Bates retrospective: 2008 in review
Enjoy this look back at stories that represent some of the major Bates events and achievements of 2008, as published in BatesNews, the College’s monthly e-newsletter to alumni, parents and friends.
Watch the slide show
Sowell Professor of Economics James Hughes addresses an SRO crowd in Pettengill Hall's Keck Classroom about the ongoing financial crisis. In a second letter to the Bates community, President Elaine Tuttle Hansen provides more insight on the College's financial management and planning strategies, and the "people, structures, habits and values already in place to guide us." Photograph by H. Jay Burns.
The Edmund S. Muskie Oral History Project, a 10-year Bates College effort to preserve memories of people who knew the late U.S. senator and secretary of state, receives an important award from the national professional organization of oral historians. Andrea L'Hommedieu, an oral historian central to the Muskie project, receives the organization's Elizabeth B. Mason Major Project Award on behalf of Bates. Here, L'Hommedieu interviews attorney Irving Isaacson '36.
Associate Professor of Psychology Michael Sargent receives a grant of approximately $60,000 to support research into the brain's ability to link moral principles with specific judgments. Sargent's grant is part of the "Defining Wisdom Project" of the University of Chicago, a worldwide scholarly project seeking to understand the nature and benefits of wisdom.
Thomas Wenzel, Charles A. Dana Professor of Chemistry, receives a nearly $100,000 grant from the National Science Foundation to create an entirely online undergraduate curriculum in analytical chemistry. Distinctive in two ways, the curriculum will use collaborative learning instead of "lecture mode" and feature problem-based labs instead of "cookbook labs" that typically characterize chemistry instruction.
An uncommon honor goes to theater major Sulochana Dissanayake '09 of Pita Kotte, Sri Lanka, who is tapped to direct the mainstage production of "A Lie of the Mind." "Sulo is a great collaborator," says Katalin Vecsey, lecturer in the theater department and vocal director for theater productions. "She's also very creative and very considerate, and that makes her a great director." Vecsey says it's the first time in her 14 years at Bates that a student has directed a mainstage theater production. At left, Jacob Lewis '09 of Katonah, N.Y., plays the role of Jake.
Click on thumbnails, above, to view the slide show.
Featured image 0f 2008
Andrew Byrnes ’05, second from left in back row, is named to the Canadian Men’s Eight for the August Olympic Games in China. Byrnes and the Canada men’s eight capture the gold medal at the Shunyi Rowing–Canoeing Park, Canada’s first medal in the event since 1992. Byrnes, a Toronto native and resident, becomes the first former Bates athlete to earn an Olympic medal. He and his crewmates become the first world champion crew to follow up with Olympic gold in 35 years.
The slide show features Homecoming 2008, held this year Oct. 24-26. The weekend featured an exciting football victory over Colby and the first “Faces of Bates Across the Decades,” an opportunity to learn about and respond to Bates’ recommitment to diversity and inclusion.
It was a year of prizes and surprises, from generous gifts, grants, and academic honors to happy dedications and championships.
For overarching symbolism, note the late winter opening of Bates’ new dining Commons, a Sasaki-designed facility that now “lies at the center of our campus and of our educational mission,” according to President Elaine Tuttle Hansen. Introducing the Bates Contemplates Food initiative during September’s Convocation, she noted that the new Commons “reminds us that a liberal education prepares a whole human being — heart, body and mind.”
