9 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/06/14 2:11am)
On Sunday, March 9 from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m., the Chellis House will be holding the Red Tent event, an activity designed to help members of the Middlebury community that identify as female relax and pamper themselves for a day, in the McCullough Social Space.
The Red Tent Foundation is helping to sponsor the event with a grant. The Red Tent Foundation is an organization that supports female empowerment and community.
“The Red Tent event affords us with an opportunity to relax and think about what is really important in life,” wrote Karin Hanta, Director of Chellis House, in an email. On why the event is so important, Hanta noted that she “thought that with our busy schedules, we often don’t find the time to sit down and have meaningful conversation.” Hanta and several student monitors have been working over the course of several months to put the event together.
The concept was first brought to Hanta by Anna Stevens ’13.5, who attended such an event in Providence, Rhode Island and was impressed by the sense of community and caring that permeated the conference.
“I was struck by how inclusive this event felt — there were around 100 to 150 women there and it seemed as if each person, stranger or not, had someone to talk with and something to participate in,” Stevens wrote in an email.
This is the first time that event has been held at the College. There will be workshops on many topics, giving attendees the opportunity to explore everything from sexual health and sex toys and financial security to yoga, henna and organic makeup, amongst other things. There is a variety of activities to entertain different types of attendees.
“It’s a perfect time to put aside the schoolwork and spend a few hours indulging yourself in a healthy and fun way,” wrote Rebecca Coates-Finke ’16.5, one of the organizers of the event, in an email.
Holistic health practitioners Nicole Burke and Alyson Young will lead three workshops on the stage of the McCullough Social Space to spearhead conversation at the event. “The Story of Woman: Remembrance of Sacred Traditions” (11 a.m.-12 p.m.) will explore the history of the Red Tent and its place in today’s world, while “13 Clan Mothers” (12:30-1:30 p.m.) will focus on the bonds of sisterhood and giving life to the creative force within ourselves to heal ourselves and the world. “Women’s Moonlodge,” (2-3 p.m.) participants will deepen their connection with their own knowing and plant seeds of intention.
There will be three other workshops on the main floor of McCullough: “Menstrual Health and Arvigo Massage” with naturopath Dr. Sarah E. Wylie from 12:15 to 1 pm, “Sex Toys and Sexual Health” with “Naughty Girlfriend” Jenn Buker, and “Financial Security for Women” with Heather Jerome from the National Bank of Middlebury from 2:15-3 p.m.
“The goal is to provide a safe and comfortable space for Middlebury’s women to take some time to take care of themselves,” Coates-Finke wrote, also noting that organizers expect a large turnout from women of all ages.
Another important goal of the event is to include women from both the College and the town of Middlebury. According to Hanta, there was a significant amount of advertising for the event done in town.
“The event is intended for women from both Middlebury College and the surrounding community and is intergenerational; we are hoping women of all ages will attend,” wrote Stevens.
(05/01/13 8:57pm)
The first time I visited Middlebury, my host walked me into Proctor and quickly disappeared, returning a minute or two later with a glass full of a cold, brown liquid.
“It’s chocolate milk. It’s amazing. You have to try it!”
Standing in the middle of Proctor, gulping down that thick, creamy milk, I was in awe. It was amazing. I wanted to know where it came from and why it was so delicious.
The short story is that my glass of milk, like every other glass of milk that has been consumed at Middlebury for the past 62 years, came directly from Monument Farms Dairy in Weybridge, a third-generation operation that, according to owner Jon Rooney, began operation in 1930 under his grandparents and has been producing milk for Vermonters ever since. Part of the Vermont community that receives the milk is the College, where milk is consistently delivered five days a week. The relationship between the College and Monument Farms Dairy is a chunk of the community-centered operation run by Rooney and his cousins, Bob and Pete Jones.
According to the department of environmental science, Monument Farms is the largest landowner in Weybridge, with 450 acres of their land under conservation. The employ 34-36 locals year-round for all aspects of processing, packaging and distributing of the milk. Monument Farms currently sells skim, 2 percent and chocolate milk all over Vermont. Rooney says that they used to bottle a coffee milk called “java-nip” milk, but production of that flavor was stopped many years ago. It would probably be very popular at the College today were it still in production.
Rooney wrote in an email that the dairy “milks 450-500 cows, putting us comfortably in the medium-sized farm category.” According to his calculations, Monument Farms produces, on average, 1.4 million gallons or 12.1 million pounds of milk annually. Despite being the largest producer/handler in Vermont and possibly New England the farm takes pride in maintaining small-scale style production.
