Stories

You’ve come a long way, UMBC Police. Back at the founding of the campus, officers tooled around campus in a station wagon (inset) that likely wouldn’t have kept pace in a high speed chase. But today’s UMBC officers have two new top-of-the-line Ford Interceptors at their disposal; the utility model (pictured here) and a classic sedan. Both Interceptors have all-wheel drive (to make snow days safer) and boast enhanced officer protection. Campus already feels safer.

UMBC’s Mama’s Boys celebrated a decade of rockin’ it a cappella with an anniversary concert at the University Center Ballroom campus on May 2, 2014. Formed in 2003 as a merger between two separate groups and officially recognized a year later, Mama’s Boys figure to be a pitch perfect expression of UMBC pride for decades to come.

“Years may pass, but commencement – whether it is in 1979 (above left) or in 2008 (inset) – brings with it the same mixture of accomplishment, optimism and a bittersweet feeling of departure.”                  

When we asked alumni who’d fallen in love at UMBC to share their photographs, we received a tremendous response across the generations. Whether you met at a coffeehouse in Gym 1 or at an open mic night at The Commons, we hope you find yourself (and some memories) in these photos.

The opening of The Commons (above) in 2002 was a landmark in UMBC’s history. Not only did the state-of-the-art student center become a magnet for campus dining, meeting and games, but its central location has reshaped and reoriented the entire landscape of the campus. But what made way for The Commons? UMBC alumni of the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s have fond memories of Gym 1 (bottom left), which was razed to make way for the new student center. For a largely-commuter campus, such as UMBC was in the first 25 years of its history, Gym 1 provided a memorable campus… Continue Reading Fall 2009: UMBC Life Before the Commons

The arts and humanities have always been central to the UMBC experience. Professors who taught here in the university’s earliest days (pictured above, leading a class in the late 1960’s), established the university’s reputation as a center of excellence for the arts and humanities that has lured successive generations of talented students and faculty to UMBC.

UMBC’s Quad has been filled with the sound of music in every era, from today’s Quadmania (above) to a student music performance (inset) in the university’s earliest days.