The vote extends the city’s contract with Compost Crew, a food scrap collection company based in Maryland, and will help the city attain its sustainability goals.

“We certainly are excited about helping as many municipalities as we can to give their residents good options to compost their food scraps and keep them out of the trash and out of incinerators,” said Dan Israel, the company’s senior vice president of municipal programs.

College Park began a food scrap dropoff program in 2019 where citizens could leave their scraps at the public works yard.

The city was surprised by how many residents participated in this program, according to Robert Marsili Jr., the city’s public works director. From 2019 to 2020, the city collected a total of 31 tons of food scraps, Marsili said.

[College Park advances plan for park to support nature, wildlife]

In 2022, the mayor and council approved the start of the curbside collection program and began a contract with Compost Crew, Marsili said.

This program allows residents to buy totes or buckets to store their food scraps at their homes and businesses. The Compost Crew picks up these scraps every Tuesday and later turns them into compost.

As food scraps make up a large portion of the material that gets thrown in the trash, composting reduces the amount of trash that goes to the landfill, according to Israel. These food scraps produce methane gas, which contributes to climate change.

“When you keep it out of the landfill, you turn it into compost, it significantly reduces that methane production,” Israel said.

District 4 council member Maria Mackie said she composted her own vegetable scraps for years with a composter in her backyard. She used the compost for her vegetable and flower gardens.

But the city’s curbside collection program has made the whole composting process a lot more convenient, she said.

[Prince George’s County Council confirms controversial pick to head environment department]

Mackie said the College Park City Council is often very supportive of initiatives to make the city more environmentally friendly, as they strive to be a sustainable example for surrounding municipalities.

“We want our city to be environmentally friendly and we have a responsibility to look out for the environment,” Mackie said.

There are currently about 485 program participants, but Marsili said the city is hoping to get more citizens involved with the program.

Some people are wary about keeping their food scraps because of concerns about the smell and sanitation, Mackie said, but she has never had any issues with the process. Marsili agreed that residents should not have any problems as long as they have the proper containers and understand how to store the scraps.

The city wants to get more off-campus students involved with the program and has been trying to promote it to University of Maryland students, Marsili said.

As the site is up for sale, District 5 council member Wala Blegay and County Executive Aisha Braveboy said the land’s redevelopment is an opportunity to improve the county’s economic growth.

“We are excited about the redevelopment of the 500-acre Six Flags site,” Braveboy said at a press conference Thursday. “We know that the next development project that will be there will be a year-round project that will generate thousands of jobs and opportunities for Prince Georgeians and beyond.”

Six Flags chief executive Richard Zimmerman said in a May news release the company closed the Maryland location because it no longer fit with its long-term growth plan and selling the property would produce more income than continuing operations.

[As Six Flags’ Maryland location closes shop, longtime visitors say goodbye]

Blegay told The Diamondback potential buyers placed bids in August on the site, and its current owners are expected to make their final decision in January.

She envisions the site becoming a commercial destination like the National Harbor in Oxon, with retail, entertainment and sports options for residents. Blegay added she has already spoken to prospective developers about her ideas for the land.

“Most of the top bidders did already reach out to my office and get an idea of what I wanted,” Blegay said. “They seem to be on board and very open and so I’m positive that whoever comes out would be somebody that we can work with.”

Blegay said the park generates about $3 million in tax revenue for the county. She sees the site having the capability to bring in similar funds to what the National Harbor does at $73 million.

[Maryland sues Trump administration over blocking FBI headquarters move to Greenbelt]

Upper Marlboro resident Frederick Tutman said the suggestion for another large shopping center in the area is not sustainable or beneficial.

“The idea that what the county needs is more destinations for people to actually go and shop, which is absurd,” Tutman said. “People need other things too. They need nature’s infrastructure, not just the built universe.”

Tutman, a local environmental activist who also serves on the council’s infrastructure planning task force, told The Diamondback he is concerned the land will be transformed into more residential housing. He explained that this would lead to additional traffic and not adequately address the county’s financial challenges.

