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October at Bates

physical beauty and warmth, joy and wonder, learning and competition

By Bates College

November 13^th, 2025

The emergence of color

Hints of fall at Bates begin to peek through the sea of green across campus.

Scenes from Back to Bates

Alumni and parents headed to campus for a weekend of laughter, learning, and entertainment during Back to Bates. Friday evening programming included a student summer research poster session in Perry Atrium, with a Bates a cappella concert closing out the night in the Gray Athletic Building.

Study habits grow in the Student Writing and Language Center

On the ground floor of Ladd Library, Will Stallman ’29 of Windsor, Conn., and Danny Burke ’29 of Holliston, Mass., study in the Student Writing & Language Center, part of the greater Peer Learning Commons. Tutors are prepped and ready to help their peers through a writing process or as they’re learning a language.

Pool Party

It was time to make a splash. Grace LaFountain ’26 of New Hartford, N.Y., fills a pool on the stage of Schaeffer Theatre in preparation for Bates theater’s production of Metamorphoses. The pool was the central setting of the performance based on the myths of Ovid.

The Sporting Scene

Tennis players from Bates, Colby, Brandeis, and Trinity descend upon the Wallach Tennis Center during the two-day Wallach Invitational.

Theo Sardain ’26 of Dedham, Mass., hits a forehand on the first day of the annual Wallach Invitational, hosted by Bates and including students from Colby, Brandeis, and Trinity.

Bates volleyball players Kate Norry ’28, Anaïs Reneaum ’28, Lauren Croom ’28, and Ami Evans ’26 cheer during their 3–0 winning match against Fisher College.

Kate Norry ’28 of Durham, N.C., goes for the kill during a match against Fisher College.

Nadia Schwartz ’26 of Portland, Oregon, high-fives her teammates before a game against Connecticut College.

From left, forwards Gabby Monaco ’26 of Pittsburgh, Penn., and Eleanor Martin ’28 of Oilville, Va., stand strong on offense during a game against Connecticut College.

Fog over Garcelon

Fog frames campus on an early autumn morning.

Ryan Lynskey ’27 of Cranford, N.J., runs through the defense during a game against Williams College.

Soccer player Sebastian Iacovitti ’26 of Florence, Italy, heads the ball during a game against Connecticut College.

Isaac "Kobby" Nimako ’26 of Ghana hugs his girlfriend Eva Rodriguez ’26 of Pasadena, Calif., during men’s soccer Senior Day celebrations.

Field hockey seniors Brooke Moloney-Kolenberg, Kalli Jacobsen, Eva Boucher, Lucy Norris, Summer Gordon, and Emma Queen pose on Senior Day before defeating Connecticut College 4–0.

Zack Perron ’28 of Flemington, N.J., leans to kick the ball during a game against Colby.

Lucy Norris ’26, Elsa Copeland ’28, and Elena Agosti ’27 cheer during their 4–0 winning game against Colby.

The Ultimate Sleepover

Members of the Cold Front ultimate frisbee team camped out for their annual, optional team tradition of sleeping in hammocks on campus. Here they’re suspended in hammocks the morning after the sleepover along Alumni Walk between Hathorn and Dana Halls.

Block Party!

President Garry W. Jenkins shows off a snapshot of himself enjoying the Block Party.

Kids jump around in an inflatable bounce castle during the Block Party.

Bates football players line up before making their entrance into the Block Party.

Lewiston Middle School football players high-five Bates football players as they run through the Block Party crowd.

Covering Big Thief

The day before indie folk band Big Thief played to a sold-out crowd in Portland’s State Theatre, Bates student musicians hosted their second-annual Big Thief tribute concert atop Mount David. The student’s efforts, documented on Instagram account @bates_plays_big_thief, earned a shoutout from Big Thief lead guitarist Buck Meek during the Portland show.

The first ever pharma road trip

The Center for Purposeful Work led 14 Bates students around the greater Boston area during the inaugural biotechnology and pharmaceutical roadshow. The students visited with alumni at five different biopharmaceutical companies, including, as pictured below, Kymera Therapeutics, where students saw the inner workings of a pharmaceutical laboratory.

I'll have some foliage with my Bates

Walking around campus in October, it’s hard to look at much else other than the magnificent, multi-colored leaves dotting the sky above and littering the ground below. The autumn trees cast a golden light across Bates from the Historic Quad to Lake Andrews.

Precision and Expression

The Bates Museum of Art hosted an opening reception for its new exhibition, Precision and Expression: American Studio Ceramics from the E. John Bullard Collection. The exhibition includes around 100 ceramic pieces dating from the mid-20th century to the past decade, all of which “intertwine elements of precision and skill with individuality and expression.”

In Russian, with love

Visiting Lecturer in Russian Marina Filipovic leads an advanced Russian language class with students, from left to right, Gabby Spektor ’28, Lena LaPierre ’26, Olivia Smith ’26, and Avielle Krendel-Smyslov ’28, in the departmental faculty lounge in Roger Williams Hall. This small seminar-style course encourages students to gain a deeper understanding of each other and major Russian cultural figures, trends, media, and politics — while speaking exclusively in Russian.

Visual meaning: vote!

Students from Visiting Assistant Professor of Art and Visual Culture Michel Droge’s “Visual Meaning: Process, Material, Format” course install a mural-sized wall of posters outside Ladd Library in anticipation of the Nov. 4 Election Day.

Radio Headers

Stuart Gurley, a bass instructor and manager of Olin Arts Center, leads an ensemble of Bates music students as they play alongside Fitter Happier, a Radiohead tribute band based in Portland, Maine, during an on-campus performance.

The new BOND (Bates Open Network on Dialogue)

Professor of Politics Clarisa Pérez-Armendáriz asks a question during Bates’ first Open Network on Dialogue event. BOND is creating space for thoughtful, challenging, and constructive conversations on campus.

Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia University Jamal Greene speaks about the state of freedom of expression on college campuses during his keynote speech at the inaugural BOND event.

Students listen closely to keynote speaker Jamal Greene, Dwight Professor of Law at Columbia University, in a packed Chase Hall.

Trick or Treat

Faculty, students, and staff in costumes pass out candy on Alumni Walk during the annual Bates Halloween Trick or Treat event. The event began in 2023 as a way to bring the community together and has since become a cherished Bates tradition.

Footnotes

Produced by the Bates Communications and Marketing Office with photography by Phyllis Graber Jensen, Theophil Syslo, Sammy Weidenthal '27, Matt Hamilton '25, and Rene Roy, and text by Alexandra DeMarco