Service News

 BOWDOIN OPPORTUNITIES

Bowdoin and the Common Good Symposium
Thursday, May 11, 3:00 - 4:30 PM
Morrell Lounge, Smith Union

Join the McKeen Center and departments across Bowdoin to celebrate student engagement with communities through service, courses, and research! Through posters, presentations, photographs, and video, students will share what they have learned and achieved while exploring the common good at Bowdoin and beyond. Gelato and other treats will be available!

Summer Book Club
June through August

The Rachel Lord Center for Religious & Spiritual Life invites all students to join the Summer Book Club. The theme of this year’s reads is rest. Each book invites us to reflect on the ways in which we have internalized grind culture and consider what it might mean for us to build lives with rest at the center. There will be a monthly online gathering for folks to gather and discuss the readings and themes.

RSVP in CampusGroups to secure your spot and get a free copy of one – or all – of these books. Supplies are limited, so sign up today!

• Rest is Resistance, by Tricia Hershey 
• The Sabbath, by Abraham Joshua Heschel
• My Year of Rest and Relaxation, by Ottessa Moshfegh

Questions? Email director Oliver Goodrich at o.goodrich@bowdoin.edu.

Community Opportunities

Wabanaki Homeland and Land Relations
Saturday, May 13, 7-8:30
Maine Coastal Botanical Garden, Bosarge Education Center
Boothbay Harbor (Registration required: $5-100)

The Earth’s natural systems are in crisis, both globally and closer to home in our region. Despite decades of efforts, conventional conservation efforts have not succeeded in turning the tide of many indicators of ecological decline. At the same time, recent years have seen a renewed and growing movement to shift conservation narratives to include the leadership of Wabanaki (Passamaquoddy, Maliseet, Mi’kmaq, and Penobscot) people, while also working to address the ongoing dispossession of Wabanaki people from their home. Join us for an exceptional evening in dialogue with six Wabanaki leaders as, together, they discuss the interconnections of land, culture, and Indigenous sovereignty in bringing the work of healing and repair into the place we now call Maine, and which was first, and still is, Wabanaki homeland.

Speakers include: Nolan Altvater, Passamaquoddy; Suzanne Greenlaw, Maliseet; Jennifer Neptune, Penobscot; Richard Silliboy, Mi’kmaq Nation; Donald Soctomah, Passamaquoddy and moderated by Darren Ranco, Ph.D., Penobscot

100% of proceeds from registrations from this program will go to the Wabanaki Self-Determination Fund. 

Skate With Students!
Volunteer With Midcoast Youth Center & Bath Skatepark
Ongoing Opportunity

Mentoring students in the low-pressure of a youth center and skatepark offers the unique opportunity to connect with middle-school and high-school aged students and the midcoast Maine area.

Things to Love about Midcoast Youth Center + Bath Skatepark:

• mentoring students in a youth center and investing yourself into a community
• skating in the skatepark with students
• doing arts and crafts like Perler beads, paintings, and collaging with students
• creating activities and inspiring students to engage actively in their community

If interested, please contact Margot Ngo ’23 to learn more about this opportunity!  Come skate with her and shadow at the Youth Center if you want!   Alternatively, contact alesha@midcoastyouth.org.

Confronting White Supremacy Victual Symposium
Saturday, May 20, 10:00 AM – 2:00 PM EST

Beneath the veneer of our trophied status as a "progressive" region, organized white supremacy has always found a welcome home in New England since colonization. Those of us who count ourselves among the various communities who have been threatened, harmed, and excluded historically by this fact have always known this, but even for those of us who may have been drawn towards denial or complacency by our mythical "progressive" image in the past, it should be clear today that we are currently experiencing a strong resurgence of white supremacist organizing & activity in New England.

Come learn about the white supremacist and Far Right movements organizing in New England, how what we're seeing in our region fits into the broader national context, and how YOU can take action in empowered, local community. The McKeen Center can help cover costs; email Avery Friend for more info, or learn more and register here. 

Maine Women's Lobby Seeking Board of Director Nominees
Three Year Term starting September 2023
Applicant Review Begins May 15

Do you want to support and influence the bold new direction of a 40+ year old nonprofit (made up of two related organizations, the MWL and MWL Education Fund) behind policies like paid family medical leave, protecting reproductive rights and justice in Maine, and more? You don’t have to have any prior experience with nonprofits or boards to apply! Learn more about the opportunity and how to nominate yourself or someone else by visiting this page. 

Professional Opportunities

National Aids Memorial Scholarships and Awards
Accepting Applications March 1 – July 15, 2023

The National AIDS Memorial will be accepting applications for its youth scholarship and award programs supporting health and social justice leaders and activists:

• The Pedro Zamora Young Leaders Scholarshipsupports the (undergraduate) academic efforts of young activists working in their communities today. Using the HIV/AIDS activism movement as an example, these $5,000 scholarships support those taking up social justice work in its many forms and working at the intersection of these movements with their communities to drive progress.
• The Mary Bowman Arts in Activism Awardprovides academic and non-academic support to young artist-activists who are working and committed to making a difference in the fight against HIV/AIDS and advancing social justice.  Each award is $5,000.

Please see Service News newsletter for the most up-to-date opportunities! Emailed weekly. 

Email Avery Friend to set up individual or group meetings with any of the McKeen Center staff to learn more about ongoing events and programs, seek resources, discuss ideas, and have questions answered. Please also email Avery with any items that you would like to see included in Service News.