Honors College

A photo of valedictorian and salutatorian medals

UMaine names 2023 valedictorian, two salutatorians

Mechanical engineering major Lara Chern of Bow, New Hampshire is the 2023 University of Maine valedictorian. UMaine’s two 2023 salutatorians are Mikayla Reynolds of Winslow, Maine, a double major in business management and marketing, and biomedical engineering major Zoe Vittum of Brewer, Maine. The three will graduate May 6 at UMaine’s 221st commencement ceremonies.  “We […]

Read more

A photo of Lara Chern

Lara Chern: UMaine 2023 Valedictorian

Mechanical engineering major Lara Chern of Bow, New Hampshire is the 2023 University of Maine valedictorian. Chern is an Honors College student with minors in engineering leadership and management, and mathematics. She graduated from high school two years ahead of her class and enrolled at UMaine when she was 16. As a UMaine junior, she […]

Read more

Jones profiled in media for homelessness research

The Bangor Daily News and News Center Maine shared a profile of Brenna Jones, junior and Honors College student at the University of Maine, who is researching trends and proposing solutions that could help reduce homelessness in Bangor and beyond after experiencing homelessness growing up. “There are more financial and emotional resources and community in […]

Read more

BDN features UMaine student trying to recontextualize the housing crisis

The Bangor Daily News featured Brenna Jones, a University of Maine junior and McGillicuddy Humanities Center undergraduate research fellow, who is studying the housing crisis in the greater Bangor area and possible solutions. In addition to finding policy solutions to address the problem, Jones, who spent her high school years both unhoused and precariously housed, […]

Read more

Mount Desert Islander promotes Klose talk

The Mount Desert Islander promoted a talk by Robert Klose, professor in the University of Maine Honors College, about his experiences as a single adoptive father attempting a second international adoption in the shadow of 9/11 on April 20 at 7 p.m. at the Jesup Memorial Library.

Read more

Donate to the Maine Days food drive April 17–24

The Maine Days food drive will accept donations April 17–24, with collection locations in buildings across campus. The drive will be conducted in lieu of the Maine Day Meal Packout. The food collected will be distributed to food banks across several counties in Maine, as well as to the Black Bear Exchange. Sign up for […]

Read more

A photo of Brenna Jones

Brenna Jones: UMaine student recontextualizes the housing crisis 

Brenna Jones of Mount Desert, Maine, spent her high school years either unhoused or precariously housed in the greater Bangor area with little to no support from adults. At times, she lived in her car, in which she kept all of her belongings; couch-surfed or slept in dorm rooms at Husson University. She kept food […]

Read more

A photo of UMaine's Memorial Union

Meet the 2023 Outstanding Graduating Students

Twelve undergraduates have been named 2023 Outstanding Graduating Students at the University of Maine. Read their short biographies:   Mille Baartvedt Mille Baartvedt of Oslo, Norway is the Outstanding Graduating International Student in the College of Education and Human Development. The kinesiology and physical education major is a Presidential Scholar. On campus, she has worked […]

Read more

A photo of Elaine Thomas

Elaine Thomas: Outstanding Graduating Student

Elaine Thomas of Hampden, Maine is the Outstanding Graduating Student in the Honors College. She is a business administration major in management with a minor in music. The Honors College student received the 2022 John M. Rezendes Ethics Award for her first-place essay: “When We Cannot Care for Ourselves: Ethics, Interdependence, and the Moral Danger […]

Read more

‘The Maine Question’ asks how Indigenous and western knowledge can help preserve the planet

Darren Ranco has spent his life determining how to help Indigenous and non-Indigenous people protect the land they inhabit. Through his work as an anthropologist and chair of Native American Programs at the University of Maine, Ranco has studied tribal sovereignty, cultural resource protection, environmental justice and ways Native American communities can resist environmental destruction. […]

Read more