In a Sept. 4 letter to Gov. Wes Moore, Muñoz said she will resign Jan. 1, 2025, to “spend more time with my young family.”

“I pray that you and the legislature pass laws to keep Marylanders safe and prosperous in the coming years,” she wrote in the letter.

Muñoz, 37, has been a delegate since November 2021. Former Gov. Larry Hogan, a Republican, appointed her to fill the remaining term of former Del. Michael E. Malone, who resigned his District 33 seat in August 2021 to become an Anne Arundel County Circuit Court judge.

In 2022, Muñoz ran for election to one of three District 31 seats in the House of Delegates and won.

In a text message to Fox45 News, Muñoz, a cancer survivor who is now pregnant, said her decision to resign stemmed in part from health concerns: “We’re expected a health[y] baby boy in November, and I have confidence that my replacement in the legislature will do their best to represent District 31,” she said.

Muñoz was raised in Severna Park and graduated from Severna Park High School. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology from the University of Maryland in 2009 and a law degree from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law. She has five children, according to her state biography.

Since 2021, Muñoz has been on the House Judiciary Committee. In 2023, she began sitting on the Joint Committee on the Chesapeake and Atlantic Coastal Bays Critical Area.

State law requires the Anne Arundel County Republican Central Committee to nominate someone to fill the vacancy and submit their name to the governor for appointment to serve out the remainder of Muñoz’s term, which ends in January 2027.

A representative on the committee did not respond to a request for comment.

“Her star burned very bright,” said her mother, Lynn Flanigan. “She was always a presence, you know? She’d come in, and people would just light up. Everybody would smile, and she was like a magnet.”

Maggie Flanigan, the daughter of Lynn Flanigan, a health care worker, and Daniel Flanigan, a restaurant worker, was born in Baltimore and raised in Towson.

Sailing became part of her life at an early age. Her parents, who are avid sailors, first took her on a boat when she was 5 weeks old. At 14 months, she earned her sea legs on a weeklong cruise with her family to Connecticut, but needed to relearn walking after returning to shore, her mother said.

Ms. Flanigan’s love of theater and singing bloomed in middle school at Loch Raven Technical Academy’s Performing Arts Magnet program, continuing through high school when she worked as a server and performer at a dinner theater in Timonium. Her passion for sailing continued in high school, as well, through volunteering with Special Olympics Sailing, which her parents helped found and coach internationally.

She graduated from Loch Raven High School in Towson in 2008 and attended Indiana University of Pennsylvania, where she studied nursing, psychology and choral music. While there, she helped found a sailing club and jazz performing group.

During summer breaks, she worked as a certified sailing instructor at Baltimore County Sailing Center. She once saved the life of a fellow instructor who fell out of a boat, hitting their head and becoming unconscious in the water.

Ms. Flanigan held several jobs in retail, life insurance and health care, working at Sheppard Pratt and Greater Baltimore Medical Center while also participating in community theater organizations as a performer and costumer, creating a plus-sized costume collection. After leaving the health care system during the coronavirus pandemic, she leaned deeper into her love of sewing, working at a dressmaking shop in Pikesville.

In 2021, she moved to Annapolis to work as a canvas fabricator at Quantum Sails, working on designs for sail covers and biminis, or sun protectors. She joined the Annapolis sailing community, crewing on J/105 racing boats and others in regattas while helping friends on the side with wedding tailoring.

Ms. Flanigan often went to karaoke in downtown Annapolis at Stan and Joe’s or Middleton Tavern, said Allison Gingerich, a friend.

“Anyone that she met was always touched by her in a different way in the sense that she was just very kind, very openhearted — the kind of person you could talk to about pretty much anything,” Gingerich said.

Last year, Ms. Flanigan, Ms. Gingerich and three others competed in the J/105 Women’s Regatta in Annapolis wearing hot pink Hawaiian print shirts and white skirts, winning an award for best-dressed crew — a trophy that did not exist until they arrived on the racecourse.

