Bates College Viewbook | 2023

Open Here

Life is full of pre-established lanes and rules. But there’s a lot of freedom at Bates. We believe the best way to approach college is to find what makes you tick, and then build the coming years around it.

We’ll help you try things on for size — in the lab or on the basketball court or in the ceramics studio or wherever your interests lead — until you find what fits for you.

You’ll never feel like you’re just on a treadmill working toward a diploma. You’ll be too busy making connections across academic fields, job-shadowing alumni, learning in the community, and doing graduate-level research that you really, really care about.

Through it all, you’ll have our support to ask big questions — and you’ll find the courage to push through when there aren’t clear answers.

“Bates teaches us to focus, stand taller, keep

Open-minded

Some are liberal arts classics (history, mathematics, philosophy). Some are STEM-focused (neuroscience, engineering, biochemistry). Many draw from more than one discipline (American studies, environmental studies, biochemistry, gender and sexuality studies).

Some won’t exist until you invent them.*

MAJORS & MINORS

M = major m = minor

Students test out their computational neuroscience theses before hooking each other up to the EEG cap in the lab.

Africana (M, m)

American studies (M)

Anthropology (M, m)

Art and visual culture (M)

Asian studies (m)

Biochemistry (M)

Biology (M)

Chemistry (M, m)

Chinese (M, m)

Classical and medieval studies (M)

Dance (M, m)

Digital and computational studies (m)

Earth and climate sciences (M, m)

East Asian studies (M)

Economics (M)

Educational studies (m)

Engineering**

English (M)

Environmental studies (M)

European studies (M)

French and francophone studies (M, m)

Gender and sexuality studies (M, m)

German (M, m)

Greek (m)

Hispanic studies (M, m)

History (M, m)

Interdisciplinary studies (M)

Japanese (M, m)

Latin (m)

Latin American and Latinx studies (M)

Mathematics (M, m)

Music (M, m)

Neuroscience (M)

Philosophy (M, m)

Physics (M, m)

Politics (M)

Psychology (M)

Religious studies (M, m)

Rhetoric, film, and screen studies (M, m)

Russian (m)

Sociology (M)

Teacher education (m)

Theater (M, m)

*You can also design your own major with help from a faculty mentor.

**Engineering students participate in the Dual Degree program, completing three years at Bates and two years at one of our partner institutions, including Columbia University, Dartmouth College, or Washington University in St. Louis.

Bates students tend to be up for just about anything.

It’s a good thing we have about three dozen majors and two dozen minors to choose from.

Sara Moradi ’20

You’re encouraged to experiment here. If you’re like recent graduate Sara Moradi,* you might start out being super interested in politics and certain you want to go to law school.

You take an archaeology class your first year. Your professor invites you to do fieldwork in Montana and you LOVE IT.

So you add anthropology as a minor.

Organize a noon meditation series for students, staff, and faculty

Tutor at a local high school

Study abroad in Stockholm, Sweden

You also find time to

Do a summer internship as a public affairs representative for Comcast

Join in social justice causes through the Office of Intercultural Education

Back on campus, you take an economics class because a friend swears you’ll like it. You discover — to your surprise — that you enjoy geeking out over the effects of quantitative easing on bond yields. So you go for a double major in politics and economics.

By senior year, you still want to go to law school. But instead of being a policy wonk, you decide to focus on immigration reform — because that’s where your heart is.

Mentor other first-generation college students

*Sara’s an all-star, but she’s also pretty typical for a Bates student: open to all sorts of possibilities and new experiences.

Bates overwhelmed me in the best possible way,” she says. “It’s incredible how many resources there are on this campus.”

SHORT TERM, BIG IMPACT

Our calendar is based on two traditional semesters and one Short Term in the spring. It’s a time devoted to wide-open exploration (and at least a little basking in the sun after a cold winter).

We set aside about four weeks in May for you to take just one class or focus on a project of your own design.

Short Term courses usually involve fieldwork or off-campus travel — and professors have a blast coming up with the topics.

You might research the feasibility of green development in Kingston, Jamaica. Write, direct, and produce a short film in French. Or hunt for the spy in your midst during a class on intelligence and national security taught by an alumna who used to be a White House security advisor.

Students who don’t stay on campus or take classes gain an extra month of summer break. They often use the time for intensive internships, giving them added work experience before graduation.

RECENT SHORT TERM COURSES

Practicum in Private Equity: Corporate Financial Decision Making, from IPOs to LBOs taught by an alumnus who founded and runs a private equity firm

Health and Chinese Traditional Medicine taught at a hospital in Yunnan province with Bates professors and traditional Chinese medicine doctors

The Past, Present, and Possible Dystopian Future of Computing taught by an expert in computational neuroscience and evolutionary theory

Bordering Hispaniola: Blackness, Mixture, and Nation in the Dominican Republic examining the Dominican Republic’s place in the African diaspora

Fall Semester Abroad

EXPLORING SCIENCE AND IDENTITY IN CHILE

Bates’ Fall Semester Abroad (FSA) is just one way students study internationally. With its location changing each year, FSA allows you to study deeply and make unexpected connections while living in another country. Each FSA is taught by a pair of Bates professors, often working with faculty at a host university.

