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News

Alumni

Annual Giving Report shows decline in alumni donations

The College received $34.9 million in donations during the 2018-2019 year, a $700,000 decrease from the $35.6 million received in 2017-2018, according to the Annual Giving Report. The report, prepared by the Office of Development and Alumni Relations, also shows alumni and friends, faculty and staff gave less this year than last.

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Brunswick

Shooting on Federal Street leaves one dead Monday night

One man is dead following a shooting in a Federal Street apartment on Monday night. Another man was shot and injured at the scene. The first man, Ali Fisher of Lisbon, broke into the apartment carrying a handgun, according to a release from the Maine State Police, and entered into an altercation with an occupant of the apartment, a 22-year-old woman.

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Panelists address the complexities of land acknowledgements

Sitting on the floor and squeezing into the back,  faculty, staff and students packed Main Lounge in for the panel, “Land and Waters Around Us: A Discussion on Indigenous Land and Acknowledgements.” The event, organized by the Native American Students Association (NASA) as a part of both Native American Heritage Month and No Hate November, discussed the importance and complexity of land acknowledgements.

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No Hate November

Patrick Dempsey delivers No Hate November keynote, sharing experience with dyslexia

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.

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Panel illuminates 2019 uprisings in the Middle East

On Monday, Visiting Assistant Professor of History Idriss Jebari moderated “Late Springs: Arab Uprisings in 2019,” a panel that  featured faculty members speaking on uprisings in Algeria, Iraq, Lebanon and Egypt. The event drew a crowd of students interested in the Middle East to Kanbar Hall to hear stories that, according to Jebari, are largely absent from or misrepresented by media coverage.

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Maine Politics

University of Maine students protest administration’s student job policy

Last Friday, more than 50 students at the University of Maine Orono participated in a sit-in on the second floor of Memorial Union, a central hub of student activity on campus. The students were protesting in response to a three-part series published in the Maine Beacon, which revealed that Director of Government and Community Relations for the University of Maine System Samantha Warren had lobbied the state government to exempt students from a recently passed law granting workers paid time off.

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Three students involved in serious bike accidents

Three students have been involved in serious bicycle crashes on campus in recent weeks, Director of Safety and Security Randy Nichols wrote in an email to the campus on Tuesday. All three students received minor to moderate injuries and have returned to campus.

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Housing lottery to move all online for next year

In an email to the students on Wednesday, Director of Residential and Housing Operations Lisa Rendall announced that the housing lottery process will take place completely online beginning this spring. Rendall also confirmed that the new Harpswell Apartments will be available for the 2020-21 academic year.

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Coffee house program takes strides against political animosity

Bowdoin students and members of the greater Brunswick community exchanged ideas on the role of the American government and enjoyed live music on Tuesday in Morrell Lounge. The event marked the third installment of the What Matters Community Crossover, a four-part program spearheaded by the Joseph McKeen Center for the Common Good.

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Maine Politics

Presidential candidate Bennet speaks at Bowdoin

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.

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100 years later, the road to women’s suffrage lives on

To mark the hundred-year anniversary of the 19th Amendment’s passage, last Tuesday Bowdoin Votes, the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center and the Gender, Sexuality and Women’s Studies department brought author Elaine Weiss to campus to speak about her latest book, “The Women’s Hour: The Great Fight to Win the Vote.” The organizers strategically scheduled her talk to precede the centennial of Maine’s ratification of the 19th Amendment, which gave women the right to vote.

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Election

NESCAC Votes aims for 90% registration rate

Last weekend, administrators, faculty and students from eight out of the 11 NESCAC colleges convened at Middlebury College for the first NESCAC Votes Summit to jump start each campus’ election engagement plan. From partnering with the National Study of Learning, Voting and Engagement (NSLVE), Bowdoin Votes has been able to examine the areas on campus in which voter turnout could be stronger.

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NESCAC

Middlebury workers voice uneasiness about buyouts

Middlebury staff have begun efforts to unionize following a year-long workforce planning process aimed at reducing the college’s deficit, reported The Middlebury Campus in an article published Thursday. The workforce planning initiative, which sought to cut personnel costs by offering voluntary buyouts for employees and redistributing work rather than laying off employees, saw the departure of 37 staff members—nine of whom were employed by facilities and dining services—as well as an increase in responsibilities for workers without an  incremental wage hike to match.

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Housekeeping

A win for Bowdoin’s workers? Campus reacts to wage hike

The College will spend an additional $1.6 million annually to increase wages for benefits-eligible hourly employees beginning July 2022. As President Clayton Rose announced in an email to the campus community on Monday, this will cover both an increase in wages for workers who currently make less than $17 an hour, which will be the College’s new minimum starting wage for hourly benefits-eligible employees, up from the current starting wage of $12.65.

