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where everyone is a winner

The 2018 Alumni Parade

By Bates College

June 14^th, 2018

It's a great day

The Class of 1968 brought along a 1964 Ford Galaxie to the parade, a car that Ford once called a "brute — but a very, very smooth brute."

President Spencer says that 1968 "gets the award for still cruisin' through Bates."

Don't mess with '68!

where everyone is a winner

Path It on

Before heading to Alumni Walk, the Alumni Parade assembles on the path between Hathorn Hall and the Class of 1929 Gate. In a span of 450 feet, it becomes the epicenter of Bates friendship.

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

FRom start to finish

By Theophil Syslo, here's a time-lapse video of the Alumni Parade: gathering, getting going, and leaving the scene.

parade sightings

These portraits tell us that we love to share our Bates, young and old.

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

sign synergy

Sign, sign, everywhere a sign.

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

lit by a smile

Did you know that smiling is contagious? Did you know that it boosts your mood? Did you know that smiling helps your health and happiness?

If you attended the Alumni Parade, you do know.

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

A theory about balloons

We think that kids adore having a balloon for the same reason alumni loved their time at Bates. Both are dazzling. Both make us look up. And both tend to be fleeting, a short time in a lifetime. But in the end, impossible to forget.

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

where everyone is a winner

Footnotes

Produced by the Bates Communications Office with photography by Phyllis Graber Jesnsen and Theophil Syslo and text by Jay Burns

FootNotes

Produced by the Bates Communications Office with photography by Phyllis Graber Jesnsen and Theophil Syslo and text by Jay Burns

© 2026 Bates College

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