- Mailing Address
-
2 Andrews Rd
Lewiston, Maine 04240
- Phone
- (207) 786-6255
- School Information
- 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.
- General Information
- "The Office of Equity and Inclusion (OEI) is an institutional partner in the advancement of the college’s commitment to inclusive excellence and educational justice. Through close collaboration with the campus community, the OEI works to create a welcoming, inclusive, physically safe, and appreciative educational experience for all constituents. The OEI is committed to training and development of all campus community members. As a thought leader in our racial and equity work, the OEI is supporting faculty and staff as they move through the first stages of racial equity training, members from the office helped lead the first year Centering Racial Equity workshop for the class of 2023 and will be developing a strategic plan for training and workforce development moving forward. Along with racial equity training for faculty, staff, students and senior administrators, the college has hired their first Vice President of Equity and Inclusion to help frame the next iteration of this work as a senior administrator. The VPEI will build on the good work of colleagues, previous and current, in meeting the every changing and growing diversity of needs in the campus community." (source: https://www.bates.edu/equity-inclusion/)