This year, regatta organizers created the Maggie Flanigan Perpetual Trophy, which was given to the best-dressed crew.

She is survived by her parents, Lynn and Daniel Flanigan, of Towson; two brothers, Ryan Flanigan, of Nottingham, and James Flanigan, of Timonium; her maternal grandmother, Jackie Flournoy, of Hunt Valley; her nephew and godson, Brooks Flanigan; and numerous aunts, uncles and cousins.

A celebration of life was held Aug. 30 in Pasadena, with family and friends wearing bright colors and glitter in her memory.

By upholding County Executive Steuart Pittman’s July line-item veto, the council has allowed six properties along the wooded Shot Town Road in Annapolis to increase their housing density. That means the Black residents whose land has been passed down for several generations will be able to develop additional living quarters on their properties for family members. The veto takes effect Saturday.

The council also voted 6-1 to override Pittman’s veto of zoning changes at 201 Ember Drive in Pasadena, which would split the property into residential, industrial and open space zones. Lisa Rodvien, a Democrat representing Annapolis, voted against the veto override. The decision takes effect Oct. 18.

Shot Town Road resident Keisha Ricks said she and neighboring family members can breathe a sigh of relief.

“It’s such a great feeling that it’s just even hard for me to find the words for it because it’s been a long, long road to get here,” she said.

Ricks spoke in favor of changing the zoning earlier this summer in the hopes of being able to build homes for her children on her land. When she and two of her family members found out about Pittman’s veto in July, the women tearfully embraced in celebration, though they knew it wouldn’t be set in stone until the council discussed it.

“There have been a lot of very, very, very, very tough nights and hard days thinking about it and thinking about what the outcome is going to be,” she said. “So, I think right now, even speaking for my family, it’s just this moment of, ‘Okay, we can just be still and be able to reflect and be grateful for this moment.’”

Most of the affected properties were zoned residential low density, often referred to as RLD, which allows for one house per 5 acres. But as part of a once-in-a-decade rezoning effort for the region, which also includes Severna Park, Pasadena, Arnold, Cape St. Claire and Gibson Island, the county suggested upgrading those parcels to allow for one house per acre.

At the June 17 council meeting, Amanda Fiedler, a Republican representing Arnold, proposed an amendment to maintain the lower-density residential zoning for nearly a dozen properties on Shot Town Road, including Ricks’ land. Though testimony was split, the council voted 4-3 to preserve the current zoning, with council members Allison Pickard, Julie Hummer and Rodvien voting no.

Unlike other bills passed by the council, portions of comprehensive zoning legislation can be vetoed. The partial veto by Pittman, a Democrat, did not affect Shot Town Road property owners who wanted to keep the lower-density zoning.

“I think a key point that I heard from both opposition and support of the change to R1 [residential zoning] was that everyone on Shot Town Road loves the rural nature and feel of the community,” Fiedler said Monday. “So, knowing that that is shared in common with everyone who lives off of Shot Town Road, from everyone who came out here to discuss the proposed amendments, I feel confident and comfortable that this area will remain rural with some legacy housing added.”

Ricks, who inherited the land from her grandmother, now hopes to help other legacy landowners learn how to engage with the rezoning process, especially those who are elderly or vulnerable.

“Even with dealing with my family, I really had to break things down,” she said. “We had to stay on top of all of the council meetings, we had to be very knowledgeable about the certain goals that each person in your community may want versus what the county may want. It’s a very, very huge process, and it’s not easy.”

The outcome on the Ember Drive property, however, wasn’t as favorable to some.

The forested land, located near streams that feed into nearby waterways, is owned by Wayne Newton, who also owns adjacent Chesapeake Landscape Materials, a mulch supplier.

While the initial request was to rezone the entire property to industrial and use it for expansion of the business, community outcry on the potential for environmental and noise problems, as well as decreasing property values, prompted council member Nathan Volke, a Republican representing Pasadena, to ask the owner to amend his request to include multiple zoning classifications. The council voted 6-1 in July to approve the three-way zoning split.

