It’s a conundrum: Do you go to college to study what you love or land a career?

For many students and families planning for or applying to college, this question weighs heavily—especially with the existing economic uncertainty. But administrators from colleges in the Baltimore region say it’s not a matter of one versus another, and they’re finding ways to help future and existing students carve out paths to meaningful lives and careers.

“It’s absolutely a myth that students need to know their major when they apply,” says Katherine Cole, the vice provost and dean of Undergraduate Academic Affairs at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). “Most majors don’t correlate directly with a career, and roughly 80 percent of undergrads nationwide end up changing their majors.”

To help students find the right fit, UMBC offers freshman seminars that integrate personality and strength tests like the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator. Seminars also teach students about the multiple avenues they can take to arrive at the same career—a concept that Cole calls “parallel pathways.” This means, for example, that students interested in law school might take the traditional route by majoring in political science. Or they might enjoy analytical thinking and major in something like sociology, or plan to pursue environmental law and study marine biology or environmental science.

Towson University (TU) offers a similar two-credit Personal Life and Career Planning course, which teaches students about existing and emerging careers, while helping them dive deep into self-exploration to determine who they are as individuals. “We want students to major in something that matters to them personally, and we tell them their major doesn’t dictate their career,” says Lorie Logan-Bennett, the assistant vice president of career services at TU.

At the same time, TU urges students to take advantage of the university’s experiential learning opportunities that let them “build skills by doing real-world work, while deciding what they like or dislike in a career,” says Logan-Bennett. Opportunities range from for-credit, in-person internships off campus to remote projects known as “micro internships,” made possible by TU’s partnership with the Chicago-based company Parker Dewey.

“Micro internships are time-delineated projects that students can take on without quitting their part-time jobs or giving up other obligations,” Logan-Bennett explains. For instance, a company in California might hire a student to compile or analyze data in a spreadsheet or synthesize research for a report. Students work on projects for a designated period and gain experience they can then use to bolster their résumés.

At Johns Hopkins University (JHU), too, opportunities abound in experiential learning, with programs and resources guiding students through the arduous process of identifying and honing values, interests, and goals. In addition to having access to a robust career center, Hopkins Hire, students benefit from the school’s innovative Life Design Lab (LDL), which, “takes an iterative, problem-solving approach to life- and career-planning,” explains Matthew Golden, LDL’s executive director. “The process involves doing research and coming up with a hypothesis based on your interests, talking to people, getting experience in that area, and then doing it all over again, building on what you’ve learned about yourself and that particular kind of work.”

The key, Golden says, is for students to keep an open mind as they follow their curiosity and determine or refine what they want—a process he hopes will stay with them forever.

LDL works closely with Hopkins Hire, JHU’s career center, which launched the DEI Collective to boost internship access for students from underrepresented communities. “In the past, unpaid internships were more common, and this created a disparity gap,” given that some students needed to earn money from part-time jobs and couldn’t sacrifice a paycheck to work as an intern, explains the executive director of Hopkins Hire, Alia Poonawala. “But through the DEI Collective, we require companies to pay students a minimum of $15 an hour,” eliminating the need to forego meaningful work experience.

As application deadlines near, and students and families weigh college options in the Baltimore area, remember that support exists to help you figure out and fine-tune your education, career, and life plans. “The key is to spend your time in college taking advantage of those supports and experiential learning opportunities,” even if you have a concrete path, says Logan-Bennett at TU.

Don’t worry about the lack of a clear-cut career connection to your major, advises Cole of UMBC. The liberal arts get a bad reputation, but, “we hear from employers all the time, whether it’s NASA or the NSA, that the soft skills students gain from a liberal arts degree are exactly what they look for in employees,” she says. “Academics make the individual disciplines, but the reality is that real life—and real work—are interdisciplinary.” And the college major is just one small piece of a larger puzzle.

If you are looking for the perfect fit for your college experience, look no further than Baltimore’s annual guide of regional academic institutions. Here is a roundup of what’s happening on area campuses.

BOWIE STATE UNIVERSITY
Bowie State University in Prince George’s County began with a mission to provide educational opportunities for Black citizens and, more than a century after opening, has consistently ranked among the best HBCUs in the country, offering undergraduate and graduate degrees, as well as specialty certificates and doctoral programs. It also has a solid reputation for being one of the best values around.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 5,381
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 18:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $8,753 in-state, $19,544 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 87 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business Administration, Criminal Justice, Radio and Television Broadcasting Technology/Technician, Psychology, Biology, Computer/Information Technology, Child Development, Nursing, and Sociology

 

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 57 undergraduate, graduate, and certificate degrees. It’s been rated in the Top 50 Best HBCUs in the Nation (College Consensus), the Top 5 Best Value Online Schools in Maryland (Online School Center), and No. 7 Best Colleges in Maryland by Salary Score (GradReports).

In 2022, CSU received two large-scale federal education grants, including a $3.7-million Teacher Quality Partnership grant from the U.S. Department of Education to increase teacher diversity, while boosting student success in high-needs urban and rural schools across Maryland. CSU also recently created the Freddie Gray Student Success Scholarship, which is available to graduates of Carver Vocational-Technical High School, where Gray was a student.

Coppin 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: 2,108 undergraduates, 240 graduates
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 0:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $6,904 in-state, $13,560 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 54 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Nursing, Business, Biology, Education, Criminal Justice, Rehabilitation Counseling

 

FROSTBURG STATE UNIVERSITY
For those who want to escape to the Appalachian Mountains while still benefitting from the low cost of in-state tuition, Frostburg State University in Western Maryland offers more than 100 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degree programs, as well as miles of wilderness areas nearby to explore. On that note, its online M.S. in Recreation & Parks Management is ranked the No. 2 most affordable program in the U.S. by GetEducated.com.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 3,677
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 14:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $9,804 in-state, $24,684 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 86 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Economics, Nursing, Business Administration and Management

GOUCHER COLLEGE
A private, liberal arts college spanning 287 wooded acres in Towson, Goucher College takes pride in its close-knit community and leadership in global education. One hundred percent of Goucher students study abroad, and the college offers more than 60 flexible programs around the world for students to develop international experience.

Goucher has continually ranked among U.S. News & World Report’s best and most innovative national liberal arts colleges. Goucher ranked in the top four percent of all public and private colleges nationwide for its impact on social mobility, according to Georgetown University’s Center on Education and the Workforce.

In the last few years, Goucher began exciting partnerships with other schools, such as Johns Hopkins University, Loyola University, Middlebury College, 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-percent discount on tuition.

Also of note: Goucher’s unique First-Year Village, which opened between 2016 and 2018, offers a unique space for 450 first-year students to live, work, and socialize. It features a sound-proof study room and communal spaces for students to cook, learn, and interact on each floor.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,100 undergraduate students, 900 graduate students
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 10:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $48,200
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 82 percent
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 point of pride is its financial aid program, which covers 100 percent 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.

