They came, they saw, they hugged.

This year’s Parents & Family Weekend welcomed 850 parents and more than 1,800 guests in all, a record turnout that effectively doubled the campus population for the three-day event, Oct. 10–12.

Parents and students crisscrossed the campus from morning to night, attending wall-to-wall programming and other opportunities to get up to speed on ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ goings-on, especially the college’s Purposeful Work Initiative.

Photographs from Parents & Family Weekend 2014

Christian Nauvel '04, a lawyer and anti-corruption advocate, responds to a question after his talk, "Correctives for Corruption," at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Africana Club 2014 Business Conference. (Zuhayr Reaz '16/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Professor of Sociology Emily Kane makes a point during the "Always Thinking: Pedagogical Innovation and the Liberal Arts" presentation in Pettengill Hall. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

At an academic poster session in Perry Atrium, Kate Paladin '15 of Palo Alto, Calif., presents work she conducted last summer investigating climate change vulnerability among Nicaragua's small-scale coffee farmers. (Sarah Crosby/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

An aerial view of Garcelon Field during the football game vs. Wesleyan. (H. Lincoln Benedict '09 for ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

Brent Feldman '17 of Waccabuc, N.Y., competes in the Wallach Invitational, which draws some of the best NCAA Division III tennis players. (Sarah Crosby/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

You’ve heard the mantra: “A liberal arts education doesn’t prepare you for one job. It prepares you for any job.”

Within months of becoming president, Spencer sounded an alarm. The days when a liberal arts college could have a smug attitude toward career and work are over — at least at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

“What we’ve done at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is think deeply and comprehensively about the question of work.”

“Our students are graduating into a job market where the competition for talent is fierce and global,” Spencer told a Parents & Family Weekend gathering on Friday afternoon. Today’s economic realities won’t support the “any job” approach.

To be sure, U.S. colleges are responding to the pressure to better meet their students’ career needs, often by pressing harder on the gas pedal of their existing career program.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ approach, Purposeful Work, is different and distinctive, Spencer told parents. “What we’ve done at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is think deeply and comprehensively about the question of work.”

Purposeful Work sits directly within the college’s liberal arts mission, Spencer said. It is “developmental in its approach, woven into all aspects of the student experience, and highly intentional and pragmatic.”

Designed to include curricular, co-curricular and internship programs, Purposeful Work will touch all areas of “the personal growth that happens to our students throughout the arc of their career here, from the moment they come in the door,” Spencer explained.

Spencer’s remarks came during a panel discussion in the Olin Arts Center Concert Hall featuring students who’ve been on the ground floor of new Purposeful Work programming, including last spring’s Practitioner-Taught Courses that “exposed students to hard skills to augment the classic liberal arts experience,” Spencer said. “We will have five more such courses in 2015.”

The panel also included a student who participated in last summer’s Koru skill-building program and another student who has taken two of the 23 ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ courses that have been infused with Purposeful Work concepts.

Set to debut in summer 2015, a new Purposeful Work internship program will complement existing and traditional internship offerings, Spencer told the audience. At the same time, the new internships will be their own species, existing directly under the umbrella of each student’s liberal arts experience.

More than ever, these internships will be geared toward “helping students test their interests, build skills, develop networks, reflect on what they’ve learned and connect their experience to what they are learning on campus,” she said.

“That means we’re doing something right.”

Based on her own crisscrossing of the campus during Parents & Family Weekend, Spencer told a gathering on Saturday morning that “what makes me happy is how many of you tell me that your son or daughter is having a fabulous experience. That means we’re doing something right.”

She credited the positive feedback to two bedrock ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ realities.

Spencer said that “there is something substantive about the sense of community here. We are not about individual competition, and each student is on his or her own path to optimization. There is real caring, community, respect and the kind of simple friendship that carries so many of your sons and daughters along.”

The second ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ reality is “the quality and accessibility of our faculty” that enables “our students to engage with professors and get help when they need it.

“I would put a stake in the ground and say that the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ faculty does this better than any other college I know.”

The ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Company in November 2012. (Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College)

• a duet for first-year students by Rachel Boggia, assistant professor of dance;
• a group piece by Dilley to be performed by advanced dancers in a repertory performance class;
• and a trio choreographed by Debi Irons for the advanced jazz repertory class.

Parents and Family Weekend 2012 featured a wide range of activities and opportunities that allowed parents and families to experience ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ through the eyes of their students.

The myriad events of the program included many activities that make up a typical ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ weekend, including athletic contests and performances. The weekend also featured special events, such as a faculty symposium on “Teaching and Scholarship in a Liberal Arts Environment,” a student research symposium, and opportunities to honor and remember the life of Troy Pappas ’16, a wide receiver for the football team.

For a look at this memorable weekend, watch the slide show on the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Flickr site, or view the images in the embedded slide show above. Photographs by Mike Bradley, Phyllis Graber Jensen and Simone Schriger ’14. For more about the football game, view a slide show on the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Athletics site.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dancers perform Alwin Nikolais’ “Tensile Involvement” in 2004. Photograph by Phyllis Graber Jensen/ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College.

Two performances of widely diverse repertoire by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College dancers, including the return of the influential masterwork “Tensile Involvement” by Alwin Nikolais, take place at noon Saturday and Sunday, Oct. 6-7, in the college’s Schaeffer Theatre, 305 College St.

Featuring the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Company, student dance clubs and faculty performers, these Parents & Family Weekend performances are open to the public at no cost. For more information, please call 207-786-8294.

Nikolais, a pioneering choreographer, championed non-representational dance. He was known for a multimedia approach that, similar to opera, was intended to bring all aspects of the performing arts to the audience.

He choreographed “Tensile Involvement,” his best-known work, in 1953, also designing the set, costumes and lighting, and composing the music. The piece launches the dancers into interactions with giant ribbons that transform the stage into a dynamic matrix of color, sound and motion.

The most recent performance of the piece by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dancers was in 2004. A gift by Marcy Plavin, founder of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dance program, makes this year’s production possible.

Also on the program:

• work by hip-hop choreographer Robin Sanders from Memphis, Tenn. The guest choreographer for a springtime course that took ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dancers into local public schools, Sanders “was such a hit that we have brought her back for our core creative process course, Dance Repertory Performance,” says ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dance program director Carol Dilley;
• dances choreographed by Dilley, by faculty member Debi Irons and by student choreographers;
• a performance of Balinese dance by guest artist Shoka Yamamuro;
• and dances by student clubs — the Dynasty Step Team, Ballroom Dance Society and the liturgical dance troupe Justified.

The International Club presents its second annual International Fair on the Library Quad, including a global market and musical performances.

Ira Waldman '73, P '08, '11, a donor to the Garcelon project, enjoys the game with ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ friend Diane Kounkoulas Peterson '75.

Students, along with alumni who are the parents and grandparents of currently enrolled students, pose for the annual Legacy photograph. Photograph by H. Jay Burns.

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ plays Williams on Garcelon's new FieldTurf gridiron.

On a classically crisp autumn day, perfect for opening a beautiful new football stadium, even a 41-0 loss to Williams couldn't dampen all of the positive energy felt around historic Garcelon Field.

• View the slide show above by clicking the thumbnails.

While ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ dance clubs and the Modern Dance Company cast their spell over an SRO audience in Schaeffer Theatre, the Bobcats played their first football game on the newly refurbished and just-christened .

With fall’s cold winds shaking the changing leaves and skittering down the length of Alumni Walk, students revisited the summer of 2010 — that is, their summer research — with a poster session in Perry Atrium.

Former members of the staff of U.S. Sen. Edmund S. Muskie ’36, one of Maine’s most influential politicians, gathered to celebrate the 25th anniversary of the Edmund S. Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ — even as patrons of the Museum of Art heard about a Moroccan photographer who’s reclaiming the visual representation of women.

The Brooks Quimby Debate Council argued for and against Wikileaks, the Outing Club led a birdwalk through Thorncrag, Senior Project Manager Paul Farnsworth talked about the renovation of Hedge and Roger Williams halls — and Bill Hiss ’66 told, once again, the whole story of ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

All the while, proud parents and jealous siblings took it all in. That was Parents & Family Weekend 2010 at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½.

