Meet Bruce Perry Jr. ’97, psychology. Bruce has spent 33 years at UMBC as both a student and staff member. He first joined the police department in 1994 as a student aide. After graduation, Bruce rejoined the police department in 1998 as an officer and has served in many roles over the years, including Operations Commander and Deputy Chief. In 2022, Bruce was named Chief of Police. Take it away, Bruce!
Q: What is your WHY? What brought you to UMBC?
A: In high school, I was in a club that had a field trip to UMBC. My guidance counselor highly recommended that I apply to three colleges. UMBC was one of those three and quickly became my top choice. I have been at UMBC ever since, practically my entire adult life, moving from a graduate to a staff member in a year.
Bruce attending Quadmania as a UMBC student.
Q: Where have you found support in the UMBC community?
A: Once I moved into Chesapeake Hall as a freshman and participated in Playfair, I met several other students that I connected with and became friends with. As a staff member, I was able to connect with other staff, faculty, and students through committees, programs and meetings.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?
A: I love how collaborative the people on campus are. It is easy to just call or email someone and get a quick response. There are lots of activities that take place, there are many food options, and they get to use the RAC facilities for free. I would especially mention two big events that we have every year, Homecoming and Quadmania.
Q: Tell us about your current job. What do you like most about it?
A: I first joined the UMBC Police Department in 1994 as a student aide. After graduation, I rejoined the department in 1998 as an officer and has served in many roles over the years, including Operations Commander and Deputy Chief. In 2022, I was named Chief of Police. I love the opportunity to collaborate with others across campus. I have been involved with numerous campus groups, including the Alcohol and Other Drug Committee, the Hazing Awareness Work Group, the Employee of the Quarter Committee, Mental Health First Aid Instructors, and the Black Faculty and Staff Association (BFSA) to name a few. I like that I am able to interact with other colleagues around campus.
Q: Tell us what you love most about working in the UMBC Police Department.
A: Working in the police department, every day is a different day. The members of my department feel more like family members than co-workers, which is good since we have to rely on each other. I enjoy interacting with others on campus, volunteering, and being involved in different groups and committees.
Pictured right: The Retriever Weekly (Volume 33, Number 16) announcing the hiring of three new UMBC Police officers, including Bruce.
Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A: I have been fortunate enough to have each supervisor that I have had since becoming an employee be a valuable mentor. They offered a lot of guidance and advice.
Bruce’s Chief of Police swearing-in ceremony in 2022. Pictured here with UMBC president emeritus Freeman A. Hrabowski, III.
Q: What would you tell someone who is considering a career at UMBC?
A: UMBC continues to be named as a top workplace by ModernThink’s Great Colleges to Work For program. UMBC ranks as a top institution nationwide in every category, from well-being and shared governance to mission and pride.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Meet Garvey Chu, a first generation transfer student who is about to complete his degree in mechanical engineering at UMBC at the Universities at Shady Grove. He’s also the recipient of a Mechanical Engineering Trailblazers scholarship. When he’s not in class, you might find Garvey enjoying some recreation time. We’re excited to see what he does next. Take it away, Garvey!
Q: Briefly introduce yourself. What’s one essential thing you’d want another Retriever to know about you?
A: My current area of study is mechanical engineering and I attend the Shady Grove campus. Outside of that, I enjoy going to the gym or just playing sports like golf and basketball. Currently I am in the final weeks of my undergraduate degree.
Garvey Chu, far right, poses with fellow classmates. Photo courtesy of Chu.
Q: Tell us about the support you’ve gotten as a student, or someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A: The advisors at Shady Grove have been great. And, I feel that the professors at Shady Grove have played a significant role in introducing me to new fields and aspects of engineering. Specifically, Prof. [Adam] Bridendolph and Dr. [Joseph] Washington have shared their personal experiences in areas that I was previously unaware of. Professor Bridendolph has expertise in the automation side of engineering, while Dr. Washington specializes in biomechanics. Both of them have really opened my eyes to new possible areas in my future career.
Q: What brought you to UMBC in the first place?
A: I came to UMBC because they offered mechanical engineering and also because the convenience of the Shady Grove campus, which was really close to my home. I also heard that the professors in the STEM programs were very good.
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[My professors] have really opened my eyes to new possible areas in my future career.
Garvey Chu, mechanical engineering student
Q: Tell us about what excites you about your academic program, what you hope to do after graduation.
A: I’m excited about having the ability to design machines or products. And, I really enjoyed the senior capstone project, where the team was tasked with developing an automated sortation machine. Not only myself, but the team members had limited exposure to many of the components the system consisted of such as pneumatics, PLC programming, and wiring. It was a totally new experience for us. Because of our selected project, we even had the opportunity to visit a technical college that had a department specializing in automation in West Virginia. I really enjoyed that visit. After graduation, I’m hoping to work in a field related to the automotive industry, satellites, or defense.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
An innovative internship program run through UMBC that helps Maryland support growing technology businesses while also retaining talented college graduates in the region is set to more than double over the next year, thanks to a $700,000 budget investment from Governor Wes Moore and the Maryland General Assembly. The funding increase is effective July 1, making it available for the summer internship season and allowing for a growing number of employers to immediately take advantage of this proven and effective workforce development program.
Launched and administered by UMBC, the Maryland Technology Internship Program (MTIP) offers financial assistance to technology-based businesses across the state to enable them to hire more interns from colleges. To date, students from 34 Maryland colleges and universities have been placed in more than 1,000 technical internships, primarily in smaller businesses, across biohealth and life sciences, engineering, IT/software solutions, cybersecurity, and manufacturing.
