Terp Winter 2022 From the Editor The Terps’ men’s basketball team huddles before the Dec. 1 “Gold Rush” game honoring former Maryland star Len Bias, following his induction into the National Collegiate Basketball Hall of Fame. Bias was a two-time All-American who twice earned Atlantic Coast Conference Player of the Year honors and finished his four-year career as UMD’s all-time leading scorer before being selected No. 2 overall in the 1986 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Two days later, he died of complications from a cocaine overdose. The shocking development sparked federal anti-drug legislation, the resignation of university and athletics leaders, and an overhaul of the athletics department. Decades later, the wounds are finally healing, and Bias’ athletic legacy is being newly acknowledged. At this game, the first 4,000 students received replica Bias jerseys, and his parents were recognized on the court. Maryland Athletics also produced a new documentary on Bias, “34,” offering an unprecedented look at his life. It’s now available at umterps.com. FROM THE EDITOR If “food desert” has an opposite, I live in it. Giant, Harris Teeter, MOM’s Organic Market, Aldi, Safeway and Target are all within about two miles of my home in Bowie. They’re all spacious and well-stocked with fresh produce, milk and meat. But fewer than 20 minutes west across Prince George’s County, the supermarket landscape isn’t so super. In Capitol Heights, bordering D.C., options within a similar radius include corner markets and small strip-mall stores with a limited selection of wholesome foods. UMD doctoral student Brittney Drakeford is working to improve the menu of choices in this area, where her ancestors were once enslaved. Plantations and farms blanketed the landscape in the 1800s, then modest urban suburban homes sprouted up for white families fleeing from the nation’s capital in the next century. Now Capitol Heights’ population is 90% African American, and for those without cars, the gleaming Wegmans four or five miles away in Lanham might as well be on Mars. Drakeford’s efforts to provide healthy choices close to home include opening a farmers market in the parking lot of the Capitol Heights Home Depot and helping to run a community garden; she next has big ambitions for Black churches to share their commercial kitchens and vacant land to support local growers. She juggles all this while not only pursuing her Ph.D. in urban studies but also working full-time for the county as a planner. One question guides her, she told me: “How may I better understand my family’s history and urban development and zoning in preserving family stories?” You can read about her family’s history of tragedy, perseverance and aspiration in Sala Levin’s feature on page 34. Don’t miss our cover story on page 28 about how the NCAA’s lifting of restrictions on student-athletes making endorsements and other deals is changing the world of college sports, and how Maryland is helping to steer Terps through it. And if you’ve ever been forced to question human nature after buying a dinette or sofa on Craigslist or Facebook Marketplace (hand raised here), you’ll enjoy our profile on page 46 about an alum whose business provides a safe online marketplace for middle- and high-end furniture. Actually, you may just want to settle in on your own sofa to read the whole magazine. Lauren Brown University Editor Publisher Brian Ullmann ’92 Vice President, Marketing and Communications Advisers Brodie Remington Vice President, University Relations Margaret Hall Executive Director, Creative Strategies Magazine Staff Valerie Morgan Art Director Chris Carroll Liam Farrell Annie Krakower Sala Levin '10 Karen Shih'09 Writers Kolin Behrens Lauren Biagini Designers Stephanie S. Cordle Photographer Gail Rupert M.L.S. '10 Photo Archivist Emma Howells Photography Assistant Jagu Cornish Production Manager EMAIL: terpfeedback@umd.edu WEBSITE: terp.umd.edu FACEBOOK.COM/UnivofMaryland TWITTER.COM/UofMaryland VIMEO.COM/umd YOUTUBE.COM/UMD2101 The University of Maryland, College Park is an equal opportunity institution with respect to both education and employment. University policies, programs and activities are in conformance with pertinent federal and state laws and regulations on non-discrimination regarding race, color, religion, age, national origin, political affiliation, gender, sexual orientation or disability. InTERPlay The Big Question Every time I read about someone wanting a ferry or bus to Ocean City because of wasted fuel, I think that person has never packed a vehicle for a week at the beach with a husband, wife and three kids, the dog and grandmother. Try transporting beach towels, picnic baskets, balls, plastic buckets and shovels, beach umbrellas, a week’s worth of food, sheets, pillows, etc. on a bus, ferry and then a bus again. Ain’t gonna happen. —MARY (PILLATT) FELTER ’66, ARNOLD, MD. Inclusion Matters Fantastic! My son is a high school junior. We’d love for him to participate in this TerpsEXCEED program when he leaves high school. You also badly need to start a college wheelchair basketball team! —CATHERINE BERRUER OJO Letter From the Editor You truly drew me into the magazine with your statement that your son was moving into Denton Hall. Denton Hall was my first dorm, and I was immediately transported back to my move-in day and thinking how different it probably was from that of your son. Your diversity (hiring) campaign caught my attention as I remembered my first encounter with Jewish students (one of whom was my roommate for my freshman and sophomore years). I learned so much from her and have fond memories of our time together. I am so proud to see all the work that is going on at Maryland, from diversity to the inclusion of students with disabilities. I am proud to be a Terp. Keep up the good work. —DR. JEAN (BROWN) PARKER ’70, SPRINGDALE, ARK. Superlatives Wow! Just completed reading the Fall issue and I can’t come up with sufficient superlatives to express how much I enjoyed the entire issue. Cover to cover by far the best work ever! Thanks so much for all the work that went into this! —STEVE ROME ’73, LAUREL, MD. ON THE MALL News New Lab, Center Advance Quantum Computing UMD Makes $20M Investment in Q-Lab, Leads $25M NSF Grant on Quantum Simulation A first-of-its kind lab and a multi-institutional center for discovery based in College Park both launched last semester, further building the University of Maryland’s reputation as a hotspot for quantum science and a beacon for the burgeoning quantum computing industry. The National Quantum Lab, or Q-Lab, was announced in September in conjunction with quantum computing company IonQ, a UMD spinoff company, and will be the nation’s first facility providing scientists with hands-on access to its latest commercial-grade devices. A nearly $20 million investment from the university will fund the Q-Lab site adjacent to the company’s headquarters in the university’s Discovery District. The agreement provides access to IonQ’s trapped-ion quantum computer hardware for UMD students, faculty, researchers, staff and partners across the country, as well as a chance to work directly with the company’s scientific and engineering staff. Also in September, the National Science Foundation (NSF) announced the University of Maryland would lead a $25 million effort to develop quantum simulation devices. The NSF Quantum Leap Challenge Institute (QLCI) for Robust Quantum Simulation brings together computer scientists, engineers and physicists from five academic institutions and the federal government. They’re developing technology to allow researchers to explore and understand quantum systems—for example, those that impact the properties of molecules—in realms including chemistry, drug development and material science. Quantum simulators are also expected to lead to the next step in quantum computing: programmable, practical computers for general use. The QLCI is the seventh academic center based on quantum science at UMD, which continues to strengthen the region’s claim to the title “the Capital of Quantum,” says university President Darryll J. Pines. “Maintaining and growing our global leadership in quantum science and technology is important for the state of Maryland and a top strategic priority for its flagship campus, the University of Maryland,” he says. In other quantum developments, the NSF also selected UMD to lead a $5 million, two-year effort aimed at creating quantum interconnects—crucial technology to allow quantum computers to share information with each other that will be part of the basis for a quantum computer-based internet.—cc New Dining Hall to Honor Indigenous People of Maryland THE UNIVERSITY’S FIRST new dining hall in nearly 50 years will bear a name from the Algonquian language spoken by the Piscataway, on whose ancestral lands the university stands today. “Yahentamitsi” (Yah-hen-tuh-meet-c), a term meaning “a place to go to eat,” will open in Fall 2022 in the new Heritage Community that also includes the Pyon-Chen and Johnson-Whittle residence halls. “This campus has been here for a very long time— yet many of us were blind to its history,” President Darryll J. Pines said at the dining hall’s ground blessing ceremony in November. “As a land-grant institution, I believe it is our responsibility to record, to interpret and to raise public awareness about tribal history.” Yahentamitsi will feature art, artifacts and other educational materials from the Piscataway people. The name was developed in partnership with Piscataway elders and tribal members, as well as UMD faculty, staff and students, including the American Indian Student Union (AISU). “Having a beautiful place like this... makes me feel like I have a space here on campus that I can truly say represents myself, this represents my people, this represents my family,” says AISU treasurer Jeremy Harley ’23, a member of the Piscataway Conoy tribe.—KS Sidebar: YAHENTAMITSI AT A GLANCE: - 60,000+ SQUARE FEET - 1,000+ SEATS - 11 MAJOR FOOD STATIONS - LEED SILVER-CERTIFIED - OUTDOOR DINING BALCONY - GENDER-NEUTRAL RESTROOMS Joint City Hall-UMD Building Opens COLLEGE PARK HAS A REVITALIZED center of civic life with the opening of a new city hall, a collaborative city-university project of office and retail space along with a public plaza for residents and visitors. The $51 million, 95,000-square-foot building has municipal and university offices along with community meeting rooms and glass-enclosed council chambers overlooking Baltimore Avenue. The 7,000 square feet of retail space—managed by Terrapin Development Company, a real estate and economic development entity created by UMD and the University of Maryland College Park Foundation—is anticipated to have food and beverage tenants, as well as space for local vendors. “The university partnership with the city was borne out of a long-term vision,” UMD President Darryll J. Pines said at a December dedication ceremony. “That vision has taken a great leap forward.” The project is the latest achievement from the Greater College Park initiative, an ongoing effort to harness more than $2 billion in public and private investment to create one of the best college towns in the country. “We saw an opportunity for strengthening and actualizing the partnership,” said Mayor Patrick Wojahn. “What this symbolizes ... is a rebirth.”