Scheduled for Oct. 1-3, Celebrate Bates! combines the college’s two biggest fall events, Homecoming Weekend for alumni and Parents Weekend, into one super weekend. The event will give the larger Bates community a chance to join in the dedication of Pettengill Hall. Tours of the building will be offered after the dedication ceremonies.

The new building is named in honor of the late Frederick B. “Pat” Pettengill ’31, and his wife, Ursula P. Pettengill. The two will attend the dedication. Located between the campus administration building, Lane Hall, and the residential Smith Hall in the area occupied by the former maintenance building, Pettengill Hall is a 90,000-square-foot structure housing fully networked teaching spaces, faculty offices, laboratories, student research centers and other facilities for seven social-science departments and four interdisciplinary programs.

The building’s design fosters the specific character of teaching and learning at Bates. The three-story Perry Atrium, named in memory of Bates alumna Joan Holmes Perry ’51, is a flexible and accessible gathering space that encourages students to integrate their academic experiences with overall life at Bates.

As part of the inaugural celebration for Pettengill Hall, Bates faculty from various disciplines will present an academic symposium on “Interdisciplinarity and the Social Sciences” from 8:45 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 2, in Pettengill Hall.