Showing 11 - 20 of 27 Items

Date: 2019-11-09

Creator: David Dickson

Access: Open access

David Dickson '76 shares some remarks on his father, David W. D. Dickson, who graduated from Bowdoin in 1941, and his uncle who graduated in 1935. He talks about how the Bowdoin of their era had segregated fraternities that did not allow black students or Jewish students, and details his father’s experience with the emotional tax that such a reality posed. Dickson also talks about the importance of having the safe space of the African-American society that behaved as an “island on a lily-white campus.” He also talks about the former student organization, All Races United (ARU) and how students of marginalized backgrounds as well as “independent mainstream” students could come together in activism. Finally, Dickson shares how his experiences at Bowdoin affected the development of his racial identity.

Date: 2019-11-10

Creator: Sandra Martinez

Access: Open access

Sandra Martinez ('13) recounts life at Bowdoin as a Latina woman. She describes Bowdoin as a space where she came more into her cultural identity, while also being where she felt the limitations and challenges of being a minority on campus. Additionally, Martinez discusses the simultaneous division and alliance between the African American Society and the Latin American Student Organization, and the various means students went to in bridging or instating this distance. As a math major, Martinez confronted the realities of a faculty lacking in diversity, and explored how this impacted her academic career and confidence in the classroom. Finally she speaks to the way that she learned to command her opinions, against at times people’s wishes, and gives advice to future Bowdoin women of color for how they can make space for themselves.

Date: 2019-11-09

Creator: Carroy Ferguson

Access: Open access

Carroy Cuf Ferguson ‘68 talks about being offered a free ride to Bowdoin and deciding between Bowdoin and Morehouse College. He shares stories about growing up in the segregated South and having near zero contact with whites, having to be bussed across town to attend high school despite living a block away from an all-white high school. He talks about being the first student of color to be admitted into the fraternity Sigma Nu, which had a discriminatory clause in it forbidding students of color from joining, and what it was like to fight that clause with his fraternity brothers. Ferguson shares stories about how it felt to have the “weight of [his] race on his shoulders), navigating Bowdoin in the mid- to late- sixties, and the pressures that came with that.

Date: 2019-11-09

Creator: Osakhare Fasehun

Access: Open access

Osakhare Fasehun '18 recounts his first introduction to Bowdoin through the ‘Bowdoin Experience’ weekend, and the ways that this both excited him, but ultimately led to disappointment in realizing the lacking diversity on campus. Fasehun goes on to share how his passion for academics landed him at Bowdoin, and how ultimately he was able to fully nurture his intellectual engagement during his four years. Beyond academics, he shares how the Gangster Party influenced his time at Bowdoin, and how this act of virtual blackface pushed him to interact more heavily with AfAm. He described the difficulties he found in navigating campus as one of very few men of color in his class. Finally, Fasehun shares the biggest lessons he learned from Bowdoin, largely being the necessity to advocate for oneself amidst a system that may not always advocate for you.

Date: 2019-11-10

Creator: Terranicia Holmes

Access: Open access

Terranicia Holmes ‘13 talks about moving to New England from Atlanta, Georgia, and navigating the subtle cultural shock of living among tremendous wealth at Bowdoin, and recognizing the covert way that racism behaves in the Northeast in comparison to the South. She shares stories about encouraging and participating in conversations about race on campus, and how time change her perspective on how difficult and meaningful her experiences were. She details some of her most important relationships, like with Professor Tess Chakkalakal, and the importance of leaning into those who championed her and who thought highly of her. She also talks about Shelley Roseboro, who introduced her to loving kindness and helped her to process and grow emotionally during her time at Bowdoin. Finally, Homes reflects on how Bowdoin shaped her into who she is today, helped her develop direction, and how even now when she arrives in Maine, she feels like she is home.

Date: 2019-11-10

Creator: Richard Adams

Access: Open access

Richard Adams ‘73 talks about lobbying during his senior year of high school in Pittsburgh to make Martin Luther King Jr’s birthday a national holiday, shortly after Martin Luther King Jr.’s assassination in 1968. He chose Bowdoin for its liberal proclivities, believing it would be place for him, an avid activist by the time he graduated high school. Adams’s activism followed him to Bowdoin, where he was active in the African-American Society, finding a home in the black community at Bowdoin and in Maine at large, and how his passion for activism defined his time at Bowdoin and beyond.

Date: 2019-11-10

Creator: Janelle Charles

Dudney Sylla

Access: Open access

Janelle Charles ‘06 and Dudney Sylla ‘08 talk about their differing paths to Bowdoin. Sylla grew up in Boston, attending a Jesuit high school, and being a recipient of the Posse Scholarship. Charles talks about growing up in San Francisco, California and finding out about Bowdoin through fly-in programs. Both talk about the difficulty of transitioning to Bowdoin’s academic rigor, particularly as first-generation college students, and the freedom and independence that came with having an open college schedule. They also detail what it was like to leave their home communities and craft new communities at Bowdoin. Charles and Sylla both talk about the resources at Bowdoin and the leaders and professors that encouraged them and helped them feel seen at Bowdoin, particularly Shelley Roseboro, and reflect on their favorite memories and their own enduring friendship.

Date: 2019-11-09

Creator: Judy (Mike) Reinhold-Tucker

Access: Open access

Judy Mike Reinhold Tucker reflects on her one year at Bowdoin, during which she was a member of the first class of women at Bowdoin. She also talks about the transition, both in weather and academics, as she moved from Trinidad to the United States when she finished high school in 1969 in Washington D.C. and then came to Bowdoin on a full scholarship in 1970. Despite only attending Bowdoin for one year, Tucker talks about how Bowdoin shaped her path to be pre med, her passion for education, and the AfAm community at Bowdoin that made her feel at home for the short time that she was here.

Date: 2019-11-09

Creator: Joseph Adu

Shawn Stewart

Michel Bamani

Access: Open access

Shawn Stewart '08, Michel Bamani '08, and Joseph Adu '07 reflect on their different paths that led them to Bowdoin: Stewart, who grew up in Harlem, working at and being a student of the Harlem Children's Zone, Bamani, a child of Congolese immigrants, and Adu, a child of Ghanaian immigrants. They talk about the challenge of transitioning to Bowdoin academically and socially, getting used to the high academic demands and also learning how to utilize resources. Adu tells a funny story of applying to college during his junior year of high school because he did not realize you had to wait until your senior year in America! Additionally, the three ask each other questions about their own experiences, highlighting the importance of understanding how to prioritize what's most important to them and reflecting on how Bowdoin aided them in that endeavor. They also talk about the expereinces of men of color at PWIs and how to better retain students of color.

Date: 2019-11-09

Creator: Paul Wiley

Access: Open access

Paul Wiley ‘71 talks about the “turnkey” moment that led him to know Bowdoin was where he wanted to go to college: when visiting Bowdoin as a prospective student, an incredible snowstorm hit Maine and he and his father arrived very late in the night Wiley talks about how surprised he was that Harry Warren, the Secretary of the College, was still awake waiting for them and made sure that they had everything they needed. Building upon this, Wiley shares some of the most important and impactful relationships he made at Bowdoin, particularly his football coach, who acted as a father figure, a gentle and forceful leader, and a great motivator. Wiley also talks about his special relationship with one of the Presidents of the College, Roger Howell, attending Bowdoin College with former College president Barry Mills ‘72, and being the first House Manager of AfAm.