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.”

Becoming a sanctuary campus means this university would pledge non-compliance with Immigration and Customs Enforcement and offer resources for undocumented and immigrant students, according to the campaign’s online petition.

The campaign, which was created by this university’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter, has collected more than 2,700 petition signatures since it was officially launched in September. Its co-sponsors include the Graduate Labor Union Organizing Committee, United Academics of Maryland-University of Maryland and more than a dozen student groups.

“I just want people to feel that even if the rest of the country is totally crazy, they’ll be safe when they’re at UMD,” said Nick Cosgrove, the co-chair of this university’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter.

[UMD students demand transparency on removed immigrant, undocumented resources webpage]

The petition demands this university:

• Refuse ICE access to non-public areas of this university without a judicial warrant
• Refuse to supply ICE agents with information about community members without a lawful court order
• Alert students, faculty and staff when ICE is on campus.
• Preserve and provide university resources for immigrant and undocumented students.

The Diamondback asked this university about its immigration policies and procedures and was referred to a campuswide email from February that shared guidance about how community members should respond if immigration agents are on campus.

The email said faculty and staff should not invite or allow ICE agents to enter non-public areas of this university and said they should not share anyone’s personal information with the agents without first contacting the University of Maryland Police and the university’s Office of General Counsel.

Additionally, employees should not interfere with the actions of the agents or “do anything that could be construed as an unwillingness to cooperate,” the February email read.

The email guidance aligns with the Maryland Values Act — a state law passed in April that prohibits ICE from accessing and operating in certain sensitive, non-public areas, like schools and hospitals.

But Graduate Labor Union organizer Rose Ying said this university’s ICE policies are not clear enough to students.

“Our international grads have not been happy with the lack of information,” Ying, a neuroscience and cognitive science graduate student, said. “As a domestic student, I’ve also not been happy with the lack of information because my international friends are all super anxious and concerned.”

If the sanctuary campus campaign is successful, it would send a strong message that this university cares about its community members, said Jade Olson, the communications chair for UAM-UMD.

Olson, who is an associate clinical communications professor, said becoming a sanctuary campus is important both morally and practically.

“I can’t do my job if my students are afraid to come to class,” Olson said.

Gerson Rosales, a postdoctoral fellow in the history department who studies migration, said the university declaring itself a sanctuary campus could come with risks.

[College Park, Prince George’s County no longer listed as sanctuary jurisdictions]

“The [Trump] administration has made it clear that they’re targeting sanctuary cities,” Rosales said. “So the campus that declares itself a sanctuary for migrants could also face some similar attacks.”

While the declaration could create solidarity with the immigrant community, consequences could include federal agents coming to campus, suspension of federal grant money or issues with access to funding, Rosales said.

But some students supporting the sanctuary campus campaign said the risks are worth the benefits.

“There’s always risk involved in acting out against the Trump administration,” said Annabelle Hurley, a freshman mathematics major and a member of the Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter. “But I think that it’s honestly a necessary risk we need to take because of how severe the damage ICE is causing.”

The next step of the campaign is to deliver the petition to this university’s administration, Cosgrove said. The campaign hopes to reach 4,000 signatures, which is about 10 percent of the student body, by the time they deliver the petition, the sophomore American studies and communications major added.

The Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter also plans to coordinate a rally and host letter writing sessions as part of the campaign, Cosgrove said. He said people can support the campaign by signing the petition or joining the organization.

Olson encouraged students to get involved and educate themselves on immigration issues.

“A lot of students might not be aware of the severity of this issue,” Olson said. “This is a real opportunity for students to learn about what’s happening right now and what they can do to protect their peers and their communities.”

The government shutdown began on Oct. 1 after the Senate failed to pass a funding bill. As a result, hundreds of thousands of federal employees are either working without pay, getting furloughed or receiving partial paychecks, the Associated Press reported Wednesday.

The political gridlock stems from a contentious debate between Republicans and Democrats over extending health care subsidies under the Affordable Care Act. The subsidies, which lower people’s health insurance premiums, are set to expire at the end of 2025.

