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Student body co-presidents Zachariah Richards \u201926 of Princeton, Mass., and Mohammad Zayd \u201927 of the Bronx, N.Y., also spoke, giving the student perspective\u00a0on navigating life at Bates. Charles A. Dana Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Rebecca Herzig delivered the Convocation address, followed by closing remarks from Raymond Clothier, Bates\u2019 interim multifaith chaplain.<\/p>\n\n\n\n This year\u2019s Convocation was a hot, sunny event, with the only reminder of the season to come the occasional leaf, parched by the drought, drifting toward the ground. Faculty and senior staff processed into the event in regalia, followed by members of the Class of 2029 and transfer students, who were greeted with cheers from upperclassmen waiting outside of Hathorn Hall. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt’s natural to be excited, but it’s also natural to be nervous, so I encourage you to pause even just for a second and take it all in,\u201d Zayd told the new class. \u201cIt was a long journey to be where you are now, so celebrate this moment.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n In his opening remarks, Jenkins addressed current political and social landscape, including challenges to democracy, personal freedoms, fundamental rights, and civil discourse.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen we lose these critically important core values, our democratic commitments, our liberties, our ability to live in community, we are diminished, we are ourselves lost,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cBut here at Bates, we are rooted in those same values.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n “Education is the long game.” <\/p>\nCharles A. Dana Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies Rebecca Herzig<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n Bates as a place is built on, and thrives, thanks to a community of students from a variety of backgrounds, each of whom was selected because they embrace Bates\u2019 values of \u201cacademic excellence, inclusivity, and social responsibility,\u201d Jenkins said. He pointed to the college\u2019s mission statement:<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u2026 With ardor and devotion \u2014 Amore ac Studio \u2014 we engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI draw your attention to the phrase \u2018the transformative power of our differences,\u2019\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cRemember, this phrase defines Bates. It guides us at its heart.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n This phrase, he explained, is about pluralism, \u201cthe idea that multiple perspectives, ideas, approaches, groups, ways of life can coexist and make society stronger rather than weaker.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n While Bates didn\u2019t invent the ideal of pluralism, it\u2019s something that Bates does well \u2014 perhaps even better than most, Jenkins said. The college recognizes the fantastic potential in engaging with multiple perspectives and differences, to make society stronger and more empathetic. <\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cIt takes all of us wanting to do better, to be better,\u201d Jenkins said. \u201cIt’s a never-ending project, but there’s joy to be found in the effort, and I know that all of you are up to that task. We certainly need it throughout our nation, in our communities, and here on our campus, too.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n Fifteen years ago, Herzig, whom the Class of 2025, in keeping with tradition, selected to give this year\u2019s Convocation address, helped craft that mission statement. As Jenkins did, she reflected on Bates\u2019 role in today\u2019s zeitgeist.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Herzig mentioned jogging around the Campus Avenue Field and noticing the large, garnet banner reading \u201cFIGHT ON FOR BATES.\u201d The waving banner prompted her to reflect on what it really<\/em> means to defend Bates when \u201ca fight is plainly on \u2014 a fight for pretty much everything I hold dear as an educator and as a person,\u201d Herzig said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n An important part of the fight, she said, is acknowledging the exhaustion in fighting and yet still finding a way to retain hope. Luckily, a place like Bates is rife with that.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSmall, residential colleges were designed to nurture shifts in thinking \u2014 that is, to cultivate hope,\u201d Herzig said. \u201cThe plan evident all around us was to produce continuous, almost kaleidoscopic immersion in mind-altering places, libraries, laboratories, classrooms, dormitories, chapels, tree-lined walls.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n From its inception 170 years ago, Bates had lofty goals of abolitionism and equality set in place by founder Oren B. Cheney. The principles that the founders attempted to act in accordance with, even if never fully achieved, still matter, Herzig said. Every contribution to a better future matters. As an 11-year-old girl writing to Cheney in support of his abolitionist appeals wrote, \u201cthe Great Ocean is made of little drops.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cSort of like that 11-year-old letter writer, I imagine myself contributing to a place that does not yet exist,\u201d Herzig said. \u201cEducation is the long game. The fight is for the world to come next. None of us can know what might prevail in that fight.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Raymond Clothier, interim multifaith chaplain, closed the ceremony with remarks echoing previous sentiments about the ability to grow and change through education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cTake a breath, feel your feet on the ground,\u201d Clothier said. \u201cMay this moment be an opening behind the den of daily clutter. Your life is speaking to you about who you are. Listen well. May it be so.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n At Convocation\u2019s conclusion, attendees gathered near Gomes Chapel for the annual tree planting ceremony held in memory of Bates community members who died in the past year.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Among the words and poems students, faculty, and staff read was \u201cDepartures,\u201d a poem by Senior Lecturer Emeritus in English Robert Farnsworth, who died last November, read by Benny VanDerburgh, a spiritual care fellow with the Multifaith Chaplaincy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The following Bates community members were remembered at the service:<\/p>\n\n\n\n Armand Bernier, Facility Services \u2013 Custodial<\/p>\n\n\n\n Joanna Boley-Lee, director of Affirmative Action<\/p>\n\n\n\n Gene Clough, lecturer emeritus in geology and physics<\/p>\n\n\n\n Robert Farnsworth, senior lecturer emeritus in English<\/p>\n\n\n\n Normand Gagne, Facility Services \u2013 Custodial<\/p>\n\n\n\n Lorette Goulette, Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sylvia Gray Hawks, academic administrative assistant \u2013 Dean of Faculty<\/p>\n\n\n\n Sue Houchins, associate professor of Africana<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ken Labrecque, instructor in music<\/p>\n\n\n\n James (Jim) Morrison, Human Resources<\/p>\n\n\n\n George Ruff, Dana professor emeritus of physics<\/p>\n\n\n\n Kenneth Smith Sr., Dining, Conferences, and Campus Events<\/p>\n\n\n\n The ceremony celebrating them concluded with attendees pouring water from Lake Andrews over the freshly-planted tree roots and a benediction, led also by VanDerburgh.<\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Convocation marked the entry of\u00a0the Class of 2029 and transfer students to campus with wise words on finding strength in our differences, fighting for what you believe in, and maintaining hope.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1827,"featured_media":170259,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":true,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_hide_ai_chatbot":false,"_ai_chatbot_style":"","associated_faculty":["garry-w-jenkins","rebecca-herzig"],"_Page_Specific_Css":"","_bates_restrict_mod":false,"_table_of_contents_display":false,"_table_of_contents_location":"","_table_of_contents_disableSticky":false,"_is_featured":false,"footnotes":"","_bates_seo_meta_description":"","_bates_seo_block_robots":false,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_id":0,"_bates_seo_sharing_image_twitter_id":0,"_bates_seo_share_title":"","_bates_seo_canonical_overwrite":"","_bates_seo_twitter_template":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[12334],"class_list":["post-170242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-batesnews","tag-garry-w-jenkins"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1827"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=170242"}],"version-history":[{"count":21,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":171563,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/170242\/revisions\/171563"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/170259"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=170242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=170242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=170242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}![\"Opening](\"https:\/\/www.bates.edu\/news\/files\/2025\/09\/250902_Convocation_0976.webp\")
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