A newsletter for students, faculty, staff, alumni and friends
October 27, 2017
UMES receives Walgreens gift supporting diversity
In its continuing commitment to School of Pharmacy. the University of Maryland Eastern “This peer-to-peer approach has Shore’s initiatives fostering diversity been successful in students reaching and inclusion within the pharmaout for help sooner as it is perceived cy profession, Walgreens donated to be an agreeable avenue for those $8,000 to the university’s School of experiencing academic difficulty,” Pharmacy and Health Professions. said Dr. Rondall Allen, dean of The gift brings the Illinois-based UMES’ School of Pharmacy and company’s support to nearly Health Professions. Tutors receive an honorarium to assist them with their $100,000 since UMES’ pharmacy personal expenses; a benefit, Allen program began in 2010. said, since the rigors of the year“I’m pleased to represent round program can inhibit students Walgreens in this effort to from outside employment while positively impact the diversity of pursuing their degree. “The program the pharmacy profession and to has been effective in helping maintain provide scholarships to students in progress towards degree completion the University of Maryland Eastern From left, Walgreens’ regional executives Mike Zajac and Dr. Tim DeRose present an $8,000 check to UMES School among all groups and building Shore’s program,” Dr. Tim DeRose, of Pharmacy and Health Professions representatives Drs. camaraderie among students.” Health Care Supervisor Area 70, said. Rondall Allen and Jim Bresette, and UMES’ director of “We value our longstanding The university invested previous development Dr. Veronique Diriker. relationship with Walgreens in Walgreens diversity funds in a two-day pilot pre-pharmacy camp for minority or socio-economically disadvantaged preparing pharmacists for practice,” said Dr. Jim Bresette, the school’s associate dean for development and external relations. “Together, we are high school students enrolled in UMES’ Upward Bound program. UMES pharmacy students also have benefited from the company’s working to improve the health of our patients and our communities.” support through a “Students Tutoring Students” program created by the
Hospitality students compete in “Chopped-like” event
A four-person team of UMES students from the Hospitality and Tourism Management program were handed a “mystery basket of ingredients” containing a mango, molasses, corn tortillas, green tomatoes, mushrooms and pork tenderloin and given one hour to come up with a three-course meal using all of the ingredients, said team member Cailey Mitchell. “It was like (the TV show) Chopped,” Mitchell said. Mitchell, a junior in the program, rose to the challenge Sept. 23 along with sophomore Vernajh Pinder, team leader Tahylor Cesar and Brearne Butts, both seniors, as part of the 14th annual Military Culinary Competition in Washington, D.C. The team competed as HOSPITALITY / continued on page 6
INSIDE
Breathing some sighs of relief after the competition, from left, are UMES hospitality and tourism management students Vernajh Pinder, Cailey Mitchell, Tahylor Cesar (team leader), and Brearne Butts.
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The Day Fitzgerald Visited Ghana Educational Exchange
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UMES Welcomes New Admissions Director Dr. David Johnson Jr. Legacy UMES Alumna Recognized
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Best Poster Awards Tri- County College Fair Future Engineers Attend Summit Gourmet Dinner Tickets
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Students Study Abroad Drug-Free Community Coalition Grant
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Hall Of Famer And Alum Supports Fundraiser For Hawk Golf Teams
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Jazz In The Streets Documentary Featured National Recovery Month
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A&E Calendar STEM Festival
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The Key / October 27, 2017
Circling the Oval
The day Ella Fitzgerald visited UMES On a glorious autumn day 43 years ago – Oct. 27, 1974 – the University of Maryland Eastern Shore paid tribute to the 20th century’s “First Lady of Song” by naming its newest building after Ella Fitzgerald. Fitzgerald spoke and performed during a 90-minute ceremony that attracted a capacity crowd to a 1,167seat theater flanked by classrooms and rehearsal studios. According to those who were there that warm Sunday afternoon, it was difficult to discern who enjoyed the moment more, the audience or the honoree. “This is one of those days that will go down in history for me,” The Daily Times quoted Fitzgerald as saying in a front-page article published the following day. The newspaper also declared Fitzgerald became the first living black performer to have a building named in her honor. The $1.6 million performing arts center was already in use prior to the much-anticipated dedication that had the community abuzz. Fitzgerald, then 57, had reached iconic status as a multi-Grammy winning jazz singer mentioned in the same breath as contemporaries Count Basie, Nat King Cole, Dizzy Gillespie and Benny Goodman. The driving force behind Fitzgerald’s triumphant visit to Princess Anne was Chancellor Archie L. Buffkins, the university’s top administrator and a champion of the performing arts whose first love was music. Photos from that day show a beaming Buffkins at Fitzgerald’s side. “I can remember how excited Dr. Buffkins seemed to be,” said Alverne Chesterfield, a retired UMES employee and 1977 alumnus. “You could see it was a great day for him.”
