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(05/07/14 8:12pm)
Renowned disability and gender activist Eli Clare came to campus on Wednesday, April 30th to host his talk, “Meditations on Disabled Bodies, Natural Worlds, and a Politics of Cure.” As the title suggests, Clare ventured to tackle the difficult and often cumbersome issue of “cure” and the politics that surround it. Clare himself lives with Cerebral Palsy and identifies as genderqueer.
Through excerpts from his writings, Clare shared anecdotal evidence of the destructive nature of our culture’s “inane” search for remedy to all disability. The talk focused on a wide variety of issues under this broad umbrella, including the caustic nature of “special” nomenclature, the “ableist” practices of organizations like the Sierra Club and the perception that a “restoration of health” is necessary for all people with disabilities. Clare’s stories ranged from humorous anecdotes of unintended condescension to contemplative comparisons between environmental restoration and the desire for a cure.
While diversity is always a salient issue at the College, diversity of ability is not discussed nearly as often as are issues of racial or sexual diversity. As Clare said, the lack of conversation in the context of an elite liberal arts college can serve as an “immediate separation of these students and faculty, which is just one manifestation of segregation.”
According to Jodi Litchfield, the American with Disabilities Act Coordinator for the college, about 7 percent of the student body identified as disabled in the 2012-2013. This figure is small when compared with the U.S. totals, which hover around 19 percent according to United States Census. That number is considerably smaller for people between the ages of 15-24, but statistics for this age group were only available for “severe disabilities.” Despite considerable representation on campus, there are many challenges that face this student population.
Assistant Professor of Education Studies Tara Affolter of the Education Studies Department sees the challenges facing disabled members of the college community firsthand.
“I think Middlebury tends to echo and amplify the ways disability is viewed in dominant society,” she said. “That is, disability resides within the individual and we accommodate individuals on an individual basis (if at all).”
As someone living with a hearing impairment, Affolter has had to deal with her fair share of struggles here on campus. Five years ago, microphones were not necessarily provided at all speaking engagements, which has since changed thanks to Nathan Beman Professor of Mathematics Priscilla Bremser.
Still, accommodations for disabilities have not gone far enough, Affolter believes, because the focus on individual disabilities puts the burden of advocacy on each student or faculty member instead of making the College a more inclusive place for everyone.
“For those who become injured playing sports … they feel inclined to apologize,” said Affolter. She listed a variety of examples, including the story of an injured athlete who had to navigate four flights of stairs to get to a class because her professor believed it was inconvenient to move the location of the class to accommodate the injured student. Affolter pointed out that many buildings on campus have little or no accessibility for people who use crutches or a wheelchair.
In light of many discussions on campus centered on body image, Clare forced a small group of students to broaden their notion of what “image” means. His prose provided an impetus for the whole campus to consider an issue that, while not often discussed, is certainly salient and affects a large portion of the college community.
(03/06/14 2:07am)
On Feb. 28, 12 Middlebury students travelled down to Washington D.C. for XL Dissent, a student-organized protest of the the Keystone XL Pipeline. They were joined by 1200 other protesters — primarily students — from across the country. The event culminated in an act of civil disobedience, during which 398 students were arrested — seven of them being students at the College.
Keystone XL is a proposed pipeline that would carry over 800,000 barrels of crude oil a day. If completed, the pipeline will span 1,664 miles from oil sands in central Alberta, Canada to refineries on the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. The project has garnered unprecedented attention due to its scale and size. Proponents argue that it would provide vital jobs and reduce foreign energy dependence. Its detractors argue that it would cause detrimental damage to the environment and cancel out any efforts to reduce carbon emissions in North America.
The students joined students from four other Vermont schools on a bus traveling down to D.C. Hannah Bristol ’14.5, a D.C.-area native, put up the Middlebury students at her home. On Sunday, the protest began at Georgetown University, the site of President Obama’s climate change speech last June. The crowd then marched to Lafayette Park for the main rally, making a stop in front of Secretary of State Kerry’s house to demand that he intervene before the project is approved.
“The energy and solidarity at this protest was unlike any of the other Keystone rallies I’ve attended,” Bristol said. “I think part of that comes from the fact that many of us knew we were going to be arrested. It created an instant bond.”
