The recipient of a 2023 Truman Scholarship, Aaliyah Moore ’24 of Phoenix will pursue graduate studies to build her skills in advocacy, research, and education, then tackle systematic disparities within the U.S. legal and foster-care systems.

Federally funded Truman Scholarships, which are awarded to students with demonstrated leadership potential and a commitment to public service, are considered among the most important U.S. graduate fellowships.

Moore is one of 62 recipients of a Truman Scholarship from more than 700 applicants this year.  The scholarships provide up to $30,000 for graduate study as well as leadership training, career and graduate school counseling, and federal government internship opportunities.

“We have confidence that these 62 new Trumans will meet their generation’s challenges together,” says Dr. Terry Babcock-Lumish, the foundation’s executive secretary. “Selected from across America, the 2023 Truman Scholars reflect our country as innovative, purposeful, patriotic problem-solvers, never shying away from a challenge.”

“She has proven herself to be a leader, a problem-solver, and an exceptionally talented and determined student.”

�ֲ���ý President Clayton Spencer

Established by Congress in 1975 as the living memorial to President Harry S. Truman and a national monument to public service, the Truman Scholarship carries the legacy of the 33rd president by supporting and inspiring the next generation of public service leaders.

��� am thrilled for Aaliyah and the opportunities this scholarship will open up to her,” said President Clayton Spencer. “I have worked with Aaliyah on several projects since her first year at �ֲ���ý, and she has proven herself to be a leader, a problem-solver, and an exceptionally talented and determined student. Aaliyah is trustworthy and intuitive.”

Spencer added, “She brings a powerful mind, a strong sense of purpose, and great self-awareness to the tasks at hand, and her already-impressive commitment to public service is both deep and personal. The Truman Scholarship is a wonderful recognition for Aaliyah and a tribute to the many members of the �ֲ���ý community who have worked with her here, and who look forward to cheering her on in this next chapter.” 

Moore intends to pursue graduate degrees in both law and African American studies, with the intent to use her voice to challenge U.S. institutions that violate civil rights, including the rights of people in foster care and people who are incarcerated. ��� hope to help the poor, incarcerated, and condemned, protecting basic human rights for the most vulnerable people in American society,” Moore says.

Moore says that her “upbringing as an African American woman living in subsidized housing and foster care shaped my determination to use advocacy, scholarship, and education to combat systematic disparities within our legal and foster care systems. I want to address the lack of reintegration support for foster children and formerly incarcerated individuals and defend the wrongfully convicted from prison.” 

Moore points to the “direct correlation” between youth leaving foster care and homelessness, sex trafficking, and incarceration rates. The U.S. Bureau of Justice Statistics estimates that 23,000 foster youth will exit the foster care system each year. Of those, 46 percent will be homeless and 70 percent will have been arrested at least once by age 26. “More alarmingly,” Moore says, “60 percent of the child sex-trafficking victims recovered in a 70-city FBI raid were children from foster care or group homes.”

Moore, a double major in politics and Africana who is currently in South Africa studying multiculturalism and human rights during a semester abroad, has emerged as an important and effective student leader at �ֲ���ý and in the broader community. She has been extensively involved with the Lewiston-Auburn and Maine communities focusing on issues of social justice and, specifically, incarceration.

This work began in her first weeks at �ֲ���ý, when, as a first-year student, Moore successfully advocated for the creation of a new student position within the Harward Center for Community Partnerships to focus on legal reform. As the center’s inaugural Community Outreach Fellow for Legal Reform and Social Justice, Moore built out partnerships with local organizations; helped establish or expand initiatives with statewide organizations; and recruited, trained, and scheduled student volunteers. In 2021, she received a .

She volunteers with the Maine Prisoner Reentry Network, meeting regularly with clients to discuss reentry resources. In April 2021, Moore organized Squashing Stigmas, a campus workshop that partnered with the reentry network to debunk myths and stereotypes about incarceration and the incarcerated in Maine. The summer after her sophomore year, she interned with College Guild, a nonprofit that provides free education to incarcerated persons, in which she read and provided feedback on coursework submitted by incarcerated persons.

Moore has also been a Bonner Racial Justice Fellow with the Harward Center to encourage and lower barriers for BIPOC students to engage in community organizations that prioritize racial equity and justice. “Although �ֲ���ý is a predominantly white institution [PWI], it is surrounded by a large African immigrant community,” she explains.

And while many �ֲ���ý students are involved in the community, “very few of them are BIPOC. Representation matters, yet in too many instances, schools like �ֲ���ý fail to incorporate equitable community engagement opportunities in their pursuit to foster relationships with diverse communities.”

In other �ֲ���ý activities, Moore co-founded a , and has served as a student liaison for the �ֲ���ý College Communications Office to ensure equity and inclusion in marketing materials.

She is a member of the Martin Luther King Day Planning Committee and has been a residence coordinator for Residence Life and Health Education. Nominated by fellow students, she served on a campus committee to develop a new academic requirement focused on improving understanding of how race, power, privilege, and colonialism shape culture, opportunities, and issues globally.

She was recently , a program sponsored by Campus Compact that honors students with great potential for public leadership and a track record of work with communities.

