Welcome to part two of our day in the life of Commons — Tuesday, March 12, 2024 — a day when we followed all the goings in the college’s beloved dining hall, from very early in the morning through to lunch, supper, and closing time.

In part one, we started at 4 a.m. with the arrival of the �ֲ���ý baker, then it was on to breakfast. Here is part two, from lunch to a long day’s journey into night.

We photographed and interviewed both the staff who create an awesome dining experience for students, and the students who, in unison, speak their appreciation for creating such a happy place on campus.

All along, the staff of �ֲ���ý Dining Services kept the campus Bobcats well-fed and ready for their next adventures, whether work or play. By day’s end, the work will span 17 hours, from 4 a.m. to 11 p.m.

11:22 a.m.

In a daily ritual, members of the rowing teams gather for a meal in their traditional spot, a corner facing Alumni Walk. Clockwise from top left: Maddie Kemp ‘25 (blue sweater), Finian Guinney ‘27, Oli Seline ‘24, Megan O’Donnell ‘27, Emily Everett ‘24, Wiley Anderson ‘26, and Olivia Szachta ‘25.

Anderson’s laptop is open to mathematical matrices, and in a couple hours the team would decamp to the Traquina Boathouse to put out their docks for the season — all suggesting the potential for wide-ranging lunchtime conversations among these seven friends and teammates.

“We love the corner of Commons,” says Seline. “We’re a large team, so it can be hard to get to know everyone on a more personal level, but Commons is the perfect place for great conversation. Whether 30 minutes — or sometime a few hours — it’s one of my favorite spaces on campus.”

11:26 a.m.

Upstairs in Commons, a variety of lunch meetings are already in full gear.

In the Penobscot Room, a half dozen faculty and staff who are involved in Short Term courses that travel abroad, including Associate Professor of Religious Studies Alison Melnick, seen here, are getting advice from the staff of the Center for Global Education and others.

At left is Director of Campus Safety Paul Menice. He chimes in with a promise to the faculty members that he is just a call away. “There are 10 to 12 deans on call in a rotation,” Menice said. “Our resources go well beyond campus and Lewiston. When in doubt, call us, and we can get the resources you need.”

11:29 a.m.

This student’s lunch creation includes falafel, braised red cabbage, cucumber, tomato, tahini sauce, and spicy potato wedges.

11:35 a.m.

Unless you’re an alum of the last decade or so, the term “tabling” sounds like something out of Robert’s Rules of Order. 

But in Commons, “tabling” is how students raise awareness of events and programs by setting up tables just inside the front door and trying to capture the attention of students streaming in for a meal.

Here, Owen Fox-Whelpton ’25 (seated left) of Washington, D.C., and Lauren Farrell ’24 (seated right) of Middletown, Conn., staff a table promoting Sex Week. They’re speaking to Jeremy Schrieber ’24 of Denver, Colo.

About a half-hour later, they turned the table over to Emma Erkkila ‘26 of Helsinki, Finland, and Julia Oliver ‘25 of Montpelier, Vt.

“Happy Sex Week!” the pair calls out to friends coming into the building.

Sex Week is sponsored by Well-Being at �ֲ���ý, a program that gives students information and resources about all dimensions of their well-being. “And I don’t see how sex wouldn’t be part of our well-being,” says Oliver. On this day, their table this day has pamphlets, stickers (“Consent Is Sexy!”), and condoms. 

“I love to call out people I know, but also just be really outgoing towards everyone about whatever we’re tabling about,” says Oliver. 

“It’s fun to see how they’ll respond to you. Some people have headphones on and keep going. But a lot of people will say, ‘Happy Sex Week to you, too!’ Which is fun. You’re like, ‘Woo-hoo!’” 

11:49 a.m.

The youngest diner at lunchtime is asleep right now. That’s 16-month-old Sunny Sue, the daughter of Jon-Michael Foley (right), a member of the Facilities Services grounds crew, and his wife, Rachel Nutting (left).

Rachel comes to campus once a week from her gym, CrossFit 196, where she’s the owner and head coach, to have lunch with her husband and daughter. 

“Sunny Sue comes from a long line of double first names,” quips Jon-Michael.

Today he’s eating Thai grilled chicken, and spaghetti from the pasta bar, plus some fruit salad. “Fruit, every time,” he says.

11:53 p.m.

Opened in 2008, Commons put much of the food prep — and the preparers — into full view of appreciative diners.

The Commons “servery” clusters a variety of stations, or “bars,” into a critical mass of temptation. Rather than a strict flow from check-in to serving line to chair, students enter, scope out the scene — who’s where, what’s to eat — then circulate through the marketplace.

The heart of the servery is the giant brick-and-copper oven, ringed by a counter offering the most popular eats: pizza, pasta, soup, salad, and deli. 

Here’s a partial accounting of what was offered at the various bars on March 12 for lunch:

• Bobcat Bar: Beef shepherd’s pie, breaded haddock, spicy potato wedges, steamed broccoli
• Grill: Thai grilled chicken, long grain white rice
• Brick Oven: Crunchy turkey melt
• Vegan bar: Jasmine rice, braised red cabbage, broccoli, and falafel.
• Pasta Bar: Pasta options with a variety of sauces
• Deli: Potato pesto soup, chicken noodle soup, plus sandwich fixings
• Bakery: Desserts including vegan pumpkin pie, key lime cheesecake bar, chocolate cake

11:56 p.m.

With bowls in hand, Nina Greeley ’24 of Scarborough, Maine, and Nick Gajarski of Dublin, Ohio, ‘24 pose for a portrait.

12:12 p.m.

In the large double meeting room upstairs in Commons, another lunch meeting brings together students who are members of the Residence Life staff, such as junior advisors or community advisors (formerly residence coordinator).

They’re meeting with Brandon Ouellette, one of the professional counselors from the college’s Counseling and Psychiatric Services.

Seen here is Aidan Riano ’24 of New York City, a community advisor team leader. Ouellette offered advice, took their questions, and welcomed tips and insights about how the student leaders manage various situations in the houses and residence halls where they work.

12:32 p.m.

The dining team is into its ninth hour on the job, and already it’s time to focus on the next day. Violet Bernard, cold kitchen supervisor, gets to work making to-go egg and cheese sandwiches for the following day.

Each will be wrapped in foil (seen at left), and if there’s a paw sticker, it means they don’t have cheese.

12:41 p.m.

Lunch is in full swing, both down below in the main dining hall and upstairs in the Gorayeb Mezzanine, at left.

There, first-year students Haley Ganzer of New York City and Braedon Parker of Kearney, Neb., relax at a table by themselves, having slipped the bonds of academia, if only for a moment.

Here, they wait for their friends, and their friends’ friends, relishing the idea that there may be some in the group they do not know — yet.

“We always sit up here, because it’s quiet,” Ganzer says. “My roommate introduced me to her friends, and we all kind of stuck together. It’s easier to hear people up here.”

12:42 p.m.

Ruby Haylock ’26 of Hartford, Maine, carves out a study spot on the second floor of Commons.

12:47 p.m.

