The UMBC lawyer who navigated job conflicts and discrimination cases with fairness and poise

As an attorney for the University of Maryland, Baltimore County, Bobbie Hoye often encountered people at some of their hardest moments.

It might be a Title IX issue or an allegation of discrimination. Maybe an employee’s job was on the line, or a student faced expulsion. Someone was often unhappy with the resolution of the case, either way.

But people trusted Hoye. She was poised and well-prepared, knowledgeable and confident, former colleagues said. Freeman Hrabowski, the former president of UMBC, remembers thinking so even when they first met.

“She knew how to go to the heart of the matter involving problems, and she was amazingly balanced in hearing both sides of any issue,” Hrabowski said. “She was an excellent thinker, but most important, she was determined always to do the right thing, whether it was the most popular thing or not.”

Her grace under pressure extended to other areas of her life — including a more than two-year journey with blood cancer. Even in her sickest moments and on her hardest days, she maintained her faith and optimism, loved ones said.

“She inspired all of us and gave us hope,” said Hrabowski, who grew to consider her a daughter.

Hoye, a competitive spirit who loved putting on a good outfit and orchestrating pranks, died May 30. She was 50.

She was born Nov. 10, 1975, to Edward James Jr. and Mari Anne Clark. She grew up in rural Pennsylvania with two siblings, Lisa and Erik, who both shared her athleticism. Hoye played basketball and ran track in grade school.

She lost her first track race and cried, her father said. But then she never lost again.

“She trained to lose no more,” James Jr. said. “She’s very competitive.”

Hoye was a straight-A student through high school and followed her sister to the University of Pittsburgh, where she met her eventual husband, Rodger Hoye, at a party. He lived in the area, and they became good friends before they started dating two or three months later. They spent many early dates at the school library; she was minoring in business, and Rodger helped her with math.

He knew she was the one when she bought him two junior bacon cheeseburgers during a mall date.

“She’s the most unselfish person I know,” Rodger said.

After earning her bachelor’s degree in 1997, Bobbie decided to go to law school and stay another three years at Pittsburgh. She never pictured herself as an attorney, instead hoping to work in fashion. She became a “reluctant lawyer” because it’s a good career, her husband said.

Still, her love of fashion never faded. The first time Rodger met her father, the two were helping Bobbie move her clothes at college. She wanted everything on hangers to prevent wrinkles — and grew frustrated with James Jr. when he dragged the clothes on the floor.

She loved helping family members pick clothes for upcoming events and dressing up her nieces and nephews.

“My wife has occupied all the closet space where I’m supposed to have my clothes at, first of all,” Rodger said. “Second of all, she has so many shoes that she’s only worn one or two times.”

After college, the couple relocated to Maryland for new career opportunities. Rodger moved first while Bobbie waited for the results of her bar exam. She passed on her first attempt in 2001 and began her career in employment law.

“She stuck in that area because that gave her a lot of value,” Rodger said.

Rodger proposed on her birthday at a local restaurant, where one of the waiters, also a professional singer, serenaded the couple at their table. They were married the following May.

They moved to Georgia in 2005 — where Bobbie also passed the bar on her first try — and stayed there for a few years before returning to Maryland, settling in the D.C. suburbs. She worked for the D.C. Office of the Attorney General before starting a lengthy career at UMBC in 2012.

She met Morgan Thomas Harried there the next year. At the time, Thomas Harried had just finished her undergraduate degree and was headed to law school. She thought attorneys likely fit into one of two stereotypes: potentially incompetent but likeable or hard and stoic but capable.

Then she met Hoye, who led with empathy and put people first, but also came to every situation overprepared. She watched Hoye face difficult situations with courage and brush off criticism of both her and her office.

“Being with Bobbie really shaped how I wanted to present myself as a Black female attorney at the time,” Thomas Harried said.

Hoye was a trusted teacher with “phenomenal instincts” who never made her mentee feel shy about asking questions, Thomas Harried said.

Her favorite word was “joy,” and she exuded it constantly, Thomas Harried said. She loved dancing and going to concerts. She gave intentional gifts and thoughtful advice. She established two scholarship funds in 2022 to support high school students in her hometown.

But Hoye was most fulfilled at home with her husband and two children, Noah and Riley.

The family enjoyed game nights and held singing contests, and they vacationed together in Virginia Beach every year. They played two-on-two basketball and had water gun fights. Holidays were always special — annual Easter baskets and egg hunts, big Thanksgiving meals. She was “the fun organizer,” Rodger said, and someone who brought people together.

“No matter who it is, no matter how you may feel about the other person in the room, Bobbie will bring you together, and she will teach you love,” he said.

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