Bates Magazine, Spring 2022

Spring 2022

NOTHING BUT

bate s magaz i n e

Bates Bates College Lewiston, Maine 04240

6 Splashy photos: The return of a great student tradition.

36 Kayaking into the magical island world of a Maine artist.

42 From Coots to Nuthatches, a big year for birder Ethan Whitaker ’80.

NET

A jubilant Meg Graff ’23 gives the net a spin as she and teammates celebrate their NESCAC basketball title on March 2. This net made for a particularly sweet souvenir — the team snipped off a piece for President Spencer, an avid spectator — marking the program’s first conference title.

spring b j b b

JOHN MRAKOVCICH / COOL ROBOT PHOTOGRAPHY

SCIE NCE FAIR

“It builds their sense of place and belonging in the sciences.” Page 26

FROM A DISTANCE

Comments Bates in Brief Amusements Features Notes History Lesson From a Distance

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Student photographer Gianluca Yornet de Rosas ’24 captured the goings-on at the Bike Barn on Frye Street last fall, where juniors Terry Martin (left) and Eli Grossman repaired a student’s bike.

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This basketball gets “tremendous use,” say the two juniors, thanks to the hoop at Chase House.

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The photographer’s camera bag.

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The drill for this battery has long been missing.

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Grossman’s mattress topper, but “he’s too stubborn” to use it, says Martin.

His friend believes a hard mattress “builds character.”

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Spare parts. “We try to salvage parts from old bikes instead of buying new ones.”

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The most common repair is a flat tire, hence lots of inner tubes around.

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The bike is a vintage Free Spirit, a popular circa-1975 three-speed model sold

by Sears.

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The bike pump, with gauge, is the most-used tool.

“Accurate tire pressure on a bike is crucial.”

Take a closer look to learn the identity of this famed prophet from Greek mythology. Page 18

OPENING THOUGHT: AMELIA WILHELM ’18 Source: Wilhelm sharing her favorite Bates rowing memory during an alumnae panel discussion on Feb. 1 celebrating National Girls and Women in Sports Day and the 50th anniversary of Title IX.

I think back to one practice in the spring of my senior year. We were gearing up for NCAAs, nervous but excited. That day we had the most perfect conditions, the most perfect weather, and just the most perfect row. We were just one single body, moving together.

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c o mme n ts

George Wigton talks with his basketball team during a winning 1968 game vs. Bowdoin.

Bovine BurpBusters and the methane study, IBU study with the local brewery, the student interviews about the Bates spaces they love, and the Campus Construction Updates.

I even had to look up the “Not Today, Satan” reference.

A good motto for all of us.

THEOPHIL SYSLO

Terry Byrnes P’05

Vero Beach, Fla.

About Facial I loved the article on facial hair. (“Slideshow: Eleven great Bates beards and mustaches from yesteryear,” BatesNews, Sept. 24, 2021).

Many of us wore beards and mustaches in the ’70s, but none like those shown.

Ken Paillé ’78

Chapel Hill, N.C.

Professor of French and Francophone Studies Kirk Read modeled this outfit at the 2021 Trashion Show, which he and Assistant Dean of the Faculty Kerry O’Brien designed. The outfit’s signature trash was face coverings — 152 of them. “Nous nous masquons donc nous sommes, ‘We mask, therefore we are,” said Read, the first professor to model an outfit at the student-run annual show.

These outfits are brilliant, funny, and meaningful. (“Slideshow: Students’ dazzling Trashion Show outfits,” BatesNews, Nov. 17, 2021). Congratulations to all the designers and models for this light-hearted message about waste.

And to everyone else: Unless you are obsessed with recycling like me, take the advice in the story about recycling only beverage cans/bottles and clean paper/cardboard. They account for most of the marketable volume and value in the residential waste stream, 2

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and the other materials can indeed do more harm than good.

Marge Davis ’76

Mount Juliet, Tenn.

‘Not Today, Satan’ I couldn’t resist sending you a note of congratulations on yet another outstanding magazine. The photo on the cover of Stella James Sims captured my curiosity right away. The history of the earliest women at Bates was fascinating — I had no idea.

Imagine what they had to do to be there.

Then, I started reading about the student projects:

Thomas James Bollin, Class of 1879, and his mutton chops.

MUSKIE ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY

Wishcycling

e dit or’s not e

George Wigton Coach Wigton gave me a chance to make the squash team in the early 1990s (“George Wigton, legendary and influential coach of ‘impeccable integrity and perspective,’ dies at age 93”). While I was never a great player, I felt valued and it was an honor to play for him. What a life!

Michael Battle ’95

Sunnyvale, Calif.

Fire and Ice Thanks for the happy memories of Winter Carnival (BatesNews, Feb. 18, 2022).

When I was a freshman in 1962, the cross country team carried the torch from its lighting by the governor, John Reed, in Augusta, keeping it lit the 30 miles back to Lake Andrews with a precise rotation: a driver plus five of us in one car, one runner at a time carrying the lighted torch about one mile.

The upperclassmen allowed me, a freshman, the honor of carrying the torch on the final leg to the official carnival “flame” at Lake Andrews. Waiting for us was the Winter Carnival queen and her court — and lots of students.

Our torch was a metal cup atop a wood handle carried upright (I believe that we used kerosene-soaked rags), and as I dipped the torch to light the flame, the soaked rag fell out of the torch cup onto the ice, but did not go out. Wearing gloves, I picked up the flame and put it back in the official carnival lamp — thus beginning my first Winter Carnival.

In Walden, Henry David Thoreau famously referred to himself

as a “self-appointed inspector of snow-storms.”

Years ago, as I grew up in Waterford, Maine, my father would quote Thoreau as we made our rounds as self-appointed snowstorm inspectors, tramping about the field behind our house on Plummer Hill, inserting our solid, varnished yardstick from Longley’s hardware store here and there into the new mantle of snow until we had a good estimate of how much fell on our windswept hill.

The memory returns these days when I arrive at Bates and pull into the Lane Hall parking lot. I choose a spot facing Lake Andrews because I am a selfappointed inspector of ice-out at the Puddle.

Contests to guess when a local lake becomes ice-free are a longtime spring tradition in towns all across Maine and other northern states. Many years ago, when more people made their living directly or indirectly from the land (or water), recognizing changes in the weather and seasons was part and parcel of daily life.

And while Thoreau was no farmer, he found sustenance for his soul by observing and knowing the natural world. And yes, he recorded Walden Pond’s ice-out each year.

I’m no naturalist, but I find succor in Bates being a both familiar and inspectable place. (And it is a place, as the late, beloved Carl Straub always made clear in his public remarks by calling it “this place of memory and hope.”)

My campus inspections might reveal the day of the spectacular annual leaf drop of the ginkgo tree outside Carnegie Science (Nov. 4 last year), the blooming of the magnolia outside Hathorn (not yet, as of this writing on April 4), or the melting of the last snowpile on campus (there are still a couple on the north side of Pettengill Hall).

Consider the iconic children’s book Goodnight Moon, where mindful encounters with familiar things — a comb and a brush and a bowl full of mush — propel the story.

Before she wrote Goodnight Moon, author Margaret Wise Brown wrote children’s stories for Bank Street Experimental School (now Bank Street College of Education) in New York City. At a time when most children’s books drew on fables and folktales, school co-founder Lucy Sprague Mitchell believed that children would find the “here and now” of their familiar surroundings much more compelling, once writing that “it is only the blind eye of the adult that finds the familiar uninteresting.”

Which brings us to the Puddle’s ice out in March. On the warm afternoon of March 25, as I pulled away from the Lane Hall lot after work, just a skim of ice remained on the inlet end of the pond, which is shaded by Pettengill Hall.

The next morning, my colleague Phyllis Graber Jensen, a fellow campus inspector and perhaps champion as the longtime college photographer, texted me a photo showing that the last of the ice was gone.

And the campus ducks, seen in growing numbers along the shore in recent weeks, suddenly had the iceless pond at their full disposal — in time to make way for duckling season.

H. Jay Burns, Editor jburns@bates.edu

Peter Heyel ’65

Redding Center, Conn.

Life at Bates I love these images and stories about life at Bates in a week (BatesNews, Jan. 22, 2022). Visuals, quotes — historical and fascinating.

My daughter is a junior at Bates. The stories help to get what it is like to be on campus now. Each story you tell here is radiant, as is your creative way of delivering them. Way to go!

Kate Conway P’23

South Salem, N.Y.

Comments are selected from Bates social media platforms, online Bates News stories, and email and postal submissions, based on relevance to college issues and topics discussed in Bates Magazine. Comments may be edited for length and clarity.

Email: magazine@bates.edu Postal: Bates Magazine Bates Communications Office 2 Andrews Rd. Lewiston, ME 04240

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In a shared Olin Arts Center studio, Michael Morgan ’22 of Kingston, Jamaica, works on his highly stylized stoneware ceramics influenced by both European and ancient Islamic forms. He hopes his art feels “familiar and inventive at the same time.” In April, Morgan and his 14 fellow art and visual culture majors presented their work at the Annual Senior Thesis Exhibition at the Bates Museum of Art.

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STUDENTS

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500 students enjoyed free skiing at a “takeover” night at Lost Valley in February.

Bates hires two student farmers to run the Bates Garden in the summer.

Seniors choose a faculty or staff member to speak at Baccalaureate.

Bonner Leaders work with Lewiston-Auburn community partners six hours a week.

Bobcat Ventures business pitch competition awards $10k to a student winner.

Faces!

Photography by Phyllis Graber Jensen

After a year’s hiatus due to the pandemic, the Puddle Jump’s return on Feb. 11 was a gleeful affair.

In fact, it was something of a historical marker as the college’s first large, fully unmasked campus event since, well, the last Puddle Jump back on Jan. 31, 2020, when the pandemic was just a wispy cloud on the horizon.

And how great it was to see all those unmasked faces!

This year’s Puddle Jump, by the numbers: Hole dimension: 13 feet by 13 feet Cutting tool: 20-inch Makita chainsaw, handled by Jack Fruechte ’22 of Minneapolis Temperature: 43 degrees Wind direction and speed: South, 15mph Ice thickness: 6 inches, topped by another 6 inches of crusty snow

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CAMPUS

There are more than 600,000 cataloged titles in Ladd Library.

There’s skating at Underhill Arena again: It’s no longer Bates’ COVID testing site.

JAY BURNS

BATES IN BRIEF SPRING 2022

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Banner Yet Wave

Blue on Blue At Bonney Science Center, this expanse of east-facing glass — one of three “curtain walls” that define the building’s exterior — reflects clouds and blue sky on March 18.

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The American flag flies at half-staff over the Historic Quad on March 25 in memory of Former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright, who died March 23.

In the 1970s, Albright served on the staff of then-U.S. Sen. Edmund Muskie ’36. A deep admirer of her mentor, she gave to Bates the Muskie portrait that hangs in the Muskie Archives. “Aside from my parents,” she said in 1999, “he remains my greatest hero.”

These days, the American flag on the Quad flies from a new flagpole, which, along with new lights and landscaping, was funded by the Class of 1967 as part of its 55th Reunion giving effort.

The original flagpole was given by the College Club (now the College Key) and the Alumni Fund in 1931, accompanied by a plaque inscribed “One Flag, One Land, One Heart, One Hand, Our Nation Evermore.”

The all-weather campus Adirondack chairs stay outside all year.

Chase Tale Chase Hall: beloved, iconic, historic.

And user-friendly? Well, probably not, thanks to unwelcoming entrances and a confounding interior layout that involves an astonishing number of floor levels — nine! — and multiple additions, all stitched together by a labyrinth of corridors and stairways.

To address these challenges, a substantial renovation project, now underway, will rework as much as half of Chase’s floor space, provide a systems upgrade, and do plenty of cosmetic work.

A goal of the college’s 2016 Institutional Plan, the Chase renovation will create space for more student-focused programs and make the historic building active and viable 24 hours a day. It will: • Revamp the interior to make Chase a campus hub for most student services; • Improve accessibility, wayfinding, and circulation, notably through the reconfiguration of building entrances and the installation of new stairways and a third elevator; • Renew the building’s utilities infrastructure, portions of which haven’t been operable for years; • And add comfortable, technologically enabled multi-purpose spaces.

Outside the building, the most conspicuous result will be two rebuilt entrances on Campus Avenue and one on Franklin Walk, facing the Muskie Archives, where new floor plans will improve access, both visual and physical, into the building. The rebuilt entrance onto Franklin Walk will be landscaped and furnished for al fresco relaxation.

In a dramatic change, the main entry on Campus Avenue, near the Kenison Gate, will be lowered to ground level.

Built in 1917, Chase still retains its founding identity as a student center. But in recent years it’s become a little too quiet, as several of its student-focused functions have moved elsewhere. Fourteen years ago, Dining Services

Bates EMS is state licensed and staffed by certified EMT student volunteers.

MUSKIE ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS LIBRARY

The old metal flagpole on the Quad was replaced last July with a fiberglass model.

decamped to the new Commons building. The post office and the College Store left for Kalperis Hall in 2016. Iconic meeting spaces, like Hirasawa Lounge, are now under-used.

In 2014, Chase got a welcome spark from newly renovated space for the Office of Intercultural Education. The Den was renovated, too, and a few years back, the college brought in other student services, including Campus Life, Residential Life and Health Education, and some elements of the Purposeful Work program.

And there are still events in the Memorial Commons space, and a few student organizations still call Chase home, like The Bates Student — with copies of the Spudent parody issue tacked to its walls — and the Outing Club.

While Chase is closed for the renovation, most current occupants — student organizations, Campus Life, the OIE, and Residence Life and Health Education — will occupy temporary quarters a couple of blocks away, at 96 Campus Ave., in a modern building situated next to the Campus Avenue Field. The building belonged to St. Mary’s Regional Medical Center and housed offices and a daycare center until its recent purchase by Bates.

Finally, the Bobcat Den will be closed during the project, but will reopen when Chase reopens, for the start of the 2023–24 academic year.

CANAL 5 STUDIO

Since its opening in 1917 (when trolley tracks ran along Campus Avenue), Chase Hall’s entrance off the avenue featured a perron. No more, as this architect’s rendering shows: The entrance will be rebuilt at ground level during the 2022–23 renovation.

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ACADEMICS

A change in the academic calendar created a March break for the first time in decades.

There were 526 students on the dean’s list in fall 2021.

PUBLIC DOMAIN VIA WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Popular understanding of the Spanish Inquisition has been informed in many ways, from Monty Python skits to famous paintings, like this detail of Francisco Goya’s The Inquisition Tribunal.

Inquiring Minds A man on his deathbed in Veracruz, Mexico, accused an acquaintance of a blatant act of blasphemy: “Usar dentro de los Zapatos, unas Ymagenes que le parecieron de Santos.”

The accusation, translated from the Spanish, was “using in his shoes certain images that appeared to be saints.”

The year was 1778, when, in the Spanish Empire, putting printed images of saints, known as estampas, inside your shoes could get you swept up in the Spanish Inquisition, established to root out and punish acts of heresy throughout the empire.

Running from 1478 to 1834, the Inquisition prosecuted an estimated 150,000 people, which led to the execution of between 3,000 and 5,000.

Now, thanks to a first-of-its-kind website co-founded by Professor of History Karen Melvin, you can read all about the inquisition of Don Miguel de Zaragoza, an 18th-century silversmith accused of wearing unsensible shoes, as well as other cases of the Spanish Inquisition.

The website, Reading the Spanish Inquisition, is distinctive for displaying source materials in three different formats: images of original Inquisition documents; text transcriptions into Spanish; and English text translations prepared by scholars. Melvin knows of no single resource that offers all three.

“We’re the only game in town.”

The website Reading the Inquisition offers translations of real Spanish Inquisition cases, including “The Inquisitorial Prosecutor of this Holy Office against Miguel de Zaragoza for using prints in his shoes.”

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Complete English translations of Inquisition cases are “few and far between,” says Melvin. And that was a problem for Melvin, who teaches a Bates course on the Inquisition. “There’s a real shortage of English language material.”

The initial transcription and translations were done by Melvin, a colleague at Boston College, and one of Melvin’s former students, Cristopher Hernandez Sifontes ’18, among others, who worked from resources at the Huntington Library in San Marino, Calif. The site’s functionality, look, and feel was developed by the college’s Information and Library Services division.

Inquisition cases present fascinating details about daily life in the Spanish Empire plus a treasure trove of topics with enduring historical relevance: religion, gender, anti-Semitism, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status.

In the case of the deathbed confession, a priest immediately took it to the local inquisitor. Three witnesses testified against the accused, a silversmith named Don Miguel de Zaragoza, who apparently was not a well-liked man, nor particularly handsome.

He had an “ill-kempt beard,” “an average mouth with a few teeth missing,” and “a high-pitched voice, with evidence of a carbuncle on his forehead that is still healing.”

Zaragoza, it was said, “prays with his hands behind him so that the Rosary falls over his posterior, and he stands this way until completing it.” Another witness said that when the bells of the local church rang, Zaragoza would let out a curse: “Damn the bells and whoever has them rung!” Furthermore, Zaragoza called friars “rogues” who “take the habit in order to assure themselves of a meal.”

In the end, the silversmith was charmed: His trial was suspended due to insufficient merits.

Back in the day, Monty Python’s famous skit played the Inquisition for laughs, with Michael Palin’s Cardinal Ximénez clumsily stating that the Inquisition was all about “fear, surprise, ruthless efficiency, an almost fanatical devotion to the pope — and nice red uniforms.”

“We try to address the Inquisition stereotype in the class,” says Melvin, because it “goes against a lot of recent scholarship.”

For example, there were only three tribunals in all of the Spanish Americas, “and how active they were varied.”

Early in her course, Melvin does mention the Python skit to her students. “Some have heard of it,” she says. “Some think it’s funny — it’s not unknown.”

Rhetoric, Film, and Screen Studies is the major with the longest name (34 characters).

Music and Dance are the majors with the shortest names (each 5 characters).

Nine or more courses regularly use the Bates–Morse Mountain Conservation Area.

THIS JUST IN A sampling of recent faculty-authored articles.

Intraspecific Relationships Between Floral Signals and Rewards with Implications for Plant Fitness

Publication: AoB Plants • Author: Carla Essenberg (biology) • What It Explains: Scientists know that floral signals (e.g., color) and floral rewards (e.g., pollen) influence pollinators like bees. Less known is why the relationships between signals and rewards are what they are. For example, why should a floral signal be “honest”— meaning it delivers its promise of nectar or other reward.

Bending Toward Justice in Eyewitness Identification Research

Publication: Journal of Applied Research in Memory and Cognition • Author: Amy Douglass (psychology) • What It Explains: The field of psychology must continue to support and incentivize research that creates a fuller understanding of how and when the integrity of eyewitness evidence has been compromised and tainted by social influences.

Cultivating Inclusive Instructional and Research Environments in Ecology and Evolutionary Science

Publication: Ecology & Evolution • Author: Carrie Diaz Eaton (digital and computational studies) and coauthors • What It Explains: Various strategies exist for ecologists, evolutionary scientists, and educators to better cultivate an inclusive environment in the classroom, research laboratory, and field.

Translational Investigation of Electrophysiology in Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Publication: Journal of Molecular and Cellular Cardiology • Author: Martin Kruse (biology and neuroscience) and coauthors • What It Explains: A type of heart disease known as hypertrophic cardiomyopathy is better understood using human-engineered heart tissues than using mice.

An earth bumblebee visits a blanket flower in August 2021. Bates biologist Carla Essenberg is investigating the signals and rewards that flowers give to potential pollinators.

Ant It Grand?

PETER STENZEL

Etti Cooper ’22 of Denver, Colo., holds a plastic “critter carrier” containing Lasius nearcticus, the yellow meadow ant, which she collected on Mount David last fall for her senior honors thesis in biology.

Her research investigates how the meadow ant, which is entirely subterranean, and another species, the above-ground pavement ant (Tetramorium immigrans) might differently respond to global warming.

Working with her adviser, Helen A. Papaioanou Professor of Biological Sciences Ryan Bavis, Cooper measured and compared the two species’ consumption and production of oxygen and carbon dioxide to see how sensitive they are to changes in temperature.

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THE COLLEGE

The Bates Instagram account has 17,800 followers.

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Tamsin Stringer ’22 of Bloomington, Ind., poses at a new electric vehicle charging station on campus.

The next comprehensive reaccreditation process for Bates is in 2030.

Let’s Get Positive The goal of the college’s new Sustainability Roadmap, unveiled in March, is for Bates to become climate positive by 2030.

“This new roadmap is our path forward,” said President Clayton Spencer. “It presents both large aspirational goals and practical next steps, and it will engage the entire community in helping us make progress, both in infrastructure and behavioral changes.”

For Bates, climate positive means the college will, by 2030, have practices and policies in place to remove more carbon dioxide emissions than the college produces.

Bates became carbon neutral in 2019 — one year ahead of schedule — by focusing on three fronts: reducing energy consumption through efficiency measures; strengthening the culture of sustainability on campus; and switching to renewable energy sources. Along the way, Bates reduced its investments in fossil fuel-based energy companies by 50 percent, and will continue to lower those investments.

While the aim of carbon neutrality was to balance out the harmful aspects of human activity, this new goal aims to be corrective and restorative.

The drive to climate neutrality was about being “what you might call ‘the least bad,’” said Sustainability Manager Tom Twist. The next step “should be working toward doing ‘more good.’”

At Bates, students have long helped to drive various sustainability initiatives, and that’s continuing. For example, two years ago Tamsin Stringer ’22 of Bloomington, Ind., and fellow student EcoReps took the lead in surveying students and employees about their electric vehicle use.

Above and Beyond The Bates Campaign, launched publicly five years ago, was zooming toward its $300 million goal as of early May. The campaign closes June 30 — and celebrations are gearing up for the fall.

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In the Pantone Matching System for graphic design, Bates Garnet is No. 201.

A Bates-administered commuter van serves employees living in Greater Portland.

Bates uses two primary fonts in communications: Sabon Next and Neue Frutiger.

Sarah Pearson ’75

@ Sustainability Roadmap | bates.edu/roadmap

EIGHT YEAR COUNTDOWN The college’s new Sustainability Roadmap searched every nook and cranny of the Bates enterprise for ways to achieve climate positivity by 2030. Tactics and strategies will include:

• Reducing water consumption by 20 percent; • Shifting to electric vehicles wherever possible and continuing to expand the EV charging stations;

• Reducing fossil-fuel energy consumption

in new buildings to a level that is 80 percent below the average consumption for that building category;

• Integrating sustainability into appropriate academic coursework;

• Partnering on a new Maine solar array project to generate enough electricity to represent 75 percent of the college’s total power use;

• Reducing the use of packaging in Dining,

Conferences, and Campus Events by 30 percent; reducing DCCE energy consumption by 25 percent through energy-efficient equipment; and food waste by 25 percent through education;

• Improving recycling rates by 20 percent; • Adopting regenerative landscaping practices; • Supporting an informed, diverse student body that is educated and active in advancing equity in the socio-economic space;

• Empowering students to be actively engaged in campus sustainability.

Leadership Transition President Clayton Spencer announced two senior leadership transitions last spring.

Vice President for College Advancement Sarah R. Pearson ’75, a nationally recognized leader in higher education fundraising and the architect of the record-setting Bates Campaign, will retire on June 30, 2022, at the conclusion of the campaign.

In March, Vice President for Communications and Public Affairs Sean Findlen ’99 resigned to join the private sector as assistant vice president for enterprise communications with UNUM. Pearson, a member of the Bates leadership team for a decade, has worked in higher education for more than four decades. At Bates, she “combined her considerable experience and deep devotion to Bates with her seemingly boundless energy and optimism to lead the design and execution of the largest and most successful fundraising campaign in the college’s history,” said Spencer.

The Bates Campaign, which concludes June 30, 2022, has raised $336 million, surpassing the $300 million goal by 12 percent.

Under Pearson, annual fundraising has nearly tripled, from $12 million in fiscal 2013 to $34.2 million in fiscal 2021. She also led College Advancement’s significant investment in reimagining the range and goals of the college’s alumni and parent engagement programs.

In his seven years at Bates, Findlen led Bates Communications to strategic and productive collaborations with campus partners, including Admission, College Advancement, and the Center for Purposeful Work, and developed a highly effective content marketing and social media strategy for the college.

“Under Sean’s leadership, BCO has told the Bates story with creativity, clarity, and power,” said Spencer. “His expertise and guidance, paired with a genuine love for his alma mater, have been invaluable to Bates during times of challenge and significant Sean Findlen ’99 accomplishment.”

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The survey revealed rapid growth of EV use and demand for EV chargers. So Stringer set a goal: Help her college add more EV plugins, which she and fellow EcoReps did by securing $36,000 in external grant support.

Stringer and others want Bates to help lead “the transformation of the marketplace” from fossil fuels to electricity. “As an educational institution,” she says, “Bates is in a unique position to introduce new drivers to electric vehicles” — and to help find solutions to climate change.

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As an educational institution, Bates is in a unique position to introduce new drivers to electric vehicles.

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Finn Conway ’22 of San Francisco poses for a photograph after playing pickup hoops in Alumni Gym. Bedecked in Nike gear, his walking shoes are a pair of retro Air Jordans (the Jordan 1 Low). He’s holding his basketball shoes, the Nike Greek Freak 1, the first signature shoe of NBA star Giannis Antetokounmpo.

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THE SHOE ME STATE photography by phyllis graber jensen As January’s snow turned to ice and then to slush (and back again), these Bates folks got a grip on winter — with shoes laced up, unlaced, or slipped on — while always putting their best feet forward.

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OLIVIA

SPORTS

The first home spring contest was March 2, a women’s lax win vs. USM.

“I watched the men do it and I was like, ‘I think I can do that. I want to try.”

Olivia Skillings ’22 of Portland, Maine, captain of women’s Nordic skiing, tells the Bates Bobcast what it was like to compete in the longest race ever for college women, a 20-kilometer event on Jan. 14 at the Colby Carnival.

Previously, the longest women’s race was 15 kilometers. “I’ve really advocated for equal distance in sports, she said. She was 21st out of 80 finishers. “It was the hardest thing I’ve ever done but just an awesome experience to know that I can go that far.”

‘You Don’t Get What You Deserve’

MUSKIE ARCHIVES AND SPECIAL COLLECTIONS

Five alumnae who’ve made historic contributions to the advancement of women in sports took part in a February webinar that was part pep talk, part history lesson.

Carolyn Campbell-McGovern ’83, deputy executive director of the Ivy League athletics office, explained a bit of the history of gender disparity in the collegiate coaching ranks. Following Title IX’s passage, women’s teams saw their budgets grow, including salaries, which attracted both male and female applicants to coaching positions.

The men usually had, from past privilege, more experience and so were often hired over female candidates. In that way, Campbell-McGovern said, gender disparity, like racial disparity, “can be self-perpetuating.”

Then she got right to the point, speaking to the women in the large Zoom audience of some 150 viewers. In sports and in life, she said, “You don’t get what you deserve. You get what you ask for, you get what you fight for, and you get what you work for.”

“So make sure you honor the people who have come before you and the work that they have done to provide the benefits that you have. Continue to fight, and continue to make sure that you pay it forward, so the next generation has it even better than you do.”

“Continue to fight” for opportunities for girls and women in sports, said Carolyn Campbell-McGovern ’83, a field hockey and lacrosse standout at Bates.

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The Bates sport with the most All-Americans is men’s indoor track and field: 46.

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You get what you ask for, you get what you fight for, and you get what you work for.

Sponsored by Bates Athletics, the discussion celebrated National Girls and Women in Sports Day on Feb. 2 and the 50th anniversary of the passage of Title IX in 1972.

Campbell-McGovern, the college’s first women’s lacrosse All-American, was joined by four fellow panelists: Two-time Winter Olympian Nordic skier Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler ’78, co-author of Trail to Gold: The Journey of 53 Women Skiers, in 2021; former volleyball player Katie Burke ’03, chief people officer at HubSpot; former All-American thrower Vantiel Elizabeth Duncan ’10, a finalist for NCAA Woman of the Year in 2010, who works to deliver high speed internet to rural Maine; and national champion rower Amelia Wilhelm ’18, NCAA Woman of the Year finalist in 2018, who is enrolled in a medical scientist training program.

The discussion was moderated by Amanda Kaufman ’22 of Somers, Conn., a track and field captain and double major in psychology and in gender and sexuality studies.

Watch the conversation bates.edu/alumnae-panel

Most Bates sports contests are livestreamed at nsnsports.net/ colleges/bates.

Search “Bates Bobcats” on the App Store or Google Play to find the Bates sports app.

Bates’ longest-serving head coach is Nordic skiing’s B​​ecky Flynn Woods ’89.

Matt Coyne was appointed in February as the 22nd head Bates football coach in the program’s 127-year history.

Coyne comes to Bates from Wesleyan, where he was the team’s defensive coordinator, linebackers coach, and special teams coordinator. At Bates, he will inherit an experienced roster, with 54 returnees from last year’s 3–6 team under interim head coach Ed Argast.

A 2012 Wesleyan graduate, Coyne majored in psychology, was the starting quarterback for two seasons, and twice earned the Thomas W. Eck Jr. Memorial Award for exemplifying the best in team spirit, sportsmanship, and devotion. After graduation, he earned a master’s degree through Wesleyan’s Graduate Liberal Studies program and was an assistant football coach.

Coyne joined the football coaching staff at Oberlin College and in 2016 was promoted to offensive coordinator for the Yeomen.

Originally from Bristol, Conn., he earned All-State and All-Conference honors in high school in football and baseball.

Coyne’s NESCAC experience as a player and coach, coupled with his strong football knowledge, “impressed everyone on the hiring committee, from students to coaches to alumni,” said Director of Athletics Jason Fein. “His ability to inspire and lead makes him the perfect person to take Bates football into the future.”

“When you’re looking at taking a position as a head coach, you just don’t take any head coaching job,” said Coyne. “You want to take a job where you feel that you’re supported in the right way, the players are bought into what your vision is, and there’s that yearning for success. From my initial interview, I just knew that Bates has that urgency to be successful, and that’s something that’s super important.”

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

New Head Football Coach

‘I Just Went for It’

BREWSTER BURNS

Rookie backstroke sensation Sophie Cassily ’25 of Rye, N.H., broke not one, not two, but three individual Bates records at the NESCAC championships in February, winning the 200-yard backstroke title along the way.

Cassily is now the greatest backstroker in program history, owning team records in the 50, 100, and the 200. She’s also a member of the 200-yard medley relay team that set a Bates record at the conference meet.

In Cassily’s winning 200-yard backstroke race, she was nearly even with a Williams swimmer with 50 yards left.

“I don’t know if I was ahead of her or she was ahead of me,” she recalls. “But when I pushed off the wall for the last 50, I realized, ‘Wow, I have some energy left.’ So I just went for it, and she couldn’t go with me.”

In a tight finish, swimmers usually need to look at the scoreboard to learn the result. But not Cassily. “I was on my back, facing the team, and I knew I won because they were celebrating. It was awesome.”

Sophie Cassily ’25 holds four Bates swimming records.

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ARTS & CULTURE

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Joaquin Torres ’25 of Silang, Philippines, plays the Boy who guides and speaks for Teiresias, the blind but far-seeing prophet.

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Marine painter Charles Woodbury is a pre-modern artist of interest to the Museum of Art.

Professor Kirk Read modeled an outfit at the Trashion Show in 2021.

The college has four a cappella groups.

Puppet Partnership

Ananya Rao ’25 of Bedford, N.H., manipulates and voices one of the puppets that comprised the chorus of Old Theban Men.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Puppetry and theater became a perfect partnership in the Bates theater production of Antigonick, the 2012 adaptation of Antigone, the Sophocles play in which the title character’s insistence on giving her brother a proper burial, against the wishes of her uncle, the King of Thebes, leads to mayhem and death.

The Bates production added its own theatrical elements to this already innovative translation of Antigone by poet Anne Carson, which dramaturg Maggie Nespole ’23 of Annapolis, Md., described as having shifted the play “from a story of broken men to the truth of women.”

The theme of the Africana Fashion Show was harusi, Swahili for “wedding.”

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

The opening hymn at Carl Benton Straub’s April memorial service was “Simple Gifts.”

Antigonick is “often referred to as an experimental, or even radical, translation,” said Assistant Professor of Theater Tim Dugan, who directed the play. In that spirit of adventure, Dugan and his team devised creative ways to support the story through some amazing puppetry and shadow theater produced by Figures of Speech Theatre of Freeport, Maine, which is affiliated with the Department of Theater and Dance.

Carried by the chorus, Antigone, played by Caroline Cassell ’24 of Woodstock, Vt., draws closer to her death.

TWITTER

We’re Waiting

After Mare of Mare of Easttown threw shade on Bates, Twitter users, including Associate Professor of Sociology Michael Rocque, had their say.

It’s been a year since the title character of HBO’s Mare of Easttown dissed Bates during the finale of the limited series.

If you recall, Mare (Kate Winslet) learns from her boyfriend, novelist Richard Ryan (Guy Pearce), that he’s departing town to spend the next academic year at none other than Bates College.

Mare is not impressed, telling him, “Never even heard of Bates College.”

A detective on the Easttown police force, Mare is skeptical by trade and possibly, by constitution. “Bet you’re making it up,” she tells him.

After Mare threw shade on Bates, Twitter users had their own takes.

Associate Professor of Sociology Michael Rocque tweeted, “That’s cold, Mare.”

A prospective Bates parent tweeted that they were planning on bringing their daughter for a tour in a few weeks, and “maybe we’ll run into Richard signing books.”

Andrew Mountcastle, assistant professor of biology, weighed in with a suggestion that a future season might focus on the murder of a certain convertible Jaguar (Richard’s ride) by the Maine winter. And Carolyn Ryan ’86, deputy editor of The New York Times, was one of many who retweeted a Bates tweet, adding a wry note: “Great school. Wonderful alums.”

And will Mare be back? As a limited series, probably not. But we’ll let you know if we spy Richard at the Goose later this summer.

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BATES IN BRIEF SPRING 2022

LEWISTON

New bus service between Bath and Lewiston debuted in March.

The Bates Mill complex is more than a quarter mile long.

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Wearing either hat or hood or neither, four Lewiston Middle School students mug for the camera on Dec. 9, 2021.

Dressed for Success

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William Barry Wood of Boston, for whom Wood Street is named, was a 19th-century business associate of Benjamin Bates, the Lewiston mill owner for whom Bates College is named. Wood Street extends from the Bates campus toward downtown Lewiston, ending at Sabattus Street near the Blue Goose tavern.

Wood and Cotton Williams Wood was involved in Lewiston’s Continental and Lincoln cotton mills, the Union Water Power Co., and the Lewiston Bleachery and Dye Works, among other interests.

According to his 1888 obituary, he was “widely known for his mercantile integrity.”

At his funeral in Boston, U.S. Sen. William P. Frye of Maine (and of Frye Street fame) was a pallbearer.

Cotton Problem In the years before the Civil War, the Southern cotton that enriched Lewiston mill investors was grown by enslaved persons.

Spoken Wood In 1874, Wood, who served as a trustee of Bates in the 1870s, offered a $100 prize during Commencement exercises for the “best original oration” by a member of the junior class. It was won by Frank Leslie Washburn, Class of 1876, who became (not surprisingly) a lawyer.

On the Street Starting in 1965, Bates College began purchasing Wood Street buildings for residential, academic, and administrative use. The Multifaith Chaplaincy and the Harward Center for Community Partnerships are on Wood Street.

Two student residences, Herrick and Stillman houses, are there, too.

Ali Manning ’23 of Sydney, Australia, poses on the porch of Stillman House, one of several Bates buildings on Wood Street.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

During conversations about bias and racial equity in their classrooms, Lewiston Middle School students told their Bates student mentors how Black students were more frequently called out for wearing hats and hoods in school than white students.

From that starting point, the Bates students, as part of the education course “Discipline, Race, and Schooling,” helped the middle-schoolers build a successful bias-focused argument to end the prohibition against wearing hats and hoods in school and then take the argument to school leaders.

Last summer, the Lewiston school committee approved an amended dress code policy to allow students to wear previously banned items, such as hats, hoods, studded collars, and crop tops. The amended policy emphasizes the personal rights of students and their families to decide what is appropriate to wear to school.

The Bates students helped the middleschoolers make their case, but it was most rewarding to watch the youngsters “take ownership and take over” the effort, Associate Professor of Education Patricia Buck told the Lewiston Sun Journal.

The Bates students “helped the students refine their arguments. They coached,” teacher Allston Parkinson told the Sun Journal.

“They were able to provide research information that helped,” including relevant court cases related to clothing and free speech.

What’s in a Name: Wood

The rail bridge across the Androscoggin is the LewistonAuburn Railroad Bridge.

Bates chaplain Brittany Longsdorf joined a prayer service for Ukraine at the Basilica.

Shalom, Sisters Jews have called Lewiston and Auburn home since the 1800s, but when Phyllis Graber Jensen, who was raised in a Jewish community in New York City, arrived in Lewiston three decades ago, she doubted that Jews even lived in Maine.

With camera in hand, she’s learned otherwise.

Last fall, Graber Jensen, director of photography for Bates Magazine, put together Shalom, Sisters, an exhibition of her photographs featuring Jewish women and girls affiliated

Bates Magazine is printed at family-owned Penmor Lithographers in Lewiston.

with Temple Shalom Synagogue-Center in Auburn, the Jewish community that she joined in 1992.

“To chronicle everyday life, photographers often wait for mundane moments of self-revelation,” Graber Jensen says. Waiting, observing, and paying attention “is an act of respect,” she explains. “Perhaps we don’t love, or fear, everyone we meet, but ideally those we know — or even just encounter — deserve our willingness to observe them closely.”

Here are three photographs from the exhibition, which was shown at the Maine Jewish Museum in Portland.

Dr. Elcha Buckman wears the hat.

Friends, 2019 Bertha Bodenheimer, a member of Temple Shalom, and Fatuma Hussein first met during a temple brunch, where Hussein, who is executive director of the Immigrant Resource Center of Maine, gave a talk.

“There’s no way we’ll ever get to know each other unless we get together,” Bodenheimer said to Hussein.

Subsequently, a group of Somali women hosted a group from the temple for lunch on Lewiston’s Lisbon Street, where Bodenheimer and Hussein held hands.

Marilyn Isaacson Simonds holds photographs of her paternal grandparents, Harry and Eva Isaacson.

The Hat, 2021 One day, Ruth, a patient of Dr. Elcha Buckman, showed the therapist a picture of a hat. Buchman loves hats, and this one was special. It was custom made in New York — with feathers from Australia — for Ruth to wear at the bar mitzvah of her first grandson.

Ruth was a “very generous, very chic, and very fashionable” woman, says Buckman. The two would talk about “feelings, family, and fashion.”

After Ruth’s death, her daughter appeared in Buckman’s office with a large, ornate box. Inside was the hat. “My mother wanted you to have this,” she said, “so you could wear it to your first grandson’s bar mitzvah.”

In Judaism, the number 18 has great meaning: It’s the numeric value of the Hebrew word “chai,” which means “life.” Ruth’s gift was Buckman’s 36th hat, “making my collection a double chai.”

These holding hands belong to Bertha Bodenheimer (left) and Fatuma Hussein.

The Granddaughter, 2006 As a child, recalled Marilyn Isaacson Simonds, who was born in Lewiston in 1928, almost everybody was related to one of the few Jewish families in town, and one didn’t distinguish between cousins, whether it was a first cousin or a fourth cousin. “A cousin is a cousin, and they were equally important.”

