Tomorrow (4/22) the Women's, Gender, & Equity Center will be closed to support students presenting at URCAD! Spectrum will still take place as planned from 2-3, though! We hope you will join us at URCAD and Spectrum!

Our staff will be available throughout the day if you have any questions or concerns. Email womenscenter@umbc.edu. 

The Women's, Gender, & Equity Center is open for full participation by all individuals regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy.

UMBC is committed to creating an accessible and inclusive environment for all students, staff, faculty, and visitors. If you have difficulties accessing any of the materials on our site or any of our events or discussions, please contact us so that we can provide an alternative format and/or remedy any accessibility challenges.

ARE YOU READY TO ROCK THE RAC????

3:00-4:00pm on the RAC Stage- URCAD headliner...

Fever Dream

UMBC rock band featuring:

Dr. Jeffrey Lieps (Professor, Biological Sciences)

Dr. Stephen Caruso (Teaching Professor, Biological Sciences)

Ryan Bacon (6th year PhD student in Biological Sciences)

Elana Frazier (1st year PhD student in Biological Sciences)

Ginevra Imberti (Biochemistry undergraduate student)

Claudia Gualtieri (Manager)

And join us at the URCAD afterparty on Thursday, April 23 at 7pm at

Fish Head Cantina

4802 Benson Ave

Halethorpe, MD

URCAD is this Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

It’s time to celebrate our grads! 🌟 Join The Mosaic for our end-of-year Affinity Celebrations & Awards: 

Asian Cultural Celebration & Awards | May 14 | 5:30 PM 

Black & Latine/x Celebration & Awards | May 18 | 5:30 PM

📍 Location: UC Ballroom, 3rd Floor Dress in your "celebration best" and join us for food, awards, and performances.

Don't forget to RSVP by the deadline to receive your honorary graduation cords! 🎓✨

If you would like to nominate a community member for one of our Affinity Celebration & Awards, you may nominate them here using the Awards Nomination Form or https://forms.gle/TLH8uDwccy5gBJtj8. You may submit multiple nominations for the same or different individuals. Please submit all nominations by April 20th, 2026.

Our end-of-the-year celebration award nominations form CLOSES TODAY. 

In honor of our amazing students, faculty, and staff at UMBC, each event includes awards to recognize these incredible community members for their outstanding contributions. To see a description of ALL of our awards, please click here. 

Award nominations for both celebrations can be submitted here: https://forms.gle/TLH8uDwccy5gBJtj8. You may submit multiple nominations for the same or different individuals. Please submit all nominations by the end of the day, April 20. 
Graduating students can still RSVP until April 30th to reserve their honorary cord. RSVP links for graduating members and general members for each event can be found on our myUMBC page or below.  If you are bringing guests or family members, please include them in the RSVP count. 

• Asian Cultural Celebration & Awards: This celebration commemorates the achievements of UMBC community members and graduates while celebrating the vast cultural diversity of Asian communities and heritage on our campus. We seek to honor the breadth of experience of people across Asia - East, South, Southwest, West, and Central Asia. 

• Black & Latine/x Celebration & Awards: This celebration is in recognition of the achievements of UMBC's Black and Latina/e/o/x graduating students as well as contributing community members. We seek to honor the vast and impactful experiences of people across our Black & Latine/x community at UMBC. 

During both gatherings, we'll enjoy food together, showcase keynote speakers, student musical and dance performances, and award presentations to honor student contributions, as well as the faculty and staff who've contributed to their success.

Both of these events are open to ALL regardless of race, color, religion, sex, national origin, or any other protected category under applicable federal law, state law, and the University's nondiscrimination policy. 

"When I started working in an archive, I had a vague vision of what that would look like. Mostly, it involved carefully handling rare, centuries old books, painstakingly cataloging collections, and rehousing the materials in fancy grey acid free boxes. I didn’t expect to become a photography detective. But over the past three months, that’s exactly what I’ve been doing."

Read full post on the Special Collections blog.

Stop by Coffee Mondays to grab a free cup of coffee, tea, or hot chocolate and take a breather between classes.

Whether you're coming to study, chat, or just refuel, this is your weekly reminder to slow down and connect with fellow grad students.

Where? Office of Graduate Student Life (Commons 308)
When? Every Monday | 10am - 2pm

URCAD Selfie Contest and Graffiti Wall

For URCAD 30 we are throwing back to 1997 where it all began!

Students are encouraged to “tag” the graffiti wall, take selfies, and post to social media. Lots of fun accessories! Bring your friends and family! Bring your mentor! Open to all attendees! The most creative entries win!

Location: RAC Track

Take a selfie at URCAD and upload it to URCAD social media or email it to aprilh@umbc.edu (by 4/24) to enter to win a gift card to the UMBC Bookstore!

Categories are:

Best Overall Selfie ($100)

Best Selfie with Your Mentor ($50)

Best Selfie with Your Presentation ($50)

Best Selfie with a Family Member ($50)

Best Selfie with Graffiti ($50)

URCAD is this Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC:

URCAD.umbc.edu

Hello everyone! Just a reminder we have our Earth Day Free Farmers Market Today!

We will be located at the Commons Terrace, and will be from 12:00pm - 1:00pm. It will consist of produce items such as apples, bananas, peppers, etc., with a couple of other household/personal care necessities.

Be sure to bring your bags/boxes, and we hope to see you there!

Hello everyone!

Retriever Essentials will be closed today for our Earth Day Free Farmers Market event. Be sure to stop by!

Join us for the Alumni Keynote Speaker and Luncheon at URCAD!

Karena Ingram ’16, Music Composition

Composer and Marketing Manager, Baltimore School for the Arts Foundation

Noon – 1 p.m., RAC Stage
Welcome by Provost Manfred van Dulmen
Introduction by Dr. Lisa Cella, Chair and Professor of Music

Karena Ingram is a composer based in Baltimore, Maryland. Beginning her career after graduating the University of Maryland, Baltimore County in 2016 with a degree in music composition, her chamber ensemble and symphonic works have been performed regularly throughout the United States, Europe, and in television and video games. Most recently, her work RAINN (2025) was premiered by the Memphis Symphony Orchestra, commissioned by the Virginia B. Toulmin Foundation Orchestral Commissions Program, an initiative of the League of American Orchestras in partnership with the American Composers Orchestra (ACO). She has been commissioned by the UMBC Ruckus ensemble (2023), Baltimore CenterStage’s production Life is a Dream (2023), and the ACO as a part of their Connecting ACO Community virtual series (2022). Described as “…stunning” and “… beautiful musical depictions of nature…” (Symphony Number One), Ingram’s music is reputable for its imaginative use of color and textural exploration. Ingram has worked for several non-profit arts organizations, at the Baltimore Choral Arts Society, has worked as a digital marketing associate at the Walters Art Museum, and is currently Marketing Manager at the Baltimore School for the Arts Foundation. While a student at UMBC, she worked with mentors Dr. Linda Dusman and Dr. Anna Rubin and presented her research at URCAD on the Baltimore-based composer, CK Barlow and her influence in the field of electronic music.

Ingram's RAINN musically represents the statistic that every 68 seconds an American is sexually assaulted. "Approximately every 68 seconds, the audience will be forced to feel that break and rebuild through music...I write to honor those who have been foced to break down, grieve, rebuild, and endure."

URCAD is Wednesday, April 22 in the RAC. For the full schedule of events, see:

URCAD.umbc.edu