Campus in Focus: March Maize-ness

March 30, 2026

The month was full of UM-Dearborn spirit — from the annual Hail Yeah! donor thank you event to Pi Day to women’s ice hockey's historic championship run.

From fundraising events to fun with math to a group photo of the women’s ice hockey team on the ice, university photographer Matthew Stephens’ March photos captured all kinds of maize-and-blue spirit.

A group of female hockey players in their uniforms, along with their coaches, are gathered for a group photo on the ice. — The UM-Dearborn Women’s Ice Hockey team’s historic run at the ACHA National Tournament ended March 21 with a 5-0 loss to reigning champion Liberty University in the semifinal round. Congrats to the team on reaching their first-ever Frosty Four after defeating No. 3 Minot State, 2-1, and Jamestown, 5-0, in pool play. They were 31-4 for the season.

A group of people gathered at a local Dearborn brewery to play games. — Nearly 100 people gather to celebrate Giving Blueday at Downey Brewing Company. They raised more than $2,000 in support of students during Giving Blueday Trivia Night.

A group of people cheer for each other during a trivia game night. A woman shakes a maize-and-blue pom pom over her head. — Environmental Interpretive Center Program Coordinator and Interpretive Naturalist Dorothy McLeer celebrates between rounds as her team takes the lead. The top three teams secured donations to campus programs with two teams choosing Athletics and one picking the EIC.

A woman, who is wearing glasses and a hajab, stands behind a robotic arm in the lab. — Graduate student Elahe Delavari works in Professor Junaid Farooq’s IAVS lab. Farooq’s team is investigating how machines can dynamically form and reorganize collaborative groups based on task requirements and network conditions while maintaining reliable and timely data exchange.

Two students, a male and a female, write messages to donors in thank you cards — Students write thank-you notes to alumni as part of Hail Yeah! on Thursday, March 19, at the Renick University Center. Participating students received pink Hail Yeah! t-shirts.

A professor, who is sitting on a couch and playing a card game, laughs with his students. — Mathematics and Statistics Department Chair Mahesh Agarwal laughs as a student fails a steal attempt in Mantis, a card game of probability and “benevolent betrayal,” during the department’s Pi Day celebration in the Math Library. The event featured pizza, math-based games, coloring activities, and apple and cherry pie.