he phrase “the new normal” has been thrown around since the COVID-19 pandemic began, and as America struggles to define—and design—what that is exactly, colleges are paving the way for what it might look like.

After the chaos and uncertainty of 2020, colleges and universities throughout the Baltimore region began to find their groove as they moved into the 2021-2022 school year. Coronavirus safety committees had been erected, new mandates put in place, safety protocols implemented—everything from vaccine requirements to temperature checks to quarantine procedures and wastewater testing that can pinpoint a COVID infection before anyone is symptomatic.

By some counts, colleges may very well be the safest places to live and work.

“Just following simple rules of wearing face masks and social distancing, using wastewater management and testing when we need to, we have, in many ways, been able to return to normal life,” says Goucher College President Kent Devereaux. “Full athletics, student clubs, dining in the dining hall, use of the library—everything that you’d normally have, we’ve been able to return to.”

Despite the challenges and anxieties faced by students, staff, and faculty alike, some unexpected silver linings have emerged.

“It’s just incredible to watch how it’s grown into the vision that we, as a group of students, had.”

The widespread adoption of technology across college campuses has proven to provide more flexibility, efficiency, and innovation—and even accessibility, in some cases. Counseling sessions, for example, began to be conducted remotely during the pandemic and many students found that they preferred it to in-person sessions. Students who cannot, for whatever reason, make it to an in-person class can now study from anywhere.

Challenging times, combined with advances in technology and the general acceptance of it, have also brought more cooperation and collaboration among schools. It’s becoming more common, for example, for schools that offer complementary programs to partner with one another to offer students an educational pathway to continue studies in their chosen areas. That may mean a discounted tuition rate, a transfer of class credits, or an internship through a partner school.

Maybe most importantly though, schools, at their best, foster an environment where students are supported, expand who they are, and connect with like-minded people. At a time when gathering together is not always safe, being in a community has become even more precious, and students have found new ways to connect.

OCA Mocha, a coffeehouse in Arbutus founded by University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC) students, is one example of how effective a gathering place can be at a time when people are craving human connection. What started as a class assignment—to design a community center of some sort—has become a gathering place not just for UMBC students and alumni, but the Arbutus community at large.

“We’ve heard a lot of stories from people who are extremely grateful to have this space,” says Michael Berardi, UMBC class of 2019 and co-founder and general manager of OCA Mocha, which stands for Opportunities for Community Alliances. The coffee shop includes a stage, a community room, and an art gallery, employs UMBC students and alumni, and provides internship opportunities for current UMBC students.

“We have local groups and organizations that meet regularly in our community space and are grateful to not have to meet in someone’s living room or church basement,” says Berardi. “We see a lot of connections being made. It’s just incredible to watch how it’s grown into the vision that we, as a group of students, had.”

We checked in with colleges and universities throughout the region to find out what’s new and what campus life and classes look like, two years into the pandemic.

COPPIN STATE UNIVERSITY
A historically Black institution founded in 1900, Coppin State University is situated in the heart of Baltimore City in the Mondawmin neighborhood. Part of the University System of Maryland in Baltimore, the school offers 32 undergraduate and 11 graduate degrees, along with nine certificate programs and one doctorate degree. It’s been rated No. 4 Best HBCU in the Nation (College Consensus), the Top 5 Best Value Online Program (Online School Center), and No. 17 Best Value in the Nation (College Consensus).

In the summer of 2021, CSU announced its Student Debt Relief Initiative, which clears roughly $1 million in student balances and provided a $1,200 credit to every student enrolled in the fall 2021 semester. CSU also created the Freddie Gray Student Success Scholarship, which is available to graduates of Carver Vocational-Technical High School, where Gray was a student.

Coppin also takes esports (competitive video gaming) seriously. In the fall of 2021, Coppin became the first HBCU to open a building on campus exclusively devoted to esports. The Premier Esports Lab opened in September with a guest appearance from Grammy-nominated artist Cordae.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 2,383 undergraduates, 341 graduates
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 13:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $6,809 in-state, $13,334 out-of-state
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 40%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Nursing, Business, Biology, Education, and Criminal Justice, Rehabilitation Counseling

DICKINSON COLLEGE
Founded in 1783, Dickinson College is a liberal arts college in Carlisle, Pennsylvania, with a suburban campus that spans 144 acres. The school offers 41 undergraduate degrees within 17 fields of study.