Moore points to �ֲ���ý academic courses that have prepared her for the next step in her education, including “Race and Mass Incarceration,” which challenged her to “consider how laws and policies changed how we punish crime as a country and the disproportionate impact on Black and Brown communities”; and “Power and Protest,” which taught her “theories of protest, from nonviolent resistance to armed insurrection to social critique and the role white supremacy plays in power.”

After �ֲ���ý, Moore intends to pursue both J.D. and Ph.D. graduate degrees. For her Ph.D., she seeks a program in African American studies that offers the “opportunity to critically analyze the issues faced by African-descent people in the U.S.”

Through her legal studies, Moore hopes to gain the skill to“fight for the release of wrongly incarcerated persons, challenge institutions violating one’s civil rights through discriminatory practices, and become a pioneer in civil rights advocacy, scholarship, and teaching.”

In her Truman application, Moore was asked to look ahead past her graduate studies. Where does she see herself? The answer, Moore said, is written on the walls of her �ֲ���ý dorm room. 

��� made my walls into vision boards. On one wall, there is a cluster of images depicting Harriet Tubman, Angela Davis, Ida B. Wells, Sojourner Truth, and others. In the middle, I intentionally left an empty space” — a place for her future self. Inspired by those forebears, Moore hopes to be similarly inspirational and influential — to be among thinkers and problem-solvers who “strive to expand our understanding of race, legal ethics, and systemic injustices.”

This year’s Truman Scholars were nominated by 275 colleges and universities, and in turn were recommended by 17 independent selection panels based on the finalists’ academic success and leadership accomplishments, as well as their likelihood of becoming public service leaders.

Way back in 1940, the newest �ֲ���ý students, the Class of 1944, got this advice from the editors of The �ֲ���ý Student: “Never let studies interfere with a college education.”

However sly, the tip speaks to the challenges facing new college students. Namely, how to balance all the new opportunities college affords. How to manage time. How to determine priorities. How to find connections.

Fortunately, �ֲ���ý students are always more than willing to help onboard the newest members of the community. Here, gathered by �ֲ���ý Communications Office student liaison Aaliyah Moore ’24 of Phoenix, Ariz., are 26 tips for the Class of 2026.

(And tips for parents? Try to be a “guide on the side,” say these experienced �ֲ���ý parents in our story from 2018.)

26. Focus on the moment, not the future

Whether it’s starting a conversation with someone you don’t know (but could become friends with) or saying “yes” to an opportunity to experience something new, you can’t read the future, so make your present your focus! As students like to say, “Say ‘hi’ even if you don’t know them.” 

Saying “yes” allows you to find your own path. Professor of Economics Daniel Riera-Crichton, who delivered the Convocation address, quoted his favorite poet from his homeland of Spain, Antonio Machado: “Caminante, son tus huellas el camino y nada más; Caminante, no hay camino, se hace camino al andar.” 

Translated to English: “Traveler, your footprints are the only road, nothing else; Traveler, there is no road, you make your own path as you walk.”

25. Read the syllabus

The course syllabus is your guide, and it holds the answers to most questions you might have about assignments, deadlines, grading, and even office hours. Whether it’s a physical copy or a “living” online copy, you’ll want to read the whole thing (twice even) and hold onto it.

24. Get to know your professors

They’re there to help! Make sure you attend office hours at least two to three times in a semester with each professor, especially before a big assignment or exam. Getting to know you and your academic process can also help your professor give more individualized feedback. 

Even talking with them about non-academic things can help you feel connected, and can open the door to additional opportunities. They will 100 percent understand if you’re shy.

23. Work with your roommate to share the space

Even if you don’t become besties, cultivating a good relationship with your roommate will make residence life a lot easier. You can get a roommate contract template at the beginning of the year from your Junior Advisor or Residence Coordinator and this provides an opportunity to set down some ground rules and boundaries. Most important, keep an open line of communication. Don’t let an issue build up until it’s all you can see; talk with them about it.

22. Ask for help

Feeling confused? Overwhelmed? Don’t know exactly what you’re looking for? Just ask. But who to ask? Which brings us to:

21. Get to know your JA and RC

Your Junior Advisor and Residence Coordinator are not only there to help but have gotten lots of formal training from the college. The best way you can access that help is to talk with them, and get to know them — and let them get to know you. 

This also goes for the other students in your residence hall, your classes, and the staff and faculty all over campus. �ֲ���ý is chock-full of fascinating people with amazing stories, and you never know if the person right around the corner could be the exact person you need to run into.

20. Get cold-weather gear 

Maine winters can get pretty cold and windy, with overnight temperatures dropping well below freezing for most of December to March. While layering up is ideal for going in and out of the cold, four important pieces to have in your wardrobe are: An insulated winter jacket; a hat (or a coat with a hood); a pair of warm, waterproof boots; and a pair of gloves or mittens, the warmer the better.

Pro tip: Mittens are warmer than gloves because your fingers can share warmth.

19. Always back up your files

Make a habit of saving your assignments both during and after you work on them, and keep backup copies of important ones. There are tons of options for storing files, like Google Drive (�ֲ���ý students all get access to Google Drive accounts), flash drives, or cloud storage. When in doubt, use the 3-2-1 rule: three total copies of your data, with two local (like a backup hard drive), and one off-site (like cloud storage).