—LF Science Behind the Suds New Fermentation Major Will Support Growing Maryland Craft Beverage and Food Industries Wine and cheese. Beer and sourdough pretzels. Brats heaped with sauerkraut. None of these delightful combinations would exist without the bubbling biological process of fermentation, in which yeast and other microorganisms themselves chow down on nutrients like sugars, fats and proteins to transform food into something magical—or at least, savory. And now there’s a new pairing: the University of Maryland and an under- graduate major in fermentation science. Offered by the College of Agriculture and Natural Resources (AGNR) both in College Park and at the Universities at Shady Grove, the four-year major debuting this fall will increase knowledge around this ancient way to prepare and preserve food, while giving students the knowledge to turn it to newer uses like climate friendly biofuels and pharmaceutical development. Not least, it aims to boost a range of homegrown craft food and drink industries, from the distilleries quickly multiplying around Maryland to longstanding cheese makers. If that sounds a bit Food Network-y, or like a good course of study to avoid math headaches, sorry—the “science” part of the name is for real. “This is very much a STEM (science, technology, engineering, mathematics) major, with quite a bit of chemistry, microbiology and math in it,” says Frank Coale, AGNR professor and assistant dean for strategic initiatives who led the development of the new track. “It will give students a very good background in the biological sciences and will even prepare them to apply for medical school, if that’s what they want.” Surveys of students who took an AGNR course on the history of fermentation suggest that what they really want is to work with fermented dairy products—think yogurt, kefir and cheese—followed by wine and sourdough. Perhaps surprisingly for college students, beer fell further down the list of favored study topics, after pharmaceuticals and fermented meat products like naturally cured sausage and tied with probiotics. While laying the groundwork to propose the major, Coale found widespread enthusiasm among Maryland food, beverage and agriculture producers, along with a willingness to contribute their hard-earned knowledge. Fermentation has been vital to human survival since prehistory—preserving milk, meat and grain for winter, or creating mildly alcoholic drinks safer than polluted water sources—but having a UMD major will inject new ideas and train a workforce of experts, says Mike Koch, co-founder and president of FireFly Farms, a Garrett County cheese maker. “We could not be more supportive of the university efforts to stand up this program,” he says. “It helps in the long run to create the same sort of energy that has started around cheese making in Vermont, upstate New York or Wisconsin, where the land-grant universities have invested a lot in cheese making.” Max Hames, distillery operations manager of Sagamore Spirit, a Baltimore-based rye whiskey distiller founded by Kevin Plank ’96, says fermentation scientists could help delve into the subtleties of interactions of microorganisms and food sources in fermentation tanks that can help separate a good whiskey from a great one. “We’re not doing straightforward yeast fermentation—there are a lot of different creatures at work,” Hames says. “We’re always dialing in our fermentations on a day-to-day range, and having a solid understanding of what’s going on in all that complexity is important.” Two AGNR departments—Nutrition and Food Science, and Plant Science and Landscape Architecture—will collaborate to offer the major. Plant science’s domain is the raw material for fermentation: grains for bread and beer and vegetables used in sauerkraut or pickles, says department chair and Professor John Erwin. He appreciates good wine, and he says he sometimes has to ask sellers or café owners why they’re not stocking vintages from Maryland’s wine industry, which has grown rapidly in the 21st century to more than 100 wineries. “I think we in Maryland can do as good a job, or better, of producing all these products as other places,” he says, adding that in addition to specialty food producers, the fermented corn stalk silage is also an important source of livestock feed on traditional farms. How fermentation produces food—and managing food safety issues—is the domain of the nutrition and food science department, says its chair, Professor Cheng-I Wei. The four-year major, one of only a small handful nationwide in fermentation science, is intensively multidisciplinary, and Wei says he hopes collaborations develop with the Robert H. Smith School of Business, the A. James Clark School of Engineering and others. The surveyed students also have widely divergent interests within the major. “Some are very business-oriented and might want to run wineries and host agri- tourism; others want to improve operations of their family farms and produce good-quality agricultural products for these uses,” he says. “Some are just interested in making good products: the wine or cheese—maybe kimchi.”—CC Living, Learning and Teaching Honors College Scholar-in-Residence Spends Semester Among Students in Residence Hall When it came to the fastest commute to class this fall, Visiting Professor Gero Bauer had every faculty member at the University of Maryland beat. “I just go downstairs from my apartment and I get to my first class of the day,” he says. That wasn’t on Zoom—he was in a classroom teaching Honors Humanities (HH) students, thanks to a unique lodging arrangement at Anne Arundel Hall. Bauer was the first Honors College scholar-in-residence since the COVID-19 pandemic halted the program, which started 30 years ago. He had a choice: a stipend to find his own housing, or the use of the only residence-hall faculty apartment on campus. He chose the latter. “I wanted to immerse myself in what life on campus is like,” Bauer says. He taught two classes: an HH course called “Queer Outlooks in Contemporary Theory and Fiction,” and an English class called “Queer Modernisms.” A scholar of German LGBTQ activism, Bauer also shared his views on queer politics in the U.S. and his home country. HH Director Randy Ontiveros says, “We put a lot of emphasis in the program on giving students a global perspective on the humanities and why they matter in today’s world. In terms of what Gero teaches, who he is and where he’s coming from, it’s great to have him with students in this living and learning environment.” At UMD, Bauer embraced campus life— a major adjustment from the medieval university town of Tübingen University, where he normally teaches. Without a car, he got around by bike or Shuttle-UM, and he frequented the Stamp or Route 1 restaurants for meals. He attended movie screenings by Student Entertainment Events and participated in the most quintessential American college pastime: a Terps football game. “It was fun to see things I only knew from TV or movies, like cheerleaders and the marching band, and how the students and parents and alumni were all wearing team colors,” he says. Back in Anne Arundel Hall, Bauer enjoyed a few faculty perks. Living in an apartment, he didn’t have to share a bathroom, and he had his own kitchen. Now, as the spring semester starts, he offers advice for the new visiting scholar who will take over the space. “Take advantage of the fact that you’re staying right in the middle of campus,” Bauer says. “Check out the RecWell center, go see events at the student union and The Clarice, and explore all the lovely little corners and hidden spaces.”—ks Projecting the Future Family’s $2.5M in Gifts Will Fund Arts Innovation, Support Education Majors A COURTYARD IN the Parren J. Mitchell Art-Sociology Building will soon have new—and ever-changing—scenery: a 25-by-30-foot interactive projection screen showcasing art by students, faculty and guests. The reimagined space is part of a $2.25 million gift from Nancy ’78 and Chuck Clarvit to the College of Arts and Humanities, which will invigorate the art department with research opportunities, programming, technology and renovated studios. The new funds will also support scholarships in the graphic design program, a nod to Nancy’s major at UMD and her career as an art director. The gift boosts the university’s Arts for All initiative to encourage innovation through collaborations across the arts, sciences and other disciplines. With an additional $225,000 gift, the couple’s daughter, Alison Clarvit ’13, M.Ed. ’14, is establishing the Clarvit Family Maryland Promise Scholarship for incoming students with financial need in the College of Education, as well as supporting TerpsEXCEED, which provides an inclusive UMD experience for students with intellectual and developmental disabilities. Her gift will be matched by the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation as a part of the Clark Challenge for the Maryland Promise. “I want to make sure that people can study whatever they are most interested in without fear of not being able to afford their education,” Alison says.—SL A Hardly “Boring” Achievement Student Team Wins Safety Award in Elon Musk’s Digging Contest A UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND team that competes in international challenges centered on a futuristic train- in-a-tube concept walked away from a tunnel-digging contest in Las Vegas last semester in the top four and hoisting the safety award. What the approximately 25 UMDLoop members didn’t do—actually run their digging machine they’d hand-built on campus—helped earn that prize from the Boring Company, established by billionaire Elon Musk to accelerate construction of his Hyperloop project. Of 12 qualifiers, only four—from Germany, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and UMD—were cleared to dig. As they prepared to launch the complex, multiton tunnel-boring machine they’d trucked cross-country, the engineering, physics and computer science Terps realized its sensors had been damaged in transit. Rather than risk further breakage or injury to team members, they withdrew—earning kudos for a wise choice. UMDLoop previously finished in the top six of 24 teams competing to drive experimental vehicles, or pods, through tunnels in the 2017 SpaceX Hyperloop Challenge. While not fully satisfied this year, team members are proud of their accomplishment and excited about a Boring Company invitation to demonstrate their machine next year. “We’re a fully undergraduate-run team, and every decision, every design—it’s just us,” says team leader Shane Bonkowski ’23, an aerospace engineering major.—CC A Peak of Pickle Players With Pingpong-Tennis-Badminton Mashup on the Upswing, Terp Pro Leads the Way A set or two of paddles, a net, a ball and somehow zero fermented cucumbers: It’s a recipe for a sport that’s becoming a real big dill ... er, deal, and a Terp has made the game his bread and butter. The sport is pickleball—a combination of pingpong, tennis and badminton—and Ben Johns ’22, a materials science and engineering student, is the world’s No. 1 player. As more people come to relish the sport—it grew 21.3% in the U.S. from 2019-20, to 4.2 million players—Johns has championed the game through high-profile victories, a professional equipment sponsorship and even a vacation company that teaches pickleball around the world. “It’s just a sport for absolutely everybody,” Johns says. “I’ve never seen a sport where people come back for coaching and instruction over and over like this one, just because they kind of get addicted to that feeling of improvement. It’s a real phenomenon, because you really can get a lot better very quickly.” Pickleball, played in singles or doubles matches, involves hitting a plastic whiffle ball-style ball over a net with a paddle on a badminton-sized court. Certain rules make it more of a finesse than a power sport, Johns says, like bans on serving overhand and a no-volley zone, commonly referred to as “the kitchen,” around the net. (Oh, and about that odd name: Multiple origin stories claim to explain it, some claiming the moniker comes from the game founder’s dog, Pickles, while others think it comes from the term “pickle boat,” which carries a mismatched crew of spare rowers left over from other boats—just as pickleball adopts stray elements of other racket sports.) Johns, who played tennis for about a decade growing up, first tried pickleball in 2016. He entered its debut U.S. Open that year on a whim—and placed fifth. Since then, he’s shot up the leaderboards, dominating the pack in singles, doubles and mixed doubles and earning around 90 gold medals. That success landed him a partnership with Franklin Sports, with Johns tapping into his engineering studies to help design his own bestselling paddle. While COVID-19 paused tournaments, banned crowds and canceled trips for Pickleball Getaways, the vacation business Johns co-owns, he got creative with his training during quarantine. “It might be not on a real court,” he says. “It might be on a park tennis court ... anything that wasn’t locked up.” Others searching for a new pandemic pastime—from students and parents to actor Jamie Foxx and Seattle Seahawks quarterback Russell Wilson—hopped on the bandwagon, too. “It’s been really cool to see a lot of celebrities and just people in general pick up pickleball over COVID, because it was one of the few things you could do,” Johns says. “People just kind of set up a net wherever.” Count UMD among that growing fan base. Since Johns provided equipment and tutorials to introduce pickleball as a “Fun Friday” intramural sport in Fall 2019, it’s become a regular league offering. Twenty-four teams registered in the fall—including one called the Ben Johns Fan Club—and University Recreation and Wellness plans to keep it rolling this spring, says Jason Hess, assistant director for intramural sports and Reckord Armory. “That’s in big part thanks to Ben for pushing us to get Sidebar: GEAR UP Pickleball pro Ben Johns ’22 considers the following when choosing a paddle: DIMENSIONS: Johns plays with a 16.5-by-7.5-inch paddle, in between the standard 16-by-8 doubles and 17-by-7 singles models—a perfect balance for players like him, who compete in both varieties of the sport. The handle he uses measures 5.6 inches, a bit beyond the normal 4.5 to 5. “That gives the paddle more flexibility so when you hit it, it’s going to bend slightly more.” WIDTH: Johns again prefers the middle ground, playing with a 16-millimeter paddle that falls within the usual 1/2- to 3/4-inch range. “The thicker you make it, the heavier it’s going to be,” he says, “but also, the less power you have and the more solidity you have, which just means you get less inconsistent hits.” CORE: Most pickleball paddles, Johns says, use a polypropylene polymer honeycomb core. Polypropylene is a strong, cheap plastic, and the honeycomb shape helps maintain structural integrity. “It’ really light, because most of the core is actually air,” he says. “But