When we talk with our alumni, they often tell us UMBC not only taught them what they needed to earn a degree, but also what they needed to live their lives in an engaged, active way.

For some, all it took was the special attention of an extraordinary teacher. For others, it was the chance brush with another culture that caused a sea change of perspective.

Think about ways UMBC has enriched your life. Now, imagine a university where everyone knew its worth in their lives – and what might happen if each of those people supported it at whatever level they could. Every year.

Imagine what we could all do together. You know that every little bit counts, but it becomes even clearer when you see what might be possible if each of UMBC’s more than 60,000 alumni made a gift in support of UMBC’s Annual Fund. The results would be phenomenal:

• If every alum gave $10, UMBC would have $600,000 to fund new scholarships, research opportunities, faculty training, and more…
• If every alum gave $15, UMBC would have $900,000…
• If every alum gave $20, UMBC would have $1.2 million…

And it only takes one person to start the movement. When you make your gift to the annual fund, you’re making a public and important show of support.

Annual fund gifts have an immediate and direct impact on academic and other resources for our students. Did you know that state funds provide less than 25% of the university’s operating budget? And that tuition and fees alone do not cover the full cost of a UMBC education?

That’s why your gift to the department, area, or program you care most about helps keep a UMBC education within reach for our students and families.

We are extremely proud of and honored by the support we receive each year. We are amazed at the generosity of UMBC’s supporters, from alumni, faculty and staff to friends of the university, corporations, foundations, parents and even current students themselves. We know that your gifts are an indication of your belief in the work that we do here and the potential of our amazing students. 

Change lives. Make a gift to the annual fund today!

It’s Valentine’s Day, and love is in the air! For all of us here at UMBC, it’s a great day to tell you, our donors, how much we appreciate you and all that you do for UMBC.

When you give to the University, you make it possible for our students to get the highest quality education. You ensure that our faculty and staff have the resources to do amazing things. You invest in a place that strives for greatness. And though that investment means more to us than words can convey, we still want to say thank you. So we asked a few of our faculty and staff to say thank you to a donor who has made a difference to them:

“We’re so appreciative of the support that Ken Pittman ’80, economics, gives to our university. He is generous with his time through his service on our alumni board, and he and his family regularly contribute to several of our scholarship funds. His willingness to give back helps make UMBC a great place.”

~Stanyell Bruce, Director of Alumni Relations, UMBC

“We are so grateful for Next Century’s support of this software engineering course. Their gift helps students learn about the fundamentals of Software Engineering and the software development lifecycle. The students are getting a great opportunity to work with a ‘real-life’ application, developing a student alert system. Next Century personnel are acting as ‘customers’ for this project, which gives students valuable training in working with real customers. The students are also going to present their project in Next Century’s offices and will get an experience of actual office/industry setting.”

~Karuna Joshi, Research Assistant Professor, UMBC

“Through his work as a student caller with UMBC’s Phonathon, Jordan, class of 2014, has done exceptional work on behalf of UMBC and the Meyerhoff program. He has had hundreds of conversations with alumni and parents, helping to secure many gifts for the  LaMont Toliver Alumni Memorial Scholarship. This fall, Jordan himself made a contribution to the LaMont Toliver Alumni Memorial Scholarship. I was really impressed by his leadership as a student and donor. UMBC’s students often give back of their time and talent, but it’s more rare for students to part with their hard-earned paychecks. Jordan’s commitment to helping future generations of UMBC students excel was a really moving act that leaves a lasting legacy in Mr. Toliver’s name.”

~Dayna Carpenter, Director of Annual Giving

Check out UMBC’s Donor Roll, where we say thank you to everyone who has supported us each year.

If you spend any time at UMBC, it doesn’t take long to realize that Retrievers are remarkable people. They are smart and creative and they care about their communities.

