For the month of November, almost 400 images of Bowdoin students will be featured on the walls of Smith Union. Unveiled last night at a reception featuring hot cider and cookies, the exhibit presents black-and-white photographs of students holding signs that read “We Stand Together” and “We Stand With You.” A big poster reading “Hate Stops With Us” in bold black letters is hung above the images.
The photo exhibit is part of No Hate November, a month-long program of lectures, exhibits, and discussions “dedicated to remembering past bias incidents at Bowdoin and promoting an inclusive, respectful campus,” according to the Bowdoin Student Government, or BSG.
The exhibit was organized by members of the student government, who took the pictures outside of Thorne and Moulton dining halls. BSG President Danny Mejia-Cruz ’16 and BSG Vice President Michelle Kruk ’16 sent out an invitation to the event to all student leaders.
During the opening on Monday night, students wandered through the union, some pointing out friends and classmates in the images, some stepping back and absorbing the effect of seeing so many Bowdoin students standing up against hate and bigotry. “It’s really cool! It’s definitely a big visual impact,” Emily Jaques ’17 said.
“I think it’s really powerful to see so many of my peers taking a stance,” Daisy Wislar ’18 said. “It’s a really effective visual representation of a shared sentiment on campus.”
Mejia-Cruz said that the photo exhibit “is a physical reminder throughout November that these issues and peoples’ struggles are not isolated.”
In past years, No Hate November has included a student-led art initiative in Smith Union. Kruk said, “I was here when this [tradition] started two years ago. And to be spearheading it my senior year, for it to be part of the legacy of my role, and to get all this support from the student body and the student government, I am so touched.”
The exhibit will be up in the Union until the end of November.
Photos by James Marshall
