At �ֲ���ý Reunion in June, the Alumni Association gathered to present the annual Alumni Council Awards, recognizing the exceptional career and service achievements of five alumni.

“It is truly inspiring to witness the transformative power of our alumni as they engage in informed civic action and lead in diverse fields,” said Leah Elsmore ’12, president of the Alumni Association for the 2025-26 academic year. “This year’s recipients reflect the ardor and devotion — Amore ac Studio — that define the �ֲ���ý experience, serving as a powerful reminder of the potential within our entire alumni network.”

Peter R. Basiliere ’76 received the Alumni Community Service Award in recognition of his leadership and civic service in Milford, N.H., where he was elected town moderator and school district moderator. After retiring from a career as a leader in additive manufacturing, Basiliere, an active Rotarian, began serving as a volunteer with the American Red Cross. Since then he has joined disaster relief teams in California, Vermont, the Carolinas, and, most recently, Guam, where he oversaw the Red Cross’ food operations after a super typhoon hit the island. Basiliere’s commitment to service and strengthening communities around the country reflects �ֲ���ý’ ideals of purposeful work and responsible stewardship of the wider world.

Scientist Noah E. Petro ’01 earned the Alumni Professional Recognition Award in recognition of his career and leadership at NASA, where he has worked since 2007. Since 2017, he has been the lab chief of NASA’s Planetary Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry lab, which conducts research on Mercury, Venus, Earth, and their satellites. He is the project scientist for Artemis III, the 2027 mission that will bring astronauts to the moon’s surface for the first time since 1972. Petro’s work at NASA, both highly scientific and serving the general public, exemplifies �ֲ���ý’ mission of combining intellectual rigor with public good.

Physician Christopher B. Lanoue ’99, P’26 earned the Bruce Stangle ’70, P’96, GP’26 Award for Distinguished Service to the �ֲ���ý Community in recognition of his commitment to supporting �ֲ���ý students and alumni through their medical school journeys. An emergency medicine specialist with MaineHealth, Lanoue has worked closely with the Center for Purposeful Work, mentoring �ֲ���ýies pursuing medical careers, and done so with “generosity, warmth, and openness.” His leadership and service, emblematic of �ֲ���ý’ values, has touched countless people as they themselves prepare for a career of serving others through medicine.

Rachel Ebersole ’17 was presented with the Distinguished Young Alumni Award in recognition of her career as a museum educator and her leadership within the alumni community. Ebersole is the manager of teen programs at The New York Historical museum and library, where she also oversees a digital learning lab and makerspace. Ebersole is a dedicated leader within the New York �ֲ���ý Network, fostering alumni community and hosting events. Her volunteer service to the college is an inspiring example of the transformative power of the young alumni network.

Erica Seifert Plunkett ’86 earned the Helen A. Papaioanou ’49 Distinguished Alumni Service Award, which recognizes alumni who have given exceptional service to the college. Plunkett served as class co-president while at �ֲ���ý and, since graduating, as an Alumni Council member, a dedicated class agent, and a committee leader. Plunkett has also led an accomplished career in research; she spent more than 25 years at the Wellesley Centers for Women supporting research projects studying mental health literacy and mental health in adolescents. She is now a project manager at Brown University’s Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute, working on projects related to adolescent depression prevention.

The Office of College Advancement also presented Kathryn (Kali) M. Brown ’21, Craig E. Comins ’81, and Meg W. Curran ’11 with �ֲ���ý’ Best Awards, which recognize dedicated volunteers who have expressed a passion and commitment for advancing the mission of the college.

“Our alumni continue to do incredible work in their communities and professions, and honoring this year’s award recipients is a privilege,” said Assistant Vice President for Alumni Engagement Sarah Cameron. “Every year, these awards remind us of the strength and reach of the �ֲ���ý network, and we look forward to seeing who our community nominates next.”

Want to nominate someone for a 2027 award? Nominating forms are available now. 

On June 5, the �ֲ���ý community gathered at the Garcelon Field flagpole for its annual Pride flag-raising ceremony, celebrating Pride Month with joy, reflection, and a renewed commitment to the fight for LGBTQ+ rights. During the event, Anthony Del Real, assistant director of LGBTQ+ programs at �ֲ���ý’ Student Center for Belonging and Community, offered opening remarks. Community members shared personal stories highlighting the small yet meaningful steps the campus community can take to support LGBTQ+ people. 

Del Real provided historical context for contemporary Pride Month celebrations, and their relationship to the Stonewall Riots. On the early morning of June 28, 1969, police raided the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar in Greenwich Village. Raids on gay gathering places were habitual practices for the police, but on this date, they met with resistance from a fed up queer community and the demonstrations grew. Eventually, Del Ray said, this led to “more organized and concrete efforts to create spaces for queer people to be present and not fear being arrested for being authentically themselves.” Pride Month commemorates the anniversary of the Stonewall Riots. 

Del Real highlighted the advocacy and efforts of Marsha P. Johnson, who will be celebrated at NYC Pride later this month. The New York City Pride gathering and parade is officially themed “For All of Us,” drawing inspiration from Johnson’s work. Johnson was a transgender Black activist, sex worker, and performer who co-founded STAR House, which provided food and shelter for transgender youth beginning in 1970. After years of advocacy, frequently focused on supporting those impacted by the HIV/AIDS epidemic, Johnson was found dead — presumably murdered — in 1992. Despite the harm, violence, and prejudice that she experienced, Johnson’s actions demonstrated her commitment to “love, home, and justice for her community,” Del Real said. 

The threats to the LBGTQ+ community are heightened currently, Del Real said, including executive orders that reverse rights. “It is unfair,” Del Real said, “but I ask each of us to continue to stay vigilant and look out for one another.”  

Pride celebrations like the �ֲ���ý flag-raising are an annual reminder of the actions of our LGBTQ+ ancestors to fight for and establish the rights we have today, Del Real said in closing. 

