A selection of recent mentions in the news media of Bates alumni and future alumni, our students.
Benjamin E. Mays, Class of 1920
New documentary explores legacy of education, civil rights advocate Benjamin E. Mays — The Index-Journal
The Index-Journal of Greenwood, S.C., reports on a new documentary about Benjamin E. Mays, Class of 1920. Narrated by the late Louis Gossett Jr., the film uses artificial intelligence to reproduce Mays’ voice, allowing viewers to hear Mays delivering his most memorable quotes.
The Legacy of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays, which premiered at Lander University in Greenwood on Oct. 25, chronicles the life and legacy of Mays, the youngest of eight children born to formerly enslaved parents in Greenwood County, S.C., who became known as the “Schoolmaster of the Movement” as president of Morehouse College and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. and other leaders.
The 60-minute film includes interviews with Mays’ former students and includes footage from his speech to the World Council of Churches in 1954, where he championed civil rights through scripture.
Takako Yamaguchi ’75
Who is Takako Yamaguchi, the under-sung painter causing a frenzy at auction? — Artnet News
Art media outlets have been abuzz about painter Takako Yamaguchi ’75 surging into the spotlight after decades of quiet work in Los Angeles.
Her paintings, which once sold for a few thousand dollars, are now breaking records at major auctions. For example, her 1994 painting Catherine and Midnight sold for $1.1 million, breaking a record at Sotheby’s London, and several other works have consistently outperformed auction estimates.
Artnet News noted that “Yamaguchi’s seascape paintings in the Whitney Biennial have touched a nerve with their surreal synthesis of abstraction, pattern, and décor from East and West.”
The news outlet notes that “art-market machinations can be ruthless, taking creators on notoriously damaging rollercoasters of speculation,” yet Yamaguchi’s long experience of “deep-searching and solid practice” makes her “better placed than most to ride — and hold — this swell of commercial interest into well-deserved, broader recognition for her rich oeuvre.”
Christine Quinn Antal ’98
Veteran couple dedicates their life to help Ukraine, Afghanistan — NBC Today
The international media have covered the work by Christine Quinn Antal ’98 and her husband, Mark Antal, to deliver humanitarian aid to Ukraine and other war-torn nations through their nonprofit, Task Force Antal, which partners with U.S. military veterans, front-line communities, and governments.
Media coverage has included stories in the Budapest Business Journal and an in-depth segment by Cynthia McFadden for NBC’s Today show.
The U.S. Army veterans — Mark as a former Green Beret and Delta Force member, and Christine as a Judge Advocate and then a national security legal adviser for U.S. Army Europe — emphasized their commitment to activism during the Veterans Day segment.
“We are not going to stand back and let this happen,” said Mark. “We are not going to be complacent,” Christine said. The segment featured a live presentation of a Still Serving Award to the couple at Rockefeller Plaza from the United War Veterans Council.
The Budapest Business Journal describes how the Antals founded TFA in 2021 during the chaotic NATO withdrawal from Afghanistan:
“The Antals received a call from a friend stationed in Afghanistan who was desperate to help his interpreter, a man who had saved his life on multiple occasions and was now in imminent danger of Taliban reprisals. With roads to the Kabul airport blocked by the Taliban, Mark and Christine utilized their network to ensure the interpreter reached an evacuation flight within an hour.”
Christine told Bates News that “Bates nurtured and supported my ‘calling’ to roll my sleeves up and learn from within — to get on the ground or work solutions from within.”
Sam Golden ’06
How UW scientists are using AI to fight the opioid epidemic — KING 5 News
A story on KING 5 News in Seattle describes work by neuroscientist Sam Golden ’06 and his team at the University of Washington, who are using artificial intelligence to advance research on addiction, specifically to understand how fentanyl impacts brain function.
Golden, a Ronald S. Howell Distinguished Faculty Fellow and assistant professor of neuroscience in UW’s Department of Biological Structure, leads an innovative study that leverages machine learning to analyze video footage, frame by frame, of mice experiencing fentanyl addiction and withdrawal. Such analysis has been incredibly time-intensive — until now.
“Machine learning has allowed us to analyze every frame of video footage, capturing the different strategies that [mice] use to seek out the drug and that they use during relapse,” said Golden.
