May 8, 2023 - Looking Back

The University of Maryland’s Independent Student Newspaper

the diamondback

LOOKING BACK 2023

contents

3-7 Senior Blurbs

Dear reader,

As the spring semester wraps up, seniors at The Diamondback are preparing for what comes next. The Diamondback has been an important stepping stone in discovering our potential in journalism and the professional world as a whole. As a former managing editor, I have been so lucky to have worked alongside those in the graduating class and I’m so excited to see what they do in the future. The Diamondback has hired many talented, new faces and we can’t wait to see where they take the publication.

Thank you so much for reading,

Ella Sherman

Founded 1910, independent since 1971.

HANNAH ZIEGLER

Editor in chief

3150 S. Campus Dining Hall, College Park, Md., 20742 (301) 314-8200 https://dbknews.com/contact-us/

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ORIGINAL TEXT BY:

Hanna Zakharenko

Leah Campbell

Evan Hecht

Ross O’Keefe

Noah Ferguson

Julia Bischoff

Devon Milley

Cam Andrews

Eric Neugeboren

Megan Barnes

Natalie Adams

Nene Narh-Mensah

Shreya Vuttaluru

Nyrene Monforte

Kyle Russo

Ella Sherman

COPY EDITED BY:

Lizzy Alspach

Hannah Ziegler

Olivia Borgula

DESIGNED BY:

Sydney Theis

Jenna Bloom

PHOTO

EDITING BY: Autumn Hengen

Cam Andrews

FRONT COVER PHOTO BY: Autumn Hengen

BACK COVER

PHOTO BY: Autumn Hengen

STAFF on May 6, 2023. (Cam Andrews/the diamondback)

Leah Campbell

Hanna Zakharenko

Former Layout Designer & Diversions Reporter

What’s one unforgettable memory you experienced at this university or at The Diamondback?

One of the greatest pleasures I’ve had at this university is working an on campus job that allows me to continue a hobby I’ve had since high school — theater lighting. I’ve been working in the technology shop at The Clarice since I was a freshman, and my favorite event the building puts on every year is an arts festival called NextNOW Fest. I got to work the event my senior year and watch all the hard work we put into the festival come to life, which felt surreal. The best part? Testudo wandered the halls and stopped by the shop when our whole crew happened to be there, so we got a great group photo.

Former Spanish Translator

What’s one unforgettable memory you experienced at this university or at The Diamondback?

I was a late bloomer in terms of the ideal ‘college experience.’ Missing out on nearly a year and a half of on-campus activity left me scrambling to make up for lost time during my last two years. I didn’t attend a University of Maryland basketball game until my senior year and, boy, was I missing out on a life-changing moment. The cheers and chants, the sea of red and gold, the overpriced Diet Pepsi, the free towels covered in advertisements… It was magical. Of course, watching the Terps crush teams like Purdue was pretty cool, too, but the intensity of the atmosphere really made me feel like I was right where I belonged. I never felt more at home than I did at that first game in that loud and proud crowd of Terps.

Evan Hecht

Former Diversions Editor

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

The story I’ve produced that I’m most proud of is my night out in Old Town story. I walked around Old Town on a Saturday night from 10:30 p.m. to 2:30 a.m. and wrote a feature trying to answer what UMD nightlife is like. It was an idea I had had for a long time, so finally being able to see it come to life was really fun and cool. It’s probably the most challenging piece I’ve ever written. I remember sitting down at my computer and staring at my document for a few hours until I even got a word down. It was the first time I had people come up to me and say they read and liked my story and all around it was just a really cool experience.

UMD honored outstanding students, faculty and staff on May 7, 2023 at the 42nd Annual University Student Leadership Awards Banquet. We congratulate them on their outstanding contributions!

