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(02/24/16 4:53pm)
On Feb. 4, the Student Government Association (SGA) sent a statement addressing the College’s MLK Today event, Supreme Court Justice Scalia’s comments on Dec. 9 regarding black students on college campuses and the SGA’s commitment to being “supportive and proactive” in fighting racism on campus.
The Senate voted in favor of sending out the all-student email after a group of senators, including SGA President Ilana Gratch ’16 drafted the statement. In addition to the email, the SGA voted in favor of a resolution condemning the MLK event for its “highly offensive and post-racial actions” and acknowledging the problematic nature of Scalia’s comments. This prompted the SGA to officially recommend that President Patton “send an all-school email addressing the MLK Day event and Justice Scalia’s comments as soon as possible.”
Freshman Senator and sponsor of the bill, Charles Rainey ’19, expressed deep dissatisfaction with the administration’s response to the MLK Today event, which was perceived as a “macroagression” towards the black community. Rainey said that a statement from President Patton would be a start in addressing the “distress deeply felt within Middlebury’s black community” and to begin to address the “poor relationship” that exists between the SGA and students of color on campus.
Rainey commended Patton for her promotion of inclusivity and diversity on campus, but found her silence immediately after the MLK Today event “problematic and disappointing.”
“[Patton’s] silence and that of the SGA on these specific issues has spoken volumes to black Middlebury students … The SGA has failed to recognize and communicate the wide range of discontent that exists within the African-American community stemming from not only the aforementioned missteps but also years and years of institution neglect,” Rainey said.
Rainey hoped that the email would serve as an apology to black students on campus on behalf of the SGA and as its recognition of the issues that black students continue to face on campus.
According to the President of Distinguished Men of Color (DMC) Mario Alberto Picon Jr. ’17, the organization was approached by Senator Rainey and voted to support the statement released to the student body.
“Distinguished Men of Color continues to support the statement sent by SGA to all students as it aligns with the mission of DMC to continually support underrepresented and marginalized communities,” Alberto Picon Jr. said. The resolution was discussed with other cultural organizations on campus, including Alianza, which expressed solidarity with the statements.
The Senate discussed the email statement and resolution in detail during the last two SGA meetings of J-term.
Not all members of the SGA Senate agreed that this resolution was the best course of action.
“I don’t necessarily think it is [the SGA’s] place to speak for, as opposed to highlight the opinions of, various groups on campus,” Senator Reshma Gogineni ’16 said. “I think that the SGA should work harder to represent traditionally underrepresented groups on campus, but this should come through a conversation and legislative change co-sponsored with those groups as opposed to releasing statements on their behalf. Cultural organizations exist for a reason and we should not try to take over their roles.”
According to Gratch, the Senate has been discussing how the SGA can “better serve students of color and other marginalized students on campus” since the fall. This has included SGA members participating in town hall meetings to discuss what “real allyship looks like,” and discussing various relevant initiatives. As well, the SGA is considering continuing the town hall meetings that Chief Diversity Officer and Professor of Spanish Miguel Fernández led in the fall.
“I think one overriding consensus we reached is that the Senate can and should do more to be actively reaching out to students whose voices aren’t necessarily the loudest, particularly students of color and students of other marginalized identities, to ensure that we are doing our job as representatives and members of the Middlebury community,” Gratch said.
(11/05/15 12:35am)
Monday, Oct. 26 launched the first official “10 o’clock Ross,” one of the first major platform goals implemented this year under the leadership of SGA President Ilana Gratch ’16. Ross dining hall will be open every Monday through Thursday night from 10 p.m. to 11 p.m. for continental food.
“[10 o’clock] Ross is about so much more than just late night food in the dining hall,” Gratch said. “It’s about sending a message that we, as a student body, can take a break from the agenda-driven nature of our lives at Middlebury.”
The program will continue for the rest of the semester. The SGA and administration will re-evaluate the program over the winter break.
Gratch began planning for 10 o’clock Ross at the beginning of last spring when she first decided to run for SGA president. The idea became a part of her platform, and she quickly began to meet with administrators that she knew she would need to work with in order to make the plan a reality.
Gratch worked with dining services and most closely with Executive Director of Food Service Operations Dan Detora to figure out the logistics of a 10 p.m. dining option.
“[Detora] seemed so willing to work with students from the get-go that I knew we had a chance of accomplishing this goal,” Gratch said.
“In Dining [Services] we are always trying to improve our services, and this was an important student request that made a lot of sense,” Detora said. “It was an easy way to fill a need for the student body.”
Gratch and Detora developed a checklist for student monitors and worked with Public Safety to figure out the logistics of opening and closing Ross late at night. The overall costs of having the dining hall open for an extra four hours per week include student monitor payments, maintenance salaries and the cost of extra food. Meetings between the SGA and dining services continued into the fall until the program was implemented this past week.
In terms of 10 o’clock Ross’s continuation, Detora said, “I think we will have a late night option for students, but we will need to review cost and other factors.”
According to Gratch, she and others involved in the program’s operations are still deciding how many student monitors are needed and what type of food students most want. “Ensuring that students remain respectful and thoughtful with our usage of the space will be essential in determining what 10 o’clock Ross will look like moving forward,” Gratch said.
