Anticipation continues to build as 2025 Do Good Challenge finalists prepare to take to the stage in the annual pitch competition for a share of more than $40,000 in prizes. On Tuesday, April 22, the finalists will share more about their work and impact with an audience of hundreds and a panel of expert judges. The teams were selected from groups and organizations across campus that are tackling issues ranging from providing health education to reducing health disparities around the world to educating low-income youth on how to become entrepreneurs. This is the 13th annual Do Good Challenge hosted by the Do Good Institute, based in the School of Public Policy.

College Park Scholars, celebrating the 30th anniversary of the program's founding, honored the best and the brightest of its most recent Citation class at its most recent Citation and Awards ceremony. This tenacious class, filled with future changemakers and leaders, pushed through a challenging start to college that began during the pandemic to emerge as standouts in the classroom, in their communities, and at the University of Maryland.

Eighteen outstanding graduating seniors at the University of Maryland are committed to a variety of causes and career goals, ranging from statistics and public policy to teaching.

For some young people working in nonprofits, their organizations and leaders seem out of touch. Top officials, they believe, are too consumed by their legacy and the hunt for grants. They feel radical change is needed now — in how philanthropy dispenses money, how organizations fight crises, and how staff is managed — but they don’t yet have the power or resources to make it happen. They have big ideas, but they’re still being treated like kids.Life Sciences alum Anthony Sartoni details his work in the mental health space and the partnership between nonprofits and philanthropy in this roundtable discussion.

Nicholas Fletcher, a lecturer in the University of Maryland’s Department of Biology, has been appointed director of the College Park Scholars Life Sciences program.“We are delighted to welcome Nick Fletcher to College Park Scholars and Life Sciences. Nick is a creative and caring teacher whose commitments to hands-on learning and inclusive community align perfectly with core Scholars values,” said College Park Scholars Executive Director Marilee Lindemann. “We look forward to working with him to extend the proud legacy of Scholars Life Sciences in exciting new directions.”

Senior Marshals are graduating seniors who have demonstrated the highest levels of scholarship, service to the campus community, extracurricular involvement, and personal growth. The University of Maryland Senior Marshals represent graduating seniors who have demonstrated the highest levels of scholarship, service to the campus community, extracurricular involvement, and personal growth.

COLLEGE PARK, MD. – College Park Scholars in Fall 2024 will add two programs to its roster of two-year living-learning experiences for academically talented students, but one will look and sound familiar.Data Justice will debut, and the University of Maryland’s CIVICUS program will relaunch with a new name: Civic Engagement for Social Good.The expansion will bring the number of Scholars programs to a record of 13 and provide 150 additional first-year students with the opportunity to begin their college journeys as members of an intellectually rich and socially vibrant Scholars community.

When Brood X cicadas emerged by the billions in 2021 after 17 years underground, dozens of species of birds pulled up a table at a bug buffet, helping to create a cascading series of ecological effects, according to a new study by researchers at the University of Maryland and other institutions. In their publication featured this month on the cover of the journal Science, the team from UMD, including College Park Scholars Life Sciences program alum Grace Soltis, George Washington University and Georgetown University quantified the widespread changes the periodical cicada emergence had on the feeding patterns of birds and its downstream effects on forest food webs.

When the Citation class of 2023 entered the University of Maryland, they were already adjusting to a rapidly changing world being constantly reshaped by the Covid-19 global pandemic. One thing that didn’t change – their commitment to excellence in the classroom. All who successfully completed the requirements of their respective Scholars program received their official Scholars citation. But there were some that went above and beyond the expectations, leaving a lasting impact on the community.

Students in College Park Scholars’s Citation Class of 2022 began their University of Maryland (UMD) careers in the fall of 2020, under the shadow of the COVID-19 pandemic. They spent their first year almost entirely online: Some Zoomed into their program colloquium from their double-turned-single dorm rooms; others attended virtually from their families’ homes, away from campus.