–Doug Hubley

Thinking of a better future is the way to let in hope.

Cable showcased the College’s newly revitalized career services office.

In this issue:

1. Restructuring enhances ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ commitment to diversity and inclusion
2. Chemistry major wins top award at international conference
3. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Fund flourishes in 2009-2010 fiscal year
4. Campus Construction Update
5. Museum of Art offers summer retrospective by noted painter Nicoletti
6. With Young Dancers Workshop, festival bridges gap in dance education
7. Save the date: Parents & Family Weekend Oct. 8-10
8. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in the News

1. Restructuring enhances ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½’ commitment to diversity and inclusion
ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ is working to reinforce and enhance the institution’s commitment to diversity, equity and inclusion in all aspects of its operations and campus life through a restructuring of three administrative areas of the College, effective immediately, President Elaine Tuttle Hansen has announced.

As part of the restructuring, the president has announced that longtime ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ administrators Roland S. Davis ’92 and Carmen L. Purdy have accepted new responsibilities.

2. Chemistry major wins top award at international conference
Marilla Pender-Cudlip ’10, a recent ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ graduate and a chemistry major from Torrington, Conn., was honored with a top prize and 100 euros in prize money for her research poster at the 10th European Biological Inorganic Chemistry Conference, held June 22-26 in Thessaloniki, Greece.

3. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Fund flourishes in 2009-2010 fiscal year
In another successful year for the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Fund, nearly 7,600 alumni and 1,500 parents made a gift to the Fund, contributing an impressive $4.7 million. This incredible show of support is an inspiration to the entire ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community and sends a strong message that now, more than ever, our alumni and parents believe that a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ education is second to none. The College depends on the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Fund as a critical source of current-use dollars that have an immediate impact on every area of student life, ranging from faculty compensation to financial aid. In a two-year dollar growth comparison conducted with 30 peers schools of similar size and structure, the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Fund outperformed all but two schools. The $4.7 million that the Fund raised represents a 10 percent increase over the dollars raised in the prior fiscal year. Please join us in thanking our volunteers, alumni, parents and friends who played a part in this remarkable accomplishment for the College! More information: etraiste [at] bates [dot] edu

4. Campus Construction Update
Thunderstorms on July 21 that unleashed torrents of rain and spawned three tornadoes in southern Maine also made their mark, happily minor, on the Hedge/Roger Williams construction site. Winds, which gusted up to 90 mph in some parts of the state, knocked over 40 feet of the fence around the site.

5. Museum of Art offers summer retrospective by noted painter Nicoletti
A summer exhibition examining the career of Joseph Nicoletti, a ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ lecturer and one of Maine’s foremost realist painters, runs through Sept. 25 at the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ College Museum of Art.

6. With Young Dancers Workshop, festival bridges gap in dance education
Five days a week for three weeks in June and July, 100 student dancers spend hours perfecting their technique in studios, gymnasiums and classrooms around the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ campus. These accomplished students come from the U.S. and abroad to attend the Young Dancers Workshop, part of the nationally acclaimed ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival.

7. Save the date: Parents & Family Weekend Oct. 8-10
Please join us on campus for Parents & Family Weekend Oct. 8 – 10, a celebration honoring parents, grandparents, and all extended family. This is an excellent opportunity to experience your student’s life at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ by attending classes, sharing in co-curricular activities, attending presentations and performances, meeting friends, and enjoying the beauty of the campus. This weekend includes the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Parents & Family Association Volunteer Luncheon Workshop and the much anticipated Garcelon Field Dedication Ceremony. Information on Parents & Family Weekend is available online at:
/parents-weekend.xml

8. ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ in the News
The Providence Journal profiles incoming student Erik Bou ’14, who reflects on his Cambodian American mother’s hardships and explains how football taught him to achieve academic goals. The Bangor Daily News talks to Maine District Court judge Bernard Staples ’55, who’s leaving the bench after 21 years only to enter the seminary. And as the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ Dance Festival winds down, the Portland Press Herald reviews the recent AXIS dance troupe performance and explains how the company has “created a dialogue and re-evaluation of how disability does and does not affect artistic movement.”