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

It also announced new efforts 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: 6,331 undergraduates, 22,559 graduates
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 7:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $59,128 for Peabody Institute, $60,480 for the School of Engineering and the School of Arts and Sciences
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 10.9 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Computer Science, Molecular and Cellular Biology, Neuroscience, Economics, Public Health Studies, International Studies

 

LOYOLA UNIVERSITY MARYLAND
This private, Jesuit institution offers undergraduate and graduate programs on a beautiful urban campus strewn across 81 acres 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, and the school currently ranks fourth in “Best Regional Universities in the North,” according to U.S. News & World Report.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 3,822 undergraduates, 1,460 graduates
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 12:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $53,430
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 84 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business, Management, Marketing, Journalism, Social Sciences, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, English Language and Literature, Engineering and Education

MARYLAND INSTITUTE COLLEGE OF ART (MICA)
Located in the heart of Baltimore, MICA is the oldest continuously degree-granting college of art and design in the nation. According to U.S. News & World Report, it ranks among one of the top schools for its fine arts, graphic design, painting, drawing, and sculpture programs. MICA also offers graduate-level degree programs including Master of Fine Art, Master of Business Administration Art, and Master of Professional Studies. According to its website, MICA offers, “education and experience that will prepare you to be a creative leader in the 21st century.”

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 3,500
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 8:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $51,870 undergraduate
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 90 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Graphic Design, Illustration, Multimedia, Painting, Sculpture, Fine Arts, and Photography

 

McDANIEL COLLEGE
Founded in 1867, 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. A recent addition to McDaniel’s curriculum is a National Security Fellows Program that provides students with knowledge, skills, and experience in national security, along with the ability to specialize in an area of interest, such as interstate conflict, intrastate political violence, cybersecurity, ethics, and human rights.

The school also recently launched a new STEM Center to serve as a physical hub to support students studying the sciences. Equipped with adaptive workspaces and collaborative technology, the STEM Center hosts workshops focused on both the professional world and course-specific content, along with tutoring services and a study environment for students.

McDaniel earned a spot as the top-ranked Maryland institution on U.S. News & World Report’s “Best Value Schools” list among regional universities in the North for academic quality and affordability. The college also ranked as one of the “Best Regional Universities in the North” in their “Best Colleges” rankings for 2022-2023.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,681 undergraduates, 1,208 graduates
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 13:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $46,336
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 87 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Kinesiology, Business Administration, Psychology, Biology, Political Science, International Studies

 

MORGAN STATE UNIVERSITY
The largest of Maryland’s HBCUs, 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. Recently, Morgan launched the state’s first bachelor of science degree in cloud computing. 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: 7,034 undergraduates, 1,435 graduates
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 15:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $8,008 for in-state and $18,480 for out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 87 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Civil Engineering, Communications Engineering, Business Administration and Management, Social Work, Biology/Biological Sciences, Architecture, Finance, Psychology, Sociology

 

MOUNT SAINT MARY’S UNIVERSITY
Located in rural, mountainous Emmitsburg on a massive 1,500-acre campus, “The Mount” is America’s second-oldest Catholic university. It offers more than 80 undergraduate majors, minors, concentrations, and special programs grounded in a Catholic liberal arts tradition, and several bachelor’s/master’s combinations in partnership with other universities. It’s a degree that pays: The Mount ranks in the top 10 percent of colleges and universities nationwide in terms of the long-term earnings for a four-year college degree. As an extra bonus, the school offers a rich NCAA division I athletic program.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 2,570
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 12:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $44,330
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 82 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business, Management, Marketing, Social Sciences, Computer and Information Sciences, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Psychology, Communication, Journalism, Education, Family and Consumer Sciences/Human Sciences, and Health Professions

NOTRE DAME OF MARYLAND UNIVERSITY
A private, Catholic liberal arts university in northern Baltimore, Notre Dame of Maryland University offers programs ranging from undergraduate to doctoral degrees, 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: 807 undergraduate students, 1,377 graduate and professional students
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 7:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $39,250
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 86.5 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Nursing, Education, Biology, Art Therapy, Pharmacy

 

ST. MARY’S COLLEGE OF MARYLAND
A state institution founded in 1840, St. Mary’s College of Maryland was recently ranked among the best public liberal arts colleges by Money magazine. Located on 361 acres in rural Southern Maryland, it is also know for having one of the lowest student-to-faculty ratios in the U.S. While its waterfront campus in historic St. Mary’s has the feel of a private institution, it offers all the affordability, accessibility, and diversity of a public school.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,526
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 10:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $15,184 in-state, $31,260 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 77 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Social Sciences, Psychology, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Natural Resources and Conservation, English Language and Literature/Letters, Visual and Performing Arts, Computer and Information Sciences, History, Mathematics and Statistics, Foreign Languages, Literature, and Linguistics

 

SALISBURY UNIVERSITY
For those who want to be close to the ocean, Salisbury University offers undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral programs at its campus in Salisbury, about a 40-minute drive from Ocean City. In 2020, Money magazine named it one of “America’s Best Colleges.” A public institution, Salisbury is a NCAA Division III Capital Athletic Conference school.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 6,695
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 14:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $10,396 in-state, $20,872 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 86 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business, Management, Marketing, Education, Communication, Journalism, Psychology, Public Administration and Social Service Professions, Health Professions, Parks, Recreation, Leisure, Fitness, and Kinesiology, Social Sciences, Computer and Information Sciences, Biological and Biomedical Sciences

 

STEVENSON UNIVERSITY
Stevenson University is a liberal arts school on a suburban campus in Baltimore County. It offers bachelor’s degrees, master’s degrees, and preprofessional programs, as well as its Bachelor’s to Master’s option, which allows students to earn a bachelor’s and master’s degree in five years. The school is growing, having recently opened a 117-acre recreational and athletic hub on its Owings Mills campus.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 2,979
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 15:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $38,738
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 91 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Health Professions, Business, Management, Marketing, and Related Support Services, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Computer and Information Sciences, Education, Psychology, Visual and Performing Arts, Homeland Security, Law Enforcement, Firefighting and Related Protective Services, Multi/Interdisciplinary Studies, and Legal Professions and Studies

 

TOWSON UNIVERSITY
One of the largest public universities in the state, Towson University offers more than 110 undergraduate majors, 47 master’s degrees, six doctoral programs, and 36 graduate certificates. The university 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-square-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. Towson also 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 and 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 and the wider community to Towson for enriching performing arts, music, and visual art programs.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 18,730 undergraduates, 3,187 graduates
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 16:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $10,818 in-state, $26,820 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 88 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business Administration, Education, Nursing, Exercise Science, Psychology, Sociology and Anthropology, Biology, Computer Science, Information Technology

