Wingspan Spring 2017 Edition

LEADING THE WAY SESA Alumni serve their communities through political office

Art Inspires

Storytellers PAGE 7

PAGE 5

The Past is Prologue PAGE 8

Bravo PAGE 2

The UMES School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts (SESA) focuses its

reward creative expression and demand the application of sound judgement.

SESA’s goal is to recruit and retain

efforts and resources on the preparation

ADMINISTRATION Juliette Bell, Ph.D., President Kimberly Whitehead, Ph.D., Interim Provost and Vice President, Academic Affairs

of students who serve humanity in a

exceptional and diverse students who will

personally and professionally ethical

shape our cultural future. Faculty and

Ray Davis, Ph.D., Dean, School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts

manner.

staff will model best practices in teaching,

THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION, SOCIAL SCIENCES, AND THE ARTS DEPARTMENTS

The academic disciplines represented

learning, thinking, student engagement

in the school’s departments of criminal

and leadership in order to nurture aspiring

justice, education, English, fine arts and

teachers, writers, artists and public

social sciences promote coherent thinking,

servants.

DEPARTMENT OF CRIMINAL JUSTICE Chair Lorenzo M. Boyd, Ph.D. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Chair Nomsa Geleta, Ed.D. DEPARTMENT OF ENGLISH AND MODERN LANGUAGES Interim Chair Dean Cooledge, Ph.D. DEPARTMENT OF FINE ARTS Chair Christopher Harrington, M.F.A. DEPARTMENT OF SOCIAL SCIENCES Interim Chair Clara Small, Ph.D. EDITORIAL BOARD CRIMINAL JUSTICE James Jones, Ph.D. EDUCATION Michael Patterson, Ph.D. ENGLISH AND MODERN LANGUAGES Marilyn Buerkle, M.A. Sandra Johnston, M.A. FINE ARTS Bradley Hudson, M.F.A. SOCIAL SCIENCES Kathryn Barrett-Gaines, Ph.D.

Table Of Contents STUDENTS

ALUMNI

FACULTY

2 Congratulations!

6 Leading the Way

2 Bravo!

3 My Passport Changed

11 Curtain Call

2 Distinguished Service

My Life

11 Homegrown Champion 4 Right Place, Right Time

4 Click Here

11 Standing Tall

6 Pitch Perfect

5 Art Inspires

12 Role Reversal

7 Storytellers

6 What’s Next?

7 One Thing at a Time

9 Just Rewards

8 The Past is Prologue

9 Against the Odds

13 History for All

10 Expect the Unexpected 12 A Campus Conversation

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore is accredited by the Middle States Commission on Higher Education. UMES prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, religion, national origin, disability, marital status, pregnancy, sexual orientation, gender identity or expression. Inquiries regarding the application of federal laws and non-discrimination policies to university programs and activities may be referred to the Office of Equity & Compliance/Title IX Coordinator by telephone, (410) 651-7848, or e-mail, titleix@umes.edu.

CONTRIBUTORS Charles Baldwin Kathryn Barrett-Gaines Marilyn Buerkle Alissa Carr Dean Cooledge Ray Davis Susan Holt Bradley Hudson Myaesha Ingram James Jones Treyquana Nelson Michael Patterson Bill Robinson Gail Stephens Lily Tsai Kadi-Ann White PHOTOGRAPHY Valentine Anamelechi Myles Banks Kathryn Barrett-Gaines Marilyn Buerkle Loretta Campbell Alissa Carr Ashley Collier Irayah Cooper Mark Dennis Jim Glovier Dani McCray Patrick Mulindi Treyquana Nelson Michael Patterson Tiara Selby Mark Wangai Maurice Waters Wingspan is published by the School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts with the support of the Division of Institutional Advancement.

Submissions to Wingspan are welcome. Contact our editorial board at Wingspan@umes.edu.

Design by Debi Rus, Rus Design, Inc

UPDATE In late January 2017, as this publication went to press, Dr. Davis resigned his position as dean. He will remain a part of the campus community as a faculty member in the Department of Education. Dr. Davis served as dean for just over four years. He advanced several significant initiatives, including this publication.

Fine Arts Chair Christopher Harrington has been named interim SESA dean.

It is hard to believe that we’re entering another new year. The School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts (SESA) remains steadfast, notwithstanding a challenging academic year. Faculty and staff remain committed to our school and the students whom we serve. SESA students are bright, motivated, and engaged in their academic pursuits. I also acknowledge our SESA Executive Board members who have rallied behind the school during these very challenging times. Their demonstrated commitment is greatly appreciated. Selected highlights of SESA’s accomplishments are presented below. Other accomplishments and updates are highlighted throughout the pages of Wingspan.

The culmination of Spring 2017 at UMES was the conferring of academic degrees.

Eighty-five SESA students received degrees during the December 16 commencement ceremony. This included eight doctorates, four masters, and 73 baccalaureate degrees. SESA celebrated and recognized our graduates at a special program held on Tuesday evening, December 6. Dr. Angela Williams, Director of Retention at UMES, gave a very inspiring and heartfelt keynote address to graduates. You’ll find pictures from the event on page 2.

