Can someone tell me about the Bates football culture? Do they separate themselves from the rest of the campus socially? Do they have a good reputation on campus for behavior? Do students go to the games?
Not sure if you are still interested in this question, but since you didn’t have any feedback, I thought I’d try to help. My daughter, a current Bates student, is home, so I asked her your question. Her opinion is that the football players, like all the athletes, are a part of the regular campus social scene, overall good reputation, great guys. Some of them hang together, as do students from many groups, but not in an inclusive/exclusive way. First year student-athletes are housed with the mix of students and thus make many friends from all parts of the campus community.
And she says, yes, definitely students go to games! They look forward to the home games, there is tailgating with team families (very small time compared to big universities, of course, but they have fun!) and they attend and cheer. There is a good spirit of teams supporting each other, so you see the basketball players, lacrosse team, football, etc. cheering loudly at each others’ games.
Also the CBB competition is a big thing up there. Last year, the Bates football team lost, I believe, all of their games except the last two against Bowdoin and Colby, which they won. The level of excitement around this event was such that you would have thought they won the national championship or something.
Also, the football field is in the middle of campus and games are free so even students who haven’t been big football fans in HS can drop in and watch games. Parents can watch the live stream from home.