UMF graduates announced

    Of the 468 members of the University of Maine at Farmington 2009 graduating class, approximately 416 graduates marched in the University’s 156th Commencement ceremony May 16, on the UMF campus.
    Delivering the keynote address was Naomi Schalit, national award-winning journalist and opinion page editor of the Kennebec Journal and Morning Sentinel.
    In her keynote address, Schalit encouraged graduates to share what they believe through accurate language and honest communication as they make their way in the world.
    Graduating senior Katharine Rose Gergosian, of Topsham, gave the student address, and Richard Pattenaude, University of Maine System chancellor, and Jean Flahive, board of trustee member, wished the graduates well. Theodora J. Kalikow, UMF president, and Allen Berger, UMF vice president for academic affairs, conferred the degrees.
    According to data from the U.S. Department of Education, UMF leads the way in graduation rates among public universities in Maine and is in the upper tier among the 25 member institutions of the Council of Public Liberal Arts.
    “We are so proud of the success of our graduates,” said Kalikow. “UMF students leave here ready to enter the workforce or graduate school with degrees in hand. Our graduates go on to contribute to their states’ economies, communities and families, and 80 percent of them remain to live and work in Maine.”
    Local students receiving degrees were, Kathryn Duffy-Stanley, B.S., community health education and psychology, Benedicta; Ashley Porter, B.S., elementary education, Bridgewater; Donni Jean Russell, B.A., mathematics, Danforth; Alison Reece, B.S., early childhood education and psychology and Courtney Schools, B.S., elementary education, Houlton.