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By the end of the month, the Office of Safety and Security will have a second former high-ranking state police officer in its senior leadership. Lt. Col. William “Bill” Harwood, a 30-year veteran of the state police force, has been selected to assume the role of Assistant Director of Safety and Security.
On Monday afternoon, Steven B. Smith, Alfred Cowles Professor of Political Science and Professor of Philosophy at Yale University, gave a virtual lecture hosted by the Eisenhower Forum, a student discussion group that attempts to promote conservative political thought at Bowdoin.
Following the news of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine last Wednesday, over one hundred students and members of the College community attended a talk hosted by four faculty members last Friday to discuss and answer questions about the conflict.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
Eliana Roberts ’23 came home to her Brunsick apartment on Tuesday afternoon to find that a hot water pipe supplying water to the radiator in the apartment above hers had burst, showering hot water over the bedroom of her roommate, Esther Park ’23.
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.
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.
On Wednesday evening, Dr. Aomawa Shields delivered this year’s Kibbe Science Lecture titled “The Search for Life (and A Life) on Planets, Including This One.” The event was held in Kresge Auditorium, with Shields presenting via Zoom.
On Tuesday, the College launched its Digital Excellence Commitment (DExC), a plan to enhance its engagement with digital equity, building on the announcement by the Bowdoin Information Technology Department at a Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) meeting earlier this month.
This week, the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) invited Assistant Dean of Student Affairs for Inclusion and Diversity and Director of the Rachel Lord Center of Religious and Spiritual Life Eduardo Pazos to speak at its weekly Wednesday evening meeting.
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.
Recording artist and professional mental health speaker Kai Roberts led an interactive performance over Zoom sponsored by Active Minds at Bowdoin College on February 18. Active Minds is an organization with chapters at colleges and universities across the nation that focuses on mental health awareness and suicide prevention.
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.
Black History Month programming continued with two on-campus events over the past week. The festivities began on Saturday evening in Kresge Auditorium, with a film screening of Shawn Batey’s documentary “Changing Face of Harlem” preceding a Q&A session with Batey.
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.
The Common Good Grant Committee (CGGC), part of the McKeen Center for the Common Good, hosted a BIPOC-Led Nonprofits in Maine panel on Wednesday. Common Good Grant Student Directors Elise Hocking ’22 and Jessica Bae ’22 moderated the panel.
After swiping into the double doors of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library (H-L), walking past the circulation desk and passing the printing station, students can now see an addition to the back of the library. Filled with comfortable chairs and dimmed lighting, the Baldwin Center for Learning and Teaching (CLT) is making a home out of its new space.
For the first time, Bowdoin College Republicans will send two students to this year’s Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC) with funding from the College. The club presented its request to the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) at one of its weekly Monday night meetings.
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.
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.
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.
As the second year of COVID-19 comes to a close, many students believe that the College has handled the crisis well, though over 75 percent of students report their education has suffered as a result of the pandemic.
While some students spent winter break hitting the ski slopes or catching up on much-needed sleep, Kate McKee ’22 explored Bologna, Italy to learn about spiritual breadmaking. McKee was one of many students who immersed themselves in research or volunteer work thanks to Bowdoin fellowships and grants provided by Bowdoin’s Center for Cocurricular Opportunities.
On Monday, the College faculty held their first in-person meeting after nearly two years of meeting virtually. Associate Professor of English Emma Maggie Solberg, who sits on the Committee on Governance and Faculty Affairs (GFA), led the meeting which had roughly 70 members in attendance.
This year marks the centennial of James Joyce’s seminal novel, “Ulysses.” Set in Dublin, the novel takes place over the course of just one day, chronicling protagonist Leopold Bloom’s epic exploration of the city. In January, Andrew Chang ’23, Max Freeman ’22, Diego Lasarte ’22, Clay Wackerman ’22 and Dylan Welch ’21 traveled to Dublin to celebrate the novel’s hundredth year.
Construction of the Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies and Mills Hall, set to be the new home of the Anthropology Department and the Digital and Computational Studies program, is still on track to be completed by December 2022.
On Monday, the College announced that Ladd House will close following the end of the academic year and will undergo renovations. The changes to Ladd are meant to create a space for students with a multiplicity of identities to explore themselves and their lived experiences.
On Thursday, the Center for Religious and Multicultural Life and student club Mindfulness Over Matter began an eight-week program focusing on the teachings of Vietnamese Buddhist monk Thich Nhat Hanh. Although conceptualized over the course of the fall semester, the workshop now comes in the wake of Thich Nhat Hanh’s death, who passed on January 22nd.
