Terp Fall 2020 by University of Maryland

E X T R A O R D I N A RY ST E P S TO R EO P E N “ 4 M A RY L A N D ” 6

P O R T R A I TS F R O M A PA N D E M I C 20

A 6 0 -Y E A R B AT T L E A G A I N ST S E X I S M IN SCIENCE 36

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9 THINGS YOU DIDN’T KNOW

ABOUT PRESIDENT PINES F R O M H E R O E S T O FA M I LY

T O “G R A N D C H A L L E N G E S ,” HER E’S W H AT MOV E S U MD’S NEW LEA DER P G. 3 0

PROTECTIVE SHELLS

Two hundred UMD shells were stenciled onto McKeldin Mall in August to encourage the Terp community to safely enjoy the outdoors during the COVID-19 pandemic. Measuring 6 feet wide and spaced 6 feet apart, they are the work of Facilities Management, Maryland Athletics and the Office of the Provost. The installation, which was inspired by a similar project encouraging physical distancing at Domino Park in New York City, will also include Adirondack chairs and will be maintained through October. PHOTO BY JOHN T. CONSOLI

ON THE MALL

ALUMNI

NEWS

UMD Takes Extraordinary Steps

7 7

to Keep Virus at Bay A Built Legacy Point of Pride

CAMPUS LIFE

8 Puzzling Greatness 9 Flush With Success 10 Just Don’t Call It “Adulting” 11 A Giant, in Theory and Practice 12 Rewriting the Student-Athlete Care Playbook EXPLORATIONS

13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Unequal Outcomes Tie Two Pandemics How to Bee of Assistance Best by ... Use by … Best if Used by? Not If, but When Epidemiologist Takes Country’s Temperature in 280 Characters Plumbing a Problem The Big Question

ALUMNI

40 42 44 46

Alumni Association Painting Pictures of Hope A Place to “Land” Collecting a New Generation’s Stamp of Approval 48 From the Archives

CONTENTS 2

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“ D A N C I N G A N G E L” C O U R T E S Y O F T H E D A V I D C . D R I S K E L L E S T A T E

FEATURES

ONLINE

Terp Tutors to the Rescue As K-12 online learning expands, so does a free tutoring service founded and run by Terps, much to the relief of local children (and parents).

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A Pitch to Revolutionize Baseball Engineering researchers’ newly refined electronic home plate makes flawless calls of strikes and balls— plus, it’s physical distancing-friendly.

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Pandemic Paradox FEATURES

Portraits From a Pandemic Whether trapped at home or marching in the streets, Terps facing an enduring health crisis cope, question and count their blessings. BY TERP STAFF

30 9 Things You Probably Didn’t Know About President Pines We talk with the university’s new leader about his modest beginnings, boyhood heroes, futuristic research and plans to tackle “grand challenges.”

The U.S. COVID-19 response earns a C-minus “at best,” says School of Public Health Dean Boris Lushniak, a former acting surgeon general. Get the latest on the UMD community by visiting TODAY.UMD.EDU.

BY CHRIS CARROLL

Double Infection Fighter With quiet resolve, a scientist who changed the world’s understanding of cholera reveals in a new memoir how she stood up to sexism in her field. BY SALA LEVIN ’10

D I S COV E R NEW KNOWLEDGE

Fearless Ideas Every issue of Terp features examples of our students’ and faculty’s discovery of new knowledge. In this issue, we further highlight those efforts with a “ .” We do the same in other issues about efforts to inspire Maryland pride, transform the student experience and turn imagination into innovation.

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FROM THE EDITOR

without any effort, I raised at least one Terp. My boys took their first campus tour a bit early—ages 6 and 2—when I got hired in 2008 and we tagged along with a group of prospective students and parents so I could get a feel for UMD. They joined me at my first Maryland Day the following spring; my husband had to figuratively and literally pull our older son, Henry (below), off of the Velcro wall on McKeldin Mall. Henry returned to volunteer with me at later Maryland Days, calling out to visitors like a carnival barker to step right up to spin the prize wheel, and standing in line to have Jeff Kinney ’93 sign his well-loved copy of “Diary of a Wimpy Kid.” He flipped at Gymkana summer camp, and we all cheered at basketball games. I never thought he’d want to attend a university that felt so familiar. Or where Mom works. But the day he was admitted to Maryland—his first-choice school—was among our proudest, and now Henry’s a freshman. The pandemic reshaped this experience, as it has countless others, for all of us. He’s living at home and taking all his courses online while the university seeks to protect our community’s health. This shall pass, we remind him, one detour on a lifelong journey. Football will be back. So will dorm-room get-togethers, in-club meetings and studying abroad. He’ll still make friends and memories and earn a degree he’ll always be proud of. We hope to make you feel proud to be a Terp with this issue, featuring portraits of students, faculty, alumni and staff showing inspiring resilience during the pandemic, an interview with one of the nation’s most noted experts on racial bias in policing, and fascinating insights about our new president, Darryll J. Pines. My firstborn is now part of the Maryland family, and—if I have my druthers—his brother will someday be, too.

Lauren Brown University Editor

Publisher BRODIE REMINGTON Vice President, University Relations

Advisers MARGARET HALL Executive Director, Creative Strategies

Magazine Staff LAUREN BROWN University Editor JOHN T. CONSOLI ’86 Creative Director VALERIE MORGAN Art Director CHRIS CARROLL ANNIE DANKELSON LIAM FARRELL SALA LEVIN ’10 Writers LAUREN BIAGINI JASON A. KEISLING Designers STEPHANIE S. CORDLE Photographer GAIL RUPERT M.L.S. ’10 Photography Archivist EMMA HOWELLS Photography Assistant JAGU CORNISH Production Manager

EMAIL terpfeedback@umd.edu ONLINE terp.umd.edu NEWS umdrightnow.umd.edu FACEBOOK.COM/ UnivofMaryland TWITTER.COM/UofMaryland VIMEO.COM/umd YOUTUBE.COM/UMD2101

The University of Maryland, College Park is an equal opportunity institution with respect to both education and employment. University policies, programs and activities are in conformance with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on nondiscrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability.

COVER Photo by John T. Consosli

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INTERPLAY

I read with interest Chris Carroll’s article, which refers to “an audacious mission to dig a tunnel beneath the Berlin Wall” and states that work on the tunnel was approved in January 1954 and was completed in May 1955. Construction of the Berlin Wall did not begin until Aug. 13, 1961—more than five years after Soviet and East German soldiers “discovered” the tunnel on April 22, 1956. While the tunnel did extend into East Berlin, it was not dug beneath the Berlin Wall, it in fact preceded it. —BOB BAKER ’55, LAUREL, DEL.

“You Had a Feeling That You Could Change the World”

I was a senior in May 1970. As a resident assistant in Washington Hall, I watched tear gas drift over campus while surveillance helicopters illuminated students running across campus and through my dorm. For many of us, this was a moment when we discovered the lives of the Cleavers in “Leave it to Beaver” were gone. Naiveté ended during those days as we watched the activists and joined in the march on Washington. Perhaps the same thoughts have come to graduates in 2020.

As an alum and founding member of the Democratic Radical Union of Maryland (DRUM), I appreciate Terp looking at that era of some 50 years ago. There are too many uncomfortable parallels between those days and today. These events shaped our life stories, often more than our classroom experiences. Many combat veterans returning from Vietnam, like SGA President Jones, whose photo you showed, desperately tried to move an unbelieving campus. Thank you to all who helped me learn at the University of Maryland. GORDON GLASER ’71, ANCHORAGE, ALASKA

Editor’s Note: Great catch! It looks like one of us fell asleep in history class. We’ve corrected the story online.

Millions Gone, But Not Forgotten

The powerful imagery of the Holodomor memorial—thought-provoking wheat stalks disappearing into negative space—taught me about the politically engineered famine in Ukraine and gave me pause to consider lessons learned on what the effects can be of disinformation and misinformation in these COVID times today. —MARY CRISSEY ’88, SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS

—DAVID TAMANINI ’70, HARRISBURG, PA.

I was a junior and lived in Calvert C dorm. I went out and got in the middle of the disturbance and took my Super 8 movie camera and captured some great footage of teargassing and police chasing students with clubs. Later, the Maryland adjutant general flew over with a bullhorn telling us to stay inside or be arrested. —DAVID DEAL ’72

Secrets, Satellites and Howard Stern

Your headline attracted me to this fascinating article. It’s good to know that my own career is owed to this ingenious man. I am a 2000 graduate of the College of Library and Information Science, as it was known at the time, and currently the director of library and archives for SiriusXM. I am a proud Terp and proud as well to work for a great company like SiriusXM. Thank you, Robert Briskman, and thanks for this great bio.

WRITE TO US We love to hear from readers. Send your feedback, insights, compliments—and, yes, complaints—to terpfeedback@umd.edu or Terp magazine Office of Strategic Communications 7736 Baltimore Ave. College Park, MD 20742

—JAMIE BUSH M.L.S. ’00

P H OTO BY J O H N H U M B L E , CO U RT ESY O F U N I V E R S I T Y A RC H I V ES

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NEWS

UMD Takes Extraordinary Steps to Keep Virus at Bay A De-densified Campus Gradually Reopens With Wide-Ranging Safety Measures “4 Maryland” aryland stadium hosting COVID-19 testing clinics rather than football practice. Stenciled shells on McKeldin Mall’s lawn marking areas where sun seekers can maintain physical distance. Open parking spaces at midday. Terps coming to the University of Maryland this semester—a limited number, for sure—were expected to find a campus changed by sweeping measures meant to protect the community from the further spread of the coronavirus. As of press time, the plan to gradually reopen following last spring’s shift to all-virtual learning calls for a mostly online

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experience this fall as well, along with “de-densified” residence halls and a swath of cleaning, health and safety precautions and protocols, collectively known as “4 Maryland.” “To emerge as an even more engaged, vibrant and impactful university, it is essential that we adapt continuously to the trials and opportunities of our time,” President Darryll J. Pines said as he took the helm in July. “Our entire campus—students, faculty and staff—must prepare for this future, because what was ‘normal’ will no longer be the same.” It all starts with four basic guidelines: wear a face covering, keep physically distanced from others, wash or sanitize your

hands frequently, and stay home if you feel sick. Everyone on campus had to get tested before the semester started and is expected to check their temperature daily and report any symptoms, and the university is expanding testing opportunities and working with county and state health officials on contact tracing for anyone who tests positive. Analyzing test results will allow the university to monitor health factors such as positivity rates and the need for isolation and quarantine spaces. Pines said, “We will not hesitate to pivot to more stringent measures if dictated by these initial assessments, and health conditions within our state, county or campus.” Classrooms and “high-touch areas” such as elevator buttons, door handles and water fountains are all getting extra cleanings, and signs everywhere, from dining halls to lecture halls, indicate safe distances for seating or one-way traffic to reduce hallway congestion. One factor easing some concern: There are far fewer Terps on campus. In-person undergraduate instruction was scheduled online for the first two weeks. Researchers and staffers are encouraged to work from home whenever possible. More than 80% of

