Dear UMPI Community,
I have had the opportunity to speak with many of you since last week’s elections and the range of responses to it, regardless of how you felt about its outcomes. The subsequent intolerant incidents that have occurred on some campuses around the country provide an opportunity for the University of Maine at Presque Isle to reaffirm its commitment to respectful dialgoue, human dignity and social justice. It is also crucial that we continue to support free speech on our campus. At UMPI, we believe in the transformative power of education to create a just and humane world. Just as importantly, we affirm that we are collectively responsible for establishing and maintaining a community that provides a welcome, supportive, and responsive climate for all students, faculty, and staff.
As an advocate of free speech, the university both encourages and seeks to protect the free and peaceful discussion and advocacy of issues and ideas. We understand—and teach—the importance of recognizing all viewpoints and are committed to providing opportunities for mutually respectful discourse and dialogue. Your thoughtfulness toward and appreciation of the range of views on campus, your civil discourse, and your openness to sharing your hopes and concerns all reinforce these core values.
At the same time, we recognize the need to provide a campus and develop a community that is safe, welcoming, and respectful to all its members. We further recognize that people cannot fully engage and thrive at an institution that fails to welcome and support them. Hence, as faculty and staff and administrators, we are committed to listening and responding to anything that interferes with your success at UMPI.
To help us accomplish this, we remind all of our community members to observe our Freedom of Speech and Assembly Policy (attached) and Conduct Code (also attached). Should you need campus resources to address any issues related to this, please contact Doug Hise, our Senior HR Business Partner (AA/EEO, Title IX), at 768-9551 or douglas.hise@maine.edu; James Stepp, Dean of Students, at 768-9601 or james.stepp@maine.edu; or Mary Kate Barbosa, Director of Student Support Services, at 768-9613 or mary.barbosa@maine.edu. I am always available for any further discussion, whether it be via email, in person, or by phone.
Most importantly, my thanks to everyone for your continuing efforts, in so many ways, to making this a more just and humane community for us all.
Ray Rice
For a copy of the Student Code of Conduct please refer to : http://www.umpi.edu/static/neasc/Standard%206/Student%20Conduct%20Code.pdf
For a copy of the UMPI Freedom of Speech policy please refer to page 34 of the following link: http://www.umpi.edu/static/neasc/Standard%205/Faculty%20Handbook,%202013.pdf
