Episode 47: Constitution Day 2023 w/ Delegate Mark S. Chang (UMBC '99)

Amy Barnes36min

Dr. Ian Anson00:00

Hello and welcome to Retrieving the Social Sciences, a production of the Center for Social Science Scholarship. I'm your host, Ian Anson, Associate Professor of Political Science here at UMBC. On today's show, as always, we'll be hearing from UMBC faculty, students, visiting speakers, and community partners about the social science research they've been performing in recent times. Qualitative, quantitative, applied, empirical, normative. On Retrieving the Social Sciences we bring the best of you UMBC's social science community to you.

Dr. Ian Anson00:41

It's that time again, everyone. Get out your red, white and blue clothing. Fire up the grill. Put your John Philip Sousa records on and of course head across the Pennsylvania State Line and purchase a truckload of high powered fireworks. No, it's not the Fourth of July. In fact, the weather suddenly turning much cooler here in Maryland and our sweltering midsummer festivities are all good memories. But it is no less of an occasion to celebrate. Because by an act of Congress and a presidential proclamation, we very recently celebrated our nation's annual Constitution Day. While celebratory fireworks and bombastic barbecues are all well and good, Constitution Day provides us with an opportunity to reflect on the design of our nation's foundational document in perhaps a more thoughtful manner. Our Constitution is after all, a political document, and one that sets up a government that places a heavy burden of responsibility on citizens to engage in the political process. We elect representatives who serve the public interest, and our continued connection to those representatives allows for the complex machinery envisioned by our national and state constitutions to springs to life.

Dr. Ian Anson01:55

What better way to find out about these connections than by hearing from Maryland delegate Mark S. Chang, who serves the 32nd district within Anne Arundel County. Not only is Delegate Chang an experienced lawmaker who has served in the House of Delegates since 2015, and on a variety of important committees from then until now,but Delegate Chang is also a proud UMBC Retriever, having received a BA in Psychology, cum laude in 1999. In our campus's Annual Constitution Day Lecture sponsored by CS3 and the Department of Political Science, we hear about Delegate Chang's personal history and pathways into politics, the role of the Delegate within Maryland's political process, and the ways in which Delegate Chang envisions the critical linkage between citizens and elected officials. We also hear from several awesome UMBC undergraduates who asked Delegate Chang questions in a brief q&a session. I'm delighted to bring you all this great content right now.

Delegate Mark S. Chang02:57

Thank you so much for being here. As was mentioned, I'm a proud UMBC grad, class of 1999, psychology major, and I always treasure the opportunity be able to come back home. And I know the pulse of this community. I know UMBC very, very well, because I was a student here. And a lot has changed. But also a lot has remained the same. And I want to start off this afternoon with a story of a UMBC student who reflects the biography of many of the students who are currently at UMBC right now. In 1970, a married couple immigrated to the United States from a country about 10,000 miles away from here. And they came over this country with a couple $100 in their pockets. They didn't have much resources, they lacked linguistical skills, cultural skills, a lot of the mainstream skills of being able to survive or succeed in this country. But they settled in Annapolis. And thye ended up having three children. And they went through a lot of what immigrant families go through. And this was during the 70s and 80s, when there was even more racism, discrimination, and those types of factors that were involved. Well, the family they end up growing and I want to talk about one of the children, who's the oldest child in there and the oldest child when that child was 11 years old, the mother passed away suddenly and the father raising three children on his own. And the father had a small carry out business serving chicken wings and sodas and trying to see what he could do to make a living and this child ended up going into the public school system, and there were times where, especially right now we're aproaching holidays. The child didn't have a lot of gifts during the holidays and there were times when the child go to school and didn't have the appropriate lunch money to be able to buy lunch, and was food insecure, and would come home, sometimes to a dark house because the family couldn't pay the BGE bill. Or that there wasn't any food in the refrigerator. Fortunately, because of the community, because of friends, because of the great state that we live in, that the student was able to matriculate and graduate from high school, and come to UMBC. And that student though was lost, completely lost. Didn't know what the student was going to do, and almost didn't make it, but because of the culture of UMBC, because of the grit and greatness culture, because of the past president of UMBC, and the faculty and staff and student body helping to support that student, that student would be able to graduate honors. And then that students end up being in the public service, and in 2014, was elected to the Maryland General Assembly. In 2018 was reelected and 22 was reelected. And he serves as the first Asian American to be elected from Anne Arundel County in the Maryland General Assembly. And he now serves as the Vice Chair of the House Appropriations Committee overseeing a $60 billion operating budget and $10 billion capital budget. And a lot of that goes to UMBC. And that's why it's such a great honor to be here today to share my story. And that's why I'm so thankful to UMBC Department of Political Science for inviting me. Because anytime I can come back and share my story, which is a story of UMBC Retrievers, it's always the opportune time to come back and reinvest in our current students because we as UMBC Retrievers have so much offer. I just want to thank you so much for allowing me to share my story as we open up the conversation, and I look forward to our dialogue. Thank you very much.

Diana06:58

Thank you so much for sharing that moving story. Could you tell us a little bit more about your career and how this led to your current role at the House of Delegates?

Delegate Mark S. Chang07:06

Sure, after I graduated from UMBC, was a psych major, I worked in the nonprofit sector, helping individuals with developmental disabilities, and then ended up working for Anne Arundel County government for several years. Loved that role, because it really gave me a sound solid foundation of local government, and how local government works with state governments and the federal government and really helping people on a regular basis, and really was just year by year and just working in opportunities to be able to help develop my public service skills, and also build a network and build relationships, and also understand about how I can be effective in serving others through this role of being a public servant. And that's kind of how it evolved. But I would say that, you know, when I was in high school, I did have this little bit of a passion in me, I did serve in my Student Government Association, and then also served as a class officer. And I've been able to have a conversation with some of the students here. And I definitely feel that there's that bug, there's that seed that was planted. And I would say that as those seeds, and there's planted, those seeds continue to flourish within you, to not ignore them. That those passions that you have inside of you, to utilize those and there are opportunities and you're gonna have setbacks. Let's be real here. There's gonna be setbacks in life. But I would say to continue to remember who you are, and the principles that you have, and to be able to work through those because through those obstacles, through those setbacks, it makes you a stronger person, and it makes you, I think, a better person to be able to serve others.

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