UMBC’s Giving Day goal this year is ambitious - 3,000 donors (including a goal of 700 parent donors) in 36 hours.

Every donation helps provide students with the tools they need to become leaders and to reach their full potential. The #BlackAndGoldRush is an opportunity to show support for our community, no matter how much you give.

We know in order for students to be successful, they need access to the basics–proper nutrition, personal care items, and financial resources. This year, Student Affairs is prioritizing our Retriever Essentials Food Pantry and Stay Black and Gold Emergency Fund. Both funds are supporting hundreds of students by helping to reduce food insecurity and providing short-term financial assistance for those who find it difficult or impossible to continue their education due to an emergency or sudden unforeseen circumstances. 

As you join Initiatives for Identity, Inclusion & Belonging (i3b), and the Division of Student Affairs, in our fight against food insecurity and emergency need, please also consider a gift directly to the i3b fund*. When you give to i3b you contribute to our values and commitments of Radical Love and Belonging, Social Justice Education and Development, and Equity and Advocacy to changing UMBC and the world. 

• i3b creates opportunities for students of all social identities to learn in spaces where they are seen, heard, and valued for their full selves. 

• i3b creates learning opportunities that equip the UMBC campus community with the awareness, knowledge, and skills to cultivate an inclusive campus environment, and take action against intersectional forms of systemic oppression at and beyond UMBC.

• As a part of i3b, The Mosaic: Center for Cultural Diversity, The Pride Center, and The Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being, work to intentionally create a sense of belonging at UMBC for underserved and systemically marginalized students.

How your contributions make a difference:

• Expanded dialogue and leadership opportunities through our IDEAL Dialogue Facilitation internship and Multicultural Leadership Experience in partnership with Campus Life.

• New curriculum development to build capacity for new Interfaith Dialogues programming

• In-person Black and Latine/x Graduation Ceremony in partnership with Alumni Engagement, adding to our Lavender Celebration, to recognize our graduates and their achievements, and to provide scholarships. 

• Your support helps i3b respond to student concerns related to expanding hours in The Gathering Space for Spiritual Well-Being, as well as opening additional prayer, meditation, and reflection spaces across campus. 

By giving to i3b*, the Stay Black and Gold Fund or Retriever Essentials, you are doing more than supporting programming - you are joining in partnership toward an inclusive, equitable, and accessible campus community. If you would like to know more about our initiatives and programs that donors like you support, we encourage students, staff, faculty, alumnx, and other community members to stay up to date by following our social media pages, available via our Linktree.

Thank you for your partnership and your commitment to co-creating socially just futures. 

  *Please note that donations to this GritStarter will be going to the LGBTQ Outreach Foundation Fund at UMBC but will be dispersed across our programming, resources, and spaces. If you would like to have your funds be allocated to a particular initiative, program, and/or space, please include them in the comments in your donations.  

This post was curated by our Women’s Center Director, Jess Myers (she/her).

Jess Myers and Dr. Kate outside the Women’s Center

In honor of Giving Day, I reached out to Dr. Kate Tracy M.A. ’01, Ph.D. ’03 to ask her a few questions about the importance of giving and what the experience of giving has meant for her.

You may be familiar with Dr. Tracy’s name because for the past several years, Dr. Tracy has supported the Women’s Center on Giving Day by offering match challenges to our community. She also created the Maxine Tracy Endowment which provides the Women’s Center funding to support our Returning Women Students/Adult Learners Scholars + Affiliates program. It is also the namesake of our Wellness Room! Just recently she began the quest to fund a new endowment, the Kate Tracy Endowment, which will help provide scholarships to UMBC students in the future.

I’ve had the pleasure to get to know Dr. Tracy over the past several years and wanted to share a little bit more about this person who cares so much about the Women’s Center with our community. I had the chance to connect with her and ask her a few questions about the importance of giving and what’s she’s learned from the experience. I hope that learning a little bit more about Dr. Tracy will inspire you to find your “why” this Giving Day!

Jess: You’ve been supporting the Women’s Center for several years now – first to create the Maxine Tracy Endowment and now the Kate Tracy Endowment. What is your motivation behind your giving? And, what have you learned about yourself from the experience of giving? 

Dr. Tracy: My original motivation for giving to the Women’s Center at UMBC was to honor my grandmother, Maxine Tracy. She was my hero and a lifelong supporter of women’s professional development. Giving to the Women’s Center was a tangible way for me to honor her influence on my life and continue her legacy of supporting women’s professional development.

I’ve continued my giving to the Center out of gratitude. I feel very grateful for the many ways UMBC is woven into my own professional story. I want to continue to support the Center and be a champion for the work it does.

Jess: In some of our earlier conversations, it was clear to me that you found it important to carve out space for other women to see the possibilities in themselves being philanthropists. Can you share more about why this matters to you?

Dr. Tracy: Women’s philanthropy is often less visible. And I’d like to see that change. One way to foster that change is to share our stories of giving…what motivates us to give…how and what we give—whether it’s our time, talents, or our resources. Every gift—no matter the amount—will make a difference!

Jess: This is the third year you’ve offered a match challenge on behalf of the Women’s Center for Giving Day. What encouragement can you give to our potential donors to help us meet your challenge?

Dr. Tracy: One of the reasons I continue to offer the match challenge on behalf of the Women’s Center for Giving Day is to encourage others to join me in supporting the Center. The programming, support services, and advocacy the Center offers are so important to the UMBC community. I’m proud to be a supporter and want to do whatever I can to encourage others to support the Center and its mission.

You can learn more about Dr. Tracy and her grandmother, Maxine, by reading this UMBC Magazine article entailed Living Her Values that was published last fall (and is featured in the most recent hardcopy version of the UMBC Magazine).

We’re grateful for Dr. Tracy’s support… and for all of our generous donors who give of their talent, treasure, and time. Thank you for you!

And…

Our 2022 Giving Day Challenge!

We’re especially excited to share that any gift to the Women’s Center on Giving Day will help us unlock 2-part $5,000 Giving Day challenge set by Dr. Tracy!

Dr. Tracy will donate $2,500 to the Women’s Center once we reach 130 donors
AND an additional $2,500 once we achieve $5,000 raised for the Women’s Center!

Giving Day 2022 runs from February 16th at 9am until February 17th at 9pm!

Accepting Applications Through April 8, 2022!

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