Dear Campus Community,

As a new semester begins, I wish to highlight an especially important issue for the University of Maine at Presque Isle as well as all universities across the country: preventing sexual assault and all forms of sexual violence and discrimination.

It is estimated that nationally one in five women and one in six men are sexually assaulted during their college years. Sexual violence can impact anyone regardless of age, race, ethnicity, gender or sexual orientation. In a great majority of the cases, individuals are assaulted by someone they know and even trust, whether as an acquaintance, classmate, friend, or partner. Nine out of ten survivors know their attacker. And of those assaults, only 10% are reported.

UMPI is committed to fostering a diverse, inclusive, supportive, safe, and nondiscriminatory environment in which all students, faculty, staff, and campus visitors feel valued and respected. We do not tolerate violence, harassment, retaliation, or any form of discrimination. Our campus policies expressly prohibit sexual assault, sexual misconduct, stalking, harassment, relationship violence, and discrimination.

We are increasing educational programming, enhancing our resources and support systems, revising and clarifying policies and procedures, and as part of a broader University of Maine System effort will be implementing a campus-wide climate survey this spring.

Each one of us has a role in creating a caring and safe community, based on civility and respect, that is free of sexual assaults, violence, and discrimination. We must view these not simply as an issue for “others,” but one that we each play a role in preventing. Doing so means embracing the standard of affirmative consent, intervening rather than being a bystander, providing care and support to individuals in need, and reporting incidents when they occur. Below are links to our policies and resources as well as the names and contact information for our Title IX Team.

Please do not hesitate to contact any one of the individuals listed below, or myself, as to how you feel our resources and support systems can better reach everyone.

It’s on us to recognize, report, and prevent sexual assaults and all forms of sexual violence and discrimination.

To report incidents or to file a complaint, please contact a member of UMPI’s Title IX Team:  

Don Gibson
Associate Director of Residence Life
donald.gibson@maine.edu
207-768-9560

Sarah Coyer
Dean of Students
sarah.coyer@maine.edu
768-9518

Melissa DeMerchant
Human Resources Partner
melissa.demerchant@maine.edu
207-768-9462

Fred Thomas
Director of Safety and Security
frederick.thomas@maine.edu
207-768-9580

On Campus and Community Resources: