University of Maine Top Questions

The majority of this campus is Maine Students, however, the entire campus represents 48 states and 72 countries worldwide, so we have a pretty diverse population overall. We also have a graduate school and a Non-traditional Student Program as well. When it comes to certain groups of students that are of a different social structure, like GLBT, shy, african american, hispanic, etc. there are programs on this campus that accommodate students of any or all of these different social structures and there are a good amount of students in each one of these groups. As I said, it is a very diverse population, which brings numerous different cultures and styles to the student body and I really like seeing the overall difference. It makes me as a student feel happy to be comfortable in a community full of students with 20 different ethnicities or 5 different religions because I know that each one of us are all here for the same reason, to get an education and a degree from UM and go on and so successful things with our lives that makes us happy. I have also found that making friends and becoming pretty popular on this campus is not that difficult. I probably see 25-50 different new students everyday and the same number for same students or already friends and that is a pretty awesome feeling.

This is one of my biggest pet peeves of the University - the student body. I am a gay male, and if I didn't step in line with what that meant to the the rest of the GLBT population, I was ostracized. I'm blonde/blue, sort of handsome, I've got a belly on me, and I have effeminate mannerisms at times; I'd say I'm a 6 on the 10 scale. The straight population thinks I'm a carnival act, and the gay population thinks I'm a snob. And I'm far from both. I've just never stepped in line, I couldn't really. Just wasn't in the cards. Past this, equality - in all forms - is defended fervently on the surface, but if you get down to the meat of acceptance and understanding, one race has no clue of the other. I've heard racial slurs among like-skinned acquaintances thrown around when they will fight you without haste to say they aren't racist. Lots of talk, not much action.

Huge range for what students wear. Sometimes you have girls who wear dresses, guys in sports who wear sweatpants, granola kids who have their L.L. Bean backpacks.

I was a music performance major, and most of the other music students were music ed majors, so I felt a little left out. The music school is divided about in half between vocal and instrumental majors. The vocal majors tend to live in high-school-like cliques but the instrumental majors are a fun bunch, with a fair number of music geeks.

A group of smart, fun loving guys that get there work done and know how to hang out and have a good time.

My classmates are determined, intelligent individuals.

Most of the students here are from Maine, but we are a state school so that is to be expected. Also our campus is not very diverse ethnically because the state as a whole is not very diverse ethnically. However, our campus is VERY accepting of people from different ethnic and religious back-rounds. We do have students from all around the world here. Also, many would think, that as a New England school we would have a majority of very liberal students, however, there are many conservative students here as well (remember a large portion of Maine is made up of farming communities). Because of this students from any and all the political, religious, and ethnic groups are readily accepted on campus.

UMaine students are predominantly from UMaine. However, no out-of-state student will ever feel left out. UMaine is an unusually accepting and community-oriented place, and I have never heard a student from out of state or out of country say that they feel like they do not belong here or that they can't socialize with whoever they want. I really don't think there is any kind of student that would feel out of place here, honestly. I see every kind of student on this campus. The only kind of student who might feel out of place is a student who doesn't get involved in anything outside of their classes. UMaine students are very involved in extracurriculars and on-campus activities, so those who do not will probably feel left-out and have a much harder time making friends. As far as financial backgrounds and political beliefs/activism is concerned, UMaine is extremely diverse. All classes, politics, etc, are well-represented and all interact with each other regularly through our array of student clubs and organizations.

I acknowledge that UMaine has much diversity with people from all over the world; however, there are not nearly as many students as I thought there would be from other cultures, races, or ethnicities. I'm not saying there's anything wrong with that; it's just not what I expected it to be. I honestly believe that any individual can acquire a group of friends with similar interests, leaving nobody behind or to feel alone.

My experiences at UMaine have brought me to believe that students here on campus are very accepting of other individuals. I have seen individuals of every level of diversity and it makes me smile to know that I can get to know so many different individuals. Students are very passionate abut specific issues, both in politics, in the news, and on campus. It is a wonderful community with great people and students.