April 26, 2019
A newsletter for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends
Lawmakers greenlight new health professions building
Construction of a new building for UMES’ School of Pharmacy and Health Professions is slated to begin this fall, triggered by a $10 million allocation from the 2019 Maryland General Assembly. The project enables the university to consolidate its pharmacy programs into a single building and fulfill a longstanding goal tied to accreditation. Pharmacy classes, laboratories and faculty offices currently are spread among six buildings. A three-story structure will be built on the east side of campus across the street from the Engineering and Aviation Science Complex on property where a sprawling greenhouse complex once stood. A 2011 fire destroyed that structure, and demolition got underway shortly after the legislature approved the 2019-20 capital expenditures budget. Lawmakers also committed to provide UMES additional money for
Plans call for construction to start this fall
the project when they return to Annapolis next year and in 2021, helping ensure that funding stays on track. The new building’s projected price tag is nearly $90 million, which includes planning and equipment. Gov. Larry Hogan threw his support behind a request from UMES in 2016 for $3.5 million to get preliminary planning started. A year later, the university received another $3 million to keep the project on schedule for projected
completion by the fall 2021. “We are thankful for the support we have received from Governor Hogan, our Eastern Shore legislators, the Department of Budget and Management and the University System of Maryland for our new building,” said acting Provost Rondall E. Allen, who spearheaded the years-long BUILDING / continued on page 2
UMES professor’s dissertation garners national acclaim
INSIDE
A dissertation examining a middle-school curriculum that challenged students to identify and solve problems in their community earned UMES English professor Courtney Harned her doctorate a year ago – and national recognition. The American Educational Research Association early this month honored Harned with its (Special Interest Group’s) “Rural Dissertation of the Year” award at a conference in Canada that attracted educators from around the globe. Harned, who joined the UMES faculty in 2007, also presented a brief summary of her work to conference attendees. Her dissertation focused on “Understanding Critically Informed, PlaceConscious Literacy Instruction in a Rural Context.”
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Reconciliation Commission Bernstein Professor
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Top Student-Teacher Harned cont.
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Student Commentator Named New Student Leaders
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Harned identified a local school system and worked with an eighth-grade English teacher to craft a curriculum that met state learning objectives for standardized testing. The goal was to infuse “elements of place to create greater relevance for students and to promote agency in examining critical issues in the community,” she said. “The most important thing
UMES in Italy on Spring Break
Page 6 Track Team Bowling Basketball
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HARNED / continued on page 2
VIP Visit, Epilepsy Walk UMES Mentor Young Elites Research Symposium, Dietetic interns
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Arts & Entertainment Calendar
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The Key / April 26, 2019
UMES to have a say in confronting lynching legacy The University of Maryland Eastern Shore will have a say in shaping how the state should redress grievances lingering from its history of lynching incidents in the 19th and 20th centuries. The General Assembly passed a law during the just-completed 2019 session that created the “Maryland Lynching Truth and Reconciliation Commission.” The law sets aside a seat for a representative from each of the state’s four historically black institutions, including UMES. Bowie State University will provide staff support for the 17-member panel, which must submit a report to the legislature by Dec. 1, 2021. It will disband June 30, 2022. Three recorded lynchings occurred in Somerset County between 1894 and 1933, including the last one in the state that took the life of George Armwood, according to the Maryland Lynching Memorial Project. Retired UMES professor Kirkland Hall is a distant relative of Armwood and wrote his doctoral dissertation on the topic. He’s been widely interviewed by news organizations recently as the topic has renewed debate in the public square. In a February interview with WBOCTV after the legislation was introduced, UMES history professor Joshua Wright said lawmakers were wise to give the university a seat at the commission table. The Armwood lynching on Oct. 18, 1933, Wright told WBOC, “took place just a few minutes away from campus. if you’re driving. So, we have a connection to that history.” No decision has been made as to who might represent UMES on the commission. Lawmakers this session also allocated $1 million to UMES to underwrite the cost of a flooding remediation project along the Manokin Branch, the southern boundary of campus behind Hazel, Henson and Kiah halls. A recording-setting rain storm in late September 2016 caused flooding that closed Kiah Hall for the remainder of that academic year, the second time in four years the classroom building suffered flood damage.
