Balloons and blue skies greeted the grads of the Class of 2022 as they prepared to complete their final assignment as 乐播传媒 students: Process from Alumni Walk to the Historic Quad, take their turn to cross the Coram Library porch for their diploma, and then recess as graduates of 乐播传媒 College.

The best part about this assignment? Everyone passes.

From last-minute ‘fit adjustments, to photos with staff and faculty on Alumni Walk, to a joyous cap-toss, these are some of the highlights from the 乐播传媒 Class of 2022’s big day.

Anticipation, happy tears, and relief were themes for the many family and friends gathered.

“I’m expecting to cry,” said parent Sandra Capo, who came to watch her son, Chris Capo ’22, an economics major from West Newbury, Mass., receive his diploma.

“It’s a huge accomplishment. It was quite the journey for us to see him go through the four years at 乐播传媒, and we couldn’t be happier.”

Even more than a feeling of accomplishment, there was a sense of having overcome many of the unprecendented obstacles thrown in their path. And now, their next step lies beyond the world of 乐播传媒 College.

With a bonhomie well-suited to the occasion, with sharp wit that made topical points, and with empathetic insight into the human experience, Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control, delivered the Commencement Address at 乐播传媒 College on May 29, 2022.

I feel like we should start a day of celebration by doing something celebratory, which is…taking a selfie. If I could ask everyone to stand up a second and stretch, and while we鈥檙e doing that, I鈥檓 going to cue up my phone to take the 乐播传媒 College Commencement selfie. OK, let鈥檚 do that.

You all looked great. I鈥檓 going to put that on Twitter later; if you don鈥檛 want to be on Twitter let me know now. I鈥檒l blur out your face.

Thank you, President Spencer. It is an honor to be a part of 乐播传媒鈥� 156th Commencement and join you, the faculty, staff, parents, and the random old people who come to these things, as we celebrate the accomplishments of the Class of 2022.

Especially this year 鈥� the first 鈥渘ormal鈥� Commencement ceremony since 2019. I don鈥檛 know what happened during those intervening years. Some guy must have suggested that you change things around. What a jerk!

I am also grateful that you and the Board of Trustees have chosen to award me with a Doctor of Science degree. That鈥檚 extremely meaningful,and I鈥檓 very excited to start putting that to use.

It鈥檚 also such a pleasure to share the stage today with other 乐播传媒 honorands, whom you just heard about.

Graduates, none of you will remember this speech. Which, frankly, takes a lot of pressure off of me. 

We all like to think we got here on our own. But in reality, none of us gets to where we are on our own. When I graduated from college, I thought I had it all figured out. I was independent. I was a one-man wolf pack. But the truth is, I was basically a house cat 鈥� completely dependent on others, yet fully convinced of my own independence. 

We all have someone who helped us along the way, so I want to take a moment to recognize the parents and family members of the graduates who are here today.

Just remember: If you like what I have to say today, my name is 鈥淣irav Shah.鈥� If you don鈥檛 like what I have to say, just remember that my name is 鈥淪anjay Gupta.鈥�

Graduates, I ask that you also thank them for supporting you for the last four years. And also to remember that commencements are like weddings: they go on for a long time but they are pretty much for your family.

Many parents in the audience 鈥� especially if they are not residents of Maine 鈥� are looking at me right now and wondering the same thing. Who is this guy? Why is he here? Was the travel budget for Commencement speakers cut? The best they could do is a guy from down the street?

Just remember: If you like what I have to say today, my name is 鈥淣irav Shah.鈥� If you don鈥檛 like what I have to say, just remember that my name is 鈥淪anjay Gupta.鈥�

Many months ago, when President Spencer asked me to deliver this year鈥檚 Commencement Address, I pledged that I would take the honor seriously and commit to the careful craft of writing a speech in the same manner that many of that many of you, the graduates, committed to your senior thesis or capstone project. 

So last night, after downing a bunch of Red Bulls and literally reaching the end of Twitter, I started writing.

There is an uncanny correlation between speaking at the 乐播传媒 Commencement and then dying 30 to 50 years later. I need to have an epidemiologist at the Maine CDC look at this. Because if there鈥檚 one thing I鈥檝e learned from the pandemic, it is that correlation always equals causation. 

I looked at the list of prior 乐播传媒 Commencement speakers. Coretta Scott King, may she rest in peace; former Maine Sen. Margaret Chase Smith, may she RIP; anti-apartheid leader Bishop Desmond Tutu, may he RIP; renowned physicist Freeman Dyson, may he RIP; civil rights icon, the Rep. John Lewis, may he RIP.

When I looked at that list, my first thought was, 鈥淢an, why do all the preceding 乐播传媒 Commencement speakers end up dead?鈥� What is up with that? There is an uncanny correlation between speaking at the 乐播传媒 Commencement and then dying 30 to 50 years later.

I need to have an epidemiologist at the Maine CDC look at this. Because if there鈥檚 one thing I鈥檝e learned from the pandemic, it is that correlation always equals causation. 

It鈥檚 meaningful being here today. It was three years ago, almost to the day, that my father died. He had a progressive illness, so his death, while painful, was not unexpected.

I think that he would have liked Maine. The mountains, the ocean, the solitude. One of my regrets is that he never got to see Maine. And he never got to know the Maine that my family and I have come to know, to love. 

He would have enjoyed being here today, too, seeing all of you graduate. Hearing me speak with you. It would have made him proud. 

Just like many of you, my dad came a long way. He went from picking mangoes in rural India to medical school. When he came to the U.S. in the 1970s, he worked as a busboy at the Gold Coin restaurant in Chicago, while he studied for his exams.

On the day he passed his exams, he walked in to work and sat down at a table. His boss barked at him and asked why he wasn鈥檛 working. My dad replied, proudly, that he was a doctor now and he wanted a cup of coffee. 

One of my life鈥檚 privileges was to spend the last five months of his life with him and my mother down in Houston, Texas. One day, while driving back from a medical appointment, my dad and I were stuck in traffic.

Above us was a burned out, old railway bridge over the interstate. And on that bridge, there was graffiti. It wasn鈥檛 just everyday graffiti. It was graffiti with meaning. There, on the rusted metal, someone had spray painted two words. 

The two words were elegant in their simplicity, compelling in their directness, and poetic in their brevity. Two words that struck me and have stuck with me and that I鈥檝e spent the last three years thinking about. 

Be Someone. Be…Someone.

That鈥檚 it. Two words that capture how my dad himself lived his life. How I try to live my life. And how, today, I鈥檇 like to urge you how to live your lives.

Like any good poetry, as Ms. Giovanni can tell us, the phrase admits many interpretations. Are you supposed to be someone? Or to be someone?

Today I offer you three ways that my father exemplified those words. Through humility, through humanity, and through humor.

Let鈥檚 start with humility, which is at the heart of Being Someone.

For me, humility comes down to saying the three hardest words in the English language: 鈥淚 don鈥檛 know.鈥�

But in the face of a global pandemic, no one has a monopoly on knowledge or expertise. And yet so many are reluctant to say that they don鈥檛 know the answer to something. Instead, they just talk. 

I used to think that being intelligent, being someone, involved having all the answers. Not just some of the answers. But all the answers. This had a few implications: It led me to think that intelligence came from accumulating the largest warehouse of knowledge. Of minutiae, of trivia.

For me, being smart 鈥� being someone 鈥� was like having the only pin at a balloon party. And achievement was walking around popping everyone else鈥檚 balloons. 

Frankly, this approach led me to being tremendously unlikeable. I really should have changed my middle name to, “Well, Actually.”

