Content Warning: This article discusses details of harmful and disturbing acts of racism. 

February is Black History Month. This can be a loaded topic for some, partly because it forces one to remember why a month dedicated to celebrating and honoring Black people is needed in the first place. Black History Month is about the achievements of Black people, but it’s also about making sure that Black history isn’t erased, especially in a country where that has traditionally been and continues to be the norm. 

While national concepts may come to mind, such as the banning of books and the AP African American History course debates, there is one that is much closer to home for University of Maine students that very few are aware of. 

In 1919, there were a pair of Black students — brothers Samuel and Roger Courtney — that were forced to tar and feather themselves by a mob of white students on campus. The white students then forced them to pose for photographs to cement their humiliation. All of this was due to self-defense when a group of three white students broke into their dorm room in an attempt to haze them. Afterwards, UMaine expelled at least one of the brothers and neither returned again. None of the white students faced any charges. 

While this has been reported on by other news organizations, it was never reported on by the school newspaper despite large numbers of white students taking part. It is likely this is because of the deep racist ideas held by many white people at the time. This racism and these stories that have not been told are the reason white people should take part in Black History Month. While it may not be about them, ignoring the importance of this month continues the erasure of stories that need to be told in order to have hopes of learning from them and not repeating the same mistakes in the future. 

You may say that it’s obvious this won’t happen again because we no longer tar and feather people. But that doesn’t mean acts that are modern examples are not equally rooted in racial bias and injustice. Perhaps one of the first to come to mind is the police brutality surrounding Black people. 

You may also say that because UMaine and the state of Maine are primarily white, Black History Month events don’t need to be large or well-advertised. While it is true that UMaine and Maine’s white populations are well over three-fourths of the total population, that doesn’t mean that people who belong to other ethnic and racial groups don’t need to be celebrated. They need to be celebrated by everyone, not just people within their own communities who lift them up because they personally know the hardships. 

Black History Month has a long history, dating back to 1925 when the first “Negro History Week” was held, the idea of Carter G. Woodson. The next year, in February of 1926, the country celebrated Black History in a time where many people didn’t belong in the narrative of the country. 50 years later this celebration was extended to an entire month and President Gerald R. Ford made it a national observance. 

Forty years after that, President Obama, the first Black president, stood in the White House to give a message about Black History Month. 

“Black History Month shouldn’t be treated as though it is somehow separate from our collective American history or somehow just boiled down to a compilation of greatest hits from the March on Washington or from some of our sports heroes. It’s about the lived, shared experience of all African Americans, high and low, famous and obscure, and how those experiences have shaped and challenged and ultimately strengthened America,” he said.

Black History may be a difficult topic because of the history of racism that accompanies it, but that is why it is everyone’s duty, regardless of race, to ensure that it ends here and those lived experiences get celebrated every day of the year, not just one month out of 12. Black History is American History, and Black History Month is for everyone to celebrate and honor Black people and the Black experience. 

As of today, there have been 44 days in the new year. According to the Gun Violence Archive, there have been 65 mass shootings in those 44 days, averaging over one and a half mass shootings every day. What type of society is one in which this is a common occurrence and possibilities people have to prepare for? 

The Gun Violence Archive defines a mass shooting as one in which at least four people are shot, excluding the shooter. 

This may not seem like a threshold high enough to be considered a mass shooting, but when looking at other developed countries and their comparative lack of shootings in general, it adds up rather quickly. 

In an article by CBS News released Jan. 25, 2023, they show this drastic difference.  

“Since the beginning of the year, there have been 40 mass shootings across the country, according to the Gun Violence Archive, putting 2023 on pace to have the most mass shootings at this point of any year on record,” the article said.

This is especially true because of the number of school shootings in the U.S. compared to all others. 

Last year there were 648 mass shootings, 303 of which were school shootings. 

This seems to indicate that the school institution or government is failing both the people who go on these shooting sprees and the rest of the country who are then in greater danger of being shot. 

Understandably, this has increased anxiety in both children and parents attending public school, which extends to college. School is supposed to be a time when children are learning, and understanding how to live in society. 

Perhaps this is one of the biggest reasons why the future seems to be getting more dystopian every year. If the school system is failing the people who are going to be taking over the country in the next generation, surely that alone should be a sign that something isn’t right. 

Recently, a higher percentage of kids are getting homeschooled, partially because of school shootings. 

