After the confusion and rescheduling of Involvement Fest, which was delayed for one week due to inclement weather and moved to the RAC, many students have been requesting more involvement events on campus. Many students were unaware that Involvement Fest had been rescheduled and its location changed; some missed it entirely.

Students have expressed disappointment that there was only one such event that they might not have been able to attend. Involvement Fest is, after all, an event for students to meet, interact with and learn more about student organizations and clubs. The less there are, the less people will be involved in clubs. Unfortunately, this also means that clubs will lack members.

According to Mitchell Richards, a second-year engineering major, “It [is] bad for clubs because they would lose members. And it [is] bad for students to miss out on lots of clubs and enjoyment.” If more involvement events are not introduced at UMBC, then both the students and the student organizations will suffer.

With the semester workload already piling up, students need to relax and have fun in between homework and exams. A diverse range of organizations are an excellent reprieve for them. Currently not involved in any clubs himself, Richards suggests, “Maybe if there were more [Involvement events] I would attend.” This points to a missed opportunity; with a lack of events to raise awareness and garner excitement comes a lack of motivation for students to become involved.

Nathan Shifflett, a second-year English major and member of Comic Book Club, agrees. He explains, “If you want people to be more involved in these things, then you need more of them.”

Shifflett has been a member of Comic Book Club for a year and has made many friends through the group. He talks about how more students would be aware of these clubs if they were given advertisements for them. More involvement events would be the perfect opportunity for students to receive those ads.

Unfortunately, without these incentives, students will miss out on great experiences to make new friends, socialize, relax and have fun. Without enough involvement events, some groups go under the radar entirely. For example, neither Richards nor Shifflett had any idea that there were over 270 student organizations on campus, or that the Ice Hockey Club was one of them.

Clubs at UMBC cover a wide variety of interests. With the multitude of groups available, there is something for everyone to enjoy, but it is often a matter of connecting the right group with interested students. Comic book enthusiasts like Shifflett would not be able to share their interests with like-minded folks if not for events like Involvement Fest. The university needs to hold more of these events so that the maximum number of students can find the group that is a perfect fit for them.

The New York Times faced both criticism and praise after publishing an anonymous Op-Ed titled, “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration,” written by an anonymous senior Trump official.

The essay is a short declaration concerning the questionable actions of President Donald Trump in private and public, while the writer maintains their party loyalty. The author also describes how many in the administration are concerned with the erratic and emotional decision-making behind closed doors.

The resounding question on the minds of Democrats, Republicans and private citizens alike is if the writer should have revealed their identity and made a public stand. Many wonder whether the anonymous Op-Ed was an appropriate move by the New York Times given that they have rarely allowed anonymous articles throughout their publication history.

The statement made by the piece would have been far more powerful if the senior official who authored it instead publicly announced their disapproval of Trump. While such a public declaration would have been ideal, the Op-Ed was well within the rights of the author and the New York Times. However, this has not stopped President Trump from imploring the Justice Department to conduct an investigation into who wrote the piece.

Currently, only the page editor, Op-Ed editor and publisher know the identity of the author. This may change if there is a successful plea to the Justice Department to investigate the author. This is unlikely, though, as the Op-Ed did not reveal any classified information.

Erin Echols is a junior health administrations and public policy double major who believes, if the occasion ever calls for it, “the New York Times should not comply with the investigation to preserve the integrity of their journalism and their writers.”

Freedom of the press is an invaluable aspect of the Bill of Rights, and the capacity for reporters to promise anonymity to their sources is necessary in order to maintain the ability for the press to do their job, reporting to the public.

Like many, Echols feels that, “it is [not] necessary for the writer to have to come out of the shadows. They have a right to express their opposition to a presidency they don’t agree with.”

While they certainly have this right, the author of the piece would have done better to make the brave decision and write their actual name on the document in a show of solidarity to the public and the issues plaguing this administration.

If the silent rebellion within the White House is as pervasive as the Op-Ed claims, the author could have made a greater impact by coming out publicly with their grievances. Such courage would be all the more reassuring, and the consequences may not be all that damaging. If it is true that many people in the Republican party are working against Trump, including his own advisers, there would still be people at the White House ready to combat negative decisions if the author gets removed from their position.

Despite the newspaper’s long-held reputation, the author’s anonymity only mars the article in doubt. In the age of constant accusations of “fake news,” this essay is a bit less impactful when the author is unwilling to come forward and address issues in more detail.

Idealism is a lovely illusion. When you can reimagine the bad as good or the good as great, it can seem like there are no limits. I bumped into this phenomenon during my freshman year. While many students are uncertain about their direction when they enroll at UMBC, there are also those who know with certainty what they want to do — or at least they think they know. I fell squarely in the latter category.

Computer science was my calling. In my eyes it was about changing the world, about solving revolutionary problems to change how we function, be that through an app, new technology or software — I didn’t care. I simply wanted to make change. While the thought of helping others called to me, I would be remiss to not mention that my own ego — and the thought of fame — played a part.

Jump ahead to the end of the school year. I was a passionate freshman ready to help the University of Missouri on one of their research projects. However, it didn’t take long for the storm of enthusiasm, passion and eagerness to give way to utter dejection. Within the first week of research, I found myself miserably bored and resentful, hating coding and wanting to be doing anything else anywhere else.

My main fault was the idealistic view I had towards computer science and programming as a whole. Was this idealism a fun way of looking at life? Absolutely. There are few things more empowering than the belief that what you’re pursuing will make a real difference or propel you to fame and fortune. However, there are a few caveats.

While grandeur and greatness are achievable by all, the chances of such success occurring overnight are incredibly slim. And so, if you dream of greatness, you also have to dream about the mundane, mind-numbing and tedious grind of day-to-day routine and practice because that will be absolutely critical as well. It’s important to have a realistic view of what you’re getting yourself into.

