The Freedom Alliance and National Coming Out Day, October 11, 1995, Black-and-white contact sheet, 1995, 8 x 10 , University Photographs, University Archives, UARC 1997-19
Although UMBC never had a segregated student body, whether by race or gender, our campus has struggled in many ways to increase its diversity of the student body. UMBC is now promoted as a diverse institution and this is part of the defining narrative of the school and a point of pride for many administrators, faculty, students, and alumni. UMBC has been recognized as having the second most diverse student body (Princeton Review, 2008) and as one of the top 25 most diverse national universities (U.S. News & World Report, 2012). What does a racially diverse student body mean at UMBC? During the 2014-2015 academic year, 44.2% of the student body self identified as white, 16.4% as African American or Black, 20% as Asian, 5.9% as Hispanic or Latino, and less than 1% self identified as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander. Students that identify with two or more races made up 3.6% of the student body, while 4.8% did not self identify. International students were separated in this data and made up 4.6%. This data is distributed each year in several sources, including the annual Progress Report on Institutional Programs of Cultural Diversity, available through the Provost's Office.
Established in 1995, the Freedom Alliance is an active student organization on campus, serving as both an advocacy and social group for the LGBTQ communities at UMBC. They frequently sponsor movie nights, nationally known speakers, and well attended social events like Queer Prom. In 2007 the Freedom Alliance moved to a permanent office space in the University Center. This contact sheet shows images taken for The Retriever at a tabling event for National Coming Out Day in 1995. The grease pencil marks on the sheet show which images the photographer or newspaper editor selected for publication in the story about the event.
University Photographs
10/11/1995
contact sheets; gelatin silver prints; black-and-white photographs; 8 x 10 in.
UARC 1997-19
Detail of fabric poster for the Women's Center
UMBC Women's Center
Women's Center records, Collection 94, UARC 2015-13
posters
UARC 2015-013c
Distribution of Full-time Faculty in Fall 1986 by Race/Ethnicity, Sex, Rank, Tenure Status, Chart from A Promise Unfulfilled: A Report on the Implementation of UMBC's Affirmative Action Program 1979-1986, Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, November 1987, 60, pages, 8.5 x 11, President's office records, University Archives, Collection 50, Box 56, Folder 26
The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, comprised of faculty, associate and classified staff, and student volunteers was formed in order to advise Chancellor Hooker and the Director Human Relations on matters and issues related to implementation of UMBC's Affirmative Action Program." The report examined data from 1979-1986 and contained estimated goals for each department. The committee found that the representation of minority professors at UMBC was well below the availability of minority professors: 2.9% of tenured full professors, 5.6% of tenured associate professors, 8.2% of non-tenured professors, and only 17 of 365 full-time faculty positions (6 of the 17 from Africana Studies). In addition, black and female professors were disproportionately represented in lower ranks. From 1979-1986 some departments met their affirmative action goals, but most of the departments at UMBC with assigned hiring goals did not meet them in a timely matter.
President's office records, Collection 50
11/1997
reports; 8.5 x 11 in.
50UMBC-020a
Distribution of Full-time Faculty in Fall 1986 by Race/Ethnicity, Sex, Rank, Tenure Status, Chart from A Promise Unfulfilled: A Report on the Implementation of UMBC's Affirmative Action Program 1979-1986
The Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, comprised of faculty, associate and classified staff, and student volunteers was formed in order to advise Chancellor Hooker and the Director Human Relations on matters and issues related to implementation of UMBC's Affirmative Action Program." The report examined data from 1979-1986 and contained estimated goals for each department. The committee found that the representation of minority professors at UMBC was well below the availability of minority professors: 2.9% of tenured full professors, 5.6% of tenured associate professors, 8.2% of non-tenured professors, and only 17 of 365 full-time faculty positions (6 of the 17 from Africana Studies). In addition, black and female professors were disproportionately represented in lower ranks. From 1979-1986 some departments met their affirmative action goals, but most of the departments at UMBC with assigned hiring goals did not meet them in a timely matter.
Affirmative Action Advisory Committee, University of Maryland, Baltimore County
President's office records, Collection 50
11/1997
charts (graphic documents); 8.5 x 11 in.
50UMBC-020_26
Pioneering Africana Studies Faculty Members by William Boyd
The African-American Studies Department planning committee meeting in 1973 included Dr. Daphne Harrison (second from left). After Dr. Njaka stepped down, Dr. Harrison served as Acting Director of the department; a search was instituted that resulted in the appointment of Dr. Willie Bediako Lamousé-Smith as the new department chair in 1975. The department revamped its curriculum and added new courses in the areas of the African diaspora in Africa, North America, and the Caribbean. In addition, the W.E.B. Dubois Distinguished Lecture Series was established. Harrison succeeded Lamousé-Smith as chair, serving from 1981 to 1992. Harrison gained international renown for her book Black Pearls: Blues Queens of the 1920 and later became the first director of the UMBC Center for the Humanities. On the occasion of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the department in 1995, it was renamed the Africana Studies Department.
Boyd, William
University Photographs
1973
gelatin silver prints; black-and-white photographs; 4 x 5 in.
