Retrievers Read is a summer reading challenge designed to help you explore new genres, engage with our UMBC community, and make reading fun! It's free to participate, and we email you everything you need to get started, including a welcome letter with further instructions, a bingo card, and a handy-dandy reading log to help you keep track of your progress.

Sign up: alumni.umbc.edu/retrieversread26

Questions? Email retrievernet@umbc.edu.

Whether you’re spending the summer at home, on campus, traveling, interning, or simply catching up with friends, Retrievers Read brings back a familiar summer tradition, with a grown-up twist. Think back to those grade school summer reading lists: books chosen to spark curiosity, stretch your thinking, and mark the season’s passing. Now, as part of the UMBC community, this is your version of that same tradition: an easy, nostalgic way to stay connected to campus life and the Retriever community between semesters, wherever summer takes you.

At UMBC, every undergraduate is part of the Giving Pack because every student benefits from philanthropy in some way, whether they realize it or not. From scholarships and emergency support to academic programs, research opportunities, student organizations, campus spaces, and experiences like Black & Gold Rush, philanthropic support helps make the UMBC experience possible. All students are encouraged to participate in stewardship and engagement opportunities that help say thank you, build community, and sustain the resources that support today's students and future Retrievers.

UMBC's Giving Pack, formed in August 2025, brings together UMBC students from all four class years, each strengthened in their own identity and impact, who support the Office of Institutional Advancement, represent the University, and unite to create something greater than any one class alone: an extraordinary, scalable culture of philanthropy grounded in education, connected to the Hilltop Society, and built to grow with students beyond graduation, connecting today's Retrievers to tomorrow's alumni.

The members of the Giving Pack are philanthropic-minded student leaders with a proven track record for serving their local and University communities, and who have a passion for advancing their alma mater.

Student philanthropists become alumni philanthropists, that is a widely held belief at colleges and universities across America. The work of the Giving Pack is vital, and we believe deeply in involving students in the philanthropic process as the University strives to produce service-oriented leaders who will give their time, talent and treasure to causes they are passionate about long after graduating from UMBC.

In addition to regular meetings, the Giving Pack assists planning and executing UMBC's celebration around Black & Gold Rush (March 3rd-4th), takes an active role in stewarding donors through written messages, phone calls, and emails, and they serve as a welcoming face and helping hand at various Office of Institutional Advancement events throughout the academic year.

For students who are eager to take their involvement a step further, the Giving Pack Leadership Team offers the opportunity to lead initiatives, shape strategy, mentor peers, and play a deeper role in advancing UMBC's culture of student philanthropy. Apply to serve here!