By Jalen Wade

According to a panel of Prince George’s County delegates, the University of Maryland is disconnected from its outer community.

On Monday, April 29, a group of county representatives came to speak at the university’s State of the County panel in Francis Scott Key Hall. The event was sponsored by the African American studies department as well as Professor Jonathan England’s course in black culture. Students of the class introduced the panelists and asked them questions.

Panel members, all of which were university alumni, included Alonzo T. Washington of District 22,  Wanika Fisher of District 47B, Julian Ivey of District 47A and Jazz Lewis of the 24th District.

England said the presence of the panelists allowed students in attendance to learn more about their county.

“A lot of the students might be residents of Prince George’s County in the future,” England said.

The panel circled through a variety of different topics concerning the county. Questions presented by students primarily focused on race, education and gentrification.

A major topic addressed by the panel was the relationship, or lack thereof, between the university and its outer community. Some students and panelists felt that this relationship was almost nonexistent. According to the panel, many students don’t even realize that College Park is in Prince George’s County.

“It’s good for the university to have a connection with PG County. I feel like the university’s connection with College park is lacking and with the county, it’s not even there,” said Natalie Moyer, a sophomore majoring in economics and public relations with a minor in business.

According to Lewis, the number of black students from Prince George’s County at the university is disproportionately small in comparison to the black population of the county. He added that the number of black students has decreased since he attended.

“When we were here, African Americans made about 10% of the student population and now we’re down to 5%, which is a big drop for a state where a third of the population is black,” Lewis said.

The panelists attributed the problem to a variety of factors, one of them being education issues within the county. According to the panel, public schools in Prince George’s County are highly overcrowded, and many fail to encourage students to succeed and attend college. According to Lewis, students whose parents can afford it send their kids to private schools out of the county due to a lack of faith in the public school system.

“We’re still underfunding our schools,” Washington said.

Lewis said she was upset that students in her district have inadequate learning facilities.

“I’m tired of having my children go to class in trailers from the ‘80s,” Lewis said.

One student in the crowd told the panel that a teacher at her public school discouraged her from applying to college.

The other major criticism that the panel made was toward President Loh. The panel felt that Loh and the school put forth special treatment towards Montgomery County schools and students as the university’s admissions team has personal relations with some of the Montgomery County Public Schools’ guidance counselors.

“Some things are policy, but other things are common sense. If you’re going out of your way to build a relationship with the guidance counselors in Montgomery County, then you can go to the high schools in Prince George’s County to know the guidance counselors that are overworked and understaffed,” Lewis said.

Ivey proposed a number of ways in which the school could broaden its relationship with the surrounding county.

“We could have yearly field trips, let kids play in the fountain, see people on the campus… every year we should bring PG county public school children here,” Ivey said.

Washington largely blamed Loh and the board of trustees for the lack of a relationship with the county.

“I blame them as well for not instituting policies where the faculty work alongside with the county government to make UMD and the county a better place,” Washington said.

Communications major David Reichard felt the event was a good way to hear about some of the issues faced by the county.

“Coming from… PG county public schools, I know all the stuff that goes on in there and compared to other countries like Montgomery and Howard, it blows my mind how little we get here,” Reichard said.