Faculty and students are actively engaged in each of our academic departments.

For example, Dr. Kathryn Barrett-Gaines, associate professor in the Department of Social Sciences, was selected to participate in an overseas program sponsored by the Council of American Overseas Research Center. As a recipient of this sponsorship, Dr. Barrett-Gaines will participate in an intensive capacity-building seminar in Dakar,

Senegal. Additionally, three student honor societies held initiation ceremonies during the fall semester. Pi Gamma Mu (Social Sciences), Sigma Tau Delta (English) and Alpha Phi Sigma (Criminal Justice) inducted new members during their fall initiation ceremonies (pictures on page 9). Dr. Clara Small, Dr. Amy Hagenrater-Gooding and Dr. Emmanuel Onyeozili serve as faculty advisors to the respective organizations. At Alpha Phi Sigma’s ceremony, the keynote speaker was Ms. Ebony Tiller. She is a UMES graduate and now works as a crime researcher for the DC Metropolitan Police Department.

Finally, the Executive SESA Board convened its fall meeting with a robust agenda. It was Dr. Carl Bryant’s first meeting as board president. Dr. Brenda Wade, retired and former dean at UMES, became the newest SESA board member. Several board initiatives were discussed, including these: (1) mentoring program for SESA juniors and seniors, (2) development of an orientation and expectation guidebook for new board members, and (3) 5-K run. The latter two initiatives are evolving; however, the mentoring program has begun with 20 SESA students. Each has been assigned a mentor from the board or a UMES alumnus. This is a very exciting venture! Another action item of the board was the motion to approve a second term for three board members whose first terms expired Spring 2017. By unanimity, an additional five-year term was approved for each of the three board members: Mr. Mark Bowen, Mr. Ernest Satchell, and Mr. Allen Singleton. Dr. Wade was also elected to serve as the board’s secretary.

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It was a trifecta of sorts for the School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts at the December commencement ceremony.

John Lamkin II, Howard Rebach and Karen Verbeke were all named faculty emeriti, an honorary title reserved for retired professors who have distinguished themselves during the course of their teaching careers. Collectively, the three longtime members of the campus community spent 98 years in service to SESA departments.

Verbeke retired as chair of the Department of Education in 2015. Under her leadership, the department gained national accreditation for the first time. Rebach, who spent more than 40 years as a sociology professor, also retired from full-time teaching in 2015.

Lamkin retired as UMES director of bands in 2014 and spent 30 years a professor in the Department of Fine Arts. He was able to celebrate with his grandson, John Lamkin IV, who earned his bachelor’s degree in accounting at the same ceremony.

Distinguished Service

2

Wingspan / Spring 2017

CONGRATULATIONS!

Music lovers filled the Ella Fitzgerald Performing Arts Center for two special concerts— in the same week—during the Fall 2016 semester.

There was a packed house for a performance by the U.S. Marine Band, also known as “The President’s Own,” on October 1. The group, founded in 1798, is the nation’s oldest continuously performing musical organization.

Isrea Butler, music coordinator in the Department of Fine Arts and director of UMES bands, described the group as “the best ensemble on the planet.”

Butler was equally enthusiastic about the concert a few days earlier. The Count Basie Orchestra performed at UMES on September 26. It was a reunion of sorts for Butler who played with the orchestra during the UMES concert. He’s been a substitute trombone player for the group for the last ten years.

The Count Basie Orchestra, currently conducted by Director Scotty Barhart, last performed on the UMES campus in 1960.

As it does each semester, The School of Social Sciences, Education, and The Arts celebrated its graduates at a dinner and awards ceremony. The event was held less than two weeks before the UMES commencement ceremony on December 16.

The program, hosted by SESA Dean Ray Davis, featured a keynote address by Angela Williams, the university’s director of retention. Williams told the students they should think big.

“Get your hustle on,” she said. “Greatness resides in you.”

Treyquana Nelson is a junior from Atlanta, majoring in African American history. She spent a semester abroad last year and now serves as global ambassador in the UMES Center for International Studies, helping students plan international experiences.

I get my passport, then my visa, and suddenly I am boarding an airplane.

My dreams became reality when I hear murmurs in another language and see unfamiliar body language.

While Brazilians converse, they share intimate body language: light touches on the shoulders, leaning in close. I had boarded a ship to a new world.

My lack of Portuguese is on my face when I land in the Sao Paulo airport where no one seems to speak English. I am near tears and regretting leaving the U.S. By the grace of Google-translate and the kindness of strangers, I get my flight to Florianopolis.

Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina is in the heart of Florianopolis.

My hour-long bus ride to class is a scenic tour of banana trees, deep blue ocean, palm trees, and unique homes. The daily ride makes me feel alive, as if all I had previously known is nothing at all.

