One of the most-cited criticisms of UMB is the “lack of student involvement or engagement,” as one student put it. Indeed, this view is seemingly shared among many students who claim that the commuter nature of UMB prevents the fostering of a community as students flock from one class to another, and then back home. However, several student leaders are banding together to make an effort to make the change.

Shadi Al Hindi, director of creative programming with the Undergraduate Student Government, and his team made up from members of various student clubs and centers created EventsUMB, a vehicle to not only promote events, but to make UMB more community driven as a whole.

“[EventsUMB] was a vision,” Al Hindi said. “We got sick of hearing excuses of why there was such a dismal attendance to student or campus events. So I and fellow students came up with this idea to bring together the best, the brightest, the most creative, to tackle the issue head on and bring it to a screeching halt.”

“We promote and deploy smart, creative, and fun ideas to market your event and cater to your audience or the general masses.”

EventsUMB currently employs a social media strategy through Facebook and Twitter in order to communicate to their followers. The 11 members that make up the team receive assignments to create marketing strategies for student clubs and centers. Though the team primarily focuses on student-run events, they are seeking to expand to include other UMB departments.

“We’re striving to become the one stop for event information on and off campus,” Al Hindi said. “We still have a ways to go, but we ultimately want students to have a memorable experience here at UMB.”