After the two mile march, the group gathered in the park to hear five speakers. Bristol, who took last fall off to work on President Obama’s campaign in New Hampshire, spoke last to the energetic crowd.
“President Obama was voted in by unprecedented youth turnout,” Bristol said. “I spoke to hold him accountable to his campaign promises on climate change.”
After the rally, the large group staged a sit-in. Many participants zip tied themselves to the gates of the White House while others spread banners on which they performed “fake deaths” caused by adverse effects of the tar sands. Within a few hours, the D.C. Park Police encircled the group, barricading them in. Slowly, they arrested the participants.
By the end of the day, police had arrested 398 protesters, seven of whom were Middlebury students, and brought them to the police station for processing.
“Everyone complied, and the police were courteous,” said Bristol, who was among those arrested. “The arrests demonstrated that we are willing to make serious sacrifices as a movement, and we are committed to this fight.”
The XL Dissent protest is part of a series of events opposing the Keystone XL Pipeline until President Obama announces his verdict on the project.
While 79 percent of voters under the age of 35 support climate change action, 56 percent of American adults support the pipeline. While the percent of support has waned in recent polls, both proponents and opponents of the project remain highly vocal. On campus, students like Bristol will continue to show their solidarity through protest.
(11/06/13 11:14pm)
Construction of the College’s new $47 million squash courts and field house, which began in June, has caused unprecedented disruption to many of the teams and coaches who routinely use this space. The construction, which called for the demolition of “The Bubble,” has left the Athletic Department scrambling to find indoor practice space for sports teams this winter.
Since 2002, the Bubble has offered alternative practice facilities for the Track and Field, Baseball, Tennis, Lacrosse and Frisbee teams as well the squash program’s five home courts. These facilities were meant to last only a few years after initial construction, but the economic downturn of 2008 postponed the construction of a new field house. Now the Athletic Department is faced with the task of finding an interim space for all the displaced teams until the new field house can replace the Bubble.
Director of Athletics Erin Quinn is working with coaches to plan for the winter months on a sport-to-sport basis.
“When we first discussed plans to build the new facilities, it seemed like a logical conclusion that some teams would have to spend a year in flux,” Quinn said. “But now that we’ve arrived at the point of construction, it does not seem like such an easy problem to resolve.”
Quinn noted that the lacrosse and baseball teams would practice outdoors through inclement weather during the winter. Due to the availability of outdoor turf fields, one of which can be lit at night, the men’s and women’s lacrosse teams will spend the most time outdoors, and when weather is severe, those teams will be allowed into the tightly-booked Nelson Recreation Area.
“Baseball and softball pose a tougher issue because the cold weather can increase the risk of arm injuries that are unique to the sport,” Quinn said.
To accommodate the baseball team in Nelson, Quinn has researched special baseballs and softballs that would not damage the surface of Nelson, and has also considered two temporary batting cages at one end of the building.
The only varsity winter sport to be homeless this winter is Track and Field. Tri-captain Bryan Holtzman ’14 has helped lead planning for practice since last winter season drew to a close.
“We will have to settle with a makeshift track surrounding the perimeter of Nelson,” Holtzman said. “Otherwise we will just have to push our limits on the outdoor track.”
Holtzman likened this upcoming season to high school indoor track programs that commonly make due without any formal facilities except on race day. Along with the temporary track, field athletes will use jumping and pole-vault pits, and throwers will practice with net dividers, that will be installed in Nelson.
“In the end, the pros of the new field house outweigh the cons of this season,” Holtzman said. “Having a top tier indoor track that could possibly host Nationals in the future represents a phenomenal opportunity for the program.”
While Track and Field will share access to Nelson with the Tennis teams, club sports such as Ultimate Frisbee are left out in the cold and will have to fight for any remaining time slots.
“Due to the extra traffic, we will have to struggle for any time when we can practice,” captain Jeff Hetzel ’14 said. “We will most likely have to show up very late on weeknights, and both the men’s and women’s team will have to split the space.”
The Frisbee teams also considered paying for practice in a Shelburne field house, but without official support from the college, fundraising for such an endeavor would pose an issue.
Despite the issues at hand, when completed, the new field house and squash courts will add tremendously to the capacity of the College’s facilities. The new facilities will hold double the number of squash courts and will house a new track while also including an indoor turf facility for a variety of varsity and club sports.
