The countdown has begun. You only have 3 days left to make a difference! June 30th marks the end of our fiscal year; it’s the day we close the books and start planning and allocating funds for the next year. UMBC’s talented students and world-class faculty and staff need your support. Your gift can provide funding for scholarships, technology upgrades, research initiatives, library resources, athletics, student activities, and so much more. Your gift will change lives.

Be the difference in the lives of so many future innovators.

If you’ve already made your gift, thank you!

Clolita Vitale ’75, theatre, is truly a Retriever Believer. When she first walked onto UMBC’s campus in the late 1960s, she was struck by how new the university was. She even recalls walking around on plywood planks as construction was underway. But where some might have preferred an older, established school, Vitale found UMBC’s newness exciting–a promise of things to come.

Since then, Vitale has been involved with UMBC in just about every way possible. As a student, she decided to study theatre and dance. Though she would later pursue a career in law, she says her time in the performing arts program at UMBC was critically important to her. The tight-knit community and creative ingenuity of faculty and fellow students inspired and supported her, and it’s something she’ll always remember. “They helped me find my sense of self,” she says.

Later on, when she joined the staff at UMBC, she felt that Dr. Freeman Hrabowski and the other campus leaders were supportive. They encouraged her to get involved on campus and grow professionally. Eventually, she became an Assistant Vice President and University Counsel. “They allowed me to evolve,” Vitale says. “It didn’t seem like I was in the same place standing still for 30 years.”

Even after moving on to other career opportunities, Vitale has stayed deeply connected to the campus community. She’s taken UMBC students under her wing, helping them get their start in life. And she’s supported the university with gifts to the arts (including naming two seats in the new PAHB theatre) and now with the decision to make a planned gift to the university.

That pioneering spirit that is so prevalent in UMBC’s earliest faculty and alumni is clearly present in Vitale. She invested in the place that invested in her, and she’s been proud to watch UMBC grow into a nationally recognized research university. “I feel like someone who went from the horse and buggy to the space age,” she says.

Vitale says she felt it important to give early on, even when she could only make smaller donations. “I knew that even if I only had $100, it was important to contribute,” she says. “I knew it would go to something really needed.”

There’s no doubt that Vitale’s passion for UMBC is real–her voice is full of emotion as she reflects on everything she’s experienced at the university. And now, more than 40 years after she first came to campus, Vitale continues to support UMBC. In fact, as she looked forward to retirement, she knew there was no question that she would include UMBC in her will. “You can’t take a place you’ve been associated with for so long and just forget about it,” she explains. She sees her planned gift as an opportunity to leave a legacy at the place that has so deeply impacted her life. “It means something to me,” she says. “I want to be a piece of that.”

Learn more about making a planned gift to UMBC.

CREDIT CARDS
You can quickly and easily make your year-end gift online. Gifts by credit card must be submitted no later than midnight EST on Wednesday, December 31.

CHECKS
Checks must be dated and postmarked by Wednesday, December 31, to be counted in the 2014 tax year. Please make checks payable to the UMBC Foundation and mail to the UMBC Foundation at 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250.

GIFTS OF SECURITIES
The gift of appreciated stock can be beneficial to UMBC and you. You may be eligible to take a charitable deduction for the market value of the securities, and could potentially benefit by avoiding capital gains tax and reducing your estate tax. You can request additional information about donating securities by visiting UMBC Foundation.

PLANNED GIVING
Planned gifts can be a significant benefit to you, your family, and UMBC. Bequests, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts offer donors a variety of ways to support the university. For more information, visit our Planned Giving website. You can also contact Kim Robinson, Senior Development Officer, by phone at 410-455-3700 or by email at trowbrid@umbc.edu.

GIFTS IN KIND
A gift of personal property includes equipment, inventory, books, works of art, or other tangible property. Gifts of personal property are accepted by UMBC. Gifts in kind can be used to benefit the university, an academic department, or program as designated by the donor. If you are interested in pursuing this type of gift, please call Kim Robinson, Senior Development Officer, at 410-455-3700 or email her at trowbrid@umbc.edu.