“School shootings have played a factor in parents homeschooling,” News Nation Now said in June 2022. 

While it’s unknown what kind of percentage school shootings have in relation to the increase in homeschooling, it’s undoubtedly a factor. Children shouldn’t be afraid of going to school for any reason, but they especially shouldn’t fear for their life. 

According to CNN, there were 288 school shootings in the U.S. from January 2009 to May 2018. The country with the next most school shootings was Mexico, with only eight in that same time period. 

The U.S. isn’t the only country showing signs of a dystopian future, with Russia and China being the next countries people would think of. Despite this, the U.S. is definitely at the forefront. Not only with the mass and school shootings but also with the book banning, the loss of faith in government and increasing division. 

Despite all of these widespread problems, many government leaders are trying to placate people by saying that everything is fine. President Biden’s State of the Union address is a great example of this: whether he actually believes democracy is winning is a debated topic. 

Government leaders have to know what is happening, and just don’t want the general public to worry. The only problem with this is that a majority of the public is already aware of what’s going on, and don’t appreciate being told that everything is fine. Especially when in the course of their daily lives they see the exact opposite. 

It was announced on Nov. 16, 2022, that the University of Maine has partnered with Sodexo for its dining services. The transition will begin Jan. 1, 2023, when all employees, both student and otherwise, will be rehired by Sodexo instead of UMaine. 

UMaine claims that bringing Sodexo onboard will solve a lot of issues and positively affect the dining experience on campus. 

“The University of Maine will become the final public university in the state to partner with Sodexo for campus dining services, increasing healthy local food options for UMaine students, national purchasing power, and economic opportunities for Maine growers and producers,” UMaine announced in a press release. 

However, this decision was made in the midst of increasing allegations and concerns regarding Sodexo including safety, moral and ethical concerns. These concerns, unfortunately, are nothing new for the multinational hospitality company. 

Articles from university newspapers regarding Sodexo and their students’ concerns surrounding the services provided by this company began in 2010, with articles from Denver University’s DU Clarion and Northeastern University’s The Huntington News. 

“Workers don’t have access to adequate sick days and cannot afford to take unpaid days off which exposes students to food transmitted illness,” the DU Clarion said. “Workers have reported supervisors mixing old expired food with new food, and being pressured to use expired ingredients. The safety and wellbeing of over 2,100 students on meal plans is at risk and is dependent on the wellbeing of Sodexo workers.” 

This doesn’t allow sick workers to take days off. This leads to a dangerous and unhealthy situation for their coworkers and students they cook for if they aren’t home when they’re sick and can potentially pass on food transmitted illnesses. 

“This multinational corporation made over $1 billion in operating profits last year, but pays cafeteria workers wages as low as $8.27 per hour, according to the Service Employees International Union. On top of this, Sodexo has also been the target of a large class-action lawsuit surrounding wage theft, unsafe working conditions and discrimination,” The Huntington News said. 

Tulane University’s Tulane Hullabaloo newspaper has a 2015 article discussing Sodexo at their university.

“Under the Affordable Care Act, full-time workers, those averaging 30 hours per week, are guaranteed affordable health insurance from large-scale employers. Last year, Sodexo reclassified the 10,000 employees that work in school cafeterias seasonally as ‘part-time’ workers, thereby denying them comprehensive health care coverage,” the 2015 article said. 

Sodexo is a billion dollar company, as seen by their revenue through the years, and yet doesn’t seem to find it reasonable to provide their employees with basic benefits like health-care coverage, even when those employees should legally be given those benefits. 

Employees at Merrimack College have rallied against their poverty wages that leave them struggling to afford basic necessities. While this could be chalked up to capitalism, it is relevant to consider how Sodexo has also been the target of a large class action law suit surrounding wage theft, unsafe working conditions and discrimination. 

Along with all of these controversies, Sodexo also operates and provides food to prisons. 

“We operate prisons only in democratic countries that do not have the death penalty, where the ultimate goal of incarceration is prisoner rehabilitation and where its staff are not required to carry arms. We adapt our services to national laws and cultures,” Sodexo’s website says. 

In what seems to be an increasing problem, we can’t always trust what Sodexo claims about themselves. The BBC has written several news articles over the years about Sodexo’s prison system. 

“Up until 2001, Sodexo owned one of the largest stakes in the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA), a company that now controls nearly half of the private prisons in the United States,” a Saint Peter’s Tribune article said. 

