Bates alumni to convene for June reunion

Approximately 1,300 alumni, friends and family will convene at Bates for the 1998 Reunion Weekend June 5-7.

Highlights of reunion weekend include a 100th birthday celebration for longtime Lewiston resident Norman Ross, a 1922 graduate of Bates and treasurer emeritus of the college. Bates graduates from the classes of 1938, 1943, 1948, 1958, 1962, 1963, 1964, 1973, 1982, 1983, 1984 and 1988 will don costumes and, following a century-old tradition, process on the main quadrangle in the annual alumni parade at 11:30 a.m.

Following the parade, the Rev. Peter J. Gomes, a 1965 graduate of Bates and Plummer Professor of Christian Morals and minister in the Memorial Church at Harvard University, will receive the Benjamin Elijah Mays Award at a noon ceremony on the main quadrangle. The Mays Award, established in 1982 and first awarded to Dr. Benjamin Elijah Mays, a member of the class of 1920, is conferred upon a Bates alumnus or alumna who has performed distinguished service to the larger community and the college.

Laura Young Connelly of Cape Elizabeth, a 1988 graduate of Bates and campaign director for Demont & Associates Inc. of Portland, will receive the Distinguished Young Alumni Award. Given annually since 1987, the Distinguished Young Alumni Award recognizes exemplary service to the college from an alumnus or alumna who has graduated in the last 15 years. Grant C. Reynolds and his wife, Joanne T. Reynolds, will receive the Alumni Distinguished Service Award for service to the college. Grant Reynolds, a 1957 graduate of Bates, is a consultant in Potomac, Md. Joanne Reynolds, a 1958 graduate of Bates, is an associate broker for RE/MAX Realty Group in Potomac, Md.