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academic courses are fully online; hundreds were redesigned over the summer to boost students’ learning experience. Others blend the two formats. Faculty are preparing to go fully online, should an outbreak hit anytime this fall. “We are committed to making the fall semester as rewarding, safe and inclusive as possible and striving for excellence no matter what the format of course delivery,” Senior Vice President and Provost Mary Ann Rankin said. Planning an engaging, enjoyable student experience while prioritizing everyone’s health posed another set of challenges. Most undergraduates choosing to live in residence halls were assigned to single rooms, and lounges are closed to gatherings. In the

dining halls, reservations are required, and self-service has been eliminated, while carryout stations popped up across campus. The Big Ten postponed all fall sports, a blow to student-athletes and fans alike. The Eppley Recreation Center and Stamp Student Union opened with safety precautions, however, and Resident Life and Fraternity and Sorority Life planned to host outdoor programs and entertainment. Perhaps more than ever, a successful fall depends on the care and safe behavior of students, staff and faculty, said Vice President for Student Affairs Patty Perillo, who exuded hope as the semester approached: “We promise to welcome our students with open arms, in lots of ways that are as safe as possible.”—lb

Point of Pride UMD Ranked No. 1 College in U.S. for LGBTQ+ Students

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND

was named the nation’s top college for LGBTQ+ students, according to 2020 rankings released by Campus Pride and Best Colleges. The annual state and national rankings weigh inclusivity, academic support and affordability to determine which colleges provide the best support for LGBTQ+ students. Maryland moved to the top spot from No. 5 last year. “It is an honor—and a welcome

Administration Building. Miller, a 1964 graduate who has spent

inclusion as we face broad

longest-serving state senate president in U.S.

collective challenges related to

history and a prime architect for the physical

health and social justice,” says

“His name will remind us all of his unwavering pursuit of service to the great

Most recently, staff in the center focused on ensuring full imple-

UMD President Darryll J. Pines.

mentation of policies on inclusive language for university commu-

the state’s higher education system in 1988

nications, students’ personal data

and designating College Park as its flagship

in UMD databases and all-gender

institution. He shepherded dozens of building

restrooms around campus.

projects, including the Xfinity Center and

Other programs include

the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center,

Quelcome, a social and networking

and helped create MPowering the State,

event at the beginning of the

linking UMD and the University of Maryland,

academic year; Q Camp, a com-

Baltimore in a $1.2 billion research enterprise. A 1967 graduate of the University of Maryland School of Law and native of Clinton, Md., Miller was elected to represent

ONE OF THE MOST ICONIC BUILDINGS

Prince George’s County in the Maryland

on campus now honors one of the most

House of Delegates in 1970, and to the

influential politicians in Maryland history

Maryland State Senate in 1974. He served as

with its new name: the Thomas V. Miller Jr.

its president from 1987 to 2020.—LF

P H O T O B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I

Luke Jensen, director of UMD’s LGBT Equity Center.

state of Maryland and to the world,” says Miller was at the forefront of reorganizing

Main Administration Building Named for Longtime Senate President

our leadership in LGBTQ+ campus

50 years in the General Assembly, was the

and reputational standing of UMD today.

A Built Legacy

challenge to maintain and improve

munity-building retreat; the Lavender Leadership Honor Society for advocates of LGBTQ+ rights; and the

traditional Lavender Graduation.—LB

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CAMPUS LIFE

Puzzling Greatness

UMD Turns Into Hub for Top Rubik’s Cube Solvers avan ravindra ’21 stares intently at the jumbled Rubik’s Cube, then attacks. In the dim light of his College Park apartment and over the iffy video of a Zoom call, his hands dissolve in a blur of rapid twists and flips. He slams it down, solved, and hits the timer. The result: just under 10 seconds. What seems like a freakish display of skill, however, slightly embarrasses Ravindra, a dual-degree major in biochemistry and computer science. A world-class “cuber,” he’s often solved the Rubik’s Cube faster using just one hand. It’s also a lackluster showing, he says, by the standards of the star-studded, studious cubing community that has quietly sprouted on the Maryland campus—one strong enough to influence the college decision-making of high-school solvers from around the mid-Atlantic. “There’s a huge concentration of talent here,” says Ravindra, a 2020 Goldwater Scholar who’s shifted his focus more to

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academics than competing, but remains active in the cubing world. “UMD is the best college for cubing, without a doubt.” Thus, what UMD is to lacrosse, it’s quickly becoming as well to this pastime that took off in the ’80s, faded, then exploded anew in recent years as competition heated back up and new solving methods pushed times ever lower in the single digits. Of the 15 or so serious competitors on campus, roughly a

half-dozen are significant figures in that race toward zero. Computer science major Will Callan ’23 is ranked No. 2 in the world for average time solving the Rubik’s Cube’s little brother, the 2x2 cube. If Ravindra’s fastest solve of 5.58 seconds for the regular 3x3 model seems abrupt, consider that Callan often solves the “pocket cube” in under a second. (That’s the advantage of working with a puzzle with a

It takes seconds—plus years of training and memorizing algorithms— for Pavan Ravindra ’21 to solve a jumbled Rubik’s Cube.

P H OTOS BY ST E P H A N I E S. CO R D L E

few million possible combinations, compared to the regular cube’s 43 quintillion.) Like many cubers, Callan figured out the basics in grade school, then realized he was fast—and that he wanted to beat other solvers. “I had been competing for several years before I started focusing on the 2x2 cube,” he says. “The speed is really fun, and competitions are very close as well.” Only 2/100ths of a second separate Callan from the Danish cuber ranked No. 1: “Yeah, it’s a pretty small gap, and I’m hoping very soon …” he says, trailing off. Campus cubers point to Felix Lee ’16, now a Google software engineer, as community founder. A world-class cuber at River Hill High School in Howard County, he established UMD’s Rubik’s Cube Club and put the university on the map as a major location for competitions. Second-year economics Ph.D. student Keaton Ellis ’18, another River Hill alum, made it his mission to beat the older Lee before he graduated from high school, but failed. He finally surpassed him at UMD, and became club president after Lee graduated. Like Ravindra (yet another River Hill grad), Ellis specializes in one-handed cubing, and his 7.26-second solve ranks No. 5. At the height of friendly rivalry between them, he says, “it was not uncommon for our competitions to have the top three of us being the fastest podium in the world.” No longer president but now a World Cube Association delegate, Ellis oversees regional competitions, including those on the campus, which draw hundreds of competitors two or three times yearly (although on hold at the moment), assuring a continual turning of the cube at UMD. “People come here, they get familiar with campus, they learn their way around Stamp, they meet the people and get comfortable,” he says. “It sways some of their college decisions.”—cc

Flush With Success Water-Saving Automatic System Cleans Up at Pitch Dingman Competition THE JOLT FROM COFFEE and energy drinks kept Charles Grody ’20 going through

many late nights studying in McKeldin Library. But as fellow caffeine consumers know, where he was going was the restroom. “It seemed like every time, the toilet would flush right underneath me,” the engineering major says of the public facilities’ automatic flushers. “It got really annoying.” Those rogue flushes got his brain swirling, eventually leading to Hydraze, an automatic system that seeks to foil “phantom flushing” on motion-controlled public toilets and save millions of dollars in wasted water. In April’s Pitch Dingman competition, UMD’s annual “Shark Tank”-style contest, the startup earned its team of Grody, fellow engineering students Jack Sturtevant ’20 and Tuvia Rappaport ’20, and business student Roger Mao ’20 the $15,000 top prize, as well as the audience choice award. “People realize that this is a problem,” says Mao, who’s in charge of Hydraze’s business development, “and that our solution is logical and makes a lot more sense than what is currently the market standard.” Grody, the budding company’s founder and CEO, enlisted the tech help of Sturtevant, who’s now the CTO, and Rappaport, the chief engineer, to develop the Hydraze system. When a user unlocks the bathroom stall, a device on the door latch communicates via Bluetooth with the flushometer, the part attached to the toilet, to signal that it should flush. The group, all members of the QUEST (Quality Enhancement Systems and Teams) Honors Program, worked with the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center’s Facilities Management staff to pilot its first devices there last year. Initial data showed that around 48% of flushes had previously been unnecessary, and that Hydraze could potentially save UMD around $500,000 per year in water waste. While the team acknowledges that data’s small sample size, the commitment to sustainability helped Hydraze win $5,000 at the 2019 Do Good Challenge. The group then prepped for similar success at the Dingman Center for Entrepreneurship’s competition, which had to be held virtually due to COVID-19. Now, the team is using its winnings for additional pilots, marketing and patents. The grads recently installed devices at D.C. restaurant Busboys and Poets, and they’re hoping to work with Facilities Management to install around 30 more on campus for a six-month study.—AD Watch a video on how Hydraze works at terp.umd.edu.

Watch Terp students solve Rubik’s Cubes at breathtaking speed at terp.umd.edu.

I L L U S T R AT I O N BY J A S O N A . K E I S L I N G

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CAMPUS LIFE

Just Don’t Call It “Adulting”

New Course Equips Terps for Post-College Life 1099, 403(B), WITHHOLDING CERTIFICATE—

credit course introduced in Spring 2020 by the

admit it, the paperwork at your first job

Office of Undergraduate Studies, aims to help

kids these days, but, like it or not, adulthood

stumped you as much as your calculus home-

juniors and seniors prepare for working life by

and its attendant miseries are setting in later

work ever did. What’s FICA? Who’s Roth? And

teaching them practical skills they may not have

than they used to. A 2017 data analysis found

what does it mean to be vested? Is down

learned in high school or at home: understand-

that contemporary teenagers were less likely

or flannel involved?

ing a benefits package, what to do when your

than previous generations to engage not just in

fantasy job turns out to be less than fantastic, or

activities like having sex or drinking, but other

how to achieve the goal of retiring at 50. (Hey, a

adult (or adult-ish) ones like driving, dating or

Terp can dream.)

working after school. Many factors may be at

“Designing Your Life After College,” a two-

Gerry Strumpf, director of orientation in the

parenting or an increased focus on schooling,

years of teaching UNIV100 to first-year students

especially among affluent families.

that “when students leave us, they have no “They get no transition into life,” she says. She and Cynthia Stevens, associate professor of management and organization and associate

Jung Oh ’21 was one of the first students to take the class. A member of Army ROTC, she knows she’ll spend a few years in the military but says, “I’m not really sure how to plan financially or career-wise where to start looking for jobs

dean of undergraduate studies, developed

after the Army.” Instruction on cover letters,

the new course, devoting 40-50% to financial

creating a budget and building a five-year plan

literacy and the rest to helping students figure

appealed to her.

out their general goals and values, and how to create a life that aligns with those. “We tried to couch the course in the larger

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play: a rise in online socializing, more involved

Office of Undergraduate Studies, noticed after

sense of what’s ahead.”

