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The 51Ʒ�� presented bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees to 1,449 graduates at its 180^th Commencement ceremony at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, Maine, today at 10 a.m.

Graduates represented UNE’s College of Arts and Sciences, Westbrook College of Health Professions, College of Osteopathic Medicine and the College of Graduate Studies. Students were also recognized by their individual colleges during hooding and pinning ceremonies throughout the week.

In her opening remarks, 51Ʒ��President Danielle Ripich, Ph.D., challenged students to expand their aspirations and connect to their surroundings on a deeper level. She advised, “Find a way to merge your personal expertise and ambition with the capacity you possess to brighten the lives of others. Strive not merely to do well in the world, but to do good in it… Be the type of person who lives a life of purpose and meaning. Be the type of person whose smile, compassion, character and work brings light into the lives of others.”

At the ceremony, Michael McCarthy, M.S., principal of King Middle School, adjunct professor at the University of Southern Maine, was awarded an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree for being an innovator in education. 

McCarthy has been principal of King Middle School in Portland, Maine, for 27 years. He is a two-time winner of the Maine Principal of the Year award and received the Maine Public Health Association’s Access to Health Care Award in 2008. This honorary degree serves as a testament to McCarthy’s dedication to improving the lives of his students and community through education and collaboration.

Of McCarthy, Ripich remarked, “You were instrumental in transforming an underperforming school—from which children were struggling to achieve the progress necessary to succeed in their future studies and careers—into a pillar of the Portland community and national model that other schools now imitate. You have steadfastly advocated for all children, making it your commitment that no child slips through the cracks.”

This year’s commencement speaker was Anna Eleanor Roosevelt, M.S., president and CEO of Goodwill Industries of Northern New England. She was also honored with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree during the ceremony.

After accepting her award, Roosevelt took the stage to address the graduates with words of empowerment, insisting, “The world needs your knowledge, your curiosity, your energy, your commitment and your open heart…This world depends on each of us to keep thinking about, caring about and considering the implications that our decisions and actions have on our economy, our environment and our neighbors.”

She continued by echoing Ripich’s sentiments about the importance of improving the community with service, stating, “Graduates, as you go forward in the world, I encourage you to embrace an ambition that serves a higher purpose…As you take the time to develop questions about practices and behaviors out of a desire to continuously improve the way in which you work, you’ll find innovative ways to approach situations. This approach leads to new ideas, further questions and discovery that promise to move us all further toward solutions, great and small, that build our community and our world.”

At the end of these remarks, faculty members from each college conferred degrees to their respective graduating students. Ripich concluded the ceremony with one final statement to the graduates: “Know that you are now and forever a part of the 51Ʒ��family.”

The University is pleased to congratulate its graduates for demonstrating outstanding tenacity, passion and dedication over the course of their academic careers.