Sarah Darby regularly gets in thousands of steps walking backwards around campus. “I have never felt more burn in my legs. It’s like you’re using muscle groups that you don’t use when you walk forward. I was sore,” says the sophomore political science and psychology major after she got her dream job as a Grit Guide last spring. Generally tours last a little under 90 minutes, and Darby said that her legs adjusted pretty quickly. 

Surely in the 1960s, when UMBC only had four academic buildings and no residential life yet, the tours were quicker, or at least shorter, right? Frances Allen Nickolas ’70, American studies, says: “Not really.” According to Nickolas, one of the early tour guides on campus, the tours would usually take over an hour as the interested visitors wanted to see the new school that had sprouted up in Catonsville over the last few years.

“We would talk about the majors UMBC offered and share perspectives from our own majors,” says Nickolas. “We would tell them about our experiences with the courses of study and the professors. I truly loved it because I got to meet different people all the time, and I just really enjoyed it. Because UMBC was much smaller in those days, later I’d run into some of those visitors again, but as students this time.”

This is something the modern tours have in common, says Darby, a Sondheim Scholar who enjoys giving her tours an in-depth view of her majors and favorite areas on campus (The Commons and the Library). But the thing she values most is getting to know these potential Retrievers. “I have made so many genuine connections with people when I’m out on tour—I enjoy making jokes and making them laugh,” says Darby. “Some people might think it’s ‘just a campus job,’ but I love seeing the high schoolers’ reactions to campus. It’s rewarding in a way that none of my other jobs have been. I really love it.”

As a first-generation college student from southeast Baltimore, Sondheim Scholar Stefanie Mavronis ’12, political science and media & communication studies, was initially hesitant to talk openly about her past. As she made a home—and a name for herself as an organizer—on campus, Mavronis realized that she could bring her whole self to UMBC. Now deputy director of communication for Baltimore City Mayor Brandon Scott, Mavronis channels her hometown pride and Retriever confidence to tackle connecting with constituents during a pandemic and what feels like an all-time low of public trust in government. 

In 2000, all eyes were on the presidential election—mine included—except I was fixated on winning the highest office of fifth grade. 

My teacher must have seen something in me, and she encouraged me to run for class president and generally explore things that I didn’t know were possible. It turns out that I naturally gravitate to these opportunities, whenever I’m in a new space or a new school or a new class—I end up organizing the people around me and working to make change.

All photos courtesy of Stefanie Mavronis. Portrait by Egan Jimenez, Princeton University.

Despite that, it wasn’t until my senior year at UMBC that I would explicitly share with people that I was from Dundalk. When people heard that about me first, there were stereotypes and assumptions about what I was capable of achieving and who I was.

Learning local history through my coursework at UMBC, reading books like Not in My Neighborhood, and having opportunities to explore and embed myself in the Baltimore community, where I was from became something that I wasn’t ashamed of. I wasn’t ashamed to be a first-generation college student—I was proud of it, and I started to see some of the unique leadership skills and insights that I brought as someone who came from that experience in Baltimore. UMBC was a safe and supportive space for my development as a young person and ultimately brought me to the position in the Mayor’s Office I have today.

Actively creating culture

At UMBC, I was always bursting at the seams with ideas and motivated to change the culture on campus. I have gratitude for my professors and mentors, who not only made time for me, but helped point me in new directions. In a big way, they were my support system. Delana Gregg, M.S. ’04, instructional development systems, Ph.D. ’19, language, literacy, and culture, who co-led the Sondheim Scholars program; Jodi Kelber-Kaye and Simon Stacey in the Honors College; Lisa Akchin in Institutional Advancement; Jason Loviglio in media and communication studies—I’m sure in his office alone, I probably spent tens of hours. 

• Mavronis served as vice president and design and marketing director for the Student Events Board (seb) while a student at UMBC.
• 

When I came to campus at UMBC, I fully intended to be part of the Student Government Association (SGA) but instead got involved with another student leadership organization in my first semester: the students events board (seb). When it came to the people on campus who I saw actively shaping and creating campus culture—taking the reputation that the school had at that time as a “commuter school”—I was really interested in being one of the students making campus culture more inclusive and just, and helping incoming students find their place. 

As I got close to graduation, I realized one of the reasons why UMBC people stick together. We are collectively coming out of an institution that has gone to great lengths to not cushion us but help us find our individual paths, forge our unique lanes, and identify our strengths in a way that was very supportive. 

