Bates Magazine, Spring 2025

Spring 2025 30 Bates photographers share their favorite images.

36

38 Jonathan Adler ’00 and the healing power of how we tell our stories.

“It’s cozy here. I embrace being here for as long as I need to be here.” Page 18

How four Bates siblings from Chicago found a Lewiston “grandmother.”

OPENING THOUGHT: CARMELLA MAINOLFI TSETSI ’75

Source: Tsetsi’s reflection about her Bates friendships for the Class of 1975’s Reunion Yearbook, produced to celebrate their 50th Reunion in June.

Fifty years ago, we were brought together during a time of war and unrest in the U.S. But at Bates, there were no cell phones, no computers, no internet. We rarely watched television. We talked to each other, face-to-face, for hours on end. Those connections, forged over four short years, endure. I am grateful to grow old with women I love and admire.

Remembering Moser

I was a student of Tom Moser in the early 1970s (“Remembering Thomas Moser, the debate coach turned world-renowned furniture maker,” BatesNews, March 13, 2025). From him, I learned how to craft a meaningful argument and present a coherent and persuasive point of view. He was someone who encouraged people to act on their ideas, not just talk about them. It may have been Nike that came up with the saying “Just Do It” years later, but I remember Professor Moser as living and professing that credo.

Tom invited students to his and Mary’s restored Colonial home in New Gloucester. I remember getting a buzz on his homemade apple cider and having conversations about all kinds of things that he knew so much about. At one such visit he challenged one of my fellow students who had been a high school track star to a foot race in the back yard. I think he won.

I also visited the nascent furniture shop in the old meeting house in New Gloucester, and took one of his courses on Shaker furniture-making there. I have one of his early pieces, an unsigned pine blanket chest. Tom Moser led a very meaningful life and left an imprint on mine.

Alberto Goetzl ’74 Adamstown, Md.

Carrying Bates Values

I was encouraged when I saw President Garry W. Jenkins’ Feb. 10 message to the Bates community, “A word on recent federal actions and Bates’ commitments,” that “Bates’ long-standing commitment to supporting students, faculty, and staff from all backgrounds remains steadfast.”

Throughout my work, I carried with me the values put forth in Bates’ mission statement to “engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action.” Most recently, I trained Ethiopian professors, deans, and ministers of education on pedagogical practice through a U.S. Department of State program (now on the chopping block).

Like many proud Bates alumni, I honed my critical thinking skills precisely because of my freedom to express myself on a rich variety of topics. The friends I made, classmates who challenged me, professors who mentored me, and people I met at Bates shaped me as a person and a professional.

Now, higher education is under threat. What action is Bates taking to address the threat to the values we hold dear — those values of free speech and expression, enshrined in the Constitution,

Would We Expect Anything Else?

the very bedrock of higher educational institutions? How will history view Bates: as an institution that bowed down or one that rose to defend our mission?

Lindy Forrester ’00 Jamaica Plain, Mass. President Jenkins’ column touching on these issues is on the opposite page, and his statements and updates are at bates.edu/statements. — Editor

Recognition Deserved

It’s wonderful to see Mara Tieken honored (“Professor of Education Mara Tieken receives Kroepsch Award,” BatesNews, Feb. 4, 2025).

Mara has been a mentor and advisor to myself and my wife, Tori Zapack Baker-White ’13; she has inspired me to pursue a master’s degree, teach in the classroom, and become a field educator, and today I oversee field-based academic programs with the Wild Rockies Field Institute. I read Why Rural Schools Matter when I was taught in a one-room schoolhouse in rural Maine, and look forward to reading Educated Out!

Matt Baker-White ’13 Missoula, Mont.

If you attended Reunion, you couldn’t help but notice a member of the Class of 1980 taking a swan dive right smack in the middle of President Jenkins’ address after the Alumni Parade. Well, that was me, suffering an attack of vasovagal syncope (a fainting spell!) not a protest to the speech. The bad news is that I managed to interrupt a wonderful speech and inconvenience my fellow graduates. The good news is that I was attended to by caring alumni who just happen to be medical professionals and who selflessly offered care and comfort. (Would we expect anything else from Bobcats?). And, of course, the hospital released me with a clean bill of health. My most sincere thanks to all those who helped out and to my caring friends who saw me through the ordeal. Sem Aykanian ’80 Marlborough, Mass.

Magazine Production Update

A redesign of Bates Magazine is in the works, the first since 2012, with a planned relaunch in 2026, making this the final issue for 2025. To guide our work, we recently emailed a readership survey inviting your input on how we tell Bates stories through text, photography, and design. Please share your feedback: It is essential to help shape a magazine that reflects what you value — and want to see — in the Bates experience.

Comments are selected from Bates social media, BatesNews, and email for relevance to Bates College. They are edited for clarity and length.

Email: magazine@bates.edu

Postal:

Bates Magazine

Bates Communications and Marketing

2 Andrews Rd. Lewiston, ME 04240

Before he became a famed furniture maker, with his workshop located in Auburn, Maine, Thomas Moser was an associate professor of speech and director of debate at Bates, 1967–1973.

The Mission Holds

at a regatta in may, when high winds promised difficult conditions, Bates rowing coach Peter Steenstra steeled his team, “It’s going to be brutal. But you just need to stay determined and gritty — because everyone is facing the same conditions.”

That spirit — facing headwinds with resilience and resolve — feels apt today. At Bates, we lean into challenges with purpose. And in moments of turbulence or uncertainty, we are guided by our mission: to engage the transformative power of a liberal arts education, to foster informed civic action, to ensure access and belonging, and to prepare students for lives of purpose, meaning, and impact.

Today, in a time of heightened uncertainty, our mission feels not only enduring but more relevant and essential than ever.

This spring, I was proud to share news of Bates’ new partnership with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that connects exceptional high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with leading colleges and universities.

In uncertain times, this is a reaffirmation. We have long known that talent exists everywhere but understood that opportunity does not. And we know that our communities and our nation benefit when colleges are able to welcome exceptional students from all backgrounds and prepare them for lives of meaning, leadership, and impact.

We move forward, too, with strength in our financial stewardship. After a comprehensive review process by the Investment Committee of the Board of Trustees, our decision to partner with Investure for our endowment management reflects the college’s commitment to fiduciary excellence and to sustaining the resources that make a Bates education both possible and powerful.

At Commencement, I said that living in uncertain times is not something new. For example, 50 years ago, Bates seniors at Commencement were warned of an uncertain future threatened by global overpopulation.

Commencement

Bates is not adrift in the storm. We are purposeful and steady. We row forward together.

We will always face uncertainty. Life is defined by change, by the unexpected, by the unknown and always unknowable. The good news, then and today, is that our graduates have the tools to confront uncertainty. They have fortitude, perseverance, and sustained commitment — even in the face of challenges, setbacks, plateaus, and disappointment.

Our graduates know how to problem-solve, to engage across differences, to make connections that matter. We believe these are the elements of a meaningful life for our graduates, and we are certain that these elements drive change for the greater good. This is why our world needs Bates graduates. This is why Bates is essential.

Our progress reminds us that Bates is not adrift in the storm. We are purposeful and steady. We row forward together. I invite you — and I ask you — to share your Bates story. Talk about what Bates means to you and what Bates makes possible.

Speak to your neighbors, your elected officials, your community members. Be an ambassador for Bates and for the role liberal arts colleges and higher education play in fueling innovation, strengthening democracy, and preparing effective new leaders. This is a time for advocacy. It is a time for truth-telling. It is a time for unity.

If Bates is a “college for coming times,” then this is our time.

garry w. jenkins, president

At

on May 25, Bates parent Kim Miller hugs her son, Ben Miller (center) of Scarsdale, N.Y., and her other “son,” Denim Evans of Baltimore.

Bermuda High

Waving the flag of their home, family and loved ones of Amir Thomas, a politics major from Southampton, Bermuda, rise up to cheer for his graduation during Commencement on May 25, 2025.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Ella Beiser ’25, winner of the $15,000 Bobcat Ventures pitch competition, accepts the big check from judge Pranav Ghai ’93 as fellow judge Chris Barbin ’93 shares the news in Commons.

126 of 504 graduating seniors had double majors in 2025.

4 of 504 graduating seniors had self-designed interdisciplinary majors in 2025.

UCHE “It was no easy feat.”

— Uche Anyanwu ’25, an economics major from Brooklyn, N.Y., is seen celebrating the binding of his senior thesis — a relatively new tradition at Bates — on the steps of Coram Library. His thesis explored the challenging topic of how entertainment and the media affect economies in Sub-Saharan Africa. In addition to his major, Anyanwu completed coursework in music, culture, and sound; on and off campus, he is also known as Uche the Chompman, a DJ, producer, and artist.

Ancient Ruins to White Smoke

In early May, while studying Rome’s ancient past during a Short Term course, Carly Philpott ’27 and her classmates found themselves witnessing history in the making.

On May 7, the first day of voting for the new pope, the Bates students arrived at the Vatican around 6 p.m. “We expected to know the results by 7:30,” she wrote in a story for Bates News. But the hours stretched on.

“By the time the black smoke actually emerged from the chimney of the Sistine Chapel, just after 9 o’clock, we were cold, starving, and all desperately needed a toilet.”

The students — part of the classical and medieval studies course “Layers of Rome” — didn’t plan to visit St. Peter’s Square on the second night, May 8. “That was until the bells tolled, and off we dashed down the hill to the Vatican, just a kilometer from our hotel,” said Philpott, a double major in classical and medieval studies and environmental studies from Centennial, Colo.

The Eternal City, Rome never stops moving. But when the bells tolled, “this is where I feel the city stopped, somehow,” Philpott said.

One small moment stuck with her: “I accidentally jostled a nun beside me at a security checkpoint and expected her to be ticked off. Instead, she smiled at me, offered me her place, and assured me that there was no way I’d miss the papal speech.”

When Cardinal Robert Prevost emerged onto the balcony of St. Peter’s Basilica as Pope Leo XIV, the square erupted. Appreciating such a moment does not require being Catholic, Philpott said. “I am not religious in any manner, but feeling part of such a historic moment doesn’t require you to know really anything in advance. All you have to do is absorb the moment .”

THEOPHIL

SYSLO

No Bates student is named “Heather,” a popular name 50 years ago.

Big Bobcat Prizes

No Bates student is named “Jason,” a popular name 50 years ago.

Campus parties that allow drinking are called “21+” events.

An entrepreneurial newbie, Ella Beiser ’25 of Chicago won this year’s Bobcat Ventures pitch competition.

Beiser, who served as editor-in-chief of The Bates Student in her junior and senior years, pitched her idea for a Campus Reporting Network, an online platform that would help college student journalists better understand campus disciplinary systems, empowering them to report on student conduct proceedings more efficiently and confidently.

“Campus discipline is an incredibly complex system,” said Beiser, a double major in politics and Hispanic studies who earned $15,000 for her pitch, developed with Micah Clark Moody, a Ph.D. candidate at Northwestern.

Entrepreneurial work was new territory for Beiser, who gained support from staff at the Center for Purposeful Work, which manages the Bobcat Ventures program.

“This is not a space that I really see myself in,” said Beiser, crediting Purposeful Work staffers Blake Edwards and Marianne Nolan Cowan ’92 for making it “incredibly accessible, a really clarifying experience for me.”

Love for Lewiston

E. J. Holm ’25 of Hamilton, N.Y., helps install the Class of 2025’s ivy stone, guided by the college’s mason, Ron Tardif. An environmental studies major, Holm designed the stone with a heartfelt twist: a stylized map of downtown Lewiston–Auburn, marked with a heart to show Bates’ location — and its emotional home. Installed May 13 on Pettengill Hall, the stone honors the resilience of the local community in the wake of the October 2023 shootings and “the connection to Lewiston as a whole” that the seniors felt during their four years at Bates.

This group from India helped to make St. Peter’s Square a worldly place during the conclave in early May.

One honors thesis explores how luck and environment shape self-respect...

Another explores dancer body image and judicious use of mirrors in studios...

Abdul Rafay ’25 (right) works with Barry Lawson, the Colony Family Professor of Digital and Computational Studies, in the course “Data Structures and Algorithms” in Pettengill Hall. Rafay learned computer science skills in his DCS coursework to apply to his biochemistry major.

Double Meaning

An April gathering in Commons celebrated both the release of Therí Pickens’ first poetry collection, What Had Happened Was, and her appointment as the Charles A. Dana Professor of English and Africana.

Charles A. Dana

It was a spotlight month for Pickens. Appearing on the Maine Public radio show Maine Calling in April, Pickens described what it’s like to create a poem. “There’s usually some sort of music,” she said, “some sort of thought, some sort of observation that scratches my temple from the inside of my head — this urgent thing that’s begging to be let out on paper.”

Pickens said she trusts that her audience will connect with her through such shared human experiences, situating her poetry “in the vein of observational comedians. They see things and observe them and observe their absurdity and then tell you about it.”

Professor of English and Africana Therí Pickens reads from her debut collection of poetry at a campus gathering in April.

Another explores how feminist wit in Shakespeare’s comedies resists patriarchy...

Another explores how star-formation rates drive outflows in distant galaxies...

Then There Were 37

Digital and computational studies is now the college’s 37th academic major, approved by a faculty vote in March.

Highly interdisciplinary, the Bates DCS program offers courses that link digital studies to subjects like theater and neuroscience, while also offering courses that teach essential skills of computer science.

Majors will gain “sufficient technical background across computational fields of study,” says Barry Lawson, the Colony Family Professor of Digital and Computational Studies. “They will also learn how to think critically about and evaluate the impacts of the technology we’re building — the choices we’re making and who is involved in making those choices.”

Funded by gifts totaling $19 million from several Bates families, the DCS program was founded in 2016 with a minor established in 2021.

Another explores how gun violence in Lewiston affects local schools and staff.

and Francophone Studies Alex Dauge-Roth. A recent paper by Assistant Professor of Politics Lucy Britt examines the use of human remains and violent imagery at such memorials.

THIS JUST IN

A sampling of recent faculty-authored articles

Contentious Vulnerability: The Case of Rwandan Genocide Memorials

Author: Lucy Britt (politics) • Publication: Memory Studies • What It Explains: How the use of human remains and violent imagery at Rwandan genocide memorials — often criticized by Western scholars — can, when framed inclusively, foster recognition of shared human vulnerability and resist dehumanizing political power.

Truman to Peeler

Since high school, Matthew Peeler ’26 of New York City has kept a “Constitutional Journal,” filled with charts and commentary on U.S. law.

Now a politics major just returned from studies at Oxford University, Peeler has earned a prestigious Truman Scholarship, one of just 54 Truman awards offered in 2025.

He is the third Bates student since 2020 to receive a Truman, considered the premier graduate scholarship for aspiring U.S. public service leaders.

Peeler plans to pursue a career in constitutional litigation and gun reform. The Lewiston shootings in October 2023 deepened Peeler’s focus on gun violence, he says, shaping his legal philosophy that constitutional rights to both arms and security can and must be balanced.

Peeler has earned a prestigious Truman Scholarship, one of just 54 Truman awards offered in 2025.

Adolescents’ Race Consciousness Strengthens Broader Awareness of Societal Inequality

Author: Elena Maker Castro (psychology) • Publication: Child Development • What It Explains: How adolescents who actively reflect on race and racism are likely to develop a broader understanding of systemic inequality, findings that suggest creating space for youth to engage with race can shape their views of societal fairness.

Cryptic Coral Diversity Is Associated With Symbioses, Physiology, and Response to Thermal Challenge

Author: Justin Baumann (environmental studies) and coauthors • Publication: Science Advances • What It Explains: How genetically distinct coral populations in Panama, shaped by their environments and microbial partners, respond differently to heat stress, insights that help scientists better predict reef survival amid climate change.

Distinct Latitudinal Gradients Define Holocene Fire Trends Across the Southeastern USA

Author: Nicholas Balascio (earth and climate sciences) and coauthors • Publication: Quaternary Science Reviews • What It Explains: How fire history during the Holocene in the southeastern U.S. reveals northsouth patterns tied to precipitation, filling a gap in fire-ecology research for an understudied region.

ALEX DAUGE-ROTH

In 2009, Bates students visit the Murabi Genocide Memorial site in Rwanda during a Short Term course led by Professor of French

Matthew Peeler ’26

THE COLLEGE

Arrival day for the new Class of 2029 is Aug. 28, 2025.

The first day of classes for the fall semester is Sept. 3, 2025.

Do You Mindful?

Commencement speaker Angela Duckworth began her address on May 25 by asking everyone — graduates, families, faculty, and staff — to hand their phones to someone nearby. Onstage, she swapped phones with President Garry W. Jenkins (as honorand Deval Patrick looked on), prompting laughter and full participation across the Historic Quad. The exercise, she explained in her speech, was about “situation modification,” a powerful way to shape our surroundings for success. “This is what mindfulness looks like in the digital age,” said Duckworth, a psychologist and author of Grit

QuestBridge Equation

Bates is the newest partner with QuestBridge, a national nonprofit that connects high-achieving students from low-income backgrounds with leading institutions of higher education.

With the addition of Bates, as well as Harvard College and the University of Richmond in Virginia, QuestBridge has partnerships with 55 U.S. colleges and universities.

“Our partnership with QuestBridge strengthens our ability to empower exceptional students from all backgrounds, preparing them for lives of meaning, leadership, and impact,” said President Garry W. Jenkins.

QuestBridge is well-known for success in recruiting, developing, and motivating students, beginning in high school, and helping to match students with selective colleges and universities. Through the program’s National College Match program, students can earn full fouryear scholarships to college.

Bates will enroll its first cohort of QuestBridge Scholars in fall 2026.

THEOPHIL SYSLO

Equity, Inclusion, and Antiracism is the newest (2020) trustee committee.

Parking ticket appeals must be made within 7 days.

Vehicles with repeat parking violations can be banned from campus.

Endowment Shift

Bates has shifted its endowment management to the fullservice investment firm Investure.

“We look forward to a strong relationship with Investure as we seek to grow the endowment and its capacity to contribute to the college’s operating budget through strong risk-adjusted investment performance, generous philanthropy, and sustainable spending,” said Bates President Garry W. Jenkins.

The shift to Investure aims to position the Bates endowment — whose market value stood at $446.8 million at the close of the 2024 fiscal year — for long-term, sustainable growth.

The endowment supports everything from scholarships to campus maintenance, as seen here as a worker paints the college seal on the Lane Hall pediment on May 22, 2024.

Senior Leadership Changes

Three transitions took effect July 1 for President Garry W. Jenkins’ senior leadership team.

Joanne Roberts has joined Bates as vice president for academic affairs and dean of the faculty. A noted public economist, Roberts comes to Bates from Yale-NUS College, an international joint venture of Yale University and the National University of Singapore, where she served as president. Roberts succeeds Malcolm Hill, who will return to the Bates faculty as professor of biology and earth and climate sciences after a sabbatical.

Leigh Weisenburger, the college’s vice president for enrollment and dean of admission and financial aid, is now vice president for institutional affairs and secretary to the Board of Trustees. A recognized expert in test-optional admission, Weisenburger led Bates’ enrollment program beginning in 2012, helping to grow Bates’ reputation, expand access, and shape the college’s most diverse and academically talented classes. She succeeds Michael Hussey, who joined Bates in 2012 as a key institutional strategist, steward of governance, and trusted advisor. Hussey will become a senior advisor to President Jenkins.

Scan for more information on the

In fiscal year 2025, which ended June 30, the college drew $21.8 million from the endowment to support all aspects of the institution and its mission, from financial aid and faculty salaries to ongoing maintenance of college facilities.

Founded in 2003, Investure is an independent, employeeowned firm serving a select group of colleges, universities, and private foundations. The firm manages approximately $19 billion in assets, with clients including Haverford, Macalester, and Middlebury colleges.

Scan here for a comprehensive overview of the Bates endowment and how its growth shapes the college’s future.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Joanne Roberts

Leigh Weisenburger

Michael Hussey

Bates leadership team.

BATES IN BRIEF SPRING 2025

The men’s first varsity 8 earned a bronze medal at the IRA National Championship.

The women’s first varsity 8 earned a bronze medal at the NCAA Championship.

Four Shut the Door

Four Bates pitchers combined for a nohitter in a 17–0 win over the University of Maine at Farmington on April 2 at Leahey Field.

Accomplished on a raw 42-degree day, the feat is believed to be the first nine-inning no-hitter since Bates began keeping baseball records in 1872. On March 28, 2004, at Leahey Field, Mike Kinsman ’05 threw a five-inning no-hitter against the University of Maine at Presque Isle in a game halted due to the mercy rule, with Bates ahead 10–0.

Ian McAslan ’25 of Baltimore pitched the first five innings to get the April 2 victory. After he was pulled because he was recovering from arm issues and

he had returned to the dugout, he upheld the old baseball lore that speaking of a no-hitter is a jinx. “You can’t do that,” he said. “Anytime somebody tried to talk to me about it, I was just like, ‘Yeah, it’s a good game so far.’”

A few days later, McAslan said that

“you don’t want to get too high on it because there’s an entire season to play.” Still, he added, “wherever you choose to go to college, wherever you decide to make your impact, to do something like this — and actually have your name etched in the books — is really cool.”

Joined at center by their catcher, Max Dushney ’28 of Ashland, Mass., are, from left, the pitchers who no-hit the University of Maine at Farmington: Ian McAslan ’25 of Baltimore, Max Dio ’26 of Wellfleet, Mass., Christopher McGrail ’25 of Dedham, Mass., and David Miller ’25 of Franklin Lakes, N.J.

Max Cory ’26 exults after winning the 100-yard freestyle at the NCAA Championships in March.

AARON MORSE

178 spring athletes earned NESCAC All-Academic honors.

Making a Splash

’25 won the 2025 Donovan Award, ultimate frisbee’s highest honor.

Max Cory ’26 of Dublin, Calif., made Bates history on March 22, becoming the college’s first NCAA swimming champion by winning the 100-yard freestyle in record time.

Cory swam the race in 42.88 seconds, fast enough to break the NCAA Division III record — and silence his own doubts. “Historically I am a huge finals choker,” he admitted. “So I just really wanted the win, and then lo and behold, the record came with it.”

The moment was more than a personal triumph. “It’s a career-defining swim for me,” he said. “But more importantly, it’s going to garner more attention to Bates as a program as a whole, to help it grow into something even greater.”

Backed by a supportive family — “I’d be nothing without them” — Cory bounced back from a second-place finish in the 50-yard freestyle two days earlier. “Thank God I somehow mustered up the courage and got up on the blocks and made it happen.”

A biochemistry major, Cory will spend the summer in the lab of Ryan Bavis, the Helen A. Papaioanou Professor of Biological Sciences, supporting an NIH-funded project on Sudden Infant Death Syndrome.

And next season? “I was pumped when I saw the record go down,” he said. “But I know I’ve got so much more in me.”

Crossing the Poolaware

Besides creating national champions (see the Max Cory ’26 story), Bates swimmers and divers have a creative streak too, as seen in this group photo from the team’s annual media day photo shoot.

Since it’s important for a team to be on the same page, and rowing in the same direction, the first-years on the squad paid homage to Emanuel Leutze’s famed painting Washington Crossing the Delaware

For props, the Bobcats scoured Tarbel pool. They used a large stock tank (used by divers in practice to keep warm between dives) as the boat and styrofoam noodles as the oars, topping it off with a Bates flag to stand in for the American flag.

The Bobcat Swim Camp runs over the summer on campus.

Daniel Snider

Max Cory ’26 of Dublin, Calif., poses with his NCAA championship trophy in the Alumni Gymnasium trophy lobby.

THEOPHIL

SYSLO

ARTS & CULTURE

A current Museum of Art exhibition spans 60 years of Ralph Steadman’s art.

RalphSteadman:And AnotherThing features 149 artworks and 9 presidential portraits.

Barking Up the Right Trees

Sophie Hafter ’25, a theater major from New York City, maneuvers among the birch trees on Alumni Walk after a February snowfall.

She’s also holding a birch tree — of a kind: a birch trunk she created from paper, cardboard, and paint as part of her work as stage manager, and for her senior thesis in theater stage management, for The Seagull, staged at Schaeffer Theatre in March.

She learned how to create textures like the faux trees, which became part of The Seagull set evoking a Russian country estate, while studying abroad at Rose Bruford College in Sidcup, England, during her junior year, focusing on scenic arts at the performing arts school.

“I love the spectacle of theater,” Hafter says. “It doesn’t have to be real. It can still be telling a story that has a moral at the end, but it can be this happy, crazy thing.”

Steadman drew a Bates bobcat for the exhibition. It might be yowling. Or spitting.

First Dance

Lola Buczkowski ’25 (left) of Jersey City, N.J., achieved a Bates milestone this spring, completing the first honors thesis in dance. Here, she performs in My Love Is Like Eternity, which she choreographed and directed as part of her thesis, in the college’s Immersive Media Studio, located in Coram Library. Buczkowski will expand her choreographic and performance skills by pursuing M.F.A studies in the fall at the University of Iowa, widely considered one of the top graduate dance programs in the country. At center (partially hidden) is Lydia Frew ’25 of Norwich, Vt., and at right is Adelle Welch ’25 of Livingston, Mont.

A life-size bronze of Hunter S. Thompson also appears in the exhibition.

Steadman says: “Don’t think about style, just think about drawing honestly.”

Sam Gamber ’25 of Marlborough, Mass., took “most creative” for a cake inspired by the children’s book

Books You Can Bite Into

Ladd Library introduced a temporary, tasty book collection in April during the fourth annual Bates Edible Books Festival, as faculty, staff, and students gathered on the first floor to admire — and snack on — 11 creations inspired by literary works.

Entries ranged from literal recreations of book covers to fictional treats and clever puns. Grey McGloon ’21, an access services assistant, entered “Lime and Punishment by Fyodor Donut-oyevsky,” chocolate doughnuts topped with mint and lime frosting.

Sam Gamber ’25 of Marlborough, Mass., took “most creative” for her

cake inspired by the quirky children’s book Llama Llama Red Pajama by Anna Dewdney, which she fondly remembers her mom reading to her as a child.

Her entry featured a red velvet cake enclosed in a graham cracker frame and topped with colorful fondant, mimicking a bed covered in a quilt. From beneath the fondant, a llama’s gravity-defying torso — sculpted from crisped rice cereal treats, also coated in fondant, and held in place by a wire — poked out, with its head hovering several inches above the bed.

“There’s one wire holding up the pillow and then another holding up his neck,” Gamber said. “And then other than that, it’s just Rice Krispies and prayer.”

Llama Llama Red Pajama

Michael Staffenski, executive chef of Dining Services and an Edible Book judge, takes a taste test of a sugar-fueled spectacle by Perrin Lumbert, interlibrary loan assistant, that pays homage to the book Maximalism, a celebration of lavish, eclectic, and exuberant interior design. Ready for his bite is Aidan Bergeron ’27, a library student worker from Pelham, Mass.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

PHYLLIS GRABER

LEWISTON

The Lewiston city seal includes a train trestle over the Androscoggin River.

What’s in a Name:

Nash

It’s the answer to this great Bates trivia question: What is the oldest building on the Bates campus? It’s not Hathorn Hall (1856), but Nash House, an early 19th-century farmhouse located on College Street that’s now a student residence.

Nash House

Nash House is described on the Bates housing website as a “quaint house with a small, but great community” occupying five singles, three doubles, and one triple.

The Greek Revival building is three houses down from Campus Safety, aka the Hobby Shoppe, depending on your Bates generation.

The Auburn seal depicts a spindle with shoes at the outside points.

The Greatest Returns

A 10-foot bronze statue of the late boxing legend Muhammad Ali, honoring his victory in Lewiston 60 years ago, was dedicated in Lewiston in May. The statue is located on Main Street outside Bates Mill No. 5.

On May 25, 1965, Ali knocked out Sonny Liston to retain the heavyweight boxing title. The unlikely location of the fight was The Colisée, then called the Central Maine Youth Center.

The Lewiston Evening Journal sports editor, Norman Thomas, was spot-on when he reported the next day that the fight, though only one minute long, would be remembered as great because it would give “food for argument for years to come.”