Pittman cited environmental impacts to the land as the reason behind his veto, which would have maintained solely residential zoning on the property.

“I was disappointed,” he said of the council’s decision to override the veto. “I had hoped to protect that forest between two streams flowing to Lake Waterford.”

Crews from Gunther Refuse Service, Inc. and MBG Refuse Service will provide recycling collections for this week’s Tuesday, Thursday and Friday customers in the affected areas, the department said in a news release. Yard waste collections will be completed on Saturday as resources allow.

“We are so grateful that these local businesses and their employee teams have stepped in to help their neighbors during this situation,” said DPW Director Karen Henry. “We appreciate the patience and flexibility of all of our customers as we work to resume curbside collection services in affected communities.”

On Monday, Gunther and MBG crews will pick up trash on residents’ usual collection days. Recycling and yard waste will be taken within two days of the normal collection days. The department is asking affected residents to put out trash, recycling and yard waste on their normal days and leave it on the curb until it’s collected.

Only households in service areas 5, 8, and 15, which include Pasadena, Severna Park, Odenton and Laurel, are affected. Residents can identify their service area by entering their address on the county’s Find My Collection Day feature.

There are 37,605 households in the affected service areas, or 22% of countywide customers, according to Matt Diehl, a DPW spokesperson.

Recycling and yard waste collections in these areas were temporarily suspended Friday after the department learned of a possible strike by Teamsters Local 570, the union representing employees of Ecology Services. The company operates under a contract with Anne Arundel County to provide recycling and yard waste pick up.

The strike began Wednesday morning when more than 70 unionized employees gathered to protest what they said was the company’s refusal to address unsafe working conditions and unfair wages. Frustrations lie with Ecology Services’ management, which offered a 38-cent per hour wage increase and did not address safety issues, the Teamsters national union said in a news release. The union contends the company’s trucks are “dangerously ill-equipped” and lack air conditioning, proper seating and seatbelts.

This summer, an employee suffered a severe head injury after falling from a truck due to heat exhaustion and lack of water, the union said.

A conclusion to the Teamsters Local 570 strike is “open-ended,” Sean Cedenio, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 570, said Wednesday.

More than 70 employees and members of Teamsters Local 570, the union representing Ecology Services employees, went on strike Wednesday morning outside Ecology Services’ location in Pasadena.

The strike stems from frustrations with Ecology Services’ management, which has offered a 38-cent per hour wage increase and not addressed safety issues, the Teamsters national union said in a news release. The company’s trucks are “dangerously ill-equipped” and lack air conditioning, proper seating and seatbelts.

Curtis Henry, an Ecology Services driver on strike, said the cameras on the trucks, which allow drivers to see and hear what’s going on in the back, don’t work either. Others mentioned a lack of personal protective equipment, like gloves, being provided.

“This strike is a direct consequence of Ecology Curbside Services’ greed and blatant disregard for worker safety,” said Sean Cedenio, secretary-treasurer of Teamsters Local 570. “We refuse to allow this company to continue jeopardizing the health and safety of our members. Ecology must take our demands for safety seriously, or this strike will continue.”

This summer, a worker suffered a severe head injury after falling from a truck due to heat exhaustion and lack of water, the union said.

“It got so hot this summer, and we have no AC in the trucks, so we can’t even get in for relief,” said Endia Spriggs, a thrower with Ecology Services. “We run through people’s sprinklers, and some people hose us off.”

In early August, a Baltimore Department of Public Works crew member collapsed on the job and died due to hyperthermia, which happens when a body is dangerously overheated.

“We have the right to come to work without fearing for our safety or wondering if we’ll make it home to our families at the end of the day,” Herman Young, a driver at Ecology Curbside Services and a Local 570 shop steward, said in the release. “This strike is our last resort. None of us want to be out here, but the company has left us no choice. We refuse to continue working under these hazardous conditions.”