Landover resident Taylor Frazier McCollum told The Diamondback she likes the idea of developing the land to offer additional entertainment, shopping and other activities for residents.

But Frazier McCollum added that she hopes to see more community amenities with natural trails, fields and other green space.

If passed, the early lease ordinance would prohibit landlords from offering a lease renewal earlier than 180 days after the start of the tenant’s current lease, which falls late February for renters who begin their lease at the end of August.

The legislation, spearheaded by College Park student liaison Nick DiSpirito and deputy student liaison Amira Abujuma, aims to protect renters from pressure to re-sign a lease months before knowing their housing plans for the next year.

Several students shared personal experiences with the council about facing pressure to renew their leases early in the school year.

Junior public policy major Peyton McDonald said she began receiving emails and flyers encouraging her to renew almost a full year before her lease ended.

“The message was clear: Sign now or risk losing your home,” she said. “I was constantly worried that if we didn’t sign in time, our apartment would be taken by somebody else, or that I’d have to move into a different unit and start over.”

[College Park City Council to hold hearing on proposed early lease ordinance]

McDonald said the ordinance would relieve pressure by setting a reasonable timeline for renewals and give students breathing room to evaluate their housing options.

Junior finance major Jonathan Leung faced a similar situation.

“Approximately two months into this school year, our landlord began pestering my roommates and I constantly,” he said.

Leung said the pressure caused “premature panic” for him and his roommates. He added that he shouldn’t have to worry about releasing this early into the academic year, especially when dealing with schoolwork.

But several landlords at the meeting Wednesday night opposed the legislation primarily because of its “good cause” non-renewal and right of first refusal provisions.

Under the “good cause” requirement, tenants would likely have to go to court to prove their actions warrant a refusal to release because Maryland does not have a statewide definition of “good cause.” This means landlords could be incentivized to keep problematic tenants because of potential legal fees and the time it takes for someone to be convicted of a crime.

Lisa Miller, president of the Prince George’s Property Owners Association, said although many property owners would disagree with it, the 180-day restriction is workable. She urged the council to remove the good cause component.

Abujuma, the deputy student liaison, said the good cause language was based on the early lease ordinance in Ann Arbor, Michigan, and is not the focus of the liaisons’ push. She said they are willing to remove that provision.

Many landlords argued that the policy shouldn’t apply equally to single-family homes and large apartment complexes.

“One size doesn’t fit all,” College Park landlord Jamie Jaseph said. “The high-rise folks seem to be the ones with the pressure tactics. I’ve never done that in 22 years of being a landlord.”

[Holly Simmons, Kelly Jordan win District 2 College Park City Council seats]

Catherine Weber, a senior international relations major, testified in person against the ordinance.

Weber said she lives in a single-family house in Old Town, and signing her lease more than a year in advance gave her and her roommates peace of mind while she studied abroad last spring.

“If this ordinance had been in effect, I would have been forced to try and secure housing while abroad in Barcelona, juggling classes and being in a completely different time zone,” she said.

Student liaison DiSpirito said they will continue to push for 180 days for all city rentals. Landlords shouldn’t have to worry about filling vacancies, he said, because the demand for student housing in the city far outweighs the supply.

The ordinance allows students to sign leases early if they choose, but landlords cannot ask or pressure them to do so, DiSpirito said.

Robert Davis, president of property management company Green Coast Services, asked the council to table the bill to spend more time gathering input.

“I do not want a government entity telling me how to run my business,” he said, adding some practices in the ordinance will hurt his business.

The ordinance will also have an unintended consequence of driving up costs by flooding the market during the established timeframe, Davis said. With more students seeking housing at once, he argued, competition for the same properties could spark bidding wars and ultimately benefit landlords.

The liaisons said the ordinance will improve affordability in the city by allowing renters more time to review more affordable options. Abujuma explained that the ordinance won’t shorten the housing timeline, but shift it.

“Right now it’s the fall frenzy,” she said. “If you haven’t decided housing for in the fall, then you’re just not going to get housing for the spring, or you’re going to get something unreasonably priced.”

