This year has witnessed surprise and turmoil on many levels. Historic election results in the U.S. and around the world, federal budget cuts, ongoing global conflicts, and seemingly universal political tension have allowed international and national discord to exert daily influence on the lives of Middlebury students. In a word, our moment is defined by uncertainty.
But despite overwhelming international unpredictability, each of us have beliefs that we hold truer each day. That is why the theme of this year’s survey is un(certainty), parenthesis included. Many Zeitgeist questions require a high degree of certainty in their responses. On a campus level, Zeitgeist reminds us of our shared characteristics and highlights what makes our community unique, revealing momentary certainties in what unites and divides the student body.
The Trump administration has sent shockwaves throughout the country, especially higher education. Middlebury has felt many of these consequences: budget cuts to employee benefits, funding cuts to research, concerns for international students, funding cuts to Fulbright programs and uncertainty over the future of our DEI office. We have grappled with the harsh reality of stringent immigration policy directly affecting students and heightened Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) presence in communities not so different from our own.
This year has been characterized by (un)certainty on both national and campus-wide levels. This fall, President Emerita Laurie Patton left her role, with Ian Baucom named in January as the 18th President come July. As we move towards the end of the academic year, larger questions remain about how aggressively Middlebury will move to close its annual deficit amidst faculty and staff pushback and looming federal funding cuts.
Despite such troubling events, we have continued to come together as a larger community — admiring leaves in the fall, celebrating Winter Carnival and rejoicing over the first warm days of spring. (Un)certain times allow us to unite. Our campus lends us the opportunity to lean on each other, strengthen the relationships we already have and form new ones.
Last year’s theme was dialogue, and we hope to continue discussion between students about their Middlebury experience, certain or not, in all of its areas. So, let’s see how students feel about it all. How has Middlebury handled (un)certainty, and how might it continue to thrive despite it all?
Zeitgeist 7.0 received 1,028 responses this year, marking a 40% response rate among the current on-campus population of 2,563 students. Respondents answered 60 questions across eight different sections including Social Life, Safety & Wellness and Politics. All respondents were required to answer 15 core demographic questions at the start of the survey.
The questions on demographics allow for multiple answers to be selected, which often means our results do not align with Middlebury College’s official demographic information. Further differences may result from Zeitgeist over or under-representing various groups on campus, or other differences in how The Campus categorizes data.
The largest class year in this year’s survey was the class of 2025, which represented 24% of respondents. The class of 2026 and 2027 each represented 18% of the responses, while the first years came in at 17%. Each Feb class represented seven percent or less of survey respondents.
Unlike previous years, where there were significant differences between initial and current class years — likely due to time taken off during the Covid-19 pandemic — there were only minor variations for this year’s seniors and juniors. However, enrollment may not be fully stabilized yet. Middlebury recently announced a plan to increase the student body size indefinitely, boosting the size of each matriculated class of students by 20 students to help close the college’s chronic deficits.
When asked about their race and ethnicity, 814 people identified as white, comprising 79% of respondents. Over 18% of respondents identified as Asian; 11% as Hispanic or Latino; four percent as Black or African American; three percent as Middle Eastern or North African; and less than one percent as Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander.
According to federal disclosures in Middlebury’s Common Data Set — which groups all non-U.S. residents together and asks domestic students to choose a single identity — where 54% of degree-seeking undergraduates are recorded as white, 12% Hispanic or Latino, seven percent Asian, five percent Black or African American and less than one percent for all other races.
The classes of 2028 and 2028.5 — the first admitted following the Supreme Court’s reversal of affirmative action policies — saw a double-digit decrease in the share of Black students matriculating, raising concerns about the future diversity of Middlebury’s student body.
The Campus asks respondents if they identify as a person of color as a standardized point of comparison for the survey. Just under one-quarter of respondents said they identified as a person of color, a similar figure to past years.
Fifty-eight percent of respondents who identified as a person of color said they received financial aid, which was nearly 20 percentage points higher than for students not identifying as a person of color.
Cisgender females once again comprised over half of respondents, this year representing 53% of those who took the survey. Nearly 400 cisgender men — representing 39% of respondents — took Zeitgeist 7.0, while five percent identified as non-binary, less than two percent each identified as transgender male, transgender female or “these options don’t define me.”
This year’s survey also asked about sexuality: 38% said they identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or questioning (LGBQ+), which is a similar proportion to our results from 2023 and 2024.
Sixteen percent of respondents said they currently or previously have had a disability while at Middlebury, the same figure as last year. Fifty-seven percent of students with a disability identified as LGBQ+, which was significantly higher than the 34% of non-disabled respondents who identified as such.
Zeitgeist 7.0 added a new question inquiring about religious identity to this year’s questions. Over half of respondents did not identify with a specific religious faith; 29% said they were agnostic, while 22% said they identified as an atheist and nine percent identified as spiritual. Among named religions, 11% said they were Roman Catholic, nine percent Jewish, eight percent Protestant, two percent Muslim and two percent Buddhist.
