For the 121st year in a row, the Middlebury Campus continued its mission of fair, thorough and valuable reporting for the Middlebury community. In a year of transition, we reported on the inauguration of President Ian Baucom, the closing of the Institute at Monterrey, and the opening of New Battell, while Stewart Hall undergoes renovation. Debates over the role of AI in academia, free speech on campus, grade inflation, mental health support, tuition increases and budget cuts, among other issues, have amplified the sense of substantial change on campus.
Unfortunately, for the college community and those of us at The Campus, this year has also been one of continuity. The immense grief of our fourth student death in six years stirred conversation about support for marginalized communities and the isolation that many students feel. National and global insecurity, especially the Trump administration’s recent visa bans and war with Iran, have created profound uncertainty and grief for students both on campus and abroad. The Campus has been there, reporting everything for all our readers.
We are still a school that is exciting, alive and growing. We reported on Nocturne and the Spring Symposium as recent examples of students showcasing their interests and talents in ways that engage the broader Middlebury community. We reported on innovative programs that bring international students to Middlebury.
Each of our five sections has made a consistent effort to document, engage with, and give voice to our community.
The News section reported on the impactful events that have shaped the past year, on both small and large scales. Pieces ranged from coverage of a community panel for the Transgender Day of Visibility or writing about the staff who keep Middlebury running after a snowstorm, to discussion of the geopolitical forces that put pressure on international students or the ways in which AI is impacting the job market. This broad scope of topics and writers highlights the diversity of interests and ideas on campus and can bring to light issues readers might not often consider.
The Local section covered everything from protests to salamander-crossing events, helping to link our college to the incredible town and the local people who live in Addison County. We covered the Town of Middlebury’s 10% increase in property taxes, and the incredible work done by the Open Door Clinic, which provides free health care for migrant workers and underinsured Vermonters. The college can feel like a bubble at times, and organizations like the Better Middlebury Partnership emphasize the importance of student involvement in the town.
The innovative Arts & Culture (A&C) section covered the revival of M Gallery, the political advocacy of a recent Bread & Puppet show, and the new mural in Proctor dining hall that draws from the ArtLords movement in Afghanistan. It also offered space for student artist highlights through editor Christy Liang’s ’28 Conversational Art column, which showcased individual artists as well as events like a zine release party. With weekly crosswords, photo gallery features, and interview profiles, A&C showcases the immense talent in our community.
The Opinion section received notable traffic this year. With students, staff, faculty, alumni, and community members contributing, we hosted discussions on politics, AI ethics, and responses to campus events, such as a protest at an alumni event and growing wealth disparity at Middlebury. The Campus is one of the best forums for free and fair speech at Middlebury, and we accepted over ten letters to the editor that offered dialogue on divisive issues. At a time when the protection of free speech is being debated on campus, this space allows for discussion and the sharing of ideas. Our weekly editorial board called for less bureaucracy from the Student Activities Office, fairer grading from faculty, and endorsed the winning SGA presidential candidate. As always, submit to this section by emailing campus@middlebury.edu.
Notably, this year's Sports section went above and beyond in the variety of its reporting. Moving beyond traditional game coverage, the sports desk discussed the retirement of Erin Quinn, student and athlete traditions at the Winter Carnival, an interview with Bob Spaulding, who drives the bus for the men’s soccer and hockey teams, and more. Columns like Amateur vs. Athlete and Tapped-in provided a unique perspective into the side of sports that most people don’t see. We commended this desk for its innovative approach to reporting.
The Campus provides a window into sides of campus that we might not be familiar with. We are not the curated material coming out of administrative offices. We want to continue our mission of reporting the on-the-ground reality for students, staff and faculty alike. A recent article about Proctor Dining Hall staff Marin Melchior’s knitting company offers insight into the life of someone you might see daily in Proctor but otherwise know little about. By creating a weekly record of the niche and interesting happenings around Middlebury, we strive to create connections and help people see more of campus.
At a time when AI feels like a threat to the integrity of writing, The Campus was proud to receive the 2025 New England College Newspaper of the Year award from the New England Newspaper and Press Association (NENPA). It is a testament to the hard work and dedication of our writers and editors, but also to the importance of local engagement. Student journalism can be a form of resistance to the tide of AI writing by maintaining the integrity and enthusiasm that make The Campus a valuable part of Middlebury. We are excited about the revival of the Blackbird literary magazine and the Clover fashion magazine, and hope this sparks a new resurgence in print media across Middlebury.
Zeitgeist, now in its eighth rendition, is another example of our commitment to understanding and representing the community. An enormous amount of work goes into formulating questions, promoting the survey, and analyzing results, all with the ultimate goal of understanding the way that students are thinking and feeling about their experience of Middlebury.
The purpose of The Campus is to represent the college community. Every person’s experience here is unique, and at a time when marginalized voices are less heard and communities are being threatened by global and national politics, the opportunity for their stories to be told is valuable for both those writing and those reading. The Campus and its ability to elevate issues important to students stem from its involvement in the community and the range of perspectives brought by its participants as they write, edit, and produce the paper every week. Collectively, we spend hundreds of hours reporting and making sure the paper is ready for Thursday morning (shoutout to our friends on the crew team for their delivery services).
Goodbye to our graduating ed-board seniors, in alphabetical order: Maya Alexander ’26, Curran Amster ’26, Mandy Berghela ’26, Cole Chaudhari ’26, Sailor Kabeary ’26.5, Lucy Schembre ’26.5, Simon Schmieder ’26, Katrina Schwarz ’26, Yuvraj Shah ’26, Ellie Trinkle ’26. Thank you to all our writers, editors, photographers, layout and online staff and all contributors. Thank you to everyone who has provided us with news tips and has let us interview you. Above all, thank you to all our readers. The Campus will be back in September, as always, on Thursday. Pick up a copy (or refresh your browser tab), and give us another read.
