I attended high school in a small rural town: La Plata, Maryland. And while I’ve had amazing memories in La Plata and will always feel at home there, it is not the most diverse area in terms of religion, race, language, etc. I grew up around a lot of people who were just like me: White, Christian, middle-class people. Growing up under these kinds of circumstances is kind of like living in a bubble, with no real impression of what the rest of the world is like. And while I’ve never been racist or discriminatory against anyone for being different from myself, there are plenty of people in my town who are.
But luckily, I chose to attend the University of Maryland. And while you may think at first glance I’m not really broadening my horizons by attending the state school of my home state, UMD is actually drastically different from where I was raised, and I am extremely proud of that. Yes, 53 percent of the student population at UMD is white, but this University is actually booming with ethnic, religious, cultural, and linguistic diversity, and our president Wallace Loh is a huge benefactor to that.
In my three semesters I’ve completed at UMD so far, I’ve seen countless occasions where President Loh has gone above and beyond to promote diversity and create a welcoming community for everyone. For example, last semester, an email from a member of UMD’s chapter of Kappa Sigma fraternity surfaced using multiple racial and ethnic slurs, as well as sexually offensive language. And while this incident was horrible and did not promote our school's welcoming environment of diversity, the responses and actions taken against this individual showed the true character of our President, our Faculty, and the rest of the university. This member was immediately expelled from the Kappa Sigma chapter and President Loh condemned these actions in a university-wide statement, as well as in multiple tweets.
Just this past semester alone, I’ve seen countless improvements to our campus that show our appreciation for the diverse minds that have attended this school. Our school board renamed the art-sociology building to honor Parren Mitchell, a distinguished alumnus of the University of Maryland, who attended UMD in the 1950s and graduated with honors against many odds, eventually becoming the first black Congressman to represent the state of Maryland in 1970. We also gained a new statue on campus which honors Frederick Douglass, a Maryland native who was once a slave and went on to be one of America’s greatest activists for freedom. And lastly, we’ve renamed our football stadium from Byrd Stadium to Maryland Stadium, to begin the process of ridding our campus of all racism and prejudice. Byrd Stadium was named after former UMD president H.C. “Curley” Byrd, who was racist and a segregationist. While President Loh has shown his appreciation for all of Byrd’s contributions to this university, he also acknowledges that his views go against our school’s missions and principles, and this is what inspired the name change.
So, while I know that we have not overcome racism and prejudice at UMD by any means, I have been exposed to so much diversity and appreciation for other groups in my time here, and every day I am thankful to be a part of such a great campus community. I have learned so much about myself and others in my time here, and I can’t wait to see how UMD will continue to shape me as an individual over the next few years.
