News

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

🎬 The #BatesGreatDay Livestream finale is kicking off NOW!

Don't miss your chance to be part of this celebration of Bobcat generosity! Your gift before midnight honors those who shaped your Bates journey and creates opportunities for today's students.

Our exciting lineup features a Bates Bobcast with Aaron Morse, followed by our Well-Being at Bates Panel. Then enjoy an appearance by Dean Reese before ending the night strong with live a cappella performances from Take Note!

Make your impact now - every gift strengthens our community! 🐱❤️ https://www.givecampus.com/c4lh87

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

It's a Great Day to be a Bobcat! We're aiming high and hoping to hit our goal of 1855 gifts — the year of our founding — by midnight tonight!

Your support helps push forward the Bates experience we all know and love. Let's go, Bobcats!

Make your gift: give.bates.edu/it-s-a-great-d… https://t.co/rEJWeDHHix

13 Mar 2025

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

Today's the day! It’s a great day to be a Bobcat!

Join our live stream at noon EDT for a celebration with special guests, featuring Bates President Garry W. Jenkins, Dean Reese, Professors Mike Rocque and Stephanie Kelley-Romano, plus the Bates Bobcast with Aaron Morse, live a cappella performances, and more!

Help us reach our goal of 1,855 gifts, to honor the year of our founding, by making your 'Great Day' gift today!

https://give.bates.edu/it-s-a-great-day-to-be-a-bobcat-2025/?a=9775501

Bates remembers the life of master craftsman and former faculty member Thomas Moser, who died on March 5 at age 90.

A Chicago native, Moser moved to Maine in 1966 and taught speech at Bates from 1967 to 1972. In 2015, Moser returned to campus to receive an honorary degree. https://t.co/7te28mLCtW

Photo from @batescollege on Twitter on BatesCollege at 3/11/25 at 5:26PM

11 Mar 2025

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

Only 3 more days to go until it's a GREAT DAY to be a Bobcat!

Join us on Thursday, March 13 starting at 12 p.m. EDT for the livestream celebration.

Stay tuned for:
- Special updates from President Garry W. Jenkins.
- Highlight segments with Dean Reese and other beloved faculty and staff members!
- A special LIVE Bates Bobcast with the fantastic Aaron Morse.
- Mesmerizing tunes from our incredible a cappella groups.
- Student interviews and more!

Make your best Great Day gift by March 13! https://www.givecampus.com/k802sl

#BatesGreatDay

Another fantastic season for Bates women’s basketball. You make Bates proud. ❤️

BatesSports

@BatesSports

Another strong season for women’s basketball came to an end in the second round of the @NCAADIII tournament on Saturday.

Here’s the recap and photos: https://t.co/GxNwI8uoOJ

#mesports #d3hoops

9 Mar 2025

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

Bates College on TikTok

The vibes on campus when Bates women’s basketball is in the NCAA DIII Tournament. Let’s go, Bobcats!!! 🏀 @Bates Athletics @bates wobas #batescollege #liberalartscollege #studentathlete #basketball #nescac #whyd3

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege on Instagram

“Opalescence” is the word.

In the Immersive Media Studio, dancers clad in white performed against a projection of shimmery hues one moment and fiery colors the next during “My Love Is Like Eternity.” Dance major Lola Buczkowski ’25 of Jersey City, N.J., created and choreographed the dance for her @bates.theater.dance senior thesis.

Northern Baroque still life paintings inspired the production’s vivid colors and exploration of eternity and cyclical processes.

“I was thinking about the ways that still lives were a representation of the way we as a Western culture try to preserve the transient and the ephemeral and hang on to life,” Buczkowski says. “I went down this wormhole of thinking about the binary between life and death.”

During the two-hour show in the small studio, performers Buczkowski, Lydia Frew ’25 of Norwich, Vt., and Adelle Welch ’25 of Livingston, Mont., repeated their choreography twice,
creating a looped performance accompanied by a video of a picnic slowly descending into chaos.