UMES Chancellor Archie L. Buffkins hosts Ella Fitzgerald during the Oct. 27, 1974 dedication of the university’s performing arts center in her honor. Photo part of the Thomas Wiles Collection at UMES.
Seated on stage between Chesterfield and Fitzgerald was Maryland Gov. Marvin Mandel. Other speakers were student government president Alvin Mance, Blanche F. Purnell of Alpha Kappa Alpha sorority, Dr. R. Lee Hornbake of the University of Maryland, Dr. B. Herbert Brown, a University of Maryland governing board member, and Omega Jones Frazier of UMES’ alumni association. Frazier drew inspiration from band director Duke Ellington’s oftquoted compliment when she too allowed that the honoree’s “talent is beyond category.” Fitzgerald was last to step to the microphone for “Words and Music.” Accompanied by the local Earl Brown Quartet, she delivered on the latter with “One Note Samba” and “You Are the Sunshine of My Life,” joyfully riffing her signature improvisational skills that triggered an outburst of applause. Directing her words to young people in the audience, she said “if it’s in you, it’ll happen,” according to The Times article. “It doesn’t matter where you were born.” After unveiling the dedication plaque following the ceremony, Fitzgerald was on her way to Virginia’s Tidewater area, where she was born 100 years ago in 1917, to perform with the Norfolk Symphony orchestra.
Cooperative agreement opens door for educational exchange with Ghana University of Maryland Eastern Shore representatives signed an agreement today with a group of 10 Technical Universities in Ghana—a catalyst for scientific cooperation and outreach between the institutions. The linkage promotes development in Ghana while broadening international
experiences for students at the Princess Anne campus. “This Memorandum of Understanding is the foundation (for the collaboration) and symbolizes the president’s vision from ‘Excellence to Eminence’ is global in nature,” said Dr. Emmanuel Acquah, director of UMES’ International Development Program. “We are excited to partner with Ghana Technical Universities,” said UMES President Juliette B. Bell. “It not only provides opportunities to our students and faculty, but also provides an opportunity to our university as a whole to develop partnerships around teaching, research and program development. I thank Dr. Acquah for his leadership in this effort.” The agreement was also signed in Accra, Ghana by vice chancellors of the Technical Universities. A visit by three of the leaders at the end of this month signals the start of the collaborative activities. UMES’ Director of International Development Programs Dr. Emmanuel Acquah and President Juliette B. Bell sign a collaborative agreement with Ghana Technical Universities.
UMES People
The Key / October 27, 2017
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UMES welcomes new admissions / recruitment director
Dr. Eric Hilton is the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s new admissions and recruitment director. Hilton has nearly two decades of experience in higher education administration as a recruiter. A native of Columbus, Ohio, Hilton earned his undergraduate, master’s and doctoral degrees from Ohio University in Athens, where he also played three years of Division 1 basketball for the Bobcats in the early 1980s. As a senior, Hilton and his teammates won a heart-stopping first-round game in the 1983 NCAA basketball tournament, defeating Illinois State on a last-second buzzer-beater. He is the first in his immediate family to earn a college degree, an accomplishment that he says inspires him in his work in the admissions and recruitment field. “I know the value of getting a college education and I want young people to have the same opportunities for success that I’ve had,” said Hilton, the father of a nine-year old daughter. After completing his Ph.D. work in higher education administration in 1997, Hilton worked as a corporate recruiter for Lucent Technologies for three years before shifting into recruiting for colleges. He has worked for Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, N.J., Central State University in Ohio, Cheney University of Pennsylvania and The Ohio State University, where he crossed paths with the late astronaut and U.S. senator, John Glenn.