Boomers and Gen X-ers may grumble about

“We take it for granted that people will know these things or learn these things,” says Allison Gibeily ’13, M.A. ’20, a class co-teacher, “but if

context of who are you and what do you

you go into a job and don’t know these things,

want out of life,” says Stevens.

the stakes are kind of high.” —SL

I L L U S T R AT I O N S BY L A U R E N B I A G I N I

A Giant, in Theory and Practice Driskell Center Plans Year of Events to Honor Its Groundbreaking Namesake he human toll of COVID-19 on the University of Maryland community included a towering cultural figure who helped African American visual art to emerge from segregation and take its rightful place on the broader American canvas. Art Professor Emeritus David C. Driskell died April 1 of complications from the virus at 88, and now UMD’s David C. Driskell Center for the Study of Visual Arts and Culture of African Americans and African Diaspora is dedicating this academic year to commemorating its namesake’s life and work—combining teaching, art-history scholarship and writing, curation and the practice of art. From the time Driskell painted his best-known work, “Behold Thy Son,” a 1956 meditation on the racist murder a year earlier of teenaged Emmett Till that takes the form of a pietà—a traditional depiction of Mary holding Jesus’ body—he stood against the conception of African American art as cut off from the mainstream. “He was charged with a special task—go forth and promote African American artistic work in a way the world may not be ready for yet,” says Curlee R. Holton, the Driskell Center’s executive director. Driskell arrived at Maryland in 1977, a year after his groundbreaking exhibition, “Two Centuries of Black American Art: 1750-

1950.” His own works are held by museums such as the National Museum of African American History and Culture, the National Gallery of Art and the Phillips Collection. Opening online in September, “The David C. Driskell Papers” exhibition draws from more than 50,000 objects assembled since the 1950s and divided into galleries by decade: lecture notes, student dissertations, slides from exhibitions and most importantly, correspondence with other major artists. Other events include a Sept. 17 symposium in collaboration with the National Gallery of Art, as well as a panel discussion on Driskell’s legacy. In Spring 2021, the center will present an exhibition focusing on the work of his students, many of whom went on to successful careers themselves. “He was a trailblazer,” says acclaimed performance artist Jefferson Pinder ’93, MFA ’03, who studied with Driskell at Maryland. “So many people are indebted to the work he’s done.”—cc See an online gallery of Driskell’s artwork at terp.umd.edu.

P A I N T I N G C O U R T E S Y O F T H E D A V I D C . D R I S K E L L E S T A T E ; P H O T O B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I

Driskell’s most famous painting, “Behold Thy Son” (top), draws on biblical imagery to portray the body of Emmett Till, 14, murdered for allegedly flirting with a white woman.

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SPORTS

of Medicine, where the former SUNY Albany volleyball player discovered a passion for sports medicine. She served as the primary care sports medicine doctor at UMD from 1998-2008, then became head team physician until 2016. After a few years as chief medical officer for Rutgers University athletics, she returned to Maryland last fall as part of its transition to an autonomous model of patient-centered care for student-athletes, meaning the medical staff operates independently of the athletic department and as part of the University Health Center. Her hire completed the implementation of recommendations from two external reviews following the June 2018 death of football player Jordan McNair. Just a few months into her new role, COVID-19 hit, with the shutdown of March Madness one harbinger of the upheaval to come. She and her team quickly set to work developing new policies and procedures, including requiring face coverings and physical distancing in team gatherings. They set up virtual meetings with student-athletes, coaches and parents to encourage communication. Testing took place weekly over the summer, and anyone who tests positive is automatically connected with a

Rewriting the Student-Athlete Care Playbook Head Team Physician Adapts as Pandemic Persists

the University Health Center had to shift her

behavioral health consultant to help with anxiety.

focus from typical training, such as physicals

A cardiologist, a neurologist and other specialists

and injury prevention, to pandemic protection

are on board to address any related symptoms.

for hundreds of student-athletes—a job that’s required constant evolution heading into a fall without sports. “We really had to become COVID central, because everybody was looking at us, at sports medicine, for all their answers,” she says. “And we’re not infectious disease doctors, but we’ve become that.” A New York native, Rooks admired her own

DR. YVETTE ROOKS has treated patients ranging

doctor’s instruments during childhood checkups

from newborns to centenarians. Yet she still

and volunteered as a candy striper at her

couldn’t have anticipated the unique challenges

neighborhood hospital, then went on to earn her

that the novel coronavirus would unleash. Maryland Athletics’ head team physician and assistant director for sports medicine in

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“We are incredibly fortunate to have (Rooks) on our team as we navigate these unprecedented times,” Athletic Director Damon Evans says. “She provides valuable insight and guidance.” Even with the Big Ten Conference’s postponement of fall competition and plenty of questions about the winter and spring seasons, she’s keeping a transparent, open-door policy for student-athletes and her staff. “As physicians, we always have to be on our guard because just as the world changes every

medical degree at the State University of New

day, so does medicine,” Rooks says. “This won’t

York Upstate in Syracuse. She completed her

be our last pandemic, but at least we’ll have a

residency at the University of Maryland School

playbook on this.”—AD

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E X P L O R AT I O N S

Unequal Outcomes Tie Two Pandemics Responses to 1918, COVID Crises Eerily Similar, Public Health Researcher Finds

uthorities shrugging off risk—or ordering everyone to mask up. The virus surging in locales that dropped their guards too soon. Death rates that cut along racial lines, battering African Americans with particular ferocity. What might sound like recent news stories from the COVID-19 pandemic describe the 1918 influenza pandemic just as well, according to a School of Public Health researcher’s study published this summer in the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. Jennifer D. Roberts, assistant professor of kinesiology, found that despite leaps in science, technology and civil rights, the United States didn’t appear to learn much from the earlier pandemic. “Even though it’s been more than 100 years, what we found is that the response to these two pandemics was very similar, in terms of public health being the first line of defense—you saw the orders to separate and create social distance, orders to wear face coverings; schools, churches and theaters were shutting down,” says Roberts, who wrote the paper with Shahdi O. Tehrani, a student of architecture and environmental design at the Iran University of Science and Technology, Tehran. Their sobering conclusion is that the broad effects of racism a century ago through today have led to unequal access to health care, housing, wealth, education and employment. All are social determinants that impact health and longevity, says Roberts, who specializes in studying the interplay between the built environment and transit systems, racial and socioeconomic disparities, and health. One consequence during the flu pandemic was a significantly higher fatality rate for African Americans; during the coronavirus crisis, the rate is more than double that of white Americans. “The strongest thread we found between both pandemics was inequality,” Roberts says. “Because of this inequality, there is a big difference in how well people can protect themselves from the virus, and a big difference in what happens to you if you contract it.”—cc

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How to Bee of Assistance One-man Squad Comes to Aid of Apiculture Novices

ark dykes’ job was made for social distancing. Nobody’s tempted to get close as he stands outside a rural Charles County, Md., home and dons a beekeeping hat with mesh veil, then aims a spray of smoke around a box cheerfully decorated with painted flowers. While the morning air soon smells like a brisket on the barbecue, the focus here is on that smoke and its effect on the honey bees inside. It counteracts their alarm pheromones that prepare them to attack, allowing Dykes to pry open the box and pull out a frame crawling with bees and dripping with honey. Dykes, coordinator of the University of Maryland’s Bee Squad, is here to check on the up to 80,000 bees that now call Claire

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Brooks’ home theirs, too. He’s monitoring for disease-causing mites and any other warning signs in this two-box hive he installed the week prior. It’s all an effort to help bees get their buzz back after historic losses—recent years have seen staggering colony loss among bees kept in managed colonies. The energetic one-person squad, formed last year in the university’s honey bee lab led by entomology Associate Professor Dennis vanEngelsdorp, offers a range of classes and services for people interested in beekeeping, including setting up hives and checking on their health. Even during the COVID-19 pandemic’s lockdown, Dykes checked on bees while their human owners kept a watchful distance. The goal, says Dykes, is to “bring science

to the art of beekeeping and reduce colony loss.” Though honey bees—critical to pollinating a huge range of crops and wild plants—are not endangered, other species of bees are. The Bee Squad hopes to learn more about bee nutrition, pest management and other issues that can inform best management practices. Inspired by a similar program at the University of Minnesota, the Bee Squad manages about a dozen hives across the state of Maryland and hopes to expand. (Bees can live in most climates, says Dykes, though bees in frigid northern climes are dormant for four or five months a year, while southern bees are “more of a year-round affair.”) An ecologist by training, Dykes began his bee journey in a University of Florida bee lab, where he eventually became apiary manager.

P H OTOS BY ST E P H A N I E S. CO R D L E

He “fell in love” with bees, he says, noting that with their sophisticated communal lifestyle they exist “at the intersection between ecology, agriculture and sociology.” His passion for bees isn’t unique. “I was always into bees,” says Brooks. “I think they’re neat creatures. When I saw the opportunity (to have the Bee Squad help maintain a hive), it was like, ‘Here’s my ticket.’” Though Brooks has several acres of property, bees only need as much space as the hives take up. Some local beekeepers keep bees on their urban balconies. Wherever they live, bees know to fly beyond their immediate surroundings in search of food—one will go out, find a food source and return to its colony to tell its hivemates where the snacks are. Of course, every rose has its thorn—and every bee its stinger. Dykes estimates he’s been stung thousands of times over the years. “The upside is, the more you get stung the less you react,” he says. “The downside is they always hurt.”—sl

Best by … Use by … Best if Used by? Researchers Try to Put a Lid on Food Label Confusion GROCERY SALES HAVE SOARED during the

pandemic, and if the recent past is any guide, food waste followed the same trajectory. Even before COVID-19, the lack of regulation, standardization and general understanding of date labeling—more than 50 variations exist in the United States alone, including “best by” and “use by” dates—sent $32 billion worth of food into garbage bins annually. In an article in Food Control earlier this year, University of Maryland researchers called for solid science rather than food producers’ guesses to inform package date labeling. “As a consumer and as a mom, a ‘best by’ date might raise food safety concerns, but date labeling and food safety are not connected to each other right now, which is a wide source of confusion,” says Debasmita Patra, assistant research professor of environmental science and technology and lead author on the paper. Patra and co-authors Paul Leisnham, associate professor of environmental science and technology, Abani Pradhan, associate professor of nutrition and food science, and postdoctoral fellow Collins Tanui found that environmental scientists and food scientists don’t work together on the issue. Collaborating could lead to interventions to change the behaviors behind food waste, Patra

Mark Dykes, coordinator of UMD’s Bee Squad, checks on the bee hives installed at Claire Brooks’ Hughesville, Md., home.

says—something relevant to everyone from farmers to wholesale buyers to consumers who open a can, unwrap a package of pork chops or peel a banana.

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FA C U LT Y Q & A R A S H A W N R AY

Not If, but When

Expert on Racial Inequities Reveals Foundations of New Protest Era

T E R P. U M D . E D U

AFTER GEORGE FLOYD WAS KILLED by a

police officer amid a pandemic disproportion-

Brookings Institution, a D.C.-based think tank. Ray has conducted training sessions on

ately hurting people of color, sociology

implicit bias with the military, U.S. Department

Professor Rashawn Ray saw the ensuing

of Homeland Security, and police departments

protests as the logical result of America’s

and organizations across the country, and

ongoing failure to deal with entrenched racial

frequently shares blunt, even searing insights

inequality.

with media outlets nationwide. He spoke to

“It wasn’t ‘if’ this was going to happen, it

Terp about why the protests caught on, what

was when,” says Ray, who is also the David M.

reforms are needed and what calls to “defund”

Rubenstein Fellow in Governance Studies at the

the police actually mean.—LF

P H O T O B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I

What led to your professional focus on the intersection of race and policing?

local news and social media. George Floyd is the

payouts coming from police department

Emmett Till of the 21st century. They could no

insurance policies rather than taxpayer money

My family has had multiple police officers,

longer deny that racism is such a powerful part

from general funds. We do this with hospitals and

but it was actually a byproduct of my early

of our lives.

malpractice insurance.

activity and obesity, and found that Black men in

What do you see as necessary policing reforms?

been terminated for misconduct or resigned

predominantly white and affluent neighborhoods

Police officers are working 60, 80, 100 hours a

while under investigation for misconduct and

engaged in less physical activity. One main

week. They are so overwhelmed with everyday

ensure they cannot get another job in law

reason was overpolicing, profiling and criminal-

tasks. Roughly 90% of calls for service are for

enforcement.

ization from neighbors and law enforcement. I

nonviolent incidents. Social service calls can be

realized that an activity, such as jogging, that

handled by mental health and addiction special-

should extend life might actually be reducing life

ists. Then, officers can focus on more violent

Will the newer slogan of “Defund the Police” be more difficult to rally around than “Black Lives Matter”?

if a person is Black.

crime, since the clearance rate is horrendous.