(10/03/13 12:42am)
Before the school year began, Dean of International Studies Professor Jeffrey Cason decided to close the College’s school abroad in Egypt based at the University of Alexandria due to the political turmoil that continues to rock the country.
After the removal of President Mohamed Morsi, Egypt erupted into a state of chaos. After June 30, protests became violent and to date more than 600 people have been killed. Andrew Pochter, a 21-year-old American student from the Washington, D.C. area, was stabbed to death during a protest in Alexandria. Pochter was teaching English to 7 and 8 year-old children while studying Arabic.
Tragedies like the one involving Pochter are exactly why the college decided to postpone the program in Egypt.
“Our main concern is the safety of the students,” said Cason, “Alexandria has seen its fare share of protests and clashes.”
The current situation is not unfamiliar either to Hileil or to Cason. The College evacuated all of the students out of Alexandria in February 2011, but reopened the Alexandria program once again for the 2012-2013 academic year.
Nihad Hileil, the director of the program in Egypt, agrees that the decision was a logical one.
“(Cancellation) for the Fall was a more natural decision,” said Hileil. “A regime had been toppled and people were in the streets. Strife was inevitable.”
The closure was initially only meant for the Fall, but it became clear to both Hileil and Cason that the school should remain closed through the spring. A resident of Alexandria herself, Hileil noted that “While things are relatively calm now, there has still been sporadic violence, and there is this overwhelming uncertainty. It has only been two months since the situation became truly bad.”
For students of the College and other universities who applied to study in Alexandria, this means spending either the semester or the entire year in Amman, Jordan instead. However, not all students have been driven away by the danger in Egypt. Jeremy Kallan ’14 spent the summer in Cairo after having studied in Alexandria during the first semester of his junior year.
“When it comes to politics in Egypt, it is impossible to predict what is going to happen”, said Kallan. “But I know that I got a lot out of being there, despite the unrest.”
Even before the closure, the Alexandria program maintained strict rules for the American students. Often, students were prohibited from leaving campus due to protests in the city. Both Kallan and Hileil agreed that these restrictions can be stifling to the learning process, but are necessary concessions to student safety.
The program has a variety of other safeguards in place to keep students safe and to expedite an evacuation, if and when the program returns. The College maintains a contract with Global Rescue, a firm that facilitates evacuation from any location in the world, along with a detailed contingency plan.
“In the end it will be a 24-hour job,” said Hileil of considerations to re-open the Egypt program in fall 2014. “We will have to be constantly aware of the constantly changing nature of the situation”.
Although Hileil and Cason are hopeful that the program will return for the 2014-2015 school year, they remain unsure as to whether or not that will be possible.
(05/01/13 2:39pm)
On April 23, Kathryn Wasserman Davis passed away at the age of 106. With her passing, the College, Language Schools and Monterey Institute of International Studies lost a key leader and source of inspiration.
One of the world’s foremost agents of peace, Davis’ life work left an indelible trace on the international community. From her early years travelling the world as a college and graduate student, Davis procured a desire to explore and understand different cultures. She most notably developed a strong affection for Russia after a visit to the country in 1929. Enchanted with the sights, sounds and diverse cultural history of the nation, Davis stayed attached to Russia throughout her entire life. Both the College’s Russian Language School and the Center for Eurasian and Russian Studies are now named for Davis and her husband, Shelby C. Davis, respectively, due to their generous donations and passionate involvement.
“Mrs. Davis challenged today’s students to work effectively toward lasting peace in the world,” wrote President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz in an e-mail to the entire student body.
Davis’s generosity, however, spread far beyond the realm of Russian studies. In 2006, on her 100th birthday, Davis founded “100 Projects for Peace,” a scholarship that gives students the agency to pursue their own peace-building projects around the world.
The program will continue for its seventh summer this year. Additionally, Davis made an impressive impact on the language program by founding The Kathryn Davis Fellowships for Peace: Investing in the Study of Critical Languages. Through these fellowships, students can earn full scholarships to study at the College’s schools of Arabic, Chinese, Russian, Hebrew, Japanese and Portuguese.
The scholarships, in addition to her generous donations to various peace-building and education initiatives, earned Davis considerable recognition. She was the recipient of both the 2006 Woodrow Wilson Award for Public Service, and the EastWest Institute’s 2006 Peace and Conflict Prevention Award in Potsdam.
