During our annual stint on the Great Day to Be a Bobcat livestream yesterday, we shared a few CatFacts — fun morsels of information — with viewers, which we now share with you.

Great Day 2025 was another great success for �ֲ���ý and the �ֲ���ý Fund: 2,499 donors made gifts totaling $1,247,332 — both representing increases over 2024, with a few more mailed gifts still to arrive.

The annual �ֲ���ý giving day is named after the famous �ֲ���ý cheer, “It’s a great day to be a Bobcat,” .

On with the CatFacts!

100 years ago: The beginning of chemistry research

Under the legendary Walter Lawrance, �ֲ���ý chemistry students engaged in research projects for the first time. 

The new opportunity was offered to second-semester seniors, reported the Daily Kennebec Journal in March 1925.

“The fundamental idea underlying this policy is to enable the students to think for themselves, to develop resource and initiative, and give them confidence in their ability to handle problems in chemistry.”

A 2025 philosophy thesis gets lucky

A senior is now working toward completion of an honors thesis that suggests that “authentic self-respect must acknowledge the role of luck in our lives.”

True self-respect, including a complete understanding of the self, can’t be created without acknowledging the impact of our environment, including luck. 

100 years ago: An immigrant nicknamed Zippy

Euterpe Boukis Dukakis, Class of 1925, was the first Greek-American woman in the U.S. to go away to college. In March 1925, she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa.

Born in Larissa, Greece, and coming to �ֲ���ý from the Greek immigrant community in Haverhill, Mass., she earned the nickname “Zippy” at �ֲ���ý.

Besides academic prowess, she was also a cheerleader, “a leader of songs and cheers, marshaling us into Hathorn and the rallies,” said the Mirror yearbook.

Her immigrant story was referenced in a of her son, Michael, a former Massachusetts governor and Democratic candidate for president in 1988.

50 years ago: �ֲ���ý’ first NCAA hosting gig

In March 1975, �ֲ���ý announced that the college would host the following year’s NCAA Skiing Championships, with Alpine events at Sunday River in Newry and Nordic events at Black Mountain in Rumford, home of the venerable Chisholm Ski Club.

It was a triumph for head coach Bob Flynn, who had resurrected the dormant program.

60 years ago: Notes to the actors

In Feburary 1965, the Robinson Players put on a production of Antigone, directed by the legendary �ֲ���ý theater professor, Lavinia Schaeffer.

“The entire presentation was carried on in the Greek tradition, and patrons were asked to refrain from applauding, but a few did at the end of the play,” reported The Lewiston Daily Sun.

Staged several years before the construction of Schaeffer Theatre, the play was presented in the “Little Theater” located in Hathorn Hall. 

75 years ago: Tips for the boys, like don’t mansplain

In 1950, newspapers around the country ran a column by a nationally syndicated columnist, Dr. Ralph Habas, reporting on the results of a survey conducted by a �ֲ���ý psychology class.

According to Habas, the survey sought to “find out what suggestions might be most helpful to young males who hadn’t had too much experience with the fair sex.”

Habas organized the findings as a series of “don’t do this” tips, including:

• “Flirt or kid with the waitress when you have a girl with you” 
• “Blow your automobile horn instead of coming to the door when calling for a girl” 
• “Clean your fingernails or use toothpicks in public”
• “Put sticky hands on the back of a girl’s dress when dancing” 
• “Attribute all bad driving to women” 
• “Indulge in fast or spectacular dancing without asking if your partner enjoys it”
• “Consider the opinions of your sex vastly superior to those of the fair sex.”

60 years ago: Ali’s knockout remembered in a big way

A 10-foot bronze statue of boxer Muhammad Ali, honoring his victory in Lewiston 60 years ago, will be dedicated in Lewiston in May.

On May 25, 1965, Muhammad Ali knocked out Sonny Liston to win the heavyweight boxing title. The unlikely location of the fight was The Colisée, then named the Central Maine Youth Center.

The Lewiston Evening Journal sports editor, Norman Thomas, was spot-on when he reported the next day that the fight, though only 1 minute long, would be remembered as great because it would give “food for argument for years to come.”

Ali’s knockout punch is famously known as the “phantom punch” — neither Liston or his fans saw it, said the Evening Journal.

Lake Andrews and its denizens

Muskrats, Ondatra zibethicus, are among the many animals that call Lake Andrews their home.

A semi-aquatic rodent, muskrats are good for the Puddle because their feeding habits prevent shoreline overgrowth. This guy was seen swimming (and ultimately diving) on April 11, 2024.

A 2025 economics thesis gets in-personal

A �ֲ���ý economics major is now completing an honors thesis that looks at whether employers are biased when it comes to evaluating in-person work and remote work.

That is, might employers view in-person work as better than remote work, even when the actual work quality is exactly the same? Stay tuned.

