News

This semester, College Park Scholars is launching Scholars Promoting and Revitalizing Care (SPARC), a student-led, staff-supported initiative that promotes the wellbeing of all members of our community. The club will hold its first interest meeting on Tuesday, Nov. 8 at 8 p.m. to gauge what care means to students and how they can show care for others. "We will mainly be searching for dedicated e-board members to help raise this club from the ground up," said Life Sciences Scholar Anthony Sartori, president and founder of SPARC.

Life Sciences alumna Sarahann Yeh arrived in Indonesia on Aug. 23 to work with high school students at SMAN 7, a public high school on the outskirts of Bandar Lampung city. Yeh received the Fulbright Scholarship this past spring, which funded her nine-month trip and connected her with service opportunities in Indonesia. She is also serving as a U.S. cultural ambassador, and she credits Scholars for helping her to discover her passion for cultural advocacy. "Scholars taught me to value experiential learning and gave me confidence to pursue international opportunities,” Yeh said. “I remember sitting in colloquium when a lightbulb went off in my head: ‘I don't have to just learn about things in lecture. I can go do them.’”

Students and academic scholars examined the convergence of criminal defense and immigration law at the third annual Crimmigration Conference on Oct. 6-7. The Crimmigration Conference is sponsored annually by the Crimmigration Control International Net of Studies (CINETS). The first two conferences were hosted in Portugal and the Netherlands; this year, Justice and Legal Thought Scholars Director Robert Koulish organized the the 18-panel conference at the University of Maryland. Koulish remarked that he was pleased with how eager professionals were getting involved politically to change laws and policies regarding this serious issue.

Two graduates of the College Park Scholars program have channeled their entrepreneurial passions in the launch of their new food truck business. The Q Truck officially launched Sept. 2, along with several other popular trucks from the DMV area. Former Environment, Technology and the Economy Scholar David Engle and senior Business, Society and the Economy Scholar Chris Szeluga decided to start this new business venture soon after new legislation in Prince George’s County allowed food trucks in designated Food Truck Hubs, Engle said.

The third annual Scholars Cup raised a record-breaking $13,194 for charity this academic year, with Science, Discovery and the Universe named the winner of the 2016 Scholars Cup. The Scholars Cup is a community-wide fundraising competition for charity and a series of competitive events. “The Scholars Cup attempts to capture the best of the Scholars community by harnessing a spirit of fun, friendly competition and raise money for charities,” said Scholars Assistant Director Ben Parks. “It serves as a vehicle to bring Scholars programs together to build community, which is as the heart of Scholars.”

This year, College Park Scholars and the City of College Park celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Lakeland STARs program with Paint Branch Elementary School. Lakeland STARs tutors work with first to sixth grade students from nearby Paint Branch Elementary to enrich their academic experiences. Scholars are matched one-on-one with a PBES student and meet each week on a designated day throughout the semester. The 20th anniversary celebration on April 25 honored the legacy and the future of the program. “It was an incredibly heartwarming event. I was very happy to see the program receiving appreciation from the city and from the College Park mayor,” senior Science and Global Change Scholar and STARs Student Coordinator Aastha Kaul said.