But in the face of a global pandemic, no one has a monopoly on knowledge or expertise. And yet so many are reluctant to say that they don鈥檛 know the answer to something. Instead, they just talk. 

Please, graduates, don鈥檛 do that. If someone asks you what time it is, do not tell them how to build a clock. If you don鈥檛 know what time it is, just tell them that.

The second quality of Being Someone that my father exemplified was humanity.

I always marveled at my father’s ability to communicate with people who had an entirely different worldview from him. Rather than dismissing those who asked him skeptical questions, he treated them with humanity.

COVID has brought the challenges of misinformation to the forefront. And when we think about things like life-saving vaccines, the stakes are literally life and death.

But here鈥檚 the problem: We often treat skeptics like a high school debater would. We rattle off a litany of reasons why they are wrong, trying to pop as many balloons as possible with our pin. Thing is, in the history of recorded thought, not a single mind has ever been changed via that approach.

Even worse, we sometimes condescend those who question whether COVID-19 vaccines are effective. We treat those with different beliefs as not just incorrect, but as ignorant. And we wrongly dehumanize them, or anyone who doesn’t see the world our way.

Please, graduates, don’t do that.

I know that vaccines work because I am part of a 鈥渃hain of trust鈥� with the people who have concluded so:.

I’ve been asked numerous times how I know that the COVID vaccines are effective? After all, I didn’t perform the studies myself. So how can I know that the vaccines are doing their job?

Rather than overwhelming the skeptic with a bunch of journal articles or dismissing them outright, I am honest with them. I know that vaccines work because I am part of a 鈥渃hain of trust鈥� with the people who have concluded so: scientists, physicians, statisticians. I trust the ultimate conclusion because I trust each of the links in the chain.

Skeptics are often part of a different chain of trust, a chain whose links comprise lived experiences and relationships, not necessarily data in scientific journals. They are susceptible to misinformation because they don鈥檛 belong to the same chain of trust that scientists, that many of us do.

So what to do? First, do not dehumanize those who disagree. Rather, recognize that their skepticism may stem from being part of a different chain of trust.

Second, Be Someone who builds trust: Ask why they believe what they do? And what evidence might change their mind?

The thing is, trust happens one conversation at a time. It is like a bank account, and you may have to make multiple deposits in the account before you can start making withdrawals.

As my dad saw it, the third quality of Being Someone was humor. It鈥檚 a quality he kept through the end. He learned his English-language sense of humor from an old TV show called M*A*S*H. I was just chatting with my team about my favorite scene from M*A*S*H, describing war. I urge everyone to take a look at that.

M*A*S*H was about an army field hospital in the Korean War. 

We need the levity that humor brings. Laughter during dark days doesn鈥檛 diminish the weight of the shadows; it just makes them a little bit easier to bear.

What I marveled at was his ability to bring humor into situations where I would have least expected to find it. Even in the room of a dying patient and their family, my dad always found a way to lighten the heaviest of moods.

That鈥檚 important because you are allowed to laugh. These days, humor is considered fraught in some circles. The world is dark, and there are those who suggest that a well-timed joke is not always appropriate. I don鈥檛 see it that way. 

Indeed, it鈥檚 just the opposite. We need the levity that humor brings. Laughter during dark days doesn鈥檛 diminish the weight of the shadows; it just makes them a little bit easier to bear.

That鈥檚 because the human brain is a magnificent thing. We can be happy and sad at the same time. You can hold grief and joy in your hands at the same moment. Humor is what makes us human.

And humor is important, especially now. When I think of each of you, you all came into consciousness while the world was still reeling from 9/11, into a world punctuated by terrorism, unending gun violence, economic recessions, environmental catastrophe, and now, a global pandemic. 

Tom Brokaw hailed the people who survived the Depression and World War II as the Greatest Generation, not for who they were, but for what they overcame. I don鈥檛 know what your generation will be called, but one thing is clear: The world has handed you much more than your share.

Your generation has seen so much  and responded with wit, creativity, righteous anger, and a determination to take the reality you鈥檝e been handed and make it better. Even through COVID, you managed to flourish under absurd circumstances. For many of you, junior year abroad turned into junior year abridged.

But your humility, your humanity, and your humor have helped you Be Someone who is about to graduate from 乐播传媒 College. Many of you will go on to remarkable careers: in business, arts, and government. The rest of you will become podcasters.

No matter where you go, what you do, you are likely to be one of the smartest people in any room that you are in. The first thing you should do is find a bigger room. But the second is to remember the tools that 乐播传媒 has given you. 

乐播传媒 has prepared you to choose to be anyone, any time, in any place. But my ask is far simpler: that you choose to Be Someone. Choose to carry the qualities of humility, humanity, and humor with you wherever you go next. 

Congratulations to the 乐播传媒 College Class of 2022! Thank you for having me today. Thank you for honoring me today. Thank you for humoring me today. Go out there and Be Someone.

Embrace me, you irreplaceable you, wrote Ira Gershwin about a century ago, a timeless notion of sweet affection that nicely captured the vibe at Commencement on May 29, as the 乐播传媒 campus community, joined by 乐播传媒 parents, family members, and loved ones, gave a fond embrace and farewell to the graduating 乐播传媒 College Class of 2022.

7:16 a.m. Reading and ready

The first to take a seat at Commencement was Mark Evans, who arrived early to save seats and spent the down time reading the Sunday paper.

He’s a 乐播传媒 parent times two, of twins Garrett Evans, a sociology major, and Liam Evans, a psychology major. “It’s a big moment,” he says.

7:17 a.m. Flower power

Mike Adams, a member of the Facility Services grounds crew, has his arms full of flowers that will decorate the Coram Library porch, the traditional setting of 乐播传媒 Commencements since 1971.

7:50 a.m.

Paul Christman ’98 poses with his daughter, Emma Christman ’22 outside Hathorn Hall.

When Emma’s dad graduated from Leavitt Area High School in Turner, a few miles north of 乐播传媒, he did what other Christmans had done. He went to work, first at the local grocery store in Greene and then at 乐播传媒. He also raised and showed draft horses.

At 乐播传媒, Paul had a job in the early 1990s that doesn鈥檛 exist any more: delivering mail to faculty and staff offices all over campus.

On his mail route, “I was going into Carnegie Science, Dana, and Hathorn, all these buildings every single day,” he recalls. “I got to know professors and staff.” Regular conversations, especially with folks in the science buildings, piqued his interest in attending 乐播传媒. “They took an interest in me. They encouraged me.”

He applied, was accepted, and resigned to become a student. Since graduation, he’s been a marine scientist with the state of Maine, focusing on the Atlantic salmon fishery.

Father and daughter are both biology majors, though Emma 鈥� who has a nifty tattoo of a salmon on her left forearm 鈥� has topped her dad by adding a geology major, and earning honors in both disciplines for a single senior thesis.

7:53 a.m. Delivering the goods

Megan McHenry, senior associate registrar, begins to arrange the 乐播传媒 diplomas on the Coram Porch as Mike Adams, who helped deliver them, looks on.

8:04 a.m. Arrival time

Elene Chamberlain ’22, a biology major from Brookline, Mass., and Parker Caswell ’22, a geology major from Sandwich, N.H., are among the first seniors to arrive on Alumni Walk. After a “sleepless night and beautiful sunrise” on Mount David with classmates, they headed for a pre-Commencement breakfast in Commons.

8:23 a.m. Over easy

Zane Rahabi ’22 of Westwood, Mass., displays a meme that he printed and affixed to his cap, depicting a moment from the final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King.

