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(04/27/17 1:41am)
On April 24 the Student Government Association (SGA) in conjunction with The Campus hosted a panel that addressed the question “What Should Free Speech on Middlebury’s Campus Look Like?” Student panelists included Juan Andrade-Vera ’19, Hannah Blackburn ’17, Austin Kahn ’17.5 and Ivan Valladares ’17.
In an email to the student body, the SGA Institutional Diversity Committee wrote, “In the midst of the recent Charles Murray incident, our campus has found itself again thrown into a difficult conversation concerning free speech, and we think it is high time that we take this conversation in a productive manner: attempting to define what free speech should look like on Middlebury’s Campus.”
Vice President for Academic Development Tim Spears delivered opening remarks that contextualized the history of free speech debates at the College. Spears cited instances of political activism in which issues of freedom of speech have been handled or employed.
“It seems to me that freedom of speech is often invoked, or you often see it in action, when groups want to speak to their own particular issue on campus and are shut down by others on campus,” Spears said. “For instance, if political posters are put up in the student center and are then defaced or ripped down by students, then that has been interpreted as one group of students infringing on the freedom of speech of other students.”
He continued, “What I’m trying to get at is the principle has been invoked in both ways. But from my opinion, I don’t think freedom of speech has been invoked as explicitly as it has been in recent events.”
Geovany Martinez ’19, co-director of the Institutional Diversity Committee, asked the first question about how free speech can improve society and Middlebury’s community.
Valladares began the conversation by reading opening remarks. “I think freedom of speech is a choice. As a private institution, Middlebury has to make that choice whether or not we want to allow freedom of speech to be unrestrained on our campus,” he said. “If we then choose to not let all voices or ideas be heard in our community, then we are choosing to silence and repress certain people.”
Kahn responded by noting that Valladares’s perspective is often classified as an “absolutist idea of free speech.” He continued, “[This idea] supports that all speech regardless of content or of the person speaking it should be absolutely protected under all circumstances. I think the underlying idea that supports that stance is a slippery slope.”
Kahn disagreed that restricting certain speech will necessarily lead to a complete silencing of all forms of speech.
“One thing that’s important to keep in mind during this conversation is that a lot of absolutist free speech advocates are making it sound like there are only two options. The first is the absolute whole-sale restriction of speech… The second is that all speech regardless of its impact or potential impact must be protected and permitted,” he said. “I think that’s a dangerous dichotomy.”
According to Kahn, there is significant motivation for the College to dedicate time and thought to determine what sorts of speech can be qualified as “dangerously discriminatory,” which would potentially violate other College policies of providing a space for students that is free of discrimination.
Andrade-Vera focused on addressing the question “Who is this for?” in relation to free speech. “I would say that the ultimate problem is that the Right keeps calling for this ‘collective freedom of speech’ and a ‘collective freedom of support,’ but often when I argue for my opinions or when I try to argue against Charles Murray, I don’t feel that support. In fact, I feel the opposite of that,” he said. “We should always ask who gets defended when they speak their mind and who doesn’t.”
Blackburn elaborated on Kahn’s previous point about when speech conflicts with an institution’s values. “I think there are a lot of ways that free speech isn’t equally free in this current moment. I think part of our role in facilitating free speech is allowing free speech to be as truly free and as accessible to everyone as possible,” she said. “In some ways that might mean holding back certain kinds of speech to create room for other types of speech that aren’t heard.”
Blackburn then suggested the creation of other processes for how speakers are brought to campus. “When a speaker is brought to campus by a small group of students, the onus falls on everyone else to make a convincing argument for why they shouldn’t be allowed, which often gets portrayed as censorship,” she said.
Other questions and topics focused on the role of protests and free speech, the definition of hate speech, institutionalizing certain voices, community standards and ideas of inclusion.
(12/09/15 3:43pm)
On Dec. 6 the town of Middlebury’s adopted ordinance concerning rental houses, apartments and the control of public nuisances went into effect. Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Douglas Adams notified all off-campus residents in an email the following day.
According to Adams, the town addressed experiences where student occupants of rental locations were chronically and excessively disruptive in Middlebury neighborhoods. Some of these instances have led to visits by the town police and contributed to the motion to create the new town policy.
“In the spirit of this ordinance, we ask that you remember to be sensitive to the potential impact you will have on the people who live nearby,” Adams said in the email. “Living in the community requires work and an understanding that what you do will impact people who have different work schedules, noise tolerance and expectations of behaviors than a typical college student,” he continued.
The new policy states that previous other laws and ordinances do not adequately control “chronic unlawful or nuisance activity or its detrimental effect on the community where such chronic activity occurs.”
The ordinance stipulates that the fourth or more separate noise violations occurring on the same property within a 180-day period is deemed as a public nuisance. A violation will be issued if loud noise occurs after 10 p.m. on weekdays and after 1 a.m. on weekdays, although complaints may be made before these times. The initial occurrence of a public nuisance on a property is a violation of the ordinance and may be punishable as a first offense with a fine.
In the email, Adams provided tips to foster better relationships between students who live off campus and their respective neighborhoods. In addition to better communication among all community members, he also reminded students to be responsible for any parties before and after they occur.
“I think its important to reinforce that students living off campus have to uphold certain expectations,” Greer Howard ’16 said. “We’re a part of the community, our neighbors aren’t all on the same schedules, and we need to be cognizant of those differences.”
(12/02/15 9:20pm)
The College joined more than 200 colleges and universities nationwide to sign the American Campuses Act on Climate Pledge to demonstrate support for strong international climate action. President Laurie L. Patton sent the College’s pledge to the White House on Nov. 10 in preparation for the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris from Nov. 30 through Dec. 11.
The pledge reads: “As institutions of higher education, we applaud the progress already made to promote clean energy and climate action as we seek a comprehensive, ambitious agreement at the upcoming United Nations Climate Negotiations in Paris. We recognize the urgent need to act now to avoid irreversible costs to our global community’s economic prosperity and public health and are optimistic that world leaders will reach an agreement to secure a transition to a low carbon future. Today our school pledges to accelerate the transition to low-carbon energy while enhancing sustainable and resilient practices across our campus.”
According to a press release from the White House, all the institutions signing the pledge have already undertaken significant steps toward reducing greenhouse gas emissions, increasing campus sustainability and resilience and incorporating environmental action into academic programs.
One of the goals outlined in Middlebury’s pledge is to displace the remaining use of fuel oil (approximately 650,000 gallons per year) with carbon-neutral biomethane gas from a manure digester on a nearby diary farm. Furthermore, the College promises to “continue exploring ways to add new sources of renewable, carbon-neutral electricity sources to power the campus.”
Dedication to sustainability has been an official part of Middlebury’s mission since 1995, when trustees established a set of principles and objectives for the campus. As of today, Middlebury is on track to achieve full carbon neutrality by the end of 2016. The College has already reduced emissions of greenhouse gases by 50 percent from the 2007 baseline. One of the major milestones toward achieving carbon neutrality was the completion of the $12 million biomass gasification plant, which was installed in 2009.
The pledge also cites the ways in which the College regularly engages in a number of different environmental initiatives and projects. The campus-wide recycling center and compost operation, for example, diverts about 65 percent of waste from landfills each year. In 2012, in partnership with local developers, the College installed solar farms on and off campus, which provides five percent of electricity on campus. In addition, students competed twice in the US Department of Energy’s Solar Decathlon competition. The student-led projects to design and build single-family residential homes operating on only solar electricity and heat finished in fourth and eighth places in 2011 and 2013, respectively.
In addition to college and university campuses, about 81 American companies signed a similar climate pledge to show their support for international climate agreement ahead of the Paris conferences.
(11/18/15 9:26pm)
Following the terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris on Friday, Nov. 13, Vice President and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott and Dean of International Programs Jeff Cason reported that all 50 undergraduate and graduate students studying at Middlebury’s School in France, in addition to ten other students studying at other sites, were safe.