No one identified as Mormon, while 66 respondents said “other.” The identity “Hindu” was mistakenly omitted from Zeitgeist’s list of religious identities; likely some people who said “other” would have selected this option if it was available.
This year, 43% of respondents said they received need-based financial aid from the college or external sources. Middlebury College reported in 2025 that 46% of students are currently on financial aid, a decline from last year’s official statistics, in which a majority of students received need-based support.
New England was the best-represented region among U.S. residents again this year, with 29% of respondents saying that they are from the area. The Mideast area represented 22% of students who took the survey, while 13% came from the Far West, nine percent from the Southeast and five percent from the Great Lakes.
Moving outside the U.S., 11% of respondents said they were international students. China was the most represented country with 25 students, followed by seven Canadians and six Indians. Europe had the best showing of the six other continents, with 14 countries with at least one respondent, followed by Asia, with 11 countries present.
Just over half of respondents attended a public high school, while one-third attended a private school, 10% attended a boarding school and five percent attended charter or magnet schools. Typical high school students in the U.S. are much more likely to attend public school; 87% of students go to local public schools and only 10% receive a private school education, according to the Pew Research Center.
Just 15% of respondents identified as first-generation, meaning neither parent had previously studied at college. That is the same number as last year’s result, which was an increase of five percentage points compared to 2022.
Ninety-two percent of those who identified as first-generation students are on financial aid, while just 36% of non-first generation respondents receive financial aid.
Nine out of 10 respondents are not legacy students at Middlebury, while seven percent had one parent attend the college, and three percent had both parents study here.
When asked if they competed in athletics, 14% of respondents said they participated in a varsity sport. Athletes may have been underrepresented in this year’s results — the college has previously reported that over a quarter of the student body participates in a varsity sport.
A quarter of varsity athletes reportedly identified as LGBQ+, which is 15 percentage points lower than the proportion of non-athletes identifying with that sexual orientation. Just 12% of varsity athletes identified as people of color; over 26% of non-athletes said they were people of color.
Twenty-nine percent of varsity athletes reported receiving financial aid, while 46% of non-athlete respondents said the same — a gap of 17 percentage points.
Academics saw continuities in some areas this year, including the diverse array of majors represented and the consistent popularity of certain departments. Yet Zeitgeist 7.0 also continued to see concerning patterns from past years, namely rising grade inflation and increasing Honor Code violations.
Zeitgeist respondents reflected a wide range of departments, with the 1,028 respondents representing 52 total majors and tracks (excluding “Undeclared”), an indicator that the liberal arts are alive and well amongst Middlebury’s student body. The distribution of majors remains comparable to the past three Zeitgeist surveys, with Economics and Environmental Studies leading the way, accounting for 122 and 105 respondents, respectively.
Interestingly, whereas Political Science and Computer Science were tied in last year’s survey, each comprising 6.8% of respondents, this year Computer Science made up five percent of respondents, tied in eighth place with English. The number of double majors also jumped, from 26% last year to 32.6% this year. “Undeclared” remains the largest category, accounting for 17.9% of students.
Over two-thirds of this year’s Zeitgeist respondents self-reported Honor Code violations, marking a new high since the question was first asked in 2019. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, only 35% of respondents reported having broken the Honor Code, while 68% said the same this year — almost doubling the proportion of violators in just seven years. Several factors are likely to blame for this increase, including remote and hybrid classes during the Covid-19 pandemic and the rising prominence of Artificial Intelligence (A.I.), especially following the release of ChatGPT in 2022.
It is possible that Zeitgeist, as the only public survey documenting Honor Code violations at Middlebury, has played a role in normalizing admitting to Honor Code violations, thus removing some of the stigma from answering “yes” honestly on this question in our survey.
For this year’s increase in Honor Code violations in particular, one factor is likely to blame: A.I.
Honor Code violations across all other categories decreased slightly this year, except for the unauthorized use of A.I., which jumped 17 percentage points and was reported by almost half of respondents. This was the third year that Zeitgeist has asked about unauthorized use of A.I., and since its introduction to the survey in 2023, “Yes” responses have jumped over 10 percentage points each year.
Although there could be some overlap in categories — for example, using A.I. to cheat on a test — respondents had the opportunity to choose multiple types of violations, indicating that they overwhelmingly point to A.I. specifically as a main method of breaking the Honor Code.
This year’s survey was the first since Faculty Council and the Student Government Association’s joint effort to reform Middlebury’s Honor Code, which, as of January, stipulates that students are not required to report their peers for violations, and implements a sliding scale for Honor Code violations. Discussion around voting in the referendum and the new changes could have played a role in increasing guilt over Honor Code violations. This year, 41% of respondents strongly or somewhat agreed with the statement, “I feel guilty about breaking the Honor Code,” a seven percentage point increase from last year.
