Bates College

Coordinates: 44°6′20″N 70°12′15″W / 44.10556°N 70.20417°W / 44.10556; -70.20417
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Bates College
President
Garry Jenkins[2]
Academic staff
190 (2017–18)[3]
Undergraduates1,821 (2022)[4]
Location, ,
U.S.

44°6′20″N 70°12′15″W / 44.10556°N 70.20417°W / 44.10556; -70.20417
CampusMain campus: 133 acres
Bates Mountain: 600 acres
Coastal Center: 80 acres
Total holdings: 813 acres
Colors  Garnet[5]
NicknameBobcats
Sporting affiliations
Websitewww.bates.edu

Bates College (

Atkins Bay
.

Bates provides undergraduate instruction in the humanities, social sciences, natural sciences, and engineering, as well as offering joint undergraduate programs. A baccalaureate college, the undergraduate program requires all students to complete a thesis before graduation, and has a privately funded research enterprise. In addition to being a part of the "Maine Big Three", Bates competes in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) with 31 varsity teams, and 13 club teams.

The Bates athletic program has graduated 12 Olympians and 209 All-Americans and maintains 32 varsity sports, which compete in NCAA Division III and two in Division I.

History

Origins

The college's oldest academic building, Hathorn Hall was built in 1856 by Boston architect Gridley J. F. Bryant.

While attending (and later leading) the Freewill Baptist

Oren Burbank Cheney worked for racial and gender equality, religious freedom, and temperance.[7] In 1836, Cheney enrolled in Dartmouth College (after briefly attending Brown), due to Dartmouth's significant support of the abolitionist cause against slavery.[7] After graduating, Cheney was ordained a Baptist minister and began to establish himself as an educational and religious scholar.[7] Parsonsfield mysteriously burned down in 1854, allegedly due to arson by opponents of abolition.[8][7] The event caused Cheney to advocate for the building of a new seminary in a more central part of Maine.[7] With Cheney's influence in the state legislature, the Maine State Seminary was chartered in 1855 and implemented a liberal arts and theological curriculum, making the first coeducational college in New England.[9][10] Soon after establishment several donors stepped forward to finance portions of the school, such as Seth Hathorn, who donated the first library and academic building, which was renamed Hathorn Hall.[7] The Cobb Divinity School became affiliated with the college in 1866. Four years later in 1870, Bates sponsored a college preparatory school, called the Nichols Latin School.[7] The college was affected by the financial panic of the later 1850s and required additional funding to remain operational.[7] Cheney's impact in Maine was noted by Boston business magnate Benjamin Bates who developed an interest in the college. Bates gave $100,000 in personal donations and overall contributions valued at $250,000 to the college.[11] The school was renamed Bates College in his honor in 1863 and was chartered to offer a liberal arts curriculum beyond its original theological focus.[12] Two years later the college would graduate the first woman to receive a college degree in New England, Mary Mitchel.[13] The college began instruction with a six-person faculty tasked with the teaching of moral philosophy and the classics. From its inception, Bates College served as an alternative to a more traditional and historically conservative Bowdoin College.[14][15] There is a complex relationship between the two colleges, revolving around socioeconomic class, academic quality, and collegiate athletics.[16][17]

James Porter, one of General Custer's eleven officers killed at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876 was also a Bates graduate. In 1884, the college graduated the first woman to argue in front of the U.S. Supreme Court, Ella Haskell.[22]

20th century

Robert F. Kennedy (second from left), in front of Smith Hall, during Winter Carnival.

