On Friday, during their final meeting of the semester, faculty voted in favor of instituting a week-long Thanksgiving break. Friday’s vote marks the culmination of a months-long debate among faculty members and students alike over the future of the break.
Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) met on Wednesday for their penultimate meeting of the fall semester. Members discussed two proposals: a committee for break programming and a fund for affinity group kickoff events.
If approved, the first proposal would create an ad hoc committee to provide programming and support for students who stay on campus during breaks.
Students overwhelmingly support an extended Thanksgiving Break, according to a report released to students by Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) last night. The report compiled data from a survey sent out by BSG on November 12.
Out of a total of 1,521 respondents—82.2 percent of the College’s student body—96.8 percent of respondents support changing the academic calendar to accommodate an extended Thanksgiving Break.
Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) hosted members of the Committee of Governance and Faculty Affairs (GFA) and Associate Professor of Government and Legal Studies Jeffrey Selinger Wednesday to discuss faculty attitudes about extending Thanksgiving break.
BSG President Paul Wang ’24 introduced preliminary data from the all-school BSG survey asking students their opinions regarding the extension of Thanksgiving break.
This week, the Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) reviewed the proposals for a full week of Thanksgiving break, the rollout of the new Bowdoin Course Reviews website and other updates about campus initiatives.
BSG discussed the Thanksgiving break proposals from the October 13 faculty meeting extensively.
At its weekly meeting on Wednesday evening, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) invited Senior Vice President for Inclusion and Diversity Benje Douglas and Marcus Gadsden ’24, who works in the Office of Inclusion and Diversity, to speak about building belonging at Bowdoin.
Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Janet Lohmann announced in an email to the student body on Wednesday that Dr. Christine Mahoney assumed her role as the College’s new director of health.
Mahoney’s hiring follows Lohmann’s announcement on October 12 of the hiring of Director of Counseling Services Shannon Jackson, who also started at the College on Wednesday.
Due to a fire safety concern, part of Howell House’s basement was indefinitely closed today. Concerns about 005 Howell, a small room that sits adjacent to the house’s larger basement space, arose after the College’s maintenance crew attempted to install a new speaker system in the space.
The Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its second meeting of the academic year in Mills Hall on Wednesday. The agenda included student engagement and representation, resources available for students and how to develop a strong culture.
Before Hurricane Lee swept through Maine with winds reaching up to 50 mph on Saturday, Facilities Management, Safety and Security, and athletic teams prepared heavily for the impending storm. Throughout campus, and Brunswick, Lee’s damage was minimal, and its path far tamer than initial projections suggested.
On Tuesday, registration opened on CampusGroups for students to have group meals with President Safa Zaki. Nine dates with 13 spots in each time slot were offered, and students jumped at the chance to take advantage of a meal with the new president.
On Thursday, June 29, President Clayton Rose sent an email statement to the College in response to the Supreme Court’s 6-3 decision to effectively ban race-based affirmative action in college admissions.
Rose, who echoed the Court’s dissenting opinions, wrote the ruling was a step backward in the College’s pursuit of an equal and equitable admissions process.
In an email to the College sent on Wednesday, April 26, the College’s Covid-19 Planning Group announced that Bowdoin will scale back on-campus Covid protocols following the federal government’s announcement that the country’s three-year long public health emergency will cease on May 11.
Clayton Rose met with Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) this Wednesday to answer questions from students about his time at the College and beyond as he prepares to step down from his role as president on June 30.
Tennessee State Rep. Justin J. Pearson ’17 was reinstated Wednesday to his House seat on an interim basis.
After being expelled on April 6 along with fellow representative Justin Jones for staging a gun rights protest on the House floor, protests broke out throughout the state and country to support their reinstatement.
The College will award honorary degrees to five distinguished individuals at its 218th Commencement on May 27.
Stephen F. Gormley ’72, P’06, P’09, P’11 is one of this year’s five recipients. Gormley was a member of the Board of Trustees from 2001 to 2021 and chair from 2010 to 2013.
On Tuesday, Senior Vice President for Inclusion and Diversity Benje Douglas announced in an email to the College that Director of the Sexuality, Women, and Gender Center Kate Stern has been appointed to the newly created role of Director of Institutional Inclusion and Diversity Programs.
