Good morning! Greetings, everyone, and welcome! It is terrific to see you all gathered here, in this special place, ready to launch a new academic year at Bates College.

I’m Garry W. Jenkins, my pronouns are he/him, and I’m the president of Bates.

Before I begin my formal remarks, I just want to thank all of those who played a role in pulling this major event together. There are too many people and too many departments to name individually. But we can still thank them. Please join me in showing our appreciation for all their hard work.

I’m so excited for this academic year—my second at Bates—because of the warmth and openness and enthusiasm that I saw last year. Our community has the capacity for greatness, to be a place like no other. So, let’s make this a terrific year, together.

For now, let me start with some welcomes!

First, welcome, new members of the faculty! We are so pleased that you have joined us and will be bringing your particular scholarly expertise and joy of teaching to our intellectual community and to the academic enterprise.

Welcome, too, to new staff colleagues! All across this campus, you are part of teams that contribute mightily to Bates’ mission, in many different ways, and I am so glad that you are here.

And a huge, hearty, special welcome and congratulations to the Class of 2028! I hope that you have started to settle in, make connections, and learn a little more about what this place is about. You will each make your mark here, in your own way, and you will have one another and the rest of this community to support you as you explore and learn and grow over the next four years. We’re here for you—and we know you’re here for those around you.

Finally, welcome to all the returning members of the Bates community in the audience: faculty, staff, and students. We are thrilled that you are back and bringing the campus fully back to life.

This ceremony, our Opening Convocation, is the formal induction of the newest class of students into the Bates community. So, let me give you the outline of our program today.

I will offer a few words, and the class will then be welcomed by your student government co-presidents, Sivani Arvapalli [arr-vah-PAH-lee] and Ethan Chan.

Sivani is a junior biochemistry major from South Windsor, Connecticut. She is a Bonner Leader, an AESOP Coordinator, an admission tour guide, a member of the water polo team, and manager of Campus Activities and Traditions, the student-led organization that oversees all-campus events and programs.

Ethan is a member of the Class of 2025, and a major in economics and politics. He is from Westborough, Massachusetts. His past campus involvements include serving as chair of the Funding and Activities Board, as vice president of the Asian Students Association Board, as Bates Votes Student Lead, and as an economics research assistant.

Following their remarks, we will have the convocation address, delivered by Sonja Pieck, the Clark A. Griffith Professor of Environmental Studies. The convocation speaker is chosen by the outgoing senior class as a gift to the incoming first-year class—and Professor Pieck was the choice of the Class of 2024 for the Class of 2028.

Professor Pieck is a human geographer and an award-winning scholar, who looks at how ideas like cultural landscapes and biodiversity are produced and how they become meaningful to different groups of people. She is also interested in environmental governance and political participation, especially as they relate to nature and natural resources. In addition to her appointment in Environmental Studies, Professor Pieck teaches in Latin American and Latinx Studies. She holds a Ph.D. from Clark University.

Finally, at the end of the ceremony, Brittany Longsdorf, our multifaith chaplain, will lead us in a benediction, after which we will march out, as we marched in, led by the mace bearer and our faculty marshals. There will then be a brief tree planting ceremony on the Quad path that leads to Lindholm House, honoring those members of our community who have died during this past year.

Before I turn the podium over to Sivani and Ethan and then Sonja, I’d like to say just a few words to the entering class.

I love that this ceremony takes place in the same spot every year. It’s also the same spot where Bates holds commencement each year. So, it’s here… at the heart of a beautiful campus, where generations of Batesies have come to celebrate both the start and the summation of their studies. It reminds us of what a rich, rich legacy we are all a part of. One that is grounded in the liberal arts as a dynamic force for public good, grounded in the affirmation of human potential and the power of embracing and celebrating differences. That’s grounded in the value of open inquiry and dialogue, in the power of ideas, in seeing and growing and developing the whole person in all of our humanity, all rooted in a powerful sense of place… and being part of local, regional, and global ecosystems. And, in this year, and as we sit and stand in this place, it’s our turn, our job, our commitment to carry those ideals and this institution into our lives and into the future.

Class of 2028, you are a remarkably talented group, bringing experiences and accomplishments and ambitions from all across the globe to this little corner of Maine. I may be biased, but I think you have chosen brilliantly when it comes to the quality of your undergraduate education. Because:

1. First and foremost, you will be challenged here to work hard in order to learn, grow, and stretch yourselves in our classrooms, studios, and labs. The Bates faculty, who are gathered here today in their academic regalia, are among the most distinguished teacher-scholars in their fields. They have high expectations, but you will rise to meet them, learning so much along the way … and when you come back to this very site to receive your diploma, one of the things most of you will say is that during your years at Bates you will have learned that you are capable of far more than you had before thought possible.

