News

McDaniel College is highlighted among the “Best Colleges in Maryland for 2020” by College Consensus and is the top small college on their list, ranking at #3 just behind Johns Hopkins University and University of Maryland, College Park.

In the face of the deadly global coronavirus pandemic, pharmaceutical data vaults have been unlocked and shared – an unprecedented move in research that McDaniel Chemistry professor Dana Ferraris seized to give his students the opportunity this summer to discover drugs to fight COVID-19.

Seven teachers have all returned to the classroom themselves to earn their master’s degrees from McDaniel’s Reading Specialist: Literacy Leadership program and feel the virtual McDaniel College Reading Clinic experience has the added benefit of helping them prepare for the possibility of remote teaching this fall. The McDaniel Reading Clinic is a comprehensive four-week summer school program providing reading and writing assistance to elementary school-aged students as a required component to earn their master’s degrees.

Cinema major Faith Young of Takoma Park, Md., has been selected as one of two fellows for the inaugural year of the national “Star Trek” Command Training Program in Los Angeles. This brand-new internship, hosted by the Television Academy Foundation in partnership with CBS Television Studios, was open to undergraduate and graduate college students nationwide and launched in 2020 to promote core values of the “Star Trek Universe.”

McDaniel College announces its Spring 2020 Dean's List, recognizing full-time undergraduate students for outstanding academic achievement. Highest honors are earned for a semester grade point average of 3.90 or higher, high honors for a grade point average of 3.70-3.89, and honors for a 3.50-3.69 grade point average.

In response to the new federal rule affecting international students, President Casey shared how McDaniel is working with our international students who could be impacted by this decision. "Unlike other institutions, we are fortunate that our current plan for the fall includes a combination of course modality for our undergraduate students," he said. "McDaniel also stands in support of statements issued by our national higher education associations."

Rising junior Zachary Ruggerie, a History major from York, Pa., has been awarded the Jo Anne J. Trow Scholarship from Alpha Lambda Delta for the 2020-21 academic year. Alpha Lambda Delta has awarded 50 Trow scholarships to outstanding students from across the country.

Heidi Reigel, Dean of Admissions at McDaniel College, is among the more than 315 admissions leaders from across the United States who signed “Care Counts in Crisis: College Admissions Deans Respond to COVID-19.” This collective statement describes what college admissions offices value and expect—and don't expect—from students during the pandemic.

Informed by the recommendations of the Return to the Hill (RTTH) Task Force along with its five committees, as well as guidance from state and county health officials, key decisions involve Academics, including changes to the undergraduate academic calendar, as well as Health and Safety, Residential Life and Food Service, Student Support and Campus Life, and Financial Matters. The College plans to honor its commitment to students by absorbing over $1 million in expenses on efforts related to health and safety to ensure the residential and academic experience is as safe as possible.

McDaniel College is expanding its efforts on behalf of diversity, equity and inclusion. A new McDaniel Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Advisory Board will inform a more comprehensive campus-wide Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Action Plan and immediately make recommendations on key issues, including the appropriate staffing model to support our diversity, equity and inclusion efforts, analysis of data, examination of policies, and support of the Black Lives Matter movement. McDaniel will also develop a clear reporting structure for community members to elevate concerns about discrimination or acts of racial injustice, increase training among student groups, expand our White Accountability Group, establish a Leadership Council for student organizations serving minority or underrepresented students, and review our curriculum to consider expansion of multi-cultural and racial justice course offerings. Additionally, McDaniel will officially be closed and declare a paid employee holiday this Friday, June 19, to celebrate Juneteenth, the traditional day to recognize the end of slavery.