University announces 2017 graduates

One hundred and seventy-nine students graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle during the 2016-2017 academic year. On Saturday, May 13, during the 2017 Commencement Exercises, the University’s 108th Commencement, President Ray Rice conferred degrees upon 125 students who participated in the ceremony held in Wieden Gymnasium.

For the first time, the University of Maine at Presque Isle and Houlton Higher Education Center are taking part in the exciting world of soap box racing. The University and its Houlton campus will co-sponsor a car in the annual Northern Maine Soap Box Derby race on Saturday, June 17 at Houlton’s Community Park.

A University of Maine at Presque Isle student and a locally-headquartered insurance company that partners closely with the University on workforce development efforts were honored recently during the Maine Campus Compact Awards as part of the coalition’s annual awards ceremony held in Portland on April 26. Alexandra DesRuisseaux received the Heart and Soul Student Award and MMG Insurance was honored with the inaugural Corporate Partner of the Year Award.

Two students from the University of Maine at Presque Isle were selected to participate in the 5th annual Maine NEW (National Education for Women) Leadership Summer Institute, held from June 1-6 at the University of Maine in Orono. Elise Gudde and Kassidy Morin represented UMPI at the statewide institute.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle Fine Art Program recently held two solo exhibitions developed through the 2016-17 Fine Art Senior Thesis Exhibition course. The series of exhibitions were hosted in the Pullen Art Gallery between April and May.

As part of the Maine Community Foundation’s Maine Policy Scholars Program, students from campuses throughout the University of Maine System pursued a year-long program of applied research in the area of Maine public policy during the 2016-2017 academic year.

Officials with the University of Maine at Presque Isle are pleased to announce a new art installation on campus as part of the State of Maine’s Percent for Art program.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Reed Art Gallery will present Recent Acquisitions, an exhibit showcasing recent artwork donated to the University by acclaimed artists and their foundations, from June 2 through August 11, 2017. All four featured artists–John Paul Caponigro, Andy Warhol, Joyce Tenneson and Bernard Langlais–have been the focus of exhibits in the Reed Art Gallery during the past few years. The public is invited to view the exhibition throughout the show’s run and attend the Gallery Reception on Friday, June 2, from 5-7 p.m., which is being held in conjunction with the First Friday Art Walk.

University of Maine System Board of Trustees unanimously approved a resolution appointing Dr. Raymond Rice President of the University of Maine at Presque Isle. Dr. Rice, who joined the College of Arts and Science Faculty at the university twenty years ago, has been serving as the interim president and provost of the university since July of 2016.