Earth Day is celebrated internationally on April 22, but at Middlebury, this year’s festivities spanned the entire month and beyond. Between March 29 and April 30, campus groups including the Sustainability and Environmental Affairs team, the Climate Action Program, the Prism Center and the Knoll hosted over 30 Earth Month-related events.
The month began with a visit from Eli Clare, a writer whose work focuses on the intersection of disability, queer and environmental justice, on April 2. Community members, students, faculty and staff filled The Orchard room of the Franklin Environmental Center at Hillcrest to listen as Clare read passages from his forthcoming book, “Unfurl: Survivals, Sorrows, and Dreaming.” The talk preceded an April 21 student workshop led by Clare titled “How to stay in justice & liberation work for the long haul” during which attendees focused on topics like burnout, urgency and coalition.
The second week of April featured more workshops, including a residency led by Emily Welty and Matthew Breay Bolton, members of a Nobel Prize-winning campaign to abolish nuclear weapons and 2024 Middlebury honorary degree recipients. On Tuesday, April 8 in the Crest Room, Welty and Breay Bolton led a group of students in a workshop on non-violent action. During the workshop, participants brainstormed strategies for non-violent action, placing emphasis on creating specific, measurable, achievable, relevant and time-bound goals. Welty and Breay Bolton emphasized that the goal of non-violent action campaigns is not to immediately convert an opponent of an issue to a supporter, but rather to make more marginal change, such as convincing a passive supporter to become an active one.
Middlebury’s Earth Month celebrations extended off campus, too. A group of students, faculty and staff traveled to Washington, D.C. from Wednesday, April 16 to Sunday, April 20 to attend the Planet Forward Summit. The theme of the conference was “The Climate Divide: New Narratives to Transform the Crisis” and was presented by George Washington University in association with Middlebury’s Conflict Transformation Collaborative.
The summit featured talks led by several Middlebury affiliates. Planet Forward Founder Frank Sesno ’77 began the summit by delivering a welcome address on Thursday morning. Sesno’s introduction was followed by a talk on transforming conflict by Sarah Stroup, Middlebury professor of Political Science and director of the Collaborative in Conflict Transformation, alongside Netta Avineri, Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey professor of Intercultural Communication. Over lunch, attendees heard from Middlebury Scholar in Residence Carolyn Finney in conversation with Sesno and on Friday, Middlebury Schuman Distinguished Scholar Bill McKibben delivered a keynote address to summit attendees.
The power of storytelling was present throughout the event.
“People perceive the world mostly through stories. I did my best to convince everyone to join in on a shared story about the power of the sun, leading to SunDay in September,” McKibben wrote in an email to The Campus.
Minna Brown ’07, director of the Climate Action Program, attended the summit and reflected on the power of coming together to celebrate.
“It was great to hear about SunDay.earth from Bill McKibben, witness Carolyn Finney's storytelling, and see students finding areas of new connection, concern, and validation. We're facing huge challenges, and we need to find as many ways to gather and build community,” Brown wrote in an email to The Campus.
The summit culminated with Devin Santikarma ’25.5 winning Best Multimedia Story for his photojournalism essay Water Gods. Along with the other winners, Santikarma will embark on a fully-funded 10-day expedition to the Galapagos this summer.
Ella Powers ’27 attended the Planet Forward conference and has also been involved in organizing Earth Month events on campus. As co-manager of Sunday Night Environmental Group (SNEG), Powers led a panel on Heating and Cooling at Middlebury on April 8, which featured experts like Dean of Sustainability Jack Byrne, Associate Vice President of Operations Mike Moser and Debbie New, a coordinator at Vermont Community Thermal Networks.
“My biggest takeaway from the conversation was students' interest in understanding the current system and wanting to further explore how we can increase the sustainability of heating and cooling at Middlebury,” Powers wrote in an email to The Campus.
Although many of Middlebury’s Earth Month discussions preceded Earth Week itself, the celebration continues in full force during the week of April 21. Upcoming events include more workshops, talks and activities geared towards students, community members and even staff members.
On April 28, Staff Council will host a Change in Seasons Clothing Swap & Donations. Asa Waterworth, university relations associate in International Programs and Erin Morrison, assistant director of the First Year Experience, planned the event with the hope that staff could engage in sustainability, too.
“We hope folks will be inspired to clear some space in their closets and shake up their wardrobes for free and, in the spirit of sustainability, without relying on fast fashion. If they enjoy the event, it’s something they can easily replicate with friends or family,” Waterworth wrote in an email to The Campus.
Other Earth Week events include an April 23 talk from Dan Suarez, assistant professor of Environmental Studies, titled “Radical Implications: Politicization, Pedagogy, and Planetary Ecological Crisis.” EcoReps is hosting interactive events throughout the week, including Trivia with the Environmental Council on Thursday, April 24, at 7 p.m. in Dana Auditorium. The Howard E. Woodin Colloquium Series talk this week will be given by Ethan Tapper, a forester and author of “How to Love a Forest: The Bittersweet Work of Tending a Changing World.” On Thursday, at 5:30 p.m., former climate negotiator for the Mexican government Ivonne Maricarmen Serna ’23 will speak about her experiences at the 2024 United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP29, in the Robert A. Jones ’59 Conference Room.
Editor’s Note: Senior News Editor Maggie Bryan ’25 is a fellow with the Climate Action Program.
Maggie Bryan '25 (she/her) is the Senior News Editor.
Maggie is a senior at Middlebury, majoring in Environmental Policy and French. She previously held roles as Senior Arts and Culture Editor, Arts and Culture Editor, and Staff. During her free time, she loves running, listening to live music, drinking coffee, and teaching spin classes. She is from Chapel Hill, North Carolina.
