The "Mike Brown Award" is named for Michael Brown, who was chair of the Capitol Division from 2005 to 2007. An epeeist, Mike coached the epee squad at UMCP during the early 2000s and assisted the team in transitioning from a purely recreational club to a more competitive club within both the USFA and the NCAA. As chair of the Capitol Division, Mike helped make the annual Cherry Blossom Open into a major event and was honored by the Capitol Division with the "Arrogant Bully Award" for his efforts.

Mike passed away on August 24, 2007, after losing a fight with cancer. In his honor, the Capitol Division created the "Mike Brown Award", a 1-year competitive membership in the Capitol Division of the US Fencing Association, to recognize his insistence on greater accountability in the conduct of meets and his support for upgrading the quality of the referees for all tournaments. The "Mike Brown Award" is awarded annually to the most promising fencer at the University of Maryland (see the suggested criteria for choosing the recipient of the Mike Brown Award).

Fatemeh Paryavi began fencing in 2015. Since then, she has competed regionally and earned her national rating. Shortly after, she found out about the UMD fencing club, and joined the club upon transferring from her local community college. Paryavi competed for the club at competitions such as Temple Open, BWCFC and CHAOS and hopes to compete in more competitions with the club.