Standing in the nearly empty expanse of Freedom Plaza, a block away from the White House and with the Capitol dome behind her, Ghazal Rahmanpanah ’08 is struck by the contrast of the demonstration space during the pandemic compared to vigils and demonstrations she’s organized and participated in there previously.

Rahmanpanah recounts some of the causes she’s rallied around in that space—No War With Iran, the National Iranian American Council, Move On, We Won’t Wait, and Mothers of the Movement at Freedom Plaza—advocating for peaceful and progressive policies. “I used to work right up the street,” says Rahmanpanah, “and the running joke was that the only times I ever took a lunch was to come here and participate in some sort of activation.”

It was her political science major at UMBC that helped Rahmanpanah realize she didn’t want to be a constitutional lawyer like she originally thought. Through her classes and conversations with professors she discovered her passion for “questioning laws and driving people to make sure those laws worked for everyone,” she says.

Rahmanpanah is now director of special projects for The League, a social impact collective. “The idea is that politics happens every day,” says Rahmanpanah. “Everyone lives political lives without realizing it, but while it might take a lot for you to bring someone to politics, it doesn’t take much to bring them to culture. And there is an intersection where social justice issues and politics and culture meet. So what we try to do is to bring people to live more civically minded lives through narrative change.”

The right to live with dignity

This drive for equality started early for Rahmanpanah. “My involvement with civic engagement probably began when I was born,” she says. “I was born in Tehran, in Iran. We came here to the States when I was about five years old because of the war. There was the Iran-Iraq war right after the Iranian Revolution. So it just wasn’t a sustainable environment, according to my parents, for us to stay in.”

The awareness of injustice was “seeping into my psyche at a really young age,” Rahmanpanah explains. “And so I just became really fascinated with human rights—the idea that human security is for all. There are certain things that every individual deserves the right to live with. And one of those is the right to live with dignity. And that’s why I feel really strongly about what I do about changing narratives, changing how we talk to people about people, how we bring people into community.”

Rahmanpanah’s work at The League gives her the platform to make change. As a society, she says, “we really like to push people to calls to action, but we don’t take the time to really see what type of narrative would resonate in their lives. And so that’s the work we do at The League. It’s a lot of culture change work.” Projects she’s worked on include a PBS documentary called And She Could Be Next, which follows women of color who are getting involved in different types of political campaigns. “It highlights that for most working moms or for women in particular,” says Rahmanpanah, “there’s so much space to get involved in campaigning whereas maybe they didn’t feel like there was in the past.” 

Another project brings young people into the voting conversation to let them see how their lives are impacted by elections. Rahmanpanah calls the concept “a full set society.” “Every four years, the major campaigns come out and ask, ‘Hey, did you vote? Did you do this?’ Usually it happens in the 11th hour and it fails to make people feel like they’re in community. It fails to tell young people how these issues impact them day to day and not just during election periods, because every year is an election period.”

Change is good

Rahmanpanah with her fiancé Sherwin Rahimi, who she met on her second day on campus.

The word community is often a well-used buzzword, but Rahmanpanah says she discovered a tangible community at UMBC. “When you come to UMBC, you get a sense of being in a big environment, some place where there’s a variety of voices and ideals and everything. And that’s something so rare—that you could be in a big space, but connect with so many various people.”

Additionally, Rahmanpanah realized that coming in contact with different people on campus was changing her—and that was a good thing. “My politics and my ideologies changed because of the people I interacted with, Dining Hall staff sharing with me about their lives in Baltimore, because of the professors I spoke with on campus and in classes and events,” says Rahmanpanah. “It challenged how I thought about things and continued to force me to learn and unlearn things. And I hope that we can do that within movement spaces so that we’re not so insular so what we’re trying to say reaches more people.”

“I think people live progressive values without realizing it,” Rahmanpanah continues. “And so sometimes it’s just something that’s lost in translation. As someone who’s had to translate and interpret for family her whole life, I can tell you, that just happens sometimes. But we have to meet people where they are and we have to figure out how to speak to them. And that takes a lot of grace and patience. And that’s what I’m hoping to do with my work.”