A recent FSA, “Public Health and Culture in Chile,” is a prime example.

Public health might seem like an odd topic for a biochemist and a Latin American literature professor. But for FSA professors Glen Lawson and Claudia Aburto Guzmán, it was a natural fit.

“You can bring together the intersections of history, culture, and artistic expression with natural science in a straightforward way,”

Lawson says. “The connections are already there — you just have to uncover them and explore them.”

The professors addressed these connections in three courses. Guzmán taught “The Zombie Scare: Viruses, Difference, and the Question of Security and Order”; Lawson covered “Genetically Modified Organisms: Science and Latin American Perceptions”; and a Chilean colleague taught “Introduction to Public Health in Chile.”

Students lived with host families in Santiago. They also traveled to remote communities to see how modern medicine and indigenous beliefs intersect, had internships at health clinics in the city, and spent time in Santiago’s crowded subway system to imagine how the health implications of a virus might spread in a contained environment.

One of the benefits of FSA is that students can sign up as a first year or a sophomore. Sophomore year is ideal, Guzmán says, because students are more willing to experiment before they’ve narrowed in on a major: “The state of wonder is very much intact."

FSA is also easy to access. While students gain language skills overseas, the program does not have a language prerequisite because the courses are taught in English. Travel costs are covered in Bates’ tuition, so students don’t have to worry about airfare, housing, or a meal plan — they can immerse themselves in new experiences.

Being in place — in situ — has so many benefits,” Guzmán says. “It allows students to put into practice what is happening in the moment. The learning takes place at the intimate level, as well as at the academic level.”

‘In situ’

Forging a Path

When Bates opened in 1855, it was New England’s first co-ed college. Since then, we have admitted students no matter their nationality, race, religion, sex, or socio-economic status. While this openness was at the core of our founding identity and principles, it has been tested throughout time and requires us to constantly reflect upon and recommit to our mission.

Our holistic admission and need-based financial aid practices and policies are mission-driven.* They're grounded in a recognition of and respect for your background, what opportunities you've had, and what you've done with all that's been available to you.

We have a decades-long history of being test-optional (nearly 40 years, in fact). That means admission decisions are based on the whole picture of who you are — not just your SAT or ACT score.

Our founders knew that making this type of education open to as many people as possible would lead to future leaders, thinkers, and problem-solvers who could take on the defining issues of their generations. Graduates leave Bates willing and equipped to critique the world (and the institution itself). We believe this is the right way to educate.

That doesn’t mean building an inclusive culture is a simple task. Like other colleges and universities, Bates continues to grapple with the long-lasting effects of inequity in America and within our own institution.

While we’re making progress, we know that this is a far-reaching and complex process not of days, but decades. We invite you to join us.

*More on that later.

The Class of 2026 arrives on campus. Students move into their new residences, attend meetings, eat lunch, pick up AESOP equipment, hear the President’s Greeting on the Historic Quad, and say goodbye to their families.

There are no classes on the third Monday in January. Instead, students attend workshops and events dedicated to tackling the toughest issues, including race, racism, and oppression.

REV. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING JR.

DAY OF OBSERVANCE

MLK Day is a reason we come to Bates,” says Kyle Larry '21. “One of the main purposes of this school is to create activists and to create advocates.”

The day also includes a debate dedicated to Benjamin E. Mays, a 1920 alumnus and mentor to Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.

Mays was a standout member of the Bates debate team and later became president of Morehouse College. On MLK Day, members of the Morehouse debate team come to campus for a friendly competition.

It’s less about who wins than it is about sharing different perspectives, says Morehouse debater Hatim Mansori.

“I love being in this environment, and experiencing some of the debate fire that I would like to bring out in myself, through the lens of Benjamin Elijah Mays and Martin Luther King Jr.”

It’s about immersing yourself in cultures outside of your own, seeing the struggles that other people face, and how this country has used power structures in order to marginalize certain groups.”

COLLABORATIVE RESEARCH FILLS A VOID

Diverse BookFinder database holds thousands of titles

Psychology professor and associate dean of the faculty Krista Aronson studies how children understand social constructs like race and ethnicity.

While looking for inclusive books to help her daughter explore her own multiracial identity, Aronson realized how difficult these stories are to find. Especially since 85 to 90% of the main characters in children’s books are white.

Aiming to fill the void she’d discovered, she recruited students and colleagues to start a database of inclusive titles. As the list grew, she worked with library staff to add titles to the collection at Bates.

Three years later, the college has one of the most robust collections of diverse children’s books in the United States. The online counterpart she helped start, Diverse BookFinder, with its searchable database of more than 3,000 titles, has been profiled by media across the U.S.

The library books are Bates’ most popular collection, sought after by teachers and librarians throughout New England.

“No one else has this,” says humanities librarian Christina Bell. “But it’s not just about us having it, it’s how we are using it to help other people have better collections.”

The BookFinder has inspired half a dozen senior thesis projects. It also attracted many non-psychology students to work in Aronson’s research lab, drawn to the idea that their work could make American children’s literature more reflective of America itself.

