Academy Award-winning actress Susan Sarandon visited Bowdoin on Tuesday afternoon to campaign for presidential candidate Bernie Sanders and spoke to an audience of roughly 50 students, urging them to be on the “right side of history.” While Bowdoin Democrats technically sponsored the event, Bowdoin for Bernie, an unchartered group of students supporting Sanders, had been in touch with a student outreach worker from the Sanders campaign throughout the week to get students more involved with the Maine Democratic Caucus on March 6. Late Monday night, Nick Walker ’16, one of the six students who runs the “Bowdoin for Bernie” Facebook page, got a call about the possibility of Sarandon’s visit followed by a 3:00 a.m. email confirmation. Bowdoin for Bernie and the Bowdoin Democrats coordinated with Student Activities on Tuesday morning to organize the event and spread the word through social media and posters.
Sarandon campaigned for Sanders at a number of other Maine colleges this week, including University of Maine in Orono and Colby College. She visited a number of other places on her Maine tour, including Portland, Bangor and Waterville.