“Through programs like MTIP, UMBC is driving economic development in our state, which fulfills our mission as an anchor university,” said UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby. “I want to thank Delegate Rosenberg for helping bring MTIP to fruition as well as Governor Moore for his leadership in making this MTIP expansion possible.”
MTIP was made possible as a result of House Bill 1317, 2014 legislation sponsored by state Del. Samuel I. “Sandy” Rosenberg, who has continued to work with UMBC and the University System of Maryland to shape the program. Originally aimed at smaller businesses, MTIP was expanded through subsequent legislation to larger technology companies as well as state and local agencies. MTIP first received funding in the FY 2019 budget, and the first MTIP-supported interns began working in the fall of 2018. This new funding, on top of the current base budget of $365,000, will make MTIP a $1 million-a-year regional growth initiative.
Among the many MTIP success stories is Courtney Cavin ’22, M.S. ’23, chemical engineering, who turned an internship into a successful career with Astek Diagnostics, a medical device company based in Halethorpe, Maryland. Astek CEO Mustafa Al-Adhami, M.S. ’15, Ph.D. ’20, mechanical engineering, describes how MTIP interns grow—and grow the companies where they work.
Mustafa Al-Adhami speaks at a UMBC Grit-X event.
“I came into the office during Courtney Cavin’s first week and sketched out a concept for testing urine for UTI,” said Al-Adhami. “At that point, Astek Diagnostics was just the two of us. Two years later, we’ve developed our first Alpha cartridge and she is Astek’s chief product officer.”
“We are accepting applications for summer internships now and are ready to immediately scale up,” said Jen Spencer Heilman, UMBC program director for workforce initiatives, noting that the popular program often has a waitlist of interested companies. “We currently average about 160 internships a year. This new funding will allow us to increase matching funds to employers and support more than 300 students across the state each year. Historically, we’ve had to turn away a number of employers due to reaching funding capacity. We are thrilled for this opportunity to expand our support to more companies.”
During her office hours, President Valerie Sheares Ashby makes it a point to meet weekly with students and hear about their UMBC experiences and their aspirations for life after UMBC. Today, Jenna Beshara, a senior English and visual arts double major, shares her Undergraduate Research and Creative Achievement Day (URCAD) project with the president. Beshara, who spent last summer on a study abroad program in Wales, painted a series of Welsh watercolor landscapes with paints she made herself using only natural ingredients. In this excerpt of their conversation, she and President Sheares Ashby discuss the importance of pursuing art and research through a sustainability lens.
President Sheares Ashby: These paintings are just beautiful. I feel like the water is just coming off the page. Is that the way you painted it or is it actually texture?
Jenna Beshara: Thank you! It’s a little bit of both, because the pigment—no matter how much you grind it or sift it—it’s still going to be a little bit coarse and gritty. I found out that it takes about a week to make one batch of pigment. You start with flowers or vegetables or plants—red cabbage actually makes the best blue—and you put them in a pot and pour boiling water over it. Then it’s a sequence of simmering and letting it rest. After you strain out all the materials, you add in a salt compound and baking soda. You grind what’s left, which turns into a mud-like consistency. It needs a week to dry and then you grind it and strain it several times.
But to make the paint, there’s quite a bit of chemistry involved. The idea just kind of came to me because acrylic paint is like liquid plastic. It’s really bad for the environment.
Beshara shares her paintings with President Sheares Ashby.
Sheares Ashby: I am a polymer chemist, so I know what you mean. I appreciate that you did watercolor and environmentally friendly materials. That is very impressive. How did you decide to start this project?
Beshara: After I came back from Wales, I knew I wanted to apply for a Fulbright student grant to do more arts research. My mentor, Timothy Nohe, a professor in visual arts, suggested I use URCAD as a jumping-off point for my research project. He supports me in everything that I do. I’ll come to him and I’m like, “Hey, I want to do this.” And he’s like, “Awesome, do it.”
At one point in this project, I was so frustrated because I wanted to make oil paintings. The homemade oil wasn’t drying, and it looked so gritty. So I went to Professor Nohe and said, “I don’t know what I’m doing.” And he said, “Well, if the medium isn’t working, just change it.” And that blew my mind, and I was like, “Whoa, I can do that?”
Sheares Ashby: When I look at these paintings of these beautiful landscapes, it reminds me that from an environmental framework that if we do not care for this, it will not continue to look like this. This beauty that you have captured is not guaranteed. We have a responsibility to keep this as beautiful as it is.
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I love UMBC because our students are so focused on making some version of difference in the world, no matter the discipline.
President Valerie Sheares Ashby
Beshara: I’m applying for an Undergraduate Research Award to keep studying this because the supplies to make the paint can get a little pricey. But it’s so important, with climate change, that sustainability and art can go hand-in-hand.
Sheares Ashby: I love UMBC because our students are so focused on making some version of difference in the world, no matter the discipline. It is rare that I run into a student who doesn’t think about whatever they care about in an interdisciplinary way. Most of my students—like you—are thinking about how they are going to change something in the world to make it better.
Amy Caballero graduated from UMBC 2022 with her bachelor’s degree in social work. She stayed on at the Shady Grove campus to complete her master’s in social work from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and she graduates this May. She has a job lined up as a youth development specialist at a local nonprofit. Outside of academia, she says, she’s obsessed with her two dogs, enjoys bouldering, reading fiction and manga, and hanging out with friends. Take it away, Amy!