Six universities dropped their contracts with the company after their ties with the Corrections Corporation of America (CCA) was made public. Continual pressure from activists led Sodexo to sell its shares in CCA. 

Several BBC articles have shared some of the on-site problems with a prison in Northumberland. The first of the BBC’s concerns about safety were in 2015, only two years after the prison went under private control. 

HMP Northumberland’s website claims Sodexo is a positive influence and they’re changing inmates’ lives for the better. 

However, multiple articles and an undercover BBC documentary from 2017 claim a different story. 

“Inspectors, who visited in September, judged the prison on safety, respect, purposeful activity and resettlement of prisoners. They found the prison ‘not sufficiently good’ in all areas except respect, which was ‘reasonably good,’” a 2015 BBC article said. 

That same report said the prison had recorded 142 violent incidents which included 29 assaults on staff, all in six months. 61% of inmates told inspectors that it was easy to obtain drugs, something that should not be easy in a prison, and the inspection even found that the percentage of inmates testing positive for drugs rose from 17% to almost 30%. 

While inmates are in prison, that doesn’t mean their safety should be forfeited or that they don’t deserve the same basic human rights that people who are not in prison should enjoy. 

Despite claims in that article made by Sodexo that they were taking measures to address these issues, they didn’t seem to care enough to follow through. A 2020 article shares the newest situation within this prison during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, where Sodexo had said they were following the official guidelines. The worst discovery by the inspection is that one disabled prisoner hadn’t been able to shower for seven months because he was unable to get to an accessible bathroom. 

While universities shouldn’t have the same problems as these privately owned prisons, the inability to provide humane living conditions doesn’t add credibility to Sodexo’s name.

A 2020 article from the Tulane Hullabaloo shares concerns regarding the COVID-19 pandemic for food service Sodexo employees.

“The majority of Tulane’s dining and janitorial … workers’ benefits, including paid emergency leave and sick days, are determined by a joint agreement through Tulane and Sodexo,” the 2020 article said. “The [COVID-19] policy includes full-time and part-time employees and allows for up to 21 work days if they have a confirmed case of the novel coronavirus or are asked to stay home from work due to symptoms … The policy did not address paid emergency leave or layoffs.”

These concerns about employee safety and lack of benefits is a major concern of students and staff at UMaine about the upcoming transition to Sodexo. Jim McCarthy, a current professor in the modern languages and classics department and previous ESL instructor in the English department, voiced some of his concerns about Sodexo. 

“The university, under this and previous administrations, has been privatizing the public sector.  UMaine food services is a public service and the employees and management of that service are public employees who enjoy the benefits of being public employees, including the right to participate in a union, earn a pension, have very good health insurance and an annuity with matching funds from the university,” McCarthy said. “Another very important benefit is that they can take classes for free and their children can attend UMaine at a 50% discount. All of that is now in jeopardy.” 

Unlike other major decisions such as the issues surrounding Maine Day, UMaine is taking concerns like this into consideration and looking for student and community input. 

It’s not out of the realm of possibility to overturn this decision. Administration is actively looking for student and staff input in this decision. The fact that they are accepting outside opinions seems like a step in the right direction given their recent lack of transparency around decisions for students and staff. 

In the most recent town hall meeting, Kelly Sparks, the vice president for finance and administration, mentioned the Sodexo decision. 

“We are exploring dining services with Sodexo. We are looking forward to continuing to serve our students in a high-quality way, but being able to expand … through a partnership with Sodexo,” Sparks said. “We’re just starting to talk through what it looks like, and we would like to invite you to participate in this conversation.”

In addition to Sparks, Margaret Nagle, the interim executive director of communications for UMaine and the UMaine system and the senior director of public relations in the division of marketing and communications, urges students to voice their opinion about this decision before it’s finalized next semester. 

“UMaine’s partnership with Sodexo will be shaped with broad campus community input … The transition will be a collaborative process that will involve negotiations with each of the impacted bargaining units,” Nagle said. 

Students shouldn’t waste this opportunity to make their voices heard about this controversial decision that likely has unsafe consequences for our university. 

There will be multiple discussion opportunities for any student to attend if they want to. Any student who has the ability to attend one of these should do so and voice their concerns about this decision to bring Sodexo on board. This link will take you to a registration form where you can sign up for these sessions. 