UARC Photos-07-01-0005
Winter Session Class Discussion of Malcolm X by William Morgenstern
A UMBC Senate passed resolution during the 1970-1971 academic year stated: That the discipline of Afro-American Studies be establish[ed] by September 1971." Mazi Dr. E.N. Njaka was hired as coordinator of the program, with the same status as a department chair, and a panel of experts including Dr. S.N. Nwabara from the University of Nigeria, Dr. Beeman Patterson from Ohio State University, and Dr. Uma Eleazu from the UMBC English Department (formerly chair of Afro-American Studies at California State University, Dominguez Hills) were charged with submitting the course of study. The program was approved by the Maryland Council for Higher Education (MCHE) on December 8, 1972, thereby creating the new department now called Africana Studies. This approval was the first time that the MCHE sanctioned an Africana course of studies leading to a B.A. degree. Prior to this approval, related courses were offered as General course offerings. Seen in the photograph are students Walter Brown and Eric Smothers leading GENL 8224: Life and Works of Malcolm X during the 1971 Winter Session.
Morganstern, William
University Photographs
Winter 1971
gelatin silver prints; black-and-white photographs; 4 x 5 in.
UARCPhotos-08; UARC Photos-08-0507
First Annual Lavender Celebration
Although UMBC never had a segregated student body, whether by race or gender, our campus has struggled in many ways to increase its diversity of the student body. UMBC is now promoted as a diverse institution and this is part of the defining narrative of the school and a point of pride for many administrators, faculty, students, and alumni. UMBC has been recognized as having the second most diverse student body (Princeton Review, 2008) and as one of the top 25 most diverse national universities (U.S. News & World Report, 2012). What does a racially diverse student body mean at UMBC? During the 2014-2015 academic year, 44.2% of the student body self identified as white, 16.4% as African American or Black, 20% as Asian, 5.9% as Hispanic or Latino, and less than 1% self identified as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander. Students that identify with two or more races made up 3.6% of the student body, while 4.8% did not self identify. International students were separated in this data and made up 4.6%. This data is distributed each year in several sources, including the annual Progress Report on Institutional Programs of Cultural Diversity, available through the Provost’s Office.
The first annual Lavender Celebration, honoring LGBTQ graduates and campus allies, was held on May 1, 2014 and was coordinated by the Office of Student Life's Mosaic: Center for Culture and Diversity. The Mosaic works within the Office of Student Life to promote and foster a community of diversity and acceptance on campus. In addition to honoring graduating students, honors are also awarded to departments and faculty/staff allies; the 2014 recipients were The Women’s Center, the department of Gender & Women’s Studies, and GWST professor Dr. Kate Drabinski. The Queer Camping & Leadership Retreat (Student Life) and the Spoken Word Comes Alive with Andrea Gibson (Freedom Alliance) were also recognized.
University Publications
5/1/2014
programs (documents); 8.5 x 5.5 in.
UPUB M9-003
Faculty Diversity at UMBC
Although UMBC never had a segregated student body, whether by race or gender, our campus has struggled in many ways to increase its diversity of the student body. UMBC is now promoted as a diverse institution and this is part of the defining narrative of the school and a point of pride for many administrators, faculty, students, and alumni. UMBC has been recognized as having the second most diverse student body (Princeton Review, 2008) and as one of the top 25 most diverse national universities (U.S. News & World Report, 2012). What does a racially diverse student body mean at UMBC? During the 2014-2015 academic year, 44.2% of the student body self identified as white, 16.4% as African American or Black, 20% as Asian, 5.9% as Hispanic or Latino, and less than 1% self identified as American Indian, Alaska Native, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander. Students that identify with two or more races made up 3.6% of the student body, while 4.8% did not self identify. International students were separated in this data and made up 4.6%. This data is distributed each year in several sources, including the annual Progress Report on Institutional Programs of Cultural Diversity, available through the Provost’s Office.
Diversity in the faculty communities at UMBC has continued to be a struggle. Faculty and staff at UMBC that self identify as white routinely make up about 70% of respondents. The administration and campus leaders have repeatedly tried to recruit a more diverse faculty, and most recently put in place several programs and initiatives to address this issue, including the Executive Committee for the Recruitment, Retention and Advancement of Underrepresented Minority Faculty, the UMBC OutList, and the UMBC Postdoctoral Fellows Program for Faculty Diversity which began in 2011.
University Publications
ca. 2012
pamphlets; brochures; 4.7 x 8.5 in.
UPUB P12-028
State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations, Public Information Document No. 7, Discrimination at the University of Maryland at Baltimore County
Members of the Black Caucus of Faculty and Staff pursued their concerns to the State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations, which issued a report that stated: The statistical data presented to the Commission at the time this investigation was initiated, combined with additional statistical data gathered during the investigation, clearly suggest that operational policies and procedures at the University of Maryland Baltimore County are discriminatory, in effect.” The report made specific recommendations, many of which were also recommended by Dr. Kuhn in his March 17 letter.
State of Maryland Commission on Human Relations
Albin O. Kuhn papers, Collection 44
ca. 1971
documents; 11 x 8.5 in.
50UMBC-041
Letter from Albin Kuhn to Norman V.A. Reeves and Howard Rawlings
Dr. Kuhn wrote a ten-page response to the February 10, 1970 letter from the UMBC Caucus of Black Faculty and Staff, setting out his views and offering advice for pursuing solutions to the problems outlined by Reeves and Rawlings. Your discussions and your statement… refer to appropriate representation of blacks and, obviously, this is a problem which must receive immediate and continuing action.” He said that of the 2,286 students then attending UMBC, 74 students identified as African American. Up to that time UMBC did not recruit any students, instead relying on information supplied to high school guidance counselors and personal appearances by counselors at high school college nights. During the current year,” Kuhn stated, an attempt is being made to develop active recruitment of black students under the able leadership of a black official in administration.”
Kuhn, Albin Owings, 1916-
President's office papers, Collection 50
3/17/1970
correspondence; 11 x 8.5 in.
50UMBC-012