The traditions of Bates College include the activities, songs, and academic

regalia Regalia is a Latin plurale tantum word that has different definitions. In one rare definition, it refers to the exclusive privileges of a sovereign. The word originally referred to the elaborate formal dress and dress accessories of a sovereig ...

Bates College Bates College () is a private liberal arts college in Lewiston, Maine. Anchored by the Historic Quad, the campus of Bates totals with a small urban campus which includes 33 Victorian Houses as some of the dormitories. It maintains of nature p ...

, a private

liberal arts Liberal arts education (from Latin "free" and "art or principled practice") is the traditional academic course in Western higher education. ''Liberal arts'' takes the term '' art'' in the sense of a learned skill rather than specifically th ...

college in Lewiston,

Maine Maine () is a state in the New England and Northeastern regions of the United States. It borders New Hampshire to the west, the Gulf of Maine to the southeast, and the Canadian provinces of New Brunswick and Quebec to the northeast and ...

. They are well known on campus and nationally as an embedded component of the student life at the college and its history. While some traditions have wide-ranging campus support, others are officially discouraged by the administration. Many traditions are paralleled at peer schools in the

New England Small College Athletic Conference The New England Small Collegiate Athletic Conference (NESCAC) is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising sports teams from eleven highly selective liberal arts institutions of higher education in the Northeastern United States. ...

(NESCAC), and in the

Ivy League The Ivy League is an American collegiate athletic conference comprising eight private research universities in the Northeastern United States. The term ''Ivy League'' is typically used beyond the sports context to refer to the eight school ...

. Bates along with Bowdoin and

Colby College Colby College is a private liberal arts college in Waterville, Maine. It was founded in 1813 as the Maine Literary and Theological Institution, then renamed Waterville College after the city where it resides. The donations of Christian philant ...

share multiple traditions and rivalries that comprise the

Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium The Colby-Bates-Bowdoin Consortium (CBB) is an athletic conference and academic consortium between three private liberal arts colleges in the U.S. State of Maine. The group consists of Colby College in Waterville, Bates College in Lewiston, ...

(informally known as the CBB). The college's most famous tradition is

Newman Day Newman Day is a collegiate drinking tradition in which 24 beers are consumed over 24 hours. The ritual was initiated by students of Bates College, in Lewiston, Maine.''The Daily Princetonian''Carol Lu, "If I had a nickel for every beer I drank today ...

, which received national attention when Paul Newman–the namesake of the tradition–publicly denounced it, asking the then-President

Thomas Hedley Reynolds Thomas Hedley Reynolds (November 23, 1920 – September 22, 2009) was an American historian and university professor who served as the fifth President of Bates College from March 1967 to November 1989. His presidency was marked with a renewed f ...

to institutionally bar the activity.''

The Daily Princetonian ''The Daily Princetonian'', originally known as ''The Princetonian'' and nicknamed the Prince, is the independent daily student newspaper of Princeton University. Founded on June 14, 1876 as ''The'' ''Princetonian'', it changed its name to ''T ...

''
Carol Lu, "If I had a nickel for every beer I drank today."
April 24, 2007. The tradition continues to this day; however, it is not sponsored by the administration.

Wintertime traditions

Winter Carnival

The Bates Outing Club, on odd to even years since 1920, has held a Winter Carnival which comprises a themed four-day event that includes performances, dances, and games. Past Winter Carnivals have included "a Swiss Olympic skier swooshing down Mount David", faculty and student football games, faculty and administration skits, over-sized snow sculptures, "serenading of the dormitories", and an expeditions to Camden. When alumnus Edmund Muskie, Class of 1936, was a Governor of Maine, he participated in a torch relay from Augusta to Lewiston in celebration of the 1960 Winter Olympics.

Robert F. Kennedy Robert Francis Kennedy (November 20, 1925June 6, 1968), also known by his initials RFK and by the nickname Bobby, was an American lawyer and politician who served as the 64th United States Attorney General from January 1961 to September 1964, ...

, with his naval classmates, built a replica of their boat back in Massachusetts out of snow in front of Smith Hall, during their carnival. This tradition is second only to

Dartmouth College Dartmouth College (; ) is a private research university in Hanover, New Hampshire. Established in 1769 by Eleazar Wheelock, it is one of the nine colonial colleges chartered before the American Revolution. Although founded to educate Native ...

(1910) as the oldest of its kind in the United States, and serves as a major contribution to the connection between the two colleges.

