Midd Briefs

Author: CAROLINE S. STAUFFER

Monterey decision deadline extended

On the evening of Wednesday, April 27, President Ronald D. Liebowitz announced his plan to slightly defer a final decision on the potential acquisition of the Monterey Institute of International Studies (MIIS) in an all-campus e-mail.

After the February meeting of the Board of Trustees, Liebowitz said he would make a recommendation on MIIS in time for the Trustees to vote at the May Board meeting.

In his e-mail, Liebowitz explained, "In the period since the February Board meeting and our on-campus meetings, the College's comprehensive due diligence process has generated an enormous amount of valuable information about the benefits and risks of acquiring MIIS." Furthermore, according to Liebowitz, much of that information has arrived in the past two weeks, with more critical information yet to come.

Therefore, should Liebowitz forward a positive recommendation, the Board of Trustees will hold a special meeting no later than June 30 to make the final decision.

"The additional time will allow us to integrate all the new information we have received, to consider the yet-to-be-received information we expect in the next few weeks, and to enable the Board to engage the issue fully," Liebowitz said in the e-mail.

Conversations about the acquisition of the Monterey Institute began last fall and shortly thereafter the Monterey Steering Committee was formed to visit the site and further investigate the Institute.

On March 15, the Program Coordination Group investigating MIIS gave a presentation and answered the questions of students, faculty and staff in Warner Hemicycle.

At the April 1 faculty meeting, the faculty council voted 80-21 in opposition of the potential acquisition.

On April 16, the Student Government Association passed a recommendation expressing concern over the potential acquisition. "The SGA recommends to President Liebowitz and the Trustees that they reject any proposal that requires Middlebury to spend money that otherwise would be spent on College resources," the bill read.



Mead Chapel hosts Yom HaShoah service

On Wednesday evening, "Remembering the Holocaust: A Yom HaShoah Commemoration" was held in Mead Chapel. The program included a talk by Thomas Weisshaus entitled, "Surviving the Holocaust in Budapest: The Importance of Family, Wallenberg and the Lone Ranger." Associate Chaplain Rabbi Ira Schiffer, Rachel Schiffer '06 and Nina Robinson '05 were involved in the event's organization. Yam HaShoah was established to remember the Holocaust and the six million Jews who perished. It marks the anniversary of the Warsaw Ghetto uprising in 1941. The Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life, Middlebury College Hillel, The Addison County Jewish Congregation: Havurah and Middlebury Area Clergy co-sponsored the event.



Faculty recognized for academic excellence

Frederick C. Dirks Professor of Political Science Michael Kraus and Director of the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs and Professor of Political Science Allison Stanger have accepted an invitation to offer a course entitled "A Central European Odyssey: History, Culture and Politics in Prague," in the Prague Summer Program, July 2-29, 2005.The Prague Summer Program is co-sponsored by Western Michigan University and the Charles University of Prague. It offers a wide variety of courses and programs, but specializes in courses for aspiring writers.

Associate Professor of Biology Andi Lloyd has received a grant from the National Science Foundation that will enable herself and one undergraduate student to research how climate change may affect the distribution of tree species in the boreal forest in the Brooks Range, Alaska each summer. She will continue collaborating with colleagues at the Bonanza Creek Long Term Ecological Research site on a project titled Alaska's Changing Boreal Forest: Resilience and Vulnerability.

The Marion and Jasper Whiting Foundation has awarded Professor of French Bethany Ladimer a fellowship to support her 2005-2006 leave. Ladimer will spend a semester at the University of Poitiers in France working on a textbook and course development project that is titled, Teaching American Students How to Reason and Write in French.