Her effect on the college community will not be lost in her absence. In the past seven years, 13 different project grants and numerous language school scholarships have been granted to students at the College. Davis’s name and legacy shall remain a central aspect of the College’s identity moving into the future.
(04/10/13 7:05pm)
Residential Life has released its decision announcing the groups that have been awarded superblock housing for the 2013-2014 academic year. The committee has approved the Collective Mind group for Palmer House, the Design House in Jewett, the Exploration and Adventure group in Meeker House, the Superplay superblock in Homestead and the Intentional Living House in Munford House, in addition to Superblocks in the five mods.
Each year, groups of about 30-45 students apply for these block houses with a specific theme in mind. Members of each group must prepare a presentation for a board including Karin Hall-Kolts, residential systems coordinator, other members of the residential staff, and a student. This board determines which groups shall receive houses after students present their theme.
This year’s superblocks are made up of a diverse group of upperclassmen with varying ideas on how to improve the campus community through programming.
Blake Shapskinsky ’15, who organized the Collective Mind superblock, hopes to take advantage of the house’s size and reputation as a hotspot for social life on campus to create a forum for thoughtful discourse.
“It was incredible to see how the issue of divestment instigated campus-wide debate,” said Shapskinsky. “We would like to replicate at least some of that.”
Shapkinsky said he got the idea for the Collective Mind superblock after watching Intelligence Squared, a UK-based debate program that stages Oxford-style debates between experts on a wide array of topics.
Shapskinsky and the members of the block plan to replicate this program in the hopes of drawing a diverse crowd of students to the house by hosting various professors and speakers as well as knowledgeable student to debate topics of interest. The group has already began planning debates, with topics which include the legality of marijuana and the morality of Guantanamo Bay.
The group that will be residing in Meeker House, the “Exploration and Adventure” block, hopes to push its members and other students to step outside of their comfort zone .
“We purposefully left the theme open-ended because we did not want to limit the scope of our theme,” explained Kevin Tenenbaum ’15. According to Tenenbaum, the group plans to host activities ranging from maple sugaring to a community discussion about death and mortality.
“Discomfort does not pertain to one certain type of experience,” said Tenenbaum. “Hopefully Meeker will allow us to demonstrate that through various activities.”
The Mods will also house Superblock groups next year. In the Norgay Mod, the “Around the World” block, a group of internationally inclined students who will be going abroad in either the fall or spring will theme their block around their experiences in foreign locales.
“We want to do forums and discussions based on travel,” said Zoe Kaslow ’15.“The goal is to not only discuss our personal experiences abroad but also to give advice to those who plan on studying in a foreign country at some point in their Middlebury careers.”
The members of Norgay will also seek to build a strong relationship with the Study Abroad Office on campus and establish the mod as a place any student can visit with questions or concerns before they go abroad.
Homestead House, which has been awarded to the Superplay superblock, will encourage its members to be physically active.
“Everyone who will be living in our house had the shared experience of playing outside as children,” said James Clifford ’14. “We all believe that the type of mental and physical stimulation is a valuable asset.”
“We thought Homestead was particularly well suited to our theme because of the size of its lawn,” Clifford added. “We will have the space we need to get outside and fulfill the mission of our theme.”
The group has many events planned, including hosting an outdoor barbeque in conjunction with the Community Friends program in both the fall and spring of the next academic year.
The other Superblocks themes have a wide variety of themes, from Baking in the Earhart Mod to Intentional Living in Munford, and next year’s houses will provide the student body with a varied range of social spaces and activities.
(03/20/13 4:46pm)
Continuing efforts to address the issue of student engagement outside of class, the Education in Action office (EIA) hosted a panel discussion on the role of social engagement within a liberal arts curriculum on March 18. The panel was made up of Professor of Economics John Isham, Associate Professor of Political Science Sarah Stroup and EIA Community Engagement Coordinator Ashley Calkins.
EIA aims to provide students with opportunities outside of the classroom, be it through continuing education or employment after graduation. The office mainly serves as a conduit between students, the College’s alumni network and the local Middlebury community.
The first topic addressed by the panel was whether a liberal arts education requires social engagement. Professor of Economics John Isham argued that one does not necessarily require the other.
