The Undiscussed Leaders, left to right, Maria Montes ’13, Monica Das ’14, Kate Kearns ’14, Phoebe Joaquin ’15 and Veronica Verdin ’15. Absent members: Nasra Hassan ’13 and Tyler Silver ’13

Every year for the past six years, a large number of students have joined a special campus club called The Undiscussed to talk about challenging topics that can get buried under the debris of our daily duties and burdens.

Each spring, when The Undiscussed becomes active, participants focus on one subject to tackle. In the past, they’ve looked at identity, choice, image and space. This year, members took on the topic of (un)happiness to examine both happiness and its opposite.

Read the full story here.

Chaos Theory, Bowdoin women’s ultimate frisbee team, recently placed first in the New England regional championships, beating out seven other teams.

Over the course of the tournament, held the first weekend in May, the team went 7-0, beating Williams College, Amherst College, Wellesley College, Smith College, Bentley University and Brandeis University by a total point differential of 103-29. “This raises our season record to a ridiculous 33-0,” co-captain Julie Bender ’13 said.

The win secured Chaos Theory’s spot in the Division III National Tournament in Milwaukee, Wis., May 18-19. “It’s been an absolutely incredible season, and we’re thrilled that it’ll be continuing for as long as possible,” Bender said.

Read the full story here.

President Barry Mills in early May presented awards to a group of students who stand out for their leadership gifts. He also recognized the three students who have been selected to speak at Commencement based on their submitted speeches.

Students who received leadership awards were Danica Loucks ’13, Daniel Ertis ’13, Alex Tougas ’14, RaiNesha Miller ’13, Dani Chediak ’13 and Linda Kinstler ’13. The three seniors speaking at commencement will be Miller, Hannah Glover ’13 and Daisy Alioto ’13.

Read short bios of the students here.

Howell House, one of eight houses in Bowdoin College’s residential system, recently held a silent auction to benefit a program run by the McKeen Center for the Common Good. By the end of the evening, Howell had raised over $650 for the Common Good Grant program.

The Common Good Grant is both a program designed to give students philanthropic experience as well as a way for the College to give back to the community. “The Common Good Grant is a pool of resources that a student committee parcels out among projects benefiting the greater Brunswick community,” explained Micah Ludwig ’13, co-leader of the Common Good program.

The idea for the auction originated with Howell House Vice President Amy Spens ’15, who organized fundraisers in high school and wanted to bring that experience to Howell.

Read the full story here.

Bowdoin’s annual Scholarship Appreciation Luncheon — an event President Barry Mills calls “the most emotional gathering of the year” — was held Thursday, May 9, in Thorne Hall.

Hundreds of students shared a meal with the donors — alumni, parents and friends of the College — who have provided the financial support that makes a Bowdoin education possible for them.

Following a performance by jazz trio Samuel Eley ’15, Simon Moushabeck ’16 and Benjamin Pallant ’16, President Mills spoke of the importance of ensuring that an education of the caliber of Bowdoin’s be available for every student, no matter their financial circumstances.

Donors Dennis Sgroi ’83 and Susan Sgroi ’86 shared the podium, explaining the origins of their love for Bowdoin and why it is a priority for them to help students.

Student speaker Adrian Rodriguez ’14 shared his family’s story of leaving the Dominican Republic for a better life, and his promise to his mother when he was a young boy that he would help her financially one day. He decided the best way he could do this was by becoming educated.

Read President Mills’ introductions about the speakers and musicians.

See more photos.

Bowdoin College held its 17th annual Honors Day ceremony yesterday evening to recognize the academic achievements of Bowdoin students and faculty. The ceremony was held at Kanbar Auditorium, Studzinski Recital Hall.

Lecturer in Chemistry Michael Danahy, recipient of the 2012 Sydney B. Karofsky Prize for Junior Faculty, delivered the Honors Day address, “Better Living Through Chemistry?” in which he described the often serendipitous nature of discoveries in chemistry, and both the good (new medicine) and the bad (drug addiction) these discoveries can bring into the world.

“As you continue through Bowdoin and one-day leave us, remember that what you do with your intellectual discoveries is in your hands,” Danahy said. “Please strive to apply your knowledge in a positive way and help further the “common good.”

Read the full story here.

Gelato Fiasco on Maine Street in Brunswick raised $5,336 for the Brunswick Teen Center at its annual Scoop-a-thon.

The fifth-annual Scoop-a-thon was successful in large part because of Bowdoin students, according to Bobby Guerette ’07, Gelato Fiasco’s marketing director. “I’m estimating that more than 350 students participated,” Guerette said, thanks to organizers Michelle Johnson ’15 and Jesse Everett ’12, who works at the Teen Center. The event was held April 24.

