TerrapinSTRONG
What is TerrapinSTRONG?
TerrapinSTRONG is an affirmative set of shared values, actions, identity and agency that connects all University of Maryland community members.
TerrapinSTRONG Vision
The University of Maryland strives to create an inclusive environment where every member of our community feels that they belong and are empowered to reach their full potential.
We aspire to become a community that is: United, Respectful, Secure and Safe, Inclusive, Accountable, Empowered and Open to Growth.
To be TerrapinSTRONG is to:
- Engage diversity to impact grand challenges of our times. We invest in knowledge, skills and practices that enable us to work collaboratively in advancing our diverse, globally connected society.
- Acknowledge the role the University of Maryland has played throughout its history in denying access and full participation. We rest on indigenous land that was stolen from the Piscataway People by European colonists, and plantation land granted to us by slaveholders. We recognize patterns of disenfranchisement and discrimination that have restricted participation based on individuals’ race, sex, gender identity or expression, sexual orientation, socio-economic background, physical or mental disability, national origin, and religion.
- Celebrate University of Maryland traditions, trailblazers, and communities. We show Terrapin Pride.
- Take actions to advance diversity, equity, inclusion and social justice. We advocate for human rights within our personal lives, our fields or areas of study, and the university community.
TerrapinSTRONG Initiatives
We enact TerrapinSTRONG through an interactive, personalized onboarding program for all new students, faculty, and staff as well as through additional curricular, co-curricular, professional development, research, and outreach activities. Onboarding serves as a front door through which members are welcomed in before being provided with more opportunities to engage in the TerrapinSTRONG vision.
Onboarding:
Undergraduate students, graduate students, faculty, and staff complete TerrapinSTRONG onboarding through new student and employee orientations. Each academic college also welcomes new students through TerrapinSTRONG programming.
Key aspects of TerrapinSTRONG onboarding are designed to welcome and educate:
- Introduction to our community, traditions, values and expectations
- Exposure to our history
- Discussion of social identities and how they shape experiences
- Concrete examples of how we as students, faculty and staff can contribute to a more inclusive and just campus community and world in our majors, co-curricular experiences, programs, divisions and work