. Today we’ll be hearing from Greg Simmons ’04, M.P.P., the Vice President for Institutional Advancement.

Name: Greg Simmons
Job Title: Vice President for Institutional Advancement
Focus Area: Building relationships and secure investments that help UMBC faculty, staff and students be successful
Years at UMBC: 20

Q: Where are you from originally?

A: I grew up in Southington, CT, and came to Baltimore in 1988 to attend Loyola College in MD.

Q: What do you love most about UMBC?

A: The generosity, drive and commitment of the people here.

Q: What’s your favorite thing about your job?

A: I get to tell stories about the wonderful work students and faculty do at UMBC every day, and use those stories to help people understand what is unique and special about this community.

Q: What’s the most recent book you’ve read?

A: I am half way through The Yellow Birds by Kevin Powers. Recently read Washington: A Life by Ron Chernow.

Q: If you could be another staff member for a day, who would it be and why?  

A: Dr. Mike Summers or Don Zimmerman. Both are nationally renowned experts in their field. And their fields are so different from the work I do on a day-to-day basis. I would love to know how it feels to be a world-class scientist and teacher, or a coach who has vision and understanding of a game and uses it to help prepare young people for success in real life.

Q: If you could be a superhero, who would you pick and why?

A: …Six words say it all…”With great power comes great responsibility.”