Activities & recreation

Explore social interests through activities open to everyone

Activities, resources, and facilities are open to all members of the Bates community. And every year, new groups are formed.

Organizations

More than 110 recognized organizations, formed by students, allow Batesies to pursue their interests with kindred spirits. Some organizations’ roots reach deep into Bates’ history. The Robinson Players, for example, is one of the nation’s oldest student theater ensembles.

Students formulate new student organizations to address their needs and interests. Since 1997, the number of registered student organizations has nearly doubled.

Activities and recreation

Bates provides vans and buses that shuttle students to a variety of curricular and extracurricular activities, including skiing and whitewater rafting, excursions to the coast or mountains, movies, shopping trips and museum visits.

Outdoor recreation opportunities within minutes of campus include downhill and cross-country skiing, lake swimming and boating, and golf. Bates community members can borrow skis, boots, poles, snowshoes, toboggans, tents, packs, snowboards, skates and other outdoor equipment from the Outing Club.