鈥淚 say it a lot, like whenever I finish something,” he says. “When I finished my thesis, I said, 鈥業t鈥檚 over, it鈥檚 done!鈥� and I just thought it was a fitting thing to put on the cap.鈥�

(The meme, he says, is a bit of a misquote of Frodo Baggins, whose actual gasping words after finally flinging the One Ring into the bubbling lava of Mount Doom, are, 鈥淚t鈥檚 gone. It鈥檚 done!鈥� To which his faithful companion, Samwise Gamgee, replies, 鈥淵es, Mr. Frodo, it鈥檚 over now.鈥�)

For Rahabi, 鈥渋t鈥檚 been a long and arduous journey. I haven鈥檛 had to climb any volcanoes or anything or throw anything into them, but I feel like it鈥檚 a similar vibe.鈥�

There’s another similarity between Rahabi’s journey and Frodo’s: Good fellowship and friends along the way.

8:46 a.m. Fine print

Many students wear something personally significant at Commencement. Like a tie, or earrings. Or both.

Alex Gailey 鈥�22, an English major from Berkeley, Calif., wore “HEEM-MAN,” one of a few characters he has created and, he hopes, to one day turn into toys or sculptures. Gailey modeled a 3D design of HEEM-MAN from his drawings, then used a 3D printer in the Coram Library Visualization Lab to create the final figure.

“I spray painted it silver for crispiness,” he says. “I thought it would be fun to mobb* across the stage with one of my lil’ buddies.”

* To “move hastily in a joyous manner with known associates, including but not limited to friends, brethren, and academic acquaintances,” explains Gailey.

9:02 a.m. Mace game face

Mace bearer and Phillips Professor of Economics Michael Murray knows how to take a cue. He’s appeared in many 乐播传媒 theater productions since joining the faculty in 1986, so when a photographer asks for a pose, Murray, who will retire from the 乐播传媒 faculty this month, obliges and creates a sweet scene.

9:05 a.m. Dressing the part

After breakfast in Pettengill Hall, Commencement speaker Dr. Nirav Shah and his fellow honorands emerge onto Alumni Walk in their cap-and-gown splendor.

A few minutes earlier, in Perry Atrium, Shah got an assist from custodian-turned-dresser Ann Hixman, who is part of the team that helped this years honorands with their academic regalia. 鈥淚 get one of those cool hats, right?鈥� Shah asks. Hixman nods and takes one of the velvet caps off a shelf for him. 

鈥淵ou want some help?鈥� she asks, smiling. 

鈥淚 should be able to get it,鈥� Shah answers as he settles into the robe and reaches for the cap. 鈥淭here鈥檚 a 10 percent chance I won鈥檛.鈥�

The director of the Maine Center for Disease Control speaks in data. He flaps his arms in the robe to get comfortable. 鈥淭hey don鈥檛 have pockets,鈥� he observes.

Shah knows his robes, having donned academic regalia a few other times this spring while being honored at other Maine graduations. So no wonder he’s ruminating on the lack of pockets: 鈥淲hich is weird, right? I mean, my pajamas have pockets. I don鈥檛 know why they have pockets because I don鈥檛 need to store stuff while I sleep.鈥� He moves on, now adjusting his hat. 鈥淥kay, I think this is it, right?鈥� Hixman looks him over and agrees.

He鈥檚 got one last question before he heads back to the seating area, where he鈥檚 been sipping a morning Diet Coke (he鈥檚 a well-known lover of the beverage) and talking with Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks, who has been Shah’s faculty host for the weekend, hospitality that included a warm introduction of Shah at dinner the evening before. 鈥淭assel to the left, right? Because that鈥檚 what academia does, moves you to the left?鈥� He鈥檚 kidding, of course.

9:20 a.m. Walk this way

鈥淪o this pace is really good,鈥� Associate Dean of Students James Reese (center) tells junior class marshals Kama Boswell 鈥�23 (right) of Bellevue, Wash., and Gretchen Lindenfeldar 鈥�23 of Pennington, N.J., as they head up the slight hill from Alumni Walk toward the Historic Quad. 鈥淒on鈥檛 go any faster than that.鈥�

As the trio leads the senior class between Hathorn Hall and Parker Hall and onto the Quad, there鈥檚 a split second where Boswell isn鈥檛 sure whether to go left or right.

Paul Menice, head of Campus Safety, steps forward with arms and hands up, giving directions like an air traffic controller, and steers the group the correct direction (right, toward Gomes Chapel).

Reese chuckles and resumes his series of tips. As the leaders get to Gomes, Reese starts going over the complications of skinning the cat, the point of the ceremony where the faculty will pass between the two columns of seniors.

It鈥檚 up to the marshals to make sure they set the right example of stepping off the walk and onto the grass, leaving plenty of room for the professors and the platform party to pass through on the pavement. 鈥淚 want to have my job on Tuesday,鈥� Reese jokes, softening the tension for the two juniors with the responsibility leading the way for the nearly 500 students behind them.

9:27 a.m. Piper’s moment

A feature absent from Commencement since 2019 due to the pandemic, the Commencement piper returned in 2022. Everett Kaherl does the duties.

9:30 a.m. Well versed

The last group in the Commencement procession includes the honorary degree recipients, including Nikki Giovanni (center), one of the best-known and most widely honored American poets of the last half-century, walking with her faculty host, Associate Professor of Africana Sue Houchins.

9:52 a.m. Welcome!

As the academic procession arrives at Coram Library, parents, family members, and loved ones greet their seniors.

10:07 a.m. Growth mindset

Teresa Chico ’22 heads to the Coram stage to deliver her Senior Address.

She used a seasonal metaphor to describe her growth at 乐播传媒 as a first-generation college student. 鈥嬧�婣 self-described 鈥減lant person,鈥� Chico thought she was like her sturdy pothos plant when she arrived at 乐播传媒, so resilient it barely needed nurturing.

鈥淟ike so many first generation students and people of color鈥� I thought that I owed it to my family and everyone who helped me get here to be perfect,” she said. “I was lucky to be here and I would make the most of it. No water or sunlight required.鈥�

But as she progressed through 乐播传媒, Chico discovered she might be more like her Chinese money plant. “I had days where I was drooping, feeling defeated,” she said. “I had to learn to believe in myself, but I also had to learn that it was okay to ask for help.” In difficult times, her 乐播传媒 professors “watered me with their knowledge and support.鈥�

10:19 a.m.

Michael Bonney 鈥�80, a nationally recognized biotech CEO whose extensive philanthropy has funded the Bonney Science Center, new professorships, and innovations in STEM education at 乐播传媒, accepts applause for his honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degree.

In a moment of sweet disorder, President Spencer conferred Bonney’s degree not once but twice.

The first time, Spencer, who worked closely with Bonney in his nine years of service as chair of the Board of Trustees, got a bit emotional as she delivered the conferral. So a few minutes later, she paused the proceedings, apologized, and asked Bonney to return to her side so she could present him his degree, 鈥渁gain and correctly.”

10:31 a.m. ‘Our counselor, philosopher, and sage’

Dr. Nirav Shah, a luminary of Maine’s public-health response to the pandemic as director of the Maine Center for Disease Control, listens to his degree citation, read by Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty (not pictured).

“He understands that COVID is not just a matter of contagion and transmission, it is also a challenge to our social structures and systems of meaning,” said Hill. “He is direct and unflappable; he explains complex issues in simple terms that can be understood by all; and he is unfailingly respectful of the trust the public places in him.

“He is not just our doctor in chief. He is our counselor, philosopher, and sage.”

10:37 a.m. We are amused

乐播传媒 faculty members laugh at one of the jokes in Shah’s personal, insightful, and occasionally very funny address.

