Bates College Top Questions

What are the most popular student activities/groups?

Morgan

old commons trays + huge snowbanks = glorious fun!

Morgan

Jumping in the Pond in Maine in January.

Donelle

Almost everybody is in a sport or a club and is pretty passionate about participating in their respective activities.

Rebecca

I met my closest friends during freshman orientation; we all lived on the same hall, and within a few days of arriving on campus I called home and said I'd met the girls who would one day be my bridesmaids. I was in an all-freshman dorm my first year, and most people had their doors open most of the time. It was very welcoming, and gave the dorm a very homey feel. I think that's more common in freshman dorms than in upper-class dorms because people are more eager to meet each other; later on, everyone already has their group. One of the most popular and outlandish traditions is the puddle jump--there's a pond on campus, and in the middle of winter, the outing club cuts a big hole in the ice and students jump in, wearing anything from a full-body spandex suit to absolutely nothing. There's a bonfire with refreshments going on at the same time, and even those people who don't jump often go to watch. Everyone should do it once before they graduate.

John

Outing club is our most popular group, though they're a little bit stuffy. They go on hikes and stuff. Every week they try to bring musical groups in, and those are really popular. The dating scene is non-existent. Just random "hookups". I don't drink, and I don't feel left out that much. Still, you will almost always find one or two parties happening at Bates.

Jesse

People just sit around and get high all day and then try and fumble through their classes.

Rachel

Parties are easily findable and avoidable. With the wide variety of residences, there is no need to live somewhere with the wrong number of parties, and it's always possible to visit someone who lives with a different amount of activity.

Laura

Students almost always leave doors open. Everyone is pretty trusting on campus...no one I know locks their computer, and people often leave laptops and backpacks out in the library or other study spaces unattended. Frats and sororities never have, nor will they ever be allowed at Bates. The party scene can get pretty crazy, but it's always low-key and non-exclusive. People save partying for the weekends, though. The weekdays and nights are almost universally used for studying.

George

Off the top of my head, it seems like the crew team and all a-cappella groups are the popular and most talked-about groups on campus. If you see something missing, you’re encouraged to start your own group and get a [small] budget as long as it’s something within reason. There are always things to do. Especially on the weekends, it seems as though you usually have to strategically plan out your days so that you can hit everything you want to and still get your homework done. One of my favorite events is Village Club Series, which hosts a musical artist to play in a coffeehouse-like setting every Thursday night. There’s free chai and relaxing music from up-and-coming musicians, often singer-songwriter types. It’s the perfect event for a Thursday evening. Since we’re a small school, you almost always know someone involved in a student-centered activity that’s going on. In fact, it seems like everyone knows someone in an a-cappella group, so pretty much the whole school shows up when there’s an a-cappella performance. Last year, the NCAA Div. III Men’s Tennis tournament was held here, and there was a great turnout to support our players. Professors and their families also love to come to events like these, which is pretty cool. Ah, the social scene. Partying definitely occurs on the weekends, but there’s always alcohol-not-necessary-to-have-fun events, and also people just playing board games and people watching a game on TV and having just a beer or two. On a Friday at dinner, you’ll often hear buddies asking each other, “You drinking tonight?” Any response is accepted by the asker – usually s/he’s just looking to plan for the night ahead, not pressure a friend into anthing. Overall, if you wanna party with alcohol, there’s opportunities to do that, but if you wanna party without drinking or just hangout on a weekend, you’ll feel free to do that. Also, because of dorm designations (low-chem, chem free, etc.), there are dorms that lend themselves more to partying, so you have some control over how party-centered your floormates will be, depending on where you choose to live.