“There is no one symbol, action, identity, that can serve as the beacon to bring pride for all. However, it is my hope that even in moments like this, that this flag can serve as a symbol for a queer person who cannot be ‘out’ but can still know that they matter. It is in these moments that we continue the work of Marsha P. Johnson, and so many other queer ancestors in the fight for pride for all.” 

It’s 9:30 a.m. on Sunday, and the 160th �ֲ���ý Commencement procession has just set off from Alumni Walk. It will wind along campus walkways en route to the Historic Quad and its final destination, Coram Library. 

Jeremy Caron of Lewiston has been waiting in his wheelchair on the Quad for nearly three hours. He got there early to secure a location where he could easily see and greet the �ֲ���ý seniors he’s come to know over the last four years.

For many, Commencement is a whirlwind, one-time visit to �ֲ���ý. But for some like Caron, who choose to attend year after year, it is an annual touchstone, a chance to support the graduates while reconnecting with a community that has shaped their lives and created a lifetime of memories.

Not far from Caron, a trio of octogenarian �ֲ���ý retirees — Judy Marden ’66, her classmate Bill Hiss ’66, and Elaine Freeman — watch the proceedings from a prime perch, the steps of Hathorn Hall. Collectively, they’ve seen around 150 Commencements.

Marden joined the �ֲ���ý Advancement staff shortly after her own graduation, which was held in the Armory a few blocks from campus. (Lore has it that the Armory was an especially stuffy venue because the circus and its elephants had just left town.) By the mid-1970s, Marden had assumed a new position created by President Thomas Hedley Reynolds, “liaison officer for college functions.” A veteran World War II tank commander, Reynolds might’ve pulled the job title from an Army handbook. 

A big part of Marden’s job was to run Commencement and Convocation, plus summer programs, which she did with help from Freeman, a director in Facility Services. Marden also advised the �ֲ���ý Outing Club. 

Decades later, the twin �ֲ���ý events help anchor and give meaning to Marden’s annual trip around the sun. “My year ends with Commencement and begins with Convocation,” she says. “If it did not, it would have no form.”

Ever since Reynolds introduced the tradition, a bagpiper has led the �ֲ���ý Commencement procession. (Reynolds was also responsible for relocating Commencement from the Armory to the Quad.) On Sunday, the piper’s arrival on the Quad reminds Marden and Freeman of a Commencement task back in the day: appearing with goblets and scotch so Reynolds could share a down-the-hatch drink with the piper at the end of the ceremony.

For Hiss, a retired �ֲ���ý admission dean who forged the college’s famed test-optional admission policy, attending Commencement is an act of bearing witness. “Commencement is about �ֲ���ý doing, and continuing to do, what America needs. It’s that simple,” he says. 

Meanwhile, down on the Quad, Caron awaits the procession. He hasn’t missed a �ֲ���ý graduation since 2006, but he’s more than just a Commencement regular. He attends scores of campus events each year, especially Bobcat sports. Which ones? “Every single one,” he says. That’s around 125 contests annually. “I love sports, and I always tell the athletes that I’ll support them through thick and thin,” he says. “I want to celebrate all their hard work and effort.”

By 9:45, the seniors are nearing Caron’s spot on the Quad. The procession route is full of parents standing elbow to elbow taking pictures and the passing grads, seeming to tower above Caron in his wheelchair. But no matter: They spy their loyal fan, break from the ranks, and reach out for a fist bump, handshake, or hug.

That included Zach Rosenthal ’26, a politics and history double major from Chicago who handled game-day operations for �ֲ���ý Athletics as a student worker. Seeing familiar �ֲ���ý faces like Caron’s on Commencement day was “really cool,” he said later. “It’s cliché, but it’s a full-circle moment. You see these people all the time throughout the past four years, and to see them at the final stop of your academic journey is really special.”

Caron was born without the use of his legs. At age 10, he learned to use an adaptive bicycle, and he’s been an avid biker ever since, including riding in the annual Dempsey Challenge for cancer support. Asked to offer advice to seniors, Caron reflects on his own experience. “There are times you have to adapt,” he says. 

Longtime Lewiston resident Ernie Ashton, a retired local elementary school teacher, has been a driver for the Bobcat Express student shuttle for 23 years. Ashton wasn’t shuttling on Sunday, but there’s no way he would miss graduation. “It’s a pleasure to be here year after year. I just love them,” he says. “You watch these kids for four years, and they do such a great job. They keep me young.” 

He likes to talk up Lewiston to his passengers on the shuttle, “places they should see before they leave,” like Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary and Veterans Memorial Park by the Androscoggin River. “And they do.”

This March, Paul Menice retired as head of Campus Safety after 36 years of service to the college. He’s seen and supported students at their best and worst. “Everyone makes mistakes when they’re young,” he says. When he sees students at Commencement, he sees maturity and appreciation. “It’s a highlight, getting hugs and handshakes, and them saying ‘thanks.’”

Another local at Commencement is Russ Dillingham, an award-winning photographer for Lewiston’s Sun Journal. He’s on the job today, but the event tugs at his heart. “I grew up over there,” he says, pointing to Campus Avenue, where there used to be wood-frame residences, replaced in recent years by college buildings like Bonney Science Center and Chu and Kalperis halls.

When he was a child, Dillingham wore corrective leg braces. A �ֲ���ý student who babysat the Dillingham children would bring Russ over to campus for walks. He got stronger, and his legs straighter. “I’m pretty sure that’s why I can walk straight today,” he says. He enjoys covering Commencement. “It’s relaxed, friendly, and joyful.”

On a walkway near Carnegie Science Hall is Peter Slovenski, son of legendary �ֲ���ý track coach Walter Slovenski. Retired after coaching track at Bowdoin for 34 years, Slovenski stopped by to support graduate Zach Jawor ’26 of Lewiston, one of his very best counselors at his Slovenski Camps on Panther Pond in Raymond.

