Education
First day of school
Editor's note: This is the third in a six-part series about the opening of the University System of Maryland at Hagerstown.
HAGERSTOWN - "The answer is, four."
That was one of the key lines in the Rodney Dangerfield comedy "Back to School," and it also was the number of people attending the first official day of classes in the new University System of Maryland at Hagerstown building.
University system officials promise that more students are coming.
Monday's first official day of classes at the downtown university center did not rival the type of loud, rowdy scene displayed in movies about the first day of college classes. Rather, the first class - cost accounting - held among the University System of Maryland's three participating schools - Frostburg State University, University of Maryland at Baltimore and University of Maryland University College - drew just four quiet professionals.
Among those students were Rhonda Smith, 36, of Hancock and Heather Sutton, 48, of Big Pool. Sutton was among many surprised that the former downtown "eyesore" was redone so well.
Both said the university center has brought them, as well as many other county residents, opportunities that have not existed in the area before.
"This is allowing me to further my education without going down the road," Smith said.
"I wouldn't be taking this class if I wasn't doing it here," said Sutton.
Executive Director C. David Warner said the large rush of students - close to 350 are registered for the spring session - will be most apparent during Frostburg's classes later in the week.
"When that happens, you'll see people all over the place," Warner said.
A seemingly relieved and happy Warner said the opening night sneaked up on him and his small staff.
"It doesn't seem like it's starting tonight," he said Monday afternoon. "It's just been so busy for so long, and we still have a lot to do. I don't think it's really sunk in."
To date, the renovation of the old Baldwin House building and the public park next to it, University Plaza, has cost about $16 million.
In the mid-1990s, the City of Hagerstown bought the Baldwin House, which was vacant and aging. In 1999, officials debated heavily where to put a possible university center, and then-Gov. Parris N. Glendening decided upon downtown Hagerstown.
The 77,000-square-foot complex also is the new home of the Western Maryland Police Academy and a Hagerstown Police Department substation.
Associate Director JoEllen Barnhart said the first night of classes, as well as the days when students came by just to look at the new facility, have been exciting.
"I love to look at the faces of students when they walk in for the first time," Barnhart said. "They all seemed to be pleased, or in awe, of the place."
Brooke Garber, 27, of Hagerstown said after the cost accounting class that the facility was quite an improvement over Frostburg State University's Hagerstown facility.
"It was pretty old, and my class was on the fourth floor," said Garber, who attended one class at the nearby Frostburg building.
"If there was an elevator, I didn't know about it," she said.
Garber's three classmates - Sutton; Smith; and Bob Martin, 51, of Cascade - each said they were impressed with what they saw at the university center.
Martin said he was particularly pleased with the technological capabilities and latest equipment inside the "smart classrooms."
"I think this has potential to bring people in instead of county people having to go somewhere else," he said.
University of Maryland University College assistant adjunct professor James Cooper said he believes the university center will not only help people further their education, but may spark improvements throughout downtown.
"They've done a fantastic job," said Cooper, who was employed in Hagerstown four years ago. "If you're going to have students downtown, they'll use the businesses that aren't open right now (at night). They haven't had a reason to be."