Kendall Jones ’25 of Plymouth, N.H., and Britton Gorfain ’25 of New York City check in as lunch winds down; they are both teaching assistants for organic chemistry.

4:20 p.m.

At the vegan bar, Matthew Escorsio, a first cook, prepares samples of the food that will be served at supper. In the foreground is a yummy side dish that he prepared with carrots, yellow squash, kale, parsley, lime, red onions, red peppers, black beans, cherry tomatoes — among other goodies.

Part of Dining Services’ rigorous health-safety protocols is gathering samples of each food item at each meal in the event that testing is later required.

4:22 p.m.

The late-afternoon light spills into Commons as Molly Furman ’24 of Hastings-on-Hudson, N.Y., work on her laptop.

She’s been doing some people-watching in Commons, but with an academic purpose: a sociology project about student perceptions of Commons and its traditions, such as how students don’t use trays, or how, when someone drops a dish, everyone claps.

Are those traditions intimidating to newcomers, or merely folksy and fun? “One time I was eating with a professor and he asked, ‘Why are you not using a tray?’ And I said, ‘I don’t know!’ I think people don’t want to look different, you don’t want to stand out.”

5:09 p.m.

Inês Reis ’27 of Angra do Heroismo, Portugal, works for Dining Services in the evening. Here she gets frozen french fries ready for the deep fryer.

“Commons is a big part of the �ֲ���ý community,” she says. “I’m glad I get to contribute to it all. Everyone gives so much to provide the best experience, and being part of the behind-the-scenes is exciting, especially on busy days!”

Reis gets kudos from her bosses for handling the deep fryer, a deceptively challenging job, whether it’s fries or chicken tenders. The work is “hot and busy,” says Michael Staffenski, associate director of culinary and retail operations. 

5:10 p.m.

Dining Services staff members Diana Mba Oyana (left) and Sonia Roy finish their early dinner before the supper crowd arrives.

5:11 p.m.

When diners finish their meals, they return dishes and flatware to a conveyer system that delivers the dishes to the dishroom, where (from left) Dining Services workers Ryan Bouchard, Abu Guhat, and Ali Hamse take over.

The solid waste stream includes about 100,000 pounds of product that goes to compost annually, and an additional 140,000 pounds of food scraps that go to the Sourground Farm pig farm in Sabattus, Maine.

5:23 p.m.

Student worker Axelle Tougouma ‘27 of Fada N’Gourma, Burkina Faso, takes her position as a monitor at the exit door from Commons. Later on in the evening, she’ll pitch in to help the staff tidy up the dining room.

She’s enjoyed getting to know her dining colleagues, whether longtime Mainers or new Mainers who’ve immigrated to Lewiston.

Tougouma says she’s not a fan of the cold, but colleagues have taught her that some people love winter. “There is such a genuine bond within us carried by discussions around different topics. My favorite is talking about winter, which I am not a fan of compared to Mainers. What more valuable work is there than learning from each other?”

6:05 p.m.

Emma Upton ’24 (right) of Amherst, N.H., and Jackson Quinn ’24 of Falmouth, Maine, are nearly finished with supper.

Upton is a studio art major, and she spent some on a project for her print-making course: “carving linoleum to make a self portrait through relief block printing.” One of eight studio art majors who exhibited in this year’s Senior Thesis Exhibition, she used sketched self-portraits to create mixed media abstractions.

6:18 p.m.

Calvin Capelle ’25 of San Juan Capistrano, Calif., displays his supper meal: beef pastrami sandwich on white bread, macaronic and cheese, and some greens.

6:27 p.m.

Dinner is in full swing. Upstairs, members of the ultimate team Cold Front and friends have dinner together. On the menu tonight is:

• Bobcat Bar: chicken stuffed with broccoli and cheese; salmon picatta; Israeli couscous; chateau blend.
• Grill: beef pastrami, shoestring fries.
• Vegan Bar: vegetable Chili, tofu tikka masala, brown rice, caponata siciliana.
• Brick Oven: pizza
• Pasta Bar: Pasta options with a variety of sauces.
• Deli: potato pesto soup, chicken noodle soup.
• Bakery: dinner rolls, carrot cake, Lucky Charms marshmallow bar.

6:51 p.m.

Maggie Gill ’27 of Tenants Harbor, Maine, finds a quite spot in the Fireplace Lounge.

7:39 p.m.

In the Renyi Meeting Room on the second floor, Dan Barsky ’03, via Zoom, engages a room full of student entrepreneurs during a meeting of Bobcat Ventures, the student entrepreneur program supported by the Center for Purposeful Work.

Barsky is an intellectual property attorney in Miami who is active in South Florida’s entrepreneurial and startup community. Joined by Pranav Ghai ’93, a �ֲ���ý trustee, the two alumni shared insights on crafting compelling pitch decks and presentations and took student questions.

8:04 p.m.

Cristina Salazar ’24 (right) has some fun catching up with dining staffer Sonia Roy.

“I love being able to go into Commons and saying hi to everyone,” says Salazar. “At this point, they feel like family to me and have provided me with a huge sense of belonging and home.”

Roy is originally from Peru, and Salazar, who is from San José, Costa Rica, values their shared Latin American heritage. “I am able to connect with her so closely through language and culture! I feel like she’s a mom for me while being so far away from mine.”

8:15 p.m.

John Haelsen, a first cook, cleans and closes down the grill, which began the day making omelets and ended the day grilling beef pastrami.

8:42 p.m.

One of the last, lingering diners in Commons were two first-year students who had just met: Rahaa Jeagar “RJ” Nikzat (left) of Mashhad, Iran, and Josh Ezerioha from Lagos, Nigeria.

They engaged in conversation about their experiences as international students at �ֲ���ý and their impressions of life in the U.S.

They came together thanks to a conversational matchmaker, of sorts: Tracy Stevenson, a cook’s assistant, who suggested they might enjoy each other’s company.

8:46 p.m.

Jackie Robert scans in some of the last diners of the evening.

8:58 p.m.

Billie Coburn, the board plan manager for Dining Services, is on the phone with Associate Director of Dining John Lajoie, briefing him on a mini-emergency. A gasket blew on the soft-serve ice cream machine, creating a huge mess that the staff cleaned up. A repair will take two hours, which Lajoie and his team will tackle in the morning.

9:20 p.m.

Right before closing up the dining operation, Coburn (second from left) checks in with colleagues, from left, RJ Loring, Nick Bolduc, and Abu Guhat.

Coburn says he always tries to looks around to see who needs help. For the dining team, pitching in is a big part of the culture.

For example, Ramadan has just begun, which means that anywhere from several to a dozen colleagues who are Muslim will break their daily fast with Iftar and prayer just after sunset.

At that time, other staff switch jobs for the hour that their colleagues are praying. Coburn picks up a sheet with the time of sunset in March and April that he printed earlier, so he’s certain when it occurs. “Today it was 6:43 p.m, and there were seven people. We’ll get it done. It’s the holiest month in the Islamic calendar.”