Another ongoing struggle amongst faculty is the effort to reduce grade inflation. Middlebury’s average GPA has increased steadily over the past several decades, from 3.00 in 1987 to 3.35 in 2005 and 3.65 in the spring of 2023. The mean self-reported GPA this year was 3.77, likely indicating one of three things: A jump in the college’s true mean GPA in the last two years, a tendency for respondents to exaggerate their GPAs for survey purposes, or that Zeitgeist respondents have a higher mean GPA than the rest of the student body.
GPA seemed to have little correlation with Honor Code violations. For example, Literary Studies earns both the title of highest self-reported GPA (3.91) and lowest proportion of Honor Code violations (0.40), tied with Comparative Literature). On the contrary, majors with higher proportions of Honor Code violations, like Film and Media Culture’s 94%, reported lower than average GPAs (3.69).
This fall, Middlebury dropped to 19th place on U.S. News & World Report’s ranking of liberal arts colleges — its lowest-ever rank on the list since its first appearance in 1988. This drop prompted Zeitgeist to add a question about whether or not respondents agree with the statement “Middlebury’s national ranking among other U.S. colleges is important to me.” Respondents overwhelmingly expressed their concern over Middlebury’s ranking, with 76% of respondents somewhat or strongly in agreement.
The Middlebury experience is shaped not only by academics but also the time students spend outside the classroom — building friendships, joining clubs, working campus jobs and going to the occasional screw. Humans are social creatures — just ask any anthropology major — and the quality of a person’s social life plays a critical role in shaping both mental and physical health.
This year, we asked students what really matters to their social life at Middlebury, whether clubs, sports, outdoor recreation, campus jobs or substances, and how comfortable they actually feel on campus.
About 92% of respondents said they feel comfortable at Middlebury. However, the results varied when taking demographics and happiness into account.
This year, 85% of respondents who identify as first-generation said they feel comfortable at Middlebury, compared to 94% who were not first-generation. Similarly, 95% of respondents who did not identify as people of color said they feel comfortable, compared to just 86% of students of color who felt similarly.
Lower comfort levels among students of color comes at a time when Middlebury’s own commitment to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) has prompted concerns. In March, the college announced that the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion’s responsibilities would be redistributed across other administrative areas for at least the next 18 months. This transition raises questions about how support will look moving forward for diverse groups in our student body.
Alcohol and substances have remained a part of student life: Over 900 respondents said they had consumed alcohol while studying at Middlebury.
Marijuana consumption dropped four percentage points this year, to just over two-thirds of respondents. Sixteen percent of respondents reported using psychedelics in college, while 11% had taken Adderall without a prescription and 43% said they had vaped, Juuled or smoked cigarettes.
Febs consistently reported higher rates of marijuana and psychedelic use compared to students in their traditional class years. Among the classes of 2025.5, 2026.5 and 2028.5, 85%, 76% and 52% of respondents, respectively, reported having used marijuana. By comparison, 77%, 69% and 46% of students in the corresponding classes of 2025, 2026 and 2028 reported marijuana use. Drug usage appears to be directly correlated with the amount of time a student has spent at the college.
When it comes to building a social life at Middlebury, some spaces matter more than others. Zeitgeist asked students to select which places, groups and activities mattered to them socially. Dining halls was by far the most important area, with 87% of respondents saying it mattered to their social life at Middlebury, with dorms following close behind at 79%. Forty percent said clubs felt important to socialize, while 37% of respondents identified outdoor recreation as playing a major role in shaping their campus connections. By comparison, activities like club sports (25%), performances and the arts (21%) and varsity sports (14%) drew smaller, but still meaningful, engagement. This suggests that casual, everyday spaces like dining halls and dorm lounges are just as crucial to social life at Middlebury as structured extracurriculars, if not more so.
With social houses facing tighter restrictions over the past few years, and nearly a decade passed since dorms were organized around the Commons living communities, many students seem to feel that everyday spaces have taken on even greater significance in shaping campus connection.
As always, we asked what, if anything, prevents students from spending time with friends. Academic work was by far the biggest obstacle, cited by 939 respondents, which remains consistent with past years. Extracurricular commitments followed, with just over half of students who took Zeitgeist saying these activities limit their social time.
Breaking these questions down by first-generation identity reveals a bigger picture — one that highlights the structural barriers many first-generation students face. While academic work was the top obstacle for both groups, first-generation students were significantly more likely than their peers to cite financial costs (51% compared to 12%), lack of a car on campus (46% compared to 16%) and job responsibilities (37% compared to 21%) as reasons they struggle to spend time with friends. Mental health also surfaced more often among first-generation respondents (36%) than students who are not first-generation (21%).
The relative percentages of students working paid jobs this academic year underscores the increased financial pressures first-generation students face. Among students receiving need-based financial aid, 78% reported having worked a paid job this year, compared to 61% of students who do not receive need-based aid.
These disparities reflect the broader reality that not all students experience Middlebury the same way — whether it is which drugs they use, where they socialize or what prevents them from hanging out, Middlebury students must contend with a complex social scene across their four years on campus.