Slovenski remembers being awed as a little kid by towering �ֲ���ý athletes of the day, figures like Howard Vandersea ’63 or Thom Freeman ’63. “As the years go by, as you see more and more students being able to grow into adults at a place like �ֲ���ý, you realize it’s less about individuals. More of a relay race, passing it forward.”

One of Walt Slovenski’s former �ֲ���ý runners, Tom Leonard ’78, is another Commencement stalwart. An accomplished amateur photographer based in North Granby, Conn., Leonard travels around the Northeast each year from his home to photograph Bobcat athletes in action. Commencement is the final meet of the year, as it were. “Today recognizes the fact that all �ֲ���ý students have accomplished something incredibly meaningful,” Leonard says. 

“When I was a student, I don’t know if I appreciated the scene as much as I do as an old person,” he adds. “I mean, my God, look at all these people who helped get these kids to where they are today. And that’s a beautiful thing.”

Throughout his time at �ֲ���ý, biochemistry major Sebenele Lukhele ’26 of Manzini, Eswatini, has been a researcher. But he’s also been a dancer. And a club volleyball player. And a track and field athlete. And a tutor, and a tour guide, and a member of student government. To sum it up, he was able to be “whatever I wanted to be.”

As he will explain when he delivers the Senior Address at Commencement, Lukhele believes this was possible because of the environment that �ֲ���ý cultivates — one that encourages exploration and discourages judgement. It is an environment that follows through on the college’s promise to be defined by inclusivity, community, and support, coupled with academic rigor. 

This promise, outlined in the �ֲ���ý mission statement and emphasized by Admission representatives, resonated so deeply with Lukhele that he enrolled at �ֲ���ý having never visited campus. He had a feeling he would love the place — and he was right.

�ֲ���ý’ belief in “the transformative power of our differences” is not just about helping students thrive on campus, Lukhele will explain, but also teaching them to be unabatedly curious members of a global society. 

Alexandra DeMarco of �ֲ���ý Communications and Marketing spoke recently with Lukhele. The following is a condensed and edited version of their conversation.

Students who are interested in delivering the Senior Address submit a speech and are selected by a committee. Why did you want to give the Senior Address?

As an international student and a person of color, I came to �ֲ���ý because it promised a community, a place where I can be myself without needing to assimilate or be someone different. I wanted to present a speech on Commencement as a way to show my gratitude for �ֲ���ý giving me that space to explore. I’ve grown so much as a person, and I feel like the community here has been supportive of me in many ways, and I’ve also contributed my support in different ways.

What is the theme of your speech?

Difference and diversity. I have perspectives, or lived experiences, that are very different from my colleagues here. We all have traits that make us different. My speech is highlighting that those differences are our strengths rather than our weaknesses because those are the things that bring us together as a community, if we celebrate them and appreciate them.

At �ֲ���ý, I feel like I was able to be whatever I wanted to be and express myself in whatever way I wanted without needing to be someone different. The speech does try to address a very complex issue of diversity and differences amongst people and how you can approach being a global community that accepts or appreciates each other — coexistence, in a sense.

Could you share an example of a time where you felt like differences were really being celebrated at �ֲ���ý?

Dancing in the 2026 Cultural Showcase, “Here to Stay: Rhythms that Raised Us.” I prepared a piece with one of my friends, Mohamed Al-jabry ’28 from Shinyanga, Tanzania, and we wanted to showcase an African style of dancing. We didn’t feel that we had to do something that was going to be “accepted” by the community, but we felt like we could do something to express ourselves as we are. The crowd was very, very excited. 

People here at �ֲ���ý take anything as long as it’s good and it’s full of energy. No one is looking like, “Oh, this is not something that I’m used to, so I’m going to criticize or judge.” People accept or appreciate those kinds of expressions. That was a very heartwarming moment, and those very small moments are the things that accumulate to make this community what it is. 

I’ve experienced a lot of these moments where people will sit down and listen to you when you have something to say. It also gives you the responsibility to listen to others because when people appreciate and accept you like that, you have a natural instinct to be appreciative of others. 

In my major, biochemistry, professors are able to build a space for differences as things that don’t really affect the way you are viewed in the major. The differences themselves are something that makes it even more interesting, in a sense, because it allows for different perspectives that push research forward. 

You have completed a lot of research during your time at �ֲ���ý, both on campus and during an internship in the summer of 2025 at the Mount Desert Island Biological Laboratory. How has research shaped your career plans?

It actually has shaped my career so much because I came here as a pre-med student from a typical African household. When I was young, I was talented in the sciences. With that came a lot of pressure to become a doctor, and that propelled me toward a medical career. I wanted to come to liberal arts school because I wanted to really discover myself and make sure that I’m in a career that gives me purpose.

Being a biochemistry major gave me a very different perspective into what I can do with my passion for science. As time went on, I felt like I would have a greater impact being a researcher. I felt like that would be, at least for me, an approach to science that serves a greater community.

I really like the fact that �ֲ���ý changed my perspective on what my career could be and provided me with options that I didn’t know existed. There were people who were also able to talk to me through that — the Center for Purposeful Work, advisors, research supervisors. 

You did a senior thesis project. What was it about and how did you choose your subject?

I’m very curious about the impact of changes in cells at the molecular level and how those things drive how cells behave and how everything ends up working in the body of a person. This kind of research, even though it sounds very abstract and not very applicable to the real world, drives a lot of the efforts that end up being very impactful to society itself because they end up making new treatments for very threatening diseases. 

I was very interested in the overarching topic of the research, which was manipulation of sphingolipid metabolism in cells by common cold coronaviruses. That basically is analyzing how viruses affect the structure of a cell, specifically the membrane of the cell. My experience involved a lot of method development, which was very different from the research experiences that I’ve had before. My advisor, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Scotty Farley, was also there to support me. Other students were doing similar projects, and we were able to talk about different things and discuss how our data is working and help each other through the process.