Comparatively, UMaine is late onto the Sodexo bandwagon, seeing as other universities have been dealing with concerns about the company for over a decade. Despite their established track record, there has been an increase of articles and studies about Sodexo in the past couple years. 

This includes articles from newspapers previously mentioned as well as West Virginia University’s The DA, Loyola University’s The Maroon, Stony Brook University’s The Statesmen, Illinois Wesleyan University’s The Argus, University of Southern Maine’s Free Press and the Los Angeles Loyolan. 

All of them talk about the problems and scandals circulating about Sodexo. 

Every student must make their voices heard to make sure this doesn’t happen to our university. Join one of the focus groups, share your concerns and make sure UMaine knows this isn’t a decision that is endorsed by the student body. 

Tomorrow, Nov. 8, is Election Day. Many students may have already voted via absentee ballot, or if they live nearby have made plans to go home to vote. Voting is a crucial part of the democratic process, even if sometimes it seems like your vote doesn’t matter. Especially when the choices are between old white men who don’t have the interests of young people at heart. This is something the University of Maine doesn’t seem to understand either, based on the lack of information they have sent to students. 

Understanding this is especially important now when it seems like the whole world is falling apart and there’s nothing any one person can do about it. But the very act of voting can preserve a democracy. If a large majority of people decide not to vote, not only are they allowing their decisions to be made by other people, it could also give leaders a false sense of what their constituents find important. 

However, despite this, there are also very real racial and social justice issues dealing with voting. When this country was founded, voting was placed on a high pedestal and seen as the ultimate way to not be like England. Despite this, only educated white men who owned property were allowed to vote. However, since land was cheap, about 75% of men were able to hold this position. Despite this, only 10% to 20% of the people living in the colonies fell under this free, white land-owning male population. This meant the people in power only had this small group of people in mind when making decisions that would affect everyone. 

“It took more than a century for the [nation] to meaningfully expand [the vote] to people of color, women, people with disabilities, people who are low-income, and Native Americans,” the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights said. 

This doesn’t mean that voting is easy for everyone though. In recent elections, there’s been increasing numbers of people who are unable to get to a poll to be able to vote. There are also still some elected leaders who are working to silence the voices of people who have historically been underrepresented and denied the right to vote. 

Unfortunately, this is a circular problem. One of the best ways in American democracy to get your voice heard is through voting. But if you’re unable to vote due to reasons outside your control, certain groups may not have the opportunity to make their voice heard. 

This is a problem that is being acknowledged by some elected officials as well as some news organizations, like the BBC and ACLU, and was especially prevalent during the 2020 election. 

However, UMaine doesn’t seem to be acknowledging this problem nor are addressing why so many students are deciding not to vote. This midterm election is seen by many as one of the most important elections ever for the U.S. There’s been a lot of advertising by elected officials to get people out to vote. A lot of them are telling the public that it’s crucial to get out and vote to save democracy. This may seem like a bit of an over exaggeration, but in some ways it’s not incorrect. Of course that can change depending on your personal views and whether you’re happy with where the world is. I know most people, especially those under 25 or 30, aren’t. 

But again, why is UMaine not saying anything about the election if it’s so important? So far there have been two emails sent to students and I have seen people on campus registering students for Maine’s second district once. One of the emails was sent out on Oct. 25 but only has a flier attached. The second email was sent out on Nov. 3 and has a little more information but seems to be geared more toward voters registered in Maine’s second district or those who will vote in Orono. These two emails may have good information, but I don’t know a lot of students who will read them, especially going to the extent of clicking on a flier attached to an email. It’s also probable that the students who would go to the trouble of reading these emails would already be planning on voting anyway. 

In addition to the racial and social issues surrounding voting, the ease of voting isn’t often as easy as states would like people to believe. For example, absentee ballots are hard to acquire. You have to order them by mail, as there’s no in person pick-up location, which can be slow. This can be especially challenging for people who are living away from where they’re registered and don’t have time to order a ballot in time to send it back in time for Election Day. 

Despite all of these problems, UMaine doesn’t seem to be making sure students are aware of these problems. And if they’re already aware, they’re not letting students know what they can do about these problems even though these are problems other organizations and news sites have been writing about since the 2020 election. It seems like UMaine is checking off boxes so they can’t say they didn’t tell students about Election Day without really bothering to make sure the information is useful and the students will actually check it. This doesn’t mean voting isn’t important though, and is in fact more important the UMaine is saying. 

