Commencement 2025 Archives
‘Be better. Do better. Be an arc in the bigger circle,’ graduates told at Bates College Commencement
The 157th Bates Commencement saw degrees conferred on 439 Bates seniors and an address by author and scholar J. Drew Lanham — a self-described “bird-loving Black kid” from South Carolina — who spoke about freedom and Benjamin Mays, and called on the graduates “to be better, to do better” and “to be an arc in the bigger circle” that gives power to our freedom.
Bates Class of 2023 ivy stone points to the future
The Class of 2023 ivy stone was designed by Abby Segal, who is a professional magician. But there’s no dazzling illusion in the design, just simple storytelling about a class navigating COVID.
Q&A: Bates Commencement senior speaker Rishi Madnani discovered a ‘big part of who I am’ at Bates
This year’s Senior Address at Commencement will be offered by Rishi Madnani ‘23 of Langhorne, Pa., who came to Bates with two major expectations about his path forward. And both were upended.
Picture Story: The thesis ritual that binds the Class of 2023
Thesis binding by Bates seniors — with lots of friends! — is a college ritual like none other. (Trust us: We’ve checked.)