It’s personal

While UMBC has helped shape Rahmanpanah’s professional and political trajectories, it’s actually her personal life, she says, that was most impacted when she became a Retriever. On her second day on campus, she met her now fiancé Sherwin Rahimi. At their upcoming wedding this September, she’ll rely on two of her best friends for make-up and photography, Sam Navarro ’08, psychology and Jessica DeThomas ’09, history. “It feels so great that such a special day is rooted in our origin story,” says Rahmanpanah.

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Header image by Corey Jennings ’10, all other photos courtesy of Rahmanpanah.

This video series spotlights alumni who are using their careers to encourage and lift up young kids and college students—in the classroom, yes, but also in the gym, online, and through personal relationships.

Leading the charge for better education

At 4:30 a.m., Susan Keen found herself wide awake. After making some coffee, she set off on foot to Oakland International High School, where she teaches English and world history. But on this weekday, in her role as a labor representative, she was there to lead a strike, alongside her fellow teachers and students. 

In what was ultimately a successful strike and negotiation for more equitable compensation and smaller class sizes, Keen ’10, anthropology and political science, felt most proud about the example she set for her students, all recent newcomers to the United States. 

“My students joined me on the picket line,” says Keen, a former Sondheim Public Affairs Scholar. “I asked them to evaluate the risks and the goals of what we were doing, and they all chose to stand by me and next to me on the line. It was incredible to have their support. That’s such a highlight.”

Finding joy in the classroom

Keen is a classic Retriever Educator, she knows her actions in and out of the classroom matter to her students. Theresa Bruce, Baltimore City’s 2020 Teacher of the Year runner-up also takes an all-in approach to her students at KIPP Academy. 

“People don’t care what you know, until they know you care,” says Bruce ’09, political science and social work, “and that goes for my students.” She makes it a point to get to know her student scholars—a daunting task even before the era of distant learning— encouraging them to find their own passions like she found hers at UMBC through the support of professors and staff.

“So now, as an educator myself, I ask how I can best push and champion my students,” says Bruce, also a former Sondheim Scholar. “The biggest step I can take—and this doesn’t matter if you’re in a brick-and-mortar building or if you’re online—is to make a relationship. Yes, they’re harder to build virtually, but when young people can relate to you as a person, they’re more apt to try.”

Strengthening the mind, body, and community

Some teaching roles look different than a traditional classroom. For Joshua Day ’16, health administration and policy, he finds his purpose at MissionFit, a Baltimore gym that offers free fitness classes to youth in the city. Day—MissionFit’s executive director—wants the young gym members to develop confidence and self-acceptance, as well as important life skills such as goal setting, time management, and accountability. 

“It was during my junior or senior year at UMBC, that it became clear to me that it would be easier if I stopped trying to separate worlds and just integrated things together, and MissionFit is the way I get to do that,” Day says. It’s rare that so early in someone’s career they can have their ideal job, he shares. 

“But at MissionFit, we’re addressing health. We’re addressing health with youth. We’re really committed to the community of Baltimore. It completes my whole checklist.”

Inclusivity at the Ivies

Jamie Joshua ’02, M10, biological sciences, is using her institutional connections to reach a broad range of students as the director of the Office of Diversity and Inclusion at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management. Joshua’s role is to create welcoming spaces for students and provide trainings for faculty and staff. In partnership with student affinity groups and the student council, Joshua advises on programming for equity, inclusion, and belonging initiatives.

During the pandemic Joshua is working from her parents’ home in Ellicott City, but she is still connecting virtually with students to encourage their self care. Joshua models her advice by taking daily walks, often with her twin sister Aimee Joshua ’03, M10, computer science.

“Family is what I think of when I think of UMBC,“ says Joshua. “And as the child of immigrant parents, the Meyerhoff Scholars Program was able to give me the skillset to thrive in college.”  The sense of family Joshua felt at UMBC was compounded by rooming with her twin and welcoming her younger sister, Gina Joshua ’05, M13, biological sciences, to UMBC as well. In her current role, Joshua says she’ll feel successful if she can recreate that familial sense of belonging for her student groups at Cornell.