you can still hit the ball hard.” SURFACE: Johns goes with fiberglass. “It’s good because it’s springy, which gives the ball power,” he says, “but it also can be made quite rough, so that imparts spin on the ball.” SPORTS BRIEFS Longtime Field Hockey Coach Nets 600th Win Field hockey Head Coach Missy Meharg added a milestone victory to her sterling resume last season, as she led the Terps to a 3-2 victory over UConn on Oct. 17 to secure her 600th win. Meharg, a Maryland Athletics Hall of Famer, became the first coach in any sport at the University of Maryland and the third in Division I field hockey to reach the 600-win mark. “What it means is the university, the region, the school have been able to have the very best field hockey players choose the University of Maryland,” she said. “I’ve been really fortunate to coach great athletes who love to win.” Meharg, in 34 seasons, has coached the Terps to 26 conference titles and seven national championships. She ended 2021 with another deep NCAA tournament run, with Maryland falling to Liberty in a double- overtime Final Four battle. Big Ten Champ Named Women’s Soccer Coach Meghan Ryan Nemzer, a Maryland native who coached Rutgers University to the 2021 Big Ten title and national semifinals, is the new head coach of UMD’s women’s soccer program, Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics Damon Evans announced in December. Nemzer, who graduated from St. Mary’s High School in Annapolis, had served on the staff at her alma mater, Rutgers University, for 14 years, including as associate head coach for the past eight. Last season, she helped lead the Scarlet Knights to an undefeated season in Big Ten play and the conference title, a spot in the College Cup—where they dropped a 1-0 decision to eventual champion Florida State—and a final ranking of No. 3 in the nation. Rutgers earned bids in the past 10 NCAA tournaments and 12 times total during Nemzer’s time there, with two College Cup appearances. In 2018, she was named one of the top five associate/assistant coaches in the NCAA by Top Drawer Soccer, and last season, she was part of the 2021 North Region Staff of the Year. Book Pulls the Lid Off Canned Food’s History Cupboard Staple’s Impact Goes Beyond the Dinner Table HUMBLE CANS OF PEAS, chicken noodle soup and chili got a little more respect during the COVID-19 pandemic, as people stocked up on shelf-stable foods to avoid unnecessary trips to the grocery store. But canned goods have fallen far from their 20th-century heyday. In his book, “Put a Lid on It: The Canning Industry in South Central Pennsylvania,” coming out in 2022, historic preservation Professor Donald Linebaugh takes a side trip from his archaeological digs in the region to explore the rise and fall of metal cylinder-packed food. It takes off with the introduction of the “Sanitary Can” in the 1890s, which kicked canning’s reliance on hand-crafted tin cans with poisonous lead soldering and dramatically increased production and safety. “As Americans urbanized and people left farms to go into cities, they didn’t have the space and ability to grow the staples they could before,” he says. “At a time when refrigerators and other preservation methods weren’t available, canning meant you could deliver the bounty of the summer harvest 12 months a year.” Linebaugh highlights several ways that canning helped shape American society.—KS FRESH FARM GOODS—ALL YEAR LONG “Before canning, sweet corn was only available from the middle of July to early September. Everyone ate a seasonal diet,” says Linebaugh. But once farmers were able to preserve their perishable goods in large quantities, and railroads expanded shipping across the country in the late 1800s, everything from corn and tomatoes from Pennsylvania to seafood from the Pacific Northwest became accessible to American consumers. THE RISE OF SUPERMARKETS “We moved from a period of general stores in little towns to the beginning of chain stores in the 1860s and supermarkets” like Kroger and A&P in the early 20th century, Linebaugh says. “These big national companies are making contracts with canning companies to bulk purchase and ship to their stores.” Some even sent their own labels—the first foray into store-branded goods. A NEW ROLE FOR WOMEN “Rural canning factories really became one of the few ways that women could work outside of the farm for wages,” says Linebaugh. “It provided a seasonal opportunity to bring cash wages home, and an outlet for them to get out and socialize.” As demand increased, immigrants, like Polish women from Baltimore, also became part of the summer workforce. FOOD FOR THE TROOPS The world wars “created an incredible demand for food that could be literally shipped around the world for our troops,” says Linebaugh. While previously, soldiers relied on dried foods like hardtack and salted pork that lacked nutrition, starting in the Civil War canned goods provided a more balanced diet. Labor shortages during WWII even brought German POWs into the canning story, as they harvested and worked in factories of the region. Swipe Left on Dating Stereotypes Study Reveals Fewer Romances, Little Difference Between App, In-Person Pairings THINK OF COLLEGE and you might picture telltale “go away” socks hung on doorknobs and parties with hookup opportunities galore. But a new study from Dylan Selterman, senior lecturer in the Department of Psychology, and Sydney Gideon ’17 paints a different picture of dating life at the University of Maryland. In a pre-pandemic survey of nearly 800 students over a one-month period, just 60% reported having any romantic encounter during that time—and the majority of those said they only had one date. (Dates were broadly defined, including everything from a one-night stand to grabbing a bubble tea.) “You have a population that’s really interested in sex and dating, but having trouble finding it,” says Selterman. For psychology researchers, however, the findings aren’t surprising. “Studies show that young adults today are less sexually active than previous generations,” he says. The UMD study, which will be published in Computers in Human Behavior, also compared outcomes based on whether students met in person or via dating app. “Our data showed negative perceptions of dating apps, but the reality is, the experiences people had on dates or hookups were pretty similar,” says Gideon. Students found their dates just as attractive on physical and personality levels. But attitudes toward apps could be changing since the survey was conducted in 2015. “COVID turned the entire population romantically desperate. There’s nowhere to meet people offline if there’s nowhere to go,” Gideon says. Selterman is curious if the spike in online dating was purely out of necessity, or if it reflects a true paradigm shift. He hopes to replicate the study post-pandemic to find out. “It’s fascinating, trying to solve this puzzle of how to create meaningful connections between people.”—KS Robot’s Soft Touch Bests Super Mario Bros. A TEAM OF RESEARCHERS from the University of Maryland has 3D-printed a soft robotic hand agile enough to play Nintendo’s Super Mario Bros.—and win. The feat, highlighted on the cover of Science Advances, demonstrates the promise of “soft robotics”—flexible, inflatable robots powered by water or air rather than electricity. Their inherent safety and adaptability have sparked interest in using them for applications like prosthetics and biomedical devices. Unfortunately, controlling the fluids that make these soft robots bend and move has been a vexing challenge. But in a key breakthrough, the team led by Ryan D. Sochol, assistant professor of mechanical engineering, developed techniques to 3D-print fully assembled soft robots with “integrated fluidic circuits” in a single step (carried out at the Terrapin Works 3D-printing hub). As a demonstration, the team designed such a circuit that allowed the hand to operate in response to the strength of a single control input. For example, applying low pressure caused only the first finger to press the Nintendo controller to make Mario walk, while high pressure led to the portly plumber jumping. Guided by a program that autonomously switched between off and low, medium and high pressures, the robotic hand waable to complete the first level of Super Mario Bros. in fewer than 90 seconds.—ROBERT HERSCHBACH Sound Decisions Researcher Beats His Own Drum in Considering How Brains Process and Understand Sound EVERY TIME Nikolas Francis crashes a cymbal, taps a tom-tom or brushes a snare drum, it’s both an art and a science. A percussionist in the D.C. jazz scene, Francis is an assistant professor in the Department of Biology and the first faculty member recruited by the new UMD Brain and Behavior Institute. He has built a career investigating our relationship with sound—specifically, how our brains process the cacophony of everyday life and allow us to recognize a bird call, react to a siren and hold a conversation. He recently spoke to Terp about what we don’t know about sound, how his research could help fill those gaps and how he switches between the lab and the stage.—LF Why do you study sound? Sound is ubiquitous. We use it to communicate, to express emotions, for survival. But we know very little about how sound is represented in the brain and how we get from acoustics to perception is a total unknown—going from “I hear it” to “I know what it is.” What methods do you use to try to find the answers? My lab examines brain activity in mice as they perform behavioral tasks that require listening. For example, we train mice to remember sounds over short periods of time and consider how these sounds are processed in the mouse brain relative to a human. That comparison is how basic science informs medicine. What applications could this research have for humans? The quality of a listening experience depends on how the ear and brain process sound—a young person with hearing loss and an older person with perfectly good hearing can have difficulty listening to speech in a crowded environment. How do you enhance the listening experience for both? One way could be teaching listening strategies that change how the brain processes sound. That’s a possible direction of my research, to see how auditory interventions might induce specific kinds of brain plasticity that enhance listening. How has improvisational music influenced your scientific work, and vice versa? To generate something (musically) interesting, you must listen very intently, but also remember what just happened and what you want to happen next: Is what I’m about to do going to sound to the listener as if it had to occur because of what I just did? If we, as an improvising group, can do that successfully, then we’ve made some music. That analytical process of using my experience to select the ideas that I know are going to move forward and leave other ideas out—both my training as a scientist and my experience as an improvising musician have helped me become more efficient at that process. Health Literacy Spans Language Divide Researchers Help Mobilize Communities to Fight COVID, Other Diseases ONE OF THE GREATEST fights of the COVID-19 era has been against misconceptions and misinformation about the disease and vaccines—and that’s just taking English-language communications into account. UMD is on the front lines in Frederick, Md., training outreach workers in health literacy techniques to meet the needs of myriad language communities. Around 15% of the city’s population speaks languages other than English at home; these are some of the residents most at risk from COVID-19 and other diseases, says Cynthia Baur, director of the Horowitz Center for Health Literacy. In language communities with less access to official information sources, they may also be more vulnerable to bad health information—but hammering people with simplistic, “correct” messages from officials is a losing strategy. “It’s a core public health principle: You meet people where they are and try to see the world from their perspective,” she says. Supported by a $4 million grant to the city from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Horowitz Center is helping to develop community health workers who are already trusted in language communities, including Chinese, Urdu, Spanish and Russian, to spread accurate information in culturally appropriate ways. The project combines the Horowitz Center’s expertise in crafting clear, compelling messaging with on-the-ground cultural expertise, says Elizabeth Chung, executive director of the Asian American Center for Frederick, a partner organization. “You could spend a lot of money developing content based solely on Eurocentric views, but it won’t make sense to someone from China, someone from Haiti, someone from Vietnam,” she says. “Today we can employ this with COVID, tomorrow mental health, and infant mortality next—all of it.”