The founders of the Delaware Conference Academy could hardly have imagined 125 years after its doors first opened in September 1886 that 4,500 students would walk the grounds of a campus that began modestly with one building and three faculty members.
Like many of their counterparts today, the Academy’s first students tended to be from Maryland. Most were the first in their families to pursue a formal higher education. A little over half of the institution’s student body in 2011 are first-generation college students.
No doubt, those early students came through the Academy’s doors seeking opportunity not just for self-improvement, but also for knowledge and skills that would help provide for their families and better the community in which they lived.
For 125 years, the students who followed in their footsteps have shaped this institution we now call the University of Maryland Eastern Shore. Whether they excelled in the classroom, in various student organizations or on the playing fields of competition, each generation has drawn strength from those who came before them, and as graduates, have shared valuable life lessons with those who follow in their footsteps.
Today, the University’s nearly 11,000 alumni can be found across the globe in an array of careers that are necessary to meet the challenges and solve the problems of the 21st century. Yet, no matter how varied their interests, or diverse their path, each graduate shares a common bond- the University of Maryland Eastern Shore – and for that, we are forever proud.
