Diversity Recruitment Dinner

Wednesday October 22, 2014
5:30 – 8pm
The University Center Ballroom

Student Advocate

Gov. O’Malley appoints Sondheim Scholar Catherine Cano as 2014�15 MHEC student commissioner.

The Maryland Higher Education Commission (MHEC) sets state policies on tuition rates, academic programs and many other issues that affect every college student in Maryland. As the commission works this year, one UMBC student is making her voice heard on behalf of students in those important debates.

In August, Governor Martin O�Malley appointed Catherine Cano �16, political science, as the Student Commissioner to MHEC for the 2014-2015 school year. This prestigious position will allow Cano to advocate for students and their educational institutions, weigh in on state plans for postsecondary education, review proposals for new academic programs and help the commission understand how its policies affect those who attend the state�s colleges and universities.

�Ms. Cano�s leadership in the community and at UMBC exemplifies her commitment to learning and serving diverse populations,� said MHEC Acting Secretary Catherine M. Shultz in a news release announcing the appointment. �I look forward to her playing a critical role in our discussions regarding the expansion of Maryland�s postsecondary opportunities for traditional and non-traditional students alike.�

Cano brings a commitment to diversity and a determination to help Maryland institutions of higher education lower the achievement gap among first-generation college students to her service on the commission. As a member of the Sondheim Public Affairs Scholars Program, Cano already has developed a strong interest in educational policy and deepened her personal resolve to make a difference in that field.

�My main job is to be a voice for students,� says Cano, who assists in teaching the Introduction to an Honors University (IHU) seminar for first year students and is the Student Life intern for service and volunteerism.

The key experience in Cano�s path to the appointment has been work she has accomplished as a volunteer at the Regional Institute for Children and Adolescents (RICA) � a residential/day treatment school facility for emotionally disturbed youth. Cano has implemented several self-sustaining projects at RICA, including creating an auxiliary board for the school, establishing life skills workshops for students using a UMBC BreakingGround grant, and organizing college tours for graduating students with the goal of getting every senior into tech programs or community college with less than a semester of remedial classes. She now leads a group of UMBC volunteers at RICA every week.

Cano is the third UMBC student appointed as a MHEC Student Commissioner in the past eight years. Joshua Michael �10, political science and secondary education, and Alexia Van Orden �06, history, �08 M.P.P., legal policy, and �13 Ph.D., education policy, served on the commission during the 2007-2008 and 2010-2011 school years, respectively. Both UMBC alumni continue to work in education � Michael as a mathematics teacher at the Commodore John Rogers School, and Van Orden as a research analyst at MHEC.

David Hoffman, Assistant Director of Student Life for Civic Agency, says the university�s three MHEC commissioners share qualities that have made them excellent student representatives for the commission. �What Cano, Michael and Van Orden have in common is confidence and the ability to speak knowledgably about state policy and the policy making process,� he observes. �They share a sense that they will make meaningful contributions to a statewide policy making body.�

Cano wants to bring UMBC�s spirit of student participation and diversity to a commission that sets the tone and practice for all postsecondary institutions in Maryland. �One of the reasons that I really love UMBC is how diverse it is and how all populations of our students do really well, but that�s not the case for every university,� she says. �I�m really excited to try and work on ways and initiatives for these students to succeed.�

(10/15/2014)

First let me point out that the Internet is the most useful resource that any individual can tap into. Aside from the internet, A Whole New Mind, by Daniel H. Pink is a book I believe every motivated student should read. This book not only changed how I view the politics of education but also how I experience the world as a whole. I will also like to point out that this particular book inspired the current InSource logo.  

4. What is the toughest decision you have had to make in the last 6 

months?

The toughest decision I had to make in the past 6 months would honestly be deciding on the appropriate compensation (equity) to distribute between all participating members of InSource. It is especially difficult in determining a fair amount that would satisfy and at the same time show how valuable each member is to the company without stirring up bad feelings within the group.  

5. What advice would you give other student entrepreneurs?

1. Get OUT of your comfort zone
2. Don’t be afraid to fail, and when it comes to entrepreneurial ventures, “fail fast”.
3. Be open to hearing other peoples inputs
4. Try to be the best overall person you can be, because one thing that people will always remember is how you made them feel.

Reach out to Percy & Visit the InSource Website to learn more. 

First let me point out that the Internet is the most useful resource that any individual can tap into. Aside from the internet, A Whole New Mind, by Daniel H. Pink is a book I believe every motivated student should read. This book not only changed how I view the politics of education but also how I experience the world as a whole. I will also like to point out that this particular book inspired the current InSource logo.  

4. What is the toughest decision you have had to make in the last 6 

months?

The toughest decision I had to make in the past 6 months would honestly be deciding on the appropriate compensation (equity) to distribute between all participating members of InSource. It is especially difficult in determining a fair amount that would satisfy and at the same time show how valuable each member is to the company without stirring up bad feelings within the group.  

5. What advice would you give other student entrepreneurs?

1. Get OUT of your comfort zone
2. Don’t be afraid to fail, and when it comes to entrepreneurial ventures, “fail fast”.
3. Be open to hearing other peoples inputs
4. Try to be the best overall person you can be, because one thing that people will always remember is how you made them feel.

