Commencements are Saturday

    President Don Zillman has announced that U.S. Sen. Susan M. Collins will deliver the commencement address during the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s 101st Commencement Ceremony, to be held on Saturday, May 15. During this event, Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degrees will be presented to Collins as well as the Honorable David Griffiths and Roberta Griffiths, longtime pillars of the Presque Isle and university communities.     “As the University marks this commencement ceremony, we are honored to have an Aroostook County native who has gone on to achieve great things at the national level visit our campus and speak to our graduating class. Sen.Collins is a true inspiration for our graduates who are preparing to make their own mark on the world,” Zillman said. “We are also very pleased to be honoring Sen.  Collins and our very own David and Roberta Griffiths for the fine examples they have given us of the importance of serving the people in our community, our state and nation.”
    Collins, the 15th woman in history to be elected to the United States Senate in her own right, has represented Maine in the U.S. Senate since 1997. She is ranking member and former chairman of the Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, serves on the Appropriations Committee and Armed Services Committee, and is a member of the Special Committee on Aging.        Born in Caribou on Dec. 7, 1952, the senator’s family runs the fifth-generation lumber business S.W. Collins, founded by her ancestors in 1844, and operated today by two of her brothers, Sam and Gregg Collins.
    UMPI’s Commencement Exercises are scheduled for 10:30 a.m. on Saturday, May 15, in Wieden Gymnasium.
Baldacci is NMCC speaker
    Maine Gov. John E. Baldacci will address the 47th graduating class of Northern Maine Community College during commencement exercises Saturday, May 15, and at the same time mark one of the major milestones of his administration. Baldacci, who is serving his second four-year term as governor, will speak before the 230 graduates, their guests, and NMCC faculty and staff at 10 a.m. in the college gymnasium.
    The visit to the Presque Isle campus will be especially significant as the governor celebrates the seventh anniversary of his signing of the legislation that created the Maine Community College System.
    The visit will also be significant for NMCC, which boasts itself as the first community college in Maine.
 “Gov. Baldacci’s vision and support for the creation of the Maine Community College System and the resulting impact in our region and the entire state have forever changed the higher education landscape in Maine, said NMCC President Timothy Crowley.
    Gov. Baldacci’s work toward making Maine energy independent and a leader in the development of green energy resources – particularly wind power – provided an opportunity for Maine’s northernmost community college to establish the only wind power technology program in New England. Established in 2008, the wind power technology program at NMCC is currently preparing the technicians needed to support the growth of the commercial, residential and community wind industry in Maine.
    Also speaking at NMCC will be Robert Gagnon of Madawaska, a non-traditional graduating senior in the college’s plumbing and heating program.