Buoys painted with the designs of different countries' flags.

Office of Equity, Inclusion, & Community Impact

Our office is committed to providing resources and opportunities to further growth and development in awareness, knowledge, and skills related to diversity, equity, inclusion, accessibility, and belonging. We can facilitate training in several areas, including, but not limited to: microaggressions, implicit bias, gender identity, and anti-racism and whiteness.

Contact Us
A collection of pins spread on a table, with a hand holding a photo of James Brown and the quote "Say it loud, I'm black and I'm proud."

Jean Byers Sampson Center for Diversity in Maine

The Center collects and makes accessible material culture documenting the ongoing histories of diverse communities. Current collections represent the African American, Jewish, Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender, Queer+ communities, as well as civil rights and social justice for all.

Visit the Center
The Kennebec River lined by rocks and trees on a clear, sunny day.

Gloria S. Duclos Convocation

Our campus convenes around the theme of “The Rivers We Belong To: Grounding Indigenous Presence and Sovereignty” through lectures, webinars, field trips, workshops, panel discussions, craft demonstrations, and common reads.

Explore Convocation

Academic Programs

Our faculty and curriculum foster world-minded, lifelong learners who critically examine privilege and oppression, promoting ethical action in local and global communities. Below you can explore our core curriculum and a selection of programs that hold equity and inclusion as central to the academic experience.

Our Core Curriculum will equip you with the knowledge and skills to navigate and shape a diverse and inclusive world. Throughout your academic experience, you will examine perspectives in cultural representations and socio-cultural systems; build knowledge of the intersecting systems of culture, power, and equity; and learn to integrate ethical inquiry, social responsibility, and citizenship.

Explore Core Curriculum

Our MFA program is deeply rooted in social justice, inclusivity, and equity. We empower writers to create social change and publish writing that affirms human dignity, defends civil rights, and fights for social equity and environmental justice.

Explore Creative Writing MFA

Prepare for effective citizenship and work in an increasingly diverse world. Learn how constructions of ethnicity, race, and racism have changed over time, often in response to changes in the nature of work, family, gender and sexuality, and patterns of migration.

Explore Race and Ethnic Studies

Build capacity in cross-cultural communication, empathy and sensitivity, anti-racist practice, and civic engagement. Along with studying the theoretical foundations of social justice, you’ll explore patterns of injustice and resistance, and build skills in analytics methods.

Explore Social Justice Minor
Explore Social Justice Certificate

Develop your skill set in Wabanaki languages, their linguistic structure, and their revitalization. Our curriculum covers language courses that focus on culture and contemporary life, listening comprehension, reading, speaking, and writing, setting you up for meaningful roles.

Explore Wabanaki Languages Minor
Explore Wabanaki Languages Certificate

Explore issues of gender, feminism, society, and culture. Engage in meaningful research, through our rigorous, participatory program with an activist commitment to social justice. Our faculty pursue a diverse range of research topics, including LGBTQ+ issues, immigration, feminist economics, and more.

Explore WGS Major
Explore WGS Minor

English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL)

Our ESOL program teaches students from around the globe the academic and professional English they need to reach their goals.

The APP is an academic opportunity for admitted USM undergraduates, which provides the writing and reading support students need to thrive in college and beyond.

Discover APP

Our Intensive English Language program (IELP) helps students reach higher levels of English language proficiency for business or study at the university level. The program is open to our students as well as those studying at other universities.

Discover IELP

New Mainers are welcome in all of our ESOL program offerings. Our courses are specifically designed to complement and provide a bridge between community-based ESL programs (such as those offered at Portland Adult Education) and university-level courses.

Discover our program

Safe Zone Training

Students, staff, and faculty can participate in a training program focusing on the issues LGBTQ+ people face and how we can be successful, safe, and supportive allies — whether we are LGBTQ+, heterosexual and/or cisgender.

Explore Safe Zone

Green Zone Training

Staff and faculty can complete a military awareness training program to help understand military life and the challenges that arise in transitioning from combat to classroom.

Explore Green Zone

Global Zone Training

This is a new training for students, faculty, and staff who want to better understand the immigrant-origin student experience.

Register for Training