Dear UMB Community,

The University of Maryland, Baltimore’s (UMB) annual Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (MLK) and Black History Month celebration combines inspirational speeches, vocal performances, and awards given to worthy colleagues and community members who promote equity, diversity, and inclusion at the University and beyond.

This year, the MLK and Black History Month event will be held Tuesday, Feb. 6, at noon at MSTF Leadership Hall, with women’s rights champion Fatima Goss Graves, JD, as the keynote speaker and a reception/light lunch to follow in the atrium. I urge you all to attend this celebration in person by registering at this link.

Ms. Goss Graves is a nationally recognized leader in the fight for gender justice and an expert in law, policy, and culture change. She is president and CEO of the National Women’s Law Center, president of the National Women’s Law Center Action Fund, and a co-founder of the TIME’S UP Legal Defense Fund. The title of her keynote is “Hope Is a To-Do List: Beyond the Supreme Court’s Affirmative Action Rulings.” I am sure it will be informative and engaging.

In addition, our Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion will recognize winners of UMB’s MLK Diversity Recognition Awards, which honor students, faculty, and staff at UMB whose personal or professional work sustains Dr. King’s legacy of building a free and just society.

Our outstanding student award for 2024 goes to the Student National Dental Association chapter at the School of Dentistry. The outstanding faculty member is Danya Qato, PhD, PharmD, MPH, associate professor in the Department of Practice, Sciences, and Health Outcomes Research at the School of Pharmacy. And our staff award winner is Rosemary Ferreira, MEd, associate director of UMB’s Intercultural Center.

Two winners of our new Community Champions of Equity and Justice Awards will be recognized, as well: Edith Gilliard Canty, a pillar of the Southwest Baltimore community and president of the Franklin Square Community Association, and Parity Homes, an equitable real estate development company that is transforming abandoned rowhouses in Baltimore into high-quality, affordable homes.

The celebration also will include a performance by Black Chakra, a spoken word artist from Baltimore who has made a name for himself on the national stage by winning multiple poetry slam competitions.

Please register today. I hope to see you Feb. 6 at this exciting celebration.

Sincerely, 

Bruce E. Jarrell, MD, FACS

President