18. Watch your laundry

Shared laundry rooms have their own rules — written or not. It’s a good idea to set a timer for yourself to come get your laundry after starting a new cycle, since limited washers and dryers means leaving your laundry unattended can cause inconveniences for other students, and they might move it before you do.

17. Find ways to stay connected to family and friends back home

One of the most fun ways to feel the love from home is to receive care packages. They can contain anything from sweet treats and salty snacks, to fun stationery and extra socks. Your family can have fun choosing what to send, and it’s always exciting to open a surprise box, so it’s a win-win.

Texting home is good, but postcards are another great option, and Post & Print is right next to the College Store in Kalperis Hall, which makes finding and sending �ֲ���ý- and Maine-themed goodies back home easy.

16. Get to know the Lewiston–Auburn area

This tip is from Leigh Weisenburger, our vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid whose family is strongly connected to the area.

��� every day when I’m on campus to get coffee. It’s an important personal and professional break during the day. I take that half hour, and those eight blocks down to Forage and eight blocks back are a physical nod to our relationship with Lewiston.”

Take a study break and walk downtown, either solo or with a few buddies. Try asking some of the faculty and staff where their favorite hidden spots are; you might discover a new favorite park, an eatery, or a spot to relax by the river. 

15. Start crafting your professional portfolio 

There’s often a scramble during senior year to make a resume, create a LinkedIn profile, and start networking, but you don’t have to wait until you have a deadline. Creating and updating a foundational resume can be easy, and �ֲ���ý even has resources to help you get started, through the Center for Purposeful Work.

14. Find ways to get engaged on and off campus

There are tons of people who share your interests, and nearly as many clubs, organizations, groups, ensembles, and teams as there are interests. The college’s �ֲ���ý Engage platform lists them all. Pro tip: Search Instagram for the club name to see how active they are.

For off-campus opportunities, the Harward Center for Community Partnerships has plenty of options for getting engaged with Lewiston-Auburn. Can’t find a club for your interests? You can start one.

13. Find the best spots on campus to study, nap, or just hang out

The classic study spots are Ladd Library and, within the library, the Academic Resource Commons and the Math & Stats Workshop. But there’s a spot for anyone.

P’gill (Pettengill Hall) is a good spot to study or nap late at night, while Commons is a great place to see your friends. According to student intel, the Bonney Science Center is on the rise as a prime night study spot, but you can also ask returning students what their favorite places are to nap and study.

12. Take care of yourself

The first year of college can be exhausting, and setting some good habits and routines can help make it a little easier, and help you stay healthy. Making sure to get seven to eight hours of sleep at night, watching your caffeine intake, and mitigating screen use at night are all ways to take care of yourself and boost your immune system. 

There are also student clubs you can join that feature meditation, yoga, and self-care. And, of course, the college’s Counseling and Psychological Services offers a range of resources and support.

11. Get a pair of shower shoes

Whether you use a pair in the pool locker rooms or just in the residence hall bathrooms, shower shoes can save you from one of the nastiest things you can pick up from the floor: athlete’s foot. It’s treatable with over-the-counter medications, but the best treatment is prevention. 

10. Keep a journal

Whether it’s a fancy locked diary, a handsome leather-bound logbook, or a Google Doc, taking the time to write down your thoughts, ideas, questions, or just what happens during your day-to-day life can help clear your mind, and set aside some “me-time.” (Some say that writing by hand, instead of using a keyboard, offers a helpful respite from screen time.)

You’ll be thankful for it later too, when you want to reminisce about that one trip you took with your friends, or that night you went to your first college dance.

9. Find a note-taking system that works for you

Everyone’s method is different, and if you don’t already have the perfect system for remembering all those formulas or terms, now is the time to experiment and figure out what works for you. Fortunately, the Academic Resource Commons has you covered, with a page of peer-collected study resources. They also offer help through their Learning Strategies tutors.

8. Learn to navigate Handshake

Handshake is �ֲ���ý’ online tool for all things internships, jobs, and career exploration, run through the Center for Purposeful Work. The website has a how-to video for new students learning how to use Handshake, which is also where you find on-campus jobs. Which leads us to:

7. Apply for a job on campus

It’s more than the money. Finding work on campus can take your resume to the next level and connect you to even more people. The Student Employment Office and Handshake can connect you to openings.

6. Create goal lists or vision boards for the semester

It can be hard to see the forest for the trees when you’re in the middle of the semester, but creating a list of goals or aspirations, or even can help you stay on track when you’re feeling overwhelmed. 

Remember: If you put it on the list, you can always take it off again, but goals are there for you to reach for, so just add it to the list!

5. Go up Mount David 

We know: It’s a classic. In addition to being well-known for its stunning views of the Lewiston-Auburn area, especially when the leaves fall, Mount David is a wonderful location for stargazing at night, engaging in meaningful conversation with friends, and getting away from any campus stress. Going early or during a cool afternoon is the best option if you want to be by yourself because it can get crowded at night. Warning: it’s a short but steep trek, so wear sensible shoes.

4. Learn how to budget and shop smart

There are lots of options for getting your shopping done in the area, but here are some tips that are useful across the board: Make a shopping list. A list keeps your from buying all the things you never knew you needed (and actually don’t). 