“Every year, I have students who say to me: ‘This is the first time I’ve seen a book with someone who looks like me’ — and it’s here at Bates,” Aronson says. “That’s particularly powerful.”

Explore at diversebookfinder.org

Krista Aronson

Every year, I have students who say to me: ‘This is the first time I’ve seen a book with someone who looks like me’ — and it’s here at Bates. That’s particularly powerful.”

Open-hearted

— Dolores Huerta, American labor activist and civil rights icon, speaking at Bates in 2019

“The power to end injustice is in each and every single one of us.

Bates is a place where students hold doors open for each other. Our competitive streak is limited to games against our rivals in the New England Small College Athletic Conference. And our professors are more likely to ask, “How are you doing?” than “How are you doing in my class?”

You’ll see our community spirit at work in the library, which closes early on Fridays to make sure students get a study break and keeps a hot water kettle near the research desk for warm tea or cocoa in the winter.

You’ll find it between the lines of the Napkin Board in Commons, our central dining hall, where dining staff respond to each comment or suggestion with a personal note (or a meme).

Bates is special because our community gives you not just time, space, and resources to define your interests, but also the support to care for yourself along the way.

That way, you’re prepared to take the risks that will define who you become.

We know that college isn’t just about developing your intellectual side. It’s also a time to find the people you can lean on so you can thoughtfully and authentically test your limits.

LOCATION, LOCATI N, LOCATION

The renovated Bates Mill Complex, once a textile mill, now houses a seafood restaurant, a microbrewery, offices, and a city museum.

PHOTO // Joshua Turner ’20

With a combined population of about 60,000, the two cities offer the best of both worlds: a safe, close-knit community and a vibrant downtown.

Locals call the area L/A. It’s full of hard-working, independent-minded people who are building meaningful, interesting lives for themselves.

Inside factories that once powered the Industrial Revolution, you’ll find startups and brewpubs.

BATES

Lewiston, ME

Many of our business owners are known for outstanding craftsmanship. The family behind Rancourt Shoes has made handsewn footwear in Lewiston for three generations. Bourgeois Guitars makes just 400 acoustic guitars a year, ensuring that each of their instruments has a unique tone and faultless construction. And what was once an artisan furniture mom-and-pop business, founded by former Bates professor Thomas Moser, is still family-owned but earns coverage in Architectural Digest.

Lisbon Street, Lewiston’s downtown shopping district, has cafes, bike shops, and galleries, all within a mile of campus. Thirty-four languages are spoken at the local high school, and you can get a plate of curried goat, a steaming bowl of phò, or steak au poivre within blocks of one another.

For arts lovers, L/A also offers a professional theater company, a film festival, museums, and an underground music scene.

In other words, you could find many ways to get involved and make a difference here — and L/A could make a difference for you.

Bates College is located in the heart of Maine, close to mountains, the sea, and cities along the Eastern seaboard. Traveling by Uber, bus, train, or plane is only a click away.

THE TWIN CITIES OF LEWISTON AND AUBURN, WITH THE ANDROSCOGGIN RIVER RUNNING BETWEEN THEM, ARE MILL TOWNS REBORN

Tales That Unite Us

STORYTELLING BRINGS TOGETHER L/A COMMUNITY

On a recent fall evening, a square of carpet in a downtown Lewiston bookstore became a confessional. Known as The Corner, Lewiston’s monthly storytelling event takes a similar format to national showcases like The Moth.

Bates professor Michael Sargent (left) launched the series a decade ago to help bring new energy to L/A’s nightlife and culture. Now, two former participants, Bates alumna Kate Webber ’11 and partner Steve Burger, host The Corner.

At a recent gathering, storytellers shared stories about the times they moved (something that new Bates students could talk about!) recalling first walks in their new town or first nights in a new bedroom.

Some stories provoke belly laughs. Others draw tears.

“People have a real desire to connect with other people,” Webber says. “Even if you come and quietly sit in a back chair and observe, you can still leave feeling like you’re more connected to this place.”

Every night is different, Burger adds. “Lewiston is not the stereotype of Maine. There is diversity in all senses of the word. The Corner thrives here because there are so many different stories to tell — and people genuinely listen to what you have to say.”

There’s also an element of community ownership, he says. The event is volunteer run and sponsored by dozens of local businesses. “It’s something that people buy into and feel like it belongs to them.”

Even if you come and quietly sit in a back chair and observe, you can still leave feeling like you're more connected to this place.”

Rhetoric, film, and screen studies

THE CHORUS OF CINEMA: Experiments in Community Filmmaking Practices and Collective Storytelling in Lewiston/Auburn, Maine

Politics

WELCOMING NEW MAINERS: Local Economic Development and its Effects on the Politics of Immigration

Our Community

BEYOND THE CLASSROOM Recent capstone research projects in Lewiston/Auburn:

Economics

A MACHINE LEARNING APPROACH FOR PREDICTING INPATIENT DISCHARGE AT CENTRAL MAINE MEDICAL CENTER

Environmental studies

HEAT AND LIGHT IN THE CITY OF THE FUTURE: A Feasibility Study of Renewable Energy in Lewiston, Maine

Sociology

DRUG USE ON THE COAST: Examining the Opioid Epidemic in Maine Lobster Fishing Communities

REAL-WORLD EXPERIENCE

You can’t know what you love to do — and what you don’t — until you’ve tried it. So if you have an interest you want to explore, we’ll help you find an experience to match.

