For Mike Luzio ’98, Serving on Board of Trustees Has “Been an Amazing Ride”

Mike Luzio ’98 admits to something that might be a surprise to anyone who’s met the man who’s decked out his basement in enough University of Maryland gear to make Testudo himself jealous: his first semester at UMD didn’t go all that well.

Luzio’s residence hall, Cambridge Hall, was mostly home to older transfer students, he didn’t get along with his roommate, and he was longing to play football, like he had in high school. He even started calling around to coaches at other schools where he’d been accepted, asking if there was still a spot for him on the football roster.

But some inner voice told him that he was destined to be a Terp. His older sister, Cate, was a proud UMD student, and Luzio decided to push through to at least the end of freshman year.

“Second semester, I started to get some great friends around me—I made some lifelong friends in this transfer dorm with me,” he said. “I said, I’m going to embrace this.”

Since then, Luzio’s love for the black and gold has never faltered. As he finishes his term on the University of Maryland College Park Foundation Board of Trustees, Luzio said the experience has been “one of the biggest thrills of my life.”

Luzio’s time in College Park prepared him well for leadership roles. He served as president of Sigma Chi and was tapped to join Omicron Delta Kappa (ODK), the national honor society that recognizes campus leaders. After graduating, Luzio stayed involved with Greek life, and was eventually invited to join the Board of Trustees seven years ago.

“I said, absolutely. It’s my passion. I bleed it,” Luzio said.

The highlight of Luzio’s time on the board, he said, has been the relationships he’s developed with other board members and within the Maryland alumni community more broadly. “These are all dear friends of mine now,” he said. “I hang out with them socially, in their homes, and we play a lot of golf together all over the country.”

Luzio encourages current UMD students and young alums to “pay it forward,” he said. “You’ve got to realize what Maryland has given you. If you can’t give it back financially, start giving it back in other ways.”

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