PORTLAND — The University of Southern Maine will celebrate its 144th Commencement on Saturday, May 10 with about 1,100 graduates scheduled to participate.
The event, scheduled for 9 a.m. at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland, will feature remarks by University President Jacqueline Edmondson and addresses from student speaker Maddie Weston and Distinguished Alumnus Rear Admiral William E. Leigher ’80, USN Ret.
“The university informed my understanding of the world,” said Leigher, who grew up in Appleton, Maine. While studying at the University, he worked as a planning intern for the City of Portland. Following his graduation in 1980, he began an extraordinary 33-year Naval career that took him to the heart of America’s cyber defense. Like so many people, he credits his student experience with laying the foundation for a lifetime of learning. “Between student government and my fraternity, I learned an awful lot about leadership at USM,” he said.
Chosen from many submissions, student speaker Maddie Weston, 21, of Bradley, will earn her baccalaureate degree in political science and economics just three years after graduating from John Bapst Memorial High School in Bangor.
For the first time, the commencement will not include those individuals graduating with doctoral degrees. Instead, the 16 new doctors will be recognized in a hooding ceremony scheduled for 4 p.m. on Friday, May 9 at the Abromson Community Education Center on the Portland campus.
The University of Southern Maine’s commencement ceremony is the culminating event on the academic calendar, giving the opportunity for individual recognition to every graduating student who wishes to participate. In all, about 1,600 students will be eligible to participate.
In another first, the ceremony will include the premiere of the University’s alma mater. The song’s lyrics were composed by Heidi M. Parker, an associate professor of sport management, and the music was composed by Daniel Sonenberg, a professor of music.
