President Heidi M. Anderson was in a jubilant mood at the start of the University of Maryland Eastern Shore’s opening day ceremony welcoming new and returning members of the Hawk Family.
Dancing down the aisle up to the stage to the Earth, Wind and Fire hit “September,” she and the UMES campus community had a lot to celebrate during the event coinciding with the arrival of new students to the campus.
The event, held at the Student Services Center ballroom, covered a campus update featuring a variety of topics including recent celebrations, funding, partnership initiatives, and the university’s rebranding efforts.
As part of the opening address, Anderson, who is entering her fifth year as president, started with how the university approached the COVID-19 pandemic and emerged out of it with good health and safety protocols in place.
“I just finished my fourth year here with you and half of my time has been in COVID,” Anderson acknowledged, “That was really tough for all of us.”
“The way we kept our campus safe was to make sure we stayed on top of testing, vaccinations, and protocols. And even though you’ll still see the signs on the building saying, ‘wear a mask,’ it is now up to social responsibility.”
Anderson next announced some new initiatives for the university because of the settlement of the 15-year federal lawsuit that challenged the fundamental history of how the state supported its institutions of higher education.
The rebrand of the university, which began in July, features a new logo that will be used across all aspects of the UMES community and should be completed by the start of Homecoming activities in November.
On the partnerships front, it was announced UMES was selected as one of eight HBCUs to be involved in a pilot group with the Partnership for Education Advancement in order to achieve aspirational and institutional outcomes.
The university also continues to establish articulation agreements with community colleges throughout Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia as well as setting up dual enrollment pacts with several counties in the state.
“A couple of these partnerships really have helped us move the needle on not just our enrollment and retention, but in a number of ways,” Anderson said.
Following a national effort to increase enrollment and retention, UMES admitted its largest class since 2015, which is a testament to the success of the initiatives.
“Ultimately, the message was that the university met the needs of the family and they were able to select us as their number one choice,” UMES Vice President of Enrollment Management and Student Experience Latoya Jenkins said. “And it is because of all the work that you did in your respective departments and divisions that we are here today.”
In the category of capital plans, Anderson addressed some of the completed projects across campus such as the installation of natural gas pipeline, roof work at various facilities, and an upcoming project of the total renovation of Nuttle Hall starting in the fall, which she hopes will extend to future upgrades to other residential areas.
“If we’re going to change our institution and make it a place that is really attractive for our students, we’ve got to do something about housing,” she said. “I have taken a tour of all of the student dorms and students come here and some of our dorms are still old-fashioned dorms … and a lot of universities have gone away from those models and it can make a big difference.”
In wrapping up, Anderson mentioned the role college has in not only changing the lives of the students who come here but the lives of those around them permanently.
“I want to hear your stories this year … all of you have those kinds of great student stories,” she said. “Let’s make this the year that we have so many awesome stories to tell that we fill up the room and tell them for hours and hours on end.”