UNIVERSITY OF BALTIMORE
The University of Baltimore is situated in Mount Vernon, a Baltimore neighborhood rich in art, architecture, and history. UB has gained a solid reputation for its law and business programs, but it offers a wide spectrum of undergraduate and graduate degrees and doctoral programs, with an intense focus on connecting students to community and jobs, ensuring a sustainable career path post-graduation.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,605 undergraduate
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 11:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $9,506 in-state, $22,956 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 89 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Business, Forensic Science and Technology, Animation/ Video Graphics/Special Effects, Healthcare Management, Criminal Science, Digital Communication and Multimedia/Media, Psychology, Political Science and Government, Human Services, Information Science

 

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, BALTIMORE
The University of Maryland, Baltimore is the state’s only public law, health, and human services university. Located in downtown Baltimore, it offers 90 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 more than 1,000 people in nearly three dozen life science companies, university-based startups, and bioscience industry leaders like BD, Illumina, Catalent, and Pharmaron. With more than 250,000 square feet of lab and office space, the BioPark has been named an Outstanding University Research Park of the Year by the Association for University Research Parks. It’s located in the heart of the university’s medical campus.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 6,931
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 student population 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, with NASA announcing a major award of $72 million over three years, from 2021 to 2024, 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 more than 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: 10,625 undergraduate students, 3,366 graduate students
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 17:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $12,606 in-state, $28,370 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 69 percent POPULAR
AREAS OF STUDY: Computer and Information Sciences and Support Services, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Social Sciences, Psychology, Visual and Performing Arts

 

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND, EASTERN SHORE
The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES), the State’s Historically Black 1890 Land Grant Institution, is a teaching, research, and doctoral institution that nurtures and launches leaders in a student-centered environment. Located on over 1,000 acres in Princess Anne, UMES was ranked among one of the top HBCU’s by U.S. News & World Report in 2020. It is home to many unique programs and partnerships in health sciences, agricultural and environmental sciences, and renewable energy research and implementation, including a novel, three-year accelerated Pharmacy program and the UMES Coastal Ecology Teaching and Research Center, which plays a significant role in the diversification of the workforce of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,812
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 10:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $8,724 in-state, $16,467 out-of-state
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 81 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Aviation Science, Agriculture, Environmental Science, Applied Design, Kinesiology, Education

 

WASHINGTON COLLEGE
Founded in 1782, Washington College became the first college chartered after the American Revolution. This small, liberal arts school is based on a bucolic campus in Chestertown and offers more than 50 academic programs, small class settings, and a rich study abroad program. Recent news on campus includes the receipt of a gift of over $2 million to endow merit-based scholarships.

SIZE OF STUDENT BODY: 1,026
STUDENT TO FACULTY RATIO: 9:1
ANNUAL TUITION: $50,842
ACCEPTANCE RATE: 70 percent
POPULAR AREAS OF STUDY: Social Sciences, Biological and Biomedical Sciences, Business, Management, Marketing, Psychology, Physical Sciences, English Language and Literature/Letters, Liberal Arts and Sciences, Visual and Performing Arts, Communication, Journalism, and Computer and Information Sciences

Cited tuition costs may exclude room and board, books, and other fees.

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.

If anyone is wondering what life is like for the UMBC men’s basketball program—coming up on one year after its star turn as America’s favorite underdog—just know that it’s still pretty great.

Last night, on their suburban Baltimore campus, when the Retrievers faced America East rival Vermont, the UMBC athletic department proclaimed it Fortnite Night. Of course they did. It was an ode to senior forward Nolan Gerrity’s proclamation last year that 16th-ranked UMBC beating No. 1 Virginia in the NCAA tournament was akin to winning in the massively popular, last-person-standing concept video game.

And so the roughly 2,000 people that showed up to the UMBC Event Center on Thursday night received a beautifully detailed themed poster, complete with the university’s mascot, True Grit, hanging from a helicopter. Gerrity said he wanted to go home with 10 of the giveaways, and he wasn’t the only one. “Obviously, we love Fortnite,” junior Arkel Lamar said afterward.

Plus, the players are also talking about March again, as in what they can do for an encore to last spring’s Cinderella story that brought them, and their relatively small and very smart research university in Catonsville, unexpected and exceptional national recognition. Because let it be known: The men’s basketball team from University of Maryland Baltimore County, or U Must Be Cinderella, is still winning.

With an impressive 65-56 victory over visiting and league-leading Vermont on Thursday night, a rematch of the game that sparked 2018’s magical run, the lovable Retrievers have won nine of their last 10 games, a remarkable feat considering they lost starting forward Daniel Akin to a season-ending knee injury just a month ago, and that was after they’d lost five of their previous eight games dating back to mid-December. And, you know, it’s also harder now that everybody knows who they are. The proverbial target is on their backs, along with jersey numbers and last names.

But UMBC hasn’t lost it charm, even in its $85 million athletic facility and led by a coach, Ryan Odom, who doubled his salary after pulling the strings on last March’s madness. After Thursday’s game, each member of the team circled the courtside seats and front rows of the stands, slapping hands and fist bumping supporters with personal thanks. At halftime, Odom’s kids shot baskets on the court, then his youngest son, Owen, joined the boisterous student section behind one of the baskets for the second half while his older brother, Connor, a sophomore basketball player at the renowned Oak Hill Academy in Virginia, sat behind the UMBC bench.

Four rows up at center court, Odom’s dad, the former Wake Forest and South Carolina coach Dave, sat with family members that twisted with the emotions of every play on the court, up to final-minute free-throws. True Grit sprinted around the court in a No. 50 jersey to pump up fans. The women’s lacrosse and swimming and diving teams threw out free T-shirts during television breaks because the game was shown live to a national audience on ESPNU. A white, gold, and black banner—#16 UMBC-74, #1 Virginia 54—hangs from the ceiling of UMBC’s arena.

And post-game, in a media room that contained just six reporters and one university-issue video camera, Odom said proudly, “This team just keeps playing. They’re resilient, and guys continue to make plays. . . . They listen. They’re coachable kids. They’re all great kids.”

While the two primary faces of last year’s history-making team, Jairus Lyles and K.J. Maura, are no longer in uniform, there’s still a few players left over, most notably graduate student (in data science) Joe Sherburne. The forward is this year’s leading scorer and rebounder and just plain looks like a calming agent in what can otherwise be a chaotic chess match on the court. Gerrity, a “management of aging studies” major is back, too, as is Lamar, who had 10 rebounds on the big stage against Virginia a season ago. And there’s new names and faces that, if the Retrievers are able to win the America East tournament once again, might also become popular across CBS broadcasts next month. Like London native R.J. Eytle-Rock, point guard K.J. Jackson, and junior guard Ricky Council II, a transfer from Providence.

