By: Andrew Mollenauer 

Community Through Cultural Clubs:

Amid President Donald Trump’s threats to snuff out diversity, equity and inclusion in higher education, students at the University of Maryland report feeling only that much more empowered in their belongingness in cultural clubs and organizations on campus. 

“Come out to the large campus events … to ensure that you find connections, find a home, but also get that sense of belonging that we know will help you in your long-term success,” said Yvette Lerma Jones, the student affairs DEI director at Maryland. 

Jones said such communities benefit all members of the larger university committee. 

For some students, organizations in these spaces are twofold in their impact — On one hand, there’s fitting in among those with shared identity, but there are also opportunities to expand community involvement beyond whatever group you belong to. 

Avani Shetty, Delta Kappa Delta vice president, said she’s found that balance in the Asian service sorority. 

“This is something that is more than just a club for us,” Shetty said. “We are a part of a sisterhood, and we want to make an impact [on others].” 

Jones said a cultural center on campus, a burgeoning resource for members of several identity groups, is a domain in which students can find support. 

“The cultural center allows for that awareness to increase by giving folks a space where they can come in and find that connection,” Jones said. 

Unique UMD Courses: 

Across the areas of academia taught at the University of Maryland, there are several courses offered that expand the limits of the classroom experience. 

“There’s no substitute for being able to see it, hear it, feel it, smell it,” said Professor Kris Pelham Mayo of the Companion Animal Care and Management course he teaches. “I’ve heard from some of our repeat presenters that students from last year’s class contacted them and have been volunteering with their organization.”

For Orrin Berkeley, a teaching assistant for the course and a senior animal science major, this class has been conducive to career readiness. 

“Knowing that I want to work with a lot of different types of animals made it so that this class gives me the ability to truly handle and work with them and learn about them, at least the basics, before moving on to that next level,” Berkeley said. 

Director of the Center for Global Migration Studies on campus, Madeline Hsu created the Maryland’s Ethnic Foodways course, which is research-based and deals with topics about cooking across different cultural communities. 

“I thought it would be great to have a parallel project in which we have students go out and do ethnographic research on different kinds of ethnic food businesses,” Hsu said. 

Hsu also said she appreciates how the experience in her class is encouraging students to expand their awareness of the subject matter it deals with. 

“I’m really excited by what the students have been learning about the businesses, to see them sort of learning how to pay attention to more aspects of immigrant and ethnic Marylanders,” Hsu said. 

The Companion Animal Care and Management and Maryland’s Ethnic Foodways courses will be open for enrollment in spring 2026.