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News

Students launch email campaign following THRIVE students not receiving new laptops

Following news that THRIVE students who had already received College-issued laptops were not being included in the Digital Excellence Commitment (DExC), students and administrators addressed their dissatisfaction with the decision through an email campaign. THRIVE students were informed that those who had previously received MacBooks from Bowdoin would not receive new ones through the DExC program this year with the rest of the student body.

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Economics and Government professors attack partisan animosity in Strengthening Democracy Challenge

In early August, Associate Professor of Economics Daniel Stone, Professor of Government Michael Franz and Senior Interactive Developer David Francis won the Strengthening Democracy Challenge. The challenge, presented by political sociologists at Stanford University, invited academics and other professionals to submit intervention models for bolstering democratic practices in political discourse.

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Blackboard

Canvas replaces Blackboard as College’s learning management system

This summer, the College began a year-long learning management system transition from Blackboard to Canvas. The transition comes after a years-long process of evaluating and comparing various interfaces for college use. Product piloting of both Canvas and Blackboard began during the 2018-2019 school year, with the College ultimately deciding to pursue a three-year contract with Blackboard.

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News in Brief

College adopts “endemic” approach to Covid-19, provides air purifiers to students

This week, students returned to a campus with significantly reduced pandemic-related protocols. Under the new guidelines, the College neither requires masks on campus nor mandates PCR testing. As the College moves to an endemic approach to Covid-19, management of positive cases and questions about the virus are being integrated into the returning pre-pandemic structures of Bowdoin.

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News in Brief

Search Committee publishes presidential position specification

Last Friday, the Presidential Search Committee published a position specification document for Bowdoin’s 16th president. In an email to the campus community, committee co-chairs Sydney Asbury ’03 and Bertrand Garcia-Moreno ’81 P’17 wrote that the committee has met with faculty, staff, students, parents, trustees and alumni since its formation in May, and the document it has produced will introduce both the College and the position of president to prospective candidates.

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Schiller Center

Schiller Center dedicated

On Thursday, the Schiller Coastal Studies Center (SCSC) was officially dedicated fifteen months after construction was completed. The Board of Trustees attended the ceremony and reception as part of its first in-person meeting in over two years.

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Lecture

Lecture discusses trigger warnings on college campuses

Editor’s note 05/18/2022 at 12:28 p.m. EDT: A previous version of this article included the lecturer’s photograph and name in its headline. The article has been updated to remove both inclusions at the lecturer’s request. Professor of Gender and Sexuality Studies at Bates College Rebecca Herzig addressed the increasing conversation about and presence of trigger warnings in higher educational spaces in a lecture on Monday in the Moulton Union Main Lounge.

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SWAG

SWAG hosts discussion to process leaked Roe v. Wade draft

In response to recent news about the potential reversal of Roe v. Wade, the Sexuality, Women and Gender (SWAG) center hosted a discussion entitled “Processing the Leaked Roe v. Wade Draft.” The discussion hosted at 24 College served as a space for students to find community, share their thoughts on the leaked draft and become energized for more advocacy work.

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Faculty

Faculty gather to discuss Rose’s departure, new policies

Bowdoin faculty convened on Monday to discuss additions to half-credit course options, recommendations for pre-major advising and policy changes in Academic Affairs. Associate Professor of English Emma Maggie Solberg moderated the meeting in Daggett Lounge. After approving the minutes from the previous meeting, President Clayton Rose addressed the faculty for the first time since announcing his June 2023 departure from the College.

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Faculty

College alters policy on shared faculty appointments

In a memorandum to the faculty dated April 21, Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs Jennifer Scanlon announced that her office had revised the College’s Shared Appointments policy. The policy had previously allowed candidates for tenure-line positions to request that they share the position with another applicant, typically their spouse or partner.

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Administration

Student survey captures anger with administration, hopes for change

In the final weeks of the semester, the Orient conducted its annual Bowdoin Orient Student Survey (BOSS). Approximately 20 percent of the student body, 353 students, responded to the survey. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(e){if(void 0!==e.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.querySelectorAll("iframe");for(var a in e.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var r=0;r

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Key-stitches: Benjamin Felser ’22 uses poetry to inspire environmental change

On Thursday evening, students and faculty gathered in the Roux Center for the Environment for “Key-Stitches: Symbiographies for a Distressed Earth,” Benjamin Felser’s ’22 presentation of their year-long independent study project. Felser, a biology major concentrating in ecology and evolutionary biology who has a passion for literary arts, performed readings of four original poems exploring nature’s complex symbiotic networks, their origins and their vulnerability in a changing environmental landscape.

