AUBURN — Bates’ Best Award 2013 was present to Doris Neilson Whipple, Class of 1934, on the occasion of her 100th birthday celebration at her Auburn home.

The award was presented by another Bates College alumnus, Maurice Hight of Cape May, N.J., who gave the following speech.

“Doris Neilson Whipple, at Bates you learned that accomplishment comes through hard work – but there’s room for a lot of fun too. During your student years you were active in La Petite Academie, the MacFarlane Club and Phi Sigma Iota. Thank goodness that Bates dropped its ban on dancing in the 1920s, or some Bates men would have never known the pleasure of spinning you  across the floor in Chase Hall.

“Today, you are well-loved within the Bates and Lewiston-Auburn communities for your outgoing and enthusiastic personality. But you are no mere social butterfly.

“Upon graduation you used the knowledge gained from professors like Fred Knapp and Seldon Crafts to teach throughout Maine and influence students who benefited from, in the words of one student, ‘your guidance and encouragement.’ In 1968 you were inducted into the College Key.

“You have been described as a ‘whirlwind’ and ‘ an effective and vigorous leader’ in your position as class president, while your humor and energy made you an instrumental figure on your 55th reunion committee.

“You have matched your volunteer work on behalf of Bates with your philanthropic commitment to the college. Through the years, you recognized the value of giving, becoming a steadfast partner to Bates and a role model for your fellow alumni.

“You are perhaps best-known among alumni young and old as an accomplished pianist. From playing in silent theaters as a teenager in the 1920s to accompanying the Bates ‘Alma Mater’ each spring at reunion, you have generously shared your musical talents wherever you go, and kept your fellow alumni in tune with the times.

“Doris, you have been a powerful presence in your community, and your dedication to Bates is a great compliment to your alma mater. you have been a lifelong friend to your class, and you are the keeper of the tune that kindles pride in every generation of Bates alumni. For all this and more, you have our deepest admiration.

“Doris Neilson Whipple, you are one of Bates’ Best.”