It’s been rated as one of the best schools in the country for its sustainability efforts, which include an 80-acre, USDA-certified organic farm. Princeton Review rated it No. 2 in the Top 50 Green Colleges, and it was rated No. 2 in Overall Top Performers among baccalaureate institutions in the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education’s “Sustainable Campus Index” in 2019 and 2020.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 2,345
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 9:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $58,708
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 52%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: International Business, Economics, Political Science & Government, International Relations & National Security, General Psychology

GETTYSBURG COLLEGE
Gettysburg College, a private, liberal arts school, sits on 225 acres adjacent to the historical Gettysburg Battlefield in Pennsylvania. Many of the buildings on campus are historically significant, so it’s no wonder that it draws students interested in studying history.

The school offers 65 academic programs, more than 120 campus clubs and organizations, and 800 events on campus each year, plus more than 100 study-abroad opportunities open to students.

Its Majestic Theater serves as a venue for the greater Gettysburg community, hosting national acts as well as performances by the school’s Sunderman Conservatory of Music students.

It’s ranked No. 12 for “students who study the most” by the Princeton Review, which also ranked Gettysburg College’s dining hall No. 9 in the country for best campus food.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 2,600
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 10:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $59,960
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 56%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Political Science, Economics, Health Sciences, Organization and Management Studies, History, Psychology

GOUCHER COLLEGE
A private, liberal arts college in Towson, Goucher College prides itself on its close-knit community.

Goucher was extremely proactive when it came to COVID-19 precautions, being the first in the state to implement wastewater testing, which is able to isolate COVID infections by dorm.

Also of note: The college recently opened two new residence halls as part of the school’s First-Year Village. One hundred percent of Goucher students study abroad, and the school is committed to sustainability.

Most recently, Goucher has begun exciting partnerships with other schools, such as Johns Hopkins University, Loyola University, and more to come, to provide a pathway for students to continue their education beyond Goucher. For instance, their 4+1 MBA Program allows students to earn an advanced business degree through Loyola via a “Fast Track” admission process, and at a 15% discount on tuition.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,100
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 9:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $48,000
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 79%
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Psychology, International Relations, Economics, Political Science, Business Administration

JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY
Johns Hopkins University (JHU) offers nine academic divisions and hundreds of courses of study, with campuses spread throughout Baltimore, including the Peabody Institute, a music and dance conservatory in Mount Vernon. Its main Homewood campus is located on North Charles Street.

The prestigious, world-renowned university has a strong reputation for its public health and medical studies and has been compared to Ivy League schools.

One of its points of pride is its financial aid program, which covers 100% of calculated need for every admitted student, without loans. This means JHU works with families to calculate what they can afford to contribute toward the total cost of attendance—including meals, books, travel, and other expenses—and JHU covers the rest with grants that don’t need to be repaid.

This school year, JHU added two new minors: Latin American Studies and Writing Seminars.

It also announced new efforts this year to move toward a broader, more flexible undergraduate educational experience that will include a required first-year seminar and the streamlining of major requirements to allow for greater intellectual exploration.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 6,333 undergraduates, 22,559 graduates
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 6:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $56,313 for Peabody Institute, $58,720 for the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 9%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Computer Science, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Neuroscience, Economics, Public Health Studies, International Studies

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY
This private, Jesuit institution offers undergraduate and graduate programs on a beautiful urban campus in northern Baltimore City. Education at Loyola is based in the Jesuit tradition of scholarship cura personalis, or care for the whole person. Loyola is known for its academic rigor while helping students lead purposeful lives. Seventy percent of students study abroad. It currently ranks fourth in best universities in the North region according to U.S. News & World Report.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 3,787 undergraduates, 1,353 graduates
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 12:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $53,430
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 80%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business, Management, Marketing, Journalism, Social Sciences, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, English Language and Literature, Engineering and Education.

McDANIEL COLLEGE
McDaniel College sits in a bucolic setting near Westminster in Carroll County. The private, four-year liberal arts college offers more than 70 undergraduate programs of study and more than 20 graduate programs. McDaniel’s most recent addition to its curriculum is a National Security Fellows Program that provides students with knowledge, skills, and experience in national security as well as the ability to specialize in an area of interest, such as interstate conflict, intrastate political violence, cybersecurity, ethics, and human rights.

Also new this year, McDaniel appointed an inaugural associate provost for equity and belonging who provides vision and leadership to the Office of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion and works in collaboration with the provost to co-lead the college’s diversity, equity, and inclusion administrative committee, and guides the Bias Education Response Support Team.