During her campaign, Gratch talked to students about the potential for a 10 p.m. dining option to get a sense of whether this was something the student body would be interested in. The positive responses she received motivated Gratch and the SGA to make it an option for students this semester.
“We may even find that the moments we remember most looking back on college are those spontaneous nights spent with friends,” Gratch said. “10 o’clock Ross is simply an avenue, a space, for that concept. What students do with it, only time will tell.” Gratch said.
(10/21/15 8:17pm)
Starting in the fall of 2016, Arabic language learners will have an alternative destination to study abroad in the Arabic-speaking world: Morocco. Middlebury C.V. Starr Schools Abroad will add its 17th country when it opens a new School in Rabat, Morocco. Partnering with the Mohammed V University, this program joins the School in Amman, Jordan as the second official Middlebury study abroad site in the Arabic-speaking world.
The program will be open to students who have studied at least two years of college-level Arabic. According to Dean of International Programs Jeffrey Cason, in addition to Modern Standard Arabic and the local Moroccan dialect classes, students will also have the option to take classes in Moroccan culture, politics, history, literature or religion, all of which will be taught in Arabic to provide as much immersion and integration in the local culture as possible. There will also be a variety of extracurricular activities to engage in along with their Moroccan peers.
With the suspension of College’s program in Alexandria, Egypt in 2013, the College began exploring other options for students wanting an Arabic immersion experience abroad. According to Cason, the past few years have witnessed an increase in students enrolled in Arabic language classes.
“Middlebury’s School Abroad in Jordan draws students from across North America; in the last two years, students from 28 different Colleges and Universities have studied on our program in Jordan…We expect that in addition to Middlebury students, we’ll be able to attract other students from outside Middlebury on our new program,” Cason said.
With this increased demand in mind, the College considered many other potential locations for a new School, including four different universities in Morocco and one in Oman.
“We were looking for a good university partner that understands our educational mission and a city where we think students will have opportunities for immersion outside the classroom, and we found that in Rabat,” said Cason. “Rabat is an interesting and vibrant city with a lot for students to do,” he said. The decision was also made after discussions with the faculty advisory board for the School in Jordan, but the expectation is that after some redistribution, the overall numbers for students in both Jordan and Morocco will increase.
According to Cason, about half a dozen students have already expressed interest in studying in Morocco. Despite differences between the local dialect and Modern Standard Arabic, Adiza Mohammed ’18 hopes to study abroad in Rabat. Daniel Buchman ’18.5 noted that Morocco exists at an interesting intersection between Europe, the Middle East and Sub-Saharan Africa.
“I think that I am of an age where I am capable of going into another culture that is drastically different than my own,” said Buchman. “[I’m ready to] put myself out there, which is what I think study abroad is supposed to be about…to give you the tools to engage with the discomfort and to grow from it,” he said.
Middlebury launched the application for the School in Morocco on Oct. 19th for the 2016-2017 academic year.
(05/06/15 8:44pm)
On Monday April 27, Community Council continued discussing security cameras, a controversial topic that was the subject of some of the graffiti that appeared on Ross dining hall, Atwater dining hall and BiHall that morning. Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College and Community Council Co-Chair Katy Smith Abbott said that new issues the council may have not yet considered came up in the recent open forum on security cameras on campus.
“(The meeting) showed the limited extent that we have been examining the impact on individuals that already have a particularly strong opinion on security cameras,” said Abbott.
“Issues of race and gender” were presented in the meeting according to Abbott.
“What level does that leave us open to targeting members of the community that are not members of the majority… what are we opening ourselves up to if human beings are reviewing this tape and they are looking for something to go off on…like suspicious behavior?” she asked.
Telecom Manager and Technology Support Specialist Solon Coburn reiterated that if a proposal to request security cameras on campus passed the council, there would be strict guidelines similar to those of peer institutions, that would indicate who could view them and in what circumstances.
It is “the very experience of being viewed or having a camera on you when already your very identity on campus is always on camera…always scrutinized” that made some students at the forum voice against security cameras, said Abbott.
“What it means for students particularly every time they go into a dining hall to be having those questions…stops me in my tracks a little bit,” she said.
Landscape Horticulturist Tim Parsons worried that if the College does not use the cameras to keep student’s personal items safe in light of the increased number of thefts this year that losing an item such as a laptop “for some students who go to school here it would be a very big financial hit.”
Durga Jayaraman ’16 talked to three people that live in her social house that have had their personal belongings stolen on campus. The students told her they would have been against the idea of security cameras but that being the victims of theft changed their view.
Blake Shapskinsky ’15 motioned for the council to vote on a proposal to have the security cameras in the Ross and Proctor dining halls only, monitoring where students place their backpacks outside of the dining area. The proposal also asked for guiding principles and that the cameras be only reviewed on case by case bases. The motion failed, with six for, nine against and two abstaining.
The council is going to continue discussing the issue and a proposal to strongly encourage students to bring their personal items into the dining halls with them.
Several students including President of the Inter-House Council (IHC) Rod Abhari ’15, President of Tavern Eli Jones ’16, and Vice President of Tavern and of the IHC Kevin Conroy, as well as Associate Dean of the College and Director of Public Safety Lisa Burchard attended the meeting to discuss a proposal pertaining to social house walk-throughs by Public Safety officers.
