Unity College (Maine)


For other Unity Colleges, please see Unity College .
Unity College is a private liberal arts college in Unity, Maine. It offers an undergraduate and graduate education based on sustainability science that emphasizes study of the environment and natural resources.

History

The college was founded in 1965 as the Unity Institute of Liberal Arts and Sciences with a faculty of 15 and a student body of 39. The founders, a group of local business people, were looking for ways to counter economic decline in the adjacent town of Unity. Two years later, it changed its name to Unity College and in 1969 awarded degrees to its first graduating class of 24. Past presidents include Mitchell Thomashow, Wilson Hess, Stephen Mulkey and current President Melik Peter Khoury.

Athletics

Unity College competes in the Yankee Small College Conference which is a Division II member of the United States Collegiate Athletic Association. The men's varsity sports are: Basketball, Cross-Country, and Soccer. The women's varsity sports are: Basketball, Cross-Country, Soccer and Volleyball. Additionally Unity College has a number of club sports, plus intramural sports.
The Unity College men's and women's cross-country teams both won the 1996 NSCAA National Championship meet held at Michigan Christian College in Rochester Hills, Michigan. These were Unity College's first-ever men's and women's national championship teams. The NSCAA was the predecessor of today's United States Collegiate Athletic Association. In 1992 the Unity College women's cross country team won the NAIA Division 5 New England Championship meet held at Johnson State College, Vermont.

Clubs

Unity College is home to dozens of extra-curricular clubs and activities for students to participate in. Student Publication is the student-run newspaper, consisting of locally-focused journalism and student submissions of art, photography, poetry, and short fiction.