Janet Briggs

What do Roger Waters, Steel Pulse and Cake have in common? Listeners tuning into WBOR this week learned that the answer is President Safa Zaki.

Zaki answered questions live on WBOR during the station’s “President’s Hour” for the first time on Wednesday. WBOR hosted former president Clayton Rose during his last semester on campus but had yet to have Zaki on since her inauguration.

During the interview, WBOR management Emma Olney ’25, Kirstin Hayes ’26 and Eleanor Adams ’27 talked with Zaki about adapting to Bowdoin, goals for the future and, of course, her music taste. Admittedly, this was the first time Zaki had been inside the WBOR station, but she said she’s heard a lot about its impact on campus.

“I have been hearing about it ever since I got here, partly because of the mood and partly because of the nostalgia that goes with the space,” Zaki said. “I will just say that now that I’m in here, I fully understand why.”

The interviewers started by delving into Zaki’s background prior to coming to Bowdoin. Both her parents studied economics, with her father working as a professor and her mother as a high school teacher, so she considered academia from a young age. When she was growing up, she ran a baking business with her sister and worked at a boutique in Cairo, Egypt, which she eventually managed. In fact, before going into psychology, Zaki had a career in the fashion industry.

“In some ways, I had the most fun job for somebody my age, but I felt like there was something missing. I really wanted to get back to psychology,” Zaki said.

The interview then explored her tenure as the first woman president at Bowdoin and how she feels about that title. She explained that, at the beginning, she was frustrated to be limited to a single identity.

“Of course, I’m a woman, but I am so many more things. I’m a cognitive scientist. I’m a professor. I’m an Egyptian by birth. There are so many other dimensions of me,” Zaki said. “But then, I started to write my inauguration speech. In doing that, I did a lot of research on Bowdoin and the history of women at Bowdoin, and I realized that the attention to that dimension of my identity was actually not about me but about the history of women. Then, I just became thankful for all the women who shaped the path that allowed me to take on this role.”

The interview shifted to WBOR’s specialty: music. Zaki started by talking about the music she associated with her childhood, which—thanks to her siblings—was primarily ABBA, specifically “Dancing Queen.” She then described which songs represented different eras of her life.

“My high school years were in the Caribbean. Reggae was a really big deal. I was there when Bob Marley died. It was a devastating day on the island. My favorite band at that point was Steel Pulse,” Zaki said.

During college, Zaki says she listened to the same album for all four years, “The Pros and Cons of Hitch Hiking” by Roger Waters, later Pink Floyd’s lead vocalist. During her early career, Zaki got more into Cake, specifically “Short Skirt, Long Jacket.” At Bowdoin, Zaki says she has mostly been surrounded by student-produced music.

“Beethoven’s Fifth at the symphony orchestra, there were other pieces as well, but that one I’ve heard a thousand times, and it really just sounded better than any version I’ve ever heard,” she said.

Zaki went back to her time in the Caribbean in response to her only song on a desert island, with “Catch A Fire” by Bob Marley and the Wailers. Her first concert was Harry Belafonte, and her favorite concerts have been INXS with her niece and James Taylor.

Zaki didn’t answer a question about expanding any specific academic department, instead saying that the College is focused on representing the entire liberal arts. In that vein, she would be interested in eventually teaching a class in psychology if she has more time. Zaki described her management style as collaborative.

“One of the annoying things about me is when I’m thinking about these things, I think about psychology and what we know. And one of the things we know is that when you involve more people in decision-making, you make better decisions, over and over,” Zaki said. “I really want to know when people think we’re making the wrong decision.”

When asked about her goals for the next five years, Zaki responded with general plans around fostering a positive academic model. She said her main focus is encouraging more conversations with others about Bowdoin’s next steps rather than planning them all herself.

Zaki then flipped the questions back on the WBOR management, asking how they plan to move the items and history from the WBOR station into Coles Tower.

“I think it’s really important to try to bring the energy with us, but not create a direct copy of what we have going on right now. It’s very special, but it’s also very organic. So, I think it will definitely naturally form again over time,” Adams said.

Toward the end of the program, as the interviewers and Zaki chatted about songs that they were obsessed with at the moment, Zaki demonstrated how her thinking always goes back to psychology.

“The number of songs that people know is such a fascinating thing about the mind. When I used to teach Intro to Psych, I would say, ‘There’s this Lawrence song that’s really popular right now. You may not hear it for 15 to 20 years. Then you’re gonna hear it on the radio, and you’re gonna start singing and not going to miss a beat. Somehow, [it’s] in your mind and brain, stored there and ready to be accessed at a moment’s notice,’” Zaki said.

The interview ended the way most hours at WBOR do: with the words, “You’ve been tuned into WBOR, 91.1 FM” said by Zaki herself.