Abhari presented a proposal requesting that Public Safety officers enter house spaces under three conditions: if the house is on probation, if Public Safety receives a disturbance call, or if an officer sees a disturbance while on their normal patrol.
The council heard about this issue earlier in the year. Students again voiced their concern over walk-throughs that are occurring in their houses on weekdays almost daily without any cause, in their opinions. Students were also concerned why their seemed to be a lack of inequity pertaining to walk-throughs, when the Atwater suites and other non- ridgeline houses seem to not have officers walking through their living spaces as often. The proposal was passed with nine for, five against and four abstaining.
(04/22/15 9:42pm)
On April 13, Executive Director of Food Services and Operations Dan Detora attended Community Council in order to discuss council member Anna Jacobsen ’16’s proposal to substitute community service work for fines and fees when students violate student life policies.
As the former Director of Dining Services at Union College, Detora shared details about a similar program to Jacobsen’s proposal at Union in which the Dean of Students would contact his office about a student who had violated a policy. That student would then work in dining services, performing tasks such as washing dishes, wiping down tables and catering.
“The program worked fairly well…it made [the students] appreciate what we do in the dining halls,” said Detora.
In the program, students typically had two weeks to fulfill their service. They did have problems with students failing to show up, which resulted in a fine or an increase in the service time. Council members worried if the College implemented a similar program, it would interfere with the regular staff or place a burden on the deans who may be responsible for ensuring students complete their service.
“[The program] did not interfere with regular staff hours…if anything, they got extra help,” said Detora in reference to Union College’s program.
According to Detora, students performed tasks that were not “out in the open” where other students could see them. Some council members were uncomfortable with making a student’s infraction public by putting them in the open; however, other members thought that by not putting students in the open, students may not be discouraged from repeating the violation.
“We are either in or out…if we are going to go for it we don’t necessarily have to think about students only in the ‘backgrounds,’” said Community Council Co-Chair, Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott.
The council passed the proposal, recommending to the administration that students who violate certain codes, such as fire safety violations, are subject to community service instead of fines.
On April 20, Community Council continued its conversation about security cameras with Associate Dean of the College and Director of Public Safety Lisa Burchard. Council member and Telecom Manager and Technology Support Specialist Solon Coburn pointed out that “for every college that has cameras—basically every college but ours—they have very specific guidelines.”
Coburn said the College would not implement cameras without guidelines specifying who could view footage and in what circumstances. Burchard said the cameras would be used “to deter crime and to help with the investigation in order to determine who did it.”
Cameras would be placed outside dining hall entrances where most thefts have been occurring. Jacobsen questioned the use of security cameras, wondering if the simpler solution would be to get rid of the backpacks that line up outside of the College’s dining halls.
“I have always been opposed to security cameras, granted I have never had my thesis material stolen…there should definitely be a forum to discuss it,” said Council member Durga Jayaraman ’16.
On April 21, Student Co-Chair of Community Council Ben Bogin ’15 sent an email to the College community announcing that a forum will be held this Thursday at 7:30 p.m. in MBH 220 to discuss surveillance cameras. According to the email, there have been a total of 21 stolen backpacks worth approximately $12,000, 19 of which were stolen outside of dining halls during this calendar year.
(04/08/15 8:22pm)
The Community Council met twice in late March to address the end of the year agenda.
On March 16, Community Council hosted two presenters form Weybridge house: Gabriel Antonucci ’17 and Laura Xiao ’17 for the purpose of clarifying Weybridge house’s mission.
Weybridge house’s original mission was related to environmental studies and has over time become more food and sustainability focused. The house looks to “promote living sustainably and show that it is possible to live on a local diet…it is not a privileged idea…you can feed people (both) locally and affordably,” said Xiao.
Students living at the house eat about 50 percent of their meals on the house budget, according to Xiao. Weybridge houses 18 students who work to promote local food by buying from select local farmers. With both a residential life budget and a budget as a student organization, Weybridge hosts small dinners for about 25 people every Mon. and Wed., as well as a Sat. brunch that are all open to the Middlebury community. The house also hosts a yearly event titled “Feast” that feeds about 300 people.
On Mar. 30, Community Council discussed a proposal recently passed by the SGA Senate to extend Thanksgiving break to include the Mon. and Tues. of Thanksgiving week. SGA President Taylor Custer ’15 presented statistics from a recent student survey in which 60 percent of the student body responded.
According to Custer, of the students that responded, 33.5 percent skipped 1 or more classes in anticipation of the break and 78 percent wished the break were the whole week. The proposal passed the council with nine supporting, three opposed and one obstaining.
Community Council Co-Chair Ben Bogin ’15 then presented an idea to create a Middlebury Art Market or a like-minded system in which student artists could sell or rent their artwork to other students for their dorm rooms. Along with this, he proposed the idea of allowing dorm rooms to be painted different colors, potentially being a way to “increase student ownership of spaces,” said Bogin. “Maybe if people had more real artwork in their rooms they would be more responsible…it could decrease dorm damage.”
On April 6, Community Council member Anna Jacobsen ’16 brought forth a new proposition, proposing that the college integrate a policy that replaces some student fines and fees for infractions with community service. The purpose being both that fines and fees are harder for some people to pay, and for those who it does not pose any hardship it may not deter them from committing another infraction.
