Mainebiz

V O L . X X I I N O. X X I I I O C T O B E R 3 , 2 0 1 6 24 M elik Peter Khoury is an aca- demic with an unorthodox academic background. He's a self-described agent of change in a world of higher education that's not always eager to move forward. Yet at Unity College, which bills itself as America's environmental col- lege, he is right at home. Khoury, who joined the college in 2013, served as interim president for more than a year before fi nally offi - cially taking over the role before the start of the recent academic year. He was just in time to usher in the largest group of students in the college's fi ve- decade history, 700 undergraduates, and to cut the ribbons on two LEED- certifi ed campus buildings. Drawing on multiple cultures — and television Khoury, 43, is married, has two grown sons and lives in China, about 20 minutes from the Unity campus. He spent his formative years in West Africa. He was born in Sierra Leone to an English mother and a Lebanese father. At the age of 3 the family moved to Gambia. His family was in the hospitality business. When politi- cal tensions in Gambia fl ared, he was 21 and eager to move to America. "It's a funny story. I loved 'M*A*S*H*' and Major Pierce was from Crabapple Cove, Maine. I wanted to go to Maine," he says. ough Crabapple Cove was a fi c- tional town (according to one account, based on Bremen), he wanted to settle in a place that conjured that image. It was between Machias and Fort Kent and he chose the latter, forging a life in Aroostook County. He graduated from University of Maine at Fort Kent and started on his journey into academia. "I still consider myself a County boy," he says. Growth and sustainability Unity, which was founded in 1965, takes its role as an environmental col- lege seriously. It has 16 undergraduate majors, all in environmental fi elds, including wildlife biology, sustainable energy management, conservation law enforcement, sustainable agricul- ture and environmental writing and media studies. Students live in dorms that are heated by sustainable sources. (Unity was the fi rst college in the nation to divest its endowment of fos- sil-fuel stocks.) Students are encour- aged to get experience in the fi eld. On a recent fi eld trip, students were bused to the new Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument. "If you want to work in the environ- mental fi eld, start here," he says. "You'll do primary research. You don't just sit in the classroom. We're innovative." Many of Unity's peer colleges founded in the 1960s were built on being at the fringe of society or out- side of society. Unity wants to train people to work on some of the world's most vexing issues, those with an environmental core. Khoury says the point is not to convince anyone about climate change. Rather, it's to ask questions, create solutions and place graduates in good jobs. "We're an environmental college. Some people think we're about activ- ism, but we're about common sense," he says. "People are beginning to realize the earth is a fi nite resource. But our students range from environmental- ists to conservationists. We encompass 'huggers' to hunters." Seventy percent of students are from out of state. When they apply to Unity, they may also be looking at University of Maine in Orono, Green Mountain College in Vermont, Paul Smith's College in upstate New York, Northland College in Wisconsin or Prescott College in Arizona. From Day I, Khoury says students are encouraged to look at as many perspectives as possible. On the day Mainebiz visited the campus, Khoury happened to be introducing Lucas St. Clair, who was giving a talk on how the Katahdin Woods and Water National Monument took shape. "Families invest to send students here. We owe it to them to give them more than a credential," he says. "I tell our students to talk to people on all sides. You're not going to become Lucas St. Clair if all you do is talk to people who agree with you." On a tour of the campus, Khoury expresses pride in what's new: Five new buildings have opened in four years. P H O T O / P E T E R VA N A L L E N A unifying force Melik Peter Khoury is already making an impact at Unity College B y P e t e r V a n A l l e n I tell our students to talk to people on all sides. You're not going to become Lucas St. Clair if all you do is talk to people who agree with you. Melik Peter Khoury President Unity College, Unity

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