“We are grateful that all of our students in Paris are safe, and we will continue to monitor the situation to be sure that students are receiving the support they need,” Cason and Smith Abbott said in their email.
According to Cason and Smith Abbott, the School in France spent the evening reaching out to each of the students to confirm their well-being. Additionally, the families of students were notified of their safety.
When the attacks occurred, Vanessa Manjarrez ’17 was in the Stade de France with a group that included two other Middlebury students. According to Manjarrez, they heard “two huge bangs” when they were in the stadium and initially assumed them to have come from fireworks. Manjarrez and her friends later learned the noises came from a suicide bomber who had tickets to the game they were watching.
“We didn’t think anything of it,” Manjarrez said. “We continued watching the game until about the middle of the second half when my friend got a text message from the [Associate Director of the School in France Amy Tondu] saying there was a shooting and that we needed to go straight home. We didn’t realize the gravity of the situation, so we waited until the end to leave. At that point, our phones were flooded with ‘Are you ok?’ messages from friends and family, still not really knowing what everyone was panicked about.” She continued, “It’s been pretty traumatizing. Middlebury has told us to stay inside as much as possible this weekend and to not go anywhere where large crowds can gather.”
“I can’t stress enough how helpful the Middlebury team was during this event. They kept in touch with every student and our families until everyone was confirmed safely at home,” she said.
Edward O’Brien ’17 realized something was wrong when he learned that some metro stations were closed “by order of the Police Prefecture.”
“When [my friend and I] emerged from the station, two panicked men ran up to us to ask if the metro was still running. We told them what we knew and they ran into the subway. That was when we knew something was wrong,” O’Brien said.
“As we walked back to my apartment, we saw several people running down the street away from one of the closed stations so we sped up until we were inside,” he continued. “When I came in and turned on my computer, I had over ten messages on Facebook [from] panicked people asking where I was. Apparently, Middlebury had been calling people even before any official alerts went out. Because my phone wasn’t working, no one knew where I was.”
After watching the news, O’Brien realized that several of the attacks were a few blocks away from his apartment.
“While that night was tense, the scariest part of the attack for me was the next morning when I looked at the accurate locations of the attacks,” he said. “I realized that I had been in a restaurant right next to one of the attacks just the day before. It continues to occur to me that it was complete chance that I was not there.”
He continued, “I now feel paralyzed when deciding to leave the apartment. Each time, I wonder whether it’s a good idea. I, like many others in Paris, I think, recognize that the reason I wasn’t a victim of the attacks was nothing but chance. There’s just so much uncertainty.”
According to Cason and Smith Abbott, the College is making counseling services available for students in Paris in the wake of the attacks.
“Yesterday’s heartbreaking events have understandably created considerable anxiety, both for our students in Paris and for many here on the Middlebury campus,” they said. They encouraged students to seek additional help from residential life staff members, Commons Residential Advisers (CRAs), and Commons Deans.
Members of the Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life sponsored a vigil held outside of Mead Chapel on Monday, Nov. 16. The vigil was held following the College’s weekly, all-community silent reflection, which President of the College Laurie L. Patton invited students to attend.
“These challenging times require that we come together as a community in as many ways as possible,” she said in an email sent to students, staff and faculty.
(09/30/15 9:06pm)
Members of the Middlebury Board of Trustees arrived on campus this past weekend to attend the annual fall trustee meeting. The meeting marks the second year that the board’s new governance structure has been in effect.
For some students, the role of the Board in daily campus life is nebulous. For others, especially those interested in the College’s investments and those who are in more constant contact with trustees, the board’s impact is more apparent.
“The board does a lot of things that students care about, but students may not know that the board is involved in the first place,” said Chair of the Board of Trustees Marna C. Whittington.
According to the College, the Board of Trustees “holds ultimate legal and fiduciary responsibility for all assets and operations of Middlebury College, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), the Middlebury Language Schools and Schools Abroad, the Bread Loaf School of English, the Bread Loaf Writers Conference, and all other Middlebury schools, programs, centers and institutes.” Such responsibilities include the authority to hire and dismiss the president of the College, setting the College’s financial strategy and budget, advising on capital projects and maintaining the final decision on tenure.
In light of the board’s essential role to the College as a corporation, an effective structure for board governance is essential. The announcement of President Emeritus Ronald D. Leibowitz’s plan to step down came in concert with the conclusion of a yearlong process to review and revise the board’s governance structure.
“Nothing was necessarily broken, but we wanted to step back and ask ourselves, if we were to build a governance program starting today, what would it look like?” said Whittington. A number of recommendations and bylaws were passed in December of 2013 and implemented in July of 2014.
There were both structural and procedural changes to the College’s governance system. Whittington noted that one of the largest shortcomings of the old system was the imbalance in committees overseeing its various business units. Chief among the changes to address this issue was the reduction of the number of standing committees from 15 to five. Now, the role of these committees is to assume responsibility for all substantive issues across all of the College’s campuses and programs.
In addition to these specific standing committees, the board also voted to create three boards of overseers for the College, the Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey (MIIS), and the “Schools,” which include the Language Schools, Bread Loaf School of English, and Schools Abroad. Each board of overseers is charged with reviewing and monitoring the educational offerings and student life under their respective jurisdiction.
The membership of these committees also changed. “Before, we didn’t have proper constituent representatives. Now we have a student representative, a faculty and a staff on each of the board of overseers,” said Whittington.
In addition to constituent representation, a partner overseer is also appointed to each board. “They aren’t full trustees, but they are subject matter experts in some way,” said Whittington. “For instance, the superintendent of the local school district is coming on as a partner overseer to the College overseers… They have interest in giving their professional expertise to the process of Middlebury.”
Procedural changes to the governance included the implementation of new rules of engagement: how meetings are to be conducted and how trustees are to work with one another. Under the new governance structure, one trustee may not hold more than one leadership position. This created 16 vacancies in various trustee leadership positions, which required “more people to step up and spread the engagement,” said Whittington.
Despite the collective positive effects of these changes, some significant challenges have already appeared after a year of implementation. “I think one of the biggest challenges is that our trustees now are very aware of what they don’t know. Before they were in their committees and didn’t have that insight,” said Whittington. Another challenge is overcoming the time creep and enlisting younger and more diverse trustees to join the board.
(09/30/15 9:05pm)
Hours after being hung in Proctor and Ross Dining Halls on Saturday, Sept. 26, the posters created by the Black Student Union (BSU) were vandalized by an unknown party.
The first poster was discovered and brought to the attention of BSU Board Members that afternoon. A second was found that evening. The defacements were then covered up, but more were found on a poster in Proctor Dining Hall the following morning.
In response to the vandalism, the BSU released an official statement that quickly spread across social media on Sunday, Sept. 27. It stated the following:
Last night, after an affirming and productive BSU Board Retreat, our board went off to the dining halls for dinner, only to find that the posters we had recently hung up had been vandalized: two people had seen our posters proudly advocating for the black community at Middlebury, and decided that this advocacy offended them. “RACIST,” they wrote. “Promotes Hate!” The next morning we came back to eat breakfast and saw that others had added to the vandalization with more comments.
When our board saw these posters, we felt angry, violated and disappointed. This kind of response to black empowerment, solidarity and community-building is not new, at Middlebury or in the nation at large. Accusations of “reverse racism” are common forms of protecting the status quo — that is, white supremacy — and indicate a complete lack of understanding about how racism has operated and continues to operate in this country. Racism is a system of advantage based on race. When only 3% of Middlebury’s student body is black, the BSU is a form of resistance to racism.
More than anything, these comments on our posters are a testament to how much work still needs to be done at Middlebury in support of racial justice education. When students at this school see three raised fists on a poster and decide that this is racism — instead of the microaggressions that happen here every day, or the constant threat black folks face from police throughout the country — we have a problem.
As for us? BSU will continue to do our work in creating and nurturing space for black students at Middlebury. We will keep hanging our posters up in the dining hall. We too are Middlebury students. We are, always have been, and always will be unapologetically black.