Ali’s knockout punch is famously known as the “phantom punch.” The fans, sportswriters, Bates students hired to run film for photographers, and certainly Liston never saw it, wrote the Evening Journal

Prior to the college’s purchase in 1996, the farmhouse was for many years the home of August Buschmann, professor of German from 1928 to 1971, his wife, Elizabeth, and their family.

Nash-ville

During the first half of the 19th century, no houses stood where the Bates campus now is. Downtown Lewiston “was

Sculptor Zenos Frudakis poses in late 2024 next to the clay version of his Muhammad Ali statue, an early version of the final bronze statue that came to Lewiston in May.

very far away,” the Lewiston Daily Sun noted in 1929. Then came Ammi Nash, who, in 1849, eight years before Hathorn Hall opened, built the first house “behind the mountain,” Mount David, the Lewiston Journal reported

Cash for Nash

In 1856, Nash sold 20 acres of his farmland for $10,000 to the trustees of the newly

FRUDAKIS

The Lewiston motto is “Industria,” or “Industry.”

The Auburn motto is “VestigiaNullaRetrorsum,” or “No Backward Steps.”

Good to See You!

On sunny spring days, Bobcats around campus congregate in the open — and they love appearing on the college Instagram.

But if you know about feline bobcats and their secretive lifestyle, you might wonder if this one regrets getting caught — blurry and all — on a camera trap in Lewiston.

Last fall, from Sept. 24 to Nov. 11, biology major Fiona Wilson ’25 and Assistant Professor of Biology Eric LeFlore set up 36 Bushnell trail cameras across 18 stations in the Lewiston–Auburn area, in both rural and urban locations.

Aided by visual attractants (turkey feathers and small tin pie plates) plus a scent lure, the cameras captured photographs of dozens of fishers, foxes, and coyotes — but only one bobcat.

“They are a cryptic species,” says LeFlore, who brought Wilson into the camera-trap project for her biology capstone.

Bobcats have not been studied in more than 50 years in Maine, says LeFlore, so at the state level, “there is interest in better understanding bobcat distributions.” He hopes that the camera system, when scaled up, could become a “viable tool for studying this cryptic species.”

Aware that there are probably more bobcats in the area than what the cameras captured last fall, LeFlore is tinkering with his setup and adjusting camera locations to maximize

chartered Maine State Seminary. Then open and treeless, the acreage roughly comprises today’s Historic Quad. At the time, College Street was “bordered by stumps, ferns, and the usual wild growth to be found along country roadsides.”

Way Back to Weymouth

The Nash family in Lewiston traces its roots to an immigrant settler in Weymouth, Mass.,

Lewiston Public Works recycles Christmas trees into mulch.

It Sounds Fun

Mikaila Whitaker Bennett ’28 of Rowley, Mass., demonstrates the Doppler effect using a Nerf rocket with Jorah Robbins, age 7 of Auburn, during the annual Astronomy Extravaganza on April 14 in the Gray Athletic Building.

As part of the station “Doppler’s Dynamic Dance of Sound,” Bates students explained how sound waves compress as an object moves toward you — raising the pitch of the sound — and expand as it moves away, lowering the pitch. (Think of the changing pitch of a siren as it approaches and departs.)

The Lewiston-Auburn community event, created in 2017 by Associate Professor of Physics Aleks Diamond-Stanic and presented by students in his introductory astronomy course, featured dozens of interactive activities tailored to students from grades three through six.

The event is supported by the Harward Center for Community Partnerships and staff of the Department of Physics and Astronomy.

area behind an Auburn elementary school.

encounters, such as along rock walls or streams.

“We want to continue having a robust bobcat population in Maine and make sure that state conservation and management efforts are in line with what’s actually going on,” LeFlore says.

“But we just don’t know yet.”

Nash House... a “ quaint house with a small, but great community” with five singles, three doubles, and one triple.

in the early 1600s. Ammi Nash was the son of noted Lewistonian Col. John Nash, a landowner and swashbuckling veteran of the War of 1812 who ran a tavern on Main Street in Lewiston near where 7-Eleven now is.

Nash Street Bates’ Nash House is perhaps the only place name in Lewiston that recalls the Nash family. Until the early 1990s, a street named Nash existed near Central Maine Medical Center, but no more.

Nash House has changed very little from 1901 (top) to a winter day in 2025.

This bobcat was photographed on Oct. 30, 2024, by a camera trap located in a conservation

LEWISTON

JOURNAL

JAY BURNS

PHYLLIS GRABER

JENSEN

FIONA

WILSON/ERIC LEFLORE

The bigness of Ladd Library is on display in this image taken early on March 12. Its sharply sloped roof presents a tall, angular façade to Alumni Gym and Gray Athletic Building (out of view at left), while tapering down in scale to meet the smaller, equally historic Coram Library, to which it is joined by a terrace. Other buildings surrounding Ladd are, clockwise from upper left, Chase, Carnegie, and Coram. The brick buildings toward the rear and across Campus Avenue are Chu Hall and the Bonney Science Center.

Research librarians like Tom Hayward, seen here circa 1985, created the library’s student-first culture. The sign on his desk reads, “Please interrupt me. Your question is more important than what I’m looking so busy doing.”

‘A Helluva Building’

BIG, MODERNIST, AND OPEN FOR 17 AND A HALF HOURS A DAY, LADD LIBRARY BRIMS WITH BOOKS, OF COURSE — BUT ALSO OVERFLOWS WITH SUPPORT FOR STUDENTS AND THRUMS WITH ENERGY, INQUIRY, AND INTENTION

More than 220 students support the library’s 20-plus professional staff, including seniors Brandon Villalta Lopez ’25 (left) of Nicaragua and Costa Rica, and Julia White ’25 of Orono, Maine, who are both physics majors and peer tutors.

Chris Schiff is one of Ladd Library’s research librarians, and he’s been known to ask a big question of those seeking a job at the library: “What’s a library?”

It’s a big question for a big building — the second-largest academic building on campus — and to figure out the answer, we spent March 12 in Ladd Library, from around 7 in the morning to the library’s 1 a.m. closing.

Bates’ library is a large modernist structure, a runner-up to Pettengill Hall as Bates’ biggest academic building. Designed by The Architects Collaborative, led by Sally Harkness, the library opened in 1973. It was a daring break in architectural style for Bates, prompting the late Phil Isaacson ’47, noted art critic and author, to admiringly call it “a helluva good building.” It was named for George and Helen Ladd in 1979, recognizing the couple’s extensive service and generosity to Bates.

Much of the learning that happens in Ladd Library is quiet — from screen to student, or book to student. Some exchanges are a bit more audible,

like those between a senior hunting for that last, crucial thesis source and an experienced research librarian. And in the evening, it gets downright loud — on the main floor, where students chat and gather around tables, or in the Peer Learning Commons, where they tackle problems together with peer tutors by their side.

“We know that students learn best when they can interact with other people, when they’re in collaborative learning environments,” says Pat Schoknecht, the vice president for Information and Library Services and college librarian since 2018.

“And so the library needs to be a place where they can find the resources that they need, using that word very broadly — a place where they can either work alone because that’s what they want to do, or in pairs or small groups.”

Schoknecht recalls what someone once told her: “The library is the place where intentional learning should be happening.” In that “let’s go!” spirit, Schoknecht and her team “want to provide the services that help members of our community accomplish whatever that intention is.”

What’s a library? Here’s what we found. — HJB

7:30 A.M.

The usually buzzing first floor of Ladd is silent. However, if you open the stairwell you’ll hear a steady scraping of grit on the concrete that tells you Emmon Blackburn ’26 of Nardin, Okla., is at work as a stair sweeper, a student job that’s been around for more than a century.

Blackburn is here five days a week, starting at 7 a.m., to sweep the three and a half staircases inside Ladd, indie rock playing in their headphones. “It’s a good job if you can bring yourself to get up early,” Blackburn says. “And in the winter it’s early enough I get to see the sunrise, which is nice.”

7:46 A.M.

When the library officially opens, Salem Aqraa ’27 of Southaven, Miss., is the first one in the door. He’s come straight from his early morning rowing practice, and will shortly begin his shift as an IT Service Desk assistant.

Early in the morning, “barely anyone comes in, so I mostly study. During later shifts I like

7:30A.M.

7:46A.M.

8:25A.M.

8:26A.M.

9:03A.M.

to talk to people, though, especially professors, who come in for help more than you would think.”

8:25 A.M.

The circulation desk is near the front door, which means that whoever is on duty becomes an unofficial greeter, or concierge, for Ladd Library. This morning, it’s Sloan Phillips ’25 of Evergreen, Colo., who has worked all four years at the campus library.

The greeter role, Phillips says, “is kind of nice, to be able to see who’s coming and going and chat with whomever comes in,” and to be able to triage computer questions, printer questions, or research questions. “I like making small talk. Maybe making them feel a bit better, even if they have to talk with me because they’re waiting for their book. It’s still making a connection with another human.”

Ruslan Peredelskyi ’25 of Kyiv, Ukraine, also works at the circulation desk; he has a late-evening shift. Like Phillips, Peredelskyi enjoys the frontrow view of what faculty and students are working on.

“They tell you what caught their eye and why they need it, and they tell you about their projects, and it’s really exciting,” Peredelskyi says.

8:26 A.M.

Two juniors from Tuxedo Park, N.Y., Megan Donaghy ’26 and Lili Missbrenner ’26, begin their day early by meeting in Ladd. It’s their routine to enjoy the quiet, the light, and each other’s company.

9:03 A.M.

Among the stacks on the second floor, we find a familiar face reading the poetry of Jane Kenyon. It’s Professor Emeritus of History Dennis Grafflin, back on campus for one of his bi-weekly visits to Ladd.

The library, he says, was his favorite building on campus during his 35-year career as a Bates professor and the spot he most often returns to in his retirement.

9:36A.M.

10:13A.M.

10:20A.M.

pointed vice president for Information and Library Services and college librarian. Here, she meets with Ben Peck, who is the associate college librarian for research services.

Schoknecht’s title reflects the fact that the Bates library and IT function are joined — unusual in higher education. Two librarians before her, Gene Wiemers did the work to intertwine the two, making Bates a national leader in that area.

In the words of Professor of Sociology Emeritus Sawyer Sylvester, Weimers did more than join the two areas: He “improved each by that marriage.”

10:13 A.M.

In the back of the administrative offices on Ladd’s first floor, Jenn Michel is making music, in a fashion.

Michel is the library’s acquisitions and preservation librarian, and today her work includes binding music scores, a process that involves stitching folded sheets of music into protective folders.

Here, she uses an awl to punch holes through the fold of the sheet music and its outer cover, then threads archivalsafe string through the holes and ties a knot to secure the pages.

10:20 A.M.

Stinky books, be gone! On Ladd’s ground floor, kitty litter and cedar branches make up the secret sauce for removing odors from books.

These ingredients rest at the bottom of a large trash can, just below a small laundry hamper fitted within the can. Odorous books sent to the can sit atop the hamper for a couple of weeks, until their smells are absorbed by the litter and branches.

“The man who hired me, Ernie Muller, who was then chair of the history department all those years ago, was on the committee that designed this library, and it was one of his proudest memories of his time at Bates,” Grafflin says.

9:36 A.M.

Bates has had only 10 college librarians. The list starts with Horace Cheney, the son of Oren Cheney, founder of the college, who served in the position when he was 19 years old.

The 10th arrived in 2018, when Pat Schoknecht was ap -

While kitty litter is a common tool for removing odors, the cedar branches represent a uniquely Bates technique. Former library assistant Jane Boyle had the idea to use cedar because of its strong, pleasant smell, and the branches in Ladd are still the very ones taken from Boyle’s backyard.

10:29 A.M.

“Sherry and Carrie at the library” — that’s the library’s custodial dream team of Sherry Lessard (left), who arrives for work at 5 a.m., and Carrie VanHerzeele (right), who clocks in at 4 a.m.

Here, they’re on Alumni Walk carrying bags of reusable bowls and cups that were left in Ladd Library during the previous day’s study activity. The dishware is headed back to Commons, to restart the cycle. (Rather than a “no food” policy, the library asks students to help maintain a clean, welcoming space.)

As they keep Ladd clean and tidy, the pair find any number of misplaced and lost items throughout their shifts and, on two occasions, have found snakes in the library. “Little baby snakes,” VanHerzeele says. “Nothing venomous or anything.”

A white board affixed to the door of their shared office, featuring stick-figure drawings of both women, serves as a message board between the custodial staff and library patrons.

“That’s their way of communicating with us when we’re not here,” VanHerzeele says. “Most of the time it’s just really nice notes.”

10:29A.M.

10:45 A.M.

Three seniors — Natnael Yaregal of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, Devendra Thapaliya of Delray Beach, Fla., and Adrian Allannic of New York City — gather in the Salter Room on the third floor to work on theses and job applications. It’s a good study spot, they say: quiet, but still open to group work.

Group work is everywhere in Ladd. Nearby, Chloé Santucci ’25 of Falmouth, Maine, Josh Collins ’25 of Bodega Bay, Calif., and Madison Pavao ’26 of

Franklin, Mass., have convened at a table in the back corner on the first floor to work on a project for their cellular biochemistry course with Visiting Assistant Professor of Biology Daniel Slane.

They’re surrounded by other studious (and socializing) Batesies and just steps away from lots of help. “It’s nice,” says Santucci, “because sometimes I will get confused or not know how to do an assignment or I need help, and there’s a lot of resources.”

PHYLLIS GRABER

JENSEN

11:53 A.M.

Sav Thomson ’28 (left) of Saint Andrew, Jamaica, and Daina Velez ’25 of the Bronx, N.Y., lie on one of the square benches on the Ladd terrace enjoying a moment of sunshine.

The temperature outside has crept barely above freezing, but the bright sun beaming down on the terrace that links Ladd and Coram draws Bobcats seeking a warm spot outdoors.

Another student outside on the terrace is Olivia Reynolds ’25 of Cumberland Center, Maine, studying Buddhist traditions of death practices.

“Today, I started hearing the birds outside, and that was my first indication that spring is coming,” Reynolds says. “It’s been a long and dark winter, and now that we have more light and sun, and it’s just starting to feel like spring, that’s motivating me to be outside.”

11:55 A.M.

A few vintage card catalogs can be found, like this one in the bibliographic area. The card lists annual reports for the Federal Power Commission (now the Department of Energy) dating to 1921. The entries reflect that the Bates library is an official federal records depository, becoming Maine’s first in 1883. Because many federal documents were not originally cataloged into an online system, Bates has kept this card catalog in use over the years.

12:19 P.M.

Senna Cabenguele, a technology support specialist, wears a “Lewiston Strong” hat while working in the IT support area. At Cabenguele’s desk, old technology meets new, evidenced by a vintage Super Nintendo game console sitting beside his computer.

Nearby, his colleague Nathan Hann has 3D printed objects on his desk that colleague Keith Hord created at home. “I have them for people to play with while I work on their computer,” says Hann. The 3D items include a frog, pumpkin, sloth hanging from a tree, an ocarina (a magical

instrument from Nintendo’s Legend of Zelda series), and a lizard with a broken tail.

12:37 P.M.

At midday, community members and Batesies alike gather for “flipping the birds” — the monthly page-turning of John James Audubon’s iconic Birds of America. The edition is displayed on the first floor in an elegant wood case designed by the late Thomas Moser, the former Bates rhetoric professor who became a master furniture maker.

Pat Webber (at left), director of the Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library, does the honors, turning the page to reveal an Atlantic puffin and razorbill. On hand to offer a brief bird talk is ecologist Emily Runnells, who explains how the species build small colonies on difficult-to-reach rocky islands in the Gulf of Maine.

Bates’ Birds of America is known as the Bien edition, after the chromolithographer responsible for the images. The Bien is big: 57 pounds, with each page measuring 39 1/8 inches by 26 1/8 inches.

Its Bates provenance is equally outsized. The Bien belonged to Jonathan Y. Stanton, one of the college’s first professors and a major influence on Bates traditions and teaching from his appointment in 1863 until his death in 1918. In fact, not far from the Birds of America display case is a grand oil portrait of Stanton, painted in 1902 by Frederick Vinton.

1:08 P.M.

Salem Aqraa ’27, who had the early morning shift at the IT

Service Desk, returns for a busier shift. He is helping fellow sophomore Leighton Kelly of Cohasset, Mass., who is having wifi issues.

Occasionally, the student team gets scam calls or a request that they have to elevate to their superiors, but they are able to resolve most requests on their own, they say. “Mostly, it’s not that difficult,” says Mamadou Diallo ’25 of Somersworth, N.H. “It’s just being able to communicate well with whomever needs help and trying to understand them.”

THEOPHIL

1:52P.M.

4:51

4:14P.M.

1:52 P.M.

Alec Spiro ’25, Matt Riseman ’26, Abby Hubbard ’26, and Olivia Dorion ’26 put their heads together on a midterm project for their “Youth Sociopolitical Development” psychology course.

Here, they’re organizing flyers that they’ll post around campus. The flyers have QR codes inviting students to take a survey about their experiences with dorm damage in campus residences.

4:14 P.M.

During thesis season, Chris Schiff can often be found in his office on the first floor of Ladd, advising senior students as they complete the largest projects of their academic careers thus far.

Today, Schiff and Lauren Georgeou ’25 of New York City, are discussing Georgeou’s senior thesis, about the valuation of objects on the show Antiques Roadshow. Schiff’s office, packed with piles of piles of CDs and antique sheet music, is well-suited for an academic discussion.

Schiff and Georgeou are working on “big picture” themes of Georgeou’s thesis, tackling questions about distinguishing one’s scholarly lens from personal opinion and the purpose of asking why certain knowledge matters.

“If you can try to answer that question of why is this knowledge valuable, you really contributed to scholarly discourse,” Schiff tells Georgeou.

4:51 P.M.

The higher you go in Ladd, the quieter it becomes, which suits D.J. Mason ’28 of Naperville, Ill., just fine. Mason says he is easily distractible, so he finds study spots “away from social traffic and talking, where I can zone in on my work.” Today, that’s the very quiet third floor.

He’s doing reading for the course “Black Poetry,” taught by Dana Professor of English and Africana Therí Pickens, including 1919, a book of poetry by Eve L. Ewing about the Chicago race riots of that year, during the so-called Red Summer of violence in the U.S.

The second and third floors are dominated by the stacks, which refers to how books are “stacked” on shelving units. “Sometimes I’ll poke around and see what they’re about,” Mason says.

“There’s this history attached to them,” he says, plus what he calls an “antique functionality”: still integral to the academic experience, but Mason feels a coming change.

“Books, in my mind, make me think of sitting down and doing serious work. But maybe in coming generations, that might change. Books might not have that secondary, social cue” — they might not signal intellectual effort and concentration.

with many students coming straight from dinner in groups to go over a few calculus problems they’ve been having trouble with, or to get a writing tutor to look over their latest essay before they turn it in.

Tammy Namangale ’27 of New York City and Lilongwe, Malawi, is a writing tutor. “I love the energy in here,” she says, “Sometimes they come in for a class we’ve taken before, and they just need to vent about something, and I’m like, ‘I get

it, you know, and I can help.’ I like being that person.”

10:04 P.M.

Dylan Thomas ’25 (left) of Truckee, Calif., studies with Wyatt Hoffman ’25 of Lyme, Conn., in the Peer Learning Commons. They, along with Johannes Schwarz ’25 of Cincinnati came to the commons to cram for a biochemistry exam. Their goal? “Hopefully not to fail,” jokes Hoffman. 7:53P.M.

7:53 P.M.

Axelle Tougouma ’27 of Fada N’gourma, Burkina Faso, dons a yellow vest to begin work as a peer tutor supporting students in math courses.

To help students navigate the Peer Learning Commons, tutors wear colored vests: yellow for STEM fields and quantitative social sciences, blue for writing.

In the evening, the Peer Learning Commons space is loud — in a productive way —

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Ladd Library

BY THE NUMBERS

86,608 gross square feet, the second-largest academic building on campus behind Pettengill Hall.

2 million-plus titles available across physical and digital collections.

567,832 physical objects, including books, periodicals, documents, and media.

220-plus student workers, supporting circulation, peer tutoring, IT, and other services.

20-plus professional staff of librarians, archivists, tech specialists, and more.

12:33A.M. 12:52A.M.

12:33 A.M.

Gathered in one of the Peer Learning Commons’ public speaking and presentation studios are, top to bottom, theater majors Jack Hagan ’27 of Cape Elizabeth, Maine, Ruby Marden ’27 of Sidney, Maine, and Aidan Bergeron ’27 of Pelham, Mass. They’re watching Hamlet as they outline the play on the whiteboard. The group is the last on the groundfloor — and surprisingly enthusiastic considering the late hour.

The presentation and speaking studios are equipped with multimedia technology for students wishing to practice pitches or presentations, whether a thesis defense, job interview, or Mount David Summit poster session.

12:52 A.M.

Typically one of the last students to leave the library, Maura Ferrigno ’25 of New Providence, N.J., explains her late-night ritual to Hannah Kothari ’26, an editorial assistant for Bates Communications and Marketing. Ferrigno says lights going off signals that it’s time to end her day.

“The library’s closing time is nice because it’s putting you to bed. It’s cozy here. I find it not as sterile as other buildings on campus. I embrace being here for as long as I need to be here.”

12:54 A.M.

Late night brings a chorus of sounds. Cellphones hit tables with a distinctive thud amidst

12:54A.M.

the click and clack of keyboards. Zippers open and close as bags are packed and warm coats go on.

Since midnight, Karla Chichester of Access Services has been walking the floors, reminding students of the 1 a.m. closing time. Sometimes, she has to move within eyesight of headphone-wearing students to get their attention before issuing her reminder.

“This is part of the job that I really enjoy doing. I like seeing who is here,” she says. “We have our regulars, which we love seeing. I asked one of them, ‘Do you get tired of my kicking you out?’ They say no, that it serves as a good reminder — they tend to lose track of time.”

As the lights go off, the stacks take on a new look, she adds. “It’s a more intimate view of the collections.”

1:04 A.M.

Chichester (left), the late night timekeeper, buttons her coat, walks with her Access Services colleague Zach Sturgeon out the library’s double doors, locks them behind her. “It was a good day!” she says, putting Ladd Library to bed for its brief, deep sleep. n

Writing and reporting by Jay Burns, Alexandra DeMarco, Hannah Kothari ’26 and Ramona McNish ’28.

1:04A.M.

Picture This

SURPRISES, LAUGHS, AND FEEL-GOOD MOMENTS:

Bates photographers Phyllis Graber Jensen and Theophil Syslo share a few of their favorite images, and the stories behind them

Mirror, Mirror

If you’re wearing mirrored sunglasses, I will most likely try to create some content around it.

While photographing one of this year’s AESOP trips, “Lakes Chillin,’” which visited nearby Tripp Pond, I learned that the trip leaders, seniors Dani Levy and Eli Toffel, both from Brookline, Mass., have known each other since, well, I want to say even before high school.

While creating a few portraits, I asked them to pose and smile while I focused on the reflection in the sunglasses. This is Dani smiling; Eli is in the reflection.

Theophil Syslo

Many of the photos in this edition of Bates Photographers’ Favorites earned their favor for straightforward reasons, like how they capture intimate moments of friendship or the intensity of athletic competition.

Some made the list in a more indirect way. For example, it takes a lot to surprise Director of Photography and Video Phyllis Graber Jensen, who earned her first Bates photo credit 30 years ago. But seeing a U.S. Naval Academy officer seemingly standing at attention during a Bates squash match was a surprising sight, prompting her to select that photograph as one of her favorites of the year.

For multimedia producer Theophil Syslo, a favorite photograph might be one that prompts a laugh, like a dog trying to talk his way into a portable toilet, or one that reminds us all that when you’re “surrounded by good people, you feel good.” Combined, their perspectives and talents capture what we love about our college and community.

An Uncommons Moment

Anyone who spends time in Commons knows there are the quiet times and the not-so-quiet times. After working on a day-in-the-life feature where we spent up to 18 hours documenting staff, faculty, students, and others using the building, this photograph stood out to me.

As Dining Services staff members Diana Mba Oyana (left) and Sonia Roy finished their early dinner before the arrival of the supper crowd, they enjoyed a quiet moment. Or maybe a private joke.

To peer through a lens and “capture” the lives of others can feel very intrusive. Whatever they experienced was just for the two of them. I know nothing beyond what I observed, but that is enough.

Phyllis Graber Jensen

Eyes on the Prize

My first time seeing men’s basketball player David Omasombo ’26 of Lewiston play was in December during a winning game vs. Bowdoin in Alumni Gym. I’ve always enjoyed sports photography because it captures all sorts of vignettes of humanity: highs to lows, cheers to tears. I focused on David’s eye and the intensity channeled through his vision. Framing his head to fill the frame while using a 300mm lens allowed for creative composition. The focus on his eye helps draw the viewer along the frame, creating a sense of wonder about what’s happening in the photo. (Low-key, this looks like how I feel after shoveling my driveway at 6 a.m. in a snowstorm before heading to work.)

Theophil Syslo

Man in Uniform

In my 30th annual cycle of campus coverage, I am grateful when something novel crosses my horizon. That’s what happened when this uniformed member of the U.S. Naval Academy squash program appeared in my viewfinder during the Bobcats’ season opener.

This is Lt. Cmdr. Brian Schaus, and in addition to being a faculty member in the electrical engineering department, he is the team’s “o-rep,” the officer representative, responsible for upholding the Naval Academy’s standards of conduct, appearance, and honor.

He probably has some fun in his role, but at the Bates Squash Center he looked to be all business. Maybe it’s an issue of style. His crisply tailored and decorated uniform, his attention to decorum, and his serious expression all telegraph duty and focus over fun and pleasure — but who’s to say those two don’t go hand in hand? Not me.

Phyllis Graber Jensen

Paws, Laugh, Repeat

Dogs and laughter are like chicken soup for the soul. And if a photo of a dog can make you laugh, it’s worth sharing as a 2024 favorite. Nothing made me giggle more last year than seeing and hearing this talkative dog try to argue his way into a portable toilet during a soccer game at Russell Street Field last September. If you pair this photo with a serious quote, such as Gandhi’s “the greatness of a nation and its moral progress can be judged by the way its animals are treated,” the humor only gets better.

Theophil Syslo

Underseen

After years of wonderful opportunities to photograph arts performances in various campus stages and performance spaces, a new possibility surfaced: the high-tech Immersive Media Studio, known as the IMStudio, a space in Coram Library designed for interdisciplinary multimedia projects.

This image presents a moment from Beyond Midnight, a “durational exhibit” that allowed viewers to come and go, presented by faculty members Michel Droge, Carolina González Valencia, and Asha Tamirisa.

The captivating, dream-like 30-minute experience used undersea footage captured during an expedition off Costa Rica that Droge joined as a visiting artist. Droge, partially illuminated in this image, sits in the shadows beside a colleague, nowretired Museum of Art Director Dan Mills, as faculty and students dance in silhouette.

The picture I made felt truly collaborative. What a treat to witness such visual richness and imagine the potential for all kinds of artistry and performance in this new space on campus.

Phyllis Graber Jensen

Belonging in Every Layer

If I had to pick just one moment from 2024, this would be it. In truth, I would choose the whole event — it was just that good. When you’re surrounded by good people, you feel good. What I like most about this photograph is how well it illustrates the event, which was a welcome-back reception at the Student Center for Belonging and Community in September.

Beyond the event, the photo demonstrates storytelling, layering, and a beautiful moment between two students: Halima Guliye ’27 of Nairobi, Kenya, and Sakina Saidi ’26 of Auburn, Maine. I’ve had the privilege and pleasure of photographing Saida before, during the annual Cultural Showcase. I’m looking forward to getting to know Halima better, but I have learned that if Sakina is present, it’s worth watching and listening.

Theophil Syslo

Golden Friendship

Members of the classes of 1974 and 1975, one class coming off their 50th Reunion year, and the other getting ready for theirs in June, came together during Back to Bates for a “pass the baton” event.