“We’re in a different political climate,” assistant government and politics professor Breanna Gray said. “We have members [of Congress] who are, I think, more inclined to dig in their heels than we’ve seen in previous administrations and in previous congresses, so we may have to buckle up for a real long haul here.”

The polarized political climate, associate government and politics professor David Karol said, is a contributing factor to the shutdown’s intensity.

It used to be more common for bills to be passed with at least some degree of bipartisanship, Karol said. But recently the U.S. has seen that decline, Karol said, referencing how President Donald Trump’s “Big Beautiful Bill” and former President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act passed along party lines.

[DOGE website says it cut nearly $15M from UMD grants]

The last lengthy government shutdown was also under the Trump administration and lasted for 35 days in 2018 in his first term.

“It just shows the incompetence of the Trump administration and the Republican Party that under both administrations, his first term and second term, he has had a government shutdown,” said Alexander Randle-Johnson, the university’s College Democrats chapter’s political action director. “It just shows that he’s not really worried about the American people.”

The junior government and politics major added that his ideal outcome would be for the Senate to pass a spending bill and reopen the government without axing the insurance subsidies.

Hannah Vander Wall, president of this university’s Turning Point USA chapter, said Trump’s divisive leadership style likely played into the 2018 shutdown’s length. But she said that is not the case now.

“Our society has become so polarized that I don’t even think it boils down to President Trump anymore,” the junior government and politics major said.

Vander Wall said she would like to see the shutdown end with a deal where everyone’s interests can be represented.

Karol said there are a few different ways the shutdown could end, though he doesn’t expect it to end soon.

One way is if Democrats concede and agree to pass the spending bill without extending the subsidies. Another option would be for both parties to make a deal. Lastly, Republicans could vote to remove the filibuster — the 60 vote threshold needed to pass legislation that allows senators to extend the debate.

If Republicans eliminate the filibuster, they wouldn’t need Democrats to sign off on the spending bill, Karol added.

Associate government and politics professor Kris Miler said Republicans would be hesitant to resort to this solution because when the Democrats eventually win back the Senate, it could be used against them.

[Here’s how UMD community members could be affected by the government shutdown]

“When you’re in the majority, it’s frustrating not to move your agenda because a couple of other people won’t get on board,” Miler said. “You can see where the temptation comes, but because party control does go back and forth, there’s risk in that strategy.”

Pressure to end the shutdown will grow as it impacts more people, Miler added.

The shutdown’s financial implications have also resulted in the federal government using workers’ incomes and lives as “bargaining tools,” said Nick Cosgrove, the co-chair of this university’s Young Democratic Socialists of America chapter and a sophomore American studies and communication major.

For Randle-Johnson, these impacts hit close to home. His cousin, who works for the Department of Homeland Security, had to take out a bank loan to support herself during the shutdown.

“She’s in limbo, not knowing if she should start looking for another job or not,” Randle-Johnson said.

Gray added that the missed paychecks can have severe consequences on many Americans, especially those who rely on social welfare services. Gray encouraged people to engage with politics and to lobby their Senators and political leaders to push for change.

“When we see the statistics about people living one paycheck away from homelessness, that’s a really jarring concern,” Gray said.

University president Darryll Pines asked five Black students, including Linkins, to identify 25 critical issues for the administration to address after George Floyd’s murder and the ensuing Black Lives Matter protests. Linkins and the other students, who represented campus organizations, stayed up late with administration to release the list in 2021.

But in mid-April, a dashboard of the demands and their progress was taken down from the then-Office of Diversity and Inclusion’s webpage. The office has since been renamed and the dashboard has yet to be republished, despite one official’s statement that it would be put back online, likely under a firewall.

Linkins, who graduated in the spring with her doctorate in mechanical engineering, said seeing her hours of hard work disappear from the website was frustrating. She said she didn’t know the dashboard was removed until The Diamondback reached out to write this story.

“To take them down is kind of like a slap in the face,” she said.