Dan

At Bates, we tend to make our own fun, like cutting a hole in the ice over Lake Andrews and jumping in or occasionally escaping to Boston, Montreal or Quebec City. Closer to home are Freeport, where you can buy from the LL Bean factory outlet or watch a free Bela Fleck and the Flecktones concert. Portland, just 40 minutes south of Bates is a great little city. With a population of 230,000, you can bet there's plenty to do: go out to a nice dinner, hop around Old Port near the water with its cool shops and restaurants or just explore, you'll find something or someone interesting. On campus, the student run Village Club Series brings in musicians from across the country to perform (my freshmen year, the Root's played to a very enthusiastic Bates crowd). Our music department also has an artist in residence, right now Frank Glazer the celebrated concert pianist, who offers frequent performances on campus as well. As far as partying goes, there's really no shortage. Bates isn't a party school, but I'd say we fit the cliché; work hard, play hard. Just ask a Batesie about Lick-it or the 80's dance.

Mel

There are no frats or sororities at Bates, which is something that we're proud of. You'll always be able to get into a house party or an off-campus party, even as a freshman. And overall, freshmen are treated really well at Bates. One of the most comforting things about Bates socially is that beer is essentially legal inside dorms. Security will hassle you if you're drinking outside, but they are pretty laid-back. That said, drinking is not essential for having fun and making connections at Bates. There are a lot of plays, guest lecturers, student musical performances and art exhibitions to attend, just to break up the monotony of drinking Pabst Blue Ribbon and looking at the snow.

Gene

There are a lot of student organizations and clubs on campus to get involved with. The most popular ones are acapella and bands on campust. There are frequently guest speakers and athletic events. People generally meet their closest friends freshman year.

Alex

There are always a few parties on weekdays, especially at off-campus housing. There is always a particular activity or party on any given weekend as well, planned by one of many student organizations. People drink a lot of beer and smoke a lot of pot. These gatherings can get boring, though, since they're all the same. Lewiston really should cater to the needs and likes of the Bates community - the town is terribly boring.

T-Pain

There are no frats or anything on campus but there are lot of oncampus houses that have parties on the weekend. Footballs pretty nice but obvisouly it's not for everybody. Most people are friends based ont he groups they belong to but everyone knows each and there's not a lot of drama. People party usually on Friday and Saturday except during short term when it's bascially a party every night.

Nina

The most popular groups on campus are the student radio station and the outing club.

Amy

I wish more people would go to athletic events, but the stands are never empty. Basketball is really popular, so is Lacrosse and Football. No fraternities/sororities on campus. Never have been, never will be. Best thing ever. Some think that athletic teams take over the "house party" needs that organized social houses would have been on top of, but that's not always the case. And anyways, someone will throw a party, does it matter who?

Blake

There are endless opportunities to join clubs/sports/etc at Bates at any time of the year. The social life isnt like a big school such that we dont have a greek life. But everyone and anyone is welcome to any party. You dont have to pay for beer if you aren't hosting (BIG BONUS TO GO TO THIS SCHOOL). Security is awesome. They usually arent there to screw you over. Instead they want you to be safe. You have to be pretty careless to get a strike. Unless you have hard alcohol in plain view of security. At bates we do have a hard alcohol bane. So dont show it and they dont know you have it. Its as simple as that.

Lily

A lot of students are involved in athletics, including varsity teams, intramural sports, or club teams. There is also a lot of community service involvement. Students seem to get involved in anything around campus, including theater, music, other arts, and so forth. I'm a member of the track team and I was a member of the ballroom dancing team last fall, which was a new and exciting experience. I met a lot of my closest friends by where we are located on campus. My closest friends lived near me last year so we chose to live near each other again the following year. There is no greek life, so most parties are in dorm rooms, floors of dorms, or off campus houses. People party on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays. We don't necessarily go out each night, but those are the big nights on campus. It is not hard to find a party, but at the end of the night, most people are ordering in Papa Johns or getting food at Milts. Most partying is on campus but the upperclassmen can also be found at the few bars in Lewiston. When no parties are going on, there are always events on campus, like plays, concerts, comedians, and other special events. Students will often attend these events and then go out partying afterward.

