Mother Mary Lange Groundbreaking
Oct. 23, 2019
Future Site of Mother Mary Lange Catholic School
Thank you, Jim. Good morning, everyone. To Archbishop Lori, and to everyone within the Archdiocese, I’m so honored you’ve asked me to join you for this wonderful celebration.
The relationship between the University of Maryland, Baltimore and the archdiocese is a close one, and I’m privileged to call many of you my dear friends. But I imagine I’m here today primarily because UMB will be a close neighbor to this school—and even more importantly, a partner in the work of serving its children.
I want you to know how happy that makes me. The children of Mother Mary Lange will be able to see UMB all around them, and that, too, makes me happy. Because I hope that our proximity will inspire in them dreams of someday learning or working at the University—as students, faculty, staff. And I fully expect to be invited to Career Days, so I can put in a good word for us.
My office is at the top of that building over there—near the corner of Saratoga and MLK—and it actually looks out onto this plot of land. So when this school goes up, I’ll be able to see everything. And when it’s filled with children, I’ll see and hear them laughing and playing and learning.
I’m a pediatrician, so that’s music to my ears. It brings me joy.
Visitors to my office will see your school as well. They’ll see the students and families. They’ll see who and what we’re all working for every single day. And that’s powerful. Because the truth is that what we’re building here in Southwest Baltimore is special.
When you’re creating the kind of community we’re creating—one in which we share each other’s strengths, and commit to one another in a spirit of service and collaboration—there’s an unstoppable energy.
And just like it’s impossible to have too many children in a community, it’s also impossible to have too many partners—too many neighbors—pulling together in the work we’re undertaking. So I can’t wait to see what blooms here. Because I think we’re all just getting started. Thank you.