Hands-on work at Bates helps you connect classroom theories with the practical realities of the working world.

If you’re an art & visual culture major, you might have an internship at a local gallery.

If you’re considering a legal career, you could work for a state representative or intern for an environmental policy group.

And if you’re into math and economics, lots of our students have crunched numbers for leading insurance and financial services firms.

Politics major Kenny Aruwajoye ’22 of Owo, Nigeria and psychology major Maya Castiblanco ’23 of Irvington, N.Y., interning at New Roots Cooperative Farm in Lewiston, spend an August morning in the fields weeding with farmer Habibo Noor.

TRY SOMETHING NEW

YOU’LL HAVE MANY CHANCES TO DIVE INTO THE UNEXPECTED AT BATES

Learn to surf with the Outing Club or perform a spoken-word piece at the weekly Village Club Series showcase. Test your technical skills with the High-Altitude Ballooning Club. Or your sense of rhythm with the Bollywood Dance Team.

With nearly 100 student-run clubs

you’re sure to find something of interest. What you won’t find are fraternities or sororities. We’ve never had them. Never will

Sangai Asia Club

a night of celebrating Asian and Asian American cultures through music, song, and dance at the annual Sangai Asia Night.

Join

A Helping Hand

STUDENT-RUN EMERGENCY MEDICAL SERVICES OFFERS A CAMPUS SAFETY NET

When the Bates campus needs a quick response to injuries, illnesses, or anxieties, Bates EMS gets the call.

Staffed by trained student volunteers, Bates EMS delivers immediate care to students, staff, and faculty. Crew members earn state certification as medical technicians during Short Term, so they have the expertise to respond to a range of health issues.

The EMS team is on call 24/7, offering a safety net for the campus and giving its members first-hand experience in health care delivery. The crew also supports first responders in Lewiston, who may be miles away when something happens.

“The fact that Bates EMS can go from one end of campus to the other in about two minutes is really, really important,” says Jillian Sheltra ’19 of Portland, Maine.

While finishing her studies at Bates, she took a job with the local ambulance service that helps train Bates EMS volunteers. Recognizing a passion for emergency medicine, she earned a paramedic’s license and became a full-time first responder — experience that will serve her well as she applies to medical school.

“You’re the calm in the middle of this crazy storm,” she says. “You often show up on somebody’s worst day. And no matter if you’re on the simplest of calls or the most complicated medical call, people are happy that you’re there. That’s one of the most rewarding parts.”

You often show up on somebody’s worst day. And no matter if you’re on the simplest of calls or the most complicated medical call, people are happy that you’re there.”

GENUINE RELATIONSHIPS WITH PROFESSORS

Our professors are bright, driven, and among the top minds in their scholarly fields. They’ve chosen to teach at a school with a 10:1 student-faculty ratio because their priority is helping you learn.

Your professors will mentor you in class, advise you on your course selections, and help you ruthlessly edit your capstone projects.

You might do research or fieldwork with them. They may introduce you to alumni in your field of interest, or help you find opportunities to attend professional conferences.

They will certainly encourage you to think harder than you ever imagined.

Accessible Faculty

OF TENURED FACULTY HOLD THE HIGHEST DEGREE IN THEIR FIELD

NUMBER OF STUDENTS WHO DO FULL-TIME RESEARCH WITH FACULTY EACH SUMMER FACULTY-STUDENT

AVERAGE CLASS SIZE

Groundbreaking Discovery

STUDENT-DESIGNED MOLECULE COULD LEAD TO NEW ALZHEIMER’S DRUGS AND CANCER TREATMENTS

WHAT IT IS: The Bobcat339 molecule is a compound that blocks the function of certain genes, leading to improved memory and concentration. Its full name is highly technical, so the students gave it a Bates-inspired nickname.

WHO DISCOVERED IT: Three students — Gabriella Chua and Kelly Wassarman, who were both seniors, and Haoyu Sun, then a junior — took on key roles, with support from their professor, Andrew Kennedy. Four other students also are named as authors in the research, which they published in a scientific journal.

HOW IT WAS POSSIBLE: It’s rare for undergraduates to not only work on complex research like this, but to design it from the ground up.

Kennedy credits Bates’ genre-bending approach to the liberal arts. “A lot of scientists think exclusively in a reductionist way,” he says. But his students consider how their work affects the world outside the lab. “There is a focus on creativity in the sciences here.”

WHAT’S NEXT: Bates filed a patent for the molecule, to protect it and build momentum for further testing and discovery.

Bobcat339 also opened new avenues for the students who invented it: Gabriella is in the Tri-Institutional Ph.D. Program in New York City; Haoyu is pursuing a Ph.D. at the University of Virginia; and Kelly is doing RNA interference research at a biopharmaceutical company.

