BatesNews Monthly Update: December 2011

For Bates alumni, parents and friends, here’s a look some major Bates happenings of the past month, important upcoming events and a sampling of Bates people in the news.


In this issue:

1. Bates welcomes President-elect Clayton Spencer

2. Year-End Update Teleconference features Nancy Cable, Mike Bonney ’80

3. Audio slide show: Ghanaian David Longon ’14 broadens access to fresh food for Lewiston’s urban residents

4. Tiara Abell ’12 seeks Christmas experience with devout Afro-Ecuadorians

5. Did you know?

6. Tax-free IRA charitable rollover may expire — consider a year-end gift!

7. Bates in the News


1. Bates welcomes President-elect Clayton Spencer

The process that brought President-elect Clayton Spencer to Bates “was not a search at all,” she told the campus community during her Dec. 4 introduction. “It was a case of love at first sight.” Speaking to the college that she will oversee starting July 1, Spencer laid out the challenges facing the college and higher education in general. She reminded her listeners of the value of a liberal arts education, and Bates’ bold role in advancing that education.


2. Year-End Update Teleconference features Nancy Cable, Mike Bonney ’80

Interim President Nancy Cable and Board Chair Mike Bonney ’80 offer a Year-End Update Teleconference, open to all, at noon Eastern Time on Friday (tomorrow) Dec. 16. The teleconference will touch on the college’s financial health and endowment performance, and offer updates on campus facilities and program improvements. In addition, Cable and Bonney will field questions from callers about Bates today. Click here or above for information about how to join the event.


3. Audio slide show: Ghanaian David Longon ’14 broadens access to fresh food for Lewiston’s urban residents

A Bates economics major from Accra, Ghana, Longdon spent the summer as a leadership intern with Lots to Gardens, a youth-focused organization in Lewiston that uses sustainable urban agriculture to create access to fresh food.


4. Tiara Abell ’12 seeks Christmas experience with devout Afro-Ecuadorians

After witnessing Easter in the Afro-Ecuadoran village of Chota, Ecuador, during a semester abroad last year, Abell was inspired to write her Spanish thesis on the role of faith in the lives of that devoutly Catholic community. Supported by a Barlow thesis grant, she’ll spend Christmas in Chota to gather interviews and photographs for her thesis.


5. Did you know?

Thanks to the Web, the introduction of President-elect Clayton Spencer to the Bates community was a global event. The webcast drew 1,098 viewers from 41 U.S. states and 17 countries, including Malaysia, Burundi and Peru. The only continents not represented were Australia and Antarctica.


6. Tax-free IRA charitable rollover may expire — consider a year-end gift!

Besides a desire to keep Bates strong (of course!), your year-end charitable giving is often prompted by your financial and tax situation. Through Dec. 31, if you are age 70-plus you can make a tax-smart gift to Bates by taking advantage of the IRA Charitable Rollover. This provision allows you to direct up to $100,000 of your required minimum distributions to charity. Since Congress is likely not to renew this provision for 2012, please contact Erin Martin, Bates director of gift planning, at 207-786-8373 or emartin2@bates.edu for details.


7. Bates in the News

The New York Times reports on a meeting on higher education cost called by President Obama and attended by higher ed leader Jamie Merisotis ’86. The Detroit Free Press feature on the Montford Point Marines of World War II quoted Marine Col. Stephanie Smith ’87, whose father was a Montford Marine. And photographer Ryan Heffernan ’05 draws media praise for the range of his commercial work.

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