Building on 25 years of experience in public policy research, UMBC alumnus Chris Haffer has started a new leadership role with the key federal agency that enforces civil rights laws against discrimination in the workplace. Haffer, M.P.S. ‘91, public policy, and Ph.D. ‘93, public policy, is now the first chief data officer and director of the Office of Research, Information and Planning for the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.
“In this role, I have an opportunity to help foster innovation and creativity to proactively identify how we share data safely with the public and ensure the greatest impact and reach for the community,” says Haffer.
Haffer began his first year of college with a love of foreign languages, and he expected that would be his career. That was until a social sciences requirement introduced him to sociology.
The course sparked in him an interest in applied research, leading to a summer job as a research assistant at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. He continued on to UMBC’s master’s and Ph.D. public policy programs, and a career spanning over two decades at the Center for Medicaid and Medicare Services (CMMS).
For Haffer, UMBC offered an important bridge between public policy theory and practice. Professors emeriti Marvin Mandell and Donald F. Norris, public policy, shared their vast applied research experience through both their teaching and also connecting Haffer with opportunities in the Maryland Institute for Policy Analysis and Research. Both mentors also guided Haffer to the highly competitive Presidential Fellows Program that began his 25-year service at CMSS.
“I remember Chris as a smart, talented and driven graduate student who was passionate about public service,” says Norris. “I know him now as a friend and it has been no surprise to me that he has achieved so much and risen so highly in governmental service.”
Through Norris and Mandell’s examples, Haffer says, he saw how public policy could make a difference in people’s lives. “I learned that with applied public policy research I could turn research into action in a focused way to help programs and agencies better meet the needs of the community,” he shares.
His advice for anyone wanting to work with big data and in the federal service is to move beyond misconceptions. Haffer explains that big data is not only about analysis, nor is federal service solitary work.
“We need more creative minds to help tell a more engaging and accessible data story,” says Haffer. He encourages graphic designers, media and communications majors, and marketing graduates to consider federal service careers in data-focused areas.
The most rewarding aspect of big data and federal service for Haffer has been learning how to best use, disseminate, and implement data with the collaboration of interdisciplinary teams.
“When you are trying to solve a problem, you may be able to do it faster yourself,” reflects Haffer, “but the product a team creates is better because it represents the intersection of different views. It will be of more value to your customers, who will be as diverse as the team that created the product.”
Banner Image: Chris Haffer at the EEOC. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
Evan Avila ‘20, economics and political science, is a millennial with retirement on his mind, and his fresh ideas are now capturing the interest of policymakers. Avila recently won first place in the national 2018 iOme Challenge, which asked students across the United States to innovate policies to help millennials save for retirement. Avila presented his winning paper, Rethinking Millennial Retirement: Policy Recommendations for a Gig Economy, to policymakers on June 20 at a symposium on Capitol Hill.
This year’s iOme (“I Owe Me”) Challenge asked participants to imagine they were invited to join a bipartisan task force to address a growing retirement crisis in the U.S. What policies might they propose on issues relating to gig economy workers or using social media to increase awareness about saving for retirement?
Avila had dealt with these topics before, in the classroom and through volunteering with tax assistance and financial counseling. Avila has served as a certified volunteer in the federal Volunteers Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program at UMBC, which provides tax return filing support for eligible people no cost to them. He’s also offered financial literacy clinics for fellow college students and was familiar with their common questions and concerns about how to make smart financial decisions.
Avila applied this knowledge and experience to creating an iOme Challenge entry that contest judge David Wegge, interim dean of Schneider School of Business and Economics at St. Norbert College, said, “demonstrated great policy depth, a keen understanding of the challenges millennials face, and creativity in devising solutions that are achievable for this age cohort.”
Cindy Hounsell is president of the Women’s Institute for a Secure Retirement (WISER), which sponsored the competition. She shared, “We are impressed by Mr. Avila’s response to the more complicated challenges and deterrents millennials face in preparing for their future retirement.”
UMBC economics professor Doug Lamdin mentored Avila as he developed his three-part policy proposal and transformed his essay into a video. He shares that typically students enter the contest as teams, but he wasn’t surprised that even competing as a team of one Avila emerged the winner.
“That Evan won the competition is not exactly a surprise. He had a very strong proposal,” said Lamdin. “Evan balanced the demands of the competition, usually placed on a team, exceptionally well in addition to a full class schedule, working as a teaching assistant, a research assistant, presenting at the Undergraduate Research and Creative Activities Day (URCAD), volunteering at the Esperanza Center teaching English, and his activities as a Sondheim Scholar.”
Avila, who recently completed his fourth semester with a 4.0, is currently serving as an intern in the Office of Comptroller of the Currency in Washington, D.C. This follows an internship in 2017 at the U.S. Census Bureau, where he worked in the Economics Indicators division, focusing on how to efficiently process massive quantities of survey data in a precise way.
Looking ahead, Avila plans to pursue a career in tax or administrative law. “I came from a Peruvian and Mexican household. I saw how hard my parents worked and the challenges they faced to have financial security,” says Avila. “In college, I see my peers trying to make sense of personal budgets, savings, loans, credit, and retirement. It is very rewarding to help people be financially literate and understand the laws and policies that affect their wallet.”
Banner image: Evan Avila with his economics internship supervisor in 2017. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
“Humans have emerged as a force of nature on this planet,” UMBC’s Erle Ellis says, as he begins to explain his work. Ellis, a professor of geography and environmental systems is one of the world’s leading thinkers on the Anthropocene, a new word scientists are using to describe Earth’s current geological epoch, defined by human transformation of the planet.
“We are changing Earth’s climate faster than at any time since the fall of the dinosaurs,” says Ellis. For scientists, he notes, “What’s controversial…is when did this begin? […] When did humans literally become the global shaper of the earth?”
In 2009, the International Commission on Stratigraphy, through its Subcommission of Quaternary Stratigraphy, created the Anthropocene Working Group (AGW) that is officially charged to examine whether the Anthropocene should be added as a formal time interval in the geologic time scale (following the Holocene, the current geological epoch after the last ice age) and, if so, what should mark its beginning. Shortly after its formation, Ellis was asked to join the Anthropocene Working Group as an expert on human transformation of the biosphere.
Scientists today disagree about when human impact on Earth reached levels sufficient to identify the start of the Anthropocene. Did this come with early forest clearing and agricultural production some 5,000 – 8,000 years ago? Or did this begin with European colonization of the Americas? Or very recently, with the Great Acceleration of environmental change that began in the 1950s?