In terms of language diversity, about 17 percent of the 120 dining staff speak English as a second language; interpreters who speak French or Spanish are often part of staff meetings.

9:23 p.m.

After doing one final check-in with his crew, Coburn heads to the front of the building to lock the doors. By 11 p.m., all cleaning and closing down will be done, and the building fully put to bed — some 19 hours after the �ֲ���ý dining team began their day.

Writing and reporting by Deirdre Stires, Jay Burns, and Hannah Kothari ‘26.

Just a few ticks past 4 a.m., when most �ֲ���ý students are sleeping, unless powering through an all-nighter, Dining Services staff member Jane Herrick arrives at Commons to begin her day. 

We’re dating ourselves with the old Dunkin’ Donuts catch phrase, “Time to make the donuts.” But that’s Herrick’s life as head baker.

Herrick is the first of a Dining Services team that will number 70 on Tuesday, March 12, 2024. From morning till night, they will serve 4,789 meals and provide a top-shelf, caring, and community-oriented dining experience focused on students. 

Christine Schwartz, �ֲ���ý’ indefatigable associate vice president for dining, conferences, and campus events, was away on March 12, but the operation of the building, kitchens, and dining room she entrusts to her crackerjack staff ran like a top.

As students and alumni can attest, �ֲ���ý dining operation is seamlessly integrated into the entire �ֲ���ý student experience. “The work we do is integral to the educational mission of the institution and the success of our students,” says Schwartz. “That’s what drives us: helping students succeed.”

She and Cheryl Lacey, director of dining services, sweat the small stuff (such as sourcing sriracha sauce when it became scarce) and bigger stuff, like recognizing the wide variety of dining traditions, cultures, and needs presented by today’s �ֲ���ý students, and supporting their own large team of workers.

Some Commons workers are multigenerational Lewiston citizens with long French Canadian heritage. Some are new citizens from African and other nations. For about 28 percent of the entire Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events staff, English is a second (or third) language. 

They serve �ֲ���ý students, and in turn the students serve them heaping helpings of appreciation and respect.

In the hours and initial days after the Lewiston shootings of Oct. 25, 2023, �ֲ���ý had to ensure that students had food in the midst of a shelter-in-place order. “We still came in, because the kids had to be fed,” said Michael Staffenski, associate director of culinary and retail operations. 

Afterward, students made their appreciation clear and visible. “The whole wall at the Napkin Board was full of thank-yous,” said Staffenski, referring to the cork board where �ֲ���ý students offer feedback by writing comments on napkins that are pinned to the board.

Here, in the first of two parts, we present a day in the life of Commons.

4:04 a.m.

The first to arrive at Commons is baker Jane Herrick, right around 4 a.m., when she gets to work preparing frozen dough and the ingredients needed to make dozens of pastries, rolls, and desserts. Herrick lives in Lewiston near campus; other staff live in Auburn, while others travel from surrounding towns like Sabattus, Turner, Minot, Greene, and Lisbon Falls. 

4:10 a.m.

Herrick has worked in Dining Services for 26 years — including for the last 18 as the baker. She takes immense pride in her work.

While putting cinnamon rolls in a proofing box, she stops for a moment to show off the vegan frosting used on breakfast rolls. It was her creation, and it’s been a hit. “They call it ‘Jane’s Vegan Frosting,’” she says with a smile.

4:20 a.m.

Herrick is no nonsense as she explains the specific protocols for mixing ingredients, freezing the dough, and cutting baking sheets of goodies made the previous day. She moves quickly, and doesn’t look up as she talks.

4:53 a.m.

Gerry Villeneuve and Violet Bernard carry coffee and drinks to their work stations. Even at this early hour, smiles and camaraderie are everwhere.

5:02 a.m.

Food vendors make deliveries through the course of each day. Some deliveries are small, like donuts from the Italian Bakery located downtown.

The biggest delivery is the day’s first, from NorthCenter food service. They deliver everything from cereal to tea, plus milk, chicken tenders, vegetables like cauliflower and broccoli florets, and products for the soft serve machine. That’s upwards of 600 cases in all.

5:12 a.m.

Ryan Blake, a member of the Dining Services sanitation team, puts down anti-fatigue kitchen mats behind all of the stations. And at the end of the day, a team member will remove and clean them for the next day.

5:15 a.m.

Gerry Villeneuve works the Tomcat Sport heavy duty floor scrubber outside the Chu Dining Room, which is no small job, particularly during a Maine winter or the state’s famous mud season.

5:22 a.m.

Ryan Blake stores his coat in one of the 52 lockers available for staff, many of them adorned with stickers celebrating equity and inclusion, vegan food, and �ֲ���ý.

5:24 a.m.

Michael Staffenski, the associate director of culinary and retail operations, stops for a moment after a meeting with a cook to share with a visitor what he’s most proud of in Commons. 

The first pride point is the students. Second is the consistent great reviews from various professional organizations. “We’re good at what we do. Yes, we’re busy. But we have systems in place to manage the flow,” Staffenski says.

5: 31 a.m.

Violet Bernard has worked in Commons for 12 years at the bakery, in the serving counters, in catering, “pretty much everywhere,” she says. 

She’s proud that some of her own recipes have been used, such as her baked pasta dish and her grandmother’s Greek lentil soup, the Yai Yai’s Lentil Soup, a fan favorite because it is both vegan and gluten free.

But Bernard’s greatest joy at �ֲ���ý is connecting with students, including student workers. She offers as proof a text from a former student from Ghana — Nerissa Brobbey ’15 — who had a flair for dressing in stylish, hip outfits. Bernard looks up and shows off Brobbey’s Facebook posts of her posing in fashionable dresses.

“It’s hard to see them graduate. I think of these kids as my kids,” Bernard says. “They need comfort food. But I want them to eat healthy. It’s a place for them to hang out together and keep their bellies full.”

5:29 a.m.

Josh Lajoie, a first cook in Dining Services, brings more than muscle power and culinary artistry to Commons each day.

“Josh has positive energy, is a team player, and has an incredible skill set. He’s just so good at spreading love around,” said Christine Schwartz. 

Lajoie said working in Commons is more than a job. What he loves best about the experience is “the feeling of belongingness and being a part of something you know well with others.”

5:37 a.m.

From one tray or counter to the next, Herrick works patiently, carefully, and on any given day could be baking 80 to 300 muffins, around 14 loaves of banana bread, nearly 500 ginger-brandy cookies, and about 700 dinner rolls. There’s also sheets of key lime cheesecake to cut up and wrap, danishes and cinnamon rolls to prepare — all of it made from scratch. 

Enter: Gerry Villeneuve, a veteran of 20 years, who works in sanitation. Villeneuve likes to joke around with the 5-foot-2 Herrick about how the short counters and kitchen carts were custom made for her (which is not true, but hearing Villeneuve say it in a booming laugh, it’s easy to believe). 

“We are always moving here, but it’s nice to stop and visit,” Villeneuve says with another dose of laughter.

6:25 a.m.

Part of Dining Service’s rigorous health-safety protocols is making certain that well before the first bite is taken in Commons, the staff has gathered samples of each food item in the event that testing is later required.

