TUCKER McLAIN

MARQUETTE — The son of a Dickinson County area native is only the fifth person in Northern Michigan University history to receive a Fulbright, the flagship award program for international academic exchange opportunities. Tucker McLain, who earned a master of fine arts in creative writing in May, will depart for Estonia in September for a nine-month exploration of the country’s literary landscape.

McLain is also the first Fulbright recipient from NMU whose grant will support research abroad.

After earning an undergraduate degree in anthropology from St. Lawrence University, McLain developed an avid interest in the people and cultures of small countries. Estonia shares a border with Russia and is within a ferry ride from Finland. Despite being ruled by foreign powers for centuries — including a German occupation during World War II — the nation’s people continued to strive for independence until they gained it from the Soviet Union in 1991.

“Through all of that, they maintained their language, cultural celebrations, and spiritual views,” McLain told Northern Today. “I found the strength of the Estonian spirit both inspiring and fascinating. At some point, I learned that the country had its own literary canon. I read a couple of books that made up the backbone of their canon and completely fell in love. Many of the themes that are wrestled with in Estonian literature felt very American and relatable. I will be doing a thematic analysis of literature written during times of crisis in the country to try and identify what spiritual pieces of Estonian identity emerge; how they fell back on their symbols, ideas and other things that brought them comfort.”

McLain is the son of Kevin and Blair McLain of Cape Cod, Mass. Kevin McLain, formerly of Aurora, Wis., is executive director of the non-profit Chatham Orpheum Theater in Cape Cod — an historic movie house that dates to 1916.

——

GREEN BAY, Wis. — The University of Wisconsin-Green Bay has announced its academic honor students.

Students who earn a 4.0 grade-point average, which represents all A grades, receive highest honors. High honors go to students earning 3.99 to 3.75 grade point averages. Honors are given to students earning 3.74 to 3.50 grade point averages. All were full-time students in the fall/winter term, earning 12 or more credits of graded coursework.

Local students are:

Felch Township — Samantha Anderson, semester high honors; Max Mattson, semester high honors;

Florence, Wis. — Crystal Leffler, semester honors; Jessica Moore, semester highest honors; Abby Price, semester honors; Dustin Williams, semester high honors;

Iron Mountain — Julia Bradley, semester honors; Kilee Howe, semester honors; Kalie Johnson, semester honors;

Iron River — Lucas Isaacson, semester highest honors;

Kingsford — Chloe Fraker, semester highest honors; Peyton Johnson, Semester Highest Honors; Gage Theisen, semester honors;

Niagara, Wis. — Parker DeCremer, semester high honors; Justine Geldmeyer, semester honors; Rachel Olson, semester highest honors; Sam Oratch, semester honors; Aengus Patterson, semester honors;

Norway — Paeyton Bengtson, semester high honors; Kasse Kay, semester highest honors;

Vulcan — Cadeance Lindsley, semester high honors.

——

UNIVERSITY CENTER, Mich. — Teagan Petschar of Iron Mountain is among the nearly 700 students from Saginaw Valley State University to earn a spot on the winter 2025 semester President’s List.

To be eligible for the President’s List, a student must take at least 12 credit hours and earn a 4.0 grade-point average.

——

EAU CLAIRE, Wis. — Gabe Scarlassara of Crystal Falls graduated in May from the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. He received a bachelor’s degree in business administration-management

——

SOUTHFIELD, Mich. — Construction Engineer Technology and Management student Sawyer Pugh of Kingsford was named to the Lawrence Technological University dean’s list for the spring 2025 semester.

——

MENOMONIE, Wis. — Reyton Ritchie of Niagara, Wis., graduated May 10 from University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, Wis. The university graduated 1,174 students, with 952 undergraduate and 222 Graduate School students this spring.

Ritchie received her master of science degree in risk control and safety management.

——

MADISON, Wis. — Two local students were among the 9,424 students from the University of Wisconsin-Madison who received their degrees on May 9-10.

Madeline McCash of Florence, Wis., College of Letters and Science, received her bachelor of science in psychology and Jason Cretton of Niagara, Wis., College of Engineering, received his master of engineering, engineering.

There were two live spring 2025 commencement ceremonies, one for undergraduates at Camp Randall and one for all graduate degree candidates at the Kohl Center. Keynote speaker and celebrated sports columnist Jason Gay encouraged the graduates to embrace joy in their lives.

“Spend your time with people who give you happiness. Stay as open to new experiences as you are today,” Gay said. “Find satisfaction in small routines – the place where you live, community service, time outside in the natural world.”

Chancellor Jennifer L. Mnookin reminded graduates that an essential part of their UW-Madison education has been learning to find ways to connect, not disconnect, and to engage, not disengage. And to do that even when they disagreed – to move beyond bubbles and echo chambers.

“And that’s important,” Mnookin said. “You are stepping into a world that is both deeply complex and distressingly polarized, and you have the power to do something good in that world, especially if you can find ways to work with people you might not always agree with.”

Senior class president Sam Mahlum, who served as Saturday’s student speaker, said one of the things she and her fellow graduates learned at UW was the value of time, including the time it takes to climb Bascom Hill.

“We wish for more time to get assignments completed, to study for the next exam, to hang out with friends or to just stay here, in this special place in our lives, before we have to go out there and be whatever it is we have been working so hard to become,” she said.

——

Compiled by Terri Castelaz, staff writer.