So, when at age 10 she was first allowed to walk down to Lisbon Street by herself, her mother gave Marilyn clear instructions: “When you walk onto Lisbon and Main streets, make sure you smile at everybody because you may be related.”

Nationally recognized for her volunteer service in support of children, immigrants, and the poor, Simonds died in 2019 at age 90.

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THE WORLD

Students headed to Juneau to study glacial and postglacial landscapes during Short Term.

The city closest to Lewiston’s global antipode is Augusta...in Western Australia.

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BATES IN BRIEF SPRING 2022

I lived with a colonial mentality, which is the perception of ethnic and cultural inferiority and a form of internalized racial oppression.

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In the Roger William cultural kitchen, Jangmin Song ’25 of Tokyo chops garlic while language assistant Hongyu Zhang explains what’s going on. (The eggs and tomatoes are for another dish.)

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

On March 6, 1957, as throngs of Ghanians took to the streets of Accra to celebrate their independence from Great Britain, the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. was there, witnessing Black people “experiencing [freedom] in their very souls.”

In 1957, the lowering of the British flag and the raising of the Ghanian flag was an easily grasped moment of decolonization and liberation. But here in 2022, the phrase’s meaning is far more complex but no less important, grappling as it does with enduring white supremacist ideas and power structures.

Hence the theme for Bates’ Martin Luther King Jr. Day observance in January, “What I Mean When I Say: Decolonization and Liberation,” which kicked off with a panel discussion among five Maine-based thinkers, practitioners, and activists, including Lewiston resident Hamza Abdi, who is originally from the African nation of Djibouti, which gained its independence from France in 1977.

Abdi works at Bates as the assistant director of volunteer programs and community partnerships for the Harward Center for Community Partnerships.

During the panel discussion, Abdi explained what the day’s theme meant to him, “as an African expat, who has strong ties with the continent.”

Since coming to the U.S., Abdi has seen one legacy of colonization, the barriers between African immigrants and African Americans. “Few are aware, for example, of how the independence of African nations influenced the U.S. civil rights movement,” including how King was inspired by the Ghanaian independence movement.

“The histories and struggles of Africans on both sides of the Atlantic have always been connected to each other, yet there is a lack of knowledge of each other’s historical and cultural experiences.”

For Abdi, decolonization and liberation “means rediscovering myself, reclaiming my identity, and liberating myself from the colonial mindset and the trap of a very dangerous colonial education system. I had rejected and renounced my own ethnic identity, Somali.

I lived with the colonial mentality, which is the perception of ethnic and cultural inferiority and a form of internalized racial oppression.”

He says that “just seeing and calling out colonization isn’t enough” to achieve change. So he has committed himself “to engage colonization with an intention to dismantle it” and to “search for people who were embodying resistance, who are serious about bringing change in the community, and who challenge oppressive systems.”

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

The Colonial Mindset

There’s a small linear village named Lewiston in the Scottish Highlands.

About 100 Afghan refugees arrived for resettlement in Lewiston in early 2022.

Jackson Obel-Omia ’22 of Barrington, R.I., Julie Jesurum ’22 of Weston, Mass., and Leia Gallego-Calle ’25 of Waterbury, Conn., taste the finished dish.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

The Center for Global Education advises students abroad on how to vote in U.S. elections.

Smack Down

Soon, it’s time to dig in.

During a cooking class in the Roger Williams Hall cultural kitchen recently, Bates language assistant Hongyu Zhang taught students how to prepare pai huang gua, also known as smacked cucumber salad.

It’s called “smacked” because the flat side of a wide knife or cleaver is used to smash the cucumber “really hard so it splits, then you cut it into pieces,” says Zhang.

Depending on the recipe, the vinaigrette includes sesame oil, Chinese black vinegar, crushed garlic, chopped scallions, soy sauce, and sugar. If you want, add red chilis, “if you like spicy,” Zhang says. A dash of oyster sauce adds flavor too.

The mouth-watering session was presented by the Bates Center for Global Education to celebrate International Education Week.

Watch how pai huang gua (smacked cumcumber) is prepared bates.edu/smacked-cucumber

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BOOKS

Book suggestions from the college’s annual Good Reads summer reading list:

Improbable Voices

by Derek Anderson ’85

Suggested by Stephanie Pridgeon, Assistant Professor of Hispanic Studies: An amazing first book by a queer Latinx poet whose way with words I cannot adequately describe. You could spend your summer in one poem.

Suggested by Bill Hiss ’66, retired colleague: 26 key but lesser-known historical figures, A to Z. First: the Portuguese explorer Albuquerque, important to European colonialism. He learned to use triangular sails to trek against the wind.

Crying in H Mart

by Michelle Zauner Suggested by Mary Pols, Bates Communications: Indie musician Zauner grapples with identity and heritage as she recounts life with her difficult but delightful Korean mom, especially cooking and eating, and the pain of losing her to cancer.

JAY BURNS

Thrown in the Throat

by Benjamin Garcia

Suggested by Jack Pribram, Professor Emeritus: In the 1950s, scientist Dmitri Belyaev had an idea: If dogs came from wild wolves, could dogs come from passive wild foxes? A decades-long experiment began.

BATES HISTORY

QUIZ

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Fifty years ago, what did these items have in common: minestrone soup and Manwich on a grilled bun; sausage links, cream whipped potato, and corn fritter with maple syrup; fruit plate with date bread and luncheon loaf, potato chips, cucumber slices, and cottage cheese?

Answer: Those items comprised the Commons lunch menu on Jan. 19, 1972.

IF IT QUACKS?

Recently seen in the Waterman Bird Collection in Carnegie Science Hall, perched near a pine warbler and common bulfinch were these two interlopers. At lower right is Rubber Duck (Duccus rubberus, says the label), and at left is Dr. Quack (Anatidae medicus), whose label notes it is “found worldwide and continues to be harmful, but is challenging to identify.”

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How to Tame a Fox (and Build a Dog)

by Lee Alan Dugatkin and Lyudmila Trut

Something You Didn’t Know You Needed from the Bates College Store Your Bates Major Hat | $19.99 (Available for a range of majors, clubs, and sports.)

BATES.EDU/STORE

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brains

Orange Ya Glad?

There’s not much silliness in Mike Rocque’s scholarly work as a widely published criminologist. But then the holidays arrive.

“I love Halloween and major holidays,” says the associate professor of sociology, who donned this don’t-adjust-your set suit for students in his course “Thinking Sociologically With Numbers” right before Halloween last fall.

“Ultimately, holidays are about social cohesion and coming together to celebrate something bigger than ourselves,” he said. And during the difficult times of college life in a pandemic, “I wanted to dress up a bit over the top to give people something to smile about.”

You Called?

JAY BURNS

These skeleton models are ready for action in the course “Human Anatomy and Physiology,” taught by Lecturer in Biology Bruno Salazar-Perea, M.D., whose students use colored clay to fabricate the various tissues — vessels, nerves, tendons, and muscle tissue itself — that comprise skeletal muscles. “The intention is to help students learn the details about the structure and function of the over 600 muscles of the body by building them,” he says. “The rationale is that the mind can’t forget what the hands have learned.”

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Undoing structural racism in STEM education, along with a “survival of the fittest” mindset, isn’t done by waving an academic wand. It takes work — and listening

‘IT TAKES to brave students. Here’s what Bates has been up to.

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In Colleen O’Loughlin’s lab in Bonney Science Center, fun is essential, as is curiosity and open mindedness.

W RK’ STORY BY

Mary Pols

PHOTOGRAPHY BY

Phyllis Graber Jensen

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A

Shown in 2014 at Bates, Akira Townes ’17 saw and confronted cultural and racial inequity in STEM.

kira Townes ’17 came to Bates in fall 2013 with plans to go into public health, probably, she thought, as a nurse practitioner.

As a student at The Park School in Baltimore, a century-old private K–12 school, she’d done a lot of experiential learning, including three summers of permafrost fieldwork in the Canadian subarctic.

She’d even presented that work at a conference in Montreal. She was beyond comfortable in a lab setting.

“I thought I was a scientist,” Townes says, speaking via Zoom from Baltimore, near where she grew up, remembering how ready she felt for Bates and a biology major in 2013. “I was like, ‘I’m going to kill it.’”

Instead, there were biology classes at Bates where she felt like she was “always the dumb one.” In her heart, she knew that wasn’t true, but says there were students and faculty who made her feel that way. She experienced the discomfort of microaggressions. Like, why was it so hard for some professors to tell her apart from the three or four other Black women in her classes, especially the ones she, at five-foot-10, was considerably taller than?

Her lab work still made her feel confident — but her grades on tests reinforced the feeling that she wasn’t cutting it, and there would be material in the class that didn’t translate. She says she has a processing disability but still she couldn’t shake this feeling that “this has zero contextual use in my life.

And so therefore, my brain was just like, maybe you don’t need it.”

Townes did not give up: “I’m first- gen.

Quitting was not an option. There was a pride piece in there.” She found helpers, teachers like Paula Schlax (“a godsend of a human”) and Karen Palin, who steered her toward a thesis focused on public health, working with the Community Clinical Services B Street Health Center in Lewiston. Townes still emails and Zooms regularly with Palin.

I did not fit the mold at the time of what Bates saw as a scientist.

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There were STEM classes where Townes did well, but she left Bates feeling that her faculty did not have solid grounding in “cultural inclusivity or sensitivity,” she says. “I did not fit the mold at the time of what Bates saw as a scientist.”

Historically, the fields of STEM, an acronym referring generally to science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, have had problems achieving equity and inclusion, with science and related disciplines everywhere traditionally favoring white men and excluding women and Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC). For Townes, though, this wasn’t something she could just discount as a societal failing. She was going into debt for this education, and she wanted it to be good. And just.

“I don’t like injustice,” she says.

One of her goals in life is “never to leave a place the same way I found it.”

With that in mind, shortly before Townes graduated in May of 2017, she took action.

In the spring of her senior year, the Bates biology department posted a statement about diversity on its web page — and to Townes, the faculty authors, in their attempt to express solidarity, “fell flat on their faces.” She was particularly offended by what she saw as a contradiction between her experience and what the department said about how it enthusiastically welcomed and valued everyone from all races, nationalities, religions, genders, sexual orientations, abilities, and backgrounds.

So she drafted a letter and circulated it among classmates for input. When she had a final draft, one that was respectful but also direct and damning, she asked for signatures. Some were too worried about their grades to agree. But a dozen put their name to it, albeit in scrawls that were hard to make out.

Townes slipped into the departmental office and slid copies of the letter into everyone’s mailboxes. Not long after, she graduated and went out into the world.

Little could she have predicted its impact on the college she was leaving behind.

While Townes was at Bates, the college was already beginning to acknowledge, if not yet fix, its approach to achieving greater equity in STEM. The college’s Institutional Plan, which had won approval in fall 2016, put a fine point on the issue, calling for a “comprehensive, multi-year program in the STEM fields designed particularly to support students from underrepresented groups” and asking the faculty to commit to “develop and integrate methods, tools, and approaches that afford all students from all backgrounds opportunities to excel in the sciences.”

With that, President Clayton Spencer and Bates leaders launched the STEM Initiative in 2016–17, its stated mission being that the college “become a model a model program” that fosters STEM success “through deliberate culture change, including deep research experiences, engaging curricula, inclusive pedagogy, and intentional mentoring.”

Over the last five years, work at Bates to achieve that goal has included everything from curricular changes to new student-support programs, to committed faculty leadership from both longtime professors and new hires. And as called for in the Institutional Plan, Bates has made core STEM facilities improvements meant to address equity and inclusion, both within older buildings like Dana Hall (now undergoing a full gut renovation to focus on science teaching, particularly the introductory courses, and more shared student spaces) and the

approach to designing the newest, the Bonney Science Center.

But even as this evolution was beginning, BIPOC and first-generation students were speaking up about the challenges they were facing in STEM majors. In response, the college sought to put a number to what they were hearing. Digging into academic data, the Office of Institutional Research, Analysis, and Planning found that STEM degree attainment for Bates students overall was high, with nearly 60 percent of STEM-interested students graduating with STEM degrees — above national averages.

But looking at the data according to financial capacity, first-gen status, and race/ethnicity, the findings were troubling. Of first-generation students interested in STEM, only 41 percent obtained degrees. For the lowest-income students, only 38 percent received a STEM degree. For Black students, that rate fell to 23 percent.

In 2018 the college’s STEM work received a major boost from a a $1 million, multi-year grant from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Inclusive Excellence Initiative, bringing Bates into a national network of colleges and universities committed to making STEM education more inclusive and equitable.

HHMI grant in hand, Bates deployed one of its biggest efforts, revamping and expanding what was previously a one-year program into a two-year program called STEM Scholars, helping incoming students who are interested in STEM majors begin to think like young

‘IT TAKES W RK’

Taking Initiative

Research presents the “real challenges that a scientist has to go through,” says STEM Scholar Sebastian Leon Fallas ’24 (left) doing fieldwork on flowers and pollinators with Henry Hardy ’22 at Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary.

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‘IT TAKES W RK’

scientists, solve problems like young scientists, and, most of all, believe in themselves as young scientists.

“It builds their sense of place and belonging in the sciences,” says Dean of the Faculty Malcolm Hill. “That has been an incredibly important, very studentcentered, curricular addition at Bates.

That’s one of the themes behind all of this; we’re centering the students. And we’re really trying to think about where the structural barriers are.”

As the STEM Scholars become juniors and seniors, they offer support to the new participants in the program. There’s also more encouragement to dive right into research jobs.

That was how STEM Scholar Sebastian Leon Fallas ’24 of Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica, came to be standing in a meadow at Lewiston’s Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary on a blazing hot day last summer, collecting pollen from native plants while trying very hard not to collect ticks on himself. He and Henry Hardy ’22 of Gloucester, Mass., were both working for Assistant Professor of Biology Carla Essenberg on a research project focused on how much pollen from native plants is available to pollinators.

Sebastian Leon Fallas chose Bates in part because he wanted to be part of the STEM Scholars program: “It encourages me.”

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Hardy and Leon Fallas had protected (or “bagged”) some blooms from bees, butterflies, birds, and so forth, leaving others available for the pollinators. By measuring the amount of pollen in the bagged blooms, the students could calculate how much pollen potential there was in the whole meadow.

“Doing research during the summer is a way to actually face the real challenges that a scientist has to go through,” Leon Fallas says, “rather than just someone telling you.” Those challenges included identifying species and keeping track of them, collecting and maintaining specimens, then analyzing them. “This is the lesser stitchwort,”

Spring 2022

Leon Fallas says, pointing to the plant in real life and then as they’d sketched it and other flowering plants in a notebook he carried with him. “Not art majors!” he says, laughing. “But we try.”

Finding a CURE Another major resource in the STEM evolution at Bates is the leadership of Professor of Biology April Hill, the college’s inaugural Wagener Family Professor for Equity and Inclusion in STEM. Since she arrived at Bates in 2018 from the University of Richmond, where she had successfully reshaped a curriculum to be more inviting to underserved students, Hill, herself a first-generation college graduate all too familiar with those challenges, has been a force for change at Bates in the STEM disciplines, including department-wide efforts in biology to revamp early courses, what Hill says some would describe as the “gateway” courses, into true scientific inquiries designed to get all students engaged in the material and on equal footing to their peers. With funding from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute grant, Hill and fellow Bates faculty members reimagined these courses, now called CUREs, or Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences. “These are meant to engage students in the process of science,” Hill says.

Traditionally, introductory courses had been rich on textbooks and labs full of “cookbook” exercises (whereby the student followed a professor’s recipe to a known solution). These gateway courses privileged those who had already taken AP science courses in high school and “weeded out” those who maybe came to subjects cold or felt intimidated or othered by classmates who didn’t want to be their lab partners, or those who just simply didn’t feel supported. People who, if they didn’t understand what was going on in weeks five and six of a course, felt like they’d fallen off a ladder of lessons that stacked one on top of the other and were the only path to the places they wanted to go, like medical school.

People who might have felt, in other words, like Akira Townes sometimes did.

Back when Townes was putting copies of that 2017 letter into those mailboxes in the biology department, there was only one signature that was fairly easy to make out, that of Sophie Wagener ’17, a biology major from Pasadena, Calif.

Wagener and Townes had met early on at Bates, became friends, had a falling out, and then, as Townes remembers it, were pushed into working together as

You can’t just magically say, ‘Be inclusive.’ It’s not enough to attend training or read a book. People had to practice talking about race and racism together. lab partners, where the friendship was rebooted into something tighter and lasting. When Sophie’s parents, Deborah Heitz and Shaw Wagener, were considering a gift to Bates, they spoke to President Spencer not just about their daughter’s experiences at the college, but those of her friends. She would drive any gift, they said.

In subsequent discussions with ​​ Spencer and other leaders at the college, Sophie was clear: Her friends had aspirations in science and math, but left feeling dispirited. Sophie’s declaration added to the growing mound of evidence that Bates’ STEM curriculum needed work. As Spencer recalled, “Sophie’s experience with her friends was mirrored in our institutional data.”

The ultimate result of these conversations was the Wagener family’s $3 million gift to The Bates Campaign, endowing the professorship Hill holds.

“Sophie watched us in the trenches,” recalls Townes, who, after completing a master’s program in public health at the University of Washington, is now a diversity, equity, and inclusion fellow at her high school alma mater.

“I’m proud of the fact that this was what she and her family decided to do,” Townes says. Without those meals together in Commons, where white privilege and the Black experience were often part of the conversation, April Hill might not have come to Bates, where she has been

an instrumental leader in the college’s collective and ambitious approach to improving STEM for all.

There are already some positive signs based on what Institutional Research, Analysis, and Planning has been able to track. Prior to Bates receiving the HHMI grant, 64 percent of first-generation students took BIO 190 and then subsequently enrolled in a 200-level biology course. After BIO 190 was redesigned to the CURE course 195, that percentage jumped to 94 percent. And the differences in average grades in introductory STEM courses have narrowed considerably across the division.

But as Hill points out, the work is ongoing. “You can’t just magically be like, ‘Be inclusive’” she says. It takes work. It’s not enough to attend a training, or read a book. “People had to practice talking about race and racism together,” Hill says.

Professor of Biology April Hill is the Wagener Family Professor for Equity and Inclusion in STEM.

‘Epitome of Racism’ Fortunately, that work had already been percolating across departments. Before Aleks Diamond-Stanic, assistant professor of physics, came to Bates he’d been thinking deeply on these issues, prompted by the 2014 police killing of Michael Brown in Ferguson and what it had revealed about racism to him. He read up on the growth mindset in Carol Dweck’s book Mindset: The New Psychology of Success as well as articles and books on how stereotyping impacts humanity.

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STEM should not advantage or disadvantage any student, says Assistant Professor of Physics Aleks Diamond-Stanic.

Those were helpful, but since then his approach has shifted. As a physicist, he works within one of the most white and cisgender male-dominated STEM fields. “My evolution has been realizing that it’s not just about telling a student to learn the growth mindset and learning how to navigate the system,” says Diamond-Stanic, who was appointed to the Bates faculty in fall 2016. “It’s also trying to change the system in a way that it’s not advantaging and disadvantaging students.”

For many faculty within STEM fields, a visit to Bates by historian Ibram Kendi in October 2017, not long after he’d won the National Book Award for Stamped from the Beginning: The Definitive History of Racist Ideas in America, was particularly revelatory.

My evolution has been realizing it’s not just about telling a student to learn how to navigate the system. It’s also trying to change the system.

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Associate Professor of Biology Larissa Williams was struck by what she recalls Kendi saying to her after she told him about the data showing racial disparities in STEM outcomes at Bates. He pointed out the baseline of excellence of students at Bates, telling her that her students were some of the best in the country, “all obviously smart.” But, he said, if you can predict how well they are going to do in your curriculum based on skin color, she remembers him telling her “that’s the epitome of racism.” She was left with the realization that the curriculum was racist. And a desire to change both it and her perspective as the beneficiary of white privilege. Today, “we’re not even close to being done with the work,” Williams says. “But I think that we have done a lot to make sure that we’re supporting all of our students, especially those who have been particularly vulnerable in the past.”

Beyond being a force for curricular change, and an evolutionary geneticist of renown, particularly in the area of sponge research, April Hill has mentored on both a college-wide level in terms of curricular change, and an individual level to STEM Scholars, who sing her praises.

“She has just played such a critical role in my success thus far,” says Jessica Kissi ’23, a double major in biochemistry and French and francophone studies

Kissi started a Bates chapter of a national organization, SACNAS, the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science. A new club on campus, Fem STEM, brings femaleidentifying students together. They read, listen to podcasts, and discuss shared challenges. “I didn’t know how much I needed it,” says Elizabeth LaCroix ’23, a double major in chemistry and English from Richmond, R.I., who serves as the club’s vice president.

‘IT TAKES W RK’

from Chicago. It was at Hill’s suggestion that Kissi started studying French. Her family is originally from Ghana and Togo, and Kissi had been fluent as a child, but lost the language after moving to the U.S. “I just wanted to be able to have a simple conversation with my parents,” Kissi remembers.

It might seem odd that a STEM professor would urge French on her seriously STEM-oriented first-year student with medical school ambitions, but as Kissi tells it, Hill wanted her to diversify her studies as a key component of succeeding. She also asked Kissi not to compare herself to other students.

It worked. Kissi considers this “lifelong advice” to take with her. “Comparisons are the thief of joy,” she says, quoting the adage often attributed to Teddy Roosevelt.

After sophomore year, Kissi, again at Hill’s urging, took a summer internship at the Broad Institute (the same Broad that has provided COVID-19 testing for Bates during the pandemic), working on cancer biology. “A summer of expansive research has really opened my eyes to a lot,” Kissi says, including the possibility that she might want to be a physician scientist, getting a dual M.D.–Ph.D. degree.

Kissi is also part of a student-led movement to navigate the sciences collectively. With the encouragement of Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks,

Let Curiosity Fly Banks is a relative newcomer to Bates, joining the faculty in 2019. As an undergraduate at Prairie View A&M University, Bank’s campus job was tutoring her peers, some struggling with gateway courses, so she’s particularly mindful of the importance of engaging students.

“You have to provide some real-world context to the information and not just, ‘Here is the formula, memorize this list.’”

Banks collaborates with student scientists on work centered on a protein expressed within rotavirus, a highly contagious virus that causes severe gastrointestinal disease and is particularly dangerous to children. Last summer she had five research students working in her lab. “A bit ambitious,” Banks says.

“But we all survived.”

“Science is everywhere,” says Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks, working with student researchers in Bonney Science Center, “not just this weird place that we come to for a couple hours a week.”

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Lori Banks, holding an agar plate, and Osceola Heard, her senior thesis student, look at E. coli colonies in her Bonney Science Center lab.

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At many colleges and universities, research used to be — and often still is — reserved for the graduate school experience. “Undergraduate students were sort of seen as like, here to take up space, or here just for the exposure,” Banks says. For some Type A science personalities, it is hard to give up control to let undergraduates explore. The faculty at Bates relish it. “You’d be amazed at what students do,” Bank says. “Let their curiosity fly! And you know, if you give them an opportunity? They can make you look really smart.”

Banks and other faculty moved into the Bonney Center last summer, setting up their laboratories and embracing the way the building’s very design offers a more inclusive experience. Some of the building’s classrooms are used for multiple disciplines, so students who come for a history class might get to see their peers conducting scientific research through glass walls. Within the lab classrooms, there are tables with seating for four.

From Colleen O’Loughlin’s perspective, this is the kind of classroom redesign she would have loved to have during her own education at Ithaca College and Princeton, where the assist-

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ant professor of chemistry and biochemistry got her doctorate. “I remember being the only woman in an upper-level chem class,” O’Loughlin says. “And nobody wanted to work with you.”

At Bonney, no one is dragging their desk around the room to form their own groups and, O’Loughlin says, “You’re not asking people to pick groups, right?

You just walk in and sit at a table with four people.”

Watching O’Loughlin working with a group of her research students is like seeing the human embodiment of good energy (negative ions, if you will). Clad in a T-shirt, jeans, and green high-tops, she moves around her laboratory with efficiency and enthusiasm, reminding her research assistants that they’ve got a mini-golf outing coming up with her and should wear tie-dye for it. She’s also supportive of all efforts, including mistakes. “It would just be called ‘search’ instead of research if we knew what was going to happen.”

Raised in a family with eight siblings by a single mother, O’Loughlin was nearly derailed by general chemistry in her first year at Ithaca (“I was not good at math”) and as she entered organic chemistry in her second semester, started

‘IT TAKES W RK’ I remember being the only woman in an upper-level chem class,” O’Loughlin says.

“And nobody wanted to work with you.” planning to find a new major. Then her professor intervened. “He was like, ‘Give me two weeks of organic chemistry. And if after that, this is still how you feel, I will help you get into any class you need for whatever major you want to do. But I think organic’s going to be the thing for you.’ And he was 100 percent correct.”

O’Loughlin pays that pedagogical approach forward. Anna Gouveia ’22, of Jenkintown, Pa., a double major in biochemistry and studio art, has worked closely with O’Loughlin since both arrived at Bates in 2018: “I remember I went to her office hours and I was just like, ‘I feel so lost right now.’” O’Loughlin shared some of her own experiences and that vulnerability both bolstered Gouveia and changed her perspective on learning. “She converted my brain from being like, ‘I’m here for a grade,’ to being like, ‘I’m here to learn this material because it’s interesting and cool.’”

Gouveia works in O’Loughlin’s lab, where she mentors younger students and gets to do more of that cool science, with all its imperfections. “This gel,” Gouveia says, staring down at the slide she’s working with, her expression dubious. “You haven’t seen worse ones, have you?”

O’Loughlin checks out the slide, shrugs her shoulders and agrees. “It’s clearly terrible,” she says, smiling. The whole group of students, including Gouveia, laughs. n

Colleen O’Loughlin and Anna Gouveia ’22 work on a research project in the O’Loughlin lab in Bonney Science Center. O’Loughlin has been mentoring Gouveia since her first year.

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IAN HILLENBRAND ’17

BLOWN A S H O R E, THEN BLOWN AWAY

While navigating rough waters off the Maine coast in May 2014, geology professor Dyk Eusden ’80 and his students kayaked their way into the magical island world of acclaimed artist Ashley Bryan, who died in February at age 98 STORY BY MARY POLS

IN HIS STUDIO AND HOME on Little

Cranberry Island, Ashley Bryan (left) shows a piece of artwork to Dyk Eusden ’80, Noel Potter ’17, Graham Oxman ’15, and Grace Kenney ’16 during their unplanned visit on May 7, 2014.

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SARAH CROSBY

JACKIE ORDEMANN ’15

paddles through choppy waters on May 7, 2014, shortly before the “crash landing” on Maine’s Little Cranberry Island that led to a magical meeting with artist Ashley Bryan.

I T WA S A LITTLE HAIRY ON THE WAT E R T H AT D AY I N 2 0 1 4.

AT THEIR CAMP SITE

on Little Cranberry Island, Jackie Ordemann ’15 and Grace Kenney ’16 share warm drinks during the unplanned stop in May 2014 that led to visits with artist Ashley Bryan.

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I

t was a little hairy on the water that day in May 2014.

The group of Bates students led by Professor of Geology Dykstra “Dyk” Eusden ’80 had set out in their kayaks from Southwest Harbor, bound for Baker Island via The Gut between Little and Great Cranberry islands.

The goal was to camp at the Baker Island Lighthouse for five days, from May 7 through May 11, jaunting around to map the volcanics in and around the islands, a typical project for Eusden’s legendary Short Term course, “Geology of the Maine Coast by Sea Kayak.”

“But we ran into really challenging southeast winds that forced us to bivvy on Islesford,” aka Little Cranberry, Eusden recalls. Grace Kenney ’16 remembers it as the “crash landing.” A few people sat on the beach to catch their breath after the hard work of getting there.

“We were all relieved,” remembers Graham Oxman ’15. Then came the adaptation to being blown off the path they’d planned. Which, in a way, fit right in with the course goals, to teach them not just about geology, but about weather, tides, navigation, group dynamics, and living in situations they’d likely never experienced before.

In this situation, they needed to figure out an alternative plan for the night. A group, including Eusden and Ian Hillenbrand ’17, set out on a reconnaissance mission.

Hillenbrand is from Ohio but had vacationed in Maine with his family, including trips to Little Cranberry because his father, Will Hillenbrand, a children’s book author and illustrator, had an artist friend there. “I said, ‘Hey, I know this guy,’” Hillenbrand remembers. And that was artist, author, and children’s book illustrator Ashley Bryan.

IAN HILLENBRAND ’17 SARAH CROSBY

That spring Bryan was 90 years old and had already published many books, including the popular 2011 children’s book Beautiful Blackbird.

The local elementary school on Little Cranberry had recently been named for him, but even in his adopted state of Maine he had not yet become quite so widely known as he would in the coming years. (In 2020, Maine Gov. Janet Mills proclaimed his birthday, July 13, “Ashley Frederick Bryan Day” in Maine). “I knew Ashley would probably know everyone, or at least put us in touch with someone we could talk to,” Hillenbrand recalls.

Kenney had never heard of Ashley Bryan, but she was game, even if she was still in a full wetsuit, including the booties.

“I don’t even think we took those off,” Kenney says. But the artist welcomed the damp and disheveled Bates group into his cottage-studio.

“There was like a layer of embarrassment that we were in our wetsuits,” Kenney remembers.

“And I remember being really ner-

vous about not knocking things over.

It was like being in a toy store, or a museum.”

But Bryan was unfazed. After a quick visit, he recommended checking in with the proprietor of the general store. The Bates group made a plan to return later that day, then walked to the general store, where the woman who ran it extended hospitality as well, offering to let them camp on a point of land looking out to sea. Little Cranberry would be their home for the next four days.

In all, various members of the group made four trips to Bryan’s studio. In Hillenbrand’s photos, Noel Potter ’17 has a huge grin on his face. Like most of the students, Potter had never heard of Bryan, but he went along anyway. “Mostly my motivation was just that I didn’t want to miss anything. I wanted to soak in the whole experience.”

Potter wasn’t disappointed. And there was a lot to soak up in Bryan’s home and studio. “Every horizontal

ASHLEY BRYAN warmly welcomed his unexpected guests, Bates geology students exploring the Maine coast, to his studio home on Little Cranberry Island on May 7, 2014.

THERE WA S A LOT TO SOAK UP IN B R YA N ’ S HOME AND S T U D I O. Spring 2022

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ASHLEY BRYAN shows his artwork to, from left, Noel Potter ’17, Reilly Bergin-Pugh ’14, and Graham Oxman ’15.

“I T WA S SORT OF LIKE WE STEPPED INTO HIS BRAIN WHEN WE GOT T H E R E .”

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surface and most vertical surfaces had something interesting and beautiful that was probably made

by Ashley Bryan — and if not by him, probably made by a friend of his.

And pretty much every single one had a great story behind it.”

The visits were deeply moving to the students, so much so that in mid-February, as they were wishing a happy birthday via group text to a member of that Short Term class, Jackie Ordemann ’15, it turned into an impromptu memorial for Bryan, who died Feb. 4.

For Oxman, who went on to get a master’s in geographic information systems (GIS) from Colorado School of Mines, Bryan’s jam-packed studio, an explosion of color, natural materials, and projects underway, had a familiar feeling. His grandmother was an artist, and her studio was similarly both overflowing and carefully curated.

“You have tchotchkes everywhere,” Oxman says, items that speak to the artist as both inspiration and maybe, he says, “a reflection of ‘I see myself in this in some way.’”

“It was sort of like we stepped into his brain when we got there,” he adds. “And I got the strong impression that he had just the biggest heart and a childlike excitement to just share it with people.”

Hillenbrand, who completed a master’s degree in geology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst and is now working as a research scientist for the United States Geological Survey, had known Bryan so long he didn’t remember the first time they’d met. Bryan and his father met when Will Hillenbrand was volunteering at a school in Cincinnati and Bryan was a visiting speaker, and Ian remembers that Bryan visited his elementary school. In a sense, he’d just always

IAN HILLENBRAND ’17

known Bryan. He was not surprised by the impression the artist left on his classmates during those visits in May 2014.

Bryan was also deeply curious about what the Bates students were doing, mapping the bedrock of the island (these students traveled with sketchbooks). The studio was filled with his stained glass made from sea glass he’d collected from nearby shores. This was exactly the kind of immersion in Maine ocean communities Eusden always hoped for in these trips. “I saw so much use of natural materials in Bryan’s art that it really connected to our trip and experiences,” says Eusden, who is retiring this year as the Whitehouse Professor of Earth and Climate Sciences.

While they visited, Bryan pulled out his marionettes, all handmade from found materials. “His ability to move them, making the characters

come alive, was pretty incredible,” Eusden remembers.

“It was almost like conversational play,” Kenney says.

Bryan told them about his own career arc, which had included teaching art at The Dalton School in New York (Oxman, a graduate, was excited by this connection), and about his experiences in World War II. It was eye-opening for the group. “None of us have ever been drafted,” Oxman says. “I was sort of self-absorbed at that time in my life, but halfway through I remember thinking, ‘This man was trying to get into art school at a time when segregation was not that far in the rear view.’”

Those visits felt all the more precious this week. Potter reflected on how he fell hard for Maine island communities on that trip, with their sense of joyous eccentricity and welcome, as embodied by Bryan, and feels fortunate to regularly encounter it through his work with Portland-based Rippleffect. At the outdoors youth program he leads sea kayaking trips, among other skills-building adventures.

In late 2020 through early 2021, the Bates College Museum of Art presented a major exhibition of Bryan’s work, Let’s Celebrate Ashley Bryan! Museum director Daniel Mills says the story of the Short Term encounter with Bryan fits exactly with the man he knew. “Ashley was such a wonderful man, a bright light and generous soul who had such an impact on the many people he met.”

That exhibition at Bates reminded Kenney of the connection she’d made years ago. Now a teacher at the environmentally oriented elementary Slate Schol in North Haven, Conn., she encouraged the librarian to add books by Bryan to the collection and, at Christmas, gave her mother a book of photographs of Bryan’s marionettes.

Continuing to share Bryan’s art far and wide, she says, “is one of the wonderful ways in which he can and will be remembered.”

She was also inspired to write to Bryan to thank him for his hospitality. The whole experience had been so meaningful, she says, and she wanted him to know. “I remember telling myself, ‘You have to do this now, because who knows? You will be so angry with yourself if you miss this opportunity.’” n

“ASHLEY WAS SUCH A WONDERFUL MAN, A BRIGHT LIGHT AND A GENEROUS SOUL WHO HAD SUCH AN IMPACT ON THE MANY PEOPLE HE MET.”

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BIG

YEAR

For Maine birder Ethan Whitaker ’80, a record-setting big year ends with a bang and a really big bird

by freddie wright p h o t o g r a p h y b y e t h a n w h i ta k e r ’ 80

ALL THAT STOOD — or perched, rather —between Ethan Whitaker ’80 and a state record was an Ash-throated Flycatcher.

This particular bird is native to the U.S. Southwest and Northern Mexico, and spotting one in Maine, in November, is as far-fetched a happening as you could ask for.

Nevertheless, the bird in question was right there, perched on a gravestone in the cemetery at St. Martin’s in the Field in Biddeford Pool, just waiting to be spotted by Whitaker as his 318th documented bird sighting of the year.

And not just any year, but a big year, when a birder purposely sets out to identify as many species of birds as possible in one year in one geographical location.

For Whitaker, his location was the state of Maine, and the big-year record to beat was 317 species, set in 2017 by Josh Fecteau of Kennebunkport. And on Nov. 7, 311 days into his big year, with that sighting of the dun-colored, lemon-bellied Ash-throated Flycatcher, whose coloring the experts at the Cornell Lab of Ornithology describe as “reminiscent of a desert just before sunset,” Whitaker set a new state record.

Spotting the bird you’re looking for can be a huge moment, and according to Whitaker, it’s the best part of birding.

“It’s just a real adrenaline rush. I used to run,” he said, including cross-country at Bates for Walt Slovenski, until bad knees ended that activity, “and you know how they talk about a runner’s high? It’s almost the same thing when you see a bird that you’ve been looking for.”

Birders can spend hours, days, and even weeks staking out a spot if they think a bird is likely to fly by. They have to be ready to go on a chase at the drop of a hat, and full-time work can get in the way of that, especially if you’re looking for the likes of the Ash-throated Flycatcher, a “rare but regular vagrant to the East Coast.”

SNOWY OWL

JAN. 1, 2021 | BIDDEFORD Ethan recalls: “I woke up at 4 a.m. like a kid waiting for Santa, bundled up and headed out before dawn to begin my big year. It’s a long year and lots of birds to find (the state record is 317), but it’s great to finally be doing my big year.”

I went places this year that I never knew existed in the state of Maine.

It gives you a real appreciation of that. I think it’s a great recreation and I think there’s a lot of science that comes out of birding.

SAVANNAH SPARROW

FEB. 19 | CLINTON Ethan recalls: “Birding seems to slow down here in Maine in mid-February. It’s cold, and even the birds are hunkering down to stay warm. Migration hasn’t started.

But occasionally one sees a surprise, like the handful of Savannah Sparrows wintering over at a dairy farm in central Maine.”

On his birding chases this year, Whitaker has added about 60,000 miles on his Subaru Crosstrek, with the license plate “GR8SKUA,” for Great Skua, a seabird. He’s taken whale tours — not to see whales, mind you — and lobster boats out to spot seabirds. He’s hiked mountains and frequented backyard and public bird feeders to check birds off his list.

“I went places this year that I never knew existed in the state of Maine,” Whitaker said. “It gives you a real appreciation of that. I think it’s a great recreation and I think there’s a lot of science that comes out of birding.”

Birding isn’t often depicted in media and pop culture: The 2011 film The Big Year, featuring household names like Steve Martin, Jack Black, and Owen Wilson, is widely regarded a box office flop, but is still “easily the most famous” movie about birding, according to the Audubon Society.

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BARRED OWL

MARCH 4 | WARREN Ethan recalls: “This morning on a country road I noticed one of those plastic owls that folks place on their roofs or boats to scare off pigeons and gulls. ‘What an unusual place for someone to hang an owl scarecrow,’ I thought.

Then the plastic owl moved its head. It was a Barred Owl, which I’ve been trying to photograph for eight years.”

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And about 10 years ago, Whitaker was inspired by that very film to attempt his own big year.

“I didn’t know much about birds and I thought it was a fun movie,” Whitaker said. “I just kind of put it in the back of my mind.”

At that point, Whitaker’s contact with birding was limited, he said, to running through the local Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary with his Bates crosscountry teammates.

“And then I met this woman back in 2013, and we went on a date, and she was a birder.” Whitaker tried to impress his date by taking her to a birding spot with egrets he’d heard about, but unbeknownst to him, the egrets had migrated four months earlier.

“She was very polite, but she knew I didn’t know a thing about birding,” Whitaker laughed.

But still, they were birds of a feather. “We ended up getting married, and she took me birding and bought me good binoculars, and I really got into it.” Ingrid Whitaker joined her husband on many of his chases in 2021, when she wasn’t teaching her fourth-graders at Pond Cove School in Cape Elizabeth, Maine.

Over the years, as Whitaker got better at birding, the idea of pursuing a big year took flight.

And chasing after the state record would just be another feather in his cap.

