Almost eight years since a student was stabbed to death on the campus of the University of Maryland, an annual seminar honoring Army 2nd Lt. Richard Collins III called for those in attendance to become changemakers.
The annual Rise Up seminar at Bowie State University honors Collins, who was a student at the school, when he was killed by Sean Urbanski in 2017. Urbanski, a University of Maryland student, was convicted of Collins’ murder and sentenced to life in prison.
MSNBC’s Symone Sanders was this year’s moderator, and the symposium’s panel included former White House press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre and U.S. Rep. Glenn Ivey, who represents Prince George’s County and parts of Montgomery County.
“This year’s symposium seeks to inspire meaningful dialogue and action around the urgent issues of social justice, civic engagement, and democratic renewal,” according to Rise Up.
“We’re really pleased that we are able to come together annually for this symposium to uplift the notion that hate and violence has no place in our society,” said Bowie State President Aminta Breaux. “We want everyone to stay united.”
Collins had just been commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army and was a few days away from graduating from Bowie State University when Urbanski stabbed him to death.
The murder was at first classified as a hate crime, but a judge later tossed out the charge, ruling prosecutors had failed to show that Urbanski stabbed Collins to death specifically because Collins was Black.
Urbanski’s defense attorneys never disputed that the former University of Maryland student stabbed Collins, but they claimed it had nothing to do with race and asked the jury for a verdict of second-degree murder. They argued Urbanski was “stupid drunk” at the time of the stabbing and too intoxicated to form the premeditation necessary for first-degree murder, which the prosecution refuted.
Prosecutors during the trial also reminded jurors of the racist memes recovered from Urbanski’s phone after the stabbing.
WTOP staff contributed to this report.
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