De-Fund My Alma Mater

De-Fund My Alma Mater

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

March 19, 2017

I have stood by and with my alma mater, the University of Maryland, through numerous trials and tribulations – the tragic 1986 drug-induced death of All-American basketball player Len Bias the summer between my sophomore and junior years, sex scandals in recent years involving members of the coaching staffs of more than one team sport, and decades-long drug and alcohol scandals within the Greek system, to name just a few of the more notorious.

(http://baltimore.cbslocal.com/2015/08/14/umd-womens-basketball-coach-suspended-over-sex-abuse-allegations/ and http://concussioninc.net/?p=7603)

But the recent announcement that the University of Maryland created a position of “Undocumented Student Coordinator,” villainously flaunting lawlessness, has convinced me to forgo any future financial support of the university and the various programs which I have embraced over the years and decades. A line must be drawn, and while I will continue to root for the Terrapins in their athletic contests, I can no longer, in good conscience, endorse an organization embracing this embarrassingly disastrous decision.

“As part of the university’s ongoing commitment to undocumented students… we are assigning a UMD staff person to serve as a coordinator to address the immediate needs of the undocumented student population,” said Katie Lawson, a University of Maryland spokeswoman in a statement given to The Diamondback.

This position was part of a list of 64 demands made in late November 2016 by ProtectUMD – a coalition of 25 student organizations at Maryland. Ten of the 64 demands pertain to protecting illegal aliens and violating the law. The overwhelming majority of the 64 demands are absurd, poorly written; open ended, lacking definition, patently anti-Israel, and anathema to the First Amendment to the United States Constitution. Judge for yourselves: http://www.dbknews.com/protect-umd-demands/

Maryland is not alone in the creation of such an office, as Georgetown University and the University of Illinois are among other campuses overtly protecting illegal aliens.

There is also a webpage as part of the University of Maryland website entitled “Undocumented Student Resources,” which states “The University of Maryland recognizes that undocumented students are a vital part of our campus community. In an effort to better support our UndocuTerps, campus partners have launched this online resource.” The page further indicates it is “funded in part by the Office of Diversity and Inclusion.” From where is the rest of the funding coming? Such a blatant thumb in the eye of the rule of law. http://undocumented.umd.edu/

“UndocuTerps.” The university has even given them a special name or label to be proudly adorned akin to a red badge of courage. This is beyond insanity.

“The undocumented student office is part of the university’s ongoing commitment to undocumented students and we continue ways to offer support,” was part of a poorly worded university statement.

If the University of Maryland is so committed to the illegals on campus, it can do without the financial support of legal residents, American citizens, and alumni, who, along with government funding, keep the university operating. All alumni objecting to the creation of such an office and the brazen law-breaking should contact the university, its president, Wallace Loh, and any organization which receives personal contributions and explain why they will no longer be the beneficiary of your financial largesse. We will no longer aid, abet, and be complicit with such law-breaking.

Another one of the 64 demands by ProtectUMD and the Student Government Association is to brand the College Park campus a “sanctuary campus.” University President Wallace Loh responded in January that such a designation was “unnecessary, as this university already follows sanctuary campus policies despite not holding a designation,” according to The Diamondback. As with a sanctuary city, a similarly labeled campus will not volunteer information or cooperate with the federal government.

As one who has virulently supported the defunding of sanctuary cities for years, the same loss of funding should befall not just the University of Maryland, but any institution behaving in this manner. All federal funding should be withheld – including grants and scholarships to students. Unconcealed harboring of illegals must not be rewarded. President Loh should be asked to resign or be dismissed for his endorsement and support of people with no legal right to be in the United States.

As a specific message to current Terps, understand that the illegals you support and protect today as classmates and friends, upon graduation will be your competition for jobs and the launching of careers.

How many jobs will be offered to illegals? How much scholarship money goes to illegals instead of deserving Americans and legal residents? How many seats in American institutions of higher education are being filled by illegals instead of deserving Americans and legal residents? The supporters of these illegal aliens are anarchists, socialists, and open border zealots who have little to no allegiance to their own country.

This is not about race, religion, or ethnicity, but instead, the rule of law. What are we teaching our children and future generations with policies such as these that not only exist, but continue to grow and expand? For those who cite compassion to their fellow man, there can be plenty of compassion to those who follow the rules, stand in line as the rest of the legal immigrants like my mother-in-law did and become a part of the American fabric.

