The Alumni Council is excited to share a few updates from campus and our ongoing activities as we work to keep former council members informed and engaged. We hope these articles spark your curiosity, bring back fond memories, and inspire you to stay connected and contribute to the vibrant Bates community.

In this issue, please enjoy the following topics:

We want to encourage you to continue to engage with us and the events and offerings of Bates and our alumni community. We look forward to seeing you in your communities and/or on campus. Please look at the calendar of events to find one in your community.  As always, we want to hear from you. Please feel free to reach out to alumni@bates.edu with content ideas, discussion topics, or questions.

At your service,

The 2024-25 Alumni Council

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Fall Meeting Summary

by Karen Finnochio ’92

Our September in-person meeting was scheduled over Back to Bates weekend, September 27^th – 28^th.  This allowed us to take advantage of all the programming available over the weekend, including various seminars, gatherings, and sporting events. Due to heavy demand for hotel rooms around Bates, we stayed at the Hilton Double Tree on Airport Road in Portland – the two imposing round buildings you see from the Maine Turnpike on the right as you head North.  

It was a blustery and rainy night when we arrived at our lodgings.  The Alumni Council joined the Bates Fund Executive Committee (BFEC) for a welcome dinner at RiRa Irish Pub on the Portland waterfront Friday night, which gave us a great opportunity to reconnect with old friends and make new ones.  

In our first meeting in their roles as new President, Leah Elsmore ’12 and Vice President John Howard ’86 welcomed new members to the Committee: Liza Danello Pearce ’14, Porsha Winters ’12, Tim Jones ’84, and Wendy Harris Garber ’89.  The day’s agenda was a combination of general plenary discussions and sessions dedicated to updates and next-step plannings for our 4 working groups: Professional Development Committee, Regional Engagement Task Force, Communications and Engaging Past AC Committee (providers of this newsletter!), and the Governance Committee. Except for Governance, the other working group/committee updates were open to any members of the Council interested in hearing more about what the groups are working on and contributing ideas for future consideration.  

Center for Purposeful Work organized a “Student Networking Lunch” designed to provide those students participating with tips and practical experience on how to network effectively. Twenty-four students registered for the event.  Two or three Bates Alumni Council (BAC) members sat at various tables in a private dining room off of Commons and were joined by a few students to help hone their skills to gracefully enter and exit conversations, tactfully share information about themselves, and ask engaging questions of others. After 15 minutes, the students rotated to new tables and engaged with other committee members.  

Other meetings included joint sessions with BFEC volunteers for an Advancement Update with Eric Foushee, Vice President for College Advancement, and a brainstorming session describing Bates’ value proposition. Ideas raised included both the benefits of developing a liberal arts foundation, learning how to learn, softer skills around creative thinking, oral and written expression, skills around debate, and balancing those with practical skills centered on finding enjoyable and adequately lucrative employment – especially earlier in one’s career when challenges of finding those first jobs can be most daunting.  

Some of the events scheduled around Back to Bates that we were able to leverage and enjoy included:

• Senior Leadership Panel: Bates and the Future of Liberal Arts Education with President Gary Jenkins, Leana E. Amáez, Vice President for Equity and Inclusion, Erin Foster Zsiga, Interim Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of Students, Malcolm S. Hill, Vice President for Academic Affairs and Dean of the Faculty, Brittany Longsdorf, Multifaith Chaplain & Moderator
• Summer Research Poster Session in the Perry Atrium of Pettengill, which was full of fascinating displays students had created to illustrate research projects they were happy to help further explain to Alumni Council members, along with all of the parents and other alumni in attendance.  
• Shabbat Evening Services and Dinner 
• Women’s volleyball in a close match vs. Tufts
• Acapella concert in the Cage
• MOSAIC Families, Student and Alumni Networking Event in the Bonney Science Center and a chance to meet the new Director of Alumni and Parent Equity and Inclusion Programs, Danny Chin.
• 2024 Summer Internship Panel with Purposeful Work
• Various athletic competitions: Men’s Soccer vs. Amherst; Bates Rugby vs. UNE: 
• Historic Campus Tour with Muskie Archives
• And a Community BBQ Lunch in Commons

Overall, the BAC was very happy to have the opportunity to once again gather in person, especially following the sad events in Lewiston in the fall of 2023, which shut down the entire Lewiston-Auburn community and prevented our meeting originally scheduled for that tragic weekend. Over our meeting this September, we were glad to see the healing occurring within Lewiston and Auburn, and on campus at Bates. In many ways, dealing with the aftermath of those events has brought Bates and the broader community closer, and we reviewed ways to continue contributing to those positive developments, such as the annual Trick or Treat campus event, and plan to continue offering into the future. 

We also discussed the pros and cons of having our Fall on-campus BAC meeting coincide with Back to Bates weekend. While we enjoyed the opportunity to be part of the broader program events and positive energy surrounding Back to Bates, overlapping did present certain challenges, mostly around putting a bit more stress on staff supporting dual programming, needing to stay further from campus, and less time to spend time together and with BFEC outside of the scheduled meetings. We’ll do more follow-up and surveying of members to plan going forward if meeting over Back to Bates or another weekend would be preferred.

Get to Know New Council Members

by Monica Rodriguez ’12

The Bates College Alumni Council is thrilled to welcome Tim Jones ’84, a Chemistry major turned Vice President of Business Development at a polymers and plastics company. Passionate about mentoring Bates students and supporting Bates Athletics, especially Men’s Basketball, Tim brings a dedication to sharing knowledge and strengthening connections within the Bates community. Living in South Florida with his wife, Maxine ’88, Tim enjoys playing basketball, cycling, and exploring his love of food. He’s excited to contribute fresh ideas and inspire engagement among alumni and students alike. Read on to learn more about Tim!

Council ’Cats in the Wild!

Check out these Bobcats in Action: Alumni Council Photo & Video Gallery