Machine learning tools remove a hurdle to understanding individual differences in addiction behaviors. “The hope is that all this preclinical work will lead to therapies that are less addictive and more personalized,” said reporter Jessica Janner Castro.
Golden’s lab recently secured a $3.8 million NIH research grant to support the research. “This isn’t a ‘what if’ grant,” Golden said. “It’s a ‘right now there is a problem’ grant: What can we do to help end, or at least offset, this opioid epidemic?”
Jessica Cooper ’13
Luz & Leyendas bring the Andes to Boston — Boston Music Intelligencer
Violist Jessica Cooper ’13 recently captivated Boston audiences in Luz & Leyendas (“Lights and Legends”), a multimedia performance at the Boston Center for the Arts. The production, blending live orchestration with shadow puppetry, drew inspiration from Cooper’s years in Chile, where she developed a deep connection to Andean landscapes and cultural symbolism.
Cooper has a master of music degree and performance diploma in viola from Boston University.
As lead producer of the show, Cooper said that she was inspired by her experience living for several years in Chile, where she came to love Chilean landscape, culture, zest for life, and traditional Andean music. Reviewer John Tamilio III noted that “the entirety of Luz & Leyendas is so enchanting that you will forget that it is a production. It is a delectable feast for world music aficionados.”
Fatima Saidi ’18
Three years after the fall of Kabul, Afghan refugees in Vermont are still in limbo — VTDigger
A story in VTDigger, an investigative online news outlet, about Afghanistan refugees in Vermont quoted Fatima Saidi ’18, campaign director for the advocacy nonprofit We Are All America.
Many refugees await family reunification and permanent status in the U.S. after Kabul’s fall in August 2021. Saidi described the journey toward reunification and stability as filled with “wall after wall” in the legal and immigration system.
Saidi, who herself has navigated these legal barriers to reunite her five siblings in the U.S., explained that despite extensive advocacy efforts, her mother remains in Pakistan due to bureaucratic obstacles. “Every time you climb a wall, there’s a bigger wall,” she said, emphasizing the exhausting nature of immigration advocacy for families in limbo.
Having lived in Maine since she began her studies at Bates, Saidi credits local connections and support from Maine’s elected leaders in bringing her siblings to safety.
Emily Scarrow ’25
This Bates student is giving back after surviving cancer — News Center Maine
As part of extensive local media coverage of the annual Dempsey Challenge, a fundraiser for the Dempsey Center hosted by actor Patrick Dempsey, News Center Maine profiled Emily Scarrow ’25 of Washington, D.C.
Scarrow was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s lymphoma just six weeks into her first year. Now a senior and cancer-free, Scarrow volunteers at the Dempsey Center, which offers personalized and comprehensive cancer care at no cost, as a wig and headwear consultant, helping cancer patients rediscover their sense of self.
“I think it’s really important for someone who understands the gravity of those situations to be there,” Scarrow said. “When someone finds a wig that reminds them of who they feel they are on the inside, it’s very special.”
In 2024, Scarrow won a prestigious Barry Goldwater Scholarship, which provides funding to college students who intend to pursue research careers in the natural sciences, mathematics, and engineering.
Adelle Welch ’25
A day in the life of four college dance majors — Dance Magazine
Dance Magazine profiled Adelle Welch ’25 in an article exploring the daily lives of four college dance majors. As a double major in dance and earth and climate sciences, Welch balances her academic and artistic passions, filling her days with science and dance classes, rehearsals, and faculty office hours.
Welch’s schedule includes technique classes and four to 12 hours of rehearsals weekly. Although she hadn’t planned to major in dance, a repertory course she took during her first semester sparked her interest, leading her to explore dance as a medium for expressive, thought-provoking themes.
For her senior thesis, she plans to create a “ghost-like” dance piece, incorporating set and costume elements that draw on her experience working in the Bates theater and dance costume shop.
This summer, Welch attended the Bates Dance Festival and conducted research for her climate science thesis, highlighting Bates’ support for student research. “There are tons of student grants available for research around the world. There is almost nothing you can’t do if you try,” she says.
Categories Academic Life Arts