6:40 a.m.

Mohamud Osman used to work on a hospital maintenance staff cleaning windows, so he aims for perfection when he cleans the windows on the front and back doors of Commons.

Osman helps the �ֲ���ý crew in many ways: cleaning the floors, cleaning pots, cleaning the dishwasher, breaking it down and reassembling it, to name just a few. Osman waves to everyone in greeting and pitches in where he’s needed. 

“I like working in Commons, I like the people, I like my managers. They’re good people. They always ask me what I need, and they ask so nicely. Whoever needs help here, I help them,” he said.

6:53 a.m.

Osman vacuums the Fireside Lounge immediately before the students arrive for breakfast on omelet day, which always promises a happy rush of guests.

7:00 a.m.

Dining Services staffer Linda Ritchie admits the first student diners to Commons breakfast.

7:02 a.m.

A student hands a cup with her selected omelet ingredients to cook Brad McArthur, “the Omelet Man.” Rather than pointing out ingredients for McArthur to place on their omelet, students now dish out their toppings themselves.

7:08 a.m.

Tuesday is omelet day, which means that McArthur, a 28-year veteran, is a welcome sight to students.

McArthur makes each omelet to order with whatever students want: cheese, bacon, spinach, peppers, onions — and extra hamburg for those who want it.

7:15 a.m.

�ֲ���ý sports teams often gather together during breakfast at Commons, such as the field hockey team above. At a window nearby, the rowing teams sat together and on this day had good news to report: Later in the day, at their boathouse on the Androscoggin River they would participate in the age-old rowing ritual of putting in the docks. 

“It marks the start of our season,” said Quinn Gleason ‘26 of Wayland Mass.

Gleason had finished an egg bowl. “Spinach as a base, red onions, cheese, sometimes beans, then two eggs, and then any kind of protein I can find. Delicious!” She has her eggs over-easy. “Always. The yolks kind of freak me out.”

7:32 a.m.

Bobcats, the student kind and the frosted-glass kind, face a new morning in Commons.

Having exited his room at Page Hall, Liam Friedlander ’27 of Pittsburgh is walking along Lake Andrews toward Commons for breakfast before his 8 a.m. class. 

His routine of listening to music, a Spotify mix that has served up Taylor Swift at this moment, having been interrupted for the moment, Friedlander explains that he’s coming off his first year as a varsity swimmer.

Ordinarily, he’d be up this early for a swim workout, then class. With the season over, he has a lot more time on his hands, which is taking some getting used to. “It feels weird,” he says.

After breakfast (eating “whatever”), he’ll head to his hydrogeology class with Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences Beverly Johnson. “She’s great,” he says.

7:35 a.m.

Cameron Frary ‘24 making a waffle in classic-�ֲ���ý style with all the trimmings: strawberries and syrup.

7:47 a.m.

Josh Lajoie, working with Brad McArthur at the omelet station, tosses cheese onto yet another omelet.

Lorenzo Songsare-Shevy ’27 of Uttenreuth, Germany, says his favorite omelet has “various meats, spinach, and tomato,” he says. “I’m Italian — I have to like tomato.”

He has never been an early-morning person. “But I’m trying to change that now.” He sees the benefits, at least when it comes to breakfast. “The lines are shorter now, and my friends are here. I’m relaxed.” 

Noa Hart ’27 of Hastings on Hudson, N.Y., describes her wake-up times as “airport times.” She’s a rower, and they get up very early for workouts. “I woke up at 4:20,” she says.

“Tuesdays are my favorite day because of omelet day. I live for omelet day. My favorite part about the 5 a.m [workout] is that we get to be first for omelet day.”

7:52 a.m.

Marc Begin ’27 of Jacksonville, Fla., talks with his teammates on the men’s basketball team after breakfast. It’s common in Commons to find members of Bobcat teams sitting together enjoying not only meals, but Bobcat camaraderie.

7:59 a.m.

An hour into breakfast, it’s nearly as quiet as it was when the dining room opened at 7. The rush to eat before 8 a.m. classes has come and gone. Only a handful of people are left.

Two are Pat Schoknecht (left), the college librarian and vice president for information and library services, and Leigh Weisenburger, dean of admission and vice president for enrollment and financial aid.

They’ve both been up for hours: Schoknecht because it’s how she rolls. “Already been to the gym,” she says. And Weisenburger because she’s up early with her two young children, one of whom, a 6-year-old boy, hits the ground running each morning. “Very early,” she says.

Nearby Schoknecht and Weisenburger is Jackson Quinn ’24 of Falmouth, Maine, who was using the last few minutes of his breakfast to finish a reading for his 8 a.m. class in behavioral economics, taught by Sandra Goff, associate professor of economics, a short walk away in Bonney Science Center. 

On the table before him is the course textbook, A Course in Behavioral Economics, and he was reading a chapter on intertemporal choice, which is how we make decisions that involve trade-offs between costs and benefits that occur at different points in time.

We asked him how many pages he had. “Maybe five more,” he said, thumbing the pages. And with just seven minutes left before 8 a.m., that was a clue to wrap up our interview. (Postscript: Quinn finished his reading on time.)

8:02 a.m.

In this view from the upstairs Gorayeb Mezzanine about an hour after sunrise, the early morning sun illuminates parts of three �ֲ���ý buildings, from left: Chase Hall, Carnegie Science Hall, and Ladd Library. 

In the foreground are the brick pillars of the Class of 1910 Gate, once where fans paid to enter Garcelon Field for football games and now the ceremonial entrance to the plaza that fronts Commons.

8:54 a.m.

Sometimes, the secret sauce is not in the ingredients.

“The omelets that come at the end (of the shift) are the best, after you get the grill seasoned with other flavors from the vegetable juices, from the meat juices. It enhances the flavor,” McArthur convides. “It’s the same principle as a cast-iron cooking pan.”

9:06 a.m.

Upstairs during the monthly gathering of the Presidents Council, a group of staff members who direct college programs gather. Leana Amáez, vice president for equity and inclusion, directs the discussion about bias in hiring practices. She has just asked who among attendees has had formal training in bias-free and inclusive hiring practices.

9:26 a.m.

Meanwhile, downstairs the flow in and out of Commons continues.

“The line is tragic,” says a good-natured Josh Ezerioha ’27 of Bowie, Md., as he waits for the first of two omelets. He arrived in Commons after class at 10. “I have just enough time to get here before my next class.”

The first-year football player never misses the omelet bar. Never. He waited 25 minutes for his first of two on March 12. But as a 200-pound linebacker at �ֲ���ý, Ezerioha needs more than one.

Xinchen Zhong ’24 of Shanghai also never misses the omelet bar. She also likes the pho and food at the vegan bar, all of these choices, she says, are aimed at a healthy diet. 

“I like the omelets because they’re mostly protein. It limits the carbohydrates,” Zhong says.

9:49 a.m.

After attending the President’s Council meeting upstairs, President Jenkins heads downstairs to the dining hall.