Also, get reusable shopping bags so you can fight littering and skip the bag charge (Maine charges 5 cents per bag) in one easy step. Buy in bulk when you can and split the cost and goods with a few shopping buddies — you’ll save money and build community!

3. Find your off-campus treat-of-choice

Locating a mood-boosting treat can make a big difference during the stressful parts of the year, whether it’s an ice cream at Dairy Joy on Campus Avenue, a bubble tea from Boba on Lisbon Street, or a pastry from The Italian Bakery on Bartlett Street.

2. Bookmark the websites you visit often

Students have to use a variety of websites, online resources, and platforms, and keeping track of all the names and web addresses can be difficult. Adding them as bookmarks to your browser can streamline the process.

1. Lead with compassion

Finally, from Student Government co-presidents Ali Manning ’23 of Sydney, Australia, and Kush Sharma ’23 of Delhi, India, in their greetings to the Class of 2026 at Convocation:

“You should always lead with compassion, forgiveness and care. And this holds true for yourself as well as all the people around you.”

High school and college athletes know the routine for photo day. Stand right here. Smile if you want. Click. Next.

But at �ֲ���ý, that’s only half the game. After a team has their official portraits done, the fun begins. It’s now time for Bobcats to celebrate self and team by striking a pose — a “sportrait” — of their own.

Over the last few years, pre-season sportrait sessions at �ֲ���ý have become a favorite team-building tradition. “The key to the whole thing is enthusiasm,” says photographer Brewster Burns, who is a Maine high school teacher by day. “If I equal their enthusiasm — which isn’t that hard to do — then my enthusiasm, their enthusiasm, and everybody else’s in the room frees everybody to take chances and have a good time.”

The word “enthusiasm” comes from a Greek word that means being possessed by a god. In this case, the athletes are possessed by their inner Bobcat.

For her final �ֲ���ý sportrait, Amanda Kaufmann ’22 of Somers, Conn., was looking for a pose that captured a hunger for greatness. And that’s what she got. “My favorite of four years,” she says.

Mohamed Diawara ’23 of Philadelphia wanted a pose that would display the photo on a pendant he wears to honor a friend who died. Burns “made sure it worked,” Diawara says.

The first-year �ֲ���ý baseball players wanted to recreate an 1879 team photo. “He was as excited as we were, and helped us make our replica as accurate as possible.”

“When people get together and they’re all enthusiastic and they’re all having a good time, then they free up, take more chances,” says Burns. “Creativity demands taking chances, both on my part and their part. It’s a partnership.”

Here are 16 of our favorites, featuring quotes from the Bobcats gathered by �ֲ���ý Communications intern Aaliyah Moore ’24 of Phoenix:

‘Why would I want to hide my strength?’ 

Competitive swimmers, both male and female, are known for developing broad shoulders and skinny hips, explains Natalie Young ‘24 of Windham, N.H. For a woman, that means having a body type “that more closely resembles the ‘ideal’ male body type.”

Young’s specialty is the butterfly, which “requires a great deal of upper-body strength, more than other swimming events.” For Young, broad shoulders “symbolize the countless hours of dedicated work that I have poured into this sport over the years. “Truth is, I have no shame in my broad ‘swimmer shoulders.‘ I view the female swimmer body type as my ideal body type. It’s literally something that I wear as a badge of honor. Why would I want to hide my strength?” 

Young says her creative sportrait, “reflects the pride that I feel being a swimmer and conveys the confidence that it has given me in my body type.” The pose has another purpose, she says: a bit of “intimidation for the competition.”

Why we do what we do

After the wipeout of the 2020–21 sports season, �ֲ���ý athletes, especially seniors, returned to the field, court, pitch, and slopes in high gear.  

For her creative sportrait, Daphne James ‘22 of Sausalito, Calif., wanted to showcase the excitement and energy that marked the reopening of �ֲ���ý sports but also “something fun and goofy, especially because skiing can be serious and intense. So this pose came to mind. It says, ‘I’m just here to have a good time and happy to be a Bobcat!’” 

The pose is also a “good reminder of why we do our sports and what got us here: love of our sport and for being a member of a team.”

Trashion Show

Yeah, it happens: throwing up after a really tough workout. As one scholarly paper notes, “Nausea and vomiting are relatively frequent symptoms in athletes.” As Colby Stakun-Pickering ’23 of Wellesley, Mass., puts it, “harder and harder workouts occasionally mean a trip to the trash can.”

During the sportrait session for the indoor track team, Stakun-Pickering was at a loss for his creative pose. Then he spied a trash can, and decided to show a different side of being a track athlete. What the viewer sees, he explains, “is what my teammates and Coach might see as they rally me back to the track for more sprints.”

Home cookin’

Like other Bobcats, senior soccer players Ciaran Bardong of Manhasset, N.Y., Luke Protti of Amherst, Mass., and Charlie Cronin of South Portland, Maine, wanted to cook up something special for their final �ֲ���ý sportrait.

“One of us suggested fake mustaches, and we instinctively knew that chefs hats and cooking utensils were essential additions,” says Cronin. “One could say we’re Michelin starred.”