“I would meet all these people on birding trips, and I was rubbing shoulders with royalty,” Whitaker said. “As I got more involved in the birding

FISH CROW

TRI COLORED HERON

MARCH 14 | KENNEBUNKPORT

APRIL 23 | CAPE ELIZABETH

Ethan recalls: “The American Crow’s ‘caw’ is very familiar. But in Maine, around shopping centers, strip malls, and convenience stores, there is a slightly smaller crow, the Fish Crow. The only definitive way to tell the difference is their vocalization. The Fish Crow makes a nasal ‘cahrr’ sound.”

Ethan recalls: “For the last six years, a Tricolored Heron, which rarely nests north of New Jersey, has been seen in the marshes around Portland. The wind was unmerciful as we crossed the meadow and through brambles east of Spurwink Marsh to get a distant view of the heron. It was feeding in front of Spurwink Cemetery — a spot we could have driven right up to! Ingrid and I raced back to the cemetery to see two Tricolored Herons feeding in the salt pans.”

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As I got more involved in the birding community, I began to realize that this was a big deal in the Maine birding community: who held the state record.

community, I began to realize that this was a big deal in the Maine birding community: who held the state record.”

Finally, after years of the idea circling in his head, he asked Ingrid what she thought about his doing a Maine big year. “And I think she was just being polite, but she said, ‘I think you should do it.’”

To get ready for a big year, Whitaker had to get a few things taken care of: He retired from his career in software development, got both his knees replaced, and did lots and lots of research.

When he finally spotted the Ash-throated Flycatcher and beat the record, there was a moment of celebration, a rush of adrenaline, and then, Whitaker thought, “Okay, now let’s get another bird.”

Whitaker’s 2021 list includes birds that are easy to find in Maine, like Northern Cardinals and American Kestrels, and also rarer birds like the Western Kingbird — Whitaker’s “white whale” of the year — and a Golden Eagle, which he spotted on Nov. 1, atop Mount Agamenticus in York, after waiting in the cold wind for three hours.

“I was about to give up, and there was one flying overhead,” Whitaker said. “I’ve got some great photos, and it’s the only one seen in Maine this year. So that was a real thrill.”

For birders, documenting a big year relies on honesty; saying they saw a bird is enough to “prove” they actually did, but most try to get photo or audio proof of their spot. Whitaker tries to take photos of every new species he spots, and he has documented his big year on his blog.

In terms of sharing sightings, the telecommunications revolution has made it so much easier.

Professor Emeritus of Mathematics David Haines, secretary of the venerable Stanton Bird Club, recalls how things worked in the pre-internet era, when he and a handful of fellow birders had an informal call tree. “We’d phone each other with rare sightings, then hit the road immediately. Now we have resources like the Maine Birds group, which gives immediate information on rarities to be chased.”

And there are apps: Merlin, for example, allows you to hold your phone up to record birdsong and get an answer about what’s out there.

PAINTED BUNTING

PEREGRINE FALCON

MAY 13 | LUBEC

JUNE 14 | VINALHAVEN

Ethan recalls: “Two verbs that characterize a big year: Travel and wait. In May I drove five hours to Lubec (the easternmost point in the U.S.A.) and watched a feeder for 48 minutes before the Painted Bunting appeared.”

Ethan recalls: “The Peregrine is a ferocious hunter and the fastest animal on the planet. This one was sitting within a few feet of a Red-billed Tropicbird’s den. I’m not sure the Peregrine was the reason the Tropicbird never showed up for us. But I’m sure he didn’t help.”

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RED-BILLED TROPICBIRD

RUFOUS HUMMINGBIRD

JULY 10 | SEAL ISLAND

AUG. 1 | POWNAL

Ethan recalls: “Flying right toward our boat was a large white bird with a bright red bill, black mask, and long white streamers coming off his tail. We screamed in delight: high-fives, fist bumps and hugs. A Red-billed Tropicbird does not belong in frigid Maine waters. But this particular bird, nicknamed ‘Troppi,’ has returned every summer since 2008. He’s an enigma, and many of us had made multiple unsuccessful attempts to see Troppi.

Ethan recalls: “Fifteen types of hummingbirds are found in the U.S. but only the Ruby-throated Hummingbird is found regularly on the East Coast. But this wasn’t one of those: Only when we identified the notch of a particular feather on its tail did we know this was a Rufous Hummingbird, only nine of which have ever been reported in Maine.”

Nationally, there’s eBird, an online birding database created by the Cornell Lab of Ornithology.

The “citizen science” nature of the site means there is room for error — and according to Whitaker, chicanery — but a host of volunteer reviewers help to vet the information added to the site.

“There’s a line in the movie The Big Year that goes like, ‘Everybody knows who cheats at golf and no one wants to be that guy,’” Whitaker said.

“Sometimes, Ingrid and I will see a report of a rare bird. We see who reported it and we won’t bother because it’s probably made up or misidentified.

“So what I try to do is take photos of every bird that I see, or record it, because there are two ways to count it. But since I was going after the record, I tried to photograph as many as possible.”

By early December, Whitaker’s count was 323, with not much more on the horizon. A Bates friend, David Bailey ’80, asked if there were any more white whales out there. No, said Whitaker, who figured the year would end not with a bird but a whimper.

“There’s just very few birds that we either haven’t seen or have any chance to be passing through Maine, because migration is basically over,” Whitaker said in early December. “So the only birds that are gonna show up are birds that are really lost. I think if I got another two birds this month, that would be extraordinary.”

And it certainly was.

In late December, a wayward Steller’s Sea Eagle, a rare and large species native to northeastern Asia, including Russia and Japan, was making the national news. After a brief stop in Massachusetts, it was being sighted along Maine’s midcoast.

On Dec. 30, Whitaker followed a tip but got there too late. The next day, he decided to search Westport Island, near his home and across the Sheepscot River from where the eagle had been seen the day before. “I found lots of bald eagles but not its giant Asian cousin.”

Then he got a call from Matthew Gilbert, a Maine high schooler who was the state’s top birder in 2020, all before getting his driver’s license, thanks to his mom.

“We got it!” Gilbert explained, sending the GPS coordinates to Whitaker. The eagle was only about a mile away as the crow flies but thanks to the nooks and crannies of the Maine coastline, about 45 minutes by car.

But Whitaker got there. Joined by Ingrid, he drove to the end of an icy, frozen road, where, joined by at least a hundred birders from around the Northeast, watched the eagle — “until the homeowner told us all to get off his property.”

With that sighting of a big bird, Whitaker’s big year was over. Whitaker ended the year with 324 sightings. Ingrid ended up with 303, which puts her seventh on Maine’s all-time list.

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BARNACLE GOOSE

ASH-THROATED FLYCATCHER

NOV. 5 | ROCKLAND

NOV. 7 | BIDDEFORD

Ethan recalls: “So I’m sitting in the stands looking out at a high school football field. Someone is shouting, ‘He’s at the 30! The 40! Across midfield!’ No, I didn’t give up birding for a day to go to a game. I was watching a super rare Barnacle Goose weaving through the opposition (i.e. Canada Geese) on Wasgett Field, the gridiron home of the Oceanside High School Mariners.”

Ethan recalls: “‘It’s right there.’ ‘Where?’ ‘Right there on the gravestone.’ ‘Still not seeing it.’ ‘It’s close to the fence by the church.’ ‘I see it!’ That’s how I got bird No. 318, the record, as fellow birder Leon Mooney helped me get my eyes on an Ash-throated Flycatcher.”

Along the way, he made 22 excursions by boat, including chartering a lobster boat to see the Red-billed Tropicbird and several more. The birds were identified in 83 different Maine municipalities. The most northern bird was a Pink-footed Goose in Limestone; the southernmost was a Gray Catbird at Kittery Point. To the east was a Painted Bunting in Lubec; to the west, a Brown Thrasher in Fryeburg.

As he reached the end of his big year, Whitaker began to wonder: What’s next?

“I’ve been planning this for a long time. I retired, and I’m working on a book about the whole thing, but at some point I’m going to go, ‘All right, what’s the next chapter?’ We’ll have to figure that out.”

But in the meantime, Whitaker savored his success and the thrill of ending his year by seeing the sea eagle. He looked ahead to New Year’s Day with one plan in mind. “Tomorrow, I’m sleeping late.” n

BIRD BOOK

Ethan Whitaker has published a pictorial account of his big year, Every Bird In Maine: One Man’s Journey to See Every Bird in Maine — available where books are sold.

STELLER’S SEA EAGLE

DEC. 31 | GEORGETOWN Ethan recalls: “Seemingly every birder in the Northeast piled into midcoast Maine to see the bird of the Russian ice, a Steller’s Sea Eagle, whose unusual appearance here has been written up in the New York Times, The Boston Globe, and NPR. What a thrilling way to end the Maine big year. Tomorrow, I’m sleeping late.”

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‘We Know Who We Are’ Within the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall on an October afternoon, Arie van Vuuren ’22 and collaborative pianist Chiharu Naruse sat down to rehearse for his senior recital PHOTOGRAPHY AND TEXT

BY PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

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A

“I know who he is.

We know who we are. It’s a collaboration.”

A A collaborative pianist like Chiharu Naruse works with a collaborator, rather than for.

B “I can mess up and she will just follow me,” van Vuuren says of Naruse.

C Playing the cello leaves van Vuuren “contented.”

ARIE VAN VUUREN ’22 has played the cello since the second grade, when his parents chose it for him so he could perform duets with his sister, who played the violin.

When he came to Bates from Boulder, Colo., van Vuuren brought his cello along, taking lessons with Christina Chute and working with collaborative pianist Chiharu Naruse of the applied music faculty, while majoring in economics and hitting the slopes as a top member of the Bates alpine ski team (and as its captain in 2022).

Last fall, on the evening of Oct. 27, van Vuuren performed his senior recital in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall. A few hours before the concert, I stopped by the concert hall while he and Naruse rehearsed the program together.

Naruse moved to Maine in 2002 to study with the late pianist Frank Glazer, well-known performer, teacher, chamber music coach, and music competition adjudicator. What she most enjoys about her work with Bates students is their “energy and enthusiasm.”

D

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B

The term “collaborative pianist” is a relatively new one, and it implies something different from the familiar term “accompanist” — a sense of the pianist working with rather than for. That’s true in Naruse’s longstanding teacher-student relationship with van Vuuren. “I know who he is. We know who we are. It’s a collaboration.”

“It’s awesome,” said van Vuuren about performing with Naruse. “She just follows me wherever I go. I can mess up and she will just follow me.”

The recital showcased their collaborative talents with a program of Edward Elgar’s Salut d’Amour, op. 12; Gabriel Fauré’s “Après un rêve”; Francis Poulenc’s “Serenade”; and Beethoven’s Cello Sonata No. 3 in A major, op. 69.

I asked van Vuuren how playing the cello makes him feel. “Contented,” he said, then asking with a smile, “Is that a word?” n

C

“She just follows me wherever I go.

I can mess up and she will just follow me.”

D The recital featured works by Elgar, Fauré, Poulenc, and Beethoven.

E The concert hall was mostly empty for Naruse and van Vuuren’s rehearsal.

F Naruse appreciates the “energy and enthusiasm” of students like van Vuuren.

E

F

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CLASSROOM to

KITCHEN

Bates biochemistry students and Lewiston Middle School students got cracking last fall on a nutrition project that introduced the youngsters to the wonders of the home-cooked omelet by fred d ie w r i g h t photo g raphy by phy lli s g r abe r je nse n

In December, Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks and her biochemistry students pose for a selfie outside Lewiston Middle School before delivering ingredients for a home-cooked omelet, part of a project to help the students connect ideas about nutrition to what they can cook at home.

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A Lewiston Middle School student seems to be dubious about the mushrooms. While mushrooms may not be a middle-schooler’s food of choice, cooking can be an adventure of new tastes.

WHAT DO YOU GET when you mix together one Bates biochemistry class, two teachers who are passionate about community education, and 120 middle schoolers? In the case of one of Assistant Professor of Biology Lori Banks’ recent projects, a recipe for success.

Banks had just received a prestigious national grant to support her community outreach. Students in her cellular biochemistry course would be taking a deep dive into vitamins and human health. What if she paired her class with a local middle school, turning her Bates students into teachers?

As the school year opened last fall, one teacher at Lewiston Middle School, Nicole Goyette, was already planning to teach nutrition science in class, so she and Banks came up with a plan: Banks’ students would create video presentations for LMS students about the important role a nutritious, balanced diet plays in a healthy life, and then deliver ingredients for them to take home and make a meal that connected to the lesson.

They say too many cooks spoil the broth, but involving the middle schoolers in the project hands-on was the most important ingredient in making this academic recipe collaborative and engaging.

Six groups of LMS students — around 120 in all — collected and submitted recipes to Goyette.

Then, throwing civics into the mix, they held a vote to decide what meal they would all be learning how to make.

For the middle-school students, each recipe needed to fit a few criteria.

“They first started learning about the different human body systems,” Goyette

said. “Then we went into the different vitamins and what can happen if they have a lack of a certain vitamin, and what system that would affect.

“Then they researched where we find these vitamins, and in what foods, and that’s what led to this project. They had to find a recipe that would give them at least three of the essential vitamins that they need in their daily diet.”

Students collected over 100 recipes for breakfast and dinner dishes, and narrowed them down to 12 for a final vote, held in the school cafeteria the day before Thanksgiving break. Before the vote, the students talked excitedly with each other and compared the recipes that had been chosen.

“They really wanted to win,” Goyette said.

“That did help them really pay attention to what they were doing and to make it a recipe people would want to eat. That was the big thing here: Which class is going to win?”

There was also a strong sense of ownership over the recipes, especially among students who had submitted similar recipes. When the winning recipe was announced, a huge cheer went up as they celebrated.

The recipe that won? A vitamin-rich veggie omelet, with cheese, mushrooms, tomatoes, and onions. Other recipes included everything from smoothie bowls and stir fry to West African dishes, including fufu, a dough-like food made from cassava.

Banks wanted her students to learn not only about the science behind nutrition, but also the social effects of it, including access to and education about nutritional food.

“Not only are my students learning biochemical pathways but also some of the civic or real-world implications of what

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Paul Southern ’23 of Virginia Beach, Va., and classmates distribute food ingredients to the middle school chefs.

happens when somebody decides to build a liquor store instead of a Whole Foods, depending on what the neighborhood is,” Banks said.

“The middle school students have such agency in this process because they are coming up with the recipe. They have to know what foods have lots of vitamin D, and what’s going to be delicious to them, and they can think, ‘I can do this in a way that fits my palate, and that is going to help me make good decisions so that I can treat my body well.’ What’s better than that?”

The ingredients were procured by Banks and funded by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships and from Banks’ national grant.

Sam Boss, the assistant director of communityengaged learning and research at the Harward Center, wanted to make sure most of the groceries were locally sourced, so he bought eggs, spinach, mushrooms, and onions for the omelet from Valley View Farm in Auburn. A local SherwinWilliams provided a truck to deliver the groceries to the school.

Biology major Eloise Botka ’23 of Cambridge, Mass., and her group made their video using a whiteboard, dry-erase markers, and narration.

She was excited to be creating a learning tool.

“We really tried to focus on how to make middle-schoolers really want to watch the video,” Botka said. “Thinking back to when I was in middle school, if someone told me that a bunch of college students near me made a science video, it would have been pretty weird.

“My group definitely talked about how to make it something that they actually would want to watch and pay attention to.”

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Even with COVID distancing rules, Banks wanted her students to be able to engage with the community around Bates, in a sustainable way — not just giving the middle-schoolers something temporary, but helping them learn skills and knowledge they can continue to use — and maybe a new favorite food.

The teachers at LMS are also getting something they can continue to use: the videos will be uploaded to BatesConnect, an online repository of teaching tools Bates students have created.

Through the videos, Banks’ students got a chance to transform what they were learning in the classroom into a tool that will have lasting value to the community.

The winning recipe was for a veggie omelet including vitamin-rich mushrooms and tomatoes from Valley View Farm in Auburn.

“Science doesn’t just exist in my laboratory,” said Banks, whose lab in Bonney Science Center seeks to understand how key structural features of selected microbial proteins can be exploited in the design of new antimicrobial agents. “Science is everywhere. Whether it’s mathematical modeling, or whether it’s physics in a pressure cooker in somebody’s kitchen.”

Banks wants students to see that science can be done by anyone, anywhere, and cooking with family can be a great way for kids to learn about everyday chemistry.

“My first biochemistry professor was my Grandma,” Banks said. “She had the ratios of fat, carbohydrates, and water down to a science in the way that she made her pie crust. She could get it right every single time by making observations and thinking about how humid it was one day, or dry the next. But the outcome was exactly the same every single time.”

Banks’ pedagogical approach is inspired by favorite figures of educational entertainment: The Magic School Bus’ Ms. Frizzle, Bill Nye the Science Guy, and everyone’s friendly neighbor, Mister Rogers. All these programs teach important social, scientific, and scholastic concepts while being entertaining, well-researched, and approachable for children.

Named one of 1,000 inspiring Black scientists in 2020 by the web resource Cell Mentor, Banks has long sought ways to bring science into her communities and schools.

In 2017, as a postdoc at Baylor College of Medicine, she and others joined a March for Science, whose activities included a strawberry DNA extraction exercise — held on the lawn of Houston City Hall and joined by 300-plus visitors and other science presenters.

The opportunity to redesign her cellular biochemistry course to focus on community engagement came in 2021, when Banks was named a Periclean Faculty Leader, a national honor

Lewiston Middle School teacher Nicole Goyette partnered with Lori Banks on the nutrition project.

Her students were keen on voting for “a recipe people would want to eat.”

that provides funding to college professors who “create and teach innovative courses” that “champion civic engagement.”

Banks’ redesigned course now asks hard questions about public health, with attention to race and inequality, and how marginalized populations in the U.S. are disproportionately affected by illnesses related to vitamin deficiency.

“What are the real health outcomes that happen as a result of people not being able to have access to produce or fresh, farm-raised animal products?”Banks asked. “If they are created in a way that makes them nutritionally deficient, then you lose a lot of these cofactors, and what are the clinical implications of that on a person-by-person basis?”

For folks who spend a lot of time in the kitchen, an omelet may amount to little more than a fast and delicious meal. But for everyone involved in Lori Banks’ collaborative project, from the Batesies who delivered the eggs to the middle-schoolers who cracked them, folded into every simple omelet is a valuable lesson about nutrition and healthy communities. n

“The middle school students have such agency in this process because they are coming up with the recipe.

What’s better than that?”

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b ate s not e s Down in Texas, David Turell tries to enjoy what he can while bristling at pandemic mandates.

He’s vaccinated and boosted — “thanks to the VA” — and uses a mask “when appropriate by my personal decision.” He hopes “all our classmates stay well.”

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

1951 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS PRESIDENTS Bill Dill wmrdill@gmail.com Jean McLeod Dill CLASS VICE PRESIDENT Wilfred Barbeau wbarb@cox.net Who, What, Where, When?

Send your Bates news, photos, story ideas, comments, tips, and solutions to magazine@bates.edu.

1940 Reunion 2025, June 6–8

had a visit from my greatgrandchildren, whom I hadn’t seen in more than two years.

They came from the Olympic Peninsula, in Washington state, and were delighted to play in the snow and decorate my yard with the first snowman it has seen in many years.”

1947 Reunion 2022, June 10–11

1941 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS PRESIDENTS Elizabeth Gardner Margaret Rand alpegrand@aol.com

1942 Reunion 2022, June 10–12

1943 Reunion 2023, June 9–11

1944 Reunion 2024, June 7–9

1945 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARY Carleton Finch cfinch612@gmail.com

CLASS SECRETARY/ TREASURER Jean Labagh Kiskaddon jean.kiskaddon@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Vesta Starrett Smith vestasmith@charter.net Ruth Barba Nussbaum writes: “Let me just say how grateful I am to Bates for the financial help I received, which made it possible for me to have a full and rewarding career, first as a social worker, then as a teacher, and finally, as my goal, a school psychologist — in addition to my family and rich community life. You had a part in all of it!”...“Everything is fine” with Barbara Bartlett Hammond, still living with daughter Katina in Hampden, Maine….Vesta Starrett Smith and Jean Kiskaddon agree that they are “sitting out” the pandemic, Vesta reports.

1948

1946 Reunion 2026, dates TBA

Reunion 2023, June 9–11

CLASS SECRETARY Helen Pratt Clarkson hpclarkson7@gmail.com

Reunion 2024, June 7–9

CLASS PRESIDENT/ TREASURER Jane Parsons Norris janenorris@roadrunner.com Helen Pratt Clarkson tells us that “life with COVID has settled into a quiet but pleasant routine of reading, quilting, Zoom, and visiting in small groups.

Except for a little anxiety about cooking the beef roast, I enjoyed entertaining several of my family for Christmas dinner. It was a beautiful day with a soft snow starting at 9 a.m., a perfect setting. The next week I

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1949 CLASS SECRETARY Carol Jenkinson Johnson rollincarol@comcast.net CLASS PRESIDENT Bud Horne budhorne@gmail.com CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Beverly Young Howard

Robert Wilson wrote just before Christmas. “Some of the joy has lost its edge. Folks in Santa Fe are waiting for snow,” he reported. “My life changes little at El Castillo. We are shielded from much exposure, so feel a little more safe. We chug along, writing holiday cards, hoping for family visits, praying for a safer spring.”

1952 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS SECRETARY Marilyn Coffin Brown mcbrown13@verizon.net CLASS PRESIDENT John Myers johnmyers52@comcast.net “Health problems have caught up to me,” reports John Myers, yet he still has “hopes for our 70th Reunion” this year.

1953 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS SECRETARY Ron Clayton CLASS PRESIDENTS Ginnie Toner vatoner207@gmail.com Dick Coughlin dcoughlin@maine.rr.com In recognition of Jean Chapman Neely’s role as founding president of The Potomac Valley Audubon Society some 40 years ago, the organization named a building after her in 2020 — an outdoor pavilion at its Yankauer Preserve — and last year declared July 10 “Founder’s Day” in her honor. “Totally out of the blue,” she writes from Shepherdstown, W.Va. “Very cool!”

1954 Reunion 2024, June 7–9

Reunion 2025, June 6–8

CLASS SECRETARY/ TREASURER Jonas Klein joklein@maine.rr.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Wes Bonney wbonney@maine.rr.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Dwight Harvie dwightwharvie@gmail.com

1950

It is with great sadness that we share the news of Lynn Willsey’s death on March 14.

The class extends its deepest condolences to Beverly ’55 and their family. Lynn’s time at Bates, whether as state golf champion; as “Lymelyght” Lynn in the 1952 Mayoralty, or meeting his sweetheart, Beverly, was only the start of his deep connection with Bates, a college that did “so much for him and his family,” as was noted in his obituary.

A trustee emeritus, Lynn served in almost every Bates volunteer capacity possible. In 2006, he and Beverly received the Papaioanou Distinguished Alumni Service Award. Lynn’s obituary will be in the fall Bates Magazine.

1955 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS PRESIDENT Beverly Hayne Willsey stonepost@cox.net CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Merton Ricker mertr33@gmail.com “Would you believe that I still have a very stretched-out Double Nickel T-shirt that I sleep in? It works!” reports Priscilla Hatch Stred. She lives at Granite Hill Estates in Hallowell, Maine.

“I am still driving, still playing handbells, still cross-stitching and knitting. Life is good.

Daughter Kris and husband Terry visited in October from Seattle, and daughter Sue and husband Hal came through in July from Syracuse on their way to Camden for a week.”…After more than 30 years in South Carolina, Will Hills has resettled in New England. “Nearly everyone I told about this move said that I moved in the wrong direction,” he notes. After a series of falls, he felt he’d be better off nearer to daughter Susan Hills Murphy ’83. “This has me living in Brooksby Village, a large facility in Peabody, Mass. Since I grew up in this general area, it was not much of a surprise to learn that one of the other residents used to live across from my parents’ home in Reading.”...The Bates Alumni Book Club and growing tomatoes have helped keep Nancy Howe Payne busy since the advent of COVID-19, but “playing bridge, online, has been a lifesaver.” At Bates, she recalls, “there was always a bridge game going on in a common room. I never took part then, but I do wonder if those bridge players are still playing. And I would like to suggest that at the next Reunion we have a bridge tournament.” Husband Robert, she adds, works about 20 hours a week designing surgical robots for an international medical device firm....Hal Hunter is still active in community betterment in Amissville, Va. “My current project is a house-sharing

den reopening

program as an approach to affordable housing.” Speaking of which, he was pleased to report that he has been sharing his own house with Ann Garrett since January. “Did I tell you that already? My memory is not what it used to be. Neither is yours, I suspect.”...Mel King reports that he is “confined to a wheelchair” and living at San Clemente Villas by the Sea in California. But, he says, “I can’t complain. When I was a freshman, my father had been unemployed for five years. When a classmate, Al Kafka, learned that, he called a friend of his family” who owned a meat-packing plant and who suggested that the elder King apply there. “The following day, my father was hired as a butcher, his occupation for the next 20 years.” The first person in his immediate family to get a college degree, Mel says that his Bates education “was an excellent foundation for Harvard Law School.” He adds, “Near the end of the road of life, I realize how fortunate I have been to go from a poor Boston teenager to a successful trial attorney who has had an interesting and exciting life.”...Professor Emeritus of History Jim Leamon and Nicci live in a big, relatively old house in Casco, Maine, and “spend much of our time repairing, winterizing, and also downsizing,” he reports. “In rare moments of energy, I’m disposing of old academic material from our Class of ’55 adventures, as well as more than 30 years’ worth of professorial activity at Bates.

He adds, “Occasionally I get back to the campus — a strange place now — and someone will greet me by name, but I won’t have the least idea who that person might be. Very embarrassing.”...

Shibly Malouf, who retired as an oral surgeon a few years back, reports that his last patients were his plumber and his best friend’s mother. He stays busy consulting; enjoying visits to Florida; staying in touch with classmates and friends; and, as he says, “trying to paint.”...Sue Ordway Pfaltz let us know that Waverly, her partner of 37 years, died in July after a long illness.

During the winter, she packed up their 5,000-square-foot farmhouse in Ruckersville, Va., and moved to smaller quarters — as in 820 square feet — on her son’s 55-acre farm six miles away.

“I still hike in the woods one or two miles a day and make soup for my daughter’s restaurant.”...

Mert Ricker is “enjoying life in the slow lane. My gym visits no longer happen, so I don’t drive through campus several times a week now,” but he was impressed to see the new Bonney Science Center during the winter — “an imposing building overlooking the Quad from across Campus Avenue.” Mert adds, “Here’s to Bates, and a High Five for the

class of ’55!”...Congratulations to Lois Stuber Spitzer and Ken, who celebrated their 65th wedding anniversary last December. Ken and Lois met in NYC where Lois was a public health nurse with the Henry Street Settlement and Ken was a medical student at the Columbia Univ. College of Physicians and Surgeons. For their first date, Lois invited Ken to attend a Glenn Gould concert. For their second, Ken invited Lois to a Knicks game. This started an enduring shared passion for sports and the arts. After qualifying as an ophthalmologist and serving two years in the military, Ken went into practice in Syracuse. He and Lois have lived in Fayetteville for 56 years and spend summer vacations in Southport, Maine….

Roger TannerThies and Nancy rode Amtrak from Missouri to Seattle to visit their children in October. “One day we went from Olympia to the coast,” he says.

“We visited a tuna processor and saw the Pacific. My soul needs an ‘ocean fix’ every few years.” Returning via Sacramento, Denver, and Chicago, “we liked seeing the forests and mountains.

The trains were always late, the food was routine, but the staff were helpful and caring.”

1956 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Fred Huber fredna56@comcast.net CLASS PRESIDENTS Alice Brooke Gollnick agollnick725@gmail.com Gail Molander Goddard acgpension@gmail.com At age 87, Jess Thompson Huberty takes “carpe diem” to heart. Writing in December, she was hoping to be able to take her usual winter month in the Philippines, a trip to California in April, and a six-week summer visit to Europe with her grandsons for six weeks. “I miss many dear friends from Bates, but those of us ‘hanging in’ still ‘hang out,’ which is super. My life is full.”

1957 Reunion 2022, June 10–12

JAY BURNS

bat e s no t e s

Ralph Sylvester ’50 arrives shortly after the Den’s reopening on Aug. 17, 2021.

Breakfast is Served Last Aug. 17, when the Bobcat Den reopened after being closed for 516 days due to the pandemic, the campus pub’s first customer was Den regular Ralph Sylvester ’50, who drove himself from his home in Auburn.

David Evans, manager of the Bobcat Den, said that the reopening was “like seeing a long-lost family member.”

For his first breakfast back in Den, Sylvester had two eggs over easy, with bacon, toast, and home fries. He was soon joined by his friend Alan Kelley of Facility Services for a renewal of their years-long morning breakfast routine.

“The Den is where Ralph and I met and developed our friendship,” said Kelley, who is the mechanical and electrical services manager for Facility Services.

“And it’s quite a friendship,” said Sylvester, dipping a forkful of home fries into his ketchup.

SECRETARY Peg Leask Olney pegolney@verizon.net CLASS PRESIDENTS Judy Kent Patkin jpatkin@gmail.com Dick Pierce rhpierce52@gmail.com

1958 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS SECRETARY Marilyn Miller Gildea marilyn@gildea.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Peter Post postp74@gmail.com Cook and Marjorie Koppen Anderson are still loving their continuing-care retirement community life in Laconia, N.H. “I took part in the Laconia Christmas Bird Census again this year, but in a limited role,” Cook reports. “Found 25 species in seven hours.”...Lori Beer’s wife,

Lyn, reports that “Lori’s dementia means that he can hug all the girls, play with the little kids, and call the guys various names.

Everyone loves him. As long as he has his newspaper, seeds or nuts, and Lyn, he’s happy. He ‘works’ at Insight (dementia daycare) twice a week, getting folks to smile and encouraging everyone to give it their best try. He has Kingsley (the best dementia whisperer ever) on other days. The ‘boys’

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PHILLIPS SOCIETY

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Learn about estate planning by calling Susan Dunning at 207-786-6246

✦

TH

ETY

✦

make your plan to support what you love at bates

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do errands together.”...Patricia Carmichael Waugh of Mattapoisett, Mass., is “still in my old family home, built by my great-great grandfather in 1850. I manage alone most of the time; still drive and go out with friends several times a week. I text often with Sally Morris Thwing.”...

Kay Dill Taylor writes that she and Gene ’56 still “wake up each morning grateful for each other, for our families and friends, and for the always amazing privilege of living on an island, where the sea constantly reminds us of life’s patterns of ebb and flow.

Mucking horse stalls while chatting with friends has helped keep me sane through the COVID restrictions. At the same time, I find it so hard to balance my personal contentment with the anguish I feel for our country’s political divisions and culture wars, and for the wider world’s suffering.”...John Fresina recalls that “when we got married, some 61 years ago, Pat Lysaght was teaching at the Perkins School for the Blind, and I was beginning a 35-year career at MIT.” They lived at Perkins in a one-bedroom apartment in a dorm for elementary-grade pupils. “We had a bathtub but no shower; a rabbit-ears TV but no cable; no dishwasher, stove, microwave, or smartphone; and no elevator or housekeeping service. We had our meals family-style in the first-floor dining room with a bunch of sweet blind kids. Now we live in a one-bedroom apartment in an assisted-living facility, but we have an elevator, Dish TV, Internet, smartphone, microwave, electric stovetop, walk-in shower, and housekeeping. We eat in the first-floor dining room with a bunch of sweet wheelchair- and walker-using, mostly hard-ofhearing, and mostly lovable seniors.”...Carol Gibson Smith returned from Massachusetts to her little house in Florida for the winter. “Summer in Plymouth was pleasant. I enjoy the snow-birding life,” she says. “My family visits me in both places.”...“Life is good,” states Judy Granz Yennaco. “In December I was surprised by an early 85th-birthday celebration.

Bob and I spent Christmas with the entire extended family, and celebrated our 62nd anniversary before leaving for Florida for the winter.”...Betsey Gray Kirsch and Jim are still enjoying life at Riverwoods in Exeter, N.H. “Jim is at the gym three days a week, plays horseshoes and bocce, and keeps involved in community offerings.” Betsey’s favorite activity is the art committee. “I get to interview residents who have lived very interesting lives.

Many are willing to share their stories, treasures, hobbies, and talents. I then get to display them in large lighted windows for all the residents to enjoy.” The Kirsches, who continue to summer in their Kennebunkport cottage, keep in contact with

John and Pat Lysaght Fresina, Peter and Jane Anderson Post, Gail Larocque Schroder, and Marti Boardman Swift….Paul Hoffman continues reading in English and translating from German. He is the head of the Great Books Program at the library in Skokie, Ill. His wife, Joy, is a professional harpist, and Paul has an important position as harp husband, which includes driving her to gigs and carrying the harp….Demas “Dick” Jasper and Manolie “live in Lindon, the best location in Utah, our home for the past 40 years.” Thanks to his early discovery of some skin cancer, both are healthy and active. Dick’s work can be found at www.hubpages.com under the pen name Perspycacious….

Colleen Jenkins Huckabee writes: “I must have been a good old girl last year because Santa brought me what I wanted most — in-person time with all my family” during the winter holidays. She adds, “My newest interest is our Lifelong Learning Institute for seniors in concert with Ohio Wesleyan University.

No homework, no tests, no pressure — just interesting presenters and the pleasure of learning.”...Kay Johnson Howells is getting better at Zoom but tired of masking where required. Her new hip is fine.

She’s grateful for the many opportunities to continue friendships in Salt Lake City, where she lives, and Hawaii.

During the winter, her son and his wife moved into a new home — “a major project. One I’ve been avoiding!”...Alan Kaplan and Nancy “enjoyed Thanksgiving with children and grandchildren.

COVID has limited visits with our great-grandson, but we are getting to know each other.”

Despite a brush with omicron after Christmas, “life is still good at our CCRC.”...Sally Marden Nero has “three wonderful children, five grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren. Have retired to my favorite place in Maine and feel very grateful.

Bruce passed away in 2016.”...

Ruth Melzard Stewart is still a real-estate broker with Coldwell Banker in Topsfield, Mass. “I’m enjoying seeing my dozen grandchildren grow up. Pitcher Ryan Kennedy may make the big leagues this year. One granddaughter is on Boston Univ.’s crew team, and another is an emergency-room nurse at Anna Jaques Hospital in Newburyport.”...Marilyn Miller Gildea’s six grandkids appreciate the Grandma’s Memories book that she compiled for each, but the purging of files that it prompted has unfortunately slacked off. “My exhausted and frustrated county-epidemiologist daughter-in-law finally succeeded in retiring, and my daughter joined her as part of the Great Resignation. Their older son is thriving at Boston Univ.”...

bat e s no t e s

Donald Moses and Sarah “Sally” Dean Moses ’60 live in Vermont on Champlain’s shore.

Don is not fully retired from psychiatry, but has plenty of time for fishing and sailing. He reports, “I’ve been interviewed on the radio a couple of times regarding Raising Independent, Self-Confident Kids,” a book he co-authored with Wendy Moss.

“Sally does her Asian brush painting and plays piano, with COVID frustrating her plans to work with learning-disabled children.” Son Richard lives in Manhattan and is president of a neighborhood preservation initiative, and Erik Moses ’87 lives in Vermont and is a director with Thermo Fisher Scientific.…

Peter and Jane Anderson Post have met Pepi Prince Upton ’57 and other Batesies who live at their CCRC, The Overlook in Charlton, Mass. They learned that the Class of ’57 meets monthly by Zoom….Jane Reinelt Brown confirmed that yes, the spiral seen in Google’s satellite view of Brown’s Harvest family farm (www.brownsharvest.com), just south of the corn maze, is made of hay bales. “Many customers use it for walking meditation,” she writes. “The maze, of course, is a major attraction, and we also have a simpler maze for youngsters. Our family is well and busy working the farm from May to November, then enjoying Florida beaches.”...

In August, Barbara Stetson Munkres and Jim moved out of their house of 53 years, in Lexington, Mass., to an apartment in Carleton-Willard Village, a CCRC in Bedford. Just four miles away, but “a big change.” Downsizing took some oomph — “it was unbelievable how much we had accumulated.”

They gave away most of Jim’s vinyl record collection, 30 boxes of books, and lots of rich leaf mold from the compost bins for daughter-in-law Kristin’s garden.

And then “we spent the last half of the year settling in, getting acquainted with our neighbors, enjoying the lovely gardens, and taking walks on the extensive grounds. Carleton-Willard is a very friendly place.”...Jo Trogler Reynolds reports, “I am living in my house, feeling strong and healthy, and getting the help I need from friends and family.”...

Bruce Young remains “pleased with how Bates has grown since 1958, with new buildings, double the enrollment, and powerful academic programs.” His fourth Viking River Cruise connected Berlin and Prague, largely via the Elbe.

1959 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARIES Jack DeGange jack.degange@comcast.net Mary Ann Houston Hermance donmar23@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENTS Anita Hotchkiss ahotchkiss@goldbergsegalla.com Jerry Davis gmdavis@maine.rr.com Jay Tanzer recommends to his Bates contemporaries a book “about a cast of characters whose names they will remember.”

Chris Whipple’s The Spy Masters: How the CIA Directors Shape History and the Future (2020) offers “much to learn, much to reexamine,” he says.

“There is not a boring page.”

1960 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARY Louise Hjelm Davidson lchdavidson011@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Pete Skelley dskelley@satx.rr.com Barbara Hoehling Vinal and Richard bought a large home with their daughter Carolyn and her husband near Greensboro, N.C. “After the death of our daughter Elisabeth in 2020, and feeling the inevitable physical decline after age 80, we needed to be close to family,” Barbara writes. “The move is very recent, but we are learning our way around fairly readily.”

1961 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Gretchen Shorter Davis norxloon@aol.com CLASS PRESIDENTS Mary Morton Cowan mmcowan@gwi.net Dick Watkins rwatkcapt@aol.com Emily Dore Fletcher reports that she and her husband of 50 years continue to garden and farm (“forty head of Angus,” she notes) on their spread in Fryeburg, Maine. “Our five grown children and their spouses live from here to Florida with our three teenage grandchildren who are finding their way in life,” she says. “They make a large group who provide so much happiness to us all.” She adds, “Sixty-one years since Bates is very hard to believe.

Bates College gave me many choices and a life that I could never have imagined!”...Beverly Graffam Ketchum moved back to Maine from Florida the winter before last. “Great to be near some of my Bates friends and family,” she says. “A group of us from our freshman year met for lunch. It is nice to see that after so many years we can still connect as if there were no years in between.”...Writes Dick Gurney: “I value the wisdom of the professors. I’m grateful for coaches such as Hatch and

Leahey. I remember teammates like Dick Watkins on Garcelon Field. Aging on eastern Long Island, New York, near Billy Joel and Paul McCartney.”...“With two new hips, I’m feeling mobile again and able to enjoy the beautiful outdoors of Maine, especially in my boat,” says Phippsburg resident Jack Henderson. He adds that having granddaughter Samantha Gamber ’25 at Bates 45 minutes away “gives Mary Jane and me the opportunity to experience contemporary college life through her. Much has changed — especially the Commons! — but much also remains the same.”...

Autumn 2021 brought a bouquet of kudos for Candace Oviatt, an oceanographer considered the premier expert in the estuarine ecology of Narragansett Bay. She has led studies that remain basic to our understanding of natural and human interactions in the coastal environment. In October, Candy was honored with a Univ. of Rhode Island Distinguished Achievement Award. On Nov. 1, her work was the topic of a panel presentation at a conference of the Coastal and Estuarine Research Federation, and on the 22nd, she received the Distinguished Naturalist Award from the Rhode Island Natural History Survey. Here’s more: bit.ly/oviatt-award....

