As I prepare to leave this bubble for the real world at the end of the month, I find myself, like any senior, reflecting on my time at Middlebury. And truthfully, I am grateful.
Middlebury has given me opportunities I could not have imagined. I studied abroad in Madrid, I interned at a U.S. Embassy, canoed through Canyonlands National Park in Utah, skied the mountains of New England, and coached spin classes. More importantly, it gave me one of the best educations in the world and forced me to develop critical thinking and, whether I liked it or not, thick skin. The reality is, the last part wasn’t optional.
This past year, as part of the leadership team of the Middlebury College Republicans (MCR), I experienced everything from praise by college leadership and national-level figures, including President Obama’s speechwriter, to threats, false accusations, and targeted harassment. I became an icon living rent-free in people’s minds. Professors I’ve never met have discussed me by name in their classes, and someone even wrote ‘F–—ing Nazi’ on the whiteboard outside my room. People who have never spoken to me have called me a racist, a fascist, or wished me dead.
And yet, had any of these people — most of whom hide behind anonymous screens — taken the time to speak to me or attend an MCR meeting, they would know something very simple: their assumptions are wrong.
This is where the problem becomes bigger than me. Politics at Middlebury and around the country has become deeply personal. Once disagreement becomes moralized, conversation stops; people stop engaging and start judging. I’ve had people who once considered themselves my friends tell me I am a bad person with no morals. The funny part is, the only thing that changed was not who I am, but how they chose to see me.
While all of this was happening, I was writing a political science senior thesis titled ‘Silent or Silenced’, a study of what many at Middlebury call the ‘closeted conservative.’ My findings were clear: conservative students often self-censor not because they lack ideas, but because they fear social repercussions, being ostracized, and labeled on a campus where dissenting views are too often met with intolerance rather than engagement.
My data make this dynamic hard to ignore. 75% of liberals report that classroom discussions feel open, compared to just 23% of conservatives — a gap of over 50 percentage points. And that divide doesn’t just reflect different perceptions; it drives behavior. As perceived openness declines, self-censorship rises sharply, from 34% of liberals to 78% of conservatives, suggesting that the cost of speaking is not evenly distributed across the student body.
But fear not, I do believe there is a path forward!
Over the past year, I’ve also seen what happens when people choose to engage differently. Joint efforts between College Republicans and College Democrats, despite criticism and accusations of being performative, have worked. It shows that a ‘Great Middlebury’ is still possible.
‘Making Middlebury Great Again’ does not mean going backwards. It means restoring what a liberal arts education is supposed to be: exposure to different ideas, the ability to challenge and be challenged, and the understanding that discomfort is not the same thing as harm.
But it also requires action. First, harassment, whether anonymous or public, must be taken seriously, not dismissed as ‘just free speech.’ Targeted insults, doxxing, or posts and articles that single out students or groups should face clear, consistent consequences as violations of community standards, with clear reporting mechanisms and predictable outcomes. A student should not have to wonder whether being publicly labeled or surveilled for their views will be ignored simply because it happens online or under the guise of ‘free speech.’ Second, the College should make a conscious effort to expose genuine viewpoint diversity through speakers, panels, and coursework that present real ideological disagreement, not just variations of the same perspective. Third, faculty and leadership should be more aware of how their own signaling shapes the classroom; when certain views are repeatedly affirmed as ‘correct’ or morally framed, it sends a message about what is acceptable to say. Without these changes, and others highlighted in my thesis, the culture will not shift.
As I prepare to graduate, I don’t leave with resentment. I leave with perspective.
To those who wished ill on me, I pray you find the peace to move past that anger. To my fellow conservatives: as Charlie Kirk said, if you believe in something, have the courage to say it. To the many members of the Democratic Party on this campus: Live up to the tolerance and openness you preach. And to everyone: Stop viewing the other side as villains.
Because if we can do that, if we can engage rather than dismiss, we might realize something simple: Despite everything, we all want this school to be better.
And if that’s true, maybe, together we can Make Middlebury Great Again.
