Bates College Bates College is a private liberal arts college located in Lewiston , Maine , in the United States . The college was founded in 1855 by abolitionists . Bates College is one of the first colleges in the United States to be coeducational from establishment , and is also the oldest continuously operating coeducational institution in New England . Originally a Free Will Baptist institution , Bates is now a nonsectarian institution . Bates College was ranked 22nd in the nation in the 2013 " US News & World Report " Best Liberal Arts Colleges rankings . The college is listed as one of thirty " Hidden Ivies " and one of the " Little Ivies " . Bates offers 32 departmental and interdisciplinary program majors and 25 secondary concentrations , and confers Bachelor of Arts ( B . A . ) and Bachelor of Science ( B . S . ) degrees . The college enrolls approximately 2 , 000 students , 300 of whom study abroad each semester . The student - faculty ratio is 10 - to - 1 . Bates is a leader of the SAT optional movement for undergraduate admission . In 1984 it instituted one of the first SAT - optional admissions programs in the nation . History . Founded in 1855 , Bates was New England ' s first coeducational college . The founders of Bates were abolitionists , and several of the college ' s earliest students were former slaves . Originally called the Maine State Seminary , it replaced the Parsonsfield Seminary , which burned under mysterious circumstances in 1854 . The Parsonsfield Seminary was founded in 1832 by Free Will Baptists and served as a stop on the Underground Railroad . Parsonsfield ' s Cobb Divinity School , founded in 1840 , merged with Bates in 1870 and eventually became Bates ' religion department . Bates ' religion department is thus 15 years older than the College . As with many New England institutions , religion played a vital role in the college ' s founding . The Reverend Oren Burbank Cheney founded and served as the first president of Bates . He was a Freewill Baptist minister , a teacher , and a former Maine legislator . Cheney and Rev . Ebenezer Knowlton steered through the Maine Legislature a bill creating an educational corporation initially called the Maine State Seminary . Dr . Alonzo Garcelon convinced Cheney and Knowlton to locate the school in Lewiston , Maine ' s fastest - growing industrial and commercial center . Cheney assembled a six - person faculty dedicated to teaching the classics and moral philosophy to both men and women . In 1863 he received a collegiate charter , and obtained financial support for an expansion from the city of Lewiston and from Benjamin E . Bates , the Boston financier and manufacturer whose mills dominated the local riverfront . In 1864 the Maine State Seminary was renamed Bates College . The College consisted of Hathorn and Parker halls and a student body of fewer than 100 . Nearly 200 students and alumni of the College and Seminary served in the American Civil War ( 1861 – 65 ) . Two students from Georgia were the only ones to fight for the Confederacy . With Cheney ' s support , Mary Wheelwright Mitchell became the first woman to graduate from a New England college , class of 1869 . Cheney ensured that no secret societies or fraternities were allowed on campus . One secret society was founded at Bates in 1881 , but the society was not sanctioned by the President or the College . By the end of Cheney ' s tenure , in 1894 , the campus had expanded to and six buildings . In 1894 George Colby Chase , Class of 1868 , succeeded President Cheney . Known as " the great builder , " Chase oversaw the construction of eleven new buildings , including Coram Library , the Chapel , Chase Hall , Carnegie Science Hall , and Rand Hall . Chase tripled the number of students and faculty , as well as the endowment . He discontinued the Cobb Divinity School and Nichols Latin School departments of the College . In 1907 at the request of Chase and the Board , the legislature amended the college ' s charter removing the requirement for the President and majority of the trustees to be Free Will Baptists ; this change to a non - sectarian status allowed the school to qualify for Carnegie Foundation funding for professor pensions . In 1920 Clifton Daggett Gray , a clergyman and former editor of " The Standard " , a Baptist periodical published in Chicago , succeeded President Chase . On campus , renovations were completed on Libbey Forum and the Hedge Science Laboratory , and the Clifton Daggett Gray Athletic Building , Alumni Gymnasium , Stephens Observatory telescope , and Women ' s Locker Building ( now the Muskie Archives ) were constructed . During World War II , when male students abandoned college campuses to enlist in the armed forces , Gray established a V - 12 Navy College Training Program Unit on campus , assuring the College students - men and women - during wartime . When he retired , in 1944 , Gray had increased the student enrollment to more than 700 and doubled the faculty to seventy ; the endowment had doubled to $ 2 million . In 1944 Charles Franklin Phillips , a professor at Colgate University and a leading economist , became Bates ' fourth president . He initiated the Bates Plan of Education , a liberal arts " core " study program . He also directed expansions of campus facilities , including the Memorial Commons , the Health Center , Dana Chemistry Hall , Pettigrew Hall , Treat Gallery , Schaeffer Theatre , and Page Hall . When he retired in 1967 , Phillips left a student body of 1 , 000 and an endowment of $ 7 million . In 1967 Thomas Hedley Reynolds assumed the presidency . His greatest achievement was the development and support of faculty , which brought Bates recognition as a national college . In addition to recruiting teacher - scholars , Reynolds championed better faculty pay , an expanded sabbatical leave program , and smaller classes . Additions to the campus under Reynolds ' presidency included the George and Helen Ladd Library , Merrill Gymnasium and the Tarbell Pool , the Olin Arts Center and the Bates College Museum of Art , as well as the conversion of the former women ' s gymnasium into the Edmund S . Muskie Archives and the acquisition of the Bates - Morse Mountain Conservation Area . Many of the early 20th - century houses on Frye Street that now accommodate students , a popular alternative to larger residential halls , were acquired at this time . Donald West Harward began his service as sixth president of Bates in 1989 . During Harward ' s presidency , students received greater opportunities to study off campus with Bates faculty or in College - approved programs . He integrated more fully into student academic and intellectual life the senior thesis , the important capstone experience that has been a part of the Bates curriculum since the early 20th century but is now a focal point . Under Harward , Bates for the first time in many years reached out institutionally into the community of Lewiston - Auburn . Bates students and faculty built relationships in the community through one of the most active service - learning programs in the country . More than twenty major academic , residential , and athletic facilities were built during his tenure , including Pettengill Hall , the Residential Village and Benjamin E . Mays Center , and the Bates College Coastal Center at Shortridge . Elaine Tuttle Hansen served as Bates ' seventh president from 2002 through June 30 , 2011 . Hansen ' s accomplishments include strengthened student diversity , expanded facilities through a campus master plan process , and completion of a major fundraising effort , " The Campaign for Bates : Endowing Our Values , " which ended in June 2006 and raised nearly $ 121 million , $ 1 million more than its stated goal . Facilities improvements include a new student residence , new campus walkway , new dining commons , and the renovation and expansion of two historic buildings , Hedge and Rogers Williams halls , for academic use . Hansen is now executive director of the Center for Talented Youth at The Johns Hopkins University . On July 1 , 2011 , Nancy J . Cable became interim president , to serve through June 30 , 2012 , while Bates conducts a national search for its eighth president . Cable joined Bates in February 2010 as vice president and dean of enrollment and external affairs . On December 4 , 2011 , the Board of Trustees announced Clayton Spencer as the College ' s 8th President , to assume her duties on July 1 , 2012 . Academics . Academic program . Bates College has been ranked in the top 25 liberal arts schools in " U . S . News and World Report " for the past 20 years . The " Princeton Review " named Bates the No . 1 " Best Value College " in the United States in its 2005 ranking . Bates operates on a 4 - 4 - 1 schedule : two semesters and a month - long " Short Term . " Bates offers 32 departmental and interdisciplinary program majors , and 25 secondary concentrations . The most popular majors at Bates are politics , psychology , economics , biology , English , and history . Of all the students graduating in 2007 , 11 % had a double major while 32 % of students had a secondary concentration ( minor ) . 