2008 Woodie Awards
For students trickling in from urban and suburban corners of the world alike, the town of Middlebury is a wonderful - and too often ignored - resource and retreat during our time at the College. And for the many faculty and staff who work on campus, the town is often at the hub of a deep and vibrant relationship with the community that extends far beyond the reach of the College's own boundaries.
To the Editor: An article about the calendar change to begin in spring semester 2009 appeared in last week's The Middlebury Campus. I write to provide some background about the strategic planning process that recommended the change, and about subsequent steps to implement it.
Have you heard the news? Al Gore won the Nobel Prize. Al Gore, who couldn't even win the general election when he got the most votes, somehow won the most prestigious award in the world for peace. First, he turns a PowerPoint presentation into an Academy Award-winning film, then he travels the countryside in his Toyota Prius, trumpeting a prognostication of doom for the environment and now he's a Nobel Laureate.
Middlebury College is headed in an unfortunate direction. President Liebowitz has shifted Middlebury's priorities in the form of a unique administrative diet still in the process of being entirely digested. This shift in our College's administrative food pyramid has included the controversy surrounding the Rehnquist chair, the acquisition of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, the dissipating Commons System, the recent obsession with college rankings, paying junior counselors, going from two CRAs to just one, an attempt to change our school logo, The Middlebury Initiative fundraising campaign and, most recently, diluting the celebratory zeal of Winter Carnival.
In addition to the heightened consumption of alcohol, there are other elements that make the daily schedule of an average college student radically different from that of anyone not in college. It's undeniable - we don't live like normal people. Now, perhaps some of you go to class in the morning and then go straight to the library.
In a recent article in The Campus, ("Council Weighs Relationship Ban"), Faculty Council member Amy Morsman reports, "Faculty Council has been crafting a policy which would prohibit professors from having amorous relationships with students." We say 'Bravo!' to Faculty Council for taking on this controversial issue, and we encourage them to take a strong stance.
I've been at Middlebury for over three years now. In that time, I have met students who have planned fundraisers, mentored local children, volunteered their time to put out a newspaper, organized marches to raise awareness of climate change and persuaded this College to commit to carbon neutrality by 2016.