QUESTIONS?
You may reach Dayna Carpenter, Director of Annual Giving, at 410-455-3377 or dayna@umbc.edu.

If you have already made your gift, thank you!

All contributions are administered by the UMBC Foundation for the benefit of UMBC.

CREDIT CARDS
You can quickly and easily make your year-end gift online. Gifts by credit card must be submitted no later than midnight EST on Wednesday, December 31.

CHECKS
Checks must be dated and postmarked by Wednesday, December 31, to be counted in the 2014 tax year. Please make checks payable to the UMBC Foundation and mail to the UMBC Foundation at 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250.

GIFTS OF SECURITIES
The gift of appreciated stock can be beneficial to UMBC and you. You may be eligible to take a charitable deduction for the market value of the securities, and could potentially benefit by avoiding capital gains tax and reducing your estate tax. You can request additional information about donating securities by visiting UMBC Foundation.

PLANNED GIVING
Planned gifts can be a significant benefit to you, your family, and UMBC. Bequests, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts offer donors a variety of ways to support the university. For more information, visit our Planned Giving website. You can also contact Kim Robinson, Senior Development Officer, by phone at 410-455-3700 or by email at trowbrid@umbc.edu.

GIFTS IN KIND
A gift of personal property includes equipment, inventory, books, works of art, or other tangible property. Gifts of personal property are accepted by UMBC. Gifts in kind can be used to benefit the university, an academic department, or program as designated by the donor. If you are interested in pursuing this type of gift, please call Kim Robinson, Senior Development Officer, at 410-455-3700 or email her at trowbrid@umbc.edu.

QUESTIONS?
You may reach Dayna Carpenter, Director of Annual Giving, at 410-455-3377 or dayna@umbc.edu.

If you have already made your gift, thank you!

All contributions are administered by the UMBC Foundation for the benefit of UMBC.

Catherine Weber ( center)) with Dean William LaCourse and Carl Weber Excellence in Teaching Award recipients

Each year at UMBC, a faculty member is chosen to receive the Carl Weber Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching Award. It honors a faculty member from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for exceptional dedication to teaching as demonstrated by his or her enthusiasm, up-to-date teaching materials, effective mentoring, community service in the teaching area, approachability, rigorous learning requirements, coherent teaching philosophy and inspirational teaching style.

The award was established in 2006 by his family in memory of Dr. Weber, Assistant Professor Emeritus and founding faculty member in the UMBC Department of Biological Sciences, as a tribute to his passion for teaching.

“Carl’s enthusiasm for his teaching was infectious,” says Mrs. Weber. She adds that it’s plain to see why each award winner has been chosen throughout the years. “They’re very inspiring enthusiastic teachers. Each one has been doing something innovative as teachers.”

The award has now been given for eight years. In addition to the endowment, a number of people, including Mrs. Weber, have continued to provide annual support for the award. It has successfully created a lasting legacy for Dr. Weber, and it has also given Mrs. Weber an ongoing connection to the UMBC community.

Each year, she has a chance to meet the award recipients. “That has been very nice for me,” she explained. “It keeps his memory fresh, and it’s very gratifying to see the wonderful people who are being honored.”

Now, Mrs. Weber has taken another step to continue support for the award through a trust she created in her estate plans. It’s a contribution that will play an important role in ensuring that Dr. Weber’s passion for teaching continues at UMBC, as the award encourages and honors new and innovative approaches in the classroom for years to come.

For Mrs. Weber, it’s not only another measure of support in memory of her husband, it’s also a very practical matter of planning ahead. “I established the trust to support the ongoing recognition enabled by the award,” says Weber.

Learn more about planned giving.

Catherine Weber ( center)) with Dean William LaCourse and Carl Weber Excellence in Teaching Award recipients

Each year at UMBC, a faculty member is chosen to receive the Carl Weber Excellence in Science and Mathematics Teaching Award. It honors a faculty member from the College of Natural Sciences and Mathematics for exceptional dedication to teaching as demonstrated by his or her enthusiasm, up-to-date teaching materials, effective mentoring, community service in the teaching area, approachability, rigorous learning requirements, coherent teaching philosophy and inspirational teaching style.