Some Black student leaders are urging the administration to republish the dashboard of critical issues. A few of the original authors encouraged current students to fight to make that happen.

According to a Sept. 17 statement from the belonging and community office, it “will share the list of 25 critical issues on the Belonging & Community website as we continue to make updates.”

As of March, the university had completed or noted a sustained commitment to 21 of the critical issues, according to an archived version of the site. This included establishing a racial incident hotline and increasing the number of Black faculty members.

[UMD alters language of Stamp’s multicultural involvement, community advocacy webpage]

Four demands were still in progress, including reducing excessive funding to University of Maryland Police publicly and creating more spaces on campus for Black students. Instead of the dashboard, the site now contains two paragraphs mentioning the critical issues under the “additional campus resources” tab on the website. To access it, one must log in using their directory ID as of Monday.

For university alum Saba Tshibaka, who also helped create the list, seeing it published in 2021 represented months of hard work. Tshibaka also co-founded Black Terps Matter and said having the demands online served as a resource for people to understand how the university could improve to support Black students.

“For them like, to just take it away, is just deplorable,” Tshibaka said.

The dashboard’s disappearance comes as universities nationwide have altered or rolled back diversity, equity and inclusion programming and initiatives under pressure from U.S. President Donald Trump. When the demands webpage was initially removed in April, Pines told The Diamondback that it was not a result of Trump’s threats on these initiatives.

In a separate interview on Wednesday, Pines said the university’s mission and values haven’t and won’t change. He said the belonging and community office’s leadership makes decisions on the website, staffing and roles.

“I think that website has been up for now, four or five years, and most of those demands have been addressed,” Pines told The Diamondback. “Maybe they felt it was appropriate to retire the website.”

This university’s Multicultural Involvement and Community Advocacy office also recently removed resources and information from its website. Another webpage for Immigrant and Undocumented Student Life was removed from the Stamp Student Union’s website over the summer.

Jason Nichols, a senior lecturer in the African American Studies department, said publishing the demands was critical in improving life on campus for all students. The demands’ publication shows the university continues to stand for diversity, equity and inclusion, he said.

[‘Conceding to the pressures’: UMD students criticize DEI office’s renaming]

“It’s important for people who look at the University of Maryland to recognize that we do have an ethos, we do have a position, we do take a stand for something that we’ve said we’ve stood for, for a very long time,” Nichols said.

Nichols said he trusts Pines that the webpage’s removal was not politically motivated. But if it was, Nichols said, he understands it’s a “high pressure time for a lot of universities.”

Kara Mitchell, vice president of Black Girls Vote, said the university is becoming more compliant with the current political climate, which she said seems to dismiss anything that supports minorities.

“It’s just important to recognize that the Black population is very prominent on campus,” she said. “The campus administration should do a better job of recognizing their Black students.”

Carissa Robinson, the Black Student Union’s speaker of the house, said it is even more important to have the demands online because of recent attacks on diversity, equity and inclusion initiatives.

Republishing the demands would be a nice reminder that this university is still committed to diversity, equity and inclusion, the senior government and politics and dance major said. Robinson would be open to organizing a civil protest or setting meetings with university administration, she added.

Students should fight to ensure the demands are republished, said Nichols and Tshibaka.

“Don’t get tired of the battle,” Linkins added. “Don’t get tired of the fight, because at the end of the line, everything will be worth it.”

Assistant news editor and administration reporter Sam Gauntt interviewed university president Darryll Pines for this story.

At the time, St Jean — a summer research assistant in the physics department — didn’t notice he had also missed his first paycheck.

“I live paycheck to paycheck, so missing a paycheck is a big deal,” St Jean said.

St Jean is one of several university workers who experienced missed or delayed payments this summer on the university’s new cloud-based platform, Workday. It replaced the university’s former administrative and finance systems in November and overhauled systems such as payroll and human resources.

The Graduate Labor Union received more than 100 reports of missing payments since this university transitioned to the new administrative system last fall, according to a July email from the campus organization, which advocates for collective bargaining rights for graduate student workers.

