July 2025 | The Aux Line

July 15, 2025 News

The Aux Line | July 2025

Your monthly connection to Auxiliary Enterprises

Thanks for All You Do — Here’s to a Great Start!

Dear Team,

June Student Orientation flashed by, and with it comes the excitement of a new academic year as we welcome the Class of 2029! It’s such a great time—full of energy, new faces, and fresh beginnings. Walking through the CCA tabling areas on the third floor, everyone was welcoming. The families were enjoying the upbeat atmosphere you’ve helped create. The friendly smiles, helpful conversations, and positive energy really set the tone for our incoming students and their families. You make a difference from the very first moment they step on campus.

As we open this next chapter here at the University, I want to take a moment to say thank you. Your hard work and enthusiasm over the past year have helped us support our students in meaningful ways. I’m truly appreciative of all that you bring to our community. Looking ahead, I’m confident that the upcoming year will bring new opportunities and continued success. I’m grateful to have each of you on the team.

Here’s to another great year ahead!

With appreciation,
Dick Young

Printing Services gets new name

Printing Services has changed its name to Graphic Print Solutions. The name change reflects its dedication to innovation and acknowledges the work that extends beyond traditional printing.

Spring semester highlights

Support for UMaine Machias

  • Printing Services, University Promotions and Events & Hospitality supported the ribbon-cutting event at UMaine Machias.

2025 Commencement

  • Printing Services produced the annual program University Bookstore managed a popup site at Cross Insurance Center
  • Participated in the Hearty Maine Farewell, Saturday of weekend

Intern Housing Program launched

  • Events & Hospitality launched its first summer of intern housing at DTAV — nearly at capacity
  • Supports employers including
    Target & Bangor Savings

Dining Improvements

  • Starbucks opened in the fall
  • Swirl opened April 2025 in old Union Central
  • Hilltop Dining improvements to Deli and Salad bar (April)

Congrats to Sean Sibley

  • Northern Light Primary Care, University of Maine’s Dr. Sean Sibley ’14, ’15 C.G.S., ’18G, ’19 C.G.S., ’24 Ph.D. received the 2025 Alumni Association Spirit of Maine Achievement Award Recipient.

Celebrating our staff

  • Auxiliary staff donated food and supplies for the Animal Orphanage in Old Town in memory of custodian Kurt Francis. The donations were dropped off in May. (Photo by Lauryn Roy)

New Student Orientation highlights

Incoming students attended

Welcome packets printed & packed

Students stayed in residence halls

$25 Bookstore coupons spent

Mobile MaineCards procured

Destination UMaine BINGO cards done

Smores kits & fried dough eaten

Information tables in CCA Info Fair

Custodians cleaned & prepped student rooms

July health tip – Keep ticks at bay

By Sarah Stewart, DO, Northern Light Primary Care, UMaine

Despite the rain we’re seeing, we are seeing ticks here in the clinic! Ticks are a large cause of anxiety for many people so let’s review some of the medical aspects of how to prevent (or what to do when you have) a tick bite.

In medicine the best course of action is always prevention. Ticks like wooded/brush/high grass areas and leaf litter which describes a lot of our yards or preferred area for evening strolls.


  • Walk in the center of trails, wear full coverage clothing with elastic at the sleeves and ankles and clothing can be treated with 0.5% permethrin.
  • When you get home check clothes and pets immediately for ticks, shower within two hours of coming indoors and do a full body check (don’t forget the belly button!).


Even doing everything right one of those tiny ticks may still get by undetected. If that happens and you have concerns, call your primary care provider.
These are the questions you’ll likely be asked:

  • Do you know if it was a deer tick?
  • Was it attached between 24 and 48 hours and did you remove it within the last 72 hours?
  • Was it engorged?


If the answers to all was “yes” then you would qualify for a one-time dose of doxycycline to try and prevent Lyme disease if you are not allergic, over the age of 8 and not pregnant or breast feeding. It does not protect against other tick-borne illnesses and not 100% for Lyme so still monitor for unexplained rashes, fever, joint aches and fatigue for 30 days.

The Cooperative Extension tick lab is an amazing resource. If you have your tick tested and it is positive for tick borne disease we would not start a full course of treatment preventatively.
However, should you become symptomatic that is useful for which treatment we should start.
Get out there and enjoy the (hopefully) beautiful Maine summer that is coming!