Alvin

Environmental Coalition sucked, no one really cares as much as complain about the environment...There´s a lack of action in most clubs, but of course it depends who´s in the clbu, but most don´t do anything Bates Football is awful, everyone wants it cut except for the Football players and alums, it was once on SI´s and Espn Page 2´s worst football programs list and was known to have the one of nation´s longest losing streaks in collegiate football... No one really cares about sports fanwise, but there are a lot of student athletes and IM sports participation is big People work hard, they party hard (no frats or sororities here though). People usually don´t sleep well, except on weekends.. Friends come through random connections, common interests, classes taken, and dorms lived in together, nothing out of the norm really JA´s and RC´s are a disappointment, don´t expect them to help, they´re pretty inept, one JA actually hogged the dorm´s condoms to himself

Parker

Lots of great dorm / house parties. That's Bates social scene in a nutshell. There is no Greek life (thank god) and Bates has a welcoming culture so most anyone can float in and out of any party and feel perfectly comfortable. My group of guys was based on the rowing team but my broader friend group was really diverse. As far as the classic, "are the dorm room doors left open" question is concerned, the answer is yes, absolutely. Bates has a number of simple fun traditions like the puddle jump (february polar bear club) and Gala that really unite campus and everyone enjoys. Plenty of student groups to see perform: very active theater, dance, acapella, stand-up comedy, and many student bands are all things I attended consistently.

Morgan

Everyone lives on campus, there are very few people who live off campus because the school is not in the best of areas. Because of this all the parties, etc. are always on campus in dorms or on campus houses. The alcohol policy tends to be very lax when dealing with beer and wine, however as soon as hard alcohol is used, whether your 21 or not, you can get in a lot of trouble. The "big" nights for going out are usually thursdays and saturdays. Fridays people will drink, howevr usually not that much because everyone is tried from a full week of classes and studying so people generally like to sleep and relax on Fridays. If you are an athlete, you usually can not go out as much as much as people who do not play a sport. You will have practices and games 6 days a week, and its not until the mid season that the coaches will give their players sundays off (which allows athletes to drink saturdays). Before that random days are given off, such as a Tuesday, so there is not much parties to be done.

Shannon

house parties, some bars (id is required), a lot of partying in dorms. beer is allowed in all dorms even all freshmen dorms. students drink a lot. a lot of smokers on campus, mostly marijuana,, not so much cigarettes.off campus parties are more for upper class. freshmen usually party with themselves which is better anyway for solidarity and meeting people.

Doug

Students at Bates love Bates, love Partying, love Electronic music, and love dancing. Radio is really big at Bates, and listenership is up among students, and in the local communities. There are no Frats or Sororities, so clubs mean a lot. People at Bates get out and support their friends, at Shows, Games, etc. Its a great place to be.

Erin

Bates social life, unfortunately in my opinion, tends to revolve around the drinking scene. The college offers non-alcoholic events most weekends, but they are not well attended. I was not part of this scene, so most of my free time was spent with other non-drinking friends watching movies and playing games. There is a small group of students who don't drink, and in my opinion they are the coolest people who permeate every aspect of Bates, but they are the minority. Theatre, concerts and atheltic events are not the highlight of the social scene, but are always well-performed and worth going to! Most students prefer to participate in unorganized events. When the weather is nice though, especially during Short Term (May!), everyone is out on the quad playing frisbee or croquet or reading or baseball. Bates doesn't have a "dating scene" because there are few places to go out in the area. It is more of a long-standing hook-up scene. Rumor has it that 60-70{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of Batesies go on to marry other Batesies, though not until 5-10 years out of college. I met my closest friends through my freshman housing which was the chem-free house and then through these friends as well. In some houses people leave their doors open, but this doesn't happen as much in the dorms.

Caroline

Sports teams are probably the greatest social groups on campus and tend to have a demanding impact on the schools social activities but there are other parts of campus most specifically the 'outdoors kids' who mostly live in houses on Frye street have another demanding influence on campus social life. Students live in dorm and house. Bates housing is unique because they have many dorms but also own a substantial number of homes in or around campus for student housing which gives a completely different living experience! People party very frequently, and there is not a lot to do on campus that does not invole drinking unless going to the parties and not drinking. I must say that as a student athlete and not being able to drink often in season i still have a great time without drinking.

