Bowdoin College

Student Life

Recalling his days at Bowdoin in a recent interview, Professor Richard E. Morgan '59 described student life at the then-all-male school as "monastic," and noted that "the only things to do were either work or drink." (This is corroborated by the Official Preppy Handbook, which in 1980 ranked Bowdoin the number two drinking school in the country, behind Dartmouth.) These days, Morgan observed, the College offers a far broader array of recreational opportunities: "If we could have looked forward in time to Bowdoin's standard of living today, we would have been astounded." *

Related Topics:
Richard E. Morgan - Official Preppy Handbook - Dartmouth

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Bowdoin is particularly well-known for its dining services, which the Princeton Review has ranked first and second in the country in recent years. * The College has two major dining halls, one of which was renovated in the late 1990s, and every academic year begins with a lobster bake outside Farley Fieldhouse. Bowdoin also does well in other lifestyle categories; in 2004 it ranked 10th in dorm quality and 14th for quality of life. *

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Since abolishing Greek fraternities in the late 1990s, Bowdoin has switched to a system in which entering students are assigned a "social house" affiliation correlating with their first-year dormitory. First-year students who live in Moore Hall are affiliated with Baxter House, those who live in Hyde Hall are associated with Howell House, and so on. The social houses are physical buildings around campus which host parties and other events throughout the year. Those students who choose not to live in their affiliated house retain their affiliation and are considered members throughout their Bowdoin career.

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Bowdoin's student newspaper, The Bowdoin Orient, is the oldest continuously-published college weekly in the United States. * The largest student group on campus is the Outing Club, which leads canoing, kayaking, rafting, camping and backpacking trips throughout Maine *. Men's ice hockey is the most popular spectator sport, with hundreds of students turning out for games against arch-rival Colby. For more information on participation in club and varsity sports, see the Athletics section below.

Related Topics:
The Bowdoin Orient - Ice hockey - Colby

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