Picture Story: Back to Bates 2024
This immersive Picture Story features images from Back to Bates weekend, Sept. 28–28. Since 1920, the fall weekend has promised alumni and families the opportunity to "grow young once more."
On behalf of The College Key Executive Committee, I want to extend continued well wishes to you and your loved ones as we head into the holiday season. By way of introduction, my name is Henry “Hank” Geng ‘13, and I’m thrilled to serve as your new President for the next three years.
I want to extend a special thanks to my predecessor Karen Finocchio ’92, who provided tremendous wisdom and leadership through the incredibly challenging and uncertain time of the early pandemic years. During this time, Karen encouraged the Executive Committee to find opportunities to lean into the virtual space and think of new ways to engage Key membership, including hosting social events on Zoom and broadcasting our annual Distinguished Alumni in Residence Program beyond campus. Thanks to her, we now have a robust virtual event recording library for all Key members to enjoy and draw from.
Despite the challenges of the continued COVID-19 pandemic and tumultuous world events such as the war in Ukraine, the College Key has continued to create an impact within the Bates community. While we’ve embraced virtual engagement tools like Zoom that have allowed us to stay connected with you all over the past few years, we haven’t lost sight of the importance of in-person activity.
As an example, we hosted the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus in Residence Christopher Tiné ‘96 for a thought-provoking session, “It’s Never a Straight Line: Adventures in Media and Business” that was broadcast to our global Key community. In addition, we were thrilled to be able to bring a hybrid audience together for our Annual Meeting during Bates Reunion in June 2022, which allowed for in-person attendance with Key members in reunion years and enabled us to welcome new Key members in a packed Benjamin Mays Center.
I’m thrilled to welcome two new members of the Key’s Executive Committee – Jen Crawford ‘01, who is joining us as Vice President, and Ben Hughes ‘12, who is joining us as Secretary.
A tremendous thanks to Flora Rice-Chan ‘11, who served with distinction as Secretary for the past several years, and to Don McDade ‘74, who continues in his role as Treasurer. Without Flora and Don’s good work and collegiality over the past few years, the Key would not be where it is today.
I’d be remiss if I didn’t note that Stephanie Dumont and Marianne Nolan Cowan ’92 are integral members of the Executive Committee, representing the College’s interests and bridging our support to students and Key members alike. Without them, we would not be able to provide the services to our membership and to Bates that we do.
Volunteer Opportunities
As term limits are near, we are seeking candidates for our Treasurer role to replace Don. If you’re interested in volunteering your time and energy on behalf of the Key, or you’d like to nominate a fellow Key member, please email us at thecollegekey@bates.edu.
Finally, I am humbled and honored to serve as your College Key President. On behalf of our entire Executive Committee, we welcome your suggestions and feedback as we grow our impact on Bates students and Key members. Please feel free to reach out to me directly at henrytgeng@gmail.com, or to any of my fellow Executive Committee members. We’d love to hear from you.
Warmly,
Henry Geng ‘13
College Key President
Global crises impact us all and will be with us well into 2023 and the years ahead. Thank you for your meaningful College Key gifts in response to dues appeals via newsletters and by social media. On behalf of students and the programs we support, thank you. Please send your dues/gifts each year.
Sincerely,
Donald W. McDade ’74
Treasurer, The College Key
In March 2022, the College Key welcomed Chris Tiné ‘96 as our 2022 Distinguished Alumnus in Residence. Chris is an Emmy-award-winning product and media executive who has had a remarkable career across the television, publishing, and education sectors. Chris is currently Chief Product Officer at Richardson Sales Performance, and he has held prior roles at Macmillan, BBC, PBS, and NBC News, where his team earned four Emmy nominations and an Emmy Award for their digital work. Chris graduated cum laude from Bates College with a BA in Rhetoric and holds a Master’s of Philosophy from the University of Cambridge and an MBA from Columbia Business School.
In his presentation, “It’s Never a Straight Line: Adventures in Media and Business,” Chris described his career trajectory from majoring in Rhetoric at Bates to becoming an award-winning leader in the fields of television, publishing, and education. In addition to a formative experience with Professor Bob Brahnam where he was unexpectedly recruited into the debate team during his time at Bates, Chris noted the importance of finding your true north – learning about yourself, understanding what drives you, and knowing the value you bring into an organization – and how that can help you succeed in a world where careers are rarely linear.
