Dear Alumni and Friends:

All communities--the neighborhoods in which we live, the institutions in which we work, the places of worship in which we pray and the organizations in which we volunteer--thrive when experienced individuals share their knowledge with those who are new to the group.

We can all think back to the people who opened the door to our own career path. So too is it within our own community at Maryland. In my view, mentoring may be even more important than teaching. It is the reason that we have made mentoring a priority with our faculty members. A strong mentoring experience can be truly transforming for a student. It also makes a campus this large a more inviting and nurturing community, which can increase student retention--a significant area of focus at Maryland.

The Baltimore Incentive Awards Scholars Class of 2006.

Our entering students are both talented and diverse, but in order to succeed they need direction and support. As new students arrive on campus, and learn what it means to be part of our community of scholars, it is the upper-class students and faculty mentors who will help our bright and talented undergraduates to reach their full potential. Whether it is learning how to study, exploring the frontiers of knowledge in their major, or simply discovering how to find the dining hall, our future mentors benefit from the support and direction of our more experienced members of the Maryland family.

Two programs really bring home the importance of mentoring to the university's success. Just last month, Maryland was tapped for a prestigious Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant--our third such award. Over the next four years, the $1.8 million grant will expand our College of Life Sciences Undergraduate Research Fellowship program, which has already enabled more than 300 undergraduates to pursue research initiatives. Students work closely with faculty mentors to advance their research, and even present their own research results at regional, national and international conferences.

Mentoring plays a significant role in the success of one particular group of students dear to my heart: the Baltimore Incentive Award Scholars. Last fall, I had the pleasure of welcoming the inaugural class of nine students, one selected from each of nine under-represented high schools in Baltimore City. The students selected have demonstrated a capacity for personal achievement and the motivation to succeed despite daunting setbacks. To begin, they come from schools unaccustomed to sending students to Maryland and all but one are first-generation college students. They need the guiding hand of a mentor to teach them the ropes. Indeed, in addition to benefiting from a strong mentorship program in place to guide their own path, last year's class learned what it meant to be a mentor for others. By returning to their high schools during the course of the school year, they demonstrated to their former classmates that they too could succeed.

Today, the first scholars have successfully completed their freshman year and stand ready to welcome the second wave of scholars this September. It's safe to say that the rite of passage from Baltimore City high school senior to University of Maryland freshman will be strengthened nine-fold by the presence of these seasoned sophomores. All of the scholars are rewarded with, what we consider, "an opportunity of a lifetime." In return, we receive the benefit of adding nine fresh points of view to our own community of scholars. We will pay tribute to these students and recognize those supporters who have helped shape the program's direction at a dinner on September 26th at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront Hotel.

I urge you to find your own ways to stay involved with our community. Perhaps it is through one of the mentoring opportunities in your own school or college. You also strengthen your university each time you return to campus--by cheering on the Terps in Byrd Stadium or the new Comcast Center or applauding a performance at the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center. And, even if you can't be here in person, do visit us on the Web or through the virtual community of the Terp Alumni Network.
--C. D. Mote, Jr., President