Ultimately, creation of Undocumented Student Coordinator positions and adopting policies protecting law-breaking illegals will marginalize American children and students until the point of being called an American citizen loses all meaning in their own country.

This is not what the Founding Fathers envisioned when they fought a war for independence and birthed the greatest nation on G-d’s earth. It is up to we the people to cease acquiescence to those who seek to destroy America from within.

In his Lyceum Address of January 1838, Abraham Lincoln, then a member of the Illinois House of Representatives said, “If destruction be our lot we must ourselves be its author and finisher. As a nation of freemen we must live through all time or die by suicide.” Lincoln knew.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He is a University of Maryland alumnus, and as of Monday, March 20, 2017 a former member of the Alumni Association.

Show American Sniper at Maryland

Show American Sniper at Maryland

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

April 24, 2015

Has the First Amendment to the United States Constitution been suspended at the University of Maryland in College Park? Has my alma mater become a place where diversity of thought and speech are no longer paramount to the campus experience?

Because of a petition, sponsored by the Muslim Student Association, signed by less than one percent of the student body, the showing of the film American Sniper has been cancelled. The film, about a decorated American war hero, Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, who served four tours of duty in Iraq, has been dubbed controversial mostly by people who have yet to view the movie.

Just another example of political correctness on a college campus. This backfired at the University of Michigan where the film was to be shown, then cancelled due to the complaints of a handful of students, but ultimately that decision was reversed. Free speech and expression fully on display at Michigan.

If the folks at the Muslim Student Association, or anyone else for that matter, do not want to see this film, don’t go. This is not a required class assignment, and no one is forcing anyone to the theater. But don’t inflict your antipathy toward the film on those who do wish to see it. And how can it be condemned by people who have yet to actually see the movie?

What happened to the free and open exchange of ideas?

Recalling another controversial film, The Passion of the Christ (2004), and the condemnation leading up to its release, there was discussion about the film at the Alexandria, VA synagogue to which I once belonged. I believed then, as I do now, that it was important to see the film, then, have an intelligent and intellectual dialogue about its merits and shortcomings. That is what occurred then, and should occur now on the College Park campus.

I applaud Breyer Hillegas, president of the University of Maryland College Republicans who enlisted members of his board to garner signatures on a petition of their own. In less than a day, they managed to compile more than 450 signatures of people who wanted to see American Sniper as well as of those who, while not interested in seeing the film, support the First Amendment.

The Student Entertainment Events (S.E.E.) Committee should reinstate the event to show American Sniper on May 6 and 7 as originally scheduled, and hold a post-film dialogue, moderated by S.E.E. in the theater or by Dr. Wallace Loh, president of the university himself.

I have forwarded this letter/column to Dr. Loh and recommend that your comments be dispatched to him as well. Politely inform him that you wish the university reinstate the two day showing of American Sniper for those people who believe in, and support the First Amendment of the Constitution of the United States. Dr. Loh can be reached at president@umd.edu or 301-405-5803.

A university should be a beacon of free speech, critical thinking, and expanding one’s base of learning, and experiences. However, what is not free is the cost of attending a university, the cost of running a university. Should the University of Maryland, my alma mater, continue to acquiesce to the demands of the very few, financial supporters of the university who support the freedom of speech and expression, who support the First Amendment of the Constitution, should speak with their wallets and have their voices heard loud and clear, that we will withhold future contributions to the school.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He is a 1988 graduate of the University of Maryland.

Joy in Happy Valley - for the Terps

Joy in Happy Valley – for the Terps

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

November 3, 2014

To paraphrase former President Gerald Ford after taking office on August 9, 1974, our long gridiron nightmare is over. (Seems appropriate as Ford played center at the University of Michigan.)

For the first time in my lifetime our University of Maryland Terrapins defeated Penn State University in football – vanquishing the Nittany Lions 20-19 on the strength of Brad Craddock’s 43-yard field goal with but 51 seconds remaining in the game Saturday – and they did it on the road in Happy Valley.

Fifty-three years. Not since 1961, when the Terps earned their heretofore only other victory versus Penn State, could they muster another win.