8 students in the Class of 2007 graduated with an individual interdisciplinary major . All tenured or tenure - track faculty members hold Ph . D . s or other terminal degrees . Bates students work directly with faculty ; the student - faculty ratio is 10 : 1 , and faculty members teach all classes . Every Bates student has an opportunity to work one - on - one with faculty through programs including independent study , senior thesis , and research . Of the seniors of the Class of 2007 97 % completed a senior thesis or project . Sixty - three percent of Fall 2007 class sections had nineteen or fewer students The Bates College Department of Economics ranked second among liberal arts colleges for the number of times its faculty ' s scholarly research is cited by other researchers . Admissions . Bates College has become increasingly more selective over the past few years . The class of 2016 had an acceptance rate of 25 % the most selective class ever at Bates . Acceptance rates at Bates were 26 . 9 % for the Class of 2015 . Bates was called one of the top 20 " toughest to get into " schools by " The Princeton Review " in 2002 . The college is listed as one of thirty " Hidden Ivies " and one of the " Little Ivies . " The highest number of applicants for admission to the college was 5 , 160 for the Class of 2012 , an 11 % increase from the year before . There were 4 , 650 applicants for the Class of 2011 . The record number of applicants for Early Decision to Bates College was 527 for the Class of 2012 , a 22 % increase in applications for Early Decision compared to the Class of 2011 . SAT optional policy . In 1984 , Bates instituted one of the first SAT - optional programs in the United States . In 1990 , the Bates faculty voted to make all standardized tests optional in the college ' s admissions process . In October 2004 , Bates published a study regarding the testing optional policy , and presented it to the National Association for College Admission Counseling . Following two decades without required testing , the college found that the difference in graduation rates between submitters and non - submitters was 0 . 1 % , and that its applicant pool had doubled since the policy was instituted . Approximately 1 / 3 of applicants do not submit scores ; Bates non - submitting students averaged only 0 . 05 points lower on their collegiate Grade Point Average . Applications from minority students have increased dramatically since the policy was implemented . Today , Bates remains a leader in the SAT - optional movement . The Bates College study prompted a movement among small liberal arts colleges to make the SAT optional for admission to college in the early 2000s ( decade ) . According to a 31 August 2006 article in the " New York Times " , " It is still far too early to sound the death knell , but for many small liberal arts colleges , the SAT may have outlived its usefulness . " Graduation and retention . 90 % of students graduate within six years . Bates College is tied for the fifth highest freshmen retention rate of all liberal arts colleges . According to U . S . News and World Report , the average percentage of freshmen entering Bates between 2002 and 2005 who returned for sophomore year was 95 % . Graduate school . Ninety - one percent of Bates College seniors or alumni applying to graduate programs in the health professions were accepted for matriculation in the fall of 2005 . Bates students and alumni are consistently accepted to the top tier of law schools , including Columbia , Cornell , Duke , Harvard , Georgetown , Northwestern , University of Michigan , UC Berkeley , and New York University . More than 70 % of recent alumni earned graduate or professional degrees within 10 years of graduation . In a controversial article published by the Wall Street Journal in 2003 , Bates College was ranked as one of the top schools in the nation for percentage of students entering the top five graduate programs in Business , Law , and Medicine . Study abroad . The percentage of Bates students who study off - campus is relatively high , with 63 % of the Class of 2007 receiving credit for off - campus study . In 2007 , the Institute for International Education ranked Bates 14th among baccalaureate institutions for semester - length study abroad , and 15th for full - year study abroad ( 2005 - 2006 data ) Since 1990 , Bates students have participated in study - abroad programs in almost 80 countries . The five most popular countries for the study abroad program in descending order are Italy , United Kingdom , China , Austria , and Spain . Campus . Bates ' campus includes the George and Helen Ladd Library ; the Olin Arts Center , which houses a concert hall , the Bates College Museum of Art ; and the Edmund S . Muskie Archives and Special Collections Library , which holds the papers of the former governor of Maine , U . S . Senator , United States Secretary of State , author of the Clean Air Act and Clean Water Act , and member of the Class of 1936 . The Library ’ s collections include approximately 620 , 000 catalogued volumes , 2 , 500 serial subscriptions and 27 , 000 audio / video items . There are more than 80 Web - accessible research databases and more than 4 , 000 electronic journals , full - text titles or other electronic resources accessible through the catalog . An automated system links the Bates Library to those of Bowdoin and Colby colleges . Users can search the Web - based catalogs of all three libraries , and request delivery of books and other items directly . Bates students and faculty have borrowing privileges at the Bowdoin and Colby libraries , in person or electronically . Within the Bates Campus lies Mount David — a tall rock outcropping . The College also holds access to the 574 - acre ( 2 . 32 km² ) Bates - Morse Mountain Conservation Area , in Phippsburg , Maine , which preserves one of the few undeveloped barrier beaches on the Atlantic coast ; and the neighboring Bates College Coastal Center at Shortridge , which includes an woodland and freshwater habitat , scientific field station , and retreat center . The campus hosts Gordon Research Conferences during summer . Environmental sustainability . In 2009 Bates was one of 15 colleges in the United States named to the " Green Honor Roll " by Princeton Review . The United States Environmental Protection Agency honored Bates as a member of the Green Power Leadership Club because 96 % of the energy used on campus is from renewable resources . The New Dining Commons , opened in February 2008 , has passive lighting and occupancy sensors to control room lighting , " dual - flush " toilets , recycled and certified - green building materials used in construction , and summer ventilation that is primarily natural — air is cooled mechanically only in the hottest parts of the kitchen . In 2005 Bates committed itself to purchasing its entire electricity supply from renewable energy sources in Maine , specifically biomass generating plants and small hydroelectric producers . In February 2007 , Bates President Elaine Tuttle Hansen signed the American College & University Presidents Climate Commitment . She is one of 62 chief executives in the coalition ' s Leadership Circle , which provides guidance , peer encouragement and direction to the effort . Zipcar car - sharing service became available on campus to faculty , staff and students in 2007 . Bates ' s Dining Services department states that 28 % of its purchases are locally grown or all - natural . Dining Services sends both pre - and post - consumer food waste to local farmers to be composted , and it operates a community outreach program that allows extra food portions to be served at local shelters . Bates earned a " B " grade on the 2009 College Sustainability Report Card ; the school earned " A " s in the Administration , Climate Change & Energy , Student Involvement , Food & Recycling , and Green Building categories . Student life . The approximately 1 , 750 students at Bates come from 46 states and districts , and 65 foreign countries . The state with the highest percentage of students enrolled in the college is Massachusetts with 26 . 7 % . New York comes in second with 13 . 4 % and Maine in third with 10 . 8 % . Most students live in one of the 13 dormitories or 25 Victorian house s on campus . As of 2011 , Bates is the college with the highest tuition in the United States , but this federal ranking doesn ' t consider Bates ' grants of financial aid and it compares Bates ' comprehensive fee , which includes room and board as well as tuition , to other colleges ' tuition only . Bates does not and has never had fraternities or sororities . All campus organizations are open to any student who wishes to join . There are nearly 90 student - run clubs and organizations at Bates , chief among them the Bates College Student Government ( BCSG ) . Some of the most active clubs include : " The Bates Student " has been the main student newspaper since 1873 . " The John Galt Press " , a conservative / libertarian newspaper , was founded and published at Bates and distributed at a number of other colleges and universities , though it has not been printed at Bates since the Winter semester of 2005 . The " Bates College Mirror " has been the student yearbook since 1909 , although annual class photo books date to 1870 . Bates has many official and unofficial annual traditions including WRBC ' s Annual Trivia Night ( since 1979 ) , Puddle Jump , Ronjstock , Senior Pub crawl Parade to the Goose , Lick - It , President ' s Gala , " Ivy Day " ( also known as the Baccalaureate , where class Ivy Stones have been chosen since 1879 ) , Eighties Dance , Halloween Dance , Class Dinner , Harvest Dinner , Triad Dance ( since 1981 ) , Stanton Ride , Mustachio Bashio , Clambake at Popham Beach and Winter Carnival by the Outing Club ( since 1920 ) , Alumni Reunion Parade ( since 1914 ) , and the annual Oxford - Bates debate ( since 1921 ) . Athletics . The Bates Bobcats compete in the NCAA Division III New England Small College Athletic Conference , and Colby - Bates - Bowdoin Consortium . The official school color is garnet ( the Garnet was the original mascot ) , though black is traditionally employed as a complement . Bates is home to one of the oldest college football teams and fields in the United States , Garcelon Field , renovated in 2010 to install a FieldTurf surface , new grandstand and scoreboard , and lights . The first college football game in Maine was played versus Tufts in 1875 . Bates fields 31 varsity teams . There are also intercollegiate club teams in cycling , ice hockey , rugby , sailing , ultimate frisbee , men ' s volleyball and water polo . The men ' s rugby team placed second in the nation in 1997 and has made it to the nationals or regionals all but one year since then . The women ' s rugby regularly makes it to the regionals and made it to the nationals in 2003 . The men ' s club ice hockey team has won the league championship four straight years ( 2006 , 2007 , 2008 , 2009 ) and won the 2008 and 2009 NECHA Cup . Recent NESCAC champions include men ' s track and field ( 2000 ) . The 2004 women ' s basketball team was ranked the number one NCAA Division III team in the United States for most of February 2005 and finished the year ranked number six by the " USA Today " / ESPN Today 25 National Coaches ' Poll . They lost to University of Southern Maine in the Sweet 16 . In May 2009 , Amrit Rupasinghe and Ben Stein won the NCAA Division III tennis doubles championships in Claremont , CA . Stein also reached the singles final . The pair had finished as losing semi - finalists the year before when the NCAA Division III championships was hosted by Bates College at the James Wallach Tennis Center . Since the 2010 , the Varsity Women ' s Rowing Team has finished 2nd for team standings at the NCAA championship . The Varsity Men ' s Rowing Team has had similar success , with a second place finish at the 2012 ECAC / National Invitational and an international appearance at the Royal Henley Regatta in 2009 . Bates ' tradition with rowing was highlighted when Andrew Byrnes ( class of 2005 ) won the Olympic Gold medal while rowing for the Canadian National team in 2008 in Beijing . In the winter of 2008 , Bates Nordic Skier Sylvan Ellefson was the highest ranked skier in the EISA and placed a record 4th in NCAA Division I championships , the best ever for a Bates skier . The Bates College athletics department was ranked 19th out of 420 in the 2005 NCAA Division III winter rankings . In addition to outdoor athletic fields , Bates has indoor and outdoor tracks , a swimming pool , squash courts , an ice hockey rink , a boathouse , several basketball courts , indoor and outdoor tennis courts , an independent weight room with treadmills and elliptical machines , and an astroturf field . Alumni . Many notable individuals have attended Bates College , including Civil War hero Holman S . Melcher ( 1862 ) , prominent biologist and professor Herbert E . Walter ( 1892 ) , president of Morehouse College and mentor to Martin Luther King Jr . Benjamin Mays ( 1920 ) , U . S . Secretary of State Edmund Muskie ( 1936 ) , U . S . Attorney General Robert F . Kennedy ( 1944 – 45 as part of the Navy ' s V - 12 program ) , Harvard minister and theologian Peter J . Gomes ( 1965 ) , award - winning television journalist Bryant Gumbel ( 1970 ) , U . S . Representative Robert Goodlatte ( 1974 ) , CEO of Medco Health Solutions David B . Snow Jr . ( 1976 ) , author and 2009 Pulitzer Prize winner Elizabeth Strout ( 1977 ) , corporate vice president at Microsoft Rick Thompson ( 1981 ) , award - winning investigative reporter and news presenter Jonathan Hall ( 1983 ) , published bioengineer John R . Hetling ( 1989 ) , editor of Time Magazine Online Joshua Macht ( 1991 ) , blues musician Corey Harris ( 1991 ) , and neuroscientist and author Lisa Genova ( 1992 ) .