History Behind Orientation Trips

The first Orientation Trips went out late in the summer of 1982, when a small group of Bowdoin first-year students and a biology professor travelled to the Bowdoin Scientific Station on Kent Island in the Bay of Fundy to study local ecology. Due to the enthusiastic reports of the students’ experiences and their smooth transition into college life, Bowdoin established the Orientation Trip program, which has since evolved into a proud college tradition.

In 2003, the McKeen Center for the Common Good began offering community immersion trips, allowing incoming first-years to gain a meaningful, early exposure to the surrounding communities. Now, all first-year students share a common introductory experience by participating in one of 54 different experiences offered by the Bowdoin Outing Club (BOC) and the McKeen Center to explore the great state of Maine!