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Number of articles: 84
First Article: September 15, 2017
Latest Article: May 15, 2021
Kate Lusignan
Kate Lusignan
Kate Lusignan
Kate Lusignan
The College will no longer limit the number of guests graduating seniors can invite to commencement, wrote COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen in an email to the Bowdoin community. Prior to today’s announcement, each graduate was allowed two guests.
The Lewiston Police Department (LPD) has referred graffiti written in chalk on the campus of Bates College to the Maine attorney general, who is investigating the case as a possible hate crime. The Bates Leftist Coalition (BLC) shared pictures of the graffitied phrases, “Free Palestine,” “Stop Ethnic Cleansing,” “Israel is killing innocent people” and “[expletive] Zionist Israel.” According to the Associated Press, Gwen Lexow, Bates’ director of Title IX and civil rights compliance, wrote in an email to students that said she heard members of the Bates community “expressing deep concern about the impact of the language contained in the flyers and graffiti, particularly on Jewish members of our campus community.” Since the investigation was announced on Monday, members of the Bates community have responded to the news of the investigation.
As the College’s year of mostly virtual learning concludes, 73 percent of students approve or strongly approve of their spring 2021 classes, while only 17 percent disapprove or strongly disapprove of their classes. In a slight overall decrease from the fall 2020 semester, 77 percent of students feel the College is handling the COVID-19 crisis well or very well—slightly down from 81 percent of students approving of the College’s response to the pandemic in fall.
Ryan Britt ’22 will be the next president of Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) for the 2021-2022 academic year. Britt served as chair of student affairs for the 2019-2020 academic year and currently serves as the President of the Class of 2022.
After arriving at Bowdoin in 2005, Executive Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols set a goal to get the Office of Safety and Security accredited by the International Association of Campus Law Enforcement Administrators (IACLEA)—a professional association committed to “excellence” in campus public safety and law enforcement.
Moulton Union will be closed until breakfast tomorrow after three employees tested positive for COVID-19 this week, COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen wrote in an email to the community on Thursday. Ranen wrote that the College closed the dining hall as a “precautionary measure.” Moulton dining employees will come to campus to receive a rapid antigen and PCR test every day, but they will leave campus immediately after they complete both tests.
To Bowdoin students, alumni, faculty and staff; Orient staff members past and present and members of the Brunswick community: When we joined the Orient nearly four years ago, we, along with many other then-first-year staff members, had questions about the name of the paper.
In an email to the campus community, COVID-19 Coordinator Mike Ranen announced that three students and one employee tested positive for COVID-19 this morning. The College has identified eight students who were in close contact with the students who tested positive.
This semester, the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) has $270,000 to allocate to student activities. The budget includes $55,000 rolled over from the SAFC’s $165,000 fall budget. The budget for the 2020-21 academic year is $380,000—a dramatic decrease from the $810,000 allotted for the 2019-20 academic year.
On Wednesday the College announced that the new building that will house the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum will be named the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies in honor of trustee emeritus John A Gibbons Jr.
In an effort to be more transparent about COVID-19 policy violations, the College has launched a COVID-19 Student Conduct Dashboard on February 16. The dashboard reports the number of students found responsible for COVID-19 policy violations and who have been removed from campus for such violations during the spring semester.
After welcoming more than 1,000 students to campus on Friday and Saturday, two students have tested positive for the coronavirus (COVID-19), wrote COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen in an email to all students and employees early this afternoon.
In an email to all students on Tuesday evening, President Clayton Rose announced that family members and guests will not be able to come to campus for Commencement for the Class of 2021 and will instead have to observe the ceremony and other Commencement-related events virtually due to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
On Friday, the Class of 2020 learned from an email sent by Tony Sprague, director of events and summer programs, that their on-campus graduation celebration would be moved from the previously announced dates of June 11 and June 12, 2021, to August 13 and August 14, 2021.
The overwhelming majority, 81 percent, of survey participants believe the College is handling COVID-19 well or very well, with 19 percent believing the College is handling the pandemic poorly or very poorly. This is only a slight decrease from the 85 percent of participants who thought the College was handling COVID-19 well or very well last semester.
The Dean’s Office granted permission for 104 students to reside on campus after November 21. These students, with either home lives unsuitable for remote learning or other extenuating circumstances such as an inability to travel home due to safety concerns, will be allowed to remain in residence until December 22.
