by Professor Jen Lynds, Advisor

Belen Dougherty, editor of The University Times, received The University Times Advisor’s Award at the University of Maine at Presque Isle Awards Ceremony on April 27, 2025.

Bestowed upon the editor of the newspaper, Dougherty was editor of the publication for two semesters. She steered the paper through its transition from print to fully digital.

Professor Lynds wrote the following statement about Dougherty: “Founded in 1981, The University Times began a print publication. Student journalists reported on faculty and student research, campus life, athletics, and news in that format. I encouraged the student journalists at the UTimes to convert the paper into a fully digital format when I evolved into the advisor in 2023. Belen served as editor, and they accepted the assignment. It was challenging from the outset. We encountered technical difficulties, funding issues, and criticism from those who claimed that we would never achieve our objectives. 

Belen’s pen did not pause. She edited out the obstacles. She revised the notion that “this is how it’s always been.”
She erased the fear of change.

She and the UTimes staff wrote another ending for The University Times—one that wasn’t bound by paper but driven by purpose.

With her leadership, the UTimes found new life online. Belen and the staff transitioned the paper into a modern, digital platform—one that reflects the voices of our campus in real time. 

In my English classes every semester, I conduct a writing challenge once accepted by Ernest Hemingway and then brought to the masses by the editors of Smith Magazine.

I challenge students to write their memoirs in six words. This is always the favorite writing assignment of the semester.  Students have written everything from, “Failed Biology. Dating My Lab Partner!” to “Once Ate Crayons: Now Art Major.”

Belen was a student in my English 121 class, and I wish I had saved her six-word memoir. In hindsight, the situation presents an opportunity for me to compose a six word memoir for her: “Faced doubt. Led change. Created legacy.”