"CARRY ON"
MMA celebrates 75th
Anniversary this year
Just two words above by the Academy's
first superintendent, RADM Douglas E.
Dismukes spurred the past and herald
the future success of MMA, as events
on campus and in Augusta kicked off
celebrations of our 75th anniversary year.
Three events in March marked the founding of Maine Mar-
itime Academy, first known as the Maine Nautical Training
School, by the 90th Maine legislature on March 21, 1941.
Founders Day on Campus
At the Student Government Association-sponsored
Founders Day ceremony at the Academy's Delano Audito-
rium, March 22, Christopher Gilman '16, Student Trustee,
provided opening comments to mark the important mile-
stone in MMA history by sharing words of leaders from the
early years of the college.
"From Senator Ralph A. Leavitt, who was the first
president of the Board of Trustees: `...I marvel at these...
young men who came to nothing but an idea, instead of a
school...They were pioneers in the true sense of the word.
How we were able to find such a group of determined
young men I wil never know, but they knew what they
wanted, and they were willing to give to get it.'
"From Phil Adams '43-1, the first graduate to receive
an MMA diploma and a leader of the first class in 1943,
`Being a member of the first class was truly a most unique
and rewarding experience. We went to Castine when there
was no Academy. We weathered critical events that had to
be resolved for the Academy to survive and prosper. Let the
record show that the solid 28 were up to the task in every
case."
According to Adams, one day, the town fire alarm went
"It's not possible to acknowledge the thousands of people who have made
off while they were in class, and without so much as an
Maine Maritime Academy what it is today. But, in fact, al 8,000-plus alumni,
"excuse me" the midshipmen jumped up; some went out
every faculty member, every staff person, every coach has contributed to our
the windows of the ground-floor classroom; they grabbed
success. And, each and every person who is engaged in our mission at this
their only equipment, ladders and hand fire extinguishers,
moment in time is contributing to our success."
and dashed off to the fire, which turned out to be at the
Pentagoet Inn. Their efforts saved their own quarters.
Founders Day at the State House
Gilman introduced Academy President William Bren-
A legislative sentiment acknowledging Maine Maritime Academy's 75 years
nan, whose remarks included:
as a unique part of the State's higher education partnership was brought before
"Fifty years ago this past February, I arrived in Castine
the Maine Senate on Wednesday, March 23 by Senator Kimberley Rosen and
with my family as my father began his post as Comman-
Representative Ralph Chapman.
dant. I am proud to be President of this wonderful institu-
In celebration of the Academy's founding legislation in 1941, the two legis-
tion and I owe a debt of gratitude to al who came before
lators recognized the contributions of the college and its alumni to the State of
me, including President Len Tyler, for doing a masterful job
Maine and beyond as a center for maritime education and training and as one
to evolve this institution.
of only six State Maritime Academies in the United States.
"We have come a long way.
A press conference followed the Senate session and included remarks
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