Students can register to vote, or re-register, for Maine’s second district while living in Maine for college tomorrow at the UMaine Memorial Gym if you haven’t voted yet. No matter what your political views are, voting is important to the continuation of democracy. So go out and vote!

Over the past couple of weeks, information has been leaking out that the University of Maine administration has plans to cancel Maine Day with minimal regards to student input. 

In a Faculty Senate Meeting on Sept. 14, there were discussions surrounding the future of Maine Day and the possibility of canceling it entirely. However, while there were discussions, it seems as though the administration’s actions are more performative than anything since it’s clear their minds have already been made up. The Student Senate was informed this was happening by an advisor, but were told there was little they could do about it. By the time they were informed, the administration was already far along in their discussions.  

This decision also includes plans to make classes mandatory to discourage students from partying. UMaine received complaints from the Ave last year about the number of intoxicated students that were partying there on Maine Day. 

President Kate Kemper of the Honors Student Advisory Board explains the administration’s safety concerns that are supposedly the reason behind the canceling of Maine Day. 

“There were around 40 hospital transports last Maine Day, mostly related to alcohol consumption. Additionally, enrollment in volunteering was at an all-time low this past Maine Day, which is what the day was originally supposed to be for,” Kemper said.

Multiple sources have said that these safety concerns partly stem from videos the Ave showed the Faculty Senate of students partying during last year’s Maine Day. It is unclear whether these videos were shown to the Student Senate when they were informed of this decision. 

The safety concerns may be warranted, however, canceling Maine Day is not going to stop people from partying. Most students aren’t going to forfeit a traditionally free day off at the very end of the semester just because UMaine makes classes mandatory. If anything, they are more likely to skip class just to spite the decision. 

If UMaine does make classes mandatory on Maine Day, does that mean that professors could get in trouble if they decided not to hold class? 

Maine Day takes place on the last Wednesday of the spring semester, acting as a final push before the end of the year. While many students may not help in the service, students still enjoy the day off at the end of a long year. Many students can spend their time studying for finals or hanging out with friends before going home for the summer. 

Supposedly, the amount of volunteering on Maine Day has been decreasing. However, it coincides with the Maine Day Meal Packout and Maine Day of Giving as part of the service aspect of the day. 

Last year WABI reported on Maine Day since it was the first Maine Day back since COVID-19 and included some statistics on the volunteer efforts. 

“Over in the Memorial Gym, volunteers prepared about $15,000 worth of food for local pantries as part of the annual Maine Day Meal Packout,” WABI said. “The university raised more than $2.5 million in the days leading up to it [as part of the Maine Day of Giving].” 

Even if the number of people volunteering has decreased, raising that much money helps such a large amount of people. If UMaine cancels Maine Day, it seems like it has the potential to hurt a lot more people that are relying on these services than the people canceling it would help. UMaine wants to understandably stop students from getting injured due to intoxication and related injuries, but stopping Maine Day won’t stop the partying. However, it will impact the people that the Maine Day services have traditionally assisted. 

In fact, Maine Day has a long history at UMaine.

“The first Maine Day on May 1, 1935 was intended to lessen the rivalry between first-year and sophomore students; they planted trees and painted fences. Reginald Naugler was elected the first campus mayor,” the UMaine website says. “Classes with three or more weekly meetings are canceled to allow students to participate in volunteerism. Other Maine Day traditions include a campuswide barbecue, parade and games, including Oozeball — mud volleyball.” 

The website has a compilation of pictures from various Maine Days across the years of people participating in service, hanging out and having fun. Some of the pictures include people doing activities like cleaning the cannons and sweeping the sidewalks. Most current students don’t participate in these types of activities, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t interested in service. Perhaps it just means UMaine is stuck in the past by trying to get students to follow outdated traditions when there’s an easier way to get students to do service than canceling Maine Day and making classes mandatory. 

When asked about the decision, the Student Government President Alyssa Ciasullo described why she thinks UMaine is considering canceling Maine Day.

“It is really a safety issue with Maine Day, not just that the school hates Maine Day. Because so many people at the school love Maine Day, and regardless of if classes are canceled or not there will still be service activities. The service is not going away, I’ll say that,” Ciasullo said.

However, it is even more unlikely that students will attend service events if classes are mandatory. Most students won’t want to spend extra time that they could be spending hanging out outside with friends doing volunteer work. And if there are classes, students who want to party aren’t even going to consider volunteering because they wouldn’t have time for classes, volunteering and partying. That’s if they go to class to begin with. 