The school also launched a new STEM Center to serve as a physical hub to support students studying the sciences. It hosts workshops and other events while also supplying online and hybrid support.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,757 undergraduates, 1,324 graduates
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 13:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $46,336
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 81%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Kinesiology, Business Administration, Psychology, Biology, Political Science, International Studies

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
The largest of Maryland’s HBCU’s (Historically Black Colleges and Universities), Morgan is a public institution founded in 1867. It is situated in northeast Baltimore. As a Carnegie-classified high research (R2) institution, Morgan provides instruction to a multiethnic, multiracial, multinational student body and offers more than 140 academic programs at undergraduate and graduate levels. As Maryland’s Preeminent Public Urban Research University, Morgan fulfills its mission to address the needs and challenges of the modern urban environment through intense community level study and pioneering solutions.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 6,270 undergraduates, 1,364 graduates
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 15:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $8,008 for in-state and $18,480 for out-of-state
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 73%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Civil Engineering, Communications Engineering, Business Administration and Management, Social Work, Biology/Biological Sciences, Architecture, Finance, Psychology, Sociology

NOTRE DAME OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY
A private, Catholic liberal arts university in northern Baltimore, Notre Dame of Maryland University offers programs from undergraduate through PhD, as well as Maryland’s only women’s college. It recently launched the first master’s of art degree in Art Therapy program in the state.
The beautiful, wooded campus is just steps from the bustling downtown Baltimore culture. With values rooted in Catholicism, the school focuses on service to others and social responsibility.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 783
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 7:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $39,675
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 88%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Nursing, Education, Biology, Art Therapy, Pharmacy

TOWSON UNIVERSITY
One of the largest public universities in the state, Towson University offers more than 60 undergraduate majors and continues to draw students from other states, though it remains part of the University System of Maryland.

Its campus continues to expand, with a huge new dining hall, a 23,000-foot recreation and fitness facility with an indoor swimming pool, and its 5,200-seat arena for sporting events and concerts. In 2021, it opened its new Science Complex, the largest academic building on campus at 320,000 square feet.

In September, Towson opened its StarTUp at the Armory, a space for startups and new businesses to engage with the broader community and larger businesses. It serves as a home to Towson’s entrepreneurship programs, as well as student competitions and events.

While Towson remains the largest supplier of medical professionals and educators in the state, the university has also built a strong reputation for its College of Fine Arts and Communication, as well as its Asian Arts & Culture Center, both of which bring students into the wider community and the Baltimore community to Towson for enriching performing arts, music, and visual art programs.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 17,907 undergraduates, 2,949 graduates
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 16:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $7,100 in-state, $22,152 out-of-state
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business Administration, Education, Nursing, Exercise Science, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, Biology, Computer Science, Information Technology

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE
University of Maryland, Baltimore is Maryland’s only public health, law, and human services university. Located in downtown Baltimore, it offers 86 degree and certificate programs through its six nationally ranked professional schools—dentistry, law, medicine, nursing, pharmacy, and social work—and an interdisciplinary graduate school.

The school’s 14-acre BioPark is Baltimore’s biggest biotechnology cluster, employing 1,000 people, and remains on the cutting edge of new drugs, treatments, and medical devices.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 7,244
• ANNUAL TUITION: Varies by school
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Medicine, Law, Dentistry, Pharmacy, Nursing, Social Work

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE COUNTY
University of Maryland, Baltimore County educates a campus of more than 10,000 students in programs spanning the arts, engineering, information technology, humanities, sciences, preprofessional studies, and social sciences. Located on the edge of Baltimore County, it allows easy access into the city and all the conveniences of suburban life and housing. It also offers plenty of opportunities for study abroad.

In the fall of 2021, UMBC opened the Center for Well-Being, a new two-story complex that houses Retriever Integrated Health, Student Conduct and Community Standards, and i3b’s Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being. UMBC’s already significant NASA partnerships have continued to grow. In October, NASA announced a major award of $72 million over three years for the new Goddard Earth Sciences Technology and Research II center. UMBC is leading the national consortium and will receive over $38 million. The GESTAR II consortium will support over 120 researchers, creating extensive opportunities for breakthroughs in Earth and atmospheric science research, and providing major opportunities for students to conduct research and be mentored by NASA scientists and engineers.

• SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 13,638
• STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 17:1
• ANNUAL TUITION: $12,280 in-state, $28,470 out-of-state
• ACCEPTANCE RATE: 81%
• POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Social Sciences, Psychology, Visual and Performing Arts

 

Cited tuition costs exclude room and board and books.

Juan Dixon’s title nowadays is Coppin State head men’s basketball coach, but he will forever be known as “former Maryland star,” too. And there was the hero of the Terps’ 2002 national championship team on late Monday night, sitting in sweats on a wooden bench in the visiting locker room at Morgan State’s Hill Field House, munching on a Subway sandwich and chips, voice a little hoarse from a cold. “I’m not feeling too well,” he said, and no doubt the final score from the game that just transpired—Morgan 69, Coppin 56—didn’t help the mood either.