What on-campus support have you found as you’ve balanced your various interests — biochemistry, dance, global engagement?

�ֲ���ý is very academically rigorous, and, at the same time, there’s a lot of effort by the institution to support students to make sure that they are succeeding both as people and also as students. I have really explored that and took advantage of those support systems. 

The relationships that professors build with students at �ֲ���ý was something that was very substantial to me in balancing things. I also used to be on the track and field team, and I appreciated Curtis Johnson, head coach of men’s and women’s track and field, so much. He’s a very great guy who goes beyond viewing students just as athletes and is concerned about what is going on in your academic life and your personal life, if you so wish to talk about that. 

I want to give a shout out to James Reese, who was the dean of international students and is now the associate dean of students. People say he’s the “father of international students” because he’s supportive in many different ways. 

Also, being part of student government and working with Campus Life on many things, like organizing TEDx�ֲ���ý last fall, opened a window where I could know a lot of the support systems that existed — from major advisors to student advisors and the deans who are waiting for you to talk to them about anything that you need.

How have those experiences and campus activities helped you build community, especially a diverse and inclusive one, at �ֲ���ý? 

TEDx�ֲ���ý started off with a conversation in Commons with my friends about how diverse communities can be truly diverse and what kinds of things are never talked about that make communities less practically diverse than they should be. You can have statistics, but what we want really with diversity is people to interact and be part of an active community — talk to each other and collaborate, which is what the �ֲ���ý mission statement is all about. 

Our motivation was to bring the topic of diversity to a place where a lot of people can interact with it and not at a professional level, but at a very lowkey, chill level. We called Tedx�ֲ���ý “Unasked Questions,” which basically speaks to the questions that we never ask as communities and the things that we don’t really talk about that would have a great impact in making us a strong community.

I wanted a team full of leaders who think in diverse perspectives and see things that I didn’t see myself. Something I learned being part of leadership roles is that you don’t know everything. Being able to see who can help you in different ways is a great skill. 

I was involved in the Africana Club this past semester, as a community liaison on the executive board. I was not just making a community for myself but also building a community for a lot of people and showcasing my identity as an African person. This allowed me to meet new people that I never thought I would interact with on campus. I was able to have conversations with people and have discussions, which were eye-opening in different ways.

I participated in club volleyball, and that was a way to meet new people through a very different platform, and enjoy the sport.

I was also an officer with student government’s Funding and Activities Board. That perspective made me appreciate the efforts and resources that are put into making sure that clubs thrive, there is equity being achieved, and every club has the chance to express their interest and identities in campus life. 

�ֲ���ý students are very intentional people who care about the things that they do, who care about the work that they do. They don’t just do it for the sake of doing it. That’s something that I’ve really, really appreciated about the people here. 

That’s built by the community that exists at �ֲ���ý — the support and the size of the community and the way the place is structured. We have one dining hall, for example, and that allows people to interact and be part of a community every day. That creates a space where people get more and more comfortable to step out of their comfort zone and become the most purposeful and genuine, happy versions of what they could be. 

What are your post-graduate plans?

I’m going to be a research associate at the UMass Chan Medical School in a lab that researches autoimmunity. There are two �ֲ���ý alumni (Olivia Dekker ’24 and Aurora Beaumont ’24) that also work there. They were really excited to see me come into the interview, and I had a lot of �ֲ���ýie conversations with them. 

I’m very excited about that both at the professional level —  it’s going to give me a chance to explore my research career even more and refine topics I really want to get into — and also being able to embody the characteristics that �ֲ���ý has built in me and taking that in the world out there. That’s my next chapter.

On June 7 during Reunion Weekend, the �ֲ���ý College Alumni Association honored six alumni for their outstanding contributions to the college and the wider world.

The awards were presented during the Annual Gathering of the Alumni Association, held in Merrill Gymnasium following the Alumni Parade, which was moved indoors due to rain.

Presenting the awards were John Howard ’86, vice president of the Alumni Association, joined by �ֲ���ý President Garry W. Jenkins.

The Annual Gathering also featured Jenkins’ Presidential Address, in which he thanked the Reunion alumni for the many and powerful ways they have stepped up to support �ֲ���ý. “Your dedication is nothing short of astonishing,” he said.

“We are so grateful for alumni support,” he added. “It makes an enormous difference. We stand on the shoulders of others. Giving back ensures future students enjoy the same transformative education that once changed your life.”

Alumni Professional Recognition Award: Dean Bragonier ’95

Bragonier was recognized for his work as founder of NoticeAbility, a nonprofit organization dedicated to helping students with dyslexia identify their unique strengths and build self-esteem. His work has had a significant positive impact on students with dyslexia around the world, exemplifying �ֲ���ý values.

His award citation noted: “Dean’s mission is deeply personal. As a student with dyslexia, he has shared that his passion for learning wasn’t ignited until he came to �ֲ���ý—where his differences were embraced and his potential recognized. Through his leadership at NoticeAbility, Dean is now bringing that same ethos of understanding, support, and empowerment to students, families, and educators around the world.”

Bruce Stangle ’70 Award for Distinguished Service to the �ֲ���ý Community: Ann Clark Tucker ’78

Tucker was recognized for her extraordinary and long-standing volunteer leadership across the college, including with Advancement, Admission, and the Center for Purposeful Work, offering ongoing mentorship to �ֲ���ý students and sharing advice from her career as a communications executive.

Her award citation noted: “During Short Term 2024, Ann returned to campus as a Practitioner-in-Residence with the Center for Purposeful Work, where she designed and taught a month-long course centered on the values of service and civic responsibility. She continues to mentor those students today, helping them prepare for lives of impact beyond �ֲ���ý.”

Sesquicentennial Prize: Derek Anderson ’85 

Anderson was recognized for his significant publishing achievement, Improbable Voices: A History of the World Since 1450 Seen From 26 Unusual Perspectives.

