For those who remember the days of Bates Faces*, you might still be mourning its tragic loss. Instead, you’ve been left struggling to remember the name of that person in your class you’ve known for almost half a year.

Well, no matter how much it was missed, Bates Faces was removed sometime in the fall of last year. In November 2024 The Bates Student published in detail how the site was removed out of concerns for student privacy, as well as how the available information was being used. Since students didn’t have control of this information online (e.g., remove the photos, opt out of the directory, etc.), the site was taken down.

However, it isn’t completely gone. On the Bates Quad, there sits a similarly mysterious feature, The Directory. With a couple of clicks, your essay length password, and a painful trip to Duo Mobile, you can search for any student by name, class year and hometown.

So what’s the deal with Bates Faceless?

It seems like a lot, actually. When I searched for myself in the directory, I was shocked to find that not only was my personal phone number listed, but also my specific room number in my campus dorm! Ah!

No offense, but that’s not really information I want just anyone in the community to know. My campus hovel should be somewhere only my known associates stumble across — a mystical location disclosed to those I trust.

Also, on the site were leave of absences, study abroad, campus mailboxes, class years, hometowns, pronouns, Bates emails and personal cell numbers. However, it seemed to be at random — some people’s full information was shown and others just had their campus mailboxes.

After thirty minutes trying to navigate Garnet Gateway’s facelift (no, I don’t want to hear a joke, A Bit of Humor tab), I emailed Bates IT, thinking that they surely must know. With no luck, they redirected me to the Registrar, who provided me with the solution.

If you want to check your information and remove the removable parts (phone number, pronouns, and campus address), follow the steps provided by the Bates Registrar via email.

“Go into the Garnet Gateway and to the General Tab.

In the Manage Personal Information tab, take the Emergency: Contact Me option.

In the Campus Directory box, there is a plus sign next to each element to denote whether or not to show pronouns, cell phone, and campus address. You can turn off each of these elements independently.”

They urged me to contact [email protected] if any problems arose.

I hope this helps to at least retain some control over your personal information. Whether we are forced to question the role a tool such as this one has at Bates, or to find another way to misuse this one, this information is out there for the Bates community to access. 

If you are now shocked about the availability of information or hyped to play around on this new search directory, you now know that this information is out there. If students don’t know how to change the visibility of their information on Garnet Gateway, the option becomes meaningless. Reverting to an almost worst-case scenario of Bates Faces. 

Now just remember what part of Massachusetts that person you don’t know the name of said they were from…

*Hello to everyone who hasn’t experienced Bates Faces. Essentially, it was an online student directory/yearbook that included hometown, class years, school ID photo, and other information. It was removed around November 2024.