The Retrievers have a solid nine-man rotation that gets contributions from each piece in various ways, be it Lamar making a steal and throwing down a thunderous dunk Thursday night that gave UMBC a 42-33 lead with about 13 minutes left, and got the crowd off its feet for the first time. Or, a few minutes later, Lamar hitting a three-pointer that made it 51-41, and slapping an unrestrained high five with Sherburne at mid-court, again getting the crowd going. Or Jackson hitting a three-pointer as the shot clock expired to make it 59-48 with 3:39 left, that essentially sealed the win, or one-shotted it, in Fortnite lingo. Jackson had a game-high 18 points and three assists, Lamar had 15 points, Eytle-Rock had 10, and Sherburne, quietly, led with six rebounds. Council had nine points off the bench.

Overall, the team’s identity centers around defense, a stamp that began to be impressed after back-to-back losses at Hartford and UMass-Lowell the second week of January and helped Thursday when Sherburne and others got in foul trouble early and sat on the bench. That means generally gritty work like rebounds, steals, and blocks turn into points. “The coaches just really didn’t let us make excuses,” said Jackson, a junior from Houston. “We responded to that well, not giving in, not allowing ourselves to be any less than we could be. We have a standard and we’re destined to meet it every single time out.”

Sure, “Neither team could win the championship tonight . . . It comes down to March,” as Odom said Thursday. “We don’t have it figured it out. We’re trying to continue to figure it out, every game and every practice.” But the result was an important, big-picture marker. UMBC, as a program, had lost 23 straight games to mid-major power Vermont before Lyles’ buzzer-beater in the 2018 America East conference title game (the only real way for them to make the big NCAA tournament via a conference champion automatic qualifying bid). Now UMBC has beaten them three times in a row, after also winning on the road a month ago.

With the latest victory, UMBC moved into second place in the America East standings, clinched a conference postseason tournament home game, and improved its overall record to 18-10 with only three games left in the regular season. That’s called heating up in a Fortnite Battle Royale, if you ask them, and at the most wonderful time of the year.

“As it gets closer to March, we’re always excited,” Lamar said, speaking like the veteran he is. “The thought of going dancing is unbelievable.”

Dr. Letitia Dzirasa, who earned her bachelor’s degree in biology from UMBC and served as a resident physician at The Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, was announced Wednesday by Mayor Catherine Pugh as the new commissioner of the Baltimore City Health Department. Dzirasa replaces Dr. Leana Wen, who resigned in September after four years at the helm to lead the Planned Parenthood Federation of America.

Dzirasa earned her doctorate of medicine at Meharry Medical College, a historically black institution in Nashville, where she graduated summa cum laude. She served as Fearless Solution’s health innovation officer most recently, overseeing the company’s healthcare information technology efforts and business development team. Following her residency at Hopkins, she worked as a primary care pediatrician before moving into leadership positions at the nonprofit Baltimore Medical System, which serves more than 40,000 mostly low-income clients at five locations in Greater Baltimore and is the largest federally qualified health center in the state.

“We are fortunate to have attracted a candidate of Dr. Dzirasa’s caliber and broad experience to advance our agenda to improve the health prospects of all Baltimore residents,” Pugh said in a statement. “She will bring a commitment to reducing youth violence through evidence-based approaches, as well working to eliminate health disparities that persist, even while building on our progress to address the opioid epidemic and further improve access to critical care.”

Dzirasa was selected after a national search, which attracted dozens of applications from a variety of states, according to the mayor’s office. The vetting process will continue with the City Council, which must approve the appointment. Dzirasa will be formally introduced to the council at a March 11 hearing. Assuming she is confirmed, Dzirasa will oversee nearly 800 employees and a budget of roughly $150 million. She will be the first African-American woman appointed to the led the City Health Department and earn a salary of $185,000.

In her application, which Baltimore magazine reviewed, Dzirasa wrote that her priorities, if hired, would include youth violence prevention, improving access to healthy food and addressing obesity, and tackling the city’s opioid epidemic.

Dzirasa is married to Delali Dzirasa, founder and president of Fearless Solutions, and has a 2-year-old son and 17-year-old stepson. She moved to Baltimore in 2011. “I’m one of those people who knew what they wanted to do since they were five years old,” she told Baltimore. “I have a love for science and a love for health and wellness, which became a love for public health.”

Dzirasa said she realized that the her new position has become a high-profile political job in Baltimore. Over the years, city health commissioners have become outspoken policy leaders, including Wen, who ordered on-demand naxolone prescriptions in Baltimore—as well as former department heads Dr. Peter Beilenson, who pioneered a needle-exchange program to combat the AIDS epidemic and Dr. Joshua Sharfstein, who was a frequent critic of drug industry marketing practices.

“[Political leadership] is not my focus and not my goal, which is to help Baltimore residents achieve better health outcomes, but I will always advocate for the health of all Baltimore residents,” she said.

Reducing youth violence, Dzirasa stressed, is critical because the exposure to violence at a young age is generally traumatic. That exposure is also associated with worsening health outcomes over the life of the individual, including increased risk of addiction, heart disease, and diabetes, among other issues. Addressing the asthma crisis among the city’s youth is also a priority, she said.

“I think the health department has done outstanding work and I want to make sure people at the health department feel empowered,” said Dzirasa, who believes her technology experience as well as her local medical background can be of benefit to the department. “We’ll look at everything and see where we can potentially improve even the programs that are working well. There’s always room for improvement.”

PressBox’s second annual Best Of Baltimore Sports highlights the Sportspersons of the Year and more than 60 honorees celebrating the top sports people, performances and moments of 2018.

Who made the cut as the best upset, newcomer, surprise and more? Find out at PressBoxOnline.com/BestOf

“Did I really just say my beak?” It’s just past 6:30 on a Wednesday night in July, and Kailey Abbott sits in her Ripken Stadium dressing room—basically a glorified storage room with an industrial fan, mini fridge, and a clothing rack on each side—preparing to suit up as the Aberdeen IronBirds mascot, Ferrous, for the night’s game against the Brooklyn Cyclones. She’s joking with Tom Smith, who performs as the baseball team’s other mascot, Ripcord, about how they’ve come to see the costume as an extension of themselves. “Isn’t it funny how we’ll say my wings or my beak when telling stories?” she notes with a chuckle.

Transforming into Ferrous, whose name means “of or containing iron,” is a multistep process, but it’s become second nature for Abbott, a 25-year-old gym teacher in her fifth year performing as the primary mascot for the Orioles’ Class-A affiliate during the summers.

She starts by tying her blond hair up into a ponytail and pulling on a skintight headpiece that resembles a gray ski mask. She then puts on her “fat suit,” a furry one-piece lined around the midsection with several hula hoop-like plastic tubes and extra padding at the shoulders, over her athletic shorts and tank top.