“We’re obviously unique in that we are producer-handlers, processing our own milk and selling it,” said one of the current owners of the farm, Jon Rooney, in an interview for the department of environmental science. “That’s getting much more unique at our scale and I think people are more aware of that uniqueness now than in the past ... they’re glad to be able to buy a locally produced product from people they know.”
Monument Dairy Farms is a proud participant in the local food community.
“We view ourselves as a perfect (not that we’re perfect!) example of what is now called the “local food” movement, except that we’ve been preaching the need to buy local for as long as we’ve been in business. Everything we do revolves around community and everything we do is done with an eye to our impact on our community,” wrote Rooney.
Something that differentiates Monument Farms from its competitors is their dedication and interest in the community of which it is a part, as opposed to focusing on profit margins.
“We take [our] approach not from a marketing point of view, rather, from a belief that everything a business does has an impact on those around it,” Rooney said of the business, a common mantra throughout the local food movement. Monument Farms, however, has been following this credo since it first opened.
The Rooney and James families at Monument Farms Dairy might be some of the original locavores.
(04/17/13 4:24pm)
Fourteen miles away from Middlebury in Bristol, Vt., Hillsboro Sugar Works has been operating since 1979 and now produces around 5,000 gallons of maple syrup annually, a large portion of which is consumed by the College.
Most of the maple syrup in the United States is produced in Vermont, and comes from small, family-run farms like Hillsboro, which is owned and run by Susan Folino and her husband, Dave.
“We are direct marketers, deliverers and producers,” wrote Folino in an email about their operation. “Dave and I are the only employees with the exception of a few weeks of tapping help prior to our season.”
Hillsboro sells four grades of syrup: fancy, medium amber, dark amber and grade B. The grades are determined by how long the sap is boiled for in the cooking process. Fancy and medium amber are lighter in color and flavor, and are used as condiments, whereas dark amber and grade B, which are darker and stronger, are used for cooking.
According to Charles Sargent, the buyer for Middlebury Dining Services, medium amber is used in the dining halls, and small amounts of grade B are purchased for baking and cooking purposes from Stowe Sugar Works in Ripton, Vt. to supplement the syrup from Hillsboro.
During tapping season, tappers snowshoe out amongst the maple trees, drilling up to 14,400 holes. It’s a difficult task that starts in mid-February and can last for two to three weeks. After the trees are tapped, the sap is taken to the sugarhouse, where it is processed into maple syrup through a simple boiling process. The Folinos use two reverse osmosis machines, in addition to a machine called a steam away, which was purchased in an attempt to be more environmentally friendly. According to their website, the steam away has reduced Hillsboro’s energy consumption by at least 33 percent. This device provides an additional layer of sap above the boiling sap which is starting the evaporation process from the energy already being used. One downside to this contraption is that it does detract from the charm of seeing the sap boil, as Folino wrote in an email, but that loss is a sacrifice the Folinos were willing to make in exchange for less energy consumption.
In addition to being energy-conscious, Hillsboro Sugar Works “are a certified organic operation and go through rigorous inspections to be certified,” Folino wrote. Part of how they guarantee that their syrup is organic is by controlling every aspect of production. Hillsboro is unique from other maple syrup producers in that it is a guaranteed single-source operation, meaning that all of their sap and syrup is 100 percent guaranteed to have come from their farm on Hillsboro Mountain. Some producers bring sap in from other areas in order to augment their production, but Hillsboro chooses not to in order to preserve the purity of their product.
Since the College is so close to Hillsboro, a partnership between the two institutions seemed natural. The College purchases syrup from Hillsboro on a regular basis. According to Folino, she delivers 10 to 25 gallons of syrup to the dining halls every four to six weeks. Hillsboro has always been able to complete orders for the College, even in years with sparser production. This year, however, was a good year for sugar makers, wrote Sargent in an email.
The College has been a customer of Hillsboro for almost 30 years, a relationship that both sides benefit from and value immensely.
(03/20/13 4:44pm)
On Friday, March 15 and Saturday, March 16, this year’s MiddChallenge finalists pitched their ideas to a distinguished panel of judges in hopes of winning a $3,000 grant, summer boarding and mentorship in one of three categories: business; arts; and education, outreach and policy.
MiddChallenge is an annual competition, begun in 2011 as Stonehenge, that allows students to take ideas and turn them into reality. This year 37 applicants vied for 15 finalist spots, with four to six in each category of competition.
Competitors in the business category presented Friday night, while those competing in the education, outreach and policy category and the arts category presented on Saturday morning and afternoon, respectively. Each presenter or group of presenters received time for an eight minute presentation and a seven minute question and answer session with the judges.
