‘Be better. Do better. Be an arc in the bigger circle,’ graduates told at Bates College Commencement

Sunday, May 28, 2023 12:41 pm

The 157th Bates Commencement saw degrees conferred on 439 Bates seniors and an address by author and scholar J. Drew Lanham — a self-described "bird-loving Black kid" from South Carolina — who spoke about freedom and Benjamin Mays, and called on the graduates "to be better, to do better" and "to be an arc in the bigger circle" that gives power to our freedom.

Great Day 2023

Thursday, March 16, 2023 2:08 pm

‘Be someone who builds trust,’ Dr. Nirav Shah tells seniors at 156th Bates College Commencement

Sunday, May 29, 2022 2:09 pm

“We treat those with different beliefs not just as incorrect, but as ignorant," said Shah, director of the Maine Center for Disease Control and a luminary in the state’s COVID-19 response. "Don't do that," he told the seniors. Instead, "be someone who builds trust."

Great Day 2022

Wednesday, March 16, 2022 1:30 pm

Voices from MLK Day: ‘We are finished sitting quietly, insisting on the possibility of change’

Friday, January 21, 2022 11:44 am

Five speakers on MLK Day at Bates, Maine-based thinkers, practitioners, and activists, offered personal narratives and insights that vividly captured the day's theme, "What I Mean When I Say: Decolonization and Liberation."

Video: Complete 2021 Commencement video

Friday, May 28, 2021 12:38 pm

Full video of the two Commencement ceremonies — morning and afternoon — on May 27, 2021.

Great Day 2021

Tuesday, March 16, 2021 1:28 pm

MLK Day speaker Angela Davis: Biden-Harris victory ‘does not mean that we step back’

Tuesday, January 19, 2021 1:56 pm

Featured in the 2021 Martin Luther King Jr. keynote, racial justice icon Angela Davis said that activism is an essential complement to the ballot.

The rhetoric of a Bates Convocation reminds us why we’re here

Friday, September 4, 2020 11:59 am

After a summer where the endless rounds of pandemic planning and announcements seemed to define the college enterprise, Opening Convocation offered welcome reminders of what we’re all about.

Bates College graduates 463 in historic virtual Commencement ceremony

Sunday, May 31, 2020 11:48 am

From the tumult of their abbreviated senior year to the triumph of a historic graduation, the Bates College Class of 2020 graduated on Sunday in a virtual Commencement livestreamed to more than 10,000 viewers.