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BOG celebrates with student-led Arbor Day tree planting

The Bowdoin Office of Sustainability and the Bowdoin Organic Garden (BOG) teamed up to plant two semi-dwarf anjou pear trees in the gardens behind first year dorms Osher and West to celebrate Arbor Day. The tree-planting ceremony, led by Office of Sustainability student-worker Maya Chandar-Kouba ’23, Associate Director of Sustainability Keisha Payson and the BOG Superintendent Lisa Beneman, took place on April 28.

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Digital politics panel focuses on disinformation, polling

In a virtual event on the evening of April 28, Bowdoin Democrats hosted a panel of political scientists and strategists who discussed issues pertaining to the 2022 midterm elections. The topics included campaign finance reform, polling in an increasingly polarized climate and careers in politics.

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Horowitz speaks on experience in Holocaust

To mark Holocaust Remembrance Day, Bowdoin Hillel and the Departments of English and History co-hosted a lecture and discussion with Holocaust survivor Rudolph “Rudy” Horowitz on Thursday, April 28 in Lancaster Lounge. During his lecture, Horowitz, 93, discussed his memoir, “Avoiding the Cracks,” which details his story of survival during World War II and his life after the Holocaust.

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News in Brief

Strong smoke smell reported in Smith Union

This past Monday, numerous students reported the smell of smoke on Coe Quad, inside David Saul Smith Union, in Druckenmiller Hall and in other spaces around campus. While the cause remains unknown, Executive Director of the Office of Safety and Security Randy Nichols speculated the smoke came from intentional fires off campus.

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BSG

BSG to hold executive elections this weekend

Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) is holding its annual executive elections this weekend, including those for president and vice president. A vote on the reformed BSG constitution will be held concurrently. The race for president will be contested by Luke Bartol ’23 and Susu Gharib ’23.

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Professors respond to Covid-19 outbreak on campus

As of April 21, the College reported a total of 191 active Covid-19 cases across campus. In response to this surge, the College reinstated masking protocols in public spaces on campus. Many faculty members also addressed the sudden increase in cases by rearranging their syllabi and holding hybrid classes to support student health and learning.

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Clayton Rose

Faculty, staff reflect on President Rose’s time at the College

After seven years at the College, President Clayton Rose announced he will step down from his position at the end of the next academic year. “For me, the decision was a battle between feeling that this is the right moment, given where the College is [in regards to our] Covid-19 response and the personal joy I get from coming to work everyday,” Rose said.

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Admissions

Class of 2026 welcomed to campus for open house

Despite the recent spike in Covid-19 cases on campus, the Office of Admissions is hosting the first in-person open house for admitted students in two years. The admitted Class of 2026 consists of 843 students who were offered admission from a pool of 9,446 applicants, putting the College’s acceptance rate at 8.9 percent.

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Clayton Rose

President Rose to step down at end of the next academic year

In an email to the campus community Tuesday morning, President Clayton Rose announced he will step down as president of the College at the end of the 2022-2023 academic year. “With Bowdoin stronger than it has ever been in virtually every regard and with the clear prospect of life on campus and elsewhere returning to normal in the months ahead as we learn to live with the ups and downs of the virus, the end of the next academic year will be the right time to welcome a new president to the College,” President Rose wrote.

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Faculty

Faculty meeting discusses institutional learning goals

College faculty gathered once again last Monday, April 4, in Daggett Lounge for its monthly faculty meeting. Since Associate Professor of English Emma Maggie Solberg was absent due to illness and could not moderate as usual, Professor of Physics and Chair of the Committee on Governance and Faculty Affairs (GFA) Mark Battle stepped in to conduct the meeting.

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SWAG celebrates trans visibility with talk from author and activist Alex Myers

On Wednesday afternoon, the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center (SWAG) hosted a talk with author and activist Alex Myers in honor of Trans Day of Visibility, which was March 31. In the garage of 24 College Street, Myers discussed what it means to be seen as a transgender person, LGBTQ+ representation and his experiences teaching students about gender identity during a casual, intimate conversation with students and faculty.

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News in Brief

College appoints new director of institutional equality and compliance

In an email to the campus community, Vice President and Interim Chief Diversity Officer Benje Douglas announced that the College has appointed Kate O’Grady as the College’s first director of institutional equality and compliance. O’Grady, the current associate dean of student affairs and community standards, as well as the deputy Title IX coordinator, will transition to the new role on July 1.

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News in Brief

Board of Trustees elects new chair

Effective July 1, Scott B. Perper ’78 will take over as chair of the Board of Trustees. Perper was elected unanimously during a virtual meeting that took place this February. Perper’s election follows the recommendation of an ad hoc committee composed of six trustees and President Clayton Rose.

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Adriana Corral speaks to community on her art and human rights activism

On Thursday night, faculty and students gathered in Kresge Auditorium for a presentation and round table discussion with visual artist and human rights activist Adriana Corral. Corral specializes in interdisciplinary, research-supported installation art, with a focus on global human rights abuses and uncovering untold historical narratives, especially those revolving around gender violence.