A. Myrick Freeman, former William D. Shipman Professor of Economics Emeritus, passed away on February 6 of natural causes. He was 86 years old. Freeman graduated from Cornell University in 1957 and proceeded to serve as a commissioned officer in the United States Navy until 1964.
Members of the Bowdoin Information Technology (IT) Department addressed the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) on February 9 to detail plans for expanding the technology distribution program. Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Michael Cato spoke to the group about including MacBook computers in addition to iPads for all existing and incoming students.
In a February 4 email to the campus community, COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen announced that some masking and dining restrictions would be relaxed effective immediately. This is the latest development in a series of recent updates loosening COVID-19 restrictions.
Students and faculty gathered in the Nixon Lounge of Hawthorne-Longfellow Library on Thursday for a discussion of a new book by William R. Kenan Professor of Physics Thomas Baumgarte, “Numerical Relativity: Starting from Scratch.” This talk is part of the College’s Faculty New Book Launch Series.
Over the past few years, the Center for Multicultural Life (CML) at Bowdoin has experienced significant staffing turnover. Two years ago, the Inaugural Director of Multicultural Life Benjamin Harris left the College, and after her first semester as Director of Multicultural Life, Kyra Green departed from the College.
For the past eight months, Joycelyn Blizzard has served as the Inaugural Director of Multicultural Alumni Engagement with the goal of increasing engagement between alumni of color and the College. “The intention of the role … is quite straightforward: to further engage alumni of color,” Blizzard said.
Emily Dobson, Bowdoin women’s basketball assistant coach, stepped down from the team this past week after holding the position for just seven months. During her stint with the team, Dobson helped lead the Polar Bears to a 14-3 record (4-1 NESCAC).
In an email to the campus community on January 18, Jason Pelletier announced that the IT Tech Hub had moved to the enclosed seating area on the second floor of Smith Union. Pelletier is the senior director of client services and technology.
Ladd House will no longer be used as a College House following the end of the spring semester. When asked for comment, the administration said that announcements regarding the future of the college house would be forthcoming.
In an email to the campus community on January 28, COVID-19 Resource Coordinator and Director of Residential and Student Life Mike Ranen announced that the College’s COVID-19 restrictions would once again be lightened. Most of the new guidelines took effect on Monday as masked students returned to the classroom.
Guenter Herbert Rose, former Associate Professor of Psychology and Department Chair of the Psychology Department, passed away on January 12 in Vista, California after a battle with Lewy body dementia. He was 86 years old. “He was a popular teacher at Bowdoin, and a number of his students elected to pursue careers in psychology and neuroscience,” President Clayton Rose wrote in an email to all employees.
On January 4, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the First Circuit issued its long-awaited opinion on the future of the Frank J. Wood Bridge, which straddles the Androscoggin River and connects Brunswick and Topsham. Almost two months after hearing the arguments of a small group of local preservationists who have relentlessly contested the Maine Department of Transportation’s decision to replace the rapidly deteriorating bridge, the court rejected every argument made in favor of preservation except one, upholding a ruling made by the federal district court in the district of Maine last year.
After closing for three months at the beginning of the pandemic, children have returned to the Bowdoin Children’s Center, which is cautiously operating under new policies in response to COVID-19. This semester, however, faculty and staff with children at the Center are finding themselves caught between the more endemic approach to COVID-19 the College has recently adopted and the Center’s continued conservative health measures.
Despite an ahead-of-schedule, non-student worker minimum wage increase to $17 per hour in response to national labor shortage, the College continues to suffer staffing shortages. Dining Services Interim Director Ken Cardone estimates that his department has around twenty to twenty-five open “casual positions,” defined by the College as non-student employees that work fewer than twenty hours per week.
On Wednesday, the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) conducted its first meeting via Zoom. The meeting discussed the goals of various committees for the remainder of the academic year. BSG President Ryan Britt ’22 opened the meeting by echoing the sentiments of many Bowdoin students during the return to a largely remote campus.
In an email to the College community on Thursday, Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Janet Lohmann announced two new staff appointments in the Division of Student Affairs. Katie Toro-Ferrari will serve as Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Director of Student Life, having previously held titles of Associate Dean for Student Affairs and Assistant to the Dean for Student Affairs.