100 years ago: Digging it

On June 21, 1925, �ֲ���ý broke ground for the Gray Athletic Building.

Here, �ֲ���ý Trustee Hervey Cowell, Class of 1875, joins the ceremony. He was principal of Cushing Academy in Ashburnham, Mass., at the time. The first spadeful of dirt was turned over by President Clifton Daggett Gray.

“A party without a cake is a meeting,” said Julia Child, who received an honorary degree from �ֲ���ý in 1983.

When �ֲ���ý turned 166 years old at mid-month, the cake that helped to transform a mere gathering into a party was decorated by Daisy Taylor, baking supervisor for Dining Services, with a creative flourish that’s become a trademark of the �ֲ���ý dining operation.

This year, �ֲ���ý held its annual giving day, Great Day to Be a Bobcat, on �ֲ���ý’ birthday, March 16, the day in 1855 when the charter for the Maine State Seminary, forerunner of �ֲ���ý College, was signed into Maine law.

This year’s Great Day celebration, livestreamed between noon and 9 p.m. on the 16th, saw 2,664 alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends make gifts — shattering the goal of 1,855 donors — totaling $927,346.

And the cake? It was enjoyed by the entire Great Day livestream team when the birthday cat, the �ֲ���ý Bobcat, stopped by to help celebrate a happy and successful day with friends.

President Clayton Spencer (center), joined by Vice President for College Advancement Sarah Pearson ’75 (right) and Director of Mount David Society Giving Emily Muther (left) gives a shout-out to donor Tanya Schwartz ’04 during the March 31 livestream of the Great Day to Be a Bobcat campaign. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

More than 3,600 donors participated in the annual Great Day to Be a Bobcat fundraising effort during the month of March, securing a $250,000 gift to the college, announced Sarah R. Pearson ’75, vice president for college advancement.

“I want to thank everyone who made Great Day gifts to �ֲ���ý,” Pearson said. “We have much to celebrate: an extraordinary month of giving and a tremendous demonstration of pride by �ֲ���ý alumni, parents, faculty, staff, students, and friends.”

Pearson added a special thank-you to the alumni family whose $250,000 challenge gift provided extra motivation during the giving campaign. “This display of �ֲ���ý spirit is deeply appreciated.”

The Crosstones perform during the Great Day to Be a Bobcat livestream on March 31 in the Ronj coffeehouse. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Now in its fourth year, the 2016 Great Day campaign netted 3,679 donors, nearly half of whom made their gift during the festive, livestreamed campaign finale on March 31.

The college raised a total of $3.17 million over the course of the month.

The campaign, which gets a boost from a social-media outreach that celebrates everything from to, has become a giving tradition for �ֲ���ý donors.

“I love letting my �ֲ���ý flag fly.”

Pamela Batchelder Johnson ’91 of Charlotte, N.C., is co-chair of the Mount David Society, the college’s leadership giving group, and she says that the Great Day campaign benefits her as a donor and volunteer in three ways.

For one, she says, “I love being part of the worldwide alumni enthusiasm during March and letting my �ֲ���ý flag fly.”

Second, “writing a check to �ֲ���ý is always an act of joy, but knowing that my gift goes further because of the challenge makes it that much more fun.”

As a volunteer, Johnson says that Great Day “helps me make the case to other prospective donors. Being able to say ‘please join me’ is the most effective ask!”

Nearly 1,000 young alumni — Bobcats of the Last Decade — made gifts during March, including Bill Prins ’09, who lives and works in New York City. He says that Great Day is both “an important tradition and an entertaining way to feel connected to �ֲ���ý.”

He adds that it is “rewarding to give back to a place that opened so many doors for me and to help current and future students have those same opportunities.”

The campaign-concluding livestream held in the Ronj coffeehouse on March 31 was seen in 43 countries by 2,010 people, a 14 percent increase over last year in terms of unique viewers.

The annual Great Day campaign spotlights the powerful role that �ֲ���ý donors play in strengthening the college. The name is drawn from the popular �ֲ���ý cheer “It’s a great day to be a Bobcat,” a �ֲ���ý rallying cry coined in the early 1970s by retired football and men’s lacrosse coach Web Harrison ’63.

Eighteenth-century writer Samuel Johnson had James Boswell as his tagalong chronicler.

�ֲ���ý theater and English major Allie Freed ’16 has classmate Dylan Ray.

Video camera in hand, Ray followed Freed for a few weeks recently and produced a short film of her academic and work life at �ֲ���ý for the college’s Great Day to Be a Bobcat campaign.

Ray, a biological chemistry major from Denver, jokes that he’s “spent most of college my career locked away in the labs of Dana and Carnegie” so the project illuminated a “completely different side of �ֲ���ý.”