Students may not all like Maine Day for the original reasons the day was started for, but they still love it regardless. UMaine seems to be in very serious discussions to cancel it, or at the very least, make classes that day mandatory. The worst part about this whole situation; they decided not to include students in these discussions. 

According to multiple sources, the meeting where canceling Maine Day was discussed happened over the summer when there was no student representative at the meeting. Importantly, there is always supposed to be a student representative at these meetings to ensure the faculty is taking student voices into consideration with their decisions. 

In addition to this, when they informed the Student Senate officers that this was in their discussions, they gave them very few details about their future plans. It seems like some of the general Senators don’t know about this news and next to no students in the general student body know as well. 

“We did have a discussion in [our] senate, and we addressed the concerns that the school has. We voiced our opinions, and we really did everything that we could. It is really in the students hands now,” Ciasullo said. “We are really trying to put students’ voices in the conversation, as [the] student government.”

There are members of the Faculty Senate who aren’t comfortable sharing any information until the President’s Office releases a statement. However, at the moment, it doesn’t appear likely they will release a statement any time soon. 

Very few people know about this plan, let alone have information about it. An officer in the Honors Student Advisory Board privately reached out to share information they knew.

“The administration is in discussions to get rid of Maine Day and is very much leaning towards scrapping it, without student input or letting the students know. There was one comment made at a student gov meeting by the advisor ‘announcing it’ … They’ve been in discussions all summer, with no student voice,” our anonymous student representative said. 

Why is this a topic UMaine is keeping so under wraps that even student representatives know next to nothing about it? Are they so scared that there will be pushback from students that they don’t even want to release the information to us?

Along with this, the Faculty Senate is supposed to post meeting minutes so the whole UMaine community is able to see what is discussed and decided upon when they meet. However, there are still no meeting minutes posted from either meetings from this year, Sept. 14 and Oct. 12, where this issue was allegedly discussed. 

If there are legitimate safety concerns, wouldn’t it make more sense to address those to the student body instead of secretly canceling one of the only days every year that is dedicated to service and fun with the UMaine community?

Ciasullo talked about what students can do about this issue.

“Talk to the student government. Tell us about your concerns and we will voice them. Vice President Bray and I meet with Dean Dana regularly and we see Lauri Sidelko every week. We can talk about it with [the] administration and we can always relay student’s voices,” Ciasullo said.

For whatever reason, the administration doesn’t seem to want the student body to know what’s going on. This makes it all the more imperative that students voice their opinions and concerns on something as big and important as Maine Day.  

Oct. 19, 2022 Correction: There was a change made to Student Government President Alyssa Ciasullo’s title as she is the vice president of student senate, not the president, as originally written.

Last Sunday, Sept. 11, 2022, was the end of Rush Week for the University of Maine’s sororities. Lots of Greek life could be seen on the University Mall and around the Memorial Union for the majority of the day as they concluded the traditions and rituals of Rush Week. According to the university website, Greek life has existed at UMaine since 1874. There are 16 fraternities and eight sororities with about 13% of undergraduates participating in Greek life. 

Despite this statistic, there still tends to be negative stigmas associated with it. Often, these correlate to somewhat serious accusations, such as the attacks on Greek life for hazing as well as transphobia and homophobia. As a member of the LGBTQ+ community, I know I am a little more wary of people who are part of a fraternity or sorority because there seems to be a higher possibility of them not being accepting of my sexuality or gender. While some stigmas do have some merit, there are definitely people in Greek life who are just as supportive of the community as people not participating. 

Other people say they don’t want to join a sorority or fraternity because they don’t want to have to pay for their friends, or they don’t want to be surrounded by college students who love to party a lot. 

With all of these assumptions and negative stigma around Greek life, why do so many people choose to participate? 

For some, it’s because of legacy. Maybe their parents were a part of Greek life and they want to participate as well. For others, it’s because of the opportunities these chapters provide. Certain houses focus a lot on leadership or service that have the potential to look great on a resume. 

Not all fraternities or sororities are the stereotypical frat house party or their members the stereotypical party animals. According to an article in GreekU, there are five different types of greek organizations, and every fraternity or sorority falls into one of these categories. They are: social, service, professional, honors and religion/ethics. 