We are so proud of and thankful for those who give of their time, talent and treasure at UMBC, in our community, and around the world. So, in honor of National Philanthropy Day, we wanted to recognize just a few of the ways that Retrievers give back:

Denene Yates ’10,  health administration
Yates, a Newcombe Scholar, has made a career of helping others. During her time at UMBC, with the aid of a professor, she founded a non-profit organization called Safe House of Hope in the Curtis Bay. Through this, Yates works to assist sex-trafficking victims and those engaged in prostitution in their efforts to become vital, healthy members of the community. Her work has been so critical that she was named a 2013 fellow of the Open Society Institute – Baltimore.

Lee Blaney, assistant professor, and the students of Engineers Without Borders-UMBC
Blaney and the student members of Engineers Without Borders are changing lives across the globe. This January, they’ll travel to Isongo, Kenya, to install a clean water system to provide sanitation and hygiene information to the residents. “Helping communities in need is exactly why the students in this group give so much of their time and energy. Engineers Without Borders projects are great because the ultimate goal is to give the project over to the community,” explains Michael Brown, a student engineer. Learn about the project (and how you can help!).

Visual arts students and associate professor Stephen Bradley
Bradley and his students became mentors and brought art into the community through a mural project with Masonville Cove and students at Benjamin Franklin High School. Students worked on various designs for the mural that would remind the visitors to MCEEC of the fragile ecology of the place and to improve the visual landscape. Throughout the creation of the mural, the UMBC students found themselves talking and making art with the BFHS students working through their anxiety and contending with other obstacles they face in their lives.  Learn more about the project.

Madie Eshete ’07, biological sciences
For many of us, a 30th birthday celebration means balloons, presents and parties with friends and family. For Eshete, however, the milestone birthday meant a lasting change for hundreds of rural Ethiopians without access to clean water. A first-generation Ethiopian-American, Eshete raised more than $10,000 for charity:water, which aims to help an estimated 800 million people worldwide without access to clean water by providing freshwater wells, rainwater catchments, sand filters and other lasting solutions. Read more.

Rugby alumni
UMBC Rugby players past and present joined together for the first UMBC Rugby Day of Service, partnering with Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake and Habitat for Humanity Sandtown to demolish and clean up one site, and to build a new home on another.  Close to 30 players from the men’s and women’s club participated. “As an organization, we were looking for an event that would allow us to bring all of the teams together, past and present, to do something positive in the greater Baltimore community,” said Tracy Williams, Jr. ’06. Learn more.

How do you give back to your community?

Tell us on Facebook or Twitter!

Engineers Without Borders (EWB) is changing lives. On December 3, a national day of giving, you can be a part of the change.

We talked with Lee Blaney, an assistant professor and the group’s advisor, and Michael Brown, a student engineer, about  an important trip they’ll be taking in January and how you can help.

Q: What is EWB planning on doing in January on your trip to Isongo?

Lee: The January implementation trip has one primary objective: to install a clean water system in Isongo, Kenya. Residents are currently collecting water from an unprotected spring. Our previous trip demonstrated that this shallow water is contaminated and represents a public health concern.

On the implementation trip, the team is planning to construct a borehole [a well to draw deeper water] and hand-pump system to provide clean water from deeper aquifers. Once the clean water supply is constructed, EWB-UMBC will help to form and train a village water committee on maintenance and operation issues. The goal is that after this trip, the community will be able to maintain this well.

In addition, EWB-UMBC wants to continue to engage the community in best water, sanitation and hygiene practices.  Ultimately, all three of these elements are required for a successful project.

Q: What do you need to accomplish your goal? How do the donations to your fundraising campaign help?

Lee: To successfully complete this project, EWB-UMBC requires funding to drill the borehole, purchase the raw materials for the hand-pump, and acquire tools necessary for maintenance and operation. In addition, donations will help pay for UMBC students to travel to Isongo to complete the project. Once the water supply is installed, the EWB-UMBC team will conduct water quality testing to ensure that this new water supply is safe for consumption. Your small gift can help benefit the lives of hundreds of people in Isongo for a lifetime.

Michael: The more money we can raise, the more students we can send [to Isongo], increasing the total impact that we can have on the community. One great thing about our fundraising page is that potential donors can see exactly where their money will go.

