News

When the Scholars Citation Class of 2021—all 930 of them—stepped onto the University of Maryland campus in August of 2019, spirits were undoubtedly high. College Park Scholars was celebrating its 25th anniversary, with branded #ScholarsAt25 shirts, buttons and laptop stickers, and even a Maryland Dairy ice cream flavor created specifically for the occasion. But spirits sank in March of 2020 with the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, sending the cohort into a virtual experience for the rest of their time in the program.

College Park Scholars has awarded its inaugural Rebecca Basena Kampi Memorial Scholarship to Joy Nash, a junior materials science and engineering major and an alum of the Media, Self and Society Scholars program. The scholarship provides financial support for undergraduate students in College Park Scholars who, through their leadership and public service, work to produce social change and support social justice.

Alexandra Marquez, a Media, Self and Society Scholars alum and a 2021 graduate of the University of Maryland, was recently named Standout Undergraduate Student by the All in Democracy Challenge, a coalition of 850 higher education institutions across the country. The All in Democracy Challenge empowers colleges and universities to achieve excellence in nonpartisan student democratic engagement.

Kids bent over boxes of school supplies. Tubs of tomatoes, picked fresh off the vine. College students clad in waders, waist-deep in pond water. These were just a few of the scenes witnessed during College Park Scholars’ annual Service Day, which took place on Friday, Aug. 27, this year.

A significant number of Scholars alumni will be serving as Senior Marshals at the University of Maryland commencement this Friday, May 21, 2021. Senior Marshals are graduating seniors who display the highest levels of scholarship, service, extracurricular activity and personal growth.

For most University of Maryland (UMD) students, the end of the spring semester heralds the start of finals. But for sophomores in College Park Scholars, for the past 24 years, this time of year has signified Academic Showcase. The event, one of the largest exhibitions of undergraduate student learning on campus each year, typically involves more than 600 Scholars sophomores presenting on their capstone projects to fellow students, faculty, parents and other members of the UMD community.