COVID-19 Resource Coordinator and Director of Residential and Student Life Mike Ranen notified all first-year students and students from select upperclassmen housing on campus Tuesday that a recent lack of adherence to indoor masking policies in dorm common spaces had elicited numerous complaints from housekeeping staff and had even caused some housekeepers to request a change to their building assignments.
Since March 2020, the College has fought the COVID-19 pandemic with restrictions intended to keep students as isolated as possible from the virus. Now, with the Omicron variant reaching its peak in Maine, the College has reimagined its approach to COVID-19, in the midst of the Omicron variant’s increased transmissibility.
After COVID-19 forced a lockdown for the residents of Helmreich House during Sophomore Bootcamp, residents have until the middle of next week to move out due to mold found in the House’s basement and first floor.
Last semester, Counseling and Wellness Services saw 435 students with a total of 2,147 appointments scheduled with their counseling staff, a record high for the office. In his first year as director, Dr. Roland Mendiola has been tasked with leading Counseling’s response to the heightened demand.
Bowdoin’s Class of 2026 will not look like its two preceding classes, with applications submitted and reviews underway. The Classes of 2024 and 2025 matriculated during the COVID-19 pandemic and their statistics have, in turn, have gone against the norm.
Classes will begin as scheduled on January 24th, despite an ongoing surge of COVID-19 cases fueled by the Omicron variant. Classes will be held virtually for the first week before returning to in-person and masked on January 31st.
Moulton and Thorne Halls will now provide containers for proper needle disposal, according to an email sent by Interim Director of Health Services Sandra Hayes on December 1. Hayes wrote that the College has seen an increase in improper disposal of needles and medical sharps on campus in the past month, especially in the dish rooms in the dining halls.
Employees who have been on the College’s payroll since or before September 1 will receive an additional cash payment in their December paychecks. President Clayton Rose announced the news in an email to staff on Monday.
In an email to the campus community Wednesday, President Clayton Rose announced that the College will require all eligible students, staff and faculty to receive COVID-19 booster shots in order to return to campus for the spring semester.
Despite email and text notifications about the possibility of receiving a $250 to $1,000 grant made possible by the American Rescue Plan (ARP), only 53 percent of eligible students requested funding. The institutional funding that allowed the College to offer these grants came as a part of multiple packages received from the federal government, which have decreased the financial toll the pandemic has taken on the College.
On December 15, Kyra Green will be stepping down as the interim director of the Center for Multicultural Life (CML) to take on a new role as the Assistant Director of Equity and Inclusion for the Graduate Arts and Sciences at Georgetown University.
On December 6, the faculty had its final meeting of the semester where, among other matters, they discussed how to empathetically hold students to high standards. The meeting was facilitated by Associate Professor of English Emma Maggie Solberg, a member of the Governance and Faculty Affairs Committee.
On Wednesday evening, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its final meeting of the semester where members reflected on their accomplishments and discussed goals for the spring. BSG is going to continue its work confronting mental health in the coming months in an attempt to address the need for student resources on campus.
As fall semester classes come to a close, the development of the Omicron COVID-19 variant and accompanying potential of international border closure is complicating international students’ travel plans of going home for winter break. Depending on their home countries’ ever-shifting COVID-19 restrictions and regulations, students have been forced to make difficult travel decisions for winter break.
In an email to faculty, Senior Vice President and Dean for Academic Affairs Jennifer Scanlon announced that COVID-19 Resource Coordinator and Director of Residential and Student Life Mike Ranen will be transitioning into the newly-established role of associate dean for academic administration sometime in the spring semester.
Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its first meeting since Thanksgiving break on Wednesday night. Topics covered included the successful extended Thanksgiving recess, or “Polar Pause,” as well as two surveys recently sent to the student body.
Donations to the Alumni Fund are essential to the financial health of the College, making up six percent of Bowdoin’s operating budget annually. The generosity of Bowdoin alumni has played an integral role in allowing the College to expand its financial aid policies to their current state, launch new construction projects and support countless internal operations.
Paralympic cyclist Clara Brown visited campus last night to talk about her experience as a disabled athlete, kicking off a week of programming from the Student Accessibility Office in honor of Disabled Persons Day. At the start of the talk, Brown showed a short film titled “Ability,” by filmmakers Anna Wilder Burns and Jordyn Romero.
Despite detecting 11 new active cases of COVID-19 following Thanksgiving break, the College remains in status level Green. Although COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen had previously reported that the College hoped to loosen mask restrictions on Wednesday, given the current number of cases, the indoor mask restriction will remain in place until at least today, until further notice.
