Video: Spend a minute with Mount David Summit 2023

Bates News

Stories by Bates News

Video: Spend a minute with Mount David Summit 2023

Friday, April 7, 2023 1:12 pm

Enjoy a minute of fast-paced but slow-motion moments from this year's Mount David Summit, captured by Theophil Syslo, multimedia producer for Bates Communications.

Slideshow: Minute by minute with student presenters at Mount David Summit 2023

Thursday, April 6, 2023 11:09 am

Here's what we saw and heard from students presenting their research — with gusto — to friends, professors, staff members, family, alumni, and guests.

Two seniors, inspired by personal journeys from pain to healing and justice, awarded Watson Fellowships

Friday, March 31, 2023 2:31 pm

Two Bates College seniors who seek healing and justice for others inspired by personal journeys, one from physical pain, another from the pain of dislocation from beloved land, have been awarded Thomas J. Watson Fellowships.

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.