BANGOR – Husson College may not have had Curtis Mayfield, a singer and songwriter who died in 1999, at its graduation ceremonies on Saturday, but the message of Mayfield’s song, “People Get Ready,” was in the air as the college awarded degrees to the largest graduating class in its history.

The actual song was not played for the 380 students who officially became alumni during Saturday’s two-hour ceremony. Instead it was the spirit of the song, which tells its listeners “Faith is the key,” that was palpable in Newman Gymnasium, where the ceremony was held.

Commencement speaker Alan Baker told Husson’s new graduates that the faith they should have is in the future and their ability to be ready for the opportunities it will present.

Baker, publisher of the weekly Ellsworth American and Mount Desert Islander newspapers, said that he has been inspired to such faith by a phrase scientist Louis Pasteur used to explain his success.

“Chance favors the prepared mind,” Baker said, repeating the phrase for Saturday’s audience. “Pasteur did not believe in luck, but he certainly knew how to seize the opportunity when it presented itself.”

At Saturday’s ceremony, Baker and Ellen Grant Young, former owner of Grant’s Dairy, were awarded honorary doctorate degrees.

Winterport resident Phil Higgins, who graduated Saturday with a bachelor’s degree in business administration, seemed to agree with Baker’s advice. Higgins, 52, said he went to night school for five years while keeping his day job with the U.S. Postal Service because he wanted to take a proactive approach toward his future.

“The business world is changing out there,” Higgins said after the ceremony. “You’ve got to keep up with it. You have to have new tools.”

Stephanie Turgeon, who sat on the grass outside the gym with her infant daughter during the ceremony, joked that her husband, Chris Turgeon, decided to get a master’s degree in business from Husson so he could keep pace academically with her. Turgeon, who lives with her husband and daughter in Augusta, said she holds a master’s degree in education.

“We’re very proud of him,” she said.

Jordan Wood, 22, of Machias, said she was happy to graduate from the same college her father and grandfather attended before her. Wood, who received a bachelor’s degree in physical education, said she hopes to find work as a teacher before the school year starts in the fall.

“I’m relieved, but I’m nervous because I haven’t gotten a job yet,” Wood said. “It’s exciting and it’s scary.”

Besides the students who graduated on Saturday from Husson’s Bangor campus, about 100 more students are expected to graduate later this month from Husson’s Portland campus.