Looking for love? Middlebury students are too. From Middlebury Marriage Pacts to residential halls, it seems that students are leaving no stone unturned in their search for romantic fulfillment. But how many of these pursuits result in successful relationships? This year, Zeitgeist sought to uncover if “the one” really is somewhere in the Green Mountains.
We got right to it: For the first time ever, we asked respondents if they have ever been in love at Middlebury and if they are currently in a romantic or sexual relationship to better determine if love really is in the air on campus.
Of the 1,028 respondents, 47% said they were currently in a romantic or sexual relationship and 53% reported they were not.
Outgoing seniors in the class of 2025 seem to be the most romantic, with 59% of respondents in a romantic or sexual relationship. Meanwhile, on the other end of the spectrum, “Baby Feb” respondents in the class of 2028.5 had the lowest rate of romantic and sexual relationships, at just 26%.
For the first time this year, we asked everyone’s burning question: Have you ever been in love while attending Middlebury? Fifty-eight percent of respondents reported having been in love, whether or not that person was at Middlebury, while 32% said they had never been in love at Middlebury and 10% weren’t sure. Cisgender males and cisgender females were most likely to have been in love with someone attending Middlebury, at 44% and 43%, respectively; 35% of non-binary students said they had loved a fellow Middlebury student, followed by 26% of transgender males.
This year, 11% of respondents reported being extremely satisfied with the romantic scene at Middlebury. Nineteen percent said they were somewhat satisfied and 32% said they were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied. Only 26% of respondents reported being somewhat dissatisfied and 11% reported being extremely dissatisfied, with both responses at a four percent decrease from the previous year, respectively.
Twenty-four percent of respondents who are currently in a romantic or sexual relationship reported that they are extremely satisfied with the romantic scene at Middlebury.
Similarly, 29% of respondents currently in a romantic or sexual relationship said they are somewhat satisfied, while only 11% who were not in a relationship said the same. Less than five percent of respondents in a relationship said they were extremely dissatisfied, compared to the 17% extremely dissatisfied respondents who are single.
In 2025, 77% of respondents said they have had at least one sexual partner, the same amount as last year but comparatively lower than previous years. The number of partners whom the majority of respondents have had sex with over the course of the year remained consistent with previous years, typically between one and four sexual partners.
Companionship was the most commonly cited reason for pursuing romantic and sexual encounters at Middlebury, at 73%. Following companionship, respondents said that sex (44%), exploration (41%) and desire to find a future spouse (37%) were reasons for pursuing romantic and sexual encounters at Middlebury.
Middlebury students increasingly desire a committed, monogamous relationship. This year, 79% of respondents said they would ideally be in a monogamous relationship, compared to 76% last year and 72% in 2023. However, only 53% of respondents have been in a committed, monogamous relationship during their time at Middlebury.
Far more respondents (51%) indicated they have had a situationship — meaning an informal, situation-dependent romantic or sexual relationship — compared to the 17% who said they would ideally have one. A similar trend is seen in other options: 17% of respondents have had a one-night stand and only eight percent reported they would ideally have one. Most strikingly, 37% said they have been in a long distance relationship while a mere eight percent cited this as their ideal type of relationship.
The most common way students have met romantic or sexual partners was at parties and gatherings (49%) and through mutual friends (44%), which have been the most highly cited outlets for the past four years. Only 11% of respondents said they had met romantic or sexual partners on dating apps, a decrease of six percentage points from the previous year, which can perhaps be attributed to the recent decline in dating app downloads. Just 26 respondents found love through the Middlebury Marriage Pact, a decline from last year’s data.
Eighteen percent of respondents said they would describe their sexuality differently since coming to Middlebury, a noticeable dip from several years ago, with 26% having said the same in 2022.
Those who identify as LGBQ+ continue to be more likely to describe their sexuality differently since coming to Middlebury than those who do not identify as such. This year, 34% of LGBQ+ respondents reported describing their sexuality differently since coming to Middlebury. Only nine percent of respondents identifying as non-LGBQ reported the same.
In recent years, the Middlebury student body confronted a number of difficult conversations about on-campus deaths, international conflicts and student activism, and the continued questions about inequities on our campus. The relationship between forces beyond the college and our community’s well-being has taken on new significance in the past 12 months, reinforcing the relevance of Zeitgeist’s questions about health, security and wellness.
This year, 87% of respondents reported feeling happy, continuing a trend of steady increases in happiness each year since the Covid-19 pandemic.
While happiness among cisgender male and female respondents closely mirror those of all respondents, around 88% and 89% respectively, only 47% of transgender males and 69% of non-binary respondents reported the same.
For the second time, The Campus asked students if they have experienced self-harm or suicidal ideation while at Middlebury. Twenty-two percent of respondents said “yes,” which is the same proportion as last year. Nationally, 13% of college students reported having suicidal ideation and 26% reported engaging in non-suicidal self-injury, according to a survey from with data from 2023–2024.
