Multimedia: ‘Bates was my early-decision choice’ — President Spencer visits WRBC-FM

President Clayton Spencer’s interview on student radio station WRBC-FM on Feb. 10 covered a range of topics: the obligation of a liberal arts college to help graduates get jobs; what responsible investing looks like in 2013; and Bates’ relationship with Lewiston.

And lest those topics seem a tad stuffy for a student radio show called Chin Wags and Grab Bags with DJ Nosebleed and Friends, Spencer rose, or sank, to her host’s level as needed during the 75-minute interview.

Besides big-picture topics, Spencer offered responses to questions about the new Bates Bobcat (“not unduly aggressive, but looks like he could handle pretty much anything”); her celebrity crush (Alan Rickman); and why she wanted to get the whole thing over with — so she could get  home to watch Downton Abbey.

“I think she’s actually kinda funny. She’s not a suit,” host Clay Baldo ’13 of Santa Fe, N.M., said to his fellow DJ, Corey Gingras ’13 of Eastford, Conn.

Here’s a brief video of the Feb. 10 event and, below, a selection of edited audio clips from the interview.

Audio clips

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Spencer sums up her perspective on what creates a career. “All you need to figure out at any given moment is your next gig,” she says. But, “you have to want to do it.”

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Despite a long tenure at Harvard, Bates was not her presidential “safety school.”

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What sets Bates students apart is their sense of “collective good,” the feeling of “intellectualism with respect that is among the strongest I’ve seen on any campus.” 

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To the question of why, in 21st century terms, should someone go to a liberal arts college, Spencer says it’s about creating a valuable and productive sense of self in the world.

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The best way to ride the tidal wave of technology is not to “muddle down the middle” but to “go to two different extremes.”

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Working hard or hardly working? It’s no joke: The liberal arts education must address careers, Spencer explains.

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More than any other, here’s the one quality that Spencer hopes every Bates student possesses upon graduation: Authenticity.

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Responding to a question from Annie Cravero ’13 of the campus organization Bates Energy Action Movement, Spencer explains that responsible investing is about reconciling two important obligations.

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The relationship between Bates and Lewiston is “strong and growing,” Spencer says.

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