The award was established in 2006 by his family in memory of Dr. Weber, Assistant Professor Emeritus and founding faculty member in the UMBC Department of Biological Sciences, as a tribute to his passion for teaching.

“Carl’s enthusiasm for his teaching was infectious,” says Mrs. Weber. She adds that it’s plain to see why each award winner has been chosen throughout the years. “They’re very inspiring enthusiastic teachers. Each one has been doing something innovative as teachers.”

The award has now been given for eight years. In addition to the endowment, a number of people, including Mrs. Weber, have continued to provide annual support for the award. It has successfully created a lasting legacy for Dr. Weber, and it has also given Mrs. Weber an ongoing connection to the UMBC community.

Each year, she has a chance to meet the award recipients. “That has been very nice for me,” she explained. “It keeps his memory fresh, and it’s very gratifying to see the wonderful people who are being honored.”

Now, Mrs. Weber has taken another step to continue support for the award through a trust she created in her estate plans. It’s a contribution that will play an important role in ensuring that Dr. Weber’s passion for teaching continues at UMBC, as the award encourages and honors new and innovative approaches in the classroom for years to come.

For Mrs. Weber, it’s not only another measure of support in memory of her husband, it’s also a very practical matter of planning ahead. “I established the trust to support the ongoing recognition enabled by the award,” says Weber.

Learn more about planned giving.

Feeling a little nostalgic and generous? Check out these quick and easy tips for giving to UMBC. Don’t forget: the fiscal year ends on this year on June 30! We greatly appreciate your support.

ONLINE GIVING
To donate to UMBC, you may go to our traditional giving site and designate your gift any way you’d like. If you would prefer to donate directly to student scholarships or other student programs, you can continue online to our crowdfunding site.

CHECKS
If writing a check, please make them payable to the UMBC Foundation and mail to the UMBC Foundation at 1000 Hilltop Circle, Baltimore, MD 21250. Use this printable form to make your contribution even easier.

GIFT OF SECURITIES
Giving appreciated stock can benefit both you and the school you came from. You may be eligible to take a charitable deduction for the market value of the securities, and could potentially benefit by avoiding capital gains tax and reducing your estate tax. You can request additional information about donating securities here.

PLANNED GIVING
Planned gifts, such as bequests, charitable gift annuities, and charitable remainder trusts, can benefit for you, your family, and UMBC and offer a wide variety of ways to donate to the university. For more information, visit our Planned Giving website. You can also contact Kim Robinson, Director of Capital Campaigns and Donor Relations, by phone at 410-455-3700 or by email at trowbrid@umbc.edu.

GIFTS IN KIND
Used to benefit the university, a gift of personal property includes equipment, inventory, books, works of art, or other tangible property. Gifts of personal property are gladly accepted by UMBC and greatly appreciated. Donors may designate their gift to be used in an academic department or program. If you are interested in pursuing this type of gift, please email Kim Robinson, director of capital campaigns and donor relations, at trowbrid@umbc.edu or give her a call at 410-455-3700.

Make a gift to UMBC today!

When she began her college search, the Honorable Wanda Keyes Heard ‘79, political science, knew very little about UMBC. But when she and her family — then living in Long Island, New York — returned from a visit to schools in the DC area, they decided to stop by the new university in Catonsville. That chance decision would change Wanda’s life.

“I fell in love with UMBC,” she says. That means a lot coming from Wanda, whose father Sterling Keyes, was a veteran educator and civil rights activist who impressed upon her from an early age the importance of education. And so she came to UMBC, where she would study political science and launch her career as a lawyer and then Baltimore Circuit Court judge.

When Wanda lost her father a year ago, she found herself making another decision about her future–the decision of what to do with her estate. In honor of her father’s legacy and her own experience at UMBC, she decided to establish a planned gift to the university.  “When you leave the earth, you can’t take it [money] with you,” she explains. “What better way is there to honor your life than to give back? I know UMBC will make good use of the money.”