ADELE H. STAMP MEMORIAL AWARD

Sophia Franklin

MODEL CITIZENSHIP PRIZES & ELKINS FINALISTS AND MEMBERS OF THE MARYLAND MEDALLION SOCIETY

Ada Beams

Emmanuel Corporal

Aimee Dastin-van Rijn

Sara Dawood

Justin Fox

Ayelette Halbfinger

Kassidy Jacobs

Ethan Jenkins

Kayla Malone

Briana Mercado

Jessica Nguyen

Matthew Ober

Renee Paulraj

Amy Rivera

Nyah Stewart

Kevin Tu

Raja Ukondwa

Josephine Urrea

Clarissa Xia

Marilyn Yang

MODEL CITIZENSHIP PRIZES

Kassidy Jacobs

Matthew Ober

WILSON H. ELKINS AWARD

Josephine Urrea

CAMILLE K. RAJPAT MEMORIAL AWARD FOR OUTSTANDING MEMBER OF THE UNIVERSITY STUDENT JUDICIARY

Lilia Karapetyan

CHRISTOPHER CAREY CUSTOMER SERVICE AWARD

Kiara Veney

COL. J. LOGAN SCHUTZ

ODK LEADER OF THE YEAR AWARD

Amy Rivera

GREEK LEADER OF THE YEAR

Miche Mouassami

JAMES H. KEHOE & ETHEL KESLER AWARD

William Phoone

JAMES OTIS WILLIAMS CULTURAL LEADERSHIP AWARD

Ida Caternor

JOHN B. SLAUGHTER OUTSTANDING SENIOR AWARD

Shayne Richmond

KIRWAN AWARD

Divya Swaminathan

LA RAZA UNIDA AWARD

Amy Rivera

LINDA CLEMENT OUTSTANDING ADVISOR AWARD

Dr. Daniel Levin

LORDE – O’LEARY AWARD

Max Zelaya

MARY MCLEOD BETHUNE AWARD

Alanna McDowall

MILDRED & RICHARD LOVING AWARD

Ava Lamberty

OMICRON DELTA KAPPA AWARDS

TOP TEN FRESHMEN

Eric Bennett

Aamna Cheema

Hudson Grill

Gabrielle Hester

Ela Jalil

Faith LeBrun

Allyson Rizzo

Savannah Robbins

Michelle Rodriguez

Margaret Shalgian

SOPHOMORE LEADER OF THE YEAR

Jahnavi Kirkire

OUTSTANDING GRADUATE STUDENT ASSEMBLY MEMBER AWARD

Alexa Mcdorman

RESIDENT ASSISTANT OF THE YEAR AWARD

Wayne Hudley

STUDENT WELLNESS AND MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY AWARD

Tesia Shi

SARAH WINNEMUCCA AWARD

Jeremy Harley

SPIRIT OF MARYLAND AWARD

Kassidy Jacobs

Isha Yardi

STUDENT ATHLETE OF THE YEAR AWARDS

Nick Lorusso

Diamond Miller

THE WILLIAM L. THOMAS STUDENT GOVERNMENT ASSOCIATION AWARD

Isha Yardi

UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND GRADUATE STUDENT DISTINGUISHED SERVICE AWARD

Swati Sah (Doctoral)

Lynn-Marie Edwards (Masters)

VERA CRUZ-KOCHIYAMA AWARD

Vi Le

Ross o’keefe

Former Baseball, Men’s Soccer & Men’s Basketball Reporter

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

I’ve produced probably hundreds of stories for The Diamondback since I joined in January 2021, but my favorite is my Jahmir Young feature. It was very satisfying to work on and I really enjoyed the reporting process. I interviewed him, his family and a few of his coaches and I got an intimate view of who he is as a person. I hadn’t done a feature that’s really managed to go so in-depth with an athlete before, so it was really exciting to publish. I learned, potentially a bit late, that even sports stories can really benefit from having multiple unique sources. When you have a story that teaches you something, is fun to work on and is, what I think is, quality content, you’re doing something right.

