FORT KENT – Three Aroostook County institutions of higher learning awarded 718 degrees Saturday to the first graduating class of the new millennium at commencement exercises at Fort Kent and Presque Isle.

The University of Maine at Presque Isle presented 295 degrees to 280 students, the University of Maine at Fort Kent presented 273 degrees to its graduating seniors and the Northern Maine Technical College at Presque Isle awarded 150 degrees.

In addition, UMPI and UMFK presented honorary degrees of humane letters to two individuals. NMTC Presented its annual President’s Award to the school’s Patricia Sutherland, director of development and college relations.

Patricia Collins, a former 10-year member and two-year chairman of the University of Maine board of trustees and mayor of Caribou, received the degree from UMPI. She was presented the regalia of the degree by her daughter, Sen. Susan M. Collins, commencement speaker at the Saturday morning exercise.

Patricia Collins, who received an art degree from UMPI in 1986, is presently on the UMPI Board of Visitors. She was also the Aroostook County Woman of the Year in 1994 and works with many volunteer boards in Caribou .

AT UMFK, the degree was presented to Donald Nichols of Portland, a longtime adviser to former Sen. Edmund S. Muskie, a champion for the Allagash Wilderness Waterway and a longtime fighter for environmental issues, several of which pertained to northern Maine. The 74-year-old is currently directing the Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Project at the Muskie Archives.

Sutherland said Huffman “is held in high esteem in our community and is often looked at as the ambassador of NMTC.” Sutherland has also been secretary of the Leaders Encouraging Aroostook Development since 1986, is on the board of directors of the Northern Maine Development Commission and past chairperson of the Economic Development District of Aroostook County.

UMFK also presented a Distinguished Service Award to Maine Senate President Michael Michaud of East Millinocket. Along with accolades for his service to the state, Michaud was lauded for his support of the construction of the Northern Maine Center for Rural Health Services at UMFK. The center, which is now under construction, will open in the fall. Michaud has been in the Maine House of Representatives and Senate since 1980.

At UMFK, the 119th commencement was a record for the University of Maine’s northernmost campus. The 273 degrees awarded Saturday was the largest number ever presented at the campus.

In the 20 years from 1975 to 1995, the campus annually awarded an average of 80 degrees. After five years of record enrollments at UMFK, Saturday’s number of degrees jumped by 100 more than has been presented in the past.

“It’s a proud moment for this campus,” Dr. Charles Lyons, president at UMFK through the record enrollment years at the campus, said at the onset of the ceremonies. “UMFK has become a star in the University of Maine System.”

Durward Huffman, president of NMTC, who has accepted the position of academic officer of the Maine Technical College System, presented degrees for the final time Saturday. At the commencement it was announced that employees and friends of NMTC started a scholarship fund in his name. The first Durward and Lillian Huffman scholarships will be presented next year.

All three commencement speakers at the ceremonies urged graduates to become the best they can be in the future with the education they have acquired from the campuses.

At UMFK, undergraduate students carried in flags of nations represented by those graduating. They represented the United States, Canada, Barbados, India, and Japan. In the local tradition, two other students carried the flags of Maine and Acadians.

Because of the large number of Canadian students involved, the national anthems of both Canada and the United States were sung at the outset.

“Remember that even a small ripple on calm waters goes a long way,” Shane G. Flynn, vice chairman of MBNA America, told students at UMFK. “Strive … to be the best you can be.

“Most importantly remember your family’s needs,” Flynn, a graduate of the University of Dublin, Ireland, said. “By taking care of those, you will be better in taking care of business and social needs.”

He urged students to strive to help others in their lives by setting goals and steps to measure the goals and their accomplishments.

At UMPI, Sen. Collins told graduates, “Be proud of what you have accomplished … be grateful to all who helped you reach this milestone … be appreciative of this great school … be excited about the future … be willing to give something back to the community … and be especially good to yourself today.”

At NMTC , Brian Hamel, executive director of the Loring Development Authority, said, “I’m here to tell you the list of 10 ingredients to success does not exist. The cookie cutter approach doesn’t work in real life.

“There are key human attributes that will increase the likelihood that you will experience an enhanced quality of life,” he said. “They are hard work … passion for work or life challenges … excellence, strive for it …. positive attitude… and choices.”

Hamel asked students to help the likelihood of increasing the economic prosperity of Aroostook County by each of them asking five people per year, for the next 10 years, to relocate or return to Aroostook County.

“We need to reverse the population out-migration trend that has plagued the County for some time,” he said.

At UMFK, among the most moving part of the ceremonies was an address by a graduate who returned to school after raising her family to seek something missing in her life. This past year at UMFK the woman became an athlete alongside her daughter on UMFK soccer and basketball squads, bringing national publicity to the campus.

“What an amazing Journey this has been,” UMFK graduate Donna M. Gagnon, the UMFK representative to the UMS board of trustees, told her fellow graduates through misty eyes. “The important thing is to have a dream, a goal.

“Never stop dreaming,” the non-traditional student who is a mother and grandmother, said. “You never know when it can become a reality.”