Media Coverage

In an essay in Guernica titled "Anatomy of a Successful Campus Talk," Assistant Professor of English Aaron Hanlon discusses a recent campus visit by former Maine Governor Paul LePage and ways that campuses can make the most of a "less than admirable speaker." Hanlon issue isn't with bringing conservative speakers to campus, but rather with a format that doesn't allow for a true exchange of ideas. "This format favors the unidirectional expressions of visiting speakers, who get to orchestrate a speech performance while everyone else remains silent upon pain of punishment. This way of doing things doesn’t suit the putative purpose of campus talks—to inform and engage—much less the limited value of bringing a high-profile bigot or demagogue to subject their views to scrutiny," he wrote.

Maine Public's podcast The Pulse featured Professor of Government Anthony Corrado for a segment titled "Who Is Paying For All Those Political Ads?" In the Nov. 29 episode, Corrado, a campaign finance expert, gave a primer on dark money groups, their tactics, and how they're operating in Maine.

The Nov. 25 topping off ceremony for Waterville's Lockwood Hotel was covered by these outlets: Mainebiz, Nov. 25 Morning Sentinel, Nov. 25 WFVX-TV22 Bangor, Nov. 25 WABI-TV5 Bangor, Nov. 25    

An op-ed by Charles Lawton in the Portland Press Herald's "Maine Voices" series highlights Colby's community investments as a model for growth across Maine. Lawton, a member of the Maine Consensus Economic Forecasting Commission, notes Colby's 20-percent growth in employees, its $176-million investment in facilities and equipment, and its economic impact on Waterville as examples of the College's strategy for growth. "Success requires having both an attractive academic institution and an attractive community – not merely a place where recruits will want to work, but also a place where their families will want to settle and build lives," he writes.

Maine's Second Congressional District will be one of the most hotly contested races in 2020, according to Sandy Maisel, the Goldfarb Family Distinguished Professor of American Government, who told the Lewiston Sun Journal that "there is no congressional district that is more competitive in the entire nation.” The article, also aired by WGME-TV13, reported, "People say that races in small states like Maine aren’t that big a deal, Maisel said, 'but here’s a district everyone is going to be paying attention to.'”

Multiple media outlets ran stories on the recently announced milestone of Colby's Dare Northward campaign—raising $500 million, or two-thirds of its goal, in just three years. Outlets that covered Colby's success include: Boston Globe, Nov. 21 U.S. News & World Report, Nov. 24 Washington Times, Nov. 24 WABI-TV5, Nov. 24 Mainebiz, Nov. 22 Portland Press Herald, Nov. 21 Morning Sentinel, Nov. 21

The Chicago Public Library selected Biddy Mason Speaks Up, cowritten by Arisa White, assistant professor of creative writing, as one of it's 2019 Best of the Best in the "Best Informational Books for Older Readers" category. The book, part of the "Fighting for Justice" series, tells the story of healer, midwife, and civil rights champion Biddy Mason, who was born into slavery but eventually wins her freedom in 1856. "The Best of the Best lists represent our choices for the year’s most outstanding titles, books of exceptional quality for a diverse, city-wide readership," the library said in an email to the author. Read more about White and her process of cowriting the book, in this Colby Magazine story, Past-Place and Present Moment.

The Boston Globe ran an extensive story Nov. 21 on the success of Colby's Dare Northward capital campaign, which raised more than $500 million, two-thirds of its goal, in three years. The article includes an interview with President David Greene, who is quoted about many of the dramatic improvements enabled by the campaign thus far—in financial aid, access, diversification of the student body, expansion of the faculty and academic programs, expanded internship and study-abroad opportunities for students, facilities improvements on campus, investments and improvements downtown, civic engagement of students, and more. Greene told the Globe, “We’re well ahead of track, which is a good place to be, but we still have a long way to go.” The campaign's overall goal is $750 million by June 30, 2023.

A November 21 NPR feature headlined "Why Money Can't (Usually) Buy You a Successful Campaign" featured Professor of Government Anthony Corrado, an expert on campaign finance. The story, on scores of stations and websites across the country, discussed wealthy candidates currently seeking the nomination and noted that while President Donald Trump's successful self-funded bid for the White House was unique, it wasn't necessarily his money that secured the election. "Really what drove his campaign was not the money he was spending, but rather the media coverage he was getting and his ability to generate an enormous amount of public attention," Corrado told NPR political reporter Jessica Taylor.

Dean Allbritton, associate professor of Spanish at Colby, spoke about his academic research at Stony Brook University in New York Nov. 6 as part of a distinguished alumni speakers series in the Department of Hispanic Languages and Literature. Allbritton, who earned a Ph.D. at Stony Brook in 2011, presented “Bad Blood: Visions of Hemophilia in the Spanish AIDS Crisis,” discussing his analysis of "representations of illness and health in contemporary Spanish culture and media as focalizing points for larger discourse of national and societal health," the Stony Brook news bureau reported.