Dear Members of the Bates Community,

On Saturday night, at a campus party hosted by the Women of Color student group, there was an incident between a student, staff who serve as event support assistants, and security officers. Because of the seriousness of the issues at stake and the complexity of the interactions, we have retained two external investigators who have experience in higher education and civil rights to speak with the individuals involved, provide a thorough and independent assessment of what happened, and make recommendations for appropriate action.

The investigation will help us to ensure that our path forward is comprehensive and systematic, and it will provide a principled basis for next steps. The investigators will be on campus beginning tomorrow, and Gwen Lexow, Director of Title IX and Civil Rights Compliance, will oversee scheduling meetings with the investigators. If you were at the event on Saturday night and have information to share, please contact Gwen (glexow@bates.edu) as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, there will be a gathering in the OIE today at 4:30 to hold space for those students who are distressed or wish to engage in conversation with their peers.

Thank you for your consideration as we work through this process to address these crucially important issues.

Sincerely,

Clayton Spencer
Joshua McIntosh
Crystal Williams