Formerly known as the African-American Alliance (AAA), the BSU was formed to represent the concerns and interests of black students and persons of color at the College. According to the organization’s Facebook page, their goal is to provide “a safe place for students to discuss and celebrate issues of diversity and intersectional identity.” The decision to change the organization’s name was done so to make the group more accessible and inclusive.
The BSU declined to comment further on the matter.
(09/24/15 3:08am)
The College unveiled a memorial tree on Sept. 19 in honor of Nathan Alexander ’17, who passed away last spring. Students, faculty, staff and Alexander’s family members gathered on the plaza in front of Ross Dining Hall for the dedication service.
The service began with Chaplain of the College Laurel M. Jordan ’79 and other staff members of the Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life reading various prose and scripture.
“We’ve been brought together by our desire to honor the memory of Nathan Alexander... In these moments together here by this tree, we want to revisit some of our favorite memories of him, near the places on campus that he called home during his years at Middlebury,” Jordan said.
A student mentioned that Nathan’s sophomore year dorm room in Milliken Hall looked out at the spot where the tree now stands. Other students spoke of his interests in sailing and classical music, his flashes of sarcastic humor, his passion for political science and his eagerness to assist others during first-year move-in.
Bart Alexander, Nathan’s father, asked those in attendance to join him in a meditation.
“May the rhythm of the seasons instruct us in our grieving of Nathan’s death. As the leaves of this tree fall, may we release our pain. As the roots grow to absorb the Earth’s riches, may we be nurtured by our memories of Nathan’s many gifts to us. As this tree rests in winter snow, may we find peace and calm in our hearts. Spring will come soon and this tree will explode in new life, just as our lives will grow in joy and remembrance of Nathan,” he said.
The dedication of the Japanese lilac tree–bearing a simple dedicatory plaque at its base–was a continuation of the remembrance events for Nathan that began last spring. Students, faculty and staff from across campus and across the country came together to mourn at his memorial service and candlelight vigil and over numerous conversations and reflections. Such events not only commemorate and celebrate Nathan, but also act as opportunities to continue the ongoing dialogue surrounding mental health and well-being at the College.
“Even as we share with one another wishes for a good start, we also pause to reflect on one of the events of the spring that affected us all,” Jordan said in a campus-wide email.
(09/17/15 5:44pm)
Four Middlebury graduates were elected to the Board of Trustees in July, including two women of color, as term trustees and an alumni trustee. The new trustees include Joseph W. Brown ’90, Leilani McClellan Brown ’93, Janine Feng ’92 and Henry J. Simonds ’97. These appointees will serve on the Board for a five-year term. The Board of Trustee’s legal and fiduciary responsibility is to govern the College and all of its affiliated schools and programs.
According to the Chair of the Board of Trustees Marna C. Whittington, the Governance Committee, headed by Trustee Kim Parizeau in conjunction with Secretary Dave Donahue, is the body responsible for recommending candidates to the board.
“The [Governance] Committee has a very systematic process which reviews the skill sets and demographic characteristics of the current board against a profile of the skill sets and demographics we believe would be most appropriate and effective providing governance for Middlebury at this time,” Whittington said.
The new appointees this year diversify the primarily white 33-member board.
“The Trustees and Governance Committee has been very successful recruiting a diverse, highly competent board which brings a wide set of professional skills to the boardroom,” she said.
“The committee looks at lots of different criteria; professional experience, geographic representation, diversity with regard to gender, age, race, leadership ability and experience, level of engagement with the College and the list goes on. There is no one criteria that takes precedent,” added Donahue. He noted that a vast majority of trustees are alumni, but this is the first group of trustees that are comprised only of those who graduated in the 1990’s.
The four new trustees hail from a variety of backgrounds and experiences.
Leilani M. Brown is the Vice President and Chief Marketing Officer of Starr Companies, a global insurance and financial services firm located in New York. With a strong background in insurance, marketing and distribution, she is responsible for driving company growth by leading marketing strategy, brand management, advertising, corporate communications and digital efforts. Before landing at Starr Companies, Leilani M. Brown held a variety of positions at places like MetLife and AIG. In 2012 she was named on both the Top 100 Blacks in Corporate America and Top Women in Corporate America lists in Savoy Magazine. After graduating from Middlebury in 1993, she went on to earn a Masters in Public Administration and Management from New York University. “It is an incredible honor to be asked to serve as a Trustee for Middlebury. I am a proud Alumna of the school, remain very connected to my classmates and many of my professors. As a kid who grew up in Queens, New York, Middlebury changed the course of my life, exposing me to different people, cultures, and thinking. Middlebury, quite literally, changed my life,” Brown said.
“I am looking forward to spending more time on campus, getting to know the Middlebury of 2015 and understanding the unique opportunities and challenges. I look forward to working closely with Laurie Patton, Marna Whittington and the other distinguished board members in service to Middlebury.”
The second woman, Feng, is living in Hong Kong as the managing director of The Carlyle Group, a global alternative asset management firm. She joined the firm in 1998 and is responsible for several investments in China as well as advising on Asian buyout and growth capital investment in consumer, financial, healthcare and other sectors. The Carlyle Group in recent years has made concerted efforts to close the gender gap in the finance industry by hiring and promoting top individuals regardless of gender. After graduating from the College in 1992, Feng pursued a Masters in Business Administration from Harvard Business School.
“I expect Janine will be very helpful as Middlebury develops its presence overseas and looks to do more to support our alumni and our alumni network in Asia,” Donahue said.
Joseph W. Brown is the final newly appointed term trustee. President of Hartzell Propeller Inc. and Chief Operating Officer of Tailwind Technologies Inc., Joseph W. Brown is heavily involved in manufacturing, quality, and information technology in the aviation industry. He has served on the board of numerous industry organizations such as General Aviation Manufacturers Association, where he chairs the board of directors and policy and legal issues committee. He graduated from the College in 1990.
Elected to the board by the alumni body, Simonds will serve as an alumni trustee. Simonds is an artist, curator and filmmaker living in New York City, serving as the president of the company Headwater Films/Media that he founded in 2001. He develops and finances independent documentaries and narrative films. His film credits include “Rachel Is,” “Romance & Cigarettes,” and “Andy Warhol: A Documentary.” Middlebury College acquired his work “Global Impact” – a photographic portfolio documenting his artistic exploration of the iconic toy the Super Ball. He graduated from Middlebury in 1997.
(05/06/15 8:42pm)
As the latest addition to the wave of graffiti found across campus, more spray-painted words, stenciled images, and stickers were found on the Ross complex, Atwater Dining Hall, Bicentennial Hall, McCullough Student Center and Axinn early last week. The probing messages behind the graffiti work and the ways in which they have been expressed have received various reactions from students and faculty alike.
According to Facilities Management Supervisor Wayne Hall, instances of graffiti or vandalism have occurred every weekend this term. This latest work of graffiti embodied two recurrent themes from previous graffiti work found on campus.
“We’ve noticed two issues taken up with the spray-painting,” said Hall. “Some of the graffiti has been in support of the Black Lives Matter movement involving the police in the whole country. The other issue is more central to Middlebury regarding security cameras.”
Early in the morning of Monday April 27, students found the words “No Cameras” spray-painted on the ground in bold letters in front of Atwater Dining Hall. “Who Watches the Watchmen?” and “Cut the Cord!” were spray-painted on the walls, accompanied by a stenciled rat and free-hand drawings of security cameras.
BiHall sported similar messages regarding the surveillance of students. Hall also noted that on the morning of Tuesday April 28, stickers were applied to the clock in front of McCullough, saying, “F*** Cameras.” Touching on another recurrent message, a “Black Lives Matter” quote was reported on the walls of Axinn. These images and phrases are direct replicas from previous instances of graffiti, but applied to different buildings.