Alex

So much to do... always!! Choose wisely!

Ryan

Bates prides itself on its extracurricular activities. I would venture to say that every student participates in atleast 1 extracurricular activities, whether it be the Bates Outing Club (BOC) or athletics or political or academic groups.

Marie

Social life - which consists of performing your membership to what is essentially Greek Life OR to "chem free living" - is extremely important at Bates. It's a tight knit community, which is euphemistic for gossip-centric, though in more subtle ways as it takes on the facade of being "outdoorsy" (which initially contrasts with the gossip girl thing)... There are very few cultural opportunities at the school, relative to other colleges of our "ranking", with a weekend night's options including the screening of one blockbuster hit per Fri-Sat night in a classroom in Olin.

Royce

The outing club is the biggest club on Bates campus. Students are automatically members and have access to a plethora of athletic equipment. Members send emails around all the time asking if people are interested in embarking on outdoor adventures. The greatest thing about Bates clubs is that they are non-exclusive--- anyone can join anything. The activities fair at the beginning of the year is over the top and amazing---- Upper class club members set up tables underneath the library quad and try to coerce freshmen into joining their clubs. Freshman year I signed up for rugby and the water polo team-- neither of which am I qualified for.

Sam

The biggest problem for me at Bates is too many activities, which can at times be overwhelming... but never boring! For me the summer tends to be a break in which I get some alone time, because at Bates I am constantly with friends. Athletic events are not as popular as other schools (our teams tend to not be that good) but any event tends to be well attended. Traditions (puddle-jump, pub-crawl, Nemann day, etc.) are numerous and endlessly entertaining. And the chem-free scene is vibrant. I didn't drink as a freshman or sophomore, and felt completely welcomed at every event that I wanted to attend. A welcome change from the institution I transferred from.

Sarah

Social life at Bates is pretty cliquey. I have been disappointed to find that the environmental activities, outing club activities, and even the Ronj (the on campus coffee shop) are enshrouded in pervasive social groups that are quite exclusive. My saving grace is the folk circle, which I find to be an incredibly warm, off-beat, accepting group of people. This has become my absolute favorite part of Bates. It is a small, but thriving culture that brings charm to the campus.

Sarah

I am part of the sailing team, which is, in my opinion, the best team on campus. We are completely student run and self-motivated. We have set high goals for ourselves and even though we are considered a club team by the school, we provide fierce competition for our division 1 competitors! The team is also very close: we have weekly gatherings and fabulous theme parties. The social scene, in terms of the dating scene, is a little rough towards the end of four years. But, it's okay - who needs a serious boyfriend in college, anyway? You are too focused on yourself and what you want to do with your life. That is most important. The traditions at Bates are great fun - the pub crawl, the puddle jump, midnight madness... they are what bond students together.

kevin

Truthfully, if you're social you have no problem fitting in to anything at Bates. We party and bullshit a lot! If you say Bates isn't fun, chances are you've convinced yourself of that way before you visited. Like any other place in this world, "In order for shit to happen you have to make it happen." All i can say is don't expect something to make things fun for you. Step up and do it yourself. That's what i do. Don't believe me ask about me "Kevin Artist Chambers" AKA "Artist"

Elliot

There are too big things I like most about Bates. First of all I love the New Commons. The New Commons is the place where we eat all of our meals on campus. It was built during the 07-08 school year and has such a variety that no matter what i am craving, they will have it. Whether it is belgium waffles with whipped cream and strawberries in the morning or a nice bowl of Lucky Charms at nine o'clock at night, they have it. Chicken Patty Saturday's is a tradition that has stretched back for many years. The Second thing I most importantly love is the Sense of school spirit. I love the way that all sporting events are free, and how people from the community are there to support us. I love playing basketball in Alumni Gym against a rival team and having the heat cranked up and the seats packed and overflowed with win hungry fans. Sports are big at Bates, and i like knowing that there are so many people there that support our team.