Haoyu says the experience taught her independence and flexibility as a scientist: “I used to focus on every reaction producing the ‘perfect’ result.” But the process of scientific discovery is never perfect or linear. “I see what the little things mean to the whole research project.”

The process Bobcat339 uses, DNA methylation, affects how genes turn on and off. That means it has potential for many different treatments. Kennedy’s lab is sharing the compound with cancer research groups and others who see its potential.

Bobcat Ventures

STUDENT-RUN STARTUP CLUB CONNECTS STUDENTS WITH ALUMNI

Bates trustee Chris Barbin ’93 wants to make sure this is quite clear: Bobcat Ventures is more than Bates’ version of “Shark Tank.”

The pitch competition and its $10,000 prize have launched several student-run small businesses, including a temporary storage company inspired by Airbnb and a personal care brand that supports at-risk women in Lewiston/Auburn.

But as an informal advisor and judge of the competition, Barbin has also seen Bobcat Ventures grow into a powerful engine of connection for students and alumni.

“We’re encouraging them to keep their business moving forward, and helping them with guidance, counsel, and support — even after the competition itself,” he says.

Over the course of a year, Bobcat Ventures students come up with a new business idea, research and write a business plan, and go through several rounds of simulated pitches to investors.

At each stage, they attend workshops and get feedback from alumni entrepreneurs whose expertise includes executive coaching, launching technology startups, and investing in disruptive businesses.

“They’re able to talk about business concepts that come up in the workshops, and, ultimately, create a stronger bond between students and alumni who have been successful,” says senior Julien Lewin of Seattle, Wash., one of the club’s organizers.

Bobcat Ventures judges often stay in touch with the winners after graduation, too. “I’ve watched the excitement on both sides when you make those connections,” Barbin says.

“It’s not just about exposing yourself as talent to somebody who’s going to hire you. It’s trying to really encourage entrepreneurship and give you some lessons learned for that — so it makes a workable connection with the alumni network as well.”

A recent Bobcat Ventures pitch competition winner is now a sustainable local resource for women. Herban Works is a product of the commitment and time that Ali Rabideau ’17 gave to Lewiston’s Center for Women’s Wisdom, and the startup helps the center pay its bills by making and selling herbal self-care products.

ABOVE: Biruk Chafamo ’22 won the $10,000 top prize in the Bobcat Ventures pitch competition for a friend-tofriend lending app that facilitates small loans to people not well-served by traditional banks, a concept found in many countries, including Chafamo’s Ethiopia, where it’s known as ekub.

We’re encouraging them to keep their business moving forward, and helping them with guidance, counsel, and support — even after the competition itself.”

PURPOSEFUL, HANDS-ON LEARNING

EDUCATION HERE IS NEVER LIMITED TO THE CLASSROOM

Our mission is to help you become an active citizen of the world — or at least your corner of it. That means developing strong communication skills, solving problems by working together, and respecting people from different backgrounds and points of view.

There’s no better way to hone these skills than by practicing, then practicing some more.

So you’ll participate in internships, job shadows, fieldwork, and work in the community. You might earn a research fellowship. Or have a work-study job at a local nonprofit. You’ll take Short Term classes from successful alumni. You’ll sometimes push your comfort zone, and always find yourself changed as a result.

Community Partnerships

Collaboration with the community and learning by doing are key aspects of academics at Bates. These two elements, which we call community-engaged learning, come together at our nationally recognized Harward Center for Community Partnerships.

Through the Harward Center, you’ll have access to hundreds of hands-on experiences that will deepen your connection to Lewiston/Auburn and give you a chance to make a difference. These experiences often inspire students to dig deeper through independent research or a senior thesis.

What does community-engaged learning look like?

Environmental studies students do research on how renewable energy can cut costs for a local 127-acre vegetable farm. Students studying education spend at least 30 hours a semester working in nearby schools or after-school programs. Students interested in healthcare are invited to job-shadow surgeons, physician assistants, and radiologists at Central Maine Medical Center. And classical & medieval studies students work with staff at Museum L/A in downtown Lewiston on a plan to digitize the museum’s archives.

COMMUNITY-ENGAGED LEARNING IN A TYPICAL YEAR

of Bates students take communityengaged courses

community-engaged classes are available

disciplines offer community-engaged courses

community-engaged internships, research projects, or independent studies take place

hours of academically driven community-engaged work are completed

Sustainability

BY THE NUMBERS

At Bates, caring for each other also means caring for our environment.

The college switches to green electricity

Annual savings from energy-efficiency measures

Bates becomes carbon-neutral

Bates goal date to achieve carbon positivity

Student clubs focus on conservation and sustainability

Campus boilers retrofitted to use renewable energy

Green Innovation Grants awarded each year for campus sustainability projects

Annual Trashion Show, where students model garments made from recycled and thrownaway materials

NATURAL WONDERS

Visitors are often surprised to find that along with academic buildings and residence halls, the Bates campus is home to both a “mountain” and a “lake.”

