[Congressional Record (Bound Edition), Volume 154 (2008), Part 17]
[Senate]
[Pages 23640-23641]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office, www.gpo.gov]




                        HONORING HUSSON COLLEGE

 Ms. SNOWE. Mr. President, today I honor one of the jewels of 
Maine higher education, Husson College, in Bangor, ME, which will 
officially make its much-anticipated transition to Husson University on 
October 11, 2008.
  I know I join with countless Husson students and alumni from 
practically every town in Maine, as well as from around the country and 
the world, in expressing my deep-seated pride in what Husson College 
has accomplished since its founding in 1898 by Chesley Husson, and for 
what it will achieve in the years ahead as Husson University. Although 
the name has changed, the longstanding hallmarks of Husson which have 
served its students so exceptionally well for 110 years will not only 
remain the same, but will also be strengthened more than ever. A 
broader-based institution than it was just 20 years ago, Husson--at 
this watershed moment of becoming a university--secures an even greater 
presence on the educational landscape, offering multiple degrees 
through various schools and bolstering its overall capacity to bring to 
its students a wide range of dynamic and diverse programs, especially 
at the graduate level.
  From the dawn of the 20th century to the beginning of the 21st, 
Husson has, at its core, strived to prepare its graduates for success 
in life and in professional careers, by cultivating a learning 
discipline, regimen, and environment tailored to each student that 
ultimately facilitates individual growth and progress. Ushering Husson 
College--now Husson University--into the 21st century is, fittingly, 
its 21st president, Dr. Bill Beardsley, who, since 1987, has been 
continually drawing from Husson's rich past, while simultaneously 
focusing on what lies just over the horizon.
  With Bill's unsurpassed vision, Husson is still--and will forever 
be--an institution focused on teaching rather than research--a place 
for imparting and acquiring knowledge that both fosters student 
development and equips its graduates with the educational tools to be 
valued civic and business leaders. Furthermore, because of Bill's 
unparalleled reputation and ingenuity as an innovator, Husson has also 
been at the forefront of developing a cutting-edge curriculum that 
takes into account marketplace changes, demographic shifts, and 
economic trends. So, it is little wonder that under Bill's vibrant and 
effective leadership, Husson has more than tripled its matriculation of 
freshman students, more than doubled its number of tradition-
al undergraduates--when considering those attending the New England 
School of Communications--and has undergone a stunning expansion on its 
campus to accommodate new schools and programs, not to mention more 
alumni.
  Nothing speaks more to Husson's tradition of commitment to the 
student--and the primacy of a hands-on education that is accessible and 
affordable--than a student-to-teacher ratio that is an exceptional 19 
to 1, 70 faculty members dedicated only to teaching in the classroom, 
and tuition costs that are purposely kept from skyrocketing, and where 
nearly 90 percent of Husson students qualify to receive Federal, State, 
community, or campus-based financial aid.
  Additionally, as Husson espouses a teaching emphasis emblematic of a 
college, it offers curriculum possibilities that integrate liberal arts 
and sciences, professional and technical studies, and learning outside 
the classroom that are indicative of its status as a university. Many 
schools may offer degrees in business, but at Husson, that area of 
study can be specialized to include not only financial management, but 
also hospitality management, small/family business management, and 
sports management--compelling and rigorous pathways of learning that 
can be significantly attractive to highly-motivated, professionally-
centered students.
  As Chair and now ranking member of the Senate Committee on Small 
Business and Entrepreurship, I can tell you firsthand that this 
approach to business education that creates greater personalization 
yields benefits in an increasingly competitive marketplace for 
employers and prospective employees alike. And those rewards extend 
beyond the boundaries of business classes.
  For example, how many schools nationwide have a chemistry major that 
contains a prepharmacy track or paralegal studies or boatbuilding 
technology program or graduate programs in nursing, physical therapy, 
occupational therapy, and a graduate course of study in pharmacy being 
developed? And how many institutions would have

[[Page 23641]]

responded to a medical shortage in underserved, rural areas that could 
not afford a doctor with the vision of producing nurse practitioners? 
But that is precisely what Husson did in 1981 when it partnered with 
Eastern Maine Medical Center to establish the Husson College/Eastern 
Maine Medical Center Baccalaureate School of Nursing.
  Husson is continually assessing and examining ways to be of greater 
value both to its students and the communities Husson serves. Husson's 
desire to address real-world challenges by innovatively calibrating 
fields of discipline is in part what makes Husson stand out--and 
frankly unique--in the pantheon of small universities.
  And just as Husson looks to meet its students more than halfway in 
developing their academic, individualized pursuits, Husson also 
endeavors to make receiving a Husson education more achievable for more 
Maine students with its education centers in South Portland, Presque 
Isle, and just recently, The Boat School in Eastport, ME, as well as 
Unobskey College, located in Calais, ME.
  And as much as Husson provides to its students, its graduates return 
the favor with an allegiance and a desire to give back to their alma 
mater that is awe inspiring. There is a story that Bill Beardsley 
recounted recently in a Bangor Metro article about a young man, the 
first of his family to attend college and a Husson student, who is able 
to attend Husson because of a gift from his grandfather. But the young 
man came to Bill because that money was running out and to explain his 
situation. Dr. Beardsley knew he was a good student and a credit to the 
Husson community.
  Between the two of them, they were determined to find a solution. 
Bill offered, among other items, a small loan. Together, they made it 
work, which is truly the Husson way, treating every student personally 
and as an individual, whether it is considering one's major to arriving 
at a payment plan in order to spur their trajectories as students and 
as human beings.
  It is been a long time since Husson's days of preparing students for 
careers in commerce, teaching and telegraphy, or since it purchased a 
dairy farm that it converted beautifully into its present idyllic 
campus. And bridging the span of those years are Paul Husson, Chesley 
Husson's grandson, who still works at the university, and Husson 
graduate and legend, Clara Swan, former Husson coach, athletic 
director, professor, and Dean for whom the Swan Center is named.
  They understand better than anyone that, while Husson may transition 
from a college to a university, and even though new disciplines may 
emerge, the Husson experience and outlook on education endures, from--
to paraphrase part of the Husson mission statement--its dedication to 
excellence in teaching, its adherence to forging a personalized 
collegiate experience with its students, its development of individual 
self-worth, and a curriculum which promotes clear thinking and 
communication skills.
  The college that time and again was the defining force behind so many 
students and graduates in the last century will now be the university 
that will propel new generations into this age and beyond, and it will 
do so with the same bedrock foundation that places the individual 
education of each student first and the forward-looking focus that 
enables Husson students and graduates to set and reach any goal. Husson 
University understands, conveys, and puts into action what the English 
poet, Robert Browning, once so eloquently expressed in words ``a man's 
reach should exceed his grasp or what's a Heaven for?''

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