In the last three weeks the following events have reinforced for us the importance of citizen action in creating cultural and educational experiences and demand for higher education. Such action provides long term benefits for the communities in which it takes place and for educational institutions throughout the state. We must pay attention.

For some time, members of the Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee have been asked by area residents how they could best make their concerns about the future of the Center heard.

Two weeks ago the Steering Committee invited The Belfast Chamber of Commerce, Our Town Belfast, the Belfast Rotary,  Waterfall Arts, and Belfast Senior College to post a petition on their websites that community members could sign and return to the Steering Committee to give to the University. In addition, petitions were sent to individuals who requested them.

In a week we received over 1,000 positive responses, speaking to the importance of the Hutchinson Center; as of this date, we have received over 1,200 positive responses, with hundreds of individual comments from people who completed degrees, people who donated funds, people who moved to the area in large measure because of the center and people who are enjoying a lifetime of learning.

These responses tell us a good deal about how residents of the area have been positively affected by the Hutchinson Center. The petition reads:

“Given the University of Maine’s decision to divest itself of the Hutchinson Center, we       respectfully request that the Hutchinson Center be transferred to local ownership in order to:

• retain the center as the premier educational, cultural and community center of the mid-coast Maine region;

• acknowledge and protect the community’s investment in the Center; and

• preserve the opportunity for higher education at the Hutchinson Center today and for the future”

Signers spoke with pride about what they gained and what they contributed. Themes represented in the comments are based on experiences at the Center that provided the writers opportunities to

• achieve academic dreams and jobs they never thought possible;

• participate in ongoing learning in a warm and friendly environment;

• advance an interest in art forms with others who have similar interests; and

• develop a knowledge base and interest in foreign policy and other intellectual areas and to talk informally with professionals 

These petitions do not represent an organized campaign — February in Maine does not lend itself to standing outside on street corners — but the outpouring of support for and pride in the center and of frustration at its closing reinforce for us the importance of the Center in creating a fulfilling life and in fostering a demand for higher education that lasts for generations. 

At the same time, on February 5, Unity Environmental University (formerly Unity College) and the Unity Foundation, recognized the importance of community involvement in educational and cultural activities with the gifting of the Unity Center of the Arts to the Ecology Learning Center, a public charter high school in Unity.  Founded by the Unity Foundation, the art center is known for its blend of cultural and educational programs.

Like Charles Cawley, CEO of MBNA, which built the first wing of the Hutchinson Center and supported the center until it broke even, Bert and Coral Clifford, who founded the Unity Foundation, recognized the importance of educational, art and cultural organizations to enhance life in a community and supported the development of such organizations in the Unity area.

In announcing the transfer of the arts center,  Dr. Melik Peter Khoury, president of Unity Environmental University, said: “we are not only transferring a physical space but also entrusting a legacy of cultural enrichment and connection.”   MBNA and the Unity Foundation understood the importance of culture and education and were generous to the communities in which they lived and worked.

From the opening of the Hutchinson Center in 2000, its first director, Jim Patterson, encouraged community activities at the Hutchinson Center and watched both the community and academic life thrive. The demand for higher education is greater in communities that foster educational and cultural experiences than in those without the capacity or inclination to do so. The benefits of that support to the communities are both economic and cultural; the benefit to institutions of higher learning expand with each generation.  

The University of Maine, which was the recipient of MBNA’s generosity and Bank of America’s gift, now has the opportunity to return that gift to the community by working with this committee and the city of Belfast to design a plan that will benefit the university and the community and leave both with friends, believers and educated lifetime participants.

Judy Stein, on behalf of the Future of the Hutchinson Center Steering Committee