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone to know about the support you find at UMBC?
A: The support is here, and many are here to help! It can sometimes be scary to ask for help, but people here want to ensure that you succeed during your time at UMBC and beyond! I have still maintained contact with professors and staff post-graduation. I’d recommend that you look into the resources on campus and remember that they are there for you to use.
Caballero at her social work field placement.
Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A: Dr. Katie Morris [Ph.D. ’21, language, literacy, and culture], the program director at UMBC-Shady Grove, was a great source of support for me during my undergrad years. Prior to starting, she advocated on my behalf to ensure that certain credits were accepted to fulfill the minor requirement. She provided a space to discuss any ideas or concerns I had while providing feedback. She is a great inspiration to me because of her advocacy on behalf of students.
Q: Tell us what you love about your academic program.
A: I loved how passionate all my professors were about social work and their love for the subject they taught. They were all eager to teach and ensure that all of us understood the subject matter. I was involved with the Social Worker Student Association (SWSA) and the creative freedom in creating events was something I enjoyed. It provided me with opportunities to learn more about the UMBC-Shady Grove community, meet other students, and network as well. During my time at SWSA, we were able to collect over 200 menstrual products and donate them to a local nonprofit, I Support the Girls.
Amy Caballero ’22 talks with a colleague at her social work field placement in Seneca Valley High School.
Q: Tell us about your primary WHY, and how it led you to UMBC.
A: I became interested in social work because it has an interdisciplinary approach to social issues and advocacy. I came to UMBC because I had heard about its amazing social work program and saw that it was available at the UMBC-Shady Grove campus.
Q: Tell us about the people who helped you grow at UMBC, and why their HOW made such a difference to you.
A: I have found support through professors and staff at the UMBC-Shady Grove location. They helped connect me with internship and scholarship opportunities. They were really passionate about what they taught and are a prime example of the different routes you can take as a social worker.
Q: What’s your favorite part of being a part of Retriever Nation?
A: My favorite part is receiving UMBC Magazine and reading about updates related to UMBC. It’s pretty cool that they have events to welcome back alums!
(Right: Caballero’s dogs, Nori and Cookie.)
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Written by Farah Nibbs, assistant professor of emergency and disaster health systems at UMBC.
In the popular imagination, the Caribbean is paradise, an exotic place to escape to. But behind the images of balmy beaches and lush hotel grounds lies a crisis, the likes of which its residents have never experienced.
Within the past five years, every island in the region has experienced some sort of water scarcity. For example, Trinidad is experiencing its worst drought in recent memory, and residents are under water restrictions through at least the end of June 2024, with fines for anyone who violates the rules.
Dominica, considered the nature island of the Caribbean for its mountain rain forests, is seeing a significant decrease in freshwater resources and increasingly frequent water shortages. In Grenada, known as the spice isle, drought has affected water systems throughout the island.
Jamaica is also facing water restrictions and has had to resort to water shutoffs in recent years, limiting water availability to a few hours per day in some areas. St. Vincent and St. Kitts have had to ration water. Barbados has experienced several water bans in recent years.
I study the intersection of critical infrastructure and disasters, particularly in the Caribbean. Safe water is essential for all human activity and public health. That’s why it is important to understand the root causes of the water crises and to find effective, affordable ways to improve water supply systems.
3 reasons water demand is outstripping supply in the Caribbean
Changing precipitation patterns and droughts are straining Caribbean water supplies, but water demand has also been outstripping supply for a number of reasons.
1. Rapid urbanization and industrialization
The Caribbean is one of the most rapidly urbanizing regions in the world. About three-quarters of its population lives in cities, and that percentage is rising, adding pressure on public water systems.
At the same time, increased industrialization and commercialization of agriculture have degraded water quality and in some cases encroached on sensitive water catchment areas, affecting the soil’s capacity to retain water.
A plane lands in Sint Maarten. Visitors’ water needs come first on many islands that depend on tourism. Richie Diesterheft/Flickr, CC BY-SA
This competing demand for limited fresh water has reduced stream flows and led to water being drawn down from sensitive sources. In Dennery North, a major farming community in St. Lucia, water shortages have left residents collecting water from rivers and other sources for their homes and farms.
Unregulated extraction of groundwater can also worsen the problem. Many islands depend on groundwater.
Even during water rationing, water is diverted to hotels and other tourist-dependent sites first. That can leave local residents without water for hours or days at a time and facing fines if they violate use restrictions.
The reasons range from lack of appropriate management practices to metering inaccuracies, leaks and theft.
Climate change and extreme weather worsen water insecurity
These troubled water systems can struggle on good days. Worsening extreme weather, such as hurricanes and flooding, can damage infrastructure, leading to long outages and expensive repairs.
Improving water access in the Caribbean means working on all of those challenges. Better governance and investment can help reduce water loss from theft and leaks. Government and social pressure and educating tourists can help reduce waste at hotels and resorts.
Rainwater harvesting involves capturing rainwater, often from where it runs off rooftops, and storing it for future use. It can replace irrigation, or the water can be treated for household uses.
Right now, rainwater harvesting is not managed as part of the islands’ centralized water management system. Instead, households bear the cost to finance, build and maintain their own systems. Finding technical support can be difficult, leaving households to contend with seasonal variations in water quantity and quality. That makes risks to drinking water safety difficult to identify.