“There’s Garry. He’s the chillest president ever,” Ezerioha says. “I had three presidents at the (prep) school I went to, and he is the most chill.” 

As Jenkins moves around the beverage bar before heading to a morning meeting, he take his time and looks out at the dining room, where students talk with friends, cram for classes, or eat breakfast. In Commons, Jenkins rarely intrudes on these moments, but, instead in his body language and demeanor, he lets the students know: “They can chat with me, if they wish.”

Then he ticks off his favorites in Common: the tofu pad thai and the waffles. “But those are a treat,” Jenkins adds. 

“To be honest when I first heard about the reputation of the food in Commons was, I thought, ‘How great can it be? It’s institutional.’ But it really is a reputation well-earned. It’s something to be proud of and make an enormous difference for the college,” Jenkins says.

That, of course, is because much of the food in Commons is prepared by hand, even made from scratch and favorite family recipes shared by both the staff and students.

10:10 a.m.

Brown Cow yogurt, made by Stonyfield, has a high cream content and is made with maple syrup, which is a student favorite.

Students are famous for creative concoctions, and one recent trend is mixing Brown Cow maple yogurt with cocoa powder, peanut butter, and honey!

10:13 a.m.

If you want to get �ֲ���ý students to light up, just have James Reese (standing right), longtime associate dean for international student programs, stop by a table in Commons at mealtime.

The beloved dean is with Allison Brown (left), the associate director of �ֲ���ý Counseling and Pyschological Services (left), and they’ve stopped to chat and share a laugh with Tamaki Hashiramoto ’24 (seated left) of Tokyo and Britton Gorfain ’25 of New York City.

Writing and reporting by Deirdre Stires, Jay Burns, and Hannah Kothari ‘26.

Last Monday, students returning to �ֲ���ý for the winter semester had the usual variety of lunch options at Commons. From the brick oven station, a diner could grab a slice of thick-crust cheese pizza, then head over to the Bobcat Bar for a serving of shrimp scampi. For dessert, a lemon pudding bar.

Thanks to that �ֲ���ý implemented during the fall, it’s possible to know exactly what’s in that meal: 59 grams of carbohydrates, for example, plus 1.6 grams of dietary fiber, 8.8 grams of protein, and 16% of the recommended daily amount of Vitamin C.

“It’s enhanced our program, not only for those who have special dietary needs but also for students in general, because it provides much more information at a touch,” says Christine Schwartz, assistant vice president for the Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events office.

�ֲ���ý has long worked to educate diners about what’s in the food it serves, posting allergen information on physical cards near the food for people who need to avoid things like dairy or tree nuts and making sure dining staff are available to answer questions.

In turn, students have a voracious interest in their food, making the online menu typically among the most heavily trafficked �ֲ���ý websites.

NetNutrition leverages the popularity of the online menu by adding, for the first time, information about allergens, calories, carbs, fat, protein, and vitamins and minerals.

“We’ve packaged it into one spot,” Schwartz says.

At lunch on Jan. 16, Andrew Garcia-Bou ‘20 of Eastchester, N.Y., and Ke’ala Brosseau ‘20 of Burlington, Vt., both student employees in the �ֲ���ý Communications Office, have gamely agreed to display their Commons creations before chowing down. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

The software, a product of inventory management company CBORD, functions as a feature of Commons’ existing online menu — curious or conscientious diners can simply click on an item like sweet and sour sauce or Frosted Flakes to see the nutritional information, they can “build a meal” from multiple items, or they can look ahead to future days’ offerings.

�ֲ���ý is one of the smallest colleges to use NetNutrition, Schwartz says, and it took about two years to fully implement the program.

That’s because dining staff had to track down nutritional information for each ingredient in each recipe on Commons’ five-week menu cycle, weigh and measure the items, and account for when food expands or shrinks as it cooks. In total, they coded about 4,000 data points.

They also revisited handwritten recipes to make sure they reflected changes over the years and revised serving sizes to reflect how much people actually eat. For example, the serving size on a box of pasta might not be the same as a standard spatula-ful at the pasta bar.

“We had to have our vendors learn how we track things,” says David Perreault, associate director of dining. “If we thought a bulk item weighs 10 pounds, and it really weighs 12, we’d have to make that adjustment so the portions were correct.”

Ke’ala Brosseau ‘20 of Burlington, Vt., poses with her lunch, a bowl of vegan pad thai with bean sprouts, scallions, soy sauce, and chili garlic sauce topped with paprika and lime. According to the NetNutrition guide, the meal nets about 18% of the daily recommended amount of sodium and 2.7 grams of dietary fiber — though those allergic to soy might want to pick something else. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

One semester in, things don’t look all that different in the Commons dining hall. Allergens are still posted at each food station, but nutritional information is not.

“Our feeling is that if you post nutritional information — if you make it prominent in the dining hall — that would be a detriment to students who might have issues with food,” says Director of Dining Cheryl Lacey. Adds Schwartz, “We have never put the calorie information on a card, and we never will.”

Instead, NetNutrition enables students to independently check calories, carbs, and ingredients of their meals.

The guide has already been the subject of a senior thesis. Lauren Hernandez ’20, a psychology major from Chester, N.J., looked at how students use NetNutrition and whether or not their use reflects a healthy relationship with food.

Because not enough of the 200-plus students Hernandez surveyed use NetNutrition, she couldn’t draw a definitive conclusion about their relationships with food. She did find, however, that those who do use it find it helpful for planning their meals around dietary restrictions or spotting allergens.

For dining staff, meanwhile, NetNutrition has been revolutionary. Not only can individual diners access nutritional information, but the centralized software has made it easier for Dining Services’ purchasers, chefs, and managers to communicate with each other.

Andrew Garcia-Bou ’20 shows off his lunch, a plate of macaroni and cheese, Italian-style pork sausage, vegan pad thai, and peas. The meal contains just under a gram of trans fat and a quarter of the recommended daily amount of iron, according to NetNutrition. Allergens and dietary restrictions to watch out for are soy, dairy, and, of course, pork. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Allergen notices have become automated, chefs can modify recipes and have the nutrition information automatically update, and staff on the floor can more easily guide students who have dietary questions.

“This is a safety net,” says Sous Chef Michael Staffenski. “A student comes to me and says, ‘Does this have bean sprouts in it?’ I don’t know every recipe. Instead of running around to find out, I can say, ‘Yeah, it does’ or ‘It doesn’t.’”

Kelly Perreault, a senior administrative coordinator and special dietary needs liaison, says NetNutrition is one of many ways students and other diners can know what they’re eating, make meals to suit their individual needs, and — especially for those with allergies — to make sure they’re eating safely.

“Their best tool,” she points out, “is actually getting to know our cooks, approaching somebody at the grill and saying, ‘Hey, I’m allergic to this — can I see the menu?’

“NetNutrition is one of many tools for students to know that this is their home away from home, and it’s necessary to feel safe in their environment,” she says. “Our office doors are always open to talk to myself or anyone else.”

Krista Aronson

�ֲ���ý College program encourages diverse picture books for children — Sun Journal

Steve Collins of the Lewiston Sun Journal spoke with Professor of Psychology Krista Aronson, the creator of the Diverse BookFinder.