I step outside of life as I know it and into a completely different way of life. I explore beaches. I hike with friends. I eat the Latin American and West African food of northern Brazil: spicy, flavorful jollof rice, beans and sausages.

On the island of Florianopolis, I am taken by the street art.

These murals are not only everywhere, they are articulately crafted in dimension and expression. I walk by painted walls framed in lush nature. Every public masterpiece speaks to me, pushing me to be more creative.

One mural that stays in my heart is an Afro-Brazilian girl with huge curls, a slight smile, a black bird on her right shoulder, a black cat on her left shoulder, and a tiger leaping from her heart.

I connect to this painting. I close my eyes and hear Nina Simone: “Black bird, why you wanna fly, black bird, you ain’t neva gonna fly.

No place big enough for holding all the tears you gonna cry. Cause your mama’s name was lonely and your daddy’s name was pain. You ain’t got no one to hold you, you ain’t got no one to care, if you only understand dear, nobody wants you anywhere. So why you wanna fly black bird, you ain’t neva gonna fly.”

This song and this painting explain my struggle as a brown-skinned woman in this world.

I interview Mauricio, a street artist: “My parents got a divorce when I was twenty. That was the first time I painted a picture on a wall that had meaning. Right here in Floripa. I

remember the night so vividly. I grabbed two cans of paint, my book bag and I began to run. I was just running. I had no destination but I thought if I ran long enough, I would run my pain away. That’s when I ran into this completely empty wall, and I painted my emotions out … And when the painting was done, I felt relieved. From that point on I knew I was born to be a street artist.”

My experience as an American, my classes in Brazil, and my experience with people like Mauricio help me articulate what I learned studying abroad. In the United States, our ideology is democracy and freedom, but our practice is structure, order and the separation of things: right and wrong, black and white.

In America, everything belongs to someone. What is a public space but a building belonging to an owner? A person expressing himself on the wall of this building is a criminal, not an artist.

In Brazil, everyone is gifted with art every day. Street art helps critical thinking and inspiration. Street art induces compassion, political awareness and involvement. Street art influences Brazilian society.

In the classroom, my professors go by their first names and teach in conversational style, once a week for three hours. Each noon, everyone in Brazil goes home for lunch. I dance and laugh all night long with new friends who speak five words of my language while I speak three of theirs.

My mind expands to see life from a global perspective. I learn that a problem can be solved many different ways, and that each culture solves their problems through their perspectives. I glimpse a broader understanding of humanity, love, education and life.

I realize how much I grew in Brazil when I am back in Sao Paulo airport, asking for directions in facile Portuguese. I remember my first tear-filled day. My life has changed.

I am the first UMES student in more than a decade to study abroad using my financial aid.

Many of my peers are first generation college students with no knowledge of study abroad. I am dedicated now to helping them get passports and visas—and out of this country.

I realize that the problem I am interested in is closing the gap of African Americans studying abroad. Going abroad can expand minds and give us all a sense of belonging to the world.

Seeing our history and our people in other parts of the world can break stigma and stereotype and limitation.

Going beyond our horizons can help us see our immigrant roots, just like all the other Americans.

School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts

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RIGHT PLACE, RIGHT TIME The 2016-2017 academic year marked the start of Lorenzo Boyd’s UMES career. After a lengthy search, he was selected to chair the university’s Department of Criminal Justice.

Boyd has an extensive academic background, but he also served as a Suffolk County, Massachusetts, deputy sheriff for 12 years in his native Boston. He arrives on campus at a turbulent time in the relationship between law enforcement and the African American community.

He’s jumped into that conversation both on and off campus, hosting a community forum and scheduling casual “Coffee with a Cop” encounters between law enforcement and UMES students.

“Criminal justice studies are crucial today because of the way the system is dealing with the community – especially communities of color,” he said. “There’s is a huge disconnect between the criminal justice system and the way communities are treated. We need to teach our students ways to bridge that chasm.”

“If things are going to change,” Boyd said, “we need to get students into being the practitioners who can fix the system from the inside.”

Criminal justice major Andre McInnis will be one of your online tour guides if you’re a virtual visitor to the UMES campus. He’s one of a handful of student leaders recruited to record tours of campus buildings available on the UMES website (umes.university-tour. com).

Individual videos are linked to a static UMES map that allows prospective students and other visitors to click on certain campus buildings for more information.

McInnis takes visitors on a video tour of Hazel Hall where several SESA departments, including the Department of Criminal Justice, are located. He describes what a typical classroom looks like and explains why the Hazel Hall lounge is a great place to study.

The virtual tours are the product of Myles Banks, a work study student in the university’s marketing office. Banks polished his video skills by participating in Discover UMES, a student production crew that utilizes the English department’s state-ofthe-art studios, edit suites and video equipment housed in the new Engineering and Aviation Sciences Complex.

4 Wingspan / Spring 2017

t r Aires p s n I Two Mosely Gallery exhibitions, which served as bookends to the Fall 2016 semester, celebrated the talents of both faculty and students in the UMES Department of Fine Arts.

