Members of the campus and community gathered at the Owl’s Nest in the Campus Center on Thursday, March 31, for a University of Maine at Presque Isle poetry reading that welcomed spring and celebrated Women’s History Month.

Students, faculty and staff members, community members, and even an alumnae and her daughter, participated in the hour-and-a-half-long reading. The participants read poems about women, by women, and for women, as well as some that focused on the long-anticipated spring season.

Students from the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Native Voices group will host a day-long event meant to develop strong connections between higher education and the Native American/First Nations indigenous populations by setting aside a day on campus that focuses on their culture and traditions.

The group will host the Fourth Annual Native Appreciation Day from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, in Wieden Hall. All interested students, faculty, staff, and members of the general public are welcome to attend and participate in this free event, which is being supported by Project Compass.

From spiders to solving the DNA puzzle to inmate partner violence, students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will showcase their academic research, scholarly work and community service on Wednesday, April 13, during University Day. The theme of this year’s event is A Decade of Learning: Showcasing 10 Years of University Day, 2001-2011. As part of the special ten year celebration, several alumni/ae who participated in previous University Day presentations will speak about their experience and its impact on their careers.

University Day is an event that heightens students’ awareness of the work being done by peers in all of the disciplines represented on campus. The annual campus event allows students to better understand how disciplines interrelate and how the academic work they do applies to the local and global community. It is also an opportunity for students to experience a professional conference format. No regular classes are held during University Day, but in their stead, students are encouraged to attend student-led presentations and talks held during five sessions throughout the day.

During a President’s Reception held on March 31, 19 students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle received grant awards through the Student Support Services Program. Each full-time-student award was approximately $600 and will assist the students by reducing their loans.

On December 15, 2000, Section 17 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 was amended to provide grant aid for eligible TRIO Student Support Services Program (SSS) students. The respective college/university SSS Program selects the recipients and awards the grant money to eligible freshman and sophomore college students who are active participants, have successfully completed at least one semester, and are receiving Federal Pell Grants.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host the founder of an organization focused on making environmental sustainability a foundation of all learning and practice in high education as its next Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.

Dr. Anthony D. Cortese, co-founder and President of Second Nature, will speak at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in the Campus Center. His talk, The Critical Role of Higher Education in Creating a Healthy, Just and Sustainable Society, is part of the University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series and is being held in conjunction with University Day. The presentation is free and open to the public.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Fine Art Gallery and the faculty of the Fine Art Program at UMPI are pleased to announce that, for the first time ever, solo exhibitions from the 2011 Fine Art Senior Thesis Exhibitions will be hosted at the Reed Gallery.

The Pullen Gallery, which typically hosts the solo exhibitions, will be undergoing renovation work as part of a major upgrade to Pullen Hall – one of the University’s main classroom buildings – prior to the end of the academic semester. The Reed Gallery presents an excellent opportunity to allow the senior thesis exhibitions to continue as planned during the months of April and May, and for students to utilize a professional art space for their exhibitions, according to officials.

Local kids will unknowingly be getting exercise while taking part in fun activities during the 13th semi-annual Fit and Fun Day, to be held from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m. on Saturday, April 2 in Gentile Hall. The event is sponsored by the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Physical Education Majors Club.

For the past several years, the Club has organized the free play day for area children in grades 1 through 5 to teach them about health and fitness in a fun environment. Activities will include cooperative games and team building activities.

Campus and community members are invited to welcome spring and celebrate Women’s History Month when University of Maine at Presque Isle students host a poetry reading on Thursday, March 31 at Noon in the Campus Center. Refreshments will be provided and the public is invited to attend.

The event, which is being sponsored by the University’s English Program and its online journal Upcountry, is slated to feature students’ original works, as well as romantic and pastoral poems “from the Greats,” according to student organizer Candice Rivera. Rivera and fellow English major Mika Ouellette are organizing the poetry reading.

The Executive Director of the Learning Disabilities Association of Maine, Dr. Dena L. Winslow, will deliver a lecture, Unraveling the Mysteries of Learning Disabilities, at the University of Maine at Presque Isle at 7 p.m. on Monday, March 28, in the Campus Center.

Dr. Winslow will present an interactive workshop exploring the myths and realities of learning disabilities during her Monday night talk. The public is invited to attend this free event, which is being sponsored by the University’s Diversity Committee as a Diversity Awareness activity.