Most sororities and fraternities fall under the social category, which is often the stereotypical party house. This is also where most of the negative stigmas start. However, the other four categories are often forgotten about by a lot of people not connected with Greek life. Not all of these houses are based on gender either. There are some fraternities that accept anyone who wants to join. These types of houses often don’t have as severe problems with hazing, Title IX reports or overt sexism or trans/homophobia. But because of the organizations that do, the entire system seems to get a bad reputation. 

While there are some houses that have problems that should be addressed, not all houses fall under this umbrella. This is perhaps the biggest reason people choose to go Greek. This is the easiest way to find like minded people who understand you and will help you through college. And what is college if not getting your degree and finding people you feel like you truly belong with?

During Disney’s D23 Expo, information was released about the new live action “Little Mermaid.” During the event the trailer was well received, but the trailer on Youtube received millions of dislikes. 

Over the course of the two weeks since the trailer’s been released, the backlash against it has only increased, with a heavy amount of racist remarks and attacks toward the decision to cast a Black lead for the role of Ariel. 

Halle Bailey was announced as the actress playing Ariel in July of 2019. While the decision received some pushback at the time, it wasn’t until the trailer released that millions of people started hating on the fact that Ariel is played by a Black actress. 

A Forbes article from September 14 includes tweets discussing this backlash. These include quotes from people explaining why the backlash against Bailey is racist and the original tweets. It also included videos of young Black girls watching the trailer and reacting to the representation of seeing a princess who looks like them on screen. 

People are claiming they’re upset the new Ariel isn’t white because she was white in the original animation. Other people have been hitting back on this attitude in the past few days. 

“People are mad that The Little Mermaid is Black? The lady who is also a fish? Who lives under the sea? Whose best friend is a talking crab?” Lynda Carter said on her Twitter.

Other people mentioned on Twitter their thoughts on the casting.  

“The original The Little Mermaid is a queer man’s self-insertion character, longing to be able to be in a relationship with another man, and at the end the mermaid dies. You don’t care about the original, mate,” Nome said. 

“I’m not a fan of Disney’s live action remakes, but The Little Mermaid trailer is pissing off racist idiots while making black girls happy and I’m all for that,” Zachary Burnett said. 

As part of the response from the release of the trailer, parents have been posting videos of young Black girls and their reactions to the trailer. It’s so pure watching young girls see a princess that looks like them and feel like they can relate to her in a way they can’t to white princesses. What does it matter if Ariel is a different race than the animation if it’s going to help so many young people, regardless of their gender? If it bothers you, you don’t have to watch it and can instead watch the other live actions with white actresses. 

There are also several people showing screenshots of the likes versus dislikes on different live action teasers and how they differ from the movies with white actresses, like “Cinderella,” or even movies with actresses the same race as the original animation like in “Mulan” and “Aladdin.” “The Little Mermaid” seems to be the only one getting the level of hate it’s been getting because Disney cast a Black actress. 

I personally am not a huge fan of the live action Disney remakes, as a lot of people seem to be, but I think it’s amazing that the producers chose an actress based on her ability and qualifications instead of race. And, as many people are pointing out, these movies are made for children and not for adults to nitpick over.

When students came back to campus this fall, they learned that the Wells Dining Hall had been closed and the entire building was in the process of being transitioned into a conference center. However, many students didn’t know this until they stepped foot back onto the campus. 

Recorded in a news article on Nov. 2021, President Joan Ferrini-Mundy announced that the student population reached a record high. While the incoming class this fall is smaller than previous classes, there are still around 4,000 students on campus that need to eat somewhere. The same Bangor Daily News article also cites a decline in workers, which is the reason the Oakes Room in Fogler Library closed despite it also being a favorite of students. 

Last year, Hilltop Dining often had lines extending out of the building around 5 p.m. when most students were waiting to eat dinner. This year, the lines are even longer and students are more likely to encounter a line at all times of the day. York Dining was usually known for being a little less crowded since there are fewer dorms surrounding that dining hall. However, this year, York also has frequent lines with students struggling to find places to sit. The Bear’s Den is also facing similar problems with up to a 30 to 45 minute wait for food around noon and no places to sit. Every human needs to eat and many students don’t have any option but to eat on campus. 

