In November 2021, the University of Maryland, Baltimore (UMB) community and guests gathered for the inauguration of Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS, as the seventh president of UMB. Dr. Jarrell stepped into this role in 2020 amidst the COVID-19 pandemic, guiding critical efforts to address this global health crisis with world-changing vaccine research, treatments, community service and outreach, and leadership across the state and beyond.

Under Jarrell’s leadership, UMB remains one of Baltimore’s most powerful anchor institutions and continues to effect real and lasting change by improving health, creating wealth, and advancing social justice in the city, the state, and around the world. This is particularly true in today’s COVID-19 climate.

 

Central to President Jarrell’s vision is that UMB expand on its success by motivating students, faculty, and staff to embrace the university’s core values, which are rooted in service, a commitment to Maryland, and ultimately improving the world. UMB inspires passionate people to apply solutions to the pressing problems facing humankind, and its health care, human services, and law professionals create innovative solutions where others see only problems.

“When I look at UMB, I see an environment that encourages innovation and creativity,” Jarrell says. “I’m surrounded by students and employees who are committed to improving the health and well-being of the people in our community and around the state. That is the magic of UMB, and it’s the secret to our great success.”

 

To maintain UMB’s standing as Maryland’s premier human services institution, these are President Jarrell’s priorities:

• Commitment to excellence in education. UMB works to attract, retain, and educate the best and brightest scholars, staff, and faculty through efforts such as the President’s Initiative on Education, scholarship programs that create opportunities for more students, and by remaining an employer of choice.

• Commitment to working for equity and justice. UMB accepts the responsibility to help improve the health and well-being of underserved populations in Maryland by expanding access in areas of need across the state, supporting our Community Engagement Center, and fostering educational programs to support opportunity and advancement for disadvantaged communities.

• Commitment to statewide collaborations. UMB is maintaining and growing its strong partnership with the University of Maryland Medical System, sustaining and propelling innovation through its collaboration with the University of Maryland, College Park under the MPowering the State initiative, and expanding relationships with other key institutions across Maryland.

• Commitment to innovation and discovery. UMB is preparing for the future with a strong focus on innovation and discovery. The university is expanding its $682 million research enterprise, strengthening its community-based research activities, and developing more interdisciplinary research programs and projects.

Through these efforts, UMB achieves its mission to improve the human condition and serve the public good of Maryland and society at large through education, research, clinical care, and service. Amidst unprecedented challenges in today’s world, UMB is evolving and developing critical innovations toward changing the future today.

 

UMB is Maryland’s public health, law, and human services university, a leading U.S. institution for graduate and professional education, and a prominent academic health center that combines cutting-edge biomedical research and exceptional clinical care.

The university enrolls more than 7,200 students in six nationally ranked professional schools and its interdisciplinary Graduate School, conferring most of the professional practice doctoral degrees awarded in Maryland each year. Serving as a powerhouse economic engine for Maryland, UMB delivers care and services that spur growth, and, in partnership with the University of Maryland Medical Center and affiliated physician practices, the university stimulates nearly $8 billion in economic activity each year, generating 17,000 jobs and yielding $13 in economic activity for each $1 of state general fund appropriation.

UMB provides direct health, employment, legal, educational, and social services to underserved communities and impacts the future by addressing the needs of the most vulnerable populations and fostering the next generation of leaders in innovation, discovery, outreach, and economic impact.

To learn more about UMB, visit www.umaryland.edu.

Two months after Maryland football player Jordan McNair died and only a few days after more details emerged about the circumstances, University of Maryland president Wallace Loh took to a podium in College Park on Tuesday and said the school accepted “legal and moral responsibility” for McNair’s death.

The 19-year-old redshirt freshman from Randallstown, who also played at McDonogh, passed away June 13 at the university’s shock trauma center in Baltimore, two weeks after suffering heatstroke during a football team workout, according to his family.

Questions have swirled since—mainly how and why?

And an ESPN report Friday, citing former staffers and current and former players, pointed to a “toxic culture” at Maryland under third-year coach D.J. Durkin—and particularly mental and physical abuse by strength and conditioning coach Rick Court. Court resigned on Monday.

