UNE President Danielle Ripich addresses CMCC graduating class with message to “sail into new waters”
On May 12, 2016, University of New England (UNE) President Danielle Ripich addressed the graduating class at the 2016 Commencement ceremony of Central Maine Community College (CMCC).
Ripich noted CMCC’s recent 50th anniversary milestone, commenting that the school’s growth from its early days as Central Maine Vocational Technical Institute to the college as it exists now “exemplifies the idea that small steps, when diligently taken, can lead to amazing heights.”
Ripich told the graduates, “I hope you will not be content to accept the status quo but will strive to make positive changes in your field and community. With this degree you sail into new waters.”
She quoted Walt Whitman’s encouragement “to steer for the deep waters only… to act boldly and take up the issues and causes worth fighting for.”
“With your degree in hand, your potential to make a difference in the world is greater than ever before,” she stated. “This is true whether you are heading into a four-year degree program, using your degree to enter a new profession, or using your degree to advance within your current field. You are charting and sailing a new direction.”
On a personal note, Ripich shared that watching her mother earn an associate’s degree by attending night school was the source of inspiration for her to go to school at age 23, while caring for three children, to obtain bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees. “She inspired me, and you inspire all of us,” she said to the graduates. “And Maine is lucky to have you.”
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