If rainwater harvesting were instead combined with central water systems in a managed hybrid water model, I believe that could help expand safe rainwater harvesting and address water issues in the region.
It’s a relatively new concept, and integrating decentralized sources can be complex, including requiring separate pipes, but it has potential to reduce water stress. Decentralized sources, such as rainwater harvesting, groundwater or recycled gray water, could serve as backup water sources during shortages or provide water for nonpotable purposes, such as flushing toilets or irrigation, to reduce demand for treated water.
The World Health Organization has declared that access to a sufficient, safe and reliable water supply is a fundamental human right, and that to accomplish this, water suppliers have a responsibility to provide adequate quantities of potable water.
Hybrid water systems could help ensure water safety and security for island communities and improve the water systems’ resilience amid the human and environmental pressures facing the Caribbean.
Meet Ron Pettie. Ron is a retired Baltimore City police officer and a loyal Retriever alumnus, graduating with a B.A. in English in 1982. When he’s not writing postcards to incoming UMBC students, commenting on UMBC Alumni Association Facebook posts, or attending alumni events, Ron can be found spending time with his wife Christine. Ron’s path in life may not have always gone according to plan, but he wouldn’t have it any other way. Take it away, Ron!
Q: What’s one essential thing you’d want another Retriever to know about you?
A: I am a true believer that education is priceless. I arrived at UMBC after receiving a top-notch education in the Baltimore City Public School System. I had the intention of working in engineering as a career, but at the end of my time at Baltimore Polytechnic Institute, Mr. Karl Yount led me to truly appreciate the English language. So, I set another goal to become an English teacher at Poly. I attended Catonsville Community and obtained an associate’s degree before moving on to UMBC to study English and focus on my goal. Well, fast-forward a few years later and I became a cop in Baltimore City, where I worked for 27 years before retiring as a sergeant. Here is where education became important. In the Baltimore City Police Department, I worked patrol, recruitment, applicant investigation, administrative sgt. to the major, medical abuse investigator, OSHA, Red Cross, and worker’s compensation liaison.
After retiring from the police department, I worked for another 10 years in security at Sinai Hospital before retiring as a lieutenant. I have seen the best and the worst in people. These days, I am officially retired and parenting two youngsters with my wife Christine.
Pictured right: Ron at Homecoming 2022 positing with a cutout of True Grit.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone who hasn’t joined the UMBC community to know about the support you find here?
A: UMBC is truly an all-inclusive, friendly, and down-to-earth place.
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I still get chills every time I walk into the Albin O. Kuhn Library.
Ron Pettie '82
Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A: My folks got me to college. The costs were a lot different back then. I bought my books myself, but my parents made it all possible. I also had the fortune of learning from some wonderful educators, including Ms. Barbara Dunsen, my 5th-grade teacher. We are good friends to this day. Ms. Dunsen, along with Carolyn Freeland, integrated the teaching staff at #226. I can’t forget Mr. Bachman and Karl Yount who poured the English language out to me. Then there’s UMBC…William Bettridge, Philip Landon, Kenneth Baldwin, Joan Korenman, William Edinger, Elizabeth Ermarth, and J. Leeds Barroll. So many folks were such great influences! I met some amazing educators and every one of my English professors had a knack for pushing me. There was also a group of English majors that ate lunch together, talked about lectures, compared books, and helped each other throughout our time at UMBC.
Left: Ron and Christine Pettie with UMBC president emeritus, Freeman A. Hrabowski, III. Right: Ron and Christine Pettie with UMBC President Valerie Sheares Ashby.
Q: What is your WHY? What brought you to UMBC?
A: I came to UMBC because I had heard there was a level of difficulty and I wanted to continue the challenges from Poly.
Q: What’s something you love about your academic program?
A: I have always loved writing. Now that I have time, I have recently rekindled my love of writing and started revisiting works from decades ago.
Ron and Christine Pettie at UMBC’s 50th anniversary celebration.
Q: What’s your favorite part of being a part of Retriever Nation?
A: There’s always something big at UMBC. What can I say…I enjoy visiting campus for events—especially Homecoming—hitting the bookstore for UMBC gear, catching shows at the Performing Arts and Humanities Building, and celebrating UMBC every chance I get.
Q: What drives you to support UMBC?
A: I give as much as I can and mostly throw my support to the English Department…but spread it out as well.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Between Columbus and Cincinnati, Ohio, drivers pass a billboard on Interstate 71 that has achieved some internet fame.
Since 2004, a black sign has risen from this flat stretch of highway declaring “HELL IS REAL.” The H in “Hell” is painted in red, a color Christians have long associated with sin and Satan.
The developer who erected the warning, Jimmy Harston, has similar signs scattered across the Midwest, including ones that ask, “If you died today, where would you spend eternity?”
For years, this confrontational sign was mostly a local attraction. But it gained wider notoriety when Ohio’s two Major League Soccer teams, Columbus Crew and FC Cincinnati, dubbed their 2017 matchup “Hell is Real.” The sign has now spawned TikTok content, T-shirt designs, mugs and decals. But it also reflects a genuine belief in hell held by a majority of Americans today, though the numbers are slipping.
A 2023 Gallup poll found that 59% of respondents believe in hell, while 67% believe in heaven. The numbers for hell belief are far higher among those who identify as Protestant Christians (81%) and Republicans (79%).