In a Facebook post, Anne Arundel DPW said a “small crew reported to work and began recycling collections” around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday. Cedenio said about 80% of the workforce showed up for work Tuesday.

“We are not the one not doing our job,” Ecology Services worker Tiofilo Rivera said through a translator while on the picket line Wednesday.

Ecology Services did not return a request for comment Wednesday.

Ecology Services operates under a contract with Anne Arundel County. The local union said it reached out to the county government to address the concerns, but has not received a response.

“County governments have a duty to ensure that companies operating under publicly funded contracts provide safe working conditions,” said Chuck Stiles, director of the Teamsters Solid Waste and Recycling Division. “We call on the Anne Arundel County government to step in and demand that Ecology Curbside Services present a fair contract that addresses and corrects its unsafe practices.”

However, contractors are responsible for managing the internal operations of their businesses and complying with the requirements of the contracts they have been awarded, Matt Diehl, a DPW spokesperson, said in an email Wednesday afternoon.

“The County is bound by its contractual relationship and cannot intervene in the internal matters of an independent contractor without a proper legal basis, and there is no legal basis here for the County to be involved in or influence the current negotiations,” he wrote.

Curbside recycling and yard waste collection services in Pasadena, Severna Park, Odenton and Laurel are suspended this week as a result of the strike. Recycling and yard waste collections are expected to resume the week of Sept. 9, though they may not follow a normal schedule, Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works said in a news release Friday. Household garbage collection services will continue in the affected areas this week.

There are 37,605 households in the affected areas, or 22% of countywide customers, according to Diehl.

A conclusion to the Teamsters Local 570 strike is “open-ended,” Cedenio said.

“We’re hoping that the company comes back to the table and negotiates a fair settlement to address the concerns,” he said.

Only households in service areas 5, 8, and 15, which includes Pasadena, Severna Park, Odenton and Laurel, will be affected. Residents can identify their service area by entering their address on the county’s Find My Collection Day feature.

Though the county does not anticipate any collection of recyclables or yard waste in these areas this week, DPW will update customers if the situation changes, Diehl said.

The county’s landfill and recycling centers will be open during their normal hours — 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

Recycling and yard waste collections are expected to resume the week of Sept. 9, though they may not follow a normal schedule, Anne Arundel County Department of Public Works said in a news release Friday. Household garbage collection services will continue in the affected areas this week.

Only households in service areas 5, 8, and 15, which includes Pasadena, Severna Park, Odenton and Laurel, will be affected. Residents can identify their service area by entering their address on the county’s Find My Collection Day feature.

The department has coordinated with contractors, including Gunther Refuse Service and MBG Refuse Service, to help with collection efforts, Department of Public Works Director Karen Henry said in the release.

The suspension of some curbside collection stems from a contract dispute between Ecology Services, Inc., which provides waste and recycling services, and the Teamsters union. What is being disputed in the contract is unclear. Representatives from Teamsters Local 570 did not provide additional information and a call to Ecology Services was not returned.

However, a “small crew reported to work and began recycling collections” around 5:30 a.m. Tuesday, the department said in a Facebook post. Residents in the affected areas may place recyclables at the curbside on their assigned collection day, the department said Tuesday afternoon, but county public works officials cannot guarantee collection.

The county’s landfill and recycling centers will be open during their normal hours — 8 a.m. to 4 p.m., Monday through Saturday.

The Department of Public Works will provide daily updates, it said in a Facebook post.

While the Navy is just beginning the process of seeking renewable energy ideas, such as solar panels, for the 857-acre dairy farm in an effort to meet federally mandated carbon-free electricity goals, other energy projects across the state are prompting outcry.

The Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project, a $424 million upgrade to the region’s energy grid, would install a 500,000-volt transmission line through 70 miles of largely rural areas of Baltimore, Carroll and Frederick counties.

In Carroll County, six applications for solar energy projects on agricultural-zoned land are being considered, as well.

Though each project has different goals and timelines, similar criticisms are emerging. Concerns about changing rural landscapes, environmental risks and historic preservation are being echoed across each area, and in Anne Arundel County, what such a project would look like remains to be seen — but the prospect is worrisome to many.

