The Women’s Center at UMBC turns 25 this year! We’re excited to share our important milestone with UMBC’s 50th Anniversary and will be celebrating throughout the year with the rest of campus! We were inspired by Special Collections archival project Archives Gold: 50 Objects for UMBC’s 50th and decided to do our own digging into the Women’s Center archives. Over the course of the year, we’ll be sharing 25 “Then vs Now” archives to celebrate the origin and evolution of the Women’s Center at UMBC.

This week we’re featuring the history of the Women’s Center event and programming tabling and outreach!

An important part of the Women’s Center vision has been education and outreach. Since our opening in 1991, the Women’s center has continually been dedicated to campus and community outreach and providing resources related to women’s issues, social justice, and feminism to the UMBC community.

One of the earliest Clothesline Project displays in 1998 at the UC Plaza

Women’s Center community members tabling at the 1998 Clothesline Project display

Today, the Women’s Center tables at numerous events throughout the academic year. Both student and professional staff take time out of their day to help inform UMBC community members about campus, the Women’s Center and community resources. We also table for special days like National Coming Out Day and critical initiatives such as the Telling Our Stories Project. Next time you see us tabling, be sure to stop by, say hi and check out our resources!!

Women’s Center community member Jahia tabling at the 2016 Telling Our Stories Showcase

Former Women’s Center Director Dr. Mollie Monahan-Kreishman, Administrative Assistant, Eryl Pettit and Student Staff Mahnoor Siddiqui tabling on Mainstreet back in 2010!

Celebrating National Coming Out Day at our 2015 NCOD tabling event with Women’s Center Staff member, Kayla Smith!

Student Staff, Michael, and WC community member, Deja, at the 2017 Lovapalooza

What are the memories you have of the Women’s Center over the years that are meaningful to you? What does the Women’s Center mean to you today? Share your memories and pictures with us in the comment section below!

Stay up-to-date with our 25th anniversary on social media using #UMBCWC25. Share your Women’s Center experiences and memories with the UMBC community using #UMBCWC25 AND #UMBC50!

Every April, the Office of Alumni Relations is proud to participate in UMBC’s Career Month programming. From our signature Sweeten Up Your Network event to alumni-led panels on subjects ranging from work-life balance to the graduate and professional school experience, we provide opportunities for alumni to reconnect to campus and share their experience and expertise with students looking to get a leg up in their post-graduate lives. This year, over 50 alumni volunteered, and we reached out to some of them to get their take on the experience.

Emily Brown ’14, computer science, returned to campus for Sweeten Up Your Network and our panels on Balancing Expectations and Affinity Groups. She says that UMBC’s 50th anniversary celebration last fall inspired her to get involved on campus in ways that she hadn’t been as a student.

“As a CWIT [Center for Women in Technology] scholars, I didn’t participate much in the Career Center’s programs [as an undergrad], and wanted to enhance the experience for non-scholar students by giving the same level of alumni volunteer attention to their activities,” says Brown.

Brown, who works as a cyber systems engineer for the Johns Hopkins Applied Physics Laboratory, also says she gained valuable insights from the stories and experiences of her fellow panelists. “In both cases, learning the similarities and differences between where I work and where the other alums were working was [enlightening] to me, and hopefully to the students as well.”

Shelley Bailey ’09, mathematics, and M.A. ’10, economic policy analysis, agrees. Bailey, who works for the Social Security Administration, participated in a panel on “What I Wish I Knew in College.” She says that the panel’s diversity regarding age, background, and experience made for a thought-provoking discussion between the alumni and students.

“Common threads running through panelist recommendations [emphasized] students opening their minds to potential opportunities, taking initiative to gain new experiences, and building relationships,” says Bailey. It was an especially good opportunity for her, she says, because “I am passionate about helping those who are trying to find their way in the world through furthering their education and pursuing work experiences.”

Students also had the chance to hear from alumni who have gone into business for themselves, as an April 19 panel sponsored by the Alex. Brown Center for Entrepreneurship brought Alex Chizhik ’97, economics, COO and general counsel of VIMRO and Rob Deford ’93, geography, owner and president of Boordy Vineyards, back to campus.

The two alumni, along with fellow panelist Kara Redman, CEO of Backroom, offered candid insights into starting and growing one’s own enterprise. “Unless your business plan is to win the lottery, nothing comes easy,” cautioned Chizhik, but all the panelists agreed that the work of building a business was a reward in and of itself.

Deford, who operates Maryland’s oldest winery, emphasized careful planning, and urged students to take stock of their personal circumstances when deciding whether or not to start a business. He also said that a focus on product quality, sustainability, and community responsibility can take a business far: young entrepreneurs, he said, can “do well by doing good.”

— Julia Celtnieks ’13

Want to learn more about our alumni volunteer opportunities? We’d love to welcome you back! Click here for details on how to get involved.

Towson University, History

Mark 12:41-44 - “Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury. Many rich people threw in large amounts. But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ’Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on.’”

The passage says that many rich people threw in large amounts of offering.

Now, the reason this passage says ‘threw’ is because the offering box was a trumpet-shaped receptacle, and once a large amount of money was thrown in (coin currency), a loud noise would be made by the dropping of the money. In contrast, the poor widow comes with two very small copper coins which made no noise. These copper coins were known as a lepta-the smallest coin currency of that time. The temple law actually prohibited any giving that was below two leptas, hence her giving of the two copper coins was the absolute minimum that one could give.

In the passage it says that she didn’t throw her offering, rather she ‘put’ in the coins-hence no noise coming out of the trumpet-shaped boxes.

Now by this simple observation, if offering time was about the amount of money, then the rich who gave large amounts are more significant, while the widow’s giving was insignificant.  As in what difference would two pennies make when others are giving tens of thousands?  Why even bother giving it? However, this is how Jesus evaluates and shows how He views offering: “Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others. They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything-all she had to live on.”

It is important to note that Jesus is not condemning the giving of the rich per-se, but rather He is elevating and validating the giving of the poor widow. Meaning, each of our offering matters to the Lord!  It is not about how wealthy we are-for we are all in different stages in life.  Some of us get paid to do our work, while some of us have to pay in order to work. Some of us tithe our paychecks, while the children tithe their allowance. However, the point is that each of us are able to and should participate in the time of offering, for the Lord welcomes/accepts our worship/offering.  Let’s remember that the grace that we receive during offering is that we would know the fear of the Lord-that it all comes from the Him, and that we are His treasured possession!

Today, let’s begin to prepare our hearts for the time of offering this coming Sunday.  As you prepare your offering in prayer, come joyfully knowing that the Lord accepts our offering.

-GK