I had been asked to photograph the ritual and looked forward to having a bit of fun with what I assumed would be engaged alums. Is there a nice way to say that I did not have great expectations for the situation? Probably not. But as it turns out, I caught this spontaneous — and completely unanticipated — moment between two friends from the Class of 1975, Scott Balcomb and Geri FitzGerald.

I enjoyed their laughter, and I appreciated the genuine nature of whatever transpired. The best photographs for me are usually the unanticipated ones. So in hindsight, I am grateful for the assignment and the delightful energy of Bates alumni excited for their milestone Reunion.

Phyllis Graber Jensen

THEIR Lewiston Grandmother

For the last 11 years, Carmen Thibodeau has opened her Lewiston home — and heart — to four Bates siblings from Chicago

STORY BY Mary Pols

PHOTOGRAPHY BY Phyllis Graber Jensen

ON A THURSDAY AFTERNOON IN MAY, as he’s done most Thursdays while at Bates, Jose Carmona ’25 of Chicago walked a few blocks from campus to see Carmen Thibodeau, his “Lewiston grandmother,” at her home.

During their visits, Thibodeau gave Jose everything from life advice to lemonade. He did his homework on her couch, and then they’d catch up on whatever show they were watching together (Brilliant Minds was a recent favorite). It’s been cozy, like family.

Which it practically is: Carmen, with her late husband, Richard, who died in 2022, played the same role for Jose’s three older siblings during their time as Bates students.

Since 2014, when Christopher Carmona and Alanis Carmona, who were born 10 months apart, arrived on campus with the Class of 2018, Thibodeau has helped guide and support each sibling through their Bates experience. There have been Easters and Thanksgivings together, visits to lighthouses and corn mazes, and regular trips to family favorites like Mac’s Grill in Auburn and the Fryeburg Fair.

A shelving unit in her garage served as summer storage for the Carmonas. Through these years there have been many airport runs. Farewells, but always greetings again in the fall because for more than a decade there has been at least one Carmona attending Bates and a spot on the couch for them. Homesick? Roommate problems? Starbucks cravings? Call Carmen.

The story of this connection begins even earlier, in 2011, when Richard regularly walked their Siberian husky, Wyatt, on campus. One early spring day, he struck up a conversation with Uriel Gonzalez ’11, a senior from Texas who had long admired Wyatt’s beauty. Richard mentioned he was looking forward to the Senior Thesis Exhibition, particularly so he would see artwork by a senior he’d read about who wove Indigenousinfluenced themes into his work. “I’m the artist,’” Gonzalez told him.

“My husband runs home with the dog,” Carmen Thibodeau recalls. “And he comes in, ‘Hurry up! We’ve got to go to the museum right now because we’re going to see this artist’s work and he’s coming over for a visit after.’”

Gonzalez and the Thibodeaus became fast friends. After graduating, Gonzalez took a job in Bates Admission, stopping by the Thibodeaus’ regularly. Gonzalez was becoming a U.S. citizen at that time — Richard had urged him to do so — and the Thibodeaus were there for his citizenship ceremony.

In 2013, Gonzalez took a job as a college counselor at a Chicago charter high school, where he made a point of introducing families to schools like Bates that were accessible to top-notch students regardless of their financial status. That message resonated with two of his advisees, Christopher and Alanis.

Shortly after the siblings matriculated, in 2014, Alanis recalls getting an email from Carmen and Richard. Would they like to come over? Richard could pick them up. “And I was like, OK, we’re putting a lot of trust out there,” she says. But as soon as they met Richard at Commons, fears disappeared. “He gave me grandpa vibes,” Alanis said. “They

didn’t have grandkids at the time, and our grandparents had already passed,” Alanis added. “So I think it was almost like that instant connection — you could tell they wanted grandkids as much as we wanted grandparents.”

In 2018, when Christopher and Alanis were celebrating their Bates graduation at a party at the Thibodeau home, Carmen remembers Rosa Carmona, the siblings’ mom, trying to express gratitude for all the Thibodeaus had done for them — and would do for their younger sister, Carolina ’22, who was set to arrive at Bates that fall.

“We were kind of all crying,” Carmen said. “And she was just saying, ‘You don’t know how happy and good I feel to know that you and Richard are here for the kids.’”

That weekend, Jose, just 15 years old, put on his big brother’s graduation gown in a hallway in Chu Hall. He remembers thinking, “I’ll recreate this moment someday, in my own robe.” This spring, he had that opportunity.

It’s bittersweet, though, saying goodbye to the Lewiston “granny” who has always had his back. When Carmen found out how Jose did on his senior thesis in politics (A+), she texted a few emojis. Exclamation points. Astonished face. Prayer hands and then a big thumbs up.

Will Carmen take on another Bates student as an informal host grandmother? She shakes her head; the Carmonas were special. Jose, now back in Chicago working as an analyst at J.P. Morgan, has a different prediction. And hope.

“She’ll probably find another student that needs help, just because she’s so helpful,” he says. “I would want someone to have someone they can rely on and go to for advice. If she does find a student that needs it, I would love that.” n

...it was almost like that instant connection — you could tell they wanted grandkids as much as we wanted grandparents.

LEFT: Jose Carmona ’25 poses with Carmen Thibodeau outside her home near campus a few days before his graduation.

JOSE CARMONA AND HIS SIBLINGS pose at a Bates graduation party hosted by Carmen Thibodeau in 2018. From left, Christopher ’18, Carolina ’22, Jose (then 15 years old), and Alanis ’18.

Our personal stories, and how we tell them, are more than historical facts, explains psychologist Jonathan Adler ’00. They are powerful psychological engines that can shape our identity and well-being

BY DEIRDRE STIRES AND JAY BURNS

Humans have always told stories. But only recently have we learned, thanks to researchers like Jonathan Adler ’00, that the stories we tell about ourselves shape who we are — and even how we heal.

Twenty-five years after leaving Bates, Adler is a psychologist and researcher whose sought-after expertise focuses on the area of psychology known as narrative identity. Simply put, it’s the idea that the stories we weave together, about our reconstructed past, perceived present, and imagined future, help us create meaning from what has happened to us, both the good and the bad.

A professor of psychology at Olin College of Engineering, a senior lecturer at Harvard Medical School, and editor of Personality and Social Psychology Review, Adler has dozens of academic publications to his credit, many exploring how personal narratives influence mental health and well-being.

Over the years, his oft-cited research has also resonated beyond academia. “The objective facts of our lives are what they are,” Adler told Shankar Vedantam, host of NPR’s Hidden Brain podcast, in a 2023 episode that has been downloaded more than two million times. “But our stories are where we draw connections between things, where we parse the chapter breaks of our lives.”

Our stories “are narrative acts, not historical acts. And the way we tell our stories can have big implications for our well-being.”

The national media caught on to Adler’s contributions to the field when he was still in his doctoral program at Northwestern. In 2007, The New York Times highlighted one of Adler’s early studies, which found that patients in psychotherapy who described overcoming their depression or other illness as akin to a struggle with an external enemy scored higher in well-being than those who viewed their illness as part of their identity. “[Their] story is one of victorious battle,” Adler told the Times

A few years later, Adler published what became his most-cited scholarly article: “Living Into the Story.” He and his colleagues analyzed nearly 600 personal narratives written by 47 adults in psychotherapy for issues ranging from depression and anxiety to eating disorders and relationship struggles.

As the patients’ mental health improved, their narratives evolved too. “We found that people’s stories changed in meaningful ways,” Adler tells Bates Magazine. “What was really cool is that the stories

IN 2023, Jonathan Adler ’00, a national expert in the power of our personal stories, reacts while being introduced by Associate Professor of Psychology Michael Sargent at the annual honors thesis celebration, where Adler was the guest speaker.

changed before their psychological well-being changed. It was as though people were narrating a new version of their lives — and then, a week or two later, their well-being would sort of catch up with the new story.”

Our stories don’t exist in isolation. Rather, as Adler explains, “the stories we tell about our own lives are always in dialogue with the stories that circulate in our culture.”

Every society craves and celebrates certain kinds of narratives; in America, it’s often Hallmarkstyle stories of personal redemption, where bad beginnings give way to happy endings.

“Scholars in my field call these kinds of powerful cultural stories ‘master narratives,’ and they chose that word ‘master’ quite purposefully to be provocative about the ways in which we are all subservient to some narratives,” Adler says. “And redemption is a ubiquitous, powerful master narrative in American culture.”

Redemption stories do have positive impacts. “Over and over, the theme of redemption is associated with psychological well-being,” says Adler. But there is a dark side to the culture of redemption: People feel a pressure to tell redemptive stories about negative things that happen to them. “This comes up all the time with patients that we work with in Health Story Collaborative.”

A Massachusetts-based nonprofit, Health Story Collaborative, where Adler has served as chief academic officer for more than a decade, helps patients share stories of illness and healing. In large and small venues, the collaborative’s “Healing Story Sessions” provide patients and,

PHYLLIS GRABER

JENSEN

The objective facts of our lives are what they are. But our stories are narrative acts, not historical acts. And the way we tell our stories can have big implications for our well-being.

— JONATHAN ADLER ’00

increasingly, medical providers, opportunities to share their stories.

The sessions support the idea that our life stories are not always redemptive. “When we’re working with people who have terminal illnesses, or very serious chronic illnesses, they sometimes say, ‘Happiness is not an option for me. That’s not the goal. I need to make sense of what this is all about.’ And that is valuable in and of itself,” Adler says.

Adler recalls a cancer patient who felt obliged to tell a redemptive story, how cancer taught her how much people cared for her in a way that she never would’ve known. But as she told Adler, “You know what? None of that is true. Cancer just sucks. I knew I was strong. I knew that people loved me. I didn’t need cancer to show it to me. There’s nothing redemptive about it.”

In a society that puts redemption on a pedestal, a story about how life sucks “feels like a double whammy,” Adler says. “It feels even worse.”

In an interview with Bates Magazine, Adler asked to speak to the Bates community. “I’d love to say that redemption is not the only option. You don’t have to just tell stories of ‘thank goodness for this bad thing that happened to me.’”

Instead, he says, “It’s a profound thing to say, ‘I’ve come out the other side of this challenging thing, and it didn’t make me happy, but it did help me understand some things about my life and my values.’”

In and of itself, that is a worthwhile outcome.

“Stories that demonstrate the importance of searching for meaning push back against what I call the ‘press for redemption’ in our culture.”

As another example of the power of stories outside the theme of redemption, Adler points to a study he helped conduct involving two groups of parents, those of neurodivergent children who were quite severe on the autism spectrum, and parents of non-neurodivergent children.

One woman who stood out was the mother of a child with severe autism spectrum disorder. Her child required a lot of care and attention, yet when she talked about caring for this child, she told a story of a love that made her learn more about herself. Adler says that these lessons are valuable.

“She would not say, ‘Having this child with severe autism spectrum disorder was a gift.’ That’s a socially appropriate story. And some people genuinely do feel like that, and that’s great. But that’s

not the only option,” he explained.

“I think she would say, ‘This has been really hard. I don’t know that I would’ve asked for this challenge, but because I have had this challenge, I have learned things about myself that I might not otherwise have.’ And there’s a positivity to that. But it’s not necessarily redemptive. Meaningfulness and happiness are different qualities we search for in life and both are important.”

Storytelling and narrative identity come into play when we seek to understand what it means to be an American, says Adler, especially at times of crisis. Writing in Bates Magazine in 2006, five years after 9/11, Adler shared findings after examining the personal stories of nearly 400 Americans collected within two months of Sept. 11, 2001. Stories that emphasized a feeling of redemption correlated with lower levels of depression and traumatic stress reactions.

Beyond national crises, the four-year cycle of presidential elections always presents “moments when we’re talking implicitly about the story of the

JONATHAN ADLER

AT BATES IN 2000, Adler poses with his honors thesis advisor, Kathy Low, now retired as professor emerita of psychology. Adler’s thesis examined fame and narcissism in fans and celebrities.

AT BATES IN FALL 1 998 , Jonathan Adler clowns around with the cast and crew of the Robinson Players’ ChapterTwo, the Neil Simon comedy-drama he directed as a junior. From left, John Ambrosino ’01, Julie Shadford Odato ’01, John Stockwell Payne ’01, Kristen Calvin ’01, and Emily Pritchard ’00.

country and what the next chapter should be in that story,” says Adler, pointing out that political parties often turn to redemption narratives, such as Barack Obama’s keynote address at the 2004 Democratic National Convention, with statements such as “God’s greatest gift to us, the bedrock of this nation, [is] the belief in things not seen; the belief that there are better days ahead.”

Times of tumult are when it’s important to “put alternative narratives out there,” Adler adds. “This is a moment when it’s really important that people put out there the narratives that they believe in, whether they are supporters of the administration and want to reinforce the narratives that the presidential administration is advocating, or they resist the current administration and they want to make sure that alternative narratives still can exist and thrive.

“It doesn’t have to be that the forces of history impose on our daily lives. Our daily lives also have the opportunity to engage with the story of history — as it’s being written.”

When Adler attended Bates, he obviously didn’t know he would go on to do important research in an emerging field of psychology, but he knew he was passionate about both his psychology major and his interest in theater, directing three plays with the Robinson Players and participating in many Bates theater productions.

Today, a passion for theater still has a major role in Adler’s life.

At Olin, where Adler has directed multiple plays, he and his colleagues lead “story slams” that give community members a chance to tell short stories about their lives. In an interdisciplinary course called “Constructing and Performing the Self,” they work with engineering and business students who have no experience in theater and help them deliver captivating performances.

He is the co-founder and co-director of a storytelling initiative, The Story Lab, and also leads story slams at other colleges, such as Wellesley College (where he spent the 2024–25 academic year as the Mary L. Cornille Distinguished Scholar in Residence), the Georgia Institute of Technology, and the University of Connecticut. He has also led slams for major organizations such as the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Adler also has become a playwright. His play Reverse Transcription (co-authored with Jim Petosa) premiered Off-Broadway in July 2022 at The Atlantic Theater Company’s Stage 2 venue, produced by PTP/NYC.

Another master narrative in the U.S. is that science is the only route to truth, Adler explains. “Of course I do believe in science, and I have devoted my career largely to scientific inquiry. But I also have a deep humility about the limits of scientific ways of knowing, and I believe strongly that the arts and the humanities have equally powerful ways of helping us understand. Artists know a lot about storytelling that scientists haven’t even named yet.”

An important element of the stories we tell is what psychologists like Adler call the “chapter breaks,” the moments in our lives where we draw connections between good and bad times. If we create a chapter that transitions from good to troubling times, we can get stuck in what Adler calls a “contaminative” mindset.

Adler offers an example from his own life. As a Bates senior, he graduated summa cum laude with membership in Phi Beta Kappa, then took a research job at Harvard University while applying to graduate school. He applied to 10 of them — but only got into one. “At the time, it felt like a shock. I imagined that I might have more choices when approaching this next big chapter of my life,” Adler recalls.

JONATHAN

ADLER

As it turned out, the one school that Adler got into, Northwestern, was the research base of Dan McAdams, the pioneering scientist in the study of narrative identity who became Adler’s mentor and eventually his research collaborator — Adler and McAdams have co-authored more than a dozen academic publications. Chicago also was where Adler met his future husband.

This part of his life story, of getting into a single grad school, then finding fulfillment, could be narrated as a chapter break: Disappointment is over, “and this new chapter is just a good chapter.” Instead, Adler has woven the two experiences together, so the story “feels like redemption instead of being a story where it was bad and then it was good.”

Today, he looks back at this turning point in his life “with a profound sense of gratitude — but also redemption. Within a year, I was having a more gratifying intellectual experience than I ever imagined, and I was in love.” Adler acknowledges that his story feels redemptive in memory — but also recognizes how it echoes familiar American narratives about how we’re “supposed” to story our setbacks.

Adler is currently working on a book, to be published by Penguin Random House, that explores another dimension of narrative identity: what he calls “identity theft,” when people lose the authority to shape their own stories.

There are extreme examples, such as people who go on reality TV and get edited into villains. And there are run-of-the-mill examples, Adler says, like the person who goes home for the holidays, “and they feel sort of stuck in a narrative that their family is telling about them that doesn’t feel like it’s updated: ‘My parents still think of me as that kind of kid, even though I don’t think of myself that way anymore.’” He hopes the book will catalyze

a broader cultural conversation about identity, how “our current ways of thinking about it aren’t serving us well as individuals or as communities, and how we might think differently about identity in the future.”

Adler and his husband, Jonathan Lewis, are now raising a family of their own, a son (12) and daughter (10), so Adler is especially mindful of how parents shape the narrative skills of their children.

Drawing on developmental research, he and Lewis encourage both their son and daughter to reflect on the events of their day — and their feelings about those events.

“When they become the narrators of their own lives, I want them to have as broad a narrative toolbox as possible,” says Adler. “And if sharing my work with the Bates community adds even a little to how we understand our own stories, that feels deeply worthwhile.” n

JONATHAN ADLER WITH HIS FAMILY, from left: children Miles and Zoe, and husband Jonathan Lewis.

JONATHAN ADLER

Who, What, Where, When?

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

1887

Jennie North Turner

“graduated at the top of her class at Bates...apparently the first woman anywhere to serve as valedictorian at any co-educational college,” Steve Collins reported in a 2024 Sun Journal profile. In her Commencement address, Jennie argued that genius was never the mere product of circumstances. “The times do not make the man,” she said. “Within a certain circumference, man is free, but beyond that is God. Robert Burns must write. Raphael must paint. Michelangelo must give life to marble. Handel and Haydn must ravish the ear with harmony... genius must think and must publish.”

1904

The Franklin Journal observance of Women’s History Month included a profile of Elsie Reynolds Treat, a Mainer whose dedication to education and community made possible today’s Bates Museum of Art (originally the Treat Gallery), as well as scholarships and the Treat Memorial Library in Livermore Falls. Elsie’s vision “to provide opportunity and encouragement for children, young people, men, and women to educate themselves continuously” resonates with the library’s own mission, said Alana Knapp, assistant library director. Both Elsie and George Treat, her husband, “dedicated themselves to helping the youth in their community afford education, a tradition Elsie continued after George’s death.”

1920

Benjamin Mays is the subject of a recent documentary. The Legacy of Dr. Benjamin E. Mays chronicles the life and legacy of

the educator and civil rights advocate who, born to formerly enslaved parents, went on to become a Morehouse College president and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr. Produced by Left Side of the Lion Media, the hourlong film was a labor of love for Sally Warner, who was Mays’ former secretary, the administrator of his estate, and the widow of surgeon Clinton Warner Jr. Clint Warner, himself a civil rights activist, was among generations of Morehouse men influenced by Mays.

1945

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

Louis Scolnik, who died Oct. 10 at 101 years old, was remembered by the Sun Journal The newspaper described Louis, who served on the Maine Superior Court and later as an associate justice on the Maine Supreme Judicial Court, as “a community leader, civil rights champion, prominent state jurist, and jazz saxophonist who left a legacy of equal justice for the marginalized, thoughtful jurisprudence, and musical excellence.” A co-founder of the ACLU of Maine, he was described by former Executive Director Shenna Bellows as a constant “source of great advice and humor and support.” She said, “He was this combination of brilliant intellect, patience, humor, and love for people and civil liberties. He led with love.” Louis was a member of a large Bates family that included two siblings and five cousins.

1947

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS SECRETARY/ TREASURER

Jean Labagh Kiskaddon jean.kiskaddon@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Vesta Starrett Smith vestasmith@charter.net

1949

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARY

Carol Jenkinson Johnson rollincarol@comcast.net

CLASS PRESIDENT Bud Horne budhorne@gmail.com

CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Beverly Young Howard

The late William Stringfellow, an influential author and Christian ethicist, was profiled by America: The Jesuit Review in February. “He was certainly outspoken, and did not mince his words when critiquing fellow Christians,” noted writer James Keane. “He once described the leading liberal Protestant schools of theology as teaching little more than ‘social analysis, gimmicks, solicitations, sentimentalities, and corn.’ Ouch. At the same time, he had no patience for his co-religionists who valorized any kind of flight from the world or who refused to apply Scripture to the culture in which they lived.” Keane noted that Bates’ Stringfellow Award honors students for “courageous and sustained commitment to redressing the systemic, root causes of violence and social injustice.”

1950

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

David Turell is “still trying to finish a bucket list: penguins in the Antarctic and/or Northern Lights in Norway. Flying long-distance is getting to be a problem.”

1951

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS PRESIDENT Bill Dill wmrdill@gmail.com Jean McLeod Dill

CLASS VICE PRESIDENT Wilfred Barbeau whbarbeau@gmail.com

In February, Jim and Ginger Buhl Vetrano ’54 “celebrated our 72nd wedding anniversary with a trip to visit daughter Gina and family in Indio, Calif. Indio is in the south California desert and the weather was very warm — a pleasant break from the winter blahs in Washington state. Probably our last big trip.”...At 95, Robert Wilson is “still chugging along. My latest venture is to publish an anthology of my writings — some fact and others fiction. Santa Fe seems to stimulate and nurture me!”

1952

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS SECRETARY

Marilyn Coffin Brown mcbrown13@verizon.net

William Searls was commemorated in November by the Bar Harbor Story, a news site dedicated to Maine’s Mount Desert Island. The tribute was occasioned by an annual New Year’s Eve dance that supports the William Searls Scholarship Fund for local students. William died during his senior year in a car crash en route home to MDI after an interview at MIT, where he likely would have continued his studies in chemistry after Bates. “The night was foggy, and the Bar Harbor man driving (for William) lost control of the car,” Carrie Barnard Jones ’93 reported. “At Bates, Searls was remembered as always being extraordinarily helpful. The scholarship foundation was created with that in mind.”... Paula Reed told us of the passing last November of her mother, Nancy Reade Sulides, at 94. Nancy was the daughter of John Leslie Reade Jr., Class of 1923, and granddaughter of John Leslie Reade, Class of 1883, Paula noted.

1953

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Ginnie LaFauci Toner vatoner207@gmail.com

Dick Coughlin dcoughlin@maine.rr.com

1955

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS PRESIDENT

Beverly Hayne Willsey stonepost@cox.net

CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Merton Ricker mertr33@gmail.com

Silver Moore-Leamon wrote to thank the editorial board of the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram for “fulfilling the major role a newspaper should fill for us, that of reporting the facts.” Published in March, her letter to the editor noted: “In your statement demonstrating the harm created for real people on every level of our society by the current national government’s unpredictable behavior, you have only described reality, not twisted it to serve partisan ends....Stating the truth in an atmosphere such as our current one is an act of courage and I commend you.”

1956

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Alice Brooke Gollnick agollnick725@gmail.com

Gail Molander Goddard acgpension@gmail.com

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Jessie Thompson Huberty “started off 2025 with the 17,000mile round trip to Manila, where I spent two months being wined and dined for having reached my 90th birthday. Topped it off with two weeks in northern California. Life is good!”

1957

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

SECRETARY

Peg Leask Olney pegolney@verizon.net

CLASS PRESIDENT

Judy Kent Patkin jpatkin@gmail.com

1958

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS SECRETARY

Marilyn Miller Gildea marilyn@gildea.com

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Kay Dill Taylor kaytayloronpeaks@gmail.com

Peter B. Post postp74@gmail.com

Cook Anderson is “in an assisted living facility in Laconia, N.H., and Marjorie Koppen Anderson was in a nursing facility in the same building until she passed away on Dec. 30. Our situation was very convenient. We lived in our continuing-care retirement home for 19 and a half years, the best of our lives. Our son, Robert, is doing very well, about to retire from UScellular.”...Kay Dill Taylor is experiencing breast cancer, “adding challenges to the ‘joys’ of my late 80s. A wise woman once said, ‘Every day may not be good, but there is something good in every day.’ I try, but don’t always succeed, to take that wisdom to heart. My husband, Gene ’56; my horse, Dutch; and my dog, Piper, are now memories, eliciting both the sadness of loss and the joy of remembering the good times we shared. The blessings remaining in my life are many: my two daughters who live on Peaks Island and are helping me through these days; my son and his family who often visit their home next door with their three married offspring, babies, and dogs; my friends near and far; the Peaks community; and this beautiful island itself. I am still grateful for each day.”

Carol Gibson Smith is “still a snowbird, going from Plymouth, Mass., to Safety Harbor, Fla., for the winter. Coe Jenkins Huckabee and I enjoyed a lunch together last year. Would love to hear from classmates.”...Judy Granz Yennaco and Bob “had a rather rough year. He broke his hip in June, and in August I passed out due to a low pulse and broke my femur. My heart acted up and I landed in the ICU for six days. My break healed perfectly, but Bob’s didn’t, so

a painter’s life

In Full Color

Barb Stetson Munkres ’58 regularly exhibited her sketches and paintings at Massachusetts Audubon sanctuaries. She recently had a stroke, and is now at the nursing center at the continuing-care community in Bedford, Mass., where she and Jim live.

Their visits often include looking at her many sketchbooks, with watercolors like this. “She is still herself, recognizes friends, and enjoys visits, although cognitive issues are a problem,” says Jim. “She is cheerful and happy, and her personality is still intact. I have never heard her complain about her limitations — she is a real trouper.”

Jim continues, “”We have been enjoying going through her many sketchbooks together. They are filled with nature sketches, as well as comments about the weather and much else. What a treasure they are!”

he needs more surgery. But we are determined to get back to normal, at a slower pace. Friends and family have all been wonderful, closing out the year with a family dinner to celebrate Bob’s 90th birthday and our 65th anniversary!”...Lou Hargan has “retired from the boards of the York (Maine) Art Assn. and York Adult Education, but I’m still active with the York Land Trust, the York Diversity Forum, and the York Library. The Diversity Forum arranges programs, speakers, and book readings and discussions. I still live in my 1770 Cape Cod house, and anyone who comes this way is invited to visit.”...Dottie Hutch, writing from Oakland, Calif., reports that she has “officially retired from serving as a minister in a local church, but have not felt a call to a specific ministry or activity. Thank goodness I have no physical or mental limitations (except I do not like driving at night!) so the sky’s the limit. My children gave me an Apple Watch for Christmas — now the world will know when I

fall! It was nice getting a new toy.”...This from Coe Jenkins Huckabee: “Every other year my entire family (of 10) rents a large house for five days at Christmas and shares gifts, meals, fun, and adventures. This year we chose St. George in the red rock desert country of southern Utah. We looked into family history and were especially taken by Kolob Canyons (in Zion National Park). The grandkids climbed, their parents hiked, and I gimped along grateful for help from one and all. With the completion of our traditional home movie, we departed with full hearts.”

Kay Johnson Howells remains “grateful for family and friends, health, activities, P.E.O., and church. When I flew to Mountain View, Calif., for a baby shower for a longtime friend’s great-grandchild, I stayed with Marilyn Miller Gildea. Lots of remember-whens!” She adds, “The really sad news: My dear Mike died two months before his 92nd birthday, leaving a big hole in my life.”...Alan Kaplan writes that he and Nancy “are doing

well. I’m learning to adjust to her mild cognitive decline, and to her living in the memory support” residence at Ingleside at King Farm in Rockville, Md., their assisted living facility. “We ‘date’ every night for dinner, as a couple or with friends, new and old. Then we enjoy Wheel of Fortune PBS has really great nature series. Nancy still is a great help as I learn to live like a bachelor. I was recently appointed to the city’s Senior Citizens Commission. I am also involved in several committees here at Ingleside. We enjoy the many concerts and other community activities.”

