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Victoria Rowell, Actress and Advocate for Foster Children, Addresses Largest USM Commencement

May 13, 2006

"Press on, no matter what the obstacles," actress and foster child advocate Victoria Rowell told a record number of more than 1,100 graduates and 7,000 guests at University of Southern Maine's 126th Commencement, held Saturday, May 13, at the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland, Maine.

Rowell, who was born in Portland and raised in foster care, met with success as a ballet dancer, model, and TV and film actress. "I took a stand for myself," she said, but told the crowd," Remember, we do not do it alone. Be the hand dirty, be the hand old, black or white, we not discriminate against the hand that helps us."

Rowell was awarded a doctorate of humane letters for her commitment to social justice with respect to foster children and youth.

Raised on a farm in West Lebanon, Maine, Rowell was enrolled in classical ballet classes by her foster mother, Agatha Armstead, when she was eight years old. She received scholarships at the Cambridge School of Ballet, the School of American Ballet, and the American Ballet Theater. She danced professionally before moving to modeling and then acting. She has received 11 NAACP Image Awards and was nominated for an Emmy Award for her long-running role on the daytime drama, "The Young and the Restless." Other acting credits include roles in "Diagnosis Murder," and in a number of movies including "Eve's Bayou," "Dumb and Dumber" and the forthcoming "Home of the Brave" with Samuel L. Jackson.

Rowell's themes of perseverance and gratitude were echoed earlier in the ceremony by student speaker Linda Jalbert of Portland, who spent several years in and out of jails and drug rehabs before landing at USM where she found the encouragement to excel in her major of political science. She was accepted into USM's Honors Program and interned on Capitol Hill for Senator Susan Collins. She cited her son as "my greatest inspiration and supporter" and added, "Without his unwavering strength, I would not be here." Her son has been accepted at USM for the fall 2006 semester.

"I hope to leave everyone here today with no doubts that you hold the power to change the world," Jalbert said, "because I stand here today as testimony that so many of you already have."

USM President Richard L. Pattenaude also conferred an honorary doctorate of humane letters degree upon Bob Ludwig, of Gateway Mastering and DVD, Portland, one of the foremost audio mastering engineers in the music recording industry. He has worked with the likes of Bruce Springsteen, the Rolling Stones, Bette Midler, Tony Bennet, Aretha Franklin, Luciano Pavarotti and Philip Glass. He is the recipient of the first Les Paul Award, which honors those who set the highest standards of excellence in the creative application of recording technology.

Pattenaude presented Distinguished Achievement Awards for significant academic or professional achievement and a strong commitment to public service to Madeleine (Maddy) G. Corson and Biddeford Mayor Wallace H. Nutting.

Corson was chair of Guy Gannett Communications, a Maine-based media company founded in 1921 by her grandfather Guy P. Gannett, and also served as publisher of Guy Gannet Communications' newspapers. Since the sale of the newspapers and television stations in 1998, Corson has served on the Capital Campaign Committee of the Gulf of Maine Research Institute; the National Council of the Board of Trustees of the Maine College of Art; the AIDS Advisory Board, the Youth Alternatives' President's Council, and The Spurwink Institute and The Spurwink School Committee. She is a recipient of the United Way of Greater Portland Mary Rines Thompson Award for outstanding volunteer service, the Deborah Morton Award from the University of New England, and the Henri A. Benoit award from the Portland Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Nutting retired in 1985 as a four-star general in the U.S. Army. He served 35 years on active duty, beginning in World War II when he served in the Maine State Guard. He served in the Korean War and had two command tours in the Vietnam War. He and wife Jane chose to return to Biddeford Pool upon his retirement in order to play an active role in the direction of Thornton Academy, where her father served as a trustee. Nutting served as a Senior Fellow at the Institute of Higher Defense Studies at the National Defense University and is an Associate Fellow at the Center for International Affairs at Harvard University. Nutting was board chair of USM's Senior College, and was instrumental in securing legislative approval of the statewide Senior College initiative that now includes 5,000 members statewide. USM's Senior College now is known as the Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, and is the flagship program for a nationwide network of more than 73 programs.

Retired faculty members honored during Commencement with emeriti status for exemplary scholarship and public service were: Orlando E. Delogu, professor emeritus of law; Robert A. Estes, Sr., professor emeritus of mathematics; Nancy R. Gordon, professor emerita of chemistry; Michael O'Donnell, professor emeritus of professional education; Francis Schwanauer, professor emeritus of philosophy; and Robert A. Walkling, associate professor emeritus of physics. Staff members honored with emeriti status were Kathleen H. Bouchard, director of human resources emerita; and George Higgins, executive director of business services emeritus.

USM Curriculum Technology Coordinator at USM's Lewiston-Auburn College Nancy Whitehouse was recognized as the 2006 recipient of the Distinguished Professional Staff Award. USM College of Education and Human Development Administrative Assistant Jo D. Hill was named the 2006 recipient of the Distinguished Classified Staff Award.

The ceremony opened to the march, "Processional for Spring," during which 29 members of the Class of 1956 entered the Civic Center.

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