The temps outside may be freezing, but the vibes in the Office of Graduate Student Life are cozy. Stop by Commons 308 from 10am–2pm for a hot cup of coffee, tea, and good conversation. It's the perfect way to thaw out, recharge, and start your week strong. Residents are eligible to apply for late stay if their permanent address is more than 50 miles (Distance D) from UMBC and they are:
Please note that we are not able to accomodate requests for requests beyond December 18, 2025 at 3 p.m.
This form is for individual fall residents seeking an Late Stay for the current semester. This form is not for residents with group approved late stays. If you are already part of an approved late stay group, you do NOT need to request late stay. Please contact your group leader if you have questions about your late stay date.
All late stay requests are sent via The Housing Portal > Forms & Requests. The deadline to submit your request for Late Stay is December 14, 2025 at 5 p.m.
Join Curl PWR for a cozy study hall as we prepare for finals together!
When: Dec. 1st
Time: 12-1 PM
Where: ILSB 116B
]]>Repost from the Office of Accessibility & Disability Services
This tribute is based entirely on reporting from Disability Scoop.
Alice Wong, the groundbreaking disability rights activist known for her wit, creativity, and willingness to shock systems into accountability, has died at the age of 51. Disability Scoop reports that she passed away following an infection at UCSF Hospital.
Wong was widely recognized for her radical imagination and her fearless approach to justice. She called herself a "cyborg oracle" and used technology, storytelling, and political strategy to confront ableism. Her national profile rose in 2013 when President Obama appointed her to the National Council on Disability. She later attended a White House reception through a telepresence robot, a moment that symbolized both her ingenuity and her insistence on access.
Disability Scoop highlights her influence as an author, podcaster, editor, and founder of the Disability Visibility Project. Her #CripTheVote initiative shifted political conversations, and her advocacy helped thousands of high risk Californians gain earlier vaccine access during the COVID pandemic. She also challenged policies like plastic straw bans that ignored disabled people's needs.
Wong received a MacArthur Foundation genius grant in 2024 for exposing systemic prejudice and expanding public understanding of disabled lives.
After her passing, a prewritten message was released. In it she wrote: "Hi everyone, it looks like I ran out of time. I have so many dreams that I wanted to fulfill and plans to create new stories for you." She reflected on her childhood, internalized ableism, and the power of storytelling. She urged the world to create more space for disabled culture, saying "You all, we all, deserve the everything and more in such a hostile, ableist environment."
Friends, leaders, and organizations described Wong as a visionary. Sandy Ho called her a "disabled oracle" who could see the future. San Francisco's mayor praised her courage. The American Association of People with Disabilities wrote that she made the "complexity of disabled experiences visible to the world."
Born in 1974 to immigrants from Hong Kong, Wong grew up in Indianapolis. She lived with a rare form of muscular atrophy, used a wheelchair from grade school, and relied on a BiPap ventilator. She wrote powerfully about her relationship to technology, calling her devices "bits of hardware" that grounded and liberated her.
Her writing explored how painful labels like "defect" and "abnormal" became sources of power and resistance through creativity. Her memoir, Year of the Tiger, blended vulnerability with cultural critique, imagination, and her belief in collective liberation through art and storytelling.
Disability Scoop notes that Wong was known for her red lipstick, black power chair, and gray ventilator. She wrote for Teen Vogue, The New York Times, and many other outlets. She addressed issues ranging from medical crowdfunding to national health policy. She spoke about the danger that political shifts posed for disabled people and insisted on a world where disabled joy and survival are prioritized.
Her final message, released by her family and shared by Disability Scoop, ended with words from Year of the Tiger: "The real gift any person can give is a web of connective tissue. If we love fiercely, our ancestors live among and speak to us through these incandescent filaments glowing from the warmth of memories."
Rest in power, Alice Wong. You changed the world and expanded what is possible.
Read her work: