Eyes on UMBC

UMBC Chess in the National Spotlight




How many chess championships does it take to catch the attention of NBC's Today Show? For UMBC, the answer is: four Pan-American Intercollegiate Team Chess Championships in five years.

With a winning streak matched only by Harvard in the 1980s, UMBC's chess success brought the Today Show cameras to campus this past January when producers learned that we celebrate chess championships the way other institutions treat football championships--with cheerleaders, pep band, and a big crowd. The piece broadcasted on the Today Show has also been seen as part of the in-flight programming on major national airlines, giving viewers all across the country a glimpse of UMBC--"where it's cool to be smart." To view the clip, visit www.umbc.edu/news/.

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