This book explores the history of the world through the voices of 26 people whose stories have long gone unheard, celebrating diverse perspectives and highlighting the value of liberal arts. Anderson has made his life and career as a high school history teacher, librarian, and world traveler.

His award citation noted: “The book’s creation connected dozens of librarians, historians, and archivists around the world, celebrating the essential roles these disciplines play in preserving and interpreting human history. It also pays homage to the influence of his �ֲ���ý mentors, whose guidance inspired his passion for inquiry, storytelling, and thoughtful scholarship.”

Distinguished Young Alumni Award: Nick Beati ’20

Beati was recognized for his volunteer service to �ֲ���ý and mentoring �ֲ���ý students. As a director with Savills North America, based in Boston, Beati has welcomed and mentored �ֲ���ý interns through the Center for Purposeful Work.

His award citation noted: “Not only has he created professional opportunities for �ֲ���ý students, but he has also provided thoughtful mentorship and guidance to help them navigate life after college. Nick’s willingness to go above and beyond — whether by opening doors for students exploring professional options, hosting events, or simply being a reliable and thoughtful presence — has made him a standout among young alumni.”

Helen A. Papaioanou ’49 Distinguished Alumni Service Award: Geraldine M. FitzGerald ’75

FitzGerald, a �ֲ���ý trustee emerita, was honored for decades of distinguished and extensive service to �ֲ���ý, including serving as co-chair of the $336 million �ֲ���ý Campaign. She has served as president of the Alumni Association, remains an active Purposeful Work and Cheney Society volunteer, and co-chaired 1975’s Reunion Gift effort.

Her award citation noted: “Few alumni have served �ֲ���ý with as much devotion, vision, and warmth. Geri’s thoughtfulness, grace, and preparation have left an indelible mark during this Reunion year. She has crafted individualized outreach, personally thanked every classmate, and successfully inspired major giving, always leading with kindness and conviction. Her leadership has brought her classmates closer to each other and to �ֲ���ý “

Alumni Community Service Award: Robin Waterman ’85

Waterman, who was unable to attend the awards presentation at Reunion, was recognized for a career working with underserved communities worldwide.

For more than two decades, she developed community-based programs for low-income, culturally and linguistically diverse families in the greater Denver metro area, including 14 years as founding executive director of the Aurora Community Connection, fostering parent involvement, community leadership, and self-sufficiency.

Her award citation noted: “Her efforts continue to bridge systemic gaps in health and education access, embodying �ֲ���ý’ core values of civic responsibility and ethical leadership. Whether supporting immigrant youth through the Village Exchange Center’s college access programs in Aurora or living in solidarity with homeless immigrants in Houston, Robin’s service is wholehearted and unwavering.”

At �ֲ���ý’ 159th Commencement on Sunday, May 25, Commencement speaker Angela Duckworth began her address with one simple request to members of the audience: to take out their phones and hand them to someone next to them.

The 504 members of the Class of 2025, along with their families, faculty, and staff — whether strangers or kin to their neighbors — obliged. 

Onstage, Duckworth traded phones with President Garry W. Jenkins. Free from their digital companions, Commencement attendees turned their attention forward.

With this striking exercise, perhaps unique to the 2025 graduation season, Duckworth began to drive home a compelling, useful, and relevant message: Through “situation modification, we have the power to shape and alter our surroundings in ways that help us thrive.

 “This is what mindfulness looks like in the digital age,” said Duckwork, who is a psychologist, leading voice in the study of human behavior, and author of the New York Times bestseller Grit. “Not willpower, but the wisdom to shape the situations that shape you.”

View the 159th �ֲ���ý College Commencement. Speaker Angela Duckworth’s address begins at the one-hour mark.

This emphasis on self-determination and its relationship to our surroundings — whether the latter be the location of a cellular device, the campus that the Class of 2025 has grown to call home, or �ֲ���ý’ spot in an uncertain world — echoed throughout the Commencement speeches, including Jenkins’ welcoming remarks and the 2025 Senior Address given by Aanika Patel ’25 of Needham, Mass.

On the heels of last week’s atypical May northeaster that covered campus in rain, the 159th Commencement was one of the chilliest in recent memory, with the temperature at 56 degrees but feeling cooler thanks to clouds overhead and a northwest breeze, which prompted a number of audience members to arrive with fleece throws.

Members of the Class of 2025 are from 38 states, the District of Columbia, and 31 countries. Among those students were 126 with double majors and four with triple majors, including five students who received Fulbright grants for the 2025–26 academic year. Sixty percent of the Class of 2025 studied abroad, and more than 40 percent played on varsity sports teams. 

Duckworth received a Doctor of Humane Letters honorary degree, and three other honorands were also recognized: 

• Mary Bonauto, a lawyer and activist for LGBTQ+ rights who successfully argued Obergefell v. Hodges (2015) before the Supreme Court, received a Doctor of Letters degree;
•  Stanley Nelson, an award-winning documentary filmmaker who tells the dynamic stories of Black Americans, received a Doctor of Fine Arts degree; 
• Deval Patrick, the former governor of Massachusetts and former U.S. assistant attorney general for the civil rights division, received a Doctor of Laws degree.

In his opening remarks, Jenkins acknowledged the unique and challenging moment that the Class of 2025 faces as they enter the world beyond �ֲ���ý.

“You have probably heard more than once that these are uncertain times,” Jenkins said. “Perhaps so much so that you may be a bit tired of hearing it.”

But, Jenkins said, there is good and bad news on this front. On one hand, “there will always be uncertainty,” Jenkins said. “Life is defined by change, by the unexpected, by the yet-unknown and the always-unknowable.”

The Class of 2025 is well-equipped to handle uncertainty, Jenkins said, having ended high school and begun college during a pandemic and gained an education preparing them to handle a changing future.

As they venture onward, the Class of 2025 has much to offer, Jenkins said, and he hopes that they will bring forth the skills they’ve acquired at �ֲ���ý to continue to do good.