The university wrote in a statement last week that it’s tracking fewer workers affected by payroll problems than GLU estimated.

Some of these employees are calling for increased communication from this university about payroll and payment errors.

St Jean said he was able to get back pay for those first few weeks during the next pay period. Other employees said they have not yet received all of the compensation they are owed from the summer.

Journalism graduate student Mary Burke, who worked as a reporter for this university’s Howard Center for Investigative Journalism this summer, said she started work on June 16 but didn’t receive her first paycheck until about Aug. 1.

Burke said the journalism college’s business office told her the payment delays were because there was an issue with her ability to enter her hours in Workday’s timesheet.

Even after the issue was resolved, she still hasn’t been fully paid for the work she did over the summer.

“It’s really not fair to just hold money hostage like this,” Burke said. “Not that they’re doing it intentionally, but there are people who need this money on a week to week basis.”

[UMD students can now use Testudo nearly 24/7]

After St Jean brought the issue to the physics payroll office, he said he was paid for those first few weeks in the following pay period. He said his issue stemmed from not being entered into the Workday system, despite completing all of his onboarding requirements.

While he was still waiting for back pay, St Jean said he had to put his rent payment on a credit card. His mom helped him pay for groceries.

“This not only put me in a bad situation, but also put my family in a bad situation, which I really don’t like,” St Jean said.

This university wrote in a statement that it is “committed to paying all employees accurately and on time.” When this university became aware of delayed payments, its human resource department “provided guidance to all employees to address these concerns,” the statement read.

This university is not aware of any outstanding payroll issues, a Monday statement confirmed, noting the issues were handled by individual departments and colleges.

“The University acted quickly to identify and resolve these issues, and all affected individuals have since been paid,” last week’s statement read.

Philip Reisler, an electrician for Facilities Management at this university, started his paid paternity leave on Aug. 4. A couple weeks later, Reisler received his paycheck and noticed it was only about two-thirds of what he should have made.

Reisler was told by his department’s payroll office that it was a Workday issue and he received the missing compensation on his next paycheck. Still, he said the issue impacted him “mentally and emotionally,” especially coming off the heels of his daughter being born.

“You’re expecting to be able to provide for your family, you know?” Reisler said.

[About $30 million worth of UMD grants have been canceled]

On Aug. 1, university administrators sent an email to faculty, staff, graduate assistants and HR partners and representatives announcing a Payroll Resource Guide to help address payment issues.

“July marked the start of the first full fiscal year in our relatively new HR/payroll system, Workday,” the email read. “As with any new system, we understand that this transition may bring some uncertainty or questions.”

The resource guide includes a FAQ section and information on how employees can review their pay details and figure out who to contact for help with payroll issues.

Caspar Popova, a doctoral student studying computer science, also experienced delayed pay this summer and said he never received an explanation as to why his pay wasn’t delivered on time.

“I should have been paid on time,” Popova said. “It is not appropriate to be withholding pay, especially not for so long and without explanation and without reporting on how widespread this issue was.”

The lease, which the Board of Regents unanimously approved in a consent calendar at its Nov. 22 meeting, covers about 6.4 acres of state-owned land adjacent to the Riverdale Park North-University of Maryland Purple Line station, according to board documents. Using the area near the station as a flex research space instead of for higher density mixed-use developments is an inefficient use of the land, local officials and residents told The Diamondback.

“When we have great assets like the Purple Line and really valuable state land, we need to make the best use of that land,” Lindsay Mendelson, the Maryland Sierra Club’s senior transportation campaign representative, said.

The lease’s site plan calls for nearly 58,000 square feet of research and development space across two one-story buildings in a joint venture between this university and real estate developer St. John Properties, board documents stated.

The project is a “key component” to develop the Discovery District — a research park adjacent to this university — as a hub of high-tech companies, according to a statement from Michael Sandler, the university system’s vice chancellor for communications and marketing.

The project is set to support high-demand businesses such as engineering, virtual reality, quantum computing and biotechnology, the statement read.