We were honored to hear Chris’s words and beyond proud to have him as the 2022 Distinguished Alumnus in Residence.
Annually, the College Key is proud to host the Distinguished Alumni in Residence (DAIR) program which brings together students and alumni to learn from impactful stories from remarkable Bates alumni. Recent DAIR honorees include US Marine veteran Stephanie Smith ‘87, Hubspot’s Chief People Officer Katie Burke ’03, Editor at The Boston Globe Brian McGrory ’84, U.S. Congressman Jared Golden ’11, and Microsoft’s Senior Researcher Susan Dumais ’75. If you have a potential nominee for a future DAIR, please email thecollegekey@bates.edu with information including the nominee’s name, class year, and a brief summary of the nominee’s qualifications for consideration.
Since 1993, the College Key has annually presented during Reunion Weekend the Distinguished Service Award in recognition of the dedication and excellence offered to the Bates community by truly distinguished members of the faculty and staff.
In June, the College Key was proud to present the 2022 Distinguished Service Award to Professor Michael Murray, the Charles Franklin Phillips Professor of Economics. For 35 years, Michael has been a mentor and friend to countless Bates students, passionate about the teaching, advising and scholarship that is the centerpiece to a Bates education.
Michael’s own scholarship encompasses impressive contributions in a stunning number of fields: urban economics, development, public economics, and economic pedagogy, just to name a few. Beloved by students, he was the 2017 winner of the Kroepsch Award for Teaching Excellence, an honor that recognizes faculty for their outstanding performance as teachers. He has served as a Visiting Scholar with The World Bank and Harvard University and was a Visiting Professor LUISS Guido Carli University, Rome, Italy. He has authored 3 books and 55 publications, including Econometrics: A Modern Introduction. Michael has just walked in last college commencement as the Mace Bearer who is the senior member of the Bates faculty, noting, “I’m graduating with the class of 2022.” Outside his incredible scholarly work and teaching, Professor Murray is an amateur actor who has appeared in numerous Bates productions.
However, Michael’s most important contribution has been the impact he has had on colleagues and students for more than three decades. Often praised for his enthusiasm in the classroom, he has been described as the “econ version of Dead Poets Society.” His colleagues remember his generosity as a friend and a mentor who was always gracious in reading their papers and offering advice on their work with suggestions that have been incredibly constructive and appreciated. Students have reflected that the tools he has given them are valuable regardless of what they eventually do in their professional lives. His impact reaches well beyond the classroom and lasts far beyond their time at Bates. Michael noted during the Distinguished Service Award ceremony that, “In my academic career, the best thing that has ever happened to me was to come to Bates. It has just been a fabulous place for me. The students and colleagues I have had have made it a wonderful way to spend my life.” Our community could not be more grateful that Michael chose Bates, and we wish him a heartfelt congratulations to him for his decades of dedication to Bates College.
The College Key was formed in 1992 by the merger of the College Club, which was founded in 1891, and the Bates Key, established in 1936.
The purpose of the College Key is to recognize outstanding Bates alumni(ae); encourage and recognize student academic and extracurricular achievement; support academics, student life, and campus improvement; provide student aid including scholarships and other kinds of financial assistance; and contribute to the general welfare of the College.
This year, we continued this tradition with the induction of 20 new alumni(ae) and 28 members of the Class of 2022 into the College Key.
Current juniors and members of the graduating class can be nominated for induction by Bates faculty and staff. Inductees from the Class of 2022 were welcomed as part of their Commencement Weekend celebrations on May 27, 2022.
Alumni can be nominated by fellow alumni, staff, and faculty through the College Key’s online nominations form. For the 2022 cohort, the Alumni nomination committee was composed of Sally Ehrenfried ’89, Gretchen Shorter Davis ’61, Teddy Rube ’16, and Flora Chan ’11. Alumni nominees are considered by the College Key selection committee based on their continued service to the College, leadership in the community, success in a chosen field, and character. Alumni inductees for 2022 were welcomed during the College Key Annual Meeting on June 10, 2022.
2022 Alumni Inductees
Class of 2022 Inductees