In a series of moves last week, Middlebury’s next president Ian Baucom began to stake out positions on key issues at the college and in higher education that will shape his tenure, standing up for the college — and for Monterey.
On April 22, Baucom co-signed a letter condemning the Trump administration’s recent treatment of colleges and universities as “unprecedented government overreach and political interference.” Interim President Steve Snyder and former President Laurie Patton also signed the letter, which has received over 500 signatories from leaders across higher education.
“We are open to constructive reform and do not oppose legitimate government oversight. However, we must oppose undue government intrusion in the lives of those who learn, live, and work on our campuses,” the letter reads.
The statement against external interference came the same week that Baucom first voiced support for the college’s recent round of budget cuts — implemented by Snyder and several administrators — that have sparked opposition from faculty, staff and students.
Following his statements and a lack of response from the Board of Trustees, faculty members said they plan to hold a schoolwide walk-out on Thursday, May 8 at 10:30 a.m., when they will deliver the latest faculty motion condemning the cuts to retirement benefits and the recent petition for their reversal to Old Chapel.
On April 18, nearly 200 faculty members voted in favor of this motion, which called for Baucom to openly state his position on the college’s financial problems. The college’s graduate school in Monterey has become a source of controversy on the Vermont campus since the college announced that it contributed $8.7 million to this year’s budget deficit.
Standing in the Samson Center on the college’s California campus, Baucom signaled his commitment to the struggling graduate school, which is currently following a four-year financial plan to reverse revenue shortfalls caused by under-enrollment. He rejected calls from faculty and some staff members to undo the budget cuts.
“I support the truly difficult financial decisions affecting the college that our board, President Snyder, and his leadership team have recently made,” Baucom said. “As members of our Middlebury community have expressed, their cost is real, they affect real lives, but I firmly believe that they come from a deep loyalty to the institution.”
The college shared his recent remarks in a schoolwide email on Thursday, April 24.
For some on the college’s Vermont campus, however, the issue of Monterey is far from settled. Some faculty took issue with the blunt announcement of Baucom’s opposition to divesting from Monterey and support for the college’s financial cuts.
“I mean, I don’t know him, but it seemed ill-advised, given the mood on campus,” said Laurie Essig, professor of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies.
At their next open meeting on Tuesday, May 13, Faculty Council intends to vote on a new motion calling to divest from MIIS in the next three years.
“We call on the Board and administration to immediately begin a comprehensive restructuring of the Institute with the goal of closing the California campus within three years,” a draft of the motion obtained by The Campus states. “With the institution as a whole facing severe budget challenges and the Middlebury Institute’s financial position continuing to deteriorate, it is the sense of the faculty that Middlebury can no longer maintain our California campus.”
The college’s chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AUUP) plans to meet with Baucom in July, as reported at the last faculty meeting two weeks ago. The AAUP sponsored the upcoming faculty motion, which aims to correct the roughly $300 million loss over the past 20 years since Monterey’s acquisition.
“There wasn't an ever expanding pie of resources, and because of new resources that went to Monterey, that's already begun to affect the educational experience here, but it will affect it even more if employees can't believe that their contracts will be honored by the college,” said Essig, who also serves as the vice president of Middlebury’s AAUP chapter.
Essig added that the college’s leadership needs to address internal financial problems and low morale before it can effectively deal with external threats to funding and academic freedom posed by the Trump administration.
Amid debates over next steps, faculty have circulated a petition demanding the reversal of the cuts to their retirement, which over 600 students, professors, staff and alumni had signed as of last week. In a recent email, faculty leaders of the movement against budget cuts polled staff and faculty on what kinds of resistance they may support.
The measures suggested in the email include skipping the faculty procession at Commencement on May 25, protesting outside the Board of Trustees meeting this month, withholding grades from students for varying periods of time, walking out of classes and declining to ratify the list of graduating seniors this year. Respondents could mark each option with their opinion, ranging from “strongly support” to “strongly oppose.”
The walk-out and march to Old Chapel will aim to inspire the Board of Trustees to reverse their commitment to Monterey, since the board will be meeting from May 8–10.
“We'd like the Board of Trustees to take fiduciary responsibility and acknowledge that we cannot continue to support Monterey at the cost of Middlebury College,” Essig explained.
Despite the growing resistance, Baucom signaled that the recent cuts to retirement benefits and staff buyouts are not the end of the college’s financial course corrections. Middlebury has previously stated it will review employee healthcare plans by fall 2025 and may consider further retirement incentives to balance annual deficits.
“I also know that there are more difficult decisions to come. It is too early in my time — and I am not yet president — to know what form those decisions should take,” Baucom stated, adding that he was focused on “acting in ways that are best not only for the moment but for the long future to come — the future of Middlebury as a whole.”
Ryan McElroy '25 (he/him) is the Editor in Chief.
Ryan has previously served as a Managing Editor, News Editor and Staff Writer. He is majoring in history with a minor in art history. Outside of The Campus, he is co-captain of Middlebury Mock Trial and previously worked as Head Advising Fellow for Matriculate and a research assistant in the History department. Last summer Ryan interned as a global risk analyst at a bank in Charlotte, North Carolina.