“The first half of the piece was about making a mess, and the second half of the piece was about coalescence and things forming shape again and coming back together,” Buczkowski said.

The dancers used the small space to connect with the audience, making eye contact whenever possible.

“I wanted audience members to feel tender and vulnerable and more aware of our delicacy as people,” Buczkowski said.

During the performance, the dancers shed the sheer, reflective plastic that was wrapped around their arms, letting go of a human attempt at preservation.

(Sammy Weidenthal ’27 for Bates College)

#batescollege #moderndance #thesis #choreography #arts #liberalarts

batescollege

23d

batescollege on Instagram

As part of the 26th annual Maine Jewish Film Festival, March 1-9, Bates students are poised to discuss two extraordinary Latin American films: “Torah Tropical” — produced by the photojournalist @heidi_paster P ’27, whom the students will interview — and “The Klezmer Project.”

Students in Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Stephanie Pridgeon’s course “Screening Citizenship: Jewish Latin American Film” broke into three small groups to prepare for the Q&A sessions they will lead this week at @mainejewishfilmfest, with screenings in Portland, and at Bates.

“The post-screening Q and A is an opportunity for students to enter into dialogue with community members about a little-known topic. In discussing with the filmmaker, they explore the creative processes and lived experiences that lead to the making of a film,” Pridgeon says. “We’ve been focusing on film as a vehicle for exploring identities, both of the self and of the Other. This film—and the conversation with the producer—allows for some unique entry points into that topic.”

Pridgeon’s course, taught in Spanish, considers films from throughout Latin America made by Jewish directors. Students learn the history of Latin American film production as well as terms and skills necessary for audiovisual analysis. Moreover, the course focuses on filmmakers’ engagement with key social and political issues within their respective countries as well as on a regional or global scale.

Pridgeon’s first book “Revolutionary Visions: Jewish Life and Politics in Latin American Film,” was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2022. Her second book, “Absorption Narratives: Jewishness, Blackness, and Indigeneity in the Cultural Imaginary of the Americas,” was published by the University of Toronto Press in 2025. She is currently working on a third book analyzing the role of visual imagery of the Mexican Revolution (photography and muralism) in 20th- and 21st-century Latin American literature.

Swipe left to see Pridgeon and her students in classroom conversation. Or buy a ticket to see “Torah Tropical” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4 in Olin 204.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College) #batescollege

If it's true that "the clothes maketh the man," then Puddle Jump founders Chris Callahan ’78, Scott Copeland ’78, and Lars Llorente ’78 are certainly the leaders of Lake Andrews with these special 50th anniversary robes.

Don't miss our full PictureStory: picturestories.bates.edu/founders-dipnb… https://t.co/WHpx9twlJ8

Photo from @batescollege on Twitter on BatesCollege at 2/28/25 at 9:15PM

28 Feb 2025

batescollege

28d

batescollege on Instagram

Bates Admission

@BatesAdmission

Awesome news for Bates! Announced earlier today, @batescollege named a Top Producer of Fulbright Student Awards for the 14th year in a row!

Check out the story below to learn more about how, thanks to dedicated faculty and 1-on-1 advising, Bates grads go places.

BREAKING: Bates named "Top Producer" of @fulbrightprgrm Student awards for the 14th consecutive year!

Bates joins just 11 other undergraduate liberal arts colleges that can claim Fulbright Student Top Producer honors for 14 straight years.

Learn more: https://t.co/FgHbk0vGE8 https://t.co/DBMLckHt1e

Photo from @batesadmission on Twitter on BatesAdmission at 2/25/25 at 6:45PM

25 Feb 2025

batescollege

32d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

Bates College on TikTok

🚨ATTENTION🚨To prospective students who applied to Bates Regular Decision, our Office of Admission will release decisions by 12 p.m., (EDT) tomorrow, Saturday, March 22. #batescollege #BatesBound #regulardecision

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

12d

batescollege on Instagram

Happy Pi Day from Bates!

To celebrate, check out this colorful fall scene of Bates' Historic Quad captured by Phyllis Graber Jensen using her 360º Ricoh camera in October 2016.