“This is so no one can see my skin under the mask,” Abbott explains as she fastens a fluffy gray and blue fur bodysuit along her chest. Wings flap from her arms as she snaps on Ferrous’ bulky feet—orange and black shoe covers designed to clamp around athletic shoes. Next, she puts on a white jersey to match the team’s uniform tonight—Ferrous’ number is 7 3/8, combining the jersey numbers of Cal Ripken Sr., Billy Ripken, and Cal Ripken Jr.

At this point, Abbott’s body has been completely obscured by the fluffy costume, making her look nearly triple her actual size as she takes a few gulps of a lemon-lime Gatorade. After checking the time, she completes the final step: donning Ferrous’ head and securing it with a chin strap. As she walks down the hallway into the stadium, her 5-foot-5-inch frame looks at least a foot taller, but that’s not the only difference.

“Now is when you’re going to see the change,” she says before flinging open the door to the stadium’s main concourse. With those final words, Abbott’s reserved personality disappears. Ferrous playfully steps into the path of some children, blocking their route before throwing out high-fives and sliding down the railing to make his way to the field for the first pitch.

Ask any mascot where the widespread popularity of their industry began, and you’ll likely get one of two answers: The Famous Chicken or the Phillie Phanatic. Both emerged in the 1970s as improvised comedic entertainment during Major League Baseball games. The Chicken gained fame from independent appearances at San Diego Padres games, while the Phanatic was created by the Philadelphia Phillies to offer an extra boost of spirit. (In fact, the term mascot comes from the French term “mascotte,” meaning lucky charm.)

“Everyone knows the name Dave Raymond, who used to be the Phillie Phanatic,” says Cara Dekelbaum, the former—and sometimes current—performer under the suit of University of Maryland, Baltimore County’s Chesapeake Bay Retriever mascot, True Grit. “Even outside the mascot world, in the sports world, people know the legendary mascots by name.”

Today, nearly all major league teams have official mascots—27 of 30 in the MLB, 28 of 32 in the NFL, and 26 of 30 in the NBA—and several teams are home to more than one.

“Some people think it’s not a real job,” says Brandon Williams, who has played Poe for the Ravens since 2004—and happens to share a name with the defensive tackle who joined the team in 2013. Along with game day performances, Williams makes nearly 300 additional appearances as the mascot each year, from weddings to parades and even a trip to Bahrain and Djibouti on an Armed Forces Entertainment tour. His job falls under the marketing department and includes enough out-of-costume work—think scheduling and invoicing—to make it full-time.

A journalism major at the University of Delaware who played football and basketball in high school, Williams aspired to be a sports writer, not a mascot. But when a friend involved in Delaware’s award-winning mascot program pushed him to attend tryouts his sophomore year, Williams took a chance and made the cut.

Since then, Williams has perfected his craft with stints as the Wilmington Blue Rocks’ Rocky Bluewinkle and several seasons as a backup for the Oriole Bird before joining the Ravens. Today, he’s one of the longest-running and most established mascots in the Baltimore area, making him a role model to many high school, college, and semi-pro teams around town.

At 5’10” with an athletic build, shaved head, and neatly groomed beard, the 38-year-old looks no different from any other young professional with a desk job—today he’s dressed in slacks and a polo shirt—until he starts talking about performing as a mascot. When asked what characteristics the best in the industry have in common, he begins explaining a practice called “breaking the bubble.”

“You can’t just walk like you normally do,” he says. He jumps out of his seat and mimes walking, pumping his arms with gusto and lifting his legs several feet off the ground. “Pretend there’s a bubble around you. You want to reach the edge of that bubble and break that bubble with each step.” Williams says the best mascots are conscious of every movement, from a wave to a quick walk from one spot in the stadium to the next. “When you have a costume on, it swallows up a lot of your movements. To walk like this, you’ve really got to get the arms moving and over-emphasize.”

Like the players themselves, Williams takes his game day prep seriously, working out four days a week to maintain his stamina in a suit that weighs 25 pounds dry and up to 45 pounds wet—yes, from sweat—due to temperatures that can rise to 20-30 degrees higher than outside.

“The most important part of preparing is hydrating before game day,” Williams says, noting that about eight years ago he added energy gels used by marathon runners to his game day intake. “It keeps me from feeling completely dead when games are over.”

In addition to pumping up the crowd and offering entertainment, mascots can be powerful tools for the brands they represent. “When I was with the Hershey Bears, they didn’t fully recognize the power that the mascot program had as far as branding and marketing, so I was booking my own appearances. I was helping run the kids club at the time,” says Erin Blank, career mascot and founder of Pennsylvania-based Keystone Mascots, which hosts training camps and creates and maintains costumes for clients throughout the Mid-Atlantic.

As a nonathletic child from a sports-loving family, Blank says performing as a mascot allowed her to still show her team spirit. She donned her first costume—Cookie Monster—for her elementary school at age 10 and went on to perform for many teams including the Washington Capitals and Detroit Tigers.

Over the past 20 years, Blank’s Baltimore-area clients have included the Orioles, University of Maryland, Towson University, UMBC, the Bowie Baysox, and the IronBirds, and she’s actually been able to shape some mascot concepts.

“With iconic characters like Testudo, we don’t want to change what’s on the outside. We may suggest things to make it more ergonomic for the performers on the inside,” Blank says. “But with smaller schools, like Anne Arundel Community College, we were actually able to help them develop a brand new character—we came up with a little backstory for him, did some basic training, and now we’re doing repairs and maintenance for them.”

The project was part of a larger rebrand that began in 2014 in an effort to increase awareness of the school’s athletic identity. After students voted to change the team’s name to the Riverhawks, Blank set to work creating the new mascot, Swoop.

“We chose design elements from characters around the area,” she explains. “His wings are inspired by Slapshot of the Washington Capitals. He’s muscular in the chest—that comes from the Oriole Bird. He has legs and talons similar to Poe. So we tried to think of what fans in the area might relate to as really great mascots, and we made sure that those design elements were infused to the overall look of the character.”

“Now is when you’re going to see the change,” she says before flinging open the door.

There’s more to good costume design than its fan appeal, though. “The main challenges really come down to humidity and the disbursement of weight,” Blank explains. “It’s important to be able to release the hot, moist air that’s being built up around you. We’ve come up with ways of using wicking fabric, [and] our costumes are as fully washable as possible.” The safety of the performer is Blank’s first priority. “We’ve seen some performers in the long term develop back problems, arthritis in the back of their head, and tendonitis in their feet because the feet or head were not balanced correctly.”