In 1894,

affluent Americans,[42][43][44] which led to student protests and reforms to make the college more diverse both racially, and socioeconomically.[45][46]

21st century

2007–08 financial crisis.[47][48] The college announced her retirement in 2011, appointing Nancy Cable as interim president, to serve through June 30, 2012, while the college conducted a national search for its eighth president. In 2011, Bates made national headlines for being named the most expensive college in the U.S.,[49] which caused backlash from American academia and students as it indirectly highlighted substantial socioeconomic inequality among students.[42][43]

After a year-long search for the next president,

2019 college admissions bribery scandal, Ron Lieber of The New York Times noted that need-aware colleges like Bates and others prioritized students who could pay full tuition in the admission process, writing that, "you can get help if you're admitted, but you might not be admitted if you need help."[56] Though it has a large endowment, Bates has continued to struggle to set a fee schedule that students can afford.[57][undue weight? ] Garry Jenkins succeeded Spencer in 2023, becoming the first black president of the college.[58]

Academics

Entrance to the college's inaugural library, Coram Library.

Bates is a private baccalaureate liberal arts college that offers 36 departmental and interdisciplinary program majors and 25 secondary concentrations, and confers Bachelor of Arts (B.A.) and Bachelor of Science (B.S.) degrees. The college enrolls 1,792 students, 200 of whom study abroad each semester.[59] The academic year is broken up into three terms, primary, secondary, and short term, also known as the 4–4–1 academic calendar. This includes two semesters, plus a Short Term consisting of five weeks in the Spring, in which only one class is taken and in-depth coursework is commonplace.[60] Two Short Terms are required for graduation, with a maximum of three.[60]

The largest natural science academic department at Bates College is the biology department, followed by mathematics, physics, and geology. The social science academic department with the highest number of majors is its economics department, followed by psychology, politics, and history. The largest humanities academic department is the English department, followed by French and francophone studies, art and visual culture, and rhetoric. The interdisciplinary academic program at Bates with the highest number of majors is environmental studies, followed by biochemistry, neuroscience, and classical and medieval studies.[61]

Bates also offers a Liberal Arts-Engineering Dual Degree Program with Dartmouth College's Thayer School of Engineering, Columbia University's School of Engineering and Applied Science, and Washington University's School of Engineering and Applied Science. The program consists of three years at Bates and a followed two years at the school of engineering resulting in a degree from Bates and the school of engineering.[62] Bates is accredited by the New England Commission of Higher Education.[63]

The U.S. Department of Education noted the most popular majors of the 2021 graduates as:[64]

Research and Experimental Psychology (60)
Political Science and Government (58)
Econometrics and Quantitative Economics (48)
Biology/Biological Sciences (30)
History (30)
Biochemistry (26)
Environmental Studies (25)

Teaching and learning

Entrance to Roger Williams Hall.

Students at Bates take a first-year seminar, which provides a template for the rest of the four years at Bates. The student selects a specific topic offered by the college, and works together in a small class with a scholar-in-field professor of that topic, to study and critically analyze the subject. All first-year seminars place importance on writing ability, and composition in order to facilitate the process of complex and fluid ideas being put down on paper. Seminars range from

Minor or General Education Concentrations (GECs). The Senior Thesis is an intensive program that begins with the skills taught in the first-year program and concludes with a compiled thesis that stresses research and innovation.[65]

The Olin Concert Hall, houses keynotes, performances, and special debate tournaments.

A feature of a Bates education is the Honors Program which includes a tutorial-based thesis modeled after the universities of Oxford and Cambridge.[66]

Research and faculty

According to the U.S. National Science Foundation, the college received $1.15 million in grants, fellowships, and R&D stipends for research.[67] The college spent $1,584,000 in 2014 on research and development.[68] The Bates Student Research Fund was established for students completing independent research or capstones.[69] STEM grants are offered to students in the science, engineering, technology and mathematics fields who wish to showcase their research at professional conferences or national laboratories.[70][71][72] Independent research grants from the college can range from $300 to over $200,000 for a three-year research program depending on donor or agency.[73] The college's Harward Center is its main research entity for community-based research and offers fellowships to students.[74] According to a 2001 study, Bates College's economics department was the most cited liberal arts department in the United States.[75][76][77]