Yer a wizard, Mary!

On a scale of 1 to 10, we’re 9 3/4 obsessed with this Harry Potter look served up by women’s cross country runner Mary Richardson ’22 of Blue Hill, Maine. ��� grew up reading Harry Potter and felt inspired to pay homage for my senior year sportrait,” she explains.

Richardson says her childhood was “really crafty” (as in creative, not wizardly). “My mom always made Halloween costumes for me and my sister, so we’ve always had capes and crazy hats laying around.” Packing for her return to �ֲ���ý last August, Richardson spied a Gryffindor scarf peeking out from a bin in her closet. Paired with her glasses, the look was complete.

1879 to 2022

What looks like a staid pose by the first-year members of the baseball team is actually a brilliant homage to a 143-year-old team picture taken at the dawn of �ֲ���ý intercollegiate athletics.

“The old picture was found by a senior, Antonio Jareno, who suggested that the first years recreate it,” explains Josh Sherman ‘25 of Lexington, Mass. The historic photo depicts the baseball team in only its seventh year of existence, 1879.

The team back then didn’t have an official coach — it wouldn’t until 1906. Instead, a student team manager helped run the club. Holding the bowler hat at back left is the student manager, Harry Merrill, Class of 1880.  

Merrill’s appearance in the 1879 photo suited the �ֲ���ý first years because it allowed them to include Sherman, the student manager of the modern-day team.  

Adding to the fun of sportraits, says Sherman and others, is that Burns supports their creativity. 

“The photographer was very excited by our desire to recreate the photo as exact as possible, so he helped us adjust our positioning and told us each where to direct our eyes so that our replica could be as accurate as we could make it.”

‘Part of my heart’

For his first �ֲ���ý sportrait two years ago, Mohamed Diawara ’23 of Philadelphia posed with his arms spread wide, one hand holding a football. ��� was celebrating my arrival at �ֲ���ý,” he says.

Two years later, Diawara again chose to hold a football. But this time, he put his hands together and put his head down, so the viewer sees another face: the one pictured on the chain he’s wearing, that of his close friend and football teammate in high school who died from gun violence in 2017.

��� wear the necklace because I always want to keep his love for the game and legacy alive. It’s my way of knowing that I’m carrying him with me,” he says.

���’m looking away, because it’s about his face, not mine. He’s part of my heart now.”

Queen for a day

This homage to the iconic cover of the album Queen II was created by four members of the men’s rowing team.

At top in the photo is Thomas Monahan of Louisville, Colo., and below, from left, are Xavier Fallone of Niskayuna, N.Y., William Corcoran of Chevy Chase, Md., and Jasper Tucker of New Canaan, Conn.

Respectively, they’re assuming the poses of Brian May, John Deacon, Freddie Mercury, and Roger Taylor from the 1974 album cover.

Tucker came up with the idea on the spot, explains Monahan. “The long black Under Armor tops we wear for our winter rows were perfect for the pose.”

Beyond the gear, “it’s the spontaneity that makes it so great,” he says. “The hundreds of hours we train together produce an incredibly close-knit group of guys. This closeness and the comfort we have with each other is what make �ֲ���ý men’s rowing so special and these moments so frequent.”

Fun fact: A photo of Marlene Dietrich taken during filming of the 1932 movie Shanghai Express was the inspiration for Queen’s cover photo, taken by Mick Rock.

All aboard

The juniors on the softball team were on the lookout for a pose for their creative sportrait, and landed on the idea of rowing and looking ahead together. 

From left, Kama Boswell of Bellevue, Wash., Lindsey Kim of Palo Alto, Calif., Amanda Taylor of Fair Lawn, N.J., Katherine Merisotis of Coventry, Conn., and, keeping an eye out, Cassidy Musco of Walpole, Mass. 

Winter rules

This is a go-to pose for lacrosse player Shelby Howard ‘23 of Ashland, Mass. ��� did this pose my freshman year, and will most likely do it once more as I am a rising senior.”

An alpine stance and lacrosse sticks as ski poles pokes fun at Maine’s long winter. “Lacrosse is a spring sport, but in Maine, it’s also a winter sport since we start playing in February.” And winter can be hard to escape. “We also went to Chicago for our pre-season trip this past year, where we played outdoors in snowy conditions, so I think this photo foreshadowed that.” 

Band of Bobcats

In explaining the choice to pay homage to the iconic photo of the flag raising on Iwo Jima, Liam Evans ’22 of Sauquoit, N.Y., respects the limits of a war metaphor.

���t’s not meant to glorify war, or equate track to the toll war takes,” says Evans. Instead, he and his fellow seniors wanted to “convey the demanding nature of track and field, the perseverance one must adopt to succeed, and the idea of individual achievement and collective triumph.” From left, Garrett Evans (Liam’s brother), Liam, Paul Speliakos, and co-captain Charlie Hansen. 

���t’s about having a soldier’s mentality to succeed in track and field. Mental fortitude is just as important as physical preparation.”

Seeing and running

A simple relay baton became a eye-opening prop for track sprinter and jumper Jeandodie Tangishaka ’25 of Goodyear, Ariz.