In 1961, John F. Kennedy was inaugurated as the first, and to date, only, Roman Catholic president – 48 years removed from the inauguration of the nation’s first black president – Barack Obama, born that very year – 1961. This was three years prior to the Civil Rights Act being signed and four years before the Voting Rights Act would be signed.

Vietnam was, for the most part, and unheard of far off Asian locale, not a hot spot for a Cold War era conflagration. The Peace Corps was established in 1961 and the 23rd Amendment to the Constitution was ratified that year, allowing the District of Columbia the right to choose electors for president and vice president. The Bay of Pigs invasion was an abject failure in 1961, and the Berlin Wall was erected that year. On April 12 the Soviets put the first man in space.

In 1961 Roger Maris of the New York Yankees set the standard for his 61 home runs that season, breaking the record of 60 held by Babe Ruth since 1927, on the way to winning the World Series in five games against the Cincinnati Reds. Cost of a ticket to the series was between $10 and $11.

Zip codes did not yet exist in 1961 and cost of a postage stamp was a mere four cents. Eggs cost 30 cents a dozen and a gallon of gasoline cost 27 cents. The average automobile cost $2,850, but that was a hefty price considering the average income that year was $5,315.

Our University of Maryland, still one year from integrating the football team, was a founding member of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC), which included Clemson, Duke, North Carolina, North Carolina State, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wake Forest.

Other football information from 1961 included two leagues – the NFL and the AFL, and a sport six years removed from the first Super Bowl, sans Roman Numerals – which expected such poor ratings it was televised on two networks! The NFL was composed of 14 teams and did not yet include the Boston Patriots (now New England), Buffalo Bills, Dallas Texans (now Kansas City Chiefs), Denver Broncos, Houston Oilers (now Tennessee Titans), Los Angeles Chargers (now San Diego), New York Titans (now NY Jets), and the Oakland Raiders – all born in 1960.

While this was a very good victory for the University of Maryland, and made the team bowl eligible in the first season in the Big Ten, the team marred the effort with its pre-game unsportsmanlike antics. Nobody dislikes Penn State as much as my generation of Terps. During my four years in College Park, Maryland lost those four games by a combined 10 points.

This victory was, to say the least, satisfying; accomplishing something Randy White, Boomer Esiason, Frank Reich, EJ and Erin Henderson, Lamont Jordan, Bruce Perry, Vernon Davis, Darrius Heyward-Bey, and hundreds of others did not. But to shun the pre-game handshake is inexcusable. These are fellow collegiate athletes – not Nazis or ISIS. The penalty received was a penalty deserved.

Actions speak louder than words. Shake hands, then go out and defeat them on the field. Be the bigger players. More importantly, be the bigger men. Learn the lesson, move on, and best wishes for the remainder of the season.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and educator living in Westfield, IN. He is a Class of 1988 graduate of the University of Maryland, a member of the Alumni Association, the Terrapin Club, and the Rebounders.

Post Game Behavior No Laugh Riot

Post Game Behavior No Laugh Riot

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

March 7, 2010

As a member of the Alumni Association and Terrapin Club I enjoyed watching the men’s basketball team knock off Duke last Wednesday night as much as anyone else. I cheered when the lead grew in the first half and moaned when it waned prior to halftime.

I did my best Gary Williams impersonation when Duke took the lead and my stomach did its best impression of a roller coaster as the lead vacillated until the good guys finally vanquished their opponent. Then, I cheered again. I even enjoyed an adult beverage during the game as well.

But what I didn’t do, because I’m a clear thinking adult, is take to the streets like a jackass and behave like a hooligan, setting fire to trees and trash cans, attempting to flip over motor vehicles and get into fisticuffs with law enforcement. The basketball team won a hard-fought ballgame. They were not sent to war. Keep the revelry off Route 1. There are plenty of places on the beautiful, spacious College Park campus where celebrants can congregate.

Let me put this as gently as I know how, for the benefit of the hundreds of University of Maryland students who deserve more than my castigation for their disgraceful behavior. What the hell were you thinking? What’s wrong with you people? You not only embarrassed yourselves and the university, but your parents who will, no doubt, have to shell out hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars for property damage or bail.

