For Laura Prince and Blake Shepherd, serving on the University of Maine System Board of Trustees is about more than attending meetings or reviewing budgets. It is an opportunity to advocate for their peers, learn how public institutions are governed, and help shape decisions that affect thousands of students across Maine.
Although they arrived at Maine Law by different paths, both students were drawn to board service for the same reason: a belief that meaningful change begins with listening, collaboration, and public service.
Prince, a rising second-year law student, has always viewed advocacy as deeply personal. Growing up with a father who is paralyzed, she saw firsthand how inaccessible the world can be for people with disabilities. Those experiences planted the seed that eventually led her to law school.
“Seeing how the world isn’t accessible for everyone made me realize that law can be a powerful tool for creating change,” Prince said. “When I worked in disability law, I saw that attorneys really can make a difference. That’s a privilege and a responsibility.”
Now serving as Maine Law’s student representative to the Board of Trustees, Prince hopes to bring that same spirit of advocacy to her classmates.
“What really appealed to me about this position was the advocacy aspect,” she said. “I hope I can improve things for students or just make Maine Law even better than it already is.”
She sees herself as a bridge between students and university leadership, someone her classmates can approach with concerns ranging from day-to-day student life to accessibility issues.
“If there are accessibility concerns or things that have gone unnoticed, I hope students feel comfortable coming to talk to me,” Prince said. “I want to know about their experiences and how we can improve them.”
Prince’s journey to Maine Law was an unexpected one. Originally from Michigan, she earned a bachelor’s degree in communication with minors in political science and leadership from Hope College, where she sailed competitively, studied abroad, and served as vice president of the communication honor society. Before law school, internships with Lighthouse Immigrant Advocates and disability law firm Pinsky Smith, PC, strengthened her desire to use the law to improve people’s lives.
After just one year at Maine Law, she has already discovered an unexpected passion for oral advocacy.
“I thought I wouldn’t want to do litigation,” Prince said. “But oral argument was my favorite part of 1L. It feels like a big puzzle—figuring out how to craft your argument and then being on your toes in the moment.”
Like Prince, Shepherd’s path to the Board of Trustees was shaped by a longstanding commitment to public service. A Bates College graduate, he became interested in government while studying migration to Maine and researching the experiences of immigrant children across the state.
“I became interested in the government as a mechanism to help people,” Shepherd said. “I noticed that many of the people doing the kind of work I wanted to do had law degrees, and in Maine, many of them had Maine Law degrees.”
Before enrolling at Maine Law, Shepherd spent a year working for the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition before joining his family’s summer camp business full time. This summer, he has continued building public policy experience by working four days a week in the Portland Mayor’s Office, researching issues related to homelessness, pedestrian safety, public health, and municipal ordinances.
To prepare for the role of student representative on the Board, Shepherd met with the each campus president to better understand the challenges facing their institution, to hear what motivates them in their role, and to discuss how the Board can best support their work. These meetings not only provided Shepherd with a sharper understanding of the issues facing higher education in Maine, but additionally a deep respect for how the system’s presidents prioritize students’ needs over all else.
As the only graduate student serving as a voting member of the Board of Trustees, Shepherd has already gained experience on the Academic and Student Affairs, Audit, and Rules committees. While the work includes everything from reviewing university bylaws to overseeing financial matters, he is especially interested in understanding how large public institutions make long-term decisions.
“I’ve never been part of budgeting at this scale before,” Shepherd said. “I’m excited to understand those processes because they’re vital to the kind of public service work I hope to do.”
He also hopes to ensure graduate students have a strong voice in conversations about housing, childcare, research funding, and the evolving role of technology in higher education.
“I think students bring important perspectives on issues like AI and online learning,” Shepherd said. “Those are conversations that are shaping higher education, and students should be part of them.”
Serving on the Board of Trustees has also given him a deeper appreciation for the complexity of managing a statewide university system.
“Running a public university system is really difficult,” Shepherd said. “I think we’re incredibly fortunate to have the tuition we do and a system that’s committed to providing accessible, high-quality education to the people of Maine.”
Although Prince and Shepherd represent different constituencies on the Board of Trustees, their motivations are similar. Both see the role as an opportunity to listen first, advocate thoughtfully, and ensure students have a meaningful voice in decisions that will shape the future of Maine’s public universities.
For Prince, that means helping every student feel heard. For Shepherd, it means learning how effective governance can strengthen communities across the state. Together, they are bringing Maine Law’s tradition of service beyond the classroom and into the boardroom.