Ellis tackles this question and others in his new book, Anthropocene: A Very Short Introduction. Right now the Great Acceleration of the 1950s is the leading candidate for the Anthropocene’s beginning, but heated discussions are ongoing, and will likely continue even after a formal Anthropocene is defined in the Geologic Time Scale, which could occur as early as 2020, when the International Union of Geological Science next meets.
The book Anthropocene builds on Ellis’s earlier writing about the complexities, evolution, and controversies surrounding the emergence of humans as a force transforming Earth in The New York Times, The Economist, and other media. Ellis offers readers new to this debate varying viewpoints from geologists, geographers, environmental scientists, archaeologists, political scientists, and scholars of the humanities. In exploring how people have impacted air and water quality, plant and animal life, and our own health and wellbeing through practices that have made our immediate lives easier but are also having serious, long-term consequences for the health of the planet.
“The Anthropocene engages us in seeking new narratives about what it means to be human, from humans as environmental destroyers to humans as the salvation of this planet,” explains Erle Ellis.
“One of the biggest questions about the Anthropocene is whether it should be considered to be a bad thing and the reason that it’s such a big question is because so many of the definitions of what humans are doing to this planet are negative things, like changing the climate and causing mass extinction,” says Ellis. “Yet, on the other hand, the Anthropocene is not over, and it really remains to be seen what we’re going to make of this human time period.”
Ultimately, Ellis argues, “We humans are going to shape the future of this planet.” So, he asks, “what kind of planet are we going to shape?”
Banner image: Grand Erg Oriental, Algeria, October 31, 2017. Image provided by the Sally Ride EarthKAM@Space Camp on the International Space Station.
Marigold, a seventh grader at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School, moved through the crowd with the poise and professionalism of a public relations veteran as she guided visitors through the Lakeland Community and STEAM Center on their first visit to the new space.
The South Baltimore center opened its doors on June 1, after a two-year, $1.6 million renovation and programming revamp supported by the Northrop Grumman Foundation and Northrop Grumman Mission Systems in partnership with UMBC. Other contributors included the Harry and Jeanette Weinberg Foundation and the South Baltimore Gateway Partnership. Students and their supporters quickly filled the fresh space, excited to view its state-of-the-art equipment and learn about the activities it will support.
“Marigold is a perfect example of a student who dives into not only school, but extension opportunities,” shared Lakeland Principal Najib Jammal. Her experience shows how “being involved” in enrichment activities “can accelerate learning and growth,” he said.
Sen. Ben Cardin (center right) greets Lakeland Elementary/Middle student Marigold (center left) and tours the Lakeland Community & STEAM Center with Reginald Moore (far right), director, Baltimore City Recreation & Parks. Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
Just one year ago, Marigold arrived from Ghana, with a love of reading but limited spoken English skills. After a year of hard work in Lakeland’s ESOL program, her English language speaking skills have blossomed. In addition to volunteering as a guide in the STEAM Center (which stands for science, technology, engineering, art, athletics, and math), Marigold serves as captain of her school’s competitive cybersecurity team.
Supporting Baltimore Students
UMBC President Freeman Hrabowski spoke at the June 1 event of the need to spotlight and support the future of Baltimore’s talented youth. He shared, “We believe in the need to be more deliberate and proactive in helping our children. We believe in Baltimore City and Baltimore City Public Schools.”
UMBC’s partnership with Lakeland Elementary/Middle School began in 2013. “The history of the Lakeland partnership has been wide-sweeping and centered on wraparound services to address the needs of the administrators, teachers, students, parents, and the community at large,” explained Rehana Shafi, director of UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program and partnership with Lakeland.
Started through the vision and support of George and Betsy Sherman and the Sherman Family Foundation, the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program prepares UMBC students to become both experts in teaching STEM subjects and civic-minded educators committed to social justice and community engagement in urban schools. Sherman Scholars provide support for in-classroom instruction and afterschool enrichment, and the program has been closely involved in developing the STEAM center.
Current and former Sherman Scholars celebrate the program’s 10th anniversary, with George and Betsy Sherman (front left), program staff (front center), and Jackie and Freeman Hrabowski (front right). Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
The UMBC Peaceworker Fellows Program is also closely involved in the holistic partnership. Peaceworkers focus on community connections, which will grow dramatically now that the new center is open. This is particularly essential in a community without a library or other public meeting areas. The center will give residents access to computers and services like financial counseling, and the community association will soon begin meeting in the space.
Growing Together
Northrop Grumman reached out to offer support for this South Baltimore community three years ago. “After the unrest of 2015 we wanted to make a difference in Baltimore, but not just make a difference in that moment,” recalled Northrop Grumman President and COO Kathy J. Warden. “We wanted to make a lasting difference.”
Warden explained, “We had resources, we had dollars, and people that wanted to help, but we didn’t know how. We reached out to UMBC and joined a fantastic partnership that already existed.”
The opening of the new center represents the growth and lasting strength of this community partnership. Knowing that Lakeland students start walking through the center doors as early as 6:45 a.m., Sandra Evers-Manly, president of the Northrop Grumman Foundation, arrived at the center ahead of the launch event to share in the children’s excitement over their new space.
“The Lakeland Community and STEAM Center places a shining light on the stars that were already here and provides them with the resources and the platforms to get out and show how special they are,” said Evers-Manly. Looking out at the crowd that came to celebrate, she shared, “Our young people are so proud that so many across Baltimore took time out to say yes, you can, and yes, you will.”
Ripple Effect
The new space was created by renovating an existing Baltimore City Recreation and Parks building at Lakeland Elementary/Middle School in an innovative way. “This new STEAM Center expands our notion of what recreation should be,” said Rec and Parks Director Reginald Moore. “It is more than just athletics. It is robotics, drones, music. The possibilities are endless.” And, most importantly, says Moore, it’s a place for students to “better prepare for their future.”
Lakeland students explore new resources in the STEAM center. Photo by Kait McCaffrey for UMBC.
This shift is visible in the center’s new recording studio, computer lab, and makerspace. Students can now perform, record, and produce music and audio interviews on site, and the school will have room for robotics teams to develop their projects. The center will also host parenting classes, community fitness sessions, adult education, and mental health services thanks to additional collaborations with local agencies and organizations.
