A pioneer in the field of African American women's history and chair of the Department of African American Studies, University of Maryland, College Park, Professor Sharon Harley is the keynote speaker for the 2006 Martin Luther King Jr. Day observances at Bates College.

On the heels of impressive performances by its debaters in the United Kingdom last month, Bates College sends five teams to this year's World Universities Debating Championships in Dublin, Ireland, from Dec. 27 through Jan. 4.

Members of the Bates College community have donated more than $16,000 in response to the Katrina Relief Initiative (KRI), a fund-raiser spearheaded by Bates students, faculty and staff, and supported by the Office of the Chaplain and the Harward Center for Community Partnerships.

John Corrie, lecturer in music at Bates College, directs the college choir in two December programs open to the public at no cost.

Rabbi Hillel Katzir of Auburn's Temple Shalom Synagogue-Center discusses his journey of religious heritage, culminating in a mid-life career change.

An internationally known scholar on the subjects of women and Islam and on the influences of Islam in America, Amina Wadud gives a talk titled "The State(s) of Muslim Women's Struggles for Gender Justice" at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 2, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave., Bates College.

Brian Turner, author of the Beatrice Hawley Award-winning poetry collection "Here Bullet" (Alice James Books, 2005), will read from his work at 7 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 30, in the Benjamin Mays Center.

Bates will purchase its entire electricity supply from renewable energy sources in Maine, specifically biomass generating plants and small hydroelectric producers, President Elaine Tuttle Hansen has announced.

For the third consecutive year, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council hosted an all-day high school forensics tournament.

With a reception on Nov. 16, the Bates community extended a warm "well done" to Erica Rand for the publication of her second book, The Ellis Island Snow Globe (Duke University Press).

Local high school students and staff will join Steve Wessler, director of the Maine Center for the Prevention of Hate Violence, for a discussion of the "Unity Project," a multiyear harassment prevention program built around the use of peer influence, at 7 p.m., Monday, Nov. 14.

Saturday brings something of a cultural feast on the Bates campus, with performances by the Bates College Orchestra, former Phish guitarist Trey Anastasio and the Modern Dance Company — which also performs Sunday and Monday.

Bates College has named Laurie O'Higgins, professor of classical and medieval studies, as successor to Anne Thompson in the position of Euterpe B. Dukakis Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies. She will deliver her inaugural lecture at 4:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 9, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

William Cronon, a leading scholar on the human relationship with land and nature, visits Bates College to give the ninth annual Otis Lecture at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 10, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

From now through the holidays, Bates students, faculty and staff are being asked to bring back overdue books and videos to the college's Ladd Library and, instead of paying fines, donate food for the needy. All donations will be delivered to the Good Shepherd Food Pantry.

On Friday, Nov. 11, high school juniors and seniors from all over Maine are invited to visit Bates College for the college's 25th annual Maine Day.

In honor of Rosa Parks' legacy of leadership and life contributions to the struggle for civil and human rights, the Martin Luther King Day Committee and the Multicultural Center of Bates College held a program in memoriam and appreciation from 4:15 to 5:30 p.m. Wednesday, Nov. 2, in the Benjamin Mays Center.

Stephen Prothero, professor of religion at Boston University, will give a presentation titled "Religious Literacy: What Americans Don't Know About the World's Religions, and Why Their Ignorance Is Imperiling Our Politics."

A symposium at the Bates College Museum of Art this weekend relates the visual arts to cryptozoology, the study of unknown, rumored or hidden animals.

One of William Shakespeare's first comedies, "The Taming of the Shrew" is the major fall production of the Bates College theater department. Directed by Professor of Theater Paul Kuritz, "The Taming of the Shrew" will be performed at 8 p.m. Wednesday through Saturday, Nov. 2-5, and 2 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 6, in Gannett Theater, Pettigrew Hall, Andrews Road. Admission is $6 for the general public and $3 for Bates faculty and staff, senior citizens and non-Bates students.

