Growing up, Zainab Alkebsi ’09, political science, always knew she wanted to become a lawyer. The daughter of Yemeni immigrants, Alkebsi is the first in her family to attend law school, as well as the only deaf member of her family.

As an attorney, Alkebsi hoped she could help break down barriers to accessibility for the deaf and hard of hearing community. Now, as policy counsel for the National Association for the Deaf (NAD), Alkebsi does just that. In her role with NAD, Alkebsi interfaces with government agencies, Congress, coalitions, media, and businesses on all issues affecting the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Alkebsi will receive the UMBC Rising Star award at the UMBC Alumni Awards ceremony on October 4.

Advocating for full access for deaf and hard of hearing people across all walks of life, Alkebsi reflects on her greatest professional success – and challenge – with pride. After seven months of grueling negotiation with major airlines for captioning access in flight, Alkebsi reached consensus with the airlines for 100% captioning. “On my next flight,” says Alkebsi, “I saw captioning on in-flight entertainment for the first time. I had goosebumps!”

The Sondheim Scholars Program, along with the small-campus feel, drew Alkebsi to UMBC for her undergraduate coursework. After graduating from UMBC, Alkebsi attended the University of Baltimore School of Law, where she was a policy intern for the Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing and volunteer Rule 16 student attorney for the Innocence Project Clinic.

After receiving a degree from the Baltimore School of Law, Alkebsi clerked for the Honorable Alexandra Williams before becoming Deputy Director of the Governor’s Office of the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. As deputy director, Alkebsi developed bills for introduction in Maryland’s legislative session, monitored state and federal legislation, conducted legal research analysis, and developed training presentations for law enforcement, hospitals, and other key agencies and organizations that interactive with the deaf and hard of hearing community.

Lending her advocacy efforts to current UMBC students, Alkebsi serves as a guest lecturer in a class focused on deaf community and culture. She also serves on the Board of Deaf VISA, which partners with UMBC’s Signs of Life ASL Club for deaf-friendly events on campus.

Born and raised in Washington, D.C., Alkebsi spends her free time supporting D.C. sports, reading historical non-fiction, and raising her 5-month-old daughter.

– Amy Dalrymple

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REGISTER TODAY: Join us Thursday, October 4, to celebrate these individuals at the Earl and Darielle Linehan Concert Hall.

See the full list of 2018 Alumni Award honorees here.

The Baltimore Sun recently published an article highlighting the volunteer efforts led by students in the Environmental Task Force, along with Larry Hennessyfrom Facilities Management. Read on below for some excerpts and follow this link for the full article! 

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-county/arbutus-lansdowne/ph-ca-at-umbc-trail-20180909-story.html 

The undergraduates... worked through a cold drizzle with the Environmental Task Force, a student group, to help clean UMBC’s Herbert Run Greenway, a 1.4-mile loop on the school’s campus.

The Herbert Run cleanup was part of UMBC’s Welcome Week Service Project, a campus tradition that aims to connect students with opportunities to help their local communities.

The greenway starts and finishes near the Commons Garage off Hilltop Circle and is open to the public. Like the rest of the Patapsco Valley, it is considered an “Important Bird Area” by the Audubon Society.

Much of the greenway is wooded. After passing under Hilltop Circle, a visitor would walk through a field and behind UMBC’s stadium, almost reaching Shelbourne Road, before reaching the school’s Conservation & Environmental Research Area.

The greenway is home to 76 species of birds, according to its website, including robins, kingfishers, bluebirds and ducks.

Eakes, a sophomore majoring in global studies and environmental science, said the band of student volunteers taking part in the Sept. 8 cleanup collected 149 pounds of garbage and recyclables.

After collecting trash and learning about invasive species that have cropped up around UMBC, the volunteers reconvened near the start of the greenway to clear some overgrowth and split into groups to plant two native plants: black-eyed Susans and a redosier dogwood tree.

The plants were purchased and donated by Larry Hennessey, associate director of UMBC’s facilities management department... Hennessey said planting trees on campus that will outlive a student’s tenure at UMBC gives them something they “can look back to” and could prove “inspirational” for environmentally minded students.

UMBC’s Environmental Task Force holds weekly stream cleanups on campus, with students deciding where to work each week based on what they see during the week, Eakes said.

“It’s really meaningful, the fact that you can see your efforts, like you go in and you see this litter, but then you leave and it’s cleaner and greener,” Eakes said. “It just shows that it does make a difference, what we do is important.”

The end is in sight! If you've earned 90 or more academic credits, you received a message from the Registrar's Office informing you that you are eligible to apply for graduation.

However, eligibility is only the start of the graduation application process. Below are four simple steps you can take now to ensure that you’ll soon be shaking hands with Dr. Hrabowski as you receive your UMBC diploma.

Note: Even if you do not plan to attend the commencement ceremony, you still need to apply to graduate in order to earn your degree.

Step 1: Apply for Graduation!

Saturday, September 15^th is the last day undergraduates can apply for December Graduation.

Only those students who have every single requirement needed for degree completion on their fall semester schedules will be permitted to participate in the Commencement ceremony.

If you are taking a course at another institution that you plan to transfer, you must have an approved Verification of Transferability formon file with the Registrar’s Office and be prepared to submit a copy of your schedule.

Step 2: Embrace your degree audit!

Your degree audit indicates your progress toward degree completion. If you see “unsatisfied” items, these are requirements that appear to be missing and need to be addressed immediately. Your degree audit is located on myUMBC, under the guide link “Advising and Student Support.”

Makesure any substitutions or waivers of major requirements are documented in your degree audit; you may need to submit a Help/RT ticket to the Registrar’s Office to add these notations to your record.

Step 3: Wrap up any outstanding details ASAP!

If you have Advanced Placement or CLEP scores, transfer transcripts, foreign language waivers, or other items you need to provide to UMBC, delay no longer!  If the major, minor, or certificate program on your record is out of date, or if you have additional majors or minors that you need to remove, submit a new Declaration of Major form.  Any of these items could prevent you from being able to graduate.

Step 4: Let the celebration begin!

Participating in the commencement ceremony* and other celebratory activities on campus is the culmination of all of your hard work. Take time to recognize all it took to get you to this moment and be proud of your accomplishments!

Finally, use this link to check your Honors eligibility, which will be recognized at the ceremony and on your diploma.