2. While so much has been accomplished at and because of this important institution, the best is truly yet to come. I have faith in you and what you will all achieve.

You are here because you are meant to be here—each bringing something special and unique to the particular alchemy of this class and this moment in Bates’ history.

You are meant to be here, and we—Bates’ exceptionally dedicated faculty and staff—are here, as I said up front, to help you as you explore all that your new home has to offer. We’re here to support your academic work, your decision-making, your explorations into new subjects and ideas and ways of engaging with the wider world. So don’t hesitate to ask questions or seek advice.

We can’t wait to get to know you.

Before we move on, I want to talk a bit more about the idea of exploring new topics, new ideas, new ways of engaging with the world and those around you.

My hope for you and request of you is this: That you commence this new chapter of your lives—start your Bates journey—join this academic and social community—with a spirit of openness.

This means diving into your college experience with an eagerness for the new and a hunger for the as-yet-undiscovered. You are here to be adventurers—seekers—learners. Give in to your curiosity.  Take a class in that department you had maybe never heard of before you started looking through the course offerings. Try a sport, or an activity, or an art, or a club that you’ve perhaps never had a chance to check out until now. Assume that there are sides to yourself that even you do not yet know—and take them for a spin. 

Openness also means embracing that you—like everyone around you, including your professors, including me—do not know all there is to know. And that what you do know, or think you know, might be worth questioning a little more deeply. That those around you might have new ideas or opinions or passions that speak to you, that challenge you, that stimulate you to investigate further, or to expand your perspective. In many ways college is a place for unlearning as well as learning, a place to both deepen your commitments and change your mind (or even your heart).

It can be a little scary, being open in this way. But as the writer George Saunders said, “Don’t be afraid to be confused. Try to remain permanently confused. Anything is possible. Stay open, forever, so open it hurts, and then open up some more.”^[1]

I started my career as an academic and scholar exactly 20 years ago this summer. I left a career in law because I wanted to teach, to write, to be a part of a dynamic intellectual community. I love higher education—I love being a professor and an administrator because I get to think critically and creatively and be exposed to new ideas from faculty colleagues, from peers in my field at other institutions, from students. But to do that well, to take full advantage of the privilege of being in the academy, I have to open myself up. And that sometimes means fighting the urge to say or think “How could anyone think x, or support y, or believe z?” Have any of you said or thought that before?

I have. I’m not proud of it…but I have. It’s something I—we—need to continually work on. Because to not fight that instinct, to not resist that urge, is to demean others, to ignore the dignity and humanity of others, to put ourselves on a pedestal, and to undermine any genuine chance of building a true community.

We need to learn both how to listen and how to be heard; how to make an argument and how to really understand the arguments and feelings of others. We need to learn how to relate and connect across differences, how to thoughtfully consider the ways our approaches and actions may be affecting others and how we use that information to pivot or reframe if necessary. We need to commit to empathy when it comes to our treatment of others (both in-person and online) and learn from our missteps. We need to learn how to see and embrace the complexity rather than simply assert the certainty. These lessons and skills are in preparation for the post-college real world, where you will inevitably confront a wide range of views/perspectives.

A community can only thrive when there’s both give and take. It’s no secret that some college campuses have been fractured of late. We must all contribute our talents to this place, and our ideas and opinions too—but we must be equally devoted to receiving what others bring to the table, open and accepting to their thoughts and views and arguments and beliefs, even if they are different, even if we may disagree on a deeply held conviction. Our role as a member of this community isn’t just to advocate for our own point of view. We must each commit, as well, to being curious about others and how they see the world.It is in earnest, open dialogue with one another that we will all grow—as individuals, and as a collective.

It’s okay and good that not everyone has to agree with each other, but we still live with one another, support one another, and accept one another as one community. This is part of what defines us at Bates, and I hope it is part of what you have already discovered about this college—and part of what drew you here. We work together to create a culture that both sustains, and is sustained by, openness. It is not always easy work—but it is the work we do together for the broadening and bettering of ourselves, our community, and our world.

You begin your college careers in, shall we say, interesting times. We have a hotly contested, emotional presidential election coming our way in a few short weeks. As a society, our commitment to openness and civil discourse will be tested as we struggle to meet across lines of discord and difference. It’s going to be a challenging time in the U.S. But I believe in this community. I believe in Bates. And that means I believe in each of you, and in your commitment to openness, to engagement, to active listening, and to respect for those around you. This is the Bates I know and love. This is the community into which I am so proud to welcome you.

I’m going to end, as I did last year, with the good advice from my Mom: learn, care, share, and enjoy.

Now, please join me in welcoming first, your BCSG co-presidents, Sivani Arvapalli and Ethan Chan, followed by Professor Sonja Pieck.

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^[1] George Saunders, The Braindead Megaphone, p. 55.