Dr. David Johnson Jr. April 3, 1939-Sept. 21, 2017
Dr. Johnson was a kind man and wonderful faculty member. This is a great loss for UMES and all who knew him. Christopher Harrington I had so much respect for him. He was so intellectual and I always loved his choice of words. Kelli Green He really pushed you to be your best in speech class. Ja’nay McIntosh
“He was so down-to-earth,” Hilton said. “He was so approachable. It was a memorable experience.” Most recently, he was dean of enrollment services at Bucks County Community College in Newtown, Pa. Hilton said UMES’ vacant leadership post appealed to him because he said he has “a passion for HBCUs. They have an important role in higher education and provide a critical pathway for students to get a college education.” Hilton, whose first day was Sept. 18, said he quickly was impressed by “the people who dearly love this university. The history of this institution is intriguing, and I think that can be an easy selling point.” One sales tool Hilton and his staff have at their disposal for the fall 2017-18 recruiting cycle is the newly acquired Sprinter van that was retrofitted to serve as a high-tech mobile recruiting center. The vehicle, which debuted this past spring, was acquired with money donated in 2016 by Delmarva Power, an Exelon Company. “It’s an impressive vehicle,” he said. “We’ve got to maximize it.” That includes dispatching it to a broad spectrum of locations, guided by a carefully crafted schedule of community outreach and recruiting events across Delmarva and the mid-Atlantic region. In his two decades as an admissions / recruitment administrator, Hilton said he’s “met some wonderful people. This job is all about people, and finding them the right fit for where they see their lives going.”
UMES alumna recognized for research and leadership Barbara Romero Dueñas, a doctoral biological sciences student at the University of Delaware and 2014 UMES alumna, was awarded one of 39 Howard Hughes Medical Institute 2017 Gilliam Fellowships for Advanced Study. Dueñas is researching Legionnaires’ disease, a potentially fatal bacterial lung infection caused by inhaling contaminated water droplets. She is studying how the bacteria operate inside lung cells and aims to distinguish a specific protein that’s involved in the process. Gilliam Fellowships provide funding for up to three years to “exceptional doctoral students who are pursuing careers in academic science.” Photo by Evan Krape, University of Delaware.
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School News
The Key / October 27, 2017
Best Poster Awards UMES senior biochemistry major Uche Onuchukwu took home two “Best Poster Awards” at a regional Undergraduate Research Symposium in chemical and biological sciences Oct. 14 in Baltimore. He was recognized for his work on a research team led by UMES Department of Natural Sciences faculty researcher, Dr. Victoria Volkis, and one for research through a UMES cooperative summer internship at the University of California, Davis. Volkis said UMES students, who have attended the symposium annually since 2010 to present their research posters, attend professional development lectures and network, are successful in acquiring awards each time.
UMES Gourmet Dinner tickets on sale
Tri- County College Fair an annual community service High school juniors and seniors can connect with representatives from colleges across the country Nov. 2 at UMES’ Tri-County College Fair. The free event, which is in its 16th year, is from 9 a.m. to 11:30 a.m. in the William P. Hytche Athletic Center. Students can get information on a wide range of options to consider, Jinawa McNeil, UMES’ associate director of admissions and recruitment, said. Along with the traditional mix of four-year colleges and technical and community colleges, are specialty schools and branches of the military services. “The university is proud to provide this valuable service to the community each year,” McNeil said. “It provides area students with a way to meet with representatives from across the country in one location here on Delmarva—a one-stop shop for higher education.” Prospective college students, she said, can learn about admissions requirements, priority deadlines, academic programs, scholarships and other opportunities. Registration is recommended. Visit umes.edu/openhouse. Call 410-651-8403 for group registrations.
Future engineers attend innovation summit in California Engineering students (from left) Chidubem Dimukeje and Serge Bangamwabo are representing UMES this weekend at the United Negro College Fund’s 5th annual HBCU Innovation Summit in California. Scholars were selected based on their GPAs, personal statements, internships, computer science skills and leadership as well as their willingness to be change agents to align computer science curriculum with industry workforce needs and demands.
Tickets are now on sale for the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s Gourmet Dining Series; a long-time fall tradition. Hospitality and Tourism Management students and faculty have planned a veterans’ salute and a holiday celebration. The five-course meals take place Nov. 10 and Dec. 8 at 7 p.m. in the Richard A. Henson Center ballroom. Advanced tickets are required and can be purchased in the Henson Center, suite 2100, Monday through Friday, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. The cost is $50 per person. The Nov. 10 dinner starts with a reception featuring a roasted pork loin carving station and shrimp, salmon and jerk chicken hors d’oeuvres along with a patriotic prelude including the UMES Concert Choir and a champagne toast in honor of active service men and women and veterans. The main event is surf and turf; a beef tenderloin and curry Maine lobster served with mushroom and spinach mac and cheese and a squash and pepper medley. Dessert is a bourbon bread pudding. Ring in the holiday season Dec. 8 with festive meal headlined by a smoked turkey carving station accompanied by bacon-wrapped scallops, jerk pork Phyllo cups and shrimp crostini. Pumpkin bisque precedes a braised beef short rib and jumbo shrimp entrée accompanied by rice pilaf and roasted asparagus. A passion fruit glazed cheesecake with raspberry sauce tops off the evening meal. Call 410-651-6563 for more information.