Wanda’s decision isn’t surprising. Throughout her career as a judge for the Baltimore City Circuit Court, she has been paying it forward. She’s an avid supporter of UMBC’s Second Generation scholarship, and she’s also given students–many of them from her alma mater–the opportunity to gain invaluable career experience as interns in her office. It’s that kind of experience that rounds out an education and launches careers.

As Wanda is quick to tell you, UMBC was truly where her life and career got started. “I received an excellent education there, and that set me on the road to law school and being a judge,” she says. “Once UMBC has put its print on you, you can do anything you want to.”

In Wanda’s case, that print was indelible, and was made by her experiences both in and out of the classroom. Wanda was active in the Student Government Association, joined the Zeta Phi Beta Sorority and worked as a Resident Assistant. Each and every one of those activities left a distinct mark on her, she says, and showed her the importance of getting involved with and contributing to her community. In fact, for Wanda, education, service and giving back are inextricably intertwined.

“If you went to UMBC, giving back comes naturally,” she says. And that dedication to service and giving will now come full circle. Through her planned gift to UMBC, Wanda is ensuring future generations will have the same amazing educational and career opportunities that she did.

Learn more about making a planned gift like Wanda’s.

Dr. Freeman Hrabowski hosted the third annual 1966 Society dinner on September 19 in the Imaging Research Center (IRC) at UMBC.  The 1966 Society (link to planned giving page) celebrates those individual members who have identified the UMBC Foundation in their estate plans.

Guests had a wonderful time exploring the IRC during the evening. During dinner, Dan Bailey, Director of the Imaging Research Center, welcomed the group and showcased some of the exciting research being worked on in the Center.  Check out the new IRC documentary, The Work of the Imaging Research Center http://www.irc.umbc.edu/blog/.

Please contact Kim Robinson at kim.robinson@umbc.edu if you would like information about estate planning.

From time to time, we’ll interview donors who are making a difference at UMBC. Today, we’re talking with Ira Steven Allen ’81, biological sciences, and Elizabeth Ward Allen ’82, political science, who fell in love with track and field — and each other! — during their time together as students. The couple established the C. James Pfrogner Endowment April 1998 (and amended in March 2002) to honor their former coach and support both the men’s and women’s track and field programs at UMBC. 

* * * *

Ira and Liz Allen enjoying time on the water.

Q:  What made you decide to make your planned gift to UMBC, and how does that decision relate to your experiences here as students?

A:  At UMBC, we received a terrific education and had great fun at the same time. We also had the good fortune to be members of the track and field team under coach Jim Pfrogner, who taught us alot about always giving your best and achieving your goals through hard work and perseverance. The lessons we learned, both in the classroom and on the track, prepared us extremely well to be successful in life. A number of years ago, we started an endowment fund for the benefit of the track and field program because we wanted to give something back to UMBC, something significant and something perpetual, as a way to show our appreciation for how much our college experience meant to us.

Q:  Could you share a favorite memory or two from your time here?

A:  Besides our track and field experiences, we have many “favorite” memories of our time at UMBC, the most important being when we met each other and began a relationship that has been going strong for 34 years. Other special memories are Thursday night parties in the basement of “Dorm III”, studying for the MCATs in the same basement room until the wee hours of the morning, decorating Ira’s dorm room on the “Yippee Dog” floor while Styx and Boston play at full volume, and meeting many people we still call friends today.

Q:  How do you hope your support will make UMBC a better place?

“Ira doing his Dracula imitation”

A:  UMBC has grown in many ways since we graduated in the early 80′s. Freeman’s vision and accomplishments have raised the University to a lofty level. UMBC is now on the national radar as one of the best Universities in the country. Of course, track and field was never the “glamour” sport that received the attention and major funding of, say, lacrosse or basketball. We wanted to help the track and field program grow and advance to a level that matched the prestige of the rest of the University, so we decided to add the endowment fund as a beneficiary in our will. Our hope is that, one day, the track and field program will be so independently well-funded that it will be the envy of college sports programs throughout the region, joining other stellar UMBC programs and academic achievements that shine in the national spotlight.

Thank you to the Allens for all they do!  Want to share your own giving story? Contact Jenny O’Grady at jogrady@umbc.edu.

Planned Giving at UMBC