This is a notification that the paycheck on Friday, June 6, 2025 will have no deductions for the following State of Maryland benefits, due to the normally scheduled State Health Benefits premium deduction holiday schedule for Regular employees:

• Medical
• Prescription
• Dental
• State of Maryland MetLife Term Life insurance
• MetLife Accidental Death & Dismemberment (AD&D) insurance
• Healthcare FSA and Dependent Care FSA (Flexible Spending Accounts)

This premium deduction holiday does not apply to University System of Maryland (USM) MetLife deductions for Long Term Disability (LTD) and/or Optional Term Life insurance coverages.

Employee contributions to their supplemental retirement accounts (SRA) are not impacted by the premium deduction holidays, so the SRA contributions will occur per usual on the June 6, 2026 paycheck.

Health Benefits deduction holidays for Regular State of Maryland employees typically occur twice a year. The next deduction holiday is anticipated to occur in Winter 2026.

Please send any questions to hrbenefits@umbc.edu. 

Calling All Interns!
Are you interning this summer and want to be featured on our chapter’s Instagram? We’re looking for students to share a “Day in the Life” video to showcase what internship life really looks like!

Whether you're working remotely or on-site, we’d love to highlight your experience. We'll be featuring summer interns, so submit your video early to secure a spot!

Please Note: If you plan to film in your workplace or include colleagues, you must get consent from your company and anyone featured in the video.

Deadline to submit: July 23rd, 2025 at 11:59 PM
Fill out the form below to get started!

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/1AJ_wyio6Gmhu5O1-qFg_a7H7bYggRQaJfqKnBIQv1HM/edit?ts=683e4f24

Passionate about Black graduate student success? Join the BGSO E-Board and lead the change!

This is a reminder that BGGO officer elections  E-Board positions for the 2025-2026 academic year are now open for the Black Graduate Student Organization (BGSO) at UMB/UMBC! Thank you to those who have already submitted applications. The available positions include:

• President

• Secretary

• Treasurer

• Fundraising Chair

If you're a graduate student looking for leadership experience, meaningful connections, and the opportunity to make a lasting impact, we’d love to have you join us! Deadline is June 14th. 

1. Link to BGSO E-Board Positions 
2. Submit your application to run for a position by filling out the Application Form. 

We look forward to hearing from you!

Thank you,

BGSO E-Board

Two opportunities are coming up for Restorative Practices Training! 

Click Here to Register

PLEASE READ THE ENTIRE DESCRIPTION BEFORE CONTACTING! Looking for TWO FEMALE STUDENTS to rent around August 23, 2025 or earlier (can be ready by June 14th and after) for furnished bedrooms including linens in a Maiden Choice/Arbutus area private single-family home. The house will be shared with two female UMBC/UMB students/professionals and the landlord couple. We're looking for a kind person that respects diversity that are either a UMBC/UMB Ph.D., Graduate, or Junior/Senior Undergraduate student that are a non-smoker within the home, non-drug user, pet-free, and a tidy person to share a large open concept renovated 4 bedroom and 3.5 bathrooms on a dead-end quiet street. If you have a medical support animal; no cats or shedding animals are allowed due to allergies, and you will need your updated documents from your physician and veterinarian. All medical and support animals must remain in the tenant’s bedroom and crate when not home or in their room, and you are responsible for cleaning up after your pet. You will have to submit proof of renter’s insurance. Other than medical support animals, absolutely no other animals are allowed. We currently have a non-shedding older friendly labradoodle that will not be cratered, will not run away if the door is left open, and the sole responsibility of the landlord.  

Our house is less than 2 miles from the UMBC campus and close to two shopping centers with shuttle stops to both sites and walking distance to our house. The UMBC Shuttle and public transportation bus stop is located a short walk over to the next block. The UMBC Transit runs buses almost every 15 minutes from the Paradise-Purple Line during the week from 7am-12am. The first pickup at Leeds and S. Beechfield Avenues bus stop is roughly around 7:25am during the week, again around 7:45am, and so on. The UMBC transit adds a third bus during the week around 10am. You can monitor the buses on the Transit Predictions (goswift.ly). The Purple-Paradise line is the most reliable of all the UMBC transit schedules. 

