Published: April 13, 2026
On Monday, April 6, a USM student group, Students for Change, made an Instagram post that read: “Episode 1… Students on the Street… Do students know President [Edmondson]?”
The next slide of the post read: “On 4/1/26 Students for Change hosted a tabling event in Brooks Dining Hall and asked students: ‘Do you know this Lady?’ We showed them a photo of USM President Jacqueline (‘Jackie’) [Edmondson], a position she’s held since 2022.”
The video that followed showed several students being presented with a photo of Edmondson. According to Students for Change, 3 out of 25 students (12%) surveyed were able to name her. Many students responded with “I don’t know,” while one student asked, “That’s not Susan Collins, is it?”
Students for Change contextualized the results by stating, “If this sample reflects the campus, that would mean only about 663 students know who the university president is. 663 out of 5,525. That’s 11.52%.”
The caption of the post reads, “Where are you Jackie?”
The post has since garnered significant engagement from the campus community. As of April 9—three days after it was posted—it had 132 likes, 49 comments, 13 reposts, and 67 shares.
The post has become widely discussed on campus, not only because of its content, but also due to activity in the comments section. On the day it was posted, USM Vice President of Student Affairs Andrew Pollom commented, asking, “Curious, what does this prove?” A thread of nearly 40 replies followed.
Students for Change responded: “Hi Andrew! This proves consistent with our findings that USM students feel very disconnected from Administration and feel almost abandoned. If students don’t know their administration, aren’t able to figure who to contact, or feel as if their concerns don’t matter— that is an issue. And all of this stems from the lack of connection administration has to students. If our president has been here since 2022, don’t you think it’s concerning she has no platform with undergraduate students and barely interacts with them?”
Pollom replied: “Well I think if that opinion was entirely true than yes it would be concerning.” He continued, “I’m not sure I’ve seen any of the executive members of this group at any of those events… l love when students use their voice, but be informed and thoughtful when you do it.”
As the exchange continued, the Students for Change account wrote, “[College students] are busy, overextended, and often exhausted. Nursing students in clinicals, theatre students in rehearsals, student-athletes at practice, commuters balancing work and school. They cannot drop everything to attend scheduled forums and formal events, especially when those spaces don’t always feel accessible or responsive to their concerns. Leadership on a campus like this cannot rely solely on structured appearances and expect students to come forward. The responsibility goes both ways, but institutional power carries a different kind of responsibility. Connection requires visibility in everyday spaces, not just designated ones.”
Pollom responded: “How can a President, whose schedule is just as if not more busy on some days as that of the students you’ve share examples of supposed to do that? [sic]”
This exchange prompted additional reactions from students across social media platforms. On YikYak, one user posted, “u guys should think admin will comment on a huskies for life post like that… [sic]” Other users responded with comments such as “Its setting an odd precedent [sic]” and “it’s pushing a narrative for sure [sic].”
Another post commented on the interaction, stating, “‘administration is busy’ *administration is arguing with students in instagram comments* [sic].”
In a post that received over 130 upvotes, a YikYak user wrote: “I feel like we’re being way to casual about the vice president going nuts in the comments of the students for change last Instagram post. Completely belittling and unprofessional. [sic]”
However, some users defended Pollom’s engagement with the student group. One user asked, “Honestly where else is he supposed to be?” They continued, “He’s the vice president of student affairs, his job is to interact with students… People aren’t engaging with him in person, and are being rude and childish to him when he engages online [sic].”
Another user acknowledged both perspectives, writing, “it’s def unprofessional on him but he’s right [sic].”
When one commenter on the original Students for Change Instagram post alleged that Edmondson did not attend USM’s musical, Pollom replied with, “She’s literally one of the arts loudest champions on campus so l’d like to understand more where you’re coming from if you’d be willing to discuss it more with me? [sic]”
This prompted a commenter to respond with, “i think the fact your continuing to involve yourself with this conversation despite multiple individuals pointing out the complete unprofessional nature of costing a student group goes to prove exactly what this post about. Andrew, you and the president do not follow TPUSA, HFL, or any other political student groups- but you have both spent a lot of time intimidating and engaging with this one- this creates a clear narrative [sic].”
To conclude the exchange, Pollom said, “I’m am not perfect. I make mistakes. My eagerness for engagement sometimes comes off as unprofessional because I’m not afraid to lean in, even in virtual spaces like social media. And when you don’t yet know me, you don’t hear the sincerity of my tone in that exchange. It’s threatening to you without that context. I want to apologize. I also want to invite that we continue this exchange and dialogue, just maybe l’ll keep it out of your feed. I hope you all have a great midweek. Thank you. [sic]”
A USM student replied, “I’m also a student here. I’m sure that ‘I apologize’ would’ve sufficed. They’ve given you every opportunity to take this off of Instagram and it seems like a wise decision to do so.”
Another student replied, “Just say ‘Im sorry this was inappropriate of me’ and move on. Feeling the need to justify your actions makes it appear that you’re not sorry at all and like you’re doubling down, and don’t want to walk away feeling like you’ve lost an argument in an instagram comment section. [sic]”
As of early April 9, Pollom has not left any more public comments on the Students for Change Instagram post.
On April 7, we reached out to a university spokesperson for comment on the situation, but we did not hear back.