“The world needs �ֲ���ý graduates — the world needs you — to bring all the tools and talents you have acquired during your time on this campus to bear for lives of leadership and purpose, ameliorating uncertainty, fueling prosperity and innovation, standing up for what is right, caring for those around you,” Jenkins said.

The Class of 2025 has much to offer, Jenkins said. They embody grit, creativity, and a commitment to seeking justice and asking the hard questions, values instilled by a liberal arts education.

“It is at places like �ֲ���ý that we prepare students to think critically, to problem solve, to engage across difference, to connect, both the dots and with each other,” Jenkins said. “And then those students become graduates who contribute to their communities around the world in all their vibrancy, diversity, and complexity.”

Jenkins charged the Class of 2025 and Commencement attendees with carrying forward a message about the importance of higher education in changing our world for the better, and “the reason it matters to a healthy democracy.”

“Higher education has long fueled American progress — driving innovation, preparing leadership, and enhancing civic life. Of all this, I am certain,” Jenkins said. “And, I can tell you — our amazing graduates, as well as friends and visitors — I call on you all to be ambassadors for �ֲ���ý and for higher education.”

Senior Speaker Aanika Patel ’25, an environmental studies major from Needham, Mass., began her speech by recounting a very-�ֲ���ý tale. 

Picture this: It was winter in Lewiston, and Patel was preparing for the first outdoor lab in the course “Scientific Approaches to Environmental Issues.” Ahead of the lab, her professor, Christian A. Johnson Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies Holly Ewing, encouraged her students to dress appropriately for the trek up Mount David in the snow. 

That was really no big deal, thought Patel. She showed up wearing a jacket and Blundstones, not a glove in sight, and declined to sport the college-provided snowshoes, despite a foot and a half of snow on the ground.

“About 30 minutes into it, I felt the snow slowly seeping into my socks, and my hands turned a terrible pale shade of white,” Patel said. “This class had suddenly become one of those David Attenborough Planet Earth ��dz��ܳ���Գٲ��������.”

Patel learned her lesson: proper preparation frees the mind to revel in the surrounding natural wonders. 

“After learning to dress properly, I began noticing the Maine beauty around me that I continue to be grateful for,” Patel said. 

On Mount David, Patel saw a maple tree, which, even in its stateliness, grew while leaving room for a nearby birch tree to also extend its roots. Each species, she noticed, played a role in the delicate dance of nature. She imagined the birch tree falling over, and its fellow trees stepping up to take over its ecological responsibilities.

“Each species finds a new place in space,” Patel said. “In this way, communities form, diverse but intertwined and interdependent through relationships forged over many years.”

�ֲ���ý’ community is not indifferent from these intertwining natural relationships, Patel said. Since the first week of freshman year, the Class of 2025 has constructed its own “ecosystem,” rooted firmly in place and defined by the lessons students have learned from one another and the memories they’ve shared.

“Place is a network of relationships carrying histories, contexts, stories, and identities,” Patel said. “In order for a place to remain, there needs to be this acknowledgement of what has created it and how our identities are framed by it.”

Like Jenkins, Patel acknowledged that the Class of 2025 has dealt with tremendous change, from enrolling in college during a pandemic, to grieving in the aftermath of the October 2023 Lewiston shootings, to processing the 2024 presidential election.

But they didn’t go it alone. The Class of 2025 persisted and thrived thanks to support from many entities on campus.

“It is on this campus we found a community to fight against isolation, to mourn loss and find hope in change, and to fight for the things worth fighting for just by being there and adjusting and relying on each other,” Patel said.

Wherever the members of the Class of 2025 end up next, despite the fear and uncertainty of a path untrodden, they will always have �ֲ���ý, Patel said.

“Like the trees standing their ground on Mount David, we will always have these histories we created in our back pockets, and their memory will be a reassurance to stand tall, stay grounded in who you are, and be courageous in this next chapter of our lives.”

In her Commencement address, Angela Duckworth also discussed the importance of staying grounded, specifically by improving our relationship with the devices that now live ubiquitously beside us.

“If being on your phone were a paid job, we would be getting overtime,” Duckworth said.

Cell phone use and placement have a profound effect on personal performance and well-being, Duckworth explained. Research shows that having one’s phone within eyesight while taking an IQ test lowers scores, and high school students who study with their phones farther away from them perform better academically.

Additionally, she pointed out, the popularity of social media over the last two decades coincides with decreasing rates of in-person social interaction, and studies show that halting Facebook and Instagram use for just one month corresponds with increased levels of happiness and decreased levels of depression and anxiety.

Often, the choice to pick up our phones is not a conscious act but rather a habit that we turn to when we’re feeling awkward or anxious; cell phones are “effectively adult pacifiers,” Duckworth said.

The key to dealing with digital distractions, she said, is not about willpower but taking action to remove the distraction.

“Situation modification means using physical distance to create psychological distance,” Duckworth said.

Successful people change their environment to eliminate temptations or distractions instead of expending energy to resist them.

Due to her phenomenally successful book, Duckworth is famously linked to the concept of grit, which “might make it sound as if world-class performers just force themselves to do things. But that’s not accurate. They love what they do. And because they love what they do, they create sanctuaries where they cannot be distracted from their craft.”

Where we keep our phones is among the most important choices we make, Duckworth said. Luckily enough, it is not a choice that we make only once, but rather one that we can recommit to — or change — over and over again.

“I urge you to make a humble yet powerful vow: Commit to situation modification,” Duckworth said.

As such, Duckworth offered six suggestions:

• Put your phone in another room when you need to focus deeply.
• Go outside when you feel awkward, anxious, or bored.
• Keep your phones off of the table during group dinners.
• Keep your phone beyond arm’s reach while driving.
• Don’t keep your phone in your bedroom.
• When you do want to use your phone, listen to The Ezra Klein Show podcast featuring author Zadie Smith, who discusses why she refuses to buy a smartphone.

