Slideshow: This Month at Bates

As students departed just before Thanksgiving, Bates hunkered down for winter. Remote learning continued, followed by a long break, and those left behind experienced a cold and quiet campus.

But as students returned in mid-February, everyone’s step quickened, and life began anew as Bates emerged from its hibernation with a renewed sense of warmth and beginning.

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Up, Up, and Away

Like those cards, Abby Segal ’23 of Chelmsford, Mass., is going places with her magical talents — places like Las Vegas. Seen practicing last November in Schaeffer Theatre, she’ll appear on Penn and Teller: Fool Us on The CW on Friday, Feb. 26 (the show will stream free the next day, Feb. 27).

“I love magic because it has allowed me to connect with people from all walks of life.” Segal says. 

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Seasonal First

Frost? Snow? When something different appeared on the ground early on the morning of Nov. 25, it made sense to take a closer look.

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Awaiting Their Return

During the longer-than-usual winter break, politics major Kenny Aruwajoye ’22 of Owo, Nigeria, works at Ladd Library’s circulation desk, where he eagerly awaited the return of his classmates and men’s basketball teammates. Bates extended winter break — and rejiggered the winter semester — due to COVID-19 concerns.

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The Lit Library

Ladd Library glows on a quiet January night.

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Community Partner

In December, Associate Professor of Biology Brett Huggett and fellow faculty and staff stepped up by providing ultra-cold freezers to local hospitals for their COVID-19 vaccine storage. “Many of us have been constantly thinking about how we can help out through this pandemic,” he said. “This really seemed like an obvious way in which Bates could help.”

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Winter Solstice

The winter solstice — the shortest, and thus darkest, day of the year — was Dec. 21. We stopped by the Historic Quad at 6:55 a.m. for a look. Yep, it was dark. Of course, it’s only gotten brighter since then.

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Light Mantle of Snow

A few inches of snow landed on the Bobcat on Jan. 27

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Hopeful

A year after its New Year’s Eve 2019 dedication, artist Charlie Hewitt’s Hopeful sign continues to shine brightly on the side of Bates Mill No. 5 on Main Street. In this image, taken last December, the 30-foot, illuminated aluminum sculpture is framed by holiday lights on nearby Lincoln Street. We remain hopeful!

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Diverse BookFinder

Books on display in Ladd Library represent the Diverse BookFinder, a Bates resource that tracks how diversity is represented in thousands of children’s picture books. Co-founded by Bates Professor of Psychology Krista Aronson, it includes a comprehensive collection of children’s picture books featuring black, indigenous, and people of color.

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Campus Caretaker

The day after a storm dumped a few inches of snow on campus, Facility Services carpenter Jason Therrien pitches in by clearing the steps of Dana Chemistry and Hathorn Halls.

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Blue Skies

Early morning January light illuminates Hathorn and Pettengill halls.

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Stainless Steel

A stainless steel cuboid, seen with a light mantle of December snow, marks the entrance to Veterans Plaza. Its inscription invites reflection “on the impact of war on the lives of everyone it touches.”

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Lost and Found Treasures

So much has changed during the pandemic. What hasn’t: Students still lose things in the library. (Or maybe they just leave them there, like printouts of thesis chapters.) These items were photographed in the Ladd Library lost and found on Dec. 16, 2020.

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They’re Back

President Clayton Spencer greets students as they check in at the college’s Testing Center in Underhill Arena at the start of the winter semester in February. Upon arrival, students participated in two tests: a rapid COVID-19 antigen screening in addition to a PCR test. The former gives near-instant results — compared to the one-day result from a PCR test — to allow for immediate isolation protocols.

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Right This Way

Two Bates professors, Associate Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry Jennifer Koviach-Côté and colleague April Hill, Wagener Family Professor of Equity and Inclusion in STEM, greet and guide students to a waiting area in Merrill Gymnasium where they await their rapid antigen screening test results.

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A Linear Approach

Physically distanced students line up in front of Kalperis Hall on Campus Avenue, to pick up packages at Post and Print.

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Thanks, Mom

Sydney Childs ’24 of Cohasset, Mass., stops to check in with her mother who sent her three packages. “I’m happy to be back. I’m really grateful that we’re opened up and despite everything in the world we can be back here. It’s beautiful out — even though it’s really, really cold.”

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Alternate Mode of Transport

Simon McCormick ’24 of Whitefield, Maine, departs Kalperis on his Onewheeler after picking up a gaming PC. He’s very “psyched about it,” McCormick says, but “even more psyched about being back at Bates.”

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Shovel, Skate, Socialize

“We thought it would be a fun way to pass the quarantine period and a nice way to bring the community together outside,” said Emma Upton ’24 (right) after a day of skating on Lake Andrews early in the semester. (Quarantine is the period between arrival and when a student receives two negative COVID-19 tests.)

Upton and fellow first-year Nash Holley had earlier shoveled off the Puddle for skating, recruiting fellow first-years Rachel Lowell and Dargan Harris to finish the job the next day.

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Après Exercise

Perla Figuereo ’21 of the Bronx, N.Y., and Santiago, Dominican Republic, and Erick Gredonia ’21 of Los Angeles, head up Alumni Walk after some cardio exercise at Merrill Gymnasium. Figuero is a double major in theater and in rhetoric, film, and screen studies; Gredonia is a dance major. 

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Catching Up

Seniors Trisha Kibugi of Nairobi, Kenya, and Jacob Nishimura of Mill Valley, Calif., crossed paths just once last semester — the result of such a physically distanced semester — so their chance meeting on the Historic Quad let them trade notes on their senior years so far.

“As ‘interesting’ as this year has been,” Nishimura said to his friend, “it’s going to be a great semester.” She returned his optimism with a “Happy New Year!” greeting.

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Presidential Photographer

After a heavy February snowfall, President Clayton Spencer steps outside her College Street residence to photograph trees bathed in early morning sunlight.

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Ice Chapel

Snow-covered trees frame the Peter J. Gomes Chapel.

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Frozen Birches

Early risers head toward Commons to pick up breakfast on a frozen Alumni Walk.

A New Beginning

Ed Zuis ’24 of Monmouth, Maine, felt “cooped up and wanted to start doing something.” So he decided that early-morning runs would fit the bill. He took his inaugural jog, with fresh snowfall underfoot, on Feb. 23.

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‘The New Commons’

For a minute it seemed like spring. Mild temperatures and bright sunlight on Feb. 24 sent students to various al fresco locations for lunch. From left, Isaac Williams ‘23 of Reno, Nev., Caleb Ireland ‘23 of Amherst, Mass., and Alexi Knight ‘23 of South Paris, Maine, enjoyed each other’s company as they dined on Garcelon Field. “It’s the new Commons,” they agreed.