Instagram story viewer> @thedbk> Posts

16.9K

followers

395

following

The University of Maryland's independent student newspaper since 1910.

POSTS STORIES REELS

The Bowie State University-University of Maryland Social Justice Alliance and the 2nd Lt. Richard W. Collins III Foundation hosted their annual fall workshop on Friday, piloting breakout sessions focused on confronting biases and bringing social change.

About 150 community members from this university, Bowie State and Howard University attended the workshop, “Becoming Brokers and Advocates for Social Change,” which was split across two rooms in the Stamp Student Union.

This workshop was hosted in honor of 2nd Lt. Richard Collins III, a Bowie State student who was murdered near Montgomery Hall in May 2017. Collins, a Black student, was murdered by a student at this university with ties to an online white supremacist group. The alliance was formed in 2020 in Collins’ legacy.

Jeanette Snider, an assistant research professor with the Social Justice Alliance and Anti-Black Racism Initiative at this university, said the workshop alternates campuses every year.

“Every year we host a facilitated workshop that helps increase the tool, if you will, the muscle of dialogue around these really hard topics for a lot of people,” Snider said.

Read more at the link in our bio./ ✍️: Amelia Zalubas, 📸: Riley Sims by @thedbk

Maryland voters who have not voted early or via a mail-in ballot will head to polls on this Tuesday’s Election Day to elect new officials and give their input on multiple ballot questions.

This year, early voting had nearly double the turnout than in the 2022 general election. Nearly 382,000 voters cast their ballots during the early voting period in 2022, while a little more than 604,000 did so in 2026.

Here’s how Maryland residents can vote while stations are open from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Election Day.

Read more at the link in our bio./ ✍️: Hannah Shulman, 📸: Jonathan Peter Belling by @thedbk

One lucky student won big at Saturday’s game against Illinois. In a high-stakes raffle, Maryland athletics awarded a semester’s worth of free tuition as an incentive to keep the student section full.

🎥: Faith Harris, Sam Cohen
✂️: Samantha Cohen by @thedbk

The One About Matthew Perry, a blunt and intimately personal documentary about the life and death of actor Matthew Perry, was released on Netflix on Tuesday.

The documentary, split into a three-episode miniseries, paints an incredibly detailed and vulnerable picture of Perry through the eyes of those who personally knew him, but one that may cross a moral line.

Matthew Perry was one of the most prominent comedic actors in 1990s television. He is primarily known for his portrayal of Chandler Bing in the hit comedy series Friends, a cultural touchstone that launched his film and TV career. Today, many associate Perry with his struggle with substance abuse, which drew intense media attention throughout his life.

Perry’s memory and legacy are complicated, but his presence in popular culture remains a positive one. Approaching the first episode of the documentary, I wondered what parts of Perry’s life would be the biggest areas of focus.

Read more at the link in our bio./✍️: Jaymie Donohue by @thedbk

A “smoldering fire” sparked along the Purple Line tracks near the intersection of Regents Drive and Campus Drive on the University of Maryland campus Thursday night, the Prince George’s County Fire and EMS Department confirmed to The Diamondback.

Units were sent to the scene of the electrical fire around 9 p.m., according to the county fire department. The department reported no injuries.

A fire engine and crew members remained at the scene as of around 11 p.m. Thursday evening so that Maryland Transit Administration personnel could shut power off and to ensure the fire is extinguished, the department added.

The MTA and university’s fire marshal did not immediately respond to The Diamondback’s requests for comment.

This story will be updated.

Read more at the link in our bio./✍️: Amelia Twyman, 📸: Nathan VanSteenkiste by @thedbk

Election Day is this Tuesday, Nov. 3. The Diamondback’s Katherine Schutzman breaks down the questions on Marylanders’ ballots, what they mean for the state and what a “yes” vote for each supports.

✍️: Katherine Schutzman
🎥: Emma Levine by @thedbk

University of Maryland international graduate students are navigating new barriers to off-campus internships after federal policy shifts prompted the university to freeze approvals for elective curricular practical training.

The pause by the university’s International Student and Scholar Services follows two August broadcast messages from U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement that limit off-campus internships to training explicitly required by an academic program.

Typically, curricular practical training, a federal work authorization, allows F-1 visa international students to participate in any paid or unpaid off-campus internship.

The restrictions also coincide with an Oct. 7 Department of Homeland Security proposal to implement a $70,000 fee for initial optional practical training applications, a program that allows international students to temporarily work in the U.S. during school and up to three years after graduation.

