#onlyatUnity

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Love the outdoors?? So does Unity College staff, students and alumni. On Jan. 23, Melanie Jackson, Joey Moran and Matt Dyer hiked up to Lonesome Lake in the White Mountains. What a gorgeous day for a hike and what an inspiration to get outside!!! 

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Today’s Unity College art features comes from student Jeanette Gray. 

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Cheech and Chong game on point!! #halloweencostume #halloweenparty #cheechandchong #bigbeard #mustacheride #redbandana #suspenders #fuckaround #onlyatunity #roomies4life (at Unity, Maine)

[shelteredheart]

First time every shooting a gun. Out of 30 bullets, only missed like 3. 😎 #firearmstraining #onlyatUnity #mycollege

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50 Day for 50 Years Energy Campaign -- Let me start off saying that I am NOT a selfie person. Selfies are not really my “thing”. But, here at Unity College we are in the midst of a 50 Days for 50 Years Energy Campaign. The goal is 100% involvement by students, faculty and staff. They are asking everyone to make a pledge regarding either electricity usage, heating and cooling, water or transportation. I pledged to unplug electronic appliances when they are not in use. 

So, where do the selfies come in you ask???? Currently there is a Find’em All Faculty Poster Challenge. Unity College students Evelyn Allen and Morticia Goodell made posters with faces of Unity College faculty that had energy tips on them and  posted them around campus. There is a little contest running right now to see who can find the most posters and take selfies with them. Rumor has it there are prizes for whoever finds the most. Think I have a chance of winning????

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Unity Rocks -- Literally, Unity Rocks. I know that we are partial, but we really think so! This rock sits near the center of campus where students, faculty and staff walk past it daily. As engraved on it.... a gathering space created by the community for the community. #UnityCollege #onlyatUnity #thisismyclassroom 

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It’s Friday and who doesn’t like Friday?? The Unity College Wellness Committee hosted a Giant Campus Picnic on Friday afternoon with games, music and door prizes. Students, faculty and staff were encouraged to bring their lunch and come out to the community picnic.

Above, Dean of Student Affairs Gary Zane plays croquet with students and fellow staff members. I wonder how many other college students get to play croquet with the Dean of Students Affairs? We won’t tell you who won.....

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Autumn, fall... what comes into your mind when you hear those words? To us it means students returning to campus, studying, trees changing colors, sweaters, scarfs, boots and pumpkin and apple everything! 

Today Uniquely Unity features Kalie Lovell studying outside among the leaves next to the slack line on campus. It doesn’t get much better than being outside on the crisp autumn day at Unity College. 

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Campus is absolutely amazing this time of year!!! 

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Check out this amazing reflection photo by Robert Devigili. 

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A photo of today’s award winners from the 2015 Fall Student Conference. 

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Our students are doing really great things at Unity College. This is an awesome story of about some of the experiential programs going on here on campus. 

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Community Meeting

So, this morning on campus there was a community meeting. I had never been before to one of the community meetings and one of my colleagues was speaking so I decided to go along and see what they were all about.

I must say, it was pretty neat. First, there was a free spaghetti meal provided to all of those in attendance. The thing that I liked most about it was that it truly was a Community Meeting. There were students, professors, staff, retired professors and trustees all in attendance. What college hosts a community meeting and gets attendance from all of those people on a Tuesday morning? 

John Karyucyk of Student Government began the presentation with an update about student government. Athletic Director Chris Kein gave an updated, followed by Wendi Richards, Director of the Unity College Center for the Performing Arts. Coordinator of Student Activities Chris Ouellette spoke followed by Director of Sustainability Jenny deHart.

It was a great event! 

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Walk a Mile in Their Shoes -- October was National Disability Awareness Month and Unity College decided to hold several events to make others aware of what it is like to live daily with a disability. 

Wednesday, Oct. 28 through Friday, Oct. 30, Unity College faculty and staff were encouraged to participate in “Walk a Mile in Their Shoes.” Wheel chairs and crutches were available for people to check out and use for a day. The idea was for faculty and staff to experience firsthand how a disability would impact the course of a normal day at Unity College. 

Above, Melik Khoury, Executive Vice President, CAO, and CFO, checked out a wheel chair and used it to move throughout his office building. He quickly learned that a trip to the drinking fountain was not as easy as it seems. After some quick problem solving, he found using a cup for the fountain was a great option. 

Students were encouraged to participate in the Diversity Games on Friday afternoon. They participated in every day activities, however, with a twist. A student above tries to set a table--- blindfolded. Others played basketball while in a wheelchair. Others used computer programs through the eyes of one with dyslexia.  

I know that I often see someone in a wheelchair or someone who is blind and never REALLY stop and think what is must be like. Spending a day in their shoes really does put things into perspective. This is a big part of the education process and I’m glad that Unity values it. 

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Lobster Anyone?? Unity College is a pretty special place and there is a lot about it that it pretty unique. We had been teased earlier that there was going to get a special Maine treat later this week. 

This morning everyone got an email saying that today was Customer Appreciation Day in Wyman Commons and for lunch there would be Maine Lobster with butter, grilled Maine Rib Eye Steak, local Tofu & Veggie Kabobs on Curried Rice as the main courses. 

As you can see from the photos above, it was a real treat! In addition, there was also corn on the cob, mashed potatoes, homemade rolls and tie die sheet cake among other things. I can attest that it was mighty tasty!!! 

Students, faculty and staff all eating lobster and other delicious food together in the commons. Just another example of what makes this place Uniquely Unity. 

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Theory and Practice of Sustainable Landscape Horticulture

Several times a month, Unity College presents a FishBowl Seminar. Typically a faculty member presents on his or her latest research. Today, Prof Doug Fox presented on Theory and Practice of Sustainable Landscape Horticulture. One of the neat things about the FishBowls is that they are open to students, faculty and staff. Anyone who is interested in the topic can attend. 

There was so much interesting information in today’s lecture that I really don’t know where to start. A couple of the facts really stood out to me. When people typically think about what a chickadee eats, they think about bird seed that you would buy and put in a feeder in the winter. Did you know that chickadees and 96% of other North American birds as juveniles eat insects?? 

A recently hatched nest of chickadees will eat between 3,000 and 5,000 caterpillars. For 16 days straight, the two adult chickadees will make one trip to the nest every three to five minutes from 6 AM to 8 PM with caterpillars to feed the young. Now that is dedication!

Another fact also grabbed my attention. While trying to take pictures of perfect leaves this fall, I keep running into the same problem over and over again. There are little bites taken out of the leaves. How rude of something to eat the leaf I want to photograph. Well, today I learned something. These bites are a good thing. It means that there are caterpillars in the trees and that is a sign of a healthy ecosystem. 

If you want to have a plentiful crop of songbirds in your yard, you need to have caterpillars for them to feed their young. Today was a very educational seminar and I am glad that I was able to attend. I indeed learned something new today. Just your typical day at Unity College.