Bobcat Connection: November 2024

Thank you to our donors and volunteers.

Thank you for making 2023-2024 a remarkable year! Over 8,600 alumni, families, and friends contributed $31.2 million in gifts and commitments, including a record-breaking $7.83 million to the Bates Fund. Your generosity strengthens the Bates community, ensuring a bright future for students and faculty.

Discover how your contributions to Bates significantly impact students like Peace Ekechukwu ’26, who secured a transformative internship with Rachel Ferrante ’10 at the Maine MILL, as highlighted in the 2024 Report of Giving.

Portland Presidential Welcome Reception

Join us for an exciting evening at Grace in Portland, ME, as we welcome Bates College’s ninth president, Garry W. Jenkins! Connect with fellow alumni, parents, and friends while celebrating Bates and its future. Don’t miss out—RSVP today and see who’s attending!

Time is running short to add your business!

Calling all alumni entrepreneurs! Share your business in our special Alumni Gift Guide and connect your products and services with fellow Bobcats who are eager to support alumni-owned businesses.

Whether you’re an artisan, author, retailer, or service provider, this is your opportunity to showcase your business to our Bobcat community during peak holiday shopping season. Submit your business by November 6.

Celebrate a fellow Bobcat!

Now accepting nominations for…

Alumni Awards

Know an alum who has made a meaningful impact on Bates or the wider world? Whether it’s in their community or on behalf of Bates, we want to celebrate Bobcats who give back. Help us recognize their achievements, dedication, and contributions to the Bates community and beyond by nominating them for an award. Submit your nomination today!

Alumni Council

Members of the Alumni Council return to campus twice a year to collaborate with fellow alumni across generations, advise on key alumni engagement initiatives, and play an active role in advancing Bates’ mission. If you or a fellow Bobcat is passionate about staying connected to Bates and helping build a vibrant alumni community, consider submitting a nomination today!

Veterans Day

Join us for a Veterans Day centering moment on November 11 at 9 a.m. at Bates Veterans Plaza. Together we will hear reflective readings and interfaith prayers, observe silence, and share in the ritual of laying flowers of remembrance on the memorial. LEARN MORE

Regional Volunteers Wanted!

Sign up to become a Regional Network Volunteer and help connect the Bobcat community by welcoming alumni, hosting events, and expanding your Bates network in your city.

LEARN MORE

Sue Edna Houchins Memorial Fund

Bates College is establishing the Sue Edna Houchins Memorial Fund in honor of the late Associate Professor Sue E. Houchins, who passed away on August 18 at the age of 80. This fund will provide an annual award to a senior whose thesis or capstone reflects Professor Houchins’ diverse academic interests, including Africana studies, gender, race, and Black identity.

Sue Houchins in her Pettengill Hall office with a photograph that includes her distinguished father, an economist and a lawyer, Joseph Houchins Jr.

“Negroes in Roosevelt’s ‘Black Cabinet” represented highly accomplished specialists in a variety of fields. This group, photographed in 1938 by Addison Scurlock, the famed Washington, D.C., documentarian of the African American bourgeoisie, are (from left, front row): Dr. Ambrose Caliver, Department of the Interior; Dr. Roscoe C. Brown, Public Health Service; Dr. Robert C. Weaver, Housing Authority; Joseph H. Evan, Farm Security Administration; Dr. Frank Horne (the poet), Housing Authority; Mary McLeod Bethune, National Youth Administration; Lieutenant Lawrence A. Oxley, Department of Labor; Dr. William J. Thompkins, Recorder of Deeds; Charles E. Hall, Department of Commerce; William I Houston, Department of Justice; Ralph E. Mizelle, Post Office.

(From left, back row): Dewey R. Jones, Department of the Interior; Edgar Brown (tennis star), Civilian Conservation Corps; J. Parker Prescott, Housing Authority; Edward H. Lawson Jr., Works Project Administration; Arthur Weiseger, Department of Labor; Alfred Edgar Smith, Works Projects; Henry A. Hunt, Farm Credit Administration; John W. Whitten, Works Projects; and Joseph R. Houchins, Department of Commerce.

Others not pictured: William H. Hastie, attorney, Department of the Interior; Eugene Kinckle Jones, Department of Commerce; and William J. Trent, Federal Works Agency.


Liberal Franklin Roosevelt’s 1932 election led to the creation of the New Deal and a switch in allegiance by black voters from the Republican to the Democratic party. Roosevelt’s administration led to the appointments of many African American advisers in various government agencies to address the manifold problems created by the Great Depression.
Bates College Alumni and Students in Journalism

Connect with fellow Bobcats interested in networking and sharing opportunities around a career in journalism. LEARN MORE

Bates MOSAIC in Boston

Alumni of color, queer alumni, first-generation alumni, and international alumni are invited to gather at the High Street Place Food Hall in Boston for an evening of community and cuisine! We’ll sample items from more than 10 food businesses and connect with fellow alumni and current Bates students. Come be a part of (re)assembling MOSAIC!


Upcoming Events

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Contact Us

Alumni Engagement
2 Andrews Road
Lewiston, Maine 04240
Phone: 1-888-522-8371 alumni@bates.edu