“The incredible transformation of the Lakeland Community and STEAM Center will provide a resource for people of all ages to acquire life-changing knowledge and skills,” said Senator Ben Cardin, at the launch event. “Large-scale, positive changes like these usually require a strong group of partners standing shoulder-to-shoulder.” Senator Chris Van Hollen and Mayor Catherine Pugh also spoke to the power of supporting Baltimore City youth through working together.
Sen. Chris Van Hollen (center) speaks with Lakeland Community & STEAM Center visitors. Lakeland Principal Najib Jammal in background (center right). Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
Tangible Impact
For the students, these partnerships have already had a major impact. The Baltimore Sunrecently highlighted Lakeland students’ major gains in PARCC test scores, thanks to strong collaboration between Lakeland teachers and UMBC math coaches. “This is not your average partnership,” math teacher Carly Harkins told the Sun. “This is my 16th year teaching, and I’ve never seen anything where the schools are so connected in so many ways.”
UMBC Sherman Scholar leads Lakeland students in an activity. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
Kenniyah, a rising 8th grader at Lakeland, learned journalism and media skills through the Media and Rhythm Institute, a hip hop youth program the STEAM center and Sherman Scholars brought to Lakeland as the new space was still in development. In the past two years, she has interviewed the mayor, helped create podcasts, and assisted in producing educational DVDs. With the recording studio officially open, she looks forward to expanding her broadcast skills to recording music.
Now planning her applications for the BARD High School Early College program and Baltimore School for the Arts, Kenniyah shared, “My journalism skills and video production skills will make me stand out.”
Kathy Warden (right), president and COO, Northrop Grumman, discusses media production with Lakeland Elementary/Middle School students in the Lakeland Community & STEAM Center. Photo courtesy of Northrop Grumman.
For Betsy Sherman, herself a retired teacher, Marigold and Kenniyah show what the Sherman Scholars and the new Lakeland Community and STEAM Center are all about. At the launch, she shared, “It is time we stop talking about ‘at risk’ and start talking about possibility.”
Banner image: UMBC Sherman Scholar leads Lakeland students in a hands-on learning activity. Photo by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC.
The forum was the fourth in a series organized by UMBC’s Office of the Vice President for Research to bring together faculty tackling shared topics from widely diverse angles. “We established the research forum series in 2014 to provide an opportunity for scientists and scholars to collaboratively explore multiple facets of a topic central to the research and scholarship of UMBC,” says Karl Steiner, vice president for research. Previous forum focus areas include high-performance computing, climate change and the environment, and the visualization of science.
UMBC’s Dresher Center for the Humanities sponsored and helped organize the latest forum, focused on how the humanities can help address challenges related to health care access. Dresher Center Director Jessica Berman shared, “It was exciting to see how much humanistic scholarship is taking place all across campus and the potential partnerships it creates, between UMBC and other universities. This research forum helped to highlight the humanities in their capacity not only to ask good questions but also to help solve important problems such as health justice and access.”
Racism in Health Care Policy
Keynote speaker Graham Mooney, professor in the Institute of the History of Medicine at Johns Hopkins University, presented his research on the Baltimore Medical Care Plan of 1948. “By using the history of medicine and public policy we can better understand how the process of racism and segregation have interacted to prevent black residents’ access to quality medical care in Baltimore,” explained Mooney.
The topic led to an interactive conversation about the negative impact the 1948 plan had on the quality of life of Baltimore’s black community and how it served as a model for similar approaches in other states, and later for Medicare and Medicaid. During the discussion, Shawn Bediako, associate professor of psychology, argued that analyses of health care access across U.S. history should also include how black communities have responded to inequities. He mentioned, as examples, the establishment of the National Negro Health Movement and Office of Negro Health Work.
Listening to Communities
Valuing community voices was a key theme in the two interdisciplinary panel discussions that followed. These discussions revealed how key humanities methods, such as attending to history, paying attention to narrative—including who gets to speak and when—and thinking critically about how we understand and value specific human experiences can be crucial to addressing issues important to contemporary public life.
In the first of those panels, Kristen Slesar, from the Narrative Medicine Program at Columbia University, shared her experience using personal narratives to inform medical research. Slesar is a licensed clinical social worker and psychotherapist who focuses on child trauma. She regularly teaches about health care justice and health care for underserved communities.
Scott Casper, dean of the College of arts, humanities, and social sciences (CAHSS), then moderated a discussion on “Listening as Public Practice: Towards Equity and Justice” that included Bediako as well as colleagues Drew Holladay, assistant professor of English; Amy Hurst, associate professor of information systems; and Denise Meringolo, associate professor of history. The panelists explored how centering the narratives of individuals in their research improves the quality of their findings and the potential impact of their work. “Confronting the barriers to health equity compels us to look across disciplines and toward collaborations among social scientists, scientists and engineers, and humanists and artists,” noted Casper.
Lawrence Brown, assistant professor of community health and policy at Morgan State University, spoke during the second panel about the impacts of residential displacement and financial disinvestment on community health. In addition to his work on the impact of historical trauma on community health, he also leads the student-driven #BmoreLEADfree project focused on ending lead poisoning in Baltimore.
Berman then led a group discussion on the topic “Communication, the Urban Environment, and Health Justice,” with Dena Aufseeser, assistant professor of geography and environmental systems; Katherine Bankole-Medina, professor of history at Coppin State University; Dawn Biehler, associate professor of geography and environmental systems; and Jennifer Maher, associate professor of English. The discussion showed how paying attention to the ways local communities understand issues of health and the environment can challenge the kinds of changes we propose and the ways we communicate about them.
New Health Equity Collaborative
The forum also introduced UMBC’s new Collaborative for the Interdisciplinary Promotion of Health Equity Research (CIPHER). The collaborative will form working groups bringing together UMBC researchers across different fields to examine current challenges to health care equity, and to inform innovative solutions for the future.
Bediako, whose research focuses on health care inequities experienced by patients with sickle cell disease, will serve as the founding convener of this initiative. He shares, “I am most excited that CIPHER will aim to reach across disciplinary boundaries and use multiple perspectives to address specific challenges to health equity.”
Banner image: (L to R) Courtney C. Hobson M.A.’14, history, coordinator for the Dresher Center; Karl Steiner; Rachel Brubaker M.A. ’00, history, assistant director for grants and program development for the Dresher Center; Don Engel, assistant vice president for research; Scott Casper; and Jessica Berman. All photos by Kait McCaffrey for UMBC.