Shah told the audience how, after accepting 乐播传媒’ invitation to give the Commencement address, he “pledged that I would take the honor seriously and commit to the careful craft of writing a speech in the same manner that many of you committed to your senior thesis or capstone project. 

“So last night, after downing a bunch of Red Bulls and literally reaching the end of Twitter, I started writing.” 

10:59 a.m. Yesterday and today

The family of Pierson Rambusch ’22, a neuroscience major from Madison, N.J., listen to the proceedings next to a few poster-sized photographs of Rambusch as a child, and now.

11:08 a.m. Dialing it up

Enrique Dolores Gonzalez ’22 of Hailey, Idaho, taps the Class of 1932 Sundial with his newly received 乐播传媒 diploma.

11:13 a.m. Shake on it

President Spencer and Zoe Gallate ’22, an American studies major from Teton Village, Wyo., turn toward the Commencement photographer to make the most of the moment.

11:20 a.m. Touch and go

乐播传媒 diploma in hand, Amelia Ingersoll ’22, a psychology major from Middlebury, Vt., touches the hand of a classmate as she leaves the Coram porch and returns to her seat.

11:22 a.m. Taking it in

Ray Joseph ’22, a history major from Norwood, Mass., smiles as he looks at his 乐播传媒 diploma.

11:24 a.m. Start to finish

Anna Landgren ’22 brandishes her diploma. She earned honors in her major, Chinese.

“In 2018, I photographed Anna in her first hours as a 乐播传媒 student,” recalls Director of Photography and Video Phyllis Graber Jensen. “And I was able to photograph her in her final hours as a 乐播传媒 student.”

The photo she’s talking about was taken on Aug. 27, 2018, as Landgren moved into Kalperis Hall with the help of her sister Elizabeth, then 8, and her brother Anders, then 15.

Anders, by the way, is now 19 鈥� and just finished his first year as a 乐播传媒 student.

11:38 a.m. The handoff

There’s a busy yet smooth diploma handoff operation on the Coram Library porch during Commencement. Here, faculty marshals Kirk Read and Laurie O’Higgins double check the diplomas, and then pass them to Spencer.

O鈥橦iggins is the Euterpe B. Dukakis Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies, Read is professor of French and francophone studies.

11:43 a.m. Picture this

If it moves and it’s a 乐播传媒 senior, chances are it will be photographed by a family member during Commencement.

11:43 a.m. Steady as he goes

Crutches made it slow going across the Coram porch for Chidubem Umeh ’22, a physics major from Randolph, Mass., which afforded a bit more time to pose with President Spencer.

11:49 a.m. Tassel task

Oliver Barrera ’22, a double major in politics and Latin American studies from Waukegan, Ill., and Losseni Barry ’22, a history major from New York City, move the tassels of their caps from right to left, signifying their bachelor’s degrees.

At 乐播传媒, the two senior marshals, at Spencer’s request, direct the class to move their tassels. The senior marshals for the Class of 2022 were Christina Wang, a double major in English and politics from Woodcliff Lake, N.J., and Fernando Rojas, a psychology major from Bristol, Pa.

11:57 a.m. Carrying on

As the Commencement recession begins, Professor of French and Francophone Studies Mary Rice-DeFosse takes her first steps as the college’s mace bearer, an honor accorded the senior member of the 乐播传媒 faculty.

Looking on approvingly is Michael Murray, the Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics, who retires this spring. 

The college鈥檚 10th mace bearer since the tradition was born in 1949, Rice-DeFosse will be the first in her department and first woman to carry the mace. When she arrived at 乐播传媒 in 1984, one day serving as the mace bearer wasn鈥檛 on her mind. 鈥淚t鈥檚 an unexpected honor,鈥� Rice-DeFosse says.

12:03 p.m. See you!

Sydney Phillips ’22, a biology major from Plainville, Mass., spots a well-wisher during the Commencement recession. 

12:10 p.m. Thanks mom

Assistant Professor of Sociology Marcelle Medford (left) greets one of her students, Abdul Mohamed ’22, a sociology major from Lewiston, and his mother, Safia Hersi.

12:25 p.m. Lip service

Rosie Crawford 鈥�22, a double major in environmental studies and mathematics from Waltham, Mass., gets Commencement kisses from her aunt Stephanie Simmons (left) and her mother, Michelle Crawford.

12:26 p.m. Up, and away

Amina Mohamed 鈥�22 (left), a double major in neuroscience and history from Tucson, Ariz., and Sandia Taban 鈥�22, a politics major from Nairobi, Kenya, take a celebratory leap at the top of the steps of Hathorn Hall after Commencement.

Weatherwise, Sunday was an epically beautiful Maine day, giving the Class of 2022 some competition visually. But the seniors rose to the challenge, like Taban, unforgettable with vivid orange pants and sky-high black platforms and Mohamed kicking off in eye-catching green sandals.

Who couldn鈥檛 look at those orange pants without starting to smile. They represented the purest thing about the day: exuberance. The joy of being together, masks off, hugs and hand holding allowed, all free expression encouraged, accomplishments recognized and a new beginning starting after a picture-perfect farewell to the newest graduates of 乐播传媒 College.

With a nod to the past and a look to the future, the Class of 2022 marched through Commencement in style 鈥� with a few personal touches.

Here are 11 members of the class who made their regalia their own, from painted mortarboards, to flowers and appliqu茅s, to memes.

‘New growth’

Daisies were the theme of the day for Ojochenemi Maji ’22 of Ikoyi, Nigeria. Her cap, stole, and nails all featured the wildflowers.

鈥淚 had the Nigerian flag on it this morning, but it fell off,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 like daisies a lot, but I really just like flowers. They鈥檙e free. And it鈥檚 the same with butterflies. It feels like freedom, and I feel like that鈥檚 what鈥檚 happening today, like I鈥檓 discovering a new part of myself, like new growth, like a caterpillar becoming a butterfly.鈥�

‘Adventure is out there’

For her high school graduation, Rebekah Vaules ’22 of Pittsford, N.Y., decorated her graduation cap with a painting of the house from 2009 animated film, Up, with the quote, 鈥淎dventure is out there!鈥�

Vaules will teach French at Lewiston High School this fall, so she painted a little red schoolhouse floating in the air, held up by 鈥渂alloons鈥� of white apple blossoms, and another quote from Up: 鈥淭hanks for the adventure; now go have a new one!鈥�

One thing she鈥檚 gained in college? 鈥淐onfidence. I鈥檓 focused on doing what I want, instead of being worried about what others are thinking.鈥�

Las tres graduadas

These three friends spent the day together, and all took different themes with their caps. 

Daniah Foster ’22 of Shelton, Conn., wanted to match her cap and shoes, glitter and all. 鈥淭hey鈥檙e all neutrals, which I love.鈥� Pink, gold, and white flowers and leaves frame 鈥淐lass of 鈥�22鈥� on her cap.

Rachel Retana ’22 of Chicago, Ill., printed out a 濒辞迟别谤铆补 board to put on her cap. 尝辞迟别谤铆补 is a game of chance, 鈥渓ike Mexican bingo,鈥� she said, but it鈥檚 played with boards and a deck of cards with pictures instead of number balls. 鈥淚鈥檓 Mexican, and my family emigrated here when I was a kid, so I wanted to have something that is kind of sentimental to them.鈥�

Adama Diaby ’22 of New York City bordered her message with rhinestones .鈥淚 was trying to go simple, so it鈥檚 all things that I am: pretty, educated, and graduated.鈥�

‘Sexy scholar gig’

With a director鈥檚 chair, sock and buskin theater masks, pencil, UFO, and waving green alien, Olivia Dimond ’22 designed her cap to illustrate major themes of her time at 乐播传媒.

