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Leaders of the future

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ORONO – At graduation ceremonies Saturday, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards told University of Maine graduates stories of young people changing the world, then challenged the group of 2,050 to make a difference.

“The leaders we’ve been waiting for are us,” he said. “The leaders America’s been waiting for are you.”

The former North Carolina senator and Democratic candidate for vice president in 2004 now runs the Center on Poverty, Work and Opportunity at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He stressed helping neighbors within the United States borders as a first step.

“Thirty-seven million of our own people wake up in poverty every day,” Edwards told the graduates. “We need to do something about it.”

Edwards, now a multimillionaire, grew up in a mill town and is no stranger to hard economic times. He was the first in his family to attend college and says having that opportunity led him to the success he has today.

The 203rd UM commencement was split into two separate ceremonies held inside the Harold Alfond Arena to accommodate the Class of 2006, the largest in the university’s history.

A moment of silence was held at the beginning of the graduation ceremonies to honor David Veverka, a UM student killed a week ago in Iraq. The university is awarding Veverka, a member of the Class of 2006, a posthumous Bachelor of Science in wildlife ecology.

“Young people have changed America before, and you can change America again,” Edwards said to the students. “I watched as young people led the fight for civil rights and spoke out against the war in Vietnam.

“You can change this country again,” he said.

James Knott Sr. of Northbridge, Mass., the man who invented the wire lobster trap, and Katherine Musgrave of Orono, a UM professor emeritus who continues to teach human nutrition well into her 80s, both were given honorary Doctors of Science for their work.

The late Herbert E. Sargent of Stillwater, who was 100 years old when he died April 9, also was recognized during the ceremony with an honorary Doctor of Engineering. Sargent founded H.E. Sargent Inc., a construction business that continues to thrive today, and also was a well-known community leader and philanthropist.

Susan Nelligan Scott, a Holden native who now lives in Ellsworth, earned the school’s top honor as class valedictorian. The salutatorian was Alison Pease of Saco.

This year’s distinguished Maine Professor is David Townsend, professor of oceanography and director of UM’s School of Marine Science. He welcomed the graduates into what he called an elite club.

“Only 23.7 percent of Maine adults hold a four-year college degree, and in a few minutes, you’ll be one of them,” he said. “Only one in four adults in Maine have the degree you’re about to receive.”

Townsend stressed staying in Maine after graduation and said state leaders should make significant investments in public higher education.

Education is a key to success and should be available to everyone who desires it, said Edwards, who unveiled a pilot program in 2005 named “College for Everyone” in low-income Greene County, North Carolina. It offers scholarships in exchange for 10 hours of work a week.

All people are created equal, and where they end up should not be based on what economic footing they start with, he said.

Edwards called poverty the great moral issue in the United States today, adding that it reflects badly in the world’s eyes. He urged UM students to stop and take a look at the problem and help eradicate it.

“We can be honest and have the courage to do something,” he said, adding later: “It is a challenge we must face because the content of our nation’s character is at stake.

“Poverty has no place in America,” Edwards said.