Meanwhile, Durkin has been put on leave along with members of the Terps’ training staff pending the results of an external investigation due to be completed by mid-September.

The full picture of what exactly happened during and after the May 29 workout is now only known to those who were there on the partly cloudy 80-degree late afternoon. But Loh was confident enough to share straightforwardly on Tuesday that trainers “basically misdiagnosed the situation,” in which the 6-foot-4, 325-pound McNair became exhausted during a series of 110-yard conditioning sprints.

No vital signs were taken, nor was McNair treated with cold water immersion, a standard best practice in heat illness treatment, Maryland athletic director Damon Evans said during his remarks following Loh’s.

After the outdoor workout, McNair had been first transported to the team’s practice facility. An hour later, after 911 was called, he was then airlifted to Maryland Shock Trauma, where the lawyers representing the family say he was admitted with a 106-degree fever. McNair later received a liver transplant in an effort to save his life.

He is survived by his parents, Marty McNair and Tonya Wilson, who last month launched a foundation in their son’s name, aimed at educating the athletic community about heat-related illness.

“Our plans did not include his death. Our plans included something more. Our plans included him,” Marty McNair wrote in a letter posted on the foundation’s website, which describes Jordan, who also played basketball as a kid, as “a quiet spirit, whose size never went unnoticed in any room, but whose spirit took up the entire room.”

Loh and Evans traveled to Baltimore on Tuesday to share culpability in his death.

“The university owes you an apology,” Loh said, and he told the media Tuesday, “The university accepts legal and moral responsibility for the mistakes that our training staff made on that fateful workout day.”

As for the circumstances, anyone who’s played in or watched an organized football practice knows grueling workouts and stern coaches can be a regular occurrence. The ESPN report, however, described a culture of excess intimidation where belittling and embarrassment has been common, including one player having had a meal slapped out of his hands and demeaning verbal abuse, for instance.

One unnamed current player said after the team opened preseason training camp on August 3, the attitude of the coaching staff in practice had returned as if “nothing’s really changed” after McNair’s death. “Have these guys learned their lesson?”

“You can motivate people, push them to the limit, without engaging in bullying behavior,” Loh said.

Asked how much responsibility falls on Durkin, who had described Court as “his most important hire” upon taking over the Maryland program in 2016, Evans said, “We have to take a look at that.” And he cited the external review being done by Rod Walters, a university-hired, longtime athletic trainer.

Let’s not forget this is a state public university, one which joined the Big Ten conference in 2014 in an effort to boost its revenue and profile, with football as the central vehicle.

Durkin is a disciple of Michigan coach Jim Harbaugh (Ravens coach John’s brother). He was a splashy hire, made following the departure of Randy Edsall, who former players have similarly criticized for leading a poor culture.

Edsall was the coach who offered McNair a scholarship out of McDonogh, and athletic trainer Wes Robinson and director of athletic training Steve Nordwall, reportedly the trainers placed on leave, worked under Edsall during his tenure in College Park. Court arrived with Durkin.

Court reportedly will receive $315,000 as part of his dismissal, and a large settlement figures to be headed to the McNair family, whose lawyers had previously planned to pursue either a state or federal lawsuit.

“You entrusted Jordan to our care and he is never returning home again,” Loh said he told McNair’s parents. “I’m committed to doing the right thing, but nothing that we do can bring closure to their enormous loss.”

“While Marty and Tonya will never get another day with Jordan,” said Hassan Murphy, a managing partner at the law firm of Murphy, Falcon & Murphy, which represented the family of Freddie Gray after his death in police custody. “Dr. Loh’s words were meaningful to them and give them some comfort that he will put the university on the path to change the culture of the program so that no Terrapin family will have to endure the heartache and grief that they feel.”

Though they may not get as much court time or mentions on the highlight reel, two Baltimore natives are making a big impact on the men’s and women’s Terps basketball teams. Senior forward Jonathan Graham and redshirt freshman forward A’Lexus Harrison both bring energy, teamwork, and defensive ability to their squads as they prepare for the NCAA Tournament.