Ruth Melzard Stewart continues “to enjoy my ladies’ golf league in West Boxford, Mass., playing mah-jongg with a wonderful group, and ringing handbells at church, where we have a talented music director with lots of patience. Most of my dozen grandchildren play golf now, and we have a wonderful time.”...Marilyn Miller Gildea no longer travels, but does “vicariously enjoy my family’s adventures. My oldest grandson

BARB STETSON MUNKRES

spent the spring 2024 semester in Berlin and used his four-day weekends to travel all over Western Europe. My youngest son’s family traveled all over Italy while living in Padua for four months. Their many visitors were taken to see Giotto’s famous frescos, the first Western art to show perspective, near their apartment.”...Peter and Jane Anderson Post are in their fifth year at The Overlook, in Charlton, Mass. “Jane is in assisted living, and I live in the independent living section. Jane has Alzheimer’s and her days are up and down. We clearly need the support that Overlook provides. We celebrated Thanksgiving with our son, Benjamin, and daughter-in-law Sharon Lake-Post” (both ’87)....Pete Ryers and Jane are doing well in Arizona. Their children are doing well too: Nina is a hospice social worker, Lisa volunteers at Electrify America, and “our son, Mike, is cared for extremely well in a group home. We enjoy the desert in winter (Tucson) and the mountains in summer (Flagstaff), and we mourn for our country, led by a malevolent ignorant man.”...Rose Stephenson Melvin writes: “In November my family celebrated my 90th birthday. The decorations were beautiful, the food was great, and there were many things to do. My birthday wish was to be 19 again and a freshman at Bates.” She adds that she used to sit next to the late Roland Stephenson at Chapel, “and would like to know whether we shared ancestors.”...Writing last fall, Bruce Young was looking forward to a Scandinavian cruise this year. “After that, I will have been to most countries in Europe. The major highlight of 2024 was my oldest granddaughter’s marriage in October, with a Halloween-theme reception. They live just 20 minutes away.” He added, “I’ve been dealing with a cancerous growth on the top of my head,” but hoped that surgery during the winter would solve the problem.

1959

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARIES

Jack DeGange jack.degange@comcast.net

Mary Ann Houston Hermance donmar23@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Anita Kastner Hotchkiss ahotchkiss@goldbergsegalla.com

Joan Child Tinklepaugh writes: “My husband, Robert Tinklepaugh, passed away on March 17, 2024. We had a good life together for more than 67 years. We met in the Bobcat Den in October 1957. We always had a special place in our hearts for the Sadie Hawkins Dance, as that is where we really got to know each other. Square dances are good

events to have a swinging time together. Some Bates traditions are worth preserving.”...Ross Deacon still plays “nine holes every other day, seven months of the year in Melbourne, Fla., and five months in Southern Maine.”...H. Sawin Millett, a longtime force in Maine politics, takes a dim view of the proliferation of official state symbols. “I think it is driven by a desire to have Maine’s resources identified and celebrated, but I think also people are looking to advance legislation that gets a little attention from the media, something they can take credit for,” the former state official and retired GOP state representative told the Maine Sunday Telegram in January. The newspaper was reporting on efforts to add a state amphibian, state reptile, and state sled dog to Maine’s 31 current symbols.

1960

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS SECRETARY Louise Hjelm Davidson lchdavidson011@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Pete Skelley dskelley@satx.rr.com

In March, Bob and Jane Braman Allen were selling their home in Venice, Fla. “At 86,” writes Bob, “owning two houses is too much. So our main home will be in Barnstable, Mass., where we own a 200-yearold Greek Revival house. Our daughter Julie and her family live next door. We still hope to come to Venice during the cold months.”...“Never too old to strengthen a friendship,” writes Stephen Hotchkiss, “Sarah Rubin Blanshei and I met again in winter 2024 at Sarah’s residence in Atlanta. After knowing one another for 70 years, Prof. Blanshei, former faculty dean and interim president of Agnes Scott College, and banker-professor Hotchkiss reunited. We discussed Sarah’s intensive studies of 15th-century Bologna and Steve’s challenging economic decision-making relating to moral issues and income disparities.”

1961

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS SECRETARY Gretchen Shorter Davis norxloon@aol.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Mary Morton Cowan mmcowan@gwi.net

Mary Morton Cowan reports that in a January Zoom gathering, she and Carl were among “19 classmates who enjoyed sharing news: Dennis Akerman, Doug Ayer, Sally Benson, Vera Jensen Bond, Alan Cate, Brenda Kaplan

Cohen, Joyce Stinson Cote, Jerry and Gretchen Shorter Davis, Sara Kinsel Hayes, Betty Bonnar Kepner, Barbara Oldach Larson, Dotti Sweetser Larsson, Priscilla Charlton Miller, Marcia Putnam O’Shea, Nadine Parker, and David Singer.”

1962

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS SECRETARY Carolyn Webber Nelson lynnelson10@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Rachel Harper Garcelon raegarcelon@gmail.com

CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT David Boone doboone@peoplepc.com

1963

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS SECRETARY Natalie Shober Hosford nataliehosford@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Bill Holt wholt@maine.rr.com

CLASS HISTORIAN Dottie Stone dottie@stone-stonect.com

1964

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARY–TREASURER Rhoda Morrill Silverberg rhodaeric@att.net

CLASS PRESIDENT Gretchen Ziegler gretchenz958@gmail.com

CLASS VICE-PRESIDENTS Joan and Dick Andren dixmont258@gmail.com

CLASS HISTORIAN Dot March Harris dotharriswi@gmail.com

“After 60 years, I guess it’s about time,” John Devendorf allowed as he sent in his first-ever Note last fall. “Now that neither Carol nor I are working full time, we have started embarking on new adventures, including Bates events. At Reunion, my first, we enjoyed catching up with Keith Bowden and Bill Braman.” Afterward, John and Carol relaxed at a B&B in Bath. “Since the B&B happened to be one block from Bill’s house, we had the opportunity to spend a great evening and dinner with Bill and his wife, Ellen Endter. In September, we attended the Bates Business Network’s tour of the Massachusetts State House led by state rep and Bates alum Jeff Roy ’83, where we spent some time talking with Joanna Starr.” John adds, “It’s been nice beginning to reconnect after all these years.”...Joyce

Dewey Darling and Alan “still live in West Hartford, Conn. We are doing well and enjoying our grandsons! Austin is 6 and enjoys Legos, baseball, and doing crafts with Grandma. Jack is 9 and loves anything outer space-related, swimming, and video games. We especially enjoy it when they visit and play baseball in the backyard. We are busy with church activities. We belong to two book groups: one spiritual and one fiction. We enjoy the camaraderie and exchange of ideas.” Last year, she adds, “I exhibited my paintings at my church library.”...Writing last fall, David Harrison reported that he and Norma Johnson were planning to leave Maine for Chapel Hill, N.C., in the wake of his retirement in July from The Jackson Laboratory, after nearly 55 years as a researcher there. “We hope to join the Carol Woods continuing-care community. At age 82, you can’t tell how long independent living will last. We can folk-dance there twice a week, plus many other activities.”...John Holt reports: “To get a break from a lot of intense political activity, I tried out for a part at a local theater. It was for an old guy pretending to be senile when in fact he was compos mentis.” John had reviewed theater in Chicago and directed a play in New Jersey, but hadn’t acted since Bates. He left the tryouts thinking “that I really bombed. I didn’t get the part, actually to my relief, because my schedule started to heat up with the Trump horror show. When the play opened, I was eager to see it. The guy who got the part I’d tried out for was excellent, and the production was a success. As I was leaving, the director ran over to thank me for coming and asked if I liked the show. I told him I very much did. He then told me that I was the first runner-up for the part, which surprised me. ‘You really should try again,’ he said. ‘Get back into the game!’”

Dot March Harris is “so sorry I missed seeing classmates at Reunion. Traveling alone is challenging. In September I abandoned my gardens to deer and drought and did take a long overdue trip to our former home in Bayfield, Wis. It’s been seven years since I moved to Montana, never anticipating that I wouldn’t get back. I spent five days visiting friends and all the places we loved so dearly. It was fun doing things entirely on my whim including taking the ferry to Madeline Island, the only inhabited one of the Apostle Islands.”...John Meyn reminds classmates that “I am one year older than the rest of you. Hope that provides some encouragement over your next year.” He writes, “As immigrants from Maine, Karen and I are close to a oneyear residency in Cali. As one that had a serious prejudice toward

bates notes

California, this (age-mandated) move has far exceeded my expectations.” John adds, “Old age is very difficult. It is as bad for me as my adolescence and my adolescence was bad. Awareness of nuance is gone and even the obvious is often obscure. My memory is seriously diminished. This leads to writing down all that needs to be remembered (if I remember?).” Still, he is “daily thankful for my existence. And to end this, I will quote Karen: “Old age is a great way to be kept humble!”...Eric and Rhoda Morrill Silverberg continue to bounce between Vinalhaven, Maine, in the summer and Austin, Texas, in the winter. Rhoda reports that summer 2024 “was lots of fun, starting with Reunion. Back on Vinalhaven, Eric enjoyed getting a new engine for his pilot house boat, and I enjoyed buying at auction and fixing up an old Lowell rowboat with a friend. (Never too many wooden boats, right?) Something to fill retirement days.” She adds, “We thoroughly enjoyed having Warren Ketcham and Pat visit us for the eclipse back in April. The skies parted at just the right moment. What a thrill!”...This from Lynn Parker Schiavi: “It was great to see so many at our Reunion. I especially enjoyed our ‘preReunion’ adventures in Portland, with time to connect over meals and sightseeing. Thank you, Joan Andren, for organizing us.”

Lynn and John “had a wonderful summer in Maine” that included a 60th anniversary celebration, attended by the whole family, that incorporated a trip to Bar Harbor and Acadia National Park. That was followed by the usual sojourn in Florida for another eight months — “I feel so blessed that we are still able to do this back-and-forth thing.”

Lynn has gotten “acquainted with Ancestry.com and I’m pulling together old family photos to accompany information I have found. I never realized how much could be discerned from old census records.”...Sandy Prohl Williams and Alan “had a wonderful time at our 60th Reunion,” she writes. “One highlight was the memorial hosted by the Rev. Bill Gardiner for classmates who had passed away during the last 10 years. This was held on Zoom so that classmates who were not able to attend in person could join.”

Thereafter “we had a wonderful tour of Iceland and Nova Scotia. The trip ended in NYC, so we took the train to Albany to visit our daughter Brenda and granddaughters. Two weeks after we came home to California, our daughter Sharon Williams Schultz ’91 and Mike visited and took us to Yosemite! We had a great time in spite of the 100-plus temperatures. We enjoy our busy life here at Stoneridge Creek — especially visits from our son, Scott, and grandson Theo.”...

Joan Spruill Andren and Dick “spent the year in a bifurcated way,” she reports. “November to May in Philly for the culture. And May to October in Maine for gardening, biking, and hiking. Also managed a trip to Argentina, Uruguay, and Paraguay. It resulted in consuming a lot of beef and wine. But also seeing a lot of wildlife in a wetland and bouncing along muddy roads.” October found them in Italy, with Dick taking a walking tour of Tuscany and Joan meeting him in Venice, where they planned to “spend more time than we did in 1970. How can that trip be 54 years ago?” The Andrens enjoyed their 60th Reunion, too. “When we left, the Bates staff said, ‘See you in five years.’ I replied, ‘I hope so.’”...For Joanna Starr, “walking in the Alumni Parade after 60 years was really a special experience, as was catching up with ‘old’ classmates and hearing from President Garry Jenkins. Ron and I were very happy to be able to attend. I love the statue of the Bobcat that we found near Merrill Gymnasium. A good addition to the campus!” Also last summer, Joanna and Ron enjoyed two weeks in New Brunswick and one in Rockport, Mass. More recently, they visited Cleveland and saw the Cleveland Museum of Art and the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame — “one of our bucketlist destinations.”...This from Gretchen Ziegler: “What a great time we had at Reunion, and especially the pre-Reunion time in Portland. It was good to get updated on what is happening in everyone’s life. I especially enjoyed the trip back to New Hampshire with Diane Gallo DeFrancisci,” who flew home out of Manchester. “I am looking forward to our 65th and hope we can get together for some time before Reunion, even if we are too feeble to do any trips!”

1965

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS SECRETARY

Evie Hathaway Horton ehhorton@me.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Joyce Mantyla joycemantyla@gmail.com

CLASS VICE-PRESIDENTS Newt Clark newtonclark@comcast.net Peter Heyel JPTraveler@gmail.com

Newt and Pat Lord Clark ’67 “have enjoyed living in Brunswick, Maine, since 2018, near our younger daughter, Abigail Clark Luchies, and her family, who live in Woolwich. We get to East Lyme, Conn., about 10 times a year to visit our older daughter, Sarah Clark Selke ’95, and her family, and to maintain friendships built during our 45 years in West Hartford. Being grandparents to our four grandchildren has brought great

500 peaks, one hiker

No Trail?

No Problem

Anne Packard ’67, who lives in Holderness, N.H., had a plan during the pandemic: to complete a project she began in the 1980s — hiking her home state’s 500 highest mountains.

Rogers Ledge, near Stark (elevation 2,945 feet, the 184th tallest, according to one list) was her 500th, summiting it on Oct. 16, 2024, with 16 friends. “More than half the climbs don’t have trails,” she notes — including one egregious example that required a 17-mile round trip. Many climbs were part of six week-long camping trips, one cut short by a flooding river.

Other fall 2024 highlights for her and Roger Pedigo included hiking the high points in six states before their last stop at Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Ohio, “and there we ran into Joanna Starr.”

joy to our life.” He adds, “We experience fairly good health but as my Dad always said, ‘Old age isn’t for sissies.’”...Karen Smith Regan reports that a miniReunion was held in March at the Longhorn Steakhouse in South Portland, Maine. Carol Stone Beyna and Ron, Dave ’64 and Louise Kennedy Hackett, Ray ’64 and Linda Leard Parkin, and Pat Lord Clark ’67 and Newt as well as Karen were there. “We all fit at a huge round table and had a really good time catching up and reminiscing,” says Karen. “All of us are looking forward to Reunion.”...Sally Smyth’s highlight of 2024–25 was the “publication of Lynne Seus’ autobiography. The Grizzlies and Us describes Lynne and Doug Seus’ against-all-odds raising of a succession of orphaned grizzly

bears to become movie stars and thus share in the founding of a land trust focused on restoring grizzlies’ natural habitat, The Vital Ground Foundation.” Sally, a trustee of the foundation for nine years, has “been rereading the book for clues about Lynn’s storytelling technique, because no matter how many times I read it, I can’t stop laughing. The exercise reminds me of the formidable Bates professor Bobby Berkelman’s insights into what constitutes good writing. His insistence upon meeting a deadline usually failed this procrastinator, but I owe him — and Bates — for the rigor that he demanded of his students. The Grizzlies and Us reflects just such storytelling rigor and it is entrancing.”

1966

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS PRESIDENT

Alex Wood awwood@mit.edu

Susan Pitcher Haines has moved to Thornton Oaks in Brunswick, Maine. “Yes, Bowdoin territory,” she admits. “More importantly, I live adjacent to land-trust land with trails to walk and ski, and a community garden where I have a plot.”

1967

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Keith Harvie kcharvie12@gmail.com

Pam Johnson Reynolds preynolds221@gmail.com

Marty Braman Duckenfield reports that she and other Bates friends gathered in Pomfret, Conn., in January to help Shirley Murphy Mongillo celebrate her 80th birthday. Those on hand included Alexandra Baker Lyman, David Olson ’65, and Carol Becker Olson Mac Reid still works with the MARS Consulting Group, supporting regional school districts in Massachusetts. “Also, I’m completing a replica of my hot-rod 1932 Chevy five-window coupe that burned on the Bates campus in the fall of 1964.”

1968

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS SECRETARY Rick Melpignano rickmel713@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Nancy Hohmann nhohmann@yahoo.com

Gretchen Hess Daly and her childhood friend Diane visited Venice, Florence, and Rome in September. Gretchen fulfilled a lifelong goal of visiting the grave of an uncle who died in Italy during World War II and is buried in the Sicily-Rome American Cemetery. Gretchen adds, “I thoroughly enjoyed reading classmate Nancy Withington Bell’s Clinch Mountain Girls: 24 Women Grow Veggies, Animals, and a Community. It’s a heartwarming narrative of the hardships, determination, creativity, triumphs, and joys of women and their families homesteading and sharing their lives in rural east Tennessee starting in the 1970s and continuing to the present time.”...Robert Higgins writes: “57 years later — divorced, widowed, remarried. Forty-three years of full-time ministry with 38 years in one parish. Twentyone years as a single parent of some combination of six children. In a third marriage for each of us, Ginger and I have raised 10

children. In the past seven years we have driven 57,000 miles in a small RV visiting 49 states. We are humbled and grateful for the years we have been blessed to live. As more and more friends and family end their lives on Earth we realize every day is a gift to be treasured. I will forever value the education and foundation Bates gave to me.” ...Jane Hippe Reilly “wasn’t very good at retirement” so now subs about twice a week at a Head Start program near her in Middlebury, Vt. “Hopefully it doesn’t become a victim of the Musk chainsaw.” She adds, “I took a wonderful hiking trip with my oldest daughter, Jen, in Utah last fall. We enjoyed time in Arches, Bryce, and Zion” national parks....Nancy Hohmann lives in an “accessory dwelling unit,” aka apartment, attached to her daughter’s house in Falmouth, Maine. She moved in five years ago just in time to take care of the two grandkids during COVID. Now she amuses herself with playing ukulele in a group called The Flukes, volunteering at a therapeutic riding barn where she used to teach, and taking her registered therapy dog, an English setter named Percy, to schools, assisted living facilities, and rehabilitation centers. She and Percy also enjoy long walks and spending time with the grandkids....This from Jack and Patty Raymond Pickard: “Four kids. Four families. Good health. We’re grateful and delighted with these grandkids and the wisdom of their parents. We learn from them each day. Very disappointed with the election results but along with this extended family we’re determined to work forward and keep our energy up. And live in the moment. Hope to see some of you Bates people one of these days.”...“When September 2024 arrived,” writes Maureen Ruskie Bartlett, “I realized that it was the 60th anniversary of our class’s freshman year! All these years later, I’m still thankful for my four years at Bates, Cultch, the Zerby tour, and, especially, for the lifelong friendships.”...Scott Taylor and his wife of 54 years, Janet Drewiany ’70, still live in Fairbanks, Alaska. Scott just celebrated 50 years at the Univ. of Alaska, where he works in advancement. He and Janet have three children and welcomed their first two grandchildren during the past year. Janet, retired from elementary school teaching, now volunteers for local nonprofits and as a docent at the university’s Museum of the North. In their spare time, Scott and Janet enjoy the great Alaska outdoors. They escape to Tucson, Ariz., for a month each year to continue recreational pursuits and explore a climate as severe as Alaska’s but at the opposite extreme....Lou Weinstein continues to restore an 1835 house

in Charleston, S.C. “I was able to determine that the home was built by Sylvie Miles, a free woman of color who was a washwoman. This is one of only a handful of Charleston homes documented to have been built by a free woman of color before the Civil War, and was where her enslaved employees worked and lived. The home has been on historic-home tours numerous times. Come visit, as our weather is better than Maine in the winter.”

1969

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARY

Deborah Bliss Behler debbehler@aol.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

George Peters geo47peters@gmail.com

Debbie Bliss Behler headed south to Florida in early March, visiting grandchildren and great-grandchildren in Maryland and North Carolina along the way. “It actually was colder in Charlotte than in New York!” A new great-granddaughter was expected in May....Jan King Pratt “left Cape Cod and came to South Carolina 22 years ago to get away from the snow and cold, and that has been mostly successful.” She says, “The people here are warm and gracious and welcoming to transplants. Those from the North are called Yankees, unless they stay. Then they are called damn Yankees but with a smile. I have wonderful friends but my MS limits my activities quite a bit.” She adds, “Russ ’66 just turned 80. We are still married but live separately by choice. But we are good friends and help each other out. We both have significant medical issues but, hey, we’re up there in years, right? Besides, it gives us something to grump about.”

1970

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS SECRETARIES

Stephanie Leonard Bennett slenben@comcast.net

Betsey Brown efant127@yahoo.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Steve Andrick steve.andrick15@gmail.com

CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Barbara Hampel barbaraph@live.com

Cynthia Keen still works as a medical journalist. Meanwhile, she’s in her third year “of enjoying performing arts in NYC as a seriously funds-constricted senior by augmenting with $5 seat-filler tickets twice weekly or more, and doing free cultural and community activities.” She also describes herself as “a proficient Subway Queen and

Sound Decisions

This photo shows where Alan Anderson ’69 began his radio career: at Bates and the campus radio station WRJR, then on the ground floor of Pettigrew Hall. Now with call letters WRBC, the station is at 31 Frye Street.

“I also made $1.25 an hour weekends at WCOU in Lewiston and was a booth announcer for WCBB-TV,” he recalls.

After graduation, he worked at WIDE in Biddeford and WGAN in Portland, then stations in Buffalo, Miami, and New York City Anderson left on-air work to buy stations in Maine, including WTOS-FM, a Skowhegan station notable for its cult following.

Today, having recently sold his Maine stations, he and Deborah are retired in Fort Myers, Fla., where he volunteers at the Edison and Ford Winter Estates, fittingly demonstrating Thomas Edison’s favorite invention, the phonograph.

frequent unofficial subway guide to confounded tourists,” and someone who enjoys showing the town in “curated escapades” to visiting friends. Late last summer, Cynthia adds, she “worked the entire U.S. Open for the experience as an avid tennis fan” — 21 straight days working 8 to 12 hours. “I heard, but saw no, tennis; instead, observed the explosive-sniffing dogs at work and marveled at the diversity of the undercover police and agents entering the grounds.”

1971

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS SECRETARY

Suzanne Woods Kelley suzannekelley@att.net

CLASS PRESIDENT Michael Wiers mwiers@mwiers.com

CLASS VICE-PRESIDENT Jan Face Glassman jfaceg1@hotmail.com

1972

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS SECRETARY Dick Thomas rthomas14@comcast.net

CLASS PRESIDENT Erik Bertelsen ecbertelsen@gmail.com

Mike Attinson writes: “It has been tough in Israel over the last year. I imagine there is no need for detail. I have been continuing my volunteer ambulance EMT work a couple of times a week along with other volunteer activities associated with current events here. On the bright side, my daughter had a baby last year and I am the proud grandfather to boys aged 9, 6, and 1. Hoping that this year can only be better than the last. Hope to see some of you here in Israel in better times.”...Writing in March, Sue Bates Ahnrud was “prepping with my Bay State Breakers soccer teammates to participate in the Grannies International

Football Tournament, beginning April 2 in South Africa. Twentyplus teams of women over age 50 from Africa, France, and the U.S. are expected there.”...This from Erik Bertelsen: “We had an oldfashioned winter here in Maine, lots of snow and very cold. I continue to enjoy doing the playby-play broadcast of Boothbay Region High School basketball, along with helping high school students and their families plan for college. A highlight of the winter was being hosted at Bates in February for what has become an annual event, a gathering of ‘Basketball Oldtimers.’ It was great to catch up with John Amols, Dave MacNaughton ’73, Brad McGrath ’73, Steve and Barbara Hanley Keltonic ’73, Mike Wilson ’73 and Cindy, Danny Glenney ’74, and Mark Crowley ’74. It was fun to share old memories (we’ve gotten better over time!) and to see the current Bates hoopsters in action. We appreciate all that Bates does to make this such an enjoyable experience.”...Fred

Breaking Bricks, Building Futures

Michael Brickley ’70 founded and is CEO of the nonprofit Families Set Free, which is rescuing people who are trapped in bonded labor in Pakistan’s brick kiln industry, where almost all bricks are still handmade.

“There are more than 3 million enslaved in 20,000 brick-making camps,” Brickley explains. “They can never escape, and slavery is passed down from generation to generation.”

In the last three years, FSF has rescued more than 8,000 people and ended more than 100,000 years of combined slavery.

Efforts include a pilot program between FSF and the Pakistan Partnership Initiative to mechanize the country’s brick kiln industry, reducing the need for human labor.

“Mechanization will free women and children from the burden of brick-making,” Brickley says. “Our goal is not only to modernize the industry but also to empower freed families, helping them build sustainable futures.”

Coltin lives in New Hampshire’s Seacoast region and remains active with a community job in Exeter. Last year he discovered Amtrak’s Downeaster, “a good way to get to Boston and meet up with Dave Lounsbury for lunch and talk about life after Bates.”...Steve Comee is a Buddhist, a performer of Japanese Noh drama, and an avid fan of Lord of the Rings author J. R. R. Tolkien. He writes that the last several years have kept him busy. In 2023, for example, he visited New Zealand both to see LOTR filming locations and

to take part in a “Tibetan ritual of burying an Earth Treasure Vase in the ground, to promote harmony between humans and nature as well as world peace.” In March of this year, he offered lectures and Noh performances during an event held near Hiroshima for the preservation of traditional Japanese arts and crafts. Finally, Steve reports, he spent two months in Nepal last summer. There he visited one of his teachers, who brought him up to a temple “secluded in the mountains at about 17,500 feet.” During that stay, Steve’s

teacher and other lamas “gave me the full ordination to make me a Tibetan lama. So now I am Lama Steve! (Actually, my Tibetan name is Lama Ngawang Norbu, so it would be Lama Norbu!)”...Writing in March, Susan Cooper Sawyer was about to begin a 15-day adventure on Viking Ocean Cruises, “going to ports in New Zealand and Australia with a friend of 50-plus years. We make one trip a year, but this is our most ambitious one yet! Maybe for the fall edition of Bates Magazine I will have photos to submit.”... Donna Crapser Stuart retired in 2022, “though I still do freelance writing for a veterinary neurologist practice. I continue to live in New Hampshire’s White Mountains. After several years of health challenges, I’m looking forward to getting back to traveling internationally this year.”...Malcolm Herrling “moved to Brunswick, Maine, to be with the love of my life, Maria. I’m writing short stories and trying to finish a novel before I turn 75. Expanding my drawing and painting and art repertoire. Grateful to be Granddad to three wonderful youngsters. Hoping to get to Paris and Berlin next year. Fighting in the revolt against tyranny.”...An “elated and humble” Steve Hoad wrote in March that he is “free from cancer. In less than a year my rectal cancer has been diagnosed, treated, and removed. A big boost from many alums and other friends supported me all through this journey — phone calls, food, visits, and most necessary and important, the many miles of taking me to appointments. I cannot name all the Bates alums who have been so helpful in many ways, so I’ll say thanks for it all. The community response pulled me through the toughest times of chemotherapy, radiation, and surgeries, adding joy to what might have been agony.”... Mark Winne writes that “after failing to get help for my writing addiction, I gave in to my craving to write a fifth book: The Road to a Hunger-Free America: Selected Food Writings of Mark Winne. It’s being published by Bloomsbury Press and should be available in October wherever fine literature is sold.”

1973

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Deborah Gahm debbiegahm1@gmail.com

Kaylee Masury kmasury@yahoo.com

Ira Waldman ira.waldman@gmail.com

Penny Hall and Charlie Rappaport “have now lived in Maine for 25 years, on a private road in the woods. After retirement I started working

with clay sculpture and artist’s books. Hugely challenging. I love it. And like all of us, Chas and I have had to make adjustments based on changing physical abilities. Under Charlie’s superb tutelage, I have now become the designated snow remover. Woo hoo! We still say, ‘Who has more fun than us?’”

1974

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARY

Tina Psalidas Lamson tinal2@mac.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Don McDade mcdadecbb@gmail.com

SOCIAL MEDIA

COORDINATORS

Bill and Karen Lord Cunningham karenlc67@gmail.com

After a career in high tech, Norm Olsen is mostly retired and making the most of his time to ski and hike in New England and the Rockies....Janet Tucker McManus describes herself as a “total failure at retirement so far. Am busy running a nonprofit that I helped found” — WeShine, in Portland, Ore. “We build and operate micro villages to provide transitional shelter to underserved adults as they prepare to become successful tenants in stable affordable housing.”...David Wilcox and Margaret McCann Wilcox ’75 traveled the east coast of South America from Argentina to Uruguay and on to Brazil during the late winter.