The number and mathematical constant π, is approximately equal to 3.14159, or 3.14, which is the ratio of a circle's circumference to its diameter. This ratio is constant for every circle, regardless of its size.

So whether you're looking to solve for the circumference or area of a circle, or just appreciate a good circle, we hope you take a mathematical moment and give thanks to π!

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #historicquad #piday

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

14d

Bates College on Facebook

Join us TOMORROW, March 13, 2025, for this year’s Great Day to be a Bobcat, our annual giving day when we celebrate all that is great about Bates.

Let’s show our Bobcat pride by reaching 1,855 donors in celebration of the year of the college’s founding!

We’ll be bringing Bates to you starting at noon EDT, with our Great Day to be a Bobcat Livestream. Tune in for this Great Day tradition featuring students, campus celebrities, President Jenkins, and – of course! – the Bobcat.

You can make this a GREAT DAY by making your best gift to Bates. Give early, or join thousands of other alumni, families, and friends in supporting Bates on March 13 for Great Day to be a Bobcat!

#BatesGreatDay

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

17d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

18d

batescollege on Instagram

Their faces say it all.

“I have always felt that there are times in ‘The Seagull’ where the characters are speaking to me, the reader. So there are moments where our actors just turn to the audience and speak to them, about art, family, love, and legacy.”

— Guest director Joshua N Hsu, talking about how the @bates.theater.dance production of Anton Chekov’s classic tale tries to lean into a conversation with the audience.

From the fatigued resignation of the weak and ill Sorin (Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read) to the disgust of the bewildered Irina (Sophia Cattalani ’25 of Skaneateles, N.Y.) themes of love and loss dance across these actors’ finely tuned facial expressions.

The play is being staged at Schaeffer Theatre, March 6–10, 2025.

For a complete picture story, with additional thoughts from the director, click the link in our bio.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #batesarts #batestheaterdance #liberalartscollege #collegetheater #drama

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

Great Day to Be A Bobcat - Livestream

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

22d

Bates College on Facebook

Exploring Jewish identity in film and 'en español.'

As part of the 26th annual Maine Jewish Film Festival, March 1-9, Bates students are poised to discuss two extraordinary Latin American films: "Torah Tropical" — produced by the photojournalist Heidi Paster P ’27, whom the students will interview — and "The Klezmer Project."

Students in Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Stephanie Pridgeon’s course, "Screening Citizenship: Jewish Latin American Film," broke into three small groups to prepare for the Q&A sessions they will lead this week at the festival, with screenings in Portland, and at Bates.

"We’ve been focusing on film as a vehicle for exploring identities, both of the self and of the Other," says Pridgeon. "This film — and the conversation with the producer — allows for some unique entry points into that topic."

Pridgeon’s course, taught in Spanish, considers films from throughout Latin America made by Jewish directors. Students learn the history of Latin American film production as well as terms and skills necessary for audiovisual analysis. Moreover, the course focuses on filmmakers’ engagement with key social and political issues within their respective countries as well as on a regional or global scale.

Tap below to see Pridgeon and her students in classroom conversation. Or buy a ticket to see “Torah Tropical” at 7 p.m. on Tuesday, March 4 in Olin 204.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

batescollege

23d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

26d

batescollege on Instagram

Through the power of theater, these Bates students brought Lewiston history to life.

In “Unveiling Histories of Lewiston,” students in Assistant Professor of Theater Amy Huang’s “Devising Performance” course created and performed original, devised performances that were rooted in archival research and a collaboration with the Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning, and Labor (@maine_mill).

The performances and talkback, offered at the end of the fall semester at Maine MILL, 35 Canal St., provided the audience with a unique opportunity to hear stories from Lewiston’s past.

“Devising” is a contemporary performance-making practice that declines the traditional single author/choreographer/director/script model of theater in favor of a collaborative approach to generating themes, content, forms, and aesthetics for creating performance.

