Thank you to our donors and volunteers.
Thank you for making 2023-2024 another remarkable year for Bates.
This year, more than 8,600 alumni, families, and friends came together to contribute over $31.2 million in gifts and commitments, including a record-breaking $7.83 million in annual giving to the Bates Fund.
Your collective generosity highlights the strength of the Bates community. By uniting our efforts, we ensure that Bates remains a place where students can thrive, faculty can innovate, and opportunities for growth and collaboration flourish, ensuring a bright and promising future for Bates.
Beyond the Academic Year: Philanthropically Supported Summer Experiences for Bates Students
Videos by Phyllis Graber Jensen and Theophil Syslo for Bates College.
Purposeful Work Internships: Ethan Chan ’25 and Josephine Lao ’25 in Boston
Stitching the Past and the Future: Peace Ekechukwu ’26 at the Maine MILL
Bridging Discovery and Innovation: Students’ Summer Research on Campus
Student Stories: Your Financial Aid Gifts at Work
- Lightning in a Bottle: From Futsal in Kabul to Stargazing in Maine
Sakina Saidi ’26 isn’t one to be told “no,” and that can-do spirit has brought her from her homeland in Afghanistan, to Pakistan, where she lived as a refugee, and eventually right here to Lewiston, Maine. According to her, it all started with something we’ve all felt: the desire to play. Sakina grew up in… - Navigating New Tides: Jett Lindelof’s Voyage to Bates
When Jett Lindelof ’27 was 11 years old, he entered the industrious, and sometimes territorial, world of lobstering on the coast of Maine. “I was looking for a summer job, and someone asked if I wanted to try lobstering with them so I said, ‘OK.’ I found I really liked it.” He began by venturing… - Summiting Success: How a Bates Senior Conquers Challenges, No Matter the Weather
If you’ve ever met Claire Barlass ’25, a senior from Duluth, Minn., you would understand her answer to the question, “Why Bates?” “I love the snow,” she told us, “I was following the snow east.” If there’s anything Claire likes more than snow, it’s probably math. Her love of the subject started in fourth grade,…
Meet the Donors: Faces of Philanthropy
- Hob Brooks ’02: “I became who I am at Bates.”
Hob Brooks ’02 graduated from Bates in three years, but made the most of his fast-track experience, immersing himself fully in college life and creating an enduring connection to Bates. “My friends, the coursework, and the track team — all of these were formative and foundational. Bates is an incredibly special place that made me… - Ned Moreland ’19: Impact Multiplied
“I refer to Bates as my passion project.” Ned Moreland ’19 exemplifies how a small liberal arts education can shape an impactful career and continue to foster relationships after graduation. During his time at Bates, Ned discovered that his passion for club hockey could forge connections not only with fellow students but also with members… - Stuart Field ‘65: Endowing a Legacy
In the early 1960s, Stuart Field ’65 joined a small cadre of Bates students mentored by Dr. Walter Lawrance in the Chemistry Department to conduct water testing and pollution mitigation along the Androscoggin River from Rumford to Lewiston-Auburn. This group of students would use a retired mail boat from off the coast of Maine to…
Impactful Initiatives Made Possible by Our Donors
- The Harward Center: Weaving Campus and Community Together
“What does it mean to be a neighbor?” Last October, in the wake of the mass shooting in Lewiston, Bates College opened its campus to local children for a Halloween trick-or-treat event. Organized just three days after the community emerged from lockdown, the event was more than a gesture of goodwill — it was a… - ‘They’re doing it’: Founded by students in 1995, Bates EMS stays grounded in care
Founded in 1995 by four students with a budding interest in EMT work, Bates Emergency Medical Services, grounded in caring for one’s community, is integral to how Bates supports the well-being of its campus.
Bates Fund Giving
The Bates Fund, including gifts to Friends of Bates Athletics, provides vital support for academic, athletic, and co-curricular programs.
What You Supported
Students and faculty feel the impact of your gifts every day.
Who Gave
More than 8,600 people from all corners of the Bates community supported the college, contributing more than $31 million in gifts and commitments.