—CC Food Waste Feeds Ambitions for Fuel, Bioplastics FROM LEFTOVERS FORGOTTEN until they get furry in the fridge to crops that spoil from faulty storage, a shocking one-third of the world’s food—nearly 1.5 billion tons yearly, according to a United Nations estimate—goes uneaten. Now, a University of Maryland professor is leading two new grants totaling $6 million from the U.S. Department of Energy that could take some of the bad taste out of all that food waste. Traditional fuels and plastics rely on petroleum and other fossil energy sources, which are finite and costly to the environment to extract and use. The two grants are funding a consortium of scientists and industry partners led by Stephanie Lansing from the Department of Environmental Science and Technology to develop methods to create biofuels and bioplastics from food waste—potentially benefiting both the planet and people’s pocketbooks. “How can we take the resources we have and find a way to use them sustainably?” Lansing says. Her research has long focused on converting waste products into valuable, marketable products, often through a process called anaerobic digestion, which uses bacteria to break down waste and create natural gas, or gasification—a controlled thermochemical reaction that also produces the needed gases. Both the fuel and plastics-focused grants include funding to allow the researchers to test the new, greener products against ones now for sale to see how marketable these new bioplastics and biofuels can be. “This project is really about giving food waste a value,” Lansing says.—SAMANTHA WATTERS Another Kind of Tree Planting Researcher Asks: Could Burying Enough Dead Wood Alter the Globe’s Climate Trajectory? IN A WORLD grappling with climate change, a living tree is a treasure—cleaning the air and soaking up carbon dioxide that causes global warming. But a dead tree? Not so much. Whether a tree is bulldozed and burned or lies behind the back fence and slowly rots, carbon it gathered from the environment—up to several tons in many full-grown species—then escapes. As a natural part of the global carbon cycle, that’s hardly a cause for alarm. But returning from a conference in Australia more than a decade ago, a UMD scientist doing back-of- the-napkin calculations realized dead trees offer an opportunity to buy time for the planet while human societies struggle to develop less destructive ways to live. “It didn’t take long on that terrible flight to assemble the conceptual pieces,” says Ning Zeng, professor of atmospheric and oceanic science. “The math works. This can keep a very significant effect on the atmosphere.” As Zeng’s studies and tests since that initial epiphany confirmed, it requires gathering millions of trees that fall or are cut in backyards, city streets, forests and farms, and burying them deep—deep enough that the process of decomposition does not set in. Or, growers could rapidly suck carbon dioxide from the air with a vigorous species like poplar, then harvest and bury it, and plant anew. Instituting a system of what amounts to wood dumps around the world—perhaps in quarries or abandoned mines—could yearly put away a billion metric tons of carbon dioxide. It’s about one-tenth of humanity’s total carbon production, says one of Zeng’s students, Henry Hausmann Ph.D. ’24. While not a small effort, it would be technically simple and inexpensive compared to carbon-removal schemes like direct capture from the air. Municipal dead wood collection might also be politically easier to sell than some other approaches. “People can bristle at the idea of some more individual requirements to address climate change, but a top-down approach that takes large amount of wood out of the carbon cycle can have big effects,” he says. To help wood burial scale up to have an effect, Hausmann and other students of Zeng’s are designing a monitor for buried wood to ensure it’s not decomposing underground; they’ll compete in February in the XPRIZE student competition for carbon removal, which could fund deployment of the devices at test sites around the country if they win funding. Zeng believes the method could quickly become a popular route for companies looking to reduce their carbon footprints through investments in carbon removal because of the ease of verifying the method is working. “All the wood is right there—you just have to watch it.”—CC The Big Question How Could Climate Change Affect Your Field? “More than ever, education has to look at the root causes that lead to the environmental devastation and climate change now threatening the extinction of millions of species and human survival. Education needs to focus on peace-building among people and with nature.” —JING LIN HAROLD R.W. BENJAMIN PROFESSOR OF INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION, COLLEGE OF EDUCATION “The energy cost of information needs more public awareness. The carbon footprint of machine learning training for an AI entity can be multiple times greater than the lifetime footprint of a car. The use of information should be managed as a resource with environmental costs, similar to the use of fossil fuels.” —ABDIRISAK MOHAMED, LECTURER, COLLEGE OF INFORMATION STUDIES “Changing the current energy and heating habits of American households is a major business opportunity for small and mid-size entrepreneurs. I can see a lot of business education, specifically entrepreneurship and innovation focus, around solar, wind, geothermal, battery storage and mini grids.” —OLIVER SCHLAKE, CLINICAL PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT AND ORGANIZATION, ROBERT H. SMITH SCHOOL OF BUSINESS “Climate change is altering weather and vegetation around the globe, thereby creating conditions that are favorable to high-intensity, uncontrollable wildland fires. These megafires are threatening human life and property in the path of the fire, affecting human health at remote locations through the transport of fire smoke, impacting the health and functions of ecosystems, and accelerating climate change itself through the release of large amounts of chemical compounds into the atmosphere.” —ARNAUD TROUVÉ, FIRE PROTECTION ENGINEERING PROFESSOR, A. JAMES CLARK SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING “Climate change is already affecting how we grow food. On the Eastern Shore of Maryland, rising seas are drowning our coastal farms. It is our job to figure out how to adapt to and mitigate climate change.” —KATE TULLY, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR OF AGROECOLOGY, COLLEGE OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES “As a former science journalist who in 1981 covered the EPA’s first report on the “greenhouse effect,” every aspect of life on Earth will be affected, and journalism must lead the way to educate the public about the complex but critical details of how climate change will affect humanity.” —RONALD A. YAROS, ASSOCIATE PROFESSOR, PHILIP MERRILL COLLEGE OF JOURNALISM FEATURES Fearless Futures UMD exceeded the record $1.5 billion goal of its Fearless Ideas campaign. Now those funds are changing the university—and the world—for the better. By Terp Staff THE END OF FEARLESS IDEAS: THE CAMPAIGN FOR MARYLAND IS JUST THE BEGINNING. The more than $1.5 billion raised—a milestone in the university’s history— isn’t just money for research, scholarships and buildings. It’s an investment to tackle the grand challenges that we all face, from climate change and racial injustice to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Achieving that might not look flashy at first: Gifts big and small support mentorship for first-generation students navigating an unfamiliar world; fresh veggies and a cooking class for an undergraduate struggling with food insecurity; a grant to help a Terp find housing after a family emergency. But these lifelines lead to lifetimes of possibility, putting students on the path today to become tomorrow’s tech disruptors, artistic entrepreneurs and doctors saving lives in the local ER. Donations also help spark broad, ambitious success, funding competitions that equip students with the skills to eradicate homelessness or cybersecurity risks; endowed professorships that drive advances in quantum computing and violence prevention; and futuristic facilities that empower student and faculty researchers in computer science and engineering. The transformational effects of this campaign are already evident across campus now and will reverberate around the world, touching generations to come. The DO GOOD INSTITUTE, generously funded by anonymous benefactors, leads programs, courses and research on social impact, including the annual Do Good Challenge that awards student projects and ventures addressing pressing issues. “ROOTS Africa strives to improve the productivity of small-hold farmers in Africa. We do this by connecting them to agricultural extension agents, experts and trained students, and passing on education, training and knowledge to communities. So far, our five chapters have trained more than 2,000 farmers in Liberia and Uganda in areas such as recordkeeping, cultivation, soil health improvement, animal husbandry and more. “We wouldn’t have reached that number without the help of the Do Good grant. It was a huge step for us. It really is going to move our organization even further to reach remarkable levels.” —DELINA PETER ’22 (GOVERNMENT AND POLITICS), TREASURER AND FORMER PRESIDENT, ROOTS AFRICA Since the pandemic began, the STUDENT CRISIS FUND has distributed more than $2 million in grants to nearly 3,000 students to pay for housing, utilities and other basic necessities. “Everything happened this year: In January I had surgery. In April I became homeless, then I lost my job. I also didn’t have a car. I needed transportation, so I had to use all my savings. I was in a really bad place. My counselor suggested I try the Student Crisis Fund because I had so much going on. I don’t know how I would have been able to survive without it. It was helpful in a practical sense, but it was extremely encouraging, too.” —RACHEL WALLACE ‘24 (DIETETICS AND PSYCHOLOGY) The BARRY AND MARY GOSSETT CENTER FOR ACADEMIC AND PERSONAL EXCELLENCE, named for longtime university supporters, prepares student- athletes for post-college life through paid internships, stipends, workshops and mentoring. “I struggled initially with time management. In the fall, we practice almost every day, and then from January to June, we have a track meet almost every weekend, from Penn State to the University of Nebraska. “I’m thankful to the coaches and academic advisers who guided me every step of the way. In my junior year, I was chosen to be in the first phase of the Gossett Fellows program. I not only got a scholarship, but learned about networking and branding. With those skills, I co-created the Pre-Health Terps Club with two peers to mentor younger student-athletes interested in health careers, and presented the club as my fellowship capstone. “My Gossett Center advisers told me my student-athlete skills were transferrable and to apply for everything—and they were right. After my summer internship at the University of Arizona, my mentor offered me my full-time research position today. “I’m super appreciative for the opportunity to better develop myself as I apply to medical school and work to become a doctor. My parents, who are nurses, taught me to leave the community better than you found it. That’s what I always aim to do.” —NADIA HACKETT ’21 (PUBLIC HEALTH SCIENCE), RESEARCH TECHNICIAN, DEPARTMENT OF IMMUNOBIOLOGY, UNIVERSITY OF ARIZONA The BRENDAN IRIBE CENTER FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING, spurred by a leadership gift from a Terp co-founder of Oculus VR, is a hub for innovation in virtual and augmented reality, artificial intelligence, robotics and computer vision. “We are working toward the next generation of true 3D displays. They produce images that seem to float in space in front of you without the limitations of popular AR/VR headsets, which isolate you from your surroundings and create nausea, or ‘cybersickness,’ in some people. These interactive holographic displays could revolutionize electronic entertainment, but they’ll do much more as well, like help researchers better interact with data, or doctors quickly grasp medical imaging. “The technology can be very power-hungry, and as part of a team of computer scientists and engineers, I’m concentrating on computational technology to reduce electricity consumption for the displays. “The Iribe Center’s ample collaboration and lab spaces help advance the team’s work, bringing together researchers from a wealth of backgrounds to focus on new frontiers in computing and creating world-changing progress.” —SUSMIJA REDDY JABBIREDDY PH.D. ’23 (COMPUTER SCIENCE); GRADUATE ASSISTANT, UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED COMPUTER STUDIES A major gift from mathematics Professor Emeritus Michael and Eugenia Brin and the Brin Family Foundation founded the MAYA BRIN INSTITUTE FOR NEW PERFORMANCE, where students and faculty explore how technology can reimagine the performing arts. “The gift from the Brin family helps us expand upon the experience of innovating theater and dance during the pandemic. With remote performances and virtual performances, we have different ways of seeing art that don’t have to be in person. We can venture outside of traditional spaces. “All of my colleagues and I can jump into a new wave of theater and dance. The Brin family’s