Seeking to honor both Bates and the community that has been the Class of 2025’s home for four years, E.J. Holm ’25 of Hamilton, N.Y., found inspiration for this year’s ivy stone design in the grid of city streets surrounding campus.
Departing from the traditional campus motifs of past ivy stones, Holm’s design for the Class of 2025 features a stylized line map of downtown Lewiston–Auburn marked with a heart — denoting Bates’ location in the city and the city’s place in the hearts of the graduating class.
“The stone represents the connection to place that I found in my time at Bates — the connection to campus and Lewiston as a whole,” Holm says.
Though Holm didn’t originally intend for the heart to have a double meaning, they soon realized its twofold symbolism: a recognition of Bates as the Class of 2025’s home for the past four years, and a remembrance of the strength and resilience of the Lewiston community in the wake of the October 2023 shootings.
“I didn’t realize that that was part of what I was expressing,” Holm says. “Now that feels like a natural part of the design, to express that kind of love for the community.”
On May 14, Holm’s design joined the ranks of more than 130 other ivy stones that dot buildings around campus, reflecting a Bates graduation tradition that dates to 1878. The new stone is along the southeast side of Pettengill Hall, at the bottom of a sloping green lawn.
Holm, who enjoys making charcoal drawings, created this year’s design by layering images from Google Maps over one another in the digital art program Krita, then tracing the streets and coloring in the Androscoggin River that bisects, and connects, Lewiston and Auburn.
An environmental studies major with a minor in mathematics, Holm learned that their ivy stone design had been selected while finishing their senior thesis, which models algal growth in freshwater lake ecosystems.
“I was feeling really, really stressed, and it was such a weird feeling of the external stress versus the internal joy, and being so excited that the stone was going to be real versus the disbelief,” Holm says.
Helping to make the experience even more real was the chance to assist Ron Tardif, a Facility Services mason who installs the ivy stone each May, with this year’s installation. As Holm feathered mortar in place, Tardif looked on approvingly. “You’ve never done this before. You’ve seen it for 30 seconds, and you’re an old hand at it!”
Throughout their time at Bates, Holm has made Maine their home both by volunteering in the Lewiston community and exploring Maine’s outdoor offerings, with visits to sites like Acadia National Park and Mount Katahdin.
“I’ve really enjoyed not only getting to experience Lewiston in my time at Bates, but also getting to experience Maine as a whole,” Holm says. “I really treasure that connection to being in a place for four years and what that means.”
On campus, Holm played violin in the Bates College Orchestra for four years and is currently the president of the Bates Discordians, a community-oriented gaming and gathering club.
“What I’ve learned is to really cherish the relationships that you build with people around you,” Holm says. “You won’t always be able to see those people every day.”
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