On April 9, Judge Robert A. Mello of the Addison Unit of the Vermont Superior Court ruled in favor of the college in the ongoing case to restore the Mead name to the Middlebury Chapel. The court denied all motions made by Jim Douglas ’72 on behalf of the Mead estate and granted the college’s motion for summary judgment, effectively dismissing the case.
A spokesperson for the college told The Campus that Middlebury was satisfied with the resolution of the case, which began over two years ago in March 2023.
“We are pleased with the Court’s decision on April 9, 2025, to grant Middlebury College’s most recent motion for summary judgment, which resolves all claims brought by the Estate of John A. Mead in the College’s favor,” the spokesperson wrote.
In 1916, Vermont Governor John A. Mead ’1864 financed the construction of the college’s new chapel, which was subsequently named Mead Memorial Chapel in his honor. Three years ago, the college removed the Mead name from the chapel, citing Mead’s support for eugenics policies in the early 20th century. A few months later Douglas, as special administrator of the Mead estate, filed a lawsuit against the college, claiming that the name change violated the conditions of Mead’s original donation and tarnished the Mead name.
Most of the terms of Douglas’s complaint were addressed in an Oct. 3, 2024 court decision, but three were left undecided: Whether the initial transaction was a gift or a contract; if it was a contract, had Middlebury breached the covenant of good faith and fair dealing; and third, if there was a breach of the covenant, what damages, if any, could Douglas be entitled to recover.
In this most recent iteration of the case, the court, after reviewing records of the chapel's construction and history, found that despite the Mead family’s strong ties to the chapel, there was no contract outlining or enforcing those ties.
“There can be little doubt that, apart from merely the name of the chapel, all involved closely identified the chapel with the Meads. Nevertheless, the record contains no evidence that the parties ever agreed to any perpetual naming condition, any sort of non-disparagement agreement, or any contract at all that possibly could have remained in force in 2021 such that its implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing could then have been breached,” the court wrote.
Thus, last week, the court dismissed the remaining three issues. In an email to The Campus, Douglas expressed his disappointment in the court’s decision.
“We respectfully disagree with the Trial Court’s decision to deny us the opportunity to present this case to a jury,” he wrote.
Douglas also mentioned that he is considering an appeal to the Vermont Supreme Court, with hopes that it would provide a more receptive audience than the Addison County Superior Court.
“We may seek a full and fair review by the Vermont Supreme Court, as we believe that a panel of objective Vermonters would understand the injustice done to Gov. Mead and his family. He was punished merely for expressing his ideas, which should concern every fair-minded Vermonter,” he wrote.
Despite the potential for the suit to continue on appeal, the college stated that the resolution of this case serves to affirm Middlebury’s institutional right to freedom of expression.
“The College has and will remain committed to exercising the fundamental right of freedom of expression and open debate on our campus,” the college spokesperson wrote.
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.