There is no excuse for this juvenile behavior. You are supposed to be adults demanding all kinds of freedoms and rights. Grow up and earn them. Nobody is telling you not to have fun and enjoy yourselves before, during and even after the ballgame. There’s a fine line between good, clean fun and felonious behavior, and many of you pole vaulted over it Wednesday night.

This is the same kind of nonsense that occurred during the 2001 and 2002 basketball seasons when Maryland made its first Final Four and won its first national championship, respectively. It was stupid, irresponsible behavior then, as it remains today.

The guilty should be booked and charged via the criminal justice system and expelled from the university. A message must be sent that this behavior will not be tolerated.

The least you, as a student body, can do is act like you know what it means to be winners. In a couple of e-mail exchanges with my friend Aziz Abdur-Ra’oof, who graduated the year before I did, we commiserated how embarrassing it is to see Maryland on the national news for something this asinine. We also discussed how we as a student body didn’t behave like this in the ‘80s when we were on campus, and we won some big games.

Ziz was one of the Terrapin football greats in the ‘80s and part of the team that trailed at Miami 31-0 at halftime, only to stage the greatest comeback in D-1 college football, winning 42-40. Yet, calm was the order of the day.

It was nearly as embarrassing to see University of Virginia students referring to the riot in mocking signs they brought to the game against the Terps Saturday in Charlottesville.

The University of Maryland should make national news for winning championships, for having incoming freshman classes with higher and higher SAT scores, for having top schools of business and journalism and for graduating more and more of its students in four years. So, grow up and cut the crap.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA. A graduate of the University of Maryland in 1988, he is a member of the Alumni Association and the Terrapin Club.

Culture Up - Terrapins: Support the Arts on Campus

Culture Up – Terrapins: Support the Arts on Campus

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

February 25, 2010

A sold out house watched Greivis Vasquez lead our Terps overcome a 15 point deficit to knock off the Clemson Tigers last night. I didn’t have a ticket, so I watched from home. Win or lose isn’t the point here, although one could hardly tell that to this campus alumnus and Terrapin Club member doing his best Gary Williams impression yelling at the TV while we were temporarily taking it in the shorts.

Conversely, there was not a sold out house when Rebecca Dreyman led her team Monday evening. There was no basketball conflict that night. In fact a mere 245 seats were occupied out of a possible 1170 – just under 21 percent. Imagine if only 21 percent of Comcast were filled for a game – 3,770 folks – more than that turn out during semester break when Longwood comes to Maryland for a beating.

While not wondering who Vasquez is, the question remains, who is Rebecca Dreyman? She is concertmaster and sits First Violin with your UM Repertoire Orchestra. She no doubt practices just about every day as does Vasquez. As he works canning three-pointers that rain down and dishing the ball to Sean Mosley and Eric Hayes for another assist, Dreyman practices the Mozart, Borodin and Beethoven I enjoyed Monday at the Dekelboum Concert Hall.

Two different kinds of teams and audiences, but with similar goals – perform as well as possible in front of crowds expecting to be entertained. Vasquez will probably take his game to the next level – the NBA. Dreyman could do similarly upon graduation – employed by a professional orchestra. Meanwhile, it is on campus before their classmates and outside supporters that these two team leaders hone their crafts.

While the majority are familiar with the men’s basketball team and the accolades earned, taking their 20-7 record closer to the Big Dance, what of the UM Repertoire Orchestra? The orchestra does not enjoy write-ups in The Diamondback and certainly not in The Washington Post. Their concerts are not found on radio stations from northern Virginia to Baltimore and beyond. They toil in virtual obscurity.

At the very least, The Diamondback should promote Clarice Smith Center activities in an upcoming events listing. While no mention of the Monday concert could be found in the Monday Diamondback, there was mention of a $30 Kennedy Center concert on page six, and a half-page movie review. Send a reporter across campus to write a review giving your classmates some well-deserved publicity.

To be fair, the orchestra doesn’t bring in the money of the basketball team’s caliber, but I suspect Music Director John Devlin doesn’t see a paycheck the likes of which Coach Williams enjoys – and works hard for. This is not to disparage the hoops team – I am a Terrapin Club member.