“Defund the Police” means to reallocate

About 40% of homicides, 66% of rapes and

resources. It does not mean abolishing the police.

Why did the protests become more popular, widespread and sustained this year than they did after similar incidents?

70% of aggravated assaults and robberies go

The “Defund” movement is not even directed

unsolved.

at police. It’s directed at elected officials. What

Because of COVID-19, everyone had stopped

require them to go to psychological counseling so

want police to dictate how much money they get.

what they were normally doing. And because

it can’t be stigmatized. They should be required

We don’t want our taxpayer money to pay for

of structural racism, Black people have died

to live in the jurisdiction where they work

police misconduct settlements. Imagine the dent

more often and Black businesses have been hit

and receive a housing subsidy. We have these

that amount of money could have on workplace

harder. People paid attention to that. Everyone’s

programs in place. They just need to be scaled up.

equity and education.” Reinvestment—that’s

seen George Floyd’s death. It was on cable news,

We need to make a shift toward misconduct

research at UC-Berkeley. I was studying physical

Epidemiologist Takes Country’s Temperature in 280 Characters

Also, put together a list of officers who have

Officers also need mental health support, so

health scholar has found that our 280-character pearls of wisdom (or rants)

voters and taxpayers are saying is, “We don’t

another word for defund.

blood pressure than one

cardio health among minority

where barbecue discussion

and majority populations alike

holds sway.

compared to more harmonious

translate to real-world health

Although she researches

outcomes that can be mapped

Twitter primarily, she has also

shows a similar negative effect

nationwide.

cross-checked Yelp and health

on birth outcomes.

In a series of studies over

data: “If you look at an area with

locales. A forthcoming study

Twitter is far from a perfect

PRECISE, DELIBERATE,

several years, Assistant

a lot of hamburger reviews—

cross section of America, Nguyen

THOROUGH— good descriptions

Professor Quynh Nguyen in the

high-caloric foods—you also find

admits, but still, this platform for

for the population-based surveys

Department of Epidemiology and

higher prevalence of diabetes

spontaneous sharing—and

that public health research often

Biostatistics has shown that how

and obesity.”

venting—provides

depends on, but a hilariously

the estimated 22% of American

More recently, Nguyen

off-target summary of the daily

adults on Twitter discuss topics

has focused on social media

are very difficult

discourse and diatribe on Twitter.

like food and exercise correlates

expressions of racial sentiment.

or impossible

to measures like obesity and

In a paper early this year, she and

to find in other

based nature of the platform

mortality in various locations; a

co-authors showed that areas

data.”—CC

has its advantages, and now a

town awash in triathlon chatter,

with plenty of tweets dripping

University of Maryland public

for instance, probably has lower

with racial animus had worse

But that freewheeling, broad-

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“access to things that

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Plumbing a Problem

Sewer Backups Burden Baltimore Homeowners. A UMD Researcher Steps In. he map on the baltimore City Department of Public Works website looks sterile, but the problem it illustrates is most definitely not. Colored dots peppered across the graphic show locations of sanitary sewer overflows, the wastewater that spills in homes, streets or the environment due to a pipe break or blockage, ranging from the small and mop-able to the overwhelming in odor and damage. An estimated 1,440 gallons of raw sewage reportedly spread on Canterbury Road near Hampden in February; 540 gallons spilled on North Hilton Street near Gwynns Falls Park in March; and 2,370 gallons leaked on Kane Street east of Bayview in May. Marccus Hendricks, assistant professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, is filling in the stories

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behind those incident reports. The goal is to provide a case study and roadmap for urban centers across the country dealing with antiquated infrastructure and storms strengthened by climate change. “A lot of these issues are exacerbated by more frequent and intense wet weather events,” Hendricks says. “It’s a pervasive issue and only the beginning of what we can expect to see.” The overflows are hardly new in Baltimore—the city has been under a consent decree with state and local authorities since 2002 to fix the problems; Hendricks says Baltimore averages 6,000 backups annually. It’s a cascading and stomach-turning mess that can wipe out a family’s possessions before contaminating streets and public places. A city reimbursement program has struggled to keep up with demand, although Baltimore public works officials say they have doubled the payout to $5,000 and note the overflows do not affect the city’s drinking water supply. But while the problem itself is citywide, says Carmela Thomas-Wilhite, Baltimore program manager for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, the ability to clean up varies from person to person. “It’s an environmental justice issue,” she says. “Everything is connected.” A specialist in stormwater impacts on infrastructure, Hendricks started the project after he was chosen in 2018 as a JPB Environmental Fellow by Harvard University’s T.H. Chan School of Public Health. He’s been analyzing overflow data and conducting interviews with everyone from homeowners to Environmental Protection Agency officials. Thomas-Wilhite believes Hendricks’ research could be another part of the effort in fixing an urgent city problem. “It takes a group of people to create change within this city,” she says. “His research is really just holding them accountable to do the right thing.”—lf

THE BIG QUESTION

What have you learned—about yourself, your discipline or the world—during quarantine? ANIL K. GUPTA

RAFAEL LORENTE

ALLAN WIGFIELD

MICHAEL D. DINGMAN CHAIR IN STRATEGY AND ENTREPRENEURSHIP, ROBERT H. SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS

ASSOCIATE DEAN FOR ACADEMIC AFFAIRS, PHILIP MERRILL COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM

DISTINGUISHED SCHOLARTEACHER AND PROFESSOR OF HUMAN DEVELOPMENT AND QUANTITATIVE METHODOLOGY, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION

—

There are two big economic takeaways. First, the trend toward digitization of everything has accelerated, and companies that lag in the move to digitization at the core will probably not make it. Second, income and wealth inequality, which was already high in 2019, is becoming a lot worse. The risks of social revolution have increased.

—

I’m reminded that journalists run toward stories, no matter how scary or dangerous. Sure, they’ve made their share of mistakes. But the good ones correct themselves and work to do better the next time. They make me proud to be a journalist.

—

Lack of structure, lack of “real” contact with friends, and concerns about the virus have students very distracted and unmotivated. They greatly appreciate having faculty who understand these challenges and provide some support.

BRITTANY L. WILLIAMS ’05, M. ARCH ’07

CARO “SPIKE” WILLIAMS-PIERCE

CLINICAL ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, SCHOOL OF ARCHITECTURE, PLANNING AND PRESERVATION

ASSISTANT PROFESSOR, COLLEGE OF INFORMATION STUDIES

—

I’ve been surprised to learn how quickly long-held cultural norms and building code regulations dealing with personal space and room occupancy can be so disrupted by how a single virus spreads. The metrics about how many people should safely occupy a single space have shifted so significantly and so rapidly.

—

I’ve learned that ignoring the clock and following my mind and body is the best way for me to be happy, healthy and productive. Hungry? Time to eat something. Eyes getting tired from staring at screens? Time to sit on the back porch and stare at birds. Exhausted by email? Time to read a book.

Share your answer and see more faculty responses at terp.umd.edu/BigQ9. Suggest a future question at terpfeedback.umd.edu.

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PORTRAITS PANDEMIC FROM A

Whether trapped at home or marching in the streets, Terps facing an enduring health crisis cope, question and count their blessings. BY TERP STAFF PHOTOS BY STEPHANIE S. CORDLE

The danger and the dullness arrived hand in hand. When a deadly virus blossomed in the United States along with the early signs of spring, regular life came

tum in the South and West. Minority populations and

theaters, houses of worship and stadiums went dark.

elderly victims succumbed at disproportionate rates,

Highway signs switched from warnings of accidents or

one more measure of how a virus can wreak havoc

lane closures to stern commands to stay home. The

scaled to society’s injustices—a sign that returning to

cliché “new normal,” often tossed about as casually as

how things “used to be” would be no solution.

Like the characters in Albert Camus’ novel “The

All of this reverberated through the University of Maryland community: in confinement abroad and

Plague,” we all began to eat the “same sour bread of

in commitment to duty, in struggling for economic

exile.” We filled the void worrying about ventilators

survival and in risking health to raise our voices

and PPE and talking about tiger kings, sourdough

against oppression.

recipes, unemployment rates, and shortages of Lysol and ground beef. We could spend a morning staring

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sloped downward and then regained startling momen-

to a sudden stop. Schools and offices closed. Movie

loose change, finally seemed apt.

And we tracked the spread of COVID-19 with grim fascination as the number of cases spiked in the Northeast,

University of Maryland students, alumni, faculty and staff opened up about their experiences in

at deer wandering a suburb, then the afternoon

isolation and in tiptoeing back into society, revealing

shepherding an antsy elementary schooler through a

frustrations, pain and hope in the time of the novel

maze of educational apps.

coronavirus.—LF

GRACE GRIFFIN ’21 is a kinesiology major and midfielder on the Maryland women’s lacrosse team. I remember before what was our last practice, (Head Coach Cathy Reese) sort of saying that this could be it. Things started out normal, then every drill got more and more fun. And it kind of hit us then that, “Oh, this is probably our last practice, because we’re doing all the fun drills.” It maybe lasted an hour, and I remember all of us coming together, and then the official news was broken about our season. There were a lot of hugs, a lot of tears. Every single time I’d make eye contact with one of the seniors, I would just burst into tears even more. We definitely tried to stay in contact, a lot of team Zooms. I started doing more yoga with my extra free time. Being home, having school at the same time, it’s hard to be motivated and really know what you’re working for. There’s a lot of questions and “what ifs.” On my Snapchat memories, it would pop up that one year ago today, we had just played a game. Or I’d be looking at our calendar and be like, “We’re supposed to be in Ohio right now playing a game” or “This weekend would be Big Ten championships,” but I’m here at home. This whole thing is teaching you how to value every single second you have playing. I think when we come back, you’ll really see everyone working even harder and just embracing each other and the game so much more because we know how easily it can be taken away.

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XIAOLI GONG , a doctoral student studying applied

linguistics in language education, was quarantined with her husband and 5-year-old daughter in Hubei province while visiting family and friends in January. They were evacuated from China shortly before similar measures took effect in the United States.

lives. Taking off our masks, I really felt like we had

ways we are closer. I say “hi” to my neighbor

integrated back to society.

every day; we didn’t do that before this pandemic.

Three weeks later we were all quarantined

I take walks but do feel I have stayed inside too

again in Maryland. There was definitely a sense

long. I still feel scared of going out. The racism and

that everything had been reversed, as China

discrimination has really made me feel unsafe.

was getting much better. I was just worried and

Would people shout at me and my daughter?

Our plane landed in California and we were

anxious. I was supposed to do my schoolwork, but

divided into groups. Our family went to an Air

I couldn’t. I had supportive and gentle professors,

feel scared for their lives or their family’s lives. I

Force base in Texas for a 14-day quarantine. One

and that transition was hard but helped me

used to be a Baltimore schoolteacher, and after

of the passengers eventually got sick, and it was

develop resilience and how I should shape my

Freddie Gray’s death was the first time I learned

very scary.

focus. If we are hit again, I feel I can probably

how scared my students were. Over the years, I

manage this better.

have learned people become targets just because

All of us had a sense of relief when it was over—now we can finally go back to our regular

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Maybe we are socially distanced, but in some

I really relate to those African Americans who

of how they look.

