An article by Director of Health Promotion Samantha A. Smith, Ph.D., MPH, CHES, was published in Learning Well magazine's Perspectives section on Feb. 7. In "Let Them Scream" Dr. Smith discusses the history of student protests, and shares her recent research on the connections between student activism, protests, and well-being.

Dr. Smith says, "Research has shown that participating in protests can increase students' sense of belonging, identity development, and positive mental health outcomes." She also discusses how activism and civic engagement can work together to advance justice.

This year, the theme for Black History Month is "African Americans and the Arts."  When discussing health, wellness, and well-being, art is an essential component for many people.  Whether the medium is music, paint, literature, film, or any other forms of artistic expression, art allows people to express their emotions and find themselves in the art of others.  It plays a role in helping break down stigma around mental health and treatment and it also brings joy into people's lives.

For some, creating art can be an expression of their own struggles with mental health or bringing to light the struggles that others might face.  In his song "u," Kendrick Lamar puts his own experiences with depression and suicidal ideation into his music.  Painter Malik Roberts created the "Blk & Blue" show at the ABXY Gallery and through his work demonstrates how PTSD, anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges manifest within African American communities as a result of historical and environmental factors.  In her memoir "Willow Weep for Me: A Black Woman's Journey Through Depression," Nana-Ama Danquah shares her experience with Postpartum Depression, its impacts on her life and relationships, and what it means to survive.  

Creating art can be a powerful coping mechanism for some, the act of creation allowing healing to occur.  But even if someone isn't comfortable creating themselves, the act of consuming art can be healing as well.  It might be looking at or listening to art about mental health, like some of the examples above, but it could also be consuming any sort of art that brings joy into someone's life.  A song or movie doesn't have to talk about mental health to lift the spirit and help create a sense of well-being.

Art also has the capacity to help break down stigma surrounding mental health without having to explicitly be about mental health.  By incorporating characters who experience mental illness and real reactions to difficult life events, people are able to see pieces of themselves reflected back and understand they are not alone.  Romance author Talia Hibbert incorporates real, well-rounded characters into her books, like "Take a Hint Dani Brown" who experience challenges with their mental health, but aren't defined by it.  Even wildly popular movies like Ryan Coogler's "Black Panther" and "Black Panther: Wakanda Forever" help destigmatize different experiences with grief and loss, showing that there is more than one way to cope with the challenges that people face.

While art can be a key component in mental health treatment, it is certainly not the only avenue people are able to utilize.  Retriever Integrated Health can support Black and African American students through our free and confidential counseling services, as well as medical services.  Students can connect to our services by calling (410) 455-2542 or scheduling an Initial Consultation appointment through the RetrieverCare portal.  The Maryland Department of Health also has compiled a list of Mental Health Resources for the Black Community that students can access to support themselves and their families on their mental health journeys.

So as we celebrate African Americans in the arts this month, we also celebrate how the black community has embraced and utilized art as a way to speak to mental health and a healthy inner life.

UMBC has been awarded a $30,000 Advancing Religious Pluralism Grant by Interfaith America to "further interfaith cooperation and learning on campus." The grant will allow Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b) to expand their interfaith infrastructures and, in collaboration with campus partners, to strengthen strategic plans, programs, initiatives, resources, and staff development across the University in order to equip students to engage across lines of religious differences in contributing to a sustainable and thriving democracy.

Matt Hoffman, assistant director in i3b, manages the Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being and is serving as team leader for this initiative. The team includes Dr. Ciara Christian, M.A. '18, Ph.D. '22, acting director of i3b; Darcie Adams '23, M.P.S.'25, i3b graduate assistant in the Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being; Dr. Renique Kersh, vice president for student affairs; Tanyka Barber, chief diversity officer and vice president of institutional equity; Dr. Laila Shishineh, director of Academic Engagement & Transition Programs; Rev. Kiran Sankhla, UMBC Hindu chaplain; and Aliza Silverman, interim director of UMBC Hillel.

Hoffman explains, "As i3b has grown its diversity, equity, and inclusion work, the two-year-old Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being in the Center for Well-Being has become the hub of religious and spiritual life--during a challenging time when increasing interfaith understanding and collaboration is more important than ever. While intentional interfaith work has been one focus in i3b, we recognize the need to develop new sustainable programs and educational opportunities that support our undergraduate and graduate students. Our goal is to create hallmark curricular programs that teach skills and provide a laboratory for students to learn how to create and facilitate interfaith conversations and programming.