“You don’t have much farmland in Anne Arundel County anymore, and you’re basically pushing it out,” said Ed McCabe, a leader with Anne Arundel County 4-H, following a community meeting on the Navy’s plan. “I don’t think it’s appropriate to put solar over agricultural land, not just here, but anywhere.”

More than 100 people attended the Navy’s Aug. 6 meeting on the dairy farm project, several of whom were vocal in their dismay. Some felt their questions on the project’s scope remained unanswered, while others were upset that the community was only now being asked about the project.

The meeting was the first widely attended public event on the project. Developer proposals are due Sept. 12. From there, the Navy will narrow down concepts in a process that’s anticipated to conclude by January.

Though the Navy is required to complete an environmental assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act, that won’t start until the end of next year at the earliest. The assessment will take at least a year to complete and then the Navy will determine if the project will move forward.

Some county residents are launching an effort to influence what the Navy does.

Odenton resident Tracy Mathews wants to preserve the dairy farm and is in the process of organizing a group called Save the Dairy Farm. Mathews said she wants to tell officials many in the community are against the land being used for a renewable energy project.

“We all want the same thing,” she said in an interview Thursday. “We just want a voice.” The group will have its first meeting Sept. 3 at the Odenton Library.

Though the Anne Arundel County effort is in its earliest stages, further north in the region, opposition to the Maryland Piedmont Reliability Project is growing quickly. Stop MPRP, an advocacy group formed in July, has recruited hundreds of members who are concerned about the threat of eminent domain being invoked and the impact of the proposed transmission line.

“It’s homes, it’s farms, it’s our way of life. Everyone’s angry and afraid, and wants to take action to stop this,” Joanne Frederick, a founding director of Stop MPRP, told the Carroll County Times. “They’re lining up at our side and at the sides of other organizations, to do everything we can to stop it. What’s clear is people are ready to raise their hand, and ready to help and ready to stop this from taking our property, our land and our farms.”

Elected officials in Anne Arundel and Carroll counties are also weighing in.

Anne Arundel County Executive Steuart Pittman said he is not in a position to support or oppose the Navy’s pursuit of renewable energy at the dairy farm, although it wouldn’t be his first choice.

Pittman, a Democrat, said it’s not accurate to say the county supports the Navy’s project — rather, the county respects the Navy’s decision and wants to get as much community benefit as possible out of whatever deal is made.

“I have this feeling that many [county residents] do, that this is almost sacred ground,” he said in an interview last week. “There’s not many parcels this large, not sure there are any parcels this large that are in heavily populated areas of the county, and it’s beautiful land that I would love to protect in perpetuity, protect from development.”

In Carroll County, opposition is firm to the proposed upgrade to the region’s energy grid.

“We’re here tonight, first of all, to say that we’re with you,” state Sen. Justin Ready, a Republican representing Carroll and Frederick counties, told attendees at a meeting in Westminster Aug. 22. “That can sound like a cliche, but it’s really true. This particular project is a direct affront to and real assault on our way of life. That’s how we see it.”

Salvage vessels from Donjon Marine Co., the New Jersey-based firm that worked to raise the yacht over the last two weeks, departed from the West River with the LoveBug in tow shortly before sunrise Saturday morning, according to VesselFinder, a marine traffic site.

The fleet which included two tugs, crane barges and the yacht, passed under the Bay Bridge just after 8:30 a.m.

The LoveBug is being towed alongside the Farrell 256, a 200-foot crane barge, for safety, as the yacht is a “dead ship,” or a vessel without power, said Steven Newes, senior vice president of Donjon.

On Monday, Newes said the salvage team planned to tow the yacht north through the bay and the Chesapeake and Delaware Canal to the mouth of the Maurice River in New Jersey. Departure was expected to happen Tuesday, with delivery to a smaller vessel for transport to a shipyard along the river originally slated for Wednesday evening.

