The University of Southern Maine Foundation announced that it has received a $50,000 “founding sponsor” gift from University Credit Union (UCU), a full-service financial institution serving its members with locations across the state of Maine. The contribution will support the completion of the McGoldrick Center for Career & Student Success, now in the final stages of construction on the University of Southern Maine (USM) Portland Campus and scheduled to open this coming September.
The McGoldrick Center Founding Sponsors program offers employer partners like UCU recognition and promotion opportunities in a central, highly visible location on the USM Portland campus. In recognition of UCU’s gift, USM will name the UCU Student Club & Organization Meeting Room, located on the third floor of the new McGoldrick Center.
”At UCU, we care deeply about student success,’ said Renee Ouellette, President/CEO of UCU. “This gift to the McGoldrick Center enriches student futures in a great way, strengthening connections between community and campus.”
Recognized as USM’s Exceptional Community Partner in 2020, UCU has a history of annual support for critical student needs at the University, including donations to the Student Emergency Fund and the Oakhurst Campus Food Pantry. Recently, as part of UCU’s annual Ending Hunger Campaign, they made a $2,250 donation to the food pantry, which provides essential services to the USM community on all three campus locations.
“UCU has long championed our students’ aspirations in the classroom and on the athletic fields and has been deeply committed to the wellbeing of our campus communities,” said Ainsley Wallace, President and CEO of the University of Southern Maine Foundation. “With their generous support of the new McGoldrick Center, UCU continues to invest in the success of USM students and in the future of Maine.”
The McGoldrick Center will serve as the Portland campus crossroads, where students, faculty, alumni, and employers can connect and collaborate. The Center’s second floor will be home to USM’s expanded Career & Employment Hub, where the employer community intersects with students in the academic community. The third floor of the Center is dedicated to cultivating student leadership opportunities and connections with spaces set aside for USM’s Student Government Association, Diversity Center and more.
With dining facilities, meeting and conference rooms, student activity rooms, and the expanded Career Hub, the Center is among the most environmentally sustainable buildings on USM’s transforming Portland campus. It is a three-story, 42,000 square-foot space that is sustainably designed to achieve LEED (Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design) Silver certification. It will overlook the new campus quad, named the “Bean Green,” and sits adjacent to Portland Commons, the first residence hall on USM’s Portland campus.
About University Credit Union
Established on the University of Maine campus in 1967, University Credit Union is an innovative, full-service financial institution dedicated to promoting financial well-being for the individuals and communities it serves. UCU is the seventh largest credit union in Maine in terms of total assets, ninth in total members, and has retail locations across the state located in Orono, Bangor, Farmington, Gorham, Portland, and Presque Isle. For more information visit ucumaine.com.
About the University of Southern Maine Foundation. The USM Foundation is an independent, nonprofit organization that works side by side with the University to support the aspirations of students and the strategic vision of USM. Now in its third decade of service, the Foundation is raising the critical funds needed to increase scholarship resources and achieve ambitious goals, as it helps to catalyze transformation at the University of Southern Maine.