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Hofstra Professor Alvaro Enrigue lectures on the fall of Tenochtitlan

On Thursday, April 7, Alvaro Enrigue, associate professor in Romance Languages and Literatures at Hofstra University in New York, spoke to the College community about the fall of Tenochtitlan and the Aztec empire. The award-winning novelist and academic whose articles have appeared in multiple literary publications and newspapers began his lecture by highlighting the fall of Tetnotitchlan’s importance to the modern world.

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Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Women’s Studies Angel Matos unveils new book

On Thursday, April 7, Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L Library) hosted the final installment of its book launch and discussion series with Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies Angel Matos in the Nixon Lounge. Matos co-edited Media Crossroads: Intersections of Space and Identity in Screen Cultures with Pamela Robertson Wojcik and Paula Massood.

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College reinstates mask requirement following increase in positive cases

In an email to the campus community on Tuesday afternoon, President Clayton Rose announced that the College would strengthen Covid-19 restrictions due to an increase in positive Covid-19 cases earlier this week. This policy reversal comes less than a week after an announcement that loosened the mask mandate and detailed hopes of lifting the mandatory testing requirement prior to the end of the semester.

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La’Shaye Cobley ’12 returns to speak on her career in STEM

On Thursday, Bowdoin launched the “Meet the Bowdoin Women in STEM” series with its inaugural event, an interview with La’Shaye Cobley ’12 conducted by Sara Nelson ’22. Cobley graduated Bowdoin with a Bachelors in Biology and Africana Studies and continued her academic career at the University of Utah (UoU), earning a PhD in Biology.

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College awards 2022 honorary degrees

In celebration of fifty years of women at Bowdoin, the College is awarding its yearly honorary degrees to an all-female group of five honorands. The recipients are Katherine Bradford, Janet Langhart-Cohen, Raquel Jaramillo P’18, Laurie Lachance ’83, P’13 and Joan Benoit Samuelson ’79, P’12.

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News in Brief

College sees uptick in positive Covid cases in March

The College currently has a total of 50 active Covid-19 cases, with 42 from students and eight from employees, according to the Covid-19 dashboard. “Some told us they were positive. Many were actually part of teams that were traveling together over break,” Associate Dean for Academic Administration and Covid-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen said.

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BSG

BSG meeting focuses on Ivies weekend

On Wednesday evening, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its weekly meeting with special guests Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Janet Lohmann, Director of Student Activities Nate Hintze, Dean of Students Kristina Bethea Odejimi, Associate Dean of Students Khoa Khuong and Associate Dean for Student Affairs Katie Toro-Ferrari to help answer student questions regarding changes to Ivies.

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Benje Douglas appointed interim CDO

After eight years working with the College’s Title IX office, Benje Douglas is transitioning from his position as the College’s Title IX coordinator to vice president and interim chief diversity officer. Douglas attributed his preparation for his new role to the relationships he built in his time with the College.

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News in Brief

Rapper IDK to headline spring concert this April

Rapper IDK will headline this year’s spring concert, along with a student band opener, according to the Entertainment Board (E-Board). The concert will take place on Friday, April 8. “We wanted to bring [IDK] for the fall concert, but the administration did not allow that, so we moved him to the Spring.

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Ivies

College expected to reshape Ivies weekend

Bowdoin’s annual Ivies party—a tradition spanning nearly 150 years—is anticipated to look dramatically different form this year according to multiple sources present at a planning meeting that took place Thursday with members of Bowdoin Student Government (BSG), The Entertainment Board, Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Janet Lohmann and Director of Student Activities Nate Hintze.

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Arthur Brooks speaks on love, happiness and change

On Wednesday night, Arthur Brooks spoke on “Life Lessons from Covid-19” to members of the Bowdoin and local communities. After making friendly small talk with President Clayton Rose as everyone got seated, Brooks told the audience about his first connection to Bowdoin—the 1986 Chamber Music Festival at which he played and taught.

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BOC

BOC Hosts discussion on healthy masculinity in the outdoors

On Tuesday evening, a group of male- and non-binary-identifying students gathered at the Schwartz Outdoor Leadership Center to discuss the role healthy masculinity plays in the outdoors. Shielded from the fresh snow outside, the hour-long conversation, led by Benjamin Felser ‘22, Ethan Strull ‘22 and Noah Gans ‘22, served as the first of a three-part, monthly conversation series that will focus on the historical presence of masculinity in outdoor spaces and the means through which one can create a safe and caring space in the outdoors and beyond.