Meena Alexander, an award-winning poet, novelist and memoirist, will read from her poetry at 7:30 p.m. Monday, Nov. 7, in Chase Hall Lounge.

Bates College has named James W. Hughes, a member of the economics faculty since 1992, as the Thomas Sowell Professor of Economics. Hughes presents his inaugural lecture as Sowell Professor at 5:15 p.m. Friday, Oct. 28, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

Members of the Bates College community will hold a vigil for victims of the earthquake in Pakistan and the hurricane in Central America at 7 p.m. Monday, Oct. 17, in the Bates College Chapel, College Street.

Ijaz Shafi Gilani, an expert on Pakistani public opinion and international relations, will visit Bates College from Oct. 3 through Nov. 11.

Lectures at Bates this week shed light on three diverse, yet equally momentous, realms of contemporary concern.

Ninety-six percent of Bates College seniors and alumni applying to graduate programs in the health professions for fall 2005 matriculation were accepted. Ninety-one percent of Bates applicants were accepted into medical or osteopathic schools, vs. a national average of around 49 percent, according to a report issued on Oct. 10 by the college's Medical Studies Committee.

Pulitzer Prize-winning novelist Richard Ford reads from his work at 8 p.m., Thursday, Oct. 13, in Chase Hall Lounge, Campus Avenue, Bates College.

The Bates College Office of Multicultural Affairs hosts Dan Taulapapa McMullin, a Samoan American writer, painter and filmmaker, as a weeklong artist in residence.

A trio led by Andy Statman, who parlayed 1970s acclaim as a "Newgrass" mandolinist into renewed renown as a klezmer clarinetist, opens the 2005-06 Bates College Concert Series on Sunday, Oct. 9. The series of four 8 p.m. concerts also features the quartet led by jazz saxophonist Kenny Garrett (Jan. 6), the St. Lawrence String Quartet (Feb. 4) and a program of South American music by classical guitarist Michael Nigro (March 4).

Bates College has joined the international outpouring of support for the Gulf Coast regions devastated by Hurricane Katrina.

A trio led by Andy Statman, who parlayed 1970s acclaim as a "Newgrass" mandolinist into renewed renown as a klezmer clarinetist, opens the 2005-06 Bates College Concert Series on Sunday, Oct. 9. The series of four 8 p.m. concerts also features the quartet led by jazz saxophonist Kenny Garrett (Jan. 6), the St. Lawrence String Quartet (Feb. 4) and a program of South American music by classical guitarist Michael Nigro (March 4).

Coming to the Bates College Museum of Art in October are an exhibition of prints by Robert Indiana and a symposium relating the visual arts to cryptozoology, the study of unknown, rumored or hidden animals.

David Horowitz and Al Franken, authors and political commentators who represent distinctly opposed social and political viewpoints, are scheduled to speak within days of each other at Bates College.

For the fourth year, Bates College students are coordinating a program that matches fellow students with volunteer opportunities in the Lewiston-Auburn region.

Americans for Informed Democracy, a non-partisan student organization, hosts an event this week that will allow Bates students some virtual face time via a live video link with leaders at the United Nations' 2005 World Summit. The session takes place from 1 to 2:30 p.m. Friday, Sept. 16, in Pettengill Hall, Room G13.

The Bates College Multicultural Center presents an opening reception for "Bagels and Grits: Exploring Jewish Life in the Deep South," an exhibition of photographs by Bill Aron.

Speakers who addressed the Convocation audience Sept. 6 offered ample food for thought to the incoming Class of 2009, from the historical evolution of academic freedom to life lessons implicit in the Bates education.

The Rev. Peter J. Gomes, named one of America's most influential preachers by Time Magazine, opens the 151st academic year at Bates College with a convocation address at 4:10 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 6, on the main quadrangle. In case of rain, the event will take place in Alumni Gymnasium.

In the "U.S. News & World Report" 2006 edition of "America's Best Colleges," Bates ranks 21st nationally among 215 liberal arts colleges. The magazine says its rankings are based on a mix of peer assessment, rates of student retention and graduation, faculty resources, admissions selectivity, financial resources and alumni giving.

