Over the years, Bates has earned a national reputation for academic excellence. Today, we are in the first tier of America's premier liberal-arts colleges, a fact documented by recent surveys and reviews published by U.S. News & World Report and Barron's Top 50, among others. More and more, people who come to know Bates are expressing deep admiration for its defining features: academic rigor in a supportive and welcoming environment, a tradition of egalitarianism and personal responsibility, a collaborative engagement of living and learning, and the promise of meaningful interaction between students and dedicated faculty mentors. For generations, Bates has held firm to its primary focus: bringing together promising students with caring teacher-scholars. That remains our central mission today. While we continue to take pride in the quality of our faculty and the potential of our students, we have become increasingly aware of serious inadequacies in classroom and faculty space, especially for departments in the social sciences and related interdisciplinary programs. Located in houses on the campus periphery, in spaces that place inherent limits on interaction and collaboration, these departments and programs are seriously disadvantaged and so, too, are their faculty and students. If the situation persists, it will significantly erode the effectiveness and reputation of many important areas of the College. It is a condition we can no longer tolerate or accept as being in the Bates tradition of excellence. To address these pressing concerns, we have developed a comprehensive program for a new academic building to provide classroom, laboratory, and faculty office spaces for seven social-science departments and four interdisciplinary programs. This new building will be a landmark campus structure occupying a prominent location overlooking Lake Andrews. The building will invigorate the departments and programs it serves and energize the entire campus community. With a total cost of nearly $18.5 million, this is the most ambitious building project undertaken in the history of the College, one that will require a leadership level of philanthropic support from alumni, parents, and friends. It is essential that we succeed; we are confident that we will. We draw our confidence from an awareness of the College's unparalleled excellence today, a reflection of careful and visionary planning at every turn in the College's history. Undertaking a new academic building continues our tradition of foresight and insistence on excellence. This is an exciting moment for Bates. With a deep degree of optimism, I invite you to join a small group of benefactors who will play a prominent role in underwriting this vital project. Its ultimate completion promises to strengthen the remarkable qualities of the College for many years to come. Donald W. Harward President For more information about the academic building project and its progress, please contact: Victoria Devlin Vice President for Development and Alumni Affairs Bates College, 2 Andrews Road, Lewiston, ME 04240 Phone: (207) 786-6245 Fax: (207) 786-8242 email address: vdevlin@bates.edu