Lake Andrews is so little, we call it the Puddle. And at 381 feet, Mount David earns a description as a “tall rock outcropping” in a local trail guide. They’re ours — and we love them.

Mount David makes a great sledding hill on a snowy day. And every January the Outing Club cuts a hole in the lake for Puddle Jump, a longtime polar plunge tradition.

The geographic variety of Bates’ campus is also a good introduction to what makes living in northern New England special. Parts of Maine are wild and untouched.

Parts are famous and majestic, like Acadia National Park. Others represent the culmination of a lifelong goal, like Mount Katahdin, the northern terminus of the Appalachian Trail.

Our pristine coast, vast mountain ranges, marshland, and rivers are ripe for exploration in all four seasons. They’re also within an hour’s drive of Lewiston.

Take Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area. This public nature preserve on the southern coast offers 600 acres of protected salt marshes, dunes, and beaches.

Bates manages the area for research and educational purposes — giving students another chance to explore Maine’s natural wonders, whether they’re studying physics, religion, or environmental science.

COURSES USING BATES-MORSE MOUNTAIN AS A CLASSROOM

Avian Biology

Lost Beaches of Maine

The Nature of Spirituality

Coastal Hazards

Conservation Biology

Earth Surface Environments and Environmental Change

Limnology and Paleolimnology of Maine Lakes

Sedimentary Processes and Environments

Brand Culture Building

(Short Term practitioner-taught course)

The Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area,a600-acrelivinglaboratoryof protected salt marshes, dunes, and beaches,ismanagedbyBatesfor conservation, research, and education.

NATIONAL CHAMPIONS

VARSITY TEAMS

BOBCAT PRIDE RUNS DEEP. ABOUT 40 % OF OUR STUDENTS PARTICIPATE IN VARSITY SPORTS EACH YEAR.

ALL-AMERICA AWARDS

CLUB TEAMS

ATHLETICS

Bates is a charter member of the NESCAC (New England Small College Athletic Conference). We compete against fellow members Amherst, Bowdoin, Colby, Connecticut College, Hamilton, Middlebury, Trinity, Tufts, Wesleyan, and Williams.

OLYMPIANS

THEATER PRODUCTIONS

LARGE-SCALE ART EXHIBITIONS

& ARTS

The performing and visual arts are well represented at Bates. Every year you’ll find hundreds of opportunities to express yourself — and to be inspired by leadingedge artists. That’s true whether you major in dance or physics.

MUSIC AND VOICE ENSEMBLES

HIGH-PROFILE LITERARY READINGS

INTERNATIONALLY CELEBRATED DANCE FESTIVAL

Open-ended

— Andrew Kennedy, chemistry and biochemistry professor

“Idon’t want my students to just think they’re scientists. I want them to think they’re humanists as well. That’s the value of the Bates education. ”

FIND YOUR PURPOSE

When you understand what drives you to learn, grow, and thrive, you’ll have a more satisfying relationship with work throughout your life. That’s the idea behind Purposeful Work at Bates.

Most colleges offer career counseling and help with job applications. Our Center for Purposeful Work goes way beyond jobs or careers. We focus on the whole person — your beliefs, your strengths, your interests — and infuse concepts of meaningful work into all aspects of your time at Bates.

With each new Purposeful Work experience, you’ll consider whether a given role feels right for you, and why. By the time you graduate, you’ll have a clear idea of the values you want reflected in your life after college. And you’ll have a professional network and the practical experience to help you make it happen

WITH BATES’ CENTER FOR PURPOSEFUL WORK

GALLUP-BATES RESEARCH

A nationwide study of college students, parents, and recruiters of recent grads found:

Less than half of college graduates nationwide find purposeful work

Graduates who align their work with their interests, values, and strengths are three times more likely to experience high purpose in work

Graduates with high purpose in work are 10 times more likely to have high overall wellbeing

Purpose and Meaning

PURPOSEFUL WORK LEADER HELPS STUDENTS MAKE FULFILLING CHOICES

Hoi Ning Ngai of the Bates Center for Purposeful Work has a notion. A couple of them, in fact. She and the team at the center “focus on the notion of purpose and the notion of meaning.”

Highly regarded in U.S. higher education for its distinctive approach to career preparation, the Bates Center for Purposeful Work is led by talented professionals like Ngai who guide students as they explore and reflect on common themes in their academic work, campus and community activities, and relationships with peers and mentors.

And there’s lots to explore. From paid summer internships to academic courses taught by visiting practitioners in fields like digital marketing and national security journalism, the Bates Center for Purposeful Work helps students identify paths toward work and careers that feel purposeful and meaningful to them — discovering the joy and power that arise from aligning who they are with what they do.

Ngai highlights the questions that students should ask themselves:

“What are the things that I am interested in? Why am I interested in them? What are my strengths, what are my values?” The answers, Ngai says, help contribute to “feeling fulfilled, whether at Bates, in work, or with anything you're looking to do in life.”

Hoi

ABOVE: Kendall Williams ’23 of Phenix City, Ala., used a Purposeful Work internship to explore international consulting with the firm Accenture in Houston.