“We’re so proud to see our Retrievers take on so many educator roles, in the classroom and out,” says Stanyell Odom, director of Alumni Engagement. “It’s quickly apparent that these alumni and others like them go into their teaching careers, not only with the skills to teach, but also to learn from their students and coworkers.”

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All images and videos by Corey Jennings ’10.

“Why are chemists so great at solving problems?” Theresa Bruce ’09, asks her eighth grade social studies class at KIPP Harmony. Her corny joke elicits no verbal responses but doesn’t go unanswered as students engage with the icebreaker online. “Because they have all the solutions!” Bruce guffaws. 

In a year where teaching looks like nothing before, Bruce and other educators are grappling with how to best reach their students, academically and relationally. But the cheesy jokes are nothing new, admits Bruce. “That’s just who I am.” A Sondheim Scholar who majored in political science and social work, Bruce was runner up for the 2020 Baltimore City Teacher of the Year. It’s easy to see why, as her energetic and enthusiastic demeanor comes through clearly, even mediated through the multiple computer windows she uses to instruct her scholars from afar. 

But Bruce didn’t set out to be a teacher—she had her sights set on being a hot-shot lawyer. So how to explain her past decade working as a Baltimore City school teacher? She shares this in her own words.  

Putting the common good first

When I left high school, I had my mind made up that I was going to be a lawyer. I was going to be the next Johnnie Cochran. Forget if the glove didn’t fit, I was going to have my own catchphrase and it was going to blow up. I was going to be riding in limos with all of the entertainers. Then UMBC got in the way of that fantasy. 

Being a part of the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars program made me realize that I wanted to work toward something greater than myself. My celebrity ideals weren’t putting the common good first—they certainly didn’t push for society in a way that is helpful, meaningful, and beneficial for all. When that switch happened inside me, my mentors at UMBC were instrumental in helping me pursue a new goal, nurturing me, and pushing me along a path that led to public policy. 

Bruce teaching virtually from her empty classroom in October 2020. Photo by Corey Jennings ’10.

So how did I end starting my 10th year teaching as a Baltimore City school teacher? After I got my master’s in public policy at the University of Chicago with a focus in K through 12 urban education reform, I realized that I needed to actually be in a teaching role before I could make policy that affected education. Additionally, I believe that every child deserves the opportunity to make choices in their lives. I feel like I got the best public education possible in Baltimore City, and I got it for free. A motivating factor for me is the belief that every child should get what I got.

Lifting up others’ dreams

I’ve always loved school, so UMBC was the perfect fit for me. It was undeniably cool to be smart. So that’s the atmosphere I try to create in my classroom. We all have favorite subjects, and I understand that for some of my students, social studies may not be their favorite. But I want these young people to find some joy when they come into my room—to feel like they can talk with me and connect. I want them to know that I support them in their goals. UMBC taught me the importance of lifting up other people’s dreams. 

Bruce, right, with Adrienne Hawkins ’09, at a 2008 UMBC basketball game.

Looking back on my time as a student, I have so many people I’m grateful to for putting up with me, quite honestly, because I was a headache. I always had an idea. I always wanted to do something. And I wasn’t always listening. Despite that, Dr. Roy Meyers, professor of political science and affiliate professor of public policy, was my biggest champion. Dr. Cheryl Miller, associate professor emerita, public policy and political science, challenged me to think bigger than myself. Dr. Tyson King Meadows, associate professor of political science, taught my very first poli-sci class and never stopped pushing me forward. Delana Gregg, Ph.D. ’19, language, literacy, and culture, a powerhouse in the Academic Success Center, was a constant force in helping me shape my career path while being a sounding board for all of my ideals. 

So now, as an educator myself, I ask how I can best push and champion my students. The biggest step I can take—and this doesn’t matter if you’re in a brick-and-mortar building or if you’re online—is to make a relationship. Yes, they’re harder to build virtually, but when young people can relate to you as a person, they’re more apt to try. When you acknowledge them and their efforts, they’re going to try even harder. There’s an old saying I think about often: People don’t care what you know, until they know you care.