Jacobsen proposed that it begin as a “pilot project” starting with fire violations where instead of paying 300 dollars a student would work at the dining hall for a given amount of time equal to the monetary worth. Council member Emma Bliska ’18 asked if the proposal allowed for students to choose between paying a fine or community service. “I think that one of the purposes of it being work is that all students are punished equally,” responded Jacobsen. “There are lots of other ways to go about this other than fines… loss of privileges would be impactful…such as you can’t live in a suit, can’t run for office in a club, or loose your room draw,” said Associate Dean of Students for Residential Life & Student Life Policy Doug Adams.
Community Council Co-Chair and Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott took a moment to talk about Middlebury’s recent loss of Nathan Alexander last Thursday. “This is a really hard moment for a small community like us,” Smith Abbott said. Responding to a recent petition signed by students asking for a response from Middlebury’s staff and faculty, Abbott said that the administration “of course cares deeply about what’s happening…but we cannot inform the community until the family is informed.” Jacobsen said that “the recent tragedy has made talking about mental health on this campus a priority for me.”
The Council also discussed the potential of placing surveillance cameras at various points around campus. About $1200 worth of student’s belongings were stolen over the course of 3 months such as backpacks that are lined up outside of dining halls. If the cameras were to be established, they would not be monitored but used only if there is a need such as in the case of a reported theft. Some students were concerned with the precedent this would set. “What point have we come to as a community that we need surveillance? Is that really the route we want to take to address theft,” said Community Council member Ilana Gratch ’16.5.“Middlebury is a unique place that does not have surveillance…We have a very open community and with an open community, there is a vast amount of responsibility that people don’t always take…(we could) take advantage of technology to make us a little safer,” said Adams.
(03/11/15 7:13pm)
The Community Council meetings held over the last two weeks focused on the environmental impact of the College and the possibility of a new policy for smoking on campus.
Director of Sustainability Integration Jack Byrne and a number of student members of the Environmental Council attended the Community Council meeting held Mar. 2 to present the College’s environmental assessment, which occurs every two years.
“How are we doing? What is the sustainability story that we want to tell about our future?” were two questions Byrne posed to the council. According to Byrne, the College has a strong environmental reputation among higher education institutions. The College’s environmental impact and sustainability level is evaluated using a nationwide system, the star system. The College is at the gold star level, which is one step below the platinum star level. No college, however, has ever reached this level.
“The strategic narrative is to educate the students and youth of today to work hard and innovate for sustainability,” Byrne said. “How do we equip ourselves and our community with the types of things they (youth) need to sustain the prosperity, the liberty, and the freedom of today’s society and to do the stewarding of the resources we need to fuel that?” The assessment will be available online and open to comments until Apr. 30. Discussion will begin May 1 in order to generate a second draft to be reviewed between Aug. 1 and next Oct. 31.
The council then discussed the possibility of “moving the current policy [on tobacco use] to a policy that bans tobacco use on campus,” Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Doug Adams said. “This is not something you go into quickly…it would be a gradual policy.” Many colleges have already started the process toward tobacco-free campuses, according to Adams.
“If we banned smoking, we would lose a lot of staff and faculty (of language schools) in the summer because many are coming from other places where smoking is viewed much differently,” said Associate Director of Marketing, Recruiting and Admissions for the Language Schools Brook Escobedo.
Blake Shapskinsky ’15 added: “It could dramatically impact the shape of the student body and diversity on campus… some internationally students may be more prone to smoke.”
The council members agreed that most smokers on campus are not aware of the current policy, which prohibits smoking within 25 feet of any entrance to a building and that Public Safety does not necessarily enforce the policy. There is a “lack of signage,” Adams said, even though the policy requires signs in areas where there is a high probability people will smoke.
At the following Community Council meeting on Mar. 9, Adams presented a hard copy of the smoking policy recommendation to the council for discussion. It recommends that the policy of 25 feet be changed to 30 feet from a building, the idea being that 30 feet, or 10 paces, is an easier concept.
After some discussion, the suggestion that Public Safety enforces the new policy was added. In addition, a task force would be implemented in coming years to address enforcement. There is also an education component that would suggest the policy be reviewed during orientation and in other ways to make students and staff aware of
the policy.
Horticulturalist Tim Parsons also presented a map indicating the busiest doors on campus. The idea would be to install signs at these approximately 150 entrances, estimating $50 per sign.
The council passed the recommendation, which will be given to the President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz, Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott and the Commons Deans.
(02/25/15 11:44pm)
On February 16, 2015, Cate Costley ’15 and Alison Maxwell ’15 of the SGA Honor Code Committee attended this week’s Community Council meeting. They presented a drafted amendment to the constitution of Middlebury’s Honor Code and received feedback from Community Council members.
Maxwell said, “The student body is very divided on whether or not the Honor Code is useful or applicable to our lives. Student apathy is driving this [proposition]…if we have an honor code, we want to know that students want an honor code.”
Costley and Maxwell hope to pass an amendment that will incite students to think about the value of the honor code to the Middlebury community. If their proposed amendment passes, it will prompt a school-wide vote on the Honor Code that requires at least two-thirds of the student body’s vote.
“This [proposal] would stimulate discussion,” Costley said.
One option that was brought up proposed a complete suspension of the Honor Code’s implementation for two years. This proposition prompted some negative responses from council members who felt this action could be extremely drastic and unreasonable.