While the baton is a simple piece of sports equipment, it carries huge importance.”The handover is the most important part of any sprint relay,” explains Tangishaka. “The quality of the baton exchange between any two runners can determine success or failure.” You can have the four fastest runners in a relay and still do poorly. “Ideally, both runners should meet at full speed and avoid slowing down” during handoff.

Tangishak says that he peered through the baton “to emphasize the importance of seeing and running as one with the baton in order to make the perfect exchange.”

Hunger for greatness

���’ve always admired female athletes who pose so confidently and I wanted to emulate that,” explains Amanda Kaufman ‘22 of Somers, Conn.

She references a , the world record holder in the 400 meters hurdles and a 2020 Olympic . “She’s down in the blocks, does a hair flip to bring her face to the camera, and then winks. That’s awesome.”

“We train hard, September to May. It’s a grind. But the environment at practice every day, being surrounded by other hard working women, really makes the grind worth it. We make each other better and we are better together!”

��� think the facial expression the photographer captured was a hunger for greatness and it is a reflection of the grittiness that we see at practice every day.”

Fertile imaginations

Cross country runners seem rarely at a loss for inside jokes, which is how good friends and roommates Eli Boesch Dining ’23 (left) of Concord, N.H., and Clem Taylor-Roth ’23 of Juneau, Alaska, came up with their grass-watering vignette.

“We think of Eli as our plant guy. His hat says ‘John Deere Golf,'” explains Taylor-Roth. “He works in the college greenhouse and is an environmental studies major.”

“And Clem always has this signature water bottle, a massive hydroflask,” says Boesch Dining.

Last fall’s photo sessions were held outdoors at the Ladd Library Arcade, so Boesch Dining grabbed a bunch of nearby grass (“sustainably harvested,” notes Taylor-Roth). His friend held it while Boesch Dining did the watering.

Tend the garden, and see the results, they say. “Put in the work, sleep well, hydrate, eat healthy, and put up mileage: Your speed and success as a runner will grow.” says Boesch Dining.

Poised pose

The juniors on last year’s women’s basketball team chose this fierce and determined pose for their creative sportrait, taken on Nov. 5, 2021, well before the start of their historic season.

It was a pose, but these Bobcats were hardly poseurs.

With major contributions from the four — from left, Meghan Graff of South Portland, Maine, Jenna Berens of Durham, Conn., Brianna Gadaleta of Chappaqua, N.Y., and Kayla Bridgeman of Brooklyn, N.Y. — the Bobcats went on to win their first NESCAC title, then advanced to the second round of the NCAA Division III tournament.

The sportrait “brings out the competitiveness of our team,” says Graff.

(The smoke, by the way, was created by a fogging device that Burns borrowed from a local electrician, who uses it for HVAC testing.)

Supporter and competitor

This creative sportrait “shows our personalities very well,” says golfer Maddy Kwei ‘25 of Pasadena, Calif. She’s holding the tee in her teeth as her friend and teammate Nerea Barranco Aramburu ‘25 of Zarautz, Spain, takes the backswing. “We’re each other’s supporter and competitor on the course, and that’s the best part.”

“We both love to have a laugh on the course and with our coaches and teammates,” she adds. “We’re here to compete seriously, but also �ֲ���ý golf wouldn’t be �ֲ���ý golf without some smiles and fun.”

The rhetorical flourish that ends Martin Luther King Jr.’s ��� Have a Dream” speech at the Lincoln Memorial in August 1963 is as rousing as it is unforgettable: “Free at last, free at last, thank God I’m free at last.”

While iconic, it’s not his first public use of that line. Six years earlier, King used it to describe to his church congregation in Montgomery, Ala., what it felt like to attend the March 1957 liberation ceremony for Ghana, which had been a British colony since 1821.

Witnessing throngs of people in the streets of Accra, he said that ��� could hear that old Negro spiritual once more crying out, ‘Free at last, free at last, Great God Almighty, I’m free at last.’” 

In 1957, King was inspired by a literal moment of decolonization and liberation — the lowering of the British flag and the raising of the Ghanian flag. Here, in America in 2022, the push for decolonization and liberation continues, albeit in a less literal fashion.

Hence the theme for �ֲ���ý’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance : “What I Mean When I Say: Decolonization and Liberation.”

Today, decolonization and liberation zeroes in on undoing racist structures and ways of thinking and doing — the idea that the white way is the right way — that oppress, marginalize, and exploit Indiginous and Black communities and thwart both their and their allies’ efforts.

The MLK Day keynote event underscored that complexity, featuring not just one speaker but a keynote panel of five Maine-based thinkers, practitioners, and activists who shared personal narratives and insights that vividly captured the day’s theme.

In his opening remarks, Assistant Professor of Environmental Studies Tyler Harper, co-chair of the college’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day Planning Committee, spoke about the historical tension in social movements, between patience on the one hand and urgency for change on the other. As King wrote in his “Letter from a Birmingham Jail,” expressing this tension, “‘Wait’ has almost always meant ‘never.’”

Quoting Ambrose Bierce, Harper said that patiently awaiting change in 2022 is merely “a minor form of despair, disguised as a virtue.” In that sense, he continued, “decolonization is a practice of saying ‘no’ to suffering, a practice of saying ‘no’ to despair, and of asserting that we are finished sitting quietly insisting on the possibility of change.”