The rooms for rent are two upstairs bedrooms that share a bathroom with large closets and include hangers. There's a full or queen bed, matching long dresser with mirror, tall dresser, two nightstands or a shelf headboard, desk with office chair, smart TV, two sets of bedroom linens and plenty of bath towel sets and a hamper. All bedrooms have their own key locks. You will have your own large kitchen cupboard, locking locker cubby with your own key in the laundry room, and the shared bathroom has a locking cabinet (there will only be two people sharing the bathroom). You have access to a spacious open concept kitchen with everything you need to prepare meals including meal prep gadgets, ice maker, dishwasher and garbage disposal, laundry room, large front covered porch, living and dining rooms. All the bedrooms and living/sitting/dining/kitchen areas have Wi-Fi with streaming cable services. All utilities are included, water, gas, electric, and again the Wi-Fi with streaming cable services. The landlord is responsible for cutting the grass and landscaping. We are still doing renovations to the outside landscaping, sidewalks, and foundation border. There is street parking where we ask our tenants and their guests to be respectful to our neighbors and park directly in front of our house only. We have lease restrictions for overnight guests and shared cleaning responsibilities. The bedrooms will be available starting around August 23, 2025, or earlier and ending around May 23, 2026, that includes holidays, weekends, Spring and Winter Breaks and/or vacations. The monthly rent is $1,000 FIRM with a $500 deposit.  We prefer a 9 month or a month-to-month lease but will consider longer leases and dates to move-in and out. We’re a private home and NOT an Airbnb, hotel, campus apartment or dorm. All you need to do is bring your personal belongings, toiletries with bathroom products, food, laptop, and books! If interested, call 410-999-4668, Monday-Friday, 6pm to 8pm, to discuss further and a time to show you the house. 

Ramping up to the end of the Retriever 2024 – 2025 academic year, UMBC’s Office of Student Engagement and Belonging gathered students, faculty, and staff to celebrate their accomplishments and invaluable contributions with the communities closest to them. Angelina Jenkins, assistant director of UMBC’s Mosaic Center, which provides the campus community with resources and community building, was at the helm of the three Cultural and Affinity Celebrations and Awards, with a cadre of co-chairs making the Asian, Lavender, and Black/Latine/x events a reality.

Thania Muñoz, associate professor of modern languages, linguistics, and intercultural communication, served as the co-chair for the 5th Black and Latine/x celebration. Priya Bhayana, project manager for UMBC’s Global Asias Initiative, served as the co-chair for the inaugural Asian Cultural Celebration and Awards gathering. Zoe Brown, program coordinator for the Women’s Center and current M.P.P. student, co-chaired the Lavender event with Darcie Adams, graduate assistant for UMBC’s Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being, who supported all three events.

“The Office of Student Engagement and Belonging strives to collaborate with a team of interdisciplinary partners across campus to create a true emphasis on our narrative that inclusive excellence and belonging are a reality for everyone at UMBC,” said Jenkins. “Your stories belong here. Our collective UMBC story and community are made better by them.”

Inaugural Asian Cultural Celebration and Awards

Gathering Retrievers from all corners of the world is something that Meghna Chandrasekaran ’25, political science and biological sciences, is skilled at as the president of the Student Government Association and vice president of undergraduate affairs on the University System Student Council. She hosts “Chai Chats with Meghna!” where she serves piping hot tea and fosters camaraderie throughout the year. “Because of my role as the associate director of the Center for Democracy and Civic Life, as well as my lived experience as both Chinese and Jamaican, I’m honored to have been asked to participate in this inaugural event to present the Another World Is Possible Award to Meghna Chandrasekaran,” said Ricky Blissett ’11, bioinformatics and computational biology. He was proud to add to Chandrasekaran’s long list of accomplishments include her workshops on intersectional leadership and Tamil-language teaching. “She doesn’t just imagine a better world—she builds it, step by step, with humility and resolve.”

“UMBC was my first experience stepping out of India without anyone to look after me,” said graduate keynote speaker, Sairam Bokka, M.A. ’25, cybersecurity, a leader in UMBC’s Retriever Essentials addressing food insecurity on campus. “I arrived here unsure, quiet, and content with staying in the background. But thanks to the people I met, the support I received, and the opportunities I embraced, I’m walking away from UMBC more open, confident, and purpose-driven. May we all continue to grow, serve, and seek out new paths, even when we feel uncertain. That’s where the real magic happens.” (Bradley Ziegler/UMBC)

12th Annual Lavender Celebration and Awards

As Lorae Bonamy-Lohve, the new assistant director of UMBC’s Pride Center, made the opening remarks for the Lavender Celebration and Awards, she had a clear message for her new Retriever community. “Lavender is a color long tied to liberation, strength, and the beauty of our community,” said Bonamy-Lohve. “Today’s ceremony is about how you made it easier for the next generation of students like you to imagine themselves here, thriving, loved, and affirmed. Let this celebration not only be a moment of joy, but also one of remembrance and responsibility, a reminder that liberation is collective, and that we carry many histories as we move forward.”