Maryland Humanities celebrated its 45th anniversary in May through a special event bringing together over 200 supporters. The event highlighted the relevance of the humanities to Marylanders and honored three transformational leaders who have supported the growth and mission of the organization: UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski; James T. Brady, chair of the University System of Maryland Board of Regents, and Catherine R. Gira, president emerita of Frostburg State University.
“James Brady, Dr. Gira, and Dr. Hrabowski exemplify empathy as three friends who…speak about the power of the humanities in Maryland,” said Phoebe Stein, executive director of Maryland Humanities. “Through their service, commitment, and understanding of our mission, they give us the energy to continue to focus on the ‘public’ in public humanities.”
Stein also reflected on how the gathering came at a pivotal time, with critical issues about equity, race, sexuality, citizenship, diverse communities, education, and safety being at the forefront of public discourse. She recognized the important role of the humanities in these conversations, noting, “There is an urgency right now to relate to one another, to understand what is human between us and highlight the empathy in our communities.”
UMBC faculty and staff attended to support and celebrate Hrabowski. “President Hrabowski has been an abiding champion of this work,” says Jessica Berman, director of the UMBC Dresher Center for the Humanities. “He reminds people at every turn that society’s most pressing problems can’t be solved by technological solutions alone and that history, philosophy, and the stories we tell are crucial to our ability to understand human life.”
On the occasion of the anniversary, the three honorees spoke of the value of the humanities and the role of the humanities in their lives and their leadership. They also reflected on their work together and their friendships over the past 25 years.
“Freeman and Catherine are two of my favorite people in the planet and some of my closest friends. They have been an inspiration to me,” said Brady. “They understand that the humanities teach you how to listen, be thoughtful, and live a meaningful life.”
Gira said of her fellow honorees, “Freeman and Jim understand that documents and statistics are valuable, but you need the humanities story to give a face to the facts.” She described Hrabowski as “one of the most brilliant, creative, innovative leaders—people—that I have ever known.” She said, “He has that incredible ability to inspire other people and then empower them to take a project, an idea, and run with it.”
Hrabowski commented further on how humanities have made possible his approach to leadership and building relationships. “I think of the humanities as having given me a context for living my own life, and for knowing how I would work with and be as supportive as possible of others,” he said.
Hrabowski also reflected on Brady and Gira as friends and as leaders. Speaking of Brady, he shared, “Jim is so connected to ideas. He is able to do so many things and do them really well. He loves to make a difference.” Of Gira, he said, “She has been an inspiration to thousands.”
When Maryland Humanities asked the honorees for their thoughts on the value and impact of the humanities, a common thread emerged. “We live in a divisive world and this is a place where we want to say what binds us together as humans,” said Gira. Echoing that sentiment, Hrabowski offered, “The humanities will always matter because they…give us hope.”
Banner image (L to R): Phoebe Stein, James Brady, Catherine Gira, and Freeman Hrabowski. Photos by Howard Korn Photography. Video courtesy of Maryland Humanities.
The fall of 2017 was marked by wildfires that burned most of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino counties in Northern California, and a hurricane season with 17 tropical storms — 10 of which became hurricanes and six that reached a category three or stronger. Millions of people dealt with and continue to face loss of power, as well as shortages in water, medical care, and food, through the fall and winter.
While media coverage of these events often focuses on the initial impact, rarely do we get to see what happens behind the scenes as first responders prepare or during the civilian disaster relief and the long haul to recovery that follows. Among these helpers were UMBC faculty, staff, and students who joined the relief efforts as first responders, fundraisers, and aids in navigating the social, legal, and political complexities of disaster relief and recovery.
Helping the Most Vulnerable
As Hurricane Harvey wreaked havoc in Texas in late August, Brian Grodsky, assistant professor of political science and a health technician with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, enlisted as a volunteer with the federal MD-1 Disaster Medical Assistance Team. Days later, when Irma, a Category 4 hurricane, roared towards Florida, he began working in emergency rooms to triage less critical patients so the hospital could focus on higher-risk patients.
“Being able to directly help people in the most vulnerable situations helps satisfy a need for more tangible outcomes that sometimes is hard to come by from research, teaching, and speaking,” says Grodsky. “There is always a way to give and to connect your professional skills to the many needs a disaster presents.”
He hesitantly returned to civilian life two weeks later while part of his team headed to Puerto Rico, where Maria, a Category 5 hurricane, shut down the entire power grid. Meanwhile, on campus, several of UMBC’s Puerto Rican volleyball players waited to hear from their families and figure out how they could help from afar.
Hometown Heroes
Claudia Lopez ’18, biology and psychology, a native of Puerto Rico, used a crowdfunding platform to raise more than $10,000 from friends in the UMBC community and beyond, which was split between two major foundations that focus on aid for Puerto Rico. Lopez also collected donations of water, toiletries, and clothing, which she delivered in person at the end of the fall semester.
“I felt helpless being here, but in Puerto Rico we always help each other. I knew I could do something,” says Lopez. “The response on campus was amazing. There was a staff member that donated every day. Student athletes and coaches donated the most in the first three days. I hope people remember the need even after the media leaves.”
Emergency services students like Charniece Johnson ’18, and Ian Hamilton M.S. ’20, served as FEMA reserve workers for more than a month and a half at the beginning of fall semester
“It was very emotional. I helped people feel heard and understood, and explain what they could expect from FEMA,” recalls Hamilton, who helped connect affected residents with financial and other services in Florida. “There are a lot of people that after you finish listening and talking with them, they give you a hug. I feel like I am making a difference and getting paid for it, more than just financially, in hundreds of ways.”
Johnson worked with Disaster Survival Assistance, helping people from the Virgin Islands with critical health care needs get the care they need. “I want to do something for people. I don’t want to be behind a desk,” said Johnson, who said she enjoys working in the field.
Examining Inequity
Susan Sterett, director of the School of Public Policy and a native of Sonoma County, California, used her personal blog to explore the social and political inequities that limit disaster response efforts as she saw her own hometown burn. Sonoma was and is a vacation spot for the wealthy that is surrounded by homelessness, poverty, and working class people, many immigrants.
“We need to build in equity before disaster strikes since disaster often makes already existing inequalities worse,” says Sterett, who analyzed the social, environmental, and psychological impact of what it means to be in a natural disaster when there already exists so much inequality, and how relief efforts that are often driven by policy — but removed from the everyday reality — can deepen trust issues between the lawmakers and the people they aim to protect.