Dana Chemistry Hall

Bates College has been the site of landmark experiments and academic movements. In chemistry, the college has played an important role in shaping ideas about inorganic chemistry and is considered the birthplace of inorganic photochemistry as its early manifestations were started at the college by 1943 alumnus George Hammond who was later dubbed "the father of the movement".[78][79] Hammond would go on to invent Hammond's postulate, revolutionizing activation levels in chemical compounds.[80] In physics, 1974 alumnus Steven Girvin credited his time at the college as pivotal in his development of the fractional quantum Hall effect, now a pillar in Hall conductance.[81][82] During the development and production of the first nuclear weapons during World War II, two students researching nuclear chemistry at the college were hired by the United States Army Corps of Engineers as part of the first Manhattan project scientific team.[83][84]

Atop the Carnegie Science Hall sits Stephens Observatory which houses the college's high-powered 12-inch Newtonian reflecting telescope. The telescope is used for research by the college, local government agencies, and other educational institutions.[85] The Observatory is also home to an eight-inch Celestron, a six-inch Meade starfinder, and the only Coronado Solarmax II 60 in the state.[86][87]

As of 2017, Bates has a faculty of 190 and a student body of 1,780 creating a 10:1 student-faculty ratio and the average class size is about fifteen students. All

tenured faculty possess the highest degree in their field.[88] Full-time professors at the college received an average total compensation of $123,066, with salaries and benefits varying from field to field and position to position, putting faculty pay in the top 17% of all public and private universities.[89]

Mount David Summit

The college holds the annual Mount David Summit which serves as a platform for students of all years to present undergraduate research, creative art, performance, and various other academic projects and is named after the campus'

Mount David. Presentations at the summit include various discipline-centered projects, themed panel discussions, films Q & A's, as well as other activities in the Lewiston area.[90] Started in 2002, the summit is held in Pettengill Hall, and on April 1, 2016, held its 15th summit.[91][92]

Admissions

Standards and selectivity

Admissions statistics
2019 entering
class
GPA
Top 10%71.4
(Increase +2)
Top 25%89.5
(Decrease −6)
Top 50%99.0
(Decrease −1)
  • *Among students who chose to submit
  • Among students whose school ranked
Entrance to Hathorn Hall

For the class of 2023, Bates admitted 12.1% of all applicants, the lowest-ever for the college.

2008 financial crisis, during the 2008–09 year, accepting 30.4% of applicants.[101]

The average high school

collegiate grade point average.[103] The Wall Street Journal found that Bates had some of the "toughest rejection letters" in the U.S. during the late-2000s.[104] The college later apologized and issued a statement assuring that it makes an effort to "[deny] the student's application… not [reject] the student".[104]

Cost of attendance and financial aid

For the 2016–17 academic year, Bates charged a

Bates does not offer merit or athletic scholarships. Although Bates is often the most expensive school to attend in its athletic conference, the college covers 100% of financial need for students, and has an average financial package of $42,217. As of 2014, 44% of students utilize financial aid. Bates offers the Direct "+" Loan, Direct Student Loans, Pell Grants, Perkins Loan, Supplementary Educational Opportunity Grants (SEOG), and Work-Study Program.[107]

Bates has the second lowest percentage of Pell Grant recipients in the United States, below only Fairfield University.[108]

Demographics

For the class of 2019, the

high school classes.[88] Bates has a 95% freshman retention rate. A significant portion of 45% of all applicants, transfer and non-transfer, are from New England.[61] About 89% of students are out-of-state, (all 50 states are represented), and the college has students from 73 countries.[109]

Rankings and reputation

Forbes[112]
127
WSJ / College Pulse[113]64

Bates is noted as one of the

Hidden Ivies, which includes much larger research universities such as Johns Hopkins and Stanford University. The 2024 annual ranking by U.S. News & World Report ranked Bates 24th overall best liberal arts college in the nation.[116] Forbes ranked Bates 39th in its 2019 national rankings of 650 U.S. colleges, universities and service academies, and 11th among liberal arts colleges.[117] The college's highest ranking on the Forbes tables was 8th in the U.S. during its 2018 listing.[118] Washington Monthly ranked Bates 17th in 2019 among 214 liberal arts colleges in the U.S. based on its contribution to the public good, as measured by social mobility, research, and promoting public service.[119]

