Bates College

At Bates, community engagement is a prized institutional value. Since its founding by abolitionists in 1855, Bates has been committed to education as a means to individual and social transformation. As the college’s current-day mission statement avows, a Bates education aspires to cultivate “informed civic action” and “responsible stewardship of the wider world.” Toward this end, and with the support of the Harward Center for Community Partnerships, Bates students, faculty, and staff enact the college’s civic mission through reciprocal and sustained partnerships that connect the college and the community in mutually beneficial and transformative ways.

Community engagement is a hallmark of the academic program at Bates, with close to half of all students taking a community-engaged learning course each year and many students undertaking community-engaged research projects and theses. The commitment to being an engaged campus is evidenced also in athletics, the arts, residence life, the dining commons, and student clubs and organizations. As they partner with off-campus communities to address pressing societal needs, Bates students develop the intellectual, ethical, and personal skills needed for lifelong civic responsibility and purposeful work.

Since 1855, Bates College has been dedicated to the emancipating potential of the liberal arts. Bates educates the whole person through creative and rigorous scholarship in a collaborative residential community. With ardor and devotion — Amore ac Studio — we engage the transformative power of our differences, cultivating intellectual discovery and informed civic action. Preparing leaders sustained by a love of learning and a commitment to responsible stewardship of the wider world, Bates is a college for coming times.

Since its founding in 1855 by Maine abolitionists, Bates College has welcomed men and women from diverse racial, ethnic, religious and economic backgrounds.

A private, highly selective, residential college devoted to undergraduate study in the liberal arts, Bates has always stood firmly for the ideals of academic rigor, intellectual curiosity, egalitarianism, social justice and freedom. Bates is recognized for its inclusive social character and progressive tradition, and is rightly celebrated as one of the first U.S. institutions of higher learning to admit women and people of color.

All activities, resources, and facilities have always been open to all members of the Bates community. Bates does not believe in — and has never allowed on campus and will never allow — organizations such as fraternities or sororities that exclude people.Bates values the diversity of persons and perspectives, supporting this commitment through official college statements and policies.

Bates College is committed to the principle of equal opportunity and providing an educational and work environment free from discrimination. The college prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, national or ethnic origin, religion, sex, sexual orientation, gender identity or gender expression, age, disability, genetic information or veteran status and other legally protected statuses in the recruitment and admission of its students, in the administration of its education policies and programs, or in the recruitment of its faculty and staff. Bates College adheres to all applicable state and federal equal opportunity laws and regulations.

The Office of Equity and Diversity (OED) advances the college’s commitment to equity and diversity by implementing and supporting campus-wide initiatives that strategically and proactively promote an institutional culture of inclusiveness.The OED develops innovative educational programs and training activities specific to equal opportunity, diversity and inclusion, and harassment prevention aimed at promoting an affirming environment in which students, staff, and faculty can flourish.The Director of Title IX and Civil Rights Compliance ensures compliance with all non-discrimination statutes, such as Titles VI and Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, Title IX, Americans with Disabilities Act, the State of Maine Human Rights Act, and college policies.

The Harward Center encourages and equips all members of the Bates community to participate actively in the many communities to which they belong. Just as a healthy campus community depends on the energy and input of all members of that community, so too does a thriving democracy.

At Bates, we understand civic engagement to include the many ways citizens work to make a difference in their community. This certainly means voting in elections (Your vote is your voice!), but it also means being aware of yourself as a citizen with the capacity and responsibility to work with others to advance the greater good; being mindful of the impact of your choices on different individuals and communities, including the planet; collaborating with diverse others to define public problems and enact constructive approaches to address those problems; and advancing the full participation of all people in the decision-making processes that affect their lives and communities.

The Harward Center for Community Partnerships offers a multitude of civic engagement opportunities. From voter registration drives and public forums to a wealth of curricular, co-curricular, and volunteer programs, we invite members and friends of the Bates community to cultivate intellectual discovery, social justice, and informed civic action in pursuit of thriving communities and a sustainable planet.