A light blue background "UMaine Machias Valedictorian and Salutatorian 2025" A photo of each student and the Machias crest.

UMaine Machias to hold its 114th commencement May 10

April 29, 2025 News

Students, family, faculty and staff will gather in the Reynolds Center Gymnasium at the University of Maine at Machias on May 10 at 10 a.m. to celebrate its 114th commencement. Emma Soctomah and Bev Miller are the 2025 UMaine Machias valedictorian and salutatorian, and this year’s ceremony speaker will be Dwayne Tomah. 

Valedictorian: Emma Soctomah

Soctomah of Indian Township, Maine is majoring in psychology and community studies. Through her time at UMaine Machias, she has participated in the Kinap Mentorship Program and been a part of the Wabanaki Fellowship Program at the Abbe Museum. Soctomah currently works at the elementary school on her reservation in Indian Township. As she continues working there after graduation, her main focus will remain teaching social-emotional skills to students. She will complete her Positive Behavior Intervention and Support certificate through the University of Maine Graduate School by December 2025 and plans to pursue a master’s degree beginning in fall 2026.

Salutatorian: Bev Miller

Miller, an integrative biology major with a concentration in wildlife biology and minors in botany and zoology, is from Meriden, Connecticut. An active student on campus, Miller assists in numerous clubs, including 100% Society, Student Health Initiative Education Leadership and Diversity (SHIELD), Tabletop Club and the Machias Campus Audubon Chapter. Miller was involved in research projects during her time at UMaine Machias, which include working on natural resource inventories, specifically at Klondike Mountain, Meserve Head and Denny’s River Mill Pond. She credits these opportunities to her classes with Eric Jones, associate professor of botany. After graduation, Miller plans to gain additional experience in her field of study while narrowing her choices for graduate areas of study. This summer she is looking forward to working with piping plovers in Massachusetts.

Commencement ceremony speaker: Dwayne Tomah Dwayne is dressed in tradition clothing of the Passamaquoddy.

A language keeper and director and curator of the Sipayik Museum, Tomah is also a teacher of the Passamaquoddy language and culture. He is the youngest fluent speaker of the tribe and has served on the Tribal Council. Tomah has dedicated his life to working on language and cultural preservation and shares Native legends through song and dance. He has created a Passamaquoddy Language app compatible with Apple Inc. products, edited the Passamaquoddy dictionary and is currently working with the Library of Congress to translate the Passamaquoddy Wax Cylinders. The wax cylinder recordings are the first recordings in the world of Native languages.