Clarence Cook Little

UMaine Alert

Posted: April 19, 2024 - 1:32 PM

At approximately 9:24 a.m. on Friday, April 19, a University of Maine graduate student was struck by a university vehicle on Long Road at the University of Maine campus in Orono. The student reports that they are at a local hospital with minor injuries.

Emergency services, including the Orono Fire Department, University Volunteer Ambulance Corps, University of Maine Police Department, Orono Police Department and Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.

The university vehicle involved in the incident was a Chevrolet Express van. It was being operated by a university employee.

Counseling services and support are available for students, faculty or staff who may have been affected. The Counseling Center can be reached at 207-581-1392 and the Dean of Students Office can be reached at 207-581-1406.

The scene has been cleared and Long Road is now accessible. An investigation is being conducted by the University of Maine Police Department with assistance from the Penobscot County Sheriff’s Office Crash Reconstruction Unit. Any witnesses to the incident are encouraged to contact Lt. Noel Santiago at noel.santiago@maine.edu.

Clarence Little Took Office: Apr 8, 1922; Left Office: Aug 31, 1925

C.C. Little, a Harvard-trained scientist and researcher who went on to found the prestigious Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, is credited with elevating the status of liberal studies at the University of Maine and obtaining the funding to build Stevens Hall, and the Memorial Gym and Field House. During his administration, a Phi Beta Kappa chapter was established on campus. He appointed the university’s first dean of graduate study and its first dean of women. Under his leadership, UMaine was among the first institutions in the nation to pioneer “Freshman Week” — a planned orientation for first-year students that now is standard at schools across the nation. Little went head-to-head with the Maine legislature in an attempt to raise the university’s standing in legislative funding priorities, supporting a property tax system that would automatically direct funding each year to the university instead of relying on year-by-year appropriations. Maine adopted the mill tax system after Little moved on from UMaine in 1925 to accept the presidency of the University of Michigan. In 1929, Little returned to Maine to found the Roscoe B. Jackson Memorial Laboratory in Bar Harbor, now The Jackson Laboratory. In 1954, he became the director of the Tobacco Industry Research Committee. Little, who completed undergraduate and graduate degrees at Harvard University, died in 1971 at the age of 83. Clarence Cook Little Hall, dedicated in 1965, is named in his honor.