Harper’s committee co-chair, Assistant Professor of Theater Cliff Odle, gave kudos to the two student members of the committee, Aaliyah Moore ’24 of Phoenix and Sam Jean-Francois ’23 of Medford, Mass., for the 2022 theme. 

“They passionately put together an argument for decolonization and liberation,” Odle said, admitting that he initially was skeptical. “But thanks to their leadership and their example, I realized that there’s a lot more to decolonization than meets the eye.” 

In her remarks, President Clayton Spencer said that visions of decolonization and liberation “encompass both ideas and practice and demand that we open ourselves to transformation and to the reimagination of the values by which we live, work, and organize structures of opportunity for human fulfillment.”

In a tour de force opening remarks, panel moderator and Visiting Assistant Professor of Africana Cassandra Shepard asked a series of searing questions capturing the persistent and insidious legacy of colonialism. Here are just three:

“What does the U.S. owe to displaced indigenous and Black folk who for generations have been enslaved, removed violently and intentionally marginalized away from resources, harmed and forced to lead lives with less dignity, and killed with state-sanctioned violence, and killed extra-legally by citizens, vigilantes, and militias?”

Second, “what does the state of Maine owe displaced Indigenous tribes and displaced Black people, given its land occupation and as Maine ship captains transported slaves from Africa to north America in the 1800s, ?

And third, “What role should �ֲ���ý play when the financial gift that Benjamin �ֲ���ý donated came from his dealings with the cotton industry, meaning that it was fueled by slavery?

Below are edited selections — text and video clips — from each panelist’s remarks on Martin Luther King Jr. Day at �ֲ���ý.

Connections and Affiliations

Born in Ghana, Pious Ali has called Maine home since 2002. He is a Portland city councilor who works for the Foundation for Portland Public Schools. In 2013, he became the first African-born Muslim American elected to public office in Maine when he joined the city’s Board of Education.

For me, colonization is not just about colonial rule or taking away people’s power. It is about taking away their culture, taking away their language, and taking away their faith. I take with me everywhere something said by the late Ghanaian president Jerry John Rawlings: “You may Christianize me, if you want. But do not Europeanize me.” This is not just for Christians. It applies to Muslims. It applies to every faith that has used their power to take away the traditions and the faith of Indigenenous people globally. 

A priest had told Rawlings he could not give his children African names. Rawlings mentioned a traditional African name and the priest said that you cannot give your kids these names because they are not Catholic names. Rawlings said, “Catholic names are European names. I’m not European. I am African and I want to give my kids African names.” The priest refused to baptize the kids. 

Our liberation is connected. You cannot have liberated African Americans or Blacks in the diaspora without having liberated Africans. 

So Rawlings gave his kids African names. He would go back into history and pick an African hero or shero, and give his kids those names. Many of us walk around with names that are not our names, that are names that have been given to us by our colonizers. 

In my world, I am a Muslim. I am a black man. I am an immigrant. At the national level, I have joined a lot of affiliations where we have to work together because I believe that our liberation, if I can use that word, is connected. You cannot have liberated African Americans or Blacks in the diaspora without having liberated Africans. 

Liberation and Identity

Hamza Abdi is originally from the African nation of Djibouti, which gained its independence from France in 1977. Abdi is the assistant director of volunteer programs and community partnerships for the Harward Center for Community Partnerships at �ֲ���ý.

What does decolonization and liberation mean to me as an African expat, who has strong ties with the continent? It means rediscovering myself, reclaiming my identity, and liberating myself from the colonial mindset and the trap of a very dangerous colonial education system.

I had rejected and renounced my own ethnic identity, Somali. I lived with the colonial mentality, which is the perception of ethnic and cultural inferiority and a form of internalized racial oppression. And this is the reality in many communities and in many countries.

In a lot of African francophone countries, unless you speak French and adopt the Western culture, you won’t be seen and categorized by the society as a real citizen. Among other identity crises is the glamorization of light skin as the hallmark of beauty. This is more prevalent among some African women, who do whatever it takes to look light skinned, in a mutation of European color pigmentation.

This is why the skin bleaching epidemic infected Africa, as women in many African countries were buying bleaching creams and soaps to lighten their skin with the idea that lighter skin is more appealing in Africa.

I began to wake up to the reality that seeing and calling out colonization wasn’t enough. I needed to engage colonization with an intention to dismantle it.

The power of colonization is tremendous, and oftentimes people who fight against the oppressive systems feel defeated, yet continue their path to decolonization. Real work is needed to bridge this divide. I began to wake up to the reality that seeing and calling out colonization wasn’t enough. I needed to engage colonization with an intention to dismantle it. I began to search for people who were embodying resistance, who were serious about bringing change in the community, and who challenged oppressive systems.

Freedom and Authenticity

Jordia Benjamin is deputy director at Indigo Arts Alliance, a Portland organization grounded in, and enacting the idea of, “arts plus activism.”

We are creating alternative pathways to cultivating Black arts and Black culture. We are defining and redefining and centering black history, culture, and brilliance. Freedom is a common word that is used a lot, especially in days and moments like this.

