Just the other day, I experienced an unexpected but exhilarating moment at an Old Port coffee shop.

I was waiting to complete my coffee order with a member of the USM faculty when the young man at the cash register asked, “Are you the president of USM?” “Yes,” I answered, “Are you a student at USM?”

“Yes,” he responded, “I am a part-time music student,” and then he exclaimed, “President Botman, can we talk about Egypt? What will happen to the protesters if President Mubarak doesn’t step down? What will the future of Egypt look like? How did this remarkable revolution take place?”

And the conversation continued from there.

Connecting with students is the stuff of universities. It is the thrill associated with the power of ideas. As a university president, I still maintain a scholarly interest in my own discipline, Egypt, and have spent the past three weeks thinking about and commenting on the Egyptian people’s revolution.

Reflecting on the historic, momentous events in the Middle East has given me both joy and immeasurable satisfaction.

Aspiring university faculty spend years in graduate school learning an academic discipline. They devote a lifetime to conducting research on topics associated with their scholarly specialty.

Faculty members are passionate about the intellectual and artistic work they undertake, devoted to their fields of study, and enthusiastic about transmitting their knowledge, creativity and experience to others. What makes a university great is the expertise of its faculty.

Events in Egypt have captivated many here in Maine and across the United States.

In response, I have been able to offer my own academic expertise through the media to help Mainers understand a momentous political event that unfolded at breakneck pace.

However, media commentary is necessarily concise.

On Tuesday from noon to 3 p.m. in the Woodbury Student Center on our Portland campus, USM is holding a public symposium, “Egypt Now,” in order to provide a more in-depth, comprehensive discussion of the issues and events involved.

USM’s Reza Jalali and I will be contributing to a panel discussion that includes USM Professor of Criminology Dusan Bjelic, USM Professor of History Eileen Eagan, the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute’s Kathleen Sutherland, Professor of Religion Robert Morrison from Bowdoin College, and Danny Muller, East Coast coordinator of the Middle East Children’s Alliance.

I invite you to take advantage of this stimulating opportunity to deepen your understanding of this profound event in Middle Eastern history.

When events that can shape the course of human history and impact the world’s economy occur, this public university has an obligation to put its intellectual capital at the disposal of the public. While our students have ready access to faculty expertise, you can also depend on USM to advance public understanding of complex international issues.

As a graduate student and a young professor, I found my scholarly home in Middle Eastern studies. Learning Arabic so that I could conduct advanced studies literally changed my cultural consciousness forever.

There is not a day in my life as president of USM that I do not benefit from the intellectual skills I developed as a result of my rigorous training in the liberal arts and sciences.

What makes a university tick is the interchange between the teacher/researcher and his or her students.

Faculty are a university’s greatest resource, and students blossom in unexpected ways as a result of their intellectual encounters with their professors.

Studying the culture and the history of a country with a doctorally trained faculty member makes a student the beneficiary of the riches available from advanced scholarship and research.

Working alongside a science faculty member in a lab engages a student in the advance of human understanding that simply cannot be duplicated through a lecture or an assigned reading.

A university education develops intellectual skills and disciplinary practices that equip students for careers in the global marketplace and for responsible citizenship in an ever-changing world.

When highly trained, research-active faculty impart their expertise in the classroom, studio or the laboratory, something remarkable happens. A new generation takes up the challenge of better understanding the world and applying knowledge to the puzzles and pressing questions that affect the human experience.

As you follow the events sweeping across the Middle East or the discoveries of science in the days ahead, know that we at USM are also engaging them from an array disciplinary perspectives.

Want some expert insight into the world? You will find it among USM’s faculty.

Selma Botman is president of the University of Southern Maine. She can be contacted at:

sbotman@usm.maine.edu