She explained that when that timeline shifts over, it might decrease housing prices for students because they will have more freedom of choice.

The liaisons expressed satisfaction with the student turnout Wednesday. Abujuma said it was “extremely phenomenal to see” and added she was also surprised by the landlord turnout.

The council has not yet scheduled a vote on the ordinance.

This university’s chief administrative officer Charles Reuning announced last week that testing of the light-rail vehicles is set to begin on campus in early January. On-campus testing is set to be conducted on selected days from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. The Purple Line is about 80 percent complete and set to begin operation in December 2027.

Freshman Jaden Cohen said it’s exciting to hear that the cars will actually start moving. But since the testing will be conducted at night, he is concerned some students may be unaware the testing is happening or try to disturb the cars.

“People don’t make smart decisions at night, and there’s no way to have a police presence across the whole line,” said Cohen, an accounting and supply chain major.

Cohen added he’s excited for the Purple Line to make it easier both to get around the area and to get to the Amtrak to return home to New Jersey.

Cohen’s also curious to see how students crossing Campus Drive during peak times will look like, he said. Cohen noted even buses are not able to get through the student’s foot traffic.

[College Park City Council asks state to evaluate site for affordable family, senior housing]

“I don’t know what’s gonna happen there. Is the train just gonna wait for students for an hour?” Cohen said.

Freshman digital art and media communications major Giulia Blough grew up in this area and frequently visited this campus since one of her parents worked at the university. She remembers seeing “significantly worse” construction around campus then.

Blough said she is curious if the testing of the Purple Line will actually happen as scheduled and how it will affect campus safety.

“I feel like I’ve been told so many times that ‘it’s almost done, it’s almost done’ and then it hasn’t been,” Blough said.

The Purple Line was set to open in 2022, but the construction process was paused for two years when Purple Line Transit Partners — the contractor overseeing the project’s construction — quit five years ago.

Five of the Purple Line’s 21 light-rail stations will be located on or near this campus. The line will also connect to the Metro’s red, green and orange lines.

Blough said that it will be interesting to see the light-rail vehicles coming through campus, considering all the people walking, riding scooters or driving cars. She added the Purple Line opening will make the journey home easier for students from nearby counties.

[Maryland sues Trump administration over blocking FBI headquarters move to Greenbelt]

“It’ll be nice for people that live in Montgomery County because they have a direct way of transportation home instead of having to order an Uber or take two different trains to get home on the Metro,” Blough said.

Applied economics graduate student Erik Lavoie said the Purple Line is a positive development but believes the project could have been designed better.

Lavoie said many students do not have access to a car and the Purple Line will be an alternative to spending money on Ubers. He added he’s concerned the Purple Line could get stuck at certain busy times in the day, just as he sees other vehicles get stuck on Campus Drive due to high pedestrian traffic.

“I’m just wondering if the people who planned [the Purple Line], are they fully aware of what it looks like around here at 11 a.m. when a lot of classes are out?” Lavoie said.

The two companies, Anthropic and Percepta, plan to integrate their AI services into multiple agencies, including the Maryland Department of Labor and Department of the Environment, Moore wrote in a statement. The Rockefeller Foundation, a philanthropic organization, is financially supporting the effort.

“Leveraging AI will accelerate our push to fight poverty, turn renters into homeowners, and ensure every Marylander can access essential services like nutrition and financial support,” Moore said in the announcement.

Under the partnership, state workers will get access to Claude, Anthropic’s AI model, while Percepta will embed staff within agencies to facilitate AI adoption. The announcement did not specify exactly how workers will use Claude or how many will gain access.

[Maryland to face nearly $1.4 billion budget deficit in 2026 legislative session]

“Claude will supercharge the work of public servants to make government more accessible and responsive,” Thiyagu Ramasamy, Anthropic’s public sector head, said in the announcement.

Maryland residents applying for benefits like food stamps can wait up to 30 days to receive them, according to the Maryland Department of Human Services website. The state’s new partnership aims to reduce these wait times and streamline the permitting process for new housing, though state officials did not provide specific targets or timelines in the announcement.

Maryland will also launch a Claude-powered virtual assistant to help residents apply for benefits and find programs they qualify for. A similar chatbot was launched in June and helped connect more than 600,000 kids to summer food benefits, according to the announcement.

“Artificial Intelligence can be a powerful tool for change,” Moore said. “We’ve been clear since Day One that it wouldn’t be enough to rebuild someone else’s broken government — we need to innovate.”

The bill, which passed 18-1-1, urges the deans of both schools and the vice president of university relations to rename the Lockheed Martin Room, Lockheed Martin Partnership Suite, Lockheed Martin Lounge, BAE Systems Lab and Leidos Lab.

Lockheed Martin, BAE Systems and Leidos have all supplied weapons to the Israel Defense Forces that have been used to commit a genocide in Gaza, the resolution read.

“I think that these companies who are actively engaged in human rights violations, and make me sick to my stomach, should have their legacies remembered more so as that, than partners in research,” transportation and infrastructure committee co-director Shubh Agnihotri said.

[UMD SGA condemns student-hosted event with IDF soldiers, demands university issues apology]

Israel has killed more than 69,000 people in Gaza since it declared war on Hamas two years ago. A United Nations committee in September ruled Israel has committed a genocide in the Gaza Strip.

Agnihotri said the bill’s passage is following through on student voting in favor of multiple resolutions about divestment recently.

Last month, the SGA passed a resolution urging this university and its charitable foundation to disassociate from corporations, institutions and academic entities that “support or profit from Israel’s regime of apartheid and occupation.” In May, students also passed a referendum in support of divesting from companies that may be implicated in human rights violations in places such as Palestine, Myanmar and the Philippines.

This university wrote in a statement to The Diamondback Wednesday that SGA resolutions have no bearing on university policy or practice.

Agnihotri said university administration took a long time to provide an accurate response to SGA members on who to contact about renaming the rooms.

“It’s meaningless to say it has no bearing on university policy or practice,” Agnihotri said. “How is SGA supposed to be an advocacy organization or any sort of voice that stands up for students, if the second that our values and administrators’ values are at a crossroads, they shut us out?”

[UMD Students for Justice in Palestine petitions to cancel even with IDF soldiers]

The resolution also cited how the University System of Maryland changed the football stadium’s name, previously after former university president Harry Clifton “Curley” Byrd, because he supported racial segregation. Former university president Wallace Loh supported the name change, The Diamondback previously reported.

Bill sponsor and engineering representative Nane Manukyan said the bill’s intention is to show the university what the SGA thinks.

“It opens the door for us to start having those conversations with the faculty,” Manukyan said.

The resolution also requires the vote results be published on SGA’s official Instagram account and be republished with student organization accounts, including the Asian American Student Union, Organization of Arab Students, Palestinian Cultural Club and this university’s Students for Justice in Palestine chapter. Manukyan said this emphasizes transparency and allows more students to learn about the resolution.

SGA also plans to send a letter to the deans of the colleges and the university relations vice president after the vote to officially request the renaming of the rooms.

The deficit is about five times larger than the predicted amount of $300 million in March, according to the spending affordability briefing.

The cost of Medicaid behavioral health, K-12 education and the impacts of the One Big Beautiful Bill Act, which was signed into law by U.S. President Donald Trump in July, were all significant contributors to the deficit, the briefing shows.

The bill tightens restrictions for Medicaid coverage, causing an estimated 175,000 Marylanders to lose coverage, according to a state health department briefing from July. Maryland could lose up to $2.7 billion in federal funding per year by fiscal year 2034, the department’s briefing reads.

[Gov. Wes Moore announces $62 million for SNAP benefits]

Nearly 49 percent of the shortfall relates to an existing deficit from years prior, operating budget manager Tonya Zimmerman said. The largest contributor was $190 million worth of provider reimbursements to the Maryland Department of Health.