Ning Ngai

In order to consider and find purpose and meaning in life, we need to engage in deep exploration and critical reflection about what we truly care about.”

Practical Tools and Teaching

INTERNSHIPS AND JOB SHADOWING:

Bates Purposeful Work Internship Program offers 120 paid summer internships a year, drawing on a network of 70 core employers. Job shadowing also allows students to share a day in the life of alumni at workplaces such as Netflix, Nike, and the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

PURPOSEFUL WORK INFUSION PROJECT:

Across the curriculum, in over 53 Purposeful Work Infusion classes last year, Bates professors addressed the question, “How does the material we are studying relate to our understanding of purpose and work?”

PRACTITIONER-TAUGHT COURSES:

We invite alumni and other leaders in their fields to teach during Short Term. These fast-paced classes let students gain practical skills, expand their networks, and understand workplace dynamics.

PURPOSEFUL WORK UNPLUGGED:

This Q&A with alumni features stories of success and failure, lessons learned, and purposeful work in their own lives. Recent participants include an Instagram content strategist, a New York Times editor, a venture capitalist, and several CEOs.

HOW TO ADULT WORKSHOPS:

Many of the hard lessons of adulthood come soon after graduation, so Bates’ residence life staff and the Center for Purposeful Work aim to give students a head start. Workshop topics include how to budget in your 20s, negotiate a salary, find an apartment, or make new friends after college.

RECENT PRACTITIONERTAUGHT COURSES

Marketing with Higher Purpose for the Conscious Human taught by an alumna and marketing strategy executive

The Business of the Arts taught by a professional dancer

Advocating for The Environment taught by the former deputy director of the Maine State Planning Office

Journalism in an Age of Media Explosion taught by an alumnus and former Men’s Health editor

THE BATES APPROACH

After four years of exploration, discovery, and practical experience, Bates students have a strong sense of who they are. They’re confident about where they want to go, what they want to be, and how they will contribute to their communities.

For some, that means going straight into a new job in finance, education, or government. For others, it’s entrepreneurship, graduate study, professional degrees, or fellowships abroad.

Whatever they choose to pursue, our graduates’ self-confidence has been forged through a very Bates approach to life — one in which you learn to adapt by:

DEVELOPING

MAKING

TRYING

REFLECTING

This way of thinking means that there are no mistakes or dead ends. Each experience propels you into what’s next — allowing you to create a new way forward, without boundaries or limits.

*Then starting over again with the next challenge.

COMMITTED TO AFFORDABILITY

Sometimes figuring out if you can afford college is as stressful as choosing where to go.

As you consider Bates, you can be confident that the spirit of openness that inspired our founders lives on in our commitment to affordability.

Because of our mission to be accessible to as many students as possible, Bates doesn’t offer financial aid based on your grades or athletic ability. Our entire financial aid budget supports students with demonstrated financial need.

We will meet 100% of that need all four years. This may be through a combination of grants, payment plans, on-campus jobs, and loans.

Each family’s budget is different. Our financial aid team (you’ll get to know them as Wendy, Jaime, David, Kevin, and Nina) will work with you one-on-one to find a solution that puts a Bates education within reach.

Financial Aid Fast Facts

About half of all Bates students receive financial aid.

$40M million in institutional grant aid

When you study abroad, your aid travels with you

Average federal student loan debt for the Class of 2022 was $13,531 — less than half the national average

The average need-based grant for the Class of 2025 was $54,504

All About the Class of 2021

of 2021 graduates for whom Bates has information were settled in a job, graduate school, fellowship, internship, or other opportunity within six months of graduation.

of Class of 2021 graduates who applied were accepted to dental school.

CAREER FIELDS

Bates has been named a Top Producer of Fulbrights for 11 straight years.

of students and alumni who worked with the Medical Studies Committee were accepted to medical school, compared to a 42% national average.

Exposure to a range of ideas and disciplines leads our graduates into many careers — often in several different fields over the course of their working lives.

The top four fields for recent graduates are:

Education 19%

Healthcare 15%

Finance/Banking 8%

Consulting 6%

Other top fields for Bobcats include consulting, government, law, nonprofits, and sports/recreation.

of Class of 2021 graduates who applied were accepted to law school.

EMPLOYERS

Bates graduates are employed by some of the top performing and most innovative organizations in the world, including:

Center for Court Innovation

Dana Farber Cancer Institute

The Estée Lauder Companies Inc.

Fidelity Investments

Greater Boston Legal Services

HubSpot

Massachusetts General Hospital

National Park Trust

Schuler Scholar Program

WEX Inc.

Always a Bobcat

You’ll find Bates alumni across the world and around the corner. They’re building a new learning community in Vietnam, running an organic blueberry farm in Maine, serving in Congress, launching tech startups in New York, and representing their home countries in the Olympic Games.

They want to support you, too. Thousands of alumni mentor recent graduates, conduct admission conversations, open their workplaces for job-shadowing, and organize Bates events in their hometowns. Connecting with them is easy through Bates Bridge, the Center for Purposeful Work’s student-to-alumni connection network.