Q: What does the support from alumni and donors mean to you?

Lee: EWB-UMBC relies on gifts to fulfill our mission of implementing environmentally and economically sustainable engineering projects, while developing globally aware and internationally responsible students and engineers. We especially appreciate gifts from alumni because we believe that EWB-UMBC not only promotes projects in the developing world, but also transformative experiences for UMBC students. In EWB-UMBC, undergraduate students are empowered to tackle complex, real problems on the other side of the world.

Q: What does it feel like to know you’re helping people around the world?

Lee: One of the fundamental canons of engineering is “to hold paramount the safety, health and welfare of the public.” In EWB-UMBC, students are empowered to use the knowledge that they gain in classes to benefit real people. Meeting these people and knowing that our work is helping to improve their lives is very powerful.

[UMBC student] Chris Mullen, who traveled to Isongo on last year’s assessment trip, expressed the impact of these experiences nicely: “I learned just as much in those ten days as I learned in the previous semester. It’s not just about the engineering application or the problem solving, it’s about the experience: getting to know people living in a foreign land that you won’t hear about on the news, good people who will make a bigger impact on my life than I could ever make on theirs.”

Michael: Helping communities in need is exactly why the students in this group give so much of their time and energy. Engineers Without Borders projects are great because the ultimate goal is to give the project over to the community. This creates a sense of empowerment within the community because they are ultimately the ones who are making it all happen.

Yes, I want to support EWB-UMBC and change lives!

To see more of what EWB-UMBC does, check out their Tumblr.

We’d just like to give a shout out and a warm THANK YOU to our amazing student callers. They’re revving up for end of fiscal year, so if your phone rings, be sure to give them a moment of your time and help them reach their goals. They’re so excited to talk with you about their beloved UMBC.

Give our student callers a shout out of your own on the UMBC Phonathon Facebook page!

Students kicked off Career Week 2013 a bit more “dressed to impress” than normal this year thanks to alumni, staff and faculty donations to “Clothes The Deal,” a program through which students improved their career wardrobes (for free!) and better prepared themselves for future job searches.

See the full Career Week schedule here.

Several dozen students waited in line outside UMBC’s Women’s Center Thursday morning for the first crack at hundreds of pieces of donated business attire: skirts, blazers, ties, and suits. By the end of the event Friday afternoon, 362 students had taken at least one piece of clothing, much of which was supplied by staff and faculty, but also UMBC alumni working at T. Rowe Price — the main sponsor of this year’s Career Week — who organized a clothing drive at their offices.

“I think I’m in love,” cooed senior psychology major Comfort Oke, who had her friend, junior Regine Charlot, take a photo with her smartphone as she tried on a navy blue blazer with shiny brass buttons. “This was a fabulous idea. I think it’s an amazing thing for students, and it’s exciting that alumni helped make this possible.”

Senior theatre major Amalia Mark left “Clothes The Deal” with a cute little number she plans to wear on interviews for jobs in student engagement. “I got the best dress ever!” she exclaimed, showing off her new frock.

Special thanks to the Pikesville ZIPS for donating the cleaning of 300 items for “Clothes The Deal.” Other event sponsors were the Career Services Center, the Student Alumni Association, the Office for Academic and Pre-Professional Advising, UMBC Athletics, Chartwells, the Shriver Center, and the Division of Student Affairs.

Thank you to all of the wonderful donors and scholarship students who came out for last week’s 2nd annual Scholarship Luncheon, March 13. Often, this event marks the first meeting of donors and their scholars, making it a truly memorable occasion for all. The event drew more than 100 guests, and featured remarks by McCormick & Company President Alan D. Wilson and senior Nia N. Hampton ’14, media and communications studies, who is the recipient of a number of scholarships at UMBC, along with UMBC President Freeman A. Hrabowski, III.

We’ll be sharing stories of connections made at the luncheon over the course of the next couple months, but in the meantime, we hope you’ll enjoy this photo slideshow!