Melissa

Tons and Tons of clubs on campus, Outing Club one of the largest and most active clubs for sure. It has the 2nd largest club budget next to the club that organizes school concerts, and every time of the outling club budget is spent, ranging from new skis, snowboards, hatchets or footing the bill for a school wide clambake. Traditions include the puddle jump, jumping into the only water body on campus in the dead of winter.

Rob

I've rarely been bored here. There's always something to do, whether it involves drinking or not. My social scene revolves around Frye Street, an off campus street where Bates owns houses. The dating scene here is pretty odd in that random hookups often develop into relationships.

Devin

Bates has a very active social life. The college hosts a ton of concerts and other forms of entertainment every weekend. The outing club always sponsors local trips. Students will always be partying on the weekend, but it does not dominate the social scene. There are always bus trips to major cities around New England. We have tons of very fun traditions that almost all Batesies attend. I met some of my closest friends on my hall freshman year and I made a lot of other great friends during freshman orientation AESOP trips, classes, and clubs. Unforutnately Bates does not have a dating scene, there are hook-ups and people in very serious relationships, those are pretty much the two poles.

Kate

There are a lot of organizations here on campus, and if there isn't one that suits your fancy, it is really easy to start one up. Also, sports are HUGE here. I think its something like 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c} of our kids participate in athletics in some way...there's the varsity level, the club level, and the intramural level, all of which are a lot of fun. We're division 3, so we don't recruit, and basically anyone can join in the fun. Running for Bates is my favorite thing about the college. Most of this stuff goes on during the week, and there isn't always a lot of stuff to do on the weekends. Sure, there's a concert or a play every now and then, but not as many as admissions makes it seem like. Also, Lewiston isn't really the safest, nicest town to be hanging out in. So, basically...much of what goes on during the weekends is alcohol-related. Everyone says you can still party if you don't drink, but let's face it, it's really not that easy or comfortable, so if you're not a big drinker, you may have a hard time with the weekend life. People never really party during the week though; if you're up at 2:00am on a random tuesday night, you are probably in your room writing a paper that's due tomorrow. As for the dating scene....we're more of a random-hookup campus. And there are no fraternities or sororities-there never have been.

Casey

The Bates social life is the best. Whether it is playing indoor soccer or beer pong on a wednesday night... There are a plethora of social activities to keep your mind engaged.

Ben

All kinds of activities are possible at Bates--my taste runs to outing club adventuring (rock climbing, backpacking, wielding chainsaws, etc.) and cycling on the ill-maintained back roads of Maine. I also work as a campus EMT, so I see and deal with firsthand the worst that can occur at parties on a regular basis. I'd say that by and large, sports events do not draw large crowds, though most students are involved in some kind of athletic endeavor. We keep our dorm doors open, and we are more likely to be battling an essay at 2 AM on a Tuesday than getting housed. One noble tradition at Bates is the Puddle Jump, hosted annually as the culmination of Winter Carnival, during which the outing club saws a good chunk of ice out of Lake Andrews (the Puddle, our small campus pond), and brave/foolhardy students jump in and out of the frigid water before running over to the raging bonfire on shore. We have no frats/sororities, which I think is great--I spend my weekends doing a combination of hiking, drinking, going out to breakfast at one of the numerous local diners, and facing an enormous and grim workload on Sunday evenings. My usual solution for this workload is to make my way to one of my favorite places on campus--the Ronj, a student-run coffeehouse which is open every night. I then proceed to divide my time between actually getting my work done, and playing pool or hanging out with my friends who work there.

David

There are a lot of groups and activities. Once again, you can participate as much as you are willing to put in the effort. A Capella groups are very prevalent and there is some great theater and dance. Socially, there is as much partying as anywhere else. Bates has taken a very mature and helpful approach to alcohol.

Alex

Students at Bates are responsible. They take care of their own property as well as those of others. They take care of themselves as well as others. Bates students wouldn't let their friends drink irresponsibly.

