[Congressional Record Volume 154, Number 153 (Thursday, September 25, 2008)]
[Senate]
[Page S9484]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                     RECOGNIZING HUSSON UNIVERSITY

 Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I recognize a landmark event at 
one of our Nation's great success stories in higher education. On 
October 11, 2008, Husson College in my home State of Maine will become 
Husson University.
  This designation is but the latest chapter in a history that is truly 
inspiring. It began more than a century ago, in 1898, when Chesley 
Husson founded the Shaw School of Business on the second floor of a 
building in downtown Bangor, offering instruction in such cutting-edge 
technologies of the day as typing and telegraphy. From the very start, 
Husson has remained a private school with an entrepreneurial approach 
and a commitment to educating young people of limited means.
  Since then, Husson has grown tremendously, both in the size of its 
beautiful campus and in the range of the courses and degrees offered. 
It has grown because, through all those years, Husson has remained true 
to its founding principles of responding to needs, recognizing 
opportunities, and delivering real value.
  Today, Husson offers a university-caliber range of both undergraduate 
and graduate degrees, including graduate professional degrees in 
business, health and education. It is home to the New England School of 
Communications, which offers audio, video, Web and computer programs, 
marketing, theater, and both print and broadcast journalism, and to the 
Bangor Theological Seminary, the only accredited graduate school of 
religion in Northern New England. In addition to its main campus in 
Bangor, Husson has developed a statewide reach with education centers 
in South Portland and Presque Isle, the Boat School in Eastport, and 
Unobskey College in Calais.
  The Husson story is, however, about more than growth in enrollment, 
degree offerings, and campus locations. It also is a story of fostering 
personal growth, of preparing graduates for successful professional 
careers, and of promoting in each student the development of individual 
self-worth.
  Before coming to the Senate, I had the honor of serving as the 
founding director of the Dyke Center for Family Business. I have never 
known a school, a faculty, or a student body more focused on preparing 
for a professional career than at Husson. Husson truly is remarkable in 
its dedication to this aspiration and its clear sense of purpose.
  I saw in Husson students an emerging sense of personal pride, a sense 
of self-worth grounded in knowledge and confidence. This wonderful 
combination of hands-on learning, personal attention from the faculty, 
friendships that develop with other students, and self-discovery is the 
Husson spirit. As I travel throughout Maine and across the Nation I 
find Husson alumni from every walk of life who possess that invaluable 
sense of self-worth.
  Husson is more than a pretty campus in a small city that shines, as 
Thoreau put it, ``like a star on the edge of night.'' Husson is a 
network. It is a network that includes teachers, architects, bankers, 
nurses and therapists, counselors, criminal justice administrators, 
hospital CEOs and doctors, corporate executives and entrepreneurs, 
heads of architectural firms, senior law partners and entrepreneurs. It 
is a network that reaches across the State of Maine and around the 
world.
  If there is one thing today's college students do not need to be 
told, it is that the world is changing every day. A big part of the 
Husson spirit is anticipating change. Among Husson alumni there are 
business graduates who have become architects and attorneys, nurses who 
are hospital CEOs, and teachers who have become ministers. A Husson 
degree is more than proof that a student can do one thing well. By 
developing the skills to perfect one profession, Husson graduates learn 
the discipline, leadership skills, and problem-solving capabilities to 
change with the times. The Husson spirit is not just about being part 
of change, but of leading it.
  The change I recognize today is evidence of that spirit. I 
congratulate Husson College as it becomes Husson University. The Husson 
story is remarkable, but I know that the most remarkable chapters have 
yet to be written.

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