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Commentary

The Supreme Court made a mistake on affirmative action. Here’s how universities should respond.

We both grew up attending predominantly white public schools. As minority students, we felt isolated in classrooms with few other students who looked like us. Sometimes it seemed like we were living through a single lens — and it became clear that we were missing a variety of perspectives, and suffering for it. That’s why over many other schools, we each chose the University of Maryland, where minority students make up more than 50% of the undergraduate population. Our campus is a rare example of diversity among higher education institutions.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Baltimore Skyline
Brooklyn Homes tragedy reveals how far Baltimore is from true community policing

A week ago, we ran an op-ed written by outgoing Baltimore Police Commissioner Michael Harrison, saying the job he was hired to do four years ago was done: transitioning the city department away from a “warrior and enforcement-only” model of policing toward a “‘guardian’ model as protectors of the community.”

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Public-private collaboration helping to rebuild Maryland

There’s no doubt that polarization dominates today’s headlines. Despite the focus on contentiousness, however, the fact remains that, even today, big things happen when we work together. President Joe Biden visited Baltimore in late January to kick off the Baltimore and Potomac Tunnel replacement project for the city’s Howard Street Tunnel.

Maryland’s role on the road to national independence

In the spirit of the July 4th holiday, we take a break from the daily grind to focus on the past and Marylands’s historic role on the country’s road to independence. Within months of the first shots of what was to become America’s Revolutionary War, Maryland mustered troops to join the Continental Army and help newly appointed general George Washington drive the British from Boston.

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The Blueprint for Maryland’s Future will empower Maryland’s Eastern Shore for prosperity – if we let it

Lately, a variety of media outlets and political leaders (here and here, for example) have spread misinformation about the Blueprint for Maryland’s Future’s statewide education reforms. These attempts to undermine the Blueprint only serve to undermine the people of the Eastern Shore and will leave our counties poorly prepared for the opportunity to improve everyone’s quality of life.

Americans optimistic about transition to electric vehicles — and they should be

A recent poll appears to show that many Marylanders are more scared by the misleading word “ban” in the poll question than by persistently unhealthy air when it comes to gas-powered vehicles. At stake is Gov. Wes Moore’s commitment to reaching Maryland’s climate and clean air goals by adopting the Advanced Clean Cars (ACC) II rule.

Gov. Wes Moore’s gas tax critique suggests the former Rhodes scholar is no Maryland roads scholar

In his first six months in office, Gov. Wes Moore has demonstrated some solid political skills, particularly in effective communication. So it’s easy to forget the 44-year-old author, investment banker and nonprofit executive had never held political office before his January inauguration — at least it was until Wednesday, when he essentially tossed the General Assembly under the bus without much, if any, benefit to himself.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Senate abortion fight snares first woman picked to lead the Naval Academy as I-Day passes

Vice Adm. Sean Buck looked over the sea of white uniforms Thursday — 1,200 young men and women freshly shorn and remade over the course of a single day into the style of an incoming class of Naval Academy plebes. Then he gave them a look that only admirals can give and told them about how tough the weeks ahead would be.

Dan Rodricks: A Baltimore man’s last, best shot at a better life

You hear stories of trauma and wonder how survivors ever manage to smile again. Many don’t. Deanmichael Harrod, however, has an electric smile despite decades of trouble and despite the fearsome challenge ahead — what he calls his “last shot” to finally leave a life of hard drinking and homelessness. Harrod smiles when he speaks. You can see happiness in his face and in the smart clothing he wears.

Read More: Baltimore Sun
Development of public policy needs to be done in view of public

Judge Robert A. Greenberg of the Frederick County Circuit Court earlier this month ordered the county government to release records that officials were trying to keep confidential about the evolution of the Sugarloaf Treasured Landscape Management Plan. The result? Another example of how trying to develop government policy in secret almost never works out.

The Morning Rundown

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