The annual faculty show, held in early September as the semester began, displayed the creative efforts of eight current and former instructors in the department. The theme of the show was process, and the works were accompanied by explanations of how each piece was created.

It was an opportunity for gallery visitors to gain insight into the creative process, as well as an appreciation for the ideas, skills and hard work necessary to sustain artistic practice. Students who attended the exhibition were able to apply the concept of process in a broader context.

Adaja Holliday is a senior sociology major who appreciated the theme. “Process is such a simple word that has so much meaning to it,” she said. “The exhibit made me think about my process. Each artist describing their process of creating their art made me critically think about my future and my decision making process.”

Freshman Charday Holloway had a similar reaction. “I could feel the freedom and pride the artists must have felt while creating and seeing their own art,” Holloway said. “I see now that it will be a process for me to find what field will make me happy, and it will be a process to become great at whatever I choose.”

At the end of the semester, in early December, the gallery displayed the work of

seven graduating art majors. Like the faculty exhibit at the start of the semester, it served as an inspiration to students who visited.

“The exhibit made me think critically about how I’ve grown in the last fifteen weeks,” said Christopher Jones. “The art made me think about growth because the seniors who made those projects showed how much they’ve grown in the last four years.”

Kasha Hawkins is a first semester freshman who attended the show as a class assignment. “You never know what kind of person you’re going to become if you never explore your possibilities,” she said. “The exhibit was about exploring your possibilities, continuing your journey, finishing what you start, and, arguably the most important, growing as a person.”

School of Education, Social Sciences, and The Arts

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WHAT’S NEXT?

Do I need a new wardrobe? Should I worry about my Tweets? Which fork should I use?

These are the types of questions a student considering life after college may be pondering.

Students in the UMES Honors Program spent a day being coached on some of the essential skills they’ll need to be successful once they leave campus.

The third annual Entrepreneurs’ and Scholars’ Day, on September 16, featured a series of speakers who offered specific advice on a wide range of topics designed to help participants make the leap from college student to business professional.

Some of the issues under discussion included job interviews, social media profiles, and how to interact with police. The sessions also made sure the students were familiar with proper etiquette and appropriate workplace attire.

Participants included SESA students from the criminal justice and social sciences departments.

On campus, Derry Stuft is known as the hard working director of the UMES Educational Leadership Doctoral Program, serving as a tireless mentor to the next generation of potential school administrators—but back home in Somerset County, Pennsylvania, he’s remembered as one heck of a baseball player.

Stuft was one of nine new members inducted into the Somerset County Baseball Oldtimers Association Hall of Fame on October 15. He played for Forbes High School and at Rutgers University.

In a hometown newspaper article about his induction, the Daily American described Stuft as quite a pitching ace: “As a pitcher, control was one of Derry’s strong points, as well as his mastery of the split-fingered fast ball. He played three years (1966-68) in the Johnstown Junior league as a pitcher and first baseman, playing for Kiwanis. Derry was a part of the team that won the Johnstown Junior League in 1967 and represented Johnstown in the AAABA tournament. That year he led the league in home runs and RBIs, and pitched to a 10-0 season record.”

Stuft also served as the baseball coach when he started his teaching career at Greater Johnstown Area Vocational Technical School. One of his players there went on to be drafted by the Cincinnati Reds.

LEADING THE WAY

English majors are trained to write clearly, to think critically and to communicate big ideas. The UMES English department is proud of two graduates who are doing all three in an effort to better their communities through public service.

2016 marked the swearing-in ceremony of the first African American male to serve as a city council member in Salisbury, Maryland. R. Hardy Rudasill, who graduated summa cum laude in 2006 and later earned a law degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana, made history on October 24 when he was appointed to represent the city’s 5th District. He fills a vacancy created when the sitting council person moved out of the area.

Across the bay, Shannon Baxter Sneed officially took her seat as one of eight new members on Baltimore’s 15-member city council in a ceremony on December 8. She earned her UMES degree in 2002 and later a master’s in communication from Morgan State University.

“Both of these graduates are excellent ambassadors for our university and our department,” English Department Interim Chair Dean Cooledge said. “We wish them well as they take on the challenge of their new responsibilities.”

6 Wingspan / Spring 2017

Brad Hudson, the fine arts professor who developed the department’s sequential arts concentration, is planting seeds to yield a new crop of art students.

He invited young comic book artists to a Saturday workshop at the Salisbury Art Space, a local community arts center, November 12. The aspiring illustrators who attended ranged in age from 8 to 17.

Hudson explained the fundamentals of sequential storytelling, and he guided the class as the students produced their own comic book page. The goal was the creation of simple stories that could be divided into four panels. The “panels” are the rectangular frames that contain the art and advance the story.

Most students will admit that they’ve occasionally succumbed to the temptation of texting during a class. Most instructors will tell you that their students are continually distracted by social media, no matter where they are.

Is that having a negative impact on learning?

Students overwhelmingly perceive the juggling of social media and their academic responsibilities as a positive trait that enables them to accomplish more within a limited amount of time.