Why the salvage team’s voyage was delayed is unclear.

The vessels’ departure marks the end of several weeks of work to raise and free the submerged LoveBug from the muddy bottom of the West River. The LoveBug had settled into the mud “quite a bit,” Newes said, complicating efforts to place slings underneath the yacht to lift it.

Mud was also found inside the yacht once it was lifted, Newes said, which needed to be removed to patch the yacht and “render it safely afloat” for towing.

Until salvage crews pulled the LoveBug from the water, the yacht had remained aground in the same location between Beverly Beach and Shady Side for almost four weeks. Though the yacht was originally resting on its starboard, or right, side, it rolled some before salvage began.

The Italian-built yacht was sailing south on the Chesapeake Bay from Annapolis on July 27 when it began to tip over. The Coast Guard received a Mayday call at 12:36 p.m., but by the time crews arrived, the five people on board had been rescued by a good Samaritan and a nearby towboat. Paramedics tended to two of the passengers, according to the Anne Arundel County Fire Department, but both declined to be treated.

The LoveBug, which cost between $110,000 and $125,000 to charter for a week, was not operating as a charter when it overturned, said Hunter Dortenzo, a Natural Resources Police spokesperson.

Though VesselFinder, a marine traffic site, indicated the LoveBug is owned by Bees Honey LLC, a limited liability company based in the Marshall Islands, Federal Communications Commission records show otherwise.

The yacht’s shipboard radio station license is registered to Jabulani Charter Florida, a Florida-based limited liability company with a Rockville mailing address. The licensee should be the vessel owner, according to an FCC spokesperson. Efforts to reach the person listed as the licensee were unsuccessful.

The Natural Resources Police and the National Transportation Safety Board are conducting separate investigations into what happened to the yacht.

Less than two years after officials broke ground on the project, the sea wall, which extends from Santee Basin and the Robert Crown Sailing Center past Triton Light, has been repaired and reinforced, capping off the first of many efforts to bolster the academy’s resilience against future rising sea levels. Federal, county and city officials marked the conclusion of the project Friday morning with a ceremonial ribbon cutting.

The record number of flooding events on the Yard this year alone poses an “existential threat” to the waterfront grounds, said Naval Academy Superintendent Vice Adm. Yvette Davids.

“Although the danger to the continued existence of our academy is clear, we will not stand still as we watch the sea rise around us because our Navy and Marine Corps, our Naval Academy, adapts to whatever [dangers] we face,” she said.

Naval Academy Farragut Sea Wall ribbon cutting | PHOTOS

The work at the academy included repairs to the sheet pile bulkheads along Farragut Field and the southeast side of Santee Basin, as well as construction of a new sheet pile bulkhead and a tieback system to reinforce the support system. Reconstruction and repaving of Brownson and Turner Joy roads and restoration of the Class of 1945 sea gate were also completed, the academy said in a news release.

Triton Light, the iconic navigational beacon situated on the seawall, was not in operation during construction. The light was reinstalled at its original location and raised to the new elevation for visibility above the new wall.

Officials broke ground on the project in November 2022, two months after the Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command Washington awarded a $37.5 million contract to Cianbro Corporation for the repairs.

Concerns with the Naval Academy’s sea wall date back several years. A prior assessment of the condition of the academy’s facilities found the existing steel sheet piles in bulkheads at Farragut Field and the east wall of Santee Basin showing increased deterioration, with corrosion holes developing below the concrete pile caps.

Due to the sea wall’s location at the eastern corner of the academy grounds, where the Severn River meets Spa Creek and the Annapolis Harbor, it’s been subject to flooding from high tides and sustained winds blowing from the south and east. That flooding has become a recurring part of memories for midshipmen and visitors to the academy, said Meredith Berger, assistant secretary of the Navy for energy, installations and environment.

“Whether because of increased storms or simply increased levels of regular presence of water, even with no storm on the horizon, the rising and intrusion of water has become all too familiar, and it’s not just us,” she said. “The City of Annapolis is seeing the same.”

