The Bates Board of Trustees held its fall meeting virtually on Saturday, October 28, 2023. The meeting had been scheduled to take place on campus in conjunction with the planned inauguration celebration, but was switched to a virtual format following the tragedy in Lewiston on Wednesday, October 25. The Board of Trustees expressed its sincere condolences to the family and friends of the victims and injured and to the entire Lewiston community.

The standing committees of the Board met virtually in the two weeks leading up to the Board meeting to allow Trustees to participate in the planned inauguration of President Garry Jenkins and related activities, though all inaugural activities were postponed due to the tragedy.

The Board welcomed five new Trustees to their first regular meeting: Jeremy Chase ’91, Pranav Ghai ’93, P ’26, Shannon Griffin ’16, Marc Jaffe P’25, and Jason Ryan ’96.

The Board spent much of its meeting discussing the events in Lewiston and the college’s response, and it expressed its gratitude to the many staff, faculty, and students who helped address the variety of challenges created by the tragedy and the subsequent lockdown. The Board also received an update on the state of Athletics, Recreation, and Wellness at Bates. The final report on Bates’ FY23 financial results from Mayer Hoffman McCann, the college’s external auditor—which provided the institution with a clean bill of financial health—were presented and formally accepted by the Board. And the 2024 Bates Morse Mountain Corporation representatives were approved: Vice President for Finance and Administration and Treasurer Geoffrey Swift and former Bates trustee Jeff Sturgis ’69.

The next meeting of the Board of Trustees is scheduled for February 1-3, 2024, and will be held virtually.

Garry W. Jenkins
President

Greg Ehret ’91, P’23
Chair of the Board of Trustees