Jenny

The most popular thing to do is a varsity sport. A lot of students play sports, and even the intramural games can get pretty intense. We don't have fraternities or sororities so the sports teams that get houses together sort of substitute as frats. There's a soccer house, baseball house, etc. While a lot of people drink, and do so a lot of the time, there are definitely people who do work on the weekends, and who have fun without drinking. However it is not difficult to find alcohol whatsoever. Also it's not difficult to drink alcohol. Unless you are being a complete idiot about it, it's really hard to get in trouble for drinking. Security is much stricter about hard alcohol than beer. If they see you drinking a beer in the hallway they'll most likely just tell you to get in a room, and if they see you drinking beer in a room they'll most likely just stop in and say hi. Security is definitely not out to bag as many people as possible, but just to keep us safe.

Stuart

Social life freshman year often revolves around floors and dorms. parties are prevalent on weekends as im sure they are on any college campus. No frats or sororities at all which is awesome. If you attend a football game at bates its only to laugh as they loose or because you are friends with a player. much of the social scene is around clubs which can become very close cohesive groups of friends. The college does a lot to allow for clubs to be able to do some cool things so its definitely worth being a part of something, and you certainly wont find a lack of something to be a part of. dating is not really a thing at Bates. For one reason or another it fosters long term relationships. So people dont really casually go on a couple dates so much as be friends first and then be together for a very long time.

Mallory

A cappella here is amazing! People rarely lock their doors during the day since all the residential houses are only open to students. Athletics are popular here but not a huge deal in terms of spectators. Theater is wonderful, there are so many opportunities and I love going to see the variety of shows and performances happening within any given week. The library closes too early for my tastes but there is another academic building (fondly called "P-Gill" that is always open and this is the best place to study, complete with an airy atrium, trees, and water fountains. People party LOTS because there is not a lot to do within the Lewiston community, so sometimes it can be boring because the parties are not fun, they only consist of people sitting around getting smashed without actually enjoying themselves. People start drinking really early and pass out on weekends earlier than they stayed up studying during the weekdays. Downhill skiing is really big here and transportation to nice venues like Sunday River and Sugarloaf is not hard to find. There are lots of fun traditions, like Late-Night Breakfast the week of finals and the "Puddle Jump" (a mid-January opportunity to jump into a hole carved in the pond on campus). We have Zip Car, which is really nice.

April

Every day there is something going on. On the weekend during the winter most people will drink but that happens at every college with snow. There are activities like the Puddle jump, winter carnival , movies in our theatre, plays, music concerts, dances. This past weekend was Gala (Bates Prom) it is fabulous, and this year we spent 70 grand on it!

Anna

There are no frats on Bates, but there is a street of wood frame houses that host some pretty sweet parties. For the underclassmen, most parties involve cheap beer and are centered around a beruit table (first thing I learned at Bates College: It's NOT beer pong!). For the most part, parties aren't exclusive and they are plenty of times when all the classes mix. All-school dances get pretty crazy and well attended, especially 80's dance at the beginning of the year. Our "trashy to classy" weekend in March involves Lick-It dance, on Friday night where the objective is to wear as little clothing as possible followed by Gala on Saturday, a semi-formal dance. Don't drink? There's plenty of others who don't and they're not ostracized or anything. There's always concerts, movies, plays, guest-speakers, intense bingo-nights, or something going on. Also, late night breakfasts at Commons during finals week make my life complete!

Sasha

The most common groups on campus are the Outing club, the chase hall committee, the religious groups, all of the athletic teams (IM, club and varsity), the acapella groups, the debate team, the EMS crew, the newspaper, OUTfront, the strange bedfellows, student government, and the radio station. Other than that, most clubs arent even heard of. I'm involved in a club sport, and OUTfront. Its two very particular groups of people, and that is primarily who I spend time with. Athletics are one of the biggest things on campus. Next to that is art (singing, instruments, theater). Like I mentioned before, the dating scene for a queer is hard. I just started dating someone outside of Bates and its released this huge weight off of my shoulders that I had been feeling since the day I got here. If you're awake on a tuesday, you're working. Or having a deep conversation with a friend. Otherwise, you're just a crazy insomniac. Frats and Sororities dont exist. Thats what sports teams are for. What can you do on a saturday night that doesnt involve drinking? Work, a movie, or go to bed.