Under the leadership of executive director Rachel Ferrante ‘10, Maine MILL is a history and culture museum in downtown Lewiston that celebrates extraordinary stories of work and industrial ingenuity. Through its collection, exhibits, educational programming, and events, the museum invites visitors to explore how life, labor, and culture shape the present and influence the future.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #theater #performance #devisedperformance #history #lewiston #maine @bates.theater.dance @harwardcenter

batescollege

29d

batescollege on Instagram

25 Feb 2025

batescollege

33d

batescollege on Instagram

Check out the final installment of our 50th anniversary Puddle Jump coverage by clicking the link in our bio.

You won’t want to miss this picture story.

(Sammy Weidenthal ‘27 for Bates College)

#batescollege #puddlejump #puddlejumpat50 #collegetraditions #liberalartscollege #maine #alumni @bates.alumni

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Has spring come to campus? It appears so!

Faculty and staff enjoyed “Coffee and Cupcakes” and cheered on our student-athletes as the Bates women’s lacrosse team (@bateswlacrosse) played Plymouth State on Garcelon Field on Thursday afternoon.

The Bobcats defeated the Panthers 21-9 in an action-filled game.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #lacrosse #mesports #d3lax

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

When asked why today was a great day, Daquan Johnson ‘27 of Cleveland responded: “It’s a great day to praise the Lord because we are all from different corners of the earth soaking in the sun in one location.”

Johnson enjoyed the first day of March break by playing worship music on the Historic Quad with friends Deborah Meillah ‘28 of Kigali, Rwanda, Vera Song ‘27 of Naperville, Ill., and Mukudzei Seramani ‘28, a Bowdoin student from Harare, Zimbabwe.

Enjoy your break, Bobcats!

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #spring #break #international

Bates College

12d

Bates College on Facebook

Wow! Yesterday was definitely a GREAT DAY to be a Bobcat!

You've done it again! The count continues, but more than 2,499 donors across our incredible community came together to support Bates. There's not much more we wish to say other than THANK YOU! We are immensely grateful for your continued support.

Please watch this video as a small token of our appreciation.

#ThankYou #BatesGreatDay #GoBobcats

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates is aiming high: 1,855 gifts by midnight to honor the year our institution was founded

President Garry W. Jenkins, interviewed by Kristen Lainsbury, vice president of Communications and Marketing, and joined by the Bobcat, congratulated donors on a livestream that continued throughout the day with a procession of Bates faculty, staff, and students.

Downstairs in Commons, a Great Day trivia event awarded prizes to students who answered questions about Bates history, then spun a wheel to collect their reward. Swipe left to see Yung Wu ’25, Max King ’26, and Finn Sheehy ’27 show off their swag. Or click the link in our bio to make your Great Day gift.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #greatday

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

🎉 GREAT DAY IS HERE! 🎉
The Bates spirit is SOARING today as we celebrate what makes our community extraordinary!

Join Christine Schwartz & Kim Trauceniek as they kick off our energetic livestream with personal donor shout-outs. Plus, tune in for President Garry Jenkins LIVE at 2:35, and more excitement throughout the day!

Check out the livestream and make your gift before midnight! Let's show our Bobcat pride! 🐱❤️

Make your gift now! https://www.givecampus.com/c4lh87

batescollege

14d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates is celebrating the life of master craftsman – and former faculty member – Thomas Moser, who died March 5 at the age of 90.

The Chicago-born Moser moved to Maine in 1966, and joined the Bates faculty in 1967. He was a tenured associate professor of speech and a vital part of the history of the Brooks Quimby Debate Council, taking over directing the council from Quimby ‘18 after the legendary director retired in 1967. A self-taught woodworker, Moser left Bates in 1972 to pursue a developing talent, turning what had started as a fixing furniture side hustle with his wife Mary in graduate school into a thriving furniture business. He would go on to craft furniture for presidents and popes, for private homes and for libraries and institutions of higher education. Today’s Bates students studying in Pettingill Hall use @thosmoser furniture.

In 2015, Moser returned to campus to receive an honorary degree. His citation as Doctor of Humane Letters quoted a 1993 USA Today interview: “I never started with the notion this could be successful,” he told the newspaper. “I just wanted to make truly well-made things of wood.”