Creating community in a virtual classroom

My biggest reward right now is sparking the minds of the next generation. Our young people come to us with so many gifts. They’re talented in ways that might just take a little nudging for them to realize. But I know how many people took time for me, and I want to make my students feel the same. I want them to know I care about their success, beyond their grades. How can I help them discover who they truly are, pursue what matters to them, and be an agent for change?

Bruce, working from her home office.

Part of the way I help them along this path is by putting books in front of them—all the time. There are over 700 books in my classroom that I’ve amassed, partly through donations via the Donors Choose platform and partly by spending my own money. Quarterly, I host a Starbooks session for my students within my classroom, usually around a theme, like non-fiction texts or graphic novels. It gives young people a chance to sample books and see what they might enjoy. Slowly but surely, I’ve been seeing an increase in my scholars’ excitement about reading books and checking them out of my classroom. 

Now that we’re meeting virtually, it’s been hard to not gather in the classroom I’ve lovingly decorated and filled with books and materials. My scholars and I have created our own community in the classroom, and it’s been interesting in this pandemic to rethink the way community needs to develop. All things considered, I am thankful because even though we’re in the midst of a global virus, I’ve been pushed to rethink the way I engage the students, not only in the work, but how to grow relationships with them as well. So we’re creating a new classroom, a new virtual one. It may not be as big or as colorful, but it’s got great potential.

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Header image, by Corey Jennings ’10. All other photos courtesy of Theresa Bruce, unless noted.

While you were sleeping, our videographer Corey Jennings ’10 caught some quiet footage of our beautiful campus coming to life!

See more videos of campus life at UMBCtube.

In the spring 2019 issue of UMBC Magazine, writer Sarah Hansen, M.S. ’15, shares the research of Colin Studds, assistant professor of geography and environmental systems, senior author of a recent paper detailing the full life cycle of the dragonfly for the very first time. (Read the full story here.)

To celebrate this exciting discovery, UMBC designer Layla Thompson-Koch created this web extra to show the full cycle. Enjoy!

UMBC Magazine‘s longtime photographer Marlayna Demond ’11 is used to going to great lengths to get her shot. A former Linehan Scholar, she climbs on tables and ladders to achieve the right angle. She waits quietly in the cold for the right moment to snap the shutter. (Here’s one example of that.) She takes hundreds—and sometimes thousands—of photos to get the one perfect for print. And who even knows how many squirrel portraits she’s captured over the years, simply because we asked? In short: she’s a true team player.

So, when we decided to write a feature on UMBC’s award-winning swimming and diving team, the obvious first question was: “How do we safely get Marlayna (and her camera) under water?” (Read the full story here.)

In addition to the challenges of using electronics in and around the waters of the UMBC Natatorium, we also wanted to make sure Marlayna could breathe easily and have as much range of motion underwater as she would on land. Over the course of a month and a half, our team tested out lighting and camera solutions with the guinea pigs—ahem, wonderful student athletes—on the swimming and diving squads. Marlayna borrowed a “dry suit” that allowed her to float and move somewhat gracefully in the water. Some ideas worked right away, others didn’t. In the end, it was a win-win: Marlayna got what she wanted and no one got electrocuted.

Here’s Marlayna’s take:  “When we started planning for this feature, the biggest challenge was how to get the underwater photos safely—both for my safety, and for my equipment’s! After searching a bit, the best solution was to use an underwater camera and a borrowed dry suit (it’s like a wet suit, but can also keep air trapped inside making floating much easier!). With the addition of a scuba mask and breathing tube, I hopped in the water for our test round photo shoot (looking absolutely ridiculous) and quickly found that my nervousness about photographing in such an unusual environment floated away, and my love of being in the water kicked in instead! The shoot day itself had lighting and timing obstacles to figure out, but all in all, the swimmers were fantastic and patient, and this was one of the most fun photo shoots I’ve gotten to be a part of here!”