Morgan

Bates is close to Bowdoin College and Colby College. A healthy and undying rivalry exists between the three schools, though they offer activities to each other. Concerts at any of the three colleges are generally open to the students of the other two colleges. Events on campus reflect a braod range of interests. On any given weekend, a student at Bates can take in a movie, attend a concert, see a play, and go to a party. There are upwards of 80 active clubs on campus, each regularly sponsoring events. The most popular events generally involve dancing and alcohol, though there are activities for non-drinkers as well. The art community at Bates regularly has gatherings at the on-campus museum, and there are always dinners to go to during the week, when Commons food becomes unbearable or one feels like something a little different. The college Announce system does a good job of informing students of activities by nearly clogging students' inboxes with e-mails about activities. Groups like the Brooks Quimby Debate Council are especially active both on and off campus. As a member, students have the opportunity to travel almost every weekend to compete in debate tournaments at other colleges, and even in places like England or Singapore. All of the trips are paid for by the college, which means that all students have the ability to participate. This year alone, I've attended 14 tournaments all over New England. When all else fails, students can always study. There is always work to be done, so when the social scene fails, most Batesies curl up in the Atrium of Pettengill Hall or in the library and study, study, study for the next exam or paper. Bates is also constant party. Many of the houses off-campus or on Frye Street hold parties, and on any given night, a group of people will be up for drinking and partying. Nothing gets too out of control, due to security's watchful eye (the head of security is a former FBI higher-up) and the school's hard alcohol ban. There are no fraternities or sororities at Bates, but that does not hinder the social scene at all. Indeed, it probably aids it, since people of different groups easily mix and mingle at any given party. The dating scene can get a little stale if you're gay, but otherwise is quite plentiful. Bates seems to be a place where hooking up is more normal than sustaining a relationship. Because the school is small, everyone knows or knows of everyone else. This is great because one can always find a friend to hang out with. It can be bad, however, if one commits a major social faux pas: everyone will know and fast. Nevertheless, the rumor mill at Bates is shortlived and people generally forget faster than they remember. Most Batesies live on campus, which means that, in order to get along, forgetting is usually better for everyone. It also means that people are almost excessively friendly, saying hi almost always in passing, and willing to meet and talk with someone new. Within that, however, there are cliques on campus. Most of my friends, for example, are people I met in my dorm. Even within my dorm, there are cliques, and strong ones at that. The general rule of thumb about Batesies is that while they are willing to meet and befriend someone new, there is always a particular group with primary loyalty.

Lisa

Strong rivalries with fellow NESCAC schools such as Colby and Williams keep the athletic programs alive. Although the athletics teams do not always win, the school followings are large and enthusiastic, especially for basketball and ice hockey. Sports at the varsity as well as club and intramural levels give students of all athletic ability the chance to participate and have fun. Although an overwhelming percentage of the students are from New England, most students stick around on the weekends; the school puts on great concerts, dances, and $1 movies. As soon as the weather turns nice, the quad is teeming with life. Spontaneous games of wiffle ball, frisbee, soccer, and football break out, and the sounds of guitar or drumming can also be heard. There is no "typical" Friday night at Bates. The school often hosts activities such as bands and comedians, and a movie is brought to campus every weekend, giving the students lots of choices. Students also frequently organize other bands to play at the Ronj, the campus coffee house. Performances of the college's improv comedy group The Strange Bedfellows always pack the room, as do concerts by the school's four a capella groups. Parties are also common, but tend to be smaller gatherings than what are seen at larger colleges. Like all colleges, alcohol has a large presence on campus but is not necessarily a staple of Bates nightlife. The students are as friendly as they come, always holding doors and saying please and thank you.