Daycare Center

http://library.umbc.edu/speccoll/UMBC_50th_Online_Exhibit/50umbctimeline/PDFs/JPEG/UARC2013-013-18-0339.jpg
Groundbreaking ceremony for the daycare center, 1991. University Photographs, UARC 2013-013-18-0339. View larger

In 1977, the campus Women’s Union proposed a full-time daycare facility. Although the expense for salaries and playground equipment would be significant, the Union argued that costs would be offset by increased enrollment of mothers with small children. The proposal was not approved, prompting the formation of a Day Care Co-op club that tried to raise money and awareness for the issue. Efforts to create a center remained unrealized throughout the 1980s. A planned groundbreaking in January 1991 experienced setbacks when campus budget cuts delayed the project further until the spring or fall of 1992. In January 1992, construction plans were again delayed due to that fiscal year’s budget appropriations bill. The Committee for Daycare met with legislators to resolve the issue, and the daycare center came back on the agenda with construction slated to be finished in August the following year. Finally the wait was over, and UMBC’s Daycare Center opened its doors in September 1993.