But the 39-year-old Dixon, who is in his first season leading the Coppin program, perked up when asked about the atmosphere Monday. More than 4,000 fans in Morgan’s gym, many waving inflatable thunder sticks. The band rocked. Students danced in the crowd during every timeout of the 89th match-up between the schools.

“It was a great atmosphere,” Dixon told Baltimore. “I loved it. I enjoyed every second of it. I wish our guys would embrace it a little bit more and have fun with it. But it happens. We’re a young team. We’re getting better. This is mostly everyone’s first time experiencing this.”

This was a city rivalry game, played about a 20-minute drive away from home (and where Dixon was born and raised)—in front of a crowd, and against a team, that didn’t forget what happened last time around on Coppin’s West Baltimore campus: an overtime win for Dixon’s crew, one of their only five victories this year.

It wasn’t as close this time. Morgan senior guard Tiwian Kendley scored 27 points Monday, including 20 in the first half as the Bears (11-17, 7-8 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference) built a comfortable lead that grew to 63-39 midway through the second half. Senior forward Phillip Carr added 12 points and 14 rebounds. Junior forward Cedric Council led Coppin (5-25, 5-10 MEAC) with 12 points.

“It was a great team win, a great win for the crowd,” Kendley said.

And much needed. Two days earlier, Morgan coach Todd Bozeman pulled his team from the floor in a game at Hampton University after the coach and forward David Syfax were ejected after multiple technical fouls, and the Bears forfeited. This was Morgan’s first win in two weeks and—heading into its final game of the regular season Thursday at Delaware State and MEAC tournament play, which begins Monday—showed promise for a team that was the conference’s preseason favorite.

Coppin will be in Norfolk, Virginia, for the postseason, too, for a last hurrah in a laying-the-groundwork year under its new coach. The Eagles are expected to return four of their top five scorers, including Baltimore CC transfer forward Chad Andrews-Fulton, and lose only three players from this year’s roster.

“It’s been an up and down season,” said Dixon, who played seven years in the NBA. “But I’m excited about the direction we’re going. Our guys showed that they got better as the year progressed. We’re going to add some pieces next year, bring some guys back, and we look forward to having a much, much better season next year. But we’re still focused on this season. We have one more game against Howard [on Thursday] and we’re confident going into the tournament.”

Juan Dixon had seen enough. It was early November, four days before his undersized Coppin State University men’s basketball team was to begin its season with what was essentially a lambs-to-the-slaughter game at the University of Oregon. Five minutes before practice was supposed to end, Coppin’s first-year coach was so over his players’ whining and complaining that, with a curt shriek of his whistle followed by a few choice words, he kicked them off the court.

Like teenagers (which some of them are) being dismissed from the dinner table for bad behavior, they lowered their heads and quietly shuffled into the locker room. The scene was reminiscent of a tactic another local coach employed more than once, only back then, there was a lot more sweat on the court.

“Juan was a great practice player,” says former University of Maryland coach and prolific perspirer Gary Williams, whose bond with Dixon helped both reach legendary heights in college basketball. “Some guys try to take it easy in practice. Even if it was a two-on-two drill, if [we were] scrimmaging, you better not make calls that hurt his team, because he would get very upset. He knew only one way to play.”

Dixon’s goal is to infuse the grittiness and determination he used to propel himself from a challenging childhood in West Baltimore to the NCAA championship at Maryland into the young, raw Coppin program. It’s a risky marriage for both. Dixon has only one season of head coaching experience, a 3-25 campaign last year with the University of the District of Columbia’s women’s team. Coppin is coming off an 8-24 season and has a roster that includes just two seniors.  
“Right now, I’ve got to be patient and know that things are going to get turned around because of the culture that we’re building,” Dixon says. “All I want from our guys is to give constant effort no matter what the scoreboard says.”

In an ironic twist, Dixon has become a father figure to 13 young men at the same time he’s relearning how to be a son. United with his biological father—whom he didn’t know existed—just 18 months ago, the 39-year-old Dixon is beginning the second act of his life at a time when many men his age are settling into the routine of theirs. Dealing with that avalanche of change won’t be easy, but nothing ever has been for Juan Dixon.

Basketball fans of a certain age have heard the story many times. During Maryland’s Final Four runs in 2001 and 2002, the media eagerly recounted how the Terrapins’ undersized star, Juan Dixon, grew up near Liberty Heights Avenue and Garrison Boulevard as the son of drug-addicted parents who passed away from AIDS when he was a teenager. As far as Dixon knew, it was true.