At 11:26 p.m. on November 13, smoke in Coles Tower triggered a fire alarm, leading to an evacuation of the building and a call to the Brunswick Fire Department (BFD). “I was walking toward Thorne … with some friends, and we could smell smoke and we thought it was a campfire, but it was raining [outside] so we were confused,” Hayden Weatherall ’22 said.
On Tuesday evening, the Center for Multicultural Life and the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) partnered to bring Portland City Councillor and community organizer Victoria Pelletier to Bowdoin. The event featured a conversation and Q&A with Pelletier led by Interim Director of the Center for Multicultural Life Kyra Green.
On Tuesday, November 23, the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) banned all commercial vehicles from crossing the Frank J. Wood Bridge. This follows an October 25 MDOT announcement banning school buses and fire trucks from crossing the bridge and lowering its weight limit to 10 tons from 25.
Finnegan Woodruff ’21 was a Renaissance man: a spirited fiddle player, a scrupulous tailor and an ambitious whitewater kayaker. Finn passed away on November 16, a month from his 23rd birthday, doing what he loved—paddling on the White Salmon River in White Salmon, Wash.
At the third faculty meeting of the year on Wednesday, the faculty addressed strategies for supporting students, staff and each other. The meeting was facilitated by Associate Professor of English Emma Maggie Solberg, a member of the Governance and Faculty Affairs (GFA) Committee.
On Thursday evening, the Native American Student Association (NASA) and the Office of Gender Violence Prevention and Education (OGVPE) welcomed Native American lawyer and professor Sarah Deer to speak about historical violence against Indigenous people, specifically emphasizing violence prevention for Native women.
Last Friday, Director of Security Randy Nichols announced the rollout of a new app called Bowdoin SAFE in an email sent to the campus community. “Bowdoin SAFE has personal safety features of all sorts, and makes it easier to contact Safety and Security or 9-1-1 in an emergency,” Nichols wrote.
Last Monday, the ALL IN Campus Democracy Challenge announced that Bowdoin tied for the highest undergraduate voting rate in a nationwide democratic engagement challenge. 85.4 percent of students voted in the 2021 election—a 9.5 percentage point increase from the last recorded data from 2016.
Last week, the Association for the Advancement of Sustainability in Higher Education (AASHE) recognized Bowdoin in the organization’s annual Sustainable Campus Index. The College received a gold Sustainability Tracking, Assessment & Rating System (STARS) rating. As established by the Sustainable Campus index, STARS is a robust and widely-used system by higher education institutions.
On Monday evening, author and photographer Teju Cole visited the College to deliver the Kenneth V. Santagata Memorial Lecture, titled “A View of A View.” Cole walked the audience through his work, ranging from his tenure as a photography critic for the New York Times to his most recent book, “Black Paper: Writing in A Dark Time.” His main interest lies in exploring the relationship between words and photographs, a topic he currently teaches at Harvard University.
In honor of National First-Generation College Day, the Center for Multicultural Life hosted a celebration for first-generation (first-gen) students and a panel for students to share their experiences with the rest of the community on November 8.
On Monday, the Social Justice Leadership Institute held a workshop titled Class, Classism and Privilege. The workshop was the second of eight sessions designed to address various topics related to identity and social justice. The event began with two informative videos that provided context on classism in the U.S.
On January 1, 2022, the College will switch health insurance providers for College employees from Anthem to Cigna. The College has been with Anthem since 2003. Working in collaboration with outside consultants, the administration sent out a request for a proposal (RFP) this past Spring 2021, comparing plans to see which would be best for the College.
In an email to the student body on Thursday, President Clayton Rose announced that classes will be canceled the Monday and Tuesday before Thanksgiving break, extending the break to a full week. Thanksgiving break will now start on Friday, November 19, and classes will resume on Monday, November 29.
The Bowdoin Department of Mathematics welcomed Cathy O’Neil to campus for the annual Cecil and Marion Holmes Lecture on Monday. An accomplished author and Ph.D. graduate, O’Neil had an extensive career in finance and academia before founding O’Neil Risk Consulting & Algorithmic Auditing (ORCAA), an algorithmic auditing company.
Last Friday, campus was home to its first Fall Fest, an afternoon-long event composed of live music from student bands, food trucks, a bouncy obstacle course and baby animals in a makeshift barn. Despite the festival’s ambitious scope, the College began to plan the event only a few weeks ago, according to Senior Vice President and Dean of Student Affairs Janet Lohmann.
