Interview with Justin Weathers (Class of 2018) by Aisha Rickford

Justin Weathers ’18 grew up in Baltimore, Maryland. His track coach and AP Gov teacher, a graduate of Bowdoin, encouraged him to apply to Bowdoin. Weathers talks about transitioning from the mostly black population of Baltimore to the very white, very small town of Brunswick, ME. He reflects on how, while AfAm was a safe space at Bowdoin, the class, ethnic, and regional differences among black students at Bowdoin affected the black community at Bowdoin. He also reflects on several bias incidents happening at Bowdoin during his first year, which was also the rise of the Black Lives Matter movement. Weathers remembers how it was to experience the Baltimore riots of the mid 2010s while attending Bowdoin. Additionally, Weathers reflects on his lasting impact at Bowdoin, from making “More than Meets the Eye” a mandatory part of Bowdoin First-Year Orientation, to advocating for black students affected by Bowdoin’s zero tolerance violence policy, which neglects to account for racial and verbal violence, plus the difficulty of having conversations across difference at Bowdoin that feel productive. Overall, Weathers reflects on how Bowdoin shaped him into who he is today, and one of his favorite memories of Bowdoin: riding into Ivies on the Brunswick Quad with Bowdoin security on a golf cart.