Preinkert: the woman behind the building

By Michal Antonov
April 9, 2017

Credit: The Diamondback

COLLEGE PARK, Md. When you enter Preinkert Field House, the inside is polished and
painted. The floors have green and white tiles, and the walls look like theyve never been
scratched. But go deeper, and see why students become uneasy once inside.

The building has wood floors and plaster walls. Theres not a lot of light inside, ever during the
day. And you can hear every sound in the building, from footsteps in the basement to someone
flushing a toilet in the bathroom.

It was pretty sketchy on the inside, said Aliza Silverman. We decided no one should walk
around alone.

Silverman and her Israeli dance group, Avirah, once used the dance studio in Preinkert Field
House for rehearsal. She said that the dance studio fit all their needs in terms of quality and
space.
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Preinkert Field House was built in 1931and named the Womens Field House, due to the growing
number of female students. Ritchie Coliseum was also constructed at the same time, but many
facilities on campus were segregated by gender.

The building was named after Alma Preinkert, who served as campus registrar from 1936 until
her death in 1954. She was sleeping when an intruder broke inside her Washington, D.C. home.
She tried to stop him from ransacking her home, but was stabbed multiple times. She was 58
years old. The suspect remains unidentified.

Preinkert began working at the University of Maryland as a clerk in 1923 before becoming the
registrar. At the same time, she was pursuing a masters degree and a doctorate. Preinkert was
indeed a leader for female students on campus, and she pushed these students to be leaders as
well.

The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun covered Preinkerts death, as well as the events that
followed. Rev. J. Victor Murtland spoke at Preinkerts service and called her a leader in civic
affairs who spent her life in service to mankind.

Today, the building serves as a location for various student activities as well as offices for
university organizations. On the ground floor right near the entrance sits the main office of the
National Center for Smart Growth Research and Education. This organization established four
subunits that are dedicated to providing resources to local communities on healthy environment
and sustainability: The Environmental Finance Center, the Transportation Policy Research
Group, the Center for Use of Sustainable Practices, and the Housing Strategies Group. All of
these units have offices on the ground floor of Preinkert.

The Womens Field House was officially renamed in 1954. And when organizations such NCSG
do their work to help others, it feels like Preinkerts spirit never left.

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