What was the first computer on campus? —Matt Basch ’08, M.S. ’10 At UMBC, computer science had its roots across the university in departments. In the early years, students didn’t major in computer science. Instead, students who explored the discipline were biology majors using technology to study fruit flies, p...

Why does UMBC not have a football team? Did the university ever consider having one? —Lisa Price ’87 The fact that UMBC does not have an intercollegiate football team is one of the defining elements for the university (and, perhaps, its social life) since its founding in 1966. The UMBC Bookstore even sells t-shirt...

Is it true that you have to run around the Loop Road to get rid of the calories in one donut? I heard this when I was a freshman 20 years ago. —Renate Smith ’98 The caloric reduction in running the 2.2 miles of Loop Road (officially known as Hilltop Circle) likely depends on your metabolism. (The inner loop is only...

Who was the most famous performer or group to play a concert at UMBC? —Eric Messner ’01 UMBC has had many amazing musical acts play at various venues on campus, including the now-vanished Gym I, the University Ballroom, the Quad, and the Retriever Activities Center. But if we had to narrow it down to five performer...

Does UMBC have secret underground tunnels? Why? —Bennett Moe ’88 Mention the word “tunnels” to many UMBC alums, and you’re bound to get a story. Often it’s a second- or third-hand tale. A friend of a friend, who may (or may not) have actually been there. Very often, shenanigans will be involved. Or conspira...

The first students at UMBC were 750 pioneers who arrived on September 19, 1966 and found three academic buildings, a campus still under construction, and a lot of mud. Some of the pathways they found were wooden boards. The Loop Road that would eventually encircle campus was years from completion yet. This first UMBC c...

Why was the Conservation and Environmental Research Area (CERA) and its trail created? —Delana Gregg’04, instructional systems development The Conservation and Environmental Research Area (CERA) was the product of a hard-won compromise between UMBC administrators, faculty and local community activists over the crea...

What is the oldest standing building on campus? —Sara Shannon ’05, social work When the Hillcrest Building (1921) that served a variety of purposes in the campus’ first 40 years was razed in 2007, one might reasonably conclude that the two remaining structures in the trio of academic buildings – Biological Scie...

When did UMBC become a national college chess powerhouse? —Valerie Kilgallon ’87, English According to a number of sources, including The Weekly Retriever and UMBC’s yearbook, Skipjack, the university has had a varsity chess squad – and a good one – since its earliest days. But the rise of chess as a symbol o...

How did it come to be that UMBC develop a class schedule with a “free hour” in the middle of the day? —Donna Lewis ’87, English In 1970, a group of UMBC students formed a Student Union to address what it called the “power structure” of the university, and provide an alternative to SGA as a source of direct...