LEWISTON – Bates College President Elaine Tuttle Hansen will host a symposium titled “A College for Coming Time: Diversity and the Changing Demographics of Higher Education” on Thursday, May 10, at Olin Arts Center, 75 Russell St.

Free and open to the public, the symposium will begin at 1:30 p.m. with opening remarks by Hansen, followed by a keynote presentation on the changing demographics of higher education by Jamie P. Merisotis, a 1986 Bates graduate, trustee and president of The Institute for Higher Education Policy in Washington, D.C.

At 3 p.m., attendees will break into small-group discussions for an hour.

Following a refreshment break, attendees will reconvene 4:15 p.m. for closing remarks by Blenda J. Wilson, former president and CEO of the Nellie Mae Education Foundation.

The symposium title comes in part from early writings of Bates founder Oren B. Cheney, who envisioned a new institution of learning to serve those who did not have easy access to higher education.

“We aspire to increase access and enhance the diversity of this college,” Hansen said in a prepared statement. “A learning environment that does not sufficiently reflect and explore the complexity of the world outside its gates and prepare students for full and active participation in a global society falls short of the high standard of excellence for which Bates is rightly known.”

For more information on the symposium, contacting Alicia Richard at [email protected] mailto:[email protected]> or 207-786-6336.