Read more at the link in our bio./ ✍️: Hai-Ching Wang, 📸: Charlotte Scanlon by @thedbk

In 1985, University of Maryland students elected a monarch who promised a beer-filled moat as the Student Government Association’s president. Meet King Tom II and the Monarchist Party that changed the SGA.
🎥: Emma Levine
✍️: Tyler Quattrin
📷: Sam Cohen by @thedbk

$Views expressed in opinion columns are the author’s own. If we’re being honest, I’ve definitely rolled through a few stop signs during my time in College Park. OK, maybe more than a few. But what I didn’t know is that, recently, I may have been getting tracked by artificial intelligence when I do. I’m referring, of course, to the AI-powered stop sign cameras installed in College Park in March and operated by Obvio, a California-based technology firm. This hardware has been appearing in our neighborhoods to capture stop sign violations and issue citations. Advocates for the technology have pointed to a 56 percent reduction in detected violations at five locations in the city as proof the cameras work to change driver behavior. But do they work for the community? Apart from raising privacy concerns, these cameras mark a dangerous step toward surveillance and law enforcement being routed through private vendors instead of the government. Fines are $40 per violation. Obvio takes 40 percent of the citation revenue, while the city gets the rest. As College Park citizens and students face an affordable housing crisis and high gas prices, the city has chosen to drain people’s wallets over minor traffic infractions. If the city wanted safer intersections, raised crosswalks, curb extensions and better signage are proven ways to use your tax dollars for public good — without installing unnecessary technology on our streets. Right now, the cameras seem like a predatory revenue scheme that does very little to actually address safety. Read more at the link in our bio./ ✍️: Arjun Saigal, 📸: Christina Duncan by @thedbk$

The Prince George’s County Council approved legislation Tuesday that removes development privileges previously granted to data centers in the county.

The bill removes an exemption, which was approved in 2021, that allowed data center developers to bypass a process called a detailed site plan review. A detailed site plan review is a step in the county’s permitting process for larger projects that includes an in-depth review and a public hearing.

District 1 council member Thomas Dernoga, council chair Krystal Oriadha and at-large council member Wala Blegay first introduced the legislation in January, The Diamondback previously reported.

During Tuesday’s meeting, District 5 council member Shayla Adams-Stafford said the legislation was created to ensure that data center applications will no longer be able to bypass the site plan review, as the now-shuttered Landover Mall site did.

Read more at the link in our bio./✍️ : Devon Armor, 📸: Faith Bissen by @thedbk

Cornerstone Grill & Loft will officially stop serving alcohol for about three months starting Friday after the Prince George’s County Board of License Commissioners denied the establishment’s request to temporarily pause its liquor license suspension.

The board’s Tuesday decision comes after it voted to suspend Cornerstone’s license for 90 days and ordered the restaurant to pay a fine of $7,500 at a hearing earlier this month, board director Terence Sheppard confirmed to The Diamondback in a Monday email.

Cornerstone’s attorney asked the board in an Oct. 19 letter to halt the suspension for 90 days while the establishment appealed the charges and filed a petition for judicial review, Sheppard added.

But at the Tuesday meeting, the board denied the restaurant and bar’s request, clearing the way for the suspension and fine payment order. The suspension period begins Friday, one day before Halloween. Ninety days from Friday would end on Jan. 28, 2027, the day after the spring semester at the University of Maryland begins.

The board found — based on video evidence and testimony from four University of Maryland Police officers — that Cornerstone had violated a county regulation on local establishments presenting a “Threat to the Peace and Safety,” Sheppard said.

According to county policy, the board can suspend a liquor license for any act committed by an establishment that can cause a “danger to the peace and safety of the neighborhood.”

In a statement published on Cornerstone’s Instagram story Tuesday afternoon, the establishment wrote that it “respectfully disagree[s]” with the board’s decision to deny its appeal and will continue to address the issue through the legal process.

Read more at the link in our bio./ ✍️: Amelia Twyman, 📸: Sam Cohen by @thedbk

Maryland football’s new leader is working in a familiar landscape.

Aazaar Abdul-Rahim will serve as the Terps’ interim coach for the remainder of the season after the program parted ways with Michael Locksley Wednesday. The Washington, D.C., native had just been named interim defensive coordinator after Ted Monachino was fired Sunday.

Abdul-Rahim is in his sixth season with Maryland overall and third consecutively. He previously worked with the Terps from 2016-2018, serving as defensive backs coach the first two seasons and cornerbacks coach the third. Abdul-Rahim then returned to Maryland in 2024 as co-defensive coordinator and cornerbacks coach.

The Diamondback interviewed those around Abdul-Rahim to gain a better understanding of Maryland’s new leader. Abdul-Rahim has not yet been made available for comment and will address the media for the first time on Tuesday.

Read more at the link in our bio./ ✍️: Faith Harris 📸: Photo courtesy Maryland Athletics by @thedbk

The Diamondback

@thedbk