But I am also a patron of the arts wishing I had a facility as grand as the Clarice Smith Performing Arts Center to enjoy while a College Park undergraduate during the 1980s. This is a phenomenal center and every student should take advantage of it. Go see a concert – student tickets are affordable – Monday’s concert was free. Busy studying? Bring books – it’s a relaxing atmosphere and classical music is good for the brain.

The Clarice Smith PAC has several theaters/concert halls able to hold various size audiences with a lobby bar for snacks and beverages before the performance and during intermission. There is also a music library, classrooms and practice facilities for the musicians and singers.

The student performers work very hard at perfecting their talents. I particularly liked how orchestra members visited friends in the audience during the intermission for a more or less halftime review.

One more selling point worth making is the education factor conductor John Devlin brought to the podium Monday. Prior to raising the baton on Beethoven’s Symphony #7, he presented explanations of what the audience would to hear with aural codas, something rarely considered by most orchestras.

Culture up, Terrapins! Go support the arts. You’ll thank me later. More importantly, your friends performing will thank you sooner.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA. A graduate of the University of Maryland in 1988, he is a member of the Alumni Association and the Terrapin Club.

[This column appeared in The Diamondback – the student newspaper at the University of Maryland.]

Toliver Disrespected as Afterthought

Toliver Disrespected as Afterthought

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

April 10, 2009

Following an appropriately positive article about Maryland Terrapin basketball star Marissa Coleman’s selection by the Washington Mystics as the number two overall pick in the WNBA’s draft on Thursday, April 9 came a most inappropriate afterthought of a single sentence about the very next pick in the draft – Terp standout Kristi Toliver.

While The Washington Post included a nice draft-day photo of the Terp teammates, it completely disrespected Toliver by relegating her number three overall pick by the Chicago Sky to the aforementioned one sentence in the “WNBA Notes” as if insignificant. Is that how the Post reports fairly about one of greatest players in Terps women’s basketball history?

In case the Post needs a refresher in Toliver 101, as a freshman in 2006, she canned a three-pointer sending the championship game into overtime – a game in the Terps would eventually defeat archrival Duke. Toliver holds the team record for free throw percentage and three-pointers made, also ranking third in the ACC in the latter category as well as second in the conference for assists.

In addition to being named an All-American in 2008, Toliver became the first Terp to win the Nancy Lieberman Award for the nation’s best point guard that same year, only to follow that up by being named ACC Player of the Year this year. Toliver led the Terps this season playing 35.1 minutes per game, in scoring 18.4 points per game and with an .857 free throw percentage. She should not be dismissed or disrespected simply because the local Mystics did not draft her.

Both Toliver and Coleman had superb careers at Maryland that won’t soon be forgotten – on the court for their play and off the court as both will graduate next month.

Sanford D. Horn, Maryland Class of 1988, is a member of both the university’s Alumni Association and the Terrapin Club. He is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

Chabad Sukkah Closer to the Action

Chabad Sukkah Closer to the Action

Commentary by Sanford D. Horn

November 1, 2005

With all of the positive publicity regarding the University of Maryland Hillel and its sukkah in parking Lot 1, the rest of the story remained untold.

Directly outside of Byrd Stadium, the home of Terrapin football, on the press box side of the stadium, stood the Chabad Sukkah Mobile run by students and members of the Chabad Jewish Student Center. Those entering the Sukkah Mobile pronounced a couple of holiday-appropriate brachot and enjoyed honey/pound cake and took home a colorful and informative calendar.

No solicitations for donations, no sermons, just the Reader’s Digest version of Sukkot in a tiny oasis amid the chaos of 54,000 Terrapin and Hokie fans jamming their way into Byrd Stadium – myself and two friends included. As a season ticket holder, member of the Alumni Association and Terrapin Club, I am not, however, a contributor to Hillel, for personal reasons.

I do plan to contribute to the Chabad at the University of Maryland and would encourage others to do so as well. This organization provides many needed services to students, but do not garner the publicity and ultimately the dollars of that of Hillel. Some of Chabad’s activities include, but are not limited to free Shabbat dinners, fairs, social events and holiday observances.

Bais Menachem Chabad Jewish Student Center is located at

7403 Hopkins Avenue, College Park, MD 20740

. The phone number is 301-277-2994 and the website is www.umdchabad.org.

Sanford D. Horn is a writer and political consultant living in Alexandria, VA.

[This column appeared in the Washington Jewish Week.]