“Many students don’t consider their cell phones to be negative distractions and are unwilling to put down their phones and focus on one task,” according to UMES psychology professor Michael Patterson. “Dividing attention between a text message and a classroom lecture is simply multitasking.”

Patterson recently published a study in the journal “Teaching of Psychology” which examines the learning outcomes of multitasking while studying. This study was conducted after Patterson noticed that

“Each child chose their own story and illustrated it in their own unique style,” Hudson said. “Some chose the traditional super hero genre, but we had a lot of variety.”

One of the youngest participants, 9-year-old Isabel, chose to illustrate a day in the life of her cat. Michael, 11, produced a cowboy story featuring characters he created.

Hudson was assisted by Martha Opiyo, a UMES sequential arts student. Hudson plans to teach a follow up course this spring.

“Previously known as the Art Institute and Gallery, the Salisbury Art Space is one of the community’s greatest and longest serving artistic assets,” he said. The organization sponsors a wide variety of classes and workshops for children and adults.

students—who believed they’d invested an appropriate amount of time studying— were upset when they received a poor exam grade.

His study included data on the study

ONE THING AT A TIME

habits of 441 UMES students enrolled in Introduction to Psychology. Patterson found that the average UMES student engages in approximately five different social networking platforms while studying over a two hour period. In addition to the main study task, students were also text

messaging, listening to music, watching videos on YouTube, looking at pictures on Instagram and, in some cases, sending and receiving messages via Twitter.

He found that study time did not change depending on the amount of multitasking.

That is, students who multitasked with many social media platforms did not adjust their study time to compensate for the increased distractions. More importantly, he determined that students who multitasked the most while studying performed significantly worse on exams than their counterparts who were less distracted while studying.

One conclusion from this study is that while many students may believe they are spending time studying, they are, in fact, spending a large proportion of that time dividing their attention between their study material and social media.

Patterson is working to help students improve their study habits by demonstrating ways they can monitor their comprehension of the material and become better selfregulated learners.

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THE PAST IS PROLOGUE

The Ghosts of UMES walking tour, a Founders’ Week tradition, continued on September 13. In fact, history professor Kathryn Barrett-Gaines led the tour twice that evening, as a second crowd had gathered.

Barrett-Gaines has put her own spin on the tours. She told the crowd about the buildings, places, events and people that are no longer visible on campus.

UMES freshmen were particularly affected by the history. “One of the main reasons I chose UMES is because it is an HBCU. I was a bit disappointed when I got here that the history of our school is not discussed as much as I believe it should be,” Brianna Smith said. “The ghost tour made me want to ask questions and find out more great historical things about our school.”

“My research came from many sources, including alum who told me stories,” Barrett-Gaines said.

One graduate told her about the time that Alex Haley came to campus and announced that his book, “Roots: The Saga of an American Family,” would become a TV series. The recollections of others enabled her to point out the spots where Martin Luther King, Chancellor Williams and Coretta Scott King spoke.

Another graduate was there when UN Ambassador Andrew Young was the 1978 commencement speaker, outdoors on the campus oval. Barrett-Gaines was told Young held up a credit card and cautioned the graduates that if they didn’t know how to properly manage the cards, they would live to regret it.

Waters Hall used to be the only eatery on

8 Wingspan / Spring 2017

campus. Bird Hall is the oldest structure on campus today. The students on the Ghost Tour were particularly interested in what might be Maryland’s tiniest cemetery where three campus leaders rest: Portia Bird, Benjamin Bird, and Thomas Kiah. A favorite story is that Thomas Kiah’s first wife is buried by his side. The location of his second wife’s grave is not apparent.

Frank Trigg is the only campus leader who was born into slavery. He was missing an arm, which made him unfit for physical labor and more fit for an intellectual life.

What else is missing on our campus? A football team for Cappy Anderson Field, not used officially since 1979. Missing also is the traditional president’s house which was removed to build Hazel Hall.

Smith Hall burned down, and The Manse is gone too, the original building on the Olney farm which became our campus.

“I argue that education happens outside the classroom.

The Ghost Tour is great UMES education,” Barrett-Gaines said.

Freshman Lyric Simpson agrees.

“Two buildings on campus, Wilson and Waters, are named for two men, one white and one black, who came together and started a school,” Simpson said. “With this beginning, many people have had opportunities.”

Just Rewards

This profile of a graduate student in the UMES Master of Arts and Teaching program was written

by Charles Baldwin, an associate professor in the Department of Education.

The academic accomplishments of SESA students are supported by active, discipline-specific, national or international honor societies.

During the fall semester, the criminal justice, English and social sciences departments all welcomed new members in formal campus induction ceremonies.

Regardless of discipline, each of the new members had to meet rigorous performance standards and, in most cases, had to be recommended by their faculty. Qualifying for membership is tangible evidence of an individual’s hard work and his or her scholarly potential.

Another academic organization is just getting started on campus.

Criminal Justice Professor Lily Tsai is the advisor to a new pre-law society.