P H OTO CO U RT ESY O F X I AO L I G O N G

MAX ESCHER is a front-end web

developer in the Office of Strategic Communications. His father, Dr. Jeffrey Escher, a geriatrician, died April 26 of COVID19 after treating nursing home patients with the disease in New York City. He was 72. I was nervous about what he was doing, but because of the kind of person he was and the kind of doctor he was, I wouldn’t in a million years have told him to stop going to work. I remember something he told me right before he passed: He didn’t feel right about leaving his patients or his colleagues just to avoid catching the virus. He was working in a hotspot for COVID-19, but his job was more than a job to him—it was a calling to help people, and he kept pursuing it right until the very end. He told me one little story about a patient who complained he couldn’t get comfortable in the hospital bed because the bed was putting pressure on his legs. So my father partnered with the nurses to physically lift him into a more comfortable position, which is unusually hands-on for a doctor. He focused on tiny things like that—bedside manner and putting the patient first. He was sick for maybe a week, not more than a week and a half. He said it felt like a weight on you, like an iron net pinning you down. It was so fast—so fast, in fact, that I talked to him that night, and I really had the feeling things were going to be OK. And then I got a call from my mom the morning after that he had passed away. It wasn’t until later we got the test results—that he had tested positive. She got a letter in the mail.

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I L L U S T R A T I O N /FPAHLO L T2O0 C 20 R E D2I T 3

LT. AUGUST KENNER , community policing

liason and assistant patrol commander, is in her 23rd year with the University of Maryland Police Department. Even though we haven’t had a large student population lately, we’re accustomed to patrolling and doing our jobs during winter breaks, summer breaks. We’re still here to protect life and property, so nothing really changes from that perspective. What’s different is the health issue. We know there are situations out there as police officers that are going to be unpredictable, but this is beyond that; this is a complete unknown. No one has worked in these conditions before. I think my biggest fear has been facing that unknown every day: a pandemic with no cure, no vaccine, and you don’t know who has what. So you just focus on what you can control, which is make sure you keep a good distance from the public and other officers, make sure you have your PPE, that you wipe down the cruiser with Lysol every day. The department leadership packs each officer a care bag that has the KN95 mask, a face shield, disinfectant wipes for all our equipment. On each shift, we take our temperature before we come into the building. The biggest hurdle personally was finding a mask that I felt comfortable in. I am not used to wearing a mask—it is not the norm for us. I sometimes get away from everyone else and take it off—ahh— just so I can have a break. And then, of course, I just pray every day. Lord, keep me. Because that’s who is keeping me and has kept me for this long. I’m big on that. Prayer works.

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SETH FABER ’15 and JAMIE FISHKIN ’15

have known each other since they were 2, started dating at 16 and lived two doors apart on Fraternity Row at Maryland. They majored in marketing and communication, respectively, and live in New York City.

original date. We felt we were so ready. Everything was in place for the wedding: We had all our RSVPs in, we had tables organized, and we were about to order our table cards.

We went on our bachelor/bachelorette trips

200 people on Zoom. The rabbi was able to

that was when we started talking about

come out to Seth’s parents’ house, and we

COVID-19 more. We had one or two guests

borrowed a chuppah. We had our ceremony

who canceled already, who said they didn’t

in the backyard, with just our parents and

feel comfortable coming. Broadway started

our siblings.

closing, everything was closing. We notified every single guest on email,

PROFESSOR DON MILTON, M.D. , is a

leading researcher on airborne transmission of respiratory diseases.

We got married on April 4 with more than

in February, and then we came back, and

Everyone afterward told us how it was so much fun having a joyous moment,

call, text, on social media: “We’re moving

because everything at that point in time, it

our wedding to July 2021. We can’t wait to

was so dark. The rabbi mentioned she was

celebrate with you then.” But we decided

so excited to have this because she’d been

that we still wanted to get married on our

doing many funerals.

My lab was one of the first to show you could actually culture influenza from the air, which was a game changer for a lot of people. Much of the medical community and

My lab was preparing a report the other day

the World Health Organization still have a

for funding agencies on what we’ve done

hard time building their recommendations

with our time, including outreach to the

around this, but it’s more and more

public. That spreadsheet had 3,109 lines on

accepted—it’s why people now believe good

it—one for each time I’ve had quotes in the

N95 respirators for medical workers are so

press about virus transmission since March

important.

1. Some were stories that got reprinted, but

In 2005, the U.S. was preparing a new

it’s a lot, and maybe my research project

pandemic preparedness plan, one that was

would be farther along if I spent less time

based on simply shutting everything down.

talking to reporters. On the other hand, it’s

And I thought, this is awful—we have to be

important to get the message out.

able to find a way to manage that doesn’t

When I started doing this work on the

disrupt everyone’s lives and destroy the

aerobiology of infectious disease around

economy. I thought understanding these

1996, there was a tremendous amount of

aerosols was the key. So I tried to find a

skepticism about the role of aerosols—rather

way to avoid this calamity, but here we are.

than personal contact or large droplets—in

Maybe this tragedy will get us past our fear

transmitting respiratory viruses. I remember

of the idea of airborne transmission and

a CDC official telling me they wanted to

prepare to control it, which could help us to

put the last nail in the coffin of the idea of

avoid all this next time.

airborne transmission.

T O P P H O T O C O U R T E SY O F S E T H FA B E R ‘ 1 5 A N D J A M I E F I S H K I N ‘ 1 5

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PATIENCE * ’20 , an information systems and

marketing double major, is one of more than 2,000 students supported since the coronavirus outbreak—and subsequent economic downturn—by UMD’s Student Crisis Fund. I kind of ran out of money. I realized, wow, rent, utilities, car, insurance, my medical bills—everything was just piling up. My landlord wasn’t giving me any more extensions. I really felt like I couldn’t do anything, because a lot of the jobs that I always fell back on weren’t available. It takes nothing for a college student to be a waitress and get tips, but that wasn’t an option anymore. I used to do nails for the girls on campus, and that wasn’t an option anymore either. My start date as a technology engineer analyst got pushed back a few months, so I really felt stuck. (The financial assistance) helped me not panic. The team at the Student Crisis Fund was very understanding. They sent me $1,000; rent per month is $600, so that helped me put some money away, have groceries. It alleviated a lot of my stress. I feel like the only thing I can do is really pay it forward or share my story to the next person that doesn’t feel comfortable sharing. They’re probably in worse conditions than I am. It’s not about making a sob story or anything. It’s just being honest and saying, “Hey, I need help.” To donate to the fund, visit crisisfund.umd.edu. *Patience’s last name is withheld at her request to protect her privacy.

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NICOLE COOMBER is an assistant clinical

professor and interim assistant dean of the fulltime MBA program at the Robert H. Smith School of Business. She lives with her husband and four sons in Washington, D.C. My doctorate literally says “education,” and I think homeschooling in a pandemic via Zoom is the hardest thing I have ever done. The people that teach our children are very, very good at what they do. I get emotional thinking about it. There is no way you can recreate that in your home. At the beginning of the pandemic, I kind of just went into summer mode or maternity-leave mode. Both my husband and I do work on weekends. I now have office hours for my students on Sunday night. Sometimes I have to drop everything and just be with my children. I’m doing random things at random times. I think this will be kind of a crucible for people unhappy with a part of their lives. It’s going to be much harder to lie to yourself, in everything from where you live to what you do to your family situation. If you’re struggling with your work-life balance, it’s going to be much harder to pretend it’s OK. For me, it’s kind of reaffirmed a lot of choices I made in my life. I passionately love my job and the living situation we have.

ARTHUR SHMIDT ’06 , who majored in

mechanical engineering, owns Shmidt Spirits in Beltsville, Md. We officially opened in January, and then COVID hits. It’s put us in a tight spot, but

we’re weathering this. The idea of opening a distillery originated with my family. I’m half Mexican; we have land in a small town called Techaluta de Montenegro, about an hour from Guadalajara, where we’ve talked about making tequila. But to just pick up our lives and leave the United States … we thought first, why don’t we start a distillery locally to provide a foundation? I’ve always liked whiskey aged in a rum barrel, which spawned the idea of producing spirits with unique finishes. In March, there were ordinances saying that unless you’re an essential business, you close your doors. And since this is such a small company, I generate much of my revenue from people visiting the tasting room, sampling the spirits and purchasing. Because I don’t have many distributor agreements set up yet, the revenue I was starting to generate just dried up. The ability to produce hand sanitizer has really saved us, in the short term. The government agency that regulates spirits plants said, “Hey, there’s a sanitizer shortage, and you guys already produce ethanol. We’ll allow you to do this temporarily to provide a service to the community and keep yourselves alive.” In addition to selling it, we’ve also donated hundreds of bottles to the community. I don’t want to be in the business of hand sanitizer. I can’t wait to get back to making spirits. But I think we might keep giving it to our customers just to say, “Hey, here’s what we did during the crisis. Here’s how we helped.”

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ARSÈNE MUTAGOMA is a sophomore

majoring in public policy. A resident of Takoma Park, Md., he helped organize a protest against police brutality in June following the death of George Floyd in Minneapolis. I made a promise to myself to go to as many protests as I could. It got to the point where I was trying to go to at least one a week. Protesting during a pandemic was definitely one of the hardest decisions I had to make this year. I talked to my mom a lot, and she got kind of nervous. But I’m a really outspoken person, just in general, and this is an issue I hold dear. I want to become a civil rights lawyer, and I can’t be true to myself and my beliefs if I don’t go out and protest. I always had my mask on at protests. I always had gloves and I also carried hand sanitizer and limited physical contact with people. For the protest I helped organize, we told them masks were required on the flyers. We were handing out masks, gloves, little bottles of hand sanitizer. We did want to have an organized protest, but we wanted to make sure everybody felt safe and comfortable.

I L L U S T R AT I O N / P H O T O C R E D I T

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THINGS YOU PROBABLY

DIDN’T KNOW ABOUT

PRESIDENT PINES His Modest Beginnings, Boyhood Heroes, Futuristic Research and Plans to Tackle “Grand Challenges” BY C H R I S C A R R O L L P H OTO BY J O H N T. C O N S O L I

T E R P. U M D . E D U

THE UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND’S NEW PRESIDENT, DARRYLL J. PINES,

is fond of the concept of “grand challenges”—problems so complex, yet so pressing, that only the full mobilization of scientific, engineering and societal resources will solve them. Think of curing cancer or traveling to Mars. Pines had begun preparing a slate of them for the university to tackle after he was named the next president in February— and then the world intruded with challenges of its own, as urgent as any that could be devised: a spreading viral pandemic, with more than 175,000 Americans dead as of press time, and the societal pandemic of racism, violence against Black people and institutionalized inequality. He pivoted, announcing in his inaugural message his plans to direct UMD’s research power at the problems, as well as work to free the campus from the ravages of both pandemics as much as possible. “The things I wrote about on that first day were not what I would have rolled out in a non-COVID world, or a non-social-unrest world,” he says. “But these are grand challenges facing our society that we must deal with.” A longtime colleague in the A. James Clark School of Engineering, where Pines landed as an aerospace engineering professor in 1995 and later served 11 years as dean, says Pines would not only guide the school through trying times, but find ways for the university community to excel and grow stronger through them. “I thought of him as the lemonade dean— when something is going wrong, he asks, ‘How can we find something positive to get out of it?’” says William Fourney, professor emeritus of aerospace engineering. “And he almost always finds a wrinkle where he

can make things better.” Forward momentum, observers say, has characterized Pines’ leadership at UMD so far, whether pushing the Clark School ahead in national rankings, beefing up fundamental undergraduate courses or dramatically increasing numbers of female and underrepresented students and faculty. His devotion to learning beyond the classroom resulted in high-profile wins and world records in student competitions, while his attention to fundraising and donor relations was key to a $219.5 million investment from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation benefitting the entire university. Those who know him expect Pines to place an array of new grand challenges and opportunities for excellence on the table in coming months for the university to unite behind. “He likes the big plays,” says C.D. Mote Jr., a longtime mentor of Pines who served as UMD president from 1998 to 2010. “He understands the success of the university is about the people, the vision, the impact. He is always looking to the future, and the students, university, state and nation will all benefit.” But what about his present and his past? While Pines isn’t known as someone who loves talking about himself (but don’t get him started on the role of engineering in society), he is known for more than just academic and professional achievements— there’s his genuine enjoyment of working with young people, his no-lunch-late-nights work ethic and his easy charm (like showing up in full commencement garb in a neighbor’s yard to help two high school seniors celebrate their virtual graduation). What else might you not know about Pines? Read on for what we discovered.

