Parents and Families

Bowdoin will hold its 207th Commencement ceremony at 10 a.m., Saturday, May 26, 2012, and confer bachelor of arts degrees on 450 graduates. A schedule of events, list of speakers and answers to frequently asked questions and other Commencement information here.

As Bowdoin honors 40 years of coeducation at the College, Maine furniture maker Thos. Moser has launched a year of curated art work with a Maine connection to mark that company’s 40th year. As part of Thos. Moser’s celebration, four Maine alumnae artists open an exhibition today, along with alumni from Bates and Colby, with a public reception from 6:00-8:00 at the Thos. Moser Showroom at 149 Main Street in Freeport, Maine. The work of Anne Ireland ’76 (Falmouth, Maine), Susan Sheinbaum Williams ’81 (Rockport, Maine), Bridget Spaeth ’86 (Brunswick), and Cassie Jones ’01 (Brunswick) will be on display until July 9, 2012.

Teona Williams '12

Teona Williams ’12 has undergone quite a transformation. Four years ago, her experience with nature was limited to a park near her home in Washington, D.C. Today, with a host of outdoor experiences under her belt, Williams is poised to embark on a world-wide nature trek as part of a Watson Fellowship. The Bangor Daily News chronicles this metamorphosis.

"Moby Dick or the Whale by Herman Melville." Rockwell Kent, American, 1882 1971. Book. Philadelphia Museum of Art, Gift of Gordon A. Block, Jr., 1943. © Plattsburgh State Art Museum, State University of New York, USA, Rockwell Kent Collection, Bequest of Sally Kent Gorton, All rights reserved.

Brooks Rich ’03, the Dorothy J. del Bueno Curatorial Fellow at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, has curated an exhibition that examines Rockwell Kent as graphic artist, adventurer and activist. Rockwell Kent—Voyager: An Artist’s Journey in Prints, Drawings, and Illustrated Books, which opened Saturday and runs through July 29, 2012, surveys Kent’s work from 1907 to the 1950s, and includes those that illuminate what some call a commitment to leftist politics from World War I through the McCarthy era.

“Kent’s fortunes rose and fell most dramatically during his lifetime,” says Rich in a description of the exhibition picked up by ArtDaily.

“In the 1920s and 30s, when he achieved celebrity status, he was hailed as one of the most famous graphic artists in America. By the 1950s the artist’s reputation had suffered a decline, due in part to his support of controversial progressive causes and the ascendancy of Abstract Expressionism in avant-garde art circles. Today, as his work attracts renewed interest, the rich collections of the Philadelphia Museum of Art offer a fresh opportunity to reconsider the depth and complexity of his achievement.”

The Bowdoin College Museum of Art has a number of works by Rockwell Kent; search the Museum’s collections here.

As Bowdoin Outing Club Director Mike Woodruff ’87 attests there will be plenty of fun things to do at Reunion 2012. Whether you’re looking to reconnect with friends in person, visit old haunts, or simply see what’s new on campus, Reunion Weekend, May 31-June 3, 2012, has a lot to offer.

Marc Garnick '68

Amid the news that a panel of government health experts recommends against routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) tests to screen for prostate cancer, saying the tests may lead to treatments that do more harm than good, comes insight from medical oncologist, prostate cancer expert and trustee emeritus Marc Garnick ’68.

“This has been one of the most gut-wrenching aspects of medicine that we deal with on a day-to-day basis,” says Garnick in a segment on The NBC Nightly News with Brian Williams.

“The public perception of cancers is that all cancer is something that is potentially life-threatening, and when a person hears the word ‘cancer,’ the first thing that they want to do is get rid of it.”

Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy

Garnick, a clinical professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and a practicing physician at Boston’s Beth Israel Hospital in Boston, and his wife, Dr. Barbara Kates-Garnick, founded the Arnold D. Kates Lectureship at Bowdoin.

Thomas Cornell, "Girl with a Green Shirt," pastel, 1992.

Works by Thomas Cornell, art professor and Richard E. Steele Artist in Residence, are part of two exhibitions currently underway in Portland. A French Revolutionary engraving is on exhibit at the Maine Jewish Museum through July 6 in the show, Portland: Pathways to Contemporary Art.

Cornell is also included in an exhibition of his former student Carlo Pittore, running through June 1 at Aucocisco Galleries. Together Cornell and Pittore worked to found the Maine Union of Visual Artists in the early 1970s.