Hall said that the news of most recent round of graffiti writing reached his office by 8:30 a.m. on Monday morning, and facilities staff was out working by 10 a.m. The process to clean the walls of buildings of spray-paint is extensive, requiring multiple solvents and other tools to first remove the graffiti and then re-paint when necessary.
“Two facility guys were working all of [Monday] until four o’clock,” said Hall on Tuesday. “They have also been working on it this morning, and I’m not even sure if they’re done with it yet.”
Reactions to the graffiti have been diverse, as students have expressed both positive and negative responses, sparking many discussions and criticisms. However, social media boasted an overwhelming denunciation of what has been called a “defacing of college property” and “blatant vandalism” as a direct attack against college community.
One anonymous post on the popular social media mobile app Yik-Yak commented, “There are opportunities to express your opinions without defacing the campus and making facilities’ lives harder.”
Another one offered, “The facilities staff who clean the graffiti have to use incredibly nasty, toxic cleansers. You put the health of others in danger to make a statement that you could’ve made in the student forum.”
Hall noted that many students witnessing the cleanup process offered support or their apologies. “Students have come up to us and have said, ‘Sorry this is a waste of time,’ or, ‘Sorry you have to be doing this,’” he said.
However, Jackie Park ’15 noted that this emphasis on the importance of community appears and dissipates seemingly when convenient for the student body.
“Where was the support when students were holding meetings with faculty and the administration, signing petitions, creating support groups, bringing in speakers and performers to ‘effectively’ tackle these issues [of surveillance, oppression and injustice],” said Park. “It is quite scary to hear and see over and over again that people are more angry over a wall than over people’s lives.”
Other students have also shown support and have agreed that the matters presented by the graffiti represent very real issues and offer opportunities for valuable discussion.
One of the themes perpetuated by the graffiti work was the topic surrounding the potential use of security cameras on campus, an issue that has been taken up by Community Council. Student Co-Chair of Community Council Ben Bogin ’15 said although the original reasoning behind implementing security cameras was based on recent instances of theft, conservations broadened out to include graffiti and other vandalism.
“More broadly, I think this all came from the place of, ‘How can we make sure that students feel safe here?’” said Bogin. “Some feel safer with surveillance cameras, others feel threatened.”
One post on Yik Yak spoke in favor of cameras, “Before I didn’t care, but because someone has been repeatedly vandalizing buildings, now I really want [Middlebury] to put cameras up.”
At the Community Council forum to continue this discussion, many cited the pragmatic use of cameras to deter vandalism of this kind from repeating itself. Ultimately, however, the Community Council vote ended with six votes in favor of cameras, nine votes against, and two votes abstaining.
Hall noted that students have other options on campus to express themselves and vocalize their opinions in artistic form other than continuously spraying graffiti throughout the campus. He cited the chalkboards in McCullough or the slateboards in BiHall as alternative means.
“I think freedom of expression is great, but to do it properly is one thing, and to do it improperly in a way that hurts other people is another thing,” said Hall. “We would rather be spending our time on making the campus look nice than cleaning up senseless damage.”
As of now, the person or persons behind these different acts of graffiti are still anonymous, and there have been no publicized measures of preventative action to block any future graffiti.
(04/22/15 4:38am)
The College’s Board of Trustees has approved a tuition increase of 3.9 percent, or $2,293, to $47,418 for the 2015-2016 academic year. The full comprehensive fee for the College, including the increased cost of room and board to a total of $13,628, is now set at $61,046.
For the past five years, the College has used a formula known as the CPI+1 rule to limit how much tuition could increase year to year. Previously the administration had recommended the trustees move away from the policy; this year it has been abandoned altogether. Since its adoption in 2010, the CPI+1 rule capped a tuition increase at one percentage point above the previous year’s inflation as determined by the Consumer Price Index (CPI). The College applied the same formula to room and board fees. Under this formula, the average annual increase in these past five years has been 3.2 percent.
Since its implementation, the CPI+1 rule has been successful at keeping tuition costs from rising exorbitantly, as Middlebury ranks below many of its peer schools for comprehensive fees, including Trinity College ($63,970), Williams College ($63,290), and Wesleyan University ($64,324).
“The so-called CPI+1 formula moved Middlebury College from the top to near the bottom of its peer list of most expensive liberal arts institutions,” President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz said in an email.
The 2013-2014 academic year marked the first year the College did not apply this rule to its room and board fees, when tuition rose by 4.5 percent.
The cost of tuition is determined in conjunction with an overall annual budget approach, a process in which the administration puts forth recommendations to the Board of Trustees. The rising tuition costs caused can be attributed to a number of different factors.
According to Vice President for Finance and Treasurer Patrick Norton, the College’s tuition cost will continue to rise by at least some amount due to increasing operating costs. In an email, he noted that the three main operating costs are compensation (which include salaries, wages, and employee benefits), financial aid, and facilities. In addition, an increase in tuition costs is related to performance of other primary revenue streams of the College, namely the endowment and annual fundraising. As of June 30, 2014, the endowment’s market value was approximately $1.082 billion, and approximately 18 percent of the budget is sourced from endowment earnings. Gifts from alumni, parents, and other benefactors make up 8 percent of the College’s operating budget.
Pressures to the College’s budget also include the higher percentage of the student body receiving financial aid, as Middlebury admits domestic students on a need-blind basis while also fully providing aid based on demonstrated need. The class of 2018 marked the highest percentage of students receiving some sort of financial aid in the College’s history.
In respect to operating costs, Norton said that the College pursues “a labor intensive business model.” As a global entity, the College also maintains a 9:1 student to faculty ratio, a residential campus in a rural community, and 2.5 million square feet of campus buildings. “These four items require a fair amount of faculty and staff to run and manage. Next year compensation is set to increase in the form of an annual salary and wage increase as well as employee benefit increases,” Norton said.
Norton also noted that the estimated cost of a Middlebury education is around $78,000 per year, the difference of $17,000 subsidized by the College’s endowment and annual fundraising.
“We are continuously looking at different ways to slow the growth in operating costs from the way we purchase our goods and services to refinancing some of our long-term debt,” Norton said.
(03/11/15 7:01pm)
The Center for Careers and Internships (CCI) changed its policies on funding for unpaid student summer internships at the beginning of this year, which has started to generate concern among students as they begin to make their summer plans. The CCI now offers only one-time $2500 Summer Internship Funding Grants for sophomores, juniors and senior Febs, and a separate $1000 Explore Grant for first years. This new policy reflects a change from when students could apply multiple times for varied monetary amounts, including those exceeding $2500. This is also the first year that these summer internship grants will cover lost wages in addition to logistical expenses.
Despite the change in policy, the application process for these grants remains the same. Students are required to submit an online application, including an essay, budget form and resume. The First Year Explore Grant also comes with the added stipulation of a mandatory resume review before applying. Students who have received summer funding previously are not subject to these changes and may apply for the set $2500 grant as well.
This change in funding is attributed to a number of different reasons based on student feedback and previous funding trends. Director of the CCI Peggy Burns said that the new policy is meant to give students the chance to be thoughtful and strategic with their plans.
“We are trying to empower students and have them be really intentional with their choices,” she said. “While we believe in letting students have time to explore their interests, we also want them to really consider their choices carefully in terms of asking for this funding opportunity. We’re not trying to make this process hard or formulaic, in fact we are trying to do the exact opposite.”
Burns also noted that this change puts an emphasis on the crucial summer between a student’s junior and senior year.
The set amount of $2500 was reached based of data from past years and student input. “We don’t want to fund as many students as possible if we can’t give them adequate funding,” Burns said. “We want to be able to have a sustainable funded internship program that reaches students from across as many different disciplines, years, pursuits and passions as we can.”
Last year the average request for CCI-funded internships was $2545, and the average award was $1800. The $2500 figure is thus a significant increase from previously assigned awards. Burns noted that this fixed amount is also in keeping with the notion of student ownership throughout this process. “It used to be that a student would do a budget and we would base the funding off of that. Although they still have to fill out a budget for students to think through their expenses, it is really up to them to decide how they can best allocate this money,” she said.
