At the 216th University of Maine commencement on Saturday, Republican U.S. Sen. Susan Collins urged graduates to keep in touch with friends, strive to be considerate and active members of society, to take risks and to be wary of what they read on the internet.
In an age of instant communication, “the power to divide, belittle, bully and to cause misery is right there in everyone’s hands,” Sen. Collins told graduates on May 12 at the Harold Alfond Sports Arena in Orono. “The sheer ugliness so commonly seen on social media is evidence of the anonymous tyrants who can ruin lives with crude insults and cruel gossip,” she said.
“Beware of assuming that everything you read on the internet is true. And fight back by questioning falsehoods, condemning cruelty and elevating the debate,” she said.
Collins addressed more than 1,650 students at the morning and afternoon ceremonies. One of those students was Sierra Colson, who studied early childhood education. Colson, a 22-year-old who was born in Bangor but grew up on Mt. Desert Island, is the oldest of six siblings and the first member of her immediate and extended family to graduate from college. She worked her way through school by holding down multiple jobs, including being manager at Walmart in Bangor and working at the University of Maine’s Children Center. Today, Colson is a substitute for Kindergarten students at the Downeast School in Bangor.
Graduating from college “feels like a huge success, honestly,” Colson said. “I wasn’t sure how I was going to get through it juggling everything. Having done it and graduated summa cum laude with a major and two minors, and to have made the connections I was lucky enough to make, I couldn’t be happier or more proud of how far I’ve come.”
While it was the first for Colson and her family, the May 12 commencement was the last for UMaine President Susan Hunter, who is retiring in June. Hunter became the first female president in the university’s 150-year history, and 20th university president overall, in June 2014. She will be replaced by Joan Ferrini-Mundy.
Collins praised Hunter’s accomplishments over the last four years, which included recruiting the largest incoming class of students, enrolling an unprecedented number of out-of-state students and overseeing the biggest fundraising year in the university’s history.
“So my biggest question is: why did we wait so long to put a woman in charge?” Collins said.
The university’s honorary degree was given to Mary R. Cathcart, who formerly served in the state House of Representatives and senate, and founded the Margaret Chase Smith Policy Center at the University of Maine.
Before students lined up to accept their diplomas and parents readied their cameras to snap pictures, Collins urged them to strive for civil discourse as they ingratiate themselves into their new communities.
“It would seem that these days our ability to work together to solve problems is hitting modern lows,” she said. “We see this disturbing trend in Washington, and we see it in our own communities.”
“Courage, civility, principles, and even wit are increasingly rare commodities.”
“It may seem woefully out of fashion,” Collins said, “but I believe choosing civility and pursuing compromises can yield tremendous results that strengthen our communities and sustain our democratic institutions.”
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