The development must be approved by the Maryland Board of Public Works before it can move forward.

[WMATA board approves Metrobus overhaul that eliminates C8 route]

The Maryland Sierra Club urged the board and local legislators to revisit the lease’s site plan in a letter sent Nov. 21. The letter cited the plan’s inconsistency with the Maryland Transit Administration’s Transit-Oriented Development Design Guidelines and Prince George’s County’s general plan.

Transit-oriented development emphasizes dense, mixed-use developments within a half mile of transit stations, according to the Maryland Department of Planning. State guidelines for these kinds of developments recommend at least 20 housing units an acre and buildings with two or more stories — none of which the lease’s site plan contains, according to board documents.

“We have this valuable resource overlooking a Purple Line station, we absolutely need to make sure that it’s following those guidelines and we’re making the best use of that space,” Mendelson said.

The letter also said transit-oriented development is crucial to reducing miles traveled by personal vehicles, which is necessary to meet the climate goals outlined in the state’s 2023 climate plan.

Riverdale Park Mayor Alan Thompson said he would like to see a denser development go into the space near the Purple Line station.

According to Thompson, he and other Riverdale Park town leaders were officially notified of the project about one week before the board approved it. Thompson said he would have liked to know about the site plan earlier so the town council could have more time to deliberate and provide feedback.

For one Riverdale Park resident, Steven Hartig, the board’s decision was disappointing.

“We need to build dense, walkable, vibrant things in this place, not a soulless office park,” the electrical engineer and sustainable growth advocate said.

Another issue with the site plan is the significant amount of surface parking it includes, Hartig said.

Thompson said a large impervious surface parking lot would exacerbate the area’s existing flooding issues.

[College Park, Columbia University to partner to research Lakeland and urban renewal]

“Even if we don’t like these buildings as they are, even if it’s not the highest and best use, can we please just have it not make our flooding situation any worse?” Thompson said.

This project marks the second phase of a previously approved development with St. Johns Properties that created 111,240 square feet of research space in Riverdale Park and a 50,107 square foot building to house the College Park Academy — a public charter school, according to the board’s documents.

Discussions are underway to dedicate 16,000 square feet of the new development to a gymnasium or arts facility for the academy, the documents reported.

Now that the lease has been approved, it must go before the county’s planning department in what’s called a mandatory referral process. Then, this university has to present the plan to the Maryland Board of Public Works, which must approve it to go forward.

It is unclear when the project will go before the Board of Public Works, according to the Board of Public Works’ executive secretary John Gontrum.

According to the university system’s statement, the lease’s approval is just an initial step in the development process and “additional factors and feedback will be considered as the project moves forward.”

Thompson said he is hopeful he can come to a consensus with this university before it reaches the state’s board and explore potentially adding housing units on top of the flex buildings to “move this project in a direction where we can all be happy.”

Mendelson and Hartig said they will continue advocating for a site plan that better maximizes the space and aligns with the state’s climate goals.

“With a 99-year lease, if we don’t get this right, we’re going to be stuck with this for the rest of our lives,” Hartig said.

After May’s primary election, nine non-partisan candidates ran for five seats in Districts 1, 4, 5, 7 and 8.

Here are the winners of the Nov. 5 general election.

Tiffini Andorful – District 1

Tiffini Andorful won the District 1 seat against Donna Barriteau, receiving nearly 65 percent of the vote.

Andorful is a former high school social studies teacher, an educational equity advocate and a PGCPS parent, her campaign website said.

“It’s important that we have both teachers and parents’ voices on the board, people who understand Prince George’s County firsthand and who are invested,” Andorful told The Diamondback in October.

The District 1 race comes after incumbent school board member David Murray resigned from his position in July. While serving on the PGCPS school board, Murray began a role as chief academic officer for a Missouri school district, The Washington Post reported in July.

The Maryland State Board of Education received a request for Murray’s removal due to “willful neglect of duty.”

[Prince George’s County Council fails to elect new chair]

Andorful ran for the seat to “secure a better future” for her children and students across the county according to her website.

