College of the Atlantic president Darron Collins ’92 speaking during COA convocation in 2015.
Convocation takes place in Gates Community Center on Wednesday, Sept. 8, beginning at 1 p.m. It is preceded by several days of orientation activities, including a sea kayaking trip, group bike ride and an outdoor movie, which kick off Sunday, Sept 4. The first groups of new students arrived Aug. 28 for week-long outdoor orientation programs in the Maine wilderness.
Nearly 25 percent of the students in COA’s newest group have an international background. These students provide an incredible variety of perspectives, and help keep the community integrated to the world-at-large, said dean of admission Heather Albert-Knopp. They come to COA as part of the college’s largest-ever applicant pool of 540 students.
“This year’s incoming students…are artists, environmentalists, humanitarians, scientists, and budding entrepreneurs, and I can’t wait to see what they will accomplish during their time at COA” - COA dean of admission Heather Albert-Knopp.
“This year’s incoming students come from an especially diverse array of backgrounds and geographies, from Kosovo, Namibia, Japan, Italy, Sweden, and Argentina, to Texas, Washington, North Carolina, Colorado, New Jersey, New Mexico, and across the state of Maine including Bar Harbor,” Albert-Knopp said. “They’re artists, environmentalists, humanitarians, scientists, and budding entrepreneurs, and I can’t wait to see what they will accomplish during their time at COA.”
COA president Dr. Darron Collins ’92 said he was very excited for the new term. Collins plans to speak Wednesday about the importance of sustainability and the difficulty involved with creating truly sustainable communities.
“Approaching and addressing sustainability questions - like those regarding energy, food, wildlife conservation, and social justice issues - is challenging physically, intellectually, and socially, and this work requires of each of us a commitment to working on our physical, intellectual, and social selves,” Collins said.
Mandala Farm owners Genio Bertin ’97 and Sarah Faull ’98 are COA's 2016 convocation speakers.This year’s keynote speakers are Genio Bertin ’97 and Sarah Faull ’98. The couple are the owners of Mandala Farm, in Gouldsboro, ME, where they specialize in farming with Fjord workhorses. They raise vegetables, Cashmere goats, chickens, sheep, and cows. All of their animals are grass-fed, naturally raised, and free of hormones and anitbiotics.
Of the 100 new students at COA this fall, 19 are transfers and 80 are first year.
College of the Atlantic is an interdisciplinary, experiential college of 350 students and 35 faculty members offering a Bachelor of Arts degree in human ecology – the study of how humans interact with our natural, social and technological environments. Each student develops their own course of study in human ecology, working across multiple disciplines, collaborating, innovating, and thinking far outside the box. Founded in 1969, College of the Atlantic was the first college in the U.S. to focus on the relationship between humans and the environment.