Each of the three categories has two winners. This year’s winners in the business category were Ben Stasiuk ’14 for his project “Uncle B’s Firenuts” and “Integrated Milfoil Management” by Austin Ritter ’13, Greg Dier ’12.5 and Samuel Carlson.
Both winners in the Education, Outreach and Policy category were food-based projects. Elias Gilman ’15, Nathan Weil ’15, Christopher Kennedy ’15, Oliver Mayers ’15, Eduardo Danino-Beck ’15, Harry Zieve-Cohen ’15 and Jack Cookson ’15 won with their project “Middlebury Foods,” which aims to create boxes of low-priced, high-quality food for Vermonters and sell them at local churches and community centers weekly.
Winners Cailey Cron ’13.5 and Molly Shane ’13.5 will take excess food made in the college dining halls and deliver it to people in need at events like the community dinner with their project, “Share the Surplus.”
Arts category project winners included Moss Turpan ’14 and Dylan Redford ’14 and their project “WEDIDIT,” as well as Aidesha-Kiya Vega-Hutchens ’14 and Jun Chen ’14 and their project “War at Home(room).”
“WEDIDIT” will be “collaborating with an L.A. based electronic music collective to produce an experimental film,” wrote Redford in an email about the project. Meanwhile, “War at Home(room)” will compile oral histories of bullying in New England school systems.
“There were no proposals where we questioned how great the idea was,” said Joanie Thompson ’14, head organizer of choosing finalists out of all the applications for this year’s competition. “It was really tough to choose.”
Judges ranged from Jim Douglas, the former governor of Vermont, to Executive-in-Residence at the College and former president of Save the Children Fund Charlie McCormack as well as Corinne Prevot ’13, founder of the popular headband brand Skida.
“The judges come from all walks of life, but they are all entrepreneurs,” said Liz Robinson, director of the project on innovation in the liberal arts, of the distinguished men and women asked to select the MiddChallenge winners.
Criteria for judging was based on the impact of the idea, the impact of the MiddChallenge prize on the success of the idea and how well put together the proposal was, among other factors. Courtesy of the Projects on Creativity and Innovation Office (PCI), all finalists received coaching in improving their oral presentation skills and constructing a presentation earlier in the week.
“The process of competing in MiddChallenge was as valuable as the grant itself,” wrote Ritter, a winner in the business category, in an email. “The comprehensive application process forced us to think through all of the different components of our business model. And for the presentation component of the competition, the judges were not hesitant to criticize the weakness of our business, but they also encouraged us to overcome these weaknesses, to move forward with our idea and to think big.”
Ritter’s experience with the MiddChallenge program is exactly what PCI and the donors that support MiddChallenge hope students will take away from the experience. Regardless of whether they win or lose, all students receive guidance and mentorship. All of them will return to PCI later this week to reflect on their presentations and evaluate their own performances.
“MiddChallenge is about providing students with the opportunity to take an idea through the process of evaluation, preparation, presentation, action and reflection,” said Robinson in a final note about the overall goal of the competition. “There is a huge amount of learning that comes from students taking their own ideas and taking them forward.”
(02/20/13 5:47pm)
On Tuesday, Feb. 12, the Department of Public Safety received two separate reports of burglaries to college faculty houses, one in Middlebury and one in Cornwall, which are currently under investigation by the Middlebury Police and the Vermont State Police.
In a campus-wide email on Feb. 13, Associate Dean of the College and Director of Public Safety Elizabeth Burchard reported that one of the residences was on South Main Street, near the Ralph Myhre Golf Course, and the other off of Route 125 in Cornwall. Both burglaries were committed by unknown perpetrators.
Currently, the Middlebury Police has not identified any suspects, although Middlebury Chief of Police Tom Hanley wrote in an email that the police have processed the scene for latent prints and other evidence.
“Burglaries such as this are not common in Middlebury,” wrote Hanley .
“There were a total of 19 burglaries in all of Middlebury in 2012, the lowest number in at least 30 years.”
“There is a growing problem in the outer county,” admitted Hanley, despite his optimism about the town of Middlebury itself. These two most recent incidents in Middlebury and Cornwall follow a spate of burglaries that have occurred recently in the northern end of Addison County.
According to the Addison County Independent, there were 16 reports of burglary in Addison County in the first four weeks of January. The Middlebury Police is considering the possibility that these recent events are linked to other incidents in Addison County. Hanley wrote that the Middlebury Police Investigator is collaborating with the State Police trooper who is working on the Cornwall burglary. By working together they hope to catch the perpetrators more efficiently.
Some Addison residents have noticed the apparent rise in burglaries. “I seem to be hearing about more and more burglaries than ever before,” commented Addison resident Don Jochum to the Addison County Independent.