Circling the Oval
Pharmacy faculty member honored with Bernstein Professorship Dr. Patrice JacksonAyotunde, an associate professor in UMES’ pharmacy school, was named the Richard Bernstein Professor earlier this month. She’ll hold the honorary title, made possible by an endowed fund established by its namesake, for three years. One of the fund’s objectives is encouraging excellence among students and faculty. The Bernstein Professorship was created to attract and recognize university faculty members who distinguish themselves. Jackson-Ayotunde received a U.S. patent a year ago for a series of drugs developed to combat drugresistant epilepsy. She shared the discovery credit with Dr. Tawes Harper, a UMES (Pharm.D. program) graduate who assisted with the research. She also is known among admiring students as a hands-on adviser-mentor who inspires them to organize an epilepsy awareness fund-raising walk each spring. “I feel honored to represent Mr. Bernstein and UMES with this professorship,” JacksonAyotunde said. “I hope to continue to be successful in scholarship, teaching, and service here at the university as a faculty member.” Jackson-Ayotunde says she is committed to continuing research in pursuit of other potential drug agents for drug-resistant epilepsy, which impacts 65 million people. The Memphis, Tenn. native joined the UMES faculty in 2010. She and her husband have a three-year-old daughter.
“I feel honored to represent Mr. Bernstein and UMES with this professorship,” Jackson-Ayotunde said. “I hope to continue to be successful in scholarship, teaching, and service here at the university as a faculty member.”
BUILDING / continued from cover
lobbying effort. “This first phase creates 65,000 square feet for the School of Pharmacy that enhances our ability to deliver quality graduate education,” Allen said. “This new building also includes some shared spaces for the other (health science) departments, such as a kinesiology research lab, a rehabilitation services home-health laboratory as well as a (clinical-setting) simulation center for pharmacy, physical therapy and physician assistant instruction.” UMES also is moving ahead with an application it hopes will lead to the 2020 fall semester reinstatement of the physician assistant graduate program, a goal of new UMES President Heidi M. Anderson. Long-term, UMES is working to secure more state funding for a 65,000 square-foot expansion to double the size of the new building so other health profession academic units – kinesiology, physical therapy, rehabilitation and physician assistant programs – can be housed together. UMES enrolled its first Doctor of Pharmacy class in August 2010 and since May 2013 has produced 344 graduates who completed classes and off-campus clinical rotations in a year-round format to earn a degree in three years instead of the usual four. The university subsequently has added graduate-level degree programs in pharmaceutical sciences.
UMES People
The Key / April 26, 2019
UMES Honors student recognized with distinguished teacher honor
“I have had some great educators here at UMES. I can’t thank them enough.”
UMES senior Jenna Crockett was recognized earlier this month as a distinguished teacher candidate for her commitment to student learning and her approach to reflective teaching as an English education major. The Tangier Island, Va. native received the Maryland Association of Teacher Educators award during an April 13 ceremony at Bowie State University. Crockett’s passion for the English language and the impact her teachers had on her life propelled her to pursue a career in education. “I want to help others as they have helped me,” Crockett said. ”Receiving (this) award means everything to me.” “The teaching profession requires a lot of reflection and this award helps me realize that I do have potential to be a successful educator,” she said.
Currently completing her second teaching stint as a student intern at Pocomoke Middle School, Crockett plans to relocate to the Smithfield, Va. area after her May 24 graduation. In nominating Crockett for the award, Dr. Courtney Harned said, “Careful reflection is one of Ms. Crockett’s greatest assets, an asset that assures her continued growth as a teacher well beyond her university training.” Crockett, a Richard A. Henson Honors Program student, credits Harned and Dr. Barbara Seabrook, faculty members in the university’s Department of English and Modern Languages, with having a tremendous role in helping her navigate her time as a UMES student and easing the stress of her senior year.
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HARNED / continued from cover
that came out of the study,” Harned said, “was increased agency on the part of students when the de-contextualized curriculum was enhanced with learning activities that reflected the community and their positions within the community.” “Many rural researchers believe that (a) decontextualized curriculum is not meeting the needs of rural students,” she said, adding “this study shows it is possible to weave (unique) elements of a student’s community into curricula and still meet state learning objectives.” The school followed in Harned’s study has embraced some of her findings to fine-tune – or more accurately – customize instruction with the aim of engaging students in instruction that will support their development as citizens who can shape and re-imagine their communities when they graduate. Harned was in the first group of graduate students at Salisbury University to earn a doctorate in education where the emphasis is on critical literacy in shaping curriculum and instruction. Judith K. Franzak, her dissertation adviser, suggested she apply for the award. “Her research was thoughtful and important
Dr. Catharine Biddle, left, an educational leadership professor at the University of Maine, and Dr. Karen Eppley, a Penn State University curriculum and instruction professor, presented UMES’ Dr. Courtney Harned with her award during the American Educational Research Association annual meeting in Toronto April 7. Biddle and Eppley are organization leaders who had roles in identifying Harned’s dissertation for national recognition. (Photo by Maida Finch)
to our understanding of how literacy curriculum can help students in rural communities, an area often ‘under examined’ in education research,” said Maida Finch of Salisbury University’s Department of Doctoral Studies in Literacy. “She
demonstrated a commitment to using research as a tool for improving teaching and learning in her community.” One judge praised Harned’s description of a middle-school teacher that “captured the struggle against state mandated testing requirements provides an interesting juxtaposition to what she believes are best teaching practices.” “While this isn’t unique to a rural setting, (the teacher’s) desire to return to rural, place-based curriculum creates an interesting picture of the rural context,” wrote Catharine Biddle, a professor of educational leadership at the University of Maine. “Reading about the students’ discussion of current social justice issues through a rural lens was also particularly powerful,” Harned is hopeful the recognition she received from peers might draw attention to tweaking one-size-fits-all standardized course curriculums so they can produce positive results in rural settings. She received a $300 stipend along with the award, which she in turn used to defray the cost of travel to Toronto.
