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.
Title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972 (“Title IX”) defines and ensures sex and gender equity in education.
Title IX prohibits all forms of sex discrimination, including sexual assault and harassment, in federally funded education programs. Title IX reads: “No person in the United States shall, on the basis of sex, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any education program or activity receiving federal financial assistance.”
Title IX applies to academic programs and extends to Bates sponsored off-campus programs (including Fall Semester Abroad) as well. Though a private institution, Bates receives federal monies to support financial aid packages.
Bates campus in 1906.
Bates College is a coeducational, nonsectarian, residential college with special commitments to academic rigor and to assuring in all of its efforts the dignity of each individual and access to its programs and opportunities by qualified learners. Bates prizes both the inherent values of a demanding education and the profound usefulness of learning, teaching, and understanding.
Bates was founded in 1855, over 150 years ago, by people who believed strongly in freedom, civil rights, and the importance of a higher education for all who could benefit from it. Bates is devoted to undergraduate education in the arts and science, and commitment to teaching excellence is central to the college’s mission. The college is recognized for its inclusive social character; there are no fraternities or sororities, and student organizations are open to all.
When founded in 1855, Bates was the first coeducational college in New England, admitting students without regard to race, religion, national origin, or sex. In the mid-19th Century, Oren B. Cheney, a Dartmouth graduate and minister of the Freewill Baptist denomination, conceived the idea of founding the Maine State Seminary in Lewiston. Within a few years the seminary became a college, and it was Cheney who obtained financial support from Benjamin E. Bates, the Boston manufacturer for whom the College was named.
Oren B. Cheney is now honored as the founder and first president of the College. He was followed in 1894 by George Colby Chase, who led the young institution through a period of growth in building, endowment, and academic recognition – a growth that continued from 1920 to 1944 under President Clifton Daggett Gray, and through 1966 under President Charles Franklin Phillips. Thomas Hedley Reynolds, the college’s fifth president, brought Bates national attention by developing a superior faculty and innovative academic programs. Donald West Harward retired in June 2002 after 13 years as president. On July 1, 2002, Elaine Tuttle Hansen, formerly provost at Haverford College, assumed office as the seventh president of Bates College.
Bates has limited its admissions and grown slowly, yet it also has pursued an ambitious program of building and equipment acquisition to support teaching. Dedicated in 1999, the 90,000-square-foot Pettengill Hall provides innovative teaching spaces, faculty office, laboratories, and other facilities for eleven social science departments and interdisciplinary programs.
In 2005, Bates College celebrated its Sesquicentennial, 150-years of history, excellence, and quality. A biography of each of Bates’ Presidents is available online, as well.