[Congressional Record Volume 158, Number 70 (Wednesday, May 16, 2012)]
[Senate]
[Page S3231]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                    TRIBUTE TO DR. THEODORA KALIKOW

 Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, on April 23, 2012, Dr. Theodora J. 
Kalikow gave her last lecture as president of the University of Maine 
Farmington and received a standing ovation from an overflow audience at 
the campus's largest auditorium. In that same spirit, I rise today to 
express my gratitude to a great leader and good friend for 18 years of 
outstanding service to the people of Maine.
  There are many ways to describe what Theo as she is known to 
colleagues, students, and friends has meant to our State. One is to 
note that in 1998, her fourth year as president, the University of 
Maine Farmington was named to U.S. News and World Report's best college 
list for the first time. This year, UMF celebrated 15 consecutive years 
of receiving that hard-earned and well-deserved recognition.
  Another way is to consider the deep affection alumni and people 
throughout Maine have for this remarkable institution. As just one 
example, in 2007 UMF opened its new Education Center that integrates 
technology with teaching and learning. This major expansion was made 
possible only through the generosity of countless individuals, 
businesses, and organizations. Over the years, this kind of 
overwhelming support has enabled this small school of just 2,000 
students to keep pace with the top colleges and universities in the 
country.
  Responding to the needs of an ever-changing society is one of the 
richest traditions a college can have. The traditions Dr. Kalikow has 
upheld began a century and a half ago when the people of rural Franklin 
County joined together to establish Maine's first public institution of 
higher education. When the first class of 31 students matriculated at 
the new Farmington Normal School in 1864, they did so in a setting that 
was described by a University of Maine historian as ``rough, crude, and 
plenty humble.''
  Under Dr. Kalikow's leadership, UMF has upheld another noble 
tradition that of contributing to the entire region by adding to its 
cultural life, teaching in local classrooms, coaching youth athletics, 
and helping youngsters learn everything from swimming to foreign 
languages. From the Health and Fitness Center to the Mantor Library, 
the doors of UMF are open to the community.
  In her last lecture, Dr. Kalikow drew a strong connection between the 
America we know today as a place of unsurpassed equality, freedom, and 
opportunity and the ``rough, crude, and plenty humble'' foundation of 
public higher education laid in Farmington, ME, and other frontier 
communities across the Nation so many generations ago. These ordinary 
citizens knew that education was a necessary condition of creating a 
successful society, she said, and we today are the beneficiaries of 
their investment.
  Mr. President, Dr. Theo Kalikow has increased that investment through 
an ongoing commitment to teaching and learning. On behalf of the people 
of Maine, I thank Dr. Kalikow for her contributions to our State and 
wish her all the best in the years to come.

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