Phil and Juanita Dixon began dating at a young age, and their relationship was fraught with breakups and makeups. Both were heroin users, and during Juan and his two brothers’ formative years he relied on a network of aunts (including former Baltimore mayor Sheila Dixon), uncles, cousins, and friends for support while his parents battled—and ultimately succumbed to—their addictions.

“It was unfortunate circumstances,” Dixon says. “Parents not always being around because of their lifestyle. At times it was rough, but at the same time, I had a loving supportive family of extended relatives who really stepped up when it came to helping us develop as boys into men.”

Coaches played an outsized role in Dixon’s youth, particularly Mark Amatucci at Calvert Hall College High School. There Dixon forged the hard-nosed playing style that ultimately caught the attention of Maryland’s Williams, who fell in love with the wiry guard when he saw him dive for a ball with his team down by 20 points. “That’s when I made up my mind that we wanted him to play for Maryland,” Williams says. “The gym wasn’t air-conditioned, they probably weren’t going to win, and Juan still went after the ball. That convinced me that he was going to outwork some people.”

In College Park, Dixon’s production, if not his six-foot-three-inch stature, grew every year.

“There was never a doubt in his mind as to what he could accomplish,” says his ex-wife Robyn, whom he met in high school. “I always believed in him. But there would be times when I would be like, ‘Okay, do you know you’re 145 pounds?’” He was a beefy 164 when he led Maryland to its first and only men’s basketball national title in 2002. Months later, the Washington Wizards chose him in the first round of the NBA draft, and he had a solid, if not spectacular, career in the league and overseas. In 2010, it was announced that Dixon tested positive for the steroid nandrolone while playing for a Spanish team, and the International Basketball Federation suspended him for a year. He then signed with Banvit in Turkey, where he only played for one season before suffering a knee injury.

“I’ve been through the storm and I’m still trekking through the storm today,” Dixon told University of Maryland’s Capital News Service in 2012. “But I’m working hard every day.”

Dixon took that work ethic and turned his attention to coaching, serving as a special assistant on Mark Turgeon’s staff at Maryland before, according to the university, he and the school mutually parted ways after the 2016 season.
 
“I learned a lot from Coach Turgeon and his staff,” he says. “Recruiting, how to run a program. I appreciate everything he has done for me. But leaving Maryland was the best thing that ever happened to me.”

Make that the second best.   
 
On September 1, 2016, two strangers walked into the Bass Pro Shops at Arundel Mills. The moment they laid eyes on one another, they knew it was true. The night before, Dixon had called Bruce Flanigan for the first time. Through a number of only-in-Baltimore coincidences, Dixon had heard that Flanigan believed he was Juan’s father.

“I said, ‘Juan, I don’t know where to begin,’” Flanigan recalls. “Then I told him the whole story.”

In the 1970s, Flanigan dated Dixon’s mother, Juanita, who became pregnant. The two broke up before she had the baby, which she told Flanigan wasn’t his. “I went on with my life,” says Flanigan, now 61. “I got married and raised my family. She went on and did what she had to do. Years went by. Then I started hearing about this guy at Maryland, Juan Dixon, and they kept talking about his mom, Juanita.”

When Flanigan first watched the young Terp play on television, he was struck by the physical resemblance. Although he immediately believed he was Dixon’s father, he held back, paralyzed by guilt at not being there for his son. Plus, he didn’t want the budding superstar to believe he was moving in to take advantage of his fame and impending fortune. But over the ensuing years, rumors began to circulate through the tight-knit West Baltimore community and eventually, the two got in touch.

When they met the day after the phone call, the connection was immediate. “His mannerisms, the way he spoke—I sounded like him,” Dixon says. “I could just tell by being around him, his energy, that he was my dad. It was like 38 years didn’t mean anything.”

They did a DNA test and, within two weeks, it confirmed what they already knew. “When we first connected visually, it was like we had been in each other’s lives from day one—from the time he was born,” Flanigan says. “We didn’t miss a beat. It was like gravity had pulled us together.”

Improbably, the men have forged a rich relationship that’s both father-son and best friend. They text or talk nearly every day, and Flanigan, who lives in Pennsylvania, drives down often to visit his newfound family. Dixon lives with Robyn and their sons Corey, 9, and Carter, 8, in Howard County. As is depicted on the reality show The Real Housewives of Potomac, on which Robyn costars and Juan has occasionally appeared, their relationship is, shall we say, complicated. Married for seven years, they divorced in 2012, but still live together with their kids.

“We truly are a family, no matter what our romantic status is,” Robyn says. “It’s great when you can have a relationship with someone and you want the best for them and you understand that supporting them and being there with them doesn’t just help him, it helps me, it helps my kids, because we’re family.”

