---
title: Alum’s Gifts Support Maryland Democracy Initiative
date: 2024-03-28T05:30:00-04:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/alums-gifts-support-maryland-democracy-initiative"
section: Articles
---
# Alum’s Gifts Support Maryland Democracy Initiative

*March 28, 2024* — by [Annie Krakower](/author/annie-krakower)


> Couple’s Donations Fund Voter Mobilization, Internship Program During Critical Election Year

*I Stock 1982627216 1920x1080 — Two gifts from Marsha Laufer ’64 and her husband, Henry (below), will support a new internship program and voter mobilization efforts aimed at welcoming more college and high school voters into the democratic process.*

When Hillary Rodham Clinton walked into the Long Island home of Marsha Zlatin Laufer ’64 over two decades ago, the University of Maryland alumna found a new calling.

She and her husband, Henry, hosted a fundraiser for Clinton during New York’s 2000 U.S. Senate race, and the former first lady’s plans and passion inspired Marsha Laufer to leave her career as a speech language pathologist to become a full-time political activist. She traded her private clinical practice to work for Clinton’s ultimately successful campaign, open the first Democratic campaign headquarters on the North Shore and chair her local Democratic committee for eight years.

“It turned my life absolutely upside down,” she said. “When the political bug bites, there’s no antidote.”


*Marsha and Henry Laufer*




**Topics:** [Campus & Community](https://today.umd.edu/tags/campus-community), [People](https://today.umd.edu/tags/people)


**Tags:** [Alumni](https://today.umd.edu/topic/alumni), [Government and Politics](https://today.umd.edu/topic/government-and-politics), [Philanthropy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philanthropy), [2024 Elections](https://today.umd.edu/topic/2024-elections), [Civic Engagement](https://today.umd.edu/topic/civic-engagement), [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [College of Behavioral and Social Sciences](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-behavioral-and-social-sciences), [College of Education](https://today.umd.edu/topic/college-education), [Philip Merrill College of Journalism](https://today.umd.edu/topic/philip-merrill-college-journalism), [School of Public Policy](https://today.umd.edu/topic/school-public-policy)