editorial

Author: [no author name found]

In an article published this Sunday in the New York Times Magazine, writer Andrew Delbanco asked, "What makes the modern university different from any other corporation?" Not much, the author concluded. Competing for global prestige and "brand-name positioning," more universities continue to look to teams of consultants and campus amenities to enhance their image and attract customers - that is to say, students. Here at Middlebury, amid the flurry of festivities accompanying the kick-off of our ambitious $500 million capital campaign, the institution looks less like the college it is and more like the corporation it could become. This appearance touches on students' anxiety about the changing face of their much-beloved institution.

This is not to say that the College's fund raising blitz or attempts to raise its global profile are not laudable endeavors. Gleaming facilities, like McCardell Bicentennial Hall, the New Library and the soon-to-be-finished Axinn Center all add a dash of glam to our co-ed existence. The Middlebury Initiative's goals are equally worthy. The campaign, which could well be the largest capital campaign ever launched by a liberal arts college, is inspiring and bold. By implementing the goals of the Strategic Plan, most notably a lower student-faculty ratio, the Initiative will boost the College's reputation and the learning experience of its students.

Warranted or not, though, students perceive a certain anxiety on campus that the new Middlebury - a place of high rankings, fierce competition, a relentless workload and dogged preoccupation with the prestige of the institution - will eclipse the College's underlying character. The Initiative is just the latest in a string of changes that seem to herald a new age for the College.

Students are searching for reassurance that the changing face of the College will not alter what we love best about the school. Is our genial, laid-back institution - a place of both intense learning and good-natured play - a thing of the past? Has the quest for that oh-so-impressive endowment overshadowed the day-to-day business of learning? In spite of the crush of new faces on campus, are we accepting fewer of those archetypal "Midd-kids"? And in paying the applicant pool's most promising students extra attention, is the College mindlessly jockeying for a place at big kids' table?

Perhaps. And yet we are confident in the College's ability to influence its community in ways distinct to Middlebury. The College remains a place that, by sheer force of its spirit, leaves an indelible impression on the students, faculty and staff who call this place home. The answer to rising anxiety about the changing face of the institution lies, we believe, in rooting the College's growth in this very home. In hosting the Initiative launch on campus, administrators have made the wise choice to include members of the community in this unprecedented event. The event could provide unprecedented access to trustees. Similarly, plans to bring potential donors directly to campus - which will, we hope, keep administrators more closely in tune with the day-to-day rhythms of the community - are also encouraging. The surest way to avoid the appearance of corporate schmoozing is to engage students on their own turf. Here, where students, professors and staff are busy at the business at the heart of the College's mission, that dreaded corporate sheen is a little less prominent.

The best way to stave off student concerns is to include as many voices as possible in discussions about Middlebury's future. Students should take responsibility, too, for joining the fray. We hope we'll see students at Saturday's launch, and that the community will take this weekend as an opportunity to engage in candid discussions about what is undoubtedly an exciting, watershed moment in the College's history.