“Situation modification isn’t about abstinence. It’s about intentionality,” Duckworth said. “It’s about creating space between stimulus and response, between notification and reaction. And it’s about reclaiming your attention.”

Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty, offered the honorary degree citations for Duckworth, Bonauto, Nelson, and Patrick.

Bonauto, a leader in legal efforts to advance marriage equality, has been senior director of civil rights and legal strategies at GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders (GLAD Law) since 1990.

In 2015, she successfully argued in front of the Supreme Court in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, which made same-sex marriage legal throughout the country.

“As she said at the beginning of this year, accepting the Presidential Citizen Medal from President Biden, ‘We each have a role to play in fulfilling our country’s promises of equality, dignity, and freedom,’” Hill said, quoting Bonauto.

“In her career, and her contributions to a more equitable society, we see the realization of her own hopes,” Hill said.

Stanley Nelson’s expansive documentary filmmaking has broached subjects including Harriet Tubman, Emmett Till, and historically Black colleges and universities.

“He is a prolific — and prolifically talented, and prolifically honored — documentary filmmaker, focused on telling the stories of Black Americans — lifting up those narratives that haven’t been told, and sharing other narratives, ones that we presume we know, in new and revelatory ways,” Hill said.

Deval Patrick focused on “student achievement, healthcare coverage, entrepreneurial activity, and veterans services” and defended Massachusetts’ law legalizing same-sex marriage, the first of its kind in the country.

“‘Community’ provides not only the through-line of his life and career — it is a value deeply held, frequently cited, and powerfully enacted,” Hill said.

Hill then read the Class of 2025’s names during the conferral of the degrees, the students’ short steps across the Coram stage marking a leap into the next phase of their lives.

After the conferral, Jenkins paused to recognize Hill for his contribution as dean of the faculty; after a sabbatical; he will returns to the classroom as a professor of biology and earth and climate sciences.

Then, Leah Elsmore ’12, president of the �ֲ���ý Alumni Association, offered parting words about the importance of building connections with fellow alumni and being prepared to support future �ֲ���ýies.

“Throughout the twists and turns of your professional and personal journey, you can always connect with a Bobcat in the wild,” Elsmore said. “And I urge you to pay it forward. Someday when you’ve established yourselves in your chosen fields, be ready to be there for the next generation of �ֲ���ý graduates.”

In a benediction coinciding nicely with the images of nature twisting through Patel’s address, and after Jenkins’ charge to go out and do good, the words of the Rev. Raymond Clothier, interim multifaith chaplain, closed the Commencement ceremony:

“May what you have learned at �ֲ���ý take root and flower in minute and majestic ways to nourish others, nurse the wounded earth and nurture human community.

“May it be so.”

In this reel, six seniors reflect on mentorship, discovery, and the thrill of sharing big ideas at the 2025 Mount David Summit, the annual celebration of student academic achievement.

At this year’s summit, held April 4 at its traditional location in Pettengill Hall, 256 students presented 130 research posters and participated in 26 academic talks or panels. 

You’ll also see and hear how �ֲ���ý students show up for each other. “One of my best friends is doing a math presentation on Ulam words,” says Max Olson ’25, and English major from Beverly, Mass. “Do I know what an Ulam word is? Not really. Am I going to see the presentation and find out? Absolutely.”

These are the seniors in this reel, created by �ֲ���ý multimedia producer Theophil Syslo, plus a bit about their senior research:

• Aneeza Ahmad of Sharon, Mass., traveled Maine’s farmland to amplify the voices of Wabanaki, white, and Somali Bantu farmers.
• Lydia Frew of Norwich, Vt., presented research how dance and movement practices can deepen our understanding of the self through internal sensory experience.
• Nimco Jama of Hargeisa, Somaliland, investigates how wild mustard plants may adapt to climate change through “heat memory.”
• Max Olson of Beverly, Mass., explores race and identity in The Lord of the Rings in his English thesis on literary bigotry.
• Ananya Rao of Bedford, N.Y., brings climate policy to life through her internship on offshore wind with the Gulf of Maine Research Institute.
• Brandon Villalta Lopez of Nicaragua and Costa Rica studies the neuroscience of memory suppression and the power of smell in triggering what we forget — or remember.
• Fiona Wilson of Barnstead, N.H., uses wildlife camera traps to explore how coyotes, foxes, and fishers adapt to urban life in Lewiston–Auburn.

During a Q&A at the Mount David Summit, �ֲ���ý’ annual celebration of student achievement, someone asked how the seven studio art majors were feeling as they moved the fruits of their year-long projects from the relative privacy of their Olin Arts Center studios to the public space of the Museum of Art.

Every year, works by seniors are featured in the Senior Thesis Exhibition at the museum, mounted professionally and ready for viewing until Commencement.

If they were nervous, the seniors didn’t show it. Miryam Keller ’25 of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, was ready for the necessary culmination of all that alone time in the studio over the course of her senior year.

“I feel like my works will now have their own relationship with other people,” Keller said. Her mixed-media work features materials collected from her beloved Maine coast. “To me, a piece feels successful if somebody is able to emotionally connect with it. I guess it speaks to empathy.”

Avery Lehman ’25 of Portsmouth, N.H., spoke of the possibility of visitors finding common ground in her mixed-media thesis project, a set of cotton quilts that incorporate photographic images, fleeting and intimate, during her final year at �ֲ���ý.

Her hope? That viewers “find footing for their own memories in these pieces,” she said, an invitation, via highly personal artwork, for individual interpretation.

“Ultimately, they’re going to look at it and they may feel something entirely different than what I intended — but that’s kind of the beautiful part of it.”

Each year, two �ֲ���ý faculty members advise the seniors as they develop a cohesive body of artistic work. This year’s advisers were Carolina González Valencia, associate professor of art and visual culture, and Susan A. Dewsnap, lecturer in art and visual culture. Michel Droge, a visiting lecturer in art and visual culture, works with the seniors as the exhibition’s lead preparator.