Wearing black Nikes, gray sweatpants, and a black-and-yellow long-sleeve Coppin T-shirt, Dixon now actually is sweating as he lingers near the three-point line, taking part in a drill with his team. He’s still lean and fast, and sports the same goatee and short-cropped haircut he wore during his playing days.
Dixon has incredibly big shoes to fill. Ronald “Fang” Mitchell, who left in 2014 after coaching for nearly 30 years at Coppin, brought the team to four NCAA tournaments and won 10 conference titles.

But Coppin athletic director Derek Carter, who hired Dixon in April, says he was captivated by the former guard’s “passion and tenacity.” Being tenacious has always defined Dixon, and he wants it to epitomize his team as well. To him, it means playing suffocating defense and unleashing unwavering effort for all 40 minutes.

Before he prematurely ended that practice in November (“Tell Juan now he knows why I did it to his team,” Williams says), he was relentlessly energetic, clapping his hands emphatically when he felt his players’ focus was waning, pausing drills to point out both positive plays and mistakes, and urging his guys to communicate with and support one another.

“Coach is trying to change the culture,” says senior Tre’ Thomas. “He’s trying to teach us a different kind of basketball.”

On a plane that can’t be measured by wins and losses (Coppin, predictably, dropped its first eight games, all on the road against upper-tier competition), Dixon believes his message is getting through. He was even pleased with his team’s defensive effort in the 16-point loss to Oregon.

Dixon’s life has always centered around defying expectations, giving a team, a player, or a father a second chance.

“I was born and raised five minutes from Coppin, so for me to get this opportunity—we will take advantage of it,” he says. “To be able to drive down Gwynns Falls and pull up to work, it’s a dream come true.”

No one said it was going to be easy.

Coppin State University forward Chad Andrews-Fulton scored a team-high 19 points in Monday’s thrilling double-overtime win over Florida A&M at Coppin’s PEC Arena. None more important than his layup with 12 seconds to go, which put the Eagles in front 79-78 and lifted Coppin to their first win of the season after 17 straight losses. 

The victory for the Coppin men is the first under the tenure of new coach and hometown hero Juan Dixon, who starred at Calvert Hall College High School and led the University of Maryland to national title in 2002. 

Drafted by the Washington Wizards, Dixon eventually played in the NBA and then Europe before starting his coaching career with the Terps under Mark Turgeon. Last year, in his first head-coaching gig, Dixon directed the University of the District of Columbia’s women’s team to 3-25 mark. The Coppin men also struggled last year, coming off an 8-24 record. And, in fact, Coppin’s winless mark before this week had been 20 games, dating back to last season, and the longest in the country, according to the Baltimore Sun.   

Dixon replaced Michael Grant, who had been at the helm for three seasons. Now it’s up to Dixon to try and fill the shoes of local legend Fang Mitchell, who previously led the Eagles for nearly three decades, posting 11 consecutive winning seasons during one stretch and four NCAA Tournament appearances.

Despite the early struggles this season, if anyone possesses the resiliency to turn around the Coppin season—and program—it might just be Dixon.

The undersized former guard has overcome obstacles his whole life, including losing both of his parents to AIDS when he was a teenager. 

After two MEAC conference games in North Carolina, Coppin returns to Baltimore Jan. 20 and hosts Morgan State.

Check Baltimore magazine’s story on Dixon—his reconnection to his Baltimore roots, reunion with his father, and hire at Coppin State—in our February issue.

“Believe it or not, Joe and I were co-workers at the Pizza Hut in Glen Burnie,” Cindy France says in a mini-documentary that’s part of the retrospective of former Baltimore photojournalist Joe Kohl’s work at the Maryland Historical Society. “Where you’d expect to meet an artist,” she adds ironically.

Kohl, who died in 2002 at the age of 44 from leukemia, earned a degree in fine arts from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County and served on the staffs of The Baltimore News-American and Baltimore Business Journal. But it is his personal and freelance efforts for a diverse number of publications—including the City Paper, Afro-American, Village Voice, Easy Rider, Catholic Review, and Mid-Atlantic Gay Life—that set his work apart.

Outside his daily journalism beat, the prolific Kohl recorded Baltimore’s alternative culture, which coincided with his own social interests and curiosities, as the Maryland Historical notes in a statement accompanying the exhibition. Those included “the city’s erotic sub communities, small venue-rock concerts, and queer night life.”

“I don’t think he was really interested in who was the prettiest,” adds Donna Sherman, another friend of Kohl’s, in the short film. “I think he was interested in personality and [people] who had some kind of crazy thing going on with them that he would love to put on to film.” 

