University of Southern Maine

News Releases

USM Student Commencement Speaker Named

April 27, 2007

Lori Royer, daughter of Gene and Vicki Royer of Lovell, will be the student commencement speaker at the University of Southern Maine’s 127th Commencement taking place Saturday, May 12, in the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland. A 2003 graduate of Fryeburg Academy, Royer is graduating from USM with a degree in business administration and a minor in music. President Richard L. Pattenaude, who will assume the position of University of Maine System Chancellor on July 1, will give the commencement address. Nearly 1,000 graduates are expected to march.

Royer has been a member and president of USM's Students in Free Enterprise (SIFE) team, which develops community-based programs to help young students understand personal finance, entrepreneurship, and business ethics. In addition, she has been on the tennis team; performed in jazz ensembles; studied in Edinburgh, Scotland; been a Russell Scholar; mentored students at Gorham Middle School; and volunteered at Youth for Understanding, an organization that encourages high school students to study abroad.

In her commencement speech, she cites USM's diversity as its great asset. “I’ve teamed up with a Cambodian in an operations management class, brainstormed with an athlete from Morocco, conversed with a Philosophy student from Chile . . . and was even given the opportunity to live for a semester in Portland Hall with a brilliant woman from Beijing.”

The Royer family will have two graduations to celebrate on May 12. Mom Vicki Royer will also be marching in the USM ceremony, earning a degree in Library and Information Technology from University of Maine at Augusta.

>more news releases