gift supports that research.” —ANDRÉS POCH MFA ’22 The CAMPUS PANTRY, which provides free and nutritious emergency food, saw its usage nearly triple during the pandemic and moved in June to a larger home with a commercial refrigerator and teaching kitchen funded in part by donors. “I live off campus, so it can be hard to get to the market. After a friend told me about the pantry, I’ve picked up protein like beans, fresh fruits and veggies from Terp Farm, and occasionally a treat like marshmallows. I grew up helping my mom with the garden at home, and I love cooking, so it’s important to me to have a variety of options. I’d be eating less nutritious food if it weren’t for the pantry. The environment is so welcoming. They offer workshops on cultivating vegetables indoors or teaching you to make dishes like yellow squash stew. “Now, I’m a volunteer. I wanted to give back because a lot of my friends and classmates didn’t know about it, and people won’t try something unless there’s someone familiar there. I didn’t want them to be worried about the stigma. The Campus Pantry is an investment in current students that will help us reach new heights. Once I graduate, I hope to build up communities back in Baltimore to make them safer, both socially and environmentally, creating a more sustainable future.” —NOAH LEE ’24 (ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY) The $219.5 million Building Together investment from the A. James & Alice B. Clark Foundation, the largest in UMD history, is having a transformational impact on campus and beyond. Strengthening the legacy of late philanthropic builder A. James Clark ’50, the investment has created scholarships, endowed professorships and funded new facilities and research opportunities. The MARYLAND PROMISE PROGRAM, funded by the Clark Foundation, other generous donors and UMD, opens access to a life-changing education for students with financial need from Maryland and D.C. “I never had the luxury of choosing school automatically. My family never had the funds. I always had to see if I could get enough financial support to continue my education, or if I should keep working. “The Maryland Promise Program (MPP) made it possible for me to enroll at the Smith School of Business—the only school I wanted to attend. “I’m a first-generation college student, so I’m just trying my best to get through. My parents try their best, but they aren’t able to fully support me academically or financially. That’s why the meetings and mentoring in MPP are so helpful. I feel like I have an on-campus family. “I used to be terrible at talking to people. But the business program focuses heavily on group work, and now, I’m able to speak out, share my ideas and better learn the material. The leadership skills I’m learning through MPP and Smith will really help me in the future, because I hope to be a business leader or entrepreneur.” —JACKSON MARTINEZ ’22 (BUSINESS MANAGEMENT), THE UNIVERSITIES AT SHADY GROVE Endowed professorships, like the CLARK LEADERSHIP CHAIR IN NEUROSCIENCE, help recruit and retain exceptional faculty members. “Everyone talks about how the Clark gift has transformed campus. For me, this means the literal transformation of research in my lab. We study how age constrains the brain’s ability to learn, in order to develop methods to rejuvenate the brain, and the Clark gift has allowed me to introduce cutting-edge tools into this research. “Neuroscience has long focused on how one neuron communicates with another neuron or on the dialogue between neurons in small groups. But new technology, such as high-field magnetic resonance, allows examination of the entire brain in operation from ear to ear and front to back. “The funding from the Clark Leadership Chair is making it possible to incorporate whole-brain MR imaging into this research. The opportunity to move in an entirely new direction is rare, especially for a senior scientist, and I wouldn’t have imagined trying this a year and a half ago.” —ELIZABETH QUINLAN, CLARK LEADERSHIP CHAIR IN NEUROSCIENCE, BRAIN AND BEHAVIOR INSTITUTE DIRECTOR, PROFESSOR OF BIOLOGY Sidebar: By the Numbers $1.5B RAISED 910+ SCHOLARSHIPS ESTABLISHED 117K+ DONORS $219.5M+ LARGEST GIFT, FROM A. JAMES & ALICE B. CLARK FOUNDATION UNIVERSITY ENDOWMENT MORE THAN DOUBLED in philanthropic support for student initiatives $334M RAISED FOR FACULTY SUPPORT Sidebar: 6 Buildings Constructed BRENDAN IRIBE CENTER FOR COMPUTER SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING SCHOOL OF PUBLIC POLICY BUILDING EDWARD ST. JOHN LEARNING AND TEACHING CENTER NEW COLE FIELD HOUSE A. JAMES CLARK HALL E.A. FERNANDEZ IDEA (INNOVATE, DESIGN AND ENGINEER FOR AMERICA) FACTORY A Brand New World New rules allowing college athletes to profit from endorsement deals are changing the game for universities nationwide. UMD aims to be the first with a playbook. By Liam Farrell SLIPPERY, SPEEDY WIDE RECEIVER Rakim Jarrett was ranked among the nation’s top 100 high school players in late 2019 when the five-star Washington, D.C., prospect surprised the college football recruiting world by flipping his commitment from Louisiana State to the hometown Terps. Now a sophomore, Jarrett has shown flashes of his potential, racking up 144 yards and two touchdowns against Penn State in 2020 and a crucial 60-yard score against West Virginia last season. But his off-the-field activities—signing an agent from marketing powerhouse Creative Arts Agency, selling personalized T-shirts and endorsing Jimmy’s Famous Seafood—might be even more game-changing. Until last July, any of those deals would have been major NCAA violations for both the player and program. Now, Jarrett and other Terp athletes are members of the first generation that can capitalize on their fame while still in college following the NCAA’s suspension of rules preventing athletes from profiting off their own “name, image and likeness,” a landmark shift in the governing body’s history. The “NIL” decision followed more than a century of debates and lawsuits over educational and financial benefits for college athletes, as well as a more recent burst of state-by-state legislation ending restrictions on earning money from their popularity. The University of Maryland has sought to be a national leader in this new marketplace, but navigating it has required constant vigilance: Should athletes be allowed to use their schools’ official marks and logos? What are the pitfalls if a player endorses beer or liquor? What happens when sponsors and agents are added to the chorus of voices in a student’s ear? So far, the only certain answer is that it will take years to fully grasp how NIL will shift foundational practices. “It’s like a perfect storm right now for those who have been pushing change,” says Damon Evans, the Barry P. Gossett Director of Athletics for the University of Maryland. “We need to embrace all this stuff and figure out how best we adjust and adapt.” For Jarrett, UMD’s biggest earner so far, it most immediately means he could see up to $60,000 from endorsement deals during his sophomore year. The NFL hopeful, who is currently squirrelling away his earnings, sees his increasingly lucrative personal brand as validation for making his name seven miles from home rather than banking on traditional football bluebloods. THE FIGHT OVER what students should earn for athletic achievements was already well underway by 1852, when a railroad company tried to spur tourism by paying for Harvard and Yale to row against each other on a New Hampshire lake—the first intercollegiate contest in the United States. American collegiate athletics were born out of the British “amateur ideal,” a philosophy that, even if never completely honored, prized schoolboy recreation over results. But disapproval of salaries, coaching and even practice also doubled as a way to keep lower socioeconomic classes off the pitch, an uneasy fit in a New World that prided itself on self-made success and moral development through fierce competition. So the lofty stated principles of the NCAA, founded in 1906, were always in tension with how colleges chased success in high-stakes sports. From cushy dorms and exotic vacations to outright salaries and commissions from local cigarette sales, early 20th-century benefits constantly raised worries that amateur competition had been breached by professionalism. In 1929, a landmark report from the Carnegie Foundation denounced perks of the era from “costly sweaters and extensive journeys in special Pullman cars” to broader practices including high school recruiting and admissions offices prioritizing athletic skill over scholastic aptitude. Yet inch by inch, allowances that would have once horrified proponents of amateurism were integrated into college sports. The so-called Sanity Code of 1948 let schools pay athletes’ tuition, but an effort to expel a targeted “Sinful Seven” schools, including the University of Maryland, for going beyond that failed two years later—a tacit acknowledgment that everyone else was just as guilty. In 1957, the NCAA allowed members to add room, board and fees, essentially covering athletes’ living and educational expenses. But another clause was approved as well, stating “a student-athlete’s picture may not be associated with a commercial product in such a way as to imply endorsement, nor may he receive remuneration.” Not surprisingly, tensions increased between the NCAA, universities, athletes and advocates when licensing revenue exploded in the 1980s and 1990s. While the sanctioned money available to students remained largely limited to scholarships, the television deals, stadium gate receipts and coaches’ salaries continued on a far steeper climb. Video games proved the modern flashpoint. Former UCLA basketball star Ed O’Bannon filed an antitrust lawsuit over his digital likeness being used without permission in the 2009 edition of Electronic Arts’ NCAA Basketball franchise. The qualified successes of his and additional legal challenges amplified the NIL conversation in media, government and player circles. Then in 2019, California became the first state to allow college athletes to earn endorsement money. With no competing federal or NCAA policy, the opening whistle had blown for states to run their own NIL race. BY EARLY 2021, when legislators in Annapolis began to consider the issue in earnest, UMD athletics officials were already drafting their NIL playbook. The university had been working since 2019 with the sports branding company Opendorse, which also links professional athletes with endorsement opportunities, to help provide photos, videos and graphics that Terps can use to promote themselves and connect with fans on social media. With NIL on the way, an additional four-year partnership was signed to collaborate on this new process. While neither the athletic department nor Opendorse can arrange deals for individual athletes, the company’s nline platform estimates someone’s fair market value; helps companies and brands identify potential clients based on factors such as location, sport and size of social media following; and informs the institution about student deals. T.J. Ciro ’02, senior vice president and head of partnerships for Opendorse, says UMD showed a “progressive mindset.” “A lot of schools were waiting for the NCAA to provide more direction,” he says. “Maryland was definitely one of the early adopters.” In April, the Maryland General Assembly passed the Jordan McNair Safe and Fair Play Act. Named after the UMD football player who collapsed from heatstroke and died following a 2018 team workout, the legislation bundled together NIL regulations and safety requirements for state intercollegiate athletics programs. The Maryland NIL rules won’t take effect until July 1, 2023, unless the General Assembly votes to implement them sooner during the annual 90-day legislative session that began in January. But the NCAA suspended its compensation ban last July 1, allowing athletes to earn endorsements pursuant to individual state, conference and school oversight. So without many guidelines, UMD has been feeling its way through: New NIL deals have to be disclosed to the university within 14 days of an agreement; students can sign with competitors of a university sponsor (i.e., Nike vs. Under Armour, Coke vs. Pepsi), but tobacco companies, adult entertainment and anything involving NCAA-banned substances—including medical marijuana and other cannabis products—are off-limits; and students with products or ads using official trademarks and logos are subject to paying UMD its standard 12% royalty rate. “I saw this as a win-win,” says Evans, a former Georgia wide receiver. “Why shouldn’t (athletes) have the right?” THE BEGINNING OF the endorsement era has had no shortage of heady deals: an Oregon defensive lineman started his own cryptocurrency; Arby’s handed out $500 to the first 200 Division I running backs (“#ArbysRBs”) who posted a video saying, “Tonight, I’m getting Arby’s;” a Kentucky freshman basketball player rolled up to campus in a Porsche after inking an agreement with a luxury car dealership; a protein bar company struck an agreement with the entire BYU football team, even paying walk-ons enough to cover