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2 HE’S AN IDENTICAL TWIN. Darryll Pines

A boyhood encounter with a Tuskegee Airman helped set his path. The deep racial inequality in America that

came under greater scrutiny after the May killing of George Floyd was everyday reality for a young Darryll Pines. He grew up in a working-class home in East Oakland, Calif., a majority Black and relatively impoverished part of the San Francisco Bay Area where opportunities were scarce and “university president” was not the expected career. But at a junior high summer camp for aspiring pilots, he met one of the Tuskegee Airmen, the famed group of Black World War II aviators who shot down racist myths along with German fighter planes. It helped the 13-year-old Pines envision what he was capable of. “I’ll never forget what this pilot told me about a whole bunch of African Americans who helped win the war,” Pines says.

is a hair shorter than his brother, Derek, but the two are close enough in appearance that their mother, Maureen Foster Pines (above), a native of England who passed away in 1998, called them “the mirror twins”— particularly apt because Darryll is right-handed and Derek is left-handed. Both have the engineering knack; Derek, an electrical engineer, is vice president at Parsons Corp., a transportation and defense technology consulting firm. Because the two live on opposite coasts, the chance of Pines double vision (or, perhaps, identitytrading hijinks) around College Park is low.

T E R P. U M D . E D U

TO P P H OTO CO U RT ESY O F DA R RY L L J. P I N ES ; A B OV E P H OTO V I A G E T T Y I M AG ES

5 He went to a top college near home—and wants more Prince George’s County students to have the same opportunity.

Pines’ parents didn’t have a chance for higher education, but worked ceaselessly to make sure their children did. Still, without a need-based scholarship (followed by merit awards), his undergraduate education at the nearby University of California, Berkeley would have been impossible. He wants students from places like Prince George’s County and Baltimore, which remind him of his hardscrabble hometown, to have similar chances. “I think the purpose of a public land-grant institution is to afford an equal opportunity for everyone in the state to get an education, and to move their family from one side of the economic scale to the other,” he says.

HE WAS A STUDENT ACTIVIST. Pines’ eyes were opened to institutionalized injustice at Berkeley, where he participated in protests on its famed Sproul Plaza. His passion was American divestment from apartheid South Africa, which was holding dissident Nelson Mandela prisoner. Seeing Mandela in person a few years later in 1990 in Boston, while Pines studied for his doctorate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and South Africa inched toward democracy, ranks as a highlight of his life.

T O P P H O T O : T E D S T R E S H I N S K Y/ C O R B I S V I A G E T T Y I M A G E S ; H U M M I N G B I R D P H OTO : A E ROV I RO N M E N T; B OT TO M P H OTO : A P P H OTO/ RO N T U SSY

HE MANAGED “GEE-WHIZ” PROJECTS AT DARPA, THE AGENCY THAT INVENTED THE INTERNET. An expert in spacecraft control and navigation, Pines took it to the next level during a 2003-06 leave of absence from UMD. Working at the famed Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency—credited for innovations ranging from computer mice to GPS to the internet—he oversaw exotic aerospace projects like the development of tiny, hummingbird-like aircraft.

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A FORMER UMD PRESIDENT MENTORED HIM IN COLLEGE (AND HE LATER RETURNED THE FAVOR). Mote met Pines while the young man was attending Berkeley High School and was later Pines’ undergraduate adviser in the mechanical engineering department at UC Berkeley. In 1998, when Mote became UMD president,

Pines (who arrived at the university in 1995) was the only person the lifelong

Californian knew on campus, and helped the new president get his bearings. “I went right to him, past all the department chairs and all the deans and straight to this assistant professor I had not seen since 1986,” Mote says.

HE HAS A HIGH-ACHIEVING FAMILY. Pines and his wife, Sylvia, have two Terp

children—Kalala ’18, pursuing a doctorate in physical therapy at Emory University, and Donovan, a 6-foot-5 defender for D.C. United. He was named to the All-Big Ten First Team as part of UMD’s national championship-winning men’s team during his junior season in 2018. Although he went pro before graduating, he continues knocking off roughly a course each semester on his way to a biological sciences degree. Pines’ older sister Denise is a former head of the Medical Board of California, an entrepreneur and a social activist for Black women and girls. His father, Claude, served four years in the U.S. Air Force in England (where he met Pines’ mother), returning to the Bay Area to work blue-collar jobs at Sears and Pfizer. He later earned an associate’s degree in management and worked for over 20 years as an analyst for the Navy.

At Donovan Pines’ 2016 high school graduation, from left: sister Kalala Pines ’18, grandfather Sylvester Haynie, Donovan Pines, grandmother Fran Haynie, mother Sylvia Pines, father Darryll J. Pines and grandfather Claude Pines.

T E R P. U M D . E D U

T O P P H O T O B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I ; B O T T O M P H O T O C O U R T E S Y O F D A R R Y L L J . P I N E S

He’s the driving force in the U.S. to get high schoolers AP-like college credit for engineering classes.

Engineering is one of the key disciplines of recent centuries. So why are there relatively few opportunities to study it before college, Pines wonders—and why can’t high schoolers earn college credit like students taking Advanced Placement or International Baccalaureate tests in subjects from physics to literature? To close that gap, Pines is leading a nationwide pilot project, Engineering for Us All (E4USA), to implement a curriculum accessible to students from a wide range of socioeconomic and academic backgrounds—math genius not required.

STUDENT COMPETITIONS GET HIM REVVED UP. Pines’ easy rapport with students was evident as Clark School dean when, mic in hand, he led cheers at the annual

Alumni Cup competition between departments or mingled with members of the Terps Racing squad. Mote chalks it up to a healthy

competitive nature, plus watching MIT’s successful teams, like one that flew the Daedalus aircraft to the distance record for humanpowered flight in 1988. At UMD, Pines championed another aircraft team—Gamera—that competed for the $250,000 Sikorsky Prize and holds the world record for longest human-powered rotorcraft flight. Sheron Williams, longtime Clark School assistant to the dean, remembers accompanying Pines to the announcement of the 2011 U.S. Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon winner on the National Mall. When UMD’s entrant into the contest for a self-powered house, Watershed, won, “He was absolutely giddy for the students,” Williams says. “He was beside himself.”

T O P P H O T O BY S T E P H A N I S S . C O R D L E ; B O T T O M P H O T O BY M AT T H E W E H R I C H S / U N I V E R S I T Y O F M A R Y L A N D

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BY SA L A L E V I N ’ 1 0

DOUBLE INFECTION FIGHTER WITH QUIET R E S O LV E , A SCIENTIST WHO CHANGED THE WORLD’S U N D E R S TA N D I N G OF CHOLERA S TA N D S U P T O HER FIELD’S SEXISM

T E R P. U M D . E D U

P H O T O B Y J O H N T. C O N S O L I

WE DON’T WASTE FELLOWSHIPS ON WOMEN.” It was 1956. Rita Colwell was finishing her degree in bacteriology at Purdue University and hoping to pursue graduate work when a professor with a towering reputation casually suggested that she didn’t have the prerequisite for her intended career: a Y chromosome. This attitude wasn’t much of a surprise; her high school chemistry teacher had refused to write her a letter of recommendation for college entrance, telling her blithely that girls “don’t do chemistry.” Since then, she had spent most of the next four years as the sole woman in her classes, and once again she wasn’t going to be deterred. “I will damn well prove you wrong,” Colwell thought. She did. Colwell, a Distinguished University Professor and the first female director of the National Science Foundation, made a tremendous impact on the scientific and medical worlds with her landmark research on cholera. Along the way, she battled rampant sexism in science, suffering the indignities of being a woman in a field dominated by men: the slides of nude women presented at conferences, the time a colleague referred to her as “a little girl,” the professional societies that excluded women from leadership and, therefore, influence over who got make-or-break publication in journals.

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In her new memoir, “A Lab of One’s Own: One Woman’s Personal Journey Through Sexism in Science,” published in August by Simon & Schuster, Colwell tells her own story and those of other female scientists, both well-known and, more often, unheralded, who faced the seemingly immovable force of institutional misogyny—and still do. “I’ve learned that men always expect women to be quiet,” says Colwell from the book-strewn office of her suburban Maryland home. “They don’t like women who are outspoken or are not popular. I learned that you could behave very demurely but at the same time be working to get done what you needed to get done.”

a career in science wasn’t the first time Colwell Rita Colwell and then-postdoc fellow Ray Johnson work in her UMD lab, circa 1978. faced being unpopular—or worse. Born in 1934 in Beverly, Mass., Rita Rossi was the fifth of Louis and Luisa Rossi’s six surviving children. The Rossis were the first Italian better couple. They married three months later. (Don, Jack’s fraternity homebuyers in the neighborhood, and not everyone approved. brother and Rita’s former boyfriend, recovered: He served as best man “It was just at a time when being Italian or being Irish or being at their wedding.) Jewish, there was prejudice and you felt it,” says Colwell, who retains Together, the Colwells went west to the University of Washington the New England accent of her youth. (“Grant,” when she says it, for their doctorates. Rita was a rarity: In 1950, women earned around rhymes with “font.”) 5% of doctoral degrees in chemistry, mathematics and physics. Often, At 15, Colwell lost her mother to a heart attack, which she partly they were steered toward master’s degrees while men were urged into attributes to the local doctor’s unfamiliarity with treating cardiac Ph.D. programs, setting up a system in which only men could become arrest in women. “I vowed to become a research scientist or a medical high-powered professors. Women with doctorates soon ran into doctor to give poor and powerless people the care my mother was nepotism rules dictating that universities couldn’t employ husbands denied,” she writes in the book. and wives in the same department; they Encouraged by her father in her acatypically lost out to their husbands, who demic aspirations, Colwell was accepted employers thought were likelier to stick at Radcliffe and Smith colleges, but went with their careers after having children. to Purdue after learning of its emphasis At Washington, Colwell’s Ph.D. on engineering and science. A full scholadviser gave her “no chance to ask quesarship helped. tions or contribute intellectually,” she Colwell switched her major from writes. She left his lab, and later learned chemistry to bacteriology after meeting a that a previous graduate student had —RITA COLWELL professor named Dorothy May Powelson, threatened legal action after the same who put Colwell behind a microscope professor pushed her out of her Ph.D. trained on bacteria, sparking an instant program. Colwell feared no other lab thrill. “You see these little critters swimwould take her on after a perceived crash ming around, dashing here, there and everywhere—they stop, then and burn in her first placement—she even considered changing course they dart off,” says Colwell. “It just struck me that this is an entire entirely to study 16th- and 17th-century English poetry, following a world.” long-held passion. Another defining encounter came at Purdue when she met a fellow Soon, however, Colwell landed in the lab of John Liston in the uniscience student named Jack Colwell. She and her then-boyfriend versity’s Department of Fisheries. She became the first student—male had double dated a few times with his fraternity brother, Jack, and or female—to pursue a Ph.D. at the University of Washington in the another woman, but quickly it became apparent Jack and Rita were a just-blossoming field of marine microbiology.