Among respondents who reported experiencing self-harm or suicidal ideation, 31% said they were not happy, which is 24 percentage points higher than the seven percent of who reported they had not experienced such thoughts or behaviors but did feel unhappy.
Students who are not happy reported that they are more likely to use alcohol or drugs to cope with stress. Nearly half of respondents (46%) who are happy never use these substances to cope with stress, compared to just 30% of respondents who are unhappy. In addition, only six percent who are happy frequently use substances to cope with stress, compared to 20% who are not happy.
Forty-one percent of respondents who identified as a person of color said their Middlebury counselor was able to connect with them based on their identity, an increase of seven percentage points from last year. Still, 68% of respondents who were not a person of color felt their counselor could relate to them, a 27 point gap compared to the just 41% of people of color who felt positively about their counselor.
Sixteen percent of respondents reported that they have been a victim of sexual assault. However, 31% of students said they have had a sexual experience at Middlebury that made them feel uncomfortable, down six percentage points from last year.
The 15 percentage point difference between those who had been sexually assaulted and those who felt uncomfortable in a sexual experience may reflect personal differences in how students define their boundaries of consent, assault and discomfort.
Eight percent of cisgender male students said that they have been a victim of sexual assault, compared to 22% of cisgender females. A little over a quarter of transgender male and non-binary students each reported to have been a victim of sexual assault.
Approximately 11% of students who do not identify as LGBQ+ said that they have been a victim of sexual assault, while 24% of LGBQ+ identifying students said the same — a gap of 13 percentage points. Notably, across these results relating to sexual assault, students who do not identify as cisgender or are LGBQ+ were more likely to say they prefer not to answer.
Fifty-nine percent of LGBQ+ identifying respondents said they avoid people on campus due to their own sexual experiences or the experiences of their friends. For non-LGBQ+ respondents, the reverse was true: 59% of them said they did not avoid people on campus for this reason.
Sixty-two percent of respondents said they have struggled with their relationship to food or exercise during their time at Middlebury, representing a steady decrease since 2022, when 71% reported struggling with their relationship.
The share of LGBQ+ identifying students who reported having struggled with their relationship to food or exercise is 10 percentage points higher (72%) than the general rate found in Zeitgeist this year. The share of respondents struggling who do not identify as LGBQ+, on the other hand, is seven percentage points lower (55%) than the general study body rate.
Just over half of respondents (55%) reported that they are comfortable using the athletic center facilities at Middlebury. Thirty-six percent said that they are comfortable in some places or at some times. Eight percent said they are not comfortable at all.
This year, we asked students about their knowledge of and satisfaction with different resources on campus, such as the Anderson Freeman Resource Center (AFC), International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) and Student Financial Services (SFS). Whether it be the federal government, economy, or social media, external forces continue to shape life at Middlebury, and our campus resources are intended to help students navigate these challenges. Do they?
The resources that received the highest ratings of student approval were the AFC with 30% of respondents very satisfied, the Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life with 31% very satisfied and the Disability Resource Center (DRC) with the highest overall rating of 43% very satisfied.
The resources receiving the lowest ratings were the Civil Rights and Title IX Office, Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB), and the Student Activities Office (SAO) all with just an eight percent “very satisfied” rating. These results were consistent with last year’s data.
Eighteen percent of students said they were very satisfied with Counseling Services, showing an increase of 11 percentage points from last year. In 2023, Middlebury allocated a $4.9 million donation towards mental health resources, including increasing the number of counselors available on campus for students. Satisfaction with the Parton Center for Health and Wellness also jumped 12 percentage points from last year.
Familiarity with resources remained largely unchanged. The most widely known services included the Center for Careers and Internships (CCI) and MCAB with 79% of students indicating some level of satisfaction for both. As in past years, the more respondents using a resource generally meant that resource received a lower rate of satisfaction.
Among those with the lowest ratings is also the CCI with 15% very satisfied and MCAB with eight percent very satisfied. The resources used by the smallest number of Middlebury students completing the survey included ISSS with 76% as well as the Prism Center for Queer and Trans Life, with 75% selecting it did not apply to them.
The number of respondents showing some level of satisfaction with ISSS went up 10 percentage points, with 16% saying they were very satisfied. Among international students who took the survey, 71% said they were very or somewhat satisfied with ISSS. International students have faced uncertainty due to the Trump administration's recent revocations of student visas, meaning that ISSS has been frequently communicating with this subgroup to address their concerns and answer questions.
Students in the class of 2025 indicated they had stronger opinions about MCAB than students in the class of 2028. While only 37% of respondents in the class of 2025 indicated some level of satisfaction with MCAB, over 54% in the class of 2028 indicated a level of satisfaction.
Overall, the percentage of students very satisfied with MCAB dropped five percentage points last year, possibly owing to a scandal over unusual spending patterns by organization leaders that The Campus first reported last May.
