Slideshow: This Month at Bates

A semester unlike any other presents new challenges but familiar scenarios. The sun rises and classes continue. Friends connect, faculty take their students into the field, and athletes test their endurance.

Six feet and masks mark our lives but the members of our community fill Bates with a love of learning and each other. Take a look at This Month at Bates and count the ways.

Toss Up

From left, cross country runners Vanessa Paolella ’21, Elise Lambert ’22, and Frieda Kickliter ’23 warm up with a ball toss outside Merrill Gymnasium before going on a run.

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Hands On Conversation

Steven Parker, assistant dean of the Office of Intercultural Education, meets with Vice President of Equity and Inclusion Noelle Chaddock in the OIE. “I have enjoyed my time at Bates so far. The students are lively, and eager to create inclusive change. The faculty and staff have been helpful as well. I look forward to continuing the work of equity, inclusion, access, anti-racism, and educational justice at Bates,” Parker says.

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Campus Hallmark

Lush green plants frame the iconic columns of historic Hathorn Hall.

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Thesis Advising

Associate Professor of History Joe Hall meets with senior thesis advisee Hannah Sweeney ’21 of Franklin, Mass., on Alumni Walk.

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Pedal Power

Michael Lombardi ’21 of Kittery, Maine, goes the extra mile on stationary bikes near Merrill Gym. Pop-up fitness classes have, well, popped up across campus during the gorgeous fall season. With the COVID-19 protocols limiting indoor workouts, getting outside helps with being “active and having creative and safe ways to connect as a community,” says Mike Milliken, community wellness manager and coordinator of club sports.

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Seagulls Rising

A colony of gulls rises above the Residential Village.

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Through Your Eyes

Assistant Professor of Biology Carla Essenberg addresses her First-Year Seminar students gathered at Keigwin Amphitheater. Her assignment to them: Roam around Lake Andrews and record their observations in writing.

The course, “Nature through Human Eyes,” invites students to learn more about scientific methods and different ways of communicating science.

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Tennis Team Moves

Head tennis coach Paul Gastonguay ’89 oversees warmups during a men’s practice at the Wallach Tennis Center.

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Ukelele Practice

Elysia Garza ’22, a psychology major from Houston, strums on a ukulele she borrowed from a friend while enjoying a break at the Keigwin Amphitheatre. She played the instrument during her senior year in high school.

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Purposefully Positioned

Beverly Vari and Hoi Ning Ngai, colleagues at the Bates Center for Purposeful Work, hold their weekly check-in meeting on the Historic Quad.

Besides talking strategy and tactics — from how to expand employment opportunities for students to following up on summer internships — they also “catch up on how we’re engaging in self-care — especially given the challenges of operating in a pandemic,” says Ngai. Prioritizing health and well-being is not just personal: “It’s a way to model that mindset for students as they become professionals.”

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Football Workout

Steve Guerrette ’24 of Bow, N.H., and football teammates participate in a vigorous workout on Garcelon Field.

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Trunk Support

With support from her favorite spot on the Historic Quad, Isabelle Darling ‘23 of Seattle reads for a course in gene editing.

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Exhale

Katia Ryan ’21 of Amsterdam, N.Y., teaches a pop-up yoga class next to Leahey Field, one of several different outside fitness classes now offered to students. “I’m a firm believer that everyone deserves to find pause in their day and simply breathe.”

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Bobcats First!

Rachel Roberson, assistant dean of the Bobcat First! Program, makes a point while speaking with colleagues Vice President of Equity and Inclusion Noelle Chaddock and Steven Parker, assistant OIE dean, during an informal gathering in the Office of Intercultural Education

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Collect and Measure

Henry King ’22 (left) of South Salem, N.Y., and Peter Dunbar ’23 of Newport, R.I., collect water samples from Lake Andrews during their environmental geochemistry class with Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences Beverly Johnson.

Using Hydrolab sensors, the students are learning how to measure basic water-quality parameters, such as temperature, specific conductivity, pH, and dissolved oxygen, as well as salinity and the amount of dissolved materials.

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The Goaltender

Grace Biddle ’23 of State College, Pa., defends the goal during a varsity field hockey practice on the Campus Avenue Field.

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Garcelon Gourmets

Hangout-friendly Garcelon Field, dubbed “Garcelon Beach,” has become the go-to location for sharing meals with friends.

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Gomes Again

Multifaith Chaplain Brittany Longsdorf savors her surroundings in the Peter J. Gomes Chapel after a reopening ceremony on Sept. 2 after being closed for extensive restoration since November 2018.

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Rowing to Go

Outside Merrill Gym, head rowing coach Peter Steenstra supervises an erg workout by the varsity team. They hit the machines at 6 a.m. for an hour twice weekly.

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Red Sky

Smoke from fires out West has ridden the jet stream eastward, creating reddish sunrises and sunsets and hazy days here in New England, including this morning scene at Russell Street Track and Field.

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Yes, She Has

A student on Ladd Plaza wipes chalk from her hands after adding to the voter-registration tally on the library wall on National Voter Registration Day.

The hope and energy of students “is so uplifting,” says Peggy Rotundo, director of policy and strategic initiatives for the Harward Center for Community Partnerships. “They provide light and hope.”

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R.I.P. RBG

This chalked tribute to Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg appeared on Alumni Walk shortly after her Sept. 18 death.