The Mark and Emily Turner Memorial Library has a brand new outdoor reading spot on its grounds thanks to the snow cave-building skills of a University of Maine at Presque Isle faculty member and several UMPI students.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s very own Brigitte Pratt will serve as the next speaker in the 2014-2015 Distinguished Lecturer Series on Tuesday, Feb. 24, at 7 p.m., in the Campus Center. Pratt, who is the second UMPI student ever to serve as a student Distinguished Lecturer, will deliver her talk Tanzania: My Learning Safari. Her talk is free and the public is encouraged to attend the event.
Two academic programs at the University of Maine at Presque Isle are again joining forces this spring to provide the campus and community with an innovative way to explore the world of science. The Environmental Science and Sustainability and the Biology programs are again presenting a lunchtime seminar series that will provide a forum to present scientific research conducted by UMPI students and faculty as well as other local and regional scientists. This is the fourth time the two groups have hosted the series.
Space science education and cancer awareness will come together for the region’s most unique fundraiser, Planet Head Day, where participants raise money for a local cancer organization by having their heads shaved and painted as planets, dwarf planets, moons, comets and asteroids. Aroostook County’s 9th annual Planet Head Day takes place on Saturday, Feb. 14, from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. in the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Wieden Gymnasium. This not-to-be-missed event is free and the public is invited to attend.
Students, faculty and staff will be able to enjoy ice skating in the open air right on campus now that the University of Maine at Presque Isle has established a small ice skating rink behind Gentile Hall. The 30- by 60-foot rink officially opened on Feb. 5 following a short ribbon-cutting ceremony with UMPI President Linda Schott and other campus officials.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle is welcoming four new employees at the start of the Spring 2015 semester.
The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host Shakespeare LIVE!, a theater troupe that has performed for more than half a million students since its inception in 1997, for a performance of one of the Bard’s great tragedies, Macbeth, on Tuesday, Feb. 10 at 7 p.m., in the auditorium at Wieden Hall. Macbeth is one of Shakespeare’s most dark and powerful works and best experienced as the playwright intended–live on stage. The public is invited to attend this special event; $10 donations will be accepted at the door to go toward future cultural programming.
As part of its programming for Black History Month in February, the University of Maine at Presque Isle will host the Black-Jew Dialogues—a two-actor comedy that deals with prejudice and multiculturalism in an innovative way—on Wednesday, Feb. 4, at 7 p.m., in the auditorium at Wieden Hall. The show is free and the public is invited to attend (performance is rated PG-13).
Officials with the Foundation of the University of Presque Isle are pleased to announce that they have completed their efforts to totally divest from all fossil fuels. The Foundation, created to promote educational endeavors in connection with the University of Maine at Presque Isle, began this effort in Fall 2013 and completed its divestment in November 2014.
Two hundred and sixty-eight students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle have been named to the Dean’s List for the fall semester, according to Dr. Ray Rice, Provost and Vice President for Academic and Student Affairs.