We’re grateful to UMBC’s swimmers and divers and Coach Chad Cradock ’97 and his team for giving us the time and space to explore these new depths of photography with them. And we hope you enjoy these behind-the-scene peeks of our time in the water.

— Jenny O’Grady, Editor

Getting ready to jump in! With Candace Cage, designer.

Marlayna enjoying her time in the “dry suit.”

Marlayna waited in the water to capture Elijah Wright’s dive in slow motion.

Did we mention how amazing the student athletes were?

Testing out shot ideas with art director Jim Lord ’99 and designer Candace Cage.

* * * *

Read the full story: The Best Team You’ve Never Heard Of

Header image: There’s a strong possibility they’re cheering because it’s the final shot of the day.

Thirty years ago, Baltimore philanthropist Robert E. Meyerhoff came to then-UMBC vice provost Freeman Hrabowski with the seed of an idea: to create a program that would enable all students, regardless of background, access to the highest levels of science.

Last week, hundreds of Meyerhoff Scholars Program alumni filled an auditorium stage to thank Meyerhoff for his bold vision. They also came to share their own experiences as proof that he was right to believe in their potential and invest in their futures so many years ago.

Standing on the shoulders of giants

The night of gratitude kicked off an emotional weekend of fellowship and reflection celebrating the Meyerhoff Scholars Program’s 30th anniversary. Over the course of Friday evening, alumni and supporters shared stories of the successes they attribute to a community that believed in them from the start—one that in the words of poet Langston Hughes let them “hold fast to dreams.”

“Meyerhoffs are ‘all in’ types,” said Keith Harmon, director of the program. “Now as alumni, they are distinguishing themselves as STEM professionals, changing the face of the STEM workforce, and showing the world how right Bob Meyerhoff was to believe in them in the first place.”

Setting a national example

The first of its kind in the country, the Meyerhoff Scholars Program launched in 1989 with a small cohort of African American men interested in pursuing graduate degrees in science, engineering, and related fields. In the years that followed, the program expanded to include women and students of all backgrounds who were committed to increasing the representation of minorities in science and engineering.

 

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As we look forward to celebrating Bob Meyerhoff and #Meyerhoff30 this weekend, let’s first take a trip down memory lane, courtesy of our past cohorts! #TBT

A post shared by UMBC (@umbclife) on May 30, 2019 at 10:19am PDT

Today, more than 1,100 Meyerhoff alumni are changing the face of science across the country. The program is a national leader on the forefront of efforts to increase diversity in STEM fields, and UMBC is the nation’s number one producer of African American undergraduates who go on to earn M.D./Ph.D.s.

This spring, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative awarded $6.9 million to support a unique partnership to replicate UMBC’s program at UC San Diego and UC Berkeley. Earlier replication efforts at Pennsylvania State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, supported by the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, have already yielded tremendously impressive results.

Growth thrives in community

As alumni lined up on stage to share their stories, Kamili Jackson Shaw M5, ’97, M.S. ’99, mechanical engineering, talked about her first impressions of the program as an entering student.

“The Meyerhoff Scholars Program was the first time I had ever been around a critical mass of high-achieving African Americans, and it was extremely important to my growth as an individual,” said Shaw. Today, she leads the safety, quality, and management systems division for the NASA Stennis Space Center. “It gave me confidence and humility at the same time,” she says. “For the first time, I was able to simply ‘be.’”

Paying it forward

The night ended with what program alumni called a “Gesture of Gratitude”—the announcement of a $500,000 gift made by alums from across the decades to support the program. As impactful as the gift will be, it was also symbolic, matching Robert Meyerhoff’s original gift to UMBC. And they have no intention of stopping there.

“Sometimes you don’t understand legacy until you see the fruit of it, and 25 years later, I see the magnitude of the program,” says Felicia Sanders M4, ’96, chemical engineering. Sanders, a, leadership-level supporter of the program, says giving back “is a responsibility. It’s a necessity.”

“If someone hadn’t given to us,” she asks, “where would we be?”