According to Cheryl Lower, associate director of the CCI, this is the first year that these CCI-funded internships will cover lost wages for unpaid internships. “This is a big change from previous years,” she said. “Before, you could only be covered for transportation, lodging and food expenses.” Thus, even if a student only requires $1000 to make an internship opportunity work logistically, the remaining $1500 can be considered as lost wages for that unpaid experience.
However, there have still been student concerns that this set amount will not sufficiently cover their internship experiences. Lower said she helps advise students with these concerns to come up with other options for attaining those lost funds, both from College resources and otherwise. She noted that it is possible to combine funding opportunities at the College, such as with the grants offered by the Community Engagement Office.
Although the number of students applying for funding has steadily increased over the past few years, last year marked the first significant drop in applications. In 2011, only 63 students applied for funding. That number nearly quadrupled the following year with 220 applicants. However, while 363 students applied for funding in 2013, only 275 applied in 2014. Burns attributed this drop in applicants in part due to negative media coverage regarding exploitative unpaid student labor and increasing pressures for organizations to pay their interns.
The ratio of paid versus unpaid internships on the MOJO website has increased to nearly 70 percent paid to 30 percent unpaid from a 50-50 split in past years. Because of this previous decrease in applications, Burns does not anticipate this new change in funding policy to yield significantly lower numbers of student
applicants.
CCI-awarded funding, which nears half a million dollars, draws from about twenty different private funds. While many of these funds are very broad in terms of the types of internships they will finance, others are quite restrictive in nature. For example, certain funds are oriented toward internships within the environmental, arts or journalism interest areas. However, regardless of where the individual parts of the total amount of funding money come from, students are only required to go through one application process.
Burns also emphasized the broad definition of “internship” that these funds will support. In addition to traditional internships at nonprofit organizations, private offices and government branches, the CCI will also fund self-designed projects by
students.
“Middlebury is very committed to this real world experience and applied liberal arts learning. While many of our peer institutions have these types of funding programs, many have them at a much smaller level,” she said.
(02/25/15 11:38pm)
Due to the deficit of available professors and the overwhelming popularity of the major, the Economics Department has been unable to accommodate many students trying to register for classes at all levels at the beginning of this spring term. While limited capacity has always been an issue for this department, the problem has increased in severity, with many accounts of students forced to sit on the floor during the first week of classes.
The severity of the issue has been attributed to a number of different reasons. Charles A. Dana Professor of Economics Peter Matthews wrote in an email, “At the risk of oversimplification, over a prolonged period, the student/faculty ratio has increased to the point where it is no longer sustainable or, for that matter, equitable.”
He continued, “On the one hand, whether one counts enrolled students or majors, the numerator has increased. There are, for example, about 370 economics majors at Middlebury, more than double the number of the next largest department or program, and more than several whole academic divisions whose combined resources dwarf ours. On the other hand, the number of ‘full time equivalent’ economists on campus has not kept pace and, in some cases, even fallen: we have lost colleagues to retirement and, this semester, unexpected death, but we have also ‘lost’ FTEs to College initiatives like MiddCORE, MCSE and Liberal Arts Plus.”
These issues have culminated in the over-enrollment by as many as twelve extra students in some classes, leaving many other students unable to access these classes.
Hayley Howard ’17, an Economics major, attended both Economic Statistics classes offered this semester with the hopes of adding one. “One of my [economics] classes already had to move classrooms to make room for more students, but we still have too many,” she said.
Assistant Professor of Economics Erick Gong, noted that he, too, was unable to accommodate everyone in his statistics class.
He said, “I think there is a lot of interest in economics on campus, which I attribute to many of my colleagues in the department who convey a passion for their areas of expertise.”
Therein lies the challenge for professors who want to enroll interested students but then are forced to teach a greater amount of larger classes with less one-on-one time with students.
Matthews said, “In a word, it diminishes and dilutes what is otherwise one of the best available liberal arts educations in economics. I have remarkable scholar-teachers as colleagues, and we attract remarkable students, but there aren’t enough of the former to engage the latter as much as either group wants or deserves. Furthermore, the consequences manifest themselves throughout the curriculum, from overcrowded first level courses to insufficient opportunities to engage in ‘research-based learning’ for seniors, a centerpiece of the department’s pedagogical philosophy.”
Paige-Wright Professor of Economics Paul Sommers pointed out that the number of negative seats available on Bannerweb underscores the magnitude of the problem that the department is facing. He has faced overcrowding in his Economic Statistics lab class, where many enrolled students were without seats.
Some short-term solutions to the issue of overcrowding in these classes include switching classrooms, opening new sections, reshuffling professors, and increasing enrollment caps. Matthews also noted that a greater flexibility has been given toward transferring credit as another way to ameliorate some of the problems the department is facing. However, these tactics work more as quick fixes rather than sustainable long-term solutions that address structural issues within the department itself.
The Economics Department has consequently hired three new faculty members and extended an offer to a fourth as a potentially more durable response to the high demand of economics classes.
Sommers said, “We are actively working to increase the number of faculty in economics so that our majors can actually enroll in core courses and that classes can be smaller.”
Matthews commented on the department’s recent growth and its future. “The last two years brought us the remarkable quartet of Professors Racha Moussa, Tanya Byker, Leila Davis and Emiliano Huet-Vaughn,” he said. “Next fall, we shall add Professor Amanda Gregg from Yale, an economic historian with a focus on late imperial Russia, Professor Julia Berazneva from Cornell, who works at the intersection of environment and development economics, and Professor Marquise McGraw of Berkeley, who researches local economic development and will allow us to expand our urban studies curriculum. I am certain that students will love learning from, and working with, all of them. And we’re not done.”
(11/13/14 4:56am)
On Monday, Oct. 27, at 5:35 a.m., the historic Osborne House was moved from its home on 77 Main Street to the other side of the Cross Street Bridge at the corner of Cross and Water Streets. The move of this house, weighing a total of 120 tons, was not only an act of preserving one of Middlebury’s oldest houses but also a symbol of the first step in a series of cooperative projects between Middlebury College and the town of Middlebury. Carried by generator-powered dollies, this house will now live on the opposite side of Otter Creek, vacating a site for the new town offices.
The creation of the new town hall and new town recreation facility was a joint initiative with the town and College that was formally voted into action last spring. As evidence of cooperation between the town and the College, Middlebury College will contribute $5.5 million to the project’s total $7.5 million cost. This plan is the culmination of a decade-long conversation to replace these two aging facilities and to revitalize the community and economic perspective of downtown Middlebury. However, the original vote on this plan by residents of the town and the debates that followed showed that this plan had not always been met with complete optimism and support. Issues regarding parking, overcrowding and the College’s role in the process were among some of the concerns raised by residents. The final vote showed, however, that the majority was in favor of the move. Since then, as noted by Vice President for Communications and Marketing of the College Bill Burger, the stress that was felt in the spring, has largely been removed.
This most recent project stands as one example of the “payment in lieu of taxes” (PILOT) agreement, wherein the College makes an annual contribution to the town. In 2013, this sum, which is tied to the College’s endowment, totaled $251,617. This annual payment coupled with the College’s assistance on a number of town initiatives is a testament to the College’s willingness to help contribute to a vibrant downtown area. In 2007, for example, the College pledged $1 million to complete the renovation of the Town Hall Theater in the heart of Middlebury. In 2009, it pledged $9 million to the $16 million plan help fund the new bridge crossing Otter Creek.
The town and College have thus experienced a long history while coexisting together. “The nature of the relationship between the town and the College is very symbiotic,” noted Jamie Gaucher, Director of the newly created Middlebury Office of Business Development and Innovation Office. This relationship has been developed and fostered for generations, and it is now experiencing a new type of maturation at the official level.
