Philanthropist aims to inspire through $1 million gift to CSM
With a vision to positively impact students and their futures, philanthropist, businesswoman and developer Marianne Harms of Huntingtown made a $1 million gift to provide scholarships for students at the College of Southern Maryland.
“I believe in the College of Southern Maryland and see it as one of our greatest assets in our community, not only in how it serves students with higher learning and training but also how it enriches the people of our community in so many ways. There is something at this college for everyone,” Harms said in a press release.
The gift, which includes $500,000 in cash and a planned gift of $500,000 through a Charitable Remainder Annuity Trust, is the largest in the CSM Foundation’s $10-million “Make An Impact Campaign.”
“I see futures here,” Harms said in the release. “All of these funds will be directed to an endowed scholarship, the John and Marianne Harms Endowed Scholarship Fund, honoring my late husband, John, who was an ardent supporter of higher education and a very successful businessman. He would agree that this campaign is a transformative campaign, one that will change the future of our students, and so I am establishing this scholarship fund to help students afford college and prepare for a better life.”
Born in Hagerstown, John Harms was an engineer and founded the John E. Harms Jr. and Associates Engineering consulting firm in 1955. He served as president and CEO for many years. Through the Harms’ philanthropy, the Healing Garden at Calvert Memorial Hospital, Harms Gallery at the Calvert Marine Museum and the Marianne Harms Multidisciplinary Suite at the Sheldon E. Goldberg Center for Breast Care at Calvert Health System have been established.
“The compassion that John and Marianne Harms have demonstrated through their generous offerings within our community has touched many lives and together they have been catalysts to bring about transformative change for Southern Maryland,” said CSM President Dr. Brad Gottfried in the release. “Marianne is an enthusiastic advocate for education and what it can do for a person’s quality of life. Now through this endowed scholarship, Marianne Harms, with her husband John, are creating a legacy that will impact the lives of students pursuing their higher education goals far into the future, and the college is honored to be part of their vision.”
CSM’s Impact Campaign is a transformative three-year outreach and fundraising effort that will culminate in 2018 with the college’s 60th anniversary. “Make Your Impact: Invest Today to Transform Tomorrow” addresses access, affordability and achievement by ensuring that degree programs and career training are available to everyone through scholarships, that high caliber programs, facilities and technology are accessible, and that strategic partnerships and innovation are created and sustained in the community.
“It is my pleasure to make this gift and remain involved with the College of Southern Maryland and its success. I hope that this gift will inspire others to support the college and together we can change the future of our students and our community,” Harms said.
The John and Marianne Harms Endowed Scholarship will be awarded annually, with preference given to students from Southern Maryland who demonstrate financial need. The first round of scholarships will be awarded beginning in the fall 2017 semester. As part of the Harms’ Impact Campaign gift, the Flagship Building on the Prince Frederick Campus will be named in John and Marianne Harms’ honor.
“Think of the impact this gift will make on our CSM community,” said CSM Foundation Chair Rane Franklin in the release. “Marianne has taken a bold step to lead the way for other contributors to follow. Now we are looking for other champions to step up to join her and help CSM to go beyond all expectations.”
For information on the Impact campaign initiatives, naming opportunities and more, visit http://IMPACT.csmd. edu or call the CSM Foundation at 301-9347649.
‘#thedronelife’ on display at CSM gallery
Sculptor Dominic Sansone will be the featured artist in the College of Southern Maryland’s next exhibition at the Tony Hungerford Memorial Art Gallery on the La Plata Campus.
The exhibition opens Oct. 10 and will run through Nov. 3. Sansone will give a lecture at 2:30 p.m. Oct. 11 on campus.
A native of Chicago, Sansone has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois Urbana Champaign and a master’s in fine art from the Herron School of Art and Design in Indianapolis. In 2010, Sansone was one of Herron’s first MFA graduates in visual art and public life with an emphasis in sculpture. After completing BFA studies, he spent two years working for an aerospace company producing fabrication and assembly drawings for satellites, military aircraft and mobile artillery units.