Sterett added: “As we have seen, inequality is a complex, multi-dimensional problem and one that becomes more evident during the long aftermath of natural disasters.”
— Catalina Sofia Dansberger-Duque
U.S. Coast Guard photo by Senior Chief Petty Officer Kyle Niemi
Eight of UMBC’s explorers, dreamers, teachers, and thinkers will soon travel to countries across Europe and Asia as 2018 – 19 U.S. Fulbright Scholars. The grantees are all graduates of UMBC’s College of Arts, Humanities, and Social Sciences (CAHSS), representing majors in modern languages, linguistics and intercultural communication, history, english ancient studies, economics, political science, and global studies. They will research and teach English in China, Kyrgyzstan, Macedonia, Lithuania, Indonesia, South Korea, Sri Lanka, and Romania.
“This year’s Fulbright Scholars demonstrate the excellence of the humanities and social sciences at UMBC, as well as the centrality of global understanding to a contemporary liberal arts education,” says Scott Casper, dean of CAHSS.
UMBC’s Fulbright History
The United States government established the Fulbright Program in 1946 to increase mutual understanding between people of the U.S. and other nations around the world. Today, this “flagship international educational exchange program” is active in over 160 countries. It is highly competitive, receiving over 11,000 applications each year. Recipients are chosen based on academic or professional achievement and demonstrated leadership potential.
(L to R) Brian Souders, Flora Kirk, Sophia Lopresti, Morgan Zepp, Kelly Daughtridge, Manisha Vepa, Marc Schultz, Jessica Willis, and Morgan Chadderton.
UMBC began participating in the Fulbright Program in 1970. Since then, Fulbright has chosen 70 UMBC students to represent the United States through research, teaching English, or pursuing graduate studies internationally. UMBC has been particularly successful in the past 5 – 10 years, seeing a major increase in the number of Retrievers—students and alumni—recognized as Fulbright Scholars.
“In the last ten years we have had 51 Fulbright recipients, with three students choosing other competitive options,” explains Brian Souders Ph.D. ’09, language, literacy, and culture, Fulbright Program advisor. “In general, we have gone from one to three recipients a year to seven to eight annually over the past five years.”
Supporting Students
UMBC’s increasing success rate is thanks to dedicated support from faculty and staff, as well as the International Education Office’s Fulbright Boot Camp. Participating students receive guidance and advice throughout the application process and access to a supportive network of peers and mentors as they plan for their journeys.
David Di Maria, associate vice provost for international education, is excited that UMBC is connecting more and more students with transformative learning experiences. In Fulbright applications over the past year, he notes, “UMBC demonstrates a higher success rate than 123 of 183 top institutions, including half of the eight Ivy Leagues.”
Di Maria believes UMBC’s substantial foreign language offerings, intercultural learning opportunities, and focus on community engagement inspire and prepare students to pursue Fulbright experiences. This year’s recipients are exploring a broad range of fields through a global lens, from urban planning to music and dance, to women’s leadership.
UMBC’s New Fulbright Scholars
Morgan Chadderton ’18, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, will teach English in Kyrgyzstan while continuing to strengthen her Russian language skills. Chadderton, a Humanities Scholar, previously studied in Kyrgyzstan as a Gilman Scholar in 2016. She looks forward to her Fulbright experience as the next step toward a foreign service career.
Morgan Chadderton
“I plan to work with American Corners, a program associated with the United States Embassy,” says Chadderton. “I want to create a book club, host film screenings of popular American films, and plan cooking classes.” She notes, “It’s important to me to create an immersive, informal, and educational environment similar to my first experience in Kyrgyzstan that helped me to better understand the language and culture.”
Kelly Daughtridge
Kelly Daughtridge ’14, history, ’17 M.A., historical studies, will teach English in Macedonia. She has already visited Turkey, Greece, Malta, Italy, Germany, Austria, the Czech Republic, and Hungary, and is fascinated by the cultures of the region. In addition to teaching English, Daugherty will conduct independent research on contemporary perspectives on tombs in Orthodox churches.
Sophia Lopresti
Inspired by her father’s cross-cultural work in the U.S. Marine Corps, Sophia Lopresti ’18, global studies, has already led humanitarian and educational trips to Nicaragua and Panama. She looks forward to teaching English in Indonesia as a Fulbright Scholar and hopes to continue her work there supporting access to oral health care.
“Helping others at home and abroad has allowed me to reflect extensively on the many privileges I have in the United States,” says Lopresti, focusing in particular on access to education and healthcare. Following her Fulbright, she will pursue graduate education in nursing or public health.
Manisha Vepa
Growing up in Howard County, Maryland, Manisha Vepa ’18, economics and global studies, developed an understanding of her Indian-American identity through dance. She also found common ground with classmates from other cultural heritages, particularly Chinese- and Korean-Americans, through the arts, including orchestra. As their friendships developed, they shared food, religious, and cultural traditions. “Instead of focusing on my ‘otherness,’ I started to recognize and become comfortable with the similarities we shared and the differences that made us unique,” says Vepa.
What started as a personal interest became an academic and professional one. As a Fulbright Scholar teaching English in South Korea, Vepa hopes to use popular music as a teaching tool. She also looks forward to learning traditional Korean dance. Vepa plans to enroll in a graduate program on East Asian Affairs upon her return.
Jessica Willis
Jessica Willis ’17, modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, is passionate about women’s leadership development. As a young woman, Willis enjoyed growing as a leader through the Girl Scouts, which eventually granted her its highest honors, the Gold Award. For the past year, she has served in the Maryland Conservation Corps, an AmeriCorps program focused on protecting natural resources. She hopes to apply skills learned through both experiences to her work teaching English in Sri Lanka as a Fulbright Scholar. While there, she will also work with young women in the Sri Lanka Girl Guides Association and other women’s groups.
Morgan Zepp
Morgan Zepp ’18, global studies and English, developed a deep interest in Lithuanian culture through growing up in a community with a significant Lithuanian-American population. She looks forward to expanding her cross-cultural communications skills by teaching English in Lithuania as a Fulbright Scholar.
As a Humanities Scholar, senior editor of UMBC’s creative arts journal Bartelby, and a longtime tutor at UMBC’s Writing Center, Zepp wants to share her passion for writing to broaden students’ understanding of the English language. She shares, “I am enthusiastic about creating public workshops open to the Lithuanian community based on any kind of writing, where people can assist one another in writing and reading English-language documents.”