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The Key / April 26, 2019
School News
2019 Student Commentary winner named
SGA RESULTS
Vernajh E. Pinder will deliver the student commentary on behalf of the Class of 2019 during the University of Maryland Eastern Vernajh Pinder is Henson Shore’s spring graduation ceremony May 24. A hospitality and tourism management major from Nassau, Bahamas, Pinder is a member of the Richard A. Henson Honors Program and a broad spectrum of campus organizations, including the Phi Kappa Phi honor society. His long-term goal is to be a hands-on owner of a hotel and restaurant, where he says he would ensure his recipe ideas like curry dishes get executed. Pinder was among nine seniors who auditioned before a four-judge panel for the honor of representing classmates on stage during commencement, a tradition at UMES that dates at least to the early 20th century. The fourth of six siblings, he will be the first in his immediate family to receive a college degree. “I’m not sure it’s sunk in yet,” Pinder said 30 minutes after being notified he will give a speech he said he was motivated to write “to end on a positive note.” “We made it through,” he said. “It wasn’t an easy road.” Dr. Ernest P. Boger, chairman of UMES’ Hospitality and Tourism Management Department, met Pinder five years ago when Boger was judging an international high school hospitality competition in Florida. “I immediately recognized a raw talent for leadership and scholarship that would be able to flourish at UMES,” Boger said. Pinder’s team won that competition, earning him a full-ride scholarship that led him to UMES as his college choice.
“My journey in hospitality started as a kid,” Pinder said. “I used to go into the kitchen with my Honors Program student grandmother and mother and help them prepare meals. It was then, I think, that I knew … I wanted to be a world renowned chef.” Pinder has accepted a job at the Hyatt Regency (Chesapeake Bay) in Cambridge, Md., where he will be a banquet events supervisor. Since coming to America in 2016 to enroll at UMES, he’s only had one opportunity to visit home, although he does spend some free time with an aunt who lives in Florida. Pinder was among 21 UMES students who visited Italy this past March for a work-study and cultural exchange experience during spring break. “My goal on every trip is to evaluate the hospitality experience. I want to taste the foods, see the sights and experience the quality of service at various lodging accommodations,” Pinder said. The Italy trip “opened up my eyes to how culturally diverse different parts of the world are and how everything isn’t really the same,” he said. “It pushed me on a path towards increased selfgrowth and professional development as a global leader in the hospitality and tourism industry.” Henson Honors Program graduates must complete and present a senior-year capstone project. Pinder is using his Italy experience as motivation to create what he calls a recipe book focused on Italian foods, herbs and spices. As for his time at UMES, Pinder said he initially experienced “culture shock” relocating from the Caribbean to the Delmarva Peninsula. “I got over it pretty quickly, though, by just getting involved in campus life,” he said. “I’ve enjoyed every moment.”