Despite his departure from academia, teaching remained part of his life. He published five books, mentored scores of woodworkers and taught at institutions of higher education, including the University of Pennsylvania.

In 2016, he once again taught Bates students, in a practitioner-taught Short Term course “Brand Culture Building” led by Peter Bysshe ‘93.

During a field trip to the Auburn factory, Moser talked students through his evolution into a name brand, and then showed them what the materials and process looked like. “My introduction to business was through Aristotle,” he told the students, tracing a line from a long ago college classroom to a 21st century success, one built on principles of simplicity, elegance, and sustainability.

(Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #thomasmoser #inremembrance #teaching #craftsmanship

batescollege

17d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Therí Pickens’ poetry collection earns praise in the @LibraryJournal , Paul Shea explains Samsung’s stock buyback for @Marketplace, Rebecca Herzig's research on women and facial hair informs the @nytimes, and a @pschofie79 op-ed on homelessness wins @apaphilosophy prize:
#FacultyFriday
https://t.co/jStg1pvROO

7 Mar 2025

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Amidst the real birch trees on Alumni Walk, Sophie Hafter ’25, a theater major from New York City, holds one of her own birches, created as part of her work for the @batestheater production of Chekhov's "The Seagull," which opens tonight.

Learn more: bates.edu/news/2025/03/0… https://t.co/Q7jMy7uwlu

6 Mar 2025

And they’re off to the “Big Dance”!

A parade of players, coaches, trainers, communications staff, faculty, fellow athletes — and please don’t forget the driver — board their bus and wave goodbye as the Bates Women's Basketball team departed campus at noon for Scranton, Pa. https://t.co/K7mLPlWY0T

We're going dancing!

Congratulations to Bates women's basketball on their at-large bid to the @NCAADIII tournament! 🏀
#MarchMadness

NESCAC

@NESCAC

🏀NCAA Women's Basketball

Five NESCAC teams in the 64-team field
@GoUBears (NESCAC Champion) - host
@AmherstMammoths (at-large)
@BatesSports (at-large)
@BantamSports (at-large)
@TuftsJumbos (at-large)

First-round games begin March 7 & 8

3 Mar 2025

batescollege

24d

batescollege on Instagram

Just a few weeks ago, Bates women’s club ice hockey defeated UMaine 3-2 when Sophie O’Sullivan ‘27 of Wellesley, Mass., scored the game-winning goal early in overtime.

The exciting competition was made even more special by a celebration of the team’s seniors Lydia Carlos, co-captain Miranda Eisenman, Olivia Hall, co-captain April McCall, and Julia White.

The team is a student-run organization that practices almost daily and competes in the Independent Women’s Club Hockey League (IWCH). With a practice and game schedule that matches the competitiveness and intensity of a varsity sports team, the members strike a balance between being committed student-athletes while maintaining a fun club environment. They encourage players of all skill, experiences, and backgrounds to check them out.

For students who wish to continue and/or explore their passion for athletics outside of a varsity team, Bates has 13 competitive club sports to choose from.

(Avery Lehman ‘25 for Bates College)

#batescollege #icehockey #clubsports #maine

It was puppy love at first sight!

Enjoy some scenes featuring some furry, friendly visitors who came to the Bates campus for a special Valentine’s Day event hosted by Bates Campus Safety in Commons’ Fireplace Lounge on Friday, February 14, 2025. #tbt

(📷: Theophil Syslo) https://t.co/FRPnun0M4p

27 Feb 2025

batescollege

29d

batescollege on Instagram

BREAKING: Bates named a "Top Producer" of Fulbright Student awards for the 14th consecutive year!

Earlier today the @chronicleofhighered shared the news that Bates has again been named a “Top Producer” of Fulbright Student awards for 2024-25. Bates joins just 11 undergraduate liberal arts colleges that can claim Fulbright Student Top Producer honors for 14 straight years. Twice in the past seven years, Bates has been the No. 1 producer of Fulbright Student Awards.