An employee of the College who works at the Schiller Coastal Studies Center tested positive for COVID-19 late last evening informed COVID-19 Resource Director Mike Ranen in an email to the community this afternoon. The employee is isolating at home, but the College did not disclose whether the employee is showing symptoms.
A first-year student living on campus tested positive for COVID-19 this morning, informed COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen in an email to the community this evening. The student does not have symptoms and is isolating on campus.
A College employee who works in Thorne Hall and a first-year student living on campus tested positive for COVID-19 today, wrote Mike Ranen, COVID-19 resource coordinator, in an email sent to the community at noon. The employee and student are both asymptomatic and are both isolating.
Among honks and cheers temporarily heard on Maine Street, Brooke Vahos ’21, who is living off campus, stood at the edge of the Brunswick Mall with a “Honk for Biden” sign in celebration of President-elect Joseph R.
Effective tomorrow at 8 a.m., on-campus students are not permitted to leave campus for any reason, including to conduct personal or essential business, wrote Mike Ranen, COVID-19 resource coordinator, in an email to all students and employees sent today at noon.
The Department of Athletics released its Building and Supporting an Inclusive and Diverse Athletic Community Action Plan on October 15 in an aim to address bias reported within the department. The action plan is broken up into three sections—Access to Information, Ongoing Evaluation, and Education and Action.
More than 75 students have signed Sunrise Bowdoin’s post-election statement, committing to a one-day strike from classes if President Donald “Trump and his allies completely and permanently stop votes from being counted” or “state legislatures attempt to dismiss and overwrite the vote of the people.” The statement is a contingency plan, and action will be dependent on the events following the election on November 3.
President Rose announced that the College will allow all seniors, juniors and sophomores to return to campus in the spring in an email to the campus community on Monday afternoon. First-year international students and students for whom home is not a conducive learning environment will also be able to apply to live on campus.
The College is adding a seventh designation to the Alumni Fund called Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI). In conjunction with this expansion, an anonymous alumni donor will donate an additional $100 to the DEI designation for every donation given to the Alumni Fund between October 5 and 11.
During the first few weeks of a typical school year, first years would sign candidacy forms for their new classmates, pass out campaign literature and hang dozens of campaign posters around their dorms. However, like most traditions, campaigning for class council looked a little different this year.
In separate emails to the classes of 2021 and 2024, Vice President of the Bowdoin Student Government Harry Sherman ’21 announced the results of the respective class council elections Monday morning. Voting in both elections opened on Friday and closed Sunday at midnight.
Jasper Gordon ’21 has been baking with his family as long as he can remember. After feeling homesick his first semester, Gordon began baking bagels out of Burnett House. His passion for baking bagels started as small batches for friends, but since then, Gordon has started taking orders through a Google Form which has led to “Jasper’s Bagels.
Most college students are fast asleep at 5 a.m. on a Saturday. However, on most weekends during his first year, Jasper Gordon ’21 would be in the Burnett House kitchen baking a fresh batch of bagels for friends.
Walking down Maine Street today is a different experience than many Bowdoin students may remember. Brunswick’s wide sidewalks now hold expanded outdoor dining alongside space for masked pedestrians to walk, but there is also another notable difference—there are few students grabbing gelato or biking to their favorite dinner spot.
President Clayton Rose went before the Brunswick Town Council via Zoom on Tuesday to express concern about racism in the Brunswick area, sharing news of two separate racist incidents that occurred in Brunswick during the last month.
One student has tested positive for COVID-19 after results from tests administered on Wednesday were released to students and the College community early Thursday morning. According to an email sent to the Bowdoin community from COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen, this is the first positive case identified through the College’s testing program in partnership with the Broad Institute.
For many athletes, the community they find in their team is one of the most rewarding aspects of their Bowdoin experience. For some athletes of color, though, their teams have not been a supportive community. Instead, bias incidents have continued to arise, and discussions about race have fallen by the wayside.
A survey conducted by the Orient and sent to all Bowdoin faculty members shows that most approve of the College’s plan to bring some, but not all, students back to campus. Of the 65 faculty members who participated in the survey, 86 percent approved or strongly approved of the plan, three percent disapproved or strongly disapproved and another 11 percent neither approved nor disapproved.