Despite the challenges, performers say they feel lucky to be part of a tight-knit community doing what they love. In a job that can be isolating at times because of its secretive nature, mascots from the greater Baltimore area rely on one another for support. “One of the first mascot pow-wows I had was at the birthday party for Louie of the Bowie Baysox,” recalls Dekelbaum, who has performed as True Grit at UMBC since 2012. “You’re all sitting around with your heads off, and it’s like sitting around the campfire and sharing all the jokes and stories. And [you] get to know the people behind the masks, which is amazing.”

Plus, there are plenty of activities that mascots do outside of the stadium. This year, Williams as Poe partnered with the Baltimore County Public Library to pioneer a new summer reading program. “A mascot really speaks to that elementary-age student,” he says. “And it also does a lot for building what I call the next-generation fan.” He points out that with the ability of social media to open a window into the lives of players across the country, kids are less likely to automatically root for their home team.

“The Oriole Bird, or any mascot, is the bridge between the team and the fans,” says Bromley Lowe, a career mascot who performed as the Bird from 1994 to 2005 and now operates the educational program, The YoJo Show. “He’s the number one ambassador of the organization and adds a little Disney-like magic to the whole game day experience.”

Since the Oriole Bird debuted at Memorial Stadium on Opening Day in 1979, he has become an integral part of the fan experience, making an appearance at every home game since, along with thousands of community events. The Bird’s costume has evolved—the beak has been made softer and more movable, and the size of the tail has been reduced—but many of the traditions, including dancing on the dugout and spelling out O-R-I-O-L-E-S, remain.

“I love being able to sort of be a superhero,” Dekelbaum says. “You put on this costume and have a whole new identity, and it allows you to get away with things and have fun—and be somebody different. It’s like the ultimate acting role.”

About five minutes before the IronBirds’ first pitch at Ripken Stadium, members of the Hickory Lady Hornets, a youth travel softball league from Bel Air, have gathered on the field. Ferrous sneaks up behind them, tapping one young girl on her right shoulder, then quickly ducking to the left. The girls erupt in smiles and giggles, surrounding the larger-than-life character for hugs and high-fives.

“Ferrous, you’re my best friend,” exclaims one.

“No, you’re my best friend,” counters another.

It’s moments like these that keep Abbott coming back to the sweaty costume night after night. “I love making those fan connections,” she reflects. “That way, they can tell you notice them, and it makes them feel special.”

And, Abbott notes, being a mascot makes her feel special, too.

“Ferrous is like 180 degrees from what I’m like as a person,” she says with a laugh. “I guess you could say it’s my alter ego.”

As fans are gearing up for MLB’s earliest opening day ever, many are also getting excited about the fun giveaways that fans can expect when entering Camden Yards. In past seasons, the Orioles have had staples like the Maryland flag jersey, floppy hats, and who can forget the Manny Machado garden gnome. Here at Baltimore, we have a bit of a collection and we can’t wait to get all of the new goodies this season will offer. 

Among the giveaways this season, many of the old faithful’s will return—caps, t-shirts, and bobbleheads—but the team has gotten creative with a few of the new ones. For example, the first 25,000 fans at the June 25 game against the Seattle Mariners will receive a Buck “Snow”alter snow globe to mark the new “Halfway to Christmas” celebration at Camden Yards. In addition to the snow globe, the organization is promising that some of the park will be transformed into a winter wonderland.

In past years, most giveaways have been on weekends, but to make them more accessible, the Orioles are offering more memorabilia on weekday games (with cheaper ticket prices).  Other weekday giveaways besides opening day, holidays, and t-shirt giveaways, will be on May 30 when fans will receive an Orioles cooler backpack, and June 12 with a Dylan Bundy bobblehead.

Also new this season, the O’s will also host a University Pride Night series with the UMBC Retrievers kicking it off at the April 20 game against the Cleveland Indians. Students, alumni, and fans are invited to cheer for the Orioles while also celebrating the Retrievers’ impressive run in NCAA tournament. 

The first 750 fans to purchase tickets for the game through the offer will receive an Orioles cap in UMBC colors. Although, it seems that the Orioles underestimated the popularity of the team when creating this promotion. 

“Due to an overwhelming response for UMBC Pride Night ticket packages, we are currently sold out,” the Orioles website said just 24 hours after the announcement of the offer. “However, we are working to get more caps in time for the 4/20 game.”

The Orioles are going above and beyond (or more like far, far away) and will also be hosting “Star Wars Night” at the Yard on Friday, May 11. The team be giving away a limited-edition O’Day-Wan Kenobi bobblehead and offer a pregame party 90 minutes before game time with Star Wars characters and fireworks after the game set to the movie soundtrack.

Another popular giveaway making a comeback this season is the Orioles Hawaiian shirt. The team has even increased the giveaway to the first 35,000 fans due to its popularity last season. Some other familiar paraphernalia that will return this season include the Memorial Day t-shirt, floppy hat, Orioles hoodie, and Maryland flag script jersey, all with updated designs.

Be on the lookout for some new and inventive promotions this season like an Orioles car emblem, a coaster set, and a puffy vest. For a full listing of the promotions and giveaways, check out the Baltimore Orioles website and mark off your favorites. 

It was fun while it lasted, this Cinderella story that was quickly written but will long be remembered. 

“Our students have already won,” UMBC president Freeman Hrabowski said Sunday afternoon, a few hours before the men’s basketball team that two days earlier launched the Catonsville university into the national consciousness played an unlikely second game in this year’s NCAA tournament, “and for the rest of their lives and for the rest of UMBC’s existence, and that’s forever, we will be known as the institution that made history.” 

That, of course, happened Friday night, when the Retrievers trended all over social media while becoming the first 16-seed to ever upset a No. 1 in the first round of the annual rite of spring known as March Madness. They did it by 20 points no less against the tournament’s top overall seed, Virginia. 

Just by having a reason to throw on their gold and black jerseys again Sunday for a second-round game against ninth-seeded Kansas State meant UMBC—U Must Be Cinderella, the University of Millions of Brackets Crushed, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County—had accomplished something that never had been done before.

Second-year coach Ryan Odom’s 15 Retrievers (of the Chesapeake Bay variety, as the nation learned this weekend) nearly extended the fairytale another week. They scrapped and clawed and willed their way against another major conference power for two-plus hours Sunday night, in what was a one-point game with less than six minutes left, but ultimately fell, 50-43.   

You wouldn’t have known the outcome afterward looking at Hrabowski, who was all smiles as he absorbed a hug from UMBC’s anthropomorphic, fuzzy brown mascot, True Grit, and led cheers in front of the small section of fans inside the Spectrum Center in Charlotte, North Carolina. Instead of heading to the locker room, the team saluted their family, friends and faithful, too.

It seemed a lifetime of memories were made in a three-day span. The feel-good story. National attention. Free publicity. It’s what any relatively small public institution like the one located just off the Beltway southwest of the city, known more for its academics than athletics, dreams about. Just think, anyone who Googled enough or heard by word of mouth, could have learned the life story of the 52-year-old institution, its men’s basketball players, and staff. 