Mustachio Bashio

An annual party celebrating beards and mustaches held during winter carnival. The tradition was profiled by ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid d ...

'' in 2010.

Newman Day

Research has shown references made to Newman Day in ''

The Bates Student ''The Bates Student'', established in 1873, is the newspaper of Bates College in Lewiston, Maine, run entirely by students. It is one of the oldest continuously-published college weeklies in the United States and claims to be the oldest co-ed coll ...

'' as early as the late 1970s, however, the day was marked originally with students throwing food at each other in the dining hall. The tradition was debuted in the January 1976 Winter Carnival with one of the student exclaiming that Paul Newman once said "24 hours in a day, 24 beers in a case. Coincidence? I think not," as a rhetorical mandate. Originally named Paul Newman Day, it was subsequently renamed Newman Day, and includes activities where one consumes one beer every hour during the hours 12:00 am to 11:59 pm on April 24th.''

''
Carol Lu, "If I had a nickel for every beer I drank today."
April 24, 2007. Newman opposed the tradition,''

''
"Newman's Day — forget it, star urges drinkers."
Retrieved May 27, 2007. which received media attention in 2004 after Newman's lawyer sent a letter to

Princeton University Princeton University is a private research university in Princeton, New Jersey. Founded in 1746 in Elizabeth as the College of New Jersey, Princeton is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and one of the ...

and Bates registering Newman's disapproval, and requesting that the event be disassociated from his name, due to the fact that he did not endorse the behaviors. Bates disavowed any responsibility for the event, responding that Newman Day is not sponsored, endorsed, or encouraged by the university itself and is solely an unofficial event among students. Celebration of Newman Day has continued, however, and participants indulge during the stipulated 24-hour period, during which participants are forbidden to sleep or vomit; sleeping or vomiting constitutes a "reset" that negates previous consumption, requiring the participant to restart from zero.

Puddle Jump

Originally taking place on a day near

Saint Patrick's Day Saint Patrick's Day, or the Feast of Saint Patrick ( ga, Lá Fhéile Pádraig, lit=the Day of the Festival of Patrick), is a cultural and religious celebration held on 17 March, the traditional death date of Saint Patrick (), the foremost patr ...

, March 17, but since incorporated as part of Winter Carnival in late January, the Bates College Outing Club cuts a hole by a chainsaw or by the original axe used in the inaugural Puddle Jump of 1975, in the ice on Lake Andrews. Students from all class years jump into the hole, often in costumes, to celebrate, "exuberance at the end of a hard winter." By mid-evening, they eat donuts, drink cider and receive a cappella performances.

Summertime traditions

Ivy day

The class graduates participate in an Ivy Day which installs a granite

Ivy Stone Ivy Day is an annual ceremony in which an ivy stone is placed on either a residential, academic or administrative building or ground to commemorate academic excellence. The ceremony is most known for being practiced among older colleges in the No ...

onto one of the academic or residential buildings on campus. They serve as a symbol of the class and their respective history both academically and socially. Some classes donate to the college, in the form gates, facades, and door outlines, by inscribing or creating their own version of symbolic icons of the college's seal or other prominent insignia. This usually occurs on graduation day, but may occur on later dates with alumni returning to the campus. This tradition is shared with the

University of Pennsylvania The University of Pennsylvania (also known as Penn or UPenn) is a private research university in Philadelphia. It is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States and is ranked among the highest-regarded universitie ...

and

. On Ivy Day, members of

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States, and the most prestigious, due in part to its long history and academic selectivity. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal ...

are announced.

Sumner's chair

Bates' founder was a friend of U.S. Senator

Charles Sumner Charles Sumner (January 6, 1811March 11, 1874) was an American statesman and United States Senator from Massachusetts. As an academic lawyer and a powerful orator, Sumner was the leader of the anti-slavery forces in the state and a leader of th ...

who was among the most radical of the abolitionists in the

U.S. Congress The United States Congress is the legislature of the federal government of the United States. It is bicameral, composed of a lower body, the House of Representatives, and an upper body, the Senate. It meets in the U.S. Capitol in Washin ...

. Sumner also believed in integrated schools and equal rights for all races. Cheney asked Sumner to create a collegiate motto for Bates and he suggested the Latin phrase ''amore ac studio'' which he translated as "with love for learning" or "with ardor and devotion." On the afternoon of May 22, 1856,

Preston Brooks Preston Smith Brooks (August 5, 1819 – January 27, 1857) was an American politician and member of the U.S. House of Representatives from South Carolina, serving from 1853 until his resignation in July 1856 and again from August 1856 until his ...

confronted Sumner in the Senate chamber and assaulted him with a cane after reading Sumner's speech regarding the

Kansas–Nebraska Act The Kansas–Nebraska Act of 1854 () was a territorial organic act that created the territories of Kansas and Nebraska. It was drafted by Democratic Senator Stephen A. Douglas, passed by the 33rd United States Congress, and signed into law by ...