Blake Shapskinsky ’15 said, “I see maintaining and revising as relevant but not suspending it… that is a huge executive change. If anyone ever voted to suspend, it would cause a lot more trouble than it should.”
Katherine Brown ’18 said, “Suspending the honor code would greatly change all academic processes at the school… if we do suspend it, I would question whether or not this institution is the way I want it to be…or if I would I want to be here.”
However, SGA President Taylor Custer ’15 was in favor of putting suspension or rejection as an option.
Custer said, “Ideally, if the Honor Code is doing what it is supposed to be doing, then there is not cheating on campus…[but] surveys suggest that there is cheating on campus, so, clearly, the Honor Code is not doing something right.”
He continued, “Do students actually own [the honor code]? I don’t necessarily think that’s true or if students really think that. Putting in this voting measure…would show how important the honor code is.”
Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott said that she would be in support of an amendment that would possibly suspend the Honor Code because it would maintain a spark of “the high stakes of eradicating an Honor Code.” However, she believes completely eradicating the Honor Code would present too many issues.
Costley said, “[The possibility of suspension] gives this an edge…as a community, we have been apathetic about integrity and this is to kickstart a conversation.”
The second topic the council covered was Custer’s proposal to extend Thanksgiving Recess to include the Monday and Tuesday of the week recess begins. To accommodate for this, Custer proposed adding two days to the beginning of the fall semester. According to Custer, 33 percent of the student body skips class on Monday and Tuesday to start Thanksgiving Recess early. Some of the members presented reasons why they thought this proposal would not be compatible with “the nature of Middlebury’s compressed schedule,” as noted by Smith Abbott. Additionally—according to Horticulturalist Tim Parsons—campus facilities would lose two much-needed days for preparing the campus for the fall semester.
(02/12/15 3:23am)
Community Council met on Monday, Jan. 19, to continue its conversation about the possibility of lifting restrictions that prevent students from arriving on campus the Saturday before Winter Term. This discussion was made in response to the frequency with which students encounter travel issues. Community Council Co-chair Ben Bogin ’15 estimated that it would cost Middlebury about $7000 to open campus (including dining costs and staff and faculty wages.) a day earlier.
“If we allow all students to come home on Saturday it is going to preempt staff to lose some time off,” said Office & Budget Manager for Student Activities Maria Farnsworth.
There was discussion surrounding the idea of opening up the campus on Saturday for only pre-approved people versus everyone. “It creates a lot of administrative hassle for whoever has to approve all of those people,” said SGA President Taylor Custer ’15, regarding the fact that Commons Deans would have to meet with all students seeking early arrival. Bogin suggested a resolution that would make it easier for a student to receive a Dean’s excuse to come back Saturday.. The council will vote on the resolution at a later date.
The council heard from Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Doug Adams regarding the college’s hazing policy.
Community Council’s meeting on Monday, Jan. 26 welcomed guest speakers from various social and special interest houses to discuss Public Safety walk-throughs. Community Council member Reid Manheim ’17 proposed a resolution that would prevent Public Safety officers from walking through junior and senior housing including social houses and to move building checks from the evening to earlier in the day.
Kelsey O’Day, a member of Tavern House and the President of the Interhouse Council, said that members of various houses have been discussing this topic for the past couple of months. O’Day said that a good relationship with Public Safety is vital and that they constantly rely on the help of Public Safety officers, but that they feel that there is a lack of trust between the officers and students living in the houses.
“The interesting aspect of it is that members of social houses go through a lot of trainings, like how to have a good party and be a good party member, and are trained in anti-hazing… with that, we think we deserve even more trust than, say, the students in Atwater that may not have that training,” said O’Day.
The guest students agreed that there appeared to be a lack of consistency in the frequency with which various houses see public safety patrols. The consensus was that The Mill and KDR do not see Public Safety Officers as much as the Ridgeline houses.
Associate Dean of the College and the Director of Public Safety Lisa Burchard responded to student statements, saying that one of the reasons Public Safety Officers may be seen at these residences more than others is because of the large capacity of such spaces. “We do try for consistency… The Ridgeline houses are still in a remote area and have had problems, sometimes that have nothing to do with students. Officers walk through on weeknights to make sure nothing is developing,” said Burchard.
O’Day reiterated that officers coming through without reason such as a noise complaint “makes us feel uncomfortable in our own space.”
“At the same time, it is College property,” responded Community Council Co-Chair and Vice President for Student Affairs and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott.
Community Council reconvened on Feb. 9and further discussed Bogin’s proposal to make arrival to campus on the Saturday before Winter Term classes begin a more viable option for students. The council agreed that students could indicate their arrival date on BannerWeb rather than apply through their Commons Dean.
The Council voted on the BannerWeb method with 4 in favor, 3 opposed, and 8 abstaining.
(01/14/15 11:53pm)
On Jan. 12, 2015, Community Council met to discuss the idea of students returning early to campus. Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott often reviews requests from students traveling from great distances to arrive on campus earlier than the Sunday before classes start, but students are not allowed to enter residential halls without prior approval.
According to Abbott, it is often very difficult for students to arrive on Sunday for various reasons including flight delays, weather, and transportation issues from Burlington airport.