Kellie McCants-Price M2, ’95, interdisciplinary studies, was in the first Meyerhoff class that included women, one year after its founding. “I didn’t realize how significant it was until about 10 years out,” says McCants-Price, who holds her Ph.D. in psychology. “I saw how prolific it was—how many women were graduating—and realized that we held the door open for them.”

Alums took to social media to share their memories and thoughts on the celebration, including U.S. Surgeon General Jerome M. Adams M4, ‘97, biochemistry and molecular biology.

I’ve shared that the first time I met a black doctor was when I was in college at @UMBC. That’s why I was so proud to attend the 30th anniversary celebration of the Meyerhoff program tonight. A ballroom packed full of minorities with MDs and PhDs. #RepresentationMatters pic.twitter.com/M8AcSwzQea

— U.S. Surgeon General (@Surgeon_General) June 2, 2019

The family connection

After Friday’s formal event, alumni gathered in the Event Center on Saturday for a family-style reunion. Many of them brought their children to enjoy a day of food, cohort cluster game competitions, networking, and campus tours. Later that evening, many also enjoyed a dance party hosted by the Meyerhoff Alumni Advisory Board.

Alumni left feeling re-connected as friends, as scholars—and ultimately, as part of a family.

Kafui Dzirasa M8, ’01, chemical engineering, summed up this sentiment as he thanked Robert Meyerhoff on Friday night. “What has increasingly become obvious to us—which you have known all along—is that the power of this community is us, working together as a family.”

 

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It was a great weekend celebrating #Meyerhoff30 and Bob Meyerhoff! Thank you to everyone who made it such a memorable celebration! @meyerhoffalumni

A post shared by UMBC (@umbclife) on Jun 4, 2019 at 6:41am PDT

Visit meyerhoff.umbc.edu/30th for more photos and information about the program.

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.

Along with the rest of the country, members of the UMBC community came together to try to catch a glimpse of August’s total eclipse of the sun. Although Maryland was not in the “path of totality,” the 80% view from Catonsville still elicited the “oohs” and “ahs” of bespectacled Retrievers in front of the Albin O. Kuhn Library – where staff offered demonstrations in pinhole viewer construction – and around campus.
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Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11

UMBC’s Mock Trial team spends a lot of time on the road. This academic year, they’ve already been to four invitational tournaments at schools across the Mid-Atlantic, with trips to UPenn and Georgetown coming up within the next several months. They’ve been able to travel the country, hone their rhetorical skills, and represent our school’s commitment to inclusive excellence thanks to donors like you, who helped the nationally-ranked Mock Trial team raise more than double their fundraising goal for this semester.

The financial support is vital to Mock Trial’s development as a group, says UMBC senior Dylan Elliott ’17, history, a pre-law student and Mock Trial’s current president. He says that more funding leads to more opportunities to attend tournaments, which means more time spent traveling together…”which can drive us crazy at times, but it’s also really good for us,” he says.

Mock Trial has proven popular both among students who plan to attend law school and those who do not, and attracts participants from a wide variety of majors. “I think people get different things out of it,” say Elliott, citing the public speaking experience, critical thinking skills, and competitive atmosphere as some benefits of the program.

For Elliott himself, Mock Trial was what confirmed his decision to continue on to law school: “I played sports from elementary school up through high school, and I realized after I did my first Mock Trial competition that I missed that kind of team competition, that camaraderie…which is something that Mock Trial gave me again.

“It helped me realize that I do enjoy the court advocacy [aspect], and helped me develop public speaking skills.”

Elliott also says that UMBC has one of the more diverse teams on the competitive mock trial circuit: “[We have] lots of different nationalities and ethnic backgrounds and religions, and I think that’s great because UMBC is like that.” With diversity in background also comes diversity in perspective, which comes in handy when coming up with ways to approach the cases they’re assigned each year.

“There’s a lot of different minds in the room,” Elliott says, “which makes us better.”

For more from our Mock Trial students, check out the video below…

You can help create student success stories like this through our crowdfunding site, GiveCorps.