Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross and Penobscot Ambassador Maulian Dana to speak at UNE’s annual Donna M. Loring Lecture

The Maine Women Writers Collection at the University of New England will welcome Maine State Rep. Rachel Talbot Ross, assistant house majority leader of the Maine House of Representatives, and Maulian Dana, Penobscot Nation tribal ambassador, as speakers for its annual Donna M. Loring Lecture on Wednesday, Oct. 6.

The Donna M. Loring Lecture addresses current or historic Native American or aboriginal issues and indigenous rights, as well as women’s issues, civil rights, and issues of fairness and equality as they overlap with the concerns of tribal peoples. The event is named in honor of Donna Loring, an elder of the Penobscot Indian Nation who recently served as the senior advisor of Tribal Affairs to Maine Gov. Janet Mills

This year’s virtual event, “Racial Justice in Maine State Policy: Understanding the Permanent Commission on the Status of Racial, Indigenous, and Tribal Populations,” will feature a conversation between Loring, Talbot Ross, and Dana. Speakers will discuss the purpose of the Permanent Commission, what it has accomplished in its first two years, and what urgent matters it plans to take up this fall.

Talbot Ross and Dana serve as co-chairs of the Permanent Commission, which was established in 2019 to examine systemic racial disparities in Maine and advise all three branches of Maine government on public policy changes that would make racial equity a central consideration in Maine lawmaking.

“From health care to housing and issues of education to tribal sovereignty, our guest speakers' expertise and lived experience shed light on how structural racism impacts Maine's historically disadvantaged racial, Indigenous, and tribal populations in multiple, overlapping arenas — not only throughout Maine's past but, critically, to present day,” said Elizabeth DeWolfe, Ph.D., professor of history and acting director of the Maine Women Writers Collection. “This year's Donna M. Loring lecture is an opportunity to learn about, acknowledge, and move toward the needed work to redress racial disparities.”

The Oct. 6 Donna M. Loring Lecture will be held from noon to 1 p.m. It is free and open to all, and a Q+A session with audience members will take place. Please RSVP to sbaker8@une.edu to receive the webinar link.

Throughout her career in public service, the Honorable Donna M. Loring has worked to raise public awareness and dismantle institutional discrimination against Wabanaki people. She holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Maine and has received the Alumni Career Recognition Award from the University of Maine Alumni Association. She was recently recognized with the annual Courage is Contagious Award from the University of Maine School of Law.

In 2009, Loring entrusted UNE and the Maine Women Writers Collection with her personal, professional, and literary papers and worked with the University to institute the lecture series, a valuable asset to UNE’s educational mission to grapple with and work to counteract the wounds of colonization.