Flora Kirk ’18, ancient studies, will be conducting research on Roman coins at Babeș-Bolyai University (UBB) inRomania. Her Fulbright Study/Research Award follows preliminary research conducted in Great Britain.
Kirk has traveled extensively throughout Europe, including researching and interning at museums and archaeological sites in Romania, the United Kingdom, and Italy. She has knowledge of Italian and advanced Latin. In addition to continuing her research through local museums and libraries, she looks forward to developing her Romanian conversation skills, while helping Romanian students perfect their English.
Marc Schultz
Marc Schultz ’18, political science and global studies, will return to China through a Fulbright Study/Research Award focused on urban development after previously studying at the Harbin Institute of Technology as a Boren Scholar. He will take intensive Sichuanese Mandarin language courses funded through the Critical Language Enhancement Award to help him better conduct research in the Sichuan province.
The Sichuan province was heavily impacted by a deadly earthquake in 2008. Schultz hopes to explore how Sichuan residents are using innovative urban development practices to address issues of inequity and displacement following the earthquake. “Living in Baltimore has deepened my awareness of the massive effect that the urban environment has to uplift or further oppress its residents,” says Schultz.
Following his Fulbright experience, Schultz plans to complete a graduate degree in international studies in preparation for a foreign service career.
UMBC’s International Education Services office encourages students interested in the next Fulbright cycle to attend Fulbright Boot Camps starting in late June. These workshops support current students and recent alumni in choosing an appropriate program and honing competitive essays for their application.
Banner image: (L to R) Morgan Chadderton, Flora Kirk, Kelly Daughtridge, Morgan Zepp, Jessica Willis, Manisha Vepa, Marc Schultz, Sophia Lopresti.
All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. Video by Corey Jennings ’10 for UMBC.
Psychology professor Susan Sonnenschein is on a mission to help the parents of premature or medically fragile babies make the most of their time in the neonatal intensive-care unit (NICU).
As a former NICU mom herself, she is delighted that parents at the University of Maryland Medical Center NICU enjoy the Mother Goose on the Loose (MGOL) “Goslings” program and follow the early literacy strategies taught in the hour-long workshop there. As a scientist and the program’s evaluator, she wants to make sure the resulting data matches the participants’ enthusiasm.
Based on Betsy Diamant-Cohen’s nationally recognized Mother Goose on the Loose program, which promotes early literacy for parents and caregivers with children from birth to age the three, the Goslings program gives new parents and caregivers tips on how to incorporate literacy practices in the NICU and beyond. Goslings workshops help families of premature babies, as well as medically fragile full-term babies, bond with their children by learning when and how to stimulate their language development through singing, reading, and play, and by using “I’m happy and ready” body language.
“Liking the program is a necessary step, but it is not enough. The goal of the program is to make sure the families are engaging with their baby in a developmentally appropriate way not just during their hospital-guided workshop but at home as well,” explains Sonnenschein.
It was for this reason that Brenda Hussey-Gardner, associate professor of pediatrics at the University of Maryland School of Medicine and adjunct psychology professor at UMBC, reached out to her colleague to evaluate the effectiveness of the program, which received funding from the PNC Foundation Grow Up Great initiative for development, implementation, and evaluation. Port Discovery Children’s Museum also brings its expertise in language, literacy, and play to the project by administering the program delivery with trained facilitators.
Sonnenschein enlisted doctoral students Rebecca Dowling ’16, M.A., applied developmental psychology, and Lisa Shanty ’13, M.A. ’16, applied developmental psychology, both of whom were interested in educational interventions. Dowling had experience as an Education Coordinator in Americorps and had already helped Sonnenschein to develop a math workshop for Maryland State Head Start Association meetings. This process helped her develop an interest in implementing effective interventions that supported teachers, specifically in early childhood education.
Shanty’s prior experience came from working as an intern for Hussey-Gardner in the University of Maryland Medical Center NICU Follow-Up Program, where she worked with whole family units to support the development of infants and toddlers. When she heard about the researcher, she did not hesitate to take another opportunity to gain early childhood research and applied learning experience.
Led by Sonnenschein, Dowling and Shanty gathered and analyzed pre- and post-test data from families about the usefulness of the strategies they learned to better communicate with their child, and their comfort level in applying the strategies independently in the hospital and after being discharged.
“Collaboration is key. Being part of the process together, figuring out the intricacies of working with other researchers, stakeholders, and having consistent data is what adds value for professors and students,” reflects Sonnenschein. “There are many opportunities in the Applied Developmental Psychology program to gain experience and apply what students are learning in the classroom to real life.”
The UMBC evaluation team found parents were adopting the strategies and ideas taught in the Goslings workshop in a developmentally appropriate way while their child was in the NICU. What has yet to be determined is the effects of the program once babies have graduated from the NICU and are at home. The team hopes that during this third year of the pilot program, further funding will allow for more data to be gathered to determine the program effectiveness long after families have left the hospital.
What do nine UMBC alumni with a passion for basketball, dance, and lacrosse, and fields from biology and biochemistry to information systems and political science have in common? They all chose to teach in Maryland public schools, and all returned to UMBC this May to speak at a special Celebration of Teaching event, launching a campus-wide initiative to increase recruitment and retention of teachers of color in Maryland public schools.
Participating teachers included Shalonda Holt ’07, biological sciences, teaching certificate in education, 2016 Washington Post Teacher of the Year and 2016 Howard County Teacher of the Year; Corey Carter ’08, M16, biological sciences, ’10 M.A.T., education; Demetria McAndrew ’08, political science, ’16 M.A.T., government; Raven Harris ‘12, media and communications studies, ’14 M.A.T., early childhood; Emily Diaz ’16, M24, biochemistry and molecular biology, ’17 M.A.T., education;Jennifer Smith ’00, information systems management;Monique Rivera-Velez ’17, M.A.T, education; Josephine Kalema-Kasozi ’13, dance, teaching certificate in secondary math education; and Tea Harrison ’17, visual arts, teaching certificate in education. They spoke about their decisions to choose careers in education, to purposefully connect with and inspire students, including students of color. They also discussed research findings that students of color benefit from having teachers and mentors who reflect their identities, and how there is currently a gap in the proportion of teachers of color in comparison to the proportion of students of color in U.S. public schools.