The group held its first meeting in November. Tsai welcomes students from any major who are curious about attending law school.

AGAINST THE ODDS

Joe Miller is determined to become a teacher, which should be expected of my Masters of Arts and Teaching (MAT) students.

But Joe is no ordinary exemplary student. He is a single dad and a welfare recipient—at least he used to be on welfare.

I’ve had Joe each semester since he began the MAT program in early 2016. Getting to know Joe is to learn that he is an unorthodox scientist turned dive shop owner and now teacher. I also found out he was not one to back down from a challenge.

In 2015, Joe decided to become a teacher.

He was a single dad taking care of his then 2-year-old daughter. Joe needed help with his little girl, so he relocated to be close to his mother. He also enrolled in UMES’s MAT program. The program allowed Joe, with an undergraduate degree in science, to earn a master’s degree in teaching and a teaching certificate.

Soon after his admission to the program, Joe visited the Worcester County Social Services Department. There he signed up for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, Temporary Assistance to Needy Families, Child Care Subsidy Program, and Energy Assistance Program. If you are new to government assistance programs and could use a translation, that is, in order, food stamps, welfare, day care assistance, and help to pay heating bills. Separately, Joe also earned a Hazel Scholarship from UMES, a competitive scholarship offered in

the education department.

While caring for a young child and earning top grades is impressive, I was doubly impressed when Joe took a job as a long-term substitute. Not only was he teaching environmental science in the Worcester County schools, he still remained a full-time student. With tremendous effort and determination, he was able to give up public assistance and provide for his family. When asked, Joe said, it is “a lot more work than I thought it would be.” Still, Joe soldiers on.

Fortunately, Joe loves his job. He’s teaching ninth graders. “They’re kind,” he said. He also likes where he’s working, Worcester Technical High School, and he’s particularly pleased with the generous size of his classroom.

But the story does not end there. Joe did so well as a long-term substitute teacher, he was offered a full-time position. Joe starts 2017 as Worcester Technical High School’s new biomedical science and pre-engineering teacher.

From my view, it is satisfying to watch a student end up with a good teaching position. I wonder what Joe’s going to do with all that extra time once he graduates and he only has his daughter and a full-time job to worry about.

I suspect Joe will be shocked that there is something called “free-time.”

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Expect the Unexpected

Myaesha Ingram is a senior from Baltimore who is interested in a career in fashion journalism. She spent her fall semester studying at the United States International University-Africa in Nairobi, Kenya.

Growing anxious prior to moving across the world is typical for any novice traveler. My optimism was intertwined with mainstream American perceptions of African countries. The reality of my decision to study in Kenya remained a surprise until I experienced it.

As soon as I stepped foot on the pavement, I tilted my head back and opened my arms. Fresh air brushed my face as I gazed at the sky. Exiting the airport was the moment I knew this country was going to be delightful.

Nairobi, Kenya, changed my life in memorable ways. As a student from the United States who relocated to learn in Africa, I thrived in the new environment.

The standard of living took some getting used to because the country limited some of what I had considered the daily conveniences of life; however, my new normal intrigued me.

The changing weather took me by surprise—temperatures fluctuated widely from August to December. I thought Africa would be scorching hot, but I experienced warm, hot, cool, and rainy days in my host country.

As a city girl, I was used to public transportation, yet it was November before I was comfortable with Nairobi’s matatus (mini buses) and bodaboda’s (motorcycles).

Food was an experiment. It took multiple attempts to determine my favorites. Although there was plenty of fast food there, Nairobi’s fresh ingredients at a low or negotiable price are something I miss now that I’m home. I could walk up the street in Nairobi and purchase fresh fruit, veggies, and beverages for less than one U.S dollar. Eating those fresh, indigenous foods convinced me that Americans indulge in far too many processed foods.

10 Wingspan / Spring 2017

My only solid expectation upon arrival was, as a Black American, I would be accepted by Black Africans, simply because we resemble one another. After living there for three months, I must admit I occasionally felt like an outsider. I was definitely recognized as a foreigner by my peers, but they were generally approachable.

On the other hand, when I ventured off campus, some people appreciated that I was interested in their history and culture, while others were not as welcoming. Yes, I am Black, but my ethnicity differed from the people I encountered, and I grew accustomed to being stared at. I learned to expect a variety of responses, depending on the circumstances.

For students considering study abroad, I think it is essential to select a program that includes the ability to visit areas beyond their campus. Traveling to Nairobi was rewarding, but nothing compares to my trips beyond the city. I went on a safari trip to Maasai Mara and took a beach vacation on the coast of Mombasa. My program also included educational excursions to historical monuments.

Beyond the culture shock, I traveled to breathtakingly beautiful places and met many benevolent people. Interacting with native Kenyans enabled me to bring back a sense of humanity. I believe I have learned to genuinely care for other individuals, to live an unselfish life, and to appreciate the small conveniences Americans may take for granted.

