For the past few Thursdays, Associate Dean of Student Affairs Janet Lohmann has set up a table in the Lamarche Gallery at 4 p.m., and equipped the station with paper, pens, stamps and envelopes.

The “Gratitude Thursdays” event is meant to help “revive the lost art of letter writing,” Lohmann said, and to give students the opportunity to show appreciation for important people in their lives. “The power of a handwritten letter means much more than a text or email,” she noted.

Last week Jiaqi Duan ’17 was one of a dozen students who came by to write down their thoughts into cards. As she penned letters to friends from home, Duan said she used to write more letters during her first year at Bowdoin. But lately, she hadn’t been doing it so much recently and appreciated having the extra impetus.

Andi Noble ’15 said she was writing to Bowdoin alumni among others, and Catherine Yochum ’15 said she was writing to her grandma.