Hailing from Henrico, Va., theater was a huge part of her college career. As a member and artistic director of the Robinson Players, she directed an out-of-this-world play 鈥� The Gap 鈥� that 鈥渟ort of dealt with alien abduction?鈥� She laughed.

The quote on her cap, 鈥渢he sexy scholar gig,鈥� is a line from another play she directed as her senior thesis, Rapture, Blister, Burn, in February. She also loves to write, and wrote for the student newspaper, The 乐播传媒 Student.

Blossoming future

After seeing her friend using flowers to decorate her cap, Jenniflore Beaubrun ’22 of Hyde Park, Mass., decided to follow suit, gluing and sewing flowers and ribbons onto her cap.

鈥淚 started doing this last night, and I realized I had the wrong glue, so I was sewing it in, but then I just got my nails done, so it was a little hard to sew it.鈥�

‘It’s over, it’s done!’

Zane Rahabi ’22 of Westwood, Mass., displays a meme that he printed and affixed to his cap, depicting a moment from the final installment of the Lord of the Rings trilogy, The Return of the King.

鈥淚 say it a lot, like whenever I finish something,” he says. “When I finished my thesis, I said, 鈥業t鈥檚 over, it鈥檚 done!鈥� and I just thought it was a fitting thing to put on the cap.鈥�

(The meme, he says, is a bit of a misquote of Frodo Baggins, whose actual gasping words after finally flinging the One Ring into the bubbling lava of Mount Doom, are, 鈥淚t鈥檚 gone. It鈥檚 done!鈥� To which his faithful companion, Samwise Gamgee, replies, 鈥淵es, Mr. Frodo, it鈥檚 over now.鈥�)

For Rahabi, 鈥渋t鈥檚 been a long and arduous journey. I haven鈥檛 had to climb any volcanoes or anything or throw anything into them, but I feel like it鈥檚 a similar vibe.鈥�

There’s another similarity between Rahabi’s journey and Frodo’s: Good fellowship and friends along the way.

‘A little bit of home’

Wound around her head, Janell Sato ’22 of Honolulu, Hawai鈥檌, wore a haku lei, which she made herself, with red roses and raffia, to bring 鈥渁 little bit of home鈥� with her. 

鈥淵ou just get some hay 鈥� it鈥檚 called raffia in Hawai鈥檌 鈥� and wind it around some different leaves and roses. It鈥檚 a common thing that happens during graduation in Hawai鈥檌.鈥�

Her mother, who came to watch her walk, wore a matching haku lei.

‘Keep moving forward’

Isabella David ’22 of East Elhurst, N.Y., wrote a quote from one of her favorite movies, the 2007 animated film, Meet the Robinsons.

鈥淭he movie鈥檚 about finding your family, even in turbulent times, and persevering through it. It鈥檚 been a little bit of a turbulent year.鈥�

And the most recent turbulence? Last week she got her laptop stolen, and got COVID for the second time, making her miss senior week.

鈥淵ou gotta just keep going through it,鈥� she smiled.

All eyes on you

鈥淚 really like eyes,鈥�  explains Alex Teplitz ’22 of New York City. As a member of the Discordians, 乐播传媒鈥� tabletop gaming club, they have a dungeons and dragons character who is themed around eyes, 鈥淪ince my freshman year of college, getting involved with the Discordians, I have always had this sort of fun fascination with them.鈥�

Teplitz knew they wanted the cap to represent their interest in tabletop RPGs, but the googly eyes weren鈥檛 the first option.

鈥淚 was going to put some dice on it, but then the eyes are just fun to look at, and they鈥檙e all jiggly, and I looked at it and thought: biblical angel, makes people stare at it, fun.鈥�

乐播传媒’ 2022 Commencement will be streamed live here, and on Facebook on Sunday, May 29th.

Join us on Sunday morning, May 29, for live coverage, beginning at 9:30 a.m., of the 156th 乐播传媒 Commencement as we celebrate the Class of 2022 and welcome Commencement speaker Dr. Nirav Shah, leader of the COVID-19 public health response in Maine, and fellow honorary degree recipients Michael Bonney 始80, Nikki Giovanni, and Becca Stevens.

When we confront the skeptics of science, we tend to return fire with a fire-hose of facts and figures.

鈥淲e often treat skeptics like a high-school debater would: We rattle off a litany of reasons why they are wrong,” said Dr. Nirav Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and featured speaker of the 156th Commencement of 乐播传媒 College on May 29. “We try to pop as many balloons as possible with our pin.鈥�

It鈥檚 a bad approach on two accounts, Shah told the graduating seniors. 鈥淚n the history of recorded thought, not a single mind has ever been changed via that approach.鈥� 

And worse, our refutation is often accompanied by condescension. 鈥淲e treat those with different beliefs not just as incorrect, but as ignorant. Please don鈥檛 do that,鈥� he advised.

Instead, try a little humanity. 鈥淏e someone who builds trust,鈥� said Shah, a luminary of Maine’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

On a sunny and warm morning, Shah’s personal, insightful, and occasionally very funny address was heard by 498 seniors and their loved ones, faculty, and staff under the trees of the Historic Quad and watched around the world via livestream. After two disrupted Commencements 鈥� a virtual edition in 2020 and a split, morning-afternoon in-person edition last year 鈥� this year鈥檚 ceremony felt like a block party.

The complete 2022 乐播传媒 Commencement video.

In the spirit that it鈥檚 always a good time to give offer thanks, appreciation, and maybe just a 鈥渨ay to go,鈥� President Clayton Spencer changed up her traditional welcome, pausing early on to ask the audience gathered before Coram Library to raise a cheer to this year鈥檚 seniors for all they鈥檝e been through.

That cheer 鈥� which timed out at a generous 14 seconds 鈥� helped mark the joyful return of 乐播传媒 Commencement pomp and circumstance, accompanied by sweet and well-chosen words from Spencer, Shah, and others, including senior speaker Teresa Chico 鈥�22 and Alumni Association president Jennifer Crawford 鈥�01. 

Shah was one of four honorary degree recipients, the others being:

• Michael Bonney 鈥�80, a nationally recognized biotech CEO whose extensive philanthropy has funded the Bonney Science Center, new professorships, and innovations in STEM education at 乐播传媒.
• Nikki Giovanni, a widely acclaimed poet, teacher, and voice of the Black experience for more than 50 years.
• The Rev. Becca Stevens, an author and social entrepreneur whose Thistle Farms organization supports those who have experienced trafficking, prostitution, and addiction. 

With the pandemic not yet in the rear-view mirror 鈥� it鈥檚 more in the side mirror 鈥� Spencer sought to illuminate what the seniors gained despite all they lost. 

External events, whether COVID-19 or the 鈥減ervasiveness of racism and racially-motivated violence in this country,鈥� radically transformed the minute-to-minute campus experience of this year鈥檚 seniors, intruding 鈥渋nsistently and persistently, into every dimension of your college experience since the spring of your sophomore year.鈥�

Yes, the Class of 2022 has missed much, Spencer and others noted. For example, while typically nearly 60 percent of a 乐播传媒 class would study abroad at some point in their college careers, less than 10 percent of the Class of 2022 got that opportunity.

Four straight sports seasons were canceled or severely curtailed. Campus offerings, especially in the arts, were stripped down to the physically distanced minimum. Students ate from take-out containers for the 2020鈥�21 year.

