FORT KENT, Maine – Hundreds gathered at the University of Maine at Fort Kent’s sports center on Saturday morning as 207 students graduated during the school’s 142nd commencement ceremony.
UMFK President Deb Hedeen delivered opening remarks, commenting on how both she and many of the graduating students began their time at UMFK amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She said their adaptability during uncertain times will only serve them well in the future.
“What has typically been understood as common practice, predictable and normal will now be viewed by our students as an opportunity to create change, provide innovative alternatives and solutions, and advance practices beyond normal,” Hedeen said.
Student speaker Alayzia Johnson also discussed how the pandemic shaped their experiences at the university, creating resilience and growth among her peers.
“As we set forth on our individual paths, let us remember the values instilled in us during our time in college — integrity, resilience, and empathy,” Johnson said. “Let us strive for excellence in all our pursuits, and let us never lose sight of our aspirations, no matter how audacious they may seem.”
Hedeen later presented John Martin with the 2024 Distinguished Service Award. Martin has been a part-time assistant professor of political science and government at UMFK for over half a century. He also has nearly six decades of experience in prominent state government positions, and helped pass legislation in 1966 that made Allagash the country’s first federally protected and state managed wild river.
Maine Senate President Troy Jackson presented Martin with a legislative sentiment on behalf of the state.
The graduation featured keynote speaker Kathryn Olmstead. Olmstead worked as a Bangor Daily News columnist from 2010 to 2017. She taught at the University of Maine at Orono for 25 years. Before that, she taught journalism and photography courses at UMFK and the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Olmstead also served as editor of Echoes magazine, a quarterly publication based in Aroostook County for 30 years. Most recently, she authored two books about the region.
She said that, when asked to speak, she wondered how she could adequately summarize the experience for not only the local students, but graduates coming from countries as far as Germany, Jamaica, Nigeria, and Serbia. Olmstead said she interviewed a diverse group of students coming from several different countries and from ages 21 to 33.
“Each of their stories is unique,” Olmstead said during her speech. “But three themes recurred in every conversation. They said UMFK gave them personal self-confidence, tremendous support from faculty and staff and a perfect northern Maine setting in which to study.”
She shared quotes and anecdotes from her interviews. One student said he liked the tight-knit community and informal dynamic between students and professors. Another student shared a similar sentiment and said that the professors are all kind, non-judgmental, and want to help them succeed.
Olmstead concluded with a story about a student named Henriettta, who left Ghana after her father died in 2016. She told Olmstead that her father came to her in a dream and said that she is “going to study nursing in the United States.” Henrietta went beyond her comfort zone and, after graduating last December, is now a nurse in Maryland.
“This small-town, small-campus chapter in your life has given you an identity – an awareness of who you are,” Olmstead said. “The person you become going forward will be stronger because of the person you became at UMFK.”
This story was updated to correct Kathryn Olmstead’s teaching history.