"The timing for this grant is excellent as UMBC begins to develop a strategic plan that includes broad plans for students' comprehensive belonging and cross-cultural competency development, including leveraging the institution's compositional diversity in order to increase cultural and global competencies of students; promoting student health and well-being; and increasing opportunities for applied learning experiences," Hoffman adds.

UMBC will use the grant to develop two programs:

The UMBC Interfaith Fellows Program will be a stipended year-long fellowship program, with curricular (non-credit) and co-curricular experiences to develop student leaders committed to engaging across religious and spiritual traditions. It will also serve as an entry point for students who identify as spiritual but don't necessarily connect with a religion or defined worldview. Through a series of weekly meetings and campus-focused projects, students will gain practical and theoretical experience to develop communities committed to justice, dedicated to lifting up diverse identities and energetic pluralism. Fellows will be responsible for shaping campus culture to make interfaith engagement a campus norm. The capstone experience will be an opportunity for participants to lead a series of interfaith programs on campus, aimed at applying their skills and knowledge to address the growing, shifting, pluralistic community at UMBC and how the institution can continue to develop proactive systems to develop graduates to address emergent issues.

The UMBC Bridge Builders Program will be a semester-long program focused on dialogue across differences, related to pressing global issues in religious/spiritual spaces. In this weekly program, a small group of students will develop skills and competencies connected to dialogue, identity exploration, and community building that center restorative practices. Each Bridge Builders series will focus on one contemporary, contentious issue connected to religion and spirituality. Bridge Builders will proactively address such needs through the creation of an intensive, relationship-building dialogue-centric program. Participants will commit to a semester of engagement, developing relationships and skills for dialogue before engaging in a specified topic of conversation. This dialogue program will engage in the work of restorative practices to help participants learn how to respond and engage after harm has been done. 

Interfaith America's mission is to inspire, equip, and connect leaders and institutions to unlock the potential of America's religious diversity. Interfaith America seeks partnership with campuses who recognize that American colleges and universities have a unique role and responsibility to help our communities and our nation explore and learn how to embrace differences while maintaining a common life together.

Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion, and Belonging (i3b) Assistant Director Angelina Jenkins is one of just five honorees to receive a 2024 American College Personnel Association (ACPA) Annuit Coeptis Award for Emerging Professionals. In March, she will attend the ACPA Annual Convention and 100th Anniversary Celebration, where awardees will be honored at a dinner with wide-ranging discussion and exchange about professional issues. 

The Annuit Coeptis Awards were created in 1979 by ACPA to celebrate the lives of Philip A. Tripp, Ursula Delworth, and Cynthia Johnson who dearly loved to challenge their contemporary and junior colleagues in a spirit of personal and professional sharing, good humor, and intellectual debate. This award is intended to be a generative and cross generational experience. The dinner models the importance of being both teachers and learners. It invites awardees into the practice of the synergy that can be created when we come together with cross generational wisdom.

Angelina came to i3b in July 2022. She was previously assistant director of the Paul Robeson Cultural Center at The Pennsylvania State University. At UMBC, she manages the core operations of The Mosaic, which officially celebrated 20 Years on February 2, 2024, and is celebrating with events and programs throughout the spring 2024 semester. She develops the Mosaic's educational programs and curriculum on cultural diversity, identity development, social justice awareness and advocacy, leadership development, and intercultural learning. Angelina also provides support to underrepresented population identities such as immigrants and children of immigrants and multi-racial and multi-ethnic identities, with the intent to foster community, healing, and learning. She is especially proud of the work she has done with the Multicultural Leadership Experience, Mixed Up (Multiracial / Cultural Series), and LOTUS: Leading Others to Thriving and Universal Success (a peer mentoring program for APIDA students, funded by a UMBC Hrabowski Innovation Fund grant).

She currently plays several leadership roles with national organizations, including co-coordinator of the Asian Pacific Islanders Promoting Educational eXcellence (APPEX) Summit; leadership team member for the Asian Pacific Islanders Knowledge Community (APIKC); and member of the NASPA 2024 Conference Leadership Committee and Engagement and Volunteers Subcommittee. She is a member of the UMBC Asian and Asian American Faculty and Staff Council and NASPA | Student Affairs Administrators in Higher Education.

Angelina is working on her Ph.D. in Higher Education, Student Affairs, and International Education Policy with a Student Affairs concentration from the University of Maryland, College Park.