tuition. Students in niche sports are finding opportunities as well. Brooke DeBerdine, a Terp midfielder, signed a deal with Longstreth Field Hockey to represent its Gryphon line of sticks, bags, protective gear and shoes. A national team member hoping to compete in the 2024 Summer Olympics, DeBerdine says NIL has provided valuable business and brand building experience prior to leaving College Park. “It’s a good time to be able to do that before having a complete lifestyle change (after graduation),” she says. “It was definitely exciting, but also overwhelming.”DeBerdine praises Maryland Athletics’ efforts to teach her and other athletes how to navigate the new rules and UMD’s tools to support them. For example, in October, it launched a licensing program with the Brandr Group so athletes can collectively opt into an agreement and legally use the university’s trademarks and logos on their own products. Opendorse, which has also partnered with schools such as Clemson, Florida, Texas and Ohio State, released an early snapshot of the bottom line for athletes who have secured deals through its platform. From July 1 through Nov. 30, the Big Ten Conference, which includes Maryland, was tops in the country in terms of total compensation and activity. Football earned about 48% of the available compensation, trailed by women’s and men’s basketball, at about 25% and 17%, respectively. The average compensation for Division I athletes was $1,256, compared to $75 for Division II and $37 for Division III. While an athlete’s celebrity might attract a first deal, Ciro says, the students collecting multiple endorsements are the ones putting time and effort into their promotions. Fresno State basketball players Haley and Hanna Cavinder were able to leverage their millions of followers on TikTok to land a deal with Boost Mobile, but Ciro says companies also see value in the tens of thousands of less famous options whose audiences may be smaller but are more invested in their success. “Every person who follows them, follows them for a reason,” he says. “When you start to scale that (influence) across the country, you can see why brands are excited.” EVEN IF TERP ATHLETES won’t be bartending at Bentley’s or driving Shuttle-UM buses anytime soon, it’s clear that burgeoning stars such as basketball player siblings Julian and Angel Reese will have plenty of available gigs, with Julian endorsing NFL quarterback Tom Brady’s new apparel line and Angel doing Instagram promotions for Giant Food, Starface skin care and Prissy Athletics clothing. At the start of NIL, women’s basketball Coach Brenda Frese wondered how her already-busy collegiate players would respond to its commercial demands. But so far, Frese says, NIL syncs with her roster’s existing social media habits and has given players positive opportunities to build their personal brands. “It was long overdue for players to use their own rights,” she says. “They have done a really good job knowing how much they can take on. It’s just another thing they have to balance.” Frese says NIL will also pay dividends for the visibility of women’s basketball and a successful program like UMD, which is located in a large media market, plays high-profile matches on national television and is consistently in the hunt for national championships. “The future is really bright,” she says. “I’m super optimistic for our girls.” And it’s undeniable that NIL has become a consideration for sought after recruits when they pick a program. While many talented football players finish their high school requirements a semester early to get a jump on college practice and conditioning in the spring, one Kentucky high school player even left his team mid-season to head to Rutgers and ink a reportedly six-figure NIL deal. But, among many other questions, how sustainable the most lucrative agreements will be at the individual or group level is still to be determined—the volatile and inconsistent nature of college sports inevitably dims some of August’s future stars into December’s afterthoughts. One high school quarterback enrolled a full year ahead of schedule at Ohio State with endorsements and a $1.4 million autograph contract, but decided to transfer last month to Texas after recording just two snaps in his nascent Columbus career. On the national stage, the NCAA has been lobbying Congress to pass a framework that would include mandated financial counseling on tax and scholarship implications and ensure a fair, competitive environment across jurisdictions. Much like their predecessors, the organization’s leaders also say they are trying to preserve the unique dual athletic-educational character of collegiate competition and protect amateurs who should make just as many gains in lecture halls as in weight rooms. “We already are hearing from athletics programs giving evidence of a negatively changed recruiting landscape,” NCAA President Mark Emmert told the House Subcommittee on Consumer Protection and Commerce in a September hearing. “As new states rush to keep up with the states that have enacted NIL reform, we are likely to see a ‘race to the bottom,’ with each state trying to ensure that its schools have a competitive advantage over other states until eventually the protections for student-athletes become so thin that there is little discernible difference between college athletes and professional sports figures.” Other shifting factors also make it hard to predict NIL’s potentially seismic effects. Fights over the College Football Playoff’s format reignite just about every year; conference membership switches and an explosion in transfers and COVID-19-era eligibility tweaks have further complicated team management; coaching contracts have taken another stratospheric leap, further upping competition between universities for staff and ballooning salary and contract buyout obligations. The Supreme Court has signaled a willingness to hear more challenges to traditionally accepted NCAA practices, and in September, National Labor Relations Board General Counsel Jennifer Abruzzo issued a memo saying that student-athletes should be afforded the same protections, including the right to unionize, as other employees—a classification that, if officially conferred, would tear the last threads connecting America’s stadiums to the 19th-century fields of Oxford and Cambridge. For his part, the Terps’ Rakim Jarrett is trying not to let the lure of financial success go to his head. In July, he jokingly tweeted (with a skull emoji), “Didn’t know I was going from high school to paying taxes!!” Yet in looking at his surprise financial opportunities once only available to the pros, he allows himself a moment to consider the trailblazing route he’s already running for future players in red, black and gold. “I don’t want to think too far ahead,” Jarrett says. “(But) that’ll be pretty cool to think back on.” NIL at a Glance Here’s how name, image and likeness activity played out for Terp athletes from July through early December: 145 DISCLOSED DEALS DISCLOSURES PER SPORT 54% from Olympic sports 46% from football and men’s and women’s basketball AVERAGE VALUE PER DEAL $780 69% cash deals 31% in-kind PERCENTAGE OF DEALS WORTH $1,000 OR MORE 12% PERCENTAGE OF DEALS WORTH $10,000 OR MORE 2% UMD TEAMS REPRESENTED 17 of 20 programs HIGHEST UMD EARNER Rakim Jarrett, football wide receiver BREAKING DOWN THE DEALS 59% social media activities 17% rights/endorsements 8% appearances/events 8% content creations 6% merchandise 2% autograph sessions A Rooted Return Her ancestor was enslaved in Prince George’s County. Five generations later, a doctoral student is reinvigorating the area’s agricultural—and communal—ties. By Sala Levin’10 IN 1902, Robert Harrod Sr. signed the deed to own land in the very county where he had spent the beginning of his life legally owned and enslaved. He bought 13 acres near present-day FedEx Field, which he farmed throughout his life, then divided into smaller parcels for each of his five children. Their legacy was cut off in the 1970s, however, when the state and Prince George’s County took ownership of the land as the result of unpaid property taxes. Brittney Drakeford, a doctoral student in UMD’s School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation, grew up in the county and recalls accompanying her mother and grandmother on drives where they’d pass a particular stretch of land, vacant and wild. They’d always point out that it had once belonged to Brittney’s great-great great-grandfather. When Harrod owned it, the land had fronted a street called Harrod Road or Harrod Avenue. Now, the overgrown road is called Deputy Lane. “To literally see this complete erasure—it made me furious,” Drakeford says. It’s an erasure that Drakeford, at least the sixth generation of her family to live in Prince George’s County, is set on halting. Despite the county’s rich agricultural history, many of its residents now lack access to fresh food and are disconnected from the land seeded for centuries with a painful history. As a senior planner with the county and community leader, Drakeford is determined to remedy that. Through her volunteer efforts developing a neighborhood garden, opening farmers markets and helping churches become hubs for nourishment, Drakeford is building a community empowered in its relationship to the environment. “My great-grandparents, my mother, they probably never would have thought that they’d even be able to tap into this information, and now they have a descendant who’s literally in a position to research their story, affirm their story, hopefully protect their family lineage,” she says. “I feel responsibility and a burden.” THE CONCORD plantation, built in the 1790s in what is now Capitol Heights, was the jewel of Zachariah Berry’s extensive landholdings—and the site where records suggest Drakeford’s ancestor was enslaved. During Berry’s lifetime, dozens of enslaved people worked at Concord, growing crops and raising milk cows, oxen, swine, sheep and other animals in the shadow of his Federal-style mansion. By 1800, Berry was Prince George’s County’s seventh-largest slaveholder and a well-known figure in a county that was a stronghold of slavery in Maryland. In 1850, the county was home to 11,510 enslaved people, nearly half of its population. Drakeford began to piece together the story of Robert Harrod Sr. in high school, when she was assigned to research her family history. She learned that he was born in 1851 or 1852, likely at Concord but possibly at one of Berry’s other properties. She began collecting information from her relatives, obituaries, census records, family bibles, wills and elders at her church, where a stained-glass window is dedicated to Robert Harrod Jr. and his wife. Eventually, Drakeford found the property deed recording Robert Harrod Sr.’s purchase in the Huntsville area. It was “not unusual at all” for Black people to buy land in the county in the decades after the Civil War, says Susan Pearl, historian for the Prince George’s County Historical Society, though “13 acres is a pretty good amount.” Many Black families supported themselves on two or three acres, she says. Black farming communities began springing up around the 1880s, and Black ownership of farms increased into the early 1900s. But by the middle of the century, suburban sprawl threatened both white- and Black-owned farms. The fate of the Harrod family farm encapsulates the main thrust of Drakeford’s academic, professional and personal interests: how zoning and land-use regulations have real-world consequences, especially for marginalized communities. What can a parcel of land be used for? Where can food be grown or sold? Can you plant a vegetable garden at your own home? As a planner with the county, Drakeford has the power to “bring in people who have not necessarily participated in these processes before,” she says. She can inform friends and neighbors about projects, forums, meetings, proposed regulations. “I know how to communicate to them, ‘This is what planning really means for your neighborhood.’” And yet, as she sees her loved ones struggle with the diseases and difficulties that can come from an unhealthy or unsafe personal environment, she wonders, “Can I even protect my family?” AT THE END of a quiet residential street in Cottage City, Md., past the brick town hall on a lot near the Anacostia River, Drakeford is at home in more than one sense. She wends her way through the community garden, its plants laden with cherry tomatoes, eggplants and peppers, pointing out the new irrigation system, the Concord grapevines, the beehives in the back. Some of the Cottage City gardeners are part of the seed-saving movement, in which native plants are preserved by passing their seeds on to future generations. The indigenous peanuts, peas and sweet potatoes growing in the garden have evolved to thrive in the acidity of the local soil, the sun exposure and the weather. Like those plants, Drakeford knows how to bloom in the land she’s planted in. “There are these environmental factors that make it easier for me, because of that familiarity, to navigate in this environment.” When she struggled in school, she’d drop in at her aunt’s