1975

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

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

A few years after graduation, Robert Littlefield writes, he and some classmates “agreed we needed to set aside time each spring for a boys’ ski trip in order to maintain friendships we built living together in Roger Bill. This year’s was our 42nd annual Boys Do Bumps ski excursion in North Conway, N.H.” Joining Bob were Matt Gilligan, Mike Genetti, Jim Dachos, Alan Hill, and Rick Jack, along with Joe Burke ’73, Pete Williams and Bill Holm (both ’74), Bob Watt and Mark Reddish (both ’76), and Joe Davin and Pete Manning (both ’77). (Steve McCusker was in their thoughts if not their midst.) “Three days of skiing, cards, fine dining, laughs,

MICHAEL BRICKLEY

and draft beer.”...Sarah Pearson, who retired in 2022 after a decade as Bates’ vice president of college advancement, accepted a similar position at Swarthmore last fall after holding the job on an interim basis. The move followed classmate Valerie Smith’s accepting an extension of her contract as Swarthmore’s president. “I asked Sarah to remain with the College after I agreed to extend my term,” Valerie said in an announcement. “I felt that recruiting a new Advancement leader would be challenging given the duration of my remaining tenure at Swarthmore (and would) interrupt the great energy and forward momentum Sarah has established with our talented staff in Advancement.” Valerie will remain president of Swarthmore at least through June 2027 under the two-year extension. Her character and commitment to Swarthmore “have already left an indelible mark on our institution,” Board Chair Harold Kalkstein noted in announcing the extension.

1976

Reunion 2026, June 11–14

CLASS SECRETARY

Jeff Helm bateslax@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Bruce Campbell brucec@maine.rr.com

CLASSMATE CONVERSATIONS COORDINATOR

Marjorie McCormick Davis margedavis@comcast.net

Kathleen Fisher, a former Bates trustee, joined the board of trustees of Dartmouth Health during the winter. The organization is New Hampshire’s only academic health system and the state’s largest private employer. Kathy retired from Wall Street in 2020 after decades in investment banking and asset management, most recently as head of the Wealth Management Group at AllianceBernstein. Passionate about healthcare and health policy, she joined the board of Dartmouth Health member Southwestern Vermont Health Care in 2015 and served as chair 2021–2024.

1977

Reunion 2027, June 10–13

CLASS SECRETARY

Steve Hadge schmuddy@yahoo.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Keith Taylor drkeithtaylor@msn.com

With thanks to those who have volunteered to serve on a Reunion committee, Class President Keith Taylor notes

that “we still need volunteers, particularly for the yearbook committee. Please contact Steve Hadge, Pam Walch Constantine, Lisa Barry, Kate Flom, Jo-Ann Kayatta, or me if you’re interested. You can put in as much time and effort as you wish, and if matters take you in another direction, no worries. This is going to be fun!” Keith also thanks “those classmates who have given to the Bates Fund this year.”...Last year, Lisa Barry and Jim Gale enjoyed visits with Bates friends Liz Skinner King, Jane Duncan Cary, Lydia Brown Soule, and husbands in Florida, Maine, Massachusetts, and beyond. “One highlight was a Danube River cruise with Lydia and her husband Jim. We visited six countries and enjoyed the history and culture of that beautiful region. My husband Jim and I remain busy in Washington, D.C., serving on the boards of The Washington Ballet and the Sulgrave Club. Son Will Gale is at Villanova’s law school and Jamie Gale is in San Francisco.”...Nils Bonde-Henriksen was on the go for a few months, and “it’s been fun.” Destinations included a Mad Magazine exhibit at the Norman Rockwell Museum with Steve Hadge and Chris Holmes ’80; Tulsa with Chris to see the Bob Dylan Museum; and a month in New Zealand with Molly Campbell Adventures included being attacked “by a sea lion on a beach while bird watching on Ulva Island. I bruised or fractured a rib shimmying up a fallen tree to get away, but wine seemed to help.” Nils sees Linda Mansfield Carroll ’78 frequently and golfs with Steve McCormick regularly....“No complaints,” reports Peter Brann. “Still living in Maine, practicing law around the country, and teaching law as a side hustle. Both kids are relatively close, doing post-doc research at Harvard. David got his PhD in neuroscience at Harvard in 2024. Last spring, to go along with her earlier American wedding, Michelle had an Indian wedding — which I used as an opportunity to travel around India. In December I went on safari to Botswana.”... David Brooks is in his 43rd year as a newspaper reporter. On staff at New Hampshire’s Concord Monitor, this 2024 New England Newspaper Hall of Fame inductee covers “everything from town meetings to the regional power grid, including a weekly science and technology column that I’ve been writing since 1991 — more than 1,600 of them — plus a blog and email newsletter at granitegeek.org.”...Nancy Carlisle’s second year of retirement went “much better than the first, and I finally feel like I’m getting the hang of it. I’ve had weekly doses of joy playing with puppies at the local animal shelter, and have joined

a choir. We performed Handel’s Messiah in December for an appreciative (or at least polite) crowd. I continue as chair of the Ipswich (Mass.) Architectural Preservation District Commission.” That commission is exploring the idea of erecting a statue memorializing 17th-century Ipswich poet Anne Bradstreet, the first writer published in England’s North American colonies....Mike Cohen reports that recovery from his February 2024 hip replacement went much better than his 2018 rotator cuff procedure. “Not too much pain and steady progress with, of course, lots of physical therapy. After I went for a 30-mile bicycle ride on May 1, my PT guys kicked me out. My hip’s been great ever since. In fact, when we flew out of Boston at the end of June, I had totally forgotten about it and the TSA guy had to ask if I had artificial parts that might be setting off the metal detector.”

Mike’s older daughter, Emily, got married and his younger daughter, Samantha, is in her final year at Boston Univ. School of Law....Laura deFrancesco McLaughlin lost George to cancer late last year. “We worked with doctors and nurses who tried their best to beat the monster, but unfortunately, they were not successful. He enrolled in home hospice care in November and died early Dec. 1 as peacefully as hospice, medications, and I could make him.” Laura adds, “I am blessed by strong support from my church family, cousins, friends, little dog Zeke, and incredible neighbors. What makes me angry is that, as a rabid Notre Dame football fan and alumnus, George did not make it to watch his team in the playoffs!”...Landi DeGregoris Turner reports that husband Mike Zeko, a TV producer, finally retired “following a tough political season. It has been an adjustment but wonderful. We’ve started ballroom dancing, and are having a blast — just finished our inaugural regional competition! I’m singing in a church choir, a band, and a women’s ensemble, working out, reading, and spending a lot of time watching our grandkids. With an increase in grands, we added onto our Maine house, where we spend three or four months a year, so that family can visit. I still teach one counseling course a year and am assessing how long I’ll keep it up — it does help pay for all that dancing!”...“It seems I’m working harder than ever these days,” reports Stan Dimock, “even as others our age are retiring.” He is an operations assistant at a Rhode Island nonprofit dedicated to the well-being of Narragansett Bay. Save The Bay opened a new aquarium in Newport in 2024, and Stan manages the gift shop — “in addition to my regular workload at the Bay Center in

Providence.” Meanwhile, Stan appeared in a TV ad, for a local car dealership, that debuted after the Super Bowl halftime show. “My phone exploded with texts before it finished. I’m even recognized by complete strangers! I’ve very much enjoyed my moment of local fame.”...Don Earle still enjoys “summers in Boothbay Harbor and winters (mostly) in seacoast N.H. Plenty of projects to keep me busy in both places, in addition to running around after two very active grandsons. Saw the Doobie Brothers last summer and, 50 years later, they still put on a great show with many of the original members.”...Joel Feingold’s 2024 was “quite a year,” he writes. “Between Houda having health issues and my mom turning 94 with the slight ‘ditziness’ that comes with such maturity, the family stuff had challenges.” But he and Houda continue to win friends in Fort Lauderdale. “Joining the golf club turned out to be an excellent decision as we were welcomed in and that’s where most of our new friendships started.” While Houda loves being fully retired, that concept was difficult for Joel, “but I seem to have made peace with it.” For instance, it gave him time to join Chuck James ’78, Tim Jones ’84, and Dan Barsky ’03 in helping to organize a welcome event for current Bates swimmers and divers as they began their Florida training....David Foster and his cats have made Truckee, Calif., their full-time home. He’s still working, as chair of both his own company, Business Valuation Resources, and the Copyright Clearance Center, the world’s largest rights management organization. “I’m doing lots of stuff with AI and data quality,” he reports, and “still skateskiing and playing tennis and pickleball.” He adds, “I still have a Bates sticker on my ’99 Toyota Tacoma. I’m reading the news a lot less to stave off depression, and trying to focus on communities where I can have a positive impact.”...Lynn Glover Baronas and Mark “have a lot of fun with our grandkids Luca, Stella, and Penny. We enjoy walks with our pup Grady, who helps keep us in shape! I volunteer once a week in a second-grade class in East Hartford, and I remain involved in lay groups at First Church in Glastonbury, Conn. — the Mental Health Ministry and the Spiritual Reflection Group. I also enjoy regular calls and visits with my two dear Bates friends, Pam Walch Constantine and Jane Goguen Baronas. I lead a very blessed life, for which I am most grateful!”...Jane Goguen Baronas and company “made the most of retirement fun this year! There were two Brooklyn weddings, Cape Cod time with siblings, kids, and Bates family (Pam Walch Constantine and

Lynn Glover Baronas), an anniversary in Portland, and Broadway shows. The highlight was our family trip to Italy — we explored Rome, tasted excellent wine and bistecca alla fiorentina in Tuscany, hiked in Cinque Terre, swam in Lake Como (some of us), and finished up in Florence. It exceeded expectations! We also got rid of our old knob-and-tube wiring and installed heat pumps to work with last year’s solar panels.”... Linda Greason Yates has had a “busy and challenging time these last couple of years. Immunotherapy treatments for my husband David’s cancer have worked so well he is now off the medication after two years and living life normally. We drove from Massachusetts to Colorado and Utah last winter to ski for a month, traveled with friends, and we spend summers at our cottage in midcoast Maine, boating, sailing, hiking, and entertaining.” She adds, “We have two grandsons, who we adore. I am active on the board of the League of Women Voters Worcester Area, and volunteer at the local food pantry and community center.” They also enjoy live music, “some of which is played by David and friends.”...Carl Grove is “still working per diem in retirement at two hospitals in South Carolina. Keeps me out of trouble most of the time. I play pickup tennis about once a week but mobility is getting in the way of playing with any consistency. Was glad to be able to see Dave Ness for a little bit at our 50th high school reunion. I have started singing praise and worship at church again, which is always very healing. My daughter Melissa started as director of operations at the State of Maine Dept. of Education. Excited for her.”...This from Steve Hadge: “Life continues on a pretty good path. Both of our kids and two grandchildren are close by in Tolland, Conn. My wife, Vickie, still works hard on her YouTube channel, Even So It Is Well, which deals with living your best life with multiple sclerosis and other chronic illnesses. I have concluded that I will never retire, as I still enjoy working with young children. I sub two days a week in the local primary school and keep busy otherwise with disc golf, tennis, yoga, and puttering around the house.”...

John and Susan Young Haile “continue to enjoy retired life in Maine. We relish time with kids and grandkids and try to be with them as much as possible. Last summer we were able to spend nine days together in western Norway — very cool. John has been teaching regularly for Midcoast Senior College lately, it’s a fantastic organization.”...

John Howe sold his businesstransition business and is retired “for real,” he reports. “Spending winter months on Georgia’s St.

Simons Island. Fran and I marked our 45th. Five grandkids keep us smiling.”...In 2024, Leo Jaskoski celebrated the fact that “I have been an active aviator for 50 years. I finally fully retired from the part-time instructor position that I’d held for four years. Planning on seeing a bit more of the world than I’ve seen before. No schedule now, so my time is a bit more flexible than it had been for 50 years.”...

Christine Kaminski Tolen and Peter had an eventful year. “We had a wonderful trip to northern Italy, exploring better-known places and visiting local favorites as well,” she writes. “We took up golf again (although our bodies did protest a bit), and I attended my 50th (gasp!) high school reunion. What’s most exciting is that we became grandparents! And, as fate would have it, both our sons are now in North Carolina. This will make future holiday visits much easier to plan.”...Wendy Korjeff Bellows and Al Bellows ’78 are “still retired, serving on too many boards, keeping busy with horses, oil painting, weaving, spinning, and maintaining a small farm.”

Sandi Korpela Radis and Chuck ’75 still live on Peaks Island, off the Maine coast at Portland. “We spend our time mostly playing with the grandchildren, ages 8, 6, 5, and 1. The older two live on Peaks, which is convenient and wicked fun. The younger two live with our other daughter and her husband in Bend, Ore.” Chuck still practices rheumatology one week a month in Ellsworth. “I go up with him and hike if the weather is good.” She adds, “Bates is well-represented in my friend group — I see Gina Chase, Jeanne Cleary, and Lindy Larson Howe ’75.”...Ken Kulas is still an independent financial consultant in the Chicago area, but has cut back. He’s still active in volunteering as a Scout leader after 27 years and as an officer in a church men’s group. “I plan to play in an over-65 fast-pitch baseball league this year and enjoy spending time with our 8-year-old grandson,” he writes, noting that both of his and Kathy’s children live within an hour of them. He returns to Connecticut regularly to see his parents....Bob Larson has put his stamp of approval on 2024, the highlight being an April visit to Bates with Jean MetzgerLarson ’78. They have been married 45 years. “Talk about a Batesie couple! Our last Bates visit was when my daughter was looking for colleges in 2001. Alas, she went elsewhere. The campus looks wonderful. I am so impressed with everything that is happening at our alma mater.” The year also brought a new grandson (“Bates Class of 2046!”), retirement from his board position with a South African company, lots of

Saturdays watching his oldest grandson play soccer and baseball, time with his son in Iceland, and enjoying an annual trek to Florida’s Amelia Island with Jean....Patricia Mador, assistant district attorney for the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s office, is in her 39th year as a state prosecutor. “It is still the best job ever. I was recognized as the Traffic Safety Prosecutor of the Year, for the entire country, in 2023.” That honor, bestowed by the National Ass’n of Prosecutor Coordinators, “has energized me to share my knowledge and skills with prosecutors in Maine and across the country. I also continue to referee volleyball as an NCAA official. It’s nice to remain connected with a game I played for four years at Bates. The elevation in skill and athleticism is a testament to changes under Title IX.”...Dr. Joren Madsen, who directs the Transplant Center and the Center for Transplantation Sciences at Massachusetts General Hospital, noted that in March 2024 the Transplant Center performed the first transplant of a gene-edited pig kidney to a human and that the Center recently performed a second successful pig-to-human kidney transplant....Dervilla McCann and Steve Meister spent two months in Asia. “Many of my beliefs about that region of the world have shifted, pretty dramatically,” she writes. “We joined Paul Marks ’83 and his wife Margaret Hor in China, and their fluent translation services allowed us to really interact with people in the three locations where we stayed.” She adds, “I am about to help plan for our 50th Reunion, and look forward to seeing all our classmates who can attend that landmark event.”...For Marybeth Pope Salama and Guy, 2024 was “a roller coaster. My husband had three surgeries trying to deal with a knee replacement gone bad that ended up with sepsis and the need for two more operations in 2025. We are sidelined with long-term IV antibiotics and knee immobilization while we hope the final surgeries will return some semblance of normality and mobility to our lives. Thanks to those of you checking in and cheering us on. It does make a difference. Meanwhile, I’m working on giving thanks for the many small things I hadn’t paid attention to until we couldn’t do them!”...Dan Quinn has been happily retired for five years. “I still split my time between Smith Mountain Lake in Virginia and Mount Crested Butte in Colorado. In Virginia I enjoy lake life, including boating, fishing, and the views. I still manage a 200-acre farm for wildlife and now keep bees as a hobby.” But he aims to spend up to two months per year in Mount Crested Butte.

“In the winter I am a true ski bum, only skiing, eating, and sleeping for two weeks. The restaurants in Crested Butte are great, so I enjoy being fed after a day of skiing. During the summer I enjoy hiking, fly fishing, and of course the restaurants.” He adds, “It was with great sadness that I learned about the passing of Mark Sabia and Paul DelCioppio. They were great friends who are sorely missed.”... Cindy Rockwood Wang retired in 2001 after years with AT&T and subsidiaries. “I traded a paycheck for very rewarding hours volunteering with hospice — 22 years and counting — and volunteering since 2007 in a leadership role for Joni and Friends, a ministry for families affected by disability. Traveling has taken a backseat recently as my husband and I cared for my mom and now for my brother. I have taken up pickleball as my ‘therapy’ and am utterly addicted to the sport.”...For Paul Sklarew, 2024’s big news “was the birth of my third grandchild, Owen, to my daughter, Alix. Owen’s big brother, Huck, is 2, as is his cousin, Nora, born to my son, Jake.” In retirement, Paul missed practicing medicine, so now works part time in Denver. “Still plenty of time to ski and to travel! I sold my Nantucket studio and bought a larger place, farther from flood risk, in Falmouth, Mass. Hoping to see Charlie Zelle on Cape Cod this summer. I’m very happy to talk regularly to my senior year roommate, Mark Sorensen, and hope to see him too!”...As admissions director at Landmark College in the 1990s, Frank Sopper found that the work fed his interest in metacognition, specifically the complexities of learning. Today, recent clients of his firm Kairos Cognition, which helps people optimize their learning systems, have included the news organizations Arab News and Washington Times, hedge fund companies, a shipping corporation, and a U.S. army general, according to a September profile in the Brattleboro Reformer. Meanwhile, Frank still thinks “of Bates fondly,” he writes. “When I arrived there, I hadn’t been more than 45 minutes from my urban Boston birthplace, and never been in a forest. Now, I’m writing this from Tokyo where my son and his wife have a newborn boy. I live on 30 acres of largely wooded land in Vermont.” He remembers sitting on his dorm bed on his first day “totally bewildered. I couldn’t have asked for or imagined this journey.”...Mark Sorensen has lived in Newton, Mass., for 32 years and has a private practice in psychology. “I continue to love my work and have no plans to retire,” he writes. “I specialize in couples therapy, and I owe much of what I have learned about that to my decades-long marriage to Laury and to having raised two

children. 2024 saw both the birth of our first grandchild, to my daughter, and the wedding of our son. The past few years have been tough, as I developed long COVID and am still trying to claw my way out of that. I still see Paul Sklarew and still miss my good friend Jeff Brown, who died in 2019.”...Having completed 2024 with no hospitalizations, Kevin Soucy looked forward to starting 2025 as healthy as could be and hoping “to travel a little and enjoy life, my wife, our two sons and their wives, and our four grandchildren.” Thirteen years ago, he was diagnosed with Stage 4 leukemia. After two years of treatment he transitioned to Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, “where they have literally saved my life. A near-disaster with a clinical trial in 2015 actually saved my life with an improved drug in 2022, when I finally entered a long-awaited remission, only to have a heart attack, quad bypass surgery, a lesion in my lung, sternal reconstruction surgery, cancer surgery on my nose, and finally sepsis and kidney failure at Christmas in 2023. I beat every set of odds I was given, saw my oldest son turn 40, and in January turned 70, which I never expected to see. Never, ever give up!”...A New York Times bestseller and Oprah’s Book Club Pick, Elizabeth Strout’s 2024 novel Tell Me Everything also stands out because it’s the first in which three well-loved characters from her other novels “fully interact with each other,” as Portland Press Herald culture reporter Ray Routhier pointed out last fall. The comment helped set the context for Routhier’s exploration of Tell Me Everything in a Q&A with Strout. But the novelist closed the interview with a bit of a cliffhanger: “I’m writing a book that’s entirely different. It’s not even taking place in Maine. I have a whole new character. So a fresh sheet of paper completely.”...“With great sadness,” Kathy Taylor reports, “Dale Kellogg Smeltzer died unexpectedly of natural causes on Dec. 1. Dale and I were roommates for three years and good friends ever since. She and our other roommate, Nan Acker-Wolfhagan ’78, had just spent our annual reunion six weeks before, and Dale had appeared in the best of health. She was happily planning to fly to Norway with Eric Smeltzer ’76 to meet their first grandchild.” As for Kathy and Paul Gamble, they have lived in a small retirement community for seven years — “near where I spent most of my life in southeastern Pennsylvania. It was the right move since Paul is much older, and it’s a close-knit and caring community. We are fortunate to have two little granddaughters now, a great joy! Our younger daughter, son-in-law, and their child live nearby. Our other daughter and her family live in North Carolina.

Guest chef Susan Reid ’79 serves up her butterscotch apple oatmeal cookies during the lunch rush at Commons in March.

’Cat in the Kitchen

As the Commons dinner rush peaked, Susan Reid ’79 navigated through the kitchen toward the bakery, a tray of biscuit dough propped on her shoulder.

“I’ve got to negotiate for some oven space,” said Reid, a retired King Arthur recipe developer and cookbook writer, who had been up since 4 a.m. reviewing recipes and strategies for her mid-March guest chef gig at Bates.

In an hour, she wanted to serve freshly baked biscuits to the students in her evening tutorial on the mysteries of flour. Eyeing a refrigerator-sized oven near where bakers prepped cake batter, she asked, “Can I bogart this for 15 minutes?”

Tray in, she watched the biscuits rotate. There were four batches, each made with a different type of flour — all-purpose, self-rising, cake, and high-gluten, “so students can literally taste the difference and see what the texture change is.”

Nearby were remnants of five focaccia varieties she had demoed earlier, along with butterscotch apple oatmeal cookies slated for the next day’s lunch. “But they’re long gone for snacks.”

She’d also made a maple cheesecake and a gluten-free coffee cake with cherry and streusel, all conjured from what she calls “my idiot savant talent. I can taste something in my head and write you a recipe that will make that happen.”

“Cheesecake is my favorite dessert,” said Nico Ozer ’27 of New York City as he claimed a slice. “But I’ve never had maple.” A few minutes later, his plate was empty and Reid had made a new fan.

I retired from optometric practice during the pandemic, but I still keep my hand in the profession with a low-key, very part-time job.”...Keith Taylor and Wendy spent a good part of summer 2024 back on the Cape with their 12-year-old black Lab, Gemma. “Getting used to taking more time off but not ready to retire, as I still enjoy working.”

Keith adds, “My roommate Marty Kunofsky stopped by the office last fall for a surprise lunch visit. We concluded that neither one of us looked any older than when we graduated.”...Dave Terricciano is building a new house in Kennebunkport, Maine, after moving back from Sarasota, Fla., last June. “Happy to be back full-time in Maine. I am serving

on the Kennebunk Economic Development Committee working to attract new commercial and business investment. My partner, Betsy, and I enjoyed the gettogether at Grace in Portland for Bates last November and plan to continue supporting the Center for Purposeful Work at the college.”...Vicki Tripp Gordan notes that 2024 “was full of great memories: trips to visit friends, a hiking trip in Tuscany, Scott’s and my 45th anniversary, and our youngest daughter’s wedding, on Southport Island” in Maine — the Gordans live inland, in Raymond. “Last fall saw the beginning of the 100th season of the Portland Symphony Orchestra, on whose board I’ve served for six years. A particular highlight was cellist

Yo-Yo Ma joining the PSO in concert. I’m excited to become president of the Board of Trustees.”... For Pam Walch Constantine and David, the highlight of 2024 was the engagement of their younger son, Adam Constantine. (The older son is Peter, and their daughter is Kara ’08.) “His fiancée is from the U.K., making the wedding paperwork more difficult than is imaginable. Hopefully it will work out. On the downside, I got a difficult medical diagnosis and have learned how many wonderful people are in my life who have surrounded us with love — and so many meals! Jane Goguen Baronas and Lynn Glover Baronas have been incredibly supportive. I feel

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

From left, Steve Schmelz ’79, Bud Schultz ’81, George Wigton, and Dan Quinn ’77 pose after their doubles match during Reunion 1995.

Game, Set, Gratitude

Bud Schultz ’81 was inducted into the Men’s Tennis Hall of Fame of the Intercollegiate Tennis Assn. in February.

A three-time All-American at Bates, Schultz was a New England singles champ who competed in both the NCAA Division III and Division I tennis tournaments his senior year — all of which preceded a noteworthy pro career.

“It’s just been wonderful to reflect back and think of the people at Bates that inspired me, especially my former coach George Wigton,” said Schultz, in an interview with the Bates Bobcast. Wigton was Schultz’s coach in both tennis and basketball.

“Basketball made me a better athlete,” he said. “In a lot of ways, it wiped the slate clean in terms of what I was doing with tennis so I could come back to it again with a real enthusiasm after having not played for five months.”

grateful every day for all the people who have our backs!”...

Jacqueline Wolfe retired (“yet again”) in October, “from a position with Rose Estes of Dungeons & Dragons fame. I’m caring for my husband, Ray Winward, who is in remission from two aggressive cancers, but suffering serious side effects of radiation and chemo. Our aging rescue terrier is also labor- and care-intensive. Paying off the mortgage is liberating, and we’ll spend the savings on making things handicapped- and elderly-accessible. On the other side, great-grands and great nieces and nephews are multiplying exponentially.” She adds, “In December I attended my mother’s 90th birthday surprise party in Colorado Springs and was regaled by my nephew’s four kids under 4. I still love living on the Oregon coast.”

Charlie Zelle and Julie celebrated their 35th in January. “That’s amazing, especially as I think about turning 70 later this year. It’s been my honor to continue my government job

under Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz’s administration as chair of the Metropolitan Council of the Twin Cities. Given all the challenges in the world, it is a privilege to have purpose and show up to do something.”...

Zooey Zullo is semi-retired after a career that includes years of teaching at Dartmouth College. Now, she reports, “I am a licensed falconer working part time for New England Falconry in Woodstock, Vt. I train, fly, and hunt with birds of prey. My educational philosophy of building trust and using positive reinforcement is the foundation of working with all birds of prey — hawks, eagles, owls, and falcons.”

1978

Reunion 2028, June 8–11

CLASS SECRETARIES

Chip Beckwith chipwith@yahoo.com

Ronald Monroe ronmon74@yahoo.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Chuck James cjamesjr99@gmail.com

1979

Reunion 2029, June 7–10

CLASS SECRETARY

Mary Raftery mgraftery@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Patrick Murphy patrickm@paceengrs.com

In January, Buzz Bean, Sally, and one of the Univ. of Maine Farmington skiers that Buzz coaches — Nordic captain Ayla Bodach-Turner, a junior from Vermont — attended the FISU World University Games in Torino, Italy. “It was amazing to watch athletes from all over the world compete, including some who had raced on the World Cup.” Buzz adds, “It was great to see so many classmates at our Reunion!”...Robert Long will spend spring, summer, and fall weekends at the Bates–Morse Mountain Conservation Area,

in Phippsburg, during 2025, his third year in that role. When he is not helping visitors park efficiently, arranging rescues of beached sea mammals, or telling stories about the property (“mostly true,” he says), he serves as the Jobs for Maine Graduates specialist at Richmond High School....Jackie Miller and her husband, Dave Chamberlain, are “very active with the Georgia Native Plant Society. I serve as the state treasurer, and we both volunteer on habitat restoration projects, removing invasive plants. I love to garden, and our property has been certified as a Native Plant Habitat as well as a Wildlife Habitat.”...In December, Patrick Murphy and Mary Margaret Craford received a guided tour of Lower Manhattan from “dear classmates and locals Amy Gordon and Margie Carpenter, capped by a round of Irish coffees at a local watering hole.”...Jon Zanger and Jodi Tan moved from NYC to the Las Vegas area in May. “We will summer at our place in Tuscany (any visitors?) and return when the renovation of our house is done, probably by fall. Our son, Zach ’28, had a wonderful first year at Bates, living in Gillespie Hall. Al Weinberg and I get together frequently to indulge our retirement hobby of Hold ’em and Pot-Limit Omaha poker.”

1980

Reunion 2030, June 6–9

CLASS SECRETARY

Chris Tegeler Beneman cbeneman@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Mary Mihalakos Martuscello mary@martuscellolaw.com

Rachel Fine Moore retired at the end of January after 45 years of full-time work. “I finished at Deerfield Academy in the role of senior philanthropic advisor and planned-giving director. Time now feels very spacious — a real luxury. I’m enjoying biking, gardening, food, travel, family, and friends.”...Boon Ooi and Beth Hefferman Ooi met up with three classmates in Sweden in April 2024. “Beth and I picked up Hakan Lonnqvist at Gothenburg and drove to Uppsala to visit Jonas Nycander and Ian Horne,” he writes. Highlights of the visit “were getting to meet Jonas’ first grandchild and having a great dinner together in Stockholm. We’re hoping to see them again at Reunion.”