Similarly to approval ratings of MCAB, our results indicate that younger class years are more likely to be satisfied with the SAO. Disapproval of SAO was much higher among the class of 2025 than 2028. Only 20% of the class of 2028 said they somewhat or strongly disapproved of the organization overseeing all student clubs and activities. In contrast, 59% of students in the class of 2025 said they were dissatisfied with the SAO.
Student satisfaction with their financial aid packages increased slightly from last year, with 25% of students saying they were very satisfied this year. Students familiar with Student Financial Services gave the service a slightly more positive rating this year: 22% felt very satisfied in comparison to just 14% in 2024.
First-generation students indicated much higher levels of satisfaction with their financial aid packages, with 76% of first-generation respondents on financial aid indicating they felt very or somewhat satisfied in comparison to 25% of non-first-generation students who said the same. Fifty-three percent of respondents who were not first generation said they did not receive financial aid, compared to just four percent of their first-generation peers in the survey.
Muslim students indicated they were most likely to use the Scott Center for Religion and were overwhelmingly satisfied with this resource, with 93% of students indicating some level of satisfaction. The next most satisfied group were Jewish students, with 79% indicating some level of satisfaction.
Seventy-three percent of both agnostic and atheist respondents said they had not used the Scott Center, suggesting that religious groups on campus are not a major part of their Middlebury experience.
To no one’s surprise, Middlebury students remain politically engaged. In fact, political engagement has increased this year, with 84% of respondents reporting they “care a lot about a wide range of issues” or “care a lot about a few specific issues” — an increase of eight percentage points from last year.
Just over one percent of respondents chose “I don't care at all,” while two percent selected “I actively avoid thinking/talking about politics.”
The most striking differences emerged across gender and sexual identity. Respondents who identified as transgender male, transgender female, or non-binary reported the highest levels of political engagement, with large majorities indicating they care deeply about a wide range or a few specific issues.
Among LGBQ+ respondents, 91% said they care a lot about political issues, compared to 79% of non-LGBQ+ peers. Cisgender female students also reported slightly higher engagement than cisgender male respondents. This pattern likely reflects the growing salience of policies and rhetoric targeting gender identity and sexual orientation, from abortion restrictions and anti-trans legislation to broader culture wars over DEI and school censorship.
Unsurprisingly, Middlebury leans left. When asked to place themselves on a scale from zero (most liberal) to 10 (most conservative), 82% of respondents described their views as a three or below. The most common answer was a two, which was selected by 28% of respondents. Only eight percent of respondents identified as conservative (6–10 range), roughly the same proportion as recent years.
Of those who identified as LGBQ+, 98% said they leaned liberal (classified as a four or below). Those who said they were varsity athletes were more likely to identify as conservative than their non-athlete peers: 20% of varsity athletes identified as a five or above, compared to just eight percent of non-athlete respondents who said the same.
Middlebury’s political homogeneity raises some questions for our institution of learning. Does Middlebury’s progressive identity disadvantage students in preparing for a complex and ideologically diverse world, or does it act as a necessary sanctuary during politically turbulent times?
On this topic, a new question we asked respondents this year was “How would you describe Middlebury's political climate?” Almost half (49%) said the college was “somewhat open, but certain opinions dominate,” while 34% chose “somewhat restricted, but different opinions exist.” When separating out political identities, 53% of self-described liberals answered “somewhat open, but certain opinions dominate,” compared to 21% of respondents who identified as conservative and felt the same.
In contrast, seven out of 10 students who self-identify as conservative responded that the political climate was somewhat or very restricted, while just four out of 10 liberal-leaning students felt the environment was restrictive. These results suggest a campus aware of its political leanings and biases, raising concerns about ideological openness and whether all students feel equally able to participate in campus discourse.
Students from marginalized communities strongly agree that Trump has “significantly impacted their lives.” People of color are 15 percentage points more likely than their peers to agree strongly. Respondents who are international students shared similar experiences — 82% agreed that the Trump administration has significantly impacted them. This figure aligns with the recent administration’s policies targeting marginalized communities through restrictions on immigration as well as LGBTQ+ and DEI initiatives.
Students from marginalized communities strongly agree that Trump has “significantly impacted their lives.” People of color are 15 percentage points more likely than their peers to agree strongly.
Respondents who are international students shared similar experiences — 82% agreed that the Trump administration has significantly impacted them. This figure aligns with the recent administration’s policies targeting marginalized communities through restrictions on immigration as well as LGBTQ+ and DEI initiatives.
The Trump administration is clearly weighing on students’ minds. When asked about the most pressing issue of our time, around 250 respondents gave answers related to Trump, the rise of fascism and political extremism, or the decline of democracy, which they attribute to the current administration.
Students who took the survey blamed Trump not just for political polarization, but also for fueling climate denial, authoritarianism and widespread societal decline. Respondents warned of a “slow descent into fascism fueled by white supremacy and corporate greed,” and “America's decadent fall into ignorance, bigotry, and imperialism,” with many linking these fears directly to the current political climate.