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Report of academic, social code violations revised to preserve student anonymity

Last week, the Office of the Dean of Students released its annual conduct report in a campus-wide email and published it online. The annual report of academic and social code violations was formatted differently this year, in order to protect the identity of students involved in cases heard by the Judicial Board (J-Board) and adjudicated by the Office of the Dean of Students, while simultaneously improving readability and accessibility, said Dean of Students Kristina Bethea Odejimi and Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Community Standards Kate O’Grady.

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Housekeeping

BSG delays vote on statement of support for housekeepers

Following a contentious debate, the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) decided to delay a vote to ratify a statement supporting housekeepers until the upcoming Wednesday meeting on October 23. The meeting began with public comment time, which led to a wide-ranging discussion of the proposal and labor issues at the College that lasted the duration of the meeting.

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Report of academic, social code violations revised to preserve student anonymity

Last week, the Office of the Dean of Students released its annual conduct report in a campus-wide email and published it online. The annual report of academic and social code violations was formatted differently this year, in order to protect the identity of students involved in cases heard by the Judicial Board (J-Board) and adjudicated by the Office of the Dean of Students, while simultaneously improving readability and accessibility, said Dean of Students Kristina Bethea Odejimi and Associate Dean of Student Affairs and Community Standards Kate O’Grady.

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Empowerment self defense workshops to begin on Tuesday

This semester, the Office of Gender Violence Prevention and Education and the Sexuality, Women and Gender Center (SWAG) are partnering to provide a series of empowerment self defense workshops. All four workshops will focus on assertive communication, boundary setting, bystander intervention and physical self-defense.

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Brunswick

Border patrol halts first year student in Brunswick

In mid-September, as Esther Fernandez Rosario ’23 waited for her train in the Brunswick transportation center, she double checked that she hadn’t forgotten anything in her dorm room. She had her toothbrush, her school work, a birthday card for her mom—she was prepared for a weekend back home in Boston.

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Admissions

To increase competition, NACAC revisits ethics code

Last weekend, the National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC), of which Bowdoin is a member, voted to eliminate parts of its ethics code. These sections, according to the U.S. Department of Justice, stifle competition between schools and limit students’ choices in the college application process.

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Stricter penalties announced for candle policy violations

The Bowdoin student body received an email on Thursday afternoon announcing stricter penalties for students who do not comply with the College’s prohibition of candles in all campus housing. Beginning today, consequences for having an open flame in campus housing may include a hearing before the Judicial Board, which may result in suspension or dismissal.

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NPR producer Alarcón honors voices across Latin America

On Monday night, Kresge Auditorium was filled with voices from across the globe. Carla from Cuba. Jesse from Mexico. Hernando from Colombia. Audience members quickly realized that Daniel Alarcón’s talk, titled “How to Listen: Telling Latin American Stories in Sound and Print,” was actually a multimedia performance, a series of performed podcasts.

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Panelists address climate change in Maine

This Thursday the Brunswick chapter of the Citizens’ Climate Lobby (CCL) hosted a panel entitled “Solving the Climate Crisis” at Curtis Memorial Library. The discussion focused on the ways Maine residents—farmers, fishermen and coastal homeowners alike—will be affected by climate change and the details of the CCL’s proposed policy solution.

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IT resolves email hackings and WiFi issues

Last Friday, Michael Cato, senior vice president and chief information officer of Information Technology (IT), sent a campus-wide email detailing email hacks that occurred through Chegg, Bowdoin’s previous online textbook vendor, as well as continuing WiFi connectivity issues.

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Bowdoin Votes leads registration campaign

Clad in red and blue colored top hats, student workers and volunteers congregated in David Saul Smith Union and Thorne Hall on Tuesday for National Voter Registration Day. Bowdoin Votes, a non-partisan voting advocacy initiative on campus, tabled at both sites to spread awareness and assist students with voter registration.

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Faculty and staff attend privilege workshop

Last Wednesday evening, Frances Kendall, renowned expert on diversity and privilege, visited campus to lead two workshops on white privilege. The first four-hour morning workshop was held in Daggett Lounge for approximately 70 faculty and staff members, while the evening session for students was cancelled a couple hours before it was scheduled to start.

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Brunswick

Eight students cited for providing alcohol to minors

Eight Bowdoin students were cited early Sunday morning for furnishing alcohol to minors at a party at the students’ off-campus residence. The party was held at 49 Pleasant Street, known by Bowdoin students as “Red Brick House.” All eight residents of the house are members of the men’s Ultimate Frisbee team.

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Hundreds take to art museum steps to protest climate change

“This is what democracy looks like!” chanted the hundreds of Bowdoin students and Brunswick community members gathered at the steps of the Bowdoin College Museum of Art at 10 a.m. last Friday morning. Spilling out across the grass of the quad, the crowd sang songs, waved signs and listened to various speakers at the Global Climate Strike Rally hosted by Bowdoin Climate Action.

