LEWISTON – Proud supporters, well-wishers and excited families packed the Androscoggin Bank Colisée on Friday night to applaud graduates in black-and-red gowns as they received diplomas from Central Maine Community College.

College President Scott Knapp said he was encouraged by this year’s number of graduates, 315, a figure which he has seen grow every year in his decade-long tenure at the college.

Doris Belisle-Bonneau, a trustee in the Maine Community College System, gave the graduates credit for their achievements.

“The credential you receive today is a testament to your own success and hard work.”

Belisle-Bonneau quoted from Walt Whitman’s “I Hear America Singing,” a poem that speaks of workers taking pride and joy in their careers. She also offered a challenge to the graduates, urging them to do righteous work in their chosen fields.

Mark Castonguay, a graduating business major and member of the All-Maine Academic Team, acknowledged what lies ahead for those receiving their diplomas.

“Some of us will go on to higher education, and some of us will start in the work force bright and early Monday morning,” he said, “so don’t celebrate too much this weekend.”

Castonguay graduates with a near-perfect GPA and plans to attend the University of Maine in the fall.

Maine humorist and former CMCC employee Gary Crocker delivered the keynote address, weaving a humorous and poignant message under a thick Down East accent. “You only need three things in life,” Crocker told grads, “a good education, a kind heart and a sense of humor.”

He offered a final lesson, one he said he hoped the graduates would take out into the world with them.

“Many times in life we are faced with being right, or being kind,” he said. “Choose kindness. We need a lot more of that in the world.”

The Lewiston native has kept close ties with the college from his current post as director of federal and state programs in the Maine Community College System. Knapp said Crocker has been instrumental in keeping tuition low.

More than 2,000 students will graduate from Maine’s seven community colleges this year.