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Auburn’s Mark A. Coursey Named USM’s 2008 Student Commencement Speaker

May 2, 2008

Mark A. Coursey of Auburn will be the student commencement speaker at the University of Southern Maine’s 128th Commencement taking place Saturday, May 10, in the Cumberland County Civic Center, Portland.  Coursey will graduate from USM with a degree in Leadership and Organizational Studies. Roger Wilkins, who shared a Pulitzer Prize in 1972 for Watergate coverage with Bob Woodward, Carl Bernstein and Herb (Herblock) Block, will give the commencement address.  It is expected that 1,000 graduates will march at the ceremony.

Coursey began his undergraduate studies 22 years ago, taking a 16-year hiatus from academic study during which he worked in a series of managerial positions, married and became a stay-at-home dad for his sons, Benjamin and Samuel. Despite his accomplishments, Coursey harbored a sense of failure for not receiving his bachelor’s degree.  When his youngest son began school, Coursey called the University of Southern Maine Lewiston-Auburn College.  He returned to USM benefiting from two Osher Re-Entry Scholarships.  These scholarships were established at USM by the Bernard Osher Foundation and are awarded to newly admitted and recently matriculated students who have experienced a considerable gap in the attainment of an undergraduate education.

Coursey was the student speaker at the grand opening ceremony for LearningWorks in USM LAC’s newly constructed addition last fall, where he said he was “transformed” at USM LAC, where “non-tradition is the tradition.” While at USM LAC, Mark interned at the Lewiston Auburn Economic Growth Council and worked for the USM LAC Capital Campaign. Recently, he presented his research on strategies for employing older and disabled workers at the USM symposium for student research, “Thinking Matters.”

He and his wife Beverly, who is principal of Sabattus Elementary Schools, reside in Auburn with their two sons. Mark will continue his education next fall at the University of Maine School of Law.

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