After learning that lesson the hard way through my research freshman year, I have chosen to stick it out, tempering my expectations, shuffling aside my idealism. No longer is computer science my holy grail; it is simply a means to pay the bills. Some days it will be interesting, other days a drag. Is this ideal? Not in the slightest. But, it is the reality I have chosen to accept.

This is not a warning against following your heart — it is just the opposite. Follow your heart completely. Not just in words and thoughts, but in actions. But don’t follow blindly. You won’t figure out if your heart is lying to you without putting the rubber to the road. So pursue your supposed passions, but be ready to break away if all you find is resentment for what you thought you loved. Because if that realization comes later rather than sooner, you might be in for an unpleasant reality.

UMBC has long been known for its efforts to make diversity and intercultural communication a priority. In the fall of 2017, 4 percent of the students that were welcomed as Freshmen were international students. To increase cultural awareness, UMBC provides resources like the Study Abroad Office, which helps organize immersive experiences in foreign countries, and the Mosaic Center, a space dedicated to helping students understand other cultures.

At the heart of UMBC’s diversity are the student organizations that represent the various backgrounds of the student body. These organizations allow communities of people with shared histories and traditions to come together and celebrate their cultures while keeping them alive.

These organizations also allow opportunities for cultural appreciation year-round instead of having people’s history and culture be relegated to a single month of acknowledgement out of the entire year. Allowing students to not only accept their heritage but also to celebrate it and share it with people who are curious is an imperative part of university life.

Students should take the time to celebrate cultures and traditions with their peers, whether that means swinging by the Black Student Union fashion show, attending a talk the same group leads about police brutality or stopping in for the Spanish Film Club’s film festival. There are many opportunities to explore interests in other cultures on campus.

T Sanders, a junior media and communications studies major and vice president of Black Student Union, said, “We’re trying to become a more inclusive community where diversity doesn’t mean communities in pockets but where it means mixing and mingling and getting together. I think that the faces of UMBC value diversity but don’t know how to get to the ideal version of diversity in our dreams.”

“UMBC’s mission is to value all people as beautiful and worth it, and seeing different perspectives that we haven’t experienced ourselves can bring us closer to the ideal vision,” added Sanders. Her words highlighted the fact that people often see diversity as a variety of homogeneous communities existing in the same general location, whereas the goal should be to have actual cultural exchanges and interactions where communities merge and people are welcomed everywhere.

DeJia Long-Hillie, a junior global studies major and treasurer of Ishara: The Indian Classical Dance Team, echoed this sentiment, saying, “I support the idea of inclusion more than just diversity. The way I see it, diversity is having a bunch of people from different backgrounds in the same room, but inclusion is making sure that everybody in the room feels that they have a voice and feels included.”

Learning about other cultures increases our compassion as people and connects us to others across borders and barriers. Our society is becoming more global, with communication between nations and across continents taking only moments. If students want to contribute to our society today and in the future, it is important that they learn to appreciate other cultures and understand how to respectfully take part in cultural discussions.

University life is special because there are so many opportunities every day for students to expose themselves to new ideas, cultures, communities and experiences. Students who want to expand their worldview and gain new perspectives and understanding can start by stopping in for a meeting held by one of the cultural organizations on campus to learn something different.

Longtime UMBC men’s soccer coach Pete Caringi regularly refers to Retriever Soccer Park as “one of the best kept secrets on campus.” With all due respect to Caringi, it looks like the secret is out.

This past summer, NCAA.com named Retriever Soccer Park among the nine best stadiums in the country to watch an intercollegiate soccer game, which put UMBC on a list with such schools as Penn State, Texas A&M and University of South Carolina.

Retriever Soccer Park features a beautiful Bermuda grass playing surface and lights for night games, but those are just a couple reasons why the venue is special.

“We play at other schools, a lot of which have really nice stadiums, but the fans are far away from the field. Here, you’re so close to the action that you need to be careful because a ball may come up into the stands,” Caringi said. “It’s also unique because of the great support we get from our students and the many soccer fans in the Baltimore area.”

Indeed, the atmosphere gives Retriever Soccer Park its distinctiveness, and there’s no bigger reason for that than the Lot 17 supporter’s group.

Named after the parking lot where students convene before games, Lot 17 gives UMBC a homefield advantage that few other college soccer programs have. The group chants, waves flags and bangs on drums throughout games to support their team.

“Lot 17 is about creating a fun, vibrant atmosphere,” said Bradley Ingram ’18, media and communication studies,  one of the main leaders of Lot 17 before he graduated. “Everyone is full of energy and passion. There’s a really strong community element for us too – we’re not just supporting random players, but our fellow Retrievers.”

It’s a passion that’s thoroughly appreciated by UMBC’s soccer programs.

“Some of the kids we have were recruited by schools with bigger reputations, but they came to one of our games and wanted to play soccer in that environment,” Caringi said. “After games, the players always go over to the crowd to clap and show their appreciation. They love playing here.”

– Wick Eisenberg

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There’s still plenty of soccer season left! Learn more about upcoming games here.

Enjoy a soccer game during Homecoming

Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine.

During their annual gathering on campus this week, members of The 1966 Society (individuals who have included UMBC in their estate plans) gathered for a private tour of the exhibition, A Designed Life, lead by curator Peggy Re, associate professor, graphic design.  Also joining the group were Symmes Gardner, director of the Center for Art Design and Visual Culture, and Selene LaMarca, an undergraduate student who helped design the exhibit.  Following the tour, guests gathered for dinner to continue conversations inspired by the exhibition, which is on view through December 8.

Learn more about joining the 1966 Society

Header image: Peggy Re starts the tour. Photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC Magazine.