The Council discussed the possibility of a policy that would open the campus early, either to specific groups of students or everyone.
Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Doug Adams presented data from this year to the council, using it as a point of reference to outline what potentially allowing some students to arrive on Saturday would entail. According to the form, up to 825 domestic students living in the 14 states west of the Mississippi river and international students could arrive early.
“Opening residence halls a day early…automatically services are then impacted,” Adams said.
These services include opening dining halls and asking the facilities staff and residential life staff to arrive a day early.
“I’m not crazy about the idea because we are very short staffed now and it is a hard time of year to be short staffed. It is a lot of work, expensive work,” Horticulturalist Tim Parsons said. “All facilities that deal with snow would have to come in…potentially 150 people coming, which would be expensive.”
Adams also shared some research indicating that many states such as North Dakota, South Dakota and Idaho often don’t have any flights available during the day on Sunday and have to instead take a red eye and arrive Monday morning before classes start.
Katherine Brown ’18 arrived early this term in order to be on time for her job at the Snow Bowl. “I have a car and was called multiple times from people who didn’t know that there wasn’t public transportation on Sunday. People just don’t know… I don’t want to drive 6 times to and from Burlington.”
Adams spoke about how many students attempt to book their flight days before and just don’t have legitimate excuses for arriving late or not finding transportation.
“The reality of personal responsibility has to kick in. Most people do it,” Adams said.
Co-chair Ben Bogin ’15 is from California and shared his experience, noting that changing the policy would “do a lot in terms of flexibility” because he often has to take a red eye which leaves him very tired for the first day of classes.
SGA President Taylor Custer ’15 requested that Adams find out a rough estimate of how much opening school a day earlier would cost.
The second topic the council discussed, recycling on campus. The topic was brought to Abott’s attention last year when a fellow staff member described a scene at the recycling center that “made her skin crawl,” Abbott said. The “grossest trash we can imagine…staff members have to dive into a bag and sort it.”
Maria Farnsworth, who used to be involved in Facilities, said that those working there often find money, checks and even passports among peoples trash and it is their responsibility to return these items.
“If you don’t take the cap off your water bottle or don’t clean your yogurt container, they have to do it,” Farnsworth said.
One plan, a tag sale, was discussed last year and is being implemented this year. Students would stay and be paid from the income from the sale and the rest would be given to charity. The goal of this would to be to allow far less to go the recycling facilities to be sorted at the end of the year.
(11/19/14 9:42pm)
Community Council had several guest students attend the meeting on November 10, 2014 that offered new perspectives on student social life at Middlebury. The council discussed current issues surrounding social life at Middlebury as well as how the council can create a forum to continue discussing possible solutions to making Middlebury more inclusive.
After the meeting held by President Liebowitz to discuss social life on Sunday, Nov. 2, the council is looking at hosting another meeting and possibly regularly scheduled forums to continue the discussion. Guest student Jeremy Stratton-Smith ’17 stated he believed there were numerous attendees at the meeting held on Nov. 2 who had not encountered many of the issues with social life that others had brought up.
Stratton-Smith said, “It speaks to the need for there to be a wide range of people at these meetings.”
Guest student Carter Kelly ’15 stated that the end goal for these meetings should be to make the College a more inclusive space.
Kelly said, “There are a lot of us that don’t feel like we have a place on this campus…these forums are a springboard for making people more aware of these issues.”
Guest student Octavio Webster ’17 said, “We want to develop a sense of urgency that a lot of students are not very happy on this campus because they do not fit into this normative culture.”
Guest student Amari Simpson ’16 added that these forums could be a platform to discuss the issues faced by students of color and other marginalized identities.
“The social life forum was probably the most well attended forum that this campus has seen in a long time,” Horticulturalist Tim Parsons said.
Attracting as many members to the meetings as possible will be one of the council’s main goals moving forward. Stratton-Smith stated that the “modes of communications with the college are not fulfilling,” and that the forum could potentially fill that role, allowing students to discuss and define what about social life at Middlebury they want to change.
Stratton-Smith said the council has a “unique opportunity to set a precedent,” given upcoming changes in the administration and the election of Middlebury’s new president, Laurie L. Patton, having been announced earlier this week. The discussion of social life and general inclusiveness and community at Middlebury will be a topic of priority and continued discussion by the council.
During the council’s November 17th meeting, members discussed issues surrounding the Feb program. Ilana Gratch ’16.5 said that she has heard that “during [a Feb’s] time at Midd, you are always a little off balance and don’t quite fit into the four year mold.” She also shared general frustrations she has heard from other Febs that they don’t integrate into their commons well because the “miss out on the first year rush of students” and their living situation is different than that of the September students.
Seminars, commons and orientation groups are not connected for the Febs, unlike those for students admitted in September. Gratch stated this potentially contributes to Febs feeling less connected to the commons community.
On the other hand, Dean of Students and Community Council Co-Chair Katy Smith-Abbot said “there is a natural intense bonding [experience] that happens for Febs” because they are such a small and close group, and that she would hate to lose that connection by integrating Febs with the regular campus rather than focus on creating a close community of Feb students. The council acknowledged that this is certainly not a new issue and that they will continue to talk about it in future meetings.
