Las Meninas postcard, 2010. UPUB TI, University Archives, Special Collections, University of Maryland, Baltimore County (Baltimore, MD) 

Las Meninas, a play that touched on the subjects of race, gender, and culture in King Louis XIV's court, was the most recent production of UMBC's to appear at the Kennedy Center American College Theatre Festival (KCACTF), university theater's most prestigious competition. Six other UMBC plays have received recognition by the Kennedy Center in the course of the campus' existence, including Buried (2003), The Diary of a Scoundrel (1996), Spring's Awakening (1987), The Importance of Being Oscar (1986), and Play, Act Without Words II, Not I, Footfalls and Breath (1978).  The very first production of UMBC's to receive national recognition was the Performing Arts Department's production of You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown in 1974. This was also the very first time a Maryland institution had been chosen to perform at the KCACTF. 

Learn More:

-History of UMBC Research Guide

-University Archives Webpage
-Theatre Department Production Materials in UMBC's Digital Collections

-Article in The Retriever on Las Meninas

-Article in The Retriever on You're a Good Man, Charlie Brown 

-UMBC Theatre Website 

View All:  http://my.umbc.edu/groups/library/posts?tag=archives-gold

In 1967, a group of ten sophomores and freshmen came together to create the first UMBC yearbook, entitled Skipjack. The students wanted to provide a unique outline to this first yearbook; instead of organizing it traditionally by events, organizations, and people, the yearbook staff decided to offer a chronological compilation of the beginning history of UMBC. Some of this history included early photos of UMBC under construction, a dedication to UMBC's first chancellor Albin O. Kuhn, photos from the "Opening Day" of classes, the birth of The Retriever newspaper, UMBC's first student government, Spring Week, and the Retriever mascot. After its first publication, Skipjack would only be published two more times, in 1969 and 1970. A few more yearbooks would be created throughout the years, The Golden Retriever in the late 70s and mid 80s and The Spotlight published 1988-1989, but the tradition of a yearbook would unfortunately never stick at UMBC. 

Learn More: 

-History of UMBC Research Guide

-University Archives Webpage

View All: http://my.umbc.edu/groups/library/posts?tag=archives-gold 

A much newer Homecoming tradition at UMBC is the annual Homecoming Bonfire on Erickson Field. First starting in 2005, the bonfire is an iconic tradition among the Homecoming festivities at UMBC. The idea for a bonfire came from First Year council member Thomas Locastro who gathered support for the event in October 2005. He had the honors of lighting the fire that year, as well as in 2006 and 2007. Since then, the annual bonfire lighting has taken place each year, except for two years when the event had to be canceled due to rain and bad weather. Activities at the bonfires over the years have included fireworks, movie showings, pancake eating contests, and free food.  

Learn More: 

-History of UMBC Research Guide

-University Archives Webpage

-Complete Edition of The Retriever Weekly (Volume 43, Issue 10)  

-Photos/Videos of 2012 Bonfire from Co-Create UMBC

View All:  http://my.umbd.edu/groups/library/posts?tag=archives-gold 

The Equipment Loan Program, along with the Digital Media Lab, provides the UMBC community with access to audio/visual equipment suitable for a wide variety of video, audio, and graphic design projects. For more information regarding available equipment and loan policies, please  visit: http://lib.guides.umbc.edu/equipmentloan