Dwight B. Demeritt University Forest

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.

Dwight B. Demeritt began working in the university’s forestry department in 1923 at the recommendation of Clarence Cook Little, who served as University of Maine president from 1922–25. Demeritt was the head of the Forestry Department from 1934–45 and vice president and woodlands manager for the Dead River Company and Eastern Corporation of Bangor until his retirement in 1963. He died in 1972. The Dwight B. Demeritt University Forest was named for Demeritt in 1971 in recognition of his work to procure the land for the University of Maine. Four tracts of government land near UMaine — almost 2,000 acres — were acquired by lease in 1939 and then by deed in 1955, with the intention of being managed by the Forestry Department.