History of Bates College

He met with religious and political leaders in Topsham, to discuss the formation of such a school, recruiting much of the college's first trustees, most notably Ebenezer Knowlton.

[3][4] Soon after it was established, donors stepped forward to finance the seminary, developing the school in an affluent residential district of Lewiston.

Bates and Bowdoin joined Colby College to create the Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium in 1964; this developed an already budding football and rowing rivalry.

While attending Parsonsfield Seminary, a Freewill Baptist divinity school, Oren Burbank Cheney lamented the racial segregation and religious oppression that was embedded in American educational institutions.

[8] The fire was believed to have killed three school children, and two fugitive slaves, leading to a brief and unsuccessful investigation, noted as an act of murder and arson.

Cheney met with religious and political leaders in Topsham, Maine, to discuss the formation of a school that catered to Free Will Baptists and was based on principles of egalitarianism, liberty, and scholarship.

Cheney's impact in Maine was noted by Boston business magnate Benjamin Bates who developed an interest in the college.

[27][28] Bates College already had a reputation for academic rigor and social inclusion and it primarily educated the middle and working classes from Maine.

Many students at the college showed support for the Emancipation Proclamation, and were very vocal members in their respective communities regarding the freedom of African Americans, and general civil rights.

[40] In 1894, George Colby Chase led Bates to increased national recognition, and the college graduated one of the founding members of the Boston Red Sox, Harry Lord.

Reynolds began the Chase Regatta in 1988, which features the President's Cup that is contested by Bates, Colby, and Bowdoin annually.

All three of the schools compete in the New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) and share one of the ten oldest football rivalries in the United States.

[57] In 1967, President Thomas Hedley Reynolds promoted the idea of teacher-scholars at Bates and secured the construction of numerous academic and recreational buildings.

[60][61] Elaine Tuttle Hansen was installed as the seventh and first female president of Bates College on October 26, 2002, in Lewiston, Maine.

In a 2003 memo, Bates noted that the college's operating budget of $65 million, although originating outside of Maine, its expenditure was completely in-state.

[63] Hansen released an internal memo to the Bates community in late March 2003 regarding the U.S. invasion or Iraq,[64] noting the campus protests and the resolution passed by the student government's representative assembly condemning the armed conflict.

In the note, Hansen outlined the current economic climate as being in a period of "declining markets, higher costs of borrowing, the potential impact on giving (i.e. fundraising, endowment spending, etc).

Hansen mentioned that the college would have to restructure its 10-year financial model in order accommodate its promise to cover "the demonstrated need of all admitted students."

She later commented, "I recognize that these are times of stress and concern for all, but I want you to know that the Trustees and I have every confidence in the strength and perseverance of this institution and the entire Bates community.

"[71] In February 2008, a letter was sent to 136 U.S. colleges and universities by the chairman and ranking member of the U.S. Senate Finance Committee, Max Baucus and Charles Grassley.

Although Bates, at the time held only $275 million, many students began to refinance loan packages prompting a memo to be issued by the college.

She announced that there will be no salary or hiring freezes, no layoffs, and that the college "would cover 100% of the increase in health care premiums for families.

Her subsequent inauguration speech, "Questions Worth Asking" drew 2,500 students, faculty, alumni, and distinguished members of the American collegiate educational system in Merrill Gymnasium.

[85][86] There is a long tradition of rivalry and competitiveness between the two colleges, revolving around socioeconomic class, academic quality, and collegiate athletics.

The only institution of higher learning the founder of Bates, Oren Burbank Cheney, oversaw was Bowdoin; he sat as an overseer at the college from 1860 to 1867.

[89] Bates and Bowdoin would later go on to compete against each other athletically in the 1870s, and subsequently share one of the ten oldest NCAA Division III football rivalries, in the United States.

"[9] The connection is reinforced through many parallels including the fact that many buildings were designed after Dartmouth's architectural style and numerous campus distinctions are shared by the two colleges.

[94][47][96][97] Bates students created the Dartmouth Challenge, to make fun of the college's mascot, Keggy the Keg, by spinning parent tradition, Newman Day to new specifications.

[98] The college, under the direction of Cheney, also rejected fraternities and sororities in its original charter on grounds of unwarranted exclusivity incompatible with the Free Will Baptist outlook.

[101][102][103][104] In the 1950s the college fenced off the campus in an attempt to "represent boundaries between Bates and Lewiston,"[105] to create a "symbolic separation between the purity of the Academia Batesina and underdeveloped city that surrounded them.