April is Sexual Assault Awareness Month, and the Women’s Center is hosting its fifth consecutive Take Back The Night (TBTN) on Thursday, April 13th. Over the years, we’ve had a lot of questions about what Take Back the Night exactly is, why it looks the way it does, and how students can get involved. To help get those questions answered this year, we’ve doing a “What You Need to Know” series focused on TBTN so stay tuned for more posts over the next couple of weeks. This is the fifth post in the series and it focuses on the last part of Take Back the Night which is craftivism and community building.

Hearing and sharing survivors’ stories of sexual violence can be empowering, challenging, and emotional. We know that people process their feelings in different ways, and so following survivor speak out and march, the event continues with Craftivism on Main Street. This portion of the program is intended to provide space for reflection, creative expression, and community building.

When the marchers return to Main Street, there will be tables set up with art supplies for anyone wishing to contribute to one of the community craft projects we’ll have available: the FORCE Monument Quilt, the Clothesline Project, and the Dear Survivor scrapbook. We also encourage attendees to check out the resource tables to learn more about various campus and community organizations and services.

A volunteer from FORCE will be present to assist anyone interested in making a quilt square for the Monument Quilt. The Monument Quilt is a crowd-sourced collection of testimonials from survivors of sexual violence, as well as their allies. This national project will eventually blanket the National Mall with the phrase Not Alone. The quilt is a way to demand public space to heal, and create a new culture where survivors are publicly supported, rather than publicly shamed.

A community member works on a Monument Quilt square.

All are welcome to add a page to our Dear Survivor scrapbook, which features messages of hope, healing, and solidarity from survivors and allies who have attended TBTN in past years. The scrapbook can be found in the Women’s Center lounge.

The Dear Survivor scrapbook offers messages of healing and solidarity.

Materials for the Clothesline Project will be available for survivors who would like to give voice to their experience by decorating a shirt that will be displayed during Sexual Assault Awareness Month. Every April, these shirts are hung shoulder-to-shoulder on a clothesline on Main Street to give public testimony to the problems of sexual and gender-based violence. Please note that while allies are invited to participate in the Monument Quilt and Dear Survivor scrapbook, the Clothesline Project is intended for those who identify as survivors.

TBTN attendees decorate T-shirts for the Clothesline Project.

For those who prefer a quieter space for reflection, there will be a self-care station set up in the commuter lounge available during the survivor speak out and the rest of the evening. There will be tissues, stress balls, coloring supplies, and other resources for self-care. The station also provides a more private space where attendees can speak with one of the counselors on call, if needed.

Tissues, coloring, and other self-care resources will be available in the self-care station during and after the speak out.

For more information about UMBC’s TBTN (check out Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter too by searching the hashtag #UMBCTBTN):

• Stop by the Women’s Center on April 11, 12, and 13th to make a rally sign for the march
• Attend the Monument Quilt-Making Workshop on Wednesday, April 19th from 4–6pm in the Women’s Center
• A blog post about UMBC’s 2005 TBTN march written by alum, Dr. Grollman.
• The Women’s Center 2016 TBTN roundup
• A BreakingGround post about how the 2013 TBTN came to be – Our Own ‘Take Back the Night’

"Baltimore City Teaching Residency recruit candidates without a background in education to become an effective teacher for the students who need them the most. This year in Baltimore, we have a shortage of Special Education and Science teachers.

Baltimore City students need and deserve creative teachers to share the wonders of Biology or Chemistry. And those students with additional learning needs could benefit greatly from the fresh-thinking and experience your school has already provided. 

Baltimore City Teaching Residency trains accomplished professionals and recent college graduates to become exceptional, certified teachers for the Baltimore students who need them most. Only twelve credit hours in Biology or Chemistry (or related coursework) are needed to qualify.

ELIGIBILITY REQUIREMENTS FOR TEACHING SCIENCE

Most enrollees who enter into the Special Education program have little to no prior background in Special Education. As a Baltimore Special Education Resident you would be dual certified, which makes you a valuable prospect for hiring Principals and doubles your future teaching options.

Special Education Residents benefit from a range of choices in classroom settings. Most BCTR Residents teach students with mild-to-moderate disabilities. In fact, students are learning the same content as their grade-level peers in a general education setting. You may work with a co-teacher, have a small group of students, or a combination of these settings.

SPECIAL EDUCATION FAQ

Teaching Special Education = specialized training + highest need + infinite reward.

Our final deadline is April 17.  Finish your application today!"

Once again, the time has come for our Entrepreneur Panel, next week Wednesday, April 12 from 19 - 1 pm, in University Center 312. We have three amazing people who will be coming to talk about their adventures as entrepreneurs, so bring questions! We can't wait to see you!