Love and history are two intrinsically intertwined concepts for Sanai Eaton-Martinez ’25, a political science pre-law track transfer student and Grit Guide. “My first words were ‘Te quiero mucho.’ [I love you] Love is what we give, but respect is what we’re owed. UMBC allowed me to keep my path forward, and it soon became my home,” said Eaton-Martinez, the Lavender Celebration and Awards undergraduate keynote speaker and founder of UMBC’s Sisterhood: A Women of Color Coalition. “We have raised thousands of dollars to better our community and now have 200 members. Sisterhood is a labor of love. It has taught me so much more than I could have imagined. Not only did I gain a community, but I gained a family.”

When Adams was designing the student art gallery for the Lavender Celebration and Awards, he reached out to Key Gallagher, an English junior, sophomores Jamar James, a computer engineering major, and Qaiyah Dawson, a biological sciences major with a photography minor, to display their crocheting, robotics, and photography skills, respectively. This is Dawson’s first photography exhibit, but James is an avid robotics competitor, and Gallagher’s whimsically crocheted stuffed and wearables sell quickly at campus events.

“I’ve been crocheting for two years now. I have ADHD and need to work with my hands, or else I can’t focus. I finished this piece today. It is a piece of advice that my therapist gave me about not letting fear stop me from experiencing life. It’s a way to express myself,” said Gallagher, a critical disabilities minor, of his ‘Do It Scared’ banner, which took 16 hours and 7,500 stitches to make. “It is amazing when someone comes to my table and sees their flag. Their eyes light up. It’s a great way to connect with people and say, ‘I see you. You are safe here.’”

“I was here for the first Lavender Celebration back in 2014. I received the 2016 Student Leader of the Year Award,” said Leizear, a geography and information systems specialist for The Nature Conservancy. “I think it’s amazing that this is still happening. The people I met here became my friends and are now friends for life. It’s great to be back and see everything happening—bigger and better than ever.”

5th Annual Black and Latine/x Celebration and Awards

“This moment is a combination of dreams, both spoken and unspoken,” said Marian Saunder White ’87, information systems, a member of UMBC’s Alumni Association Awards Committee, at the 5th Annual Black & Latine/x Celebration and Awards. “It is the legacy of your ancestors who survived the unimaginable so that you can imagine freely.”

Legacy is something Janerra Allen, Ph.D. ’25, electrical engineering, (above second from the right), has had on her mind, as a first-generation college student, more so now that she will begin her postdoctoral research at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory this summer. “When I told my grandmother, she cried. She didn’t know what a postdoc was, but she knew her granddaughter had made it,” said Allen, the Graduate School keynote speaker. During her time at UMBC, she served as a graduate senator for the College of Engineering and Information Technology, secretary of the Graduate Student Association, and president of the Black Graduate Student Organization. “Wherever you go next, know this: You carry the power of every obstacle you’ve overcome and every hand that helped lift you. You are not alone. You are part of a legacy that is unshakable. So take pride. Take your rest. And take up space—because you deserve it.”

Hunt, the 2024 Black/Latine/x Excellence Award, was excited to surprise this year’s recipient. Bosola Jerry-Asooto ’25, biological sciences, (left) was shocked when he announced she is the recipient of the 2025 Black/Latine/x Excellence Award.”From student government to residence life, health advocacy to academic mentorship, they’ve consistently stepped up—not for recognition, but to ensure others are seen, heard, and supported,” said Hunt. (Bradley Ziegler/UMBC)

As the curtains close on another year, the Office of Student Engagement and Belonging is already thinking ahead on how to top these years’ ceremonies. The Cultural and Affinity Celebrations and Awards ceremonies aren’t just about recognizing achievements. They are about praising the journey, the effort, the laughs, and speed bumps along the way, and the promise of what’s still to come.

Learn more about student engagement and belonging at UMBC.

Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer, Intersexual, Asexual (LGBTQIA+) Pride Month is celebrated each year in June to mark the occasion of the 1969 Stonewall Uprising in Manhattan.

As we jump into Pride Month celebrations, we want to remind employees about the Employee Assistance Program (EAP) as a resource for eligible employees (Regular and Contingent II) and members of the employee's household.

LGBTQIA+ employees face a unique set of challenges in the workplace. Your ComPsych Guidance Resources Employee Assistance Program understands this and is available to help, not just at work, but also at home or in your community by encouraging a healthier, happier, and better-educated workforce.

Highlights of the EAP program via ComPsych and Guidance Resources:

• The EAP is available 24/7
• Free Confidential Counseling, up to 5 sessions free!
• Work-Life Solutions
• Legal Support
•  Discounts, i.e. Pet Insurance

There are two ways to access EAP services:

Call 1-855-410-7628 to speak to a counseling professional who will listen to your concerns and can guide you to the appropriate services you require.