Now in its third year, DBF’s online database and physical picture-book collection makes diverse children’s books more accessible, Aronson told Collins. Since its launch, the physical collection has grown, and the DBF has helped dozens of libraries analyze diversity in their own collections.

Associate Professor of Psychology Krista Aronson reads in Ladd Library with her daughter Hope in 2017. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Aronson also spoke with Meghan Mangrum of the Chattanooga Times Free Press, who wrote about teachers in the Tennessee city who are trying to diversify their own book collections.

“We live right now in segregated societies, and we think of school or work as places where we come in contact with people who are different from ourselves,” Aronson said. “That’s going to be increasingly common, and we need to prepare our children to be successful in those environments.”

Read the stories: 

• “,” Sun Journal, Dec. 12, 2019 
• “,” Chatanooga Times Free Press, Nov. 23, 2019 

Matt Tavares ’97

Children’s book about Santa’s reindeer lands �ֲ���ý grad on bestseller list — Multiple outlets

Portland Press Herald reporter Ray Routhier interviewed Matt Tavares ’97, a noted children’s book author and illustrator whose latest picture book, Dasher, made The New York Times bestseller list, as well as numerous online lists of holiday-themed children’s books.

Dasher, Matt Tavares’ latest children’s book, is his first to hit The New York Times bestseller list. (Courtesy of Matt Tavares)

Tavares wrote and illustrated his first picture book for his senior thesis at �ֲ���ý, under Robert Feintuch. Dasher, his 20th book and the first to make the bestseller list, is a kind of origin story for Santa’s reindeer.

Tavares lives with his family in Ogunquit, Maine, where, as he told Routhier, the beautiful Maine winters are inspiring.

“I do a lot of my writing during the winter,” he said. “I find winter in Maine is a good time to clear your mind and really focus on your story.”

Read the stories: 

• “,” Sun Journal, Nov. 28, 2019
• “,” Portland Press Herald, Dec. 15, 2019 
• “,” Today, Nov. 21, 2019 
• “,” The Washington Post, Dec. 2, 2019

Francesco Duina

Why are poor Americans more patriotic than their wealthier counterparts? — The Guardian

Writing for The Guardian, Professor of Sociology Francesco Duina pointed out that the poorest Americans are the ones who love their country the most. One hundred percent of the lowest-income Americans are proud of their country — more than Americans with higher incomes, and certainly more than citizens of other nations love their countries.

Most of the financially disadvantaged people that Francesco Duina interviewed for Broke and Patriotic, he says, “take ownership of their life histories.” They don’t blame the system. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

Duina is the author of the book Broke and Patriotic: Why Poor Americans Love Their Country. By interviewing residents of Montana and Alabama, Duina learned that some of those with the lowest incomes saw the United States as a place of dignity, abundance, and freedom.

“As long as they remain deeply patriotic, America’s poor won’t rise up,” Duina wrote. “Indeed, they’ll continue to fill the ranks of the military, strive and sacrifice to help America assert itself in the world, and even feed into and support the slogans and successes of the country’s political leaders.”

Read the story: 

• “” The Guardian, Nov. 20, 2019 

Katherine Frank ’94

New chancellor named for UW–Stout — Wisconsin Public Radio

Rich Kramer of Wisconsin Public Radio interviewed Katherine Frank ’94, who will be the next chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Stout, the state’s polytechnic university. She will take the post in March.

Katherine Frank ’94 is the new chancellor of the University of Wisconsin–Stout. (UW-Stout Communications)

Frank studied English at �ֲ���ý and holds a doctorate in English from the University of Washington. She has held a range of administrative positions, most recently as vice president of academic innovation and professor of English at Central Washington University.

Frank told �ֲ���ýNews that Professor of English Steven Dillon and Professor Emerita of English Carole Anne Taylor, who died in 2015, were instrumental during her time at �ֲ���ý. “They are/were remarkable scholars, teachers, and mentors, and I feel very lucky to have worked with them and many others in the English department at �ֲ���ý.”

Read the story: 

• “,” Wisconsin Public Radio, Nov. 26, 2019

Amy Bass ’92

Mike McGraw has been ‘everyone’s father figure, brother, friend and mentor’ — Sun Journal

When Mike McGraw announced his retirement, historian and author Amy Bass ’92 wrote a heartfelt tribute to the longtime Lewiston High School boys soccer coach.

Bass is the author of One Goal: A Coach, a Team, and the Game That Brought a Divided Town Together, which chronicles how the soccer team, largely made up of African immigrants and reflecting the changing demographics of Lewiston, won its first state championship in decades in 2015.

Amy Bass ’92 (right) poses with Mike McGraw (center) and Kim Wettlaufer ’80 during a reception at the Maine Immigrant and Refugee Services offices in Lewiston during her visit to the city and �ֲ���ý to promote her book One Goal in March 2018. (H. Jay Burns/�ֲ���ý College)

Bass got to know McGraw, the rest of the coaching staff, and current and former players deeply. Quoting many of those players, she wrote that Lewiston was better for McGraw’s leadership.

“Whether on the soccer pitch, in a classroom, or at a local watering hole, that is who Mike McGraw is — someone who can talk to anyone from the moment he looks at them with his twinkling blue eyes,” Bass wrote.

Read the story: 

• “,’�ĝ Sun Journal, Dec. 3, 2019 

Ben Cline ’94

One year on Capitol Hill, Republican Rep. Ben Cline has been effective even while in the minority — The Roanoke Times

U.S. Rep. Ben Cline ’94 was recently the subject of a lengthy profile in The Roanoke Times. A first-term Republican representing Virginia’s 6th District, he’s aligned himself with the GOP and President Trump, while simultaneously reaching across the aisle, wrote reporter Amy Friedenberger.

U.S. Rep. Ben Cline ’94. left, poses with Rep. Jared Golden ’11 during a summer 2019 �ֲ���ý Magazine photo shoot in Washington, D.C. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Cline succeeded longtime Rep. Bob Goodlatte ’74, who retired in 2019. Now a member of the Judiciary Committee, Cline is part of important decision-making around issues like gun control and immigration — all overshadowed, of course, by the fall’s impeachment hearings.

On Dec. 13, Cline voted “no” on articles of impeachment against President Donald Trump, though the Judiciary Committee as a whole voted to send the articles to the full House for a vote.

Still, in one of the most partisan environments imaginable, Cline tries to work with Democrats. “You need to understand where the other person is coming from in their position and recognize that they come at it from a position of morality as well,” Cline told Friedenberger.

Read the story: 

• “,” The Roanoke Times, Nov. 30, 2019 

Rebecca Herzig

When deadly X-rays were used for hair removal — OZY

At the turn of the 20th century, using X-ray treatments to remove body hair came into vogue, wrote Virat Markandeya of the digital magazine OZY. Doctors and scientists didn’t know how dangerous high doses of X-rays were, and deadly cancers later afflicted many women who had undergone the treatments.

Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Rebecca Herzig works with a student in 2016. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

To explain the appeal of X-ray hair removal, Markandeya turned to Rebecca Herzig, a professor of gender and sexuality studies at �ֲ���ý and an expert on the politics of body hair.

Some women turned to X-rays because they “bypassed the inescapable physicality of all other hair-removal technologies” like shaving and waxing, Herzig wrote in a 1999 article in the journal Technology and Culture.

Read the story: 

• “,” OZY, Nov. 26, 2019 

�ֲ���ý Museum of Art

Art exhibits ‘Abound’ on campus — Portland Press Herald

In the space of a week, the Portland Press Herald covered both of the �ֲ���ý Museum of Art’s current exhibitions, placing them at the forefront of a strong showing of art at Maine colleges.

�ֲ���ý Museum of Art attendant Louise Ouillette and Tony Leavitt, a science teacher at Tripp Middle School, take a closer look at Vanessa German’s artwork. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Bob Keyes reviewed Vanessa German’s Miracles and Glory Abound, which explores the stories societies tell themselves and who gets left out of those stories. One piece reimagines Emanuel Leutze’s famous 1851 painting, “Washington Crossing the Delaware.”

“German aims to add depth to those stories by fleshing them out and starting a conversation about public memory,” Keyes wrote.

Elsewhere in the museum, Daniel Kany took a look at Stages for Being, an exhibition of photography by Ralph Eugene Meatyard, who took surreal photos featuring his family, and props like masks and dolls, in abandoned places.

Additionally, the museum collaborated with the Maine Museum of Photographic Arts on another photography exhibition, Jack Montgomery & Ralph Gibson: Appearances, at the University of Southern Maine.

Read the stories:  

• “,” Portland Press Herald, Dec. 2, 2019
• “,’�ĝ Portland Press Herald, Dec. 8, 2019
• “,” Maine Arts Scene, Nov. 30, 2019 

Commons

�ֲ���ý College offers high-end cuisine to students and public — Sun Journal

Lindsay Tice of the Lewiston Sun Journal grabbed lunch at the �ֲ���ý dining hall, interviewing President Clayton Spencer, Assistant Vice President for Dining, Conferences and Campus Events Christine Schwartz, and several students about what makes a Commons lunch so good.

Commons, as seen from the second floor balcony. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Tice marveled at the cereal wall, the thinly cut French fries, and especially at the beef panang curry on offer, which, she said, made her a “curry fan” for the first time.

“So why does the �ֲ���ý dining hall win so many awards?” she wrote. “Part of it is the sheer amount of choice. Part of it is the focus on sustainability. And part of it is that the food is really that good.”

Read the story: 

• “,” Sun Journal, Nov. 24, 2019 

Jeffrey Lynn ’30

Remember Jeffrey Lynn? — ClassicMovieChat.com

The blog , which shares photos and stories from the Golden Age of Hollywood, posted about Jeffrey Lynn ’30, an actor who made a name for himself in film during the 1940s.

Jeffrey Lynn ’30 (right) sits with Grosvenor Robinson, professor of elocution at �ֲ���ý, in 1941.

Lynn’s notable roles include My Love Came Back, opposite Olivia De Havilland, and A Letter to Three Wives, with Kirk Douglas and Jeanne Crain. He also famously screen-tested for the role of Ashley Wilkes in Gone with the Wind. (The part ultimately went to British actor Leslie Howard.)

“The blandly handsome actor was most often cast as a young husband, a young recruit, or an interesting boyfriend,” wrote Joe Morella and Frank Segers.

Lynn also fought in World War II, for which he received a Bronze Star, and later worked as a film and theater producer.

Read the story: 

• “” ClassicMovieChat.com, Nov. 21, 2019 

A quick lunchtime survey in Commons reveals the following opinions about a perennial comfort-food favorite among students, the �ֲ���ý Bobcat sandwich.

“It tastes like I’m at a deli.”

“It tastes like home.”

“It embodies �ֲ���ý values.”

“It reminds me of comfort.”

“It exceeds expectations.”

See the deliciousness of a �ֲ���ý Bobcat sandwich as it’s assembled by Dining Services executive chef Owen Keene. Video by Theophil Syslo.

The Bobcat has been a lunchtime mainstay for more than a decade, ever since the current Commons — and its signature brick oven — opened in 2008.

Want to make your own? Here you go:

�ֲ���ý Bobcat Sandwich

Serves: One hungry Bobcat

4 ounces shaved ham (or 4 slices)
2 slices deli pepperoni
2 slices salami
1 slice provolone (or more if you’re feeling cheesy)
1 slice American cheese (same!)
Finely chopped Spanish onion
Finely chopped green pepper
Crinkle-chip dill pickles
8-inch sub roll

Heat oven to 350 F.  Slice sub roll in half. Layer one side of roll with chopped green pepper and chopped onion, then layer ham, pepperoni, American cheese, salami, pickles, and provolone. Place layered side on cooking pan. Heat 4 to 5 minutes. Top with top half and heat 2 to 3 minutes until warm. Serve with condiment of choice.

From left, Robert Sobolewski ’22 of Chevy Chase, Md., Nick Van Ingen ’23 of Darien Conn., and William Bolin ’23 of Monkton, Md., tuck into their Bobcat sandwiches in Commons. (Theophil Syslo/�ֲ���ý College)

It’s 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Commons, and your senses are on high alert as Dining Services prepares the evening meal.

There’s the smell of baked goods. The sting in your eyes from freshly diced onions. The flicker of flame inside the brick oven. And all around, quick conversations as staff glide past one another.

Before you realize it, an hour has passed, the doors open, the students flood in.

Dinner, and your taste buds, are now served.

Students patiently wait in line at the grill to dig into General Tso's chicken and rice.

A room with a view: Commons seen from Central Avenue.

Dining Services diverts more than 80 percent of its waste to composting, local pig farmers, and recycling, a major reason �ֲ���ý has a Gold rating from the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education.

First cook Tim Reynolds and third cook Jake Morse pose for a portrait before slinging pies at the brick oven.

Sous chef Michael Staffenski peels an onion as he works through an entire bushel, all without shedding a tear.

“Food is nourishment. It makes you whole,” says Michael Staffenski, Dining Services sous chef.

The “whole” in this sense also means the whole �ֲ���ý community, which comes together in the college’s single dining hall.

“The students live here, so this is their home, this is their kitchen,” Staffenski continues. “It’s our mission to provide all the things that their kitchen at home does, whether it’s an ear to listen or the comfort of warm soup when you’re not feeling well. It’s support: a little bit of everything.”

And there’s fun in the kitchen, too, For Daisy Taylor, bakery supervisor, the fun comes “when I get to be adventurous.”

Sure, she and her colleagues turn out the beloved cookies and muffins. “That’s pretty cookie-cutter,” she says, pun intended. But when a catering order comes in, “I get to put my own little spin on things. I definitely like that, and I think people appreciate what we put out. It’s a good feeling.”