“I’ve learned that men always expect women to be quiet. They don’t like women who are outspoken or are not popular.”

T E R P. U M D . E D U

cholera had long perplexed scientists . They knew its tremendous costs: Over the course of seven documented outbreaks since 1817, cholera has killed as many as 40 million people, and continues to plague developing countries. Physicians and researchers also knew the disease moves easily from person to person and causes rapid decline—“fine at breakfast, dead at dinner” was one common descriptor—and that poor sanitation contributes to its spread. Indian scientist Sambhu Nath De discovered in 1959 that the bacterium Vibrio cholerae attaches itself to the inside wall of a person’s small intestine, but where the bacterium lived between outbreaks remained a mystery. Colwell began studying Vibrio cholerae in 1963, when she was working in the biology department of Georgetown University. Over the next two decades, Colwell made several critical discoveries: First, the bacterium thrived in salty or brackish water. Second, it followed the seasonal life cycle of copepods, tiny crustaceans that live in both fresh and saltwater. And third, the bacterium could go dormant and then revive. Put together, Colwell concluded that cholera could live in copepods even if no disease outbreak was evident, and that people could be sickened by drinking untreated water with copepods in it. In 1972, she accepted a position as professor of microbiology at the University of Maryland. James Kaper, now a professor of microbiology and immunology and associate dean at the UMD School of Medicine in Baltimore, joined Colwell’s lab in 1975 as a graduate student. “She was not the type of mentor that was over your shoulder constantly and telling you exactly how to design your experiments,” he says. He worked with Colwell collecting samples from the brackish waters of the Chesapeake Bay and joined her on trips to India and Bangladesh, where, in 1975, she met Anwar Huq, now a professor in UMD’s Maryland Pathogen Institute. Colwell invited Huq to join her lab, and Pictured circa 1978-81, Colwell spent several years as director of Maryland Sea Grant College, a partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

together they created a technique for filtering water through sari cloth—readily available even to poor women in remote villages— folded four to eight times. The method, when used in a field trial, showed a 48% reduction of cases in Bangladesh. Colwell’s work abroad often followed her home. “She would come home from the airport with luggage full of cultured bacterial plates,” says her daughter, Alison, a botanist in California. “You’d look for milk in the fridge in the morning and there’d be stacks of petri dishes.” (Another daughter, Stacie, is a physician in Halifax, Nova Scotia.) The scientific community was slow to embrace Colwell’s new views on cholera, which she believes was in part a covert dismissal of a woman’s work. “The way you’re talking, it looks like vibrios are even in your backyard,” one colleague sneered when Colwell presented her findings at a conference. “I haven’t checked there yet,” she retorted. Today, Colwell’s findings are widely accepted, and in recent years, she’s been exploring new terrain in the cholera landscape: computer models that can predict outbreaks weeks ahead of time.

colwell ’ s standard - setting work on cholera opened doors for

her to change not just her own laboratory by bringing on female graduate students, but scientific institutions as well. She became president of the American Society for Microbiology—only the fourth woman to hold the position since its 1899 founding—in 1983, and the first female director of the National Science Foundation in 1998. Both gave her the opportunity to redefine women’s roles in science. “Rita was really a trailblazer for us younger women,” says Tamar Barkay Ph.D. ’80, professor of biochemistry and microbiology at Rutgers University and a former student of Colwell’s. Barkay recalls that Colwell’s office was lined with photos from conferences where she was the sole woman. “She opened a path that many of us could follow. She always knew how to move things forward.” Moving things forward Colwell-style has often meant working within the system instead of pushing for radical, all-at-once change. As president of ASM, she figured out how to use the voting system to get more women elected president—and therefore in positions of power over the journals critical to success in science. In the years following Colwell’s tenure, women’s presence as editors and peer reviewers expanded. She also created funds for women—as well as African American and Latinx scientists—to attend conferences, where she ensured child care was available. Inequities still abound for women in science. A 1996 Massachusetts Institute of Technology self-report found that female science faculty had lingered at about 8% for some 20 years; that climbed to 19.2% in 2014, but has since stalled. Why? Colwell points to a tendency to “fall back into bad habits” and to a predisposition to believe that “if you have the Y chromosome, you’re smart,” she says. “Well, the Y chromosome doesn’t carry intelligence genes.” terp

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ALUMNI

A S S O C I AT I O N

Letter From the Executive Director

Memories Made at Camp Diamondback MORE THAN 250 HAPPY CAMPERS gathered on

Aug. 15 around the final virtual campfire, sans mosquitoes and smoky air, to close out six weeks of unique summer fun sponsored by the Alumni

WHEN DARRYLL J. PINES ASSUMED the presidency in July,

he was eager to meet with the Board of Governors. High on his call-to-action list: Increase Alumni Association membership. Membership provides alumni like you with unique opportunities to grow professionally and to enjoy meaningful personal experiences while demonstrating your

Association. During the themed weeks of Camp Diamondback, future Terps ages 5-12 folded origami, drew pictures of Testudo and

commitment to your alma mater. And it also helps the university, because every

took a modern dance class. Kids

membership counts as a donation, and boosts our participation numbers in U.S. News

enjoyed a live talk about the

& World Report’s rankings. Last year, we conducted an alumni survey asking questions such as “What would make you want to join the Alumni Association?” You answered, and we acted. Over the past 12 months: • 400 members attended events and programs for free; • 2,669 alumni participated in professional development and networking activities; • We upgraded membership gifts (join or renew now to receive a UMD bracelet or tie);

Hubble Space Telescope and a session on coding, while more than 200 parents competed in trivia contests and learned photography skills. “My child really enjoyed the

Caden Thomas proudly displays one of his projects from Camp Diamondback.

activities and interaction with other kids,” Ihuoma Abiarmiri ‘05 said in an email

• Regional networks hosted 71 events off campus; and

to the Alumni Association. “This is a wonderful

• We celebrated 800 new life members, whose names are now permanently

program, and I truly appreciate all of the hard

etched on campus walls.

work from your team. Thank you!”

When COVID rocked our world, the dedicated staff at the association launched new virtual events from the safety of their home offices. These 60+ online programs drew more than 4,000 alumni during the spring and early summer. A “Terp Talk” webinar series launched, offering tips for remote working, leadership and wellness. We supported alumni entrepreneurs through our #TerpBusiness social media campaign, urging Terps to patronize Terp-owned companies. And in partnership with the Office of Innovation and Economic Development, we launched Terps Unite (innovate.umd.edu/terps-unite) to connect alumni entrepreneurs with resources for small business owners. Another quick decision we made was to create virtual experiences for Terp

Our Newest Members: the Class of 2020 GRADUATING AMID A HISTORIC pandemic, the

Class of 2020 showed resilience, positivity and

children, whose summer plans were largely squelched by the pandemic. Read more

Maryland pride. We’re celebrating the unique

on this page.

achievements of the more than 8,500 students

Thank you to our approximately 20,000 members for making these programs

who walked across their living rooms rather than

possible. If you’re not a member, please consider solidifying your relationship with

a commencement stage in May, gifting graduates

the association and join today.

with a complimentary one-year membership

Go Terps!

in the Alumni Association. Throughout the next year, we’ll provide exclusive experiences, networking opportunities and resources to help

Amy Eichhorst

Assistant Vice President, Alumni Relations Executive Director, University of Maryland Alumni Association

our newest alumni maintain their connection with Maryland and boost their career opportunities. Congratulations! Learn more: alumni.umd.edu/class-2020

T E R P. U M D . E D U

Jacqueline Ford ’20 with her mom, Patricia Ford ’91, taken on her virtual graduation day

r ’84 nchez Phife Mariana Sa r ife Ph b Ro d, her husban

with

Family’s Terp Roots Run Deep—16 (Pairs of) Feet So Far hen mariana sanchez phifer ’84 filed out of a packed Cole Field House following a freshman exam, she felt a weight lift from her shoulders. In its place was a new confidence that the University of Maryland was the right school for her. The daughter of Ecuadorian immigrants who hoped to give their eight children a better life, Sanchez was the first to attend a four-year school. She quickly introduced her family to the possibilities—and fun— that UMD offered. Over the next four decades, the campus welcomed 15 additional members of the extended Sanchez clan. “Our parents let us look at other schools, but it was always a good choice for us,” says Jacqueline Ford ’20, M.P.P. ’21, who often attended tailgates and other on-campus events with the growing roster of Terp relatives, including aunt Mariana and mom

Patricia. “We’ve all known Maryland as a great option because it’s a great school, and it’s affordable.” A snapshot from the early 2000s captured Ford and her sister, Sophia, in tiny Terrapin cheerleader outfits, likely taken not long after their twin cousins, Jessica and Jocelyn Maldonado, had graduated. A chronicle of the family’s UMD experiences reads like an admissions brochure, with majors from finance to criminology to studio art and favorite memories including Art Attack concerts, sorority life, Homecoming parades, internships and study abroad opportunities. Several family members returned for graduate degrees, and at least one marriage resulted from those extra years on campus. Patricia Ford ’91 is the youngest of the original Sanchez siblings. After completing an internship at the Center for International Development and Conflict Management, she earned a full scholarship

I L L U S T R AT I O N B Y VA L E R I E M O R G A N ; P H O T O S C O U R T E S Y O F J A C Q U E L I N E F O R D

her senior year. She remembers proudly waving to her father, Luis, in the crowd on graduation day. Though Luis and his wife, Rosalia, never attended UMD, their choice to settle in neighboring Jacqueline Ford ’20 in Takoma Park nearly 60 front of the fountain on years ago established a the mall in her regalia legacy that continues with three Terps enrolled this fall. Jacqueline looks forward to new memories and networking opportunities as a new Alumni Association member—and hopes to bring her youngest sister into the Terp family too. —KIMBERLY MARSELAS ’00

Are your Maryland roots as deep as the Sanchez family’s? If so, email us your story at alumni@umd.edu.

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ALUMNI

PROFILES

A N DY S H A L L A L M B A ’ 1 9

Painting Pictures of Hope

Restaurateur Decorates Local Storefronts to Spread Positivity, Show Support Through Trying Times

T E R P. U M D . E D U

or andy shallal mba ’19, what started as a break-in became a window of opportunity. The founder of the D.C.-centric Busboys and Poets restaurant chain was boarding up a shattered window at one of his city locations shortly after COVID-19 had shut down dine-in service when he decided to paint the plywood. In bold letters and flowing script, he spelled out “Busboys [heart] Anacostia.” Grateful emails and messages from the community poured in, giving Shallal an idea: “There are so many places that are closed, so many dark windows,” he recalls thinking. “Wouldn’t it be nice if we did this in other locations?”