Noah Ferguson

Former Sports Editor, Football & Volleyball Reporter

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

What I’m most proud of during my time as a sports editor at The Diamondback has been the growth of the sports desk and the amount of in-depth, well-reported stories we’ve been able to produce as a group this year. The experience of helping develop young writers and watching them take your advice and grow as reporters is extremely rewarding and I’m so proud of the desk for all the time they’ve put in this year. Being a sports journalist is no easy task — the late, sleepless nights and irregular editing schedules definitely took a toll on me — but I really feel as though the experience of developing the desk alongside my friends Varun and Nicky has helped me blossom as a reporter and editor. I’m so proud of the desk as a whole.

Julia Bischoff

Former Audio Editor

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

During my time at The Diamondback this year I had the pleasure of editing the Offbeat episodes. I love all the stories our team has been able to put together this year, and I think they were all so important. The one I am especially proud of is the one I had the pleasure of reporting on and hosting, Offbeat: Exploring Maryland Renaissance Festival. It was so much fun to go out into the field and interview people with really different stories but who were all connected by a common interest. I loved being able to gather the funky sounds of the festival and put it all together in a cohesive storyline.

Cam Andrews

Devon Milley

What’s one unforgettable memory you experienced at this university or at The Diamondback?

A lot of people say the COVID-19 pandemic ruined their college experience but to me, it provided a unique opportunity to make the most of what I could. I lived with my freshman year — and current — roommate in a four-person suite in Montgomery Hall where I had a double room all to myself. We went to see the friends we met the year prior at the University View every weekend. We didn’t have a lot to do, but we never really got bored. I spent sunny days on Washington Quad studying and playing frisbee with my friends. I spent every Friday at the View with the same group of people, throwing themed parties to entertain ourselves. And every Saturday, I’d walk down the road with my roommate to get a bagel from The Bagel Place. That whole year is one big, long memory to me that I’m happy I got to experience with people I’m friends with to this day.

Photo Editor

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

I’ve been photographing events for The Diamondback since 2019 and have covered hundreds of games for just about every team at Maryland. Over the past few years, I’ve been able to leave games with some pretty powerful images, but looking back, I’d say that I’m most proud of my work covering events in Washington, D.C., particularly the rally for Ukraine outside the White House in March 2022 and another rally for reproductive rights outside the Supreme Court a few weeks later. I’ll always enjoy taking pictures from the sidelines, but the high stakes of the global stage and the heightened sense of importance you feel when covering these pivotal moments can’t be matched. I’m grateful to have covered them for The Diamondback.

Megan barnes

Former Audio Reporter

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

Being an Offbeat reporter for The Diamondback has been a dream! I loved being able to tell stories through this medium, one of my favorites being all about the midterm elections held in November 2022. Stopping people outside of the polls, talking to experts in my field, and writing the piece allowed me to produce something I was proud of. It was definitely the tightest deadline I’ve ever had, but creating such a great piece taught me a lot about how successful I can still be under pressure. This experience solidified my passion for educating people on the political sphere and showed me how important these elections are, while also giving me the opportunity to learn myself.

Eric Neugeboren

Former Assistant Managing Editor

What’s one unforgettable memory you experienced at this university or at The Diamondback?

There isn’t one specific moment that stands out from my time at The Diamondback — it’s the entire experience. I joined The Diamondback the summer before freshman year like the delusional 18-year-old I was. In many ways, The Diamondback was my college experience. As I’ve reflected on my time with the publication, I’m always brought back to how caring everyone is. I first entered the newsroom before I even accepted my college admission. It was admitted students day, and a former editor in chief offered to give my dad and me a newsroom tour. Her empathy was surprising. But as I became immersed in the publication, I realized that’s just how people here operate. The members care. We care about each other. We care about the community that we bring news to every day. We care about correcting our mistakes when we make them. We aren’t perfect, but at least we care. So I’m not sure there is one unforgettable memory from my time here. Instead, I think all the memories were unforgettable.

