Expansion for the Law School

This week, the Maryland Daily Record reported the Maryland General Assembly had directed the University System of Maryland to explore the possibility of opening a branch of the University of Baltimore School of Law in Prince George's County. The idea of the PG law branch is to provide an alternative legal education, with public university tuition rates, to Maryland residents in the DC suburbs. There are five private law schools inside the beltway (American, Catholic, Howard, Georgetown, and George Washington) and one public (UDC). But Maryland residents must pay out-of-state or private tuition levels to attend these schools.

Given the success of the University of Baltimore/Towson University jointly-managed MBA program, UB should consider partnering with a USM school in Prince George's. There are two, the University of Maryland, College Park and Bowie State University. Bowie State is the better option. As an HBCU, partnering with Bowie State would give UB the ability to reach out to underserved populations and assist Bowie State with meeting is unique mission. Additionally, Bowie State is easily accessible from Annapolis, in addition to all of PG. It would be good to see UB and Bowie State consider this option.

A Rumination on Rooting

As I write this, March Madness is dribbling, shooting, and rebounding its way into the Elite 8. At the same time, one of my fellow bloggers here has expressed that he has reached his Oriole-based disappointment threshold, and is seeking new loyalties. One of the comments to his post suggested that he follow the Lady Terps, who will face Louisville in the Elite 8 this Monday night. While this is a solid suggestion indeed – the Lady Terps’ brand of basketball is fast, intense, and engaging – wouldn’t it be better if UB students (and staff, and faculty, and administrators…) had our own team to follow?

The UBgamer campus organization apparently has a mascot, the Emu. The law school has the Poe statue. But the UB community overall? Not so much. Someone told me that we are the Bees, or possibly the Super Bees, but I have found no further evidence of such an appellation. Plus, who wants to be the Bees? We want to be something fierce (although maybe being “fierce” is reserved for MICA students…I hope not). May I suggest wolves, or maybe lions? Those would go pretty well with the other animals in our fair city – tigers, bears, eagles, etc.

True, we have a club lacrosse team that travels to Navy and Salisbury, among others. And our intramural basketball squad plays the other local universities once a year in the “Intramural Battle of Baltimore.” Of course, those schools send their teams to regulation tournaments also, representing Baltimore in the MEAC, ACFC, and CAA conferences, to provide just a sample.

I know we are a small school…but in the University’s new Strategic Plan 2008-2012, we are frequently compared (in terms of enrollment, role within the larger Maryland System, etc) with schools like Frostburg State, Salisbury University, and University of Maryland-Eastern Shore. Those are all NCAA schools – Frostburg and Salisbury in Division III, UMES in Division I. True, they all have campuses that are not smack in the middle of a city, but perhaps we should look at our urban location as an asset and opportunity, not as a limitation.

The Strategic Plan suggests that the school will gradually develop more green space and be more like a “regular” campus. Perhaps some effort could be made to use some of that green space (not to mention the already fantastic facilities in our shiny – and locally renowned – recreation center). Not only would it offer a new way to recruit students for a full four-year undergrad stint at UB (another goal of the strategic plan) but it would give students a way to feel like part of the larger educational community. It would give us something to root for, a smidge of collective and neighborhood identity, that we presently lack.