Bates College Dining Services was one of two colleges to share a silver award in the 2005 Loyal E. Horton Dining Awards, presented annually by the National Association of College and University Food Services (NACUFS).

For the third year, students starting their Bates College careers will discover their new community up close and personal through a walking tour of downtown Lewiston and Auburn led by community leaders.

Bates College has received a $300,000 grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation to fund a learning-associates program that in the past has involved experts like author Carolyn Chute and film director István Szabó in work with senior thesis students.

Bates College swimmer Phil Barr (Lincoln, R.I.), a survivor of the 2003 Station nightclub fire in West Warwick, R.I., who made an inspirational return to varsity swimming his senior year despite damaged lungs, was named the male 2005 NCAA Sportsmanship Award winner.

The Peter Jay Sharp Foundation of New York City has granted $150,000 to support the Thousand Words Project, a middle-school outreach program at the Bates College Museum of Art.

The Bates College Museum of Art is the subject of a half-hour profile in the television series "The Maine Art Museum Trail," an original production of the Maine Public Broadcasting Network. The program will be broadcast at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 20, on the stations of MPBN.

Why did one Australian bird species go extinct while another survived? Bates geochemist Beverly Johnson is part of a research team that may have found the answer.

The annual "Different Voices" concert features an inspiring night of dance from around the globe as visiting artists from the United States, Mexico, Indonesia, Japan, South Africa and the Democratic Republic of the Congo bring new works to the Bates Dance Festival stage.

Lois Lowry, winner of the 1990 Newbury Award for Number the Stars, will speak at Bates College at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 4, in the Keck Classroom (Room G52), located on the ground floor of Pettengill Hall.

The 2005 Faculty Gala concert, presented at 8 p.m. Saturday, Aug. 6, at Shaeffer Theatre, showcases the exceptional diversity and talent of such choreographers as Sean Curran, David Dorfman, Spanish dancer Clara Ramona and ballet artist Rachel List.

President Elaine Tuttle Hansen has announced five appointments to the Bates College Board of Trustees: Robert E. Burke of Boston, Mass.; Marjorie Northrop Friedman of Dallas, Texas; Jennifer L. Guckel of Charlestown, Mass.; Dana Petersen Moore of Baltimore, Md.; and Quoc K. Tran of Omaha, Neb.

Nathaniel Walton '08, president of the Bates College Republicans, was elected state chairman of the Maine College Republicans on July 16.

The Bates Dance Festival presents BESSIE Award-winning choreographer Bebe Miller's "Landing/Place," a highly kinetic, visually captivating work for five dancers using dance for the camera, interactive digital media and performance, at 8 p.m. Friday and Saturday, July 29 and 30, at Schaeffer Theatre.

Internationally recognized authors Adam and Arlie Hochschild, who frequently summer in Maine, lead a two-hour discussion titled "Finding Our Way in Bush's America" at 7 p.m. Friday, July 29, in the Keck Classroom (G52), Pettengill Hall.

The fifth annual Clean Sweep, the Bates College "garage sale" of furnishings and other goods donated by departing students, generated $12,222 in proceeds that were divided among a variety of local schools and nonprofit organizations.

Jane Comfort and Company returns to the Bates Dance Festival to present Persephone and Underground River.

The 2005 Bates College Midsummer Lakeside Concert Series concludes at 6 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 11, with a program of Irish music by Brendan Taaffe, Matt Heaton and Shannon Heaton.

Bates College Director of Athletics Suzanne Coffey has been selected as Division III athletic director of the year for the northeastern United States.

Jenny Allen has been named Bates College sports information director in the Office of Communications and Media Relations.

Keigwin + Company kicks off the five-week 2005 Bates Dance Festival performance series with a dazzling program of Maine premieres.

Artwork by Bates College faculty and artwork exploring diverse visions of the Maine landscape constitute the summer exhibitions at the Bates College Museum of Art, located at 75 Russell St.

