Social Impact

August 5, 2020

Alumni Association Webinar Series Proves Popular

Prompted by restrictions on in-person events, the Alumni Association has launched a series of online discussions and presentations addressing a wide range of topics related to alumni interests and public affairs. Using Zoom, an internet-based video conferencing system, the first series of 60- to 90-minute webinars have addressed topics such as journalistic ethics, the pandemic’s…

August 5, 2020

First-ever Bilingual Portal to Franco American Heritage Records

Wedding of Marie Philippon and Alfred Tancrel, Lewiston Maine, 1897. Photo courtesy of the Franco-American Collection, University of Southern Maine Libraries   UMaine has received a nearly $60,000 grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities to create a first-ever bilingual portal to Franco American heritage records from archives in the United States and Canada.…

August 5, 2020

University Praised for Civic Engagement

Thanks in part to its “UMaine UVote” education and outreach initiative, the University of Maine has been named to an elite honor roll of American universities and colleges for its efforts to encourage students to vote. Citing voting as a measure of engaged citizenship, Washington Monthly included the metric as part of its annual rankings…

August 5, 2020

Women’s Work

Mother and child in front of their house in Varanasi, India. Photo by Yavuz Sariyildiz / Shutterstock.com SHORTLY BEFORE SHE came to the University of Maine, Rachel “Rae” Binder-Hathaway ’12 read a book that would change the course of her life. It also ignited a passion to change the lives of countless women and families…

August 4, 2020

A Voice for the Voiceless

Civilians flee from Idlib toward the north to find safety inside Syria near the border with Turkey, Saturday, Feb. 15, 2020. Photo by quetions123 / Shutterstock.com JANINE DI GIOVANNI HAS RISKED her life to tell the stories of ordinary people who have seen their families, homes, and countries ripped apart by war. So, as people…

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July 13, 2020

President’s Commentary Recently Featured in News

UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy’s recent commentary outlines some of the ways in which the University of Maine helped meet some of the demands to combat the pandemic, from making thousands of gallons of hand sanitizer to graduating nursing students early so they could enter the field sooner. The public’s investment in the University of Maine…

June 15, 2020

Former Maine Hockey Player Reflects on Racial Injustice

Black Bear hockey legend Alfie Michaud ’00 was the subject of a recent feature in National Post, Canada’s fourth-largest newspaper, about the racist slurs and treatment he received in Canada as an Indigenous citizen and athlete.  The killing of George Floyd in Minneapolis and other recent incidents of racial injustice prompted UMaine assistant hockey coach…

June 11, 2020

Alumni Webinar Features Discussion of Race

“George Floyd, Anti-Black Racism, and #BlackLivesMatter” was the subject of a June 11 Zoom webinar featuring three UMaine alumni.   In the aftermath of the violent death of George Floyd while in police custody, the webinar was intended to help attendees better understand and acknowledge the life experience of being Black in the U.S. Three members…

May 15, 2020

Alumni Perspectives Sought for MAINE Alumni Magazine

Thanks to underwriting assistance from Bangor Savings Bank, the Alumni Association is producing a special edition of MAINE Alumni Magazine that will chronicle the impact of COVID-19 on alumni, students, and the University of Maine. “Our objective is to capture the diverse ways in which members of the UMaine community reacted, adjusted, and responded to the…