Since 1946, @the_fulbright_program has provided more than 400,000 accomplished students, scholars, teachers, artists, and professionals of all backgrounds with the opportunity to study, teach, and conduct research abroad.

“We are honored to be again recognized as a Top Producer of Fulbright U.S. Student Awards,” Bates President Garry W. Jenkins (@presgarryjenkins) said. “It is a source of great pride at Bates that so many of our outstanding students have been part of the Fulbright program. In their work and contributions abroad, these talented young alumni further Bates’ mission of global engagement in important and meaningful ways.”

Click the link in our bio or story to read the full announcement and to learn more about our current Bates Fulbrighters!

(Theophil Syslo/Bates College)

#batescollege #fulbrighters #topproducer #globaleducation #liberalartscollege

Congratulations, Max!!!

#GoBates

BatesSports

@BatesSports

It's not often fans get to witness something amazing, but they did Saturday at the @NESCAC Championships!

It's believed that Bobcat swimmer Max Cory recorded the fastest 50-yard freestyle split in @NCAADIII HISTORY!

RECAP:
https://t.co/n1ICoQ84aN

#mesports #d3swim #GoBates https://t.co/BFKngUSwvo

24 Feb 2025

A decades-long friendship and a surprise discovery led two scientists, including Bates biology professor Ryan Bavis, to an animal model that could help scientists better understand sudden infant death syndrome — and a $2.8 million @NIH grant to study it.
brnw.ch/21wQRFh

21 Feb 2025

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

Congratulations, Bates Class of 2029! Welcome home!

Earlier this morning, the Bates Office of Admission released decisions for the Regular Decision application round.

We wish to thank all our applicants who expressed their interest in Bates. It was our pleasure getting to know you during this process.

To the Class of 2029, we encourage you to share your #BatesBound story. We also invite the extended Bates family to join us in celebrating your immense achievement by welcoming you to this incredible community of learners and leaders.

Let’s go, Bobcats!

#batescollege #regulardecision #bates2029 #admitted #welcomehome

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

One week ago today, Great Day 2025 was another success for Bates and the Bates Fund: 2,499 donors contributed a total of $1,247,332 — both figures surpassing those from 2024, with a few more mailed gifts still to arrive.

The annual Bates giving day is named after the famous Bates cheer, “It’s a great day to be a Bobcat,” coined by the late, beloved football and lacrosse coach Web Harrison ’63. To celebrate this significant accomplishment we invite you to enjoy some Great Day CatFacts! https://www.bates.edu/news/2025/03/14/catfacts-celebrating-great-day-success-with-fun-facts-like-a-muhammad-ali-statue-for-lewiston/

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

12d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

15d

Bates College on TikTok

Commons Creations is back! Watch Jasmine Gray ’27 of Atlanta, make her Pesto Breakfast Sandy 🍳. Spice up your morning egg sandwich routine with a zesty sauce that is sure to satisfy! #batescollege #liberalartscollege #commonscreations #batesdining #batescommons #collegelife #maine

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

17d

batescollege on Instagram

Bates College

Bates College on Facebook

Therí Pickens’ forthcoming poetry collection earns praise in the Library Journal, Paul Shea explains Samsung’s stock buyback strategy for Marketplace, The New York Times cites Rebecca Herzig's research on women and facial hair, and an op-ed by Paul Schofield on homelessness wins an American Philosophical Association prize.

Learn more about how Bates scholars are making an impact on the latest edition of Bates Faculty in the News. #FacultyFriday https://www.bates.edu/news/2025/02/28/bates-faculty-in-the-news-feb-28-2025/?utm_source=facebook&utm_medium=social&utm_campaign=organic&utm_content=news_facultyinthenews_feb28

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

batescollege on Instagram

If you look closely, perhaps you’ll notice that one of these birch trees on Alumni Walk isn’t real. It was made by a Bates student.