. After the incident the chair was gifted to Bates. It is used for inaugurations, graduations and other formal occasions.

Other traditions

Bates has many other official and unofficial annual traditions including WRBC's Annual Trivia Night (since 1979), Ronjstock (since 2000), Senior Pub crawl Parade to the Goose, Lick-It, Eighties Dance, Halloween Dance, Class Dinner, Harvest Dinner, Triad Dance (since 1981), Stanton Ride (1800s to 1960s, with a revival by VP Hiss in 2000s), 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)

Traditions with Bowdoin

From its inception, Bates College served as an alternative to a more traditional and historically conservative Bowdoin College. There is a long tradition of rivalry and competitiveness between the two colleges, revolving around socioeconomic class, academic quality, and collegiate athletics. Many alumni of Bowdoin subsequently went on to develop Bates during the 1860s and alumni of Bates lectured at Bowdoin. Bates and Bowdoin have competed against each other athletically since the 1870s, and subsequently share one of the ten oldest

NCAA Division III NCAA Division III (D-III) is a division of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. D-III consists of athletic programs at colleges and universities that choose not to offer athletic scholarships to their st ...

football rivalries, in the United States. The rivalry between the two colleges has grown out of academics and social standing, moving to athletics. Traditions have grown out this rivalry in their respective athletic programs. Originally started by the debate team of Bates College, the football team has participated in wrapping the college's

academic scarf The wearing of academic scarves is a tradition found at many colleges and universities in English-speaking countries, and particularly in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Sets of two or more coloured stripes have traditionally been used as part of t ...

around Bowdoin's polar bear, in "an assertion of who's who." The taunts between the fan bases have grown and adapted in the modern era of the rivalry. The unison chant of "Blowdoin" is ubiquitous at games between the rivals. Athletic games are commonly accompanied with taunts and chants from both sides of the field. During the 1950s and late 1960s, Bowdoin focused on faulting Bates for accepting women and African Americans to their school chanting remarks revolving around racism and sexism, where Bates counter-chanted noting Bowdoin's elitism and racism. Both schools' fans are heard often exchanging the taunt of " safety school", and commenting on their respective college's issues regarding

white privilege White privilege, or white skin privilege, is the societal privilege that benefits white people over non-white people in some societies, particularly if they are otherwise under the same social, political, or economic circumstances. With root ...

, cost of tuition, sexual assault, and social elitism. Both schools follow a narrative when chanting at football games, Bowdoin focuses on disparaging Bates for perceived lower academic standards and low endowment contrasted with expensive tuition, traditionally chanting "Ivy-rejects", "dirty Lews Lewiston.html" ;"title="n reference to the low economic development of Lewiston">n reference to the low economic development of Lewiston, and "all that money and no hot, touchdown etc." Bates follows an anti-Bowdoin narrative that includes a perceived inferiority to Harvard University, historical ties to slavery, sexual assault, and drug use, often chanting, "Blowdoin", "Harvard-reject," "plantation boys", and "bow down Bowdoin sserting moral superiority" The Bates-Bowdoin Game is the most attended football game every academic year at both colleges. As of 2013, both college's presidents are named Clayton ( Spencer and

Rose A rose is either a woody perennial flowering plant of the genus ''Rosa'' (), in the family Rosaceae (), or the flower it bears. There are over three hundred species and tens of thousands of cultivars. They form a group of plants that can be ...

), leading students to include them in chants against each other. Bowdoin developed a "football fight song" entitled, "Forward the White" in 1913. All football games between the two occurred on Bates'

Garcelon Field Garcelon Field is the outdoor stadium and field of Bates College. Located in Lewiston, Maine, it is the field for Bates football, soccer, lacrosse, and various other sports. History The field was completed in 1899, and is one of the oldest foot ...

(1899) and Bowdoin's

Whittier Field Whittier Field is the outdoor stadium of Bowdoin College. Located in Brunswick, Maine, it is the field for Bowdoin football, Bowdoin outdoor track and field, and the Maine Distance Festival. The Whittier Field Athletic Complex was added to the Nati ...

(1902).