“It reminds me that �ֲ���ý students are so versatile and multitalented.”

Freed, from Gloucester, Mass., and Ray are co-workers in the Advancement Office, though she “had no idea that Dylan was such a gifted filmmaker.” Her takeaway? “It reminds me that �ֲ���ý students are so versatile and multitalented.”

“Refreshing” is what Ray says about the experience. He got to “see parts of �ֲ���ý that I don’t know much about and the range of interests students have” — including what he calls Freed’s “amazingly different passions on campus.”

Like many �ֲ���ý students, Ray’s academic work includes a strong dose of digital studies (an offering that will get more robust for all students with the launch of a new Digital and Computational Studies Program in fall 2018.)

One of Ray’s academic concentrations is film and media studies, and the knowledge he’s gained in that realm has empowered him to “combine science and film production” in a few of his science classes.

The �ֲ���ý community rallied in record-setting fashion on March 31, the final day of the month-long Great Day to be a Bobcat giving campaign, easily securing a quarter-million-dollar challenge gift for the college.

“The pride and generosity demonstrated all month long show just how deeply our alumni, parents and friends care about �ֲ���ý,” said Sarah R. Pearson ’75, vice president for college advancement.

“On behalf of everyone at the college, I want to thank those who made gifts in March. You made this a great day — a great month — a great year — to be a Bobcat!”

Joined by the Bobcat himself, students in Assistant Professor of German Jakub Kazecki’s language class cheer”It’s a Great Day to Be a Bobcat” in German: “Es ist ein schöner Tag Bobcat zu sein!”(Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

Over the 24 hours of March 31, 1,675 �ֲ���ý alumni, parents, students, faculty, staff and friends made gifts to the college — a record number of gifts in one day — bringing the 31-day campaign total to 3,917 gifts.

“Single largest engagement and fundraising event in �ֲ���ý history.”

With a goal of 2,500 donors during the month of March, the Great Day campaign entered the final day still 500 gifts short. At stake was a $250,000 challenge gift from an anonymous donor.

And what a great final day it was.

“It was our single largest engagement and fundraising event in �ֲ���ý history,” said Assistant Vice President for College Advancement Leah Wiedmann Gailey ’97.

�ֲ���ý staff thank a Great Day donor during the festive livestream on March 31. Rocking the Bobcat hat at left is Cary Gemmer ’07, director of alumni engagement, while Genevieve Leslie, director of Reunion fundraising and programming, holds the whiteboard with a thank-you to donor William Moore ’53. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/�ֲ���ý College)

The giving peaked with 659 gifts between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m., a surge that was encouraged by a livestream featuring real-time thank-yous by Office of College Advancement staff, as well as a rousing two-song set by the Manic Optimists, a college a cappella group.

Bobcats of the Last Decade did their part to secure an extra $25,000 from an anonymous donor by making sure that more than 1,000 of the Great Day gifts came from BOLD alumni.

Donors from around the world made gifts on the final day, and more than 2,100 viewers watched the livestream from as close by as campus dorms and in cities like Helsinki, Brisbane, Munich, Sao Paul, Beijing, New Delhi, and Hanoi, among many others.

About “Great Day”

Now in its third year, Great Day spotlights the powerful role that �ֲ���ý donors play in strengthening the college.

The name is drawn from the slogan “It’s a great day to be a Bobcat,” a �ֲ���ý rallying cry coined in the early 1970s by retired football and men’s lacrosse coach Web Harrison ’63.

He adapted a cheer from his days as a U.S. Marine, when officer candidates had to make a “suitable greeting” to superior officers: “Good afternoon, sir! It’s a grand and glorious day to be alive and a member of the U.S. Marine Corps!”

The �ֲ���ý community turned out in force to show its philanthropic support for the college on April 23, this year’s annual day of giving, Great Day to Be a Bobcat.

�ֲ���ý received 1,164 gifts during the 24-hour period, 871 of which came from new donors. Together, alumni, parents, friends, faculty, staff and students made gifts totaling $335,192.81.

Now in its second year, Great Day celebrates �ֲ���ý pride and recognizes the role of philanthropy in strengthening the college.

Erin Kintzing ’11 kicked off the day with her gift, made at 12:28 RET, from Réunion Island off the coast of Madagascar. In a midnight email to alumni and parents she joked that making a gift from the middle of the Indian Ocean was easy.

Faculty and staff made a strong showing, as did members of the Class of 2014, who also contributed to the collective giving effort by supporting their ongoing Senior Class Gift.

Trustee Quoc Tran ’95 offered a special challenge to the seniors: He pledged to add $1,000 to their class gift if they added 75 donors on Great Day. The seniors rose to the challenge, adding 80 to the day’s total. They hope to achieve 90 percent participation by Commencement weekend.