Studying abroad is an experience that is guaranteed to enhance minds, open eyes, and at times test one’s moral compass. I highly recommend a break from the basics through a semester across the world.

CURT AIN CALL

Live theater, produced by students, has returned to the UMES campus. The fall semester marked the world premiere of “Rotten Apple,” written by a former student, Barry Battle.

The opportunity to direct a play—not only written by a former student, but also starring a UMES Drama Society member from the 1970s—enticed English Professor Emeritus Della Dameron-Johnson out of retirement to oversee the production.

“Rotten Apple,” an African-American family drama, featured both undergraduate and graduate students, as well as a university administrator. James White, a perennial audience favorite and the university’s associate vice president for student affairs, played the starring role as a father out of touch with the needs of his wife and son. White was one of the founding members of the university’s

drama society, created by DameronJohnson in 1977, and has remained active in campus productions through the years.

The fall production was made possible through funding from the Community Foundation of the Eastern Shore and the UMES Foundation. “Community support is essential for the presence of live theater at UMES,” said English Department Interim Chair Dean Cooledge.

The spring semester will see the return of the popular UMES Dinner Theater, a collaboration between the drama society and students from the Department of Hospitality and Tourism Management. Dr. Cooledge also hopes to open what he’s calling the Wilson Hall Black Box. “Its mission will be to offer unique theater productions designed to provoke discussion, debate and disagreement,” he said.

HOMEGROWN CHAMPION

STANDING TALL

Earl Holland can keep a secret.

The 2005 UMES English graduate traveled to California last summer, having qualified as a contestant on the online game show “Sports Jeopardy!,” but he was required to keep the results of his participation under wraps until the show aired months later.

He must have been bursting with the news that he won $40,000 as the champion on eight successive episodes.

Holland has an uncanny knack for recall of unusual bits of information. As an undergraduate, he was a member of the university’s academic team which offered formidable competition to other HBCU teams each year at a national competition. He is particularly expert at sports trivia. Since he graduated, he’s been a sports journalist.

His accomplishment did not go unnoticed by the UMES athletics department.

Holland was invited to the first home game of the university’s basketball season where he was called to center court for a round of applause.

A sculpture, created by former Fine Arts Chair Ernest Satchell, will serve as a lasting tribute to the late William Hytche.

The life-size bronze of Hytche stands atop a granite base in front of the athletic center that bears his name. It was formally dedicated in a ceremony attended by his family on September 10.

Hytche joined the UMES faculty in 1960 and went on to serve as the university’s chief executive for more than 20 years, beginning in 1975.

This is not the first statue of a UMES president created by Satchell. He is also responsible for a similar sculpture of the late J. T. Williams which stands in front of the administration building named in his honor.

While there are hundreds of photos of the institution’s past presidents, as a member of the class of 1963 and a faculty member for nearly 40 years, Satchell could draw on his own experience interacting on campus with both Hytche and Williams during their careers.

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A CAMPUS CONVERSATION Black lives in history attracted an audience each Tuesday afternoon during the fall semester.

“I suddenly realized: I have a venue and a speaker, every Tuesday at 4!” recalled Kathryn Barrett-Gaines, a history professor who opened her African American history course to the entire campus community for weekly discussions. The class traced the history of Black female power.

SGA president Alisa Fornwald was one of the people who participated in the weekly sessions.

The first discussion occurred after the students read about the founders of Black Lives Matter: Alicia Garza, Patrisse Cullors and Opal Tometi.

“The discussion of the Black Lives Matter founders’ organizing abilities led me to think about why people think there isn’t a need for Black Lives Matter or a self-sustaining Black community,” Fornwald said. “Getting to the root of this way of thinking is the first step; it begins with education.”

The class read Carol Anderson’s best-seller, “White Rage.” And they read Black Panther Elaine Brown’s “A Taste of Power.” They read “The Warmth of Other Suns,” just as President Obama awarded author Isabel Wilkerson the National Humanities Medal for her book.

Junior Makaila Clifton observed, “African Americans were prohibited from learning, going to school, being free, being able to vote. White people did not want us to succeed, but we do, do, and do again. We go out and make things right. It’s amazing how much fight we have in us.”

Tyra Oliver took the course as a first semester freshman and was inspired. “When I read about Fannie Lou Hamer, I thought: ‘Closed mouths don’t get fed’,” Oliver said. “She inspires me to continue to grow and speak whenever I see a problem.”

The students then read “The Rebellious Life of Mrs. Rosa Parks”

by Jeanne Theoharis. After that, they examined the intersection of the struggle for civil rights and violence against Black women by reading “At the Dark End of the Street” by Danielle McGuire.

“We have created this myth that black woman are loud, independent, and stern,” said junior Treyquana Nelson. “I now can understand the inherited pain of injustice: the strong exterior that hides a woman who just wants to be understood.”

When the students read “Wrapped in Rainbows,” a book about the Harlem Renaissance author Zora Neale Hurston, they got a surprise.