Paul Popish and Beth Schultz still reside in a continuing-care community in Chapel Hill, N.C. “Our three kids live close by.

Beth and I frequently escape to our home in the North Carolina mountains where we can see the most beautiful sunrises and walk into the Pisgah National Forest.”...Jerry and Gretchen Shorter Davis had classmates Carl and Mary Morton Cowan, Judy Rogers McAfee, and Beverly Graffam Ketchum for lunch during the winter. “A good time was enjoyed by all,” Gretchen notes….The Rev. Harold “Bill” Smith and Roberta spent much of 2021 away from their home base at the Jojoba Hills SKP RV Resort near Temecula, Calif. Over the course of several months, they piloted their Trek RV all the way to a wedding in York, Maine and then headed to “our primitive cabin in northern Wisconsin. There we watched the grass grow and the Chippewa River flow.” An autumn high point was a visit to the Pullman National Monument stop in Chicago, Harold adds.

“When I served the Greenstone church there in the mid-1980s, I initiated the designation of that church as a historic Methodist church for the work of its pastor during the Pullman strike” (an action by railcar builders that led to a nationwide railroad shutdown). Back home, Bill says, “we are exploring the practice of mindfulness as a discipline to ameliorate the anxiety of COVID and national division.”

1962 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS SECRETARY Cindy Kalber Nordstrom cindyknordstrom@gmail.com CLASS VICE-SECRETARY Lyn Nelson lynnelson10@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Ed Wilson wilsonjean2@gmail.com CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT David Boone doboone@peoplepc.com CLASS HISTORIAN Jan Moreshead janmoreshead@myfairpoint.net

1963 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS SECRETARY Natalie Hosford nataliemoir@netflash.net CLASS PRESIDENT Bill Holt wholt@maine.rr.com CLASS HISTORIAN Dottie Stone dottie@stone-stonect.com Writing in December, Gary Post and Sandy were looking forward to a Panama Canal cruise early this year. In a move prompted by health problems Sandy suffered early in 2021, they are now residents of Ashlar Village, a Masonicare assistedliving facility in Wallingford, Conn. “I have been involved as a volunteer lay chaplain at the Masonicare Health Center here for five years,” Gary explains.

“We have a lovely independentliving apartment and life is good.

Sandy’s health has improved considerably and she had a knee replacement in October.” Write them at 5311 Ashlar Village, Wallingford, CT 06492.

1964 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARY John Meyn jemkpmeyn@aol.com CLASS ASSISTANT SECRETARY Rhoda Silverberg rhodaeric@att.net CLASS PRESIDENT Gretchen Ziegler gretchenz958@gmail.com CLASS VICE-PRESIDENTS Joan and Dick Andren dixmont258@gmail.com CLASS HISTORIAN Dot Harris dotharriswi@gmail.com A place near Green Hill Beach in South Kingstown, R.I., is the 19th residence (so far) that Steve Barron and Jackie have occupied during 55 years of marriage. They

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bought that house in October, and the next step was to sell their house in Fort Myers, Fla., send the furniture North, and find a turn-key condo in Fort Myers.

Steve, meanwhile, keeps up an online relationship with the children and grandchildren of the late Don Blumenthal. “He would be so very proud about the way his family is growing and what they are achieving.”...Norm Bowie and Maureen were “thankful to get through another pandemic year and its challenges,” he tells us. A cardiac stent placement late in 2020 is working well, so he’s “now just dealing with common old-man issues. Maureen has had a much longer and more difficult year with her health.” Yet “we keep busy — I am reading at least one biography of every U.S. president — and remain optimistic.”…As noted in the Fall 2021 issue, Marion Day Czaja and her twin, Nancy Day Walker, both live in the Twin Lakes retirement community in Burlington, N.C. What we didn’t tell you is that they’re next-door neighbors.

“After our whole adult lives living separately, we are enjoying sharing some time together,” says Nancy. Adds Marion, “It is handy to have a neighbor to borrow things from. Of course, it works two ways.” On a serious note, she is battling breast cancer: “I am trying supplements to reduce estrogen, which is what caused my cancer. Diet is also a part of the act. If anyone has specific ideas and experience in doing this without the meds that cause osteoporosis or hot flashes or blood clots, do clue me in.”...Pat Donovan stays active assigning and refereeing soccer games, officiating basketball, and serving as a baseball umpire, all at the high school level. He and Carolyn “still enjoy walking in many of Cape Cod’s parks and conservation areas and, now that grandkids are getting into high school, watching them play.”...

Richard Dow writes: “Since our class graduated, I’ve come to a growing appreciation for the time I spent at the Thorncrag Nature Preserve, less than a mile and a half from the Bates campus.

Those visits were restorative and badly needed. The history of Thorncrag is deeply intertwined with that of Bates. It is maintained by the Stanton Bird Club, named after Dr. Jonathan Y. Stanton, a Bates professor. Since 1919 it has been a nature sanctuary in the heart of Lewiston, and is as valuable now as it was then. The Stanton Bird Club has no paid staff and is a totally nonprofit, volunteer organization. If you share an appreciation for the work it is doing, consider a contribution to: Stanton Bird Club, P.O. Box 3172, Lewiston, ME 04243; or contact them at stantonbirdclub@gmail. com.”...“Coming home to Cape Cod is a final chapter now,” writes Paula Downey Bacon. “I have Parkinson’s. Each day is a

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gift. Living well to the end is the goal: no time to wallow in sorrow or regrets.” She adds, “A joy is watching my son, Douglas, using his knowledge of artificial intelligence to try to make the green crab menace into a new fishery. Tracking the crabs’ molting to get nature to slough off the hard shell to make edible crabs with soft shells is the goal.”...“I think we all look forward to the future where we can enjoy family gatherings and the ability to travel,” Diane Gallo DeFrancisci wrote from Florida in December. “Here in Vero Beach, we’ve been fortunate to enjoy outdoor living, walks on the beach, and cruising the Indian River lagoon.” A real estate agent in Vero Beach, Diane adds that “I am still avoiding retirement, not sure why.”...In early November Paul Goodwin and Lyn Brown Goodwin ’65 journeyed to State College, Pa., for their grandson’s fifth birthday party. “It was a great family gathering,” he writes. Meanwhile, “I still spend a day a week at Mystic Seaport Museum, where I write short articles on artifacts, art, and manuscripts. I also transcribe ship’s logs and journals kept by folks on board.

For a historian like myself it is exciting to, for example, have a manuscript letter in front of me written by Oliver Hazard Perry explaining why, early in his naval career, his ship was lost when it struck a shoal near Watch Hill, R.I.”…John Holt stays active as a trustee of a local land trust and the chair of his local Democratic Party organization. “Nancy and I are in good health,” he writes.

Living in Long Valley, N.J., they like being equidistant from Philadelphia and NYC — where, during the winter, they saw the Broadway musical Girl From The North Country, playwright Conor McPherson’s adaptation of songs

by Bob Dylan….Paul Holt and Pam eschewed their usual summer sojourn to Massachusetts for the second year in a row — but at least, if you have to be marooned somewhere, Florida’s Melbourne Beach “is a beautiful place for it,” Paul notes.

They both play lots of tennis and, he adds, “the lack of wheelchair players near us means I mostly play with or against stand-up people. Otherwise it means traveling all over Florida or even further for tournaments.” He’s in touch with former roommates Ted Beal, John Donovan and Don Delmore, “as well as former guys from baseball,” such as John Lanza ’67, Howie Vandersea ’63 and Thom Freeman ’63....“Big changes have come into my life!” Dot March Harris says. “I now live in a small home near the Univ. of Montana district in Missoula. My younger daughter and her high-schoolage son live with me. Our home is within walking distance of most important destinations: high school, library, church, grocery store, galleries, and the Clark

Fork river.”...Your class secretary-treasurer, John Meyn, points out that “the number of classmates eligible to read these notes is unchanged from a year ago. I will be careful not to irritate the gods with boasting, but we seem to be mutually experiencing a bout with longevity.” He says, “My medical report goes on forever so I will not expound on it. Simply, that which could be fixed, was. That which can be controlled, is. And for those occurrences that diminish capacity, adjustments are forced. The result so far? I get another day on this side of the grass.”...Rhoda Morrill Silverberg and Eric “were so happy to celebrate Thanksgiving with the whole family for the first time in two years, with Eric cooking the turkey as usual.”

Moreover, “we were able to go to Maine this past summer. It was wonderful to be there and to see family and old friends!” She still trains teachers in the Wilson Reading Program, designed to help struggling readers, but has reduced her schedule and works via Zoom from the dining room, in Austin, Texas. “She does enjoy wearing sandals and shorts to work!”...Nancy Nichols Dixon and Dick ventured out of their “COVID cocoon” last summer and were able to visit family.

“Dick and I have survived very well the isolation of COVID,” thanks to a big house that affords some separation when needed and many, many projects.” For instance, “We still fill our bird feeders because that is our entertainment. Instead of going out to eat, we buy birdseed.”...

Anne Packard filled us in about a three-week trek in Nepal that she and Roger Pedigo undertook in October 2019. “After my ‘little’ brother had a heart attack that spring, we decided to get going on our bucket lists,” she recounts.

“Nepal was near the top for both of us, so we signed up for a trek near Mount Everest. We had three months to get in shape for a 110-mile, three-pass, and three-peak adventure.” Their route in-country included numerous stops — among them Kathmandu, an Everest base camp, and peaks as high as 18,208 feet. “Sherpas were with us on the trek and our bags were carried by porters,” Barbara continues. “The scenery was spectacular! We were warned not to have any meat after the first day as there is no refrigeration at the ‘tea houses.’ There would be no tents on this trip, but no heat either, except during dinner when the wood stove was lit.

Dung was used for fuel above tree line.” They had an extra day in Kathmandu at trip’s end, “so we got a chance to tour part of the city that is still showing results of the earthquake in 2015, as well as the Swayambhunath Buddhist complex, the Narayanhiti Palace, and a couple of Hindu temples.”...Lynn Parker Schiavi and John had “a

comparatively easy 2021.” They summered in Maine, enjoying “being able to sit outside to read or take the grand-dogs for a walk.

Our Georgia family was able to visit us there and our Maine family was nearby.” She counts herself “very thankful to be at this stage in my life where a year like this has not turned my world on end. My prayers are for the many who cannot say the same.”...Sandy Prohl Williams and Alan were delighted to welcome family back to Stoneridge Creek, their retirement community in Pleasanton, Calif., during a relative lull in the pandemic last summer. Better yet, in June they rented a houseboat on Lake Shasta and hosted son Scott and daughter Brenda and their families — the first get-together with Brenda and Craig in two years. Daughter Sharon and a friend visited from NYC the following month. “In early October, Alan had a long-overdue knee replacement,” Sandy adds….

After 27 years of owning a house on Block Island, reports Rick Saylor, he and Patricia “finally decided to become official island residents” in 2021, “joining our good friends Marie and Brian Langdon,” who moved there last year. “Although our numbers have diminished over the last couple years with the passing of good friends Bill Young, Gary Watson ’65, and Paul Messer” (husband of Linda Cummings Messer ’65), Rick adds, “our small ‘Bates Group’ still gets together either in person or by Zoom regularly. We still enjoy each other’s company!”...Sarah Smith Halliday hopes to see Maine this summer. “It has been too many years since I visited!”

She adds, “I think of Bates friends often. So many changes in our lifetimes. We didn’t know then what we know now!”...Joan Spruill Andren and Dick wintered in Philadelphia after 20 months in Maine. “COVID canceled a trip to Europe but we did manage to see the California kids and grandkids,” Joan reports. “Visits with Eric and Rhoda Morrill Silverberg, Pat Parsons Kay, Linda Rolfe Raiss, and Ahmed Raiss rounded out our Bates connections. We were able to share garden goodies with them at the end of the summer.”

1965 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARY Evie Horton ehhorton@me.com CLASS PRESIDENT Joyce Mantyla joycemantyla@gmail.com CLASS VICE-PRESIDENTS Newt Clark newtonclark@comcast.net Peter Heyel JPTraveler@gmail.com

Emily Brown and Elton came from Ely, Minn., near the Canadian border, to this neck of the woods in October to visit family. “Leaves were at peak color. Even the Vermonters were gasping with pleasure! We stayed just outside Bethel, Maine, and hiked along a small section of the Androscoggin. The river was nothing at all as I remembered from downtown LewistonAuburn back in the early ’60s!”

When she wrote to us in January, a local elementary school had returned to in-person learning and Emily was volunteering in a kindergarten Reading Pals program. “They are at the point in their academic year where I can start reading stories to them.

My favorite thing!”...Newt Clark and Pat Lord Clark ’67 were still hunkered down in Brunswick, Maine, when he got in touch in January. “Spent Christmas with our children and grandchildren after everyone tested negative.

Can’t wait for this COVID-19 thing to be over. Looking forward to Reunion in June 2022.”...Karen Hjelm “had the joy of spending a year with my amazing sister, Priscilla Hjelm Sylvia ’61, as she ended her fight with COPD.” (Editor’s note: Priscilla’s obituary appeared in the Fall 2021 issue.)

Karen stayed with Priscilla from mid-2020 to this past February, when she returned to Columbus, Ohio, and resumed volunteer work with her church and MidOhio Workers Association….

In two visits to NYC separated by six months, Joyce Mantyla witnessed the roller-coaster ride that the pandemic forced on the city. “I finally returned last summer after having been gone 17 months,” she reports. “I found a much different, frankly sadder city,” with numerous shops and restaurants closed in the East Side. But when she returned at Christmastime after some time at home in Florida, “the city was again magical in its holiday celebration.”...Karin Mueller McElvein “had a great year,” she writes. She saw Joyce Mantyla and Jean Hager-Rich in Florida, Louise Kennedy Hackett in Maine, and Judy Morris Edwards in Virginia. She spent three weeks in Spain and France with her sister in the fall. And she just retired for the fourth time….

In October, Dick Rozene retired after 10 years as treasurer of the Episcopal Diocese of Maine.

“For this and other service to the diocese, I was honored to receive the prestigious Fred C. Scribner Award, named for the former chancellor of the diocese,” he reports, adding that he was also elected for the third time as a deputy to The Episcopal Church’s annual General Convention, taking place in two years in Kentucky.

Dick and Wendy are adjusting to the “new normal”: “staying safe and enjoying one-floor living in Scarborough, Maine. With the appropriate precautions, I’ve

a bates moment PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

bat e s no t e s

Bill Hiss ’66 addresses Monica Drozd and Bill Tucker ’67 during their wedding vow ceremony at the Keigwin Amphitheater at Lake Andrews on Sept. 24, 2021.

Love Affirmed When Bill Tucker ’67 and Monica Drozd decided to renew their wedding vows, they knew exactly where and with whom they wanted to be. “Bates and Bill Hiss ’66 immediately came to mind,” said Tucker.

More than three decades ago, Tucker and Drozd got married in a remote chapel in the Black Forest of Germany before a handful of tourists and travelers.

Last Sept. 24, their renewal ceremony took place in more familiar and intimate surroundings, the Keigwin Amphitheater at Lake Andrews, and was led by the couple’s close friend, Hiss, whose friendship with Tucker began when they were Bates roommates.

Hiss, a licensed minister in the United Church of Christ, spoke about the deep love that Tucker, who has battled health issues in recent years, and Drozd share. He told them that “caring for each other and caring for other people is what you two do.”

Tucker and Drozd clasped each other’s hands as they listened to their friend, the connection among the three friends vivid and poignant. “Bill pulled the arc of our lives together,” Tucker said.

been able to attend a couple of Bates sporting events. Go Bates!”...Charlene Wakefield finally retired in spring 2021 after 30 years at Vermont Legal Aid. “COVID decided it for me,” she says. A silver lining on the pandemic cloud took the form of an old friend who, “looking for things to occupy himself due to the isolation, found me on Facebook.” Daily video chats led to a strong connection, if you will, so they met in person as soon as their vaccination status permitted. He lives two and a half hours from her in Westminster, Vt., “but we’ve been spending a lot of time with each other despite the distance. It’s made retirement even more attractive.”....Judy “Jay” Wells Wait writes that she and Brooks continue to enjoy their mountain home in Buena

Vista, Colo. “We have plenty of space for fishing, camping, snowshoeing, skiing, and just walking around, which keeps us at peace in the natural world.

The kids are all independent and contributing to society in their own unique ways. What more could parents want?”...Brad and Sue Huiskamp Wyman traveled in June 2021 from their New Hampshire home to Steamboat Springs, Colo., to visit their elder son, Ben. While in Colorado, Brad writes, he “took a four-day 250 mile ride in the mountains with four other geezers, one of whom was a nursery school friend (!). We all agreed that we are fortunate indeed at our age to be able to do that.” Along the way they visited Jani Downing in Pittsburgh. Brad adds that both Sue and he had knee replacements in 2021.

1966 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS PRESIDENT Alex Wood awwood@mit.edu

1967 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS PRESIDENTS Keith Harvie kcharvie12@gmail.com Pam Johnson Reynolds preynolds221@gmail.com “Third time’s the charm!” reports Judith Lanouette Nicholson.

After two COVID-related postponements, her son Matt was married in Germantown, N.Y. On hand were Dick and Pam Johnson Reynolds and Karen Konecki Goober ’68

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where abouts and Joel Goober ’70….Sarah Myers McGinty is a consultant in Boston who offers educational advising services and support for applicants crafting personal statements and application essays. She worked with the National Association for College Admission Counseling and The Character Collaborative (which advocates for the consideration of character in admission decisions) last year to create a course on the role of the application essay in application reviews.

Sarah produced and filmed the online course, which is aimed at admission and counseling staff.

“I made sure Bates got lots of mentions,” she quips. Find the course at bit.ly/adm-essays.

1968 Reunion 2023, June 9–11

House Hunting Before moving from Swarthmore, Pa., to California, Bill Menke ’69 had an unusual gig: sketching images of homes, like this one, for a regular “guess the house” contest sponsored by the local weekly newspaper.

He learned to sketch decades ago while studying landscape architecture. But the field soon became digital, with little call for hand-drawn work. “My return to hand drawing occurred late in life,” he says, when he sketched homes for a handout accompanying the local historical society’s house tour. Soon, he was drawing pictures of local houses for The Swarthmorean which asked readers to guess the address.

Menke now lives in Twain Harte, Calif., following his divorce from Carol Wilbur Menke ’71. He’s at “elevation 4,216 feet, close to daughter Johanna and her family, and on the same coast as my other daughter, Kristin, as well as our in-laws and my two brothers.”

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CLASS SECRETARY Rick Melpignano rickmel713@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Nancy Hohmann nhohmann@yahoo.com Jim Bristol converted his Scottsdale, Ariz., home to solar with Tesla battery backup, going completely off the grid. He’ll recoup his outlay through savings on electricity in a short eight years there in the Valley of the Sun….Steve Cutcliffe and Barbara helped welcome into the family a new grandchild, Clara DePeyer, in May 2021. And in August they checked off a retirement bucket-list item, traveling to Alaska with a student research group from Lehigh University, where Steve is director of a science, technology, and society program….Gretchen Hess Daly lost her beloved husband, John L. Daly, to pancreatic cancer on Dec. 28, 2020. His doctor at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute wrote in a letter that “John faced his illness with courage and dignity.” John attended four Class of ’68 Reunions with Gretchen and in 2003 was photographed helping carry the 1968 banner in the Alumni Parade. He enjoyed getting to know members of the class. Their children are Eric Gage, Peter Gage, and Matthew Gage ’94….Jane Hippe Reilly reports that her eldest grandson, Henry, left home in Ann Arbor, Mich., for college last fall. “While accepted at Bates, Bowdoin, and Middlebury, he chose something a little closer to home and accessible by train, so he finds himself at Northwestern. So far, so good!”...

Nancy Hohmann spent many days during the pandemic dusting off her teaching skills and supervising two young grandchildren. She now lives in a totally self-sufficient apartment attached to her daughter’s house in Falmouth, Maine, having moved in, fortuitously, just before things shut down in 2020. She is

still riding her 35-year-old horse, she says, “and with her new hip feels much more spry.”...Last July, avid cyclist John Kingery suffered a blowout coming down the steepest grade in Napa Valley. He left his bike at about 40 mph and suffered ribs broken in 10 places, a lung puncture, a shoulder separation, and a severe concussion. He stayed in the hospital for 10 days and rehab therapy lasted into November.

John is now fully recovered but limits his riding to a Peloton….

Louis Weinstein has a message for “all my friends and fellow Bates people”: Please get your booster shot.

1969 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARY Deborah Bliss Behler debbehler@aol.com CLASS PRESIDENT George Peters geo47peters@gmail.com The Rutland Herald joined other news organizations in showcasing Amy Belding Brown’s third historical novel, Emily’s House, published last August. The book focuses on the bond between poet Emily Dickinson and her maid, Margaret Maher, who in real life saved Dickinson’s poems for posterity. “The exhaustive research done by Belding Brown gives the story a rich sense of the times and adds to the enjoyment that Dickinson’s fans will find” in this behind-the-scenes story, the Herald wrote in November.

1970 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARIES Stephanie Leonard Bennett slenben@comcast.net Betsey Brown efant127@yahoo.com CLASS PRESIDENT/ TREASURER Steve Andrick steve.andrick15@gmail.com CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Barbara Hampel barbaraph@live.com Tom and Ann Nagel Stone welcomed their first grandchild in January 2021. Eleanor “Nora” Stone is the child of their son, Michael, and his wife, Emily.

“Grandparents get to do childcare for Nora two days a week,” Ann writes — “such a joy!” In June, daughter Debra was married in a beautiful outdoor ceremony on Cape Cod.

1971 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Suzanne Woods Kelley suzannekelley@att.net

bat e s no t e s

class of

CLASS PRESIDENT Michael Wiers mwiers@mwiers.com CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Jan Face Glassman jfaceg1@hotmail.com Ted Barrows stepped down after 18 years as a Franklin County (Ohio) Municipal Court judge at the end of 2021. He told The Columbus Dispatch that the most significant change during his years on the bench was the creation of programs and specialty dockets to treat the root causes of defendants’ criminal behavior — frequently drug addiction or mental illness — so they don’t keep committing low-level crimes. “So many things have changed over the past 18 years in terms of our understanding about human interactions, human behavior, addiction, mental-health problems,” he said. Of the 15 judges currently on the county’s Municipal Court bench, only one served longer than Barrows….In what she describes as “probably my sixth or seventh career,” Linda Gilmore is writing social media copy for a business audience. “All those other careers come in handy!” She lives in Lancaster, N.H.

1972 Reunion 2022, June 9–12 CLASS SECRETARY Steve Mortimer stevenhmortimer@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Wayne Loosigian wloosigian@gmail.com “The Class is busily preparing for our 50th Reunion” this year, writes Class Secretary Steve Mortimer. “The yearbook team is finalizing a terrific review of our time at Bates from 1968–72 and the 50 years since, following an excellent response to our request for news, photos, and memories.

We hope the books will lead to a great turnout.” Annie Hosmer Wells and Pam McCormack Green lead the social committee and Class President Wayne Loosigian is leading the gift committee to achieve “a record level of giving,” Steve hopes.

“This will be a truly memorable Reunion, bringing together the classes of 1970, 1971, and 1972 for a joint celebration. We look forward to seeing everyone in June!”...Michael Touloumtzis is a member of that yearbook group.

Working with classmates and Bates staff and student helpers on the project has “been a joy, a virtual Reunion in a way, a taste of what’s to come this summer,” he says. After that experience, “I can say that I’d not miss the event for the world. I’ll see all y’all in Lewiston in June 2022! And for those who can’t physically be there and want to share a virtual

visit, there’s Zoom. Contact info will be in the yearbook. After 50 years, we might have some catching up to do!”

1973 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS SECRETARY Kaylee Masury kmasury@yahoo.com CLASS PRESIDENT Tom Carey tcarey@bates.edu Charles Gaputis has retired from medicine after 30 years of family practice in Alabama, and he and Kelli now live in Decatur, Ga. “That brought us and me closer to our two adult children and four grandkids,” says Chuck.

“We spend our summers in northern Michigan, a welcome break from the heat and traffic of metro Atlanta.”...Al Gould is “excited to be working steadily in ‘retirement,’ bringing music and writing projects to fruition.

Some of my music and writing even dates back to my years at Bates! It’s inspirational and fun to finalize work which has had the major part of a lifetime to season.

I hope to publish prolifically in the next several years.”...“I have hung up my stethoscope, for now at least,” writes Marshall Hansen, former medical director at HealthFinders Collaborative Clinic in Northfield, Minn. “For a week or two most months, I go into the woods to think. Over the past six years, my sons and I hand-built a shack there, miles from all connectivity. I split firewood by day, read and write by oil lamp at night, cook and wash with rainwater, and live simply, with gratitude.”...Heidi Hoerman is spending more time at home in Hingham, Mass., helping care for “Hubby,” aka Bill Urton, as he works through health issues. “As he and I have adapted, I’ve been knitting up a storm — loom-knitting well over 200 hats, over 60 scrubbies, and other things for donation. I’m making new friends through a fiber arts group, and found a dairy farm less than four miles away that sells homemade ice cream. Life is good!”...Bev Nash Esson has been “using my librarian/genealogist experience to update contact information for classmates ahead of our 50th Reunion. So far I’ve connected with over 60 people for the first time in years, including a visit to freshman roommate Pat Foss.” Bev lives in Wells, Maine, and Pat not far away in Berwick….Joanne Stato got her start as a performer, she writes, “playing music in the Den, jamming with friends in Roger Bill, and putting on concerts at Vespers in the Chapel.” It’s true that Zoom can’t compete with experiences like that, “but you have to work with what you’ve got. Since the lockdown began,

takeaway: Ted Barrows

FRED SQUILLANTE/COLUMBUS DISPATCH

1971

media outlet:

The Columbus Dispatch

headline:

Judge Barrows retiring after being part of court’s evolution

takeaway: When it’s time for energy and zeal to replace experience and wisdom When Ted Barrows ’71 began working as a municipal judge in Ohio, the courts didn’t really take into account whether or not a defendant had an addiction or mental illness.

“We weren’t asking those questions,” said Barrows, who retired in December after 18 years as Franklin County Municipal Court judge. “And if somebody said, ‘Well, my client is addicted,’ we’d say, ‘All right, let’s send them off to jail and wean them off of this stuff.’ Well, that’s stupid as hell. Now we know better.”

Today’s courts offer programs and specialty dockets to treat the root causes of defendants’ criminal behavior. One of those areas is Veterans Court, a focus of Barrows in recent years, where certain offenders who are military veterans participate in “intensive probation,” that emphasizes peer mentoring and veteran focused treatment, Barrows said.

Barrows has this perspective on retirement.

“Energy and zeal is a replacement for experience and wisdom. We all have been through that transition.”

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in 2020, I have conducted a songwriter circle over Zoom with two friends located in my former state of Maryland.”

(Joanne now lives in the Tampa Bay area.) “Every three weeks, each of us writes a new song and presents it for feedback.

My goal is to record this body of work and start a channel on YouTube. Stay tuned.”...Writing in December, Christine Terp Madsen and Christine Fenno were looking forward to moving back to Maine. She adds, “I spent the pandemic studying poetry with poet and novelist Marge Piercy and Obama inaugural poet Richard Blanco.”...Honors Program director and psychology professor at Connecticut’s Univ. of Saint Joseph, Elly Vozzola reports that after doing some traveling last spring and summer, “my main project was to finish revising a second edition of my text, Moral Development: Theory and Applications.” She also found “an adorable Australian shepherd grand-puppy.”...Mike Wilson celebrated his 70th in June 2021 in Duxbury, Mass., with three other Batesies — kids Alex ’02, Sarah ’06 and Zach ’08 — seven grandchildren, and Cynthia. “I continue to work, having completed my 42nd year on the road in the sporting goods business in December. 2021 was my best year ever.”

1974 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARY Tina Psalidas Lamson tinal2@mac.com CLASS PRESIDENT Don McDade mcdadecbb@gmail.com SOCIAL MEDIA COORDINATORS Karen and Bill Cunningham karenlc67@gmail.com Peter and Ellen Brown Hollis “mostly hunkered down in North Carolina in 2021,” Peter writes. “Ellen was finally able to make it to Seattle to see our son, daughter-in-law, and two grandsons. It had been almost two years since seeing them.”...

The late John Jenkins was honored by the cities of Lewiston and Auburn in September, as city leaders renamed a pedestrian footbridge that connects the municipalities across the Androscoggin River for him.

John was the first person to serve as mayor of both cities….

Barbara McKusick Liscord and Paul ’74 are retired and still living in Mont Vernon, N.H. Daughter Emmy is an emergency physician in Augusta, Maine, and Rob ’11, a graduate of Northeastern Univ. School of Law School, “has a passion for affordable housing and works with the law firm Drummond Woodsum in Portland, Maine.”

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He lives in South Portland with his wife, Brittany. Barbara adds, “Our political activism in voting rights, justice, and Earth-care is balanced with grandparenting, camping, hiking, bicycling, farming.” Barbara’s mother, Nancy McKusick, widow of Vincent McKusick ’44, “continues to thrive at age 97, living independently, with some support, in her own apartment.”…

In November, Cindy Mildram Foster drove a camper from Maine’s Carrabassett Valley to a new home in Greeley, Colo.

“My Maine roots are deep and the Sugarloaf community is wonderful, but my kids and grandkids are in Colorado,” she writes. “It was time for an adventure and a new chapter in my life. Give a shout if you are out this way.”

1975 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARIES Deborah Bednar Jasak Deborahjasak@gmail.com Faith Minard minardblatt@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENTS Susie Bourgault Akie susieakie@gmail.com Janet Haines jbh580@aol.com As we’ve reported, Thomas Grande belonged to one of two legal teams honored with Public Justice’s 2021 Trial Lawyer of the Year award. His team successfully argued the historic case Kalima v. State of Hawai’i. Thomas has shared a video explaining the case: bit.ly/kalima-grande.…Diane Jaquith and Maurice Kashdan have moved cross-country to Portland, Ore., to live near children Luke and Lia and a grandchild. Diane retired after 30 years of teaching visual art in public schools and at Massachusetts College of Art and Design….“Life in Penobscot, Maine, is quiet and contemplative as I shift from a career in education to writing full time,” Todd Nelson reports.

He writes frequently for The Ellsworth American, Penobscot Bay Press publications, the Bangor Daily News, and the Portland Press Herald. “It’s paying off with a book to be published this year by Down East Books, a collection of essays about my Maine life to be called Cold Spell.”

1976 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Jeff Helm bateslax@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Bruce Campbell brucec@maine.rr.com

CONVERSATIONS WITH CLASSMATES HOST Marge Davis margedavis@comcast.net In May, Jim Anderson wrapped up his term as president of the Eastern Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators. “It has been a great honor to fill this role at the end of a long career,” says Jim, director of financial aid at Montclair State Univ. since 2010. Retirement is still a few years off for him and Dorothy Wilkins Anderson ’78, “but is in sight.”….Ron Cameron and Pam moved from Vermont to northern Virginia last summer to be closer to family and newborn twin grandchildren. Shortly after the move, Ron was diagnosed with esophageal cancer and has been undergoing treatment at The Johns Hopkins Hospital. We wish him the best.

1977 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS SECRETARY Steve Hadge schmuddy@yahoo.com CLASS PRESIDENT Keith Taylor drkeithtaylor@msn.com Peter Brann “can’t report anything really new and different, but that’s okay because all is good.” He adds, “Probably the biggest news is that I went to Tanzania with my daughter for a couple weeks. It was incredible — the Great Migration of wildlife, etc. One of the best trips I’ve ever taken.”...Whit Burbank and Diane Parker Burbank ’76 moved to Canandaigua Lake in New York state — a pandemicprompted move, he explains, “to set up residence and a law business.”...Mike Cohen retired from Pfizer in spring 2021 after 35 years as an analytical chemist for the pharmaceutical giant.

“While I really enjoyed my time at Pfizer, which eventually guided me into a regulatory/ advisory role, life has been great since,” he says. “All this spare time and the absence of deadlines and crisis projects opened up the possibility of doing all those things that I had put on the back burner” — weekday bike rides with fellow retirees, traveling to visit friends, working on his 1951 Hudson, and trying to relearn clarinet. Mike adds that a highlight of 2021 was reconnecting with Chase House buddies Steve Hadge, John “Gearbox” Gearing ’76, and Bruce “Skyman” Coughlin ’76 for a hike and a picnic lunch at Sandisfield State Forest in Massachusetts....Landi DeGregoris Turner, now semi-retired, has “the best of two worlds. I live in Maine during the summer and into early fall, return to Pennsylvania for the holidays,

and then teach three courses at Eastern University for the spring semester. Rinse and repeat! Son Zachary is the father of a baby boy and working toward a doctorate in physical therapy, and Jordan loves his work as a police officer.”...Jane Duncan Cary and Michael are enjoying retirement in southern Vermont and their five grandchildren. “They are a lot of fun. I love being a grandmother!” She works part time screening admission applications for the Geisel Medical School at Dartmouth, “a good gig for my aging brain,” and has enjoyed visits with Lisa Barry, Lydia Brown Soule, Liz Skinner King, and spouses....At their home in Plantation, Fla., Joel Feingold and Houda hosted Dervilla McCann and Steve Meister along with Dervilla’s Irish cousin Caroline Price and her husband Brian for dinner.

“We drank many bottles of wine,” Joel says. “In case you don’t recall, it goes, ‘One, two, three… many.’”...Kate Flom has “managed to get out of Minnesota for a few trips.

Retirement is much better than I would have imagined, even solo.

Spent time at the Jersey shore with 20 family members in August — no one got COVID! And had a lovely week at Lake Champlain with Sue Fuller Wright, Teri Thomas Tornroos, Merle Bragdon, Trina Fennell, Robin Lee, Deb Kupetz Hart, and Nancy Schroeter Werner.”...Jane Goguen Baronas and Matthew have retired, Jane from the position of informatics manager at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which she joined soon after graduation, and where co-workers have included John Bonasera ’78 and Mark Reddish ’76. “Thanks to Mark for passing along the job opportunity to biology professor Andy Balber, resulting in my hire!” she writes. “It was a wonderful run with an amazing mentor throughout.” Jane and Matthew spent time in Maine last summer with Pam Walch Constantine and David — “a truly relaxing escape.” On Cape Cod, they met up with Lynn Glover Baronas and Mark to unwind with “laughs, good food, and beautiful walks.”...Linda Greason Yates and David “spent the 2021 pandemic doing socially distanced skiing, gathering with friends and family outdoors with our Solo Stove, and enjoying a more relaxed summer at our place in South Bristol, Maine. We weathered David’s diagnosis of throat cancer, which, we are fortunate to say, is pretty much behind us now.” Linda is president of the League of Women Voters of the Worcester Area and a trustee of the library in their town of Berlin, Mass., and she volunteers at a local food pantry. She accompanied her 97-year-old father to his 75th

join your classmates in supporting bates

to Canada if a dictatorship were installed in our republic,” he says.

Meanwhile, as a Visiting Angel, “I witnessed the passing of my first client, of three and threequarters years, in 2020, and of a former Justice Department lawyer, age 84, in May 2021.” And then a July memorial service for his father, who had died in 2020 at 94, ended an era for Marcel and his sister.”...Marybeth Pope Salama, M.D., volunteers at the Neighborhood Resilience Project, giving free medical care to underserved individuals, when she and Guy are in Pittsburgh.

“I’ve also become a volunteer firefighter, suspenders and all, in my new community of Rush, N.Y.,” near Rochester. “Someone somewhere once said, ‘Life begins when the dog dies and the kids leave home,’ and I am certainly trying new stuff to test that out,” she says….Dan Quinn bought a second home, on Mount Crested Butte, Colo., and plans to spend each February and August there and the rest of the year on Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia....Still in Scituate and about to start her third year of retirement, Nancy Schroeter Werner downsized to a townhouse, “where I can collect my thoughts more easily, and enjoy the simplicity and community of this new housing development.” She notes that her parents “are remarkably well at 92 and 91 and I am fortunate to spend much time with them,” as well as her two daughters, who live in Boston. She keeps in close touch with some of her dearest friends from Bates — Kate Flom, Teri Thomas Tornroos, Robin Lee, Merle Bragdon, Deb Kupetz Hart, Trina Fennell, Ellen Gross, and Sue Fuller Wright….This from Liz Skinner King: “Not only was I able to have a great visit with three Bates classmates this summer — Lisa Barry, Lydia Brown Soule, and Jane Duncan Cary — but it turns out that another classmate lives just around the corner from me on Drakes Island, Maine.” Liz and Sandy Shapasian Vitolo both spend summers in that seaside neighborhood in Wells....

Paul Sklarew is still loving the Mile-High City, where he and Mari moved after retirement in 2020. “My daughters live in Oregon and San Francisco, so I am able to visit them more easily and frequently. I was expecting to spend more time with Jeff Brown when I moved to Denver, and am so sad that he is no longer with us.” (Editor’s note: Jeff passed away in January 2019 and his obituary appeared in the Fall 2019 issue.) ...Kevin Soucy writes that his “health is finally somewhat stable, and we are enjoying our three grandchildren, getting to spend a couple of days with them each week. Hoping to downsize this year too!”...Stuart Strahl and Melissa have retired

bates.edu/give

college reunion — counting herself “so lucky to be able to experience that.”...Steve Hadge retired, again, from his job as a tutor of English language learners last June, and started subbing in September. “This is much closer to a real retirement as I only work when I want,” he explains. “I’ve been going in two or three days a week, and it has been very enjoyable.” He was also glad to get back to tennis last summer after years off due to injuries and COVID. “It was great, but I have come to realize I can’t take it as seriously as I used to. I just enjoy the fact that I am able to play.”…John and Susan Young Haile have joined the throng of retirees. “We now live in Woolwich, Maine, and enjoy the time to pursue all life has to offer.”...Jaqueline Harris Taback reports: “Fulfilling a dream, I was a Fidelco Puppy Raiser for 14 months before Yankee returned to the center to be trained as a seeing-eye guide dog.” When they met again, eight months later, it was clear “that our bond was mutual and everlasting.”...John Howe writes: “Looking back, I think often of an appreciation for an education that opened my eyes to different perspectives. I now see that the liberal arts made me ready for two careers, the first in newspaper publishing and the second in transitioning company ownership” as director of the New England firm Business Transition Strategies. “It empowered curiosity and equipped me to pursue understanding.”...Bob Larson and Jean Metzger Larson ’78 are retired and living in Nashville, and celebrated their 42nd anniversary in March. Bob keeps a hand in the business world, serving on the board of a South African aluminum company and occasionally consulting with a private equity firm. He’s also active in the Episcopal Church, and some years ago completed the Education for Ministry program at the School of Theology at Sewanee. “I post here about every 10 years, so God willing, I’ll check in again in 2032!”...Terry Maillard Keyes has been looking forward to a quieter 2022 after hosting her daughter and family, “with three little ones,” living with her and Bob ’74 for a year while they remodeled. “It was crazy and fun.”...Two years into retirement, Dervilla McCann has been eagerly looking forward to travel and new adventures. As pandemic constraints eased in 2021, she and husband Steve Meister went to four weddings and a funeral — “all joyful,” she says….Marcel Monfort is hoping for a new reign of peace and goodwill this year. The 2020 national election and subsequent insurrection at the U.S. Capitol provoked “thoughts of emigrating

2022 BATES FUND

bat e s no t e s

ity • community • academics • pride • knowled • friendships • professors • arts • excellence • athletics • reputation • opportunity • studen • value • loyalty • laughter • generosity • com munity • academics • pride • knowledge • frien ships • professors • arts • excellence • athlet • reputation • opportunity • students • value loyalty • laughter • generosity • community • academics • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors • arts • excellence • athletics • re tation • opportunity • students • value • loyal • laughter • generosity • community • academ • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors arts • excellence • athletics • reputation • op portunity • students • value • loyalty • laugh • generosity • community • academics • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors • arts • e cellence • athletics • reputation • opportunit students • value • loyalty • laughter • genero ity • community • academics • pride • knowled • friendships • professors • arts • excellence • athletics • reputation • opportunity • studen • value • loyalty • laughter • generosity • com munity • academics • pride • knowledge • frien ships • professors • arts • excellence • athlet • reputation • opportunity • students • value loyalty • laughter • generosity • community • academics • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors • arts • excellence • athletics • re tation • opportunity • students • value • loyal • laughter • generosity • community • academ • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors arts • excellence • athletics • reputation • op portunity • students • value • loyalty • laugh • generosity • community • academics • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors • arts • e cellence • athletics • reputation • opportunit students • value • loyalty • laughter • genero ity • community • academics • pride • knowled • friendships • professors • arts • excellence • athletics • reputation • opportunity • studen • value • loyalty • laughter • generosity • com munity • academics • pride • knowledge • frien ships • professors • arts • excellence • athlet • reputation • opportunity • students • value loyalty • laughter • generosity • community • academics • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors • arts • excellence • athletics • re tation • opportunity • students • value • loyal • laughter • generosity • community • academ • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors arts • excellence • athletics • reputation • op portunity • students • value • loyalty • laugh • generosity • community • academics • pride • knowledge • friendships • professors • arts • e cellence • athletics • reputation • opportunit students • value • loyalty • laughter • genero ity • community • academics • pride • knowled • friendships • professors • arts • excellence • athletics • reputation • opportunity • studen • value • loyalty • laughter • generosity • com munity • academics • pride • knowledge • frien ships • professors • arts • excellence • athlet • reputation • opportunity • students • value loyalty • laughter • generosity • community • academics • pride • knowledge • friendships •

NANCY FIDDLER

pioneering athlete

Woman in the Arena Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler ’78 “dusted off” her English major, she says, to contribute to Trail to Gold: The Journey of 53 Women Skiers, published in 2021.