1981

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS SECRETARY Cheryl Andrews dr.cheryl.andrews@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Hank Howie hhowie@gmail.com

MARC GLASS

Anne Carbonneau Rendle became CEO of Longleaf Pine Realtors in Fayetteville, N.C., in September, bringing more than 25 years’ experience as chief executive for local and state real estate associations to the role. “We are confident that under her guidance, we will strengthen our ability to further our mission and provide additional support to our members and the communities they serve,” Longleaf Pine President Megan Gerber said in announcing the appointment.... Laurel Dallmeyer is “happy to announce my retirement from the practice of primary care medicine last July after 36 years in the same community. Really happy not to have to beg people to vaccinate themselves and their children anymore. I’m busy now traveling, writing a novel, and fighting fascism — and I expect no less from my fellow Bobcats!”...Writing from France, Valérie Lasserre Coppens reports that after nearly 25 years managing a trade association there focused on refrigerated transport and logistics, “I retired last October and am discovering my new life.” She’s swimming most days, spending as much time as possible with her grandchildren, and participating in a contemporary art conference group. “I’m also closely supervising the major renovation being done on my house in Bretagne. I spent a few days in Finland in January, where the weather was much colder than in Maine in the late ’70s: minus 28 Celsius,” or about 18 below zero Fahrenheit. “It’s been almost two years since I’ve been in the U.S. and I look forward to our Reunion!”...Jean Wilson is one of the many former Bates Modern Dance Company members who fondly remember the late Marcy Plavin, creator of Bates’ dance program. Writing in March, Jean was “excited to attend the annual Marcy Plavin Spring Dance Concert on campus in April! Marcy’s legacy is large, enduring, and heartwarming.”

1982

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS PRESIDENT Neil Jamieson neil@southernmainelaw.com

Ray Campbell became president and CEO of FAIR Health in January. Located in NYC, FAIR is a national nonprofit organization holding the country’s largest repository of healthcare claims data. “We are the go-to source for healthcare price information for state and federal agencies, health plans, healthcare providers, and consumers,” he notes....Ruth Mary Hall sold her house in Charlottesville, Va., and downsized to an apartment. “It’s hard to leave the big pollinator garden, but time to

simplify. I enjoyed seeing Bates classmates last summer during my Maine vacation. I continue to volunteer-usher at three theaters, seeing some wonderful performances. If any of you are visiting Charlottesville, please get in touch and let me take you to my favorite bakery-cafes!”... President Donald Trump’s decision in January to pardon nearly 1,600 people convicted on charges relating to the assault on the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 provoked widespread outrage not only among law enforcement officers who defended the institution during the attack, but among legal experts including Joyce White Vance. “It’s a gross misuse of the pardon power and says that Trump is willing to meddle in a process that helped strengthen the rule of law,” Joyce, a former U.S. attorney in Alabama and now a senior fellow at New York Univ. Law School, told The Boston Globe Richard Wood reported that a memorial for Adam Pettengill was planned for late June on Cape Cod, with Nickerson Funeral Home handling the arrangements.

1983

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS SECRETARY

Leigh Peltier leighp727@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENTS

PJ Dearden tribecapj@yahoo.com

Bill Zafirson bzaf@maine.rr.com

Lisa Harvie McIlwain and Reeven Elfman — and their house, in Maine’s largest city — were the focus of a Bangor Daily News article in January. Part of a series about the state’s housing crisis, the story recounted how their 120-year-old home on Portland’s Western Promenade became a tourist attraction in 2015 after Reeven arranged for a busload of sightseers to witness his proposal to Lisa there. Now retired, the couple put the stately brick building, known as the “Proposal House,” on the market after deciding to leave Maine to be nearer their children.

1984

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARY

Heidi Lovett blueoceanheidi@aol.com

Dr. Scott Allen received a bronze award in narrative nonfiction at the 2024 Independent Publishers of New England Book Awards for his memoir, Across a Bridge of Fire. The book recounts Scott’s journey as a teenager as he navigated his recovery from a life-altering burn injury and his decision to run away from home to Cambodia in 1980,

during the aftermath of the brutal Khmer Rouge regime. A first-person essay in this magazine in 2006 was his initial effort to narrate the profound experiences that eventually became the foundation of his memoir. A physician, Scott has focused his career on the intersection of medicine and human rights....John Dunnell joined Generations Law Group in September as a senior attorney and director of the Massachusetts firm’s Tax and Trust Administration Dept. Bringing more than 30 years’ experience in estate planning and administration to the firm, he previously was principal attorney at Russell Plummer & Rutherford. John and Kerry Crehan Dunnell ’86 live in Reading....Dr. Mike Katz is the Delaware state chair for the organization U.S. Term Limits. Formerly a Delaware state senator, as well as an Independent candidate for the U.S. Senate in 2024, he brings a strong understanding of the need for term limits. “Polls show that one issue that unites all Delaware residents regardless of political affiliation is the need for congressional term limits,” he stated in announcing the new position. Mike is a pediatric critical-care anesthesiologist and business owner. He and Trish have three children, including Sander Katz ’25.... Artemis Susan Preeshl is director of teaching, innovation, and research at Adams State Univ. in Alamosa, Colo. “I lead AI initiatives, professional development, the Association of College and University Educators’ Effective Teaching Practices, and mentoring,” she writes. “At the first Hispanicserving institution in Colorado, I advocate for diversity and inclusion and AI literacy on site and at national conferences.” She adds, “Routledge has published my fourth book, Consent in Shakespeare’s Classical Mediterranean.”

1985

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS SECRETARY

Elissa Bass bass.elissa@yahoo.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Lisa Virello virello@comcast.net

Derek Anderson has published his second book, Forgotten Capitals and the Historical Lessons They Teach. Bates professors were influential as he wrote the 165-page text, Derek notes. “What I learned from Cole, Hochstadt, Muller, Bergman, Crocker, Leamon, Danforth, Corlett, and Tracy can all be found in these pages. I’m so indebted.”...Elissa Bass reports that “our annual

Bates-friends Bruins game this year had the happy accident of discovering fellow Bobcat Leigh Peltier ’83 and her grandson Landon” at the February event at TD Garden. “Our crew is Lisa Virello, Debbie Valaitis Kern, Bob Lieberson, Frank Coccoluto, Leanne Belmont Valade, and me. The Bruins lost, of course, but a very fun afternoon!”...Heather Beebe writes: “This year marks 30 years of living in Canada, five years of retirement, three years as an empty-nester (sort of), and an unbelievable 40 years since we graduated in the gym on a rainy day at Bates. The country life in Quebec suits us, and our area is replete with orchards, vineyards, cheesemakers, and bread bakers. We welcome any guests who would like to make the trek one hour north of Burlington, Vt.”...Jeff Porter, a nationally prominent environmental lawyer, became a partner in the Public Policy & Regulation Group at Holland & Knight during the winter. He went to the firm from Mintz, where as a partner he chaired the firm’s environmental law practice. Jeff not only brings prowess in project permitting and compliance work to Holland & Knight but “is an excellent litigator,” said the firm’s Rich Gold. “His experience in PFAS and Superfund litigation will be especially valuable.” Jeff advised the Bay State’s Legislature during the drafting of “brownfield” legislation that has spurred the redevelopment of underutilized former industrial sites....Pamela Rawson Morse and Earle ’84 “have had the joy of following our son Sam Morse on the Alpine Skiing World Cup circuit this winter. Yes, he is one of those crazy downhillers! After years of getting up in the dark and driving to mountains all over Maine, New Hampshire, and Vermont to take him to races, we now get to enjoy places like Wengen, Switzerland, Kitzbuhel, Austria, and Kvitfjell, Norway. When I was at Bates I never dreamed of skiing all over Europe, let alone with my son, a professional athlete. What a ride!”...A cantata composed by Delmar Small had its world premiere last fall at the First Parish Church in Brunswick, Maine. The cantata is based on a seventh-century plainchant Advent hymn, as Delmar, an administrator at Bowdoin College, told Bowdoin’s news office. He has a longstanding “occasional” musical relationship with the church that encompasses playing organ for an annual Advent season program. After 2023’s concert, Small approached the church’s music director about writing a cantata for this season. “Being brave, she agreed to the performance of a piece as yet unwritten,” he said.

Saddled Up in Style

Laura Murray Montenegro ’83 won first place as the Best Female Western Rider in the centennial Tucson Rodeo Parade in February. The world’s largest nonmotorized parade — featuring only horse-drawn floats, wagons, riders, and marching bands — the event celebrates Southern Arizona’s cowboy and ranching heritage. She wore a dress reminiscent of the Old West and rode her beautiful paint mare, Mosaic.

1986

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS SECRETARY

Erica Seifert Plunkett ericasplunkett@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Bill Walsh messagebill@gmail.com

Cat Lathrop Strahan catstrahan@gmail.com

Writing in Forbes last September, Lumina Foundation President and CEO Jamie Merisotis used Bates’ Center for Purposeful Work to exemplify ways that colleges can tap the power of alumni to help align students with career opportunities. “As vital as alumni giving is, it’s just one of the ways that alums can support their university and its mission, and perhaps not even the most important,” he stated. “Just as meaningful is the act of directly engaging with students in ways that open doors to opportunity and encourage their academic and professional success. That means serving as mentors during students’ time on campus and as crucial connectors to internships and jobs.”...

Tom Whalen was interviewed by a Boston Univ. news office

last fall in connection with his latest book, Dynasty Restored: How Larry Bird and the 1984 Boston Celtics Conquered the NBA and Changed Basketball (Rowman & Littlefield). “This is autobiographical in many ways,” Tom told BU Today. “I talk about scoring a press pass covering a Celtics game for my high school newspaper. I got to interview Larry Bird as a rookie.” The book also makes clear the intersection of sports and politics in the 1980s, as Tom depicts the emergence of the Reagan era and the rise of Donald Trump.

1987

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS SECRETARY

Val Brickates Kennedy brickates@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Erica Rowell ericarowell@mac.com

Cindy Snell co-authored The Social Work Career Guide: How to Land Your Ideal Job and Build Your Legacy (NASW Press). Written with Jennifer Luna and Michelle Woods, it’s a one-of-a-kind career resource for social workers at all stages

where he worked with Fortune 500 organizations across the medical device, pharmaceutical, and OTC/vitamin sectors. He has also held leadership roles at Bausch + Lomb, Johnson & Johnson in Canada, and Pfizer Consumer Healthcare....Rick Schiffmann wrote in March: “After a bucket-list family vacation hiking in Patagonia, we returned to Cohasset, Mass., for the final sprint before becoming empty-nesters. I just wound down my role heading up business development for a division of Lamar Outdoor Advertising and am networking for new opportunities. My wife, Joy, a Colby grad, is growing her interior design and staging business. The twins, Libby and Rex, will head off to college in the fall.”

1989

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARY

Sara Hagan Cummings cummings5clan@gmail.com

STEERING COMMITTEE

Sally Ehrenfried sjehrenfried@gmail.com

Deb Schiavi Cote debscote@yahoo.com

of their careers. “We believe in informed decision-making,” she says, and also that a “career is not confined to a single role but is a lifelong dedication to growth and service. Please share news of this book with a social worker in your life!”

1988

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE

Astrid Delfino-Bernard flutistastrid@sbcglobal.net

Ruth Garretson Cameron ruth.eg.cameron@gmail.com

Mary Capaldi Gonzales mary.capaldi.gonzales@gmail.com

Steve Lewis

mojofink@gmail.com

Julie Sutherland-Platt julielsp@verizon.net

Lisa Romeo romeoli66@gmail.com

Steven Robins was appointed president for the Americas of prominent contact-lens maker CooperVision in January, the Rochester (N.Y.) News reported. Steven is a threedecade healthcare veteran who previously was managing partner and principal for New England Consulting Group,

More than 20 years after becoming head coach of men’s and women’s tennis at Bates, Paul Gastonguay is once again concentrating on the men’s program. Paul, the winningest tennis player in Bobcat history when he graduated, headed the men’s program 1996–2001. “Twice honored as the NESCAC Coach of the Year, Gastonguay has led the men’s team to one of the longest periods of sustained excellence of any sport in school history,” according to an Athletics announcement. Now coaching the women is Deepak Sharma, previously a coach and director of tennis at Marist College.... Anne Mollerus retired at the end of February after 35-plus years at Cargill, where she had attained the position of business process and mining lead. “I plan to spend time with family and friends, travel, and volunteer at the local fix-it clinic — after I catch up on sleep, walking the dogs, and doing house projects. Hope to make it to Bates this fall!”... Jane Simpson has joined the New Jersey-based regional law firm of Lindabury, McCormick, Estabrook & Cooper as a partner in its Divorce & Family Law practice group, in the Westfield office. She has practiced family law for 30 years, focusing on resolving complex family matters through negotiation and advocacy. A certified mediator and parent coordinator, she assists families in navigating disputes without prolonged litigation.

LAURA MURRAY MONTENEGRO

1990

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS SECRETARY

Joanne Walton joannewalton2003@yahoo.com

Christina Brickley Engberg graduated from Mount Saint Joseph Univ. in May with a Master’s of Reading Science degree. “MSJ has the top reading-science program in the country and it has been an honor to be one of the few in the program who does not teach,” she writes. “I will work with students who are dyslexic.” In other Engberg news, Kaj ’91 retired from UPS in September after 30 years. Their boys are in college, Finn at Kennesaw State Univ. and Soren at the Univ. of Denver....Sarah Pralle is a regular panelist on The Ivory Tower, a weekly discussion of news and events from the perspective of academicians from central New York state. Associate professor of political science at the Maxwell School at Syracuse Univ., Sarah studies the politics that affect public policy processes, particularly in environmental policy. Her current project examines the politics of mapping flood zones in U.S. communities, which is part of a larger effort to understand climate change adaptation. The Ivory Tower is WCNY’s longest running television series.

1991

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS SECRETARY

Katie Tibbetts Gates kathryntgates@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT John Ducker jducker1@yahoo.com

Chris Fisher has been appointed to the board of directors of the Ball Brothers Foundation, one of Indiana’s oldest and largest family foundations. Chris, a great-grandson of Edmund Burke Ball, whose estate gift in 1926 was used to establish the foundation, has worked with the foundation for nine years.

A resident of Maple City, Mich., he is a ski instructor and the snow sports director at Crystal Mountain. In the off-season, he works at an equestrian boarding facility owned and managed by his wife, Haylee....Melanie Fleming Sachs is serving her second term in the Maine House of Representatives, where she chairs the Appropriations and Financial Affairs Committee. The first in her family to graduate from college, she received a BA in political science from Bates and a master’s from Case Western Reserve Univ. A licensed clinical social worker, she led Freeport Community Services for many years and also served as executive director of Sexual

Assault Response Services of Southern Maine. She and Andrew live in Freeport and have two children....Elizabeth Rynecki launched a podcast in January. That Sinking Feeling: Adventures in ADHD and Ship Salvage combines personal storytelling with an exploration of the world of maritime salvage. The six episodes explore “my son’s ADHD seen through the lens of my Dad’s ship-salvage career,” she explains. “It’s peppered with stories and insights from interviews with parents of kids with ADHD and from individuals who have ADHD themselves.”...Martina Todd Richards and Paul are in their third year in Mumbai, “where he works at the American School of Bombay and I am back in grad school doing a mental health master’s in counseling at the Univ. of Massachusetts (remotely).” Their daughter is Camille Richards, a Univ. of Massachusetts graduate, and their son is Zach Richards ’26.... Kevin Wetmore was profiled in November by the news service at Loyola Marymount Univ., where he is professor of theater arts and director of the MFA Performance Pedagogy program. Kevin “holds many titles,” the reporter noted, from family man to theater historian to stage-combat choreographer to youth soccer referee. He has published about four dozen short stories, written hundreds of book chapters and movie and book reviews, and has been with the LMU College of Communication and Fine Arts for 20 years. “There are so many things that interest me and so many things I want to do, and I refuse to not do it all,” he says.

1992

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

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 peterjfriedman@gmail.com

Leyla Morrissey Bader

leyla.bader@gmail.com

Jeff Mutterperl jeffmutterperl@gmail.com

Karen Finocchio became interim head coach for the men’s and women’s alpine ski teams at the Univ. of Maine Farmington during the winter, after serving as assistant coach for one season. Karen brought a stellar resume to the position — four years in charge of the men’s and women’s alpine program at Brown, and leadership roles with elite programs including those of Maine’s Carrabassett Valley Academy and the Park City Ski Team in Utah. Bringing her skiers

Field Hockey,

Field Ops

Last fall, Anne “Piep” van Heuven ’88, who is director of government affairs at Colorado Ski Country USA, ran into Brad Zborowski ’94 of the Arapahoe County Sheriff’s Office during a tour he led of the sheriff offices for Colorado legislators and lobbyists. “We bonded over sports at Bates,” says van Heuven. “Brad played soccer and rugby, I played field hockey and lacrosse.”

Brad recently retired from his work as a special operations sergeant, which included serving as bomb squad commander for nearly a decade.

to Maine’s Sugarloaf resort in February for the USCSA Eastern Regional Championships (where both teams qualified for the 2025 national competition at Mount Bachelor, Ore., in March), she ran into Bobcat soccer teammate Ellen Sampson Moore ’95. It’s been “20-plus years since we last saw each other, but that did not stop the giggles from overflowing,” she says. “Again proof that our Bobcat teammate friendships run strong and deep.”...Lisa Genova, author of the acclaimed Still Alice and other bestsellers, has a new novel out. More or Less Maddy is the compelling story of a young woman diagnosed with bipolar disorder who rejects the

stability and approval found in a traditionally “normal” life for a career in stand-up comedy. Praised by Booklist for her “deep empathy and insight,” Lisa has crafted “another profoundly moving novel that makes complicated mental health issues accessible and human,” notes her publisher, Simon & Schuster. “More or Less Maddy is destined to become another classic.”...Claudia Goldstein reports that her second book, Beuckelaer and the Art of Dining: Northern Painting, Food, and Social Class in Early Modern Italy, was published in January by Amsterdam University Press. She is a professor of art at William Paterson Univ....

ANNE VAN HEUVEN

Signs of Support

Michael Lieber ’92 got some help in his successful run for election to the Wilmette (Ill.) Village Board last fall when his first-year roommate and Wilmette neighbor, Greg Guidotti, put one of Mike’s signs in his yard.

The Record noticed Leiber’s energetic campaign, noting that “newcomer Michael Lieber...could be seen greeting residents at the train station, knocking on doors across the village and planting election signs around town.”

Sharing his reason for running for public office, Leiber told The Record that “we need sane, rational, reasonable people to step up to serve.”

Stephen Goodwin writes that during the winter he and Craig D’Ambrosia spent seven nights at an insight meditation retreat at Spirit Rock Meditation Center in Woodacre, Calif. “It was our first time engaging in a silent retreat for that length of time. The experience was deeply insightful and spiritually nourishing in these challenging times. We both felt better equipped to return to our families, friends, and work.”...

Jon Wall and his wife, Jennifer, formed the nonprofit Zach’s Bridge to help parents facing the worst outcomes of cancer in their child. “The nonprofit honors our son, Zach, who passed away from a form of bone cancer — osteosarcoma — in November 2021,” Jon writes. “Specifically,

held senior positions at Liberty Mutual Insurance in Boston, culminating in a role as senior vice president and chief actuary for commercial insurance. She also worked as chief actuary, data, and analytics officer at QBE North America. Kristen was named an Executive to Watch by Risk & Insurance in 2022....Marc Hallee became vice president of Total Rewards, the employee compensation program at the West Central Florida health care system BayCare, in January. He oversees the creation of competitive, sustainable, and scalable rewards programs addressing the needs of BayCare’s 33,000-plus team members. Marc brought more than 30 years’ experience in human resources and consulting to BayCare, and most recently served as senior client partner and chief growth officer for healthcare at Korn Ferry in Chicago.

1994

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Courtney Landau Fleisher courtney.fleisher@gmail.com

Jonathan Lewis jlewjlew@mac.com

1995

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Jason Verner jcv@nbgroup.com

Deb Nowak Verner debverner@gmail.com

Gene McCabe, the highly successful head coach of men’s lacrosse and assistant director of athletics for compliance at William & Lee Univ., appeared on a W&L podcast to discuss the sense of place that athletics can provide and how he strives to ensure that feeling for his student-athletes. “There’s some pressure that goes along with competitive athletics,” he told W&L After Class, “but it is a place that will feed your soul and lift your spirits, because you get to do something you love to do with a bunch of guys you love to do it with.” He aims to “bottle that energy and use the three hours that we get and the culture of our program in a way that they can learn resiliency, compassion, empathy, how to dig a little bit deeper, but also keep it in a healthy space.”

1996

we provide parents of children with late-stage cancer or those that have lost a child to cancer with a trained peer mentor to provide compassion and support during their hardest times.”

1993

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Rebecca Sanferrare Throop rthroop@hotmail.com

Lauren Fine laurenkimfine@gmail.com

Colleen Donahue McCretton cmccretton@yahoo.com

Kristen Bessette joined insurance company Zurich North America as chief data officer in January. Prior to Zurich, she

Conor Fennessy became director of state government and external affairs for the eastern U.S. at Rocket Companies, the Detroit-based parent company of Rocket Mortgage, in January. Highly regarded for his expertise in government affairs, Conor went to Rocket from Mercury Public Affairs, where he spent a decade in roles including managing director. At Rocket, he coordinates state legislative and regulatory affairs, industry trade associations, and external stakeholder relationships. He began his career as a legislative assistant in the U.S. House of Representatives....Polly Macgregor Ford, who teaches K–8 art in Arlington, Mass., exhibited artwork last fall at Arlington’s Old Schwamb Mill, the oldest continuously operating grain mill site in the U.S. Featuring images by Polly and her Ottoson Middle School colleague Kayla McKenna, the exhibition Articulation comprised abstract work intended to elicit emotion and convey “words or ideas that cannot be, or do not want to be, explicitly expressed,” according to a press release. Polly has shown in Austin, Boston, and Providence....Brian McElfatrick of Tampa, Fla., has been reappointed to the Hillsborough Area Regional Transit Authority. He is a shareholder, executive committee member, and practice group leader at the law firm of Bush Ross, previously chaired the Florida Bar Grievance Committee for the 13th Judicial Circuit, and has been recognized as a member of Florida’s “Legal Elite” by Florida Trend

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Ayesha Farag ayesha.farag@gmail.com

Jay Lowe jameslowemaine@yahoo.com

David Brennan writes: “After 20-plus years in Manhattan Beach, Calif., I have traded in the flip-flops for cowboy boots! My wife, Lana, our son, Luke, and I have moved to Prescott, Ariz. At a mile high, you get to enjoy all seasons, be close to nature, and live a much more peaceful life. In March, I began serving the local community as chief philanthropy officer for the Yavapai Regional Medical Center Foundation. We are excited to raise Luke in this beautiful community!”

1997

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS SECRETARY Todd Zinn tmzinn@hotmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT Stuart Abelson sabelson@oraclinical.com

Rob Blood expanded his hospitality enterprise during the winter, The Boston Globe reported in February. He combined his boutique-hotel management business, Lark Hotels, with rival Life House, under the name Lark Hospitality. “Adding Life House to Lark brings some technology knowhow,” a business reporter noted, and “(m)ore importantly, it doubles the hotels from which its 100,000 loyalty program

members can choose. Members often book rooms directly, avoiding the need for hotels to pay commissions to online travel agencies.” Once focused on the Northeast, Rob’s business now spans 27 states reaching to California....Jason Hall became CEO of the Columbus (Ohio) Partnership, the region’s premier business organization, late last year. Previously CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., Jason told the Columbus Dispatch that he “always looked to Columbus as the national model of regional collaboration and economic development.” He was the first in his family to earn a college degree when he graduated from Bates, and is a graduate of Vanderbilt Univ. Law School. In 2012, Jason became the first openly LGBT person appointed to a cabinet-level position in Missouri when he was named director of the Missouri Dept. of Economic Development.... Courtney Scott and Tim Carney relocated to Ormond Beach, Fla., after a decade in Massachusetts. Courtney has been with Brown & Brown Insurance for more than 12 years and was offered the role of vice president of strategic people operations for the corporate headquarters, in Daytona Beach. “Deciding to embrace life’s adventures, we made the move and are enjoying life in the Sunshine State! I’d love to connect with any Floridabased Batesies!”...Becky Steer Hauser writes: “This is the year most of us are turning 50! I had a ‘work thing’ in New Jersey and talked my Bates roommates Lauren Cardonsky Gretina and Mary Richter into meeting me in NYC for a night to celebrate our birthdays. Adding to the fun, we called another roommate, Anne Coequyt. It’s so fun catching up with friends from Bates.”

1998

Reunion 2028, 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 Caivano Macko leads the New England office of Shev Rush Public Relations, established in April. A Maine native, she was previously an assistant director at The Jackson Laboratory’s Cancer Center in Bar Harbor and in Farmington, Conn. Founded in 2005, SRPR also operates in NYC and Los Angeles. “Shev and I are very excited to bring the agency’s offerings to the areas we both call home and to the dynamic and rapidly growing

businesses that populate a full diversity of industries throughout New England,” Kate noted. In addition to her SRPR work, she chairs the board of Mount Desert Island’s Land and Garden Preserve, and serves on the board of the Bar Harbor Historical Society and on the municipal Design Review Board....Dr. Beth Natt has completed an MBA at Yale. She is chair of pediatrics at Goryeb Children’s Hospital and Overlook Medical Center, in New Jersey, and medical director of Atlantic Health System’s pediatric service line.

1999

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS SECRETARY

Jenn Lemkin Bouchard jennifer_bouchard@hotmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENT

Jamie Ascenzo Trickett jamie.trickett@gmail.com

Lisa Gralnek discussed her podcast, Future of XYZ, in a Q&A with the magazine Interior Design. “Podcasts are the only fully democratized medium” in these times, said Lisa, who is also managing director of the North American presence of Germany’s iF Design company. “So whether you’re into interiors or city planning, pop art or knitting, robotics or sound branding — or anything else that falls under the vast umbrella of design and creativity — there’s a podcast (or 20!) through which you can discover the unique perspectives of those who are working in the space or at least thinking about it!”...Jenn Lemkin Bouchard’s novel Considering Us was published in February by Black Rose Writing. Depicting the romantic complications experienced by private chef Devon Paige as scandal drives her to new possibilities, the story finds Devon answering a pressing question that she’s long been evading: Is 15 years too late to rekindle a one-night stand? Jenn is the award-winning author of the novel First Course and several short stories.

2000

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS SECRETARY

Cynthia Macht Link cynthiafriedalink@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Jenn Glassman Jacobs jenniferellenjacobs@gmail.com

Megan Shelley mhshelley@aol.com

2001

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS SECRETARY

Noah Petro npetro@gmail.com

A Creative Spin

Barnaby Wickham ’94 devotes a lot of spare time to urban cycling in Baltimore, and over the past year, he’s taken to picking up lost hubcaps along the way.

In late 2024, he built two wreaths from the more than 300 hubcaps he collected. One wreath, 12 feet wide using 108 hubcats, got placed in front of the home where he and his wife, Kate Ganley Wickham ’94, live, which is pictured here. The other wreath, 17 feet wide with 219 hubcaps, was placed at his parents’ house in Baltimore County.

“Amazingly, it was featured on the front pages of The Washington Post and The Baltimore Sun and on local newscasts,” he reports. “As a Bates economics major and marketing professional, I can personally vouch for how the liberal arts is good prep for the professional and the creative.”