The men’s and women’s Ultimate Frisbee teams traveled to Appleton, Wis., over the weekend for the 2012 USA Ultimate Division Three Open Championships. The women’s team made it to the quarterfinals, ending up tied for seventh place overall; the men came in tied for 13th place, after two one-point losses earlier in the day.

Women’s Tennis — The women’s tennis team saw its NCAA Tournament run come to a close Monday in a 5-1 loss to Emory.

Men’s Tennis —  The season ended for the men’s tennis team with a loss to NESCAC rival Williams, 5-3, in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Men’s Tennis Tournament Monday morning.

A short coming-of-age film made by two Bowdoin seniors has recently won best picture at the 2012 National Undergraduate Film Festival of Columbia University. The movie, Dear Hunters, has also been accepted into the upcoming Seattle International Film Festival, and if it does well there, could be an Oscar contender.

Eric Binswanger ’12 and David Shuck ’12, along with Brown University student Zack Bornstein, made the movie last year while they were studying abroad in a film school in Prague.

The movie is performed entirely by Czech actors, only one of whom spoke English. “David had to learn Czech,” Binswanger says. Shuck clarifies: “We know how to say, ‘Action!’ and, ‘One more take please.’”

Eric Binswanger '12 and David Shuck '12

The 10-minute film is about an eight-year-old boy who yearns to go hunting with his parents. When he’s at last brought along, he falls asleep in the car and wakes up to discover his mother and father missing. When he goes out looking for them, he discovers some unsettling truths about his parents.

“It’s disturbing,” Shuck says. “It’s a dark comedy,” Binswanger adds.

Dear Hunters will be shown May 27 in Seattle, and Shuck says he’s planning to fly out to the festival after commencement, on May 26, to attend the screening and award ceremony.

Both Shuck and Binswanger are history majors and film studies minors, and have been making movies since high school. They’ve been making movies together since meeting their first year at Bowdoin. (Binswanger is from Philadelphia and Shuck grew up in Littleton, Colo.)

Binswanger credits his liberal arts education and history studies with giving him “a breadth of knowledge to make a more compelling story,” pointing out that Dear Hunters is doing better than many movies made by students in film schools.

After graduating from Bowdoin, the two plan to move to Los Angeles to break into the movie business. “We want to make a career of it,” Bingswanger says, who explains that he’s drawn to filmmaking because it incorporates all the arts — visual, musical and even sculptural, through the editing process — allowing a filmmaker to be expansively creative.

Shuck says, “[Making movies is] a way you can communicate a complete thought to someone else. You’re creating your own reality.”

2012 Honorand Carrie Mae Weems

Marking the occasion of an honorary degree given to internationally known photographer and visual artist Carrie Mae Weems, the Bowdoin College Museum of Art is showing her 16-minute film The Maddening Crowd (2011) in the Zuckert Seminar Room. The video will run continuously during the Museum’s open hours from May 26 through June 3.

Weems is one of five women receiving honorary degrees at the College’s 207th Commencement Exercises May 26, 2012.

Click on the photo to go back in time on Bowdoin’s quad. On the left is Massachusetts Hall, and facing front are the two brick dorms, Winthrop and Maine halls. In the old illustration, it’s possible to see the north-facing church that preceded the College’s new chapel (barely visible on the right in this photo), which was constructed between 1844 and 1855 for $46,790 and faces west, toward Maine Street. Sliding tool by David Francis, senior interactive developer

Saudia Davis '00. Illustration by Chelee Ross '12.

This profile originally appeared in the Winter 2012 issue of Bowdoin magazine.

Major: Africana Studies

Hometown: Kingston, Jamaica

Title: President, GreenHouse Eco-Cleaning

Website: www.greenhouseecocleaning.com

Twitter: @GreenHouseEco

Greatest influence: My maternal grandmother’s passing changed the direction of my life because she worked really hard and didn’t have an opportunity to grow in the cleaning profession. Her battle with cancer, speculated to be a result of using harsh cleaning chemicals, reminded me that I had to begin making a positive impact in this world, because I will not be here forever.

Most rewarding part of my job: Creating opportunities for the people in my community. My business creates jobs for an underserved demographic. We have a company culture that cares about our staff in a real way, like a part of the family.

Simplest thing people can do to help the environment: Become informed about what’s going on in the world around them, and join conversations about environmental issues. Being “green” is not only about being aware of our environment in the way that we dispose of items or how much electricity we use, it’s also about being socially conscious.

