Two hundred and thirty-four students graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Saturday, May 14, during the 2011 Commencement Exercises – the University’s 102nd Commencement ceremony. President Donald Zillman conferred degrees for the 2010-2011 academic year upon 136 students who participated in the ceremony held in Wieden Gymnasium.

Dr. Anthony D. Cortese addressed the graduates as this year’s commencement speaker. During the graduation event, an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree was presented to Dr. Cortese.

President Don Zillman has announced that Dr. Anthony D. Cortese will deliver the commencement address during the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s 102nd Commencement Ceremony, to be held on Saturday, May 14. During the event, an Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters Degree will be presented to Dr. Cortese.

“We are honored to have one of our nation’s longtime and well-known advocates for environmental sustainability address our graduating class this year. Dr. Cortese’s unwavering commitment to and passion for this critical issue is a strong model for our graduates as they enter their chosen careers,” said President Zillman. “We are also very pleased to be honoring Dr. Cortese for his outstanding example of the importance of public service.”

University of Maine at Presque Isle students in an honors class on domestic violence are helping to organize a training session for healthcare professionals to be held on Friday, April 29, from Noon to 4 p.m. in the Campus Center.

Approximately 35 healthcare attendees from throughout the community are registered to participate in the training session, titled Health Care Response to Intimate Partner Violence: Reach Out, Recognize, Respond, Refer. The event is being sponsored by the UMPI Criminal Justice Program and the Hope and Justice Project.

The UMPI Disc Sports Club is inviting campus and community members to take part in the inaugural National Amateur Dodgeball Association [NADA] Dodgeball Tournament, to be held from 1-5 p.m. on Sunday, May 8, in Wieden Gymnasium.

The tournament will serve as a fundraiser for the club – so it can purchase more disc baskets and complete its disc golf course, and also so it can donate some of the funds to the Easton Girls athletic program. The group is hoping to raise $1,000.

University of Maine at Presque Isle Art professor Renee Felini will showcase the next installment of her Art as My Vehicle series at the Railroad Square Cinema – located at 17 Railroad Square in Waterville – on Saturday, April 16, at 11 a.m.

Felini will premiere a short film as the final result of Art as My Vehicle #9: Run a Mile – Climbing My Mount Everest, followed by a question and answer session with the artist. She describes the piece like this: “At age 30, I could not say that I had ever run a full mile. When playing soccer while younger, the running was in spurts. One of the main reasons I quit the volleyball team after junior high was that I could not meet the running requirements levied by the high school coach. I reluctantly admit that I even cheated on the running portion of the Presidential Fitness Test in grade school, skipping laps in the mile. I finally decided it was time I meet this challenge head on. No time requirements were set. I simply had to run a full mile, start to finish. I received motivation from the team of two camera operators and the driver in the car I ran behind. The accomplishment is documented with a video of me running toward the camera for a mile.”

Members of the campus and community gathered at the Owl’s Nest in the Campus Center on Thursday, March 31, for a University of Maine at Presque Isle poetry reading that welcomed spring and celebrated Women’s History Month.

Students, faculty and staff members, community members, and even an alumnae and her daughter, participated in the hour-and-a-half-long reading. The participants read poems about women, by women, and for women, as well as some that focused on the long-anticipated spring season.

Students from the University of Maine at Presque Isle’s Native Voices group will host a day-long event meant to develop strong connections between higher education and the Native American/First Nations indigenous populations by setting aside a day on campus that focuses on their culture and traditions.

The group will host the Fourth Annual Native Appreciation Day from 9:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday, April 16, in Wieden Hall. All interested students, faculty, staff, and members of the general public are welcome to attend and participate in this free event, which is being supported by Project Compass.

From spiders to solving the DNA puzzle to inmate partner violence, students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle will showcase their academic research, scholarly work and community service on Wednesday, April 13, during University Day. The theme of this year’s event is A Decade of Learning: Showcasing 10 Years of University Day, 2001-2011. As part of the special ten year celebration, several alumni/ae who participated in previous University Day presentations will speak about their experience and its impact on their careers.

University Day is an event that heightens students’ awareness of the work being done by peers in all of the disciplines represented on campus. The annual campus event allows students to better understand how disciplines interrelate and how the academic work they do applies to the local and global community. It is also an opportunity for students to experience a professional conference format. No regular classes are held during University Day, but in their stead, students are encouraged to attend student-led presentations and talks held during five sessions throughout the day.

During a President’s Reception held on March 31, 19 students at the University of Maine at Presque Isle received grant awards through the Student Support Services Program. Each full-time-student award was approximately $600 and will assist the students by reducing their loans.

On December 15, 2000, Section 17 of the Higher Education Act of 1965 was amended to provide grant aid for eligible TRIO Student Support Services Program (SSS) students. The respective college/university SSS Program selects the recipients and awards the grant money to eligible freshman and sophomore college students who are active participants, have successfully completed at least one semester, and are receiving Federal Pell Grants.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle will host the founder of an organization focused on making environmental sustainability a foundation of all learning and practice in high education as its next Woodrow Wilson Visiting Fellow.

Dr. Anthony D. Cortese, co-founder and President of Second Nature, will speak at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, April 13, in the Campus Center. His talk, The Critical Role of Higher Education in Creating a Healthy, Just and Sustainable Society, is part of the University’s Distinguished Lecturer Series and is being held in conjunction with University Day. The presentation is free and open to the public.