The book tells the story of the rise of women’s skiing on the international stage through firstperson accounts by 53 female U.S. Olympic Nordic skiers who competed between 1972 and 2018, including Fiddler, who was Bates’ first female All-American, a 14-time Nordic skiing national champion, and a two-time Olympian.

A member of the book committee, Fiddler helped write some of the book chapters, which use the athletes’ voices to explore various topics, including race waxing, training, funding, and the power of teamwork.

In February, Fiddler joined four fellow Bates alumnae for a discussion on National Girls and Women in Sports Day. For Fiddler, it was an opportunity to talk about her experiences in the initial years following the passage of Title IX in 1972.

As a Nordic ski coach, she fought gendered expectations, such as being expected to “stay back at the lodging with the athletes” during pre-meet preparations, while “the men went and tested wax and did things at the venue that mattered — and that I was actually very good at, too.”

Nevertheless, she persisted. “Women should be right there in that arena.”

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to the Blackfoot River Valley of Montana, the setting for the book A River Runs Through It. “We are surrounded by nature and wildlife, and social distancing is a quarter of a mile,” he says. Stuart is president emeritus of the Chicago Zoological Society, but now focuses his interests on grizzly bear conservation and wildlands protection in Montana.

Meanwhile, the Strahls were expecting their first grandchild in February from daughter Margaret. Daughter Danielle teaches veterinary anesthesiology, and Linda ’08 is a rising star in a medium-sized company in the Chicago area….

Elizabeth Strout’s latest novel, released in October, drew accolades from such news outlets as The New York Times, The Washington Post, NPR, and The Guardian. Oh William! again features the character Lucy Barton, whom Strout introduced in My Name is Lucy Barton and brought back in Anything is Possible. In the new book, Barton mourns the death of her second husband and revisits her relationship with her first, William Gerhardt. “Lucy’s determination to tell her personal story honestly and without embellishment evokes Hemingway,” Heller McAlpin wrote for NPR, “but also highlights fiction’s special access to emotional truths.”...For optometrist Keith Taylor, “2021 was a much better work year.

Everyone at my office, including my wife, Wendy, and I, was vaccinated and boosted. We continued to enforce strict COVID protocols and were able to maintain a safe and good balance for everyone. Wendy retired in June after 44 years of teaching special ed at Landmark School. This allows us to take more time off to spend on the Cape and hopefully do more traveling. I regularly get to see my Bates buddies Andy Lovely ’75 and Mark Shapiro ’76.”...

Dave Terricciano is enjoying life in Maine’s Biddeford Pool area after retiring from the life sciences industry in the Boston area. He spent part of the winter in Scottsdale, Ariz., and planned to drive back in the spring. “I’ve been working with Cary Gemmer in the Advancement office to support Bates’ Purposeful Work Initiative and the Harward Center for Community Partnerships,” he says….Vickie Tripp Gordan writes that her and Scott’s older daughter, Alexandra, celebrated her wedding in July, having tied the knot in a small ceremony during the 2020 lockdown. “It was one of the most special and fun nights of our lives as a family, and such a needed uplift after the past year and a half.” Vicki continues full time as chief auditor in Maine’s Unum office. Meanwhile, the Saddleback Mountain ski resort has reopened, “providing us with

great weekends at our camp in Rangeley.”...Pam Walch Constantine has retired after 20-plus years at The Stephen Phillips Memorial Scholarship Fund. “It was wonderful work, getting to know students and awarding college scholarships to primarily low-income kids. It was a very 2020 last day: alone in the office — we only had one person in the office at a time — I turned off my computer, put up a ‘gone fishing’ out-of-office reply, took a selfie by the front door, and dropped my keys at my boss’s house.” Pam is now involved with Harborlight Community Partners, a nonprofit low-income housing developer on Boston’s North Shore. “So grateful for time spent with Jane Goguen Baronas and Lynn Glover Baronas!”...Chris Welling has stepped down as house carpenter at the Boston Opera House after 17 years. But he still serves as president of the International Alliance of Theatrical Stage Employees, Local 11. “After a 43-year career in the entertainment industry, I still fondly remember my first trip out to LA with classmates Dave Plavin and Mike Butler. What a long, strange trip it’s been.”...

Charlie Zelle, former commissioner of the Minnesota Department of Transportation, now chairs the Metropolitan Council, a regional government for the Twin Cities of Minneapolis and St. Paul, overseeing things like transit, housing, wastewater, regional parks, and comprehensive planning. “It has been an honor and no shortage of life purpose to be in ‘the arena’ of public policy,” he reports, “but plenty of stress, too. There is solace in looking out the window, often during Zoom meetings, at beautiful Cedar Lake, where we Minnesotans can be ‘kick-ass’ recreators year-round.”

1978 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS SECRETARY Chip Beckwith chipwith@yahoo.com CLASS PRESIDENT Dean Berman deanocean@aol.com Congratulations to Chuck James, one of four recipients of the 2021 Bates’ Best alumni awards. Chuck is known as a wonderful and consistent source of support for the entire Bates community. The fruits of his deep care and substantial effort are manifold: For instance, he was a leader in raising money for the Kurt Gelfand Scholarship, honoring his friend and classmate. Not only will the scholarship support generations of students to come, but the philanthropic process afforded a much-appreciated cathartic

friends together

opportunity for members of the Class to reconnect and reminisce.

Chuck’s presence is also felt through his involvement with the Benjamin Mays Black Alumni Society, the mentorship he provides to students of color on campus, and his contributions to the Purposeful Work initiative….

Chuck himself notes that thanks to your gifts and pledges, and the match from an anonymous donor, Bates’ Kurt Gelfand Scholarship Fund has surpassed $200,000.

Bates is still accepting donations to the fund. To contribute, contact Eric Foushee, associate vice president for college advancement, at 888-522-8371….

Cherie Ames Wenzel and Michael are enjoying retirement and their 43rd year of marriage.

“I’m now on Medicare and yes, I still have all my teeth! I volunteer at our local community center and at the Travis Mills Foundation, an organization that serves post-9/11 veterans.”

She adds, “Cheney chicks are mourning the untimely death of our friend Barbara MacRae, in November. She was a great spirit and is missed.” (Editor’s note: An obituary for Barbara will appear online at bates.edu/memoriam.)...

Chip Beckwith made it into New Hampshire’s White Mountains twice during 2021. In June, he and his son, Tobias, had a nice hike up to Tuckerman Ravine.

In October, Chip climbed Mount Jackson with an old friend.

“This was my first 4,000-foot mountain climb in over 20 years,” he says. “I was a little creaky but I made it!”...Chris Callahan and Anne Cassidy Callahan ’80 live in Shelburne, Vt. Their kids, Elizabeth, James, and Charlotte, are doing well. “Everyday we have a great time playing with our little granddaughter, Juniper,” Chris reports. “Life is good.”...Scott Copeland is “very proud that my granddaughter will be attending Bates.” He looks forward to taking part in the Puddle Jump with her in 2025, when the event turns 50….

Jane Goodman officiated at the wedding of her niece Lianna Cohen ’13 to Stephen Sifferlen on Cape Cod in November. “Getting together was extra sweet after a yearlong delay due to the pandemic,” Jane says….Nordic skier Nancy Ingersoll Fiddler, who was Bates’ first female All-American and competed on the 1988 and 1992 Olympic teams, “dusted off my English major to collaborate on a book project that details the history of women cross-country skiers in the U.S.,” she reports. Though U.S. women have competed in Olympic cross-country skiing since 1972, “it wasn’t until 2018 that a medal was won. To celebrate this success, a committee of Olympians decided to chronicle the path” to that gold medal. The result is Trail to Gold: The Journey of 53 Women Skiers (Pathway Books).

MINOO SAGHRI

bat e s no t e s

Ever Green Last July, these three Class of 1981 friends came together in the tranquility of the Portland (Ore.) Japanese Garden: from left, Minoo Saghri, who’d traveled from Connecticut; Karen Just Graham who lives in Portland; and Claudia Jane Hall-Karpinski, who drove the 90 minutes from Corvallis, Ore. The garden was created in the spirit of connection and reconnection, and that’s what the friends felt. “We spent the day hiking and yapping away — so excited to be with each other after so long,” says Saghri. “The gardens were spectacular, our friendship even more so. And it all started at Bates College.”

Trail to Gold uses the skiers’ own recollections to shape the narrative….David Lingner and Susan have retired from their San Diego–based academic careers and have moved to Santa Rosa to be close to their two sons, who live in the North Bay area….

Linda Mansfield Carroll works at a private school in Lynnfield, Mass., with “no desire to retire.”

She enjoys tennis year-round and golf when it’s warm enough.

Her and Thomas’ kids, Scott and Jennifer, live in Virginia and made do with small weddings because of the pandemic — “hoping they can have their big weddings in 2022.”...Paul and Sue Beckwith Oparowski have taken up cycling, aiming to ride in all 50 states. “So far we’ve covered all the East Coast states and some in the Midwest.”

They’re looking forward to retirement in a few years....

Christopher Sentementes has spent his entire career developing performance apparel and textiles for outdoor use.

This career, he writes, has allowed him “to live and work mostly overseas, which has been an incredible life experience, although I have always returned home to Maine. I’m looking to

move to West Crete for part of 2022 to determine if that will ultimately be the next home.”

1979 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARY Mary Raftery mgraftery@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Patrick Murphy patrickm@paceengrs.com Bill Bogle played a round of golf in October with friends from the Class of 1980: Jeff Wahlstrom, Brad Smith, and Dave Trull.

“Sadly, the course record was never in jeopardy,” Bill reports….

Steve DiPirro celebrated 20 years at Oracle late last year.

The youngest of his three sons is studying bioengineering, he explains, “so I’ll be working a few more years before retiring. I have two adorable granddaughters now. I continue to add interests and hobbies to keep me busy, with the latest being ham radio, something I had thought about for many years. Dove in with both feet during the pandemic and have my Extra Class license,” an advanced certification that,

among other benefits, affords access to additional radio frequencies — the airwaves being crowded. “Give KC1OSX a call on the HF bands if you hear me!”...Mary Raftery has “enjoyed catching up with classmates Rob Cramer and Janice McLean at our monthly lunches. Along with solving the world’s problems, we test our memories by trying to recall people and places at Bates.

Some days are better than others!”

1980 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARY Chris Tegeler Beneman cbeneman@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Mary Martuscello mary@martuscellolaw.com John Gillespie and his firm Prospector Partners LLC sourced a November Top 10 stock picks column on the Insider Monkey and Yahoo!Finance sites. Picks included Berkshire Hathaway, eBay, Microsoft, and Johnson & Johnson. John chairs Bates’ Board of Trustees….Belinda Osier sold Harborside Cottages in New Harbor, Maine, last year.

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1982

COURTESY ROBERT CARR

Robert Carr

Her parents had built the rental cottages in 1950. Osier and Chuck Rand (parents of Benjamin Osier Aicher ’18) divide their time between New Harbor and Cumberland and are involved with the Old Bristol Historical Society....Dave Trull reports that the 19th CFC Golf Classic was held July 30 at Spring Meadows Golf Club in Gray, Maine.

Players included six Batesies: John Whiting ’78 and Dave’s classmates David Greaves, Jeff Wahlstrom, Brad Smith, and Dave Trull and Nick Kofos, event co-founders. “After golf the entire field enjoyed deluxe food and beverages in Lewiston at Luiggi’s, the Goose, and the upfor-sale La Cage.” The 20th CFC takes place July 29.

1981 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Cheryl Andrews dr.cheryl.andrews@gmail.com

media outlet: Garden of Words

headline:

Grappling with pandemic: an interview with poet Robert Carr

takeaway: Human crisis demands a human response A “human response to crisis” connects the AIDS crisis and COVID-19 pandemic, Robert Carr ’82 told the poetry website Garden of Words.

A widely published poet, Carr is the retired deputy director for the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health.

In the final years of his public health career, Carr wrote and published The Unbuttoned Eye. “As a gay man who survived the early decades of AIDS, the first great pandemic of my lifetime, I needed to write the poems in The Unbuttoned Eye,” he said. The poems became, he adds, his way of “grappling with issues of identity and sexuality through the AIDS pandemic,” he says.

“I needed to understand the joys, and the costs, of survival.”

Today, the poetry collection holds new meaning for him because of the COVID-19 pandemic. “My hope is that readers find the collection affirming, something that connects to their own path,” said Carr.

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CLASS PRESIDENT Hank Howie hhowie@gmail.com A senior vice president at the Boston tech firm SkillStorm, David Donelan cut back to three days a week in 2020. “I was also fortunate enough to live in Costa Rica with my family for five months, and to travel to Spain, Panama, Florida, and Colorado.”...Writing in December, Brian McBride was anticipating retirement from Thermo Fisher Scientific in April. “I’m looking forward to doing more volunteer work, traveling, and losing some COVID pounds. Stop by if you’re in Boston — I’ll have extra time!”….MC McNeill McBain retired from IBM in July after 40 years, and she and Phil celebrated with a trip to Bermuda. Retirement objectives have included more travel, working on her golf game in Florida, and continuing to pursue philanthropic endeavors....Doug Olney retired from the MTA New York City Transit Authority at the end of July, close to the same date when he started in 1983. He retired as a budget director for the Department of Subways. “I spent the rest of the summer relaxing at my family’s summer home in Mattapoisett, Mass., where I enjoyed doing things on my own schedule — rather than someone else’s! I feel very fortunate to continue to be able to run on a regular basis, although not as far and definitely not as fast as I once could.”...Jean Wilson has had fun “reconnecting with Bates classmates” — Anne Loewenthal Shain, Lizette Panet-Raymond Greaves and David ’80, Janice Rand Vaughn, and Adam Sharaf. And, she notes, “2021 was also a good year to meet new Bates friends from all classes.”

1982 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS PRESIDENT Neil Jamieson neil@southernmainelaw.com Dorothy Alpert became tri-state president and principal for the international real estate firm Avison Young last summer. She joined the NYC-based company following more than 30 years at Deloitte….Living on Hilton Head Island, S.C., since 2020, Wendy Blake Nitsos and James say their home is in the perfect location: “It’s right across the street from a beach that has spectacular sunsets over Daufuskie Island, we wake up to sunrises over the marsh, and we’re a short walk from Salty Dog Marina and the South Beach Tennis Club.”...

Robert Carr was featured in a November Q&A on the Garden of Words poetry site. The discussion touched on his second volume of poetry, 2019’s The Unbuttoned Eye, which explores, as he said, “issues of identity and sexuality through the AIDS pandemic.” COVID has redefined the book for him: Though the two pandemics differ greatly, “Today, I experience these poems as reminders for how to survive the realities of global pandemic.”

Robert recently retired from the Bureau of Infectious Disease and Laboratory Sciences at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health….

Wally Dillingham was named director of endowments and foundations for wealth markets at Wilmington Trust, a wealth management firm in NYC where he has worked since 2010. (He’s also an adjunct professor at New York Univ.) He and Deb Clark Dillingham ’83 continue to enjoy their adventures in the Big Apple and beyond. “We are watching the kids get through college and take their next steps.”

Wally and Deb saw Chris and Michele McKeown Fisher ’83 in Boston and squeezed in a visit to Ogunquit, Maine....

Katie Eastman and John Swain moved to Anacortes, Wash., in 2012, and own a psychotherapy and coaching practice there. Her focus is still end-of-life and griefrelated issues, and predictably, she notes, “the pandemic has meant that my practice has been overwhelmed.” In her free time, she adds, “I have turned my Merimanders experience into participating in musicals with our local community theater.”

Katie has a book heading for publication this year and plans to launch a consulting business that will entail lots of travel. “We love the Northwest, but wanderlust is beckoning.”...Jon Guild was 50 when, he writes, “I was caught in a layoff. Since my finances were in good shape, I never returned to the corporate life.”

Since then, in addition to doing some software development,

bat e s no t e s

he has volunteered at his church, handling finances and business matters. He adds, “Last summer, I caught up with Frank Aimaro at Salisbury Beach. I look forward to seeing many more classmates at Reunion!”...

With the birth in October of Nova Cynthia Pearson, J.D. Hale and Cindy now consider themselves grandparents. Nova is the daughter of Kristen and DaLonn Pearson: DaLonn became a member of the family when he began studies at Springfield (Mass.) College in 2005, and the Hales, who live in Winchester, were his hosts through the nonprofit A Better Chance, which supports young people of color along the path to leadership. DaLonn is a police officer — and the first Black public servant — in Wayland, Mass., and he and the Hales have stayed close. J.D. adds that son Charlie and Ava live in California, where Charlie founded a workout app; elder daughter Rosie works at AspenTech in Bedford, Mass.; and younger daughter Lacey works at a cybersecurity firm in Waltham….

When Ruth Mary Hall checked in with us late in 2021, she’d just had reconstructive foot surgery and was looking forward to easier walking. She still enjoys her work in advancing equal opportunity in employment, for both the U.S. State Department and a firm in Virginia, where she lives. She adds, “I visited Bates in August 2021 and was sad to see that some idiot had thrown rocks and broken three of the chapel windows. I was especially sad to see the Beethoven window broken, since I wrote my senior thesis on Beethoven.”...Scott Hoyt finds it “hard to believe it’s been nearly 40 years since graduating from Bates and starting down the road to being an economist. It has been a great trip and I’m grateful for Bates’ part in it. It is certainly an interesting time to be studying the movements of the economy.

If anyone is ever in the western Philadelphia suburbs, look me up.”...Neil Jamieson sends family news. Older daughter Ainsley Jamieson ’18 continues as a senior staff member for U.S. Rep. Jared Golden ’11, who represents Maine’s 2nd District.

“She loves the challenges of living and working in D.C. during these interesting times.”

Lexie Jamieson ’20 worked for Maine Gov. Janet Mills during the first half of 2021 and is now teaching in Taiwan on a Fulbright scholarship.

Meanwhile, “Heather and I sold our home of 20 years and moved to Pine Point, so are still in Scarborough, Maine.”...Andrew Palmer wrote from Australia in December, early summer there.

“Annie, Buttons the cat, and I are currently enjoying warm weather. I’m now in my second year of retirement after 38 years

of working in the financial markets. I am enjoying the stressfree freedom that comes from not having to work long hours anymore and I am spending more time reading books, gardening, collecting coins, playing tennis, and catching up with friends for a coffee or a walk.” He adds, “Annie and I have a small orchard of 17 fruit trees that keeps us busy. The cherries are ready, the blackberries are ripening, and the apricots should be ready in a couple of weeks.”...

Adam Pettengill marked his 17th year at The Family School in Brewster, Mass., an infant through pre-K program. “I gained a job description, COVID information officer, to go with in-house substitute, teacher support, maintenance, etc.” he says. He and Suzanne enjoyed a variety of Bates contacts in 2021, including a visit from Richard Wood and Laura Haas, time in Ohio with Andrew Burns ’80 and family, and a stop at the Thomaston, Maine, farm of Anne Harquail Perkins and Brian. “I’m gratified to keep making Bates connections as I continue through this life journey,” Adam adds. “I usher at First Parish Brewster U.U. with John Myers ’52, and have worked at Brewster Day Camp with Sophie Nahirny ’22 and Tara Ellard ’22. I connected with Chris Graham ’83 when his granddaughter started at our school.”…Jane Porcello has retired from Eastern Bank after 38 years. “I started as a teller, manually posting interest to passbook accounts, and finished as a vice president and technology business analyst,” she says. “How I ended up in banking technology with a history degree, I’ll never know, but I do know Bates was a great place to develop my analytical skills.” And what has retirement brought so far? “Doing anything I want at any time,” she says.

“Visiting faraway friends — watch out, Kevin Raye ’83, I may end up on your doorstep — going out for leisurely lunches, doing genealogy research, organizing family reunions, or just hopping in the car for an adventure at a 40th Reunion!” She adds, “It just seems like yesterday that my parents were showing up at Smith Hall on Saturdays with pans of lasagna or apple pies to feed hungry freshmen.”...

Joyce White Vance and Robert count themselves “really lucky that our daughter chose Bates!”

Ellie Vance ’21 stayed in central Maine to work with FoodCorps after graduation, and Joyce and Bob have been “delighted to have reasons to visit Maine.”...Martha Wonson Brandt enjoyed a “wonderful holiday brunch at the home of Karen Finocchio Lubeck ’92 in Marblehead, Mass., with Nancy Higgins ’81 and Lisa Romeo ’88.”

1983 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS SECRETARY Leigh Peltier leighp727@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENTS PJ Dearden tribecapj@yahoo.com Bill Zafirson bzaf@maine.rr.com Andrea Gelfuso Goetz published her first book in August. My Modena: A Year of Fear, Laughter, and Exhilaration in Italy (Storytellers Publishing) is a hilarious memoir of a stay in the northern Italian city of Modena. The book spent weeks as No. 1 on Amazon’s “Hot Sellers in Travel” list. Andrea lives in Denver, is married with two kids, and chairs the Sustainability Committee of the Lakewood Advisory Commission. She teaches energy law and wind law in the graduate program at the Texas A&M School of Law, and natural resources law at the Univ. of Tulsa College of Law. She says, “I’d love to hear from Bates friends at agelfuso@rocketmail. com.”...Chair of the Bay State law firm Nutter McClennen & Fish, Deborah Manus was elected president of the Boston Bar Association in September.

She’s guiding the BBA through COVID-19’s continuing impact on the workplace and the legal profession. Under her leadership, the BBA is also sustaining its critical focus on lawyer training and development, and on improving diversity within the profession….Paul Marks told us about the 60th birthday party that Rob Diamond’s wife, Cathy Branker-Diamond, and their daughter Jada threw for Rob at The View on Brooklyn’s waterfront last September.

Guests included Craig Mathers, Tom Dilworth, Bruce Perry and Rae, Josh Schultz, Pat Donnelly ’84, Alexandra Ourusoff ’85 and Michael, and Kat MacDonald ’85. “George Zeller ’83 joined by Zoom from Africa,” Paul adds. “For many of us, it was the first large gathering in a while, and like our Bates College days, we were ‘carded’!

However, it was for vaccine status, not proof of age.”

1984 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARY Heidi Lovett blueoceanheidi@aol.com Cheryl Croteau Orr celebrated the birth of her first grandchild in 2021. “Other than that,” she says, “I’m just hanging in there and hoping that life will assume a semblance of normality this year.”...Barbara Douglass had a speaking role in the acclaimed Netflix movie Don’t Look Up — a

“tremendous experience,” she says. She steered us to an article in Slate about the film, “Silicon Valley Won’t Save Us,” by Tyler Austin Harper, assistant professor of environmental studies at Bates (bit.ly/harper-slate).…Julianna Flanders visited Bert Cole and friend Paul Ogier on the Vineyard last fall. “Lots of beach walks, visiting the horses, and laughter,” she says. Her daughter, Isabella, is a member of the Univ. of Vermont Intercollegiate Equestrian Team.

“Bella and her horse Bella Ymas won their division at the regional championship and qualified for nationals.”...Following the publication of Artemis Preeshl’s textbook Consent in Shakespeare: What Women Do and Don’t Do in Shakespeare’s Mediterranean Plays and Origin Stories (Routledge), she has presented papers on the topic at a variety of conferences. Meanwhile, the journal of the Voice and Speech Trainers Association accepted her co-authored paper on Smith and Tangier Island accents, with revisions, for publication. A film of her one-woman show Dead While I Was Alive is now on the festival circuit — and Artemis also choreographed intimacy for two Bates senior thesis productions in theater, Grand Concourse in April 2021 and Rapture, Blister, Burn in February….The local Twin City Times depicted a Bates family’s dedication to building community values through the medium of summer camp. Paul Slovenski and Patti Slovenski Gannon ’86 and their five siblings have all served as counselors, trustees, and directors at Maine camps, including their own Slovenski Camps, in Raymond. Of course, they are the children of legendary Bates track coach Walter Slovenski and Ruth Slovenski.

1985 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARY Elissa Bass bass.elissa@yahoo.com CLASS PRESIDENT Lisa Virello virello@comcast.net Elissa Bass was proud to see Summer, her and Joe’s daughter, graduate from The New School with a BFA in design communications from Parsons School of Design and a BA in global studies from the Lang College of Liberal Arts. “She’s now a production assistant for CNN+,” says Elissa. “I guess the genes of two journalist parents won out.” Elissa was happy to see Debbie Valaitis Kern at the latter’s Rhode Island beach cottage in September, and to take a fun trip to Savannah, Ga., and nearby Tybee Island with Leanne Belmont Valade in November. (Editor’s travel tip: StingRay’s Seafood on Tybee.)

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And in other news, she became the Democratic registrar of voters in her town of Stonington, Conn.

1986 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Erica Seifert Plunkett ericasplunkett@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENTS Bill Walsh messagebill@gmail.com Catherine Lathrop Strahan catstrahan@gmail.com One of the Bay State’s few locally based commercial real estate brokerages, R.W. Holmes Realty of Wayland was named Commercial Brokerage Firm of 2021 by Boston Real Estate Times. Garry Holmes is president and CEO of the firm, which consistently ranks in the Top 10 for sales and leasing, and is recognized as a thought leader for the industry. Garry and Elaine Coombs Holmes live in Natick, and daughter Elizabeth works for the firm, as does Dean Blackey ’98.

1987 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS SECRETARY Val Kennedy brickates@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Erica Rowell ericarowell@mac.com Kari Heistad continues her diversity and inclusion work, helping organizations to build workplaces where people feel valued and respected. She now lives in North Andover, Mass….

Lisa Peace Tito still “enjoys being a surgeon and running the breast cancer program” at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in California. Lisa, Joe, and their kids moved West from Massachusetts four years ago and “are happy with our jump!

The area has amazing hiking, beauty, and, of course, wine.

Our 15-year-old, Ally, loves ‘live’ high school after her COVID freshman year. Our son, Chris, graduated from the Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst and now works in the wine industry.

We have two guest rooms if folks want to visit.”...After a long run at IBM, Pat Tambor joined the Mass General Brigham hospital network as vice president of transformation. He’s still playing music, Pat adds, and collaborates with multiinstrumentalist Peter Senghas.

“Any guitarists looking for an outlet, let me know!” Pat’s wife, Mary, is a literacy specialist in the Lexington, Mass., public schools, son Owen studies at Emerson, and daughter Mia is in high school.

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1988 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE Astrid Delfino-Bernard flutistastrid@sbcglobal.net Ruth Garretson Cameron ruth.eg.cameron@gmail.com Mary Capaldi Gonzales marcapcar@me.com Steve Lewis mojofink@gmail.com Julie Sutherland-Platt julielsp@verizon.net Lisa Romeo romeoli66@gmail.com A conservative columnist for the Coeur d’Alene/Post Falls Press, educator Ralph Ginorio last November decried the ideological climate on college campuses. “More and more, the genuinely open exploration of ideas has been eclipsed by an ideological lockstep,” he wrote.

“Increasingly, schools stopped telling students how to think [and instead, now] tell them what to think. This is a betrayal of the fundamental mission of any college or university.”...

Alan Issokson and Wendy are “enjoying living in downtown Boston near the Seaport,” he wrote in December — “and looking forward to our trip to the Maldives!”...Dan Maranci has become a shareholder in the Boston office of Ogletree Deakins, one of the largest businessimmigration practices in the U.S. Dan has practiced business immigration law for more than 20 years. Dan and Jennifer King ’90 live in Needham….

In November, Michael Schindelman’s younger son, Joshua, played in the World Cup of Paintball. “Ayup, there really is such a thing,” says Michael.

“What a fun week with a great group of people who all excel at their craft. When people with a passion get together with others who share the same passion, the energy is palpable.”

1989 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARY Sara Hagan Cummings cummings5clan@gmail.com STEERING COMMITTEE Sally Ehrenfried sjehrenfried@gmail.com Deb Schiavi Cote debscote@yahoo.com Nora Demleitner, a respected scholar on issues of criminal, comparative, and immigration law, was appointed president of the Annapolis campus of St. John’s College. Previously Roy L. Steinheimer Jr. Professor of Law at Washington and Lee Univ.

School of Law, she’s the 25th Annapolis president in St. John’s 325-year history and its first female president. Board chair Ron Fielding, characterized her as “a great legal mind, prolific

writer, strategic leader, and dedicated teacher.”...The 20th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks evoked loving recollections of Peter Goodrich, a passenger on hijacked United Airlines Flight 175. His younger brother, Foster Goodrich, recounted their last encounter to a Massachusetts newspaper. A week before the attacks, they helped their parents, Donald and Sally, move from the family’s longtime home. “We were there to hug and talk and kiss each other goodbye and tell each other we loved each other,” Foster told The Berkshire Eagle.

“When he was murdered, there was nothing left unsaid in our relationship.” The Boston Globe, meanwhile, told the story of one Afghan family fleeing the Taliban last summer as the government collapsed: Shaima Sadat was the principal and her daughter Basiqa a teacher at the girls’ school that Donald and Sally had founded in Peter’s memory….

Alexandra “Wickie” Smith Rowland’s pandemic project was writing and illustrating a children’s book. Finding ForgetMe-Nots: The Story of a Mindful Elephant was published in November (Beaver’s Pond Press).

“It was honored with a Mom’s Choice Gold Award in December, which was a nice surprise!”

1990 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARY Joanne Walton joannewalton2003@yahoo.com Kim Gamel, a veteran journalist who joined the Hawaiian news organization Honolulu Civil Beat as deputy editor in November 2020, is now the site’s managing editor….The Oregon Army National Guard promoted Brig.

Gen. B.J. Prendergast IV to the rank of major general in December. In 2017, B.J. served as assistant adjutant general at the Oregon Joint Force Headquarters and simultaneously held a leadership position with the U.S. Army Africa and Southern European Task Force. Currently, he commands Contingency Command Post 1, Task Force 51, U.S. Army North and 5th U.S. Army in Texas. In civilian life, B.J. is an executive with Nike in Beaverton, Ore.

1991 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Katie Tibbetts Gates kathryntgates@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT John Ducker jducker1@yahoo.com Dave Bass became managing director of the online grocery service FreshDirect, a division of international merchant firm

Ahold Delhaize, in September.

Dave began with the larger company, specifically its Hannaford supermarkets division, in 2006. “FreshDirect is a truly unique brand, working directly with local suppliers, growers, and farmers to deliver the freshest and best-tasting products directly to people’s doorsteps,” Dave said in the company’s announcement. An economics major, he and Nancy ’92 live in Davidson, N.C….

Linda Goldman still works at the Massachusetts Department of Public Health in the Bureau of Infectious Disease — “which means that life since March 2020 has been very busy,” she writes.

“We have an amazing group of medical and social-service providers in Massachusetts who did everything possible, and more, to take care of their clients and patients. It was a privilege to help them from behind the scenes.” Later she joined a team that developed a free statewide COVID testing system, and in early 2021, she worked with colleagues on a COVID vaccination initiative for guests and staff of homeless shelters.

“The opioid epidemic has us busy, too, not to mention our ‘regular’ work in HIV,” she says.

“It’s definitely been an interesting time to be in public health.”...

Corey Harris released his 20th album in 2021. The Insurrection Blues combines traditional songs, music from such blues masters as Charlie Patton and Skip James, and originals — notably the title track, which scrutinizes the January 2021 assault on the U.S. Capitol. Corey’s feelings about the insurrection made a framework for the album, whether the songs were explicitly connected or not. “As an African American living in America, as a descendant of slaves that built this country, I am looking at the survival mechanisms that have existed for people to persevere in difficult times. And when we think about that, the blues always comes to mind,” Corey said when the album was released….Jenny Ruma Bova, an interior design expert, was profiled in October in a publication dedicated to textile design. Bates came up when Pattern Observer asked about her influences, which include renowned designers Sarah Campbell and Susan Collier. “I was majoring in English at Bates College when I took a family trip to London and stumbled upon their short-lived shop. It changed my perspective and opened my eyes to what was possible,” she said. “I went back to school and changed my major to art!”...When she spoke to the Bangor Daily News in December, Adrienne Shibles was adjusting to Division I coaching, having left a stellar career at D.III Bowdoin to helm women’s hoops at Dartmouth.

She reflected on the shift from Brunswick to Hanover right

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after the Shibles-led Big Green notched their first win, against Texas State. The career move “was an incredibly difficult decision,” she said. “But it was a phenomenal opportunity to go to the Ivy League and to an institution and community I like.”...Martina Todd Richards has been parenting solo in Massachusetts, she writes, “as I take a break from living overseas.” Her husband, Paul, is an interim high school principal in Switzerland. Their son is a senior at Amherst Regional High School and their daughter is attending the Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst. “I’m working as a nurse practitioner for the first time in 13 years and really enjoying working with veterans and being close to family. I finally get to see my sister, Lauren Todd Stimson ’99, regularly when she comes to town for work. Paul and I will move to Mumbai this year.”

Martina keeps in touch with Jenny Ketterer Lustenberger and Anne Peterson, and reconnected during the winter with Holly Mackintosh.

1992 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 executive committee Ami Berger ami_berger@hotmail.com Kristin Bierly Magendantz kmagendantz@comcast.net Kristen Downs Bruno Kris10DBruno@gmail.com Roland Davis roldav92@gmail.com Peter Friedman peter.friedman@alum.dartmouth.org Leyla Morrissey Bader leyla.bader@gmail.com Jeff Mutterperl jeffmutterperl@gmail.com Amy Bass is still teaching sport studies at Manhattanville College and writing for CNN Opinion, “with a focus on all things sport, doing on-air hits when big stories break, such as Simone Biles benching herself during the Tokyo Olympics last July. I’ve joined WAMC Northeast Public Radio as a sports commentator.”...“Hopefully you are all planning to dig deep and give prior to our 30th Reunion,” Joel Bines urges. He reports that Lily, his and Audrey Dalas Cook Bines’ oldest child, is dancing with the Colorado Ballet, and Gabe attends Vanderbilt. “Audrey and I are 0-2 on Bates kids, but we are keeping our fingers crossed that our eighth-grader, Estelle, will want to go.” Joel’s new book, The Metail Economy: 6 Strategies for Transforming Your Business to Thrive in the Me-Centric Consumer Revolution (McGraw Hill), “talks about the incredible power shift between companies and consumers that has occurred over the past decade.

Please check it out if you have insomnia,” he quips. The family still lives in Dallas.…Dan Cantor was selected as the 2021 District of Columbia Bar’s Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year. His litigationbased pro bono work focuses on housing rights (including improving housing conditions and preventing evictions), obtaining unemployment benefits for workers impacted by the pandemic, and protecting civil rights. Read more: bit.ly/dan-cantor ….Al and Kristen Downs Bruno were re-elected to municipal office last fall in Seymour, Conn. Al remains on the Board of Selectmen, to which he was first elected a decade ago, and Kristen retained her seat on the Board of Education. Al practices with the law firm of Berchem Moses in Milford, and Kristen is a school administrator in Fairfield….Jason Dodson, a circuit court judge in Missouri, took part in a December podcast exploring how the pandemic and natural disasters have affected domestic violence rates.

A member of Supreme Court of Missouri committees on family courts and child support, Jason was joined on the Legal Services Corporation’s Talk Justice podcast by attorneys and the president of a national organization working to stop domestic violence….Duke Univ. scholar Christina GibsonDavis studies ways in which divergent patterns of family formation affect economic inequality. She co-edited “Wealth Inequality and Child Development: Implications for Policy and Practice,” a series of articles published in August in The Russel Sage Foundation’s Journal of the Social Sciences.

The pair discussed takeaways from the series on The Healthcare Policy Podcast in September: bit.ly/gibson-davis-hill.

Christina is a professor in the Sanford School of Public Policy at Duke with a secondary appointment as a professor of sociology….After 15 years of doing public relations for various law firms, Jeff Mutterperl decided “it was time for a different perspective. I’m now a senior vice president in the legal group at Rubenstein, a New York PR firm. It was a bit strange to change jobs in the midst of a pandemic while still working from home, but it’s been a nice transition so far.”...A Bates field trip to a New Hampshire landmark set Steve Nichipor on his career path, he told Yankee magazine in January.

“I hiked with my geology class up Tuckerman Ravine,” said Nichipor, director of guided programs for the Omni Mount Washington Resort in Bretton Woods. “I hadn’t done a hike like that before. And those views were something else too. It was all new to me. I loved it, so I just kept coming back.”

takeaway: Lisa Peace Tito

JOHN BURGESS/THE PRESS DEMOCRAT

1987

media outlet: The Press Democrat

headline:

‘Less is more’ for Santa Rosa breast cancer surgeon

takeaway: Ensuring that the driving force behind cancer surgery is patient-centered Shortly after graduating from Bates, Lisa Peace Tito ’87 headed overseas to volunteer at a rural hospital in Winterton, South Africa, that supported a medically underserved community.

One of her jobs was in the operating room, holding a medical textbook and turning the pages so the doctor, who was often a primary care physician, not a trained surgeon, knew what to do next.