This alone is a problem, but there are other repercussions as well. One is accessibility. Students with disabilities may not be able to wait in long lines daily to be able to eat. Other students may avoid the dining halls because of sound issues. Last year, Wells was often a quieter option to eat at since all the tables weren’t in one large room. This is a helpful solution for students with high anxiety, sound processing issues, or even deafness who can’t handle high sound environments. Now, those students have no other choice but to eat at overly-crowded dining halls. It’s even possible these students are choosing not to eat because of the environment in the dining halls. 

There are also problems surrounding dietary concerns. People with dietary restrictions may have a harder time finding food to fit their restrictions. Last year, the dining halls didn’t have many vegetarian options and even fewer that were vegan or gluten free. It’s unlikely this has changed much now that there are only two dining halls. 

On a slightly different note, this is also an example of the University of Maine’s lack of transparency in communicating with students about what is happening on campus. Every student receives surveys through their email claiming that the university wants to know what the student body thinks. However, the topics never include things that affect most of the students such as the closure of a whole dining hall.  

UMaine seems to be changing a lot around campus and is expecting the student body to just deal with it. If they really care what we think, why not ask about things that most students actually have opinions about? Are they scared we’re not going to like the plans they’re making for us? Or perhaps we’ll actually take a stand in what we want as students of this university?

On the morning of August 24, 2022, the University of Maine completed its work on a new engineering building. This new building, called the Ferland Engineering Education and Design Center, is the new home of the Department of Mechanical Engineering, the Biomedical Engineering Program, and also includes teaching laboratories for the Mechanical Engineering Technology Program. At the unveiling UMaine President Joan Ferrini-Mundy made remarks about her thoughts on the new building. 

“This state-of-the-art center at our R1 university will allow us to produce more engineering and computing and information science professionals that Maine needs to grow its economy and be competitive in the world,” Ferrini-Mundy said. “This facility is a tribute to the forward thinking and leadership of three Legislatures and two Governors on behalf of the people of Maine and stakeholders who know the value of a UMaine education and hands-on research learning and the difference it makes in the success of its students, alumni and the state.” 

Some might say that the engineering department gets a new building because it’s the biggest department on campus and it brings in the most money to UMaine. While this may be true, what does it say to potential students? Does it say we are open to anyone and everyone no matter what you study? Or does it say we prefer it if you were in majors that monetarily benefit the university the most?

Some engineering students are excited about Ferland and the new equipment it gives them. Even though not all engineers will be using the building they’re still excited about the opportunities it gives. 

The total amount spent on this new building is $78 million. In July of last year, the University also declared that they were going to be spending $17 million to convert two of the oldest buildings on campus, Coburn and Holmes Halls, into hotels. Last February, the University declared a historic $500 million plan to completely renovate the athletic facility over the course of the next ten to twelve years. This plan aims to renovate every aspect of the current facility as well as building two completely new buildings. 

I’m a liberal arts student, which means that all of my departments are rather small. There’s roughly 3,000 students, both graduate and undergraduate, in the college. However, it would be nice if we were paid attention to even half as much as some of the majors, and I know a lot of other liberal arts students would agree. 

Liberal arts students have classes in some of the older buildings on campus like the Stevens buildings. Center Stevens was built in 1924, and the three were renamed after the other two were built. James Stevens, who the buildings are named after, actually established the university’s college of engineering before becoming the first dean of the college of arts and sciences.

Since they were built in the 1920s, they don’t have the accommodations that more modern buildings do. Some of these accommodations are simple things like having elevators and bathrooms on every floor. In South Stevens, the anthropology building, there is no elevator and the only bathroom in the entire three-floor building is in the basement. One of the professors broke her tibia last semester and was unable to come to class and teach because of the lack of accessibility in the building. This led to other professors teaching her classes with less than stellar results. 

On top of this, building materials containing asbestos and lead have been identified in buildings on campus built before 1980. So far, nothing besides identification and monitoring has been done about this. 

There are less than 600 student athletes currently at UMaine, which is a smaller percentage of students that are benefiting from “[a] historic $500 million investment in Maine and its people.” than the new engineering building UMaine built. Whereas the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences doesn’t have enough funding to provide for students with disabilities or make sure the buildings are free from asbestos and lead.  

While I’m happy the engineering students get a beautiful new building, and the student athletes are getting a whole new athletic facility, I wish that the university would spare a little time, money and attention on the liberal arts. Even just to make sure we have the appropriate accommodations for those with disabilities or, like our professor, if someone happens to get injured and is unable to climb stairs.