Sansone said he was influenced by the assembly line fabrication of industrial machinery, weaponry and munitions.
Sansone had two solo exhibitions last year at The Brayer in Ventura, California, and at the Dittmar Memorial Gallery at Northwestern University in Evanston, Ill.. In 2011, his work was part of the American Civil Liberties Union’s first Art and Civil Liberties exhibit in conjunction with ArtPrize, a competition in Grand Rapids, Michigan, open to artists from all over the world.
The exhibition will be at the Tony Hungerford Memorial Art Gallery at the La Plata Campus Fine Arts Center. The gallery is open 9 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Friday and 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday. Artist lectures are usually held Tuesday afternoons and are free and open to the public. Sansone’s lecture Oct. 11 will be in the Learning Resource Center (LR Building) Room 102 with a reception immediately following in the gallery.
General Election deadlines are approaching
The deadline to register to vote, change party affiliation, update an address, and request an alternate polling place for this election is 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18.
To vote in the upcoming general election, Maryland residents who are eligible to vote but are not yet registered — including 17-yearolds who will be 18 years old or older on or before the Nov. 8 General Election — must register by 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18. This is also the last day for registered voters to update their address at their local board of elections or change their party affiliation.
Residents with a Maryland driver’s license or MVA-issued ID may register to vote, change their address, or change their party affiliation online at https://voterservices. elections.maryland.gov/ OnlineVoterRegistration.
Voters and members of the military, their spouses and dependents who are overseas and who do not have a Maryland driver’s license or MVA-issued ID, may also register or change their address or party affiliation online using different identifying information.
Paper voter registration applications must be hand-delivered or mailed to the voter’s local board of elections. A hand-delivered application must be received by the local board of elections by 9 p.m. on Oct. 18, and a mailed application must be postmarked by that day.
Voter registration applications are available throughout Maryland at the following locations: • Local boards of elections • Motor Vehicle Administration offices • State Department of
Health offices • Local Department of
Social Services offices • Offices on Aging • Division of Rehabilitation Services • Public institutions of
higher education • Marriage license
bureaus • Post offices • Public libraries • State Board of Elections Residents may also call 1-800-222-8683 to request an application by mail or download and print a voter registration application at www.elections.maryland.gov/voter_registration/application.html.
Citizens can also register to vote during early voting. To make the voting process quicker, residents are encouraged to register to vote by the close of voter registration. Those who cannot register by Oct. 18 are asked to go to an early voting center in the county where they live and bring a document that proves where they live.
This document can be an MVA-issued license, ID card, or change of address card, or paycheck, bank statement, utility bill, or other government document with the applicants name and new address.
Most of Maryland’s polling places are accessible to voters with disabilities. An elderly voter or a voter with a disability who is assigned to an inaccessible polling place may ask to be reassigned to an accessible polling place. This request must be submitted in writing by 9 p.m. on Tuesday, Oct. 18. The request form is available online at www. elections.maryland.gov/ pdf/request_for_accessible_polling_place.pdf or by calling 1-800-222-8683 to request a form by mail. On receipt of a timely request, the voter’s local board of elections will review the request and determine whether there is an accessible polling place with the same ballot as the voter’s home precinct and notify the voter of the status of his or her request.
To verify voter registration status or to find out if an assigned polling place is accessible, voters may go to https://voterservices.elections.maryland.gov/ VoterSearch.
Starting Thursday, Oct. 27 through and including Thursday, Nov. 3, voters can vote in person at the designated early voting center(s) in their county of residence and update their address. The best days to vote early to avoid delays are Saturday, Oct. 29 and Sunday, Oct. 30. Early voting locations and hours and additional election-related dates and information are available at www.elections.maryland.gov/voting/early_voting. html. For more information, voters may contact the State Board of Elections at 1-800-222-VOTE (8683) or go to www.elections.maryland.gov.