Semester of Black and Gold

Thu, 16 Dec 2010 19:46:00 -0500
campus-culture

The culmination of Project Black and Gold, August 23, 2010

They appeared on campus in August, just ahead of the wave of new and returning students and the rush of Welcome Week: black and gold banners proclaiming Retriever pride. Their arrival coincided with the welcome news that UMBC had been named the #1 "up and coming" national university by U.S. News & World Report for a second consecutive year. On a campus visually dominated by clean lines and surfaces, the banners hinted at a creative spirit and the possibility of spontaneity. They said (not in so many words), "We're all UMBC together."

The banners were first proposed by SGA members enrolled my Civic Imagination course in fall 2008. Their vision was to contribute to school spirit by adding a splash of black and gold to the campus walkways. They and other SGA members worked with campus departments to get the help and support they needed. Last year, through Project Black and Gold, SGA invited everyone to participate in proposing and then voting on slogans for the banners. Students and staff created the designs. This was a true community project.

Flash mob, Albin O. Kuhn Library, December 14, 2010

Sixteen weeks after the banners went up, in the Albin O. Kuhn Library, another black and gold community project driven by students brought the semester to a close. And for all of the weeks in between those two moments, students in their organizations, on their residential floors, in The Commons and in their classrooms worked with campus partners to produce the events, discussions, projects and spontaneous fun that made the campus come alive.

No doubt there are people who will remember this as a semester of frustration over parking. I've done my share of walking onto campus from a lot outside the loop. But what I'm going to remember are the pancake eating contest and the Homecoming Bonfire, the night I learned about how Students for Automotive Engineering builds cars in a campus workshop, the energy and vision of First Year Council members hatching plans to boost campus spirit, SGA members reaching out to support and empower students with big ideas, students planning innovative Alternative School Break trips, developing social change projects, creating new student organizations, advocating for justice, and finding new ways to help each other explore and be themselves. And I'll remember those banners and the flash mob: black and gold bookends to a semester well spent.