Say What? Bates quotes from here and there: Sept. 17
An occasional roundup of what Bates folks are saying about this and that.
I Am What I Am
“Je me masque, donc, je suis.”
— Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read, riffing on Descartes, created this T-shirt with a fall 2020 rallying cry, translated, “I mask, therefore, I am.” His face mask says, “En français? S’il vous plaît“
Bearing Down
“We have learned through bitter experience this summer that if we don’t get the science right, we won’t get the economics right. If we substitute ideology for expertise, we lose our bearings. Without a commitment to facts and evidence, we abandon the fundamentals of discourse, debate, and meaning making. This causes us to get policy wrong and hurt people. It causes us to substitute violence for persuasion.”
— President Clayton Spencer speaking at Opening Convocation on Sept. 1, 2020
Rule of Threes
“Respect, positivity and accountability.”
— Women’s soccer co-captain So Kim ’21 of Thornhill, Ontario, on her goal this fall, in lieu of the cancelled fall athletic season, to instill three key team values during practice and other team-building sessions
Heart and Head
“We know you have been taught how to write the best five-paragraph essay ever. We know you can recite facts and follow formulas. But now we want you to follow your heart, informed by your head to create new ways of thinking and being in the world.”
— Benjamin E. Mays Distinguished Professor of Rhetoric, Screen, and Film Studies Charles Nero offering advice to the Class of 2024 at Opening Convocation on Sept. 1
Just a Little Patience
“Be patient with yourself. Be patient with others. Be humble enough to know that you might not know everything. Guess what? Neither do your professors.”
— Associate Professor of Rhetoric, Screen, and Film Studies Stephanie Kelley-Romano offering advice to the Class of 2024 at Opening Convocation on Sept. 1
Aim High
“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goal to reach. It isn’t a calamity to die with dreams unfulfilled, but it is a calamity not to dream. It is not a disgrace not to reach the stars, but it is a disgrace to have no stars to reach for. Not failure, but low aim is sin.”
— Benjamin Elijah Mays, Class of 1920, as quoted by Charles Nero during Opening Convocation
All You Need Is Love
“Let yourself fall in love with the new things in your life whether that is academically, socially, or individually.”
— Co-President of Bates Student Government Perla Figuereo ’21 of the Bronx, N.Y., offering advice to the Class of 2024 at Opening Convocation.
We the People
“We want you all to know that we see you, we hear you, and we stand with you.”
Co-President of Bates Student Government Lebanos Mengistu ’21 of Somerville, Mass., speaking to the experience of Black students in his remarks to the Class of 2024 at Opening Convocation
Called to Care
“We are called to care for one another and this Bates community in ways never asked of us before. May we rise to the occasion with compassion and courage.”
— Multifaith Chaplain Rev. Brittany Longsdorf, offering the benediction at Opening Convocation
Scraping By
“No brain scraping required.”
— Ellie Vance ’21 of Birmingham, Ala., expressing relief that the COVID-19 test used by Bates is not the invasive nasopharyngeal swab
Know How
“It’s a brush with the unknown. It’s our job to guide them from the unknown to the known.”
— Nick Cooke, assistant athletic director for athletic performance and director of the Bates Testing Center, on his goal to help students feel comfortable with the new twice-weekly COVID-19 testing procedures.
Fowl Friends
“I really missed the ducks.”
— Nathan Huynh ’23 of San Diego, a junior advisor in Page Hall, on all the things he missed, even the ducks of Lake Andrews, while away from Bates
Good Hope
“I’m excited. I’m hopeful. And I’m taking it day by day.”
— Christopher Barker ’21 of Burlington, Vt., on how he’s approaching the fall semester
World Away
“This is their world.”
— Rene Dumont of Auburn, with his wife, Julia, while dropping off their twin sons, Austin ’21 and Noah ’21, on being nearby but not hovering over their Bates lives.
Collective Action
“It takes a village. It takes a team effort.”
— Athletic trainer Andrew England, helping out with COVID-19 testing during move-in days, on the effort to reopen the campus
Carpe Batesiana
“We have to count our blessings and just take advantage of being out here because who knows what could happen tomorrow.”
— Women’s tennis captain Haley Washington ’21 (below) of Bloomfield Hills, Mich., on the Bobcats’ return to practice
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