By TINA IYER
Features Editor
 

Students of color, students from non-U.S. geographic areas and foreign students don't just arrive on the doorstep of Lindholm House and bang on the door to be let in -- more often than not they need to be recruited.

Thus 80 of these prospective students will visit the campus from Oct. 23 to Oct. 26, when Bates hosts the its nineteenth annual October Weekend. The Weekend is a three-day event when Bates opens its arms specifically to students of color.

"October Weekend is [Bates's] way of giving [prospective students] the opportunity to visit a small, highly selective college to discover for [themselves] the benefits of a liberal-arts education," reads the October Weekend pamphlet that is given prospective participants.

"This [October Weekend] is one of many multicultural outreach and recruitment activities," said Associate Dean of Admissions and Director of Multicultural Recruitment Carmita McCoy. "It's a major one."

McCoy, with the help of Demisha Lee, assistant dean of admissions, the rest of the admissions staff, and student helpers Leo Willis '98, Cuc Ngo '00, and Meera Malhotra '00, has been the coordinator of October Weekend since her arrival at Bates three years ago.

October Weekend history
The nearly two-decades old October Weekend has become a powerful force in recruitment, but its beginnings were humble.

"From my understanding, it started when an African-American alumnus began bringing students up in his own car from New York and New Jersey," said McCoy.

Since then, October Weekend has taken many forms ("They tried it in January," said McCoy, "It didn't work."), but it has finally settled into a two- or three-day even at the end of October.

Selection and invitation of prospective students
The process begins over the summer, with the admissions staff sending out up to 4,000 applications to prospective multicultural students. Word about October Weekend also spreads through alumni, current students, and programs such as Upward Bound.

What follows is a mini-college application process for the prospective October Weekend student. The student returns the completed application with a copy of his or her transcript, letters of reference, and a mini-essay of why (s)he would like to participate in October Weekend.

"We try to choose students who are interested in Bates, would be a good match for Bates, and who would increase diversity," said McCoy. She stressed the importance of the last part of her statement.

Admissions gets roughly 125 applications, from which 80 students are chosen. October Weekend students come from all across the United States: California, Utah, Illinois, Missouri, Florida, Georgia, New York and some New England states. "There are even some from Maine," McCoy said.

The College pays for the transportation of these students; a bus transports students from New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts and New Hampshire to and from Bates. Students from farther away are flown into the Portland airport.

Upon their arrival on campus, the students face a jam-packed schedule of activities.

"We try to maximize their time on campus with a combination of admissions and financial aid information, academic information, and with opportunities to interact with students, faculty, administrators. And as best we can we try to cram that into three days," McCoy said.

October Weekend students are interviewed by admissions staffers and given the opportunity to speak with financial aid representatives. They meet the director of the Multicultural Center and the students of organizations housed there. They also talk with faculty members and visit the OCS.

Students also get time to socialize, watch athletic events, and tour Portland and the Lewiston-Auburn area.

Of the students who participate in October Weekend, generally 60 to 70 percent apply to Bates. Of those who apply and are accepted, 35 - 40 percent enroll.

The result of October Weekend participant evaluations shows that "overwhelmingly, the program has been well-received," McCoy said.

Student participation helps make it work
"This program could not be successful without student volunteers," said McCoy.

Meera Malhotra '00, although not a participant in October Weekend herself, hosted two students during the weekend last year, and said she "felt it was a wonderful opportunity to increase diversity at Bates."

"The thing that I really like about October Weekend is that it gives prospective students an opportunity to make a connection with students here at Bates," Malhotra explained via e-mail. "For students of color looking at an overview of Bates, it may not seem very appealing but a short stay in the Bates community may give them a very different feeling."

Leo Willis '98, another student coordinator, was an October Weekend student four years ago, and has been a volunteer for the program since he enrolled at Bates. Willis has travelled on the bus from New York City to Bates twice now, and he and will do it again this year. He said that it is important for him to be able to interact with the students he meets and "get them to take Bates seriously."

Willis emphasizes the need for these students to understand the good and the bad of all of their college choices, weigh their options, and then make an educated decision.

The value of October Weekend is immeasurable for Bates as a school that is trying to increase diversity, according to Willis. "It's kind of empowering for non-white Bates students to see their numbers increased in one weekend," he said.