Stories about "Student Life"
Free (laundry) for all!

Friday, May 29, 2026 3:31 pm

Persistent student engagement led to a change in the cost of laundry on campus. Thanks to their advocacy, laundry will now be free to all students at Bates.

Q&A: Senior speaker Sebenele Lukhele embraces Bates’ promise of celebrating differences

Friday, May 29, 2026 3:02 pm

Sebenele Lukhele ’26 of Manzini, Eswatini, will deliver the Senior Address at the 160th Commencement on Sunday, May 31.

Beyond the chair: building belonging one haircut at a time

Tuesday, May 5, 2026 2:08 pm

Every other week, an open space in the Student Center for Community and Belonging (SCBC) used by students for studying, gaming, and just spending time together transforms. Furniture is repositioned. Speakers are connected and music plays. Ring lights are placed. On the windowsills, light filters through containers filled with Barbasol and combs. Barber chairs are wheeled into their spots. For a few hours, the SCBC becomes a barbershop. 

Beyond their punny names, intramural dodgeball teams bring serious competition

Wednesday, April 22, 2026 12:44 pm

At Bates, intramural dodgeball is a big deal. Students form teams with names like "Dodgenomics" and “Springfellows," and the competition — and community — is real.

The Annual Harvest Dinner held in Commons, followed by horse rides around campus, a dessert part and the Annual Trashion Show in the Gray Athletic Building. Where friends, fashion, fun, and sustainability all collide. Welcome to the Bates Trashion Show 2025, held in the Gray Athletic Building on Wednesday, Nov. 19. All participants were winners! Singled out for recognition were, in first place, seniors Annie Robinson and Grace Thomas (the model), who designed the dress together; Professor of French and Francophone studies Kirk Read in second place; and in third place, a team of students in Read’s first-year seminar “Family Stories.”
Sew sustainable: Student, faculty designers stun at annual Trashion Show

Thursday, December 4, 2025 8:44 am

At the 20th annual Trashion Show, students and faculty modeled 16 elaborate runway designs crafted from trash to draw awareness to waste around campus.

Bates plays Big Thief — How a musical tribute is turning into tradition

Thursday, November 13, 2025 3:37 pm

At their sold-out show at Portland's State Theatre, Big Thief, a Brooklyn-based indie-folk band, shouted out Bates.

Radiohead Trending: Bates students jam in Olin with professional tribute band Fitter Happier

Thursday, October 30, 2025 3:56 pm

Her electric violin at the ready on her right shoulder, Mavy Ho-Le ’26 started to slowly tap her foot on the stage at Olin Arts Center. It was Saturday Oct. 25 and the first strains of Radiohead’s 2016 song “Daydreaming,” were beginning to emerge from Fitter Happier, a Radiohead tribute band based in Portland.

Misa Beltran-Guzman mbeltranguzman@bates.edu Director of First-Generation Programs Student Center for Belonging and Community Misa poses for portraits in his SCBC office and entry, and then interacts with colleagues and students. The session between 4-6 p.m. on Mondays is called “Snack and Chat.” Cooking in kitchen s Bianca Vega, Kessler Scholars program coordinator Sadie New, admission counselor (white blouse) Wearing a Bates hat between Sadie and Misa is Alina Kunakbayeva ’27 of Kazakhstan. Seated with Misa, from left are Alessandra Williams ’29, Kitana James ’29, and Lucy Meeker ’29.
As director of first-generation programs, Misa Beltran-Guzman encourages Bates students to find their ‘why’

Thursday, October 30, 2025 1:54 pm

When he was still in high school, Misa Beltran-Guzman, director of first-generation programs at Bates, had a preview of many of the culture shocks experienced by first-gen college students.

Picture Story: Back to Bates 2025

Friday, October 10, 2025 8:28 am

From the popular student a cappella concert to the inaugural Athletics Hall of Fame Ceremony, Back to Bates 2025 offered something for everyone.

15 for 150: Moments from Bates football’s sesquicentennial history

Thursday, September 11, 2025 8:05 am

In 1875, Bates and Tufts played the first college football game in Maine. Here's to football's sesquicentennial: 15 moments from 150 years of Bates football.

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