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Welcome to the page for the Lowell Ensel Memorial Fund, benefiting the Lowell Ensel Keystone Prize and the Honors College at the University of Maryland. We hope you will join us in honoring the legacy of Lowell, our friend and peer, while supporting current and future students.
During his time at Maryland, Lowell Ensel (9/11/1994-5/11/2015) touched the lives of many. Lowell was a double major in Government and Politics and Film Studies, with a passion for both areas. A Banneker/Key scholar, a member of the Honors Humanities program, a tour guide with Maryland Images, and a brother of Beta Theta Pi, Lowell was always ready with a smile to greet everyone and anyone he met. His spirit brought energy and happiness to every day, and he was known as "Mr. Sunshine" for his bright disposition and attitude. Lowell loved baseball, film, and music, especially the New York Yankees and artists like Kanye West and Kendrick Lamar. He was always ready to have a conversation about politics or throw a baseball around in the evening when it was warm out.
During his time in Honors Humanities, he followed his passion and created and produced a film called "In the Midterm" (viewable here) for his Keystone Project. The Keystone Project is the capstone to a student's time in Honors Humanities and gives students the opportunity to engage deeply with a particular passion, idea or subject. Lowell's film focuses on a group of friends during a night out in college as they attempt to understand themselves and their relationships with one another. "In the Midterm" won the newly-established Honors Humanities Keystone Prize from the program in April 2015.
Lowell passed away unexpectedly on May 11, 2015. After experiencing respiratory problems and fatigue for weeks, Lowell was returning to campus when he passed out on a University of Maryland shuttle bus. Medical reports later attributed his death to testicular cancer, which had spread to his lungs. As the school year came to a close, Lowell's life was celebrated by his family, friends, and peers in a night vigil, a baseball game in his honor at Montgomery Blair High School, and a showing of "In the Midterm" in the Hoff Theater at the Stamp Student Union. This year, the brothers of Beta Theta Pi will honor his memory and impact on their fraternity by planting trees from his home in the yard of their fraternity house and by holding a home run derby to raise money for testicular cancer research. Lowell leaves behind a huge legacy at Maryland, as well as wonderful memories and experiences for many.
More information about Lowell's passing and events can be found through the following links: Obituary, Article in the Diamondback.
To remember and honor his memory, the prize that Lowell won last spring will be renamed the Lowell Ensel Keystone Prize. A picture of Lowell will hang in Anne Arundel Hall, the center of the Honors Humanities, alongside a plaque with current and past winners. This campaign aims to raise money for the fund and continue the prize, as well as Lowell's legacy and his time in the Honors Humanities Program, into the future.
The funds raised through this campaign will enable the University to award prize money to students in the Honors College who demonstrate a passion for the humanities, particularly in a creative capacity, and exhibit the academic excellence that defined Lowell's time at UMD. We need your help to secure the future of the prize. Currently, the Lowell Ensel Keystone Prize awards winners $800, but we would like to raise that amount to $1,000 and raise enough to ensure the prize's existence long into the future. Gifts in support of this fund will support the current use prize; if the fund reaches endowment level the funds will be transferred to support the endowment fund.
Gifts in support of the University of Maryland are accepted and managed by the University of Maryland College Park Foundation, Inc., an affiliated 501(c)(3) organization authorized by the Board of Regents. Contributions to the University of Maryland are tax deductible as allowed by law. Please see your tax advisor for details.
(2011) "There are moments which are made up of too much stuff for them to be lived at the time they occur."
(2012) "What's your name?" "Django." "Can you spell it?" "D-J-A-N-G-O. The D is silent."
(2012) "We're in love. We just want to be together. What's wrong with that?"
(2012) "I see that I'm a little piece in a big, big universe. And that makes things right."