The years of conversation between the town and the College regarding the College’s role of impacting the local economy culminated in the creation of the job that Gaucher now holds. The goal of this position is to bring new economic vitality and jobs to the town of Middlebury in light of recent economic events: “The community realized that it was in need of a new solution,” said Gaucher. “Middlebury had suffered some job losses, and there really was no prospect around what to do as a community to fix, or at least address, the local economy.” Gaucher explained his job as a three-part process: engage with an external audience, bring innovation-based and technology-based development to the area and leverage assets inherent to the college to make an economic impact for the town. This new job in itself, noted Burger, is an example of how the town and the College have come together: “This was a commitment based on the needs and allegiance between the College, town and local businesses,” he said. Agreed Gaucher: “The interdependence [between the town and College] was one of the themes that was woven into the cooperative spirit in the creation of my job.”
Clearly the days of the one-way flow of students moving between the College and the town have been expanded. Through this new position, the purchasing of goods and services from the local area, the College’s investment in local projects, and employment opportunities, the impact – especially the economic impact – of the College is immense. In response to commonly asked questions by local residents, town officials, state representatives and College employees alike about the College’s impact, the most recent Economic and Community Impact of Middlebury College fact sheet was published this past summer, with data collected since 2011.
As the largest employer in the town of Middlebury and in Addison County, the College has an enormous impact on the local economy. The College provides one out of every 10 jobs in Middlebury, making it one of Vermont’s top employers. By 2011, the estimated total number of jobs the College provided directly and indirectly to Vermont was 2,420, which had economic ripple effects on other jobs and wages in the state.
As consumers, the students of the College comprise a hugely significant factor. According to a study commissioned by the Better Middlebury Partnership (BMP) in 2014, one in every ten customers in town is a Middlebury College student. In 2011, according to the report, students spent more than $5.8 million at Vermont businesses, with about 80% of this spending occurring in the town of Middlebury. This total of $4.5 million spending in the town of Middlebury experienced the most patronage in the restaurant, food and beverages sectors, where students spent over $1 million in each.
However, the relationship is not one-sided. As evidenced by these numbers, college students rely on an accessible town, just as businesses rely on student patronage. “Both the town and the college realize that we have to work together for the greater good,” said Burger. “Gaucher’s position [as the head of economic development] is a realization that we really do succeed or fail together,” he continued. Thus the two-way partnership is of considerable importance. Gaucher noted that the distinction between the town the College can be hard to define, based on the flow of people, goods and services that occurs between the two: “I really do struggle to make it an ‘us’ or ‘them,’ or even to have a demarcation between ‘this group’ or ‘that group.’ I approach what I do from a community perspective,” said Gaucher.
(10/01/14 10:29pm)
The tailgating policy change was first made known to the student body on Sept. 16 and since then there have been many student-led initiatives to discuss the change as well as the process by which it was made.
Such initiatives have included an open Student Government Association (SGA) Senate meeting where members of the administration were available to speak with students, coverage by multiple news outlets on campus and meetings between student leaders and administrators. However, according to SGA President Taylor Custer ’15, this issue will, for the time being, not be included on the agenda for the SGA for the upcoming year after the passage of the most recent resolution.
On Sept. 21, the SGA Senate held their meeting in the Robert A. Jones ’59 house to accommodate the extra students who came to listen to the discussion and pose questions to Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott and Athletic Director Erin Quinn. The meeting allotted time for both senators and students to direct questions to these administrators regarding both the policy itself and the process that went into it.
“There was a lot of benefit of actually being there and being able to talk to those who were directly involved with the decision,” said Custer. The meeting concluded with the passing of a resolution (with a vote of 15-0-2), detailing how the administration will work with the student body about future policy changes.
“A resolution states the official position of the student body as presented by the SGA and its capacity as a representative,” Custer explained.
According to the resolution, “the administration should inform the President of the SGA and the Student Co-Chair of Community Council about all changes to college policy to ensure that the student body has an opportunity to voice its ideas and concerns about changes it believes will impact student life… [and] the President of the SGA and the Student Co-Chair of Community Council should inform their constituents about those policy changes that they believe students would like to have an opportunity to discuss.”
The SGA Senate meeting, the new resolution and student input have shown that one of the most troubling aspects of this policy change was the process behind it.
“Middlebury prides itself on being transparent, especially in the student to administration relationship,” said Junior Senator Sydney Sanders ’16. “The resolution that was produced was specifically about the lack of clarity in the policy-making process. We have SGA and Community Council for students to participate in changes like this and to work closely with the administration to discuss issues, especially surrounding non-academic issues, on campus.”
Custer noted that the common denominator between those who supported and those against the policy change was the belief that the lack of student involvement in the final decision was unacceptable.
“I’m hoping that the main outcome of this debate will be that the administration will be more open with us about what policy changes they’re considering. From there, we can take all that information and figure out which ones the student body will want to weigh in on,” he said.
Ben Bogin ’15, Co-Chair of Community Council, said in an email, “The administration is well within its rights to make a policy change like this without input from the SGA or Community Council, but I hope that students always have the opportunity to discuss policies changes that affect our social life.”
According to Custer, the way the policy change was handled could potentially set a bad precedent for future changes. “If we’re not involved in this policy change, who’s to say we won’t be included in the conversation on a policy change more relevant and seen as more important by other segments of the student body?” he said. “At Middlebury, given the mission of the College, it’s inconsistent if students aren’t included in the conversation.”
The student body has held conflicting views, however, about whether the issue of tailgating is really worth the amount of attention it is receiving. There have been many student responses through different mediums. The We the MiddKids petition to reverse changes made to the new policy received over 2,500 votes, which is over three times as many votes cast for the change to the Culture and Civilizations requirement. The Sept. 17 post on the student-run blog Middbeat generated close to 100 comments.
There have also been posters put up throughout the College addressing what issues students would like to see addressed over the issue of tailgating. These posters carry a call to action for students. They say, “Historically, students have been social justice leaders in critical movements around the world. Where will you invest your time?”
Guest contributors Ian Stewart ’14 and Cailey Cron ’13.5 noted in their opinions article that the type of attention surrounding the issue of tailgating has “dilute[d] the potency of words and ideas that are needed to fight real injustice — some of which is alive and well at Middlebury.”
However, as members of the SGA note, this upsurge of student advocacy will hopefully be representative of student involvement in future issues.
“I’m always happy when I see people passionate about an issue. I think if you’re looking at the tailgating issue as a process problem, then the amount of student attention is worth it,” said Sanders.
“People being passionate about this issue will hopefully transfer into students being more vocal about other issues around campus. This is just a starting point for people to voice their opinions and offer student input on other issues,” he added.
Custer also pointed out that the heightened attention to this matter also stems from parental and alumni involvement. The change in the tailgating issue more directly affects them when they return to campus, whereas other issues affect them in a less direct way.
Moving forward, the change in the tailgating policy will not be a major issue at the next SGA Senate meeting. As noted in an email sent on Sept. 23 to the student body, the administration stands by its decision. Any changes to the policy itself, as noted by members of the SGA, are very unlikely.
“Based on my conversations with the administrators, I know that they are very firm on their decision, primarily because it’s motivated out of their concern that it is a safe space,” said Custer.
While revisions to the passed resolution to make it more specific are being developed, the next step is witnessing how the administration to student relationship changes.
Custer said, “At the end of the day, it is a decision that is within the purview of the administration. The administration does get to make decisions unilaterally, but hopefully with our input. And if not, then hopefully with our concerns addressed.”
(09/24/14 8:29pm)
Beginning as a forum in 2011 dedicated to fostering conversations surrounding identity and diversity issues, “JusTalks” is now being expanded into First Year Seminars.
The genesis of JusTalks began with a group of students who sought to combat the issue that, according to their website, postulates, “There is simply no time or space at Middlebury within the confines of a twelve week semester to have dialogues about matters of identity or diversity, race, gender, sexual orientation, class, ability, personal history, privilege, and religion, among others. [These are all] important personal and societal issues for us to take time to deconstruct, to explore, and to reflect on.”
