Bowie St. student gets honor in death

ROTC scholarship named for Collins, fatally stabbed in College Park in May 2017

The family of a Bowie State University student fatally stabbed on the University of Maryland College Park campus last year gathered Wednesday to launch a scholarship designed to honor his legacy — and potentially boost enrollment in Reserve Officer Training Corps programs at Maryland’s historically black colleges.

Richard Collins III had been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Army and was a few days from graduation at Bowie State when he was attacked in May 2017. Sean Christopher Urbanski, a Severna Park man who police say stabbed Collins, has been charged with first-degree murder and a hate crime — prosecutors allege Collins was targeted because he was black.

Dawn Collins remembers that during her son’s funeral, she implored officials not to “let my son’s life and legacy be in vain.”

In the last General Assembly session legislators created the 2nd Lt. Richard W. Collins III Leadership with Honor Scholarship, setting aside $1 million annually for the scholarship program.

Recipients must be eligible for in-state tuition, a member of a ROTC, a minority or member of an underrepresented group in the ROTC, and must attend a historically black college or university. Twenty-five percent of the scholarship money will be targeted for Bowie State students, the rest will go to Morgan State, Coppin State and the University of Maryland Eastern Shore.

Lt. Col. Altwan Whitfield, a military science professor, said she hopes the scholarship will help Bowie State’s program grow from 85 students to more than 100. The opportunity will help students who might not have met more stringent requirements for a national ROTC scholarships, Whitfield said.

At Wednesday’s ceremony, held at Bowie State, Senate President Thomas V. Mike Miller called Collins a “shining example of what every child should be.” His family shared a video showing Collins throughout the years, from a dozing toddler to a young man with a big smile.

First Lt. Marcus Craig, who was a year ahead of Collins at Bowie and also in the ROTC program, spoke about a student he said he was lucky to mentor.

“I witnessed his development into an exceptional scholar, athlete and leader,” Craig said. “Lieutenant Collins was intelligent, articulate and very studious.”

Collins was visiting two friends in College Park in May 2017 when Urbanski allegedly approached them near a campus bus stop, according to charging documents. Collins was the only black person in the group. The documents allege that Urbanski told Collins to “step left, step left if you know what’s best for you.” Prosecutors say that when Collins refused, Urbanski stabbed him in the chest, according to the documents.

Dawn Collins said through the scholarship named for her son, she hopes others can achieve greatness.

“To that end,” she said, “this is only the first step of a journey.”