鈥淚t would be easy to focus on what you may have missed in your college experience,鈥� Spencer said. 鈥淚 urge you, however, to think about what you have gained,鈥� the ability to 鈥渕ove through the world more consciously and intentionally than a typical graduating senior.鈥�

Any graduation is a singular accomplishment, she said, and 鈥渨e are so very proud of all of you. But I also want to lift up and recognize these other gifts 鈥� the broadened perspective, the early wisdom, and the deepened empathy 鈥� that will be your superpowers as you venture forth to make the world a better place.鈥�

In delivering Shah鈥檚 honorary degree citation, Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Malcolm Hill said that Shah used his 鈥減owerful intellect and profound humanity鈥� to become Maine鈥檚 鈥渃alm and sure-footed guide through uncharted territory鈥� as COVID-19 barreled into the state in 2020. 

Whether leading daily media briefings, joining public radio call-in shows, convening Zoom discussions with community leaders, or through his own deft and often witty forays into social media, Shah became 鈥渘ot just our doctor in chief but our counselor, philosopher, and sage.鈥�

In many ways, this year鈥檚 Commencement rhetoric helped to deliver, as they say, the cure for what ails us. And if laughter is the best medicine, that cure was also in ample supply at Commencement, thanks to Shah鈥檚 wit and humor, setting the tone with a selfie from the Coram Library porch as he kicked off his address. “If you don’t want to be on Twitter, let me known now,” he quipped to the audience of several thousand.

He kicked off his address with these standup-quality one liners:

• “Just remember: If you like what I have to say today, my name is Nirav Shah,” he said. “If you don鈥檛 like what I have to say, just remember that my name is Sanjay Gupta.”
• Shah said he devoted the same energy and care to his talk that seniors devoted to their theses. “So last night, after downing a bunch of Red Bulls and literally reaching the end of Twitter, I started writing.”
• When he graduated from college, he said he thought he was powerful and independent, 鈥渁 one-man wolf pack. But the truth is, I was basically a house cat, completely dependent on others, yet fully convinced of my own independence.鈥� 

Shah listed notable 乐播传媒 Commencement speakers, including from the 1960s and 1970s, and noted that they have since died. 鈥淲hat鈥檚 up with that?鈥� he asked. 鈥淭here is an uncanny correlation between speaking at 乐播传媒 and then dying 30 to 50 years later. And if there鈥檚 anything I鈥檝e learned in the past two years it鈥檚 that correlation always equals causation.鈥� (A well-delivered pandemic-era joke that prompted a long round of applause.)

Shah鈥檚 address was packed with insight and delightful personal details as he asked the graduates to approach life with humility, humanity, and humor, three qualities that Shah learned from his father, a man who went from picking mangoes in rural India to earning his medical degree in America. 

Shah鈥檚 theme was 鈥淏e Someone,鈥� a phrase that鈥檚 crackled in his mind for a few years. His voice breaking, Shah told the audience that he鈥檇 lost his father three years ago after a long illness. But before that, knowing his father鈥檚 health was declining and his help would be needed, Shah lived with his mother and father in Houston.

One day he and his father were driving back from a medical appointment and passed beneath a graffiti-strewn railroad bridge. 鈥淚t wasn鈥檛 just everyday graffiti. It was graffiti with meaning,鈥� Shah said. Two words captured his attention, 鈥渆legant in their simplicity, compelling in their directness, and poetic in their brevity: Be Someone.鈥�

The two words captured 鈥渉ow my dad himself lived his life. How I try to live my life. And how, today, I鈥檇 like to urge you to live your lives.鈥� Shah asked the seniors to Be Someone the way his father did, with humility, humanity, and humor.

Humility, he said, 鈥渃omes down to saying the three hardest words in the English language: 鈥業 don鈥檛 know.鈥欌�� Shah said that he used to think that 鈥渋ntelligence came from accumulating the largest warehouse of knowledge,鈥� and Shah does have a big store, holding both a medical and law degree from the University of Chicago.

But 鈥渇rankly, this approach led to me being tremendously unlikeable. My middle name should have been 鈥榃ell, actually,鈥�” he quipped. 鈥淔or me, being smart was like having the only pin at a balloon party. And achievement was walking around popping everyone else鈥檚 balloons.鈥�

If you don鈥檛 know something, just say so. 鈥淚f someone asks you what time it is, do not tell them how to build a clock. If you don鈥檛 know what time it is, tell them that.鈥�

Humanity, Shah said, is how his father confronted skeptics. 鈥淩ather than dismissing those who asked skeptical questions, he treated them with humanity.鈥� And humanity strengthens the 鈥渃hain of trust鈥� that allows Shah to have full confidence in his fellow scientists, specifically believing in the effectiveness of the vaccines for COVID-19.

鈥淚’ve been asked numerous times how I know that the COVID vaccines are effective? After all, I didn’t perform the studies myself. So how can I know that the vaccines are doing their job?鈥�

He knows vaccines are effective because he is 鈥減art of a 鈥榗hain of trust鈥� with the people who have concluded so,鈥� including scientists, physicians, and statisticians, to name a few. 鈥淚 trust the conclusion because I trust each of the links in that chain.鈥�

Skeptics, on the other hand, are often 鈥減art of a different chain of trust whose links comprise lived experiences and relationships, not data in scientific journals. They are susceptible to misinformation because they do not belong to the same chain of trust that scientists do.鈥�

But do not dehumanize those who disagree. 鈥淩ather, recognize that their skepticism may stem from being part of a different chain of trust. Be someone who builds trust: Ask why they believe what they do. What evidence might change their mind?鈥�

Shah鈥檚 father learned American and English-language humor by watching American television, especially M*A*S*H, the classic 1970s comedy-drama series about an Army field hospital during the Korean War.

At its best, M*A*S*H showed how humor and sadness can coexist. Shah said his father could 鈥渂ring humor into situations where I would have least expected to find it.鈥� And that鈥檚 being human.

 鈥淭he human mind is a magnificent thing,鈥� said Shah. 鈥淚t can be happy and sad at the same time. You can hold grief and joy in your hands at the exact same moment.鈥�

Even during a pandemic, 鈥測ou鈥檙e allowed to laugh,鈥� he said, even if, these days, 鈥渉umor is fraught. The world is dark and there are those who suggest that a well-timed joke may not be appropriate. Don鈥檛 believe them. We need the levity that humor brings. Laughter during dark days doesn鈥檛 diminish the weight of the shadows; it just makes them a little bit easier to bear.鈥�

As they head out into the world, the new 乐播传媒 grads will often see themselves as one of the smartest people in the room, Shah said. 鈥淭he first thing you should do is find a bigger room.鈥� 

The second is to use the tools of a 乐播传媒 education. 鈥溊植ゴ� has prepared you to be anyone, any time, in any place,鈥� he concluded. 鈥淏ut my ask is that you chose to be someone. Choose to carry the qualities of humility, humanity, and humor with you wherever you go next.鈥�

In her Senior Address, Chico used a seasonal metaphor to describe her growth at 乐播传媒 as a first-generation college student. 鈥嬧�婣 self-described 鈥減lant person,鈥� Chico thought she was like her sturdy pothos plant when she arrived at 乐播传媒, so resilient it barely needed nurturing.

鈥淟ike so many first generation students and people of color…I thought that I owed it to my family and everyone who helped me get here to be perfect.鈥� 

That meant being a science major 鈥� never mind that she didn鈥檛 really like science 鈥� and then advancing to medical school. 鈥淚 had this crazy standard for myself that was really stressful and overwhelming, but like the pothos plant, I thought I would just take care of myself for these next four years. I was lucky to be here and I would make the most of it. No water or sunlight required.鈥�

As she pivoted from science to the humanities, as a double major in Africana and in rhetoric, film, and screen studies, Chico discovered that it鈥檚 OK to need and ask for help, like her 鈥渄ramatic鈥� Chinese money plant.