In Winter Term of 2012, the JusTalks leaders invited students to participate in this daylong event, which consisted of small group exercises and discussions led by a student facilitator, run in a similar fashion to Midd Uncensored. The following year, the event was limited to first-year students as a way for JusTalks to progress toward its initial goal of creating a program for first-years only.
While these two winter events were attended on a voluntary basis, JusTalks is working on expanding to become a mandatory component of the first-year experience. This fall, JusTalks began its pilot JustTalks First Year Seminar discussion sections in five seminars.
“It became clear that a one day event in January wasn’t enough to fully explore these subjects,” Kate McCreary ’15, one of the JusTalks coordinators, said. “We also heard feedback from the administration that suggested in order to make it mandatory, JusTalks would have to fit in with existing structures at Middlebury. The idea to align with First Year Seminars then came about.”
Each JusTalks seminar meets once a week and is led by two former facilitators. It lasts for one hour with no outside homework. Each week there is a designated session that each class discusses and engages in relevant activities, such as film screenings, reflection writing, and article reading.
“It’s a combination of showing students something and asking for their reactions, and then connecting their experiences to Middlebury,” McCreary said.
The process began last spring when members of the group reached out to professors who they thought might be interested in partnering with JusTalks.
“Most seminars have some
sort of social justice orientation. These seminars are good starting points because they do have connections. First-years will hopefully be able to make the connections between the JusTalks discussion sections and the seminars they’re in,” Molly McShane ’16.5, another JusTalks coordinator, said.
First Year Seminars with the JusTalks component include Associate Professor of American Studies Susan Burch’s Disability, Different, and Society course, Assistant Professor of History Maggie Clinton’s Fascism and Masculinity, 1919-1945 course, Visiting Assistant Professor of Geography Kacy McKinney’s Global Youth course, Assistant Professor of Political Science Kemi Fuentes-George’s Globalization course, and Visiting Assistant Professor of Literature Victor Valcik’s Narratives of Identity course.
Over the summer, the JusTalks members worked to create a new curriculum that would complement the First-Year Seminar syllabus. The curriculum, unlike for the previous J-Term events, was developed with no outside consultants.
“We’ve reached out to professors to help give us information about their classes, and then we adjusted those to help us figure out what would be best for the first-years and what sorts of activities we could do with them,” McShane said. “Professors have been extremely helpful in helping form our curriculum,” she continued.
Although only five out of around 40 First Year Seminars have these JusTalks discussion groups, the numbers did not come as a surprise. Originally the JusTalks members reached out to around seven or eight seminars specifically that they felt would work well with their methodology. However, the issue of making the JusTalks discussions mandatory was most difficult.
“I think a lot of professors felt protective of their students’ time and recognized that freshmen are busy and oftentimes overwhelmed,” McCreary said. “I don’t recall any professors having an ideological resistance.”
According to both McShane and McCreary, the process to make a student-run entity like JusTalks a mandatory program would be a long one.
“I think this is another step in a long push to make this something that every freshman participates in. We’re hoping that this structure of attaching it to a First Year Seminar will work in a really positive way,” McCreary said.
“It’s really incredible to think that for some of the first-years whom we’ll be working with this fall, this will be the only time that they engage deeply with people who aren’t on their team or on their hall. I think it’s so important to make [a program like JusTalks] mandatory,” McShane said.
(09/10/14 8:35pm)
Over the summer Middlebury College installed its second living “green roof” atop the new Squash Center. A company called Live Roof oversaw the installation process that occurred from August 18-22. The first green roof at the college was installed in 2004 on top of Atwater Dining Hall.
Although green roofs have origins in ancient times, modern green roof technology has improved the system of installation and cultivation so that they provide even larger ecological and environmental benefits. The new green roof on campus consists of many pallets and trays of sedum plants, which were transported by cranes and then arranged on the already flat roof of the building. These succulent plants are known for requiring minimal water and maintenance once established, proving to be sustainable for long-term care.
According to Project Manager Mark Gleason, who coordinated with the architects and engineers of this project, green roofs are beneficial to both the building and the environment. The plants help foster greater biodiversity, especially as when compared to traditional roofing methods. In addition to providing a small amount of habitat, the greenery also acts as protection to the roof’s membrane. “It delays the storm water run-off as it is absorbed in the plants’ soil,” Gleason said. The water then percolates and saturates, reducing peak run-off from possibly damaging the roof. The plants also naturally cool the building by absorbing sunlight. This increased thermal performance will hopefully reduce the cooling load of the building, adding an economical benefit to the project.
“[The athletic] department has a strong interest in sustainability,” said Director of Athletics Erin Quinn. “I love that athletics and facilities have this orientation to involve and engage sustainability in the decisions that we are making.” Quinn noted that meetings and discussions across different disciplines and departments — ranging from the environmental studies department to facilities — helped make this green roof come alive.
More than an ecological function, the roof provides aesthetic benefits as well. “You can see it from the golf course and Kenyon lounge. Instead of seeing a normal flat roof, we can now look out on a green space,” Gleason said.
“Because it’s visible and tangible, it prompts conversations,” said Quinn. “In part it is aesthetics—a green roof is much more preferable to an asphalt roof. The other nice part is that it creates discussions about sustainability. Most of the time, sustainability systems are invisible to viewers. Now we have a very prominently visual feature which prompts conversations that might not have been started otherwise.”
The delay in the green roof installation with the opening of the new squash facility was due to budgeting questions at the time. “The green roof was always a vision for the Squash Center,” Gleason said. “When it first opened, we didn’t have all the final costs of both projects, and we wanted to make sure we had the funding before we designated the money to go toward the roof,” he said.
Gleason noted that the college also considers solar and other forms of green energy when constructing or renovating buildings. “Middlebury has a longstanding commitment to sustainability,” he said. “With each new building project, we always consider how we can make it sustainable.”
(04/16/14 11:56pm)
What began as submitted responses to an article on Middbeat regarding body image at the College has now evolved into a campus-wide storytelling event. Spearheaded by Leah Fessler ’15 and Sayre Weir ’15, “Let’s Start the Conversation: A Story-Telling Event Focusing on Body Image, Eating Disorders, and Wellness at Middlebury College” will be held on April 17 in the Gamut Room.
The event’s mission statement states that the goal of the project “is to spark meaningful conversation and bring more awareness to body image and eating disorders on campus.”
The inspiration behind the event began with a Middbeat article written by Fessler in February that focused on how obsessions with body-consciousness often manifest into unhealthy habits and negative self-comparison at the College. It generated 2,000 page views within its first two hours online.
As stated in the article, the initiative behind the piece was to “decrease that negative [body image] tendency, and increase celebration of body-diversity,” as well as to create an online forum for written stories or prose about personal experience with such issues. In addition to the overwhelming number of page views, the article also received 180 survey submissions and 45 written responses, most of which were anonymous.
“It was very encouraging to see that people were invested in this project and were excited about it,” said Fessler.
A common trend throughout the submissions revolved around fitness and the desire or need to somehow inflict a change upon one’s body.
“The vast majority of submissions were reinforcing the idea that the standards at Middlebury of beauty have influenced students to adopt a negative self image as it relates to their bodies,” said Fessler.
Some responses were from students who are currently suffering or have suffered from serious eating disorders, referencing times of hospitalizations and other drastic preventative measures. However, some pieces were also written with a positive outlook on the subject.
The story-telling event will feature approximately half of the submitted responses, two-thirds of which are from female authors, and one-third of which are from male authors. There will also be an open-mic portion at the end of the event, where anyone in the audience will have the opportunity to share their experience or story. There will also be a follow-up discussion regarding the event the following week.
For both Fessler and Weir, the issues of body image are deeply rooted in the College’s environment.