Jennifer Smith ’00, information systems management, shares her 17-year teaching experience in Baltimore City Public Schools.
Carter, a Sherman STEM Teacher Scholar, a Meyerhoff Scholar, and 2016 Baltimore County Teacher of the Year, explained the importance of addressing this gap not only through hiring more teachers of color but also through changing the language that people use to talk about the issue. “When we look at classrooms and we talk about how the demographics are changing, how now we have more than 50% students of color,” Carter said, “we need to stop using the word ‘minority,’ because when you are above 50% mathematically that is not a minority, and there is nothing ‘minor’ about anyone of color.”
Carter speaks to prospective educators in front of panel (L to R) Santelises, Singer, Rous, and Hrabowski.
The event was hosted by Provost Philip Rous, President Freeman Hrabowski, and John Singer, associate professor and chair of education, with Sonja Santelises, Baltimore City Schools CEO, as the keynote speaker.
Rous described to the audience the urgency of addressing this national issue, and the opportunity to have an impact through work at a local level. “In Maryland, 57% of students are students of color while only 17% of teachers are of color,” explained Rous. “If we do not diversify the pipeline that enters the teaching profession we will miss out on attracting the best and the brightest, and having our children learn from individuals from a diverse set of backgrounds and perspectives.”
“We want to prepare highly qualified leaders of color in public schools where there are few or no teachers of color through UMBC’s graduate and undergraduate teacher certification programs,” said Mavis Sanders, professor of education, during the event. Sanders is director of the new Center for Early Learning in Urban Communities, recently established through a $6 million gift from the George and Betsy Sherman Family Foundation.
Sanders and President Hrabowski previously published“Increasing Racial Diversity in the Teacher Workforce: One University’s Approach,” in the National Education Association journal Thought and Action. According to their research, when students of color have teachers who share a similar background and identity, they see gains in attendance, achievement, and engagement. Teachers of color also tend to stay longer in high-needs schools, providing greater stability for students and their broader communities.
Santelises is supportive of UMBC’s work to close the teacher diversity and workforce gap in Baltimore City and the state. “UMBC is an amazing reservoir of talent,” she said at the event. “The teachers who spoke here tonight were students who had many options but chose to teach out of interest and compassion. That is what makes UMBC different: teaching is the first option; it is not a default. This is a true commitment to equity through excellence.”
Santelises listens to Kalema-Kasozi
UMBC’s Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars program has been a leader in preparing future educators of color to teach in STEM fields and to stay in teaching careers. Event speakers Carter, Kalema-Kasozi, Diaz, and Rivera-Velez are all graduates of the program.
Rivera-Velez spoke at the Celebration of Teaching event about coming to UMBC specifically to follow her desire to pursue a teaching career after earning a B.S. in biology at the University of Puerto Rico-Mayaguez. She currently teaches biology at the International High School at Langley Park in Bladensburg, Maryland, and was recently selected as a 2018 Knowles Teaching Fellow.
Monique Rivera-Velez
The Knowles Teacher Initiative was created by Janet H. and C. Harry Knowles in 1999 to cultivate and support exemplary science and mathematics high school teachers and develop the next generation of leaders in education. It provides new teachers with financial, professional development, and mentoring support over the course of five years.
Rivera-Velez shared that although her father, a doctor, encouraged her love of science, she didn’t have a particularly positive experience with teachers growing up, and she wanted to provide a different educational experience for her future students. “I wanted to be the best teacher I could be,” she said. “If it wasn’t for the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars Program I would not be the teacher I am today.” She thanked Josh Michael ’10, political science and education, assistant director of the program, in particular, for being proactive and supportive, saying, “He listened, helped me work through issues, and find solutions to best meet my students’ needs.”
The UMBC department of education is continuously recruiting students from all disciplines for its Master of Arts in Teaching program. It is also offering a program for certified teachers to pursue a Masters of Arts in Education (MAE) degree with a concentration in STEM education, as well as an online Secondary Mathematics MAE.
Banner image (L to R): Rehana Shafi, director of the Sherman STEM Teacher Scholars program. Monique Rivera-Velez, Corey Carter, Emily Diaz, Josephine Kalema-Kasozi, and Josh Michael. All photos by Marlayna Demond ’11 for UMBC. Video by Corey Jennings’10 for UMBC.
The Vietnam War lasted for twenty years and claimed the lives of millions of civilians, Vietnamese soldiers, and 58,220 U.S. military personnel. In the late 1960s and early 1970s, public opposition to the war and the draft grew. Protesters took a series of non-violent direct actions to make their opposition known, including two key protest actions in Maryland. The first was the protest of the Baltimore Four, who symbolically poured blood on draft records. They inspired a larger protest by a group now known as the Catonsville Nine. Fifty years later, a special event hosted by UMBC’s Shriver Center will explore their story.
The UMBC Shriver Center will reflect on this story of activism throughout the month of May as part of the Center’s broader 25th anniversary programming, with support from Maryland Humanities and the Catonsville Nine 50th Committee. Events will kick off the weekend of May 4 with a symposium on social justice, creative non-violence, and spirituality and activism.
The Catonsville Nine included nine Roman Catholic men and women — Father Philip Berrigan, Tom Lewis, Father Daniel Berrigan, Brother David Darst, John Hogan, Marjorie Melville, Thomas Melville, George Mische, and Mary Moylan — who entered Selective Service Local Board #33 in Catonsville, MD in May of 1968, removed over 300 draft files, and burned them in protest of the violence and death in Vietnam. They were arrested, convicted, and sentenced to 2-3.5 years in federal prison, and their action inspired more than fifty subsequent draft board actions around the nation. In the face of this mounting opposition, President Nixon ended the draft in 1973, and the U.S. has not initiated a draft since then.
“ Hit and Stay” a film by Joe Tropea ‘06, history, M.A. ‘08, historical studies, and Skizz Cyzyk will be screened on May 10.
“The Catonsville Nine’s protest is one of the most significant acts of war resistance in our nation’s history, and it happened just down the road from UMBC fifty years ago this May,” says Joby Taylor ’05, Ph.D., LLC, director of the Shriver Peaceworker Program at UMBC. “Our goal with our symposium on May 4th, and other upcoming events, is to bring people together to better understand the story and impact of the Catonsville Nine, as well as the lessons and questions it raises today for those engaging in citizen-led nonviolent social change efforts.”