Titled Under the Parachute, this year’s exhibition is open through May 24. While the work is the thesis, every senior also has to write an artist statement. These are excerpted below, illustrated with another annual �ֲ���ý tradition, portraits of the artists in their Olin Arts Center studios created by Phyllis Graber Jensen. 

Lizi Barrow — A Momentary Reprise

For Lizi Barrow of Winchester, Mass., who is also a major in environmental studies, the act of painting is an act of inheritance. 

Her work presents a lineage of women — her grandmother, her mother, and herself — linked by love, memory, and the quiet intimacy of ordinary moments. Her work reimagines family photographs taken by her grandmother, Nina Ravenscroft Norton Smith, of Barrow’s mother during her lifetime. 

“I engage with my grandmother’s photographic representations of moments in time, my mother’s retelling of these moments, and my own childhood memories to visually combine the memories and lived experiences of three different generations of women.

“My paintings depict ordinary moments of stillness, where the safety and comfort of Home lulls the subjects to sleep. I invite my viewer to take part in these peaceful moments, offering a momentary reprise from the chaotic world outside of the frame.”

Miryam Keller — Cycles of Salt and Memory

In her mixed-media compositions, Miryam Keller of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, who is also an earth and climate sciences major, starts with ocean water collected from places along her beloved Maine coast — such as Higgins Beach, Pemaquid Point, and East End Beach — to capture rhythms of nature and memory.

Each piece begins as a circle of ocean water on mat board, into which she introduces ink and crushed minerals. As the salt water evaporates, pigments settle, salt crystals bloom, and the paper distorts.

“Using water, my work bridges our emotional and physical experiences in the landscape. I aim to create an environment of unstructured observation and stillness that invites presence and reflection. Through each individual atmosphere, I hope to draw attention to our relationship with bodies of water as a point of connection and communication.

“I am endlessly mesmerized by the depths of the underwater world, and as I go deeper into its mystery I find my internal world mirrored back.”

Avery Lehman — Memory, Patched and Pieced

For Avery Lehman of Portsmouth, N.H., memory lives in fabric and photography. 

From photographs taken with from black-and-white film, Lehman printed cyanotypes — blue-toned prints often used in artwork — onto pieces of cotton canvas, from which she created quilts. The quilts depict fleeting intimacies from her final year at �ֲ���ý — friends holding hands at the beach — while challenging the expectation of perfection in feminist craft traditions.

“Using these methods, I construct or mend textiles to protect the love and care that the images hold. The gestural aspects of the pieces may allow viewers’ own memories to find footing somewhere in the work. The unfinished details of this work imply a continuation past the exhibition date as I acknowledge that this effort will persist throughout the course of my life — and that the longing to freeze a moment will never cease.”

Erin McCarthy — A Vessel Transformed

Erin McCarthy of Bangor, Maine, creates ceramic forms that begin as vessels — but they rarely stay that way, hence the name she gave her works, “Metamorphose series.” “My journey with clay has always been driven by a desire to blur the lines between functional forms and sculptural abstraction.”

“These pieces represent a pivotal moment in my artistic growth, where my personal vision reshapes the traditional techniques I’ve learned. I chose the traditional coil-building technique, constructing vessels that organically transitioned into abstract shapes [and] allowed the clay to guide the process.

“Beginning as traditional vessels, the pieces gradually evolve into abstract sculptures, mirroring my own artistic transformation. I also aimed to challenge the viewer’s perspective, highlighting the transformative power of a shift in viewpoint.”

Alex Provasnik — Stitched Disruption

Alex Provasnik of Arlington, Va., who is also a chemistry major, is well-known at �ֲ���ý for her functional ceramics. 

But for her senior thesis, she unraveled those expectations. She drilled and perforated her ceramics, then entwined the holes with embroidery thread or yarn, turning traditional pots into hand-stitched landscapes.

“Threads and fibers engulf some holes while others remain unthreaded, providing glimpses of the inside and a reminder of the labor in creating and stitching each one. This work not only steps away from these practices’ utilitarian roots but uses the fibers to interrupt the functionality of what otherwise would be a usable pot.

“The grid provides structure and an environment for geometric patterns to emerge and evolve. The process of creating these works is very rigorous and time-consuming yet also rhythmic and meditative.”

Lila Schaefer — Where the Body Meets the Room

Lila Schaefer of Northampton, Mass., creates sculptures and watercolors that combine hard-edged geometry with soft, anthropomorphic forms, evoking the interaction between the internal self and the physical world of things we expect to see everyday, like a lamp. 

The works — layered with aluminum wire, polyfill, fabric, and wood — form an abstracted domestic space: a surreal living room where emotion permeates design. 

“These sculptures challenge the pursuit of efficiency and control in our built environments, advocating instead for a more open, unpredictable approach to human experience. The ‘skin’ acts as a crucial boundary, symbolizing the interface between the internal self and the outside world.

“The materials I use reflect my interest in merging soft, handmade elements with more functional aspects of design [and] the organic, playful qualities of these pieces resist the idealized perfection of contemporary design.”

Danny Zuniga Zarat — A Divine Kind of Ache

Danny Zuniga Zarat of Houston, who is also a major in Latin American and Latinx studies, works in charcoal, performance, and video, creating alternative spiritual spaces where migration, memory, and transformation are explored through deeply personal ritual. In each medium, he emphasizes his own body as a tool of agency and power.

“This solace in my body allows me to see it as a site of agency and power. These different mediums allow me to depict and transform the suffering and the pain into works of a divine quality, always moving and charged with energy.

“I push myself to a space of explosive vulnerability, a place where I can dream outside of myself and create semi-deities that function as archetypes to personal and shared feelings. Whether strong or wounded, the figures in my work stand tall, fully enveloped in either suffering, anger, or bliss, and the viewers act as witnesses to the breathing scene.”