Hell belief is holding steady in the U.S., but this was not always the case. In my research on spirit communication in 19th century American culture, I have found an organized effort to “cancel” hell by Spiritualists, who made up the fastest-growing religious movement of the century.
Spiritualists believed that people could maintain communication with the living even after death. They thought communicative spirits had a principal role to play in addressing the era’s most pressing social and political concerns, which would be impossible if souls were damned. This idea was a cornerstone of their practice and a driver of their politics.
Hell hath no fury
Many traditions, including Catholic Christianity, have beliefs about eternal destiny, but Protestant beliefs predominated in America’s settler colonies.
Puritan minister Michael Wigglesworth’s epic and best-selling poem “Day of Doom,” written in 1666, scared generations of believers with its vivid depiction of “yonder Lake,/where Fire and Brimstone flameth.”
On the edges of organized religion, though, were believers interested in alternative afterlives. Swedish theologian and scientist Emmanuel Swedenborg, for example, speculated in 1758 that “The world of spirits is not heaven, nor is it hell; but it is a place or state intermediate between the two.”
Swedenborg’s ideas gained public traction in the U.S. after sisters Kate and Margaret Fox of Hydesville, New York, reported “rapping” and “knocking” sounds in their home. The knocking seemed responsive to the sisters’ questions, and they soon claimed that they could hold conversations with the deceased. Rising from this domestic drama was a national and international phenomenon that recalibrated people’s relationship with death and offered a balm to the grieving.
Some of the Foxes’ first advocates were Quaker activists Isaac and Amy Post. Isaac Post became a writing medium, recording alleged spirit communications from luminaries like George Washington and Napoleon Bonaparte and also everyday people.
An 1841 painting ‘Pandemonium’ by John Martin, based on John Milton’s ‘Paradise Lost,’ where Pandemonium is the capital of Hell. John Martin via Wikimedia Commons
Spiritualists held that after shedding the body in death, the spirit would continue on a celestial journey. A spirit’s assignment was to help those still in their bodies to create a better, more just world. Through mediums, séances and object manipulation, spirits were believed to be able to enlighten the living by giving them a glimpse into life on a broader plane of existence.
Spiritualists felt that embodied life was narrow and full of biases, wants, needs and conflicts. In his 1850 book, “Singular Revelations,” spirit medium Eliab W. Capron recorded an insight he claimed to receive from the spirit of radical Methodist preacher Lorenzo Dow, who had died 14 years prior: “The Presbyterians say hell is a place of fire and brimstone that burns the soul forever. This is not so. The Hell is man’s own body, and when he escapes from that he escapes from bondage.”
Fires of reform
In neutralizing the threat of hell, Spiritualists believed that even deeply corrupted spirits could spur the living toward progressive reforms.
In an 1858 gathering of self-described “friends of free thought” in Vermont known as the Rutland Free Convention, Spiritualists and social reformers debated the question of hell vis-a-vis issues like slavery, the death penalty and maternity.
Lecturer and clairvoyant Andrew Jackson Davis cheekily announced to the Rutland crowd, “Hell has undergone the most extensive alterations and improvements” in the hands of Spiritualists. By caring “less about the fear of the devil, and more about the actual necessity of goodness,” people could act expediently to address real social problems rather than fight what Davis considered imaginary ones.
Spirit medium Ascha Sprague linked hell belief to the persistence of capital punishment in American jurisprudence, asking, “Who blames man that he hangs his brother between heaven and earth, when he has been taught to believe that the Almighty God, infinite in power and wisdom, will in a moment plunge him into a burning pit, and save him never?”
In other words, Spiritualists warned that the idea of hell allowed people to remain complacent: Let hell punish the brutal enslaver, the cruel prison warden, the merciless factory foreman, the abusive husband. Hell gave believers a way to escape the responsibility of addressing burning social ills in the here and now. By relinquishing the “bottomless pit, which they have been taught to believe in,” Isaac Post quoted a spirit saying, a new ethos of urgent and sweeping reform could materialize.
Even today, some spiritual activists consider hell belief an impediment to systemic social change. For example, prison abolitionist Hannah Bowman wrote in a 2023 collection on spirituality and abolition, “Insofar as hell is defined by coercion/confinement, separation, and retribution, it is to some degree related to any societal and state interventions reliant upon those practices.”
To hell and back
Putting out the fires of hell was not easy in the 19th century U.S., especially at the outbreak of the Civil War when mass death fed apocalyptic rhetoric. The promise of God’s “terrible swift sword” of judgment was sung out in the canonical words of suffragist Julia Ward Howe’s “Battle Hymn of the Republic.”
Spiritualism’s popularity waxed and waned after the war, and its reformist leanings largely faded. Mass casualty events like war and flu led to periodic revivals, especially of séance culture. But hell belief in America ultimately held steady and reignited by the middle of 20th century.
The reasons for this range from a decline in religious belief between the world wars to a religious revival following them, and the horrors of war itself. In his 1949 memoir, “To Hell and Back,” World War II 2nd Lt. Audie Murphy recounts a fellow soldier’s impromptu verses; “Oh, gather round me comrades and listen while / I speak / Of a war, a war, a war, where hell is six feet deep.” Hell was everywhere.
Cornell University’s Roper Center poll from 1957 – in the thick of the Cold War – found that 74% of Americans polled believed in an afterlife, but 84% felt that the dead were uncommunicative. These modern trends indicate that hell belief captures the zeitgeist of an era. It ebbs and flows along with attitudes about justice, human suffering and even the health of the planet.