Ricky Michalak, a Dining Services first cook, was handling the vegan station Tuesday night. One approach he uses is to “take meals that I like personally and see how I can make them vegan.“

One of his favorite creations is the Thai lettuce wrap made with fried tempeh. “They’re really sweet, really good. Even non-adventurous eaters will love it.”

And he doesn’t mind if students, famous for their ad hoc creations, don’t use the wrap as a wrap, “instead sprinkling it on their own salad or doing whatever with it. It all works out very well.

“It’s a busy station. Fun and challenging,” he adds. “I feel like everyone should be challenged at whatever they do.”

In this short film, Durotimi Akinkugbe ’18 of London offers a Commons sampler: the many ways �ֲ���ý students enjoy �ֲ���ý’ beloved dining hall.

Whether it’s the unlimited food or the amazing choices (or not having to make a choice!), Commons is the place where �ֲ���ý comes together.

When philosophy major Emilio Valadez ’18 of San Antonio, Texas, eats lunch at Commons, he likes to start out on a window ledge and “consider the constellation of humans” spread out before him.

“And what I really enjoy about being here,” he says, “is that anyone you sit with, you’re going to learn something from eating with them.”

Whether the conversation touches on happiness, anxiety, the profound, or the mundane, “you learn so much about yourself and who you want to be. And I love it.”

If you took all the paper coffee cups that the dining Commons goes through in a typical year and laid them end to end, that line of cups would be nearly long enough to connect Lewiston with Portland, about 36 miles away. And it would number about 750,000 cups.

But if your bucket list includes linking the two cities with a line of used �ֲ���ý-branded paper cups, you’ve missed your chance. As of April 24, as a way to reduce the waste that �ֲ���ý sends to the local landfill, Dining Services will no longer stock paper cups in Commons. (They’ll still be available in the Bobcat Den.)

A poster created by �ֲ���ý EcoReps illustrates the environmental burden created by paper cups.

From the sustainability standpoint, paper cups are a sorry proposition. Manufacturing them requires lots of trees, water, and energy (usually from fossil fuels), and still more fuel to transport them — all for something that you’ll use once and then throw at the wastebasket.

The environmental insults don’t stop there. The same wax or plastic linings that make paper hot-beverage cups leakproof also make them prohibitively difficult to recycle. Student interest in seeing the end of paper cups in Commons has been building for some time, and last fall the college decided to drop the cups from Commons once and for all.

“They aren’t consistent with Dining Services’ philosophy, and certainly not with the institution’s move towards a more sustainable culture,” says Christine Schwartz, assistant vice president for dining, conferences, and campus events.

Knowing, however, that Commons patrons will always want to take a post-prandial cuppa away with them, Dining Services is revamping its beverage-container offering in Commons even as it eliminates the paper cups.

Mugging for the camera: Like every other �ֲ���ý student, Laura Rand ’18 of Barrington, R.I., will soon have a personal reusable container like this to call her own. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

If Dining Services is taking away the paper cups with one hand, with the other it is giving every �ֲ���ý student a dandy replacement: a lidded, insulated stainless-steel mug, complete with carabiner to hang it from a backpack. These so-called personal reusable containers, or PRCs, come with not only lids and carabiners but a bit of social engineering power as well.

“You have personal responsibility for that mug. It’s on the student to take accountability for their role in being sustainable,” says Hannah Slattery ’18. An environmental studies major from New Hampshire, Slattery is a �ֲ���ý EcoRep and a member of both the Committee on Environmental Responsibility and the “mug committee” that devised the cup elimination plan.

The PRCs will be rolled out via a “smoothie promotion” on April 10, the Monday of finals week. “You’ll get your mug, you get a smoothie, and then we’re going to encourage students to bling their mug,” says Schwartz — with stickers, gewgaws, trinkets, doodads, and other bling courtesy of Dining Services.

Laura Rand ’18 demonstrates the new mug-washing station in Commons, which makes life more hygienic for folks toting their own mugs around — as every �ֲ���ý student who’s on campus will soon be doing. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Another encouragement comes in the form of a new mug-washing sink that’s been in service in Commons since February.

In other changes to Commons drinking technology, the current 7.5-ounce plastic tumblers for soda and water will be replaced with 12-ounce models, and a line of 12-ounce Melmac mugs for hot beverages will be added. Both products are for use only in the dining hall.

Given �ֲ���ý’ activist tradition, it’s not surprising that student interest helped drive the decision to dump the cups. (A measure of that interest is the fact that 1,204 students — out of a student body of around 1,700 — took part in the online vote to decide which of two cups would be the official PRC. The handle-and-carabiner model beat a shapely cup-holder design by 692 to 512.)

Even as Dining Services was looking more closely at the issue, Sustainability Manager Tom Twist and the Committee on Environmental Responsibility were seeking student proposals for Green Innovation Grants.

Three of the proposals submitted to the Committee involved getting rid of paper cups. For various reasons, none of the proposals were fundable as submitted — but by providing ideas that wound up in the final plan, they lit a path toward the goal.

“We decided to get all of those people together, get all of the energy together, and find a solution that could work for everybody,” says Slattery. In fact, the mug committee was formed around two of the cup-proposal applicants, Owen Ahlborn ’19 and Julia Panepinto ’20. (Panepinto applied for the grant on behalf of the volleyball team.) Also on the committee are Schwartz, Dining Services Director Cheryl Lacey, Twist, Slattery, and another EcoRep, Olivia LaMarche ’20.

Christine Schwartz’s blinged-up Personal Reusable Container suggests an approach to distinguishing one’s own PRC from all the rest. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

“The way the plan is now unfolding is really driven by students,” Schwartz adds — “the students on the committee, and them talking to their friends, and their friends talking to their friends. So it’s been a great experience.”

Students who don’t find the student-elected PRCs appealing can opt for a voucher worth the cup’s purchase price, says Schwartz. The vouchers will be redeemable for other models of mug at the College Store. “You’ll have to pay the difference between your voucher and whatever you choose, but it’ll at least subsidize you if you want to make a different choice.”

Students made it clear that the official PRC should be provided exclusively to students. “They don’t want us to sell those particular ones or have them in the bookstore,” Schwartz explains, “because they want it to be a unique item, a signature item for students.”

�ֲ���ý EcoReps are student employees of the sustainability office. One of five tasked with media and outreach, Slattery has been instrumental to marketing the cup plan. Posters, email blasts, tabling sessions, napkin-holder texts, and meetings with other �ֲ���ý organizations have all been part of that effort.

The cup project presents an opportunity to raise broader awareness of �ֲ���ý’ sustainability score, Slattery points out. “We thought we should go a step further — to take a cohesive plan about cups and make it a larger plan about sustainability,” she says, “and frame it in a way where it’s not just about replacing the cups, it’s about having each student take personal responsibility for their environmental actions.”

“This is really a push on campus to amp up what we’re already doing” to advance �ֲ���ý sustainability, Schwartz adds. “These environmental initiatives aren’t something new, but something that have been here for a long time and have now really become a focus of the institution. And that’s mostly due to the interest of students.”

Now a dominant part of trash that Commons sends to the landfill, paper cups are about to vanish from �ֲ���ý’ dining hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)