Mavronis in her office at City Hall. Photo by Mark Dennis.

The shift into the “real world” can be challenging. For me, it felt like I was being asked to fit myself into a box after being embraced for my whole, multifaceted self. I’m so grateful for my mentors and friends who sent me the message that they didn’t want me to change, who supported me in finding ways to communicate my strengths to the outside world.

Supporting a homegrown leader

In my last year of college, I applied for a mayoral fellowship which I ultimately did not get. Brandon Scott, a councilmember at the time, was part of my interview panel. I developed a proposal for how to address Baltimore’s vacant housing crisis over a summer, leveraging public-private partnerships in a different kind of community-based way. It was a wild plan, but Brandon recognized my passion, big ideas, and hometown pride.

In December 2020, Mavronis accompanies Mayor Brandon Scott to talk to Baltimore residents about the city’s COVID response. Photo by Mark Dennis.

Brandon was a frequent guest on the Marc Steiner Show on WEAA 88.9-FM, where I worked as a producer for several years. Even back then Brandon often spoke about the need for local control of our police force and holistic strategies to combat gun violence. When I left to attend Princeton for graduate school, one of the ways I stayed connected to Baltimore was working with Brandon on the development of his strategy as the public safety chair of the City Council. After getting my master’s, I returned to Baltimore and landed a job at City Hall in Councilmember Zeke Cohen’s office.

After Brandon won his bid for council president in 2019, I was tapped to serve as his Communication Director. I was energized to work for a homegrown leader, someone who has a keen sense of what Baltimore needs and unconditional love for the people of the city in a way that I have not always seen or felt from leaders in the past.

Calling all visionaries 

If you don’t like the way that things are, play an active role in changing them. There’s a lot of people who have made me feel like that’s possible throughout history and in my own life, from my successful bid for  fifth grade class president to running a more competitive race in high school to represent southeast Baltimore County at a county-wide level in student government. 

Mavronis working alongside Mayor Scott and Press Secretary Sydney Burns in the Mayor’s Office at City Hall. 

I never expected to work in local government, but am so glad I landed here. And now being here, I often wish there were even more people in this space with visionary ideas who aren’t deterred by boundaries, willing to try new things. Confronting the legacy of redlining and inequitable systems is not overnight work—but I now see how it takes people finding new ways to work together inside and outside of government to make transformative change and rebuild the trust that’s eroded over time. 

I’m excited to be tasked with the opportunity and responsibility to be part of shaping this administration and bringing more people into this project of building a stronger Baltimore City, one that’s more equitable and accountable and that works better for people.

*****

Header image: Mavronis, in yellow coat, accompanies Mayor Brandon Scott to a UMBC co-sponsored vaccination pop-up event for the Lakeland community in southeast Baltimore. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

If you had the chance to interview someone you look up to, what would you ask? Sydney Fryer ’22, psychology, had the opportunity this fall when she sat down for a chat with fellow Sondheim Scholar Alicia Wilson ’04, political science. (The Sondheim program is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year, by the way!) Fryer came ready to find out more about Wilson and her trajectory from growing up in Baltimore City to being a Retriever (and winning a prestigious Truman Scholarship), to becoming vice president for Economic Development at Johns Hopkins University. 

Sydney Fryer:

I, like you, am a Baltimore girl. The city has changed a lot since I was a child. What is your view about all the development that happened over the years in Baltimore?

Alicia Wilson:

Growing up in Baltimore, I’d hear about development projects at Harbor East but I didn’t have any real concept of what it meant other than brick and mortar. Development is complicated; historically development has been about the building of buildings rather than the building of community. 

But the reality is, there are local people living adjacent to those developments and they should be part of the calculation of how we design, create, and impact the existing landscape. As we think about development in the city, we always need to keep an eye on what is good for the people. 

I think everyone agrees vacant homes need to be developed. Life needs to be developed. Things need to be developed. Even if they were great at their time, things evolve. Cities evolve. The needs of people evolve. 

Fryer:

What are some things college students can do to help the state of things when we find they are not up to code in our city?

Wilson:

Students have the luxury of time, passion, and resources. You’re in a place that allows you to look at a problem, learn about it, and have a great amount of time to figure out how to solve it. Students have a huge role in changing things and shaking it up. Don’t diminish your youth and ability to bring forth a new, fresh perspective on things people have been looking at for years. 

