Slideshow: Back to Bates weekend debuts with ‘force, spirit, and Bobcat zen’
On Friday evening of Back to Bates, athletics director Kevin McHugh praised longtime ski coach Bob Flynn for being “the force, the spirit, and the iconic Bobcat zen” of Bates athletics.
“Force, spirit, and zen” — let’s borrow those nouns to describe the family vibe we all felt at Back to Bates, a “new” weekend event for alumni, parents, and families, Oct. 2-4.
Back to Bates photo story:
This photo story about Back to Bates weekend features photographs by Phyllis Graber Jensen, Josh Kuckens, and Rene Roy.
We say “new” because the name “Back to Bates” has a splendid and storied history, as it was the name of Bates’ alumni homecoming weekend for much of the 20th century.
Mothballed since the late 1990s, the name made a comeback this fall after Bates decided to combine parents weekend and homecoming into one big, three-day bash.
Thanks Harry! Making a comeback this year, “Back to Bates” was long the name of the fall alumni weekend and was coined a century ago by the legendary Harry Rowe, Class of 1912, college editor, dean, and Bates booster.
Big it was, more than doubling the campus population, from the usual 1,700 students to a giant Bobcat clowder of some 3700 alumni, parents, family members, students, and friends.
The Friday evening event honoring Bob Flynn celebrated the naming of donor-funded, renovated Alpine and Nordic ski rooms in Alumni Gym in his honor.
A legend in Maine skiing circles and beloved by his athletes, Flynn has been associated closely with Bates skiing as a head coach or assistant coach since 1968.
Friday evening also typified just how much Bates force, spirit, and zen there was to go around.
In the hour before the Flynn event, for example, was a panel discussion by the Bates Africana Club; a dinner presentation on “Navigating Together” by young alumni and seniors about adjusting to Bates life; Shabbat evening services and dinner; a Bates Museum of Art reception for the exhibition “Black Maps and Other Dilemmas” by photographer David Maisel; and a men’s rugby game under the lights at Garcelon Field.
Whew!
Honoring contributors to the Bates enterprise and to the betterment of the world at large.
And right after the event was the traditional concert by the college’s student a cappella groups, easily the best-attended student concert of the year.
Traditional alumni homecoming activities marked the weekend, including Saturday’s recognition event to honor alumni contributors to the Bates enterprise and to the betterment of the world at large.
Alumni awards for volunteer contributions and achievement went to:
- Jennifer Guckel Porter ’88, who received the Bruce Stangle ’70 Award for Distinguished Service to the Bates Community for her exemplary volunteer service and for sharing her expertise in leadership development and for coaching alumni on their careers.
- Wiley Todd ’08, Henry Mye ’08, and Jonathan Steuber ’08, who received the Bates Alumni Community Service Award for establishing the Valpo Surf Project, a nonprofit that educates, motivates, and teaches life skills to underprivileged and at-risk children in Valparaíso, Chile.
Earlier in the week, Lisa Genova ’92 received the Sesquicentennial Award, given to recognize academic, artistic, or scientific achievement, for her novel Still Alice, which “opened hearts and minds about an urgent matter of public health and public policy.”
Also at Back to Bates, the college presented Bates’ Best awards to several alumni and parents for their significant volunteer contributions to the college.The date for next year’s Back to Bates: Homecoming and Family Weekend, is Oct. 7–9.
