Each summer, the Bates campus breathes in moments of stillness and exhales bursts of energy: budding flowers, workers tending to grounds and gardens, and early risers catching light on Lake Andrews. When it comes to this summer at Bates, life flows on — gently and purposefully, and steadily preparing for the new year to come.
Open Spaces
Where did all the Perry Atrium furniture go? How are Bates students going to enjoy their midday naps?
Have no fear: The furniture’s exit was only temporary, for cleaning and to clear the space for summer programs, especially the jam-packed science poster sessions presented by visiting researchers who come to campus for a series of Gordon Research Conferences.
Bloom Crew
Ian Brownlie of the Facility Services grounds and maintenance team poses with his summer colleague, Vyshu Viju ‘26, of Atlanta. The two took a break from the work of trimming, weeding, and raking, all of which creates a beautiful campus enjoyed by visitors and campus folks alike.
Dawn Time
The light of the rising sun creates a rapidly changing scene at Lake Andrews.
The novelist and nonfiction writer Anne Lamott wrote, “Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: You don’t give up.”
Healing Hands
Buddhist nuns from Tibet, visiting Maine in June through the support of Venerable Tenzin Dasel ’88, created a colorful, exquisite sand mandala in Gomes Chapel.
Tenzin Dasel serves as a spiritual advisor in Buddhism to the Multifaith Chaplaincy at Bates. She asked the nuns to create the mandala, a Buddhist healing ritual, to help the ongoing recovery from the mass shootings of Oct. 25 — thus the specific choice of the Medicine Buddha mandala, known as the embodiment of healing energy.
Help Is on the Way
Paul Adutwum ’27 (left) of Tepa, Ghana, and Bora Lugunda ’25 of Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of Congo, break from work at the Information Technology Help Desk in Ladd Library to pose for a portrait.
This was Lugunda’s third summer as a field tech, taking care of faculty, staff, and lab setups and upgrades. Adutwum’s first Bates summer was split between the Help Desk and the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, where he wrote blog posts featuring student experiences in community engagement with Lewiston-Auburn.
Ever Forward
Altocumulus clouds flow past the moon in its waning crescent phase in early July. The waning phase is a good time to see the features of the moon’s surface. Craters and mountains cast long shadows, making them easier to observe with a telescope or binoculars — or a camera lens.
Annual Cycle
Each June, Bates hosts visiting cyclists who are taking part in the annual Trek Across Maine, a major fundraiser for the American Lung Association.
This year’s event brought together more than 600 riders and volunteers at Bates for their overnight stay and some Bates hospitality: dining in Commons, full access to Merrill Gym and Underhill Arena, and sleeping in campus housing.
Pride Time
Campus Safety Officer Kevin Michaud had the honor of raising the Pride Flag for this year’s Pride Month observance at Garcelon Field in June. Michaud, who is the Campus Safety liaison to the LGBTQ+ student community at Bates, expressed appreciation for the college’s leadership and for the large crowd that gathered around the flag pole for the event.
Finishing Strong
Associate Professor of Sociology Heidi Taylor raises her arms as she finishes the annual B-Well 5K run and walk, over a course that winds through campus and concludes with a long home stretch of about 1,000 feet on Alumni Walk. This year’s event, part of Employee Enrichment Week, drew nearly 200 participants, including President Garry W. Jenkins, who offered awards at a post-event ceremony.
Garden Flow
Katie Camire teaches a yoga class in the Muskie Garden, part of Bates Employee Enrichment Week offerings. Sponsored by Human Resources, the annual Enrichment Week celebrates a job well done during the prior academic year and provides opportunities to connect with each other, elevate their skill sets, and feel empowered to try new things.
Hathorn’s Honey
Brian Mason, owner of Spicer Bees, holds a dripping piece of honeycomb that was part of a large honeybee hive that he and Facility Services carpenter Matt Capone removed from Hathorn Hall in July.
Mason was able to save parts of the comb, which, in addition to honey, contains the brood — eggs, larvae, and pupae — for his apiary in Whitefield, Maine.
Court to Choreography
A practice session for the Bates Dance Festival’s Young Dancers Intensive takes over the floor in Alumni Gym in July. The dancers were part of Alfonso Cervera’s contemporary practice class. Meanwhile, next door in the Gray Athletic Building was a street styles class taught by Brandon Juezan-Williams.
Junior Researchers
Sebenele Lukhele ’26 (left) and Anna Kurianova ’26 (center) use a technique known as Western Blot to extract, quantify, and prepare protein samples for analysis in the Bonney Science Center research lab of Martin Kruse (right), associate professor of biology and neuroscience.
Lukhele, a biological chemistry major from Manzini, Eswatini, and Kurianova, a double major in biological chemistry and politics from Moscow, were among nearly five dozen students who did funded research this summer alongside Bates professors in 14 different academic disciplines in the humanities, natural sciences, social sciences, and interdisciplinary fields.
Color Me Impressed
Dazzling cornflowers (echinacea) create a circle of color around the flag pole on the Historic Quad.
The cone-like center of echinacea attracts butterflies and bees, and the seed heads attract songbirds such as goldfinches after blooming.
Market Play
Ella Caron ’27 of Lewiston and Eric Fleischmann ‘23 set up cornhole boards, each decorated with farm- and food-themed artwork, at the Lewiston Farmers’ Market. Over the summer, Caron was coordinator of the market’s Kids Club, while Fleischmann coordinated the market’s information booth.
Suited to a T
This year’s senior coordinators of AESOP, the college’s Annual Entering Student Orientation Program, toss AESOP T-shirts into the air as they pose for a portait in Memorial Commons in Chase Hall.
From left are Ollie Rhee ’25, a politics major from Washington, D.C.; Ananya Rao, a double major in politics and environmental studies from Bedford, N.H.; and Dhruv Chandra, a double major in economics and math from Kolkata, India.
This year, 120 student trip leaders will lead 55 trips, both local and throughout Maine, over two nights and three days, Rao loves the way AESOP helps first-years “interact with the communities, people, and places in Lewiston-Auburn and Maine in a distinctive way. You can form close bonds with the people in your group and also get to know Lewiston and Maine.”
Purposeful Pair
While most Bates students were far from campus in the summer, the team at the Bates Center for Purposeful Work, including Hoi Ning Ngai (left) and Beverly Vari, still kept many students close to heart and mind.
Vari, associate director for employer engagement and internships, oversees the center’s summer internship program, supporting more than 120 student interns around the world. Ngai is director of employer engagement and business advising, keeping tabs on trends in career fields.
Only a Drill
President Garry W. Jenkins talks with Mel McGuire, director of information services for Human Resources, outside Lane Hall during a fire drill that was planned and deployed by HR’s environmental health and safety team.
Training Days
With a training doll next to her, Lewiston firefighter Hannah Maurais leans out a second-floor window during training exercises at a college-owned house at 126 Wood Street that has been slated for razing.
As it has done in the past, Bates invited the Lewiston Fire Department to use the old building, prior to razing, for training purposes. Over three days, firefighters trained on ventilation operations on the roof and on how to enter the building, located individuals trapped on an upper floor, and remove them safely.
The fire department values the training opportunity, as realistic firefighter training sites aren’t easy to come by — especially one that’s just a half-mile from Lewiston’s downtown fire station, which ensures that firefighters are still in a position to respond to real emergencies as they’re training.
Feeling Grounded
Although poor weather conditions prevented any launches during this year’s Lewiston-Auburn Balloon Festival, festival-goers were able to watch balloons inflate and rise while tethered. They were also able to enjoy food, rides, and music throughout the weekend.