The College announced it will send all students an 11-inch Apple iPad Pro with available Wi-Fi and cellular data connectivity, an Apple Pencil 2 and the Apple Magic Keyboard for iPad in an email on July 24.
The College has confirmed that 164 returning students, or approximately eight percent of the student body, will take personal leaves of absence for the fall 2020 semester. Another 37 students from the class of 2024 will defer enrollment to the fall of 2021.
In an email sent to the community yesterday, President Clayton Rose wrote that Bowdoin will submit an amicus brief supporting a lawsuit that Harvard University, the University of Southern California and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) submitted on Wednesday.
After the College announced that that some, but not all, students will be returning to campus for the fall 2020 semester, 75 percent of students reported dissatisfaction with the plan in a survey conducted by the Orient.
Bowdoin Spring Priorities—the College’s fundraising effort to address financial needs that have emerged due to the coronavirus (COVID-19)—has brought in hundreds of donations since its launch on March 12. The College designated four separate funds within Bowdoin Spring Priorities: the COVID-19 Response Fund, the Class of 2020 Commencement Fund, the Financial Aid Fund and the Greatest Need—the Unrestricted Alumni Fund (Alumni Fund).
The College has yet to accept the $1.2 million allocated to it through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief and Economic Security (CARES) Act. According to President Clayton Rose, who commented on the matter during Wednesday’s Town Hall, the College has not accepted the funds because “there are some possible conditions or terms around taking the money, which could be problematic.” According to Rose, this provision could potentially lead to the names of students who accept CARES Act aid to be disclosed to any federal agency under the Freedom of Information Act.
As of March 30, Bowdoin has lost $6.8 million due to expenses related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and the transition to remote learning, according to senior administrators. Most of the sum—$6.2 million—comes from room and board refunds issued to students, and the remaining $600,000 of expenses came from the costs associated with conducting classes online and moving students out of campus housing.
On the morning the College announced the decision to move to remote learning, Anibal Husted ’22, like many, didn’t know how he was going to meet the costs of leaving campus. “I didn’t know how my family was going to afford a plane ticket.
A skirmish late Saturday night at an event sponsored by the Black Student Union (BSU) in Ladd House resulted in the arrest of a 19-year-old party-crasher, according to police who said attendees were in a state of “pandemonium” when officers arrived.
On Thursday evening, students packed David Saul Smith Union to hear Patrick Dempsey H’13, former star of the hit ABC show “Grey’s Anatomy,” deliver the annual No Hate November keynote address. Dempsey sat down with Marcus Williams ’21, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) chair of diversity and inclusion, to discuss their experiences with dyslexia.
What do a pajama-wearing character, two latex gloves and a stuffed rabbit add up to? Theater-goers will find out tonight and Saturday, as they leave Wish Theater and enter the alternate world of The Baltimore Waltz.
This weekend, alumni, students and guests will gather to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Africana Studies program (formerly known as Afro-American Studies), the Black Students Union (BSU, formerly known as the African American Society) and the John Brown Russwurm African American Center.
This weekend, alumni, students and guests will gather to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Africana Studies program (formerly known as Afro-American Studies), the Black Students Union (BSU, formerly known as the African American Society) and the John Brown Russwurm African American Center.
Marsha Ambrosius, a multi-Grammy-nominated R&B musician will perform tonight as part of the Af/Am/50 celebrations. Benjamin Harris, director of the Student Center for Multicultural Life, organized the event with input from the Af/Am/50 Committee, a group of staff, current students, faculty and alumni.
In the fall of 1969, Robert Johnson ’71 became the first president of the African American Society (AAS). Fifty years later, Amani Hite ’20 holds the position of president of the Black Student Union (BSU, formerly the African American Society).
Like most visiting for Family Weekend, presidential candidate and United States Senator Michael Bennet (D-CO) P’23 spent the weekend eating brunch at Thorne, exploring campus and spending time with his family. Unlike other visiting parents and family members, Bennet spent Saturday afternoon answering questions about national issues and his presidential campaign from a crowded room of parents, students and Brunswick residents—among whom was Senator Angus King (I-ME)—during a town hall in Chase Barn.
Reid Brawer ’21 took his first Digital and Computational Studies (DCS) Course—Intro to DCS—on a whim. “I was looking for classes [my first year] and I needed one more. And I was like, hey, DCS,” he said.