Activities in July

Orono Farmer’s Market
Tuesday, 2–5:30 p.m. & Saturday, 8 a.m.–Noon
Steam Plant Parking Lot, Orono
Info: oronofarmersmarket.org

Versant Astronomy Center
Fridays and Sundays
Versant Astronomy Center, Rangeley Rd.
Phone: 207.581.3743
Admission varies

Zillman Art Museum
Tuesday–Saturday, 10 a.m.–5 p.m.
40 Harlow Street, Bangor
Info: zam.umaine.edu
Admission: Free

Rogers Farm Field Day
July 16, 2–5 p.m.
Rogers Farm, 914 Bennoch Road, Old Town
Admission: Free

IMRC Center tour
July 22, 9–10 a.m., Stewart Hall
Phone: 207.581.4390

Heavy Metal at the
Maine Forest & Logging Museum
July 26, 10 a.m.–3 p.m.
262 Government Rd., Bradley
Info: maineforestandloggingmuseum.org/events
Admission: $10 for adults; $5 for kids 3 to 17

Employee profile: Donna Dupuis, Business Support Services

Donna’s Story: A Lifetime of Dedication at the University of Maine

by Debra Bell
Contributions from Bre Bray

Sometimes our jobs that we start at the beginning of our career lead to amazing growth and opportunities.

In the summer of 1983, Donna Dupuis walked into the basement of York Hall at the University of Maine to begin her first day as a bookkeeper for the Campus Living department — now Auxiliary Enterprises. There were no computers, just ledgers, typewriters, and handwritten entries. It was humble, meticulous work, but for Donna it wasn’t just a job. It was a first step.

What followed was a remarkable four-decade journey — one defined by perseverance, growth, and a quiet but unwavering determination to rise.
Donna’s career path wasn’t driven by ambition for titles alone, but by a deep-rooted drive to learn and lead. From Campus Living, she moved on to the Agricultural Experiment Station, then to the Alumni Association, and later returned to the department that had first welcomed her. With each step, she earned promotions through hard work and a willingness to teach herself everything she needed to succeed — including how to navigate new technology that reshaped her field. Donna transitioned from manual ledgers to complex digital systems, often learning them on her own time.

By 2007, she had climbed to the position of Assistant Director of Finance for Auxiliary Services — a leadership role that she held with pride until her retirement in 2025. Throughout her tenure, Donna became a cornerstone of the university’s financial operations, known not only for her competence but for her consistency, loyalty, and deep institutional knowledge.

But Donna’s story isn’t just one of career success — it’s one of resilience and love.

Born and raised in Old Town, Maine, she left home at 18 for New Hampshire with little more than a suitcase and a dream. A bookkeeping job came within days, and soon after, a serendipitous visit from her sister reconnected her with someone from her hometown — a man she’d later marry and raise two children with. Tragically, she lost her husband unexpectedly in 2004, a life-altering moment that she and her children endured with strength and unity.

Today, Donna is a proud mother and grandmother. Her grandson, Drake, lights up her weekends, which are often filled with laughter, family meals, and the joyful chaos of having loved ones close. She now lives in a cozy home in Eddington, where she’s tending to her garden, dreaming up retirement projects, and finally finding time for herself after decades of service.

Retirement, she says, feels like turning the page to a new chapter — one filled with purpose, but on her own terms. In May 2025, just days after retiring, she and her family celebrated with a well-earned vacation to Florida — the fourth annual trip in what’s become a cherished tradition.

Donna never expected to stay at UMaine for over 40 years. But looking back, every step — from the York Hall basement to her final day as Assistant Director — was part of a story shaped by grit, heart, and the power of staying true to one’s values. Hers is a legacy that will remain etched in the halls she helped keep running all those years — a quiet, steady force behind the scenes.

Bear Necessities Fan Shop
summers at University Bookstore

Looking for Fan Gear? Pop on down to University Bookstore and shop at Bear Necessities @
The Union. This space will hold the fan shop until its new store is ready to move into at Alfond Arena.

Have something to share?

Send news and submissions to debra.bell@maine.edu or send mail to Hilltop, Room 103K.

Celebrating our 2025 retirees

Mark Boyorak, Printing Services
Alvin Myers, Housing Services
Donna Dupuis, Business Services

Welcomed in 2025

UMaine Dining
Jordan Sanchez
Delbis Castillo
Gennadii Dudnik
Shirley Nicolar
Scott Stoll
Riley Dill
Justin Kinney
Jeffrey Snader
Chaolang Dai
David McDougal-Orasco
Violet Armistead

Children’s Center
Alexis Gerry
Kaneshia Dube

Housing
Fabio Campos Alves

Northern Light Primary Care, UMaine
Stephanie LaChance, PMHNP
Jamie Hight, PAC
Emma Sirois, CMA
Vito Inman, CMA
Jessica Pilcher, LCSW

UVAC receives national recognition
for excellence in campus EMS

The University Volunteer Ambulance Corps (UVAC) at the University of Maine has been awarded the “Striving for Excellence in Campus EMS” recognition by the National Collegiate Emergency Medical Services Foundation (NCEMSF). UVAC is one of three organizations nationwide to receive this honor, chosen from a pool of 103 applicants.
This recognition highlights exceptional performance in key areas such as delivery of care, training, continuing education and service to the community. They will be recognized as a qualified program in these areas for four years.
UVAC’s application was written by Christian Butler in collaboration with chief of service Aiden Koplovsky and other members of the team.