Bates College Board of Trustees elects three new members

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Bates College Board of Trustees elects three new members

Thursday, March 30, 2023 10:55 am

Jeremy Chase ’91 is a healthcare investment professional; Shannon Griffin ’16, an analyst for community-driven real estate development; and Jason Ryan ’96, a life-sciences industry executive and board director.

Peek Behind the Curtain (Ep. 6): The curtain has risen on a spectacular Much Ado About Nothing

Friday, March 17, 2023 3:09 pm

The Bates production of Much Ado About Nothing is a whirl of color, sounds, and music, recalling nothing less than the dazzling Technicolor splendor of a 1950s MGM musical.

Announcing the next Bates president: Garry W. Jenkins, University of Minnesota Law School dean and professor

Wednesday, March 1, 2023 8:00 am

A nationally respected legal scholar, proven higher education leader, and a longtime champion of the liberal arts, Garry W. Jenkins will be the college’s ninth president and its first Black president.

Every seat in Schaeffer Theatre was taken and the audience was buzzing with excitement as they waited for the curtains to rise on the final program of the day: Sankofa, a showcase of culture put on by the Bates’ Black Student Union, features a wide variety of performances by students. Lauren Reed ’23 of Baton Rouge, La., leaps through the air during a solo dance she performed as part of Sankofa, the final event of Bates’ 2023 Martin Luther King Jr. Day programming. Sam Jean-Francois ’23 of Medford, Mass., delivered a few opening remarks, followed by a performance of “Lift Every Voice and Sing,” a hymn known as the Black national anthem, sung by Bates’ oldest all-gender Acapella group, the Crosstones, who invited the audience to rise and sing along. Sankofa, from the Ghanian Akan word for “return,” is a decade-long tradition at Bates, and represents remembrance, memory, and community. In response to the theme of this year’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day programming, “Art and Activism,” this year’s Sankofa aimed to reflect Black grief, Black resistance, and Black joy through poems, dances, speeches, songs, and skits.

Video: Put energy into changing the space rather than changing yourself — Sam Jean-Francois ’23

Friday, February 17, 2023 2:47 pm

Sam Jean-Francois ’23 shares what being an activist means: “Always questioning ways that I can make my voice heard” while paying it forward, “ensuring that everyone who's walking in after me is also heard.”

Bates recognized for national Fulbright success in 2022–23

Friday, February 10, 2023 3:35 pm

Bates College has been recognized for the dual achievement as a Top Producer of both Fulbright Student and Fulbright Scholar awards for 2022–23.

Bates College announces goal to add eight new permanent faculty positions

Monday, January 23, 2023 1:03 pm

Expanding the Bates faculty “is a matter of central importance to the strength and vitality of our academic program,” said Malcolm Hill, vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty.

Is it OK to target iconic works of art in the name of social justice? That’s what students from Bates and @morehouse1867 debated at the annual Rev. Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, Class of 1920, Debate as part of the college’s Martin Luther King Jr. Day programming. Seen above, Chijindum Dike (left) shares a post-debate celebration with John Curry. Both are students from Morehouse College, and traveled to Bates for the debate. The Bates community and friends crowded into the Olin Arts Center for a much-anticipated part of Bates’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day programming: the debate between four students; two from Morehouse, and two from Bates. The tradition honors Mays, who served as the president of Morehouse College for 27 years. King, then a student at Morehouse, referred to Mays as his “spiritual mentor.” Throughout the debate, the students responded to this year’s motion, “This house believes that the targeting of iconic works of art to advance social justice is justified,” and responded to each other and opinions from the audience. Manuel Machorro ’25 of Mexico City, a politics and philosophy double major, opened the debate on the government side with a quote from Martin Luther King Jr. “Dr. King said ‘if you can’t fly, then run, if you can’t run, then walk, if you can’t walk, then crawl, but by all means, keep moving.’ The claim that we’re gonna make from the government, is that when you’re not listened [to] by anyone, and when the government monopolizes power to destroy you, any way that you see fit is to some capacity justified in pursuing social justice.” Machorro was joined by Dike, a sophomore and double major in psychology and Chinese. The opposition was presented by Curry, a senior and triple major in philosophy, religion, and Chinese, and Andrew Montieth ’24 of Monroe, Wash., a philosophy major. The debaters referenced recent demonstrations, arguing that social justice is furthered by reclaiming spaces and public attention, and the opposition argued that some social activist action diverts attention away from the problem, and onto the targeted object.

Video: ‘Whatever wilderness you wander, you are all creatives’

Friday, January 20, 2023 1:43 pm

Watch some of the highlights of Martin Luther King Jr. Day at Bates: a day full of sharing, from poetry, music, and dance, to ideas about activism, education, and living in community.

Bates Magazine: Fall 2022

Friday, January 20, 2023 1:31 pm

Here's a flip version of the fall 2022 issue of Bates Magazine, which went in the mail last month.

2pm | All These Sons Screening and discussion. Chicago’s West and South sides are infamous for their high murder rates. In this documentary directed by Bing Liu and Joshua Altman, Marshall Hatch Jr. ’10 and Billy Moore (who served 20 years in prison for murder) create healing spaces for young men to reimagine themselves, find redemption, and embrace causes worth fighting for. Hatch, the subject of a cover story by Bates Magazine in 2021, will introduce the film. (2021; 88 min.) Sponsored by the Program in American Studies, Department of Anthropology, Department of Hispanic Studies, and Department of Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies. Location: Olin Concert Hall

Bates in the News: Jan. 20, 2023

Friday, January 20, 2023 10:10 am

Marshall Hatch '10 returns to Bates, tips from an alumna on how business leaders can help their teams combat the winter blues, and how Bates President Clayton Spencer has "defined her presidency" around the concept of work.

Professor Emeritus of English Lewis A. Turlish dies at age 80

Friday, January 13, 2023 12:02 pm

A member of the faculty from 1969 until 2008, Turlish was praised as a consummate teacher whose classroom style was “gracious, generous, witty."