UMBC’s Retrievers officially moved into a new Dawg House Saturday, sharing the excitement of their first Event Center ballgame with a sold-out crowd of fans bedecked in black and gold. But despite a disappointing loss to rival Vermont (81-53), the stadium couldn’t contain the enthusiasm of the more than 4,700 Retriever Believers who helped usher in a new era of UMBC athletics.

“I thought it was awesome! It was really crowded and the facilities were great, and…it felt like we were coming together as a campus, as a school,” said Marissa O’Connor, a sophomore soccer player who enjoyed the men’s basketball game with her friends.

As the players’ sneakers squeaked across the wax of the shiny new court, fans in commemorative “Game 01” t-shirts cheered loudly, blowing horns and whipping colorful balloons to fill the stands with motion. One student held up a huge cut out of men’s basketball coach Ryan Odom.

Women’s Basketball will host their first game at the Event Center this Thursday, facing Binghamton. In addition to basketball and volleyball games, the Event Center will host outside concerts and will allow UMBC to bring spring Commencement back to campus.

Members of every part of Retriever Nation showed up Saturday to cheer the team on, including alumni athletes like Guy Cottman ’84, INDS, who played point guard on the men’s team as a student.

“This is really nice,” said Cottman above the roar of the crowds behind him. “We used to fill it, too. It’s always nice when you have a crowd.”

Juan Holcomb ’82, American studies, a longtime member of the Alumni Association board, and a former guard for men’s basketball, said he’s pleased to see UMBC embracing its athletic side.

“It’s good for the school, it shows growth, and sports is always a great way to bring people together, so this is an exciting time for UMBC,” he said.  “I’m glad our president is embracing sports – academics first, of course, but sports are important, too.”

Learn more about upcoming events at the Event Center here.

Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine.

From the bonfire and Alumni Awards, to our soccer game and annual Comedy Show featuring Trevor Noah, UMBC Homecoming is not to be missed! What are YOUR top five reasons for catching Retriever Fever?

UMBC Homecoming 2017 runs October 5-14, right here on campus! Learn more at homecoming.umbc.edu.

Video by Jenny O’Grady.

We need your help! The Fall 2014 issue of UMBC Magazine will explore the history – and the future course – of UMBC Athletics. We need YOU – alumni at UMBC – to help us tell that story with photos of your time as a student athlete or even as a fan of Retriever sports.

Editors at UMBC Magazine will select the best photos to appear in the forthcoming issue. Please email photos to retrievernet@umbc.edu. (And please scan them at the highest resolution possible.) You can also share your stories and photos on Facebook or Twitter using #houseofgrit.

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 Meredith Purvis, the Assistant Director of Marketing.

Name: Meredith Purvis
Job Title: Assistant Director of Marketing
Focus Area: I help alumni and donors stay in touch with the university.
Years at UMBC: 4

Q: Where are you from originally?

A: Shamrock, Missouri

Q: What do you love most about UMBC?

A: I love my co-workers – they are unbelievably creative and smart. My second love, of course, is True Grit. Retriever Fever forever!

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

A: I love meeting our alumni and donors and getting to tell their stories. And, despite my degree in English, I am also a huge data nerd – crunch all the numbers!

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

A: I recently finished up The No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency and I’m currently working my way through Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell. I love to read, but I’ve also trained myself to fall asleep while doing so, so I tend to be a little slow to finish books these days.

Q: Who do you admire and why?

A: I really admire my siblings. My little sister, Rosie, is crazy smart and she’s one of the nicest people I know. Also, she’s studying engineering, and math gives me a headache, so that has always impressed me. My little brother, Lincoln, is incredibly creative and always off having adventures and making cool movies and taking amazing photos. I can’t wait to see what he does next.

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

A: I’d definitely be Thor – great costume, magical hammer, Asgard. What’s not to like?

Ted Lawler ’99, biological sciences and psychology, was recently named to the Big South Network’s All-Decade Team for men’s soccer in the 1990s.

From Big South’s website: 

As part of the Big South’s 30th Anniversary celebration in 2013-14, the Conference is announcing its first-ever All-Decade Teams to recognize the student-athletes and coaches who excelled in their respective sport since the Conference’s founding in 1983. A committee of Big South Conference administrators served as the official voting panel to determine the All-Decade Teams, with fan voting comprising 20 percent of the overall total.

During his time at UMBC, Lawler was named Player of the Year and was two-time All-Conference.

Read more.

Find us on Facebook. // Follow us on Twitter.