Showing 11 - 20 of 36 Items

Date: 2019-06-01

Creator: Bruce Blaisdell

Access: Open access

Bruce Blaisdell (Class of 1969) talks about finding Bowdoin through the advice of a neighbor who was the daughter of Donovan Lancaster, head of the College’s Dining Services. He discusses living away from home for the first time and acclimating to the boisterousness of fraternity life in Phi Delta Psi. He talks about finding a passion for biology and learning to balance his social life with academics. He touches on his on-campus jobs, including being a steward in the fraternity, and extracurricular activities, like the swim team and the Outing Club. He reminisces about the Senior Center Program. Reflecting on the world outside of Bowdoin, Blaisdell mentions the Vietnam War and the Civil Rights Movement and their impact on campus.

Date: 2019-06-01

Creator: Madelena Rizzo

Access: Open access

Madelena Rizzo (Class of 2014) talks about moving from Pennsylvania to Maine and the central and important role that Bowdoin’s community, including peers, faculty, and staff, played in her college experience. She describes her decision to join the Cross Country and Track teams, as well as other extracurricular activities like working with Amnesty International and babysitting for faculty and staff. Rizzo speaks about her French immersion study-away experience in Poitiers, France, and the following summer she spent back in Maine interning at Long Creek Youth Development Center. In addition, she reflects on the stress of Bowdoin academics and adjusting to life away from home.

Date: 2019-06-01

Creator: Sally Spencer-Thomas

Access: Open access

Sally Spencer-Thomas (Class of 1989) describes deciding to apply to Bowdoin after feeling valued during her campus visit. Considering fraternities, she recalls both the benefits of making friends through Delta Kappa Epsilon, but also the challenges of the heavy drinking culture and problematic attitudes about sex and relationships. Spencer-Thomas comments on her study-away experience at the University of Stockholm. She reminisces on studying Art and Psychology and mentions her painting sessions in the old morgue at Adams Hall. She reflects on the support of the Bowdoin community since the death of her brother, also an alumnus. Finally, she comments on her multi-generational view of Bowdoin by sharing her impressions of the College through the eyes of her father and son.

Date: 2019-05-31

Creator: Noah Gavil

Marta Misiulaityte

Shannon Grimes

Access: Open access

Noah Gavil (Class of 2014), Marta Misiulaityte (Class of 2014), and Shannon Grimes (Class of 2014) reflect together on the way their different paths led to Bowdoin and to friendship with one another. They speak about the trials and triumphs of trying to find one’s place as well as the difficulty of learning to manage the pressures and expectations that they felt as Bowdoin students. Additionally, they comment in depth on their study-away experiences and describe the passions and interests their abroad experiences sparked in them. The three touch on a wide range of extracurricular activities, on-campus jobs, and areas of study, and reminisce fondly on the relationships they built with peers, faculty, and staff.

Date: 2019-05-31

Creator: Kailey Bennett

Access: Open access

Kailey Bennett (Class of 2014) speaks about how Bowdoin’s walkability and adjacent transit services drew her to attend, while also discussing the difficulties of transitioning from southern Texas to Brunswick. She reflects on the importance of having a supportive host family with whom she has remained in touch post-grad. Bennett describes the stigma surrounding chem-free housing and her participation in efforts taken by spaces like Howell House to combat it. She also talks about spending summers at Bowdoin, her on-campus jobs in Special Collections & Archives and Dining, living on the “tour floor” in Hyde Hall, and her love of Visual Arts and Earth and Oceanographic Sciences.

Date: 2019-06-01

Creator: Edward Langbein

Access: Open access

Edward “Ed” Langbein, Jr. (Class of 1957) describes adjusting to Bowdoin’s small size and the freedom of college life. He discusses rushing Alpha Tau Omega, fraternity culture, and two stories of hazing which included excursions called “Quests.” Langbein speaks about participating in the White Key, an interfraternity sports organization, and rising through the managerial ranks of the football team. Additionally, he comments on the events and atmosphere of Ivies weekend, having helped to plan it one year. He reminisces on the faculty and staff who mentored and supported him and offers advice to current and future Bowdoin students.

Date: 2019-06-01

Creator: Christopher Lierle

Access: Open access

Christopher “Chris” Lierle (Class of 1989) discusses adjusting to Bowdoin life from the West Coast and making close friendships despite the culture shock. He speaks about the importance of extracurricular activities during his time at Bowdoin and reminisces on his experiences with the football team and winning the Best Actor award in the One Act play competition. Lierle also reflects on not completing his Bowdoin education and the events in his life that led him to reconnect with the Bowdoin community twenty-five years later. He discusses the cherished relationships he forged during his time on campus and how they defined his time at college.

Date: 2019-06-01

Creator: Cathy Scheiner

Access: Open access

Cathy Scheiner (Class of 1979) describes the culture-shock she felt when transitioning to Bowdoin from public high school. She speaks about meeting many different types of people in Hyde Hall and joining various extracurricular activities like the Outing Club, the Sailing team, and the Cross-Country Ski team. She talks about being independent from the Greek system while navigating the fraternity-dominated social landscape. Scheiner reminisces on her classes and professors, adventures around Maine with friends, and being a Biochemistry major. Also, she reflects on the discussions of the time surrounding efforts to not be just a Bowdoin student, but a member of the broader Maine community as well.

Date: 2019-08-16

Creator: Richard Burns

Access: Open access

Richard “Dick” Burns (Class of 1958) describes being “very impressed” by Bowdoin when he first visited and the busyness of his first few weeks at the College. He talks about how the social life of the school revolved around fraternities and his own experience joining Chi Psi, despite ambivalence about the Greek system. Burns reminisces about various mentors and memorable professors, including his long-standing friendship with former athletic trainer Mike Linkovich. He talks about his job washing dishes in his fraternity, Ivies Weekend, and the drinking culture of the time. Finally, he comments on his multi-generational view of Bowdoin, Brunswick, and New England, and remarks on some of the most notable ways that the College has changed.

Date: 2019-05-31

Creator: James Pierce

Access: Open access

James A. “Jim” Pierce (Class of 1969) recounts his sight-unseen arrival to Bowdoin in 1965. He speaks about the fraternity system’s dominance over everything from food and lodging to social life. He describes the fraternities’ drinking culture and hazing rituals, as well as the “eccentric” nature of his own fraternity, Alpha Rho Upsilon. Pierce comments on the milieu of “rugged Christianity” he felt at Bowdoin, especially through mandatory chapel attendance. Additionally, he talks about his experiences with the Glee and Drama Clubs, Bowdoin’s academic rigor, and the prank group the Green Hornet Construction Company. Pierce also reflects on feeling the presence and impacts of the Vietnam War on campus.