Slideshow: This Month at Bates

The year 2020 continues to deliver the hits: this month it was a tense election and rising COVID-19 cases, providing tough realities for us all. But the community endured, learned, acted, and moved forward.

Next week, students will begin their Thanksgiving break, then complete the balance of the fall semester remotely. It’s been a remarkably challenging and unprecedented few months. But let’s not forget to call it safe and successful, too.

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Pedaling Past Hedge

Sarah MacCormick ’21 of Norwich, Vt., pedals past Hedge Hall and its maple tree on a rainy October afternoon.

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Establishing a Space

A double major in politics and Spanish from Brooklyn, N.Y., Miles Nabritt ’21 is a co-captain of the men’s track and field team and member of Bates Athletics’ newly established Bates Athletes of Color Coalition.

“Our goal is to establish space for students coming in from the Class of 2025 that we didn’t have when we came in as first-years — so students of color won’t feel as uncomfortable or as scared to be a part of, for example, a white-dominated athletic team or other white-dominated athletic groups within campus. We just want to have that space for everyone for next year and for years to come.”

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Framed Foliage

The exterior entryway arches of the Peter J. Gomes Chapel frame the Historic Quad’s fall foliage.

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Après Breakfast

After finishing an outdoor breakfast on a mild October day, Ilana Zeilinger ’23 of Washington, D.C., sits at a table in the Library Arcade doing some reading about French and American values for a comparative sociology course taught by Visiting Assistant Professor of Sociology Ben Moodie.

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What’s In the Window

Light, reflections, and foliage prompt some photography near the Class of 2010 Gate and Alumni Gymnasium

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Fit to Be Tried

From left, Freddy Hohmann ’22, Julia Middlebrook ’21, Owen Keleher ’22, and Becca Willis ’22 try out the new outdoor exercise plaza next to the Wallach Tennis Center.

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Campus Photographer

George Natsis ’24 of Wayland, Mass., photographs Jack McEvoy ’24 of Scarsdale, N.Y., holding a leaf. The two were among many members of the Bates community who paused to capture scenes of colorful fall foliage in late October.

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Ashka Descending a Staircase

Ashka Jhaveri ’22 of Chappaqua, N.Y., descends the staircase of Hathorn Hall. Opened in 1857, the building was placed on the National Register of Historic Sites in 1970.

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Golden Gate

The Class of 1910 Gate reflects the late fall afternoon sun.

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Election Day Jewel

On a cold and sunny Election Day, Amalia Herren-Lage ’22 of Shoreham, Vt., co-coordinator of Bates Votes, an initiative of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships., sports earrings with a simple message.

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Chalk It Up

Chalked on pavers outside Commons, these tally marks offer a visual, if unofficial, record of students voting on Election Day.

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Fall Fog

The morning’s thick layer of fog quickly burned off, yielding to sunshine and warmth. Ella Wolter ’23 of Hailey, Idaho, walks on by.

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Presidential Campaign Rhetoric

It’s a biennial Bates tradition: students in the academic course “Presidential Campaign Rhetoric” launching and running a campus-wide presidential campaign.

Here, the two parties’ “candidates” pose on Alumni Walk. From left, Ryan Fisse ’22, playing the Democrat’s candidate for vice president; Muskan Verma ’21, playing as U.S. senator who is the Democratic presidential candidate; George Schouten ’22, playing the a businessman who is the Republican presidential candidate; and the Republican candidate for vice president, Mia Gates ’22.

The course is taught by Stephanie Kelly-Romano, associate professor of rhetoric, film, and screen studies.

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Audition

Reading lines from Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night, Jake Lamb ’23 of Media, Pa., prepares for an audition for a winter production of the play that Deon Custard ’21 of Chicago will direct as part of his senior thesis in theater. Also undertaking directing theses are Nicky Longo ’21 (Grand Concourse) of Cambridge, Mass., and Patrick Reilly ’21 (A Gaggle of Saints) of Mendham, N.J.

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Step Studying

Gabby Smart ’23 of Clinton, Mont., studies on the steps of Coram Library for a biology course taught by Ryan Bavis, the Helen A. Papaioanou Professor of Biological Sciences, that provides an introduction to ecological and evolutionary patterns, principles, and processes.

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Danke for the Memories

On an unseasonably mild November day on the Historic Quad, Associate Professor of German Jakub Kazecki teaches his course examining the question “What is German literature?” through the lens of writers who are “difficult to incorporate into a national narrative.”

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Day’s End

The day concludes with a beautiful sunset over Lake Andrews.

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Sunburst

Silhouetted by the mid-afternoon sun, two recent Bates grads, Nolwenn Robison ’20 and Topher Castaneda ’20, catch up on the amphitheater along Alumni Walk between Lane and Pettengill halls. Robison works for the Immigrant Legal Advocacy Project in Lewiston; Castanda is a VISTA Civic Engagement Fellow at Bates.

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The Notetaker

Olivia Skillings ’22 of North Yarmouth, Maine, takes notes as she stretches out on the hillside adjacent to Hathorn Hall. She was listening to the crime podcast In the Dark for a sociology seminar on race, crime, and punishment in America, taught by Associate Professor of Sociology Mike Rocque. The episode explores the legal odyssey of Curtis Flowers.

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The Artist

“Even if you draw the same image more than once, it will never come out exactly the same,” says Joseph Vineyard ’24 of Danville, Vt., who used charcoal and a red content crayon to create two separate images of the same scene: mid-afternoon at Lake Andrews.

Using a slide transparency mount to frame his scene, Vineyard was trying to “bring out ideas of shadow, light, space, and volume,” working from realism to abstraction. The assignment was for a drawing course taught by Associate Professor of Art and Visual Culture Pamela Johnson.

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The Teenager

The Puddle’s resident great blue heron — just a juvenile — stakes out a spot amidst a few afternoon raindrops.

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Veterans Plaza Remembrance

A Bates alumnus recently placed four roses at the college’s new Veterans Plaza. Reflecting the hopes for how the plaza will be used, the flowers honored Bates veterans while inviting reflection on the impact of war on all lives.

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Beacon of Light

Reopened following extensive restoration, the Peter J. Gomes Chapel is a resplendent beacon of light. The restoration project recently won recognition from Maine Preservation.