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LASO

Latinx Heritage Month celebrations commence

Last Friday, Taco the Town arrived at 30 College Street to kick off Latinx Heritage Month and Beyond. Students, faculty, staff and even President Clayton Rose joined the festivities. Although campus programming for the month has been significantly reduced since last year, this event marked the first of five programs scheduled for this year’s Latinx Heritage Month and Beyond.

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Borders and walls: Masha Gessen talks Jewish experience

On Thursday night, Masha Gessen, a renowned Russian Jewish journalist, delivered this year’s Harry Spindel Memorial Lecture to a full and engaged audience in Kresge Auditorium. The lecture, titled “Jews and Borders,” delved into the idea of migration and dispersion as central tenets of Jewish identity, while also drawing attention to common experiences amongst different ethnic minorities.

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Museum

Arctic and Art museums receive over $230,000 to expand online access to archived collections

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.

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Injury prevention around the clock

Injury Prevention Around the Clock will focus on providing information to reduce the likelihood of injuries and/or adverse incidents on campus and beyond. September is Campus Safety Month, and fire safety is always a top priority in new surroundings.

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Housing

Park Row subcontractor accused of illegal labor practices

Nearly a month before Bowdoin proudly unveiled the four new state-of-the-art apartment buildings on Park Row, the College found itself under fire due to the practices of one of its subcontractors, Timberland Drywall, Inc. Approximately 15 protestors, half of them from the New England Regional Council of Carpenters (NERCC), held signs outside the construction site accusing Timberland Drywall of tax fraud via the misclassification of their workers.

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Student Government

BSG Candidacy Statements

Lucas Johnson ’22 Hey everyone! My name is Lucas, and I hope the beginning of the year is going well for you all. This year, we have the opportunity to make progress on the numerous issues our campus is facing, from increasing the mental health resources available to students, to strengthening our relations with the Town of Brunswick, to decreasing our carbon footprint by expanding our renewable energy portfolio.

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Brunswick

College House members express BPD concerns

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.

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News in Brief

Details revealed regarding Harpswell reconstruction

With one construction project complete, the College is moving forward with its plan to revamp housing for upper class students. Construction began in May on the new Harpswell Apartments, which will house 132 students in three buildings of four-, six- and eight- person apartments, and virtual renderings of the apartments are now available online.

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IT Department Implements Accessible TechHub

This fall, Information Technology (IT) has introduced a second student-run help desk called TechHub. This help desk is intended to serve as a resource for those in need of assistance with common technology issues such as connecting to Wi-Fi, installing PolarPrint drivers, account access and two-step authentication with Duo Security.

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Online protest of Bank of America calls out Rose

Editor’s Note, 6/26/19, 7:44 p.m.: Bank of America announced on Wednesday afternoon that it would cease lending to private prison corporations. President Clayton Rose issued a statement in support of this decision on Wednesday evening. On Monday morning, President Clayton Rose became the first subject of an online campaign to protest Bank of America, the only major bank still financing private prison corporations that operate migrant detention centers at the U.S.-Mexico border.

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Bowdoin celebrates Tim Foster’s legacy before retirement

Most current Bowdoin students had not yet been born when Dean of Student Affairs Tim Foster came to Bowdoin in the fall of 1996. Today from 4:30 to 8 p.m. in Thorne Hall, students, faculty, staff and guests will celebrate the myriad contributions that Foster has made to the Bowdoin community during his 23 years at the College.

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Beloved Professor of History Allen Wells retires after 31 years

On Allen Wells’ final day of teaching last spring, students and colleagues packed into his classroom in Kanbar Hall, surprising the Roger Howell, Jr. Professor of History with flowers and teary goodbyes. “What was very funny and very Allen is, he was not quite done teaching, and he was quite visibly like, ‘Okay wait, but we were in the middle of something important here,’” said Meghan Roberts, associate professor of history, with a laugh.

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THRIVE to expand after successful inaugural year

When she was deciding which college she would attend, a Bowdoin program called Geoffrey Canada Scholars caught the eye of Lynn Nguyen ’22. The program, which began this year under a new initiative called THRIVE, offered 15 incoming first-year students, who identified as first-generation, low-income or students of color, the opportunity to live on campus and participate in summer classes for six weeks before orientation began.

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College Republicans bring Democrat Tom Allen ’67 to campus

With no campaigns to canvas for and no debates to watch, conversations about politics at Bowdoin are continuing in smaller settings. In this civic spirit, the College Republicans will welcome former U.S. Representative Tom Allen ’67 this Saturday for an informal dinner conversation about political polarization and public service.

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Multiple bias incidents tar conclusion of spring semester

Last weekend, a Muslim student received threatening phone calls from a blocked number, and two Asian students had their identities mocked in two separate incidents. These incidents were likely perpetrated by Bowdoin students. In addition, late Tuesday night, the N-word and other racial epithets were hurled at a black student from a driver and a passenger in a passing car, neither of whom are affiliated with the College.

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