Tito, who’d played softball and basketball at Bates, wanted to become a surgeon and specialize in orthopedics. But in South Africa, “I realized I didn’t want to be an orthopedic surgeon, I wanted to do all of it,” she told The Press Democrat. In South Africa, “we were saving lives.”

And that’s what she’s doing now as medical director and surgeon at Santa Rosa (Calif.)

Memorial Hospital’s Breast Center, where, The Press Democrat says, Tito brings “a fierce commitment to patient-centered medical care” coupled with a “relentless pursuit of the latest breast-cancer data.” The result: “less-intrusive treatments and more post-breast surgery patients recovering in the comfort of their own homes.

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ROBIN POSTMAN BENSON

farm fresh

Cold Comfort Robin Postman Benson ’95 and her equine friend pose on yet another subzero January morning in Bagley, Minn., where she, husband Al Benson, and daughter Sage run a grass-fed beef operation on their ranch.

The Bensons also import, from Brazil, rope and tack for the western riding world, and fun goodies for horse lovers. Rob is also a sales rep for a start-up animal health company. “There’s a lot on our plates but we love all the aspects of our life and we love it here.”

one of Boston’s most impactful Black women in 2021 by the PR firm GetKonnected!, Claudia joins Pendal from Boston Global Media Partners, where she served as chief people officer and executive vice president for strategic communications and organizational design.

She holds an MS in urban policy and management from the New School for Social Research….Gretchen Peterson is professor and department chair of sociology at the Univ. of Memphis. She and her husband live just outside of Memphis and have adopted two dogs from Fayette County Animal Rescue in recent years. Gretchen volunteers with the organization and periodically fosters dogs awaiting permanent homes….

William “Sandy” Somers is still happily retired and, he reports, last year completed his goal of backpacking over all 48 New Hampshire 4,000-footers. He and Elizabeth Polizzi Somers live in Millstone Township, N.J., and have two sons. “Lizzy is an executive director at Merck in the global project management organization,” Sandy says. Son Nathaniel studies chemistry at Boston Univ. “when he is not running for the cross country–track and field team,” and Andrew is a senior at High Technology High School, planning to study computer science in college.

1996 Reunion 2026, dates TBA

1993 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS SECRETARY Lisa Bousquet lisaannbousquet@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENTS Mike Charland mfc@wilkinsinvest.com Jason Hanley jason.hanley@wexinc.com Dean Jacoby writes: “After almost 30 years in admissions and college counseling, starting at Lindholm House after graduation” — he’s currently at Albuquerque Academy — “I am confronting the reality of parenting my eldest, Ainara, through the college search and application process. Advice is welcome.” He and Karla Paul Vecchia are still in Albuquerque, N.M., where she is a campaign treasurer for local politicians and PACs.

1994 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS PRESIDENTS Courtney Landau Fleisher courtney.fleisher@gmail.com Jonathan Lewis jlewjlew@mac.com

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David Carpenter had his new cello concerto, titled “Somnium,” performed in October in the Czech Republic by cellist Štěpán Filípek and the Brno Contemporary Orchestra. The piece was dedicated to Filípek and inspired by a poem by Czech composer Jan Novák.

Learn more about David’s work in music composition at davidowencarpenter.com….

Rebecca Minahan became assistant director of legal career services at the Univ. of Massachusetts School of Law in September. She worked previously at the Rian Immigrant Center in Boston, where she managed the center’s walk-in clinic, maintained an active caseload across a wide range of immigration matters, and coordinated the legal internship program. “I have [a] valuable perspective to share with law students considering careers in public interest, including both the rewards and challenges of the work,” Rebecca said at the time of the appointment….After 15 years in Austin, Jonah O’Hara and Rebecca moved back East last summer, specifically to East Greenwich, R.I. “Smalltown life on Narragansett Bay

suits us,” Jonah says…. Karen Sternfeld became national champion in the women’s paratriathlon wheelchair division last July, competing in the 2021 Paratriathlon National Championships in Long Beach, Calif. It was her first career appearance at those games. A skier and runner at Bates, she was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis during senior year. “I thought that my identity as an athlete was gone forever,” she says. A few years ago, though, she resumed competition, at first in para swimming events and then triathlons. “The athlete has completely returned!” she says.

1995 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS PRESIDENTS Jason Verner jcv@nbgroup.com Deb Verner debverner@gmail.com Claudia Dumond Henderson joined the Australia-based investment management firm Pendal Group as global chief human resources officer and a member of the firm’s global executive committee. Named

CLASS PRESIDENTS Ayesha Farag ayesha.farag@gmail.com Jay Lowe jameslowemaine@yahoo.com Community participation is key to the murals that Caren Frost Olmsted has created in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, and Washington, D.C. “I do my best to make art that I’m proud of and that all may enjoy, but the collaborative process is where the real heart of the mural project lies,” Caren says. She has designed and created 250-plus murals, including 90 in schools, more than 20 for towns, cities, and community organizations, and 100 or more through private commissions. She and Christopher live in Basking Ridge, N.J.

1997 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS SECRETARIES Todd Zinn tmzinn@hotmail.com Pat Cosquer patcosquer@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Stuart Abelson sabelson@oraclinical.com

in service

bat e s no t e s

Jennifer Tiner became the director of Lewiston Adult Education and Auburn Adult & Community Education last summer. Assistant director for Lewiston Adult Education for the past eight years, she has also taught English at Lewiston High School, and has a master’s in educational policy and leadership from Wheelock College. Husband Scott directs client services for Information and Library Services at Bates….

Todd Zinn and family returned to Massachusetts in 2020 after four years in NYC. “We settled in Six Moon Hill, Lexington, a mid-century community of homes developed by The Architects Collaborative, which included Walter Gropius, as well as Sarah Harkness” — who designed the Ladd Library and was a principal designer of the Olin Arts Center, structures that The Boston Globe described as her “most prominent bricks [sic] and mortar accomplishments” in New England. Todd continues, “Katie Hluchyj Stella ’06 is a neighbor! I continue to enjoy being a member of the Bank Street College Children’s Book Committee. It’s been great to connect with classmates, including Julie Kim and Laura Rizzo Rossman, whose kids have become Young Reviewers” for the committee.

1998 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS COMMITTEE Doug Beers douglas.beers@gmail.com Liam Clarke ldlc639@gmail.com Rob Curtis robcurtis@eatonvance.com Renee Leduc rleducclarke@gmail.com Tyler Munoz tylermunoz@gmail.com Kate Bishop is still a seasonal park ranger for Maine’s Bureau of State Parks and a visiting assistant professor of environmental studies at the University of New England in Biddeford….Ken Kolb was recently promoted to full professor and now chairs the sociology department at Furman University. His second book, Retail Inequality: Reframing the Food Desert Debate, was published in December by the University of California Press.

His editor at the press: Kate Marshall ’04….Ben Rood was one of three candidates elected to open seats on the Cherry Hill (N.J.) Public School District Board of Education last fall.

Making his first run for public office, he emphasized improving physical infrastructure in the schools and launching “initiatives that will better our kids’ mental health and well-being.” Father

of two, Ben is an educator and academic research scientist at the Rowan University School of Osteopathic Medicine.

1999 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS SECRETARY Jenn Lemkin Bouchard jennifer_bouchard@hotmail.com CLASS PRESIDENT Jamie Ascenzo Trickett jamie.trickett@gmail.com Writing during the winter, A’Llyn Ettien was still working at the Boston Univ. Alumni Medical Library — “in person at the moment, and appreciating the chance, supported by BU’s rigorous testing and vaccination requirements, to interact with co-workers in the physical world. I wish us all the fortitude that will be needed to get through the challenges to come.”...Amy Fisher became the fifth president and CEO of Maine Farmland Trust last summer.

Since its founding, in 1999, the trust has helped keep more than 60,000 acres of land in farming.

Amy came to the nonprofit from the Virginia Institute of Marine Science Foundation, where as executive director she led a record-breaking fundraising campaign. “Maine has an incredible ecosystem of support for its farmers and landscapes,” she told Mainebiz, “and together we have a unique opportunity to grow a thriving food and farm system that can feed Maine, and make our region more resilient.”...By the end of 2021, Jenn Lemkin Bouchard’s debut novel, First Course, had won accolades including honorable mentions in the general fiction category from three book festivals — New England, San Francisco, and Paris. She’s now revising her next book, Palms on the Cape….Stephen Pozgay sends greetings “from the other Portland — Oregon — where I’ve lived since graduation.”

Something that has changed, though, is Stephen’s work.

“After years of working for the county public library system, I am now a constituent-services representative in U.S. Sen. Ron Wyden’s office. Great work for the public good, on an individual basis.” He and Erin have two children, they’ve “finally bought a house,” and he’s wrapping up a master’s in public administration at Portland State Univ. in June.

“Please reach out if you pass through the city or just want to be in contact: spozgay@gmail. com.”

It Takes Dedication Each year, the Department of Veterans Affairs holds a nationwide contest to decide what image will appear on the official Veterans Day poster. In 2021, this illustration by Matt Tavares ’97 was chosen for the poster, supporting the theme of the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

Tavares had created the image for the book Twenty-One Steps: Guarding the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, which was written by Colby alumnus Jeff Gottesfeld and published in 2021

by Candlewick Press. “When I was working on the book, I got to spend some time with the tomb guards,” said Tavares. “I was struck by that. They’re so dedicated to what they’re doing, focusing on the tomb.”

2000 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS SECRETARY Cynthia Link cynthiafriedalink@gmail.com

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2002

takeaway:

Vanessa Kalter-Long Ford

FORD FAMILY

CLASS PRESIDENTS Jenn Glassman Jacobs jenniferellenjacobs@gmail.com Megan Shelley mhshelley@aol.com

From left, J.R., Ellie, Ronnie, and Vanessa Ford.

media outlet:

All Things Considered

headline:

Children’s book Calvin shows how a community can embrace a trans child’s identity

takeaway: Knowing the language to describe how we feel is empowering All Things Considered interviewed Vanessa Kalter-Long Ford ’02 and her husband, J.R. Ford, about their co-authored children’s book, Calvin, which explores one child’s experience of coming out as transgender and was inspired by the Fords’ experiences parenting Ellie, who came out to them at the age of 4 in 2015.

For a child, the book can help provide the “language to describe how they feel or how they identify,” Vanessa told host Audie Cornish. “And sometimes having that language can be incredibly empowering.” It’s uplifting too: a child who can be their authentic self “draws in others around them,” Vanessa said.

As J.R. and Vanessa wrote in an essay for the Today show, “We wrote this book for kids like Calvin and Ellie, parents like us, and maybe just as importantly, the people around them: the grown-ups and kids learning to support the gender-expansive kids in their classes, on their teams, and in their neighborhoods.”

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In her first attempt, Bates diver Andie Emshoff Nelson completed the 20 Bridges Manhattan Swim around the island borough in eight and a half hours on Aug. 24. “I felt great the whole time,” Andie, a resident of Arlington, Va., told a local news service. “It wasn’t a super-choppy day for the water and there wasn’t much debris or jellyfish. I was kind of sad to finish because I had invested so much time and training.” She looks forward to swimming the English Channel in 2023 and, eventually, California’s Catalina Channel — which, together with the 28.5-mile 20 Bridges, comprise a sort of Triple Crown of open-water swimming….

Michele Gross Metzler is the Alpine ski coach at Camden Hills Regional High School, in Rockport, Maine. She lives in Camden with her husband, Jake, and two children, including daughter Maggie, a freshman on the team. Michele is also teaching U.S. history at Camden Hills after 20 years at Hampden Academy….Gordon Malin and his firm Mountain Road Advisors in November joined the ranks of investment savants sharing their Top 10 stock picks on the Insider Monkey and Yahoo!Finance sites.

2001 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS SECRETARY Noah Petro npetro@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENTS Jodi Winterton Cobb jodimcobb@gmail.com Kate Hagstrom Lepore khlepore@gmail.com

2002 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS SECRETARY Stephanie Eby steph.eby@gmail.com CLASS PRESIDENTS Jay Surdukowski jsurdukowski@sulloway.com Drew Weymouth weymouthd@gmail.com Robert “Hob” Brooks states that all is well with him, Riya Sen, and their two children in Philadelphia. “I’m starting my eighth year at Boston Consulting Group,” he notes — “it seems like I joined yesterday. My two eldest are enjoying fourth and first grades, and we are excited to welcome a new baby boy in mid-June. This may complicate attendance at Reunion, but I would love to see many of you then if it works out!”...Meredith Gethin-Jones Hargreaves has

joined the board of directors of the Foundation for West Hartford (Conn.) Public Schools.

Currently a facilitator and business strategist, and formerly a teacher, she moved to West Hartford in 2018. The foundation provides grants to educators in the West Hartford public schools.

2003 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS PRESIDENTS Kirstin Boehm kirstincboehm@gmail.com MelissaYanagi melissayanagi@gmail.com

2004 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS PRESIDENTS Eduardo Crespo eduardo.crespo.r@gmail.com Tanya Schwartz tanya.schwartz@gmail.com Jared Cash has returned to the Mitchell Institute, now as president and CEO. From 2011 to 2015, he was scholarship director of the institute, founded by former U.S. Sen. George Mitchell to improve college outcomes for Maine students.

In between, Jared served as vice president of enrollment and marketing at the University of Southern Maine, and he spent the seven years after graduation as a Bates dean of admission….

Ramón García and Kimberley Alexander García welcomed a daughter, Soraya, on Valentine’s Day 2021. “She decided to come on the day no one chose on the guess-the-date!” he writes.

“Now she has taken over the holiday.”...“I support the effort for unionization at Bates,” writes Josef Kijewski, “and I condemn the corporative strategies of the current administration.”

2005 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS PRESIDENTS Kathryn Duvall duvall.kathryn@gmail.com Melissa Geissler melissa.geissler@gmail.com Seriously injured in a 2003 nightclub fire that killed 100 people, Phil Barr was one of several survivors of the tragedy interviewed for a CBS 48 Hours episode last October. Walking viewers through the disaster at The Station, the broadcast also traced its legal and personal outcomes — including Barr’s poignant return to the Bates swim team in his junior year.

“Getting another opportunity to live my life came with enormous responsibility,” Barr told CBS interviewers. “It’s not just about hitting the next goal but doing something really meaningful…Because so many

desk job

people that were there don’t have that opportunity.”...The Ward 8 Woods Conservancy in Washington, D.C., founded and directed by Nathan Harrington, has removed more than 150 tons of trash from public parklands and rescued more than 3,000 trees from invasive vines.

The environmental justice organization is organizing block by block to combat trash pollution and is planning hiking trails to open new areas to recreation. Learn more at ward8woods.org….Sarah Sherman-Stokes is a Boston Univ. School of Law clinical associate professor of law and associate director of the school’s Immigrants’ Rights & Human Trafficking Program. She’s also a runner whose performance in the virtual 2020 Boston Marathon benefited an organization that provides pro bono legal services to asylum seekers and unjustly detained immigrants. Sarah told the BU campus paper that working with immigrants during her Bates years drew her toward immigration law: As a union organizer in Washington, D.C., she spent a lot of time “listening to janitorial staff tell me about why they fled their home countries and came to the United States for safety.”...Kat Whelan Sparta and Dan welcomed Samuel Lawrence Sparta on June 25, 2021. Big sisters Ellie and Beatrice, 5 and 3 years old respectively, “are smitten with their little brother!”

2006 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS PRESIDENTS Chelsea Cook chelsea.m.cook@gmail.com Katie Nolan knolan06@gmail.com Johnny Ritzo johnnyritzo@gmail.com Jennifer Gargiulo, who teaches math at Westport (Mass.)

Middle-High School, has been named coach of the high school girls’ basketball team. She served as assistant coach from 2017 until last fall.…Oli Wolf and Melanie welcomed Bridget Gigi Wolf in May 2021. “We’re excited to show Bridget and her older brother Zachary the mountains and coast of Maine at some point!”

2007 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS PRESIDENTS Keith Kearney kdkearney@gmail.com Rakhshan Zahid rakhshan.zahid@gmail.com Allison Caine and Nik Sweet welcomed daughter Sophie in June 2021. “She joins big brother Rowan, who turned 3 in January,” writes Allison, who is

ROCKPORT MARINE

bat e s no t e s

Workers install the Rockport Marine–made reception desk at the Pavilion of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania on Oct. 17, 2021.

Maritime Influence Sam Temple ’02, president of Maine’s famed Rockport Marine, designer, builder, and restorer of classic wooden yachts, and one of the boatbuilder’s talented designers, Sam Chamberlin ’03, took on a landlocked job last year.

Collaborating with another famed Maine company, Thomas Moser furniture makers, the Rockport team designed and constructed this elegant reception desk for the new Pavilion of the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, a 17-story facility that opened in October 2021.

Inspired by the curves and structure of classic sailing vessels, the desk is planked in white oak on white oak frames — displaying both the wood grain and plank lines — and finished with satin varnish. The entry point conjures up another maritime image, the chambered nautilus. “The shape was a challenge to plank,” said Temple. “But challenges are common in our work and the crew enjoyed the project.”

now a postdoctoral researcher at Leiden Univ., where she studies linguistic diversity and population history in the Upper Amazon. She works remotely from Iowa, where Nik is a professor at Grinnell. “Any Batesies passing through on I-80 are always welcome to drop by!”...Carter Casner and Jessie Givens Casner appeared on the comedic court-show podcast Judge John Hodgman to settle a spirited dispute. In her “suit” against Carter, Jessie challenged his longstanding belief that his childhood home in Rhode Island was haunted — yet Carter, she said, doesn’t believe in ghosts or an afterlife. Embracing such an apparent contradiction, she said, is classic Carter, a philosophy major who “lives to argue every point in the world.” Hodgman “sentenced” them to go to the Providence house. If their experiences there differed, they needed to bury the whole matter, and if they both had a similar experience during the visit,

problem solved. Hear the trial at bit.ly/casner-friendly-ghost....

Deirdre Goode completed a residency in emergency medicine at the University of Chicago, and is on faculty at Harvard Medical School’s Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. Deirdre focuses her research on moral injury among frontline workers, and is also working on projects to improve patient experience and healthcare operations….Dylan MacLean earned an MBA from the Fuqua School of Business at Duke Univ….Meg Reynolds published her first book, A Comic Year, with Finishing Line Press in October. A reviewer described the book: “Reynolds writes lyrical prose poetry and draws pen-and-pencil comics. She combines both in [this] graphic memoir….A feat of endurance, the book begins the day after the end of a two-year relationship and contains 150 pieces, one created every few days over the year that followed.”...Madeline Ann Salton-McGuire was born

to Alexandria Salton and Chris McGuire in November. “Maddie, older brother Elliott, mom, dad, and Luna the dog are all doing well,” writes Chris. Home is on Bainbridge Island, Wash. …Steve Monsulick is serving as interim head coach of Nordic skiing at Williams College. Known at Bates as a runner and skier, and as an assistant Nordic coach for the 2007–08 academic year, Steve went to Williamstown from the Univ. of New Hampshire, where he was assistant Nordic coach from 2008 to 2021….

Chris Theile is still at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, helping to develop technology to treat central nervous system diseases.

He also worked on a hepatitis B drug currently in clinical trials.

Spouse Akiko Doi works at a Boston gene therapy startup, Ascidian Therapeutics. They and their kids, Kenji and Emi, are looking forward to the 15th Reunion.

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URSULA SANDSTROM

trail fan

Ursula Sandstrom ’13 and a fellow Trail Ranger zoom along the Anacostia River Trail in Washington, D.C.

Keep on Biking

2010 Reunion 2025, June 6–8

In the D.C. area, Ursula Sandstrom ’13 is the Trail Ranger and outreach director for the Washington Area Bicyclist Association.

Providing inclusive support for bikers, Trail Rangers do everything from helping fix flats and dishing out maps and directions, to keeping biking trails clear and safe.

Sandstrom recently helped to secure significantly larger, multi-year funding for the program through the District Department of Transportation. What used to be a seasonal part-time program is now a year-round operation with nine full-time, living-wage positions for its outreach and maintenance staff.

The Trail Rangers program, waba.org/trailranger, has been lauded as a national case study for inclusive trails programming. “Trails exist in a human built environment,” Sandstrom said in a Rails-to-Trails Conservancy webinar. “If we are not considering racism, transphobia, ableism, audism, and other levers of oppression for trail users, potential trail users, and staff in how we run our program, then we are not doing our jobs fully.”

2008 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS PRESIDENTS Liz Murphy elizabeth.jayne.m@gmail.com Alie Egelson alisonrose.schwartz@gmail.com Rich Blalock, owner of the Old Ferry Landing restaurant in Portsmouth, N.H., was elected to the city council. His platform included constraining property taxes and advocating for teachers and students….In January, Andrew Breece and a business partner purchased WoodenBoat Publications Inc., the parent company of publications including WoodenBoat magazine, the WoodenBoat School, WoodenBoat Store, and the WoodenBoat Show.

The Maine company was founded in 1974. Andrew writes that he and partner Matt Murphy “are excited to take the enterprise into the 21st century as they expand their

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digital offerings and cultivate the next generation of wooden boat enthusiasts.”...Josh Galvin teaches kindergarten at Narragansett Elementary School, in Gorham, Maine. He lives in Portland….

Ashley Serrao was profiled last November by The Muse, a career guidance site. Ashley, managing director and head of U.S. corporate development and global investor relations at the online financial trading firm Tradeweb, credited the Bates Investment Club with nurturing his interest in business.

“I was intrigued,” he said, “by how financial, political, social, and emotional factors blended together to drive a stock’s performance and create a larger narrative.”

2009 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS PRESIDENTS Tim Gay timothy.s.gay@gmail.com Arsalan Suhail arsalansuhail@gmail.com

and financial markets. He and Charlotte Akoury Green ’11 live in Reading, Mass….Dan Dias was appointed assistant principal of academics at Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth, Mass. A Marion resident, Dan has been a school counselor at Bishop Stang since 2013 and director of student services since 2018. He has also served the school as a teacher and the head freshman football coach….Chloe Viner Collins talked to the Bennington Banner a few weeks into her tenure as executive director of the Bennington County (Vt.) Coalition for the Homeless. There are “a lot of misconceptions” about unhoused people, she told the newspaper. “People incorrectly think [they] are lazy, there’s just a lack of understanding of the real barriers that exist for folks.” Chloe earned a law degree on top of her Bates bachelor’s in philosophy, and also makes art and poetry.

She, Shane, and their twins live in Woodford, Vt.

Brianna Belanger Monaco and Steve welcomed Logan four minutes past midnight on Aug. 31, his due date. She reports that “everyone is doing well and Logan can’t wait to visit Bates and cheer on the Bobcats!”...Jerome Bennett was appointed Maine’s deputy secretary of state for diversity, equity, and inclusion last fall. The first African American deputy secretary in department history, Jerome has worked to advance equity and inclusion in both state government and the nonprofit sector. “It is crucial for us moving forward as a state to ensure that all Mainers have equitable access to the services of the department and that we have a diverse workforce that reflects our communities,” he said….

Chris Berry joined the financial analysis firm Context Labs in November after nearly a decade at State Street Corporation.

Expert in environmental, social, and governance investing, he is Context’s director of project management for ESG

CLASS PRESIDENTS Brianna Bakow brianna.bakow@gmail.com Tiel Duncan vantielelizabeth.duncan@gmail. com B.J. Dunne, Gettysburg College head men’s basketball coach, was named one of the “Most Impactful Coaches in NCAA Division III” by the Silver Waves athletics media organization during the winter.

“Since arriving on the Gettysburg campus nearly four years ago,” the Gettysburg Times reported, “Dunne has displayed an unparalleled energy and passion for not only creating a successful men’s basketball program, but also for improving the overall culture of the athletics program.” B.J. is active in numerous organizations within the basketball world and at Gettysburg, including the the athletics department’s Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Committee….Marshall Hatch Jr. is featured in All These Sons, a 2021 documentary depicting efforts to break the cycles of violence in Chicago’s South and West sides. He co-founded and directs the MAAFA Redemption Project, a job and life-skills training initiative for young men of color. Hatch tells the filmmakers that “what ultimately needs to change are the conditions that produce shootings in the first place.” Visit bit.ly/marshall-hatch-bates for a BatesNews story about Marshall....

Kush Mahan and ZoneIn, the company he launched with Craig Friedman, were the subjects of a November Q&A at the Sporttechie site. ZoneIn’s platform generates meal plans for athletes. ZoneIn gives athletes “a true researchbacked, personalized nutrition service and [gives dieticians]

CLASS PRESIDENTS Theodore Sutherland theodoresutherland89@gmail.com Patrick Williams Patw.williams@gmail.com The Courier-Gazette in Rockland, Maine, included Downeast Cider’s Pumpkin Blend in its fall roundup of pumpkin-spice products. Ross Brockman and Tyler Mosher are principals in the company, and Ross’s brother Matt ’08 is a co-owner….U.S. Rep. Jared Golden’s vote against the Build Back Better Act prompted a New Republic analysis of his precarious position as a Democrat representing Maine’s conservative 2nd District. For Democrats to hold the district, explained one observer, someone like Golden is a necessity.

“Trump won that district, and if you are a mainline Democrat who just kind of goes the party line, that is not how you’re going to win this,” said media strategist John Lapp. Read more: bit.ly/ golden-votes.

2012 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS PRESIDENTS Mikey Pasek mikeypasek@gmail.com Sangita Murali sangitamurali12@gmail.com Casey Andersen is “looking forward to seeing many of you at our 10th Reunion!”...Mike Dorfman runs the Weather Guy on MDI Facebook page at home on Mount Desert Island (www.facebook.com/ weatherguyonmdi/). It’s a way to “mix business with pleasure,” he told the Mount Desert Islander in September. Long fascinated by weather, this physics major decided to make a career of it while doing a senior thesis on cloud droplet formation. Mike is a software engineer for the weather-specific team at Verisk Analytics, a data analytics and risk assessment firm in Jersey

2013 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS PRESIDENTS Megan Murphy megan.a.murphy3@gmail.com Ryan Sonberg rsonberg9@gmail.com Mike Antonellis and Erin Augulewicz Antonellis were married in Salem, Mass., on July 31, 2021, surrounded by friends and family….Nick Friedman was promoted to an assistant coach position for basketball’s Charlotte (N.C.) Hornets in September, after two seasons with the Hornets as a player development coach in a hybrid role with both the Hornets and the Greensboro Swarm. Nick played basketball at Bates….His team’s performance in October helped Ryan Weston lift his football coaching career to a new level in January. Denison University’s offensive coordinator at the time, Ryan devised a game plan that produced a 45-7 victory over Kenyon. So impressed were coaches at Grambling State University, in Louisiana, that Ryan was hired as tight-ends coach soon thereafter.

“Grambling State is one of the most recognizable brands in all of college football,” Ryan told the Bangor Daily News….

Charles “Hank” Woolley, working toward a Ph.D. in Earth sciences at the Univ. of Southern California’s Dornsife

2022 REUNION 6/10–12

2011 Reunion 2026, dates TBA

City, N.J….Eric Mathieu is the first manager of diversity, equity, and inclusion programs at New York City’s Lawline, a leading online provider of continuing legal education. A sociology major at Bates, Eric holds an M.Ed. from the Univ. of Hawaii and a J.D. from Fordham Univ.

School of Law, and has served as the director of diversity and inclusion at independent schools in New York and Connecticut….

The creator of a civics course taught at Milford (N.H.) High School school says that Milford High grad Israel Piedra “embodies the essence” of the course. Social studies teacher Dave Alcox, now retired, created the course “We the People: The Citizen and the Constitution” to enrich understanding of the institutions of American constitutional democracy. A lawyer and New Hampshire legislator, Piedra displays a commitment to his community, Alcox told the Concord Monitor in October, that “captures the essence of the We the People program.”...Sam Schleipman is still in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and working for the relief and development organization World Hope International as the business development manager for Asia….Caroline Webb Greenberg and Alex Greenberg welcomed Theodore Kavanagh Greenberg in July. “He can’t wait to become a Batesie!” she says.

bates.edu/reunion

the ability to actually work with athletes and become more accessible to everyone,” Kush explained….Rachel Straus Ferrante, director of Lewiston’s Museum L-A, last fall announced a capital campaign and rebranding effort for the museum, which documents and celebrates the Twin Cities’ industrial and labor history. The initiative will include a move from the Bates Mill Complex to a historic former cotton mill nearby. The new quarters will feature large spaces for a permanent collection, as well as temporary galleries, classrooms, a cafe and restaurant, design lab and more. Rachel, Cameron, and 1-year-old Elliott reside in Falmouth.

celebrate and reconnect

bat e s no t e s

• fireworks • laughter • friendship • convers • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memories • para • stories • alumni • today • together • gratitu • families • fireworks • laughter • friendship conversation • hugs • celebrate • lobster • m ories • parade • stories • alumni • today • tog er • gratitude • families • fireworks • laught • friendship • conversation • hugs • celebrate lobster • memories • parade • stories • alumn today • together • gratitude • families • fire • laughter • friendship • conversation • hugs celebrate • lobster • memories • parade • stor alumni • today • together • gratitude • famil fireworks • laughter • friendship • conversat • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memories • para stories • alumni • today • together • gratitud families • fireworks • laughter • friendship • versation • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memo parade • stories • alumni • today • together • itude • families • fireworks • laughter • frien ship • conversation • hugs • celebrate • lobst memories • parade • stories • alumni • today • gether • gratitude • families • fireworks • la ter • friendship • conversation • hugs • celeb • lobster • memories • parade • stories • alum today • together • gratitude • families • fire • laughter • friendship • conversation • hugs celebrate • lobster • memories • parade • stor alumni • today • together • gratitude • famil fireworks • laughter • friendship • conversat • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memories • para stories • alumni • today • together • gratitud families • fireworks • laughter • friendship • versation • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memo parade • stories • alumni • today • together • itude • families • fireworks • laughter • frien ship • conversation • hugs • celebrate • lobst memories • parade • stories • alumni • today • gether • gratitude • families • fireworks • la ter • friendship • conversation • hugs • celeb • lobster • memories • parade • stories • alum today • together • gratitude • families • fire • laughter • friendship • conversation • hugs celebrate • lobster • memories • parade • stor alumni • today • together • gratitude • famil fireworks • laughter • friendship • conversat • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memories • para • stories • alumni • today • together • gratitu • families • fireworks • laughter • friendship conversation • hugs • celebrate • lobster • m ories • parade • stories • alumni • today • tog er • gratitude • families • fireworks • laught • friendship • conversation • hugs • celebrate lobster • memories • parade • stories • alumn today • together • gratitude • families • fire • laughter • friendship • conversation • hugs celebrate • lobster • memories • parade • stor alumni • today • together • gratitude • famil fireworks • laughter • friendship • conversat • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memories • para stories • alumni • today • together • gratitud families • fireworks • laughter • friendship • versation • hugs • celebrate • lobster • memo parade • stories • alumni • today • together • itude • families • fireworks • laughter • frien ship • conversation • hugs • celebrate • lobst

bates.edu/backtobates

homecoming & family weekend: october 1–3

BACK TO BATES 2022

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College of Letters, Arts, and Sciences, uses the fossil record to research why some animal species weather mass-extinction events better than others. The current warming “is totally unprecedented in terms of what humans have evolved through and are used to living in,” he told the school’s paper in December.

“While we’re an extremely adaptable species, and we might very well survive this, there’s also untold suffering that will happen if we do nothing about it right now.” Read more about Hank’s work: bit.ly/antarctica-fossils.

2014 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 CLASS PRESIDENTS Milly Aroko mildredaroko@gmail.com Hally Bert hallybert@gmail.com Teammates Mohdis Baker and Josie Gillet ’19 were featured in Portland Press Herald coverage of the competitive debut of Maine’s first women’s professional Ultimate Frisbee organization. Though Portland Rising lost 19-15 to defending Premier League champions Revolution Pro, from Colombia, the team “proved they were no slouches,” reporter Glenn Jordan noted. Anyway, as Mohdis told the newspaper, “this is just the beginning. We want to grow this sport and this community for as far as we can see.”...For his doctoral research, Brad Reynolds studies the contemporary politics and the 1990s history of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe. Last year, Brad took part in an OSCE monitoring mission for parliamentary elections in Kyrgyzstan and served last year as an expert interviewee for an OSCE report discussing reform efforts in the institution.

2015 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 CLASS PRESIDENTS James Brissenden brissendenja@gmail.com Ben Smiley bensmiley32@gmail.com James Brissenden joined LifeGuides as director of positive growth last summer. The firm provides trained, certified guides who use their own life experiences to support employees at client firms. James came to LifeGuides after having led the marketing and brand strategy for New England’s Clark Insurance.

He and Olivia Brown Brissenden live in San Francisco….Lillian Christine, a native of Alna, Maine, opened a shop in nearby Damariscotta in October.

Christine named their crystal and mineral business Kullat Nunu — the ancient Babylonian

name for the brightest star of the constellation Pisces, Christine’s astrological sign.

2016 Reunion 2026, dates TBA CLASS PRESIDENTS Andre Brittis-Tannenbaum andrebt44@gmail.com Sally Ryerson sallyryerson@gmail.com “Hello Bates!” Gordon Batchelder writes from Brooklyn’s Williamsburg neighborhood, where he moved last year from San Francisco. “It’s been great reconnecting with Batesies in New York, and I can see why people love it here.” He is a user-experience analyst for Facebook….Christiane McCabe was commissioned as a naval officer in April 2021 and serves on a guided-missile destroyer out of Everett, Wash.

2017 Reunion 2022, June 10–12 CLASS PRESIDENTS Jessie Garson jgarson4@gmail.com Matthew Baker mattdbaker13@gmail.com Fatima Saidi, whose family fled Taliban-ruled Afghanistan when she was 2, was a presenter in a Portland Museum of Art discussion series for K–12 educators last fall. Grants and contracts manager for the Maine Immigrants’ Rights Coalition, she and a local elementary school teacher explored issues raised by the museum’s 2021 exhibition by eminent 20th-century photographer Walker Evans.

2018 Reunion 2023, June 9–11 CLASS PRESIDENTS John Thayer john.robert.thayer@gmail.com Jake Shapiro shapirojacob6@gmail.com Alisa Amador talked to The Boston Globe in September about her new EP, Narratives — a “six-song survival kit” for people whose identities fall outside cultural norms. Those songs are about “turning negative cultural narratives on their head and saying: What if we loved ourselves first? What if we created a world where rape culture and toxic masculinity didn’t exist?” she said. “What if we envisioned a bilingual or multilingual life as a natural American story?” A resident of Cambridge, Mass., Amador is the daughter of Rosi and Brian Amador, leaders of the popular Latina band Sol y Canto….

Allen Kendunga spoke to the children’s book publisher Ladderworks in August for its

data display

online Q&A series focusing on diverse entrepreneurs. The topic was Allen’s Talent Match, an information clearinghouse for Rwandan students and recent graduates, employers, and trainers. “I got a lot of rejections for funding,” she said. “But these rejections helped me develop a tougher skin…and made me even more determined to find a way.”...In a Sun Journal op-ed last August, Kiernan Majerus-Collins urged fellow Lewistonians to adopt a new mindset — one of optimism and “can-do” energy — toward our city. “As a School Committee member, I see the talent and ambition of our students and can’t help but feel encouraged about what tomorrow will bring,” he wrote. “But we can’t wait for a new generation to come of age before making our city better. We have to start today.”

Kiernan began legal studies at Boston Univ. School of Law last fall….Sierra Ryder was a source for a November piece about the culture of ski racing in GirlTalkHQ, a site dedicated to female empowerment. “If I’ve taken anything with me from the sport of ski racing, it’s learning how to pick myself up after disappointment or failure and quickly refocus on my end goals,” said Sierra, who ended her alpine skiing career at Bates as team captain and a NESCAC Winter All-Academic selection….William Burke Smith was appointed legislative director for U.S. Rep. Dave Joyce (R-Ohio) last fall. A politics major, Burke previously served as senior legislative assistant to Joyce, for whom he has worked since 2018.

2019 Reunion 2024, June 7–9 Harry Meadows harry.meadows4@gmail.com Cara Starnbach cara@carastarnbach.com Teddy Burns works for Maine’s Coffee By Design chain. On his own time, “I’m reading and writing and songwriting, all in the pursuit of getting better at doing each. I aspire to one day work on my passions as a career. I think I can make it.”...

Josh Caldwell is the climate and clean-energy outreach coordinator for the Natural Resources Council of Maine. His work includes Maine Adventures With Josh, a monthly (more or less) blog that so far has covered the exploration of community trails, the Wild Seed Project, and the natural attractions of Monhegan Island. Check it out: bit.ly/josh-adventures….Trevor Fry lives in Cambridge, Mass., works at Formaggio Kitchen, and expects to begin law studies this fall…After three years of teaching — one in Maine at the Kieve Wavus Leadership School

CINCINNATI BENGALS

bat e s no t e s

NFL’s New Guard Sam Francis ’17 is “part of the new guard” of the National Football League, as George Chahrouri of the sports analytics firm Pro Football Focus told ESPN. Francis is the head data analyst for the Cincinnati Bengals, who advanced in February to the Super Bowl, won by the Los Angeles Rams.

During games, Francis has a direct headset line to head coach Zac Taylor, helping to advise him on what the team could, or should, or might, do in any given situation.

Communication skills for a pro sports data analyst matter as much as chops with spreadsheets. “It’s not just about having an analytically savvy mind but communicating it in such a way that makes sense,” Chahrouri said.

Another member of that new guard — with whom Francis has connected — is Mike Lopez ’04, who went from college math professor to senior director of football data and analytics for the NFL. And there’s Matt Bazirgan ’00 of the Houston Texans, considered part of the pipeline to a general manager position. And, in the National Hockey League, Tim Ohashi ’11 is head video analyst for the Seattle Kraken.

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class of

takeaway: Alexandria Onuoha

COURTESY OF ALEXANDRIA ONUOHA

2020

media outlet: Boston Public Radio

headline:

Local activist calls for state action on missing Black women and girls

takeaway: Black girls and women “are deserving of love, light” After two police officers in Bridgeport, Conn., were suspended for how they handled the death investigation of two Black women, activists including Alexandria Onuoha ’20 emphasized the racial disparities in the handling of missingwomen cases by law enforcement.

Compared with the cases of missing white females, families and friends of missing Black women and girls often struggle to get the police to take their cases seriously, activists say. State inaction and poor data collection are twin issues, Onuoha told Boston Public Radio.

“It’s unbelievable. Black women and girls, the organizers in Boston, in Massachusetts, are usually the ones that have to fight for our freedom, our liberation.... This is not a one-person issue.

This is a collective issue.”

Harmful stereotypes exacerbate the problem.

“Black girls are seen as hypersexual in a way that invites devaluation from others,” said Onuoha, who is director of political advocacy for Black Boston, a nonprofit focused on fighting injustice and creating community for Black Bostonians. “Black girls are not given the same care, the same grace.”

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and two at St. Paul’s School for Boys outside Baltimore — Lexi Kemp packed his puppy into the car and headed West. He and Sommer Glasgow ’21 undertook what might sound “like a romanticized exploration of the West, [but] wasn’t much of the #vanlife Instagram feast for your eyes you might hope for,” he writes. “Instead, it was a feverdream jumble of networking phone calls, MCAT studying, and awkward puppy-potty breaks in 110-degree heat at rest stops that offered no reprieve beyond an outhouse and tumbleweeds.”

