The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) will host author, entrepreneur, and activist Stacey Abrams as the keynote speaker for its annual Presidential Lecture Series on Wednesday, April 8, at 6:30 p.m. The event, the second in the series, will take place in the UMES Student Services Center theater and is open to the public. As a high school student, Abrams rose from political campaign typist to a candidate speechwriter before arriving on the campus of Atlanta’s Spelman College. While at this HBCU, Abrams’ often one-woman voter registration drives encouraged her fellow classmates to go to the polls — a practice that would later prove critical in securing a slim democratic presidential victory for Joe Biden in conservative Georgia in the 2020—2021 election.