To accommodate the nearly 400 students who plan to march in graduation this year—more than double the number that marched last year, the University of Maine at Presque Isle will host two in-person graduation ceremonies for the first time in its history. On Saturday, May 10, UMPI will host its 116th Commencement Exercises with a morning ceremony at 10 a.m. and an afternoon ceremony at 2:30 p.m.
“With an extraordinary number of graduating seniors planning to participate in-person in this year’s Commencement Exercises, we needed a solution that would allow us to honor each of these members of the Class of 2025 in the presence of as many loved ones as possible,” UMPI President Ray Rice said. “While there are countless logistics involved in transitioning from one ceremony to two within such a short timeframe, we appreciate everyone’s understanding and willingness to make this the incredibly special experience we aim for with every graduation.”
While the number of students marching has grown dramatically—from about 100 in 2023, to 150 in 2024, to nearly 400 this year—so has the total number of students graduating from UMPI, whether or not they marched. UMPI graduated about 250 total students in 2023, 500 in 2024, and will graduate more than 1,000 students this year. This unprecedented increase is directly connected to the explosive enrollment growth UMPI has seen in the last few years, which is in large part due to UMPI’s YourPace online, competency-based degree programming. YourPace enrollment has doubled year over year for the past five years, tripling UMPI’s overall enrollment and making UMPI the single biggest driver of enrollment growth for the University of Maine System.
As the number of marching seniors grew this spring, Commencement planning team members quickly realized UMPI wouldn’t be able to accommodate all graduates and their guests in Wieden Gymnasium and the overflow space in Wieden Auditorium. Initially, officials explored adding multiple overflow areas across campus, but that would mean hundreds of guests would not be able to be in the room with their graduates even if they traveled to UMPI for the day’s activities. But when numbers grew beyond that capacity, officials settled on the two-ceremony approach.
Students graduating from programs within the College of Professional Programs will march at 10 a.m.; students earning degrees from programs within the College of Arts and Sciences and University-Wide Programs will march at 2:30 p.m. For a complete listing of programs and the ceremony in which they will be recognized, view this graduation document. “I would like to thank our Commencement Planning Committee and all others who are working very hard, in a very compressed timeframe, to make these two ceremonies happen,” President Rice said. “Establishing a new tradition can be challenging, but UMPI has shown time and again that we rise to the occasion. I’m very proud of the work our campus is doing to celebrate our largest-ever graduating class.”