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Jodi Winterton Cobb jodimcobb@gmail.com

Kate Hagstrom Lepore khlepore@gmail.com

2002

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS SECRETARY

Stephanie Eby steph.eby@gmail.com

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Jay Surdukowski jsurdukowski@sulloway.com

Drew Weymouth weymouthd@gmail.com

Andrew Gruel, founder and CEO of American Gravy Restaurant Group, wrote an op-

ed supporting Robert Kennedy Jr.’s candidacy for secretary of U.S. Health and Human Services during the winter. In the Central Maine Morning Sentinel, he reminded readers of Kennedy’s longtime involvement in promoting healthy foods, especially for children. “As a chef, I look to Maine as a North Star when it comes to real food, local food communities, food policy, and a will to educate the people about making healthy life choices,” he wrote. “Let’s continue this positivity by confirming RFK Jr., and help make America eat like Maine.” Eric Kaviar joined the Day Pitney law firm during the winter as counsel in its intellectual property and technology practice. Based in the firm’s Boston

BARNABY WICKHAM

Donkey Gets Due?

Abby Rhoads ’95 moved to Lincolnville, Maine, where she is settling into farm life with her two donkeys, Miles and Zephyr.

They had a moment of fame when The New Yorker published Rhoads’ letter last October, responding to a “Talk of the Town” article about efforts to petition DreamWorks to credit and compensate Perry, the donkey that animators studied to create Donkey, “one of the most beloved characters in Shrek,” wrote Rhoads.

“Although donkeys are gaining some popularity and acknowledgment through social media and film, the reality is that they remain at the low end of the spectrum of respect when it comes to the genus Equus,” Rhoads wrote.

“They have been used as beasts of burden for thousands of years — hauling goods, protecting herds, carrying Jesus into Jerusalem. But even that holy duty hasn’t been enough to earn them an exalted status.”

office, he focuses on IP litigation including patent and trademark disputes, trade-secret cases, and strategic counseling. He also advises clients on managing IP portfolios. With more than 17 years’ experience in the law, Eric held partner positions at two leading firms prior to Day Pitney. He has been recognized by The Best Lawyers in America, Massachusetts Super Lawyers, and Massachusetts Rising Stars.

2003

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Kirstin McCarthy Boehm kirstincboehm@gmail.com

Melissa Yanagi melissayanagi@gmail.com

Diana Birney Pooley was pleased to visit Antarctica with her dad, David Birney, in

February. “What an amazing continent! Thanks, Bates, for preparing me for a lifetime of learning, no matter the experience.”...Malinda Gilbert Gagnon, CEO of the Mainebased cybersecurity firm Uprise Partners, has joined the board of directors at the Mitchell Institute. She was elected to a three-year term and will support the nonprofit’s mission to provide $2 million in scholarships and programming to college-bound Maine high school seniors who will be named Mitchell Scholars in 2025. Malinda herself was a 1999 Mitchell Scholar, attending Bates with support from the institute. Uprise received the Propel Ignition 2025 Business of the Year award, following recognition in 2024 as the nation’s second-fastest-growing IT services company.

2004

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Eduardo Crespo eduardo.crespo.r@gmail.com

Tanya Schwartz tanya.schwartz@gmail.com

2005

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Kathryn Rice Duvall duvall.kathryn@gmail.com

Melissa Geissler melissa.geissler@gmail.com

Megan Richardson Day, an 11year employee of MaineHealth, was promoted to the position of director of communications and public affairs for the system’s Pen Bay and Waldo hospitals. Megan, who had served as interim communications and public affairs director since last fall, oversees internal and external communications for the community health system. She previously worked with the community health team at the two hospitals and joined the communications and public affairs operation in 2021. She began her career with Courier Publications in Belfast, Maine, as a reporter...Responding to accusations by the Trump administration’s “border czar” that state police forces in Massachusetts are failing to pursue criminals who are in the country illegally, Sarah Sherman-Stokes told The Boston Globe in February that the feds are behaving like “a schoolyard bully.” “Local government should do the job of local law enforcement,” she said, adding, “I’m glad the chief of police in Boston has made that clear.” Sarah is associate director of the Immigrants’ Rights and Human Trafficking Clinic at Boston Univ. School of Law. A city ordinance bars Boston police from taking part in civil

immigration enforcement but allows cooperation with ICE’s division of Homeland Security Investigations on criminal matters.

2006

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Chelsea Cook chelsea.m.cook@gmail.com

Katie Nolan knolan06@gmail.com

Johnny Ritzo johnnyritzo@gmail.com

Sam Golden’s lab at the Univ. of Washington secured a $3.8 million NIH research grant to support research into the use of artificial intelligence to better understand how fentanyl impacts brain function. Sam, a Ronald S. Howell Distinguished Faculty Fellow and assistant professor of neuroscience, leads a study that employs machine learning to scrutinize video of mice experiencing fentanyl addiction and withdrawal. Such analysis has been extremely time-intensive until now. “Machine learning has allowed us to analyze every frame (...),” Sam told KING 5 News in Seattle, “capturing the different strategies that mice use to seek out the drug and that they use during relapse.” The hope, as a reporter told viewers, “is that all this preclinical work will lead to therapies that are less addictive and more personalized.”...Grace Liu joined Nav, a Californiabased credit and financial health platform for small businesses, as chief financial officer in January. With more than 20 years’ experience in finance leadership and investment banking, Grace previously was CFO at the rewards and payments company Tango, and also held finance leadership positions at Afterpay, Lending Club, and Applied Materials. She serves on the board of VIA Global Health, dedicated to improving healthcare access in underserved communities....When the Maine Sunday Telegram encouraged people to cook mussels at home, the newspaper quoted a wellknown Maine mussel grower for the environmental perspective on the mollusk. “They’re incredibly sustainable,” Matt Moretti, coowner and CEO of Bangs Island Mussels, told a reporter. “It takes very few resources to grow them, no feed, no fertilizer, no freshwater, no chemicals of any kind. The mussels just feed on the nutrients that exist naturally around them in the water. It helps improve the water clarity and quality. It’s a native species and it grows abundantly in high density, which means we can grow a lot of super high-quality, nutrient-dense food in a very small footprint of the ocean.”

ABBY RHOADS

2007

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Keith Kearney kdkearney@gmail.com

Rakhshan Zahid rakhshan.zahid@gmail.com

Nils Peter Johnson, managing partner at the law firm Johnson & Johnson in Canfield, Ohio, was recognized with a Community Service Award for Newer Attorneys by the Ohio State Bar Foundation. Nils is a past president of the Canfield Rotary Club, is on the board of the Oh Wow! Roger & Gloria Jones Children’s Center, and participates in the Mahoning County Bar Assn.’s Grievance and Ethics Committee. The Community Service Award recognizes attorneys under age 40 or with fewer than 15 years of practice who dedicate substantial time and effort to local social-service, civic, artistic, or cultural organizations...Gary Kan joined Kleinbard as an associate in the business and finance practice. Gary, who went to the Philadelphia law firm from Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom, focuses his practice on corporate transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, sale of businesses to employee stock ownership plans, and general corporate governance. He earned a JD from Temple Univ. Beasley School of Law and a master’s from Middlebury.... Carolyn King-Robitaille, head coach of Saint Anselm College’s field hockey team, spoke with the Kennebec Journal/Morning Sentinel in November, just after the team played its first national championship, beating Kutztown Univ. in overtime in the NCAA Division II final. Maine is well-represented on the team, she pointed out. “I love the Maine kids,” Carolyn, an assistant coach at Bates 2006–2009, told reporter Dave Dyer. “I think there’s a grittiness with the kids from Maine, a goto-work mentality.”...Nate Libby became Lewiston’s director of economic and community development at the end of 2024. Nate served as assistant director of the department starting last April, and previously was president of Community Concepts Finance Corp. and of Community Concepts Housing Development, overseeing a $35 million affordable housing portfolio in western Maine. He also represented Lewiston in the Legislature for 10 years and served as Senate majority leader. His “passion for Lewiston and his remarkable ability to connect with people, from local stakeholders to financial experts, makes him the right leader to take us forward,” Mayor Carl Sheline said in announcing Nate’s appointment.

2008

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Liz Murphy elizabeth.jayne.m@gmail.com

Alie Egelson alisonrose.schwartz@gmail.com

Susy Hawes Peoples writes that she, Caroline Ginsberg, Ariel Childs, Kate HarmsworthMorrissey, Jeanette Hardy Baum, and Emilie Swenson “continue to gather regularly to laugh, cry, talk about Bates, and gently force their kids to become best friends. Find them all this summer camping at Sebago Lake!”...John Miley, writing in The Kiplinger Letter in January, offered a useful forecast for the near future of artificial intelligence. He examined major opportunities and challenges for the field — including prospects for “artificial general intelligence,” which OpenAI defines as “highly autonomous systems that outperform humans at most economically valuable work.” John advised readers to take “AGI talk seriously, but with a healthy dose of skepticism. AI hype is partly at play, though the race to AGI will be a driving force for years to come. Past AI hype has fallen flat and decades of research have seen fits and starts. AGI isn’t required for amazing AI tech emerging from steady advances. The pressing risk for society is how humans decide to use powerful AI.”...Jackie Powers was inducted into the Punchard-Andover High School Athletic Hall of Fame in March. A notable basketball player at Bates, Jackie was outstanding in soccer and basketball at Andover. She is the school’s all-time leading goal scorer and as a senior received the Eagle Tribune Golden Boot award for that achievement. In basketball, she was the Merrimack Valley Conference Player of the Year as a senior and was named to both the Eagle Tribune and Boston Herald Super Teams. Jackie was also the female recipient of the Eugene V. Lovely Award as top athlete in her graduating class.... Ground was broken in December for the Trinity Jubilee Center’s new building in Lewiston. With construction expected to be complete late this year, the new building will open a new chapter in the organization’s 33 years of service to “some of the city’s most vulnerable people,” the Sun Journal reported. The organization currently rents the basement of Trinity Episcopal Church. Erin Reed, the center’s executive director for more than a decade, told the paper that a sizable portion of the project’s $5.1 million cost came from donations. “It’s amazing how quickly $10 and $20 donations can add up,” she said. Her predecessor as director was Kim Wettlaufer ’80.

media outlet: Tampa Bay Business & Wealth

headline:

Shirl Penney is building an empire in sunny St. Pete

takeaway: Eastport-born CEO is reshaping the wealth management industry on his own terms

Featured in Tampa Bay Business & Wealth, Shirl Penney ’99 shared how growing up in poverty in Eastport, Maine, shaped his vision for the financial world.

Raised by his step-grandfather — who urged him to “work with your mind, not with your hands” — Penney rose quickly, leading Citigroup’s private wealth division by his late 20s. But the industry’s misaligned incentives drove him to found Dynasty Financial Partners in 2008, offering advisors a more independent, client-first model.

“I saw too many advisors being forced to push products that weren’t always in the client’s best interest. That never sat right with me.”

Now based in St. Petersburg, Fla., Dynasty supports 57 partner firms, more than 500 advisors, and over $110 billion in assets. “Penney isn’t just a business leader. He’s a visionary, reshaping the independent wealth management industry,” the magazine wrote.

KELLY GOLLOGLY

Bikini Bottom to Burbank

After wrapping up as a freelance background painter on Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants — one of the few animations whose process still uses traditional painting — Kelly Gollogly ’10 joined Disney Television Animation last fall as a location designer, drawing environments and sets for a new show.

She’s seen with her husband, Mark Sperber, celebrating daughter Pippen's first Halloween at the Disney studios. “I’ve felt so lucky to be a part of the animation community over the past 14 years,” she writes. She has also reviewed portfolios for Bates students and given talks at Bates, “including one for the amazing film class” taught by Jon Cavallero, professor of rhetoric, film, and screen studies.

2009

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Tim Gay timothy.s.gay@gmail.com

Arsalan Suhail arsalansuhail@gmail.com

Danny Bousquet joined the Univ. of Arkansas School of Law as an assistant professor last fall. His teaching encompasses family law, professional responsibility, and evidence. Danny came from the George Washington Univ. Law School, where he was a visiting associate professor and the Friedman Fellow. His experience includes working as an attorney at leading firms in Washington, D.C., and as a law clerk for the Hon. William J. Kayatta Jr. at the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit in

Seacoastonline Sulochana Dissanayake, known around Bates for achievements in theater that included a Watson Fellowship for performance studies in South Africa and Indonesia, moved her family to Australia in October. She left her native Sri Lanka on a high note, winning media praise last summer with Maha Winnahi Mela 2024 — a multimedia carnival fusing “performing arts and educational advocacy (designed) to equip young people with critical economic knowledge and communication skills,” as the Sri Lankan Morning newspaper reported. Presented by Sulo’s company, Power of Play, the piece was informed by a survey of Sri Lankan youth. “The survey, along with focus-group discussions, revealed significant gaps in the youth’s understanding of Sri Lanka’s economic crisis,” Sulo told the paper....Nathan Place joined American Banker as a national reporter in January, going to the organization from Financial Planning, where he covered retirement legislation and other finance news. He’s also been a writer for The Independent, a copy editor in Beijing, an on-the-street reporter for the New York Daily News, and a video producer for the Daily Beast, the Daily Mail, and Men’s Journal....Winthrop Rodgers is an associate fellow with the Middle East and North Africa Programme at the Royal Institute of International Affairs, Chatham House, a think tank in London. A journalist and researcher, he focuses on politics, human rights, political economy, press freedom, diplomacy, labor, and the environment in Iraq and the Kurdistan Region.

2010

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Brianna Bakow brianna.bakow@gmail.com

including lawsuits stemming from failed deals....The Sun Journal spoke to Rachel Straus Ferrante, executive director of the Maine Museum of Innovation, Learning and Labor (formerly Museum L-A), a few times during the winter and spring. In December, the paper detailed the museum’s upcoming relocation from the Bates Mill Complex to the historic but longunused Camden Yarns Mill. The new facility “puts everything we need in one space,” Rachel said, emphasizing the project’s goal to create an engaging environment for visitors of all ages. In March, Rachel herself was the focus of a profile in the newspaper’s “Working” series. She noted that her favorite part of the job is the community. “It’s just an amazing community of people,” she said. “I’ve never experienced in my life people that genuinely care for one another (like this) and want to help and want to make this community better.”

2011

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Theodore Sutherland theodoresutherland89@gmail.com

Patrick Williams

Patw.williams@gmail.com

Portland, Maine. He holds a JD from Yale Law School, where he was the student director of the Sol & Lillian Goldman Advocacy for Children and Youth Clinic and senior editor for the Yale Journal on Regulation and the Yale Journal of Health, Law, Policy and Ethics Tom Bowden was appointed CEO of Frisbie Memorial Hospital in Rochester, N.H., in February. Bringing more than a decade’s experience in healthcare to the Granite State, Tom went to Frisbie from Orlando Health, specifically the role of president of Rockledge Hospital in Florida.

“When I met the team at Frisbie, it was immediately clear to me they are deeply committed to the success of this organization and have established an exceptional foundation of quality and engagement,” he told

Tiel Duncan vantielelizabeth.duncan@gmail. com

Lisa Hartung was promoted to associate director of people operations at charity: water, a U.K. nonprofit, in February 2024. She and her husband, Brent Watkins, welcomed their second child, Brody George, to the family last December....Ben Lajoie, an attorney with the McGlinchey Stafford law firm in Boston, was recognized last fall by the Super Lawyers 2024 Massachusetts Rising Stars list for his impact on the state’s business community. Named a Rising Star in business litigation and business and corporate practice since 2022, Ben defends and prosecutes torts, fraud, and unfair and deceptive trade practices, as well as contract, trade secret, and licensing disputes, and claims

John Cannie joined the Albany, N.Y., regional law firm Whiteman Osterman & Hanna, where he is of counsel in the firm’s Environmental, Land Use & Development and Real Estate practice groups. John previously was an associate at Snyder, Kiley, Toohey, Corbett & Cox, where he focused on land use, zoning, and real estate development and transactional matters. He earned a JD from the Univ. of Kentucky College of Law in 2014....Jared Golden won a fourth term representing Maine’s 2nd Congressional District in November. The race was a squeaker: Jared beat GOP challenger Austin Theriault by less than 1 percentage point after a ranked-choice runoff. As the Portland Press Herald’s Rachel Ohm reported in a post-election interview with Jared, the win situated him “among a select group of Democrats nationally who were able to defy the odds and win in districts that also voted” for Donald Trump. As Jared himself said, “I think people generally believe I’m being honest when I say I care most about using this office and this position to try and help Maine and not to be part of some effort to further the interests of the Democratic Party.”...Alex Greenberg was made partner at the prestigious law firm Cravath, where he is a member of the corporate department and focuses on mergers and acquisitions. He earned a JD from Harvard Law....Bryan

Harrison joined the Boston office of global law firm Greenberg Traurig last fall as an associate in the firm’s intellectual-property litigation practice. He focuses on trade secret, patent, and other intellectual-property disputes, and handles general commercial litigation matters including contract disputes, franchise disputes, payor-payee conflicts, and post-sale breach of warranty issues. Bryan earned a JD from Boston College Law School.... Eliza van Heerden VandenBerg and Will welcomed their first child, Hugh, on May 16, 2024, in NYC.

2012

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Mikey Pasek mikeypasek@gmail.com

Sangita Murali sangitamurali12@gmail.com

Samuel Schleipman lives in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, and works as the Responsible Business Hub coordinator at the European Chamber of Commerce.

2013

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Megan Murphy megan.a.murphy3@gmail.com

Ryan Sonberg rsonberg9@gmail.com

Violinist Jessica Cooper captivated audiences at the Boston Center for the Arts last fall with performances of Luz & Leyendas (“lights and legends”). Lead producer of the show, which blends live orchestration with shadow puppetry, Jessica was inspired by several years living in Chile, whose landscape, culture, zest for life, and traditional music she came to love. A Boston Musical Intelligencer reviewer noted that “the entirety of Luz & Leyendas is so enchanting that you will forget that it is a production. It is a delectable feast for world music aficionados.”...AnnaMarie Martino and Kelsey welcomed Shaylee Rae to the family in December.

2014

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Milly Aroko mildredaroko@gmail.com

Hally Bert hallybert@gmail.com

Karla Cook Hesterberg and Nathan welcomed their daughter, Ingrid, last August.... Ali Desjardin now owns one of Greater L-A’s standout dining destinations: The Sedgley Place, in Greene. She bought the

legendary restaurant in August following years of working seven part-time hospitality jobs, more or less simultaneously, in the Casco Bay area. Learning during a family meal at Sedgley that someone else’s plans for the restaurant had fallen through, as the Sun Journal reported, Ali and her parents had worked out a purchase plan before their own meal was finished. “We’re maintaining the Sedgley standard while enhancing and bringing new energy to something we’ve always known and loved,” Ali told the newspaper....Patrick Jeffries joined WPSD-TV in Paducah, Ky., as a producer in January. He has an MFA in creative writing from Eastern Washington Univ. and previously taught college English and worked in book publishing. In 2019 he through-hiked the Appalachian Trail. He lives in Calvert City.... Claire Kershko Butler, head of Killington Mountain School since 2020, spoke with Killington’s Mountain Times about her path to that position — a path that included time at Bates as captain and later assistant coach of the alpine ski team. She emphasized the importance to women in the industry of networking and mentoring. “There will always be those who are threatened by you, critical of your ideas, or approach, and wishing for your failure, regardless of gender. If you have a good group of trusted peers and mentors, facing that each day becomes just a part of life. It’s even motivating.”...Tyler McKenzie of Salt Lake City was one of 16 athletes representing the Stifel U.S. Para Alpine Ski Team at the FIS Para Alpine World Ski Championships in Slovenia in February. Tyler is an online sales expert focusing on alpine skiing goods for Curated. com, and a member of the coaching staff for Utah’s Brighton Ski Team, serving as head alpine race coach for athletes ages 10–11 and assistant to the program director for athletes ages 12–14.... Catherine Elkhattaby Strauch, her husband, Nour Elkhattaby, and their 2-year-old son Burhan have moved to Morocco. They relocated from Hatfield, Mass., to Casablanca to live close to Nour’s family. “We are loving it so far, and we’ll be back in Maine in the summer to visit my family. I’ve already had one Batesie come visit, and we have a lovely guest room, so if you’re in the area get in touch and come visit!”

2015

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

CLASS PRESIDENTS

James Brissenden brissendenja@gmail.com

Ben Smiley bensmiley32@gmail.com

alumni & family weekend: october

3–4

BACK TO BATES 202 5

the graduate address at Suffolk University’s graduation on May 18, 2025.

media outlet: Suffolk University News

headline:

The act of creating joy is your power

takeaway: Finding joy is an act of intention, not ease

In May, Alexandria Onuoha ’20 became the first Black woman to earn a Ph.D. in applied developmental psychology from Suffolk University, and was selected as the graduate speaker at Suffolk’s graduation.

Her talk focused on joy, and the importance of actively cultivating joy: “Joy isn't something that happens when things are easy. We create it. We identify it. Let your joy remind you that you can rise, you can endure, and more importantly, you can thrive.”

Onuoha shared lessons learned from her immigrant parents about cultivating joy even in trying times. “It’s not always easy to bring positivity, especially in our current socio-political climate, but you have shown me that my parents’ lessons were very true — the act of creating joy is your power,” she told the graduates.

Onuoha’s research explores how far-right ideologies and online hate impact Black women college students’ mental health and belonging. She has looked at how joy functions as a radical and affirming response to systemic oppression, and has worked with Boston schools to help educators center joy and protection in their classrooms.

2016

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Andre Brittis-Tannenbaum andrebt44@gmail.com

Sally Ryerson sallyryerson@gmail.com

Alexandra Morrow, filmmaker and founder of a film production company in Burlington, Vt., stays engaged with Bates. In November she visited a rhetoric class taught by Jon Cavallero, professor of rhetoric, film, and screen studies, to speak about her work and share lessons she has absorbed since graduating. Last summer, she hosted Emma Sablan ’25 of Norwich as a Purposeful Work intern with Armadillo Collective, Alexandra’s production company. Alexandra was one of the first PW interns and that experience “was foundational in my journey,” she writes. “It felt surreal and like a full-circle moment to have a Purposeful Work intern myself. Emma was such a joy to work with, and that made me realize how much I wish more current students and alumni were aware of creative paths post-Bates.”

2017

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

CLASS PRESIDENTS

Jessie Garson jgarson4@gmail.com

Matthew Baker mattdbaker13@gmail.com

Shortly before last fall’s election, Tara Humphries called on progressive people of faith to stand up for their convictions. In a letter to the editor of the Portland (Maine) Press Herald, they wrote that “white Christian nationalism and evangelical ideology have taken hold in this country while progressive people of faith have remained quiet. Embarrassed to lead with the language of faith, which has been co-opted by those who preach hatred, we work for justice in the secular sphere and keep our faith to ourselves. This is a mistake.” Minister at Portland’s Allen Avenue Unitarian Universalist Church, Tara concluded, “The religious right is strong, but if we speak up, rise up, I believe we can be stronger.”...Denali Sai Nalamalapu, a climate organizer from Southern Maine and Southern India, published their first graphic memoir during the winter. Holler: A Graphic Memoir of Rural Resistance tells the story of activists in Appalachia who became resisters against the Mountain Valley Pipeline. “More than anything, Holler is an invitation to readers everywhere searching for their own path to activism: sending the message that no matter how small your action is, it’s impactful,” notes the publisher, Timber Press. Denali lives in Virginia....Divyaman Sahoo, who earned a Master’s

in Electrical Engineering at the Univ. of Massachusetts Dartmouth last year, seeks to bring to life “an idea that, until now, had only been explored in theory,” the university’s news bureau reported in September. The project involves transducers, devices that convert one form of energy into another. “I’m working on the design for a toroidal (donutshaped) transducer that will be stable in underwater pressure and serve as an underwater sensor for full-ocean depth applications and could also be used in biomedical settings,” he explained. A musician and professional puppeteer as well as engineer and mathematician, Div “has proven that an artist can become an engineer, and that a background in the arts provides a unique and valuable point of view in his field.”...Fred Ulbrick is in his second season as an assistant coach with the Keene State College men’s lacrosse team. At Bates, he was a senior captain, two-time All-American, two-time First Team All-NESCAC, and three-time First Team All-New England defensive selection. He received Bates’ Senior Citation award, given to seniors who have demonstrated remarkable athletic accomplishments. Fred works at Park Avenue Capital as a lead research analyst. He and Emma Katz live in Keene.

2018

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

CLASS PRESIDENTS

John Thayer john.robert.thayer@gmail.com

Jake Shapiro shapirojacob6@gmail.com

Matt Davis was profiled in September by the news team at the Univ. of Chicago Law School, which he attends. After Bates, Matt served in the U.S. Navy, and as an officer on the guided-missile destroyer USS Stout belonged to a crew that set a record of most consecutive days at sea — 215 — thanks to docking restrictions imposed by COVID. His decision to study law “was cemented when Stout was repaired after deployment. A private shipyard was contracted to do the heaviest work, so all potential contract violations were documented in case the Navy sued. Learning about the contracting process with litigation possibly looming opened my eyes to the role that lawyers specifically — and not just ‘the law’ — play in shaping our lives.”...James Erwin, who works on free-speech and tech policy in Washington, D.C., depicted in a November National Review the failure of the Biden administration to expand broadband service through legislation passed in 2021. Drawing on his experience on the staff of U.S. Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), he described

Alexandria Onuoha ’20 delivers

bates notes

the geographic complexity of the issue and ideological clashes among congressional negotiators. The “program has collapsed under its own weight,” he notes. Years later, the National Telecommunications and Information Administration hasn’t finished approving state plans for expansion....Brian Pansius joined the Boston office of Atlanta’s Ogletree Deakins law firm as an associate....Jack Sapoch contributed investigative expertise to a 2024 Washington Post exclusive on migrant drownings in the Rio Grande, where far more people have died while attempting the treacherous crossing than authorities have reported. An open-source intelligence investigator with Lighthouse Reports, Jack and his team analyze events related to humanitarian crises, focusing on border violence and migrant tragedies. For the Post, he was key to uncovering data discrepancies and mapping migrant deaths along the Rio Grande, revealing that at least 1,107 people drowned between 2017 and 2023 — hundreds more than reported by U.S. and Mexican authorities.

2019

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

Harry Meadows harry.meadows4@gmail.com

Cara Starnbach cara@carastarnbach.com

Flannery Black-Ingersoll is a climate technology fellow for the city of Boston. She is a doctoral candidate in environmental health at the Boston Univ. School of Public Health and a trainee in the graduate program in Urban Biogeoscience and Environmental Health. She is interested in innovative methods in environmental epidemiology for studying climate-change effects on public health. Majoring in mathematics and visual arts at Bates, she earned a Master’s in Public Health at the BU School of Public Health....Tricia Crimmins has covered climate tech for the business newsletter Morning Brew since October. She previously worked for The Daily Dot as a senior reporter, covering social media and other topics. She is an adjunct faculty member at the Columbia Univ. Graduate School of Journalism, where she earned a master’s, and has interned and freelanced for Moment Magazine. She was an entertainment editorial fellow at Mashable and interned at Mic and the U.S. House of Representatives....Emily Gibson and Brendan Smith announced plans for a wedding to take place in Fryeburg, Maine, in July....Andrew Mikula published a November op-ed in the Sentinel & Enterprise of Fitchburg, Mass., summarizing an assessment of the potential effectiveness of a controversial

state law compelling 177 municipalities to zone land for multifamily housing near public transportation stations. The report originated with the Pioneer Institute for Public Policy Research, where Andrew is the senior housing fellow. He wrote: “The fact that Section 3A has an insufficient scope to solve the state’s housing challenges doesn’t necessarily make it bad policy. It just means that additional policies are needed to ensure that every Massachusetts family can find an affordable home that suits their needs.”...

In time for Valentine’s Day, the news office of Georgetown Univ.’s McCourt School of Public Policy continued its Love on the Hilltop series profiling Georgetown couples in love. Among them were Batesies Ellis Obrien, who earned a degree in McCourt’s Master of Data Science for Public Policy program, and Lydia Sullivan ’20, director of internal communications and operations communications at Georgetown. “Obrien proposed to Sullivan on a trip to Vietnam in July 2024, marking the start of their next big adventure,” the article reported....

