This edition of recent Bates alumni mentions in the news media includes revisiting the legacy of a rebellious Episcopalian, shortlist honors for Elizabeth Strout’s newest novel, and an alumnus who grew up in poverty and went on to build a multibillion-dollar financial firm.
Sarah Sherman-Stokes ’05
Beacon Hill eying 2017 immigration-related court ruling. Here’s what the decision means — Boston Herald
Sarah Sherman-Stokes ’05, a clinical associate professor of law at Boston University and associate director of the university’s Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic, offered her expertise in a Boston Herald story discussing proposed immigration legislation in Massachusetts.
While federal immigration authorities can issue detainers for people suspected of civil immigration violations, per a Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruling, local law enforcement cannot arrest people based on these detainers, Sherman-Stokes explains.
“It’s like a letter to Santa — ‘we wish you would hold this person for us,’” Sherman-Stokes told the Boston Herald.
The new proposed legislation would, conversely, allow local law enforcement to detain people suspected of civil immigration violations, in conflict with the court ruling.
Elizabeth Strout ’77
Miranda July and Elizabeth Strout shortlisted for the Women’s Prize for Fiction — The Guardian
Novelist Elizabeth Strout ’77 was shortlisted for the 2025 Women’s Prize for Fiction for her most recent novel, Tell Me Everything, The Guardian and other media outlets report. Strout has previously been longlisted four times and shortlisted twice for the Women’s Prize, considered one of the U.K.’s most prestigious literary prizes.
In Tell Me Everything, Olive Kitteridge and Lucy Barton, beloved characters from Strout’s previous novels, meet and form a close friendship in the aftermath of a shocking small-town crime.
“As Lucy puts it, ‘People are mysteries. We all are such mysteries,’” writes Alexis Schaitkin in a review of the novel for The New York Times. “Strout’s best work exhibits some of this same duality, her prose style at once familiar and beguilingly unpredictable.”
William Stringfellow ’49
William Stringfellow: The modern prophet who helped hide Daniel Berrigan from the FBI — America Magazine
William Stringfellow ’49 is perhaps best remembered for hiding the priest and pacifist Daniel Joseph Berrigan in his home until the moment that the FBI succeeded in catching Berrigan, wanted for destroying draft records. This dramatic history, however, is but one small glimpse at Stringfellow’s storied, influential life, writes James T. Keane in a profile of Stringfellow in America Magazine.
A devout Episcopalian, Stringfellow was also an activist, lawyer, and theologian, whose unconventional views on faith often put him at odds with fellow church members and the greater American public.
“He wasn’t exactly an evangelical, and despite his insistence on the primacy of the Bible, he was also no fundamentalist,” Keane writes in America. “Some of his ideals were simpatico with liberation theology, but he was no fan of any marriage of ideology and Scripture. He was certainly outspoken, and did not mince his words when critiquing fellow Christians.”
At Bates, Stringfellow is remembered through the Multifaith Chaplaincy’s Stringfellow program, which supports students by nurturing their interest in social justice activism.
Shirl Penney ’99
Shirl Penney is building an empire in sunny St. Pete — Tampa Bay Business & Wealth
Shirl Penney ’99 has had a transformational impact on the U.S. financial industry, reports Tampa Bay Business & Wealth in its profile of Penney, who shared his remarkable story of grit and resilience; he grew up extreme poverty in Eastport, Maine, born to a teenage mother who could not take care of him and raised by his loving step-grandfather.
His grandfather told Penney, “I need you to have a job where you work with your mind, not with your hands.”
In 2008, Penney founded Dynasty Financial Partners, which is headquartered in St. Petersburg, to give financial advisors the freedom to operate independently from traditional firms.
He was in his late 20s and leading Citigroup’s private wealth management division. “I saw too many advisors being forced to push products that weren’t always in the client’s best interest. That never sat right with me.”
Dynasty, with Penney as president and chief executive officer, is now a service provider to 57 partner firms representing over 500 advisors and over $110 billion in assets.
“Penney isn’t just a business leader. He’s a visionary, reshaping the independent wealth management industry,” said the magazine.
Rachel Ferrante ’10
Lewiston’s MILL museum can be a cultural hub for the community, leader says — Sun Journal
The Lewiston Sun Journal profiled Rachel Ferrante ’10, in a story highlighting her work as executive director of the Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor and discussing the museum’s upcoming changes.
Ferrante joined what was then known as Museum L-A in 2021 after working at the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York City for a decade. Ferrante led L-A through its rebranding as the Maine MILL, which is dedicated to preserving the stories of the people and innovation that have defined the twin mill towns of Lewiston and Auburn.
“When we rebranded, we rewrote our mission and vision statement as part of that. And the vision was to be a cultural hub. It’s a bit of a big vision,” Ferrante told the Sun Journal. “It is one I think is actually attainable… I think that this museum can be a cultural hub for this community.”
In 2026, the museum expects to open its new space in the former Camden Yarns Mill in Lewiston.
Olivia Seline ’24
This Bates College alum is running Boston ‘to stand against senseless violence’ — Boston.com
A student at Bates during the October 2023 shootings in Lewiston, Olivia Seline ’24 is keenly aware of the effect of violence on a community, as she writes in Boston.com’s “Why I’m Running” series, which features first-person stories from runners in this year’s Boston Marathon.
For the former Bobcat rower, the marathon is her first-ever foot race. Seline is running for the Lingzi Foundation in honor of Lingzi Lu, a graduate student at Boston University who was killed in the Boston Marathon bombing in 2013.
Seline decided to run the race after relocating to Waltham, Mass., and learning about the impacts of the bombing on her new home. “As a student and rower, Bates showed me drive, acceptance, and the power of a good meal around the table with your community,” Seline writes.
“No matter where someone comes from or how well you know them, you always look out for one another. The loss of innocent lives reminds us of the need to stand against senseless violence, protect our communities, and remain united in uncertain times. ”
Jenn Lemkin Bouchard ’99
Considering Us by Jenn Bouchard: A soul-searching, second-chance romance for readers who love a strong female lead — Kirkus Reviews
Kirkus Reviews published a review of Considering Us, the second novel from Jenn Lemkin Bouchard ’99. The romance tells the story of Devon Paige, a personal chef at a crossroads in her career as her work and personal lives collide in an unsavory fashion.
“In the course of the story, the author touches on questions of whether there is ever room for second chances in romance and what to do when life throws you a curveball,” the review reads. “Devon is entirely relatable in the position in which she has found herself, if not necessarily for how she got there.”
The review praised Bouchard’s ability to avoid tropes while also crafting a fun, introspective story.
“Bouchard does not settle for a one-dimensional story, and the romance fares better because of it,” the review reads.
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