The mostly black and white images hung in the show, titled “Unscripted Moments: The Life & Photography of Joseph Kohl” are—as Sherman suggests—spontaneous and beautiful, but in a gritty, off-kilter, blue-collar Baltimore kind of way. They also feel like surprising material for a Maryland Historical Society exhibition, given their occasionally provocative nature and document the city’s underground scene, but also that the 1980s and 1990s are now considered historical.

Joe Tropea, Maryland Historical Society curator of films and photographs, describes Kohl’s shooting of early marches for AIDS funding, protests demanding divestment from apartheid South Africa, Baltimore bar and street scenes, John Waters and Divine on the red carpet outside the Senator Theatre, the world of sex workers, BDSM play, and the underground music scene as “a time capsule from the end of the last century.”

In other words, this is not the picture-perfect world of renowned former Baltimore Sun photographer A. Aubrey Bodine.

Tropea curated “Unscripted Moments” with Linda Day Clark, a professor of Fine Arts at Coppin State University, former City Paper photo editor and award-winning photojournalist J.M. Giordano, and Josh Sisk, an award-winning arts and culture photographer.

“What emerges,” Tropea says, “is a vision of Baltimore that’s open-hearted and raw, cosmopolitan and compassionate—and a portrait of a photographer who exposed his love for the city and all its variety in every shot.” 

Later, France says in a phone interview that the show was strange for her to look at when she first saw it. “I know a lot of those photographs,” the 54-year-old says with a laugh. “I was there.

France adds that she was “warned” about Kohl when she started at Pizza Hut, that fellow employees told her Kohl took pictures of everything and often asked people to pose nude for him. “You have to realize,” she says, “Joe was a teddy bear, but he was different. First, he was a big guy. And he wore these big, wire-rim glasses, had a longish, bowl hair cut, and giant muttonchops. Nobody had muttonchops then. It’s funny, too. He did ask a lot of people to pose nude for him, but never me.”

Although his illness came about unexpectedly and his life was cut short, Kohl left behind a substantial body of work—some 55,000 photographs now in the Maryland Historical Society collection.

“[Joe] called me one day and told me he was in the hospital and was in a pretty weakened state,” France says of her old friend. “I asked him if we wanted me to come by and he said, in his Joe way, ‘That’s why I’m calling, bitch.’

“I thought I’d better go,” she says. “I went that weekend and that was the last time I talked to him.”

Carmelo Anthony’s heart is still in Baltimore. 
Though he was born, and lives, in New York, Carmelo Anthony still refers to Baltimore as home. It’s the place the 10-time NBA all-star moved to when he was 8 years old and where he spent a good chunk of his formative years on local fields and gyms, eventually growing into one of the most famous athletes to come from the city.

This week, Anthony, 33, returned as honorary chair and host of The Basketball Tournament, a three-day $2 million winner-take-all semipro championship held at Coppin State University. The current New York Knicks forward, who played at Towson Catholic (old photo alert!), sat courtside at the tournament’s ESPN-televised title game on Thursday night, and spoke about Baltimore as if he never left. “It’s a way I can bring something positive to the city,” he said of the event, which included cleanup efforts at 12 sites in the city, free health screenings at Mondawmin Mall, and a job fair at Coppin State. “Sports is a connector in life.” 

The thoughts echoed an emotional speech he gave a day earlier at Marshall Park in West Baltimore, where mayor Catharine Pugh awarded Anthony a medal of honor for service to the community. In April 2015, after Freddie Gray’s death, Anthony joined protestors and urged calm amid the outrage. “What we’re trying to create is so much bigger than the negativity that you guys hear, or see, or read about our city,” he said.

Brandon Williams keeps on dancing.
This time it was against a little girl during the Ravens’ open practice on Sunday at M&T Bank Stadium

“What did you think of the dance contest? Kid or Brandon, who won?” Ravens coach John Harbaugh asked reporters afterward.
You might remember Williams’ moves (nimble for a 340-pound defensive lineman, isn’t he?) from a locker room video that impressed the Rockettes two years ago, or him doing the “Carlton”  while on promotional tour in London.

This was a nice distraction from Joe Flacco being hurt (along with seemingly a dozen other injured Ravens) before the season’s even started. And, if nothing else, the impromptu dance-off made for a great first use of the stadium’s new and massive 4K scoreboards.

O’s don’t give up the fight.
The Orioles front office apparently had higher expectations for the rest of this season than we imagined. Instead of trading closer Zach Britton or relief pitcher Brad Brach and for pieces that could help in future years—as were widely rumored as possibilities—the O’s turned into buyers at the Major League Baseball trade deadline—and aren’t giving up on the playoffs.