The Bowdoin College Museum of Art and the Peary-MacMillan Arctic Museum were awarded a $239,344 federal grant from The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) last week. The IMLS award description says the museums will use the funds to “improve both physical and digital access to the collections of its two museums.” The College matched the federal fund with an additional $249,000 to support the project.
Voting in the special election for Bowdoin Student Government’s (BSG) vacant chair of student affairs opened Wednesday morning and will remain open until 8 p.m. tonight. The special election follows the resignation of the Chair of Student Affairs, Anibal Husted ’22 on May 13—four weeks after he was elected in an uncontested race.
Since five students were issued court summonses at a Helmreich House party by Brunswick Police Department (BPD) last April, Bowdoin students expressed concerns about hosting parties. Concern grew into confusion after College House students met with BPD and Bowdoin Security officers during College House orientation.
Over the summer, just three miles from campus, nearly 60 asylum seekers were welcomed to the Brunswick community. The group is just a fraction of the 450 asylees who have journeyed from sub-Saharan Africa to Maine since June.
Four weeks after Brunswick Police Department (BPD) issued 13 court summonses to Bowdoin students in a single weekend, the five students who received summonses in Helmreich House have not been notified as to whether BPD is proceeding with the charges.
Last week, BowdoinOne Day—the College’s largest annual donation campaign—proceeded as normal, despite a movement among alumni to withhold donations until the College pays its workers a living wage. As the campaign concluded, the number of donations has not yet reached the College’s target of 8,200 gifts.
PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES Nate DeMoranville ’20 After three years of public service, it is with great excitement that I run for President of Bowdoin Student Government. In this position, I will strive to bridge the divides of this campus by working with students to help other students.
The first weekend back from Spring Break was a busy one for both students and the Brunswick Police Department (BPD). Thirteen students received alcohol-related court summons and one student received a warning between last Friday and Saturday nights.
For its next foray into climate activism, Bowdoin Climate Action (BCA) is connecting with the Sunrise Movement, a national organization that advocates for political action on climate change. Sunrise has mostly recently been linked to activism surrounding the Green New Deal—not divestment campaigns, for which BCA had long been known.
For the first time when the holiday fell during the semester, the College did not hold classes on Martin Luther King Day. In lieu of beginning the semester on Monday, students were encouraged to participate in programming that focused on the life and legacy of Dr.
Politics doesn’t always happen during an optimal time—a lesson Bowdoin students learned last Sunday as they headed to Washington D.C., two days before finals period began. Sixteen students joined 1,000 protesters in the nation’s capitol this weekend to sit-in and encourage House Representatives to support a resolution for a Select Committee for a Green New Deal proposed by newly elected U.S.
In order to fully understand a person, you need to dig—a theme that Arah Kang ’19 explores, in the exhibition “Unsilenced,” located in Lamarche Gallery in David Saul Smith Union. The show visually explores the complexities of personhood by juxtaposing the weight of biased phrases with pictures of students expressing what makes them whole and happy.
After a quick introductory breath, Dr. Amer Ahmed kicked off No Hate November with a rap. “I stand poisoned by religion / the decisions of sin / while television spins the lies of white men / I see no friends as the media sends / the myth of the truth to fear my brown skin,” he performed to a surprised audience in Kresge Auditorium last night.
At today’s Bowdoin Student Government (BSG)-led Town Hall, students expressed frustration about perceived inertia in response to bias incidents—most recently, a swastika that was reported in the Hubbard Hall Stacks at the end of September. In total, four swastikas have been reported on campus in the past two years.
As midterm season approaches and lawn signs appear, political organizations at Bowdoin have been bringing local candidates to campus to discuss Maine politics. The Bowdoin Republicans, the Maine Democratic Party (MDP) and Bowdoin Democrats are encouraging student involvement in Maine politics due to the potential impact student votes could have on the contentious gubernatorial race.
Last Friday, three dozen Bowdoin students protesting the potential confirmation of U.S. Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh were featured on national news. The demonstration, held in Portland at the office of U.S. Senator from Maine Susan Collins, was in opposition to Kavanaugh’s position on women’s rights and his opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Chanting “Kavanaugh has got to go” and “this is what democracy looks like,” approximately 30 students marched down Congress street in Portland this afternoon en route to the office of Senator Susan Collins. Bowdoin Climate Action organized the rally in response to Collins’ position as a key vote on the confirmation of Supreme Court nominee Brett Kavanaugh, who students criticized for his position on women’s rights issues and his opposition to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA).