They’re now in Los Angeles and working toward realizing dreams of medical school and a film-industry career....Elizah Laurenceau is back at Bates. She started as the assistant director of alumni engagement, identity, and affinity programs in October and lives in Lewiston — “loving being back on campus and living very close to Forage!”...Emily Lufburrow is finishing her second year of studies at Drexel Univ. College of Medicine….

Wendy Memishian works as a unit coordinator for operating rooms at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. “This is an excellent stepping stone as I apply to medical schools,” she says, “and I have made so many great connections and friends so far!”...Sophie Warren lives in London and is pursuing a master’s in international health policy at the London School of Economics. She lives with Berto Diaz ’16, a London resident since 2020….Aliza White and Karl Rickett ’16 were engaged in December.

2020 Reunion 2025, June 6–8 Priscila Guillen priscila.guillen65197@gmail.com Maya Seshan mayaseshan55@gmail.com

2021 Reunion 2026, dates TBA Imani Boggan imaniboggan@gmail.com Julia Maluf jmaluf120@gmail.com Jade Zhang jadezhang9843@gmail.com A bio major at Bates, Jeremy Bennett now lives in beautiful Boulder, Colo., and works in Halil Aydin’s biochemistry lab at the Univ. of Colorado Boulder.

He’s part of a team using such techniques as electron cryomicroscopy to elucidate the structures of mitochondrial proteins. After finishing a year there, he plans to apply to grad school….For Abby Hamilton, running the Maine Marathon in October had overtones of a rollercoaster ride — the emotional kind. Thinking she’d finished a little over the course record, she

was pleasantly surprised to learn a few days after the race that a typo on the marathon website had misstated that previous time. So Abby’s time of 2 hours, 39 minutes, and 38 seconds actually did beat Emily LeVan’s 2004 mark by 16 seconds. The pandemic sharpened running’s appeal for her, Abby told the Portland Press Herald in a marathon preview. “I just want to go out there and have fun and reconnect with what I love best about running, and that’s the community.”...Commencement 2021 featured two senior speakers, and both came to Bates from Zimbabwe: Nicole Kumbula and Munashe Machoko.

Now a master’s candidate in environmental chemistry at Texas A&M, Nicole was a guest on the Next Gen Zimbabweans podcast in September — discussing, among other topics, solidarity among international students during the pandemic and the virtues of “studying abroad while studying abroad” (An SIT urban-studies program had taken her to NYC, Buenos Aires, Barcelona, and Cape Town.)....

The prestigious Poynter Institute for Media Studies published a column by Vanessa Paolella, former editor-in-chief of The Bates Student. She details how the pandemic forced the campus newspaper to confront the fact that print was no longer viable and to move to primarily digital publication. Vanessa makes a compelling case for online journalism, noting that among other benefits, the resulting increase in readers produced more “pressure to make sure our reporting was accurate and fair.” Read more: bit.ly/paolellapoynter. Vanessa now reports for the Sun Journal….As you might know, John Rex missed graduation 2021 to compete in the NCAA D.III Outdoor Track and Field Championships in North Carolina — placing fifth in the hammer throw and earning All-American Honors. What you may not know, unless you read the Andover (Mass.) Townsman, is that a dietary overhaul may have contributed to that success.

During a pandemic quarantine, John told the paper last summer, he gave up meat (except fish) and “ate a lot of vegetable and proteinrich foods. My energy levels were much higher, and training was more productive.” John now lives in New Jersey and is a wealth management analyst at Bank of America Merrill Lynch….A native of Falmouth, Maine, Abby Ryan knew she wanted to stay in the state after graduation. She had worked in Admission as a student, and now is a full-time admission counselor at Bates. “I work primarily with student tour guides, and I recruit prospective students from the U.S. Southeast, along with Rhode Island and some of Massachusetts,” she writes. “It has been great so far.”

Please email your high-resolution Bates group wedding photo to magazine@bates.edu. Please identify all people and their class years, and include the wedding date, location, and any other news. Wedding photos are published in the order received.

Durgy ’15 & Guinee ’15 Sarah Durgy ’15 and Larry Guinee ’15, July 10, 2021, Connemara House Farm in Topsfield, Mass.From left to right: Hannah Boyd ’15, Teika Carlson ’15, Sarah Cancelarich ’15, Helen Lober ’15, Caroline Falcone ’15, Amelia Oliver ’15, Sean Keller ’14, Katie Williams ’15, Matt Cannone ’15, Irem Ikizler ’15, Maddie David ’15, Sarah Gleicher ’15, Allison Kimball ’15, James Guinee ’24, Anna Whetzle ’15, Martin Guinee ’19, Mark Riley ’16, Alicia Tierney Guinee ’80, Gilbert Brown ’15, Matt Welch ’15, Zach Polich ’15, Luke Combs ’15, Pat Gilligan ’15, Sarah & Larry, Mike Kelleher ’15, Hannah Whitehead ’15, Taro Kawamura ’15, Fran Leslie ’15, TJ D’Amato ’16, Ally Adolph ’15, Sam Hundley ’15, Adam Cuomo ’15, Trevor Lyons ’17, Simone Tomaino ’14, Lauren Dobish ’12, Joey DiPalma ’15, Jimmy Fagan ’17.

Perrin & Fourgous ’15 Gabrielle Perrin and Paul Fourgous ’15 in Montagne-sur-Sevre, France.

From left to right: Anna Adamson, Eric Adamson ’15, Paul, Gabrielle, Michelle Pham ’15, Akshay Kumar.

Watermulder ’14 & Isaacs ’13 Sula Watermulder ’13 and Matt Isaacs ’13, August 21, 2021, Longlook Farm in Sanbornton, N.H. Back row, left to right: Chris Albanese ’14, Matt Record ’14, Jared Quenzel ’13, Walter Cabot ’13, Alex Henrie ’13, Jon Woelfel ’13, Danny Kuzio ’13, Eric Kimball ’13, Dan Jordan ’14.

Middle row, left to right: Saebyul Choe ’14, Jilli Miller ’14, Katie Kuzio, Taryn Woelfel ’13, Alison O’Neill ’13, Zaki Zakaria ’14, Sarah Jacobson ’14, Noah Graboys ’14. Front row, left to right: Tra La ’14, Emily White ’14, Natalie Shribman ’14, Sula and Matt, Chris Chiappetti ’13, Mikayla Foster ’13, Jen Brown ’13, Allison Tsomides ’14, Mikey Arsnow ’14, Amrit Sridhar ’13, Will Frank ’13.

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Harmon ’13 & Smith ’13 Erin Harmon ’13 and Trevor Smith ’13, October 1, 2021, William Paca House and Garden in Annapolis, Md. Back row, left to right: Alec Taylor ’13, Kyle Starr ’13, Nick Margitza ’16, Carolyn Attenborough ’15, Teddy Downs ’13, Courtney Jemenze ’13, Mark Sylvester ’13, Matthew Gaither ’13, Joe Dell’Erario ’13, Colin Schermerhorn ’13, Ethan Hirshberg ’13, Ryan March ’13. Front row, left to right: Katy Zingale ’13, Meredith Poore-Downs ’11, Trevor and Erin, Jade Littleton ’13, Eloise O’Connor ’13, Jillian Quinn ’13.

Throckmorton ’15 & Selmon ’15 Hillary Throckmorton ’15 and Billy Selmon ’15, August 28, 2021, The Lucerne Inn in Dedham, Maine. Kevin Lentini ’13, Mark Brust ’13, Josh Britten ’16, Callie Cramer ’14, Justin Conway ’13, Pat Gilligan ’15, Nate Pajka ’15, Eddie Bogdanovich ’13, Sean Cunningham ’14, Caleb Buck ’15, Mike Tomaino ’15, Graham Safford ’15, Jack Stacey ’15, Adam Philpott ’15, Derek Murphy ’14, Jon Furbush ’05, Kim Garcia ’07, Brynn Wendel ’16, Sydney Beres ’18, Rockwell Jackson ’15, Cam Kaubris ’15, Simone Prioli Tomaino ’14, Kim Neubert ’11, Julia Rice ’16, Billy and Hillary, Allaina Murphy ’15, Cristina Vega ’16, Luke Matarazzo ’14, Michael Newton ’16, Collette Girardin ’16, Ramon Garcia ’04, Zak Ray ’07.

Molstad ’15 & Hildreth ’17 Kristen Molstad ’15 and Mitchell Hildreth ’17, October 10, 2021 at Newport Beach House in Middletown, R.I. From left to right: Bobby Lankin ’15, Emily Regan ’15, Julia Rabin ’15, Emily Johnson ’15, Douglas Molstad ’78, Janet Molstad ’79, Kate Preissler ’03, Emily Ladd ’14, Jeyna Diallo ’15, Emma Israel ’15, Ryan Spillane ’17, Kira Shaikh ’15, Meaghan Crowley ’15, Claire McGlave ’15, with Mitchell & Kristen in front.

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Wason ’13 & Dowey ’13 Sarah Wason ’13 and Colin Dowey ’13, September 18, 2021 at Elmore State Park in Elmore, Vt. From left to right: Aly Dowey ’15, Henry Mauck ’13, KC Collier ’13, Colin and Sarah, Don Wason ’79, Nancy Wellman Wason ’81, Becky Wason St. Cyr ’09, Kate Wason ’11, Paul Wason ’76.

Brown ’09 & DiGregorio ’11 Juliana Brown ’09 and Dustin DiGregorio ’11, October 10, 2021, Nantucket, Mass.

Front row, left to right: Stephanie Cabot ’11, Peter Litwin ’10, Derek DiGregorio ’06, Katie Somers ’06, Caitlin McMahon ’09, Paul Chiampa ’11. Back row, left to right: Tyler Mehegan ’11, Patrick Jackson ’11, Tyler Dewdney ’11, Jared Jammal ’11, Luke Charest ’11, Myles Walker ’11, Dustin and Juliana, Katherine Bailey ’11, Evan Tierney ’11, Rachael Lichter ’09, Max Cutchin ’09.

Glazier ’11 & Bersani Tracy Glazier ’11 and Ryan Bersani, October 9, 2021 in Ludlow, Vt. Back row, left to right: Meagan Schmiemann ’11, Nicholas Schmiemann ’11, Anita Charles, Sam Polak ’11, Jason Weeks ’11. Front row, left to right: Ryan & Tracy, Gina Crotty Tranfaglia ’11, Abritee Dhal ’11.

Salpeter ’12 & Koster ’11 Jane Salpeter ’12 and Alexander Koster ’11, September 19, 2021, Montauk, N.Y. From left to right: Leigh Michael ’12, Erin Pinover ’12, Emma Stevens-Smith ’12, Lindsay Blitstein ’12, Camille Venturi ’12, Carver Low ’12, Violet Shneider ’12, Liana Blum ’12, Char Simpson ’12, Zoe Bryan ’12, Meredith Greene ’12, Bradley McGraw ’10, Jess Horowitz ’12, Franchy Fong (Liantaud) ’12, Matt Fong ’12, Caroline (Kit) Sheridan ’12, Claire Lampen ’12, Lauren Christianson ’12, Nora Allen ’12, Jane and Alexander, Max Salpeter Herman, Class of 2037, Billy Manchuck ’11, Maya Ovrutsky ’10, Andrew Wilcox ’11, Kaitlin Weinman ’12, Daniel Naparstek ’11, Alexandra Hare ’11, Thomas Bloch ’11, Edward Sturtevant ’11, Jon Rubin ’11, Camden MacKenna ’11, Robert (Robby) Lindon ’11, Kyle Rattray ’11, John Laude ’13, Adam Frank (Boston University ’11).

Spring 2022

Lawreck & Abbott ’09 Ashley Lawreck and Peter Abbott ’09, September 29, 2021 at Salt River Farm in Marshfield, Mass. Left to right: Cavan Boyle ’09, Dana Oster ’09, Tyler Maxwell ’09, Adam Goodwin ’09, Thomas Kothe ’09, JJ Larned ’09, Ashley, Benjamin Bunker ’09, Peter, Sarah Abbott ’09, Kyle Starr ’13, Katy Zingale ’13.

Paikoff ’16 & Hilton ’17 Caroline Paikoff ’16 and Will Hilton ’17, October 3, 2021 in Winters, Calif. From left to right: Roland Schuster ’17, Anna Williams ’16, Jacqueline Paredes ’16, Caroline & Will, Sarah Wainshal ’16, Liz Dolgicer ’16, Johnny Cappetta ’16, Hannah Kiesler ’16.

Winder ’12 & Martin Julia Winder ’12 and Brad Martin, August 7, 2021 in Jackson Hole, Wyo. Back row, left to right: Rob Cubeta ’12, Brigid (Dunn) Cubeta ’12, Lili Bentley ’12, Julia & Brad, Nina Wolinsky ’12, Amy Jacks ’12, Carole Lupi ’12, Joanna Goldin ’12, Jacqui Easton ’12. Front row, left to right: Peter Lobozzo ’08, Abigail (Hanson) Titus ’12, Elizabeth Sonshine ’12, Carolyn Kussmaul ’12, Liberty Slater ’12.

Durgy ’15 & Guinee ’15 Sarah Durgy ’15 and Larry Guinee ’15, July 10, 2021, Connemara House Farm in Topsfield, Mass. From left to right: Hannah Boyd ’15, Teika Carlson ’15, Sarah Cancelarich ’15, Helen Lober ’15, Caroline Falcone ’15, Amelia Oliver ’15, Sean Keller ’14, Katie Williams ’15, Matt Cannone ’15, Irem Ikizler ’15, Maddie David ’15, Sarah Gleicher ’15, Allison Kimball ’15, James Guinee ’24, Anna Whetzle ’15, Martin Guinee ’19, Mark Riley ’16, Alicia Tierney Guinee ’80, Gilbert Brown ’15, Matt Welch ’15, Zach Polich ’15, Luke Combs ’15, Pat Gilligan ’15, Sarah & Larry, Mike Kelleher ’15, Hannah Whitehead ’15, Taro Kawamura ’15, Fran Leslie ’15, TJ D’Amato ’16, Ally Adolph ’15, Sam Hundley ’15, Adam Cuomo ’15, Trevor Lyons ’17, Simone Tomaino ’14, Lauren Dobish ’12, Joey DiPalma ’15, Jimmy Fagan ’17.

Cullen ’13 & Ragazzini Lindsay Cullen ’13 and Jeff Ragazzini (Tufts ’11), August 28, 2021, Loon Mountain Resort in Lincoln, N.H. From left to right: Josh Zimmer ’15, Kallie Carnevale ’14, Erica Gagnon ’15, Lisa Reedich ’13, Ellen Schneider ’13, Lindsay & Jeff, Elizabeth Schulze ’13, Teika Carlson ’15, Mira Records ’14, Alicia Fannon-Quinn ’13, Ryan Quinn ’13.

Query ’11 & Lake ’09 Annie Query ’11 and Josh Lake ’09, August 2021, Standish, Maine. Back row, left to right: Tim Ayotte ’09, Shawn Rose Lanchantin ’09, Adam Ratner ’09, Tyler Infelise ’09, Jason Tsichlis ’09, Russell Richie ’09, Karen Harris ’74, Ellen Cole ’09, Josh & Annie, Hanna Birkhead ’11, Audrey Jensen ’11, Eliza Nussdorfer (Read-Brown) ’11, Nicolette Zangari (Robbins) ’11, Carrie Harris ’11, Carolyn Gallmeyer ’11, Katherine Hines ’11, Dani Scherer ’11, Emma Posner ’11, Ian Dulin ’12, Carolyn Brisbin (Silva-Sanchez) ’11. Front row, left to right: Alex Jorge ’09, Keith Tannenbaum, Tim Gay ’09, Drew Gallagher ’11, Morgan Lynch ’11, Maria Rouvalis ’12.

Wick ’16 & Wisener ’14 Katharine Wick ’16 and John Wisener ’14, October 22, 2021 at the Johns Island Presbyterian Church on Johns Island, South Carolina. Left to right: Tynan Daly ’15, Andrew Overbye ’14, Matthew Neil ’14, Emma Kate Lindsay ’15, Eliza Barkan ’15, Alex Millström ’15, Katharine & John, Clarissa Chang ’16, Creighton Foulkes ’17, Nancy Tran ’16, Adriane Spiro ’16, Alison Mackay ’16.

Prelgovisk ’16 & Heller ’16 Lindsey Prelgovisk ’16 and Gregg Heller ’16, October 9, 2021, Camp Somerset, Smithfield, Maine. From left to right: Taylor Saucier ’16, Alex Moskovitz ’16, Josh Rines ’17, Melissa Paione ’16, Addie Cullenberg ’16, Will Patton ’15, Elle Sergi ’14, Kelsey Berry ’16, Lindsey & Gregg, Alex Tritell ’16, Kristy Prelgovisk ’19, Matt Puckace ’19, Jacqui Carpenter ’14, Bryant Perkins ’16, Chris Shaw ’16, Jurgen Kritschgau ’16, Jack Kiely ’18.

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in me mo r ia m

Edited by Christine Terp Madsen ’73

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

1946

1940 Leonard George Clough August 25, 2021 Len Clough couldn’t pay his term bill of $200 at the start of his sophomore year, and Norm Ross had to send him home. Desperate to return to Bates, Len talked with his high school debate coach, K. Gordon Jones ’35, who persuaded an unknown woman to pay the bill. Len went on to graduate Phi Beta Kappa in religion, as president of the Campus Assn., and as a debating veteran. He went on to Yale Divinity School, from which he graduated in 1943. His service to the church included ministry as associate pastor of The First Church in Cambridge (Mass.)

Congregational; the YMCA of New England Secretary on the staff of the New England Student Christian Movement; senior pastor of the Church of Christ at Dartmouth College; the general secretary of the National Student Christian Federation (later called the University Christian Movement); and the assistant general secretary of the World Student Christian Federation. Len completed his career as the national director of planned giving for the United Church of Christ in 1985. A major focus for him in the parish and as a regional, national, and international ecumenical executive was involvement in campus ministry. Deeply engaged in the civil rights struggle, he was present at Dr. Martin Luther King’s “I Have A Dream” speech in Washington in 1963 and participated in the Selma to Montgomery civil rights march in 1965. His work with international students gave him the opportunity to travel the world in the late 1960s and engage with students at an exciting time when the winds of national independence were sweeping the Southern Hemisphere. Len became deeply involved in the idea of planned giving, and spoke and wrote often on the subject. He was an early member and president of the Philanthropic Planning

Group of Greater New York and in the early 1980s was asked to join initial planning sessions for what was to become the National Association of Charitable Gift Planners. He was a member of the College Key at Bates and an alumni class officer. He served on his 70th Reunion committee, his 65th Reunion gift committee, and his 50th Reunion social committee. He was a class agent, a regional volunteer, an Alumni Fund committee member, and a former Alumni Club officer.

Survivors include his children, Marian Clough Hillsdon ’67, Deborah Froemel, David Clough, and Thomas Clough; 10 grandchildren; and 21 greatgrandchildren. His niece is Janet Clough Isabelle ’64.

1945 Nancy Farrell Adams August 13, 2021 Nancy Farrell Adams knew no fear: She once undertook a project to needlepoint kneelers for her large Episcopalian church in Brunswick, Maine. She was a talented seamstress, cook, and needlepointer. Right out of Bates, where she earned a degree in psychology, she was a member of the U.S. Signal Corps in Arlington, Va. She got a secretarial degree in Stamford, Conn., and worked at firms including the Sterling Research Co. and Lomas & Nettleton, both in Stamford.

In Rowley, Mass., she was a secretary to one of the partners at Bingham, Dana & Gould. She celebrated her 86th birthday by obtaining her first passport, and her 91st birthday with a floatplane ride over Moosehead Lake. Nancy served on her 40th Reunion committee and her 50th Reunion social committee, and was president of her class for many years. Survivors include daughter Sarah J. Adams ’83 and stepson Ernest C. Adams. Her cousin is Susan Adams Fiscus ’68, and her great-niece is Eleanor H. Torrey ’10. Other cousins, all deceased, include Arnold G. Adams ’33, Jean S. Holden ’48, Anthony G. Adams ’63, and Margaret Hoxie Adams ’35.

Priscilla Hemenway Poore November 13, 2021 Priscilla Hemenway Poore left Bates after two years to join the U.S. Marine Corps, a choice she never regretted. Survivors include children Wendy Cowan, Alan Poore, and David Poore; six grandchildren; and four greatgrandchildren.

1947 Phyllis Bailey LaLiberte August 17, 2021 Phyllis Bailey LaLiberte did not complete her degree at Bates.

She was a teacher’s aide in Springfield, Mass., for 20 years.

Survivors include son Thomas LaLiberte; daughters Anne Morley, Jane LeBlanc, and Carol LaLiberte; eight grandchildren; and 13 great-grandchildren.

1948 Genevieve Wallace Earle August 24, 2021 Gen Wallace Earle was a Latin major who taught briefly in Maine and then for many years in Northborough, Mass. She was an active member of Trinity Church in Northborough, as well as the Northborough Historical Society.

She was a former Alumni Club officer and alumni class officer.

Survivors include children Donald V. Earle ’77, Nancy Lapierre, and Richard Earle; five grandchildren; and one greatgrandchild. Her niece is Lynda Lee Merullo ’81.

1949 Nancy Johnson Plettenberg August 31, 2018 Nancy Johnson Plettenberg was an economics major. She was an accountant and part-time bookkeeper. Word on survivors was not available.

William Brooks Swasey September 7, 2021 Bill Swasey left Bates after two years, but not before he had a chance to play in the Glass Bowl against the Univ. of Toledo. He worked for AT&T in Maine and Massachusetts. Survivors include wife Helen Flanagan Swasey; children Deborah Billings, Phil Swasey, and Tom Swasey; and five grandchildren.

1950 Carol Patrell Lamothe October 1, 2021 Carol Patrell Lamothe worked for several years as a social worker at the YWCA in West Hartford, Conn., and at the Girls Club in Springfield, Mass.

She then became a bookkeeper for A&W Root Beer, and years later for Holy Cross Church in

Springfield, where she was a communicant. While at Bates, she was a proctor and publicity chair for the Outing Club. She was the features editor for The Student and active in the Robinson Players. Survivors include children William, Mary, and Kathy Lamothe; and three grandchildren.

Marcia Penniman Hamilton November 27, 2021 Marcia Penniman Hamilton leveraged her degree in biology into a career as a medical technician. She also earned a master’s from Boston Univ. She worked at New England Baptist Hospital and Hale Hospital in Haverhill, Mass., before becoming a homemaker. She was a member of the Northborough (Mass.) Historical Society and very active in her church. She served on her 55th Reunion committee and her 50th Reunion social committee, and was an Alumni Club officer. Survivors include her husband, George W. Hamilton ’51; children Deborah Hamilton McQuade ’76, Marcia Buss, and George F. Hamilton; six grandchildren, one of whom is Sarah Buss Riviere ’07; and six great-grandchildren. Her son-inlaw is John B. McQuade ’75.

1951 James Arthur Anderson July 24, 2021 After serving as a captain in the U.S. Marine Corps during the Korean War, Jim Anderson started a long career in sales of specialized equipment, particularly major medical equipment. An economics major, Jim was active in the Robinson Players and intramural sports. He served on his 40th Reunion gift committee, coached Little League, and was a “dad advisor” in DeMolay. At Poquonock Community Church in Windsor, Conn., Jim served as chair of the diaconate and the church executive council, and as a member of two building committees and the pastoral search committee. Survivors include children James A. Anderson Jr., Karen A. D’Esopo, Kathi A. Wicks, and Kristen A. Lefebvre; seven grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren.

Edith Pennucci Mead August 20, 2019 Edie Pennucci Mead was a government major. She served on her 55th Reunion gift committee and her 40th Reunion social committee, and was a former class agent. Survivors include children Nancy, Jeffrey, Linda, Robert, and Scott Mead; nine grandchildren; and two greatgrandchildren. Her cousin is Norma Reese Jones ’51.

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Dorothy Webb Quimby April 5, 2021 The library at Unity College in Maine is named after Dot Webb Quimby, honoring her 36 years of service as its head librarian.

She graduated cum laude and Phi Beta Kappa from Bates with a degree in psychology. She earned a master’s in library science from the Univ. of Maine in 1967. Dot loved being a librarian so much that she wondered why anyone would do anything different. She served her community of Unity as town treasurer, a member of the Unity Budget Committee, chair of the Unity Scholarship Committee, an active member of the Unity Historical Society, and a member of Unity United Church, where she sang in the choir. She was a member of the College Key, class agent, and served on her 60th Reunion committee and 55th Reunion social committee. She was class secretary for 68 years. Survivors include children Peter and Richard; five grandchildren; and seven great-grandchildren. Her sister is Marilyn Webb Mayhew ’55. Her former husband, the late Lawrence Quimby ’52, was the son of the late Prof. Brooks Quimby, Class of 1918. Her late parents were Philip R. Webb and Genevieve Dunlap Webb, both Class of 1917. Webb House is named after her father.

1952 Joan Carberry Connellan September 22, 2021 Joan Carberry Connellan’s quest for a M.S.W. from Boston Univ., to add to her bachelor’s in sociology from Bates, was interrupted by a blind date — arranged by classmate Nancy Reade Sulides — with James Connellan, whom she would marry in 1959 and travel with to Houlton, Maine. There she fell easily into the role of mother and housewife. After a move to Waterville, Joan volunteered in the library at Brookside Elementary School and served on the parent-teacher association in various roles, including chair.

Once her youngest two children reached junior high school, Joan returned to her profession, working as a child protective worker for the Department of Health and Human Services in Augusta. A move to Brunswick and subsequent retirement gave Joan time to volunteer at a soup kitchen and the local garden club.

She was a former class agent and served on her 45th Reunion gift committee. Survivors include children Anne, Elizabeth, and Peter; 11 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Frederick Arthur Douglas August 7, 2021 Fred Douglas was a standout athlete at Bates: Football, basketball, and baseball were his

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passions. A government major, he went on to earn a master’s in education from the Univ. of Maine and a certificate of advanced study from Springfield College.

In 1955, Fred accepted a job as a teacher, head coach of basketball and baseball, and assistant coach of football at Winthrop (Maine) High School. He became the head coach of football the following year. Two of his football teams became state champions. He developed Winthrop High’s first physical education program. Ten years later, Fred left teaching to become the state director of health, physical education, and recreation. In 1978, Fred became the director of Maine’s division of higher education services and served in that capacity until his retirement in 1994. He served on his 40th Reunion social committee. Survivors include his wife, Marlene Ulmer Douglas ’53; daughter Beth Douglas Cook ’78 and son Jeff; eight grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren. His brother-in-law is Walter Francis Ulmer Jr. ’51, whose wife is Martha Rayder Ulmer ’51. Their son is Walter Francis Ulmer III ’77.

1954 Carolann McKesson Laird June 24, 2021 Carolann McKesson Laird graduated with a bachelor’s of science in chemistry, and also earned a degree in education from Northern Illinois Univ.

She was a special education teacher for the St. Charles, Ill., school district, and a member of the Williamson County Literacy Council. She was a member of the College Key and served on several Reunion committees. Survivors include husband William Leonard Laird ’54; daughter Margaret Louise Mosgers; and sons Peter Laird and Daniel Laird.

Janet Raymond Marshall September 19, 2021 Jan Raymond Marshall had a lifelong love of animals. She worked at a riding stable in Woodstock, Vt., until 1956, when she married and “went to the dogs,” as she put it: She started training dogs. At one point, she had seven house dogs. For 10 years, she trained German shepherds, but then became an aficionado of Rottweilers. Her first Rottweiler was the first to win best in show in the U.S. She also trained Labrador and Chesapeake Bay retrievers. She later downsized to Cardigan Welsh corgis. Her assignments as an A.K.C. judge took her all over the U.S. and to several foreign countries. She was a member of several regional and national dog breed and training organizations.

She was a member of her 50th Reunion committee. Survivors include children Debbie and David, and four grandchildren.

1955 Lucian Gilbert Brown July 16, 2021 Lou Brown started with the Class of 1955, but completed his degree at Northeastern.

Survivors include his wife, Helen Louise Hughes; children Mary Elizabeth, BJ, Thomas, Chris, Gerard, and Marjorie; and 10 grandchildren.

Ann Hoxie Brousseau June 24, 2021 Ann Hoxie Brousseau earned a master’s degree in psychology from Saint Michael’s College in 1975 and worked in the field for many years in central Vermont.

She later retired from the Vermont Department of Labor.

She served on her 55th Reunion social committee and was an Alumni Club officer. Survivors include daughters Michael Ann Greiner and Mary Condon; seven grandchildren; and four greatgrandchildren. Her late father was David F. Hoxie, Class of 1927, and her uncle was Thomas B. Hoxie, Class of 1933.

J. Brenton Stearns November 5, 2021 Brent Stearns, a philosophy major, thought the ministry was the road for him. After receiving a bachelor’s in divinity from the Univ. of Edinburgh and studying for two years at Princeton Theological Seminary, he changed his mind. He enrolled at Emory Univ. in Atlanta where he received his Ph.D. in philosophy.

He held appointments in philosophy at several U.S. universities. In 1970, he joined the philosophy department at the Univ. of Winnipeg, and remained there until his retirement in 1997.

At the urging of a friend, Brent started to play the Ukrainian mandolin. As someone whose ancestry could be traced to 17th-century Colonial America, he was somewhat amused to find himself on the boards of the Association of United Ukrainian Canadians, the Ivan Franko Museum, and the Canadian Society for Ukrainian Labour Research. He also sang in several Ukrainian folk choirs. He was a longtime member and supporter of the Unitarian Universalist Church. He supported many antiwar and progressive social causes. Survivors include wife Lily Kowal Stearns; children Vallie Stearns-Anderson and Edwin White Stearns; and two grandchildren.

Elizabeth Van Vliet Leonard October 12, 2021 Betty Van Vliet Leonard left Bates for Keene State Teachers College.

Survivors include husband Russell Leonard; children Jane Gauthier, Holly Howe, Susan Leonard, and Paul Leonard; eight grandchildren; and four great-grandchildren.

1956 Arthur Edward Curtis July 22, 2021 Arthur Curtis received a degree in accounting from Bentley College and had a long career in that field. He worked for Savings Bank Life Insurance in Cambridge and Worcester, Mass., and then for the Norton Company and Becker College.

He was active in the Worcester County Shrine Club and on the board of directors of the 32nd Degree Masonic Learning Center for Dyslexic Children, where he helped raise an endowment of $300 million. He served on his 45th Reunion gift committee.

Survivors include sons Neil and Paul; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Jack Kenneth Merrill January 23, 2021 Jack Merrill graduated from Bates with a degree in psychology and went into the insurance business for several years. “But I didn’t like it,” he told a Quincy (Mass.) Sun reporter who visited Quincy High School in the 1980s to interview Merrill, by then a highly effective and admired social studies teacher.

Jack “took the plunge” into education in the 1960s after the insurance company he worked for went under. As with other rookie teachers, his first year in the classroom was terrifying and exhilarating at the same time. “I was scared to death before class, but loved every minute in class.” He was willing to work with anyone willing to help themselves. “I go into the classroom with the assumption that all students have innate ability and great potential,” he said. “I’ll spend time with anybody who has a personal problem. I will sympathize and help, but I don’t pity anyone.”

In the late 1960s, he worked with the American Institutes for Research exploring innovations in public education through the use of computers. After retiring from Quincy, he taught part time at Fenway High School in Boston into the 2010s. He earned a master’s degree from what is now Framingham (Mass.) Univ. and a doctor of education degree from Boston Univ. On the tennis court, said a friend, “you would have thought you were playing Rod Laver.” Jack was a Bates class agent and class president, and served on Reunion gift and social committees. In August 2018, he and his wife, Diane, walked their daughter Elizabeth ’00 down the aisle in the Gomes Chapel for her wedding. Diane survives him, as does Elizabeth and her siblings Heather, Jack Jr., Steven, Jennifer, and Lauren. (Editor’s note: An obituary in the Fall issue had incomplete and incorrect information.)

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Linnea Swanson Van Winkle November 11, 2021 Lin Swanson Van Winkle taught in Connecticut as well as in Newfoundland, where she met a dashing young U.S. Air Force pilot whom she ultimately married. She once figured that she moved 20 times because of her husband’s career. Lin was an inveterate quilter and won many prizes for her creations. She was a longtime member of Sunset Church of Christ. Survivors include children Tammy Tucker, Sarah Neff, Paul Van Winkle, and Steve Van Winkle; nine grandchildren; and eight great-grandchildren.

James Alan Weiner June 22, 2021 James Weiner was a career foreign service professional. He served in Quito, São Paulo, Rio de Janeiro, Brasilia, and Bogota, as well as assisting in the opening of the U.S. Embassy of the German Democratic Republic, where he served as embassy counsellor under Ambassador John Sherman Cooper. After returning to Washington, D.C., James’ roles included director of the Office of Recruitment and Management, executive director of the Bureau of Intelligence and Research, and executive director of the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs.

He also served as a Foreign Service inspector and was a proud alumnus of the National War College. He retired with the rank of minister counsellor and became active in the World Affairs Council, the Foreign Service Retiree Assn., and the Cato Institute. Survivors include several nephews.

1957 Douglas Alan Campbell November 2, 2021 Doug Campbell was an early proponent of personal computers and was active in the Digital Equipment Computer User Society. At Bates, he played intramural sports, played in the concert and marching bands and the orchestra, and took part in the German Club and the History Club. (The latter was good for his major.) He was a member of the College Key and an alumni class officer. He served on his 60th Reunion social committee and his 45th Reunion gift committee.

Information about survivors was not available.

George Clarke Gardiner August 20, 2021 As a physician, Bud Gardiner alternated between private practice and public service.

After earning a medical degree from Tufts Univ., he trained at Boston City Hospital and the Veterans Administration Hospital in Philadelphia, where he then practiced internal medicine and

pulmonary medicine. In 1973, he was appointed as a regional health administrator for the U.S. Dept. of Health, Education, and Welfare. In 1976, he undertook residency training in adult psychiatry at Hahnemann Univ. Hospital in Philadelphia, where he served as chief resident and subsequently joined the faculty. He was proudest of his accomplishments in recruiting, retaining, and mentoring medical students and residents who were members of groups underrepresented in medicine. Most recently, he was a member of the medical staff of Community Behavioral Health in Philadelphia. He was a longtime Alumni in Admission volunteer. Survivors include his wife, Margarita Hauser Calhoun; children George Clarke Gardiner Jr., Leah Gilliam, and Jason Calhoun; and five grandchildren.

1958 George James Adams Jr. September 25, 2021 George Adams combined a degree in government with service in the U.S. Army Reserve, from which he retired after six years as a staff sergeant.

He worked in hospital units in Portland and Hartford, Conn.

He joined the Kemper Insurance Group in 1958 and retired as branch claims manager in Hartford after 35 years of service.

Among other accomplishments, he was president of Hartford Claims Management Council, chairman of the New Haven, Conn., arbitration panel of the American Arbitration Association, and a member of the insurance industry subcommittee for the implementation of no-fault auto insurance in Connecticut. Additionally, he served as the vice-president of the Junior Chamber of Commerce in Wolcott, Conn., and as president of the Celina Hills of Citrus Hills property owners association in Florida. In Dunnellon, Fla., George created FAVORS Group, a team who served the needs of community members without remuneration.

He had done similar work in Connecticut, helping to create a much-needed soup kitchen in Waterbury and serving as chairman of a council of soup kitchens that provided 100,000 free meals each year to those in need. He was a communicant of St. John’s Episcopal Church in Waterbury. Survivors include wife Loraine Allen Adams ’58; children Jeffrey, Stephen, and Linda Adams; five grandchildren; and two great-grandchildren.

Albert Eugene DeSantis July 16, 2021 With a degree in government, footballer and pitcher Al DeSantis went on to a brief Navy career and a long, successful

career in international business.

As part of his U.S. Navy service, he helped rescue astronauts and monkeys used in the space program from the ocean. He was the director of international branch operations for Avon Products, traveling to more than 90 countries in 30 years. He later worked for Mary Kay Inc., helping that company develop international business. Survivors include his wife, Marcia; sons Glenn, Kevin, and Darren; and two grandchildren. His first wife is Peggy “Kenny” Fink DeSantis ’59; his sister is Ellen DeSantis Smith ’54, whose husband is Donald B. Smith ’55.

Norman Stewart Jason July 18, 2021 Sports and theater: Those were the primary interests of Norm Jason when he arrived at Bates, and they remained his interests for his entire life. His career was in education, primarily at independent day schools.

He supplemented his degree in speech with a master’s in education from Northeastern, and taught at public schools for six years before becoming an administrator at independent schools. He served as headmaster of Pine Point School in Stonington, Conn., (1971–79) the Independent Day School in Middlefield, Conn. (1979–1985), and the Crossroads School in Paoli, Penn., (1986–1991). Later he was admissions director at The Winchendon School in Winchendon, Mass., and Marvelwood School in Kent, Conn. Survivors include children Cynthia Sullivan, Bonnie Jason, Meredith Jason, Wendy Jason, Jeffrey Nelson, and Christina Nelson Cook ’91; and 11 grandchildren. His son-in-law is Jeffrey J. Cook ’89.

Susan McNett Walton August 10, 2021 Susan McNett Walton completed her degree at the Univ. of North Carolina. Survivors include husband Richard F. Walton ’57; children Elinor Bridges, Marion Lent, and Richard, Robert, Laurie, and Diane Walton; 15 grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

Mary Reynolds LeGage October 25, 2021 Mary Reynolds LeGage started at Bates with the Class of 1958, but graduated from Gorham (Maine) State Teachers College.

She earned a master’s degree from the Univ. of Maine at Presque Isle in 1979. Survivors include daughter Kathy Morrell; sons David LeGage, Michael LeGage, and Dan LeGage; six grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren. Her niece is Patricia Sullivan Doyle ’79 and her nephew is Timothy D. Sullivan ’79.

Leonard Boyd Savoy July 7, 2021 Boyd Savoy, a chemistry major, received a medical degree from Howard Univ. He completed his residency in dermatology at Kings County Hospital and a fellowship at the Mayo Clinic. His successful medical school experience followed a disastrous season in dental school. The biochem part was fine, but he couldn’t get the hang of dentistry itself. After a few years in the U.S. Air Force, he moved to Detroit upon joint appointments to the John D. Dingell VA Medical Center and Wayne State University Medical School. At the VA, he served as chief of the dermatology service for more than 40 years and was the director of dermatology research in his last years there.

He was active in the Michigan Dermatological Society as a member, chairman, president, and member of the board of directors. He was passionate about his contributions to the field of dermatology, and was a presenter, author, editor, and reviewer for professional associations and journals throughout his career. Survivors include wife Jane Baumgardner Savoy; son Stephen Savoy and daughter Pamela Savoy-Weaver; and two grandchildren.

1959 Michael Arenstam August 14, 2021 Mike Arenstam’s life centered around education, whether he was teaching history in a high school classroom or educating politicians and the public about mental health issues. He worked primarily in the Hanover, Mass., school system. He was active with NAMI in Maine and other organizations. He held a bachelor’s in government from Bates, a master’s in education administration from Springfield College, and a doctorate in education administration from the Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst. He served on his 45th Reunion committee. Survivors include children Clare Graham and David, Peter, and John Arenstam; 10 grandchildren, including Hannah Arenstam Stowe ’11, Emma Arenstam Campbell ’08, Joshua P. Arenstam ’14, and Sarah Jane Graham; and three great-grandchildren.

His daughters-in-law include Teri-Ann Hogan Arenstam ’81 and Susan Shaskan Arenstam ’85.

