Alexandra DeMarco

ademarco2@bates.edu

Stories by Alexandra DeMarco
Bates Alumni in the News: April 11, 2025

Friday, April 11, 2025 10:45 am

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 rural poverty builds a billion-dollar financial firm.

Bates’ newest major, digital and computational studies, blends computer science with critique, community engagement

Tuesday, April 8, 2025 2:09 pm

Barry Lawson is a Bates computer science professor who chairs the Program…

Sophie Hafter ’25 of Brooklyn, N.Y., crafts faux birch trees for upcoming performance of ‘The Seagull’ by Anton Chekov Serene but surreal: Sophie Hafter ’25 and the art of making theatrical magic How magic is made: Sophie Hafter ’25 crafts faux birch trees for upcoming performance of ‘The Seagull’ The magic touch: Sophie Hafter ’25 brings theater to life with scenic arts creations Shown in the set shop where she paints the paper that will be wrapped around cardboard to make birch trees for the Schaeffer Theatre stage; shown on Alumni Walk with her paper trees amidst the real birch trees; and then back in Schaeffer Theatre where she continues fashioning trees. Shown with Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read who performs in the play, and with director Joshua N Hsu. Konstantin is a young playwright struggling with his artistic identity and complicated relationship with his famous actor mother, Arkadina. Konstantin’s also in love with Nina, a naive aspiring actor, who’s also infatuated with the more successful writer Trigorin, Arkadina’s lover. Aspirations, family, and romantic entanglements inevitably collide, testing Konstantin and Nina’s sense of worth and purpose. Chekhov’s wry classic skillfully intertwines the ordinary with the poetic, illustrating the duality of human existence: an existence where our dreams give us the drive to move forward, but our decisions haunt us at every turn. “The Seagull” is a darkly comedic exploration of unfulfilled ambitions, unrequited love, and the bittersweet nature of artistic success. Content Warning This production includes strong sexual content, mental illness, self-harm, intentional self-injury, discussion of suicide, alcohol abuse, offstage gunshots, simulations of using tobacco, and a realistic-looking firearm prop.
As the multitalented stage manager for ‘The Seagull,’ Sophie Hafter ’25 barks up the right trees

Wednesday, March 5, 2025 10:00 am

It’s winter, but birch trees have sprouted in Schaeffer Theatre — crafted by stage manager Sophie Hafter '25, whose scenic artistry helps "The Seagull" glide between realism and the avant-garde.

Bates named a Fulbright Top Producer for 14th straight year

Tuesday, February 25, 2025 6:17 am

“Our outstanding students further Bates’ mission of global engagement in meaningful ways,” says President Garry W. Jenkins, as five Fulbrighters embark on research and teaching around the world.

Bates Alumni in the News: Feb. 20, 2025

Thursday, February 20, 2025 10:00 am

An alumnus whose high-tech investigative talents helps to investigate humanitarian crises; the legacy of a 1951 Bates tragedy; and bestselling author Lisa Genova's new novel explores bi-polar disorder.

Ryan Bavis, Bates Helen A. Papaioanou Professor of Biological Sciences, posing in his Bonney Science Center laboratory and office. Bavis is collaborating with his friend and colleague Peter MacFarlane, assistant professor at the Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine on their discovery of a novel animal model mimicking sudden infant death syndrome. Last year, the National Institutes of Health awarded the scientists a $2.8 million grant to study the model over five years. MacFarlane is the project’s principal investigator, and $307,495 is allocated to Bates. Dr. Richard Martin of Rainbow Babies and Children’s Hospital and professor at CWRU’s School of Medicine is also a co-investigator on the project.
Two scientists, a friendship, and a problem to solve: Ryan Bavis, Peter MacFarlane receive $2.8 million NIH grant to study sudden infant death syndrome

Wednesday, February 5, 2025 11:24 am

A friendship between scientists is a finely tuned machine. It’s powered by…

Associate Professor of Education Mara Tieken, winner of the 2024 Kroepsch Teaching Award, teaches students in her course “EDUC 231 - Perspectives on Education” in Pettigrew 30 on January 16, 2025. EDUC 231 - Perspectives on Education This course introduces students to foundational perspectives (anthropological, historical, philosophical, psychological, and sociological) on education and helps students apply these perspectives to contemporary schools and classrooms. The course considers several large questions: What should be the purpose of education in a democratic society? What should be the role of the school? Who should participate in making decisions about schools? In what ways do schools reflect and perpetuate larger social inequities, and, alternately, how can they contribute to a more just and inclusive society? Students must complete at least thirty hours of fieldwork.
Teaching teachers: Associate Professor of Education Mara Tieken receives 2024 Kroepsch Award for excellence in teaching

Friday, January 24, 2025 11:22 am

As Mara Tieken was beginning her teaching career in 2002, she pulled…

When the Bates student EcoReps encounter a sustainability problem that needs solving, they don’t just sit around and debate solutions — they envision and then execute them. In two of their most recent successes, the students helped to secure funding to solve an unexpected problem with the existing electric vehicle chargers on campus and helped purchase a slew of new EVs for campus use. “It's really cool that as students, I feel like we have a voice,” says Martin Carriere ’25, an EcoRep from Davis, Calif. “I always feel like our ideas are heard. We're positioned to have bolder ideas and be able to bring those to the table.” Bates is known for its impressive achievements in sustainability, but the existential threat of climate change gives expanding the work great urgency. Carriere, a double major in politics and environmental studies, and fellow EcoRep Cassidy Meyer ’25, an environmental studies major from Carbondale, Co., are both set to graduate this month — and both are working on sustainability solutions right until the end. They even had a meeting on local renewable energy scheduled with college leaders during their last week of classes, amid the haze of studying for finals and saying goodbyes. The two pose for a portrait with the F-150 EV truck outside of Cutten Maintenance Center. And in one photograph, they pose with Paint Shop supervisor Tom Tom Espeaignnette.
Wear garnet, go green: Students and Facility Services team up to expand Bates’ EV presence

Friday, December 13, 2024 11:46 am

“It's really cool that as students, I feel like we have a voice,” says Martin Carriere ’25, a student EcoRep from Davis, Calif. “I always feel like our ideas are heard.

Art, food, decor, and more: Check out the 2024 Bates Alumni Gift Guide

Friday, December 6, 2024 12:35 pm

This year's guide features an array of products, including Lewiston-inspired items.

Bates people on stage in costumes made from recycled materials
Traditional garments, elegant gowns, and out-of-this-world outfits: Bates has a passion for Trashion

Friday, November 22, 2024 12:36 pm

At the Bates Trashion Show, one person’s trash is not just another’s treasure, but perhaps even another’s trend.