OFFICE OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH, EDUCATION, AND WELFARE
REGIONAL OFFICE
REGION I
JOHN F. KENNEDY FEDERAL BUILDING, BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS 02203
January 4, 1978
Centennial Committee
University of Maine at Fort Kent
Pleasant Street
Fort Kent, Maine 04743
Dear Centennial Committee Members and Friends of the University of Maine at Fort Kent:
It is a great pleasure to respond to your invitation to comment in your Centennial booklet, because your institution has a very special place in my memories of my service in the State of Maine. I remember distinctly my first visit to the campus in the summer of 1964 when President Fox and the faculty provided the type of hospitality for which "The Valley" is famous.
As I recall, the enrollment projections for the fall of 1964 indicated
a student body of ninety seven. Capital outlay budgets were pigeon holed in
the legislative process and the biennial question of continued operation of
Fort Kent College was a matter for the 103rd Legislature to resolve. Fortunately,
the State Board of Education supported expansion plans, the Legislature approved
funding, and the new campus buildings became reality. When Fort Kent joined
Aroostook State in hosting the Commissioner's Annual Superintendents' Conference,
northern Maine was "discovered" and students began to attend Fort
Kent from other areas of the state, thereby developing institutional support
beyond the borders of "The County".
During the trauma of the organization of the state-wide University of Maine, the new chancellor and the enlarged Board of Trustees learned of the special place Fort Kent held in the hearts of the Valley people and the institution became a full partner in the new system.
Therefore, I wish to join all of you who are celebrating the hundredth birthday of the little teacher training school which has become the University of Maine at Fort Kent and earnestly hope that the next century will record an equally distinguished history.
Sincerely yours,
William T. Logan, Jr.
Regional Commissioner of Education