---
title: New ‘Image’ and Name for UMD’s Tour Leaders
date: 2024-12-04T05:30:00-05:00
author: University of Maryland
canonical_url: "https://today.umd.edu/new-image-and-name-for-umds-tour-leaders"
section: Articles
---
# New ‘Image’ and Name for UMD’s Tour Leaders

*December 4, 2024* — by [Karen Shih ’09](/author/karen-shih)


> As ‘Terp Guides’ Brand Launches, Walk Back Through 40 Years of Fun Facts and Surprising Perks

*Terp Guides 11152024 SC 0817 1920x1080 — Rachel Donaldson '25 speaks to prospective students and parents outside of Thurgood Marshall Hall. She's part of the new Terp Guides, a group of student employees who lead tour groups at the University of Maryland.*

Forty years ago, all it took to become a University of Maryland tour guide was a reasonably clean T-shirt, a love for the red, black and gold, and the ability “to walk backward across campus and be able to point with your right hand and say, ‘On your left,’” said Burman Berger ’85.

Those were simpler times. To help start the group, he and a few buddies recruited via word of mouth among fellow orientation advisers and other student orgs, stapling fliers across campus to spread the word. By the end of the 1983-84 school year, they had about 20 students working with Undergraduate Admissions, queued with a few talking points and a general route but often improvising.

“‘Speak from your own experience,’” said Associate Vice President for Enrollment Management Barbara Gill, who started in the admissions office in 1986. “That’s what we’ve always said to the students.”


*Terp Guides logo that says University of Maryland with a cartoon Testudo holding an "M" flag*



## 1980s


*Black and white photo of Roy Rogers and Burman Berger*


**Lori Hill ’89**  
After working on a campus talent show advised by Terry Flannery ’83, M.Ed. ’87, Ph.D. ’95, the second Maryland Images supervisor, Hill joined the crew at a time of turmoil. Terps were reeling from Bias’ recent death, and halfway through her senior year, Chancellor John Slaughter was replaced by President Brit Kirwan. The university was overcrowded and planned to cut enrollment by 10%.

<u>Fun fact she’ll never forget</u>: Engineering building Glenn L. Martin Hall had two parts, and the old portion was designed like a slide ruler while the new part was designed to look like a calculator.

<u>Standout memories</u>: “We would give people a 3x5 card for them to take 30 seconds and describe the tour,” Hill said. “They were looking for something like, ‘bubbly and informative,’ but one time someone wrote: ‘Between 5’6 and 5’9, blonde’!”

<u>Tour guide perks</u>: End-of-year parties at Kirwan’s house (his daughter, Anne, was also a tour guide).



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## 1990s


*Gretchen Ricks in a University of Maryland t-shirt in her dorm room in the 1980s — Gretchen Ricks*



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## 2000s


*Corie Sunder and Lisa Berglund sit by the statue of Testudo*



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## 2010s


*Dante Evans and Maryland Images students holding signs that say Fear the Turtle and Join Images*


*Xaria Duvall and Testudo the mascot*




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


**Tags:** [Student Experience](https://today.umd.edu/topic/student-experience)


**Units:** [Office of Undergraduate Admissions](https://today.umd.edu/topic/office-undergraduate-admissions)