For the 2017–18 academic year, Niche, formerly College Prowler, graded Bates with an overall grade of an 'A+'[120] noting an 'A+' for academics, 'A+' for campus food, 'A+' for technology, 'A' for administration, 'A−' for diversity, and an 'A' for campus quality.[121] During the 2019 Niche rankings, Bates was designated the 14th best liberal arts college in the country.[122] As of 2015, Alumni Factor, which measures alumni success, ranks Bates first in Maine and among the top schools nationally.[123][124] In 2018, Bates produced 23 Bates students who received Fulbright fellowships, attaining the distinction of "Fulbright Top Producer", and subsequently breaking the college's previous record, and ranking Bates first in the United States.[125][126] The Peace Corps placed Bates 22nd, out of all liberal arts colleges, for international charity involvement.[127]

In 2017, according to The Washington Post–a paper that aggregates university rankings from six different publications–the undergraduate program is the 17th best in the United States.[128] On September 20, 2016, PayScale released a report of 1,000 universities and their average graduate earning potential for the 2016–17 year. A Bates degree was worth approximately $120,000 in average salary making it the 13th highest among universities,[129] and the third highest among liberal arts in the U.S.[129]

Campus

Gomes Chapel, loosely modeled on King's College Chapel, Cambridge.

Bates is in a former

French Canadian ethnic presence due to migration from Quebec in the 19th century. The college is known for cultural strains with the town, with townspeople describing Bates as a "leafy oasis of privilege."[130] The overall architectural design of the college can be traced through the Colonial Revival architecture movement, and has distinctive Neoclassical, Georgian, Colonial, and Gothic features. The earliest buildings of the college were directly designed by Boston architect Gridley J.F. Bryant, and subsequent buildings follow his overall architectural template.[87] Colonial restoration influence can be seen in the architecture of certain buildings, however many of the off campus houses' architecture was heavily influenced by the Victorian era.[87] Many buildings on campus share design parallels with Dartmouth College, University of Cambridge, Yale University, and Harvard University.[131][132]

Chase Hall, the student activity center, served as the dining hall until the construction of the Commons.

Bates has a 133-acre main campus and maintains the 600-acre Bates-Morse Mountain Conservation Area,[133] as well as an 80-acre Coastal Center fresh water habitat at Shortridge.[134] The eastern campus is situated around Lake Andrews, where many residential halls are located. The quad of the campus connects academic buildings, athletics arenas, and residential halls. Bates College houses over 1 million volumes of articles, papers, subscriptions, audio/video items and government articles among all three libraries and all academic buildings. The George and Helen Ladd Library houses 620,000 cataloged volumes, 2,500 serial subscriptions and 27,000 audio/video items.[61] Coram Library houses almost 200,000 volumes of articles, subscriptions and audio/video items.[135]

Hedge Hall, named after Isaiah Hedge, is referred to by students as the Hog in reference to a Hedge Hog and its structural resemblance to Hogwarts.

The most notable items in the library's collection include copies of the original Constitution of Maine, personal correspondence of James K. Polk and Hannibal Hamlin, original academic papers of Henry Clay, personal documents of Edmund Muskie, original printings of newspaper articles written by James G. Blaine, and selected collections of other prominent religious, political and economic figures, both in Maine, and the United States.[136][137]

The campus provides 33 Victorian Houses, 9 residential halls, and one residential village.[61][138] The college maintains 12 academic buildings with Lane Hall serving as the administration building on campus. Lane Hall houses the offices of the president, dean of the faculty, registrar, and provost, among others.[139]

