Did you know that the first seven presidents of Bowdoin College were ordained ministers, including Civil War hero Joshua Chamberlain? The appointment of Kenneth C. M.Sills as president in 1918 broke this tradition. I learned this history by talking with Rev. Robert Ives, Director of Religious and Spiritual Life at Bowdoin.

Despite the aforementioned tradition, Bowdoin had never had a Chaplain or a Director of Religious and Spiritual Life until Ives appointment at the end of 2012. What prompted the decision?

“A few students went to Barry Mills, then Bowdoin’s president, and suggested the need for a Director of Religious and Spiritual Life,” he explained. “Barry essentially said, ‘Prove it,’ and the students returned with about 40 more students to make the case. That did it as Barry Mills always paid close attention to student concerns.”

Ives spends about half his time in individual counseling. “We often talk about what makes life worth living.” he says. They might also discuss, say, ways to express their faith or issues dealing with their religious upbringing at home. He also does grief counseling and leads grief support groups to help students cope with the loss of a family member.

Ives does not represent any one religious tradition. Rather, he guides and coordinates the eight faith groups on campus: Catholic Student Union, Hillel, Christian Fellowship, Muslim Student Association, Bowdoin Quakers, Bowdoin Orthodoxy Association, Bowdoin Inklings and the Bowdoin College Gospel Choir.

Just as former President Barry Mills listened to student input, so does Ives. The Bowdoin Quakers group was established after two students asked him if they could start a weekly Quaker meeting at the Bowdoin Chapel. Ives enthusiastically supported the idea, and now 5-12 students attend a Quaker meeting every Wednesday night. “The two students weren’t even Quaker,” says Ives, “but they attended an independent school which had Quaker meetings every morning and those meetings were very meaningful to them.”

Student initiative also led to the establishment of the Bowdoin Inklings, a conservative evangelical group on campus open to everyone. And yet another example: Students came up with an idea to have a Dawali, an ancient Hindu event celebrating the rites of spring. One hundred Bowdoin students and faculty attended the very first Dawali celebration.

Speaking to the rewards of his job, Ives says, “It’s an honor to help such remarkable students sort out difficult questions and find meaning in their lives.”

He notes that the biggest challenges arise when students must deal with the judgments of family members back home.

In the interests of full disclosure, I should note that I’ve known Bob Ives since 1970, as he was an Admissions Fellow in the Bowdoin Admissions Office when I worked there. I later served on the Board of the Carpenter’s Boat Shop, the amazing organization he founded in 1979. The Boat Shop offers transformative apprenticeships in the art and craft of boatbuilding.

Knowing Bob Ives and Bowdoin College as I do, I can say that, pardon the expression, his appointment as Director of Religious and Spiritual Life at the College is a match made in heaven.

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David Treadwell, a Brunswick writer, welcomes commentary or suggestions for future “Just a Little Old” columns at dtreadw575@aol.com.