SENATOR EDMUND S. MUSKIE
WASH1NGTON, D. C. 20510

January 31, 1978

Lucille M. Pelletier, Chairman
University of Maine at Fort Kent
Centennial Committee
Pleasant Street
Fort Kent, Maine 04743

Dear Ms. Pelletier:

A hundred years ago, the people of Maine founded Madawaska Training School, to train teachers to help meet the goal of free education, a goal established five years earlier.

The teachers were to train the proud Acadian settlers who had arrived as refugees, persecuted for their independence.

It has proven to be a happy alliance. The school has grown and expanded as the demands for quality education have increased. And the people have tamed a wilderness.

The University of Maine at Fort Kent continues to provide the quality education which our people need to grow and prosper.

But I know neither the people of Fort Kent nor the University is content with past achievements. Rather, you are looking forward to another 100 years of working together to make the lives of future generations more meaningful.

So I would urge you all to make this Centennial not a celebration of the past, but a rededication to the ideals of education for future generations of students.

Congratulations and best wishes.

-Sincerely,

Edmund S. Muskie