Disappearance of Journalist Matthew VanDyke Receives Renewed Attention

Sharon VanDyke last heard her son Matthew’s voice on March 12, as the journalist set off for a day trip from Benghazi to Brega. Baltimore-born Matthew VanDyke ’02, political science, has now been missing in Libya for three months. Following a May 23 news conference held by Rep. Dutch Ruppersberger (MD-D), a ranking member of the House Intelligence Committee, VanDyke’s disappearance and efforts to secure his release are receiving renewed attention. An AP article on VanDyke was picked up by a range of media, from local TV stations WBAL and WBFF, to online news sites like the Huffington Post, to major newspapers around the country, including the Miami Herald, San Francisco Chronicle, Seattle Post Intelligencer and Atlanta Journal Constitution. In the article, UMBC political science professor Thomas Schaller called VanDyke one of his smartest students, saying, “He has thirst for life and to do things that people told him he can’t do or shouldn’t do,” and, “I just know he’s going to come out on the other end with quite a yarn.”