Oct. 24, 2019

UNH is strongly committed to free speech. As a public flagship university, we must create a campus environment that allows for the free exchange of views on public issues. UNH has established policies when engaging in debate or expression of views (provided those views do not threaten violence or incite riotous behavior). Willfully tearing down a poster is a violation of university rules. Any student who violates rules of conduct on our campus will be held accountable for their actions.

March 15, 2019 

The University of New Hampshire was made aware of an incident that occurred last weekend at a jazz festival on campus. Upon learning that students from one of the participating schools had received racist images on their smartphones via AirDrop, the university immediately launched an investigation to determine who was responsible. After an extensive investigation by the UNH Police Department in partnership with other law enforcement agencies, it was determined that the responsible individual was not a member of the UNH community. An out-of-state juvenile from a New England high school was identified as the one responsible. This is not a criminal case. The two affected schools are in contact about how best to address the incident through education and awareness.

Racism has no place on our campus or in our society. It goes against all of our values as a community and it will not be tolerated.

March 2019

Digital menu monitors are best practice in the industry as a way to provide students with the most comprehensive information around nutrition and allergens. More and more students are requesting easy access to information to identify allergens as well as to accommodate religious, health and lifestyle choices, including vegan, gluten-free, Kosher style, Halal and vegetarian. The total cost of installing the digital menu monitor system was $187,200, which came from reserves and did not increase the cost of meal plans. The majority of that was a one-time investment in the monitors, software, system upgrades, data and electric, training, and installation. This system did not increase the cost of meal plans; it was planned for. The boards will benefit about 12,000 guests every day; this means that the system amortized over its life costs a fraction of a cent per person per day.

August 2019

Over the summer the university made the difficult decision to notify the residents of Forest Park that the housing facility will close as of June 30, 2019. We remain committed to ensuring our graduate students have access to housing after the next year and are taking steps to ensure that happens. All impacted students were given 11 months’ notice and we are working with them to address their housing needs. This fall, the university will undertake a comprehensive study of all campus housing to determine long-term needs, and undergraduate and graduate students will play a role in the process.

The buildings have come to the end of their useful life. In cooperation with the state fire marshal, the facility has been carefully reviewed and life safety fixes that must be made to allow for the final year of occupancy are underway. We worked hard to balance giving residents plenty of notice with making the most cost-effective decision for the university and the one that is best overall for the safety of our community. UNH is committed to world-class research and teaching, and graduate students are integral to our success. We look forward to broad student involvement this fall as we work to envision campus housing for the future.