The Benjamin Mays Center is part of the Residential Village. The Mays Center is used for many purposes, including lectures, movies, theatrical productions, buffets, dances, weekday lunch service, and quiet study time. The facility includes a kitchen and a fireplace and features hardwood floors, comfortable couches, and a distinctive, high-ceilinged circular atrium. The Mays Center is named for Bates alumnus Benjamin Mays '20, a civil rights leader, mentor of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., and former president of Morehouse College.