Bates College traditions

Did You Know?

• Bowdoin developed a football fight song titled "Forward the White" in 1913.
• All football games between Bates and Bowdoin occurred on Bates' Garcelon Field (1899) and Bowdoin's Whittier Field (1902).

Wintertime traditions

The Bates Outing Club has held a Winter Carnival since 1920, occurring on odd to even years, as a themed four-day event with performances, dances, and games. Past carnivals have included a Swiss Olympic skier descending Mount David, faculty-student football games, faculty and administration skits, oversized snow sculptures, serenading of dormitories, and expeditions to Camden. When alumnus Edmund Muskie, Class of 1936, was Governor of Maine, he participated in a torch relay from Augusta to Lewiston for the 1960 Winter Olympics. Robert F. Kennedy and his naval classmates built a replica of their Massachusetts boat out of snow in front of Smith Hall during the carnival. This tradition is the second oldest of its kind in the United States, after Dartmouth College's. Mustachio Bashio, an annual party celebrating beards and mustaches held during Winter Carnival, was profiled by The New York Times in 2010. Newman Day, referenced in The Bates Student as early as the late 1970s, originally involved students throwing food in the dining hall. It debuted in the January 1976 Winter Carnival when a student quoted Paul Newman saying, "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not." Originally called Paul Newman Day, it was renamed Newman Day and involves consuming one beer every hour from 12:00 am to 11:59 pm on April 24. Newman opposed the tradition, and in 2004 his lawyer sent letters to Princeton University and Bates registering disapproval. Bates disavowed responsibility, stating the event is not sponsored, endorsed, or encouraged by the college. Participants continue the celebration, during which sleeping or vomiting constitutes a reset requiring restart from zero.

Summertime traditions

Bates' founder was a friend of U.S. Senator Charles Sumner, an abolitionist who believed in integrated schools and equal rights. Sumner suggested the Latin motto amore ac studio, translated as "with love for learning" or "with ardor and devotion.

Annual traditions

Bates has many official and unofficial annual traditions, including WRBC's Annual Trivia Night (since 1979), Ronjstock (since 2000), Senior Pub Crawl Parade to the Goose, Lick-It, Eighties Dance, Halloween Dance, Class Dinner, Harvest Dinner, Triad Dance (since 1981), Stanton Ride (1800s to 1960s, with a revival in the 2000s), Clambake at Popham Beach, Winter Carnival by the Outing Club (since 1920), Alumni Reunion Parade (since 1914), and the annual Oxford–Bates debate (since 1921).