The budget’s shortage creates an ongoing financial imbalance for the state. To make up for the shortfall, Maryland will have to rely on increasing revenues, cutting services and raising taxes, documents show.

State revenues are also $718 million lower than the estimate, according to the spending affordability briefing.

“At the midpoint of what has been the most tumultuous decade for revenues in a generation, Maryland faces several challenges to its revenue structure,” Maryland comptroller Brooke Lierman said in a September news release.

The changes in the federal government have contributed to the alterations in the state’s budget, Zimmerman said. The legislative services department assumes funds will be depleted due to the loan payments offered to federal employees during the 43 day long government shutdown.

“The main story, of course, for the Maryland economy here in 2025 relates to the federal government,”  said Theresa Tuszynski, a policy analyst in the legislative services department.

Maryland was home to more than 160,000 federal jobs last year, which accounted for about 11 percent of all wages in the state, Tuszynski said.

But since January, Maryland has lost about 15,000 federal jobs, she said. That makes up a roughly 9.3 percent decrease, the largest decrease of any U.S. state, Tuszynski said.

The One Big Beautiful Bill Act cut state revenue by $371 million, the spending affordability briefing shows.

[Trump administration demands state leaders undo full SNAP benefits]

The decline in federal jobs and contracts implies less overall income and wage-based taxes, which contributes to the state’s revenue deficit.

The state has also been affected by the tariffs imposed by the Trump administration this past spring, Tuszynski said. The sales tax in Maryland increased by 2.6 percent, exceeding the predicted $72 million two times faster than expected.

The rise in sales tax is being shifted into funding for the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future, increasing its distribution by 0.3 percent from fiscal year 2024 to fiscal year 2025, the affordability briefing shows.

The Blueprint program increases the amount of funding for statewide education by expanding early childhood programs, raising teacher salaries and providing college pathways, the program’s website says.

Future program funding is predicted to exceed $1.6 billion in ongoing revenue by fiscal year 2031, the spending affordability briefing reads.

The U.S. House of Representatives voted 222-209 to pass a funding package to end the 43-day shutdown and fund the government until Jan. 30. President Donald Trump then signed the funding bill just hours after the House sent it to his desk.

At least 670,000 federal employees have been furloughed since the shutdown began on Oct. 1 and about 730,000 continued to work without pay, according to the Bipartisan Policy Center.

The shutdown has left many Americans without Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits, or food stamps, since the Trump administration cut off the program in response. Benefits will be restored, but it might take more than 24 hours in some states to receive benefits, the Associated Press reported.

[Trump administration demands state leaders undo full SNAP payments]

Maryland Gov. Wes Moore said in a Wednesday statement that though the government has been reopened, healthcare costs will continue to rise and affect Maryland residents.

“Maryland is doing its job,” Moore said. “It’s time Donald Trump and Washington did theirs – without selling out the people they’re supposed to protect.”

Moore allocated $62 million to ensure full November SNAP benefits for Marylanders. He also declared a state of emergency to help address the impacts of the shutdown and issued $10 million in emergency funding to Maryland food security partners.

Maryland Sens. Chris Van Hollen and Angela Alsobrooks, who previously served as Prince George’s County executive, issued a joint statement on Oct. 30 with Maryland’s Democratic House representatives pledging support for Moore’s actions.

“We stand with the Governor and support this decision to help Marylanders put food on the table, as we continue fighting to reopen the government and end this shameful Republican shutdown,” the statement read.

University president Daryll Pines sent a letter to the University of Maryland community on Nov. 4 highlighting resources for students, faculty and staff to use during the pause in benefits, including the campus pantry.

Patrick O’Shea, this university’s vice president for research, shared in a statement just before the shutdown began that even after  the government shutdown ends, there will still be some delays in the federal government funding.

[UMD experts say worse political gridlock is contributing to government shutdown’s length]

During the shutdown, employees could not receive new federal awards and the proposal review process for principal investigators was delayed.

The new funding package will protect federal workers against further layoffs through January and guarantees pay for them once the shutdown is over.