Reach out to Percy & Visit the InSource Website to learn more. 

UMBC Women Who Rock is a new blog series I’m working on throughout the 2014-15 academic year. In my role as Women’s Center director, I have some of the best opportunities to become acquainted with some of UMBC’s best and brightest women on campus. I admire the ways they live authentic lives unapologetically that challenge the stereotypes and assumptions that are often assigned to women. By debunking these stereotypes and forcing us to check our assumptions, they allow us to expand our notion of what a woman is and can be.
-Jess

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UMBC Women Who Rock!
Susan Dumont, Office of Student Life’s Coordinator for Fraternities & Sororities

Goodness, if the semester was a Half Ironman, I’d be somewhere out there on my bike, at some mile marker that makes the finish line still feel very far away. I’ve been working on the concept for the post since mid-September and here I am, a month later, re-opening this document trying to get to the finish line. Susan Dumont’s voice is here with me though, repeating the refrain that I heard her say often before she completed her first Half Ironman this summer: “I like doing things that I don’t know I’ll be successful in. I want to find out what’s really possible.” This blog post certainly isn’t my Half Iron(wo)man but I’ve appreciated the motivation nonetheless.

This feeling of having someone else’s goals and work ethic inspire and complement my own instead of perceiving them as a direct threat or source of competition feels really different for me. Maybe because Susan and I both hail from all-girl high schools, my mind has drifted back to my high school days many times while working on this blog post. The smartest girls were also the most athletic girls. They were also the most popular girls. But in my experience, the cool girls knew they were cool and that cool factor usually made them pretty mean.

Oh Mean Girls…

Cue Mean Girls and Queen Bees. They made sure you knew they got the highest grade in the class and when you were still struggling on that math problem they rolled their eyes at the impossibility of why you just didn’t get it. This “us versus them” climate made the first few years of high school pretty miserable and at times, I still feel anxious just thinking about running into them again one day. I know somehow, they’ll take me back to those high school days where I never felt good enough.

When I mentioned this to Susan, I thought she would affirm my experience with similar stories of the all-girls school mean girl. She couldn’t, though. She went on to share how her high school experience developed her self-concept and provided empowering experiences for her. She went on to share about her time at Lake Forest College which was greatly impacted by her involvement in Greek Life. Not only was she in a sorority but Susan was instrumental in starting the first nationally affiliated chapter on her campus. She feels proud about creating a legacy that has shaped the sorority community at Lake Forest to have healthy national organizations. Susan began her adventures with triathlons in grad school. This is when she first connected with professional triathlete Linsey Corbin who along the way has modeled a philosophy for Susan to build the life you want and to bring good, healthy, challenging people along with you. Now that’s a counter narrative of the mean girl!

Currently, Susan is in her second year of Law School at University of Maryland, Baltimore. All of last year, I would follow her Facebook posts and chat randomly with her about how busy she must be as full-time staff member at UMBC, law student by night, and triathlete in her “free” time. I looked on from a distance with awe about how she was doing what I thought was impossible. Then over the summer, we found ourselves reflecting on the law class every graduate student in a Student Affairs program has to take. It was one of our favorite classes which is often not the case for most student affairs professionals. After our conversation, the idea of going to law school got into my head. I wanted to learn more and explore the possibility. I made a mental note to follow up with Susan about it. I never got to send that email, though. Instead, a few days later, there in my inbox was an email from Susan inviting me to one of her law classes in the fall. Without that email, I don’t think I would have picked up that LSAT study guide or visited that civil procedures class or logged onto the UMB’s law school website and signed up for an admissions day visit.

Susan crossing the finish line of her first Half Ironman with a cowboy hat from Linsey Corbin!

At this point in popular culture, almost all of us have heard about Sheryl Sandberg’s Lean In. I’ll be honest and say, I only got through parts of the book, but my take away is similar to my experience in high school: lean in at the expense of other women and fight for those few coveted positions at the top. To counteract this idea, I spend a lot of time thinking about how women can lean over for each other and themselves. How can we change the culture in a way that we’re all benefiting and moving forward rather than just a few of us racing to the top?

Susan exemplifies ways in which we can all lean over for each other. Susan never confirmed my doubts that I wouldn’t be able to handle law school. Rather she pulled me aside invited me to lunch and said you can do it too. She’s challenged the way I’ve been socialized to expect that other women are going to treat me crappy, gossip about me, or make sure I know that I won’t ever be able to great as them. She leaned over and assured me that making space for me to pursue my own talents and create my own dreams, wouldn’t diminish her own. Susan encouraged me to set needs new heights for myself and that’s why she is one of UMBC’s Women Who Rock!

Who are the UMBC women in your life that inspire you to think outside your expectations and assumptions? What are the counter narrative stories they’re sharing with us allowing UMBC and our greater community to be more of exactly who we want to be? Comment below and maybe you’ll just find them featured in a future UMBC Women Who Rock post.

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Check out other UMBC Women Who Rock:
Amanda Knapp (featured August 2014)