Evan Gershkovich '14 Detained in Russia (March 30, 2023)

To the Bowdoin community,

As you may have seen in media reports this morning, Evan Gershkovich—the Wall Street Journal reporter detained today by Russian authorities in Yekaterinburg, Russia—is a member of the Bowdoin Class of 2014.

Known to many on campus, especially among the faculty, Evan was a philosophy major who also wrote for The Bowdoin Orient and helped edit The Bowdoin Globalist, which became The Bowdoin Review. He was also a member of our men’s soccer team and has been an active alumnus helping to mentor recent Russian majors. He described his start in journalism and the challenges of being a journalist in Russia in a brief 2020 interview posted to the Bowdoin website.

A free press is essential to a free society and is embedded in the core values of our college. Evan, along with so many other Bowdoin graduates, has dedicated himself to advancing this principle and making it real.

We are deeply concerned about Evan's safety, and our thoughts are with him and his family. We very much hope for a speedy resolution to this situation and that he and his family are reunited soon.

Sincerely,

Clayton