house for a home-cooked dinner. When she needs advice today, she visits her dad down the street. Drakeford was a senior in high school in 2004 when her mother, Sharon, died of pulmonary sarcoidosis, a rare lung disease resulting from the body’s immune response. The root cause is unknown, but research suggests that the triggers could be fungi, chemicals, dust, bacteria or viruses. The Cleveland Clinic reports that African Americans are four to 17 times more likely to develop the disease than white people and are more likely to have a severe form. Drakeford believes her mom’s case “was probably because of the neighborhood where she grew up, the impacts of residential segregation and the trauma of displacement,” she says. Her mother’s death sparked Drakeford’s interest in her family history, which she continued researching as an undergraduate studying journalism and African American history at North Carolina A&T State University in Greensboro, and in her graduate and professional work. It was in college that Drakeford began to realize her interest in place and people. When a fellow student complained that Greensboro was boring, Drakeford balked. She thought that was impossible in any city, with all its residents and their stories bouncing up against one another in parks, offices, coffee shops and homes—and she was determined to prove it. She began exploring Greensboro, “just sitting back, watching, learning, listening and then saying, ‘Okay, well, what can I do?’” She began volunteering at the African American Atelier, an art gallery that she’d stumbled upon one day while walking downtown. Eventually, she became a youth director and curator, organizing exhibits focusing on women living in poverty or young, up-and-coming artists. “I started to realize that how we designed an exhibit ... forced people to have certain types of internal reflections and certain types of internal conversations, and it also forced these external conversations,” Drakeford says. It was an early revelation that the physical environment shaped relationships. After earning a master’s degree in management at Wake Forest University, Drakeford returned to Maryland and began working for the Maryland-National Capital Park and Planning Commission (MNCPPC), which governs land-use planning in Montgomery and Prince George’s counties. She learned the nuances of zoning ordinances and started a doctoral program in urban and regional planning and design at UMD. “I’ve learned things (from Drakeford) that I wasn’t necessarily able to see from academe and from a researcher’s perspective, in terms of ... the bureaucracy of the process of planning,” says Marccus Hendricks, Drakeford’s adviser and assistant professor in the School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. “She is a sponge in terms of soaking up as much information and knowledge as she possibly can, and really driven to really support communities in a way that they see fit.” THE COTTAGE CITY Community Garden is one example of Drakeford’s on-the-ground approach. Though she loved playing in the dirt as a kid, she didn’t nurture her green thumb until her aunt suggested they build a memorial garden at Drakeford’s grandmother’s home to honor her mother. Crepe myrtle trees, rose of Sharon bushes and irises soon took hold. Later, Drakeford joined the Port Towns Youth Council, a program of the nonprofit End Times Harvest Ministries. Since 1996, the nonprofit has gotten Prince George’s County youth involved in their communities through peer education, internships and career readiness programs. The Cottage City Community Garden, founded in 2010, was one of its projects, and Drakeford now serves as its co-manager. She wanted the garden to be not just a place to grow cucumbers, but a neighborhood centerpiece and a space for locals to find fellowship. In Cottage City, gardening tools and an irrigation system provided by the garden team allow residents to focus on planting, harvesting and socializing rather than figuring out how to supply their own materials. During the COVID-19 pandemic, neighbors have gathered in the garden for outdoor happy hours, and—in non-pandemic times—the garden hosts workshops and events for students. Cottage City has few restaurants, coffee shops or other public spaces people can talk to one another. “By the nature of us having this garden, we literally create a space where people can come and gather,” Drakeford says. Other benefits follow, too. The physical activity of gardening is good exercise, and studies show that regular access to fresh produce may have a positive effect on conditions like diabetes and hypertension. A ban on pesticides and chemicals helps keep the garden environmentally healthy, too. Drakeford often impresses with her ability to deliver what seems improbable. “We had this grandiose plan, which I was shaking my head about, about getting a grant to build a new irrigation system,” says Denise Hamler, a Cottage City resident who works in the garden. With Drakeford’s help, “by gosh, we got that grant, and we have a new cistern and irrigation system.” Farmers markets are another avenue for Drakeford to help feed people, physically and emotionally. In 2018, after the local Safeway closed, she and her cousin, Kyle Reeder, launched the Capitol Heights farmers market, now in partnership with her church, Gethsemane United Methodist. Drakeford and the team founded a second location in Suitland, and now the two farmers markets draw about 60 vendors, most of whom are Black farmers. On a late summer Sunday morning at the Suitland location, in a strip mall’s parking lot, the bounty included fruits, vegetables, baked goods, jams and sausages.She “helps us to remain connected and remain relevant, and she continues to bring to the table what the needs of the community are and helps us to focus so that we are meeting the needs,” says Ron Triplett, Drakeford’s pastor. Churches are a locus of another of Drakeford’s goals: to turn unused kitchens, cold storage space and, sometimes, land into a new branch of the food system, allowing farmers to use that real estate for food production. In a county where one in seven residents experiences food insecurity, according to a 2015 study conducted by the MNCPPC, churches—often central places in many Prince Georgians’ lives—could be key to expanding access to nutritious foods. AT SOME POINT during the pandemic, as she was preparing for her comprehensive exams, Drakeford spent the better part of a month crying. Her uncle had recently died, and there was talk of selling the church where her great-great-grandparents were buried. She felt powerless. “I have perceived power” because of her position in county government, she says, but “I don’t have enough power to save my family, in a sense.” In person, Drakeford is buoyant and talkative, willing to give generously of herself and her time. And yet, she admits, “I’m exhausted.” She feels the trauma her long-ago ancestors experienced on this land, and newer trauma, too. Her father, she says, was pulled over by county police when he was a teenager, accused of robbing a store he’d never been to and put in the back of the police car. Though he wasn’t physically harmed, Drakeford says the moment was “a very pronounced incident” in his relationship with the county he grew up in. On her personal website, Drakeford muses about how Black people must look both forward and backward in shaping their lives. “If you’ve sat in a conversation with me for more than 30 minutes, at some point I’ve probably drifted into some ideas of Afro-futurism; Black people planning their future and preserving their history as radical acts of time travel and time reclamation.” She plans and builds, believing that doing so can take back some of what was lost. Drakeford’s father and his sisters own a parcel of inherited property in South Carolina, where she’s leading the family in creating a land trust to preserve it permanently. At 15 acres, it’s a little more than the farmland her great-great-great-grandfather bought for himself and his descendants. She hopes one day they’ll start a family farm there—a loop connecting past and future, a harkening to what came before and a stake in what is still to come. ALUMNI Letter from the Executive Director It was only a few years ago that Matthew Hollister ’18 stood on the stage at the Do Good Challenge, telling the audience about how his father’s passing inspired him to start a nonprofit that reduces medication waste by sending unused drugs to developing nations. He’s among the many amazing Terps—from entrepreneurs to scientists to artists to business and government leaders—who are making meaningful changes in their communities and the world. We launched our Alumni Excellence Awards in 2020 to honor some of these Terps. This year we’re celebrating Hollister and 13 other outstanding graduates (see story on facing page), and I hope you’re just as inspired as we are by all that they have accomplished. Here at the Alumni Association, we’re eager to encourage pride as well as connections among Terps. One of the best ways to make those bonds is through the Alumni Directory, where you can create an account and locate friends, classmates and colleagues. Another way to get—or stay—in touch with fellow Terps is through the Terp Referral Exchange. If you’re the owner or leader of a business, sign up for this business directory for the opportunity to promote your company to fellow alumni and learn about other Terp-owned businesses. Get to know other entrepreneurial Terps, and discover how you can learn from and support one another. As we enter a new year, we are excited to share lots of ways to connect with you in person and virtually. Be on the lookout for new programs and events where you can continue to strengthen your relationships with each other and the university. I wish each of you a safe and healthy winter. Go Terps! Amy Eichhorst Executive Director University of Maryland Alumni Association The Alumni Excellence Awards University of Maryland graduates are among the best and brightest in their fields. From scholars and innovators to entrepreneurs, teachers and researchers, our alumni are leaving their mark on our state, nation and the world. The Alumni Excellence Awards provide an opportunity to recognize the accomplishments of select Terps and honor these recipients with distinction. Careful consideration was made in selecting the following standout alumni, our 2021 recipients of the Alumni Excellence Awards. Learn more at alumni.umd.edu/excellence. Rising Terp Award The following alumni are an inspiration to the next generation of Terp leaders. All under the age of 30, they have already made significant professional accomplishments. Audrey Awasom ’18, Founder, Noble Uprising: Awasom’s nonprofit serves women experiencing homelessness, poverty and overall hardship. Matthew Hollister ’18, Chairman and CEO, James Hollister Wellness Foundation; co-founder, Save Pharmaceutical: Hollister’s foundation collects and sends donated medications to low-income countries. His new venture will match facilities with a pharmaceutical surplus to clinics in need. Akash Magoon ’18 Co-founder, Nayya: A computer science alum, Magoon co-founded Nayya to help employees choose and enroll in health benefits and then engage with their health plans. EnTERPreneur Award These Terps are fearlessly disrupting their industries as successful entrepreneurs who have notably contributed to their respective fields. David C. Quattrone MBA ’05, Co-founder and chief technology officer, Cvent: Under Quattrone’s direction, Cvent has become a leading provider of meeting, event and hospitality technology for more than 23,000 customers worldwide. Lauren Foundos ’06, Founder and CEO, Fortë: Foundos left a successful career as a bond trader to launch a streaming service that puts subscribers virtually in classes with instructors in gyms around the world. Pramod Raheja ’91 and Evandro Valente ’03, M.S. ’06, Co-founders, Airgility The aerospace engineering graduates now design and manufacture unmanned aerial vehicles that can improve and save lives. Legacy Award This distinguished award honors alumni who left a positive legacy in their community, celebrating their personal and professional lifetime achievements. John C. Ford ’64, Owner, John C. Ford Associates Sandra Sollod Poster ‘64, Communications Consultant These two communications professionals have served as ambassadors for the School of Theatre, Dance, and Performance Studies and funded two dance scholarships. Rita B. Leahy Ph.D. ’89, Asphalt technology authority: Through her service on UMD’s Graduate School Doctoral Careers Advisory Board, and as founder of a speaker series established in her name, Leahy has helped doctoral students understand career options. Jonathan Claiborne ’77, Retired partner, Whiteford Taylor Preston: The former Terps football safety has served as president of UMD’s previous Young Alumni Organization and the M Club and supported the university’s Incentive Awards Program. Research Award The University of Maryland is one of the world’s premier research institutions. This award recognizes three alumni for their transformational research and its impact. Faez Ahmed Ph.D. ’19: