The University of Maine System (UMS) Board of Trustees (BoT) met on Nov. 17 and 18 at the Wells Conference Center on campus. The 16-member board, appointed by the Governor and approved by the Maine State Legislature, oversees UMS academic programs, faculty tenure, tuition and budgets. The public comment portion began at 9:45 a.m. and concluded around 11:30 a.m., with 21 speakers total. Eighteen of them addressed the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, while others raised concerns about student worker compensation and the allocation of funding within the UMS five-year capital plan.
Before public commentary commenced, BoT Chair Trish Riley welcomed attendees and took time to mention some positive achievements before calling for the first speaker of the morning, noting record enrollment and retention numbers from UMS.
“There’s so much good going on in this University system that we just want to take a minute to congratulate everyone for the enrollment numbers, and the very great strides in retention,” said Riley.
Riley continued by assuring attendees that the Board received and read materials from various individuals providing public commentary. The theme of commentary centered around the ongoing humanitarian crisis in Gaza. In response, Riley pre-empted the public commentary session with a reminder.
“We provided at that time [Spring 2024], a full listing of the University of Maine System’s investments in Israel in response to those inquiries…It was last spring and I know things change, but that is available and we’re more than happy to share it again,” said Riley.
Given the extent of commentary about Gaza, Riley prioritized speakers addressing other issues to group topics together. The first was Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Maine at Augusta (UMA) James Cook, who presented findings on UMA student worker pay. His report replicated a study conducted in July 2022 by UMaine Professor of Political Science Rob Glover and Alumnus Tamra Benson.
Cook’s data was gathered from surveys distributed to all UMA student employees in the spring of 2023.
“A large majority of the students there indicated agreement that they enjoy their job at the University of Maine at Augusta. But less than half indicated satisfaction with the level of pay they received working for UMA. 61% reported being paid minimum wage, and no student reported being paid more than $15.99 an hour. Of student workers with children, all but one reported being paid minimum wage,” said Cook.
Cook emphasized that student employees typically are older and do not have the same support systems as the typical college student, meaning that costs associated with supporting oneself can interfere with academic success.
“Most student workers are older than the traditional 18-21 year old age range for college students. Less than a third live with their parents, and less than a third report that someone else pays for their housing,” said Cook.
Another key comment came from fourth-year political science student Meredyth Waters, who shared her thoughts on the balance of funding allocations within the UMS five-year capital plan, which was released in late November 2024. In particular, Waters juxtaposed the lack of projects dedicated to liberal arts with STEM initiatives, which receive a significant amount of funding.
“All of the funding projects were very much aligned with STEM, and research, and stuff that I think will hurt the liberal arts programs at this university…If you go into Stevens Hall, you’re going to find the paint is falling off the walls, right? And still, yet, we are making sure that we are preparing ‘factories of the future’ and building brand new engineering buildings that are shiny and beautiful,” said Waters. “But we are leaving out a great portion of the student population when we are doing that.”
Waters acknowledged that many buildings are donor-funded and “kind of free,” but also suggested that deferred maintenance issues will ultimately lead to liberal arts students bearing the brunt of costs, given they are provided no direct value from these buildings development.
“In 40 years, we’re gonna have the same deferred maintenance problems that we do now with those buildings. And liberal arts students are going to be paying the deferred maintenance on those buildings in 40 years even though they’re free now,” said Waters. “Buildings that they don’t step foot in, buildings that don’t represent them, buildings they don’t learn in.”
The meeting ended with extensive discussion on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which many referred to as an ongoing genocide and apartheid state. They urged the Board to take immediate action by divesting from companies partnered with Israel and issuing a public statement on the conflict, similar to the Board’s stance during South African apartheid. Secondary education graduate student Ashley Hebert compared the situations in her commentary to the Board.
“I feel that the administration here has made significant progress with social issues including divestment from the fossil fuel industry. I know that we have the capacity to oppose these violations of humanitarian law as a learning community. We have passed divestment measures before, including in response to the apartheid system in South Africa,” said Hebert. “We are currently witnessing another apartheid state, and it is carrying out indiscriminate violence against civilians, the majority of which were women and children.”
Hebert continued by echoing other speakers’ concerns about scholasticide, which the organization Scholars Against the War on Palestine has defined as the systematic destruction of educational institutions and the targeting of educators and students, particularly in conflict zones.
“According to U.N. experts, as of this April, over 80% of schools have been damaged or destroyed by the Israeli assault on Gaza, with more than 5,479 students, 261 teachers and 95 university professors killed and many thousands more injured. As a future teacher and student here, it is important to see that due to the ongoing siege, the 2024 class of Gaza was unable to graduate and it is very likely that the class of 2025 will not be able to graduate either,” said Hebert.
Others emphasized the importance of divestment, including senior computer science student Lucas Bent, who illuminated future job security concerns given the current system–wide stance.
“As a senior in computer science, I’m of course looking for opportunities to work and further my career after graduation. But, as I wandered around the engineering and computing job fair this year, I felt lost. I could never work for any of those companies, nor would many of my peers. We could never knowingly work for a company which profits off of providing weapons and technology to a war machine committing human atrocities as we speak,” said Bent.
The conversation presented three primary demands for the UMS BoT moving forward. Speakers requested the Board maintain transparency by continuing to publicly disclose all investments, fully divest from Israel-based companies and those doing business with or in Israel and end partnerships with companies supplying weapons and technology used against Palestinians in Gaza.
The UMS BoT will meet again on Jan.12, 2025 at the University of Southern Maine. Those interested in watching public commentary and meeting proceedings can view all board meetings through the UMS BoT Youtube channel.