“A liberal arts education is about a discovery of self. If a student does not believe they need to engage outside the classroom, then it should not be required,” Isham said.
He went on to argue that a student’s four years at the College should not be dictated by arbitrary guidelines, but rather should encourage each graduate to “reflect on a life well-lived,” with or without work experience.
After the panel, however, Isham did note that opportunities for civic engagement outside the classroom should be offered at every institution of higher learning, noting that “people would not apply to all these colleges in the first place if they did not offer these opportunities.”
This past winter term, Stroup taught a course on the ethics and procedures of philanthropic donations, in which students spent the month deciding how best to divide up a large donation from the Once Upon A Time Foundation.
“The class fostered a sense of interdisciplinary awareness, which was valuable because it still felt like a classroom environment,” Stroup said. She went on to support the idea that social engagement within the classroom is just as beneficial as social engagement outside of the classroom.
Calkins, the final panel member to speak, stressed the importance of off-campus initiatives promoted by EIA. Citing a recent example in which college students traveled to the Dominican Republic for a community service trip, Calkins illustrated how experiences outside of the college environment can be both unique and valuable.
“In the Dominican Republic, [women’s and gender studies] students were able to discuss … gender roles with local teenage girls, which is a real-world learning experience that they would not have had otherwise,” she said.
Audience members expressed an interest in increased opportunities for social engagement, such as more hands-on, experiential learning programs during winter term.
(03/13/13 4:43pm)
On April 5, WRMC-FM, the College’s radio station, will be hosting Sepomana, the station’s annual spring concert, in the McCullough Social Space with headliners Delicate Steve, Baths and Rubblebucket.
Founded in 1993, the WRMC Concert Committee works to bring unique and entertaining lineups so that Sepomana can appeal to as wide a range of audiences as possible. This year’s band selection offers three bands that differ in both style and sound.
“We definitely tried to offer a varied lineup this year,” said Diane Martin ’13, a member of WRMC’s concert committee. “I think we did a great job of getting together three bands all with a unique appeal.”
Opening for the three acts is a Middlebury student band, currently under the name Convergent Sound Project, led by Erik Benepe ’13.5 of Stoop Kid fame. Convergent Sound Project will kick off the show with an experimental electric set, which is slightly different than Stoop Kid’s typical funk sound.
Delicate Steve, a New Jersey-based act, will lead the way for the hired bands. Headed by Steve Marion, a polymath with a background in recording and production, Delicate Steve’s style focuses on the instrumental talents of the band members. With little or no singing, the band’s sound is relaxed and rhythmic with complex guitar riffs and African-style percussion.
Next will be producer Baths, known as Will Wiesenfeld off the stage, out of Los Angeles. Baths utilizes looped samples, drum beats and often his own voice to create trance-like tunes akin to those of well-known acts Flying Lotus and RJD2. Wiesenfeld has attained increasing popularity since the release of his 2010 album “Cerulean,” which received praise from both Pitchfork and A.V. Club, both websites widely considered to be authorities in the world of independent music.
Following Baths, Brooklyn-based rock band Rubblebucket will close the show with a high-energy set. The band is known as much for their concert presence as for their music.
“[Rubblebucket] really encourages audience participation to go along with their already high-energy, danceable sound,” said Martin.
The group, which utilizes a brass section and upbeat drums to create a happy aesthetic, should provide a dynamic conclusion to the show.
This year, WRMC took advantage of a new relationship with the Burlington concert venue Signal Kitchen to help book some of the acts, including Baths.
“We created an agreement between WRMC and Signal Kitchen to help us get discounted prices for high-profile acts,” said General Manager of WRMC’s board Dylan Redford ’14. “Acts who will play up in Burlington can opt for a sort of package deal that also includes a stop at the College.”
This new relationship should allow the College to attract a wider range of more popular acts at a price that is within WRMC’s range. Redford is excited about all the possible benefits of the relationship.
“Hopefully the connection between us and Signal Kitchen will be long and fruitful, maybe even resulting in internship opportunities for Middlebury students along with access to many bands that would have previously been out of our range,” he said.
Tickets for Sepomana went on sale Wednesday, March 13.
“Due to the popularity of the acts we encourage everyone to get their tickets as early as possible,” said Martin. “We are expecting a sold-out show.”