“Celebrity scoopers” included the men and women’s swim teams, proctors and residential advisors from Residential Life, the men and women’s track teams, men’s rugby and the women’s ultimate Frisbee team.

Student musicians and a cappella groups sang, and “the most enthusiastic Polar Bear mascot I’ve ever seen” also made an appearance, Guerette said.

This story is a follow-up to an earlier preview about the trip.

The students in Nadia Celis’ Spanish class who traveled to Colombia over spring break came back with more than just a deeper academic understanding of Colombian writer Gabriel García Márquez.

Although the focus of the trip was to explore the historical and cultural context of García Márquez’s work, Celis said students gained another lesson. They also developed a new perspective on their identities as foreigners and Americans.

Read the full story here.

Cambodia exchange students Rada Chhorn and Kimsrung Lov

As young girls growing up in Cambodia’s countryside, both Kimsrung Lov and Rada Chhorn faced steep odds in obtaining a college education.

Lov’s father, a small business owner in a town 57 miles outside of Phnom Penh, believed that because girls were only destined to become housewives, it was a waste for them to receive an education.

Chhorn was raised on a small farm in a village with no electricity or plumbing, and her family could not afford to pay for college.

Despite these obstacles, Lov and Chhorn not only earned undergraduate degrees, but they became two of just a handful of Cambodian students to study abroad in the United States.

Read the full story here.

Students were treated to nonstop sun this weekend for the annual Ivies celebration. Guster, Hoodie Allen and Bowdoin student group Phar\os played at Saturday’s concert.

Continue here for slideshow.

Student dance group Arabesque performing at the ASA Fashion Show

The Bowdoin Asian Students Association last weekend presented its annual ASA Fashion Show. A tradition on Bowdoin’s campus since the late 1980s, the show every year is a well-attended event. In recent years, the show has coincided with accepted students’ “Experience Weekend” as a way to welcome prospective students to Bowdoin.

The fashion show is designed to show off the diversity of Bowdoin students. “The ASA Fashion Show started as a way to showcase the diverse talents and culture of Bowdoin students,” said ASA Senior Class Representative Peggy Zhao ’13. “We entertain Bowdoin students through a showcase of traditional costumes of different cultures, dance performances and a music performance.”

Read the full story and see the slideshow here.

Lonnie Hackett ’14

Lonnie Hackett ’14 is one of 62 college juniors from around the country who has won a prestigious Truman Scholarship, which is given to promising students pursuing careers in government, public service, education, or the nonprofit sector — jobs that are admirable but often not lucrative.

Besides receiving a $30,000 scholarship for graduate school, Truman scholars receive leadership training, a one-year federal government internship after they graduate from college, and priority admission, plus supplemental financial aid, to some premier graduate schools.

Hackett, who is a biochemistry major and psychology minor, said that when he was a high school student growing up in Bangor, Maine, he never imagined he would be where he is today. “I came [to Bowdoin] to play football,” he said.

Read the full story here.

BC psychology professor Joe Tecce '55.

Boston College psychology professor Joe Tecce ’55 talks about how people might begin to process the tragedy surrounding last Monday’s bombings at the Boston Marathon.

Students were recently invited to an evening reception at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art to check out the new Per Kirkeby exhibition and other art, as well as mingle with their peers and listen to a cappella performances. Nights at the Museum are organized by the office of Student Activities as part of its efforts to provide a range of entertainment options on campus.

See the slideshow here.

U.S. Small Business Administrator Karen Mills, the wife of Bowdoin President Barry Mills, christened the USNS Millinocket at a ceremony in Mobile, Alabama, on April 20, 2013. It is the second US Navy vessel to be named for the northern Maine town; the first was torpedoed on its way to Mobile by a German U-boat 70 years ago. The christening of the USNS Millinocket, which represents the working towns of Millinocket and East Millinocket “recognizes the contributions both communities have made to the military” and “for a hard-working past at the world’s largest paper mill as well as sacrifices made during the Great Depression.”

A news crew interviews Kim Gilmore '16 about her efforts to raise money for the family of Martin Richard, the eight-year-old Dorchester, Mass., boy killed in the Boston Marathon bombing.

More than two hours north of Boston and the scene of Monday’s horrific Boston Marathon bombing, Bowdoin students are doing what they can to help. Kim Gilmore ’16 grew up in the same Dorchester, Mass., neighborhood as Martin Richard, the eight-year-old boy who was killed in one of the blasts. Gilmore has begun raising money to send to the Richard family, to help pay medical bills and to start a scholarship fund for Martin’s sister Jane, who lost her leg in the bombing. Other students — Molly Fargeorge ’14 and Hannah Arrighi ’15 —  have organized an effort that allows members of the community to sign cards of support that will be sent to first responders in Boston. “We thought that was a simple thing to organize, easy to implement and a good way to send our love,”  said Fargeorge. Watch WGME coverage.