Area students to graduate from Bates

Eleven area residents will receive bachelor’s degrees during Bates College’s 134th commencement exercises Monday, May 29, in an outdoor ceremony on the main campus quadrangle. Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of the Diocese of Cape Town and winner of the Nobel Peace Prize for his advocacy of racial justice in South Africa, will receive an honorary doctor of humane letters degree and deliver the commencement address. Donald W. Harward, president of Bates College, will confer bachelor’s degrees on 467 seniors at 10 a.m. in an outdoor ceremony in front of Coram Library. In case of rain, the graduation exercises will be held in the nearby Margaret Hopkins Merrill Gymnasium.

Joining Tutu as honorary-degree recipients will be human rights activist and publisher Robert L. Bernstein, award-winning modern dance choreographer Trisha Brown, scientist and educator Shirley Mahaley Malcom and scholar and psychologist Beverly Daniel Tatum.

Anson:
Colin Campbell of Anson will receive a bachelor of arts degree in political science. A dean’s list student at Bates, Campbell spent a junior semester abroad in London. A 1996 graduate of Carrabec High School, Campbell is the son of Colin and Regina Campbell of Anson.

Auburn:
Benjamin R. Trafton of Auburn will receive a bachelor of science degree with honors in geology. A dean’s list student at Bates, Trafton has been elected to Sigma Xi, a North American Honor Society founded in 1886 to reward excellence in scientific research, and the College Key, a Bates honorary alumni organization whose members are selected on the basis of academic standing, character, campus and community service, leadership and future promise. At Bates, Trafton served as an admissions fellow, interviewing prospective students, as well as captain of the Nordic ski team and junior adviser to first-year students. He has spent Short Terms in the Canadian Arctic, conducting research for his senior honors thesis, and in Hawaii, conducting research on volcanoes. A 1995 graduate of Carrabassett Valley Academy, Trafton is the son of Richard and Barbara Trafton of Auburn.

Bryant Pond:
John M. Graham of 511 Billings Hill Road, Bryant Pond, will receive a bachelor of arts degree in rhetoric. A dean’s list student at Bates, Graham spent fall semester of 1998 in Japan. A 1996 graduate of Mount Blue High School, Graham is the son of Michael H. Graham of Weld and Lee Cox Graham.

Gray:
Jessica Garneau of Gray will graduate magna cum laude with a bachelor of science degree and honors in biological chemistry. Garneau, a dean’s list student at Bates, is the daughter of Shannon Garneau of Portland and Karen Garneau. She is a 1997 graduate of Hebron Academy.

Greene:
John J. Springer of Greene will receive a bachelor of arts degree in history. A dean’s list student at Bates, Greene was a member of the varsity football team and participated in a 1999 service-learning project at Lewiston’s Montello School. A graduate of Leavitt Area High School, Springer is the son of John W. and Carol-Ann Beaudoin Springer of Greene.

Hiram:
Greta Hammond of Sebago Road, Hiram, will graduate cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in theater. A dean’s list student at Bates, Hammond spent a junior semester abroad in Great Britain. She served as president of the all-female a capella group The Merimanders and acted in several Theater at Bates productions, including “Cloud 9,” “Twelfth Night,” “Much Ado About Nothing” and “Little Shop of Horrors.” After graduation, she plans on pursuing a career in acting, working for Dandelion Productions, a national touring children’s theater. A 1996 graduate of Fryeburg Academy, Hiram is the daughter of Thomas and Deborah Hammond of Hiram.

Lewiston:
Karen M. Bilodeau of Lewiston will graduate magna cum laude and a member of Phi Beta Kappa with a bachelor of arts degree and honors in sociology. Bilodeau, a former secretary in the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office who plans to attend the University of Maine School of Law in fall 2000, received Bates’ Henry W. and Raymond S. Oakes Fellowship, awarded to the best qualified senior who at graduation intends to continue his or her education in the study of law. In addition to demonstrating superior scholarship and an aptitude for success at law school, the recipient must be accomplished in public speaking and/or communication skills. Bilodeau, a 1982 graduate of Monmouth Academy, resides at 74 Montello St. with her husband and two children.

Lena Sene of Lewiston will receive a bachelor of arts degree in economics. A Dana Scholar, Arata Scholar and dean’s list student at Bates, Sene has been a member of Amandala!, serving as president of the Bates organization concerned with communities of the African diaspora, and the Whole Wide World program, teaching French and lessons on Senegalese culture to Webster School students. She also has been a member of the International Club, Women of Color and the Representative Assembly, the college’s elected student government. Through INROADS INC., a nonprofit organization that places talented minority students in corporate America through a four-year internship program, Sene has worked at UNUM in Portland for the past three summers. After graduation Sene will begin a career in private banking with J.P. Morgan of New York City. A 1996 graduate of Seydou Nourou Tall High School in Dakar, Senegal, Sene is the daughter of Ibrahima and Valentina Sene of Senegal.

Phillips:
Adam J. Masterman of Phillips will graduate cum laude with a bachelor of arts degree in art. A dean’s list student at Bates, Masterman spent a junior semester abroad in Tibet and has been a member of the varsity Nordic skiing team. His contributions to the 2000 Senior Art Exhibition at the Bates College Museum of Art featured paintings that juxtapose images of Asian art with images that address the United States’ involvement in southeast Asia. A 1996 graduate of Mount Abram Regional High School, Masterman is the son of David and Frances Masterman of Route 149, Phillips.

Rangeley:
Heather E. Adkins of Rangeley will receive a bachelor of arts degree with honors in interdisciplinary studies. A dean’s list student at Bates, Adkins spent a 1999 junior semester abroad in Belize and Short Term 2000 in the Canadian Arctic. She has been a member of the Bates Outing Club Council and a trip leader for the college’s Annual Entering Student Outdoor Program. She was elected to Sigma Xi, a North American Honor Society founded in 1886 to reward excellence in scientific research. A 1996 graduate of Rangeley Lakes Regional School, Adkins is the daughter of Charlie Adkins of Errol, N.H., and Priscilla St. Louis.

Rumford:
Michaela E. Madigan of Rumford will receive a bachelor of science degree in psychology. A dean’s list student at Bates, Madigan spent a junior semester abroad in Cork, Ireland, and has been a member of the women’s rugby club. A 1996 graduate of Mountain Valley High School, Madigan is the daughter of John and Mary Madigan of Rumford.