(11/05/14 6:11pm)
At the Community Council meeting on Oct. 27, Dean of Students and Community Council Co-Chair Katy Smith Abbott began the discussion by informing the council of a meeting that took place with Middlebury residents and college officials.
The neighbors of various off-campus houses complained directly to the college and posted on “Front Porch,” a neighborhood forum, complaining about the loud and destructive activities that took place on Waybridge Street over homecoming weekend.
Smith Abbott stated that neighbors “reported being very fearful for their own houses and property.” It was pointed out by some of the neighbors that signs were being torn from the ground, objects being thrown at windows, and a student lying in the middle of the street, completely passed out.
Responding to Smith Abbott’s opening, Ilana Gratch ’16.5 asked if this type of behavior was unique to this specific year. Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Doug Adams said, “It has not happened to this degree until this year…We have not had a significant concern since 2002 or 2003.”
Smith Abbott stated that many students attribute “this untenable situation with large, loud parties is the result of a lack of a social scene on campus.”
The council moved to discuss the question of whether or not Middlebury is missing the type of social life that students want. One possible solution that the council discussed was increasing the amount of registered parties on campus as an outlet for this type of partying.
Gratch said that “student social house party registration can be tedious and difficult. You have to be 21 to be the house… working the doors or being the bartender is something no one wants to do.”
The next topic of concern to the council was the ever growing popularity of app Yik Yak. Cyber bullying has led to the app’s blocking in many schools. The council discussed whether or not the administration has a responsibility to block the app at the College, in light of an article written by Jordan Seman ’16 in the Campus describing harassment she faced on the app. Many council members acknowledged that blocking the app could create another issue where students feel the administration is taking control over an aspect of their lives they should not control.
“The yaks like the one in the Campus or the one Helena was talking about are a minority,” Emma Blake, who is against blocking the app on campus, said.
Associate Professor of Anthropology James Fitzsimmons said, “I think we should ban [the app]. I don’t think it will be terribly affective because something else will pop up, but at least it will be a show of support [for Jordan].”
On Nov. 3, the council continued its conversation on the social scene at Middlebury, specifically the drinking and partying culture. Associate Dean of Students for Student Activities & Orientation JJ Boggs and Director of Health and Wellness Education Barbara McCall attended the meeting to weigh in on how best for the council to proceed on this topic.
Smith Abbott proceeded to give an overview of the meeting that took place on Sunday, Nov. 2 between students, faculty, staff, and President Liebowitz regarding the social life of students.
In regards to the question of registering Thursday night parties during J-term, Smith Abbott asked, “What would it feel like to the faculty if we (the council) made a recommendation of this kind? Is it disingenuous for us to say that we can’t? Maybe that would send a message about what we think about J-term, when it is supposed to be academic… but there is the argument that its already happening anyway so why aren’t we making it safer?”
The meeting ended with the general agreement from the council to continue the discussion on social life and get to the specifics on what types of actions they would want to take. The council is planning to hold and lead an open discussion alike to the one that took place last Sunday.
(10/22/14 7:30pm)
On Monday Oct. 6, Community Council began a conversation around potentially expanding Middlebury’s honor code, specifically to implement a social honor code that would address academic integrity, and also social responsibility and behavior within the College community.
The social honor code would focus on respect between community members, including the relationship between students and Public Safety. Council Co-chairs Ben Bogin ’15 and Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott recognized the Council’s interest in this topic and opened the floor up for discussion.
“I went to an institution with an old honor code that covered all aspects of student life. I think it does make sense to have that standard expressed across all aspects of student life,” said Associate Dean of the College Doug Adams.
Many council members expressed similar support for expanding the honor code, but many were unconvinced that a social honor code could be very effective due to the present lack of respect for the honor code.
“If students equate social honor code with academic code, this could devalue the academic honor code,” Blake Shapskinsky ’15 said.
Council members agreed that in many respects, the student body does not take the academic honor code seriously. One example was that a student is unlikely to turn in a peer for cheating.
There was an overall skepticism expressed by the students on the Council on the ability of a social honor code to be effective in changing the College culture surrounding honor and integrity.
Other members questioned the clarity of a “social honor code” and that it has too much room for interpretation and could create confusion.
“[Considering] how specific the academic honor code is, I don’t think you could apply this detail to a social honor code. And I don’t see how you could combine the two,” Katherine Brown’18 said.
Others thought the more comprehensive code would bring clarity.
“It is more consistent to have an honor code that expands over everything. A social honor code I would hope would increase awareness and force people to remember the academic honor code as well as increase respect with people like Public Safety,” Bogin said.
“[a social honor code could] integrate values in the campus culture about speaking up and holding each other accountable for our actions,” Helena Hlavaty ’16 said.
On Monday Oct. 20 Bogin began the meeting with a proposal to potentially model Haverford College’s Honor Code Council, which publishes its proceedings when students are tried for honor code violations, while keeping the student anonymous.
“[This would] emphasize that there are serious repercussions if you break the honor code,” SGA President Taylor Custer ’15 said.
Later on, Hart Mechlin ’14.5 and the Director of Public Safety Elizabeth Burchard joined the meeting to provide their insights and experience to enhance the honor code discussion.
Mechlin came with proposals to address the tension between Public Safety and the student body as well as the overall disrespect that is often present during the interactions between students and officers.