As a board member, Andorful hopes to create safer schools, enhance college readiness and attract and retain high-quality teachers, her website said.

Shayla Adams-Stafford – District 4

Shayla Adams-Stafford ran unopposed and won a second term as the District 4 board member.

Adams-Stafford is also the CEO and founder of AdaptiveX, a software company that promotes racial equity-focused and culturally responsive education, according to her campaign website.

During her first term, Adams-Stafford launched an initiative to support in-person learning for vulnerable students during the COVID-19 pandemic, according to her website.

Her website also said she secured $10 million for underperforming schools and revitalized community engagement through the Parent and Community Advisory Council, a group that provides guidance to the school board and superintendent.

Robin Brown – District 5

Robin Brown defeated incumbent Zipporah Miller in the District 5 PGCPS school board race. Brown received 56 percent of the vote in last month’s election.

Brown, a PGCPS parent, told The Diamondback in October her son urged her to run for the school board after she encouraged him to join his high school’s student government association.

Brown is the program and policy analyst for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to her website. She previously worked at the U.S. Census Bureau as a congressional lead for Maryland, her website said.

[PGCPS community members praise $25 million grant to expand student mental health services]

As a board member, Brown aims to prioritize cybersecurity protection for students, enhance support for families of children with disabilities and advocate for educational equity, according to her campaign website.

Phelton Moss – District 7

Phelton Moss won against incumbent Kenneth Harris II in the District 7 race. Moss earned 51 percent of the vote, while Harris received 47 percent.

Moss was previously a teacher and principal in Mississippi and works as an education policy professor at American University, his website said. Moss is also an education fellow at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Center for Education Innovation, according to his website.

As a school member, Moss hopes to increase access to high-quality after school programs, improve literacy rates and attract and retain skilled educators, his website said.

Moss looks forward to building a “world-class system” for PGCPS students and families, his website said.

Zakyia Goins-McCants – District 8

Zakyia Goins-McCants won the District 8 school board seat by a mere 13 votes against Angela Jones, according to State Board of Elections results Thursday. Goins-McCants received 20,024 out of the more than 40,000 votes cast in the district, while Jones earned 20,011.

Goins-McCants is the school data and performance interim director for District of Columbia Public Schools, according to her LinkedIn.

According to her campaign website, Goins-McCants is also a former PGCPS student and teacher in District 8 who will take a community and data-driven approach to improve equity in education.

“We have an opportunity now to literally lead the country in how we can provide those student groups with the best quality education that we can,” Goins-McCants told The Diamondback in October.

Goins-McCants told The Diamondback she wants to push for better pay and working conditions for educators as a board member. She also plans to prioritize enhancing school safety through advocating for increased training for de-escalation and conflict resolution strategies across her district, Goins-McCants added.

Pines shared highlights from this university’s Belonging and Community Survey, which aimed to assess community members’ experiences, perceptions and sense of belonging at this university, according to the survey’s website. Results from the survey were published in November.

Survey results reported about 75 percent of respondents were comfortable or very comfortable with the overall climate at this university. Similarly, roughly three-quarters of respondents were comfortable or very comfortable with the climate in their classes, the results showed.

Pines said the survey results were especially “impressive,” amid a difficult year with November’s presidential election and conflicts in the Middle East.

After sharing details from the results, Pines reviewed the 10 recommendations from this university’s antisemitism and Islamophobia task force, which published its findings Nov. 22.

Pines said the administration plans to seriously consider creating a neutrality policy, which would encourage this university to avoid asserting a position on politically divisive topics, one of the task force’s recommendations.

[UMD task force releases findings to address antisemitism, Islamophobia]

While Pines doesn’t anticipate this university will completely stop issuing public statements on political issues, the university will be more selective about what topics to address, he said.

“We maybe don’t need to respond to everything that happens in the world,” he said.

In his address, Pines reiterated his goal of creating an environment where all community members can “reach their full potential and feel like they belong here.”

Pines celebrated this university reaching its highest ever U.S. News & World Report ranking earlier this year.