F RO M L E F T: B U S B OYS A N D P O E TS W I N D OW BY A N DY S H A L L A L ; W I N D OW P H O T O A N D P O R T R A I T B Y T O N Y R I C H A R D S ; Z AY T I N YA W I N D O W B Y J O E M O N O L I T H ; A R E N A S TA G E W I N D O W BY S H AW N P E R K I N S ; A R E N A S TA G E W I N D OW BY LU T H E R W R I G H T; C H I N A C H I LCA N O W I N D OW BY J O E M O N O L I T H .

That sparked #PaintTheStorefronts, an initiative in which restaurants and small businesses hire local artists to decorate their windows, share images on social media and spread hope amid the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic. The project grew to what Shallal estimates as at least 150 storefronts across the metro D.C. area and has evolved since the death of George Floyd in police custody to include murals and messages supporting the Black Lives Matter movement. “All are positive messages and useful,” Shallal says. “It’s uplifting.” After having all seven Busboys and Poets locations painted, Shallal contacted chef and humanitarian José Andrés—a fellow member of the ReOpen D.C. Advisory

CLASS NOTES Group—who was happy to have his popular restaurants join the cause. With the help of the hashtag, the movement quickly spread around the DMV as more people started picking up paintbrushes. As D.C. entered its first phases of reopening, nationwide protests in the wake of Black Americans’ killings led to new messages appearing: “Say their names: Trayvon, Breonna, George.” “No justice, no peace.” “Black Lives Matter.” “It’s a really good thing to see,” Shallal says. “It makes for a much more united city and gives a sense of community.” The artist and restaurateur, who immigrated to the U.S. from Iraq with his parents in 1966, has always seen Busboys and Poets as a place to bring together people

from different backgrounds, and hosts an array of artists and experts for performances and discussions on relevant topics. Amid recent calls for social and racial justice, he hopes to see the conversations and support for change continue in restaurants, businesses and beyond. “Having the opportunity to break bread with people you may not know or who aren’t necessarily in your community is a useful way to break those barriers,” Shallal says. “You’ve got to recognize each other’s humanity before you start moving forward for systemic change.”—ad

KAILA CHARLES ’20 was drafted by the

WNBA’s Connecticut Sun with the 23rd

pick last spring. The guard/forward, sixth all-time in scoring at Maryland with 1,984 points, joins other former Terp stars ALYSSA THOMAS ’14 and BRIONNA JONES ’16 on the team’s roster. The Sun went to

last year’s WNBA finals. Former students DAVID POTTER and ABB KAPOOR , co-founders of Curu, recently

closed a $3 million round of seed funding, led by Boston-based Vestigo Ventures. Their website and mobile application assess users’ spending habits and offer step-by-step guidance to help them optimize their credit score. Comic SARAH COOPER ’98 will star in a Netflix special, “Everything’s Fine,” this

The #PaintTheStorefronts initiative led by Andy Shallal MBA ’19 led to windows being decorated with messages of hope at places including (from left) Busboys and Poets, Zaytinya, Arena Stage and China Chilcano.

fall. She appeared on “Ellen” and “The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon” and was profiled in The Washington Post and The New York Times after her lip-synched impersonations of President Trump on TikTok garnered millions of views. “Summer Darlings,” the debut novel by journalist BROOKE LEA FOSTER ’98 , was named one of the summer’s top beach reads by People magazine. Set in 1962 on Martha’s Vineyard, it follows a scholarship student who goes to the sparkly island to nanny for a wealthy family then discovers no one on the island is who they seem. President Trump appointed LIZ SARA M.A. ’80 to chair the National Women’s

Business Council, which provides recommendations to Congress, the White House and the Small Business Administration on ways to help female business owners succeed.

Submit your class notes and read many more at terp.umd.edu.

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E L I Z A B E T H A C E V E D O M FA ’ 1 5

A Place to “Land” In New Novel, National Book Award-Winning Author Continues Exploring Questions of Home and Belonging n nov. 12, 2001, American Airlines Flight 587, departing John F. Kennedy International Airport for Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, crashed in Queens soon after takeoff. Two hundred sixty-five people died, nearly 90% of them Dominican. At the time, Elizabeth Acevedo MFA ’15, the daughter of Dominican immigrants, was living in her native New York City with her family. “Everyone knew someone who was on that plane,” Acevedo says. “We had neighbors who were on that flight. My father had friends.” That plane crash is the foundation of Acevedo’s acclaimed third book, “Clap When You Land,” a novel in verse that explores the relationship between two sisters—one in New York, the other in the Dominican Republic— who don’t know about the other’s existence

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until their father dies in the accident. “What I remember most starkly is … how it didn’t seem to matter to the rest of the country or world once it was determined that it wasn’t terrorism,” she says. “For me, it was about how can we zoom in on people who were on that flight?” Telling stories about people who often find themselves relegated to society’s margins has long been a passion for Acevedo, who won the 2018 National Book Award for Children’s Literature for her debut novel, “The Poet X.” After finishing her undergraduate degree at the George Washington University, Acevedo taught middle school English in Prince

George’s County. “When I first began writing ‘The Poet X,’ I was very much thinking about my own students, the kids in my classroom who didn’t enjoy reading yet desperately wanted stories that reflected them,” she says. Growing up, Acevedo’s “first entryway into storytelling” was through music, both the bolero and bachata music of Latin America and the hip-hop favored by her brothers. She began writing and performing slam poetry, eventually becoming a National Poetry Slam champion. “The physical performance of the vocal is much more at the front of a lot of poets’

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A Happy Ending for Terp Authors Alums Gravitate Toward Young Adult Books

FOUR TERP AUTHORS have released timely titles for

tweens and teens in recent months, three of which landed on The New York Times’ list of bestselling hardcover books for young adults. Award-winning authors Elizabeth Acevedo MFA ’15 and Jason Reynolds ’05 were joined on the list by debut novelist Roseanne A. Brown ’17, while Kim Johnson M.Ed. ’03 launched her first book in July. The books have more in common than their writers’ alma mater: Each focuses on the experiences of people of color. “STAMPED: RACISM, ANTIRACISM, AND YOU” by

Reynolds and Ibram X. Kendi is an adapted version of Kendi’s 2016 book “Stamped from the Beginning,” which explores the history of anti-Black racism through the lives of five historical figures. “‘Can I make this something cool?’” Reynolds, a leading writer of young adult fiction, told NPR he wondered when Kendi approached him. “I wanted to try to figure out how to make this really complex thing that has all this information that he gave the world, how do I take it and make it feel like a fresh pair of Jordans.” Brown’s novel, “A SONG OF WRAITHS AND RUIN,” is a fantasy set in a fictional city-state where two teens who must kill one another to bring back relatives from the dead find themselves falling in love. The book, Brown said, was inspired by “mental health stigma in the Black community and (by) fantasy

compositional practices right now,” says Joshua Weiner, a professor of poetry at UMD who taught Acevedo, “and Liz at the time was really one of the innovators in that ambition.” At Maryland, Acevedo wrote about her neighborhood, the people she knew and her own experiences growing up. Stories about her home—the very concept of home—remain at the heart of her work. “I know very few people who are part of a diaspora and don’t in some capacity wonder what it means to be of a place that your family has essentially left,” she says. “What does it mean to return? … I belong here, but I also belong somewhere else.”— sl

… I realized I had never encountered a book that combined both.” The novel also pays homage to stories from her native Ghana. “I had always wanted to read a novel that felt like the epic fantasies my family had told me growing up,” she said. Johnson’s “THIS IS MY AMERICA” tells the story of a Black teenager navigating the judicial system, with her father on death row for a murder she’s convinced he didn’t commit and a brother who’s suspected of a terrible crime. She hopes the current sociopolitical climate offers added relevance to her story. “I want people to enjoy (the book), but I also want it to be an educational experience for people—maybe even a call to action,” she says.—SL

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SCOTT ENGLISH ’93

Collecting a New Generation’s Stamp of Approval Alum Seeks to Make American Philatelic Society Relevant—Even Cool—to More Diverse Members f modern art, Instagram hashtags and video chats with punk fans seem incompatible with stamp collecting, then Scott English ’93 has a message to deliver. Those are just some of the tactics that the executive director of the American Philatelic Society (APS) has employed to make the world’s largest stamp club relevant and hip. Now he’s trying to reshape its graying and overwhelmingly male community of nearly 28,000 with an initiative to recruit 2,020 new members in 2020, emphasizing young, female and racially diverse collectors. “Inclusivity is something we’re aiming for,” he says. “I want to create enthusiasm and excitement and make people feel welcome.” It might come as a surprise that English

isn’t a stamp collector himself. After majoring in history at UMD, he held various government positions—including as chief of staff for Mark Sanford, the former South Carolina governor who made “hiking on the Appalachian Trail” a euphemism for excursions of the extramarital sort. English arrived at the society in central Pennsylvania in 2015 ready to refocus his organizational experience. Besides getting its finances in order and overseeing construction of its new library, reaching new populations was a top priority: While the APS retention rate is around 90%—death is the main reason for leaving—51% of members were under 60 in 2000, compared to just 17.5% now. “We’ve just been appealing to the same people,” English says. “They’ve just gotten 20 years older.” He knew he couldn’t woo 20-somethings into attending weekend stamp shows. Instead, he took a digital-forward approach, revamping the APS website, offering online memberships and promoting APS Executive Director Scott English ’93 shows off the recovered Inverted Jenny stamp, which had been stolen in 1955, at the 2016 World Stamp Show in New York. The stamp later sold for $250,000.

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APS members Kenneth and Helen Noelle created this official seal, presented in 1968, out of more than 10,000 stamps. The society shares such stamp art on social media to promote nontraditional uses of the collectibles.

nontraditional uses of the collectibles using #stampart on social media. To highlight and appeal to more diverse collectors, the society’s magazine published themed Black History Month and Women’s History Month issues. To reach younger audiences, the APS offers downloadable K–12 lesson plans. Those efforts—which not only helped attract new members, but also re-energized former ones—expanded following COVID-19. With in-person events canceled, English had to find creative ways to connect members. The society started regularly hosting live video chats, featuring everyone from international collectors to geologists/dinosaur stamp enthusiasts to the Punk Philatelist. Even if sticking postage on correspondence feels as rare as the 1918 Inverted Jenny stamp, English hopes to prove that collecting is viable, affordable and intellectually stimulating. “He’s trying to convince people that this is not just a hobby for boring, middleclass, older men,” says Chad Neighbor ’74, who joined the APS in 1990 and chaired the Scottish Philatelic Trade Association from 2012–19. “There’s something for everyone.”—ad

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

hile sweeping in its global death toll, the 1918 flu pandemic left a curiously small mark on the world of American literature, puzzling even the author of what some scholars consider the seminal work on that public health crisis. In 1939, Katherine Anne Porter, the Pulitzer Prize- and National Book Award-winning author whose archives are housed at UMD, published the short novel “Pale Horse, Pale Rider,” which was inspired by her own bout with the illness decades earlier and chronicled the doomed relationship between a soldier and newspaper reporter during the looming terror of the virus. In a June 13, 1975, letter to historian Alfred W. Crosby Jr., who went on to write “America’s Forgotten Pandemic: The Influenza of 1918,” Porter explained that physicians were always shocked to hear her say, “I think of my personal history as before the plague and since the plague,” and that “life was never the same for any of us.” She speculated that the bloodshed of World War I overshadowed the cost of the flu. “I always had the idea that that war and that epidemic were hand in hand as a great disaster to this country and to everybody in it,” Porter wrote, “and for once the individual and the institution suffered together.”—lf

“Life Was Never the Same for Any of Us” Author’s Letter Provides Glimpse Into Personal Toll of 1918 Flu Pandemic

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