Readers, please note: The schedule of performances has been changed since the concerts were first publicized. A show Friday, Oct. 2, has been canceled and the Sunday show added.

These Parents & Family Weekend events are open to the public at no charge.

On the program: students in the course “Studio Dance: Advanced Jazz Repertory” with several new works; a modernist piece choreographed by dance program director Carol Dilley; and work in a variety of styles choreographed and performed by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ students.

For more information, please call 207-786-8294.

Parents Susan and John Wilson share a laugh with daughter Keller ’12 (right) of Darien, Conn., during the first-year seminar "Ancient Myths, Modern Movies," taught by Associate Professor of Classical and Medieval Studies Lisa Maurizio.

As far as landmark ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ weekends go, the Parents & Family Weekend vibe is distinct, differing quite a bit from, say, Reunion’s happy feel. During the latter event, alumni tap into deep reservoirs of shared memories to fuel their camaraderie. But at a parents weekend, the goodwill seems freshly discovered.

Ira Waldman ’73 and Laurie Waldman of Playa del Rey, Calif., have sent both of their children to ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ — Shayna graduated in the spring, while Ethan is a sophomore. Besides five consecutive parents weekends, Ira has experienced countless alumni gatherings. A Los Angeles attorney, he’s happily rabid about ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. “Ira can sell ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ to anyone,” says his assistant. “I would be very curious about the school if I listened to Ira.”

ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ parents are happy when they visit their ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ children, Waldman says, for the same reason that a baby’s first smile electrifies mom and dad. “Parents get here, especially for the first time, and find how much their child loves the school,” he says. “That makes them incredibly happy and proud.”

Sherry Eldredge, mother of football captain Coleman Peeke ’09, appears on this page cheering — really cheering — for her son during the game against Williams. She phrases Waldman’s parenting truism this way: “You’re only as happy as your saddest child.”

Sherry Eldredge P’09 cheers on the football team, captained by her son Coleman Peeke. Photograph by Louisa Demmitt '09.

In a conversation, Eldredge is quick to apologize if she’s ever “horrified” anyone with her cheering. “Then again, I graduated from Alabama when Bear Bryant was there,” she laughs. “I understand the fan thing.” Still, she says, “I tell myself to sit on the sidelines. But it kills me. I have to cheer. I watch them, all the boys, work so hard. They don’t win much, but they do not give up.”

VIEW SLIDE SHOW: Parents & Family Weekend, Together on campus

Waldman is asked if the parents weekend routine has gotten stale. “No, because there are always surprises,” he says. “Ethan told me he was trying out for the Crosstones, and I told him he’s a singer like Bob Dylan is a singer. Then he says, ‘I made it.’ There he was this year, performing and doing a solo. And he was good. That’s just…wow.”

The 14 projects created by ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ student teams in the “Reuse, Rebuild, Reward!” competition will be displayed on the college’s Alumni Walk, just west of the dining Commons, Central Avenue, from 11:30 a.m. until 4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 4, coinciding with Parents & Families Weekend at ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½. Judging begins at 12:30 p.m.

Members of the college staff and faculty will judge the projects. Two winning entries will be picked, one based on creative merit and the other on the use of the most bottles and cans.

Silva-Sanchez, a politics major from Lexington, Mass., thought of the contest last spring as a fun and creative way to motivate students to recycle. “This campus is pretty conscientious in terms of recycling and environmental issues,” Silva-Sanchez said. “It’s something that everyone really pushes for, but there’s always room for improvement.”

Working with the college’s Dining Services and environmental coordinator Julie Rosenbach, Silva-Sanchez asked the Commons to save all of the bottles and cans it collected during September. Proceeds from the bottle and can deposits collected by Dining Services and from the containers used in the competition will be split, with one-third going to prizes for the winning teams and the rest to a Lewiston nonprofit organization (still to be determined).

“I really wanted to have this event reach outside of the ÀÖ²¥´«Ã½ community,” Silva-Sanchez said.