2011 is already in our rearview mirror, but not receding so quickly that we can't pause and take a look back at a year of important change and advancement at the University of Baltimore. Before we fully commit ourselves to making 2012 a rousing success at school and in our personal and professional lives, let's recall some UBalt highlights from the past year—11 from '11:
1. Progress on construction of the new John and Frances Angelos Law Center. After months of preparation following the August 2010 groundbreaking ceremony at the building's site at the corner of North Charles Street and Mount Royal Avenue, important milestones were reached as the John and Frances Angelos Law Center moves closer to its early 2013 completion date: The 12-story concrete structure topped out in December and the unitized façade system installation has been going strong ever since, along with the mechanical, electrical and wall components. Most important of all, people really took notice of the progress. 2012 promises to be the year that the building becomes a signature part of the University landscape, and an important part of Baltimore's midtown growth in the 21st century. Check out its minute-by-minute construction.
2. Groundbreaking and construction for the Varsity student housing project. While the School of Law's new building was the talk of the town, another important building at Maryland Avenue and Biddle Street also made its mark on the city's landscape. The Varsity, a private project built on a former University of Baltimore Foundation parcel, promises to showcase student life next door to campus as a big part of the UBalt experience. With 323 beds in 114 apartments, and a wide assortment of living arrangements and amenities, the Varsity is leading the charge in inviting students to a city center that is alive with possibilities. The building is set for occupancy this fall. Visit UBalt's Housing pages to find out more.
3. Introduction of Spanish language and Latin American culture course. Starting this spring, the College of Public Affairs, in conjunction with the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences, will offer a pilot curriculum in world cultures and languages, which will include a World Cultures course focused on Latin America and two courses in Introductory Spanish Language. Already, dozens of students have signed up to take Spanish at UBalt; additional sections are in the offing, according to College of Public Affairs officials. The new courses are part of a growing trend to bring non-English courses and cultural offerings back into the mainstream of higher education. Learn more.
4. Lab named for Grant. On Nov. 10, the UBalt community and friends and family members paused to memorialize Jami Grant, M.S. '90, the former director of the University's B.S. in Forensic Studies program and associate professor in the College of Public Affairs, following her death last spring. The state-of-the-art forensic laboratories on the fourth floor of the University of Baltimore's Academic Center were renamed the Jami R. Grant Forensic Laboratories in her honor. Grant served as the principal architect of the Forensic Studies program, which she developed in conjunction with the University's criminal justice programs and with the support of the Baltimore Police Department, bridging the cultures of academia and law enforcement. In 2005, she led the effort to secure a $2 million grant to establish the laboratories, which also serve as a backup for the Baltimore Police Department's lab in an emergency.
UBalt also lost other prominent community members in 2011, including two-time Maryland governor and former Baltimore mayor William Donald Schaefer, LL.B. '41, LL.M. '51, legendary law professor Royal Graham Shannonhouse III and beloved marketing professor Peter Lynagh.
5. Campus marks 10th anniversary of 9/11 attacks. The University of Baltimore lost three alumni in the terrorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001:
Joseph V. Maggitti, B.S. '75
Seamus Oneal, M.S. '97
Karen L. Seymour, B.S. '81.
One year later, the University honored their memory with a plaque placed in a garden on the west side of Gordon Plaza. It reads: "May their memory reaffirm our resolve to send a message of unity and peace to the world."
Last fall, UBalt commemorated the decade since then with a series of events, "Ten Years Later: The World 9/11 Made." Among these offerings was a course in the University's Helen P. Denit Honors Program as well as several one-time events sponsored by the Denit Honors Program and the UBalt Office of the Provost.
6. National search for new law dean. The University is conducting a national search for a dean for the School of Law. F. Michael Higginbotham, the Wilson H. Elkins Professor of Law, is serving as interim dean while the search is underway.
7. UBalt's new website unveiled. Last August, the University of Baltimore took the wraps off its new website, presenting its many schools, departments, academic and business functions in a more welcoming, user-friendly presentation. The site, featuring bold colors and graphics as well as much-improved navigation, is known for its innovative use of social media—actually, reverse social media: You let us know what you have to say about UBalt on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Flickr, and we'll post it on our home page. Check it out.
8. Percy arrives as dean. On Aug. 1, Stephen L. Percy, former professor of political science and urban affairs, director of the Center for Urban Initiatives and Research and acting dean of the School of Public Health at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, formally began his duties as the inaugural dean of the University of Baltimore's College of Public Affairs. UBalt established the college in 2010 as part of a restructuring of the former College of Liberal Arts as two distinct schools: the College of Public Affairs and the Yale Gordon College of Arts and Sciences.
9. Supreme Court Justice Breyer visits UBalt. At the invitation of the School of Law, United States Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer visited campus Oct. 13 to discuss his most recent book, Making Our Democracy Work: A Judge's View. The event, free and open to the public, took place in the Patricia and Arthur Modell Performing Arts Center at The Lyric, adjacent to campus.
10. Earth Institute Director Jeffrey Sachs delivers campus talk. Jeffrey Sachs, the award-winning development economist, Earth Institute director and Columbia University professor of health policy and management, visited UBalt on Nov. 9 as part of the 2011-12 Merrick School of Business Speaker Series. Sachs's discussion sprang from his book, The Price of Civilization: Reawakening American Virtue and Prosperity. Part of his talk focused on global leadership, which is a priority of the business school.
11. Hoffberger Center hosts Mid-Atlantic Ethics Bowl for the first time. UBalt's Hoffberger Center for Professional Ethics hosted the Mid-Atlantic Ethics Bowl on Nov. 19, a day-long event that is among the largest collegiate-level Ethics Bowl events on the East coast. More than a dozen teams from the University of N. Carolina, Clemson University, Georgetown University, the U.S. Naval Academy, and, of course, UBalt, vied for a top finish and an opportunity to go on to the national Ethics Bowl in Cincinnati this coming March. It was a capstone event for the Hoffberger Center, which has grown its city-based Ethics Bowl competitions into a regional powerhouse in just a few short years.