Leonardtown, MD- During the last St. Mary’s County Commissioners meeting Jan. 15, the St. Mary’s College of Maryland gave their annual “state of the college” address. The summary was delivered by St. Mary’s College president Dr. Tuajuanda C. Jordan and Charles “Chip” Jackson.
One of the key parts of the presentation was the economic impact the college has on St. Mary’s and Southern Maryland. Dr. Jordan explained that the college is a “top 12 employer” in the county, has a $41.6 million employee salary base, and a $174 million estimated salary base among the 2,479 alumni living in Southern Maryland. All of these factors combine to make up the “about $210 million” that the college contributes “annually to the economy of Southern Maryland.”
Another major part of the presentation was the new athletic complex and building on the college’s campus. The new athletic complex will feature two “state of the art fields,” one turf and one natural grass, and be called the Jamie L. Roberts Stadium. Roberts was a three-sport student-athlete at the school who was “tragically killed in an accident.” While the school was conducting its archeological work of the area for the athletic fields, they discovered the site of “two slave quarters from different centuries.” The college is working to hire an artist to commemorate the site that will be along the path to the fields.
The reason that the fields had to move was due to the construction of a brand new academic building and auditorium. The auditorium will feature study commons, a café, and a 700-seat auditorium. The auditorium and sports complex will be available to the community to utilize, according to Dr. Jordan.
The final part of Dr. Jordan and Jackson’s presentation was the national prominence of the college. According to the presentation, in 1992 the college was designated as the nation’s first public honors college. The school also has the 8th highest four-year graduation rate (excluding military academies) among public institutions. From the class of 2017, “91.5 percent” of the college’s graduates were “employed or volunteering within six months [of graduating],” the national average is only 84 percent. “We are the national public honors college and we wear that distinction very proudly,” asserted Dr. Jordan.
Following the presentation, the college received questions from the commissioners. Commissioner Eric Colvin [R-District 1] stated that he “would love to see a more intentional focus on a partnership between CSM, St. Mary’s College, and the higher education center.” The commissioner’s comment was prompted by the 8 percent (29 of 376) first-year students from St. Mary’s County matched with the county being only the “fourth largest feeder of students.”
Dr. Jordan stated that the college is working to attract more students from the county, adding that higher education “should not be a competition. We have to be here as public servants, there have to be opportunities for every student, and we should be able to sit down at that table and figure out, to make sure there’s a pathway for every type of student in this county.”
The presentation capped off the BOCC meeting. The next meeting will be Tuesday, Jan. 29. For more information, the archive is available on the St. Mary’s County Government YouTube.
Contact Jerold at staffwriter@thebaynet.com.