Ernest Boger, chair of Hospitality and Tourism Management, responded to Barrett-Gaines’ invitation to the campus community for the discussion about Hurston with this message: “My grand uncle was the first mayor of Eatonville, Hurston’s home town and the oldest formally chartered all-Black township in the U.S. My dad grew up there and knew Zora. Actually Eatonville was supposed to be called Bogerville. However, it was apparently more politically correct to name the town after the white man who sold the land to the black folk.”

Dr. Boger’s engagement in the discussion affected the students.

“Dr. Boger’s visit made me realize how the time periods we were reading about aren’t so long ago,” said senior Marketa Stanfield. “Seeing Dr. Boger made Eatonville seem more real than just being a town in a story.”

The class went on to read about Septima Clark, Harriet Tubman, Sally Thomas and many other black women engaged in the ongoing struggle for citizenship in the United States.

Kelli Green, a graduating senior, was surprised by all she learned.

“When I signed up for this course in July, I did not expect to enjoy learning about history and actually look forward to coming to class each week,” Green said. “I never thought it would make me a better person or so eager to graduate and change the world.”

Role Reversal

12 Wingspan / Spring 2017

One of the newest additions to the Department of Criminal Justice faculty is actually a familiar face.

James Jones arrived in Princess Anne as a freshman criminal justice major in 1999.

Following the completion of his bachelor’s degree, he earned a master’s in criminology from UMES in 2004.

“It feels great to be back. After earning my doctorate, I dreamed of returning to the school that contributed significantly to shaping who I am today,” he said. “I wanted to be a part of those same efforts.”

Jones brings a wealth of knowledge from a scholar practitioner perspective to his classroom. In addition to earning a Ph.D. in criminal justice, he has worked as a police officer, juvenile probation officer, and juvenile corrections officer and served as director of two juvenile jails in New York City.

He’s also an author. Jones recently published a criminology textbook titled “Primary Theories of Crime and Victimization” and is currently working on a second textbook on juvenile delinquency.

Jones sees his return to UMES as a perfect fit. “It’s a dream come true, and I am living my dream.”

HISTORY FOR ALL

Kathryn Barrett-Gaines is an associate professor of history who joined the UMES faculty in 2004.

Her essay appeared in The Daily Times in Salisbury, Maryland, on September 23.

“The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”

Every semester I get a little closer to understanding why I am passionately in love with African American history. But every year it becomes less necessary to explain my love to anyone else.

I got a sneak-peek at the Smithsonian’s new Museum of African American History and Culture before it opened to the public.

I am relieved that this place will have thousands of visitors every day for centuries because every day there will be fewer people surprised by my love for Black history.

Most museums have a Black exhibit somewhere inside, but this museum is a feast. Hall after hall is filled with the beauty and style of sports, art, food, comedy, community, politics, military, science, innovation, invention, perseverance, building, optimism, struggle, invention, legislation, crafts, and organization.

The museum is huge and the triumphant stories, like Black people, never stop.

The Eastern Shore alone pops up on many walls: Art Shell, Chesapeake watermen, 1960s civil rights activist Gloria Richardson, Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass. This is history most of us know.

But this much space allows for delightfully engaging and unexpected topics, such as an exhibit on Black gestures— distinct ways to communicate thoughts and

feelings without words: “leans and stances, struts, strolls and swaggers, switches and sashays.”

The magnitude of the building allows for the magnitude of Black history. There is no one Black history; there is no one Black experience. Alongside the ominous concrete guard tower from the Angola plantation prison stands a sturdy log cabin from a town civilized by self-freed Black Americans.

Good-hearted and well-meaning people are reacting to the museum. One visitor predicted that it will help us see that African Americans are American, too, and have made tremendous contributions to America.

A nice thought, but this contribution notion is so last century.

Also last century is the line from a 1926 Langston Hughes poem shouting from a wall of the new museum: “I, too, am America.” We know better now, Langston; we know more now. We can now drop the “too.” Black people are America.

This museum will push us past the contribution stage of thinking about Black history.

Now more than ever, white people need African American history. It is not a nice-tohave. It is not extra. It is not an elective.

Knowledge of American history from Black perspectives is required to understand this place where we live, the architecture of

our lives, this food that we eat, this music we move to, these ideas in our heads. There is nothing on this land and in our ways that is separate from Black history.

There is no non-African-American History.

Emory University historian Carol Anderson, in her recent best-seller, warns of the dangers of building our laws and policies on myths. Black history is necessary for us to stop fooling ourselves and lying to ourselves. In the cavernous lower level of the museum, Ida B. Wells’ brilliant words tower over the 1940 Jim Crow-era railcar: “The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.”

This museum, and all that it will inspire, are opportunities for white people to be better.

In an arts exhibit, Ruby Dee’s peacefilled eyes see us above her wise words: “We used the arts as part of our struggle.” We can all do what Ruby Dee did. We can all be warriors in the struggle for full citizenship for all of us.

No matter our job, no matter our income, no matter our address, no matter our ability or disability, we can all join the struggle to extend the dignity of humanity to us all.

What else is there to do?

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