NAME POSITION Kennera T. Goodman (top left) SGA President SGA Vice President Alexis Dockery (top right) Mister UMES Hector Cime (bottom left) Miss UMES Sarah O. Adewumi (bottom right) Jose C. Garcia Mister Senior Miss Senior Gabrielle B. Pinto Courtney Proctor Junior Class President Chelsea I. Osei Mensah Junior Class Secretary Gabrielle Christian Miss Junior Joshua C. Vaughan Mister Junior Ciani C. Wells Sophomore Class President Briana M. Palmore Sophomore Class Secretary Princess Sarah Bentil Miss Sophomore Seth S. McKnight Mister Sophomore
School News
The Key / April 26, 2019
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Belle menti
Italy trip left lasting impressions on UMES students
UMES’ Richard A. Henson Honors Program and art department partnered to organize a cultural exchange / servicing-learning trip to Italy during spring break for 20 students. Junior Bryanna Turman, an applied design / fine arts major from Clinton, Md., shares some post-trip insights: The trip was sponsored by Daly Computers Inc. president Ryan Yu and the Richard A. Henson Foundation. Honors and art students defrayed the cost of the trip with partial scholarships. Hospitality students also participated with financial assistance from their program. We spent nine days in Italy traveling through the cities of Florence, Pisa, San Gimignano, Siena, Volterra and Rome, learning about culture and history. We stayed in a modern, private international education facility in Volterra, a medieval hill town founded by the Etruscans near Pisa in the beautiful Tuscany countryside. Activities organized by Susan Holt (fine arts department) and Loretta Campbell (Henson honors program’s assistant director) immersed us in local culture that included touring the cities, learning about the history, visiting cultural and historical landmarks such as the Leaning Tower of Pisa and the cathedral and Galleria dell’Accademia in Florence, where we saw Michelangelo’s sculpture of David. We also were exposed to local cuisine, trying new food, visiting museums and enjoying the luxury of relieving stress at one of the area’s geothermal baths and spa. We even took a cooking class, where we learned to make pasta from scratch. Two days in Rome were spent touring the old and modern sides of the city, where we visited the Forum, the Colosseum, the Pantheon and St. Peter’s Cathedral in the Vatican.
The most impactful part of the trip, for me, was when we met with local high school students in Volterra and talked to them about life in Italy. We all learned a lot from these students just by having conversations with them about their everyday life. What some of my fellow travelers had to say: “My experience in Italy was truly life changing and I am so happy I decided to go. Immersing myself in a new culture, meeting new people, and gaining lifelong memories were some of the best things that happened to me.” - Ewa Okulate (honors student) “Traveling to Italy opened my mind to be more receptive of other people’s culture. This trip taught me to grow in my thought process, be more confident and courageous when new opportunity becomes available and be more open to change. Food, music, social activities and history helps to know that individual.” – Mark Joseph (honors student) “The trip was really good for my photography class!” – Eric Williams, art student.
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The Key / April 26, 2019
Athletics
Men’s Track wins Eastern Shore Challenge Both teams earn solid finishes; women place third
Skurzynski earns ‘Top 16’ honors at USBC tourney UMES’s Chloe Skurzynski finished in the top 16 at the 2019 U.S. Bowling Congress’ Intercollegiate Singles Championships a week ago. The “Outstanding Performer” at the 2019 Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference Championships won a first-round head-to-head match in Dayton, Ohio, but came up short in a second match and was eliminated. “It’s really humbling to know that among all the girls who bowled in the sectional qualifiers, I’m in the top 24,” she said prior to the tournament. Skurzynski joined the bowling team in January, giving the Hawks an immediate jolt. Her final-frame heroics – a pair of strikes – in the MEAC post-season tournament earned UMES a conference championship and a berth in the NCAA tournament, where the Hawks made it to the semi-final round before succumbing to Stephen F. Austin University. The USBC singles competition was about far more than the win and loss for Skurzynski, according to her UMES coach. “It was a great experience for her against the best collegiate bowlers in the country,” Kayla Bandy said. “She made great shots physically, but fell short in her last match against Jordan (Newham), who was tough to beat.” The match was closer than the pinfall indicated as Skurzynski rolled mostly strikes and nine-pin spares, but Newham strung together more consecutive strikes to seal the win. “This … will propel Chloe to the next level as her collegiate career transpires,” Bandy said of the freshman. “She … can build on this post season, learning from each and every experience.” In the opening round, Skurzynski defeated Megan Macunovich representing Robert Morris University of Illinois “We’re proud of Chloe,” Bandy said. “I am proud of the team that cheered her on too, cheering for every shot that she threw.” Senior Ciani Byrom was named to the 3rd team All-American basketball squad by BOXTOROW media, adding to her list of post-season accolades. She earlier earned 1st team All-MEAC honors and led the conference in assists per game and assist/ turnover ratio. The point guard left her mark on the university record book while leading the 2018-19 team to a 17-win season, which tied a program record.