OR 

Visit Guidance Resources Online at www.guidanceresources.com and enter our company ID: USMEAP

At UMBC, students get a versatile education that Retrievers can draw on to succeed no matter where their career lands them. But sometimes, you hit the home run and end up with your dream job. For Kennedy Lamb ’20, English—who also played softball for UMBC—that meant a role in the storied legacy of National Geographic. But dream jobs don’t land because of random luck or chance. Lamb knew early on that she wanted to lean on her love of science in her English degree and topped off her UMBC education with a graduate degree from Johns Hopkins University’s program in science writing. Ultimately, when she applied for the gig at Nat Geo, she’d loaded her bases and was ready to knock it out of the park.

Seven years ago, I sat in my academic advisor’s office in the Performing Art and Humanities Building mulling over which classes to take next semester. The meeting, like all meetings with English professor Christopher Corbett, mostly consisted of discussing select passages from Phillip Lopate’s Art of the Personal Essay, the Baltimore Orioles’ record, and Babe Ruth. I always looked forward to them. 

“What do you want to do after college?” he asked, chuckling good-naturedly. I smiled politely and fiddled with my earrings. At 19, the prospect of securing a full-time job was daunting. I knew I loved to write. I knew I loved science. I did not know how to combine the two. “I’m not sure,” I said. “Write, I guess.”

Corbett took a sip out of his coffee mug and sat back in his chair. “Well, I can tell you where others have gone on after college, if that would help.” I nodded. In his Maine drawl, he rattled off a few media outlets, some of which I was familiar with. Nothing piqued my interest.

 “And one alumna went to write for National Geographic,” he said, almost as an afterthought. I looked up at him. “Really?” I replied.

Corbett hadn’t heard me and continued recounting the various places alumni from the English Department went on to work. But my mind was stuck: National Geographic. Now that would be something special. I pictured the iconic yellow borders in my head and pondered the pathway from college sophomore to Nat Geo writer. 

At the end of the meeting, I had signed up for a handful of writing seminars, an introductory biology class, and Deborah Rudacille’s science writing class. As semesters turned into years and my time at UMBC came to a close in 2020, the dreams of National Geographic lingered in the back of my mind. What if? I would wonder. And how?

Fast forward to 2025, and that dream has become a reality. I am a communications specialist at the National Geographic Society, the centuries-old nonprofit dedicated to illuminating and protecting the wonders of our world. As a public relations professional, I’m tasked with translating stories of scientific discovery into well-packaged pitches to writers around the world.

Left: Lamb poses with a copy of The Wall Street Journal featuring the “mega coral.” Photo courtesy of Lamb. Right: A diver measures the world’s largest coral in the Solomon Islands. October 2024. Photograph by Manu San Félix, National Geographic Pristine Seas.

No two days are alike. Some days are spent decoding technical science papers about extinct human ancestors or writing a press release about cutting-edge conservation tactics that aim to save a slimy snail. Other days are spent digging through National Geographic’s colossal photo archive to find just the right picture for a reporter or presenting to leaders from Pacific Island countries about how to communicate the benefits of marine protected areas.

Perhaps my proudest moment came when a team of scientists and filmmakers from National Geographic Pristine Seas uncovered the world’s largest piece of coral (dubbed the “mega coral”) while on expedition in the Solomon Islands. After being briefed on the discovery by the expedition team and Solomon Islands scientists, our communications crew began a two-week sprint to craft a press release and press kit, organize a press conference, and pitch the story to reporters across the globe. 

And that work paid off: The story went viral. In three weeks, the story was picked up by over 3,000 outlets in 50 countries. The mega coral graced the front page of The Wall Street Journal, was featured on Germany’s largest television show Tagesschau and even became the butt of a joke on The Late Show with Stephen Colbert. (All press is good press, right?)

In moments like this, I’m reminded of the privilege of working for such an iconic brand. It’s easy to trudge to the next assignment and never truly celebrate the amount of work that went into making a piece of coral in the Pacific Ocean a viral sensation. But after the story had run its course, I reflected on what got me to this moment.

What I realized is that there is no secret to landing a dream job. It is hard work with a healthy serving of serendipity. I took nearly every internship offered to me (including one at UMBC Magazine!) and tried to view even the most mundane task as a chance to learn something new. When it came time to apply to the National Geographic Society, I trusted my skills.

All writers know there is no such thing as perfection. Instead, I try to strive for the asymptote of perfection. It is demanding and, at times, downright exhausting. But because I know the impact of conservancy in action—from coral reefs to slimy snails—I wouldn’t have it any other way.

— Kennedy Lamb ’20