Assistant Professor of Mechanical Engineering; Director, Design Computation & Digital Engineering Lab, Massachusetts Institute of Technology: Through his research on machine learning and engineering design, Ahmed hopes to improve product design and quality, and as a result, human efficiency. Bridget T. Kelly M.A.’96, Ph.D.’01, Associate Professor, Diversity Officer and Chair of the Council on Racial Equity and Justice, UMD College of Education: An advocate for equity, Kelly and her research have helped educators across the country understand the experiences of women and people of color in higher education. Dr. Kathleen Maletic Neuzil ’83, Myron M. Levine, MD, DTPH, Professor in Vaccinology; director of the Center for Vaccine Development and Global Health; chief, Division of Geographic Medicine; University of Maryland School of Medicine: Neuzil, one of the world’s leading research scientists in vaccine development and policy, was instrumental in developing and testing COVID-19 vaccines during the pandemic. “Protecting the Democratic Process Itself” Alum Takes Over as Police Chief in Wake of Jan. 6 Riot As police chief for decades in D.C.’s two biggest suburban counties, J. Thomas Manger ’76 knows well the procedures for backing up law enforcement agencies facing unrest in the nation’s capital. As he watched a mob storm the U.S. Capitol last Jan. 6 on live TV, brutalizing badly outnumbered U.S. Capitol Police and District of Columbia officers, it was clear those steps weren’t being followed. “I was alternately angry and in tears,” Manger says. “I just wanted to grab 150 of my cops and go down there.” Except he no longer had officers to lead into the fray. After 15 years as Montgomery County, Md., police chief, he’d turned in his badge in early 2019 to enjoy time with his wife and teenage children while easing into a less life-and-death assignment as legislative director of the Major Cities Chiefs Association. Now, for the first time, he regretted retiring. He wouldn’t have to for long. Congressional recruiters quickly recognized that Manger’s blend of D.C. smarts, emphasis on community engagement and dedication to officers’ well-being made him an ideal successor to Steven Sund, who resigned as Capitol Police chief a day after the attack. Manger started his third posting as a police chief in July, making clear he doesn’t consider his job one of cleaning house or fixing a broken department. While the force couldn’t keep rioters out of the Capitol, it did accomplish—with much individual heroism—the imperatives of protecting lawmakers and allowing the 2020 presidential election certification to proceed. Just as in previous top jobs, he’ll focus heavily on relationships, says a former assistant chief in Montgomery County who calls Manger a mentor. That includes building ties with his officers, the community he’s sworn to protect and community leaders (no shortage of those on Capitol Hill, Manger jokes). “He’s not going to go in and fire a lot of people, or pound his fist and say, ‘We’re doing things my way now,’” says Luther Reynolds, now police chief in Charleston, S.C. “A lot of his leadership is based on listening and knowing what to do with that ... Tom’s approach is, ‘Let’s find what’s working well and build on it.’” The commitment to serve rather than dominate a department or community was strongly inculcated in him in University of Maryland criminology classes, Manger says—although his first job out of college as an Ocean City summer cop in 1976 was far from a leadership academy. “I think they gave us a week of training and then sent us out with a gun and a badge,” he says. He was living with his family in Silver Spring and applying for jobs throughout the region when he got the call from Fairfax County, Va. Over 27 years, he worked his way up to chief, a position he held for six years before moving to Montgomery County. In those postings he focused on police accountability—for instance, introducing dashcams in Fairfax and wearing a body camera himself in Montgomery—and changing department cultures to embrace a “serve and protect” ethos. Long before the killings of Michael Brown and George Floyd transfixed the nation on the toll of unequal policing, Manger worked on building bridges to marginalized communities; today, he says, much has changed for the better in both style and substance from the early days of his career, when his jaw dropped at racial slurs casually tossed about in squad rooms. Leading the U.S. Capitol Police Department—which suffered widespread physical and psychological injuries during the Jan. 6 attack, including the deaths of several officers and the resignations of many others since then—he focuses on the stresses of policing in the 21st century, to support his officers and reshape a national narrative he worries will make it harder to carry out the department’s unique charge. “There’s no other police agency,” Manger says, “that does what we do—protecting the members of Congress and protecting the democratic process itself.”—CC Class Notes BRIONNA JONES ’16, a forward with the Connecticut Sun since 2017, was named the 2021 Associated Press and Kia WNBA Most Improved Player. She averaged 11.2 points, 5.6 rebounds, 1 assist and 26.1 minutes in 21 games, including scoring 34 points against the Indiana Fever during a game last July. She ranked second in the WNBA in offensive rebounding. BRANDIE SMITH PH.D. ’10 was named the John and Adrienne Mars director of the Smithsonian’s National Zoo and Conservation Biology Institute. Since joining the staff in 2008, she helped revitalize the giant panda program by integrating excellence in animal husbandry with new technology in reproductive biology. FRANTIŠEK BRABEC PH.D. ’05 won second place and $125,000 in NASA’s Space Robotics Challenge, a multiyear virtual competition to develop software that would allow robots to operate autonomously on the surface of the Moon and find, excavate and transport resources needed by future astronauts on lunar missions. He is a computer scientist, serial entrepreneur, inventor, adviser and mentor to startups. RAMIT VARMA ’96, co-founder of the test prep company Revolution Prep, is running for mayor of Los Angeles. Varma, a Democrat with no prior political experience, is campaigning on a platform of ending homelessness in the city and building more affordable housing. The U.S. Senate confirmed TRACY STONE-MANNING ’88 as director of the Bureau of Land Management, which oversees grazing, logging and drilling on 245 million acres of public land. She was most recently senior adviser for conservation policy at the National Wildlife Federation, and previously served as chief of staff to Montana Gov. Steve Bullock. Submit your class notes and read many more at terp.umd.edu. Letters of Hope and Familiarity Alum’s New Book Highlights African Americans’ Relationship to Lincoln For six months, Black officers in a Union regiment stationed in Florida had been building fortifications and guarding a nine-mile perimeter while earning just over half the salary of their white counterparts—though cannons and rifles themselves wouldn’t discriminate by skin color. Fearing their families back home in New Orleans were starving, the officers implored their commander in chief in January 1864 for better pay because “our lives is as Sweet” to them as they would be to any other soldiers. The addressee of that letter was President Abraham Lincoln, and it is among dozens of examples of raw, angry, eloquent and hopeful correspondence collected in a new book edited by Jonathan W. White M.A. ’03, Ph.D. ’08. “To Address You as My Friend: African Americans’ Letters to Abraham Lincoln” (University of North Carolina Press) provides rare insight into how Black Americans viewed themselves and the president. “A lot of times when historians quote African Americans from periods like the Civil War, they have to rely on what white people wrote down after they heard Black people talk. It’s hard to find Black voices in the hand of the Black writer or thinker,” says White, an associate professor of American studies at Christopher Newport University. “Recovering those voices is one of the things that makes this book important.” White, a former research assistant for Ira Berlin, the late UMD professor and historian of the African American experience, dedicates the book to his teachers at Maryland. He was also inspired by the Freedmen and Southern Society Project, a UMD collaboration with the National Archives that since 1976 has published documents exploring the beginning of the Civil War through Reconstruction. The book’s 125 letters, most of which have never before been published, often address the president in familiar terms and beseech him to end their suffering as second-class citizens. “This new book is unlike anything else,” says Richard Bell, a UMD history professor and expert on slavery and the Civil War-era United States. “We get these unvarnished insights into African American life and consciousness as they put their hope in Abraham Lincoln ... someone they’ve come to regard as their unexpected friend.” The White House and its decisions were therefore far from abstract. Annie Davis, an enslaved Marylander in Bel Air, wrote Lincoln in August 1864 to ask whether she could see her family on the Eastern Shore even though “my mistress won’t let me;” three months later, Lincoln’s behind-the-scenes efforts to promote emancipation in the state helped it come to fruition. “They feel as if they know him,” White says. “No one grieves more than African Americans when Lincoln is assassinated. They know the personal loss they are going to experience.”—LF A Better Plan for Secondhand Alum’s Streamlined Furniture Resale Website Aims to Cushion the Stress of Online Sales Reham Fagiri ’04 turned to popular classifieds site Craigslist to sell her furniture before a move to New York City. But after a string of no-shows, strangers parading through her home and awkward haggling, “I thought to myself, there has to be a better way to do this,” she says. With a background in software development and an MBA, she was equipped for the challenge, co-founding AptDeco, a furniture resale website, in 2014. The online marketplace—which has grown from servicing just New York City to much of the Northeast, from Delaware to Connecticut, as well as the San Francisco Bay Area—eliminates the sketchiness around peer-to-peer sales by offering pricing suggestions, a secure payment system, and pickup and delivery. “We wanted to create a trusted community where you could remove the friction and the scams,” she says. Initially rolled out to friends and family, the website soon expanded—and the site’s first sale, a headboard, was made by a stranger. “The first moment I thought, ‘Wow, this is a real business’ is when I didn’t recognize any of the people shopping on the site.” The young company got a boost when it was accepted by the Y Combinator, a famed Silicon Valley startup accelerator that has funded the likes of DoorDash and Airbnb, and helped Fagiri and her co-founder, Dennis Kalam, meet investors and learn from other startups. But AptDeco also faced stumbles. Initially, the company contracted its pickup and delivery to moving companies. But when a truck didn’t show up, or the service quality was poor, AptDeco got the blame, not the third party. Now, they’ve brought delivery operations in-house, and the company has created software to optimize delivery routes. The hustle of startup life is familiar to Fagiri, who grew up in Sudan and came to the University of Maryland as a 16-year-old to study electrical engineering. “I come from a family of entrepreneurs. In Sudan, like in a lot of developing countries, there aren’t a lot of big corporations. To be successful, you have to create your own business and solve your own problems,” she says. Today, she’s expanded AptDeco to more than 100 employees and is preparing to enter new markets, including Washington, D.C. Despite Fagiri’s success, she knows the odds are stacked against other entrepreneurs like her: Black, immigrant and female. “There’s very little capital that goes to women or minorities. But that shouldn’t stop you. If you have an idea, do it.”—KS From the Archives Throwback Threads As Women’s Basketball Team Shoots for More Success, Get a Glimpse of 1920s Game-day Garb Before the University of Maryland women’s basketball team was commanding the court in today’s streamlined and sweat-wicking uniforms, Terps seemed to take “suit up for game day” literally—neckties and all. As UMD competes to defend its Big Ten title this season, we took a timeout with University Archives to look into the program’s past. Team photos from the 1920s, well before women’s basketball was even recognized as a varsity sport, feature players donning knee-high socks, scarves or ties, plain white shirts and belted shorts. A donated gym suit from the collection of Mildred P. Smith, a 1922 grad who organized UMD’s first women’s hoops team, givesfans a front-row perspective. Between the collar, long sleeves and ballooning bottoms, it might be hard to believe someone could drill a jump shot or scramble after a loose ball in this. But maybe the wear and tear and not-so-subtle stains can convince you.—AK