鈥淚 had to learn to believe in myself, but I also had to learn that it was okay to ask for help. Like the Chinese money plant, I had days where I was drooping, feeling defeated. But it was on those hard days that my professors watered me with their knowledge and support.鈥�

The awarding of the day鈥檚 honorary degrees featured a moment of sweet disorder as President Spencer conferred the honorary degree for Michael Bonney ’80 not once but twice.

The first time, Spencer, who worked closely with Bonney in his nine years of service as chair of the Board of Trustees, choked up as she delivered the conferral. So a few minutes later, just before Shah was presented his honorary degree, Spencer paused the proceedings, apologized, and asked Bonney to return to her side so she could present him his degree, “again and correctly.” She said:  

鈥淲henever and however we tell your story, we tell it with gratitude and pride. We know what this college means to you, and we only hope that you know how very much you mean to us.鈥�

As Commencement approached its close, Jennifer Crawford 鈥�01 welcomed the newly minted graduates to their alumni lives. 鈥淣o matter where life takes you, you will forever be part of an accomplished and dynamic community of over 24,000 Bobcats strong who…will forever be part of your extended family.鈥� 

In her benediction, the Rev. Brittany Longsdorf compared the seniors to the resilient Eastern white pine, the official Maine tree. She asked the seniors to remember how much they have always been valued as they leave 乐播传媒 and begin their next chapter.

In this moment of awe and wonder, may you breathe deep as you prepare to begin again; feel our collective blessing on the journey ahead just as you have been and continue to be a blessing to 乐播传媒. It is time to cross this threshold. 

Honorary degree citations for Michael W. Bonney ’80, Nikki Giovanni, Becca Stevens, and Dr. Nirav Shah, delivered by Dean of the Faculty and Vice President for Academic Affairs Malcolm Hill. Conferrals delivered by President Clayton Spencer.

Michael W. Bonney ’80

No account of 乐播传媒鈥� recent history can be told without our first honorand.

If the story of 乐播传媒 were a novel, there would be a Bonney (or a Bonney relative) in virtually every chapter. From 1927 to 1950 to 1980 and 鈥�81, onward to 2009, 2012, and 2015 鈥� our guest and his wife, Alison, and many other members of their family besides, have been central figures in the 乐播传媒 story for almost a century.

If the story of 乐播传媒 were a movie, our honorand would win Oscars for both leading and supporting roles all at once. He served on the 乐播传媒 Board of Trustees for seventeen years, including nine as its chair, charting an ambitious course for the college and leading it through a presidential transition and the launch of its largest-ever fundraising campaign, all while transforming the governance practices of the Board itself. Along with the other Bonneys of 乐播传媒, he has been an exceedingly generous supporter of the college through the Bonney Family Foundation.

If the story of 乐播传媒 were a tapestry, his threads would be woven throughout. Not only across time, in the many generations of Bonneys at 乐播传媒, but in the John E. Kelsey and Stella James Sims professorships that recognize outstanding 乐播传媒 faculty; in the Catalyst Fund, which supports innovation and experimentation; and in his service as co-chair of the 乐播传媒 Campaign, which will touch every aspect of the 乐播传媒 experience and strengthen the 乐播传媒 endowment for generations to come.

And if the story of 乐播传媒 were a blueprint, its focal point would be 乐播传媒鈥� newest landmark, the stunning Bonney Science Center, a transformative space for teaching and discovery in science and beyond.

However we tell it, the story of 乐播传媒 is full of Bonneys. But our honorand鈥檚 story neither begins nor ends on this campus. He has distinguished himself as one of the leaders of American biotechnology, serving for over a decade as CEO and director of Cubist Pharmaceuticals, steering it to the top of the industry 鈥� including the most successful U.S. launch ever of an intravenous antibiotic, Cubicin, to fight methicillin-resistant infections. Today, he is executive chair of Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, the world鈥檚 leading gene-silencing company, vice chair of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute, and trustee of the global environmental nonprofit Rare.

He has won numerous awards for his work in biotechnology, but he says he is proudest of the work he has done to support the next generation of leaders in science. For the many ways such work has been made manifest here鈥攆or making 乐播传媒 so central to his own story鈥攁nd for his steadfast commitment to this place and its people, we are eternally grateful.

I present Michael W. Bonney for the degree Doctor of Humane Letters.

Spencer’s Conferral

Whenever and however we tell your story, we tell it with gratitude and pride.  We know what this college means to you, and we only hope that you know how very much you mean to us.

Therefore, by the authority vested in me, I confer on you the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities thereunto appertaining.

Nikki Giovanni

Our next honorand might fairly be called the poet of possibility.

Even when she is describing the too often oppressive and unjust realities of the Black experience, her poetry possesses a singular spirit of openness to what could and should be. From Black Feeling, Black Talk in 1968 through Make Me Rain in 2020, she reminds her readers of the potential within ourselves, in our relationships to one another, and in our communities.

 As an undergraduate at Fisk University amid the birth of the Black Arts Movement, she discovered new possibilities in the intersections of art and politics and identity. Soon after she graduated in 1967, her poems were first shared with the world with the publication of Black Feeling, Black Talk. She self-published the book, saying later that she had 鈥渄ecided to take [her] poetry to the people, and if they rejected it, that would be that.鈥� They did not reject it 鈥� they embraced it, purchasing 2,000 copies of the stapled-together volume in just a few months. Black Feeling, Black Talk was soon followed by the similarly self-published Black Judgement, and in 1970, the publisher William Morrow released both texts together.

She continued to expand her sense of the possible over decades of artistic production and exploration, and is today widely considered to be one of the foremost American poets of the twentieth century. Along with Gwendolyn Brooks, James Baldwin, Amiri Baraka, and others, she is also one of the leading voices of the Black Arts Movement. She is frequently praised for having addressed her work not just to those leading the Civil Rights Movement, but to ordinary readers as well. She has taught at Virginia Tech since 1987, and has held the title of University Distinguished Professor since 1999.

And when her university community suffered unthinkable loss at the hands of a student with a gun in 2007, it looked to her for words of hope and healing. As she honored their grief, and their unity in recovering, she also acknowledged that all members of the community shared a need for growth. 鈥淲e are better than we think,鈥� she said, 鈥渁nd not quite what we want to be. We are alive to the imagination and the possibility we will continue to invent the future through our blood and tears, through all this sadness.鈥�

I present Nikki Giovanni for the degree Doctor of Letters.

Spencer’s Conferral

Your genius is the gift of the possible
And the light you shine illuminates not just our battles and burdens
But our greatest joys, our deepest loves, our highest selves.

Therefore, by the authority vested in me, I confer on you the degree Doctor of Letters, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities thereunto appertaining.

Becca Stevens

There is a famous poem by Robert Frost in which a husband and wife debate the meaning of 鈥渉ome.鈥� One argues that a home is a place that has no choice but to take you in, while the other says it is more a place where you don鈥檛 have to do anything to deserve entry. Our next guest would seem to take the latter position.

She is an author, a longtime campus chaplain at Vanderbilt University, and a champion for women stuck in systems of abuse and oppression. She has devoted her life to the idea of home as a need and a right, creating space for those without anchor, without shelter, without support, without hope.

She has understood from an early age what it can mean to experience trauma and the loss of a sure footing in the world. After her father was killed by a drunk driver when she was just five years old, she watched her mother struggle to keep the family together. It was through her mother, she says, that she came to understand the many ways, large and small and sometimes life-changing, that love can be shown by attending to the practical needs of others.