The “Hell is Real” sign has experienced a similar flux. Last summer, street artist LISP pasted a cutout of a cartoonish red devil on the highway sign and shared the covert operation on Instagram. “Is nothing sacred?” one user asked, riffing on the sign’s iconic, if peculiar, status. The sign has since been replaced with a fresh one, a visible reminder that for some people, hell belief will never die.
If you live in one of the most economically deprived neighborhoods in your city, you might think the government is directing a smaller share of public funds to your community. And you would typically be right.
This is the case even with programs that have been specifically designed to benefit low-income communities. Over the long run, federal funds tend to flow toward areas that are relatively better off.
We looked at 20 years of data from the CDBG program, which in 2022 provided about $4.3 billion to cities and states across the country. Federal rules require that 70% of these funds be spent in neighborhoods where a majority of families have low to moderate incomes – a category researchers abbreviate as “LMI.”
To count as LMI, a household must make 80% or less of the median income in an area. So, in the Baltimore metropolitan area, which in 2023 had a median household income of US$121,700, a household could make up to $97,600 and qualify. If 51% or more of the households in a census tract earn less than that income, then the tract is eligible for LMI funding.
We asked what happens as that share increases: Are those communities more likely to receive additional funding?
We found that the neighborhoods with the largest share of low- to moderate-income families, relative to the city, were less likely to receive CDBG funds than communities that were closer to the 51% threshold. In other words, the neediest places weren’t the ones most likely to receive money.
These findings are also consistent with analyses of the CDBG program in evaluations of a few large cities. In our work, which looked at more than 15,000 census tracts in nearly 1,300 cities, we concluded that these effects aren’t limited to a small number of urban communities.
What’s more, economic development policies already worsen these effects. Property tax abatements and other tax policies aimed at attracting businesses and development often leave schools deprived of critical funding, which exacerbates social and racial inequities.
This isn’t just a problem with federal programs. The political scientist Jessica Trounstine, in her influential 2018 book “Segregation by Design,” has shown that cities distribute their public investments in ways that systematically worsen existing inequities.
In the case of the CDBG program, local governments have a lot of discretion in distributing funds. That creates a conflict between two goals: growth and equity. Will governments optimize for economic growth, seeking maximum returns on investment and increasing tax dollars with community development funds? Or will they use these funds to bolster the hardest hit and economically disadvantaged communities?
Cities, for their part, must confront trade-offs regarding the type of investments to make and where to make them. For cities, this could mean using funds to build a public park in a wealthier neighborhood or to repair a youth services center in a very low-income community.
If these examples seem stark, consider that Pharr, Texas, used a portion of its CDBG funds to buy equipment to host festivals, and the council in Comstock Township, Michigan, unanimously decided to use CDBG funds to expand the water capacity at a local craft brewery.
Both activities may be important for economic development; qualifying these activities as community development, however, neglects the focus on helping those with the least.
From the federal government down to city governments, lawmakers are increasingly focused on improving social equity. The reality is that many cities in the U.S. are profoundly unequal, and the most disinvested communities are already plagued with socioeconomic challenges. Adults and children in these environments often live with an increased risk of everything from asthma to toxic exposure to lead.
That’s why it’s so concerning that programs designed to reduce inequality in disinvested communities may be systematically targeted toward relatively better-off neighborhoods with a return-on-investment justification.
What governments can do
Fortunately, policymakers aren’t powerless. Our research indicates there are steps that all levels of government can take.
At the federal level, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development might tighten the requirements around how it, as well as state and local governments, distributes CDBG dollars. Over the years, scholars have sought changes to the funding formula to improve equity.
Since states decide how CDBG funds are allocated to local governments, they could play a key role in improving social equity access. Specifically, they could get rid of competitive bidding processes for these funds and instead prioritize local governments with higher needs.
Finally, local governments could consider using redistributive spending mechanisms – such as providing CDBG funds for youth programs, services for the disabled, or even subsistence payments – to ensure that neighborhoods with the greatest need receive these funds. They should also work with community development organizations and neighborhood groups when considering their spending priorities.
Getting community input is especially important. That’s because, as our research found, the poorest neighborhoods were more likely to receive CDBG funds when community development corporations – nonprofit organizations that represent local interests – participated in decision-making.
In community development, as in so much of life, it matters who has a seat at the table.
Meet Camilla Sandoval ’17, history, M.A. ’19, historical studies, a first-generation student who spent part of her time on each of UMBC’s campuses before graduating and putting her studies to work. Today, she spends her days as the program coordinator for grants with Maryland Humanities, where she still employs lessons learned from her time as a Retriever. Thanks for sharing your story, Camilla!
Q: Briefly introduce yourself. What’s one essential thing you’d want another Retriever to know about you?
A: I am a first-generation college student, and I studied history and public history at UMBC’s Shady Grove campus (for my bachelor’s) and main campus (for my master’s). Both experiences were instrumental to my professional and personal growth. It was at UMBC where I started recognizing the humanities as a tool for community empowerment.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone to know about the support you find here?
A: It was hard for me to accept when I had to ask for help—especially when I didn’t know what I didn’t know. But once I did, I found enormous support in my professors and in my cohort. They helped the academic experience feel less isolating and pushed me to believe in myself as much as they believed in me.
“This is me at Rocky Mountain National Park in August 2017, the summer between my undergraduate and graduate programs. I was there as part of the Latino Heritage Internship Program. Thank you to Dr. Melissa Blair for sharing the internship with me and helping with my application. This trip to Colorado has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me.”