Dean of Students Kristina Bethea Odejimi will depart Bowdoin for her new role as dean of students and associate vice president for belonging, engagement and community at Emory University in Atlanta, Ga., on June 1.
At Emory, Odejimi will continue to advocate for student success, but she will do so with a focus on student belonging and involvement.
Editor’s Note February 17, 2023, at 9:45 a.m.: An earlier version of this article included three errors. First, the budget for the food truck was $1,300, not $13,000. Second, there was not a discussion of creating a BSG alumni director position.
Over the next two weeks, the Peary-MacMillian Arctic Museum will be entering the final stages of its transition to a new home in the John and Lile Gibbons Center for Arctic Studies.
On Thursday, February 23, the main entrance to Hubbard Hall will be closed as museum staff move to their new offices in the Gibbons Center.
On Wednesday, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) convened with Director of Multicultural Life Eduardo Pazos to discuss the Education through Global Engagement (EdGE) diversity and inclusion training platform.
The Class of 2026 was the first to use this platform in its mandatory diversity and inclusion training in the fall.
Extreme temperature lows this weekend require students and facilities to prepare for potential plumbing and heating breakdowns. With an expected low of -17 degrees on Friday night and winds up to 20 mph, students are being advised to stay in place, avoid spending time outside and ensure that all windows and doors are properly closed.
The workings of the Office of the Dean of Students at Bowdoin can be both difficult to keep track of and challenging to navigate, but Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) is hoping to change this. To that end, BSG met with Senior Vice President and Dean for Student Affairs Janet Lohmann and Dean of Students Kristina Odejimi on Wednesday to demystify the office’s roles of supporting and advocating for students.
This week, Bowdoin Information Technology (IT) launched new drop-in hours as a way to facilitate open communication with students and faculty.
The drop-in hours started on Tuesday behind the desk in Smith Union with Senior Vice President and Chief Information Officer Michael Cato.
Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) convened on Wednesday to discuss amendments to the Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) guidelines, BSG office hours and a proposed series of mental health forums.
Chair of the Treasury Kiley Briand ’25 presented various SAFC legislation changes to the group: a specific clause on funding club-bonding activities, guidelines on sponsoring DJs and increased food budgets for larger clubs.
The Butchers & Bakers, a gluten-free artisan bakery and butcher shop located in downtown Brunswick’s Tontine Mall, permanently closed its doors on Sunday. Since its grand opening earlier this year, the establishment has garnered praise for its friendly atmosphere, commitment to sustainability and entirely gluten-free product selection.
Last Wednesday, Bowdoin Student Government (BSG) held its weekly meeting, during which members discussed their plans to adjust Student Activities Funding Committee (SAFC) guidelines, plans for No Hate November programming and more inclusive dining policies.
To begin the meeting, Chair of the Treasury Kiley Briand ’25 announced that in November she will propose legislation to change the SAFC guidelines to provide clubs easier access to funding and materials.
Moulton Hall resumed service on Tuesday for dinner, ending a 13-day power outage associated with a faulty main breaker. The outage halted the dining hall’s operations, leaving Thorne Hall as the only dining option leading up to fall break.
According to the 2021 Clery Report—the Office of Safety and Security’s annual security report on campus crime, fire, alcohol and illegal drugs—reports of sexual offenses on campus were up in 2021 compared to 2020. There were five reported cases of rape on campus in 2021, higher than the two reported in 2020 and equal to the five reported in 2019.
Amid a change in ownership and organization, a group claiming to represent the workers of Little Dog Coffee Shop in Brunswick is rallying for unionization. In an open letter posted to Instagram, the group addressed owner Larry Flaherty directly and detailed their reasons for forming a union.
The Bowdoin Health Center continues to spread awareness and increase preparedness surrounding monkeypox following students’ return to campus weeks after the World Health Organization declared the infectious disease an area of international concern. As national anxieties about monkeypox lessen with a decrease in U.S.
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.
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.
Former Vice President and Interim Chief Diversity Officer Benje Douglas has been appointed as the permanent Senior Vice President for Inclusion and Diversity, President Clayton Rose announced in an email to the campus community on Tuesday.