School News
UMES students enhance academics with study abroad
The Key / October 27, 2017
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Seven UMES students, including three this fall, have participated this calendar year in study abroad for credit programs coordinated by the university’s Center for International Education. Brazil, China, Costa Rica and England have provided the backdrops for their studies. The center serves as a repository for information on grants, scholarships, fellowships and contests to cover or offset the cost of foreign travel. It also encourages students to share their academic and cultural experiences upon their return. Students can choose from among three affiliates that UMES has formal relationships with as well as other study abroad programs. Center director Lombuso S. Khoza works closely with applicants and their advisors to ensure courses a student is considering at another institution will be accepted for credit toward a UMES degree.
Out-of-pocket expenses vary with the continent, country and program. The Center for International Education provides students funding guides to show what estimated programs can cost for programs in countries at various times of the year. Call 410-651-8385 for more information. • Winter Break 2017 – Benjamin Webster – Shanghai, China; business and technology • Spring 2017 – Ibrahim Saeed – Florianopolis, Brazil; business and technology • Summer 2017 – Christine Hackley – Florianopolis, Brazil; education, social sciences, and the arts • Summer 2017 – Ta’Quan Cave - London, England; education, social sciences, and the arts • Fall 2017 – Treyquana Nelson (Gilman Scholar) – San Jose, Costa Rica; education, social sciences, and the arts • Fall 2017 – Gregory Johnson Jr. – Florianopolis, Brazil; pharmacy and health professions • Fall 2017 - Shawn Wilkes – Florianopolis, Brazil; pharmacy and health professions Senior Christine Hackley is pictured in Brazil during her study abroad experience. Photo courtesy of the International Studies Abroad Alumni Network.
UMES receives Drug-Free Community Coalition grant The White House Office of National Drug Control Policy has awarded the university a $625,000 Drug-Free Community Support Grant thanks to efforts by UMES’ Division of Student Affairs. UMES will receive $125,000 annually for five years to work with community-based substance abuse prevention coalitions to identify local substance abuse issues for youth aged 12 to 18 years and to create sustainable change. “The Drug Free Community Support Grant will position the university to be involved in the welfare of the youth in this community by being a mobilizing center of influence to address substance misuse and abuse; from
enrichment to enrollment,” said Dr. J. Michael Harpe, UMES’ vice president of student affairs. The community coalitions aim to reduce substance use among youth and over time that of adults by addressing factors in the community that increase the risk of abuse and by promoting positive influences on outcomes. “No one entity can do it alone,” said Gail Lankford, coalition coordinator for Somerset County’s Prevention Works program. “Together we can achieve more.” The community-based youth substance abuse prevention coalitions on the lower Eastern Shore of Maryland, she said, look forward to enhancing “town and gown” collaborations.
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The Key / October 27, 2017
Athletics
Hall of Famer and alum supports fundraiser for Hawk golf teams
UMES’ athletics department hosted a golf outing to benefit the Hawk men’s and women’s golf programs Mon., Oct. 16, at the Ocean City Golf Club in Berlin, Md. The inaugural event was a prelude to the Maryland Eastern Shore Collegiate Golf Challenge, an NCAA event in its second year featuring eight men’s and women’s teams competing at the same course the following two days. NFL Hall of Famer Art Shell (center), also a Maryland Eastern Shore Hall of Famer, was on hand at both events to greet alumni and supporters and speak to student-athletes from all the schools. “Despite the rain, I was pleased with the turnout,” said Director of Athletics Keith Davidson. “Coach Shell is a true Hawk and we were thrilled he lent us his time. This event gave our friends, fans and supporters a chance to come back for a fun day on the links, a great meal, fellowship and the ability to support a great cause.” That cause—the men’s and women’s golf teams at Maryland Eastern Shore—saw proceeds go directly to increase the operational budgets for the programs, especially women’s golf, which is in its inaugural year.
