Inside Higher Education
Selective Colleges Double Down on QuestBridge
Leigh Weisenburger, dean of admission and vice president for enrollment at Bates, said the new partnership isn’t specifically aimed at increasing racial diversity, but it is part of the university’s commitment to increasing “all kinds of diversity.” “Given the law, I don’t want to misconstrue [the QuestBridge partnership] as an attempt to racially diversify our class,” she said. “While we can’t consider race any longer, we obviously are continuing to do everything in our power to feed our prospect applicant pools in access-oriented ways.” (More quotes from Leigh in the full story)

Bowdoin Orient
On third day of SJP encampment, protests continue, College administers disciplinary process
“One student organizer from Bates College, who preferred to stay anonymous, was glad to attend the rally and noted their inspiration at the work being done by Bowdoin SJP.

“Bowdoin and Bates and Colby—these other liberal arts schools around the area—their whole vision is creating a university in which students are able to have critical thinking, to work together and organize and create things that are going to make the world a better place. And this is exactly what that is,” the student said. “It’s so sad to see the administration being completely against it.… I think all of us want to see these schools do what they promised, which is make the world a better place.’”

Sun Journal
Bates Puddle Jump 2025 Marks 50th Anniversary with a Splash
(PDF contains select image of founders only since file is large)

Portland Press Herald
Maine colleges are meeting students where they are: online
Liberal arts colleges like Bates switched to remote learning briefly in 2020 but were soon back on campus. Bates Vice President for Academic Affairs Malcolm Hill said most students fall in the traditional college age group, and so much learning happens outside the classroom through clubs, sports and hallway conversations.

Santa Fe New Mexican
Big Shows at Galleries and Museums Set for the Coming Thaw
“Adventurer in the Arts at the New Mexico Museum of Art will include more than 40 paintings and drawings by Hartley that span nearly four decades of his artistic exploration. The exhibition was developed through a collaboration between the Vilcek Foundation and the Bates College Museum of Art in Maine, and includes three major paintings by Hartley that are part of the New Mexico Museum of Art permanent collection.”

WGME 13
Maine files lawsuit against Trump administration over research funding cuts
“Most NIH-funding research occurs outside of federal government institutions such as both public and private universities and colleges. In Maine, the University of Maine System, Jackson Laboratory, MaineHealth, UNE, Bates College, Colby College, and Wabanaki Mental Health Association, NPC, and others have received NIH funding.”

Higher Education Stories of Note

Boston Globe
Is a college degree really worth it? Inside the heated debate about the value of higher education.

Washington Post
Education Department agrees to block DOGE from accessing student data

Chronicle of Higher Education
Education Data in the Lurch as Dozens of Department Contracts Are Axed

New York Times
N.Y.U. Parent Has an Idea: Deport Hamas Supporters on Campus

Inside Higher Education
Endowment Returns Grow Amid Fiscal Uncertainty