When a research institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison awarded travel grants for an emotions-research symposium, most of the recipients were graduate students and postdocs. But two were Bates students.

Speaking at the 139th commencement ceremony at Bates College, NBC Nightly News anchor Brian Williams observed that this graduating class will be known as the Class of 9/11, which occurred just weeks after they started college.

With a meet-record effort, Kelly Godsey '06 captured the national title in the hammer throw at the NCAA Division III Track and Field Championships.

Five honorary degree recipients will speak at the 139th commencement at Bates on May 30. They are composer Thomas Jefferson "T.J." Anderson, theoretical biologist Lynn Margulis, entrepreneur and engineer Paul Soros and his wife, Daisy M. Soros, and NBC Nightly News anchor and managing editor Brian Williams.

Andrew Carnegie probably never considered making a gift in honor of fellow philanthropist John D. Rockefeller. But on Monday afternoon at the College's Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, one champion of Bates philanthropy celebrated another.

Eighty-three percent of Bates College seniors and alumni applying to graduate programs in the health professions were accepted for matriculation in fall 2004.

Donald “Dee” Rowe, legendary former Worcester Academy and University of Connecticut basketball coach, will deliver the keynote address at the inaugural induction ceremony of the newly created Bates College Scholar-Athlete Society at 5 p.m. Saturday, May 28, at the Mays Center on the Bates College campus. Rowe will also be inducted as the society’s first honorary member.

Juan Williams, senior correspondent for National Public Radio's "Morning Edition" and author of an acclaimed biography of Supreme Court Justice Thurgood Marshall, will give a lecture titled "The Legacy of Brown vs. the Board of Education" at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, May 12, in the Bates College Chapel. The public is invited free of charge.

As Bates College celebrates its sesquicentennial year, senior Alexander Verhave of Wellesley, Mass., has mounted an exhibit of black and white photographs titled "Bates College 2005."

A panel of experts in the fields of law, philosophy and bioethics will discuss the implications of the Terri Schiavo case at 10 a.m. Tuesday, May 17, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives at Bates College, 70 Campus Ave.

Some 520 students will present nearly 400 research projects in the sixth annual Lewiston High School Science Fair, taking place in the high school gymnasium, 156 East Ave., from 3 to 6 p.m Thursday, May 5.

The state of Maine's pivotal role in the founding of Bates College 150 years ago promises to make today's State House celebration a proud event for both College and state.

Two different service programs will bring more than 100 volunteer carpenters, painters, roofers and others together to refurbish two Lewiston homes on Saturday, April 30.

A double major in chemistry and environmental studies, Erin Bertrand '05 has learned the art of seeing both the trees and the forest.

Bates College is the nation's "best value" college, The Princeton Review announced April 18. The New York-based education services company features the school in its "Top 10 Best Value Colleges" ranking list in the 2006 edition of its book, "America's Best Value Colleges," which goes on sale April 19, 2005.

In its highest rating ever, the Bates College athletics program has been ranked 19th out of 420 in the NCAA Division III winter rankings.

Short Term at Bates is known among students for pressure-cooker courses like "Cellular and Molecular Biology," aka "Cell Hell," and "Introduction to Abstraction," better known as "Math Camp." But the academic offerings during these five weeks of spring have a reputation not only for rigor but for topicality, adventurousness and even, dare we say, for fun. And Short Term units new in 2005 are no exceptions.

Bates College is one of the nation's best colleges fostering social responsibility and public service according to The Princeton Review and Campus Compact.

Michael J. Retelle, a professor of geology at Bates, is one of 13 scientists across the nation to share nearly $1,500,000 in National Science Foundation funding for Arctic research related to global climate change.

Thanks to two Bates College fellowship programs, nine Bates students will have the opportunity to pursue cultural and environmental research in countries around the globe this year.

Exhibitions now at the Bates College Museum of Art revolve around the efforts of Bates College art majors -- four who will graduate this spring and one alumna.