The symposium will take place at UMBC’s Public Policy Building foyer, 3 – 10 p.m., and will highlight three short films from the Baltimore Traces project, created by students in the media production classes of Bill Shewbridge ’80, history, professor of practice in media and communication studies. The films feature Dave Eberhardt from the Baltimore Four group that inspired the Catonsville Nine; Alva Smith Grub, a juror on the Catonsville Nine trial; and Brendan Walsh and Willa Bickham founding members of Viva House , which was established fifty years ago to help serve the Catonsville Nine action and continues to serve the Baltimore community as a soup kitchen on Hollins Street.
“This was a great opportunity to preserve these stories,” says Shewbridge, explaining, “Eberhardt, who will be at the symposium, is one of two surviving members from the Baltimore Four.” Shewbridge notes, “The story of people putting their beliefs into action resonated deeply with my students.”
Rebecca Wireman ‘18, media and communications studies, one of the student filmmakers, grew up in Catonsville hearing stories about the Catonsville Nine protests, and valued the opportunity to meet some of the community members involved. She helped conduct interviews, did camera work, and edited footage in post-production. “I was excited to film local oral history,” says Wireman. “It is really inspiring to learn about activism and political action from these protests, especially now when young people are looking for ways to voice their opinions.”
UMBC alumni have also played a role in engaging with and expanding public memory of the Catonsville Nine on the occasion of the 50th anniversary of their action. David Goldsmith ’77, history, M.A. ’04, and Dennis DeBoy ’78, political science, worked together to erect a historic plaque for the Catonsville Nine, which will be unveiled in front of the Catonsville Library on May 5 at 2:30. Joe Tropea ‘06, history, M.A. ‘08, historical studies, created the award-winning film Hit and Stay about the Catonsville Nine. The film will be screened on May 10, at 7 p.m., followed by a Q&A with the filmmaker.
“As a public historian,” says Tropea, “ I think it is important to tell this story of regular people who saw a problem with the war, the draft, the deaths and the killing, and found a solution through effective non-violent actions.” He shares, “They…helped change people’s minds about the Vietnam War and their example continues to inform political protests today.”
“How can Baltimore neighborhoods renew themselves without forcing out local residents or homogenizing diverse populations?” Community-engaged researchers from UMBC, Morgan State University, and the University of Baltimore will examine this question through a Dresher Center Humanities Forum panel discussion on “Redevelopment and Justice in Baltimore,” held in the Albin O. Kuhn Library Gallery, April 18, 2018, 4 – 5:30 p.m.
Panelist Nicole King, associate professor of American studies, has worked with her students to document and understand the diverse stories of Baltimore’s people and places, producing the radio series Bromo Speaks and Downtown Voices, and the project A Journey Through Hollins. King’s classes examine the complex web of social, economic, and political issues involved in gentrification, based in the idea that better understanding the perspectives and experiences of current Baltimore residents can lead to more collaborative and just planning and policies.
“There is a lot of discussion about how we need more millennials to move to the city. Freddie Gray was a millennial,” explains King. “Young people need to be able to see through the boosterism, coded language, and the so-called Baltimore ‘renaissance.’ We need to rethink the public’s right to the city.”
Joining King on the panel will be Felipe Filomeno, assistant professor of political science at UMBC; Lawrence Brown, associate professor of community health and policy at Morgan State University; and Seema D. Iyer, associate director and research assistant professor at the University of Baltimore’s Jacob France Institute.
Brown agrees with King on the importance of challenging the many misconceptions about what gentrification is, why it happens, and how it impacts residents physically, socially, economically, educationally, and emotionally. “Baltimore is the largest city in the state and there are many narratives that tell the story of who lives in Baltimore. Without understanding what has happened to Black communities in Baltimore, these narratives become victim-blaming,” notes Brown. “They miss how systems by our government have played a pivotal role in disrupting and uprooting entire communities until they were fundamentally unstable.”
The panel describes gentrification behaviors as the influx of private and/or public capital in a targeted area that then triggers an increase of education levels, income levels, housing prices, and a higher proportion of white residents. “When you see these markers of gentrification it is not a solution for existing communities who are waiting for safe and affordable housing,” says Iyer. “Baltimore has a housing crisis. There are 25,0000 households waiting for housing assistance. The house you have, which you may not be able to afford, is all you have because there is little economic relief or safe, affordable housing alternatives.”
The immigrant population in Baltimore has been impacted in a similar way, says Felipe Filomeno. He partnered with the Mayor’s Office of Immigrant and Multicultural Affairs from 2016 to 2018 evaluate Baltimore’s policy to attract and retain immigrants, examining education, health, public safety, and housing. Filomeno explains that nationally, immigrant homeownership rates are lower than the native-born population, making them more vulnerable to the effects of urban renewal. These communities are pushed out by increasing housing costs or by urban redevelopment that creates expensive amenities inaccessible to existing neighborhood residents.
“Immigrants forced out of Southeast Baltimore lose access to schools trained in teaching Spanish-speaking students and to community organizations that help connect them to jobs, health care, and housing resources,” says Filomeno. “Gentrification is a way to perpetuate inequality by cutting residents from the social and economic networks they need to experience some upward social mobility.”
The panelists will also look toward the future, discussing possible strategies to lessen the negative impacts of redevelopment and the gentrification that can result. Brown is hopeful about a proposal for the Perkins Homes near the Inner Harbor, where the housing authority will place residents in temporary housing before demolishing and rebuilding the development, and will then allow them to move back, to avoid displacement at any stage. Filomeno sees an answer in expanding homeownership programs for immigrants in neighborhoods across the city and county that need to increase their census. Iyer suggests a focus on maintaining diverse neighborhoods with a balance of different income and educational levels, as well as demographic factors, like race and age.
King wants Baltimore to take a different approach. Instead of focusing on enticing wealthier people from outside Baltimore to move to the city, she hopes the city can shift its strategic focus to the needs and great potential of current residents. She is setting her mind on educating and motivating thought leaders to rethink what community and success mean in Baltimore.
“We need to rethink the city for the 21st century,” explains King. She argues, “Baltimore should serve its current residents first and foremost. We need our politicians to show the same spunk of the city’s residents and to be up to try new things.” To do this, King suggests city leaders “listen to residents that have been here for generations, new residents ready to fight for a right to the city, and the young ones who will really shape the cities of the future.”
Banner image: Lexington Market, by Kimberly Zerfas.
