From President Clayton Spencer

By Jake Paris. Published on April 13, 2017

Dear Members of the Bates Community,

Since 1855, we have written a story of deep intellectual engagement, powerful critical inquiry, openness to the rich diversity and complexity of the wider world, and commitment to living lives of social contribution.

It’s a story we’re proud of — and it’s only possible with the support of generations of Bates students, faculty, staff, alumni, families, and friends.

The Bates Campaign provides us with the opportunity to secure the programs and values that have defined Bates for a century and a half and to shape new strategies for a new age. This ambitious fundraising endeavor — the largest in our history — will strengthen the college for decades to come.

We will continue to be the Bates that we have been since 1855 — an institution serious about knowledge, open and equitable at our core, and joyously engaged in the project of educating the whole person. But as our far-sighted founders did in the mid-nineteenth-century, we will look to the future as a source of strength and vitality, demonstrating in all we do that the liberal arts are the most powerful and adaptable form of education ever invented.

But we can’t do any of this without you — and you won’t want to miss out.

We’re aiming for Bates … plus. Bates plus you.

Let’s do this!

With conviction,
Clayton