Graham, a Catonsville native and Calvert Hall alum, is following in the footsteps of his father, Ernie Graham, who was a Terps great that also wore No. 25, a jersey that now resides in the rafters of Xfinity Center in College Park. “The more I kept hearing about his story, watching him in the early years, it really inspired me,” Graham says. “The original mission I had when I was 10 years old was to go to Maryland and break his scoring record.”

Similarly, Harrison knew from a young age that Maryland was her dream school. “When I was 12, we came to a game,” she recalls. “The intros were about to start, the lights went out, and the fight song was playing. It was mesmerizing to me. I looked up at my mom and told her I was going to play here one day.”

Of course, between the dream and reality was a lot of hard work for Graham and Harrison, would pushed themselves to the limit in high school.

“We recognized his potential right away,” Calvert Hall head basketball coach John Bauersfeld says of Graham. “He played varsity as a freshman and, by sophomore year, his numbers were tremendous. After that, he did such a good job of buying into the team player part of it, whether he was cheering on the bench or bettering himself as a defender.”

“In high school, I really learned that it wasn’t about one guy,” Graham says. “And Coach taught me how to be a good defender because I wasn’t when I got there.”

For Harrison’s part, it came down to inherent confidence and early-morning motivation. Digital Harbor head coach Patrick McDonald would pick her up at her Lansdowne home for 6 a.m. practice.

“I wouldn’t knock or blow my horn,” McDonald says. “I would flash my lights so she had to be ready and waiting. She never missed a morning practice for two years. She brought that energy to her play. She has a terrific motor and could sprint down the court so fast it made your jaw drop. She plays relentless basketball.”

Her relentless style helped Harrison lead the Digital Harbor Rams to a title her senior year and Maryland came knocking. But a setback came her true freshman year when she got appendicitis and had to sit out.

“That was a big step back for me,” she says. “But I also got a year to just learn and adjust, to both college life and a faster, more physical college game.”

Graham’s basketball career also took an unorthodox path, as he played for Penn State for two years before transferring to Maryland to be with his family while his dad was going through surgeries.

“My dad isn’t the most patient guy in the world,” Graham says with a laugh. “So I wanted to help my mom out. Plus, we always dreamed about me possibly coming to Maryland.”

Now, Graham is living out that dream with successful performances like a career-high 16 points and six rebounds against his former team Penn State in February. And, now he’s looking to prepare for the men’s basketball team’s first NCAA tournament bid in five years. The team was seeded a controversial fourth and also in a tough region with Kentucky and Kansas.

“We’re definitely going in with a chip on our shoulder,” he says. “The team’s been great about that all year—playing with something to prove. We ended up second in the Big 10 behind a really good Wisconsin team. A lot of things people thought wouldn’t happen, we’ve made happen. I’m really excited for our first game against a really good Valpo [Valparaiso] team. The elephant in the room is that Kentucky is in the region, but we’re not looking too far down that road yet.”

The women’s team has had an incredible year, going practically undefeated and winning the Big 10 Championship, despite losing last year’s star player Alyssa Thomas to the WNBA. Unlike the men, they’re extremely happy with their No. 1 seed, which Harrison attributes to successful team chemistry.

“We’re more than a team; we’re sisters,” she says. “As a whole, we’re so excited for the tournament. For me, I’ve been through it, but never been able to play before. I’ve worked all year to prepare myself for this moment. And now we have a big target on our backs. Every team wants to send Maryland home.”

On the court, Graham and Harrison’s play styles are similar, with strong defense and impressive rebounds. Off the court, they both say they want to work with young children and motivate them the same way they were inspired by their parents and coaches like Bauersfeld and McDonald.

“With Maryland being close to my heart,” Graham says. “I have a little extra motivation to bring Maryland back where it belongs—to the NCAA Championship.”

Catch Graham and the men’s squad play at 4:40 p.m. on Friday on TNT and Harrison and the women’s team on Saturday at 1:30 p.m. on ESPN2.