Those lucky enough to follow UMBC men’s basketball pull off the greatest upset in March Madness history unfold in real time might remember the enjoyable antics of the UMBC athletics Twitter account.
While the Retrievers' timeline had many notable gems, including the faux feud with Seth Davis for picking Virginia to win just one minute into the game, a tweet that had some of the highest engagement numbers that night consisted of just two words:
RESPECT. US.
— UMBC Athletics (@UMBCAthletics) March 17, 2018
To those uninitiated before Friday’s game, the post might have seemed like the rallying cry of a 16-seed asking for some respect on their name as they trounced the No. 1 team in the country. But to those familiar with UMBC before the start of its Cinderella story, the tweet reflects the unfortunate struggle for relevance the honors university in Maryland has endured since its inception.
“I think a lot of people don’t know what UMBC is,” said Poulomi Banerjee, a graduate of UMBC and current staff member of the school’s University Health Services. “When I talk to people out of state I usually tell them I got to a university in Maryland or a university near Baltimore in Maryland, or I have to spell out that I go to the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, not UMD.”
MORE: Who is UMBC? Five fast facts about the first-ever No. 16 seed to defeat a No. 1 seed
Founded in 1966, the University of Maryland, Baltimore County was created after the state legislature wanted to create a graduate branch of the flagship university — then only known as the University of Maryland — to supplement the science-based industries in the city of Baltimore. Since then, it has developed into a nationally-ranked research institution that hasn’t really gotten the respect it deserves.
“I think UMBC is kind of looked at as that back up school with the terrible misnomers of ‘U Made a Bad Choice’ or ‘University of Maryland Backup College,’” said Kevin Johnson, a Class of 2015 graduate of UMBC. “I hate hearing stuff like that because when you go to the university, meet the people and the professors and you get involved, you realize this is absolutely not a backup school. I think it’s just people look at UMBC and they see the nerdier little brother of College Park.”
Those comparisons might be putting it lightly. Cara Walsh, University of Maryland Class of 2017, chose College Park over UMBC because she believed her quality of life would be better at her now alma mater. Jordan Katz, a junior at UMD, talked about how he wanted to go to a school with “high-level” athletics, and didn’t even consider UMBC as a safety school.
Neither of these complaints are news to any of the school’s students. They’ve heard it all before: there’s no student life, they don’t party and if you go on campus during the weekend, you won’t see anyone around.
UMBC students will argue that those things do happen on campus, but they’ll also push some of the other, less-talked about features of their campus: the supportive professors and academic services, the depth with which they can participate in extracurriculars, and the diversity of the campus — UMBC boasts a higher African-American and Asian population than UMD.
FAGAN: UMBC has rest of NCAA Tournament on alert—'We can't take this team lightly'
It’s because of those misconceptions, and underreported campus features, that even partially fuels the support for the team.
“I’m happy that this gives us national recognition to be the first team in history to knock off a one-seed, but I also hope it shines light on our academic accomplishments,” said Atib Siddiqui, a 2016 UMBC graduate. “Like the statistic that came out yesterday: UMBC has the highest rate of African-American Ph.D. and M.D. students in the U.S., that just falls on the surface of what our school has done.”
“I feel like every year we’re getting more diverse and getting more people excelling,” added Sadie Shrewsbury, a UMBC senior. “You don’t hear about people dropping out of UMBC as often as you hear about people going off to get their Ph.D. after UMBC.”
Though it’s not the only reason why students support the team, UMBC coach Ryan Odom’s transformation of the men’s basketball program has brought a culture of excitement for Retrievers athletics that the university hasn’t seen in years, according to Banerjee. Students that wouldn’t give the team a second thought are now decked out in school colors and attending rallies right before the school’s spring break to support UMBC.
If somehow that wasn’t enough evidence of their support, the emotions shared after the win made it clear they truly love their team. Banerjee is still screaming in her head, Shrewsbury is still in awe of the moment, Johnson — who picked Virginia as his national champion — had never been so happy to be wrong, and Sarah Pena, a UMBC student in attendance on Friday, said after the game, “I have no idea what I’m feeling. I feel like I’m going to cry but I’m also really happy.”
The proverbial icing on this emotional cake is the connection the team’s fans have developed with their Retrievers on the court. They see a little bit of their academic journey at UMBC in their team’s tournament run.
“No matter what people are saying to you, if you have your family support, that UMBC family from any part of campus, whether it’s a team or student group, it doesn’t matter what other people are saying,” said Krissy Barriteau, a UMBC senior. “When you have faith in yourself, and the people around you have faith in you, you truly can do it. If last night was not a testament to that I don’t know what would be.”
Friday's win for UMBC clearly captured the hearts, and respect, of the nation because of what it accomplished. Surely, it's only a matter of time before that extends to the rest of the campus.