President Barry Mills addressed the members of the Brunswick Rotary Club during a meeting earlier this week, discussing the interconnectedness of Bowdoin College and the surrounding community. “There is no doubt that the strength of the community is one of the things that makes Bowdoin so great, and that the strength of the college makes the community great,” Mills said.

Mills mentioned Bowdoin’s role as an economic driver of the region and highlighted some of the programs that draw college and community members together during the summer, including the Bowdoin International Music Festival, the Maine State Music Theater, and the current Maurice Prendergast exhibition at the Bowdoin College Museum of Art. One audience member spoke up to thank Mills for the artistic and cultural opportunities that Bowdoin offers to area residents and visitors.

President Mills also described some of the college’s current challenges and opportunities, products of an evolving economic and technological landscape. “I’ve been at Bowdoin for 12 years, and the reason the job continues to be interesting is that it’s always changing,” he said. He spoke about maintaining the college’s affordability for students and their families, tempering the need for space with the financial and environmental costs of construction, and harnessing distance learning technology to continue enhancing the college’s curriculum.

In honor of President Mills’s address, the Rotary Club will present a book to the children’s section of Brunswick’s Curtis Memorial Library.