They got a starting pitcher, Jeremy Hellickson, from the Phillies and a former No. 1 overall draft pick, 27-year-old shortstop Tim Beckham, from the Tampa Bay Rays. Beckham’s started his O’s career with a pair of multi-hit games, and on Wednesday night Hellickson delivered what the team desperately needed, a quality start, as he led the Birds to a fifth straight win and to within 2.5 games of a playoff spot. After a loss Thursday night to Detroit, the O’s are now 3.5 games out. “I’d like this season to go to the end of the year,” GM Dan Duquette said. Thankfully, maybe October baseball isn’t as far off as we thought.

Under Armour lays off close to 300 employees.
About half the layoffs, announced Tuesday by Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank, were effective immediately to employees at the company’s Locust Point headquarters, a distribution center in Curtis Bay, an outlet store near that warehouse, and Under Armour’s store in Harbor East. It’s part of what the company described as a restructuring in the wake of a second straight quarterly loss ($12 million). The footwear and apparel giant is cutting 2 percent of its worldwide workforce, or roughly 280 people. “After six and a half years of more than 20 percent growth, we are clearly operating in a different environment, especially in North America,” Plank said on an earnings’ conference call. Various financial media delved deep into the details of why things aren’t going so well but, in short, this hits home.

Ravens make a wish come true.
The best moment of the draft, bar none? Nope, it wasn’t when San Francisco tricked Chicago into swapping picks (and getting a third and fourth round pick in the bargain). It was when McDonogh 8th grader T. J. Onwuanibe stepped up to the podium to announce the Ravens pick, punctuating his excitement with a fist pump. Onwuanibe was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer two years ago and this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity was provided by the Ravens and the NFL in conjunction with the Make-a-Wish Foundation. At the podium, T.J. was poised and adorable. (He also did the nearly impossible, getting the Philly crowd to stop booing NFL commissioner Roger Goodell.) Better still? T.J.’s cancer is officially in remission! Kudos to all involved. We’ve never been prouder to be part of the Ravens Flock.

Ozzie gets his man.
In something of a surprise, Ravens used their 16th pick in the draft to take Alabama cornerback Marlon Humphrey. This move is particularly unexpected, since the Ravens signed free agent corner Brandon Carr in the off season. But considering the fact that the Ravens’ secondary has been a major concern since Ed Reed left the team, we have no objections. Also, Humphrey is stupid fast (he’s a former track star), has a great family lineage (his dad was Alabama All-American Bobby Humphrey), and he sports a fun, if mysterious Twitter handle, “Fruit PUNCH.” We can smell the sugary fan giveaways already.

ESPN lays off a bunch of employees.
Proof that even the World Wide Leader in Sports is not immune to the new ways people consume sports entertainment and news, ESPN laid off 100 staffers on Wednesday, including many popular on-air talents. Among them was QB Trent Dilfer, who parlayed his solid, if modest game-management skills into a Super Bowl victory for the Ravens in 2001. As an ESPN analyst, he was fiery and opinionated but might sadly be best remembered for the classic: “You cannot lose games in the NFL and still win.” Yes, he really said that.

“Laid off by ESPN today,” Dilfer tweeted, echoing the sentiments of many who were let go. “Although sad cause I loved my job, mostly filed w/ gratitude and appreciation for the 9 years.”

Also let go was college basketball analyst Len Elmore, a Maryland great.

Juan Dixon in as new Coppin Coach
Juan Dixon, beloved Terps star and nephew of former Mayor Sheila Dixon, has just landed the head coaching position at Coppin State. Dixon’s career has had some ups and downs since he led the Terps to their only NCAA Championship in 2002—including a brief stint in the NBA and an embarrassing suspension for steroid use from the International Basketball League in 2010. But this hiring manages to be a great opportunity for both Coppin and Dixon, who is still a huge, high profile draw in Baltimore and will surely help with recruiting. Dixon’s ex-wife, Real Housewives of Potomac star Robyn Dixon, with whom he is still very close, expressed her support for Juan on social media. “I really can’t express how proud I am of Juan for believing in himself and staying confident and faithful that one day his dream of leading a Division one men’s basketball team would come true,” she wrote. No word on whether or not Coppin State players will be making a Real Housewive‘s cameo. 

Orioles on a roll.
At 14-6, the Orioles are on top of the AL East and one of the most exciting teams in all of the majors, with a penchant for come from behind wins. (Like this. And this. And this.) Like all good teams, they take advantage of other teams’ mistakes, like this doozy from Wednesday’s game against the Rays.