From the Nominator

"​​To be a UMBC Retriever in any of the last 30-plus years is to have a “Freeman Hrabowski story.” For many people, it’s pretty similar. President Hrabowski saw you on Academic Row and asked your major and where you went to high school. President Hrabowski got on your elevator and asked your major and where you went to high school. President Hrabowski stopped by your lunch table in The Commons and—you guessed it—asked your major and where you went to high school.  

You’d think he might get tired of hearing the answers, but instead, they seemed to animate him. He had rejoinders for any response and is indefatigable as he strides around the campus he’s watched grow up for more than three decades. And while many of Dr. Hrabowski’s working hours were spent at his desk on the phone speaking to organizations that could help better the education of his students, as often as possible, he’d take a lap around the campus that has shaped him as much as he’s shaped it.  

For our farewell story to a beloved college president, we wanted to showcase this community-building habit Dr. Hrabowski had developed over the decades. To that end, we shadowed Dr. Hrabowski on two hour walk—some of the stops and interactions were orchestrated by the magazine staff—but most of the conversations where directed by the president's natural curiosity. The walk resulted in more authentic interactions than we could have hoped for."

From the Judges

“Get Your Steps In with Dr. Hrabowski” was well received by the judges, who appreciated the engaging approach and well-written style of the story. The author's profile of the subject was complimentary and the use of a walk around campus approach was effective in providing a sense of the subject's personality and character.