“Starting a program from scratch always has its challenges, but having a men’s team underway and having the expertise of the university’s Professional Golf Management major and its staff, including Billy Dillon and Chris Prosser, has made it a smooth transition.” Davidson said. “This event is one we created to help establish some funding for the teams and to rekindle relationships with our alums and supporters.” Head men’s golf coach Marshall Cropper (right) was a college teammate of Shell and was instrumental in his appearance at the Hawk Hall of Fame Golf Outing. “We are thrilled that Coach Shell agreed to join us,” Cropper said. “To have an alumnus of his caliber, an NFL Hall of Famer and Hawk who wants to come back and support us, means so much to our golf program.” The event was non-competitive and included 18-holes of golf and dinner with Shell. “We plan on doing it again next year,” Cropper said. “We know once word gets out, it will grow and can be even bigger.”
HOSPITALITY / continued from cover
members of the university’s student branch of the International Food Service Executives Association against another student group from SUNY Delhi and 11 active duty military teams. The event was sponsored by the Veteran’s Support Network. The group was given “a very limited pantry” and no access to electricity, Mitchell said. “We were told the best way to prepare for the competition was to practice as if you were in the woods.” “This was awesome exposure, competing in front of 10,000 spectators,”
said Chef Ralston Whittingham, an instructor with UMES’ hospitality program and faculty advisor for the group. “One of the President of the United States’ chefs was on one of the military teams. Our students were quintessential professionals, making themselves and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore proud.” “We may not have won in the eyes of the judges,” Mitchell said, “but to us, we left winners because we gained an experience that not many individuals get the opportunity to have and we learned so much from it.”
School News
The Key / October 27, 2017
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Hawks Corner hosts “Jazz in the Streets” The University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s community outpost, Hawks’ Corner, hosted the second annual “Jazz in the Streets” Oct. 5 in Downtown Princess Anne. Featuring the jazz-infused music of the Marcus Young Project, the event promoted Princess Anne Alive After 5, a 1st Thursday event. The purpose is to highlight the campus and its neighboring town Walter Woods, UMES’ outreach coordinator, told WMDT 47ABC. “Neither one of us can survive without the other,” he said. “And so we have to learn to work together to create a stronger Princess Anne.”
“The journals will explain everything” November 16, 6 p.m. University of Maryland Eastern Shore Student Services Center Theater “Behind the addiction, there is a person – all at once lovable and despicable, funny and pathetic, young and old, destructive and aware of his failings.” A film screening, panel discussion and book signing. Written Off tells the real-life story of Matt Edwards’ struggle with opiate addiction and those affected by his behavior. Sponsored by Hudson Health Services and the UMES School of Pharmacy & Health Professions.
National Recovery Month observed Dr. Patricia Goslee, UMES’ lead for Maryland HBCU’s STEM Educator Network, organized a group of graduate students and a community partner’s attendance at a mental health first aid training in observance of National Recovery Month. Pictured from left, are: (front) Goslee, UMES graduate students Kisha Collins (community counseling program), Medora Frazier (rehabilitation counseling program), Bernard Jordan (rehabilitation counseling program) and (back) Sean Alvarado, the Bridge Clinic coordinator at the University of Maryland Community Medical Group Behavioral Health. Held at Morgan State University, the event was themed, “Connecting Education and Mental Health.”
OCTOBER
arts & entertainment calendar fall 2017 p.m., matinee 29 2UMES Drama Society
“Strawberry Wine” poster by Nicole Harris
D E N O P T S 27&28O P Fall Theatre Production* 7:30 p.m., Ella Fitzgerald Center
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presents the musical, “Strawberry Wine,” by Takeisha Jackson. $5 general admission, students free w/ID. www.UMEStickets.com 410-651-6552
International Education Week (Oct. 30-Nov. 3) UMES’ Center for International Education extends an open invitation to experience events focusing on cuisine, dance, music, film and art from different cultures. www.umes.edu/CIE or FB at oiss@umes.edu for schedule. 410-651-8385
NOVEMBER 9 - 11
7:30 p.m. Wilson Hall Black Box Theatre
Theatre Production* “The Power of Punctuation,” a play by Natalie Margolin. $5 general admission, students free w/ID. Advanced tickets required. www.UMEStickets.com / 410-651-6552
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Art Exhibit Opening Reception 4-6 p.m., Mosely Gallery “Senior Show.” Graduating art students display their works. UMES Jazz Combo performs. Show closes on Dec. 14 with a reception from 5-6 p.m. Hours: Mon. through Fri., 9 a.m.-5 p.m. www.moselygallery.com 410-651-7770 “Black Hair” by Asiah Gray
The Key / October 27, 2017
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