Despite these political anxieties, climate change continued to be the most frequently cited pressing issue of our time for the sixth consecutive year – but not by much. There were only about 15 more climate-related answers compared to those relating to Trump. Students cited not only environmental concerns independently, but increasingly connected climate change to broader systemic issues like inequality, fascism, capitalism and threats to democracy.
The economy, economic inequality and critiques of capitalism were also frequent concerns, with about 110 responses; people who took the survey named “wealth inequality,” “class war,” “corporatization” and “late-stage capitalism” as urgent threats. Many respondents tied wealth gaps and capitalism to almost every other social problem — climate collapse, political destabilization, healthcare access, etc. — suggesting a systemic view of injustice.
Many also see misinformation as a major problem, tied to a lack of critical thinking, media literacy, and education. Immigration issues remain urgent, often framed around human rights, deportations, and migrant dignity. Gaza and Palestine were frequently mentioned, especially in contexts like “genocide,” “foreign policy” and “civil rights,” though with 40 less mentions than last year. There were also mentions of women's rights and abortion, the rise of A.I., discrimination, apathy, and the stress of academic work. Several students simply responded that everything felt wrong with the world.
Freedom of speech concerns also revealed an ideological divide. Some worry about censorship from the left, others about threats from fascism and the right. As one student wrote, “There is no encouragement of conversation between different points of view.” Another echoed this point: “Threats to free speech on and by both ends of the spectrum.”
Some students interpreted the question less seriously, citing concerns like “compulsive shopping,” “How do we get NBA ratings up” and the daily dilemma of “lunch and dinner” — and “being single.”
In an era where the Trump administration is directly impacting so many of our students and Middlebury as an institution, the world around us seems increasingly unstable. Ongoing debates over immigration, federal funding and political polarization reflect deeper tensions that show no signs of easing, shaping both our national politics and daily reality at Middlebury.
Life at Middlebury demands that we voice countless opinions each day. We raise our hands in class to offer our thoughts on a set of sonnets, a historical text or the most efficient approach to a physics problem. We debate our most trivial takes and dire beliefs over meals in Proctor or Ross: Which breakfast potatoes are the best? Which candidate should we vote for in the SGA election? Who should we set our friend up with for the screw? Where is the line between partying and alcoholism? Is Crossroads coffee actually worth the price? Is it OK to cut in the dining hall line?
And whether we vocalize them daily or not, the undercurrents of our more decisive opinions — otherwise known as our values — shape our experiences here. Some conversations carry heavier stakes: What should we do about the climate crisis? Where do we stand on Israel-Gaza? What should our right to protest look like? Who should bear the brunt of the college’s $14.1 million deficit?
The Campus has published 61 op-eds and 21 editorials this academic year about everything from divestment to wealth inequality to the honor code to the impending demolition of Battell Hall. Our community has no shortage of opinions and no shortage of opportunities to voice them — but little light is shed on how our opinions may change as we grow throughout our four years here. College is about figuring out who you are and where you stand, and this does not happen without trial and error.
So we asked Zeitgeist survey-takers: What is one thing you’ve changed your opinion about in the past 12 months?
Shifting opinions about world and U.S. politics, Donald Trump, Israel-Palestine and current issues surrounding the economy, transgender rights, free speech, abortion, race, affirmative action and gun control were common, with 38% of the 576 respondents who answered the question having identified one of these topics in their answers.
Fifty people said they changed their opinion on the Israel-Palestine conflict, mostly without specifying how. Others touched on dwindling trust in democracy and the U.S. as a stable world power since the 2024 presidential election. Five respondents expressed their plunging respect for Elon Musk.
Some students expressed a renewed belief in tolerating a wider range of opinions, while others have resolved to draw the line at humoring Trump supporters.
“Prior to the election, I would have said that I disliked anyone who voted for Trump and was not interested in any sort of relationship with them. I've redefined my relationships towards conservatives and looked to be more open-minded,” one student wrote.
“I never used to immediately judge someone for supporting Trump. However, if they still do, I make immediate assumptions about them,” another student wrote.
Seventeen percent of respondents shared their changing perceptions of themselves and their interpersonal relationships. Twenty-four students commented on their own self-esteem, most describing upticks in their confidence and their faith in their own success. Forty-one reflected on various aspects of their social circles and friendships and 34 mentioned their love and sex lives. While some simply wrote “social scene,” “love,” or “hookup culture” others elaborated on the trajectories of their thinking.
“I became more appreciative of the benefits of social connections with people who I may not be very fond of,” one student wrote.
“I get why people act the way they do when they are in love now,” another said.
“I no longer like the idea of hookups and plan to not participate in this culture anymore,” someone else shared.
“Some people are just assholes,” another wrote.
Ten percent of respondents wrote about how their opinions of Middlebury have changed. Some wrote about blooming or waning feelings of belonging on campus.
“I have started to doubt that Middlebury was the right place for me,” one student wrote.
“I didn't used to think that I could be happy at Midd, but I feel a lot more comfortable now, fortunately,” another wrote.