Former

Natalie Adams

Former Assistant Managing Editor

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your time at UMD?

The best piece of advice I received during my time at the University of Maryland was during my junior year. I was unexpectedly diagnosed with cancer and had to move home from school and switch to being a part-time student. I was really upset because I had a lot of goals and felt like I wasn’t able to work as hard or do as much as I needed to. A former professor of mine, Clarence Williams, told me that my best today might not be the same as my best the day before or the next day. Instead of comparing my current abilities to my abilities when I was operating at 100 percent, he said I should just focus on doing my best for that day. This advice helped me a lot while I was sick and continues to help me manage my stress and mental health. Every day is different and some days we are able to give more than others and that’s OK.

Nene Narh-Mensah

Former Staff Writer

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

During the summer of 2022, I worked with fellow staff writer Nick Elliott to write a story about a proposed Chick-fil-A distribution kitchen on Route 1. I wrote the story while completing an internship, so I’m proud I was able to get it done. The story featured a large range of perspectives and required a lot of research. It also gave me the chance to collaborate with a new staff writer, which I didn’t get to do often. I also got to write a story about community development, which I’m interested in but was new to me at the time.

Shreya Vuttaluru

Former Data Editor & Assistant News Editor

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your time at UMD?

Over the past four years, I’ve learned that it’s so important to advocate for yourself and start asking for what you want. Talking to people is one of the easiest ways to form meaningful connections and friendships that lead you to places you can’t even imagine. It’s not advice that anyone’s given to me explicitly, but my college experience was shaped by spontaneous decisions that I made for myself, not because of anyone else. The catch is that it’s difficult, and you’ll get a lot of rejection before you end up where you want. But asking for what I wanted helped lead me to life-changing events like declaring a journalism major, joining The Diamondback, getting last-minute concert tickets and spending a summer in Texas. Never stop asking for what you want and dreaming of what more you can have if you just start asking.

Nyrene Monforte

Former Video Editor

Is there anything you’ve produced at The Diamondback that you’re especially proud of?

The first project I threw myself into when I was hired at The Diamondback was producing videos for our curly hair special project. It was a lot to take on as a baby reporter — I filmed and edited three whole packages by myself! — but it was a rewarding experience. I learned a lot from the hair stylists and barbers we interviewed, and how hair, identity and community are intimately intertwined. It made me realize that the best part of journalism is getting to connect with people on a deeper level. It’s an immense privilege for people to trust us in sharing their stories.

Ella Sherman

Kyle Russo

What’s the best piece of advice you’ve received in your time at UMD?

I think in college it’s very easy to doubt our abilities and knowledge since we’re “just students,” but the best advice I’ve received is to never consider yourself in a lower tier of success and ability simply because of where you are in your life. I personally had to grasp that I know more than I think I do and I am more capable than I think I am. You can even surprise yourself when you’re working at an internship or job, you’re given a task, and you know exactly how to complete it. It was important to realize this now because it’s a mindset that would probably carry into the next phases of my life. First I doubt myself because I’m “still a student,” and after I graduate I might doubt myself because I lack some “professional” experience and in my late 20s I might doubt myself because I’m still “early in my career.” We can produce great work at any point in our lives — there’s nothing we’re “waiting” for. If we think like that, the moment may never come.

Managing Editor

What’s one unforgettable memory you experienced at this university or at The Diamondback?

One of my most vivid memories is walking into The Diamondback general assignment meeting my freshman year, where freelancers can pitch their own stories. I just went with my friend Hope to see what the organization was all about. I was honestly so terrified of the idea of pitching something and having my story rejected, I didn’t even try. I don’t regret not pitching anything because eventually, I made my way through copy editing — something I ended up loving. I will say, though, that rejection is inevitable, especially in journalism. If I didn’t experience rejection during a pitch meeting, I was naive to think it couldn’t happen in other circumstances — but then you grow from it. I grew a lot at The Diamondback.

Former

Former Engagement Editor