This university rose from No. 46 to No. 44 among national universities. This university also jumped two positions to No. 17 among all public universities, marking its highest ranking in more than a decade.

“We’ve made incredible progress,” Pines told the senate. “The hope is that we can get to the top 15 [among public universities] in another couple of years.”

Pines said one ranking he is particularly proud of is from Newsweek, which included this university on its 2024 America’s Greatest Workplaces list.

Pines also presented charts from the Maryland State Department of Legislative Services showing a $2.7 billion deficit in the state’s budget for the next fiscal year.

It’s still unclear how the deficit will directly impact this university, Pines said, but he will “​​remain optimistic that they will minimize the impact on higher education.”

Pines discussed several infrastructure projects, including Purple Line construction.

Construction for the Purple Line in the main part of campus was completed before the start of this semester, he said.

He also talked about the successful launch of Workday — this university’s new administrative management platform — last month.

Pines said Workday was a “major investment” for this university. In the coming years, this university will also update and streamline the student records systems on Workday, which are currently “antiquated,” Pines said.

Following Pines’ address, Bob Reuning, the interim vice president and chief administrative officer for the division of administration, introduced Maureen Kotlas, this university’s director of environmental safety, security and risk, to present a new climate action plan to senators.

[University Senate discusses belonging survey, new biostatistics graduate degree programs]

This university’s climate action plan — an initiative that started in 2007 — outlines strategies for reducing operational greenhouse gas emissions, according to the university sustainability office’s website.

A new iteration of the plan is put out every five to eight years, Kotlas said. The current version is this university’s third published plan.

“Our challenge and overarching goal is to meet the energy, food, water, shelter and other physical needs of the campus population while supporting the Earth’s ecosystems,” Kotlas said in her presentation.

The plan’s three main targets are total carbon-neutrality by 2025 and operating a zero-emissions vehicle fleet and a central energy plant free of fossil fuel by 2035.

The new plan is “really exciting,” Reuning said.

After implementing the plan’s suggested strategies, this university expects to prevent releasing between 1.78 million to 1.98 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent into the atmosphere between 2023 and 2040, according to the plan.

“This is vitally important for our students and their futures, and for the entire campus community,” Kotlas added.

The Better Bus Network Redesign project aims to make bus service more efficient and convenient, according to a Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority news release. But some College Park community members worry the overhaul’s changes, including eliminating the C8 bus route — which goes from North Bethesda to College Park — will negatively impact the city.

WMATA board member Don Drummer said at Thursday’s board meeting that the new network “addresses inequities and increases access to opportunities for underserved communities.”

The final proposal increases the number of frequent service routes in the network from 37 to 48. The project will provide about 20,000 more residents with access to weekend bus service.

The new network has the potential to add nearly 13,000 weekday trips daily while also reducing annual greenhouse gas emissions by about 4,300 metric tons, according to WMATA documents.

The project will eliminate about 510 Metrobus stops that were located too close to adjacent stops, the documents said.

The C8 route, which would be removed under the project, is the only public transportation option to The National Archives and Records Administration building in College Park, according to city documents. Nearly 30,000 researchers visit the building annually, the documents said.

William Bosanko, the deputy archivist of the United States, sent a letter to College Park Mayor Fazlul Kabir in October asking for the city’s help to preserve the C8 route. The College Park City Council approved sending a letter urging WMATA officials and state lawmakers to keep the route on Tuesday.

[College Park, UMD SGA leaders urge state to add safety measures to Route 1 bike lanes]

Kabir’s letter said the city “strongly opposes” eliminating the C8 route.

“From the city’s side, it is our duty to support them in asking WMATA to restore bus service,” Kabir said. “It is really concerning because the archives is one of our top employers.”

Preserving the C8 route also aligns with College Park’s broader sustainability goals of providing accessible alternative transportation throughout the city, Kabir said.

Prince George’s County resident Joel Ryerson expressed concerns about the C8’s removal in his public comment at Thursday’s meeting.

Ryerson said cutting the route would negatively impact the communities that rely on the C8.

