As a former resident of (and still frequent visitor to) Maine, I was astonished to read Gov. Paul LePage’s assertion that Maine students are “looked down upon” by colleges and universities in other parts of the country.

Both of my sons were educated in the Waterville public schools, received fine educations and graduated from distinguished colleges.

I now live in Allentown, Pa., where I serve as president of Muhlenberg College, one of the country’s highly selective private residential liberal arts colleges.

Muhlenberg has welcomed many Maine students and found them to be outstanding. They routinely win academic honors and distinguish themselves as campus leaders in the arts, student government, athletics, and other extracurricular activities.

We actively seek them out and are glad to have them join us. What we do “look down upon” are politicians who denigrate their own citizens with fabricated “facts.”

Randy Helm, president

Muhlenberg College

Allentown, Pa.


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