His father was Jacob J. Arenstam, Class of 1926, and his brother was John D. Arenstam ’57.

Clifford Allen Lawrence October 16, 2021 Cliff Lawrence was a pioneer in sign language instruction and sign language interpreting in New England. He served as a consultant on deafness for U.S. Veterans Affairs and state offices

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of rehabilitation in Massachusetts and New Hampshire. He became interested in Deaf culture and American Sign Language after graduating from Bates with a degree in speech and completing a master’s in education at Boston Univ., when he took a position at Perkins School for the Blind in Watertown, Mass.

He became an educator and soon the director of the N.E. Rehabilitation Center in Boston.

In 1973 he founded Deafness Resources Inc. in Andover, Mass.

Soon he was teaching at Boston State College and Northern Essex Community College, and consulting for the Mass.

Rehabilitation Commission. Cliff was an amateur radio operator and a member of the Civil Defense network in Andover for more than 25 years. He worked with the town of Andover to obtain funding for a new senior center and volunteered with the local office of Veterans Affairs. At Bates he ran track, played tennis, and was active in student government. He served on his 50th Reunion committee.

Survivors include wife Eljo Harper Lawrence; children Pamela, Cal, Lara, and Ken; eight grandchildren; and one greatgrandchild. Everett R. Lawrence, Class of 1925, was his cousin.

Sears Walker Jr. August 29, 2021 Pete Walker worked for Bank of Boston, starting as a teller and retiring as operations manager.

He was a longtime volunteer at South Shore (Mass.) Hospital.

He served on his 30th Reunion committee and his 40th Reunion gift committee. Survivors include wife Karen Bussey Walker and cousin Megan Weaver Tooker ’92.

William King Waterston September 11, 2021 Bill Waterston was a speech major who also held a master’s of divinity from Eastern Baptist Theological Seminary, now part of Eastern Univ. He was the business manager for Missions and Crusader magazines, both publications of the American Baptist Convention. In 1966, he became associate director of the radio and television department.

In 1970 he became the director of electronic media. Among other duties, he produced films, tapes, and radio programs. He went on to minister at churches in Pennsylvania and New York, and to teach at Eastern Baptist Seminary and Eastern Baptist College. Information about survivors was not available.

1960 Kenneth Alan McAfee September 17, 2021 At Bates, Ken McAfee was vice president of student government, a proctor, and a member of the College Club. A history major,

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he played intramural sports and trombone in the concert and football bands. As an alumnus, he was on his 35th Reunion social committee and 25th Reunion committee, was a class officer from 1960 to 1970, and was a member of the College Key. His career was in banking, first at First National Bank in Portland, Maine, where he was a loan officer; then at Maine Savings Bank, where he was the vice-president for real estate; and finally at Bath Institute for Savings. He also taught at the American Institute of Banking.

He was the first man elected to the Women’s Council of Realtors’ Portland chapter. He served as treasurer to the Protestant Chaplaincy Hospital Board, and an advisor to Junior Achievement and the Uniform Consumer Code Committee. He was a board member of the Southern Maine Pastoral Counseling Center, and a board member and treasurer of the Maine Council of Churches.

He was a graduate of an executive development program of the National Association of Savings Banks through the Univ. of Massachusetts. He was a member and chairman of the Savings Bank Association, served as the lenders’ representative to the Governor’s Advisory Task Force on Energy and Building Standards, and served on the Credit Counseling Board of Greater Portland. Survivors include his wife, Judith Rogers McAfee ’61; daughters Susan Lancaster and Amy Holmes; and three grandchildren. His brother is Robert E. McAfee ’56, D.Sc ’96; his cousins are Priscilla Henry Renda ’99 and Mary Foster Everett ’59. His nephew is Steven L. McAfee ’83, whose wife is Lisa Farnham McAfee ’83. His deceased aunt and uncle were Pauline Coombs Foster and Lewis F. Foster, both Class of 1928.

Joseph Everett Oliver July 11, 2021 With a degree in physics, Joseph Oliver went on to Northeastern for an M.B.A. He worked in electronics and semiconductor systems at Motorola and Sylvania. He retired as a program manager for Raytheon’s Trident missile program. He also completed credits for a master of science at the Univ. of Ottawa.

Survivors include his wife, Mary Tibbetts Oliver; children Abbie Law, Amy Plante, and Kevin Oliver; nine grandchildren; and nine great-grandchildren.

Robert Harris Solomon April 17, 2021 Bob Solomon, a government major, knew he wanted to be an attorney: He was part of the Barristers Club throughout his years at Bates. He received a J.D. at Columbia Law School in 1964 and began his career in the tax

division of the U.S. Department of Justice, representing the government in courts throughout the U.S. Bob was assigned by the Justice Department to prosecute federal cases in Louisiana in the tumultuous early years of the Civil Rights Act. He told terrifying tales of sneaking through the bayous with F.B.I. agents to talk to reluctant witnesses. He subsequently worked for a legal firm in Boston before moving to San Francisco in 1969. In 1998, Bob retired as a senior partner at McCutchen Doyle, Brown & Enersen (now Morgan Lewis). Throughout much of his distinguished career, Bob continued to serve in the U.S. Naval Reserve in the Judge Advocate General’s Corps, and attended the U.S. Naval War College at Newport, R.I., in 1977.

He retired in 1993 with the rank of captain. Survivors include wife Karen Kovacik Solomon; daughters Margaret Solomon and Deborah Solomon; and two grandchildren.

Carol Williams Rundberg August 29, 2021 Carol Williams Rundberg devoted her life to her students and their families. She started out teaching elementary school in Connecticut and Massachusetts.

She used her spare time to further her education, adding a master’s in education from Central Connecticut State College in 1969 and a doctorate in education from the Univ. of Massachusetts Amherst in 1973.

She became a school counselor in 1976, and spent two years in Moscow at the Anglo-American School. Later she worked at Mark’s Meadow School in Amherst, Mass. She was a gifted pianist, and accompanied many choral and opera groups.

During the summer she was an instrumental accompanist for Summer Keys, an adult music program in Lubec, Maine.

Survivors include sister Heather Williams Hornik.

1961 John Townsend Bennett Jr. September 9, 2021 Jack Bennett had to choose: a minor-league contract with his beloved Brooklyn Dodgers or Bates. He chose Bates. Yes, he played baseball all four years. He majored in physics, and went on to work as a physicist at Canal Industrial Corp. in Maryland. He later founded two biomedical equipment companies. Survivors include children Steven, Thomas, John, and Michael Bennett; eight grandchildren; and one greatgrandchild. His wife was Martha Chase Bennett ’60.

Robert Brent Bonah July 16, 2021 Brent Bonah became dean of continuing education at Bunker

Hill Community College in 1973.

He was an early advocate of the community college system in Massachusetts, and worked previously as an instructor at Northern Essex Community College. An English major at Bates, he held a master’s in English literature from Tufts.

In 1987, he won a Fulbright Scholarship to study history and culture in Brazil. Survivors include son Andrew and three grandchildren.

Gerald Marvin Feder December 6, 2021 Gerry Feder once sued himself — well, the legal case involved two federal agencies, and Gerry worked for one of them.

In his teens, he was offered a composing scholarship to Juilliard School of Music, but chose Bates (where he majored in history) and law school instead. He attended Columbia School of Law, was editor-inchief of the Columbia Journal of Transnational Law, and won the 1964 Moot Court Brief Prize. He began work for the U.S. Senate during the Nixon administration.

There he was instrumental in drafting a series of federal laws guarding the safety of American workers, beginning with the Construction Safety Act and the Federal Coal Mine Health and Safety Act, both of 1969, and culminating in what is now widely known as OSHA, the Occupational Safety and Health Act of 1970. He also drafted the Equal Employment Opportunity Act of 1972, the Multiemployer Pension Plan Amendments Act of 1980, and an amendment to the Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938.

Throughout the rest of his career in private practice, he continued to champion the rights of the American worker by guiding the proper administration of unionsponsored employee health and pension benefit plans. Survivors include wife Loretta Feder; children Adam Feder and Elan Feder; and five grandchildren.

Jack Walker Guite November 10, 2021 Jack Guite wanted to be an engineer, but math did him in. He considered a career as a minister — even went to Andover Newton Theological School for two years — but that didn’t feel right.

Then he tried teaching. That fit.

He spent 35 years focusing on elementary education. He had no interest in administration, and preferred to work with third- and fourth-graders. His degree from Bates was in philosophy, and he held a master’s from Central Connecticut State Univ. and a sixth-year certificate from St. Joseph’s in Connecticut. In 1971, Jack received the first-place award from the Joint Council of Economic Education for the teaching of economics to middle school students. He was also

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honored to be named as 1992 teacher of the year in Newington, Conn. Survivors include his wife, Florence Majewski Guite; children Jay, Jessica, and Joshua Guite; and one grandchild.

Margaret Mary Johnston Quinn July 2, 2021 Peggy Johnston Quinn started college at Bates but completed her degree at West Virginia Wesleyan. She also held a master’s from Yale. Survivors include children Nathaniel and Molly, and two grandchildren.

Eunice Leonard Rockwood October 5, 2021 Eunice Leonard Rockwood left Bates for the Univ. of Maryland.

Survivors include husband Leo Rockwood; children Cheryl and Paul Rockwood; four grandchildren; and three great-grandchildren.

William Anthony Wheeler October 10, 2021 A government major at Bates, Bill Wheeler attended Officer Candidate School in the U.S. Navy and left as a lieutenant. He then served in the Navy Reserve.

He had a varied career, working for Pan American Airlines in its guided-missile range program, and for Allis-Chalmers in personnel management. He then moved into banking, and was an assistant vice president at Mercantile National Bank in Dallas. Survivors include children Leslie Donals and Christopher Wheeler.

1962 Lawrence Sherman Cohn March 28, 2021 A biology major, Lawrence Cohn went on to earn a medical degree from the Univ. of Miami. He established a psychiatric practice in South Miami and was affiliated with hospitals in the Baptist Health network. No further information is available.

engineering and science consulting firm Griffin and in 2004 joined a partnership in the environmental science and engineering consulting firm KAS, from which he retired completely in 2020. Peter was a member of the College Key, served on his 45th and 50th Reunion gift committees, co-chaired his 40th Reunion, and was a class agent. Survivors include his wife, Sonja; children Andrew Schuyler and Rebecca Holder; three grandchildren; and foster son Michael Potvin.

1963 Joan Curran Pratt November 24, 2021 A swimmer from a young age, Joan Curran Pratt relaxed by swimming laps three or four times a week. Her Bates degree was in biology, and she held a master’s in educational and pastoral ministry from Emmanuel College. She was the religious education director at parishes in the Boston area. She volunteered at a local food pantry, was on the advisory board for the Natick Housing Authority, and more recently taught Englishlanguage learners at the public library. Survivors include her husband, Jim; children Kris Gusmini and Gayle Moskowitz; and five grandchildren. Her cousin is Agnes Curran Perkins ’73.

W. Lorn Harvey February 6, 2020 Lorn Harvey was a member of the Phillips Society and served as a class agent from 1964 to 1973.

Further obituary information was not available.

Jean Ficken Smith August 25, 2021 Dee Ficken Smith started at Bates with the Class of 1962, but received a bachelor’s degree from Penn State, as well as master’s degrees from New York Univ. and Hood College. Survivors include sons Christopher Smith and Matthew Smith; and one grandchild.

Samuel Lee Shewell November 18, 2021 Sam Shewell went from a two-room schoolhouse in rural Pennsylvania to a master’s in chemistry from the Univ. of Georgia, picking up a bachelor’s in biology from Bates along the way. He taught chemistry at his alma mater, Susquehannock High School in Glen Rock, Pa., for nine years before joining his father in the family HVAC business. At Bates he was active in the Choral Society and intramural sports.

He served on his 30th Reunion gift committee. Survivors include daughters Susan Graham and Lynne Fitzgerald, and six grandchildren. His late wife was Virginia Bateman Shewell ’63.

Peter Bruce Schuyler April 12, 2021 Peter Schuyler grew up in the Schenectady area, earned a physics degree at Bates, and served four years in the U.S. Marine Corps, including one tour in Vietnam. He went on to receive a master’s in mechanical engineering from Catholic Univ. and worked for General Electric in Vermont. In 1988, he formed the environmental

Judith Warren Fiscus December 2, 2018 Judy Warren Fiscus managed to earn a master’s in computer programming while working full-time and raising two toddlers — while divorced. She worked at National Jewish Health, a hospital in Denver, first as a medical research technician and then as a programmer-analyst.

No information about survivors was available.

1964 Guy Towns Mullenbach August 4, 2021 A chemistry major, Guy Towns Mullenbach received a doctorate from the Univ. of Chicago in 1970. He worked to isolate peptides using recombinant DNA, and he held a number of patents for his work. Information about additional survivors was not available.

Gail Tupper Hayden August 7, 2021 Gail Tupper Hayden recalled years later how she would break out in hives because she was afraid professor Robert G. Berkelman would call on her. The hives made another appearance as she was preparing to open her business, the Fragrance Shop in Henniker, N.H. The idea for the shop grew out of an adult-ed course she took on Early American crafts. From a few herbs strewn on pillows in a stable grew a successful, twostore business including an active mail-order corporation. The original store grew to include a nursery, and the second was an early home to the Beanie Baby craze. Gail overcame the hives to the point that she served as the local Rotary Club’s first female president and a frequent public speaker. She was honored by the club by being named a Paul Harris Fellow. Her husband, the late Perry L. Hayden ’63, worked in the shops with her, as “commissioner of shipping and receiving.” She maintained large herb gardens at their 125acre farm, and designed them for customers nationwide. She served on her 45th Reunion committee and her 30th Reunion social committee. Survivors include children David and Wendy Koch; one grandson; and partner Dave Connors. Her late father-in-law was Perry D. Hayden, Class of 1928.

1966 Susan Wagg Dye September 17, 2021 Susan Wagg Dye was a member of the College Key, an Alumni Fund committee member, and an Alumni-in-Admission volunteer. She served on her 30th Reunion social committee and her 50th Reunion gift and yearbook (co-chair) committees.

She is survived by her husband, William P. Dye ’66, and children Michael, Jennifer, and Jason.

Other survivors include brother F. Channing Wagg III ’61.

Her father was Fred C. Wagg Jr., Class of 1928.

1967 Wyland Fenway Leadbetter Jr. July 30, 2021 Wyland Leadbetter was surprised to find himself in the U.S. Army,

but found that he liked it. Drafted after a year of law school, he fully intended to return to his studies.

And thirty years later, he retired from the Army as a colonel.

He’d been to Vietnam, South Korea, Germany, and England and Italy and Switzerland. He taught ROTC for several years at Norwich Univ., where the rescue team used him as their “victim” as students practiced lowering an injured person down a sheer rock face. At Bates, he worked on The Student and The Mirror, played soccer and tennis, and was active in student governance. He was a member of the College Key, served on his 50th Reunion gift committee and his 40th Reunion social committee, and was an Alumni-in-Admission volunteer.

Survivors include his wife, Barbara Hoadley Leadbetter ’67; children Dr. Elizabeth Leadbetter ’93, Lt. Col. Wyland F. Leadbetter III, and Christopher Leadbetter; and seven grandchildren. His sister is Emily Leadbetter Althausen ’62, and his brother is Charles K. Leadbetter ’65. His son-in-law is Tam Phuoc Ly ’96, and his great-niece is Svea M. Althausen ’24. His late father was Wyland F. Leadbetter, Class of 1926; and his aunt and uncle were Ona Leadbetter Blanchard and Loring W. Blanchard, both Class of 1930.

Elizabeth Patton Beam July 3, 2021 A student-teaching experience with Lewiston eighth-graders made Beth Patton Beam vow never to teach. But after a relatively dull year as an editorial assistant in publishing, she tiptoed back into the classroom, and loved it. She taught English (her Bates major) for three years and then earned a master’s in education from Springfield College. This led to a long career as a guidance counselor in Greenwich, Conn. Beth served on her 20th Reunion committee and was a former Alumni-inAdmission volunteer. Survivors include her husband, Peter Beam; children Peter Beam, Thomas Beam, and Elizabeth Bendel; and six grandchildren.

1968 Faith Ford McLean November 14, 2021 Faith Ford McLean put her Spanish degree to good use when her husband, a Navy man, was assigned to Madrid, Spain.

Because she moved so often as a Navy wife, and because rules for foreign workers varied by country, Faith became an active volunteer wherever they lived.

She worked with hearingimpaired people in Canada, creating jobs for members of that community. She also volunteered at the Izaak Walton Killam Hospital for Children in Halifax. She was president of the

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Ombudsman Council in Pearl Harbor, responsible for 10,000 dependents. She volunteered at her sons’ school in London, serving as the librarian for the school. Faith also worked as an advocate for victims and witnesses in the Philadelphia courts. She was an Alumni Club officer and Alumni-in-Admission volunteer, and served on her 50th Reunion social committee.

Survivors include her husband Michael, and sons Michael Jr. ’94 and Scott. Her aunt was Catherine Cullinan ’37.

1970 Stephen A. Boyko July 19, 2021 Steve Boyko was a star athlete at Bates, excelling in football, basketball, and baseball. He received the Goddard Award for football from Bates. A history major, he also held a master’s of business administration from American University. From his days living on the third floor of Roger Bill and over the years in coffee shops in Bethesda, Md., and Aiken, S.C., Steve loved to shoot the breeze about sports and current events. He excelled at golf and, as with all sports, he made it look easy with an absence of perspiration. In 2014, he was elected to the South Brunswick (N.J.) Athletic Hall of Fame, having led its high school to two state championships as a student. Steve started his career at the National Assn. of Securities Dealers as a stockbroker. In later years, he became an international consultant on capital markets. His work took him to Ukraine, his family’s ethnic homeland, where he educated the country’s leading finance people about the benefits of capitalism and free markets.

In addition to consulting, Steve authored numerous articles on financial issues, and a book on the free-market system. Word on survivors was not available.

Katherine McCabe Murray November 14, 2021 When Kathy McCabe Murray came to Bates for an admission interview, she spotted downtown Lewiston and wanted to go back to Virginia. However, following her interview, she was snowed in and had to stay the weekend.

She had such a fabulous time and was so well taken care of that she chose to attend Bates, and never left Maine again. She was an Army brat who had lived in Italy, Germany, and Turkey, where she witnessed a coup d’état with rebel tanks firing at government units. After graduating with a degree in psychology, she worked for 39 years for the state of Maine. Starting at the Department of Labor and retiring from the Department of Health and Human Services as the Region I adult mental

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health finance director, she was well-respected by co-workers and agency leaders. She served two terms on the Gray School Board, worked regularly at the polls during elections, and chaired a town committee tasked with reviewing the ordinance governing town gravel pits. She served on her 40th Reunion committee. Survivors include her husband, Steve Griffin, and sons Fletcher and Zachary Griffin.

1971 William R. Matteson July 8, 2021 Bill Matteson was an avid dahlia grower. Bouquets from his garden of dahlias, roses, and lilacs were frequent gifts to friends, co-workers, and family.

He worked for the Univ. of Rhode Island for 43 years, starting in security and retiring as director of support services. In addition to his degree from Bates, he held a master’s degree from U.R.I. He was a member of the R.I. Dahlia Society and the National Dahlia Society, as well as a lifelong sport fisherman and a member of the Rhode Island Saltwater Anglers. Besides his wife, Pamela Spaulding Matteson, survivors include their son, Philip Matteson.

Gerda Schild Haas June 23, 2021 It took Gerda Schild Haas only two years to graduate from Bates, summa cum laude, as a German major. She had started her studies in nursing at the Jewish Hospital in Berlin, Germany, before being deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. She and her father were the only family members to survive, and she emigrated to New York to join him. She and her husband, Rudolph, later came to Lewiston.

She wrote two books about her experiences: These I Do Remember: Fragments of the Holocaust and the children’s book Tracking the Holocaust.

She also was the founder of the Holocaust and Human Rights Center of Maine, which grew out of a statewide conference and outreach program about the Holocaust. She later earned a master’s in library science from the Univ. of Maine. Gerda was a member of the state board of education, and a member of the College Key. She served as catalog librarian at Bates from 1972 to 1984. Survivors include children Leonard, Pauline, Hedy, and David; 11 grandchildren; and five great-grandchildren.

1973 Janna Lambine October 21, 2021 When Janna Lambine (“Sparky”) heard faint cries for help, she knew she had to act. A young girl in an inflatable tube was being

pulled out to sea. Sparky and her wife, Lisa Bartran, hopped in their kayak and began paddling.

They reached the struggling 6-year-old and pulled her to safety, a feat for which they were awarded matching U.S. Coast Guard Achievement Medals.

Both were members of the Coast Guard, Janna having enlisted shortly after graduating from Bates with a degree in geology.

She wanted to be assigned to a Coast Guard cutter, but women were not allowed to do so. But aviation opened up to women just then, and Sparky had the distinction of being the first female pilot — helicopter pilot, no less — in the U.S. Coast Guard.

During one of her training runs, she was ordered to land on the U.S.S. Lexington. The aircraft carrier’s command struggled with the situation — women weren’t allowed on board.

Fortunately, they realized that Navy women weren’t allowed, but regulations said nothing about Coast Guard women. After active duty, Sparky joined the Coast Guard Reserve. She earned an M.B.A. at Portland (Ore.) State University, which she put to use in project work during multiple extended active-duty reserve assignments. She served as the commanding officer of Reserve Unit Newport, Ore., worked as a reserve intelligence officer during Operation Desert Storm, served as executive officer of Reserve Unit Atlantic Area, was the senior reserve officer at Support Center Boston, and was the emergency preparedness liaison officer to the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency. She retired with the rank of commander.

When Lisa was assigned to the U.S.C.G. station in South Portland, Maine, Janna became a fitness instructor, working in a program at the Univ. of Southern Maine. She also worked for 16 years at Mid-Cape Athletic Club.

Besides Lisa, survivors include her parents, Oscar and Alberta Lambine.

1974 Lawrence Robert Tsetsi July 2, 2021 Larry Tsetsi was at Bates long enough to work on The Garnet his sophomore year — and to meet the woman who would become his wife, Ellie Mainolfi ’75. He lived in Charlestown, N.H., and held a variety of jobs, but was happiest puttering in the yard or writing in his cabin.

In addition to his wife, survivors include children Amanda Griffin, Eric Tsetsi, and Patrice Tsetsi; and five grandchildren.

1975 Kenneth Raymond Gargan April 7, 2019 In addition to his biology degree from Bates, Kenneth Gargan

held a master’s from Yale and a certificate from the Institute of Paper Chemistry. For nearly 40 years Kenneth worked as a processing engineer at Hollingsworth & Vose Co. in West Groton, Mass. He was an active member of the Kingdom Hall of Jehovah’s Witnesses in Pepperell and very much enjoyed preaching from the Bible. Survivors include his wife, Sandra Grogan Gargan, and son Sean.

Diane Kounkoulas Peterson September 21, 2021 Diane Kounkoulas Peterson played volleyball all four years at Bates, and continued to play while living in New Hampshire.

She also was an avid dancer — the Concord (N.H.) Dance Academy was a virtual second home — and when not dancing, Diane could be found taking notes for absent students or working on costumes for recitals and performances. She received an M.B.A. from the Univ. of New Hampshire in 1979, then worked for the state of New Hampshire in Concord for more than 40 years. She took great pride in her career as a Medicaid policy administrator for the Department of Health and Human Services. As an alumna, she was an Alumni-in-Admission volunteer and served on her 40th Reunion social committee.

Survivors include her husband, John Peterson ’75; daughters Ellen and Anna; and sister Carol Kounkoulas Swedberg ’78.

1976 Alexander Tatum Jr. August 11, 2021 Alex Tatum was a psychology major. He worked for the federal government in the Office of Personnel Management and Civilian Personnel Management until his retirement, in 2011. He held a number of leadership and senior-level positions at the Fort Monmouth Army installation and supervised the multi-year base realignment and closure effort at the site. Survivors include daughter Shaneen Trotman and two grandchildren.

1977 Charles Andrew Ewing July 23, 2021 Charles Ewing was a physics major who went on to involve himself with computer programming. He held a master’s in physics from the Univ. of California, Santa Barbara, and worked as a lab assistant there as well as at Bates. Survivors include his sister Anne A. Ewing ’80; and children Abigail and Caroline.

Deborah Marinone Seymour October 30, 2021 Debbie Marinone Seymour left Bates for Assumption College.

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Cynthia Ann Wood August 1, 2021 An archeology major, Cindy Wood was at Brown Univ. before moving to Colorado to complete an M.B.S. in archeology at Colorado State Univ. She worked at the Colorado Museum of Natural History and led archeological digs in coal mines, required by the state, in Boulder.

She was formerly married to Tom Gilchrist ’79.

1978 Richard Duane Myers June 21, 2021 Rich Myers was a lifelong Yankees fan, and would drive hours with his children to a playoff game, even if it meant little sleep for work the next day. A government major, he also earned a master’s in public relations from Boston Univ. He held leadership roles in financial marketing, communications, and business development at Mechanics Bank, Bank of Boston, and Clark University’s Graduate School of Management. Just as important to him was his charitable work.

He served on boards of Junior Achievement, the MLK Business Empowerment Center, and the Worcester (Mass.) Regional Chamber of Commerce.

Survivors include his children, Thomas and Katherine; and two grandchildren.

1979 Steven Lee Sanders July 17, 2021 A history major, Steve (aka “Satch,” although no one called him that anymore) Sanders went on to a long career in law. He graduated from the Univ. of San Diego School of Law, and started private practice there before moving to Bakersfield in 1988 to become deputy county counsel for Kern County. Survivors include children Zachary, Natalie, and Jeremy.

1982 Lynn Gilpin Tan July 3, 2021 Lynn Gilpin Tan was a political science major. Survivors include children Hilary Phillips, Jeremy Tan, and Alexander Tan; and two grandchildren.

David Kevin Linehan August 30, 2021 Dave Linehan was a political science major who once ran for town council in Gorham, Maine.

A relentlessly optimistic person, he nevertheless considered

himself a pessimist. A friend once wrote that Dave was determined to bring joy wherever he could.

He was an avid reader of fiction and history, and tried a few times to write something himself.

Survivors include daughter Abby Ault and son Connor Linehan; Dave’s mother, Geraldine Linehan; several siblings, and a number of nieces and nephews.

1991 Angela Veronica Toro Pritchard November 25, 2021 A native of Bogota, Colombia, Vero Toto Pritchard came to the U.S. to attend St. George’s School in Rhode Island, and came from there to Bates, where she majored in art history. Following college, she moved to New York City, where her proficiency with languages (she spoke four) made her a valuable asset to the major hotels where she worked.

She later worked for Lehman Brothers as an associate in the emerging-markets group. She was an avid tennis player, playing in the U.S.T.A. tennis league for the past decade. Survivors include husband Thomas Pritchard; and sons Alexander and Geoffrey.

1993 Timothy Hamilton Doherty January 7, 2021 One student described Tim Doherty as “a rainbow in the sky.” He taught fourth grade at Peter Woodbury Elementary School in Bedford, N.H., and was universally loved. He had been with that school district since 2005. He was also a soccer referee, not hesitating to pause the game for teachable moments.

A psychology major, he played soccer and baseball at Bates.

Word on survivors was not available.

Linton was a member and deacon of the United Congregational Church of Little Compton (R.I.).

Survivors include wife Elisabeth Avery Harrington ’95; sons Thomas and Eli; and brother Nathan Benjamin Harrington ’05.

2020 Adam Walter Dohn October 10, 2021 Adam Walter Dohn earned a bachelor’s degree in archeology.

He played golf at Bates and was also active in the Ultimate Frisbee Club, the Competitive Ski Club, and the Outing Club.

He passionately enjoyed cooking, golf, and climbing. Survivors include parents Heather Boek and Paul Dohn, and brother Peter Dohn.

Faculty Robert Maurice Chute April 28, 2021 Asked whether he considered himself primarily a poet or a scientist, Bob Chute answered, “I don’t see why I have to be one or the other.” He was indeed both, a self-described “scientific poet” who won awards for his fiction writing, served as a Bates professor of biology for 30 years, and lent his voice and expertise to addressing important environmental and political issues. Chute earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Maine in 1950 and a doctorate from Johns Hopkins University in 1953.

He was appointed professor of biology at Bates in 1962 and retired as professor emeritus of biology in 1992. In recognition of his excellence in teaching and

scholarship, he served as a Dana Professor of Biology from 1978 to 1988. He was the first director of the Bates–Morse Mountain Conservation Area, helping to establish important practices of protection and stewardship of the area. With the emergence of the environmental movement in the 1960s, he taught ecologically focused courses on the human impacts on lake and coastal ecosystems. He was the author of Environmental Insight: Readings and Comment on Human and Nonhuman Nature and Introductory Biology, later published as An Introduction to Biology. Chute was a prizewinning creative writer who produced some two dozen novels and poetry collections.

In 2011, he received the Maine Writers & Publishers Alliance Distinguished Achievement Award for “exceptional and steadfast contributions to the Maine literary arts.” Active politically, he worked to end the Vietnam War and with his wife, Vicki, a veteran of the 1964 Freedom Summer voting effort in the South, published Plowshare, a civil rights newsletter. He co-founded the Bridgtonbased Lakes Environmental Association, which studies and protects the lakes of Maine, and was president of the Maine Biologists Association. He was a proponent of Maine’s returnable-container law, passed in 1978, and pushed for stronger environmental regulation of Maine power companies.

Predeceased by his wife, Chute is survived by his children, David Chute and Dian Chute; a granddaughter; nieces and nephews; and their families.

1994 Linton Avery Harrington September 29, 2021 Linton Harrington, a social psychology and sociology major, spent his career in environmental education. He received a master’s in environmental studies from Antioch Univ.

New England in 2002. In 2019, Linton became the director of programs and operations for Youth Opportunities Unlimited, a nonprofit youth development program in New Bedford, Mass.

In this role, he got to share with young people his love of the outdoors and discover the natural beauty that exists even within a city’s limits. Prior to that, he worked at the Trustees of Reservations, which protects and shares Massachusetts places that people love for their scenic, historic, and ecological value.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

As part of her studies there, she spent a year in Mexico.

Survivors include her husband, Jim Seymour, and their daughter, Joline Marinone-Seymour Quinn.

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Sig Story

This signature and date were uncovered during classroom renovations in Hathorn Hall. We thought it was a name from the 1800s, but soon learned the truth.

The mystery of a signature — Frank? Fran K.? — uncovered in a historic Hathorn Hall classroom ends with a very contemporary answer by jay bu rns “YES, THAT’S MY NAME,” said the man on the other end of the phone. “But I didn’t write it.”

The voice was divulging the answer to a mystery that vexed us for a few weeks last summer: the identity of the person whose signature was found on wallpaper behind an old chalkboard in a Hathorn Hall classroom.

During summer work to replace worn-out chalkboards in Hathorn, project manager Paul Farnsworth snapped a quick photo of the signature — but alas, not of the complete signature — and shared it around. Because Hathorn is the 92

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oldest building on campus, opened in 1857, and because the pencil signature was on old wallpaper, we figured that it must belong to someone deep in Bates’ past.

The photo was first published in an installment of the online Campus Construction Update about the work being done in Hathorn. The caption suggested that the words appeared to be, “Thank you.”

Emma Gay ’25 of Herndon. Va., not yet matriculated at Bates, sent an email suggesting that it was a signature, perhaps “Fran K.”

“Yes, that’s my name,” said the man on the other end of the phone.

“But I didn’t write it.” all over campus, whether behind sheetrock here and there or hidden on a wardrobe in Rand Hall, presumably custom-built by Dow and Fortier decades ago.

Indeed, the “Frank Ford” signature seems to be a Bates version of “Kilroy Was Here,” the graffiti meme popular during World War II. (The question remains why the signature seems to end with the year 1892. Could be a joke by the carpenters, or perhaps it’s supposed to read, “May 16–18, ’92” — as in the year 1992.

Ford was a jack of all trades in the Bates maintenance shop. “I loved the variety.” He recalls being called in to fix a slew of broken windows in Smith Hall. “It was colder than the dickens.”

The busted windows were perhaps the result of draft protests in the winter of 1969–70, or perhaps related to the infamous bottle-throwing incident in Smith on Halloween night in 1970 that led to the censure of two students by the Conduct Committee.

Clifton Dow, who retired from Bates, died in 2012. Raymond Fortier has also passed away.

I asked Ford if he thought that Dow and Fortier were pranking their younger colleague by writing his name around campus, or honoring him.

“Well I don’t know,” Ford replied. “But since they’re both gone now, I’ll take it as an honor!” n

PAUL FARNSWORTH

Here in the Bates Communications Office, a colleague agreed that the name was Fran K. “because of the periodlooking thing after the K.” Pat Webber, director of the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, thought the name was Frank, and that the K being separate from the rest of the letters “was just the way the person signed their name.”

And down we went, deeper into the rabbit hole of Bates history. Deciphering the date as “May 16 — 1892,” we sought a match — a student, professors, anyone — to a “Fran K.” or “Frank” from the late 1800s or early 1900s.

Some folks joined the search, like Madison Fox ’19.

Deep in the Bates records, she found a “Francis K. Sweetser,” the father of alumna Mary Ruth Sweetser Quincy, Class of 1912. Could Mary Ruth have written her father’s name in her Hathorn classroom as a way to honor his memory?

That was great sleuthing.

But right across the campus in Facility Services, there was no mystery about the name.

After posting the image and our hypothesis on Facebook, Facility Services staff member Adam Wright offered a 20th-century solution.

“The name is ‘Frank Ford, he commented. “I believe he was a carpenter at the college for some time. Seen it in other places around campus.”

Reoriented to current times, we looked in our trusty Bates directory and, sure enough, we saw the name Frank Ford, a Bates retiree now age 88, who lives on Gammon Avenue in Auburn.

We gave him a call and, after some appropriate gatekeeping by his daughter (after all, we were asking about someone’s signature), Frank came on the line.

“Mr. Ford,” I said, “we found what we think is a signature of your name under a blackboard in Hathorn Hall.” Ford said it was his name, but that he didn’t write it. “Well, who did?” I asked. “Cliff Dow and Ray Fortier,” Ford replied.

Dow and Fortier were Bates carpenters, “very good carpenters,” explained Ford, who also liked “to horse around.”

Among the tradespeople at the Cutten Maintenance Center, the Frank Ford name is well known, as is Frank himself, recalled fondly by the long-timers there. The signature has been found by the trades workers in curious places

This detail gives some idea of just how this signature vexxed the Communications staff over the summer. Is that a space between the "n" and "k," or just an eccentricity of handwriting in the name "Frank'? We think we have the answer.

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Science Symbols

This lapel pin is from the Jordan Scientific Society, a bygone student club formed in 1910 to “foster an active interest in all fields of science,” said the Mirror. (It was for male students; the women’s science club was Ramsdell.) Through crowd sourcing from Bates science professors, we believe: • The owl suggests wisdom • It’s perched on a mortar, symbolizing chemistry • The telescope is for astronomy and physics • The tripod legs could suggest the tenets of the scientific method: observation, hypothesis, and testing • The skull might suggest biology

Getting a Handle

Under 8 inches tall, this battered trophy cup has an oversized history. The Class of 1911 won it during an interclass competition in exercise drills, e.g., Indian clubs, dumbbells, and swords.

It later traveled with class member Roger Guptill to the Congo where he was a missionary. He lost it, then got it back years later, minus its handles.

Self Portrait

This is George French, Class of 1908, leaning on an Edison phonograph and wearing his class track uniform, presumably in his Parker Hall room. It’s likely a self-portrait: French was a lifelong photographer.

Behind him are probably his own photos, mostly of Bates friends and teammates. A baseball, football, and track standout who also played the mandolin, French was the official photographer of the Maine Development Commission for years.

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Fobulous!

Longtime Bates trustee Oliver Barrett Clason, Class of 1877, received this Bates watch fob from his fellow trustees in 1916. A lawyer in Gardiner, Maine, Clason was a longtime state legislator who was Maine Senate president in 1899–1901.

Clason House, on College Street, is named for him.

o u t ta k e Crows are social and strategic, large and loud. Not my favorite creatures, but that aside, their footprints next to a tire track in just-fallen snow created a pattern that attracted my attention on Bardwell Street a block and a half from campus.

No birds were hurt in the making of this photograph.

— Phyllis Graber Jensen

Bates Magazine Spring 2022

President of Bates A. Clayton Spencer

Editor H. Jay Burns

Bates Magazine Advisory Board Marjorie Patterson Cochran ’90 Geraldine FitzGerald ’75 David Foster ’77 Joe Gromelski ’74 Judson Hale Jr. ’82 Jonathan Hall ’83 Christine Johnson ’90 Jon Marcus ’82 Peter Moore ’78

Designer Jin Kwon Production Assistant Kirsten Burns Director of Photography Phyllis Graber Jensen Photographer Theophil Syslo Class Notes Editor Doug Hubley Contributing Editors Mary Pols Freddie Wright

Contact Us Bates Communications 2 Andrews Rd. Lewiston ME 04240 magazine@bates.edu 207-786-6330

Production Bates Magazine is published twice annually at family-owned Penmor Lithographers, just a few minutes from campus.

We use paper created with 30 percent postconsumer fiber and print with inks that are 99.5 percent free of volatile compounds.

On the Cover In a meadow at Thorncrag Nature Sanctuary last summer, Sebastian Leon Fallas ’24 of Perez Zeledon, Costa Rica, and Henry Hardy ’22 of Gloucester, Mass., research the area’s pollen environment, guided by Associate Professor of Biology Carla Essenberg.

Starting on page 26, learn about Bates’ innovative approach to science education. Photograph

by Phyllis Graber Jensen.

Nondiscrimination Bates College prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status and other legally protected statuses in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its education policies and programs, or in the recruitment of its faculty and staff. The college adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations. Full policy: bates.edu/nondiscrimination

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FROM A DISTANCE

Student photographer Gianluca Yornet de Rosas ’24 captured the goings-on at the Bike Barn on Frye Street last fall, where juniors Terry Martin (left) and Eli Grossman repaired a student’s bike.

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This basketball gets “tremendous use,” say the two juniors, thanks to the hoop at Chase House.

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The photographer’s camera bag.

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The drill for this battery has long been missing.

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Grossman’s mattress topper, but “he’s too stubborn” to use it, says Martin.

His friend believes a hard mattress “builds character.”

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Spare parts. “We try to salvage parts from old bikes instead of buying new ones.”

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The most common repair is a flat tire, hence lots of inner tubes around.

7

8

The bike is a vintage Free Spirit, a popular circa-1975 three-speed model sold

by Sears.

8

The bike pump, with gauge, is the most-used tool.

“Accurate tire pressure on a bike is crucial.”

Spring 2022

NOTHING BUT

bate s magaz i n e

Bates Bates College Lewiston, Maine 04240

6 Splashy photos: The return of a great student tradition.

36 Kayaking into the magical island world of a Maine artist.

42 From Coots to Nuthatches, a big year for birder Ethan Whitaker ’80.

NET

A jubilant Meg Graff ’23 gives the net a spin as she and teammates celebrate their NESCAC basketball title on March 2. This net made for a particularly sweet souvenir — the team snipped off a piece for President Spencer, an avid spectator — marking the program’s first conference title.

spring b j b b

JOHN MRAKOVCICH / COOL ROBOT PHOTOGRAPHY

SCIE NCE FAIR

“It builds their sense of place and belonging in the sciences.” Page 26