Olin Arts Center

The Olin Arts Center maintains three teaching sound proof studios, five class rooms, five seminar rooms, ten practice rooms with pianos, and a 300-seat grand recital hall. It holds the college's Steinway concert grand piano, Disklavier, William Dowd harpsichord, and their 18th-century replica forte piano. The studios are modernized with computers, synthesizers, and various recording equipment.[140] The center houses the departments of Art and Music, and was given to Bates by the F. W. Olin Foundation in 1986.[141] The center has had numerous Artists in Residence, such as Frank Glazer, and Leyla McCalla.[142][143] The Olin Arts Center has joined with the Maine Music Society to produce musical performances throughout Maine.[144]

Museum of Art

The Bates College Museum of Art in the Olin Arts Center.

Founded in 1955, the Bates College Museum of Art holds contemporary and historic pieces. In the 1930s, the college secured a private holding from the Museum of Modern Art of Vincent van Gogh's Starry Night, for students participating in the 'Bates Plan'.[145] It holds 5,000 pieces and objects of contemporary domestic and international art. The museum holds over 100 original artworks, photographs and sketches from Marsden Hartley.[146][147] The MoA offers numerous lectures, artist symposiums, and workshops. The entire space is split into three components, the larger Upper Gallery, smaller Lower Gallery, and the Synergy Gallery which is primarily used for student exhibits and research. Almost 20,000 visitors are attracted to the MoA annually.[148]

Bates-Morse Mountain Area

This conservation area of 600 acres is available to Bates students for academic, extracurricular, and research purposes. This area is mainly salt marshes and coastal uplands. The college participates in preserving the plants, animals and natural ecosystems within this area as a part of their Community-Engaged Learning Program. Due to its overall size, the site is frequently used by other Maine schools such as Bowdoin College for their Nordic Skiing practices.[133][149]

Student life

The college's dining complex: Commons.

In 2015, the college's dining program was ranked 6th by The Princeton Review,[100] and 8th by Niche in the United States.[150] The college's dining services received the grade of 'A+' by Niche in 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017.[120] The college holds one main dining area and offers two floors of seating.[151] All meals and catered events on campus are served by Bates Dining Services, which makes a concentrated effort to purchase foods from suppliers and producers within the state of Maine, like Oakhurst Dairy and others.[152] The Den serves as an on-campus restaurant.[153] While on campus, enrolled students and faculty have access to round-the-clock emergency medical services and security protection.[154][155] The college also holds an annual "Harvest Dinner" during

Martin Luther King Day at Bates is celebrated annually with classes being canceled, and performances, events, keynote talks are held in observance. It is a day marked by keynotes from well known scholars who speak on the subjects of race, justice, and equality in America. In 2016, the college invited Jelani Cobb to speak at the college on MLK Day.[157][158] The college offers students 110 clubs and organizations on campus.[159] Among those is the competitive eating club, the Fat Cats, Ultimate Frisbee, and the student government.[159] The largest club is the Outing Club, which leads canoeing, kayaking, rafting, camping and backpacking trips throughout Maine.[160] Although Bates has since conception rejected fraternities and sororities, various social groups exist.[16]

The Bates Student is the oldest coeducational
college newspaper in the United States.

Student media

The Bates Student

Bates College's oldest operating newspaper is The Bates Student, created in 1873. It is one of the oldest continuously published college weeklies in the United States, and the oldest co-ed college weekly in the country. Alumni of the student media programs at Bates have won the Pulitzer Prize,[161] and have their later work featured on major news sources.[162][163] It circulates approximately 1,900 copies around the campus and Lewiston area. Since 1990, there has been an electronic version of the newspaper online.[164] The newspaper provides access free of charge to a searchable database of articles stretching back to its inception on its website. In 2021, the college administration requested the student newspaper to retract an article that focused on the ongoing unionization among faculty staff members and replace it with an article that also included anti-union arguments. Some students accused the administration of censorship over this issue.[165]

WRBC