Decolonization and liberation is an uphill battle. But if the action is founded and grounded in love — the progress toward that is the reward.

But for us, we are defining” freedom” as the means to fully own and embody a spirit of independence to express our whole selves, honoring the ethics, values, aesthetics, tradition, and concerns of Black people. We are showing up authentically Black every day. 

We have embodied equity that has been nurtured within an innovative and truly free environment — that is when we can enrich the lives of all members of the community.

Decolonization and liberation is an uphill battle. But if the action is founded and grounded in love, the love to exist in a multiracial democracy — the progress toward that is the reward. We are all here on borrowed time. So if you want to continue to contribute to maintaining a capitalistic power, or contribute to strengthening your community, thus people’s empowerment, that is ultimately your decision. But I truly encourage you all to choose the latter because that path will only benefit us all. And the other path will eventually exclude you at the end of the road. 

So if you are here today, you are saying that you are choosing liberation. Your actions should consistently be decolonizing structures that are not equitable or inclusive. That means calling out family members, teachers, neighbors, public servants, etc. We should all be holding the other accountable. That is an action of love. It is truthful, and it will take consistent work. 

Destruction and Hope

Maria Girouard of Penobscot Nation is an historian and executive director of Wabanaki REACH, which advances the self-determination of Wabanaki people through education, truth-telling, restorative justice, and restorative practices.

In 1963, Martin Luther King Jr. wrote that “our nation was born in genocide when it embraced the doctrine that the original American, the Indian, was an inferior race,” adding that “the scar of racial hatred…disfigured colonial society.”

Not only were we responsible for so much destruction, King added, but “we elevated that tragic experience into a noble crusade” — Manifest Destiny, that somehow God led the European invaders to this continent to carry out their business,

When I think of my schooling in colonial history, it all sounds so quaint and wholesome: building an existence out of the land. It’s devoid of the destruction that colonialism infected this land with, and the trauma that still exists today — what it did to the land and setting borders and boundaries and staking claims, and cutting forests and damming rivers and setting fences, and almost immediately this territory, which was the homelands of the Wabanaki people, became a resource extraction state.

I used to always think, “How did these things happen to my ancestors, the Penobscot people?” I realize that it happens right underneath our noses. 

It became a place where wood could be cut for profit, where fish could be harvested for profit, where beaver skins were harvested for profits. It broke the relationship between the people and the lands. It was a very violent event that I dare say is still happening today.

When I was studying for my bachelor’s and master’s degrees, I used to always think, “How did these things happen to my ancestors, the Penobscot people? How did it happen that we reserved these lands in perpetuity, and now we only have a fraction of it today?” Then in 2012, the state of Maine gave an interpretation that the Penobscot Reservation, which consists of about 200 islands in the Penobscot River, includes no portion of the river waters. When this happened, I realized that I didn’t have to wonder anymore. It happens right underneath our noses. 

But I always like to hold up hope. Just the other day I came across the idea that if all of us devoted just 1 percent to doing better each day, the world would be 7 million percent better. So I peel the conversation back to us as human beings and our personal power, and the notion from Dr. Martin Luther king Jr., who said, “Never lose infinite hope.”

Impatience and Challenge

Julia Sleeper-Whiting ’08 is the co-founder and executive director of Lewiston’s Tree Street Youth Center, which supports youth leadership, learning, exploration, and growth. Her family emigrated from Lebanon to America through Ellis Island in the early 1900s.

Every day here at the center, we’re working with young people who truly believe in the concepts of liberation, who truly believe in making worlds different and not being held to these boxes.

However, every day we’re also seeing the practices of colonization, even at times within our own entities, restricting them, holding them back, and teaching them that there is a right way or a certain expression or a way of functioning — restrictions and rules and boxes that stand in stark contrast to the mission and vision of fearing less loving, more and dreaming bigger.

I am from the second generation of a family who came to the U.S seeking a vision for their lives, but then allowing things to happen, including our family name being changed from “Saliba” to “Sleeper.”

Our family had lands in the region of Katahdin in Maine, the lands of the Wabanaki people. I witnessed the extraction — witnessed clear cuts, witnessed the pain to the land itself and also within my own spirit — and did not feel right about what I was seeing but also benefited from the exact same extraction practices.

The work of building an organization to cultivate leaders who fear less, love more and dream big is in constant battle with ideas about the way things should be done.

I grew up being taught that there are perfect and right ways and correct ways to do things. For me, liberation came when I started becoming impatient at being challenged or questioned about the pace at which I want to evolve things.

The work of building an organization to cultivate leaders who fear less, love more, and dream big, and to build communities united across lines of difference, is in constant battle with ideas about the way things should be and the way you have to build an organization or how your fundraising should go, or where you should be seeking support. 

In order to truly become liberated, we must create space for healing and rest. We need space for releasing those things that keep us, as the kids, say “tight.” We carry that tightness: tight-lipped or feeling tight in your stomach — anxious to engage because you fear that people will not receive what you have to say.

My takeaway message is to use your own lived experience to ground yourself in humility, to ground yourself in awareness of, yes, there are things that have created advantages for you. And in the midst of so much chaos in our world, there are still people so passionate and so willing to lean in, while also honoring the challenge and the exhaustion that comes along with it.