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The �Թϱ��� awarded more than 1,500 bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees at its 189th Commencement ceremony on Saturday, May 18, at the Cross Insurance Arena in Portland. The University welcomed U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont to deliver the University’s Commencement address, in which he praised �Թϱ��� for addressing critical health care workforce shortages as Maine’s No. 1 provider of health care professionals.

“A key part of what we have to do as a nation is train the next generation of doctors, nurses, dentists, pharmacists, and others to provide the highest quality of care that the people in Maine, Vermont, New England, and the country desperately need, and that is exactly what you are doing,” Sanders told graduates and their families.

During the Commencement ceremony, �Թϱ��� President James Herbert said Sanders’ leadership in advocating for health care reform directly reflects �Թϱ���’s educational mission.

“Sen. Sanders’ commitment to being an innovator aligns with �Թϱ���’s history of thinking outside-the-box in terms of the programs we develop, the partnerships we pursue, and the education we provide our students,” Herbert said.

In his speech, Sanders called upon graduates to apply their �Թϱ��� education to address current economic and political hardships. 

“You are entering the workforce at a very difficult time in American history,” Sanders said. “But we are depending on you, with full confidence, that you are going to have the strength, the energy, the vision, and the morality that will turn this nation around and make it the beautiful nation that we know it can become.”

Sanders and Arthur “Art” P. Girard, a longtime friend and benefactor of �Թϱ���, were both awarded the honorary Doctor of Laws during the ceremony.

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