The University of Maine at Presque Isle brings the editor and publisher of a Pulitzer Prize winning newspaper to the region when it hosts journalist Mike Jacobs as its second Distinguished Lecturer of the 2009-2010 academic year.

Jacobs will offer a free community workshop titled Replacing Place in Modern Communities? on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m. in the Campus Center. The next day, he will deliver a Distinguished Lecture titled Just How Anxious Are We? A Report from the Field on Media in America at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 7, in the Campus Center.

Jacobs, the editor and publisher of the Grand Forks Herald in North Dakota and the recipient of several top journalism awards, brings to these events more than 40 years of journalism experience, including the 1998 Pulitzer Prize winning coverage his North Dakota newspaper provided in the wake of flooding, a blizzard and a fire that devastated much of Grand Forks in the spring of 1997.

Officials from around the County, the State of Maine, and New England will gather at the University of Maine at Presque Isle from Wednesday, Sept. 30 to Friday, Oct. 2 for a three-day meeting centered on the University’s Project Compass grant program and its efforts to develop and improve culturally responsive strategies for its Native American students.

The event will feature a keynote address by John Bear Mitchell, the blessing of a new student center designed specifically for Native American students, and a gathering of educators and community leaders who will determine next steps for the grant program.

“This meeting marks an important milestone for the University’s Project Compass efforts and is a recognition of how hard our community of practice group has worked to bring the program to this point,” Dr. Ray Rice, who is overseeing the grant program at UMPI, said. “We are very much looking forward to the results of this gathering, and the brainstorming, idea sharing, and long range planning that will ultimately and most importantly benefit our Native American student population.”

Twelve years ago, a first-of-its-kind event was held at the former Loring Air Force Base that drew thousands of people and, for a few days, turned Limestone into the ‘largest city’ in the State of Maine. The 1997 event was called The Great Went and behind it was the American rock band Phish. The overnight-city phenomenon was repeated twice – in 1998 for the band’s Lemonwheel concert and in 2003 for the IT festival. Together, the three concerts brought more than 200,000 concertgoers to northern Maine and pumped more than $25 million into the economy. This month, a week-long event at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will be held to reflect upon the three Phish concerts held in northern Maine, the creative energy surrounding them, and their impact on Aroostook County.

The Phish Retrospective – which is being co-organized by Art Professor Anderson Giles, Cultural Affairs Director Carol Ayoob, and Reed Art Gallery Director Sandra Huck – will be held from Sept. 28 to Nov. 21. The retrospective will include a forum, a documentary film viewing, a guest lecture, and an art gallery exhibition.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle honored two alumni during its Annual Alumni Luncheon and Awards Ceremony, held as part of the University’s Homecoming 2009 activities the weekend of Sept. 18-20.

Alumna Jane White Kilcollins was honored with the Educator of the Year Award, which is presented to an alumnus/alumna who has received ongoing recognition as an outstanding educator. This recipient may also have shown active or supportive involvement with the Alumni Association, support of the university, a successful career that reflects well on the University, and outstanding leadership qualities.

Alumnus Ronald Fitzgerald received the Distinguished Alumni Award, which is presented to an alumnus/alumna who has made long-term contributions to the Alumni Association or the University, or who has received professional recognition that has reflected positively on the University.

In just two weeks, a Retrospective event – centered on the three Phish music festivals that took place in Aroostook County in 1997, 1998, and 2003 – will be held at the University of Maine at Presque Isle, and as a precursor to that event, the University will host a unique unveiling ceremony during Homecoming 2009 Weekend.

On Friday, Sept. 18 at 3:30 p.m. on the west lawn of Pullen Hall, a special ceremony will be held to unveil the IT Men – giant, 20-foot-tall, lime green traffic control figures constructed out of plywood that once stood at the concert gates of a Phish music festival. These figures have been installed on the west end of Pullen Hall in honor of the Phish Retrospective, being hosted by the Reed Art Gallery from Sept. 28 to Nov. 21.

The Retrospective – which is being co-organized by Art Professor Anderson Giles, Cultural Affairs Director Carol Ayoob, and Reed Art Gallery Director Sandra Huck – will include a forum, a documentary film viewing, guest lectures, and an art gallery exhibition.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle is hosting a jam-packed Homecoming 2009 celebration from Friday, Sept. 18 to Sunday, Sept. 20, offering everything from entertainment by a trio of comedians to a Homecoming Bazaar to socials, alumni games and the annual Hall of Fame dinner.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle is pleased to announce that it will begin its 2009-2010 University Distinguished Lecturer Series with renowned speaker Thomas King, the acclaimed novelist, short story writer, and creator of the popular CBC radio serial The Dead Dog Café Comedy Hour.

King – whose first novel Medicine River was made into a television movie that starred Native American actor Graham Greene, won Best Screenplay at the American Indian Film Festival, and was nominated for a Gemini award – will speak on issues related to the Native American experience when he delivers his talk An Evening Wasted with Thomas King at 7 p.m. on Thursday, Sept. 24 in the Campus Center.

An accomplished opera singer will pay a visit to the University of Maine at Presque Isle when she offers a matinee vocal performance on Sunday, Sept. 13 at 2 p.m. in the Campus Center.

Suzanne Nance, well-known throughout the State of Maine as music director and host of MPBN’s Morning Classical Music program, is also an experienced vocal performer who has appeared on stages in Prague, London, the Czech Republic, Philadelphia, Chicago, Boston and New York, and has appeared in operas such as Cosi fan tutte, Madama Butterfly and Little Women.

Accompanied by pianist Patricia Stowell, her recital will include Spanish Rhapsody by Franz Liszt, as well as Spanish and Gypsy songs by Rossini, de Falla, Bizet and Dvorak.