One thousand seven hundred and fifty-two students graduated from the University of Maine at Presque Isle on Saturday, May 9, during the University’s 2026 Commencement Exercises. With nearly 500 more students than last year graduating, UMPI is celebrating its largest-ever graduating class for the third year in a row.
During the University’s 117th Commencement Exercises—which included two in-person ceremonies to accommodate the large number of students planning to march as well as a first-ever hooding ceremony for master’s degree recipients—UMPI President Raymond Rice conferred degrees for the 2025-2026 academic year upon 445 undergraduate students and 95 graduate students who participated in the ceremonies. More than 700 more undergraduate and graduate students will be featured in UMPI’s Spring 2026 virtual graduation ceremony, which honors those who are unable to march in-person during Commencement Exercises. Still others who graduate later this spring and summer will be featured in a subsequent virtual graduation later this year.
Sandra “Sandy” Gauvin, longtime educator and co-founder of the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative, addressed the graduates as this year’s commencement speaker. During the ceremony, Gauvin and David Watson, a Harvard-trained attorney and proud UMPI alumnus, were presented with Honorary Doctor of Humane Letters degrees.
Gauvin graduated from UMPI in 1977 with a bachelor’s degree in elementary education and has spent nearly five decades as a tireless advocate for educational opportunity in Aroostook County. She taught for 25 years in central Aroostook schools and later, along with her husband Raynold, co-founded the Aroostook Aspirations Initiative (AAI), a nonprofit organization dedicated to reversing the outward migration of Aroostook County youth. Over its lifetime, AAI provided scholarship funding and wraparound support to more than 600 graduates of Aroostook County high schools enrolled in higher education institutions with campuses or outreach centers in the region. In 2019, the Gauvins began a collaborative effort with the Worthington Scholarship Foundation to bring their scholarship program to Aroostook County, and in 2023, this dream came to fruition. In 2025, they awarded 137 scholarships of $20,000 each, for a total of $2,740,000, to Aroostook County youth. It is one of the largest scholarship programs in the county.
Watson graduated from UMPI in 1985 as class salutatorian with a bachelor’s degree in political science and went on to earn his juris doctor degree cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1988. That foundation carried him into a distinguished legal career spanning private investment funds, securities offerings, partnership law, and general corporate matters. He served for many years as a partner at Goodwin Procter LLP in Boston, Massachusetts, where he led the firm’s Private Investment Funds practice for North America and Latin America. Throughout his tenure, he represented clients ranging from emerging fund managers to established international financial organizations and shared his expertise as a lecturer at MIT’s Sloan School of Business. Committed to giving back to the region that shaped him, Watson established the Watson Family Scholarship Fund at UMPI to support students from Aroostook County in pursuing higher education.
During UMPI’s commencement exercises, Trustee Patrick Flood delivered greetings on behalf of the University of Maine System and Dr. Lea Allen, UMPI Faculty Assembly Chair, also offered remarks. In addition, Andraé Joel Anthony and Valerie Elaine King served as Class of 2026 Commencement student speakers.
“Watching this class cross the stage today is a profound reminder of why this institution exists,” President Rice said. “These UMPI Owls represent every walk of life—recent high school graduates, working parents, veterans, and lifelong learners—and each one has shown extraordinary determination to reach this moment. For the third consecutive year, we are celebrating our largest graduating class in UMPI’s history, and I could not be prouder of what they have accomplished or more excited about where their wings will take them.”
A tradition at this year’s event was the presentation to all marching graduates of a special symbol of campus. Each graduate was given a lapel pin depicting a snowy owl with its wings outstretched in flight. Meant to symbolize how each of them is spreading their wings and soaring on to great heights, graduates were asked during Commencement, “Where will your wings take you?” They will have the opportunity to share their stories—about contributions they make in their career fields, ways that they serve their communities, and adventures that they have around the world—on the website www.umpi.edu/yourwings. All alums, not just this year’s graduating class, are encouraged to add their stories on this site.
This year’s Commencement ceremonies were livestreamed so that graduates, family, and friends who couldn’t attend would have the opportunity to see the Class of 2026 graduate. Viewers from around the world tuned in for the ceremony, which is now available for viewing. In addition to the in-person Commencement Exercises on May 9, UMPI will host a virtual graduation ceremony to ensure that all graduating UMPI students are recognized and given an opportunity to celebrate their accomplishments. This video, which will recognize all graduates who weren’t able to attend the in-person event, is slated to premiere on UMPI’s YouTube channel on Saturday, June 6.