Skip site navigation

Winter 2024

Testudo turtle mascot with open arms. Vintage mascot photos in background

Features

January 12, 2024
From Turtlenappings to TikTok Shenanigans, How an Unassuming Reptile Evolved to Represent Terp Spirit
rainbow turtle, turtle with pink and light blue pattern, "Support #TransTerps" pin. "Debilitating Queerness", "they" pin

Features

January 16, 2024
Twenty-five years ago, the LGBTQ+ Equity Center opened to support queer Terps who felt invisible, isolated and harassed. Some of the founders recount its humble start and hard-won victories.
View of low, tan buildings against a large sky. Dessert terrain.

Features

January 12, 2024
American Indians have long been denied fair access to homes, health care, schooling and jobs. For Joseph Kunkel M.Arch. ’09, the mission to change that is personal.
Gold star on red backgroud

Post-Grad

January 12, 2024
The Alumni Excellence Awards
McKeldin Mall at sunrise

Parting Shot

January 12, 2024
Testudo Watches Over McKeldin Mall From Perch of Nearly 60 Years
"Testudo II" wheels near stands at football game

Post-Grad

January 12, 2024
An ‘Underexposed’ Photo of UMD History
Alex Kin ’08 and Sarah Tostanoski ’09 on wedding day

Post-Grad

January 12, 2024
Alums Celebrate Wedding at Homecoming Tailgate
Cheese board with M in middle; Kara McGrath inset portrait

Post-Grad

January 12, 2024
5 Tips for Making a Board Bursting With Flavor and Color
Zebrafish stamp

Post-Grad

January 12, 2024
Image Chosen by Postal Service Opened New Avenues to Treat Brain Diseases
Bonnie Bernstein portrait and "She Got Game: Inspiring Women, Inspired by Sports" illustration

Post-Grad

January 12, 2024
Sports Journalist’s Podcast Links Women’s Success in Careers to Experiences on the Field and Court
John Kelly at desk

Post-Grad

January 12, 2024
Departing Washington Post Columnist Shares 20 Years of Family Tales, Reader Favorites
three people sit on stage at PROGRESS launch

Explorations

January 12, 2024
Initiative to Offer Research, Solutions to National Crisis
group installs Mesonet tower

Explorations

January 12, 2024
Maryland Mesonet to Provide Early Weather Warning in a Changing Climate
adult and baby bald eagles in nest

Explorations

January 12, 2024
Bald Eagle Expert Joins Legendary Explorers Club Honorees
Arlington House perched atop Arlington National Cemetery

Explorations

January 12, 2024
At Robert E. Lee’s Former Residence, Researcher Opens Door to Overlooked Legacies

Class Notes

News on Friends and Classmates

See all Class Notes from this issue

00s

Jason Sartori MCP '05

Jason Sartori MCP '05 was appointed planning director for the Montgomery Planning Department in October. Sartori has worked for the Montgomery County Planning Department since 2016.

Passings

Richard Stephen Hammerschlag M.S. ’66, Ph.D. ’72

Richard Stephen Hammerschlag M.S. ’66, Ph.D. ’72 of Highland, Md., died on Dec. 28, 2023, at the age of 82. He received his B.A. in botany at Colgate University and his master’s degree in plant pathology at UMD. He was then drafted into the U.S. Army,…
Donald H. MacDonald Jr. headshot

Passings

Donald H. MacDonald Jr. ’56

Donald H. MacDonald Jr. ’56 of Winchester, Va., died on Oct. 7, 2023, at age 93. A native of Baltimore, he majored in electrical engineering at UMD, then served in the U.S. Army as a first lieutenant from 1952 until 1963. He worked his entire career at…
Vernon Mason Briggs Jr. headshot

Passings

Vernon Mason Briggs Jr. ’59

Vernon Mason Briggs Jr. ’59 of Ithaca, N.Y., died on Oct. 1, 2023, after a short illness. He was 86. Briggs was president of his senior class at Bethesda-Chevy Chase High School and at UMD, where he majored in economics and received the Algernon Sullivan…

80s

Matt Hicks ’83

Longtime Texas Rangers radio play-by-play announcer Matt Hicks ’83 fulfilled a career dream by covering the World Series. Hicks started his career at WMUC.
Waldo Howard Burnside headshot

Passings

Waldo Howard Burnside ’49

Waldo Howard Burnside ’49 died on Nov. 5, 2023, his 95th birthday. He was born in Washington, D.C., and met his future wife, Jean Culbert ’50, in high school. They went to UMD at the same time; there, he joined the Gamma Chi Chapter of Sigma Chi…

90s

Joseph Drayton ’93

Joseph Drayton ’93 joined the international law firm Proskauer as a partner in its intellectual property group. He has represented some of the nation’s most prominent companies before state and federal courts as well as the International Trade Commission.…
Mary Ethel Jacocks McCorkle headshot

Passings

Mary Ethel Jacocks McCorkle ’68

Mary Ethel Jacocks McCorkle ’68 of Hillsborough, N.C., died Dec. 18, 2023, at the age of 79. She majored in sociology at UMD and was an accountant at Saint Mary’s School in Raleigh, N.C., for many years. After moving to Emerald Isle, McCorckle enjoyed…