Over the summer, the Career Planning Center (CPC) found itself in a new space with new leadership. Since beginning her position in July, the new Director of Career Planning Kristin Brennan has set new targets and reestablished old goals in an effort to make the CPC accessible to more students, alumni and parents.
This summer, two properties on Federal Street will be converted into chem-free upperclass housing for the next academic year. The properties, 84 and 86 Federal Street, are owned by Bowdoin and currently house employees of the College, who will move out before conversion begins.
A group of professors has submitted a proposal for a new urban studies minor as result of growing interest in the topic amongst students and faculty. Though this is not the first time an urban studies minor or major has been proposed, faculty believe that there are now enough courses, drawing from various departments and areas of study, to sustain a minor.
World-renowned poet Ross Gay is delighted by public restrooms and bobbleheads. The plastic figures remind him of roughhousing with his brother and a stern scolding from his grandmother, while public restrooms are an overlooked necessity that he calls “a deprivation of a deprivation.” While to some these may seem like strange delights, Gay is inclined to focus on details that are often forgotten in the fast pace of life in order to embody themes of community, family and gratitude.
After an uptick in cases of academic dishonesty brought before the Judicial Board (J-Board) in recent years, a working group consisting of both faculty and students has been formed to address discrepancies in the application of the College’s honor code.
The men’s tennis team (8-0) is ranked second in the nation after an undefeated run in California over Spring Break, including a 7-2 victory against then-No. 2 Claremont-Mudd-Scripps (CMS) (7-2) during the Stag-Hen Invitational. The team’s success comes after ending its 2017 season in a disappointing 5-2 loss in the NCAA Division III semifinals to eventual champions Emory University.
Last weekend, the men’s squash team won a tight 5-4 match against Hobart to clinch the Division-D Conroy Cup at the College Squash Association (CSA) Men’s National Championships in Connecticut. The previous weekend, women’s squash came in second in the women’s Division-D Epps Cup at Harvard after a 5-4 loss to William Smith College.
Veteran nordic skier Jake Adicoff ’18 was one of eight athletes in the nation named to the men’s U.S. Paralympic Nordic Ski Team. This is the second time Adicoff will compete in the Paralympics, skiing in three visually impaired events once the games begin on March 9 in PyeongChang, South Korea.
The number of College House applicants reached a five-year low this year, with 247 students competing for approximately 179 spots. The College House applicant pool for next year is smaller than any in the past five years.
In an effort to reduce plastic waste, all eight College Houses will begin using reusable cups in place of traditional single-use cups this semester. Last year, the College Houses used over 25,000 plastic cups, according to the College’s Sustainability Office.
The men’s hockey team (2-3-0, 1-1 NESCAC) will face long-time rival, Colby College (2-2, 1-1 NESCAC) in a two-game series this weekend. The team will play its 209th game against the Mules on Friday night at Colby, followed by the 210th face-off between the two teams at Sidney Watson Arena on Saturday.
Throughout the semester, Bowdoin students in Education 1101, Contemporary American Education, have been exploring topics that arise in educational systems throughout the United States. Issues ranged from discrimination and privatization to charter schools and special education.
Last Friday, “Our Bodies, Our Bowdoin,” sponsored by Peer Health and the Women of Color Coalition, brought together women of color to discuss beauty standards on campus through reflecting on their own experiences. “I just wanted to create a space where women of color could gather because I [not only] feel it is really important to build solidarity and community, but [also] I wanted to be able to have a space [to celebrate] women bodies,” said Elly Veloria ’20, a member of Peer Health and the Women of Color Coalition who helped to plan the event.
Following a loss to Tufts (3-1) last weekend, the football team (0-4) is hopeful for a win on Saturday in the emotionally-charged homecoming game against Hamilton (0-4), after increasing the depth of the team and focusing on consistency.
Despite the lack of wind this weekend, the sailing team had a strong start to its season over the last two weeks after competing in numerous events across New England. “The women’s regatta was at MIT and that was a really tough event.
Although cross country is typically considered an individual sport, the team believes its chemistry will be crucial as the Polar Bears start their season at home this weekend during the Bowdoin Invitational. Both the men’s and women’s teams have commented on how a strong team culture has affected their running strategy.