Actress that would play me in a movie: Kerry Washington. Kerry’s first film, Our Song, was, incidentally, the first film I lead a full PR campaign for [in a previous job], so we spent a lot of time together.

I can’t live without: My staff. It was my dream to be in business for myself, and I certainly couldn’t do it by myself. Every day, my staff shows up and gives 200% to make my dream possible.

The Bowdoin College men’s and women’s tennis teams will both open play in the quarterfinals of the NCAA Division III Championships Monday at Cary Tennis Park in North Carolina.

At the end of the year, the Bowdoin’s Outing Club traditionally invites seniors, staff and faculty to join a rafting trip down the Dead River, in a stretch upstream from the town of The Forks in Maine. This year, the group enjoyed a beautiful spring day to raft approximately 13 miles on a river release of over 7,000 cubic feet per second. The group, split between three rafts and nine kayaks, paddled through mostly big class III rapids, with class I, II and IV rapids mixed in between, according to Becca Austin, the outing club’s assistant director.

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Justine Pouravelis '06

Justine Pouravelis ’06, recognized as a standout on the women’s basketball team, earning Fourth-Team All-American, All-NESCAC and NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year honors, has been spotted in a commercial airing on the New England Sports Network, the regional cable television network more commonly known as NESN.

Pouravelis has worked behind the scenes at NESN since she left Bowdoin, working her way up from associate producer to full studio producer, now working on Red Sox post-game and college hockey shows. She also produces Red Sox Small Talk, a show featuring questions asked by children and answered by the players.

She tells the Bowdoin Daily Sun that working in live TV is the closest thing she’s found to playing a sport. “There’s such an adrenalin rush,” says Pouravelis.

“You’re working together as you would on team, but instead of competing, you’re working toward a creative product, infusing projects with energy and presenting the highs and lows of a game in your unique way.”

The spot in which she appears is in heavy rotation in the living rooms of scores of New England sports fans. “It airs all the time,” she says. “It’s pretty funny.”

Here’s a look at one of Pouravelis’ Red Sox Small Talk segments:

Sky gazers in Asia and the western United States will get a rare treat today as the moon moves between Earth and the sun in a partial solar eclipse known as the “ring of fire.” The moon on Sunday will be at its farthest distance from Earth so it will not completely eclipse the sun, leaving a bright annulus—or ring—of sunlight glowing around its edge.

It’s the first annulus eclipse visible from the mainland United States in almost 20 years, and astronomers will have to wait until 2023 for the next round of Johnny Cash references.

Bowdoin's Memorial Flagpole with Hubbard Hall in the background, circa 1930.

Today, Saturday, May 19, 2012, the haunting call of  “Taps” will roll across Arlington National Cemetery from the horns of 200 buglers assembled to mark the 150th anniversary of the now-famous military signal. “Taps,” known to most as a funeral and memorial homage, originated during the Civil War as a call for lights out. Adopted by both Union and Confederate armies, it has a fascinating and powerful history that continues today.

Tim McGarry '13 drove in Bowdoin's lone RBI on Friday.

The Bowdoin College baseball team saw its season come to an end Friday as they were eliminated by Western New England University, 7-1, in an NCAA Regional game at Eastern Connecticut State University.

The Polar Bears (26-20) end their season with the second-most wins in school history, a runner-up finish in the NESCAC Tournament, the team’s second-ever NCAA Division III Tournament berth and the program’s first-ever NCAA Tournament victory.

On Wednesday, three Bowdoin pitchers and head coach Mike Connolly were honored in All-NESCAC awards announced by the conference. Junior pitcher Oliver Van Zant was named the NESCAC Pitcher of the Year and a First Team All-NESCAC selection. Senior Tim Welch and sophomore Christian Martin were tabbed as Second Team choices. Head Coach Mike Connolly was recognized by his peers as the conference’s Coach of the Year.

Elliott Schwartz

The New York City classical music scene will be alive with the music of Elliott Schwartz, Robert K. Beckwith Professor of Music Emeritus, this May and June. Four performances of the internationally acclaimed composer’s music will be presented, two of them premieres.

The new work Mirrors and Branches for piano solo and pre-recorded pianos will be premiered by pianist Hui Wu at Paul Hall, The Julliard School of Music, at 8:30 p.m. Saturday, May 19, 2012.