Alex Chizhik ‘97, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, VIMRO, LLC--University of Baltimore, School of Law, J.D.; University of Maryland, Baltimore County, B.A., Economics, Double Minor, Finance and International Affairs

A simple telephone call in 2005 from a friend asking for advice led Alex to joining his friend’s startup as a Partner and Employee #2. 12 years later, as the company grew from 2 people to 50, and over $10M in revenue, Alex says he can’t imagine doing anything else. VIMRO provides professional services in the IT infrastructure space working within datacenters and wide and local area commercial networks.

Rob Deford ‘93, Owner and President, Boordy Vineyards-- Loyola University, MBA; University of Maryland, Baltimore County, B.A., Geography

Rob Deford is a twelfth generation Marylander with over forty years of experience in the wine industry. He studied viticulture and enology at the University of California at Davis from 1979–1980. Upon returning to Maryland, Rob assumed the role of president and winemaker of Maryland’s historic Boordy Vineyards. Under Rob’s guidance Boordy has gained a reputation as a leader in the regional wine movement in the mid-Atlantic, through one of the most exciting and challenging periods for the American wine industry.

Kara Redman, CEO, Backroom

Kara is an ex-full service agency strategist who needed a better way to do great work. So she founded Backroom in 2014, where they use deliberate process to build brands and web technology that empowers the visionary people who work with them to go out and do big things. She believes that how they get there is just as important as where they end up, and the best products come from intimate collaboration with clients and constant iteration. At Backroom, they help companies with real substance live up to their potential, and build incredible relationships in the process.

Co-Sponsored by the UMBC Career Center

Once again, the time has come for our Entrepreneur Panel, next week Wednesday, April 12 from 19 - 1 pm, in University Center 312. We have three amazing people who will be coming to talk about their adventures as entrepreneurs, so bring questions! We can't wait to see you!

Alex Chizhik ‘97, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel, VIMRO, LLC--University of Baltimore, School of Law, J.D.; University of Maryland, Baltimore County, B.A., Economics, Double Minor, Finance and International Affairs

A simple telephone call in 2005 from a friend asking for advice led Alex to joining his friend’s startup as a Partner and Employee #2. 12 years later, as the company grew from 2 people to 50, and over $10M in revenue, Alex says he can’t imagine doing anything else. VIMRO provides professional services in the IT infrastructure space working within datacenters and wide and local area commercial networks.

Rob Deford ‘93, Owner and President, Boordy Vineyards-- Loyola University, MBA; University of Maryland, Baltimore County, B.A., Geography

Rob Deford is a twelfth generation Marylander with over forty years of experience in the wine industry. He studied viticulture and enology at the University of California at Davis from 1979–1980. Upon returning to Maryland, Rob assumed the role of president and winemaker of Maryland’s historic Boordy Vineyards. Under Rob’s guidance Boordy has gained a reputation as a leader in the regional wine movement in the mid-Atlantic, through one of the most exciting and challenging periods for the American wine industry.

Kara Redman, CEO, Backroom

Kara is an ex-full service agency strategist who needed a better way to do great work. So she founded Backroom in 2014, where they use deliberate process to build brands and web technology that empowers the visionary people who work with them to go out and do big things. She believes that how they get there is just as important as where they end up, and the best products come from intimate collaboration with clients and constant iteration. At Backroom, they help companies with real substance live up to their potential, and build incredible relationships in the process.

Co-Sponsored by the UMBC Career Center

We are proud to announce that we have just launched a brand new academic advising website that will serve as a resource tool for current and future undergraduate students who are interested in majors, minors, or certificate programs within our College. 

Students that utilize this resource will be able to access information about who to contact for academic advisement, semester dates/deadlines, tips for academic success, and a host of other student support services available to them. 

We strongly encourage all of our students to visit our page and meet with their advisor regularly to stay informed about new student opportunities, on-campus student resources, and academic progress towards successful degree completion.

Click here to explore the website! 

Before Jesus talks about taking up our cross daily, he says that a disciple must deny his/herself. When Jesus calls for the denying of oneself, He is not referring to a greater self-discipline or denying oneself likings like chocolate or the new iPhone. Rather, when Jesus uses the word ‘deny,’ it is the same word that he used when he informed Peter that he will deny him three times. The understanding of the word ‘deny’ in this sense, it is to disown, to completely separate yourself from the other—just as Peter said to Jesus: I don’t know you, I’m not associated with you, you have no part with me and my life. Therefore, when Jesus is saying that we are to deny ourselves and follow Him, he is calling us to say to ourselves: I don’t know you, I’m not associated with you, I have no part with you any longer. Therefore, to deny ourselves, is to disown our old selfish ways and preferences, and instead follow God’s way.

Today, let’s apply the word ‘deny’ to our old ways as we live the life of discipleship

-GK