UMES’ women’s and men’s track & field teams scored over 200 combined points in a marquee effort at the Eastern Shore Challenge April 13. The men won the event with a total of 136 points in an eight-school field while and the women’s team finished third among 10 schools with 85 points. A men’s squad highlight was the 4x400 relay, one of three victories for the team. Jaylin Nelson, Janoi Brown, Duvaire Wauchope and Jonathan Robertson qualified for the post-season IC4A Championships with a time of 3:15.57. The Lady Hawks garnered five wins on the day; Neus Quinonero was a part of three of them. Quinonero won the 800 meter event with a time of 2:17.68 and the 1500 meter race in 4:39.59. She ran the third leg of the 4x400 relay, where she, Ayanna Lynn, Naomi English and Amirah Jones completed the event in 3:57.96. A second UMES 4x400 team featuring underclassmen Lauren Mitchell, Arianna Krcik, Nikyia Wooten and Jessica Romey came in fifth, running a 4:10.40. Additional wins for the men came from Wauchope with an 800 meter time of 1:56.47 and Chisom Onukwugha with a time of 14.98 seconds in the 110 meter hurdles. On the women’s side, Mercy Chemutai ran the 5-kilometer race in 18:40.50 for a win, while Attinuke Shittu finished in long jump with a 5.52 meter mark to claim victory. Right behind Shittu was Christina Cropper with a runners-up mark of 5.28 meters. Hers was one of six second-place efforts for the Hawks on the day. Joining Cropper was Brown in the 200 meter, Edwin Kipruto in the 5K, Nasir Neal-Watson in the shot put and Kyle Nottage in the discus throw. Nottage earned a top five for the discus and added third place finishes in the shot put and hammer throws. Shemar Parker and Joshua Goslee finished in top five for the pole vault and qualified for the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference championship meet. Parker joined the list of runners-up clearing a height of 12.8 feet with Goslee right behind him at 12.3 feet. More top five finishes include a third-place javelin throw from Onukwugha and the men’s 4x100 relay team. Judah Corriette and Chauncy Chewning added fourth place efforts in the javelin throw and 110 meter hurdles, respectively. Brown in the men’s 200, Krcik in the women’s 800 also finished fourth. Lynn captured fifth place finishes in the women’s 100 and 200 meter dashes.
School News
The Key / April 26, 2019
ETC. Maryland Lt. Gov. Boyd K. Rutherford spent the morning of April 17 meeting with UMES President Heidi Anderson and touring the Engineering and Aviation Science Complex, where both had an up-close encounter with a pilot-training simulator. Joining Rutherford on the tour was local state Sen. Mary Beth Carozza. UMES’ Pharmacy Student Government Association staged the 6th annual 5-kilometer Strides for Epilepsy walk April 13 in Salisbury’s City Park. The event drew about 60 participants who helped raise about $1,700 that will be donated to Citizens United for Research in Epilepsy and United Needs and Abilities, a local non-profit organization based in Salisbury. Aviation science major Zachary Seiler was a volunteer flight-simulator instructor Saturday, April 6 for two dozen youth who participate in the Young Elites of the Eastern Shore West to East Coast Aviation Network (Y.E.E.S. W.E. C.A.N.). The youth program meets twice monthly on weekends during the school year at UMES, where mentors highlight math lessons, coding lessons, computer hardware and electronics projects as well as personal and leadership development activities.
(L-R) Third-year pharmacy students Emily P. Biskach and Raliat Ola-Dauda and faculty advisers Nancy Rodriquez-Weller and Miriam Purnell received 2nd place honors from the American Association of Colleges of Pharmacy’s “Pharm4Me Innovation Challenge.” The UMES team partnered with Salisbury’s Wicomico Day School to introduce middle school students to pharmacy careers.
(L-R) Physical therapy students Catherine Madden, Emily VandeWater, Ashley Meesuk and Nicolas Smith presented their findings on student empathy in dealing with patients with chronic breathing problems during the UMES’ 10th annual Graduate Research Symposium.
(L-R) Dietetic interns Emily Donovan, Erin O’Connell and Bryn Manning earned first place honors at the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics 2019 annual meeting for their research presentation on the relationship between type 2 diabetes and vitamin D in a college-age population and shared their findings earlier this month in a five-minute presentation to 1,200-member organization.
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MAY
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Art Exhibit Opening Reception
4-6 p.m., Mosely Gallery “Senior Show” UMES spring graduates in the Department of Fine Arts display their work. Show on display through May 23. 410-651-7770 or visit www.moselygallery.com
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UMES Jazz and Pop Concert
7 p.m. Ella Fitzgerald Center for the Performing Arts The UMES Jazz and Popular Music Program presents The 2nd Annual Ella Fitzgerald Jazz Celebration, a jazz and pop concert paying tribute to the “First Lady of Song. 410-621-1514
$5 general admission, free for students with valid ID. For tickets, visit umestickets.com
The Key / April 26, 2019
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