Keeping USM Students Informed
By Caraline Squires | Staff Writer
This past summer Promise Scholarship Program Director Daniel Barton was busy expanding opportunities for USM students. By partnering with Maine Trust for Local News (METLN) all Promise Scholars were given the opportunity to sign up for a free subscription to the METLN publications, including the Portland Press Herald, Maine Sunday Telegram, Morning Sentinel of Waterville, Kennebec Journal of Augusta, Sun Journal of Lewiston, and Times Record of Brunswick.
The Promise Scholarship program is a scholarship offered to Maine students who face challenges fulfilling their dream of higher education. 100% of students who receive the scholarship face financial hardship and 72% are first-generation college students, according to the Promise website.
Barton explained that the McGoldrick family was at the heart of the partnership between USM and METLN, “they are really the ones that helped to sort of introduce Promise to Maine Trust for Local News.” Barton described the McGoldrick’s as the “grandparents of Promise,” revealing that the newly added dining hall and student center “is named after them because of how much they’ve supported the Promise Scholarship.”
Conversations are ongoing about internship opportunities and additional partnerships. The subscription to METLN publications was a first step in what will hopefully be a continuing partnership between USM and METLN. The goal of the partnership is to find new ways to guide students while also expanding Promise. “We’re roughly right now about a 7M dollar endowed scholarship, we are working toward a 20M dollar endowed scholarship,” said Barton. Promise is fully donor-funded with the long-term goal of getting students to stay in Maine communities after graduation, hopefully contributing to the health and growth of the state. Part of the relationship with Maine Trust for Local News is to eventually get to pitch stories about Promise and “how Promise is making a difference for Maine and for Maine students.”
Barton was able to take two USM students on a tour of the Portland Press Herald headquarters. Additionally, they were invited to an editor’s meeting where they were able to see behind-the-scenes process of the Portland Press Herald. “We know that if students are engaged early and often in internships and research they feel more confident in their career path,” Barton said. The timing of the partnership was important with the presidential election fast approaching. Barton explained that the partnership will help Promise Scholars be informed, which is a big part of “being involved in civic engagement.”
As the program expands other Universities are interested in replicating the Promise Scholarship Program. “When you have someone trying to basically take your template and use it, you know you’ve created something pretty powerful,” said Barton.
In the beginning, Promise was mostly York and Cumberland centered. In the last three years, they’ve tried to reach students from other counties. One of the program’s internal goals was to get representation for all of Maine’s 16 counties. The Promise Scholarship program has worked hard to complete this goal since its start in 2018 and they now represent 46 high schools across Maine.