UMBC video documentaries in The Baltimore Sun capture voice, history of Sparrows Point steelworkers

Jun 27, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

In a gripping Baltimore Sun feature story on the lives of former steel mill workers after the closing of Sparrows Point, video documentaries from the UMBC project “Documenting Cultural Heritage in Partnership with Communities” (supported by BreakingGround) offer important first-person perspectives on life and work in the community. UMBC students interviewed former mill employees while learning about oral and audiovisual storytelling and documentation. The steelworkers shared their stories of working at the mill, the impact the Sparrows Point closure has had on the community, and the future of the industry locally and nationally. Bill Shewbridge (New Media Studio) and Michelle… Continue Reading UMBC video documentaries in The Baltimore Sun capture voice, history of Sparrows Point steelworkers

Baltimore Sun Features UMBC Faculty, Students in Front-Page BreakingGround Story

Feb 12, 2013 / 1 minute of reading

Today’s Baltimore Sun features a front-page story about students in two UMBC

Kaylesh Ramu ’13, Political Science, in Education Week Blog

Sep 6, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

Earlier this week, UMBC SGA President Kaylesh Ramu ’13, political science, shared the stage with the U.S. Under Secretary of Education and other leaders at the National Press Club as they launched Shaping Our Future, a new national civic engagement initiative (watch video). Education Week covered the event, quoting Ramu on the role of college students as active agents of change in their communities, on campus and beyond. “We are starting to have a culture change and understand that we all bring about what is UMBC,” said Ramu, describing the ethos that grounds UMBC’s new BreakingGround initiative, which launched last… Continue Reading Kaylesh Ramu ’13, Political Science, in Education Week Blog

UMBC’s New BreakingGround Initiative in the Baltimore Sun

Sep 4, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

“On campus, the good side of politics” is new Baltimore Sun op-ed written by David Hoffman, UMBC Assistant Director of Student Life for Civic Agency, and SGA President Kaylesh Ramu ’13, political science. Hoffman and Ramu offer hope to readers who are “understandably skeptical about politics and public life” in this time of government gridlock and discord. They write that at UMBC, “students are helping lead the way to a new kind of politics that bridges difference and strengthens communities.” The piece goes on to explore the civic engagement work underway at UMBC—carried forward by the BreakingGround initiative—as well as… Continue Reading UMBC’s New BreakingGround Initiative in the Baltimore Sun

UMBC Student Government in Huffington Post

Jul 27, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

This week’s Huffington Post article “Owning Yes We Can” highlights the inspiring work of UMBC’s Student Government Association (SGA), which the authors call “a national model…of student organizing and empowerment.” They focus on SGA’s successful effort this spring to organize student opposition to state budget cuts that would have led to a dramatic tuition increase. “Many would not have been able to stay in school with 15-20 percent increases in tuition expenses,” explained SGA member Meghan Carpenter. “I am so proud of what students from different organizations were able to start. We showed that students can make a change not… Continue Reading UMBC Student Government in Huffington Post

U.S. Dept of Education Report Highlights UMBC’s Prove It!

Jan 19, 2012 / 1 minute of reading

The new U.S. Department of Education report “Advancing Civic Learning and Engagement in Democracy” recognizes UMBC’s Prove It! as a unique initiative at the forefront the higher ed’s emerging civic learning movement. Prove It! is a campus-wide contest that funds student-led efforts to improve the university, such as projects to create a campus wi-fi plaza and convert waste oil into fuel for campus vehicles. This initiative is a hallmark of our Student Government Association’s focus on inspiring peers to become citizen leaders and problem-solvers in their own right. The report notes that Prove It! demonstrates how UMBC “transformed its student… Continue Reading U.S. Dept of Education Report Highlights UMBC’s Prove It!

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