Q: Where do you work? What do you enjoy most about it?
A: I’m currently the program coordinator for grants at Maryland Humanities, our state humanities council. In my role, I’m part of our grantmaking efforts. I’m able to help small humanities organizations across the state get access to funding that can be used for general operating expenses. I get the most joy out of hearing our grant recipients talk about using funds to continue preserving their local history or being able to keep their doors open for the communities they serve.
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The history department at both UMBC- Shady Grove and the Catonsville campus were the biggest difference makers in my education and they have continued to support me in my professional career.
Camilla Sandoval '17, history, M.A. '19
Q: Tell us about your primary WHY, and how it led you to UMBC.
A: I came to UMBC because it was my best opportunity to study my field of interest while staying close to my family. I came with the hope of finding guidance and direction. I always loved history and knew it was important for understanding myself and the world, but I needed to learn how that translated into a career in which I could use the skills to support and lift up my community and culture. My family and community gave me everything they could, and I was committed to setting myself up on a career path in which I could contribute back in any way I could.
“ This is my mom and me at my master’s graduation on main campus in May 2019. My family here in the U.S. and in El Salvador has always been the most important and supportive part of my life. I am where I am today because of my mom.”
Q: Tell us about the people who helped you grow at UMBC, and why their HOW made such a difference to you.
A: My time at UMBC introduced me to new ideas and opened opportunities I didn’t know existed, and helped me out of my comfort zone to develop my skills. I left with deeper appreciation for history and a better belief in myself. My history and public history professors were especially impactful. They guided me as a first-generation college student, encouraged me to consider going for my master’s degree, and led me to internships that served as critical stepping stones in my career. The history department at both UMBC- Shady Grove and the Catonsville campus were the biggest difference makers in my education and they have continued to support me in my professional career.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Meet Christian Jassani, a first-year political science and global studies major. Christian is a member of the Honors College, Susquehanna Community Council, Honors Council, and SGA. He has taken advantage of the many opportunities UMBC offers, which has helped him to grow, both socially, and academically. From these opportunities, he has been able to gain confidence in himself, find a family at UMBC, and make connections with staff who are there to support his academic journey every step of the way. Take it away, Christian.
Q: What’s one essential thing you’d want another Retriever to know about you?
A: I love learning! It sounds very cliché, but I truly love learning about all different kinds of topics. Whether it be history, politics, or any other areas, I really do find learning to be very fun.
Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A: Dr. Brigid Starkey, the director of global studies. I had her my first semester and continue to stay in contact. She is always there to help guide me academically, but also reminds me to step back and enjoy college.
Q: Tell us what you love about your academic program or an organization you’re involved in.
A: I love everyone and everything about the Honors College. The staff truly care for all their students. You are also surrounded by a group of other students who love learning. The best thing about the Honors College is everyone supports each other because we are one big family.
Christian, second from left, with his roommate and suitemate posing with True Grit at UMBC’s 2023 Homecoming carnival.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone to know about the support you find here?
A: Connect! There are so many great opportunities as UMBC available to students. To get these opportunities you have to be willing to put your name out there. So even though I know it seems scary, send out those emails!
Q: Tell us what brought you to UMBC in the first place.
A: I chose UMBC because when I stepped on campus for my tour I truly felt like this was the place for me. I was looking for colleges where I would be challenged academically, but also be surrounded by a supportive environment. I automatically knew this was the place for me when on my tour my Grit Guide said something along the lines of, “Here at UMBC, students are not pitted against each other, but rather the students help each other grow.”
As soon as I heard that, in my head, I was committed to UMBC. I knew UMBC was a place that could give not only a great education, but also be in a supportive community that cares about me and help me flourish both academically and socially.
Christian with President Valerie Sheares Ashby and other student speakers at UMBC’s 2023 Fall Opening.
Q: Your HOW. Since you’ve been a part of the UMBC community, how have you found support?
A: Since I have been at UMBC I have grown so much both socially and in my academics. I am a rather shy person, but my being here has allowed me to gain more confidence in myself. I have a huge fear of presenting, so when I was chosen to be the first-year speaker for the 2023 Fall Opening, I was terrified. But through that speech, I made connections with many faculty members on campus. That kid who was terrified to speak, is now a Grit Guide and is involved in multiple clubs.
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I automatically knew this was the place for me when on my tour my Grit Guide said something along the lines of, “Here at UMBC, students are not pitted against each other, but rather the students help each other grow.”
Christian Jassani '27
Besides helping me grow socially, UMBC has also been extremely supportive in my academic journey. I frequently meet with my professor who gives me guidance and advice on how to navigate the different academic departments. The staff at UMBC have also helped me find different internships and scholarships. Here at UMBC, it is evident you are more than just a number, the staff really do have your best interest at heart and want to see you grow as an individual.
Q: What clubs, teams, or organizations are you a part of? What do you love about them?
A: I am currently the Residential Student Life representative for Susquehanna Community Council, first-year rep for the Honors College Council, a First-Year Ambassador for SGA, and a Grit Guide. What I love about all of these groups are the people I get to work with. We all share a common purpose of wanting to create a better space for everyone at UMBC.
Q: Are you currently part of a scholars program or Living Learning Community at UMBC? Tell us about what you enjoy about it!
