News

Announcing the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity

Bowdoin is proud to announce a $50 million gift—the largest in our 231-year history—from Netflix cofounder Reed Hastings ’83 to launch the Hastings Initiative for AI and Humanity.

Aiming to Help

The Common Good from All Angles

From local to global, a range of student efforts were on display recently in Smith Union. The Common Good Symposium is an annual event celebrating student volunteer work across a range of disciplines and programs—all dedicated to helping other people.
Not Just for Laughs

Bad Things Happen: Stand-Up Lucas O’Neil ’12 Explains Why Not All His Material Is Funny

The English and theater major is making a name for himself in the world of stand-up comedy. He recently performed his latest show—Emotional Man—in front of Bowdoin students. Because the show deals with what has happened in his life, he explains, not all of it is funny.
Global Maine Internship

Kasei Oma Lin ’26 Receives “Future Global Leader Award” from Maine Trade Organization

The Maine International Trade Center has recognized the Bowdoin junior for his outstanding work as an intern with the organization.
Watch Live Online

Bowdoin to Award 520 Degrees at 220th Commencement May 24

Bowdoin will hold its 220th Commencement ceremony at 10:00 a.m., Saturday, May 24, 2025, and confer bachelor of arts degrees on 520 graduates.
Saving Lives

Bowdoin Grad Awarded One of Medicine’s Top Prizes for Anti-Smoking Efforts

Dr. Michael Fiore ’76 receives the National Academy of Medicine’s Lienhard Award for the decades of work he has done to help people quit smoking. His efforts are thought to have saved thousands of lives!
Entangled Histories

Lena Souffrant ’25 Brings New Ideas to Life in “Dead Bird Stories”

The show by the environmental studies and Africana studies major “challenges the entangled histories of science, colonialism, and ecological ‘discovery’ at Bowdoin College.”
IT Service

Riley Nelson ’27 Wins Multiyear State Department Technology Fellowship

The computer science major learned this spring that he is one of fifteen recipients of a highly competitive Foreign Affairs IT Fellowship, which provides two years of tuition support, two paid internships, and professional development. It culminates in a five-year post as a “diplomatic technology officer.”
Environmental Expressions

Communicating—In So Many Ways—About the Changing Climate

Students are sharing their thoughts about environmental threats and climate change—and possible solutions—in a creative outpouring of haikus, op-eds, art, memes, social media, and limericks. Lots of limericks.
Celebrating Women

Betting on Leaders: Bowdoin Women Play Poker, Win Leadership Skills

About 100 Bowdoin students, staff, and alumni recently spent an evening in Main Lounge playing poker. The point was not to pile up chips (though that was fun for the winners), but rather to become stronger leaders in all walks of life.
Joyful Moment

Lunch with Six Supporters Celebrates Opportunity

Bowdoin’s Lunch with Six Supporters brings together more than 230 students and the donors—alumni, families, and friends of the College—whose generous support helps make possible a Bowdoin education and the transformative experiences that accompany that journey.
A “Fire Hose” of Activity

Exploring the Limits of Presidential Power: Rudalevige on Trump’s First Hundred Days

An expert on presidential power, government scholar Andrew Rudalevige shared his insights on the first hundred days of President Trump’s second term in a recent faculty seminar. One of the biggest challenges for citizens and scholars alike, he said, is keeping up with the pace of events.
Singing, Dancing, Sharing

Honoring Tribal Cultures

Indigenous groups from Maine and Canada head to campus for the second annual Bowdoin powwow. It’s an afternoon of dancing, drumming, singing, and education.
2025 Honors Day

Bowdoin Celebrates its Student Scholars in End-of-Year Ceremony

The College held its annual Honors Day ceremony, on the evening of May 2, 2025, to recognize academic achievement.
Faculty Promotions

Five Professors Appointed to Named Chairs

Five Bowdoin faculty members have been appointed to named chairs at the College in recognition of their achievements as scholars and educators.