Sophie Hafter ’25 of New York City created a forest of faux birch trees for Bates’ upcoming production of “The Seagull.” Anton Chekhov’s classic tale about a gathering of artists, lovers, and dreamers on a Russian country estate will run in Schaeffer Theatre from March 6 to 10 under the direction of guest director Joshua N Hsu.

Associate Professor of Theater Chris McDowell designed the “outdoor” elements of the set, drawing on her own experience visiting Russia as a graduate student. Birches are deeply emblematic of the Russian countryside, where clusters of the white trees break up sprawling fields.

Flanking the stage, without branches and with their tops intentionally obscured, the trees subtly evoke both the natural and the surreal.

“I wanted something that reminded one of birch trees, but that felt a little more abstract,” McDowell says. “There’s a certain amount of romanticism in this play, and we didn’t want it to be hyperrealistic.”

To “grow” each tree, Hafter started with cardboard tubes stacked atop each other to make 20-foot trunks. She then dampened a large sheet of paper, painted it gray-white, and flicked black, white, and yellow paint onto the paper, using a dry brush to move the colors around and mimic a birch’s texture and colorings.

The end result was a crop of trees not dissimilar to those lining Alumni Walk.

“There’s a lot of trial and error, but I think they look pretty good,” Hafter says.

The play is Hafter’s senior thesis project; she’s working as stage manager for the production and will be writing a paper about the importance of diversity in theater crews.

“Theater and art in general, whether it’s performance or visual, is such an important tool for activism and making people aware of other experiences that they might not know about,” Hafter says.

To read the full story, click the link in our bio.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #batesarts #batestheaterdance #liberalartscollege #collegetheater #drama

batescollege

21d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

23d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

25d

batescollege on Instagram

batescollege

28d

batescollege on Instagram

BREAKING: Bates named "Top Producer" of @fulbrightprgrm Student awards for the 14th consecutive year!

Bates joins just 11 undergraduate liberal arts colleges that can claim Fulbright Student Top Producer honors for 14 straight years.

Learn more: brnw.ch/21wQWHV https://t.co/CDzH1e9RT4

25 Feb 2025

batescollege

30d

batescollege on Instagram

Community. Connection. Celebration.

Earlier in the month, the Bates, Bowdoin, and Colby Black Student Summit turned Chase Hall into a space of Black joy, excellence, and empowerment.

Students and alumni from Maine’s close-knit college trio gathered for a day filled with thoughtful panels, engaging workshops, and moments of pure connection — all hosted by Bates’ Student Center for Belonging and Community (@scbc_bates), whose director is Tonya Bailey-Curry.

“Today, we gather as a powerful community,” said Bailey-Curry, “one rooted in excellence, resilience, and the unwavering pursuit of justice, joy, and success.”

The day kicked off with a student and alumni panel, including Bates alumna Marissa Phoenix ’15, who talked about the power of having “conversations about Black joy, Black excellence, the obstacles we overcome, and the things we are yet to face.”

Also, she said, “It’s important to give back. I love Bates, I love the community, and I love the connections I made while I was here.”
Rashad King ’25 of Windsor, Conn., spoke of the summit’s power to amplify Black experiences. “It shows how Blackness has many interpretations. It dispels the myth of the Black monolith and shows the fullness of the experiences and intersections that we've had in life.”

Workshops covering burnout prevention, imposter syndrome, and Black masculinity opened deep conversations about identity, resilience, and self-care.

The Fireside Chat featured student affairs leaders from each college: Rosanna Ferro of Bates, Katie Toro-Kerrari of Bowdoin, and Gustavo Burkett of Colby, who offered insights on supporting Black students on campus.

Ferro, vice president for student affairs at Bates, said that events like the summit build community while “ensuring that every student feels truly seen and heard.”

The summit closed with a Black Student Union mixer and dance at the Benjamin E. Mays Center, named for the famed civil rights leader and 1920 Bates alumnus, who famously said, “The weather in Maine was cold, but the hearts at Bates were warm.”

Here’s to the warmth of connection and collaboration.

(Phyllis Graber Jensen/Bates College)

#batescollege #blackstudentsummit