“Ever since I arrived at Middlebury, it’s been glaringly obvious that the standards of thinness and beauty are extremely amplified and unrealistic, causing a lot of anxiety, especially among girls in addition to boys,” said Fessler. “The standard of beauty here causes a lot of self-image problems. There’s an obsession with fitness on campus, and those things feed off each other.”
Weir reinforced the idea of competition that is inherently comprised in this issue. “I believe the obsession with body image found on campus is a byproduct of our determination to succeed and compete, and it perpetuates itself when we allow food and fitness to dominate conversations,” she said.
Even though this topic poses such a huge problem, it often goes unsaid.
“What bothers me the most is that no one wants to talk about it. People will talk about almost every other image on campus, but no one wants to ever talk about body image. I think a lot of people are afraid of admitting that this is a serious problem,” said Fessler.
Thus the goal of the readings is to create an open platform for dialogue and conversation.
“It should be a powerful and meaningful night, and I hope it will spark lots of discussion regarding how we can continue this important conversation,” said Weir. The co-organizers hope that students in the Middlebury community who might feel anxiety will find solidarity and support from others on campus, and this event will hopefully provide the outlet to do so.
“I think it’s time to start talking about it,” said Fessler. “We’re not professionals, or psychologists, or nutritionists, but we are concerned peers who are part of the problem, and that is something that we need to admit and start talking about. This is our community, and we have the power to influence it.”
(02/27/14 1:22am)
On Feb. 19, the Gamut Room presented a new music initiative, Wednesday Open Mic Performance (WOMP). Spearheaded by Eyal Levy ’14.5 and Mitchell Parrish ’14, WOMP is a weekly series that allows student musicians to perform in the hope of developing a more vibrant music scene on campus.
Approximately 40 students filled the Gamut Room for the inaugural WOMP, which featured two prescheduled headliners in addition to eight open mic performances at the beginning of the event, totaling two hours of live music by students.
“The first night exceeded all expectations,” said Parrish. “I was overwhelmed with the energy in the crowd and everyone seemed legitimately pumped to be there.”
WOMP was designed as a vehicle for student bands and performers to showcase their talents, as well as give other students the opportunity to listen and support their peers.
“There is a growing music scene on campus, but it’s fragmented,” said Parrish. “There are tons of musicians and several active bands on this campus, but not many people know them. Even worse, most of the musicians don’t even know each other.”
WOMP grew out of a musician meet-up proposed at a Middlebury Music United (MMU) meeting. The concept was formalized into a weekly event, and the idea of adding open mic performers in addition to the invited musicians was introduced as a way of making music more accessible.
Following the eight open mic performances, Weyland Joyner ’14.5 and Sam Finkelman ’14 took the stage together, followed by Leif Castren ’14, who concluded the night.
“I wanted to perform because I’ll take any chance I can get to play live music — it’s my favorite thing to do,” Finckelman said. “When Mitchell [Parrish] asked Weyland and I to throw a few songs together, I jumped on the opportunity.”
“I also think it’s incredible when musicians on campus get together. There’s a lot of talent here at Middlebury, and I wanted to meet more musicians and show younger students that performing here shouldn’t be a big deal,” he added.
Finkelman and Joyner played folk, bluegrass and blues music including songs by John Prince and Warren Zevon. The duo also debuted a song written by Finkelman.
Castren followed with songs by The Devil Makes Three, The Tallest Man on Earth and Ray LaMontagne.
“Playing music for people is fun as well as a good challenge,” he said. “Since I hadn’t performed in a long time, it was a really novel experience to be able to get up on stage and sing. For me, it was a test of how comfortable I am with performing.”
Castren said that he hadn’t played in front of a large audience for two years, and noted that WOMP allowed him, and will allow others, to improve stage presence.
The headlining musicians were specifically invited by Levy and Parrish to perform.
“A lot of the venues on campus that organize music are very stigmatized,” said Awa Goodwin ’14 at the inaugural WOMP. “This is a really cool way to get a lot of people to come forth and share their music in a way that’s open to a diverse group of people. It’s too bad that music doesn’t reach a lot of people on this campus, so this is definitely an event worth attending.”
Parrish hopes that future WOMP events manage to garner equal attention.
“My goals is to make WOMP an institution on this campus,” said Parrish. “The Gamut Room is one of the coolest student spaces on campus, and when you combine it with good food and live music, there’s nothing better.”
WOMP is held in the Gamut Room every Wednesday night at 9 p.m. Headliners are scheduled through April 23, and interested parties are encouraged to contact Levy and Parrish via email.
(10/10/13 12:45am)
On Sept. 30, the Department of Public Safety released the College’s annual security report with statistics detailing a more than five-fold increase in student liquor violations. Of the many crimes listed that occurred on campus, including certain off-campus buildings owned or controlled by the college and public property within or adjacent to the campus, the increase in liquor law violations warranting disciplinary action proved to be the most substantial.
On-campus liquor violations increased from 16 students in 2010 to 90 students in 2012. Those occurring in residential facilities increased from 14 students to 57 students within the two years.
Liquor violations include any sort of possession of liquor of someone under the age of 21 and make no differentiation between the amount or type of alcohol.
“We count physical possession,” Director of Public Safety Lisa Burchard said. “We aren’t trying to determine internal possession or what alcohol might already be consumed.”
Student reactions to this increase were mixed. While some were quick to admit that they exist within a community where a drinking culture is very present, others were skeptical that dramatic of an increase was a real change in behavior.
“I think that college has been built up in everyone’s mind to be a lot more than getting a good education,” Annie Bourque ’16 said. “Drinking has become such a big expectation that it has gone overboard.”
Daniel Pena ’16 added that the drinking culture is a sad reality that is a result of the stress and burdens a lot of students face.
Some students were much more inclined to think that this was a direct result of stricter efforts from Public Safety.
“I’m skeptical of the fact that hard alcohol intake increased dramatically in the last two years on campus,” Elliot VanValkenberg ’16 said. “My assumption would be that the change in the number of liquor violations has to do with the administration making deliberate changes in terms of student alcohol use.
The college is required by law to report crime statistics to the federal government under the Clery Act — an act signed in 1990 as a backlash result after the murder of student Jeanne Clery in her college residence hall. All colleges and universities that participate in federal financial aid programs must disclose information on seven major categories of crime, including sexual offensives and burglaries as well as drug and alcohol violations, regardless if an arrest was made or not.
These statistics were compiled from interactions between Public Safety and students in addition to statistics given by Middlebury Police Department and the Vermont Department of Liquor Control, who sends a representative to evaluate alcohol use on campus. Very rarely, however, have encounters with Middlebury police resulted in arrests.
“There are actually two different types for alcohol violations,” Burchard said. “One type of violation occurs when there has been an arrest, and another type of violation occurs when there hasn’t been an arrest, even if it might have warranted one. Instead, the incidence is referred to the college for disciplinary actions.”
All of the statistics reported from years 2010-2012 have been the latter violation.
“Middlebury College takes the health and safety of its students seriously,” Vice President for Communications Bill Burger said. “We are looking into possible reasons for the change in reported numbers, which we believe is driven by several factors, including a return to full staffing levels in our Department of Public Safety, which reports many of the incidents.”
Felicia Tapia ’17 attests to the presence of Public Safety has on campus, especially within first-year dorms.
“Public Safety does come to Battell quite often and run pretty thorough checks,” Tapia said. “On the weekends you can always count on different officers walking through the dorms, and it appears their methods are quite effective.”
Katherine Tercek ’16 added that Public Safety has definitely cracked down on students in terms of alcohol consumption, which unfortunately encourage students under 21 to drink within the privacy of their rooms.
Although crime statistics are published annually as necessary protocol under the Clery Act, the administration feels there are other benefits to these reports.
“Statistics make people aware,” Burchard said. “The report also let’s people know not only that there are there things like this happening, but also that there are departments or agencies out there that handle these issues. We look closely at what’s being reported and see what we should share to the school community to help them better understand how to keep themselves safe. That’s what the Clery Act is really all about.”