Editor’s Note

A headshot portrait photograph of Bob Keyes grinning (Editorial Director of Colby Magazine)

I arrived in Waterville in January 1985 at 22 years old, a recent college graduate with my first newspaper job at the Morning Sentinel. My beat was the Board of Education, but I was hired as a general assignment reporter and was part of a five-person city desk reporting team responsible for covering all the news in Waterville and nearby towns.

Soon after I arrived, the city editor sent me up to Colby to write a story about the opening of an exhibition at the Colby College Museum of Art. The artist was Alex Katz, and the exhibition included about 100 artworks from the collection of Paul J. Schupf. The assignment involved interviews with the artist, the collector, museum director Hugh Gourley, and Colby President Bill Cotter.

In one assignment, I was introduced to Colby, the museum, and the always-evolving wonder and reward of Maine art. I had no idea at the time, but that assignment changed my life by setting its course.

Many years later, I became the arts writer for the Portland Press Herald/Maine Sunday Telegram, and now, in 2022, I return to campus as editorial director in Colby’s Communications Office. Completing a perfect professional full circle, I replace Gerry Boyle ’78, who before becoming editorial director at Colby worked as a city desk reporter at the Morning Sentinel. We overlapped at the Sentinel long enough for Gerry to become my first professional mentor out of college.

It is an honor to be here, and I’m thrilled to be back in the city where I began my career. Leaving journalism was a wrenching decision, but Colby made it easy. It is a first-class organization with a vision for a future that extends far beyond campus, and it operates with values that align with mine.

I got a sense of that vision and those values when I came to Waterville last fall to write about the opening of the Greene Block + Studios in downtown. The transformation of the building, which had been a hardware store for decades, was impressive. But what caught my attention was the transformation of all of downtown, thanks to Colby’s investments. There was a new or renovated building on every block, or so it seemed. It was clear that Waterville was a city on the rise and Colby was making it happen.

I plan to bring a similar kind of energy to my role as editorial director. We have a lot of news to cover and many stories to tell about exceptional Colbians who are striving to change the world for the better with their research, innovative thinking, and commitment to diversity, equity, accessibility, and inclusion.

This issue of the alumni magazine is dedicated to the history of women at Colby, with a look back at the gains and progress, the perspective of the current landscape and the view ahead, told through the voices of Colby women who made it happen and those who are leading their fields today. In addition to the print magazine, we are updating the Colby News website daily, so please check it out and send along your ideas.

It’s nice to be here, and thank you for the warm welcome.

Bob Keyes signature
Bob Keyes
Editorial Director