David M. Scobey has been named as the director of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships and as the Donald W. and Ann M. Harward Professor of Community Partnerships at Bates College, announced Vice President of Academic Affairs and Dean of Faculty Jill Reich.

Six members of the Bates College community -- four students, a psychology professor and a staffer for the chaplain's office -- were among a select group of individuals from campuses across the state to receive awards from the Maine Campus Compact in recognition of outstanding contributions in community service and service-learning.

Offering poster presentations, panel discussions, exhibits and performances, more than 250 Bates College students will take part in the fourth annual Mount David Summit, starting at 2:45 p.m. Friday, April 1, in Pettengill Hall, Andrews Road.

Faculty members in the fields of art, psychology and the study of American and African American culture were awarded tenure at Bates College this year. The three tenure recipients are assistant professor Pamela Johnson of the Department of Art and Visual Culture; associate professor John McClendon of the programs in African American studies and American cultural studies; and assistant professor Michael Sargent of the Department of Psychology.

Bates College students from Maine, Montana, New Jersey, New York state, Kazakhstan and Turkey have been named 2005 Phillips Student Fellows, recipients of an award that provides major funding for summer research projects involving meaningful immersion in different cultures.

Bates College students from Maine, Guatemala and Tennessee have received Philip J. Otis Fellowships to support research into the relationships among individuals, societies and nature, the college Dean of the Faculty's office has announced.

When a sailing ship carrying 22 college students on an educational voyage in early March rescued 49 Haitians from their disabled vessel, a Bates sophomore was right in the middle of this widely reported story.

A Jesuit priest and professor of history, John Staudenmaier will give a lecture and present the annual William Stringfellow Lecture in Justice and Peace at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 30, in Chase Hall Lounge, Chase Hall, 56 Campus Ave.

A recent adviser to the United Nations and the World Trade Organization, and University Professor at Columbia University, Jagdish Bhagwati will give a lecture titled, "Globalization: Why It Has a Human Face," at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 31, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

Richard Williamson, Charles A. Dana Professor of French at Bates College, recently received the 2005 Sister Solange Bernier Lifetime Achievement Award.

A concert of Indonesian music and dance, a play by the Russian master Anton Chekhov and an afternoon of classical Chinese opera will open windows onto the world for audiences at Bates College during the next week and a half.

Weekly Standard editor William Kristol, one of the nation's most influential neoconservative commentators, visits Bates College to discuss the impact of Sept. 11 on American foreign policy at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday, March 23, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

As a warm-up for a Bates College-hosted national debate tournament, the Brooks Quimby Debate Council debated Harvard University on the issue "The United States has a moral obligation to spread democracy around the world."

Richard Alley, whose book "The Two-Mile Time Machine" offers surprising conclusions about Earth's climate, visits Bates College to give a lecture titled "Abrupt Climate Change, the Greenhouse Effect, and How We Can Make Money Cleaning up After Ourselves" at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 10, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

This weekend, the Bates College Orchestra, a string quartet from Italy and a Chekhov drama in a brand-new translation promise ample distraction from the Endless Winter of 2005.

Bates College screens a wide variety of award-winning films with human and animal rights themes, some with visits by filmmakers, during the month of March.

The Bobcats will take on the University of Southern Maine in the NCAA Sweet 16 on Friday at 8 p.m. in Gorham. The winner will face the winner of Springfield-Wesleyan in the Elite 8 on Saturday, also in Gorham.

Amandla!, the African American student organization at Bates College, presents Unity Conference 2005, on Saturday, March 5.

The new Bates Scholar-Athlete Society "makes clear our commitment to the scholar-athlete ideal," said Bates alumnus and trustee Dan Doyle '72, who is founder and executive director of the Institute for International Sport, in Kingston, R.I.

The Maine College Republicans will host the Leadership Institute's flagship program, the Youth Leadership School, at Bates College from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday, March 12 and 13, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave. The school is the only training available for young conservative activists in Maine.

