Bates photographers Phyllis Graber Jensen and Theophil Syslo portray moments from the college’s 2020 MLK Day observance. The campus community, joined by guests from near and far, explored the theme “From the Ground Up: Inequity, Bias, Privilege, Structure, Death."
Moderated by Alice Doughty, Lecturer in Geology, this documentary by directors George Potter and Andrew Adkins follows the first group of African American climbers on Denali. Reflecting this year’s MLK Day theme, “From the Ground Up,” the film addresses race and the outdoors as the team is filmed ascending the 20,310-foot peak of North America’s tallest mountain.
A service of song, reflection, and dance stirs our spirits and sets our intentions for the transformative learning that will take place on Martin Luther King Jr. Day. The guest preacher, the Rev. Dr. Theon Johnson III, pastor of Downs Memorial United Methodist Church in Oakland, Calif., inspires those in the auditorium to make change now.
The MLK Day keynote speaker, Stanford University Professor of Psychology Jennifer Lynn Eberhardt, looks at hidden bias in Monday's opening gathering in Alumni Gym.
With about 700 listeners filling Alumni Gym (the traditional Gomes Chapel venue being unavailable due to ongoing restoration), Eberhardt’s lecture makes a powerful beginning to a day of intensive Bates programming that explores the legacy and lessons of the civil rights icon.
Vanessa German's exhibition Miracles and Glory Abound uses the familiar painting “Washington Crossing the Delaware” as a starting point for its sculptures. German's power-figures spark a conversation about public memory and rewriting history through the lens of privilege.
Derek Ham’s interactive virtual reality (VR) video I Am a Man explores the 1968 Memphis sanitation workers’ strike as one of the events leading up to the assassination of Dr. King. The VR provides a personal experience that deepens our understanding of the struggles of the black workers and residents of Memphis. The exhibit also includes replicas and copies of primary documents from the Memphis strike.
Hosted by the team behind the Diverse BookFinder, a collection of thousands of picture books featuring black and indigenous people and people of color, this event is popular with local families. The collection was founded by Professor of Psychology Krista Aronson in collaboration with children’s book creator Anne Sibley O’Brien (below, left) and Brenna Callahan ’15.
MLK Day at Bates is filled with three concurrent sessions of workshops, screenings, book discussions, and performances.
The signature design for this year's MLK Day posters and programs, created by Bates Communications Office Web Designer Olivia Orr, caught the community's attention with its powerful use of type. We enjoyed calling out a few images that documented its presence throughout the day.
From one setting to another, Bates spaces are filled with interested and engaged participants.
Led by Cliff Odle, Lecturer in Theater; Anne Engel, Executive VP-Revolutionary Spaces; and Amberly Solo, Stage Manager, this session featured plays followed by a discussion.
In the popular Mays Debate, student debaters from Bates and Morehouse colleges argued the motion: “This House believes that social movements should propose policies that radically re-imagine society rather than prioritizing incremental change.”
Written and directed by Losseni Barry ’22 of New York City and organized by Abdulwahab Mohamed ’22 of Lewiston, Maine, this 10th annual production, “Invisible Women,” celebrates and explores the stories of women of color at Bates and in Lewiston,
Watch Theophil Syslo’s video of the 2020 Sankofa production.
© 2026 Bates College