The shutdown has also resulted in the mass delay and cancellation of flights, after an increase in unpaid air traffic controllers calling out of work due to financial pressure, the Associated Press reported on Nov. 7. The Federal Aviation Administration issued an order on Nov. 6 that significantly cut the number of flights at 40 “high impact” airports including Baltimore-Washington International Airport, Dulles International Airport and Reagan National Airport. Flight cuts will stay at six percent as employees return to work, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The council approved sending a letter to Maryland Gov. Wes Moore during an Oct. 28 meeting asking the state to redevelop the property, located at 9829 Rhode Island Ave.

The property is state-owned and has been underused by the Maryland Department of Labor since the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Michael Williams, the city’s economic development director.

The potential project would align with Moore’s “Housing Starts Here” executive order, which encourages the state to redevelop state-owned land to create more affordable housing.

Redeveloping the Rhode Island Avenue site would bring more traffic to the Hollywood Shopping Center and create more quality, but affordable, housing opportunities for College Park residents, Williams said.

“This is a really good idea, and I just hope that the state has the time and the manpower to put into it,” Williams said.

District 1 council member Jacob Hernandez said there has been a desire from residents to transform the property, so he was proud to introduce this letter to the council.

Hernandez said he’s approached different state departments in the past about redeveloping the site and been turned down, which put the project on pause. But under Moore’s executive order, he saw an opportunity to restart the conversation.

[New food hall in College Park features food from more than 15 restaurants]

“Right now, an empty building is doing nothing for us,” Hernandez said. “It’s impacting our property values negatively because we have a vacant property that isn’t contributing to the neighborhood.”

This specific site is also well-located for a housing development because of its proximity to public transportation, the city’s letter stated. It would be located close to other city investments, like the soon-to-be constructed North College Park Community Center and the $7.3 million renovation of the city’s largest park, Duvall Field.

It would also increase traffic for the Hollywood Shopping Center, which has been a priority for the city, Williams said.

“We hope to see more neighborhood activity through the shopping, through housing, more people that can afford to stay and live in College Park,” Williams said.

Hernandez agreed with Williams and said using the property in any form would ultimately increase revenue for the businesses in the shopping center and generate tax revenue that would be reinvested back into the community.

Mayor Fazlul Kabir said some community members expressed concerns about the potential project. He said some are worried a tall, dense housing complex wouldn’t fit with the character of the neighborhood.

According to Hernandez, the neighborhood is mostly comprised of single family homes. But he and Kabir said if the project moves forward, the city will ensure there is ample opportunity for community engagement and resident feedback.

Tobias Thom, who lives in College Park’s Berwyn neighborhood, said he thinks the potential redevelopment is a good idea that could create more diverse housing options in the area.

If the project moves forward, Thom would want to see it be a big and dense complex that would maximize the investment, he said.

“There’s so much space … there should be no reason why we don’t build a big building there that could house hundreds of students and thousands of people,” Thom said. “The sky’s the limit on it.”

The city has been prioritizing the issue of affordable housing and made it a focus point for its five-year plan starting in 2026, Kabir said.

[College Park City Council to hold hearing on proposed early lease ordinance]

The city council voted to create the Affordable Housing Task Force in April, which is now responsible for assessing the housing gaps and creating a report with recommendations to address them, according to Kabir. He added that their report will likely be ready in the coming months.

They also revised a tax incentive program to offer tax breaks to developers building affordable housing units, he said.

Affordable housing is housing in which the resident pays no more than 30 percent of their  income on housing costs, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.

Some existing affordable housing developments in College Park are Atworth and The Flats at College Park, which opened in May.

Affordable housing is important to prioritize because it makes homeownership attainable for College Park residents, Kabir said.

“There are longtime residents who have been renting for a while, and they’ve been thinking to become a homeowner at some point, but they’re not able to because they have been priced out,” he added.

Affordable housing concerns aren’t specific to College Park.

Maryland’s department of housing and community development reported in July that the state is short of 275,000 affordable rental units for households earning 80 percent or less of their area’s median income.