Abby Westberry, famed at Bates for stellar work with the Brooks Quimby Debate Council, spoke to a Maine TV station in January in her role as a community health worker helping fishermen affected by destructive weather a year earlier. Even several months after two storms brought high winds and flooding to Maine’s coast, “there was still a lot of stress, anxiety, and fear over the storms and what the future was going to look like,” said Abby, who is affiliated with the Strengthen ME program. “We can’t always be banking on fishermen to recover themselves. If we value these industries, we need to be setting up new resources.”

2020

Reunion 2030, June 7–9

Priscila Guillen priscila.guillen65197@gmail.com

Maya Seshan mayaseshan55@gmail.com

Matt Golden, who joined The Roxbury Latin School in 2022 as assistant director of athletics and head coach of varsity football, shared lessons from his experience with the AthleteBodyMind.com site in January. Among them was the importance of anticipating setbacks during a game. “Coach Golden puts his team into all different kinds of pressure situations in practice, and they have a preplanned play that they rehearse regularly to become comfortable operating in a high-stakes environment,” the site reported. “This repetition in game-like scenarios allows his team to better manage their stress when they approach crunch time in the game.” Matt

was a quarterback, running back, and captain of the varsity football team at Bates.

2021

Reunion 2026, June 12–14

Imani Boggan imaniboggan@gmail.com

Julia Maluf jmaluf120@gmail.com

Jade Zhang jadezhang9843@gmail.com

In a November installment of her “Letters from Madagascar” column in the Sun Journal, Peace Corps volunteer Vanessa Paolella described her efforts to help a deaf 9-year-old girl from a nearby village. Along the way, Vanessa learned sobering lessons about the scarcity of resources for people like Aro, who became a friend. The piece ended with Aro and her family undecided about her attending one of the nation’s few schools for the deaf. But Vanessa told us in March that Aro is now studying at the school with financial support from people in Lewiston-Auburn, and she’s progressing in reading and math. Vanessa remains active in her advocacy, noting that “I was never passionate about helping deaf children before Madagascar, but it kills me to know that these kids are capable of everything you and I are, if only they get sign language and the right kind of education.”

2022

Reunion 2027, June 11–13

Anna Landgren aslandgren@gmail.com

Rachel Retana rachel7600@gmail.com Ognyan Simeonov ognyan99@gmail.com

Sean Vaz savyvaz@gmail.com

Robby Haynos, who reviews frozen meals for the website Eat This, Not That!, took on factory macaroni and cheese in December. His top choice among seven entries was Amy’s Macaroni & Cheese, Made With Organic Pasta. “This is the perfect frozen mac and cheese. I will admit this is the one I’ve been eating since childhood, and this taste test did nothing but confirm what I already knew. After spending the day finding out that there is, in fact, such a thing as too much mac and cheese, the clear winner was Amy’s. From prep time to (appearance) to that delicious cheesy goodness, Amy’s reigns supreme.”...Elise Lambert was one of five athletes cited in January by the news site Patch and phone carrier T-Mobile for achievements reflecting well on the Amherst, N.H., community. At Bates, the site reported, Elise “earned four All-America honors in track and field. Specializing in mid-distance events and the high jump, she placed third in the 800

meters at the 2022 NCAA Indoor Championships and fifth at the 2021 Outdoor Championships.” She contributed to “recordbreaking relay performances, including a distance medley relay that achieved Bates’ best-ever national finish.” Patch concluded that this “NESCAC All-Academic honoree and Senior Scholar Award recipient ” left “a significant legacy” at the college.

2023

Reunion 2028, June 9–11

Chris Euston christopher.euston@gmail.com

Jared O’Hare jaredkohare@gmail.com

Olivia Demerath lividem543@gmail.com

Chloe Arons chloe.arons123@gmail.com

In an Election Day article in the Temple Univ. newspaper about Pennsylvania’s pivotal role in last fall’s voting, Tori Kusukawa symbolized the Keystone State’s importance. When his family couldn’t determine how best to put their money to work for candidate Kamala Harris, Tori, a Maine resident at the time, had the answer: “I was like, ‘Send me to Philly’” he told Temple News. “Within weeks, Tori was rooming in a North Philadelphia apartment and volunteering with the Harris campaign anywhere they needed him.”... Ryan Smith won the 47th annual 5-mile Turkey Trot, presented in November in Fairfield, Conn., by the Pequot Runners club. Ryan, who won two cross country state championships while attending Staples High and competed in back-to-back NCAA national championships at Bates, won the Turkey Trot in 24:54.... Ellie Wolfe reports on higher education for the Baltimore Banner, an independent nonprofit news organization founded by the Venetoulis Institute for Local Journalism. Formerly a Bates Student staffer, she later wrote for The Boston Globe as a correspondent and covered higher ed for the Arizona Daily Star, in Tucson.

2024

Reunion 2029, June 8–10

Olivia Cuneo, who runs a coffee stand in a converted horse cart in the Maine mountain town of Bethel, was profiled by The Bethel Citizen in March. The reporter noted that Olivia had skied as a Bobcat and on the semi-professional circuit in Montana, and returned to Maine after working as a barista in Colorado. “I really love it when people stick around and talk,” she told the newspaper. “I don’t serve food, and it’s not a cozy place to sit. But when regulars come back, it means I’m doing something right.”

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.

Arsenault & Friedman ’12

Sydney Arsenault (Hobart and William Smith Colleges ’16) and Alex Friedman ’12, September 8, 2024, Saratoga Springs, N.Y.

All Class of 2012 except as noted. Back, from left: Will Colony, James DowlingHealey, Israel Piedra, James Cook, Alex Paladini ’13, Neil O'Connor. Front, from left: Evan Moscou-Lewis, Erik Barth, Alex and Sydney, Mikey Pasek, Becca Bowe, Cristian Ruiz, Corey Creedon.

Puleio ’17 & Cleaves ’16

Audrey Puleio ’17 and William Cleaves ’16, August 10, 2024, Deer Isle, Maine. From left: Patrick Wood ’17, Will Hallett ’15, Ryan Mahar ’17, Perry Mortimer ’15, Dean Paolucci ’16, Amy Katz ’17, Jackson Moore ’16, Justine Timms ’17, Dan Bak ’15, Anna Whetzle Smiley ’15, Ben Smiley ’15, William and Audrey, Nick Luther ’16, Karl Rickett ’16, Aliza White Rickett ’19, Catherine DiPietro ’16, Colby Spehler ’16, Rachel Forcillo ’18, Annie Hostmeyer ’16, Daly Johnson ’16, Natalie Silver ’16, Sasha Lennon ’16, Lucas Milliken ’13, Deborah Weatherbee ’76, Anna Franceschetti ’18, John McDevitt ’04, Lillie Shulman ’17.

Allard ’19 & Kelley ’19

Katie Allard ’19 and Seamus Kelley ’19, December 12, 2024, Washingtonville, N.Y.

All Class of 2019 except as noted. Back, from left: Jack Allard ’16, Stephen Bull, Craig Waldie, Mitchell Drake, Rocco Fantoni, Sarah Shoulta, Ned Moreland, Myles Smith, Sara Buscher, Linda Herlihy, Reilly Murphy, Brendan Mackey, Justin White. Front, from left: Mikaela Bradley Allard ’16, Javier Andres Carranza Betancourt ’21, Eliza Statile, Elizah Laurenceau, Katie and Seamus, Avery MacMullen ’20, Dayna Vasconcelos, Catie Spaulding.

Cupo & Sullivan ’15

Jess Cupo and Aidan Sullivan ’15, Hood River, Ore., August 2023. All Class of 2015 except as noted. Back, from left: Dillon Dresser, Ellis Obrien ’19, Gibby Sullivan ’26, Nate Pajka, Aidan Sullivan, Sam Maliska, Will Levangie. Front, from left: Lydia Sullivan ’20, Sydney Beres ’18, Molly Lodigiani, Julia Rice ’16, Jack Stacey.

Oren & Massare ’12

Rebecca Oren and Mike Massare ’12, November 23, 2024, Leesburg, Va. All Class of 2012 except as noted.

Back, from left: Evan MoscouLewis, Ryan Strehlke, Andre Gobbo ’13, Dylan Hannum, Reid Christian, Dan Sunderland, Mike Lavallee. Front, from left: Mike and Rebecca, Jayme Gough ’13, Brendan Riebe ’13, Tom Deegan ’11, Sanya Thapa. Beres ’18 & Pajka ’15

Sydney Beres ’18 and Nate Pajka ’15, August 10, 2024, West Dover, Vt. Pictured: Will Levangie ’15, Dillon Dresser ’15, Jack Edmiston ’16, Brian Daly ’18, Collin Richardson ’18, Wil Muller ’14, Jamie Beres ’15, Sam Maliska ’15, Caleb Buck ’15, Aidan Sullivan ’15, Dacota Griffin ’18, Evan Czopek ’16, Allegra Opiella ’18, Delaney Nalen ’18, Lindsey Landwehrle ’18, Allie Solms ’18, Lexie Nason ’18, Blake Downey ’17, Ani Nambiar ’18, Hillary Throckmorton ’15, Jack Stacey ’15, Jack Allen ’15, Caroline Depew ’16, John Anagnost ’15, Mekae Hyde ’15, Justin Haley ’16, Shannon Haley ’16, Emily Freedland ’18, Talia Martino ’18, Caroline O’Reilly ’18, Maisie Silverman ’18, Lyse Henshaw ’18, John Cannon ’19, Maria Downey ’18, Katie Landy ’16, Alex Opiella ’16, Gil Connolly ’18, Alex Sternberg ’15, Rockwell Jackson ’15, Nate and Sydney, Molly Levangie ’15, Erica Thomas ’15, Jojo Schafer ’19, Jessie Moriarty ’19, Emma Patterson ’19.

Shoulta ’19 & Drake ’19

Sarah Shoulta ’19 and Mitchell Drake '19, July 27, 2024, Waltham, Mass. All Class of 2019 except as noted. Back, from left: Edward Moreland, Seamus Kelley, Myles Smith, Monique Crowley, Walter Washington III, Duane Davis, Dylan Davis, Stephen Bull, Rocco Fantoni, Michael Bennett. Second row, from left: Craig Waldie, Brendan Smith, Katie Hughes, Caroline Gettens ’18, Mackenzie Winslow, Katie Allard, Isabella Stone Bennett. Third row, from left: Cassidy Martin, Isabella Barrengos, Sydney Howard, Madison Fox. Front, from left: Drake and Sarah, Alexandra Higashi-Howard, Jenna Powell, Andrea Russo, Riley Murphy.

Birkhead ’11 & Roiter

Hanna Birkhead ’11 and Andrew Roiter, December 31, 2024, Troy, N.Y. From left: Danny Birkhead ’14, Emma Posner ’11, Audrey Jensen ’11, Ian Dulin ’12, Nicolette Robbins Zangari ’11, Eliza Read-Brown Nussdorfer ’11, Josh Lake ’09, Hannah and Andrew, Annie Query ’11, Carrie Harris ’11, Charley Stern ’13, Julia Mason ’17, Abbey Bierman Sokol ’17. Fournier ’18 & Molesso

Danielle Fournier ’18 and Jake Molesso, October 26, 2024, Chicago. Back, from left: James Karsten ’17, Senyo Ohene ’20, Chris Dsida ’18. Front, from left: Sarah Sachs ’18, Anna Turner ’18, Sarah Delany ’20, Bria Riggs ’18, Danielle and Jake, Ariel Lee ’19, Gina Karsten ’17.

Murray ’12 & Kaufmann

Nora Murray ’12 and Daniel Kaufmann, September 21, 2024, Buffalo, N.Y. From left: Brigid Dunn Cubeta ’12, Daniel and Nora, Jacqui Easton ’12, Leah Elsmore ’12.

Harris ’11 & Stern ’13

Carrie Harris ’11 and Charley Stern ’13, August 17, 2024, Sebago, Maine. All Class of 2013 except as noted. Back, from left: Tommy Holmberg, Ken Lentini, Jared Quenzel, Matt Bettles, Bo Cramer, Carolyn Gallmeyer ’11, Ian Dulin ’12, Josh Lake ’09, James LePage, Chris Hernandez. Front, from left: Max Goldberg, Corey Gingras, Evelyn Hartz ’14, Chris Stewart, Scott Mickey, Nate Sundel, Charley and Carrie, Audrey Jensen ’11, Hanna Birkhead ’11, Annie Query ’11, Eliza Nussdorfer ’11, Nicolette Zangari ’11, John Harwood.

Williams & Cason ’11

Charlotte Williams (Bowdoin ’10) and Chris Cason ’11, June 8, 2024, Chebeague Island, Maine. All Class of 2011 except as noted. From left: Miles Davee, Kyle Rattray, Carolyn Fanning ’12, Dr. Ian Gilchrist Jr., Chris Lin, Chris and Charlotte, Billy Hines, Sarah Frechette, Dae Ro Lee, Masid Cader.

Gonzalez ’14 & Prince ’15

Tamara Gonzalez ’14 and Noah Prince ’15, April 16, 2022, Boston, Mass. From left: Steph Caplan ’14, Taylor Guss ’14, Tamara and Noah, William Green.

Wnuk & Moscou-Lewis ’12

Alexis Wnuk and Evan Moscou-Lewis ’12, September 22, 2024, Brooklyn, N.Y. All Class of 2012 except as noted. Back, from left: Jeffrey Berry, Brendan Riebe ’13, Dylan Hannum, Colin Etnire, Alex Friedman, Erik Barth, William Colony, Aaron Kaplan, Siobhan Fancy, Josh Fancy, and Adam Fishman. Front, from left: Jayme Gough ’13, Mike Massare, Evan and Alexis, Becca Bowe.

Peraica ’17 & Morin ’18

Nicole Peraica ’17 and Levi Morin ’18, June 22, 2024, Slano, Croatia. From left: Brandon Williams ’17, Rachel Ebersole ’17, Levi and Nicole, Hannah Tardie ’17, Chandler McGrath ’17.

Pender-Cudlip ’10 & Cherveny

Marilla Pender-Cudlip ’10 and Luke Cherveny, March 16, 2024, Providence, R.I. Back, from left: Dave Crowell, George Shank, Alex Belshe, Nate Speckman, Liz Casline ’10, Dan Hawkins, Danielle Hawkins ’10, CJ Miller ’10. Front, from left: Hilary Ginsburg ’09, Cora Chisholm ’10, Brianna Bakow ’10, Kat Moraros ’10, Marilla and Luke, Gráinne Hebeler ’10, Lauren O'Connell, Amber Miller. Memishian ’19 & Orlando ’17

Wendy Memishian ’19 and Nick Orlando ’19, September 21, 2024, in Jay, Vt. Back, from left: Jon Sheehan ’19, Chris Dsida ’18, Jake Nemeroff ’16, Robert Daniels ’18, Izzi Unger ’16, Ben Tonelli ’18, Kate Kelley ’19, Olin Carty ’17, Paul Jordan ’17, Nico Johnson ’19, Christian Sundstrom ’15, Jeff Noyes, Michael Horowicz ’17, Michael Creedon ’15, Elizabeth Hastings ’78.

Front, from left: Sarah Sachs ’18, Olivia LaMarche ’20, Elizabeth Whitman Memishian ’83, Wendy and Nick, Matthew Morris ’18, Zach Magin ’18, Thomas Leonard ’15, Joseph Doyle ’17, Evan Ferguson-Hull ’17.

in memoriam

1941

Margaret Hubbard Rand Jan. 18, 2025

1944

Carolyn Denison Johnson

March 27, 2025

Barbara Boothby Wendt

Dec. 14, 2025

1946

Peter Louis Guglietta

Jan. 11, 2025

1948

Jeanne Anderson Parsley

Dec. 18, 2024

Richard Forrest Woodcock

Dec. 12, 2024

1949

Shirley Lee Bean

April 10, 2025

Lois Javier Fehlau

Nov. 20, 2024

Charles Sumner Plotkin

March 20, 2025

Esta Broutsas Smith

Dec. 31, 2024

1950

Arthur Hilaire Blanchard

April 15, 2012

1951

Joseph Andrew

Jan. 17, 2025

Harold Cornforth Jr.

March 16, 2025

John Francis Grady

March 13, 2025

Richard Stoumen Nair

Dec. 3, 2024

Carolyn Goddard Reid

April 24, 2025

1952

Carol Hollingworth Collins

Sept. 18, 2022

Ruth Parr Faulkner

May 2025

Roland George Marcotte

Jan. 6, 2025

Caroline Jaques Souviney

Feb. 28, 2025

1953

Gordon Dyer Hall

Dec. 23, 2024

Christian Anthony Nast Jr.

April 6, 2025

Leonardia Maskiewicz O’Brien

April 23, 2025

Lois Dame Turner

Jan. 13, 2017

1954

Anne Watson Adams

March 8, 2025

Helen Lindenmeier Blake

March 15, 2025

Robert Greenberg

Jan. 14, 2025

Gilbert Raymond Grimes

March 11, 2025

Walter Scott Guerney

Oct. 2, 2020

1955

Sandra June Eriksson-Ellis

Dec. 19, 2024

John Thomas Hodgkinson

Jan. 28, 2024

Warner Porter Lord

Dec. 14, 2024

David Clark Wyllie

March 2, 2025

1956

Nancy Glennon Baumgardner

Jan. 27, 2025

Frank Joseph Lanza

May 22, 2024

Margaret Sharpe Reider

Jan. 23, 2025

This issue’s In Memoriam extends through June 6, 2025. See bates.edu/memoriam for more information about members of the community who have passed away.

1957

Harold Roger King

May 25, 2025

1958

Marjorie Koppen Anderson

Dec. 30, 2024

Lois Crocker Davenport

Oct. 12, 2024

Roland Gene Stephenson

Dec. 31, 2024

Jane Leary Taylor

Oct. 18, 2024

1959

Robert Edwin Burke

March 7, 2025

David Livingstone Erdman

March 1, 2025

Michael Vartabedian

May 28, 2025

Kay Parker Ward

Jan. 20, 2025

Andrew Morrison Wirth Sr.

April 26, 2025

1960

Jerome Yale Feitelberg

April 3, 2025

Mary-Ellen Crook Gartner

Feb. 20, 2025

Rosalie Curtis Williams

Jan. 16, 2025

1961

Beryl Bixby Anderson

Nov. 13, 2024

Richard Collins Hoyt Feb. 23, 2025

Joyce Alberti Phipps

Feb. 25, 2025

Nathaniel Hall Puffer

Feb. 27, 2025

Richard Smith Watkins Dec. 24, 2024

1962

Joanne Ekwurtzel Coghill

Jan. 3, 2025

Joan Duarte Ohrn

May 14, 2025

1963

Peter Paul Aransky

Feb. 5, 2025

1964

David Colin Campbell

May 8, 2025

Kevin Furbush Gallagher

Dec. 30, 2024

Elinor Brainerd Gregory

Jan. 27, 2025

Jerome Evans Scott

Jan. 17, 2025

Robert Frederick Sherman

Jan. 10, 2025

Richard Clarence Walker

April 21, 2025

1965

Sara Smyth Booth

May 2, 2025

Thomas William Fox Feb. 4, 2025

1966

John Wilfred Dalton

Dec. 21, 2024

1967

Linda Howes Salvi

Dec. 8, 2024

Jon Gary Wilska

March 13, 2025

1968

Gerald Alvah Lawler

Dec. 10, 2024

James Dmitry Makowsky

Feb. 11, 2025

Michael Joseph Morin

March 1, 2025

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

1969

Mary Calhoun Nov. 28, 2024

Charles William Gameros Sr. April 30, 2025

John Alan Howard May 27, 2025

1970

Alan Edward Strober Nov. 19, 2024

1971

Andrew John Bierkan March 7, 2025

Christopher Arthur Eddings Dec. 10, 2024

1972

Joseph Stuart Buckley Jr. April 17, 2025

1973

Carol Lynne Clark Jan. 27, 2025

George Bonin Evans Jan. 20, 2025

Agnes Curran Perkins April 2, 2025

1974

Robert Wayne Cedrone May 3, 2025

Laura Thomas Sullivan Jan. 24, 2025

1975

John Philip McAloon Dec. 6, 2024

Spiro John Vowteras Oct. 21, 2014

1976

Paul Richard Costain July 23, 2024

Paul Albert Hill Jan. 5, 2019

1977

Daniel Henry Isaac Feb. 2, 2025

John Stanley Paszko May 6, 2025

1978

Timothy David Jones March 5, 2025

Richard Vincent Keith Jr. Jan. 17, 2025

1981

Constance Limmer Gawarkiewicz March 1, 2025

1982

Jill Katherine Dennis Dec. 17, 2024

Adam Delano Pettengill Nov. 12, 2024

1983

Marie Helene Regan Jan. 30, 2025

1994

Tyson Eliot Curtis Feb. 16, 2025

2000

Alicia Margarita Soderberg Jan. 26, 2025

STAFF

Lorette Nadeau Goulette

March 23, 2025

Sylvia Gray Hawks March 14, 2025

Kenneth Labrecque April 2025

James Morrison Jan. 7, 2025

FACULTY

Thomas Francis Moser March 7, 2025

On the 28-degree evening of St. Patrick’s Day in 1975, Mark Stevens ’77, Scott Copeland ’78, Christopher Callahan ’78, and Lars Llorente ’78 executed the first Puddle Jump.

‘Kind of Fun’

The Puddle Jump began as a way to create some fun at the end of winter. It also created lifelong Bates friendships

by jay burns

IN THE BEGINNING, winters at Bates were dark and empty. And friggin’ cold. Then students created the Outing Club, in 1918, to “make the out of doors seem more entertaining and attractive” in the winter, said The Bates Student

That was good. Then (skipping ahead a bit), four students created the Puddle Jump, on March 17, 1975.

And that was awesome.

Fifty years after that, on Feb. 7, 2025, three of the four Puddle Jump founders — Chris Callahan ’78, Scott Copeland ’78, and Lars Llorente ’78 — returned to mark the 50th anniversary of the founding.

As the sun began to set behind Hathorn and Parker, the trio walked onto the frozen Lake Andrews and held hands at the edge of the hole in the ice. “Best buds for 50 years,” said Callahan, giving a kind of blessing that also summed up, oh so sweetly, the enduring power of a Bates friendship. And in they went.

In 1975, with great prescience, Bates Student reporter Steven Wice ’77 noted the hope that “this St. Patty’s Day dip will hopefully become an annual tradition, with more participants each year.”

From left, 1978 classmates and 50-year friends Lars Llorente, Scott Copeland, and Chris Callahan get ready for the 50th-year jump on Feb. 7, 2025.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

Where Chris Callahan ’78 used a screwdriver to begin the first Puddle

Speaking to Bates Student managing editor Carly Philpott ’27 of Centennial, Colo., Callahan recalled that in 1974–75, he lived in Smith South, in a room facing the Puddle. “I remember looking out the window. There was a lot of ice. And I just said, ‘You know, this would be kind of fun to jump in there and celebrate spring.’”

Until that day, Copeland didn’t know Callahan. “I met him that day. I was walking back to the dorm, and Chris was trying to dig a hole with a screwdriver. He told me that he was going to start a tradition.”

Llorente, a friend of Callahan’s, joined in, as did Llorente’s roommate Mark Stevens. Borrowing hand tools from the Bates Outing Club, they cut through the ice.

Then, the four jumped. There was a safety measure, such as it was: Two football players standing by, “ready to pull us out, because we had no idea how deep it was, and whether we would go into the ice and never come back,” Callahan said. But the water was only chest deep, as generations of students have learned.

The founders have been friends ever since. “We’ve been to everybody’s weddings,” said Callahan. “And to our kids’ weddings,” added Copeland, whose granddaughter, Abbey Rowe ’26 of Derry, N.H., was one of this year’s jumpers. This year was actually his second time doing the jump with Abbey. “I actually did it two years ago when she was a freshman,” Copeland said. “It’s so cool.” n

Jump hole, the go-to tools today are more robust: snowblower, chainsaw, and ice tongs.

“Exuberance at the end of a hard winter” defines the Puddle Jump then (circa 1982) and now.

From left, founders Llorente, Callahan, and Copeland kick off the 50th-anniversary Puddle Jump on Feb. 7, 2025.

PHYLLIS GRABER JENSEN

archives

curious and quirky vintage bates items spied online

Merimanders CD: $14.95

Mom jeans. Big hair. Lots of colorful T-shirts. It’s the early ’90s at Bates — and the perfect cover for this Merimanders CD, On Track. The photo shoot, by the late beloved Gene Clough, was done in Auburn aboard a freight engine from the Boston & Maine Railroad.

The Meris’ outfits were “a visual nod to our concert dress,” explains Sheila Brennan ’94, which included brightly colored camp shirts “plentiful and easily acquired at The Limited store in the Auburn Mall.”

Bates All-Sports Camp Cap: $45

This foam-and-mesh trucker cap is from the bygone, long-running Bates summer camp for children co-founded by Erik Bertelsen ’72. In 2004, Bertelsen told Dave Sargent ’62 of the Sun Journal that the camp sought to “use sports as a vehicle through which kids could feel good about themselves.”

1930 Dance Card: $30

This dance card is from the 1930 Commencement Ball, featuring The Georgians, a nine-member orchestra, and held at Chase Hall — with waltzes and foxtrots from 9 p.m. all the way until 3 a.m.!

1935 Bates Tournament Medal: $24

This pendant went to participants in the 1935 Bates Tournament, an early 1900s Batessponsored tourney for boys’ high school basketball teams in Maine.

Mugging for the Camera

This ceramic stein-style mug carries the phrase “Down the Hatch,” perhaps to honor the late Bob Hatch, the revered Bates football coach and athletic director, at his retirement.

The tournament got its start in 1922 when Bates invited eight teams to Lewiston to compete for the first-ever statewide high school hoops title. By the 1930s, the tournament was a regional affair. In 1936, the Maine Principals’ Association assumed oversight, which it holds to this day.

Thirty years ago, the cover story of my first issue as editor of Bates Magazine explored something new: the internet. The cover story of this issue — my final as its editor — explores something as old as Bates: our library. I’m happy with those bookends.

Back then, I got three pieces of advice from our alumni advisors. First, avoid falling prey to WBD (“Worthy But Dull”) stories. Second, make sure campus storytelling feels authentic. And third, don’t turn the professors we love into two-dimensional resumes.

Bates and Bates people made it easy and rewarding to follow that advice.

This image, taken on the fourth day of spring in 2015 by my longtime colleague Phyllis Graber Jensen, shows me finding some sunshine behind our old offices on Nichols Street, now the site of Bonney Science Center. While I’m retiring as editor, I will still contribute to Bates Magazine and BatesNews, still following those three golden rules and still finding some sun along the way.

— Jay Burns, editor of Bates Magazine, 1995–2025

Bates Magazine

Spring 2025

Editor

H. Jay Burns

Designer Jin Kwon

Production Assistant

Kirsten Burns

Director of

Photography

Phyllis Graber Jensen

Photographer

Theophil Syslo

Class Notes Editor

Doug Hubley

Contributing Editor Mary Pols

Staff Writer

Alexandra DeMarco

President of Bates

Garry W. Jenkins

Vice President for Communications and Marketing

Kristen Lainsbury

Contact Us

Bates Communications and Marketing 2 Andrews Rd. Lewiston ME 04240

magazine@bates.edu 207-786-6330

Production

Bates Magazine is printed twice annually at familyowned Penmor Lithographers, just a few minutes from campus. We use paper created with 100 percent postconsumer fiber and print with inks that are 99.5 percent free of volatile compounds.

On the Cover

D.J. Mason ’28 of Naperville, Ill., settles in to study on the third floor of Ladd Library. This issue’s cover story, beginning on page 18, takes readers into the Bates library — praised as a “helluva good building” by the late architectural critic Phil Isaacson ’47 — for a full day in the stacks, where studying and socializing go hand in hand and there’s always a helping hand for students who need academic support.

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

LOVE THY NEIGHBOR

Since 2014, Carmen Thibodeau (left) has opened her Lewiston home — and her heart — to a succession of Bates siblings from Chicago, including Jose Carmona ’25 (right), a new Bates graduate. See our story on page 36.