Members agreed that many students only see the negative aspects associated with public safety, such as receiving citations and fail to recognize the positive contributions they provide to the College.
(10/01/14 10:40pm)
Community Council held its first meeting on Monday, Sept. 29, during which Council Co-Chair Ben Bogin ’15 and Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott reviewed the Council’s general responsibilities and proceeded to ask the other members to suggest topics they would most like to address over the course of the year.
“[Community Council] considers policies and issues pertaining to the College and makes decisions or proposes resolutions to the administration,” said Bogin.
The Council serves as a connection between the students, as well as many other community members, and the administration. Community Council is also responsible for making certain appointments at various times during the year. They are also in charge of reviewing and discussing the social and special interest houses on campus.
In the meeting, Bogin began by suggesting that the Council continue to discuss the honor code, specifically “broadening our definition of the honor code to include a social aspect” for the agenda for the upcoming year.
Bogin’s proposal received a lot of support from many of the council members, including Anna Jacobsen ’16. Jacobsen also proposed talking about sexual assault and issues of consent on campus, which according to her, “could tie into a social honor code.”
SGA President Taylor Custer ’15 said he thinks it is important to discuss the procedural aspect of the Community Council and ways to make it more effective, inclusive and responsive to the student body.
Another cause for concern, according to Custer, is the present relationship between Public Safety and the student body.
“A lot of students have come to me saying that there is unnecessary tension there,” said Custer.
Jacobsen expressed uneasiness with the overall representation on the Council, specifying that she was specifically concerned with the lack of racial diversity on the Council.
Bogin responded that this fact “was absolutely not intentional by any means” and the group briefly conversed about discussing how to involve underrepresented student voices in the Council in future meetings.
“There seems to be a feeling of exclusion coming from the students of color on the campus… The diversity at the College needs to be more integrated as opposed to segregated,” added Jacobsen.
The tailgating policy was then brought up by Blake Shapskinsky ’15, who voiced his desire to discuss the issue in the near future.
Other members requested not to focus on the policy, many agreeing that there was nothing to do now since the decision has been decisively made.
Instead, the council members discussed the “concerning” method through which the administration is presenting policy changes to the student body and how this process was illustrated in the recent tailgating policy controversy.
“I think it would be a gigantic mistake to focus on the tailgating issue as a policy. We should instead be coming up with something very concrete for the process so this doesn’t happen again…This has played into a bias toward the administration because the administration made a decision that affects the social life of students,” said Custer.
Custer suggested to instead use the policy as a “platform” to talk about the issue of transparency within the administration. He pointed out that the policy illustrated how an abrupt policy change leads to tension between the students and the administration.
He continued, suggesting that this could lead to a discussion about how the council can better make students aware of potential policy changes far before the actual decision so that they can get involved.
“I think its concerning that this is getting more attention then other larger issues on campus,” said Jacobsen.
Students Jacobsen and Custer discussed the outrage the tailgating policy has created and yet the reality is that few students have sought out ways to discuss the policy with the SGA or the administration.
Custer pointed out how few students came to the meeting the SGA held last week to discuss the ramifications and controversy of the tailgating policy. Finishing up the meeting, the council is looking to discuss what they can do to improve the overall communication between administration and student body as well as address topics brought up by council members.
The Council will meet every Monday at 4:30 p.m. in Old Chapel.
(09/24/14 8:35pm)
The online voting period for the Student Government Association (SGA) First-Year Senator elections opened last Friday, Sept. 19. First-years placed their votes in ranked order for three candidates: Christina Brook ’18, April Poole ’18, and Jin Sohn ’18. When the polls closed twenty-four hours later, it was announced that Brook and Sohn would be placed into the two open positions.
145 votes — representing 25% of the Class of 2018 — were cast. This year’s elections utilized the same “rank ballot” system that started last year, allowing students to rank their desired candidate in order of preference. The SGA also added a “None of the above” option this year, which, according to SGA Elections Council Chair Nick Warren ’15, is supposed to allow “students to still feel involved without having to choose [a candidate].”
Each candidate was given a fifty dollar campaign budget to spend. Poole decided against using this money and instead focused on “meeting as many people as possible” because of the small number of candidates there were running.
“Last year, when I ran, there were eight candidates,” former First-Year Senator Karina Toy ’17 said. “I went up to everyone and introduced myself and hung posters everywhere.”
Toy led the First-Year Committee with former fellow senator Wenhao Yu ’17 with the goal of creating a more cohesive class for first-years. The Committee is responsible for organizing events for first-years such as Atwater dinners.
The newly elected Brook explained that she has never been involved with a student government organization of any kind. “None of the schools that I attended ever had something remotely similar,” Brook said.
Brook wanted to pursue a position where she could have an impact and stated that her interest stemmed from the “way students could voice their opinions regarding the inner-workings of relevant issues on campus and within this community.” Brook plans to reach out to her fellow peers and address the issues they believe to be pressing matters. She also would like to address “the way in which freshmen interact with upperclassmen, predominantly regarding discussing major/minor possibilities, academics, and student organizations.”
According to Warren and Toy, the primary job of the Senators is to represent the opinions of their class and to voice these opinions when proposing legislation and working with administrators. With her term completed, Toy offers parting words of advice for Brook and Sohn: “Talk to people. Never be afraid to ask questions and always pursue your own legislative interests.”
