Speeches and Statements

  • A word on recent federal actions and Bates’ commitments
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, Like many of you, I have been following the recent executive orders and policy changes from the White House and working to understand their potential impact on Bates, our students, and our employees. Many…
  • Announcing Bates/QuestBridge partnership
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, I write to share the exciting news that Bates, along with Harvard College and the University of Richmond, has entered into a partnership with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that connects high-achieving students from low-income…
  • Strategic Planning Update
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, I am pleased to announce the membership of a steering committee for Bates’ next major strategic planning effort, which I announced in the fall community letter. The committee’s composition is listed below. I will chair…
  • Holiday Greetings from Bates
    As the year comes to a close, we share a few memorable moments from 2024 as an offering of gratitude to the Bates community near and far. Wishing you a new year full of potential. Warmly,Garry
  • Community Letter Fall 2024
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, Now that the fall semester is well underway, I thought I would share some thoughts on plans and priorities for our work together this year. As I wrote in August, 2023–24 was an extraordinary…
  • Announcement of Vice President for Student Affairs
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, I write to share the news that Rosanna Ferro will join the Bates community as vice president for student affairs, effective Dec. 2, 2024. Rosanna comes to Bates after serving as chief of education…
  • Announcement of Vice President for Communications and Marketing
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, I write to share the news that Kristen A. Lainsbury will join the Bates community as vice president for communications and marketing, effective Oct. 14, 2024. Kristen comes to Bates from Earlham College, where…
  • Staff Engagement Update: Institutional Areas of Focus
    Dear colleagues, As the HR team shared in its latest newsletter, it has been a busy summer on the staff engagement front. Human Resources staff met with divisional leaders to review their individual results from the Employee Engagement Survey; these…
  • Welcome to the new year, Batesies!
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, Welcome to the 2024–25 academic session! I hope that the start of classes today finds you excited for all that lies ahead—for yourselves, and for our Bates community—in the new academic year. I look…
  • Welcome remarks at Opening Convocation: September 3, 2024
    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…
  • One Big Year at Bates — and Another Starting Soon
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, All summer long, I have found myself reflecting on what an extraordinary year we had at Bates in 2023–24. While we had moments of challenge and tragedy, we also had abundant cause for celebration,…
  • Welcome: Commencement 2024
    President Garry W. Jenkins offered this welcome at Commencement on May 26, 2024.
  • Inaugural address, ‘Rising Together’
    Garry W. Jenkins offered these remarks at the installation ceremony of his Inauguration on May 4, 2024.
  • A note of thanks
    Dear colleagues, I want to thank you for taking the time to complete the employee engagement survey. Nearly two-thirds of our core staff responded, a rate that compares quite favorably with institutions of similar size. The collected data is now…
  • ‘President Jenkins laments the use of Blind Tiger’
    This op-ed by President Garry W. Jenkins appeared in The Bates Student newspaper on March 6, 2024.
  • Coming Soon: Staff Climate Survey
    Dear Staff Colleagues, As you know, Bates is in the midst of a process of working to better understand the sense of well-being and engagement among the members of our staff. An Employee Engagement Working Group has been active since…
  • A Note of Gratitude
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, As the fall semester concludes and we all (I hope!) look ahead to some rest and relaxation over the holiday break, I write to share a quick note of gratitude. First, Jon and I…
  • A word of care and thanks
    President Garry W. Jenkins offered this message to the campus community on Oct. 27, 2024, two days after the mass shooting in Lewiston.
  • A message to our community
    President Garry W. Jenkins offered this message to the campus community in the hours after the mass shooting in Lewiston on Oct. 25, 2024.
  • Welcome to the 2023–24 academic session
    Welcome to the 2023–24 academic session! I am thrilled to join you in kicking off what promises to be an exciting year of exploration, innovation, and engagement for Bates.
  • Welcome remarks at Opening Convocation: Sept. 5, 2023
    Greetings, everyone, and welcome. It is terrific to see you all gathered here, in this very special place, ready to launch a new academic year at Bates.
  • Bates responds to Supreme Court ruling in LGBTQ+ case
    Dear Members of the Bates Community, We write to express our serious concern about today’s Supreme Court decision in 303 Creative, LLC v. Elenis and to offer support to our LGBTQ+ community in light of this ruling. The Court invokes…
  • Bates responds to Supreme Court’s ruling on race-conscious college admissions
    Dear Members of the Bates Community: We are deeply disappointed by today’s decision by the Supreme Court, a ruling that turns back the clock on 45 years of established constitutional principle and significantly restricts the admissions practices used at many…
  • Remarks at Presidential Introduction: March 7, 2023
    Garry Jenkins delivered the following remarks to the campus community on March 7, 2023, in Alumni Gymnasium. The occasion marked his first official visit to campus as president-elect. Thank you, Andrea [Bueschel ’90] , thank you John [Gillespie ’80], for…