A: I am a member of the Honors College and live in the Honors LLC. My favorite thing about this is that I have a big family here at UMBC. The Honors College is an extremely supportive environment. What I especially love about the LLC in particular, is that I am surrounded by people who have similar experiences to me, and can directly relate to problems I may encounter.
Christian and his friends from the Honors LLC in the Harbor Courtyard making s’mores on Valentine’s Day 2024.
Q: What do you enjoy most about being a student leader?
A: The best part about my leadership roles are that I have the platform to actively execute the ideas of the students I represent. I love hearing from my fellow peers about concerns they have, and being able to bring those issues to the table. But the absolute best thing about these roles is getting to plan fun events and see students take a break from academics to just enjoy college.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
Meet Laura Lacambra, an internationalundergrad student, originally from Barcelona, Spain. Laura is an athlete on the UMBC Retrievers women’s basketball team, and is majoring in biochemistry and molecular biology, and minoring in psychology. She is currently completing her undergraduate research under the supervision of Daniel Lobo, associate professor of biology.In addition to being an athlete and a STEM student, Laura also spends her time working as a tour guide on campus. The key to her success, she says, has been the overwhelming support she has received from the diverse community at UMBC. From this, she has been able to make valuable connections, both with staff and her peers, who’ve encouraged her to reach all her goals. Take it away, Laura!
Q: Tell us about someone in the community who has inspired you or supported you, and how they did it.
A. Someone who has supported me and helped me from the very first moment I came to the U.S. is Adriana Mason, my academic advisor in athletics. She has helped me through the challenges of being a student-athlete in STEM and has supported me in the academic decisions that I have needed to make over the last two years. I am very grateful that she has encouraged me to continue being ambitious in all aspects of my life, not just within sports, but also in my academics as well.
Lacambra on the court during a game.
Q: What do you love about your academic program or an organization you’re involved in?
A. The main organization I am involved in is Athletics. What I like most about the athletics department are the personal and close relationships I have formed with the staff. Everyone who works in the department wants the best for you as both a student and an athlete. They provide you with many resources, and there is always someone willing to help you with your problems, no matter what they are. There is always someone who will listen to you and offer you the necessary tools to overcome any situation.
Q: What’s the one thing you’d want someone to know about the support you find at UMBC?
A. UMBC is very inclusive and has a very diverse community. It is a great place to prepare you for your future. I feel like I am encouraged to pursue my dreams here. There are people who will be by your side at all times, no matter what path you go down. Additionally, with such a diverse community, you will always find someone who is willing to help you, or who has already been through your situation.
Q: What’s your WHY? What brought you to UMBC in the first place?
A. I came to UMBC to grow as an athlete and as a student. UMBC offers me the best experience, balancing both sports and academics. On the one hand, with sports, I am challenged by the staff to achieve my full potential. It can be very demanding, but it is very rewarding at the same time. I feel personal satisfaction when I am able to achieve my goals.
On the other hand, with academics, I feel like I am very much provided with the support I need as an international student. I am constantly learning outside of my comfort zone, (studying in a third language, for example), and this helps me feel confident to take on the professional world in the future. I am also given the chance to major in fields here, that are not available in Spain.
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UMBC is very inclusive and has a very diverse community. It is a great place to prepare you for your future.
Laura Lacambra
Q: Tell us about your HOW. Since you’ve been a part of the UMBC community, how have you found support of your WHY?
A. My team of coaches knows me and they trust me. They also help me to improve my skills so that I can be the best player possible, and achieve the objectives that have been set at the beginning of the season.
I have also found great support from my teammates, especially Carmen Yanez and Grace Cesserety. I spend most of my time with them, from traveling on the road, to living in the same apartment together. They see me on my best and worst days, and they are always there to support me through everything and encourage me to keep going.
On an academic level, biology professor, Cynthia Wagner has helped me navigate the world of undergraduate research. As an international student, I had no knowledge of how to get into a laboratory, how to get an internship related to science, and who I should contact and how I should do it. She has been a great help to me, guiding me on how I should communicate with those in the science world in order to be able to work in the specific field that I want to dedicate myself to in the future. Thanks to all her guidance, I am now working in a lab at UMBC and learning a lot of valuable skills.
Finally, I am lucky enough to be able to work in the Undergraduate Admissions Office. Being able to work in this office has helped me to become more comfortable speaking English in front of the public, and also interacting with large groups of people. Even if I come across situations that I may be less familiar with, I have been able to learn how to manage them. I am very grateful to Gina Ralston (campus visit coordinator), who gave me the opportunity to work with this team, and for being so flexible in helping me coordinate my work with my other responsibilities.
Lacambra takes a shot in a game against Binghamton. Photo courtesy of UMBC Athletics.
Q: What would you tell others who are in your shoes about UMBC?
A. If I were to talk to another student-athlete, I would tell them that with hard work, perseverance, and organization, they can accomplish everything they need to. My advice is to allow yourself to have bad days and good days, because not every week is going to be the same. There are going to be thousands of ups and downs, moments of euphoria, and others of sadness, and it’s okay to have those moments. It’s important to support each other. Remind yourself that there are always people who want the best for you, and those people are going to be your best resource to fill you with the energy you need to achieve your goals. The most important thing is to keep working and don’t give up, the results will follow.
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UMBC’s greatest strength is its people. When people meet Retrievers and hear about the passion they bring, the relationships they create, the ways they support each other, and the commitment they have to inclusive excellence, they truly get a sense of our community. That’s what “Meet a Retriever” is all about.