In her recent book, Practically Divine, she writes that 鈥渟anctuary is the most practical ideal of all.鈥� The notion that what people who have suffered abuse, trafficking, prostitution, and addiction need most is a place to live free of charge and free of restrictive authority is what inspired her to establish Thistle Farms in 1997 as a single home for five women. From there, she extended the idea of sanctuary to include job training, health care, case management, and employment. Today, from those first five beds in one small house, Thistle Farms comprises six residences in Nashville and a national network of organizations that provide similar services and sanctuaries across the country, including Lewiston鈥檚 own Center for Wisdom鈥檚 Women and Sophia鈥檚 House.

She was named a 2016 CNN Hero, a 2014 Humanitarian of the Year by the Small Business Council of America, and a 2011 Champion of Change by the Obama White House.

As she manages the many calls upon her time, our guest says that she doesn鈥檛 necessarily aim for balance, but focuses on simply taking 鈥渢he next right step.鈥� In the homes she has created, in the doors she has opened, she has helped countless others to do the same.

I present Becca Stevens for the degree Doctor of Humane Letters.

Spencer’s Conferral

Like the thistle that is the emblem of your work, you have grown deep roots and helped others attain the groundedness they need to recover, revive, and flourish. You have shown us all the truest meaning of sanctuary 鈥� and its greatest power.

Therefore, by the authority vested in me, I confer on you the degree Doctor of Humane Letters, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities thereunto appertaining.

Nirav Shah

Were our graduates ever to seek compelling evidence of the value of a broad and rigorous education, they need look no further than our final honorand and our speaker today.

As an undergraduate at the University of Louisville, he double majored in biology and psychology. He went on to study economics at Oxford University, before earning law and medical degrees from the University of Chicago.

After stints as an economist in the National Institute for Public Health in Cambodia, as an attorney in private practice focused on healthcare and life sciences, and as the Director of the Illinois Department of Public Health, he arrived in Maine in the summer of 2019, a few scant months before a global pandemic emerged to upend our world for two years and counting.

As the director of the Maine Center for Disease Control throughout COVID-19, he has been our calm and sure-footed guide through uncharted territory, a stunningly clear and precise communicator, and a steady and reliable presence in our daily lives. Trained as an epidemiologist, he has helped us understand the ever-changing landscape of the virus, while encouraging us to take the steps within our power to protect ourselves and others.

He understands that COVID is not just a matter of contagion and transmission, it is also a challenge to our social structures and systems of meaning. His powerful intellect and profound humanity have made him the ideal leader for this moment in Maine.  He is direct and unflappable; he explains complex issues in simple terms that can be understood by all; and he is unfailingly respectful of the trust the public places in him. He is not just our doctor in chief, he is our counselor, philosopher, and sage.

I present Nirav D. Shah for the degree Doctor of Science.

Spencer’s Conferral

An icon of the pandemic era in Maine, you have given us guidance, humor, and hope, all while making puns and quoting song lyrics perfect for every occasion. The 39,000 members of the Fans of Dr. Nirav Shah Facebook group can鈥檛 be wrong: All we really had to do in Maine, these past two years, is keep calm and listen to Dr. Shah.

Therefore, by the authority vested in me, I confer on you the degree Doctor of Science, with all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities thereunto appertaining.

鈥淢any hands make light work,鈥� they say, and as the countdown to Commencement hits its final hours, the handiwork of the Facility Services grounds crew 鈥� a team bolstered by the addition of student helpers during Short Term 鈥� is seen everywhere on campus.

Like in front of Coram Library, where springtime color now encircles the base of the Class of 1932 Sundial thanks to two newly planted annuals, white euphorbia and vibrant red calibrachoa.

Charlotte Collins, a senior from Woolwich, Maine, helped Jeremy Lavertu, the horticulture lead for Grounds and Maintenance, plant the flowers. In a couple days, Collins will be able to see how they鈥檙e doing: She and her classmates walk right by the sundial as they take their seats at Commencement, on Sunday, May 29, and they’ll recess past it afterward. 

Among the student workers, it鈥檚 a point of pride, says Collins, to help make the campus look great for everyone. For the seniors on the crew, which numbers about a dozen, 鈥淚 think it feels wonderful to make the campus look beautiful for our own Commencement.鈥�

She and Lavertu have planted hundreds of flowers all over campus. The new flowers weren鈥檛 snapped up at the local big box store, but grown from seedling plugs by the grounds crew and their student workers in a campus greenhouse located a few paces from Cutten Maintenance Center.

Step into the greenhouse, and you鈥檙e greeted with green as far as can be seen, splashes of bright floral colors everywhere thanks to the assortment of petunias, begonias, German ivy, calibrachoa, cleome, and angelonia.

The begonias are Collins鈥� favorites: She likes their dark green leaves and deep pink blossoms.

While winter does wipe away the previous seasons鈥� annuals, it doesn鈥檛 take away Lavertu鈥檚  memory of what goes where. He worked with Bill Bergevin, who oversaw campus greenery for years before his retirement in 2018, and paid attention to locations of all the traditional spring plantings.

Transplanting the flowers is a whole process: the flats of plants have to be loaded onto a golf cart trailer and taken to the chosen spot. This day it鈥檚 the sundial. Other high-visibility spots include pathways taken by Admission tours. Lavertu likes the idea that visitors will see the blooms. 鈥淭hey make people happy.鈥�

Before putting their 40-plus flowers in the ground, Lavertu and Collins talk about the ratio of red to white. Once the pattern is decided, they dig holes and place the plants. They take turns sprinkling tiny light brown pellets, about the size of peppercorns, from a plastic shaker, then give the flowers a good soaking.

The fertilizer is Osmocote, says Lavertu, a brand of slow-release fertilizer that releases nutrients gradually over six months. 鈥淚t鈥檚 slow,鈥� he says, 鈥渂ut it鈥檒l do its magic eventually.鈥� The nutrient pills are activated by water, and then they release their nutrients in reaction to changes in temperature. This makes the fertilizer very beneficial during the hotter summer months, says Lavertu.

Once the sundial is surrounded by a riot of red and white, Lavertu brings out a tub of black mulch, and he and Collins spread it out. 鈥淢ulch makes everything prettier,鈥� she says. 鈥淪ome people don鈥檛 like the smell, but honestly I love it.鈥�

Collins grew up on a family-run organic farm in Woolwich, which provides a community supported agriculture garden, or CSA. 鈥淲e had about 25 families coming in every weekend to pick up vegetables, and we had sheep and chickens, too.鈥�

She misses the farm, but most of all, she misses the sheep, and more specifically, lambing season.

Lambing season is in April, 鈥渁round the same time you鈥檇 be getting your chicks from the tractor store,鈥� says Collins. 鈥淎nd it was right around my birthday, so it was always exciting. I鈥檇 try to get up earlier than all my sisters, so I could be the first one out to the barn to see if there was a new lamb. Sometimes the lamb would have squeezed under the fence into the pasture, to be with its momma, and then I鈥檇 get to 鈥榬escue鈥� it,鈥� she says, laughing. 鈥淚t鈥檇 be all wet and covered in placenta and all sorts of gross stuff, but it was so fun.鈥�

So Collins is not afraid to get her hands dirty 鈥� in fact, she relishes it. 鈥淕rowing up, weeding was the worst punishment. But now that I鈥檓 an adult, I could honestly spend hours doing just that. My dad laughed at me and told me, 鈥業 told you so!鈥欌�� She smiles. 鈥淩eally, the best feeling is dirt between your toes and fingers.鈥� 

At this point, she glances at Lavertu, recalling what he taught her, and what his own college teachers taught him: Dirt gets on your hands and clothes, while soil is rich with nutrients and decomposing organic matter. 

鈥淪oil, not dirt,鈥� she says.