Charles Darwin concluded it’s not the strongest nor the most intelligent, but the most adaptable species that survives. Maine is one of two states seeing more deaths than births within their population. A recent editorial (Our View, Feb. 19) noted the University of Southern Maine has a history of changing its name. Will the proposed University of Maine at Portland become a successful iteration? To the chagrin of some alumni and current students, the data defend this decision.
Not long ago, USM was significantly in debt. Glenn Cummings, USM’s fifth president in eight years, is the first in some time to have their finances in check. A Maine native with an economics background, Cummings has pushed programs like the Mountains to the Sea Scholarship to expand applicant demographics.
Applications and yield have improved, but more was needed to continue this trend. Recognizing the city’s national profile, University of Maine System trustees approved funds to revitalize the Portland campus. Given these changes, the name “University of Maine at Portland” seems appropriate.
Tongue firmly in cheek, Scarborough resident Steven Hill (Another View, Feb. 24) predicts superficial, but geographically accurate, name changes for Bowdoin, Colby, Bates, Duke and Harvard. Hill correctly asserts these private colleges are somehow found by high school students, parents and counselors.
Perhaps they’re helped by these five schools’ significantly larger endowments: $1.46 billion, $828 million, $294 million, $7.9 billion and $39.2 billion respectively. With just a $34 million endowment, $60,000 to promote the University of Maine at Portland seems like a modest, strategically important, investment.
As seen from the ferry to Portland, the waterfront remains busy well beyond tourist season. Maine’s most populated area continues to balance its shipping heritage, eclectic food options and commercial future. A walk in town might remind Darwin of the diversity found on the Galapagos. He would have been pleased to see Mainers can indeed adapt, even flourish.
Darren Redman
Long Island
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