Others chastised the administration, revealed developing critiques of specific academic departments, or commented on their changing beliefs about the political climate on campus. Some think that Middlebury is more or less politically liberal than they used to believe and others described recently identifying close-mindedness and ignorance in their peers. A few exposed their changing dining hall preferences.
Several students have post-Middlebury life on the brain, with 27 people reporting having reworked their vision for life after graduation.
“I do not want to work a corporate job right out of college,” one student wrote.
“I think it's okay if I wait a bit and work part-time until I can find something that's right for me,” another wrote.
Of the eight students who shared changing their opinions on Artificial Intelligence (AI), four specified having come to terms with its advantages.
“I used to believe that under no circumstances should I ever use AI, but when looking at the future, I think it's important to grow with technology instead of try to fight it,” a student wrote.
Students have adopted new hobbies, from ice fishing to art. Several have changed their attitudes towards drugs and alcohol, with some newly partaking and others pivoting to abstaining. A handful of respondents made “men” the sole subject of their response. “The sacredness of rationality,” “The existence of God,” “raisins” and “What happiness is” were all in the mix.
Forty-eight respondents, ostensibly in addition to the 452 mysterious students who did not fill out this last question, said they have not changed their opinion on anything or that they do not know which of their opinions have changed.
“I never change my mind,” someone wrote.
“I am not sure. Embarrassingly,” a student confessed.
Is indecisiveness a gift or a curse?
Zeitgeist 7.0 has been in production for eight weeks, involving a dozen editors who volunteered their time for drafting, visualizing and analyzing this year’s survey.
The team carefully reviewed the questions from all six previous surveys, evaluating their relevance in 2025. We did not include past questions that did not generate compelling results to prioritize the most pressing and thought-provoking topics.
As always with Zeitgeist, our team added new questions to probe at new issues on campus, refresh the ranks of past sections and, sometimes, to satisfy our personal curiosity. Notable additions include “Which of the following best describes your current religious identity?”, “How often do you use A.I. in your classes at Middlebury?” and “Have you ever been in love while attending Middlebury?” We also asked respondents to agree or disagree with the statement, “The Trump administration has significantly impacted my life.”
We opened the survey on the morning of Monday, March 31, and it ran for two weeks through April 14 at midnight. We advertised Zeitgeist 7.0 through four schoolwide emails, several Instagram posts and three separate days of tabling outside Ross Dining Hall and Proctor Dining Hall. We ultimately received 1,028 complete responses by the end of our survey period.
Following the closure of the survey in Qualtrics, we worked with the data in Excel and created visualizations via Data Wrapper, a website commonly used for data journalism. The Campus published our full results in print and online on May 1, 2024.
After a spirited debate, we chose this year’s theme to be “(un)certainty,” parentheses included. The word represents the complicated reality of our lives in 2025; Middlebury has felt destabilized in recent months by budget cuts, federal interference, presidential transitions and immigration enforcement. Certainty feels like a guarantee Gen Z has never been able to count on, yet something we’re always striving to find. Zeitgeist has a complicated relationship with certainty, too: it only captures a moment of time, providing insight into our community that is still fleeting and incomplete.
Our survey is not a scientific study of the student body, and its results should be considered in light of that caveat. Our methodology focuses on boosting response rates, not randomness; we personally badgered our friends and classmates to take the survey. Thus, we cannot generalize our results to the entire student body, and our results above are written with that in mind.
Zeitgeist is a marathon, followed by a sprint to the finish. Since we began brainstorming in March, editors from across five sections of The Campus contributed to this week’s special edition through tireless work. Whether they contributed ideas, advertising, analysis, writing or editing, this project was created by 10 volunteers and over a hundred hours of our work.
Thank you to our writers for Zeitgeist 7.0: Norah Khan ’27, Maggie Bryan ’25, Mandy Berghela ’26, Maya Alexander ’26, Ellie Trinkle ’26, Curran Amster ’26, Ting Cui ’25.5 and Madeleine Kaptein ’25.5. Many of them were also essential for brainstorming new questions and culling last year’s survey of any duds. I also would like to acknowledge Evan Weiss ’25, who contributed to our data visualizations this year. Together, these editors have produced a concise and compelling synthesis of over a thousand responses for you to peruse this week.
Thank you to our News and Local sections for fact-checking and copy editing all eight sections of this project. A special thanks for our layout team, led by Eliza Bernene ’25.5, who successfully squeezed Zeitgeist 7.0 and all our regular coverage into this week’s print edition.
Thank you, finally, to the thousands of students who told us about their love lives, changed minds, political leanings, A.I. usage, drug use, legal or otherwise, and everything in between.
Thank you for trusting us every year when April rolls around. I have been leading Zeitgeist for three years, in which time I have read every question, reviewed every graph and seen every data point based on thousands of responses by Middlebury students. As I hand the project off to the next generation of our talented editors, I hope you’ll continue to support their work as The Campus looks toward Zeitgeist 8.0 next spring.