PICTURED: 1. Nick Lindholm ’86, organic blueberry farmer; 2. Bryant Gumbel ’70, broadcast journalist; 3. Elizabeth Strout ’77, bestselling author; 4. Marcus and Malcolm Delpeche ’17, professional basketball players; 5. Joyce White Vance ’82, former US Attorney and current MSNBC analyst; 6. Eva Meltzer Murray ’85, year-round resident and jill-of-all-trades on Matinicus Isle; 7. Lindsey Hamilton ’05, Director of the Center for Inclusive Teaching and Learning; 8. Megan Guynes ’11, nonprofit program director.

Shaking Up Higher Education

Ngan Dinh ’02 didn’t initially set out to create Bates’ mirror image in Vietnam. But after a career as an economics consultant and professor, she’s doing just that.

Dinh is the founding dean of undergraduate studies at Fulbright University Vietnam, the country’s first liberal arts college.

“We are still in the first year,” she says. “Technically, we are a baby.”

Even in its infancy, the college in Ho Chi Minh City feels a lot like Bates. And it looks nothing like Vietnam’s traditional approach to higher education, where you choose a major at 18 and study only that subject for four years.

Fulbright University students learn to build machines using just bamboo and string. They hop from courses in Vietnamese studies to engineering to the arts, and then decide in year two or three what to

focus on. They experiment, test theories, talk back to professors — respectfully and enthusiastically.

Dinh always wanted to be of service in her home country, says retired Bates Dean of Admission Bill Hiss ’66, a longtime friend and mentor. When the Fulbright organization tapped Dinh to start a new university, she turned to the model that she knew well.

“She said sort of playfully, ‘Bill, I have to build Bates in Vietnam.’ And that’s exactly what she’s doing.”

“Ngan is encouraging the students at Fulbright to have that same sort of curious, open, involved, and questioning approach to their education.”

Ngan Dinh ’02

BATES ALUMNA BRINGS LIBERAL ARTS TO VIETNAM

Pettengill Hall (cozy place to study)

Lake Andrews (home to the Puddle Jump)

Garcelon Field

(for all the athletic moves)

Mt. David

(a quick mountain view)

Lake Auburn (field work hot spot)

PROFILE: CLASS OF 2026

CLASS SIZE — 520

ADMISSION RATE — 13.7%

YIELD RATE — 46.1%

FINANCIAL AID

Class of 2026 total grant aid

$12.4 million

Portion of the Class of 2026 receiving Bates grant aid 44%

Portion of the Class of 2026 receiving Pell Grants 13%

Class of 2026 average financial aid package $55,504

GEOGRAPHIC

Middle Atlantic 24%

Midwest 7%

New England 33%

Southeast 5% Southwest and West 21%

Outside of the U.S. 10%

DEMOGRAPHICS

Female 54%

Male 46%

U.S. students of color 29% First generation to college 12%

Non-U.S. citizens 10%

CLASS STATS

EDUCATION

Public/charter high school 54% Independent/private high school 46%

TESTING

Bates has been a national leader in the test-optional movement for three decades. In October 1984, the Bates faculty voted to make standardized testing optional for admission. For those who submitted testing, the middle 50% had score ranges of:

SAT Evidence Based

Reading and Writing 710-740

SAT Math 650-710

ACT Composite 33-34

Numbers are current as of August 5, 2022.

YOU CAN BE OPEN HERE.

The (aptly named) Maine Coast Chillin’ trip at Hermit Island Campground explores the sites of Maine’s coast (and beaches!) just south of the Brunswick/Bath area. On this trip, you’ll take excursions to the Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area, as well as to nearby Popham Beach State Park.

GET TO KNOW US

EXPLORE

There are lots of great ways to get to know Bates. We invite you to take our YouVisit virtual tour, view our online guided tour, attend an information session, and, of course, check out bates.edu. New resources are being designed and added all the time, so please check back at bates.edu/visit regularly to see what’s new and view up-to-date campus visitor policies.

CONNECT

Ready to talk about Bates with an expert? After exploring campus (virtually or in-person) or attending an information session, strike up an email conversation with a current student, reach out to your regional admission representative, or request an interview with a Bates alumnus near you. Details are at bates.edu/admission/connect

For a candid view of Bates, follow “@batescollege” on Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

APPLY TO BATES

For information on applying to Bates, including requirements (we are test-optional!), options, and deadlines, visit bates.edu/apply.

MORE INFORMATION

1-207-786-6000 bates.edu/admission admission@bates.edu

23 Campus Avenue Lewiston, ME 04240

STUDENT FINANCIAL SERVICES

1-207-786-6096 bates.edu/sfs finaid@bates.edu

44 Mountain Avenue Lewiston, ME 04240

NOTIFICATION OF NON-DISCRIMINATION POLICY

Bates College is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and providing an educational and work environment free from discrimination. The 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. Bates College adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations.

Inquiries concerning the college’s policies, compliance with applicable laws, statutes, and regulations (such as Title VII, Title IX, ADA/Section 504, and Maine Human Rights Act), and complaints may be directed to Gwen Lexow, Director of Title IX and Civil Rights Compliance, glexow@bates.edu or 207-786-6445.