There was a first-person story written by Hrabowski on Sunday, which outlined the big picture and filled in the details. The university’s birth in 1963, as a school that would serve students of all races during a time when much of America was still segregated. The contributions of philanthropist Robert Meyerhoff to the cause. And the fact that school, population 14,000, is now is a top producer of African-American graduates who go on to earn PhDs in the sciences, and is the leading producer of ones who go on to earn MD-PhDs. 

There was the measured head coach Ryan Odom, who looked somehow like he had been here before. The son of former Wake Forest head coach, Dave, who was also a former Virginia assistant, was a ballboy for the Cavaliers when his father worked in Charlottesville. The 43-year-old inherited a program that went 9-51 the two years before his arrival and he’s now one of the hottest coaching commodities in the nation after leading a pair of 20-plus win seasons.

There were plenty of other articles in various outlets written about star Jairus Lyles, explaining his roundabout journey to suburban Baltimore by way of Virginia Commonwealth and Robert Morris universities. After being courted by big conference programs after last season, he elected to stay at UMBC and pursue a master’s degree, earning a 4.0 grade point average in the fall. 

There was the jubilant, unreal scene in the post-game locker room on late Friday night, after Lyles led the upset with 28 points, where a few bench players shared how the video game Fortnite may have partially inspired the historic victory. The team didn’t get back to its Holiday Inn hotel until 5 a.m., but when they did a welcome crew awaited. And so did the unexpected need to do laundry for a second and third day in town.

There were athletic communications staffer Zach Seidel’s tweets heard round the world. Followers of @UMBCAthletics now number more than 110,000, a 1,700% increase from tipoff of Friday night’s game.

And there was tiny point guard K.J. Maura. “I’m 5-foot-7 on a good day,” he told the media more than once. He well represented his home country of Puerto Rico and whose father celebrated his son by hoisting an oversized cardboard cutout of his Under Armour head-banded noggin for two games straight.

“I wrote one word on the board [in the locker room] about how I felt about them and it was proud,” Odom said Sunday night. “This was just really special.” It was a short story, yes, but an unforgettable one.

Looking back on it, maybe we should have seen the greatest upset in college basketball history coming. After all, how great is this? As the TNT broadcast crew told a national television audience afterward: “UMBC: U Might Be Cinderella.” 

The 15 members of the men’s basketball team from the University of Maryland-Baltimore County—as we’ve long known the school as—stunned the sports world, busted brackets across America, and sent Twitter into a frenzy.

The relatively tiny public research university in Catonsville of 14,000 students, recognized more for its science, tech, and engineering programs than anything else before Friday, will now be associated with something much different for as long as the memories of the historic night exist.

Like these…

In an unforgettable and surprisingly dominant performance, second-year coach Ryan Odom’s Retrievers, who got into the NCAA tournament on a last-second shot in the America East title game last Saturday, followed that up with an upset of the 68-team national bracket’s No. 1 overall seed Virginia, 74-54, in a first-round game in Charlotte, North Carolina.

UMBC became the first 16-seed to ever beat a No. 1 in a NCAA men’s tournament, in 136 such games played, and will now face Kansas State in the Round of 32 on Sunday. 

“It’s just amazing,” play-by-play announcer Jim Nantz said in the waning moments when it became clear the Retrievers would win, after yet another bucket by star graduate student guard Jairus Lyles, who finished with 28 points, coming in a variety of ways, while fighting through cramps in the second half. “I’ve never seen anything like it.”

By that time, UMBC had already broken parts of the internet (including its own), as people from around the country looked for more information on the school with a four-letter acronym that was about to make history…

It’s hard to believe it all just happened. The game was tied at 21 before the Retrievers pulled away in the second half. Lyles scored 23 of his 28 points after halftime, and shot 9-for-11 overall.

Like him, the UMBC Athletics official Twitter account was a star of the evening, going from less than 6,000 followers before the game to more than 30,000 in the 30 minutes after. Whoever thumbed replies throughout the game to curious strangers and sports journalists alike did so with a healthy dose of hardscrabble sass.

As we said with a smidge less snark in a preview of the game on Thursday, when out-of-towners ask about the school, just say it’s University of Maryland-Baltimore County, of course. 

Now there’s another name in play—that Cinderella one. How crazy, how unlikely, how fun. How long will the story continue?

From the last-second shot that sent them to the NCAA tournament and their university president’s bromance with their star player Jairus Lyles, to the school’s acronym that might make a few people wonder, “What’s that?” when they see it on screen Friday night, and even the program’s Chesapeake Bay retriever mascot, True Grit, the UMBC men’s basketball team has a bit of that lovable underdog feeling around it right now.
 

Dare we say, Cinderella?
 

There’s only one men’s team from the Baltimore area, and all of Maryland and Washington, D.C., participating in March Madness this year (if you’re reading this it means you’re late filling out your office bracket), and it is the UMBC Retrievers, who started the craziness early by shocking favorited Vermont in the America East title game Saturday. Lyles, a Silver Spring native and a graduate student at UMBC, drained a 23-footer with 0.6 seconds left to complete the 65-62 comeback win.
 

The reward? The conference title, which gave mid-major UMBC its first NCAA tournament spot since 2008, in just head coach Ryan Odom’s second season.  

But that achievement also brought with it a David vs. Goliath task: a first-round match-up with the 68-team bracket’s No. 1 overall seed, Virginia, in Charlotte, North Carolina. The Cavaliers, the ACC champs with a 31-2 record, are expected to win by 21 points, according to the Las Vegas sports books, and they feature the top defense in the nation and potential future NBA talent.
 

“The way we won that game in Vermont was a storybook ending,” Odom said Wednesday. “That’s a lot to digest. We had a lot coming at us. And so I just encouraged the guys that we have to turn the page now. But now we’ve got a massive challenge staring us in the face, and if we don’t prepare the right way, it won’t go well.”
 

A 16-seed has never beaten a No. 1 in the NCAA men’s tournament. Traditionally these types of games have been blowouts. But Virginia coach Tony Bennett (bet he’s never heard a “can he sing?” joke), speaking to reporters this week, didn’t sound as if he found the Retrievers, who went 24-10 this season, a pushover.  

“Good basketball knows no division or limits,” he said. “They can spread the floor and shoot the three [pointer] at a high clip. They’re very versatile and defend solid. They know how to play the game. You watch all that stuff and you’re impressed.”
 

You’ll likely notice the Retrievers do-it-all 5-foot-8 point guard, K.J. Maura. He’s from Puerto Rico and is shortest player ever to win the America East Defensive Player of the Year award. He might need to be aggressive against Virginia’s super-efficient, slow-down offensive style.  