A shared battle against inundating floodwaters has grown the relationship between the Naval Academy and the city, said Annapolis Mayor Gavin Buckley, a Democrat.

“If we protect the City Dock on the Annapolis side and don’t pay attention to how that impacts the Naval Academy, our problem will become yours and vice versa,” he said. “It is critical that we think, work and act on issues of resilience in a true partnership. We aren’t alone in facing that challenge.”

Secretary of the Navy Carlos Del Toro said boosting infrastructure resilience is a form of combat readiness.

“You cannot have combat readiness without protecting, strengthening, reassuring the infrastructure from which our ships sail and our people deploy,” he said.

The next project from the academy aiming to mitigate the effects of flooding and combat climate change, is already underway.

Ramsay Road is closed ahead of repairs to the road and raising the sea wall there. The project is expected to take 18 months, the academy said in a news release. Though the road will be closed, a walking path will be available to allow visitors to visit the academy’s Columbarium niches.

That promise, she said Tuesday, was that every generation of Bowie State students would know Collins’ name and the impact he had on the campus community.

Now, a towering two-story silhouette of Collins inside the historically Black university’s newly opened Martin Luther King Jr. Center forever marks the killed student’s memory.

“It is truly bittersweet,” said Dawn Collins, Collins’ mother. “There’s this misnomer that you get over something like this, but you don’t. It’s a pain that never goes away, and you live with it.”

On May 20, 2017, Collins was just days away from graduating from Bowie State, set to begin his commission as a second lieutenant in the Army, when he was stabbed at a bus stop while visiting the University of Maryland. He was 23. The man who killed him, Sean Urbanski, was convicted of murder and sentenced in 2021 to life in prison.

Collins was posthumously promoted to first lieutenant in 2020.

“Events like today help us to stay connected to our son — it’s therapeutic, it’s healing,” said Richard Collins Jr., Collins’ father. “It helps us to feel that there is a reason for hope, even in the midst of what seems to be total despair.”

Tuesday’s ribbon-cutting ceremony included vocal performances from the Bowie State choir and spoken word from Saniya Pearson, the 2024 Prince George’s County Youth Poet Laureate, as well as remarks from state, university and construction officials. Del. Kym Taylor and Del. Marvin Holmes, Jr., both Democrats representing Prince George’s County, presented Breaux with a citation from the General Assembly.

The university’s newest building, home to the communications and humanities departments, as well as the military science program, pays homage to both Collins and its namesake, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr., through artistic depictions spanning its three floors.

An image of King, as well as inscribed words from his 1964 Nobel Peace Prize speech, greets students at the building’s southern entrance. Panels aligned to simulate sound waves are visible through a glass facade at the northern entrance. An alcove dedicated to Collins is on the second floor, offering students a collaborative space with tables and chairs.

“There’s nothing more worthy than the work to which Dean [George] Acquaah and his faculty are dedicated: developing the next generation of leaders who will leave this building better thinkers and better scholars, leaders who, in their capacity to reflect on our past, on our history, will become the architects of our future,” said Jay Perman, chancellor of the University System of Maryland. “That’s what this building is — it’s the future, and I think Dr. King would be very proud indeed.”

Lt. Gov. Aruna Miller, a Democrat, praised the university for completing the project on time and under budget.

Bowie State broke ground on the 192,000-square-foot building in May 2022. The inside of the building, which features nearly two dozen classrooms, digital and broadcast studio spaces and a 1,500-seat auditorium, was finished this summer ahead of classes starting Monday. The $166 million project replaces the former Martin Luther King Jr. Center, which opened in 1973.

“This space will do more than just educate,” Miller said. “It will empower students to discover their own voices, tell their own stories and to know that they are enough, just as they are.”

She also commended the Collins family for being “champions of opportunity” in the face of tragedy.

“You took a dark moment in your life and when most people may have just retreated, you didn’t do that — you took that to light the path for others,” Miller said. “We will never, ever forget your son.”