Offering music from Caribbean, Indonesian and African traditions, this year's World Music Weekend at Bates takes place Friday through Sunday, March 4-6, in the Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St.

Franklin Burroughs, author of the acclaimed books "Billy Watson's Croker Sack" and "The River Home: A Return to the Carolina Low Country," visits Bates College to give the eighth annual Otis Lecture at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, in the Edmund S. Muskie Archives, 70 Campus Ave.

Dr. Phan Thi Phi Phi, one of three Vietnamese plaintiffs in a lawsuit against American chemical manufacturers, and Susan Hammond, deputy director of the New York-based Fund for Reconciliation and Development, will discuss this historic case in a lecture titled "Agent Orange: A New Vietnam War" at 6:30 p.m. Thursday, March 3, in Chase Hall Lounge.

Edmund S. Muskie's alma mater has completed a project that tells the late U.S. statesman's story in the voices of those who knew him. Begun in 1997, the Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Project at Bates College comprises some 440 interviews with people who worked with, otherwise knew or were directly affected by Muskie, a member of the Bates class of 1936 who became Maine governor, U.S. senator, U.S. secretary of state and a candidate for the White House.

Linda Pogue, a professional management development and sales training specialist, will lead a workshop at Bates titled "Presenting Well" at 7 p.m. Wednesday, March 9, in Pettengill Hall, Keck Classroom (G52).

For the first time in Bates history, the men’s and women’s basketball teams both finished in the top four of NESCAC, giving the Bobcats home court advantage in two first-round playoff games this Saturday.

Olga Osadchaya, a Bates College senior, directs the college's fifth annual production of Eve Ensler's "The Vagina Monologues" in 8 p.m. performances Friday, Feb. 11, and Sunday, Feb. 13, in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St., Lewiston.

A British holography artist and a member of the Bates College physics faculty offer lectures relating to the current Bates College Museum of Art holography exhibition, "The Body Holographic: Harriet Casdin-Silver," at 7 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in Room 104, Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St.

An outspoken literary theorist and controversial critic of university politics, Stanley Fish will challenge the value of a liberal arts education in a talk titled "Why Liberal Arts Education Cannot Be Justified" at 4:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in Chase Hall Lounge, 56 Campus Ave., Bates College.

Scott E. Rutter, a retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel who led his battalion in the capture of Baghdad's airport in 2003, will discuss his Iraq experiences and make a case for the war at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 10, in Chase Lounge, 56 Campus Ave.

A showing of work by Portland artist Daniel Minter will be on display at Bates College through Feb. 28 in an exhibition presented for Black History Month.

The Bates College International Club hosts its annual International Dinner at 6 p.m. Sunday, Jan. 30, in the Clifton Daggett Gray Athletic Building at Bates.

Rachel Narehood Austin, associate professor of chemistry at Bates, has received two grants totaling $210,000 to support her research into the oxidation of hydrocarbons in the environment.

The Bates College Concert Series resumes at 8 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 29, with a performance by the highly accomplished classical pianist Awadagin Pratt in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall, 75 Russell St.

Bates College faculty members William Ambrose, of Poland, and Rebecca Herzig, of Lewiston, have been named this year's recipients of the college's Ruth M. and Robert H. Kroepsch Award for Excellence in Teaching.

Three members of the Bates College faculty have been awarded institutional Phillips Fellowships to support a full year's leave at full pay for the pursuit of significant scholarship, new research or the development of new courses or pedagogical approaches.

Author of the award-winning book "Transforming Knowledge," Elizabeth Minnich offers a talk titled "From Ivory Tower to Tower of Babel? Liberal Arts Education and the Quest for Shareable Grounds" at 4 p.m. Thursday, Jan. 20, in Chase Lounge, Bates College, Campus Avenue.

"The Body Holographic: Harriet Casdin-Silver," an exhibition of work by a pioneering figure in the art of holography, runs through March 19 at the Bates College Museum of Art, 75 Russell St.