And the 6-foot-2 guard Lyles will look to crack the Cavs’ tough defense. “He’s very quick and dynamic,” Bennett said of the Retrievers’ leading scorer (20.2 points per game). Though sadly the Virginia coach didn’t mention as part of his scouting report the unlikely friendship that Lyles—a 4.0 GPA student pursuing an M.A. in education—has forged with UMBC president Freeman Hrabowski (they text), who probably couldn’t be happier at the moment.  

The 52-year-old public university in Catonsville—well-regarded for its science, tech, and engineering education—has received a generous attention boost this week. And it will get some more exposure, win or lose, on a national platform for roughly two hours Friday night. That’s UMBC, the University of Maryland Baltimore County, of course, if any out-of-towners ask.

Game Time: No. 16 UMBC (24-10) vs. No. 1 Virginia (31-2), Approx. 9:20 p.m. ET Friday
NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament, South Region, First Round
TV: TNT
Live Stream: NCAA March Madness Live

The conundrum: The days you most need coffee are often the days you have the least time for it.

Enter the Mojoe Mobile Brewer, a coffeemaker and travel mug in one that allows users to have coffee wherever and whenever. The device is the brainchild of Harford County native Joseph Hyman, who earned a mechanical engineering degree from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County. Hyman was struck by inspiration when studying in the campus library.

“I wanted a cup of coffee and I didn’t want to go to the cafe because I didn’t want to spend money,” Hyman, now 27, remembers. “And I didn’t want to go to my dorm because I knew that if I went all the way back I would stop studying. I thought, ‘How come there isn’t a mobile coffeemaker?’”

Hyman and three of his friends—Alexandre Wing, Ezekiel Kolajo, and Jingrui Wang—set out to create one. In late 2015, they started an online fundraiser to cover manufacturing costs for the first batch of the devices, which will be shipped to customers starting this summer. The product, available for $149.99, also will get an auspicious introduction later this month at the CE Week electronic show in New York City.

The high-profile unveiling speaks to the ambitions of Hyman and his cohorts. “We want to have a very strong launch and [have it become] a household name similar to Keurig,” he says.

Showdown
Wil Haygood (Alfred A. Knopf)

You could argue that Martin Luther King Jr. may have been the civil-rights movement’s spiritual compass, but Thurgood Marshall was its driving force. As the attorney behind the epic Brown vs. Board of Education case, which desegregated public schools, and countless other legal victories, Marshall, a Baltimore native, paved the way for more equal standing between blacks and whites. But it was his 1967 Supreme Court nomination, Haygood writes, that shook the country to its core. The ensuing five days of confirmation hearings—the longest of any nominee at that point—forced Congress, and the Americans watching, to admit painful truths about race’s role in our history. Haygood—a Washington, D.C.-based writer who wrote the article that was the basis for the 2013 film The Butler—expertly weaves narrative from the hearings with background details on those influencing the proceedings. Particularly eye-opening—and infuriating—is a chapter that delves into the lynching carried out by then-Senate Judiciary Committee chairman James Eastland’s father. Showdown leaves you with a deeper understanding of this titan of American history, and all it took for him to succeed.

See our interview with writer Wil Haygood.

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It Shouldn’t Have Been Beautiful
Lia Purpura (Penguin Poets)

Each of Lia Purpura’s verses reads like a spontaneous gem, almost as if she has been struck with a moment of inspiration during everyday life and has paused to scribble down her thoughts. But don’t think that makes her poems any less profound. In short stanzas that are absent of flowery language and dramatic metaphors, Purpura—writer in residence at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, whose work has appeared in The New Yorker and The Paris Review—provides poignant insight into our existence, and all its mysteries and uncontrollable circumstances. Take “Regret,” where she envisions the feeling as a place. “It was expensive there / once, very costly, / but not / until now.” In “Desire,” she writes, “It’s not enough, / but it is, because / too much / would topple / all I could hold.” This collection feels as if each verse should be savored, then contemplated, and her words will have you musing on their greater meanings long after reading.

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Alpha Docs: The Making of a Cardiologist
Daniel Muñoz, M.D., and James M. Dale (Random House)

We’ve all wondered about the high-stakes environment of The Johns Hopkins Hospital, where talented, young physicians are put through their paces, determining what area of medicine they will pursue—and if they are qualified, talented, and persistent enough to stay the course. We get an intriguing inside view of the pressure, sleepless nights, and beeping pagers through the story of Daniel Muñoz, once a resident in internal medicine and later a cardiology fellow at Hopkins, who is now an attending cardiologist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, TN. We journey with him through his rotations and watch him grow, both as a doctor and as a person who is determined, he writes, not to develop an “elitist pride” that can come with the stress of the environment. One of the book’s most compelling passages shows how Muñoz learns to tell a woman that her husband should be taken off life support. This is where his story is most effective—showing the human impact of this challenging work.

There are a number of successful Athletic programs at University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC), but none can compare to the school’s most successful squad—its chess team.

In play in some capacity since the university’s founding in 1966, the team blossomed in the mid-’90s and has since racked up more national championships than any other collegiate chess team. And, by the time you read this, they may have added another win to their record by competing in the “final four of college chess” at the President’s Cup in New York City the last weekend in March.

Repping the Retrievers at the competition will be junior and captain Niclas Huschenbeth, freshman Tanguy Ringoir, second-year grad student Akshayraj Kore, and junior Levan Bregadze—all of whom are either international grandmasters or international masters and are at UMBC on chess scholarships.

Also traveling to New York as an alternate is junior Nazi Paikidze, who is an international master and ranked sixth in the nation among female players. “Anyone who thinks women cannot play chess should play her,” notes the program’s director Alan T. Sherman. (Historically, competitive chess has been a male-dominated field.)

The team will square off against frequent rivals University of Texas at Dallas, Webster University, and Texas Tech University, but the fearsome fivesome are excited, not daunted.

“This is the crème de la crème, the absolute best four teams,” says Huschenbeth, a German native who is studying psychology and uses the handle “Dark Knight” during games. “This year, literally everybody can beat everybody.”

Win or lose, there is still fun to be had. “I’m excited to visit New York,” says Ringoir, a financial economics major from Belgium who plays under the name “Belgium Butcher.” “I love traveling, and playing in the New York Athletic Club across from Central Park sounds great.”

50K

Pounds of trash that the Waterfront Partnership’s new solar-powered wheel is able to remove from the Inner Harbor per day.

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1788

Year that masonry company Spectra Group Cos. was founded, making it the longest family-run business in town, according to the Baltimore Business Journal.

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147

Number of rooms at the Radisson Hotel at Cross Keys that were completely updated, thanks to the hotel’s multimillion dollar renovation.

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$123

Cost, in millions, of a new life sciences building at UMBC, to be completed by March 2019.