From his work with Hillel to the Hawthorne-Longfellow library to frisbee and the Bowdoin Outing Club (BOC), Theo Danzig ’22 touched countless lives in his more than three years as a Bowdoin student. Theo’s unparalleled intellect, sarcastic sense of humor and devotion to his loved ones are fondly remembered by his friends, professors and teammates alike.
James “Jes” Staley ’79 P’11, the former CEO of Barclays, stepped down from the Bowdoin Board of Trustees on Monday, according to a statement from Director of Communications Scott Hood. The statement followed an announcement earlier in the day that Staley would resign from his position as Chief Executive of Barclays.
On Wednesday, mental health took center stage when the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) convened to discuss two proposals. The assembly first considered a proposal endorsing the creation of a Mental Health board jointly administered by the Administration and BSG.
Masks will no longer be required in student residence halls, administrative or academic buildings, athletic facilities and Smith Union, COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen announced in an email to the campus community today. Additionally, dining halls will reopen for faculty and staff, effective immediately.
Following a September safety inspection, the Maine Department of Transportation (MDOT) announced last week that the single-vehicle weight limit for the Frank J. Wood Bridge traversing the Androscoggin between Brunswick and Topsham had to be lowered from 25 tons to 10.
On Wednesday, October 27, Peer Health hosted an Imposter Syndrome panel and workshop to encourage discussion among students and provide insight into how to find help regarding the issue. An isolating feeling—but not an isolated event—“imposter syndrome” describes the feeling of not belonging in a group of peers, whether socially or academically.
On Tuesday, Gabby Lubin ’14, founder and CEO of spark, gave a talk about her experience in forming a start-up company. spark, established in March 2020, offers exercise and mindfulness programs to educators both virtually and in-person.
The Maine Referendum Election will be held next Tuesday, November 2. There are three statewide questions on the ballot, as well as local elections for Town Council and School Board. Bowdoin Votes will be running shuttles to the polls—located at Brunswick Junior High School—every 15 minutes from 7 a.m.
Last Saturday, during Family Weekend, members of the Bowdoin Labor Alliance (BLA) and other student activists hosted a teach-in on the Main Quad to educate students and their families about the College’s Board of Trustees. Student activists centered their grievances around James “Jes” Staley ’79 P’11—who has come under fire for his relationship with the late sex offender and financier Jeffrey Epstein as well as his actions as CEO of Barclays—and circulated an online petition calling for Staley’s removal from the Board.
Ultra-marathoner Mirna Valerio gave a talk last night titled “A Beautiful Work in Progress” about her journey as a Black, plus-sized endurance runner. It was her final appearance in an action-packed day of programming. From a morning talk about DEI work, to meals with students followed by a guided trail run, Valerio generously spent the large part of Thursday with the Bowdoin community.
Masks will no longer be required in student residence halls, administrative or academic buildings, athletic facilities and Smith Union, COVID-19 Resource Coordinator Mike Ranen announced in an email to the campus community today. Additionally, dining halls will reopen for faculty and staff, effective immediately.
On October 14, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI), chaired by President Clayton Rose, announced its long-term plan to increase racial, ethnic and gender diversity in science. The institute committed to investing $2 billion over the next decade in pursuit of ten goals, all of which are designed to significantly promote equity and inclusion in academic, research and professional environments.
The College saw a small number of new COVID-19 cases as students and staff returned to campus after fall break. Two students and one staff member tested positive for the virus on October 14, followed by two more positive cases among staff members on October 17 and 18.
After eight years as the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good’s Associate Director for Service and Leadership, Andrew Lardie has departed the College to take on a role at the Brunswick School District. Since coming to Bowdoin in 2013, Lardie has worked on numerous programs at the McKeen Center, from Alternative Break Trips to his passion project, Bowdoin Votes.
On Thursday, Senior Lecturer in Classics Michael Nerdahl hosted a talk with writer Nina MacLaughlin at Searles Hall. In the auditorium, MacLaughlin discussed the topic of “Sex, Violence and Change” in Greek mythology. At the center of the talk was MacLaughlin’s acclaimed 2019 book Wake, Siren, which reimagines and reinterprets Ovid’s Metamorphoses.
On Wednesday evening, the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its weekly meeting in Daggett Lounge. President Clayton Rose attended the meeting this week and discussed a wide array of topics ranging from the Board of Trustees to the current labor shortage at the College and beyond.