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Math Department

Wanlin Li gives talks on number theory and her career

Mathematician Wanlin Li from the Centre de Recherches Mathématiques in Montreal delivered two talks to the Bowdoin community over Zoom on Tuesday. She first presented a lecture, “Diophantine Problems,” about number theory. The second talk, “Official and Unofficial Stories,” was a question-and-answers session in which Li discussed her journey from being a first-generation college student in China to pursuing a tenure track teaching position at Washington University in St.

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Dining Service

Jack Magee’s Pub & Grill reopens to student enthusiasm

On Monday, mozzarella stick lovers and buffalo chicken fingers enthusiasts alike rejoiced in the opening of Jack Magee’s Pub & Grill, or what Bowdoin students call “the Pub.” Located in an alcove of Smith Union’s Morrell Lounge, the Pub has been dedicated to providing students with a variety of classic savory dishes, including burgers, pizzas and sandwiches since 1995.

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Athletic Department

Don McPherson delivers talk on gender violence, masculinity to Bowdoin athletes

Bowdoin student athletes and their coaches gathered in Kresge Auditorium on Tuesday night for NCAA-mandated gender violence training led by author, speaker and former Syracuse quarterback Don McPherson. After a successful football career spanning both the CFL and NFL, McPherson forged a path that blended sports and activism, bringing his talent to organizations such as Northeastern University’s Center for the Study of Sport in Society and Adelphi University’s Sports Leadership Institute.

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News in Brief

College announces Covid-19 protocols for spring break

In an email to the student body on Thursday, Covid-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen announced that all students are expected to take an antigen test before traveling back to the College after spring break. Some additional restrictions will be in place, as students will return to the Monday/Thursday PCR testing framework that has remained in place this semester.

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News in Brief

Bowdoin IT shuts down Better Bowdoin Directory

Users of the underground college directory known as the “Better Bowdoin Directory” were greeted by an upsetting message Wednesday when they tried to visit the site. Instead of the usual search bars, they found a screenshot of an email written by Erik Pearson, who works as a team lead of integrations and customization at the College’s Office of Information Technology (IT), to the site’s creator James Little ’19 asking that he remove the site.

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Chinese Language and Culture Club holds annual Lunar New Year dinner

Following a closely-held tradition, the Chinese Language and Culture Club (CLCC) held the annual Lunar New Year dinner at the Multicultural Center at 30 College Street on February 17. Celebrating the 15th day of the first month of the lunisolar calendar—known as the Lantern Festival in China, which transposes to February 15 in the Gregorian calendar this year—the day marks the conclusion of Spring Festival celebrations in many East Asian cultures.

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Bowdoin Rowing hosts third annual Henry Zietlow Ergathon

On Friday, February 18, the usually subdued Smith Union erupted with cheers, music and joy. Students gathered in Smith Union donning unitards and headbands, ready to participate in the College’s third annual Henry Zietlow Ergathon. Zietlow was tragically killed in a car accident in January 2019, over winter break of his first year at Bowdoin.

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BOC

BOC hosts talk on representation of Black women in the outdoors

On Tuesday night in Roux Lantern, the Bowdoin Outing Club (BOC) screened “Ain’t No Mountain High Enough, But It’s Complicated,” a virtual conversation about the representation of Black women in the outdoors. The conversation was hosted by Middlebury College and moderated by Teresa Baker, founder of the In Solidarity Project, an organization that helps outdoor industry companies improve their diversity and inclusiveness.

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Bowdoin Labor Alliance demonstrates with union

Last Friday, the Bowdoin Labor Alliance (BLA) joined the Machinists and Aerospace Workers Union Local Lodge 447, a union chapter of machinists located in Scarborough, on the picket line. The union, composed of machinists employed by heavy equipment manufacturer Cummins Incorporated, began striking last Monday after contract negotiations between Cummins and the union deteriorated.

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College Houses

Baxter House placed on House probation until break

Baxter House is on House probation until spring break due to an incident in the house one week ago. Baxter hosted a small gathering of a few house members in which they played “Champagne and Shackles.” In the game, two members of the house are handcuffed together and have to drink a bottle of champagne before being “unlocked.” The house members left the handcuffs unlocked, and there was no obligation to drink.

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COVID-19

College further eases COVID-19 guidelines

With consistently low case numbers in recent weeks, the College further loosened its COVID-19 restrictions throughout campus this week. In a campus-wide email on February 11, COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen announced that Bowdoin Dining Services would return to full capacity beginning on Monday, February 14.

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BSG

BSG hosts first Mental Health Board meeting

On Wednesday evening, the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held the first monthly Joint BSG-Student Affairs Staff Mental Health Board meeting and discussed the work it hopes to continue throughout the semester. The Mental Health board held its own meeting on Tuesday evening, which was attended by five students as well as Dean for Student Affairs Janet Lohmann, Dean of Students Kristina Bethea Odejimi and Director of Counseling and Wellness Services Roland Mendiola.

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