“I use that bus everyday going to work,” Ryerson said. “I’m not too pleased and too happy and my neighbor is not going to be too happy either.”

Without the C8 route, the agency will direct riders to two new routes — the M42 and M44 routes, according to WMATA documents. These routes go from Randolph Road to College Park and Randolph Road to Hyattsville Crossing respectively, the documents said.

[UMD students criticize university’s lack of Metro discount program]

In a summary of WMATA’s community feedback on the project, many riders expressed concerns about losing service to key areas covered by the existing C8 route that would not be addressed with the alternative routes.

The replacement routes will not service the section of Adelphi Road between Riggs Road and University Boulevard, which includes the archives building annex and the University of Maryland golf course, WMATA maps showed.

The ridership in that portion of the route is low, and continuing to serve the section would cause WMATA to spend significant money for a low return and take funds from areas needing more improvement.

WMATA intends to launch the new bus network in June 2025. Until then, the agency will educate riders on the changes, rewrite bus schedules, update bus route signage and focus on other implementation measures, according to its website.

In 2019, the project was estimated to cost about $5.6 million, according to city documents. Although all of the council members approved the new contract on Tuesday, some raised concerns about the project’s $1.7 million cost increase.

“It does give me heartburn at the cost,” District 4 council member Maria Mackie said during the meeting. “It went from $5 million, which I thought was a lot back then, to what it is today.”

Renovations for the park, which was created in the 1960s, have been an ongoing effort by the city council for nearly two decades, according to the project’s website. The project faced delays due to a lack of funding, the website said.

The first phase of Duvall Field’s renovations finished in 2018, which added a concessions building and recreation plaza to the property, according to the project’s website.

The next phase of renovations, which is expected to take about 1.5 years to complete, is set to add basketball and pickleball courts, an amphitheater for community events, a walking loop and outdoor fitness equipment, city documents state. Updated stormwater management and landscaping infrastructure is also slated to be part of the project, according to the documents.

[College Park, UMD SGA leaders urge state to add safety measures to Route 1 bike lanes]

Rick Hoehn, a representative from the project management team, said inflation contributed to the project’s cost increase.

Continuing to delay and reexamine the construction plans would further delay the project and cost more money, said Miriam Bader, who is the city’s planning and community development director.

During Tuesday’s meeting, District 1 council member Jacob Hernandez asked project leaders if additional cost-mitigation measures, such as changing the project’s expected amenities list, could be considered.

In response to Hernandez’s concerns, Rakhmel Rafi, the city’s grant coordinator, said “value engineering” — the process of cutting construction costs — would delay the project by one year. Rafi advised the council against pursuing further cost reductions for the project as the process would ultimately incur additional costs.

District 4 council member and mayor pro tem Denise Mitchell said after the scheduled renovations, Duvall Field will be a “major amenity” for North College Park and urged the council to approve the contract.

“The longer we wait, it is going to cost that much more money,” Mitchell said at Tuesday’s meeting. “What I would hate to see is for us to vote against this, and then it not happen.”

[Prince George’s County residents divided on bill to prevent stray shopping carts]

Despite the cost increase, Mackie said the new field will ultimately be a worthy investment to increase opportunities for outdoor play and fight against childhood obesity.

The city previously designated about $5.6 million in state and federal funding for the project through Capital Improvement Program bonds in 2021, according to city documents.

At Tuesday’s meeting, council members approved a $1.5 million grant application for Program Open Space to go toward the costs. Program Open Space, which is run by the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, provides financial assistance to jurisdictions for planning and developing recreational areas.

The rest of the funding needed for the contract — about $600,000 — will be budgeted for the 2026 fiscal year, city documents reported.

District 2 council member Susan Whitney reminded the council that they had similar concerns over the cost of College Park City Hall when the building was proposed on Route 1. Like City Hall, the revamped Duvall Field will bring the community together, Whitney added.

“[The renovation] has the real potential to really bring the city together as one entity that meets and socializes all over the city and not just downtown,” Whitney said.