Kabir said every jurisdiction is trying to address the issue of affordable housing in their respective communities.

If the state agrees to evaluate the site for affordable senior housing, it will determine its suitability for redevelopment, according to Kabir. If the state determines that it is suitable, it will oversee the redevelopment, with the city being responsible for community engagement.

“We’re conducting outreach to make sure that we can do something,” Hernandez said. “The alternative is to just leave a property there that doesn’t provide any value to the businesses that are immediately surrounding in Hollywood Shopping Center, to the residents of the neighborhood.”

In October, the Category 5 hurricane began wreaking havoc across the Caribbean, making landfall in Jamaica before then heading north toward Cuba, Haiti, the Bahamas and Bermuda. Nearly 6 million people in the Caribbean are affected by the storms’ destruction, according to the United Nations.

The junior public health practice major, who is half Jamaican, said that her father’s side of the family was caught in the storm. Hall nervously awaited calls from her family in St. Ann’s, confirming their safety.

“It is very devastating,” Hall said. “It’s going to affect the Jamaican community a lot and especially for the people who have family there.”

As a result of the hurricane, 45 people have died and 15 people have been reported missing, the Jamaican government confirmed Tuesday. The storm has displaced 30,000 households, according to Jamaica’s emergency management office director.

Hall said it would take months for Jamaicans to rebuild their homes and major buildings, like churches, in their towns. Hall is also the president of this university’s Caribbean Student Association, and said the association is planning to accept donations to give to the Jamaican embassy in Washington, D.C.

The association is donating medical supplies, basic hygiene products and family care materials. The closest drop-off location to campus is The Jerk Pit, she said.

“We feel helpless because we don’t feel like what we can give is enough,” Hall said. “But there’s still a sense of at least giving what we’re capable of.”

Hall also said peer support is important at this time. Donations, prayers and raising awareness on campus can help those affected by the storm’s damage, Hall added.

[UMD community members reflect on war, humanitarian crisis in Sudan]

The association released a statement on social media on Oct. 29 expressing its support for any Maryland community members with personal ties to the countries affected by the hurricane.

”Our thoughts are with those who have experienced loss and disruption as a result of the severe weather event,” the post read. “CSA stands in solidarity with all those engaged in recovery and rebuilding efforts in the aftermath of this disaster.”

The Dean of Students Office reached out to students from Jamaica, Haiti, Cuba and the Dominican Republic to offer support.

Twanna Hodge, a doctoral information science student who was born and raised on the St. Thomas Island in the U.S. Virgin Islands, said though hurricanes are a common occurrence in the Caribbean, Hurricane Melissa is one of the most devastating hurricanes in history.

She added that high winds and devastating rainfall leaves most without electricity for days. This leaves people without a way to safely cook food or get in touch with relatives for long periods of time, she explained.

“It is hard to be in a situation where you can only watch what is happening,” Hodge said.

Hodge mentioned witnessing the total devastation caused by Hurricane Maria, a storm in 2017 that struck Puerto Rico. It killed about 3,000 people, according to the National Institute of Standards and Technology.

International education policy doctoral student Abigail Smith is working closely with the Jamaican embassy in Washington, D.C., to help support those affected in her home country.

[UMD students celebrate diversity of South Asian culture at multicultural night]

Smith grew up in Kingston, Jamaica, and said she immediately jumped into action when she heard about the storm.

“My first reaction was like, I want to go home,” she said. “I want to go help. I want to be on the ground.”

Smith said she plans to go home by the end of the year to help her community, but it is not currently safe for her to go to Jamaica due to the storm’s destruction. While she is away from home, Smith said the support she has received from her peers has been heartwarming.

Many of Smith’s classmates checked in on her after the news broke, the International Student and Scholar Services office sent an email with resources and a faculty advisor donated about $100 for supplies.

“Our humanity is so tied to each other,” Smith said. “You know, it’s Jamaica today, it could be D.C. or Maryland tomorrow.”

This story has been updated.