Pick the problem you are passionate about and apply what you are learning about. Make the uncomfortable statements. Learn through the process. Take a position and advocate; be open to having your position challenged and shifted to get the results you want. 

Fryer:

Is being a public servant hard?

Wilson:

There are enormous challenges out there but I find joy in serving. You have to take the time to replenish yourself. Many times you will want to solve everything with a sense of urgency because you believe the work demands it. But the reality is, you need to be a soldier in that fight for a long time. You can’t burn yourself out at the expense of a cause. You have to pace yourself.

Fryer:

How did being a Truman Scholar shape your journey?

Wilson:

Being a Truman Scholar really opened me up to thinking about how I see issues in my community on a much more national/global scale. Food deserts aren’t just about being very neighborhood-centric. It’s about what happens on the national scale and what happens on the global stage which allows food deserts to happen in Baltimore. We have to see the interconnectedness between our plight here and the plight of people in rural America and across the world. The Truman Scholarship gave me a big platform to work on these issues and help create positive change for all people in our country.

Fryer: 

What was the greatest takeaway from all of your education?

Wilson:

My time at UMBC was blessed because I was able to be friends with and be mentored by Walter Sondheim. He was vibrant with passion, vigor, and intellect. Walter was thoughtful about how he was going to contribute to the city and the world in a way, I think, which would ignite young people today. He didn’t have a self-serving agenda. He was pure about being effective in the world. 

I think understanding to live with purity in service to others was something that gelled at UMBC, which I think has been helpful. 

*****

Header photo by Marlayna Demond ’11.

UMBC is always full of hard-working people who aspire to do great things, and the class of 2014 is no exception. Today, we wanted to share with you what some of our recent graduates are planning to do with their Retriever education.

Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar Meghan Carpenter, political science, used her interest in politics to to focus on education policy. She was the director of the Office of Community and Government Relations in the Student Government Association and a Governor’s Summer Intern at the Maryland State Department of Education. As a student, Carpenter proposed a budget to the Maryland General Assembly that would aim to reduce textbook prices. She now works as the Director of Policy and Research for the
Eric Ebersole campaign for State Delegate.

Editor of the Technology Section in The Retriever Weekly for several years, Emily Scheerer, computer science, was also a Center for Women in Technology Scholar, and interned with the Department of Defense and Booz Allen Hamilton. During her spare time, she worked as a UMBC Welcome Week Leader (Woolie) and was president of the UMBC Ballroom Dance Team. Now, Scheerer plans to continue her education at UMBC and earn an M.S. in computer science.

Kelsey Krach, cultural anthropology and Spanish, was both a Sondheim Scholar and a valedictorian finalist for the Class of 2014. She interned with the Citizens Planning and Housing Association and Amnesty International USA. Krach also lead an Alternative Spring Break so other students could learn about refugees in Baltimore, won the Outstanding Student in Anthropology Award, and became a member of many honor societies. She now plans to do non-profit community development work.

A native of Germany, Kim Berghaus, physics, dedicated her time at UMBC to her school work and the Women’s Tennis team. She earned the Outstanding Graduating Senior Physics Award, the Joseph F. Mulligan Memorial Lectureship, and was name the Matt Skalsky Outstanding UMBC Scholar. Berghaus was also excellent on the court. She was named the Most Valuable Player for the 2014 season, was a member of the America East Tennis All-Academic Squad, and was the first Retriever to be nationally ranked in women’s tennis. Her freshman year, she was named America East Conference Rookie of the Year and Most Valuable Player. Berghaus now works in Dr. Giuliano Scarcelli’s Lab at the Harvard Medical School.

Read more about the Class of 2014!

On Thursday, August 7, Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program alumni got together for a sunny, harbor-side happy hour at The Boathouse in Canton. Alumni from class years 2003-2014 shared stories about the program, professional and personal updates, and made new connections. The Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program supports talented undergraduates aspiring to careers in public service in a wide variety of fields including government, law, non-profit leadership, education, and the private sector. The program honors Walter Sondheim, a champion of Baltimore’s renewal, a business leader, and an advocate for public education. As suggested by the program’s mission, Sondheim Scholars serve the public in many ways. Alumni at the August 7 happy hour included lawyers, educators, policy analysts, government staff, political campaigners, non-profit professionals, and graduate students. Thanks for coming out, Sondheim alumni, and look for your next opportunity to connect at UMBC Homecoming!

Learn more about the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program.