The Vermont State Police has been working to implement more effective crime-fighting technology through the installation of Data-Driven Approach to Crime and Traffic Safety, or DDACTS, according to the Addison County Independent. The technology should aid the police in limiting crime in the county.
“The hope of DDACTS is to go from being reactive to being proactive,” Lieutenant Gary Genova of New Haven said of the new technology.
The program allows police to submit crime reports to a database that then compiles them onto one large map. This allows them to better spot trends and gaps in police coverage across the state.
Although technology plays a role in keeping crime levels down, so do ordinary residents. In order to deter perpetrators, Hanley suggested that people remain vigilant, report suspicious activity and keep their homes secure.
(01/24/13 12:47am)
On July 1, 2013 Former Provost and Executive Vice President Alison Byerly will leave the College after 23 years of service to begin her term as the first female president of Lafayette College in Easton, Penn.
“People want to see [Lafayette] balance a need to innovate and change and move into the 21st century, with a desire to still have it be the place they love,” said Byerly of one of her main challenges ahead as president. Many colleges face the demand of integrating the past and the future, and Byerly is ready to conquer that challenge at Lafayette. “I feel ready for a new challenge at this stage in my career,” she continued.
She will also face the additional challenge of learning the ins and outs of a new community. Although Lafayette and Middlebury are both small, residential colleges, they are very different in terms of location, specialization and character. After spending the entirety of her career at Middlebury, this will be the first time Byerly will have to completely integrate herself into a new community.
Byerely’s move to Lafayette is a return to her roots. She grew up in Pennsylvania and completed her degree in Victorian literature at the University of Pennsylvania before joining the faculty at Middlebury. Although Byerly was not initially searching for a post in administration, she became drawn to it by leading faculty committee work at the College, eventually securing a post as provost. She has also served as executive vice president, amongst other positions.
This past academic year, Byerly has been on leave, serving as a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Her work there has involved setting up and participating on panels about digital scholarship. Her work at MIT, in addition to her liberal arts background at Middlebury, helped set her apart from the other presidential candidates during the six-month vetting process.
“As president you have to lead an institution that consists of many parts that are not your specialization,” said Byerly. “You have to be a generalist. You have to understand enough to support the people that do know the details that you don’t.”
Although she has no degree in engineering, the exposure through work at MIT will help her administer to the needs of Lafayette’s engineering school that accompanies its traditional liberal arts college.
“A thoughtful, energetic explorer of the many new possibilities technology offered to teachers, researchers and students in our colleges and universities, [Byerly] is widely recognized in American higher education as an important voice for forward-looking change and effective consensus-building,” said Philip E. Lewis, vice president of the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, in Lafayette College’s press release.
Although excited to start her new post at Lafayette, Byerly admits that she is sad to leave Middlebury, a place she has called home for over two decades.
“What I’ve loved most about Middlebury is that it is an ambitious place,” said Byerly, adding that this quality is shared with Lafayette.
“Whether as professor or provost, I never lost sight of the feeling I had when I came here my first interview,” added Byerly. “I walk across campus and say, ‘I would be lucky to be a professor here.’ I thought that the day I first stepped on campus, and I think that now.”
(11/14/12 10:19pm)
On Nov. 7 students and faculty gathered in Crossroads Café for the first monthly Campus Open Forum event. This month’s forum, organized by Dean of Students Shirley Collado, Student Government Association (SGA) President Charlie Arnowitz ’13 and Student Co-Chair of Community Council (SCOCC) Barrett Smith ’13, focused on discussion of on-campus sexual assault and policy.
The concept of an open forum event was first proposed by last year’s SCOCC, Luke Carroll-Brown ’13, who collaborated with Collado last spring to plan the event after identifying the need to create a space and time on campus for students to engage each other in serious discussion.
“We were talking last spring about our collective wish to gather students face-to-face once a month in an open forum to engage in issues and topics that are important to them,” said Collado of the decision to create the Campus Open Forum events.
This month’s topic of sexual assault was chosen by Arnowitz and Smith, following the suggestions from the Community Council, SGA and other students who demonstrated an interest in learning more about the College’s resources in the wake of an open letter written by a sexual assault victim printed in the student newspaper at Amherst College.
“What we’re really after is cultural change, trying not just to tweak things that already exist and build on what we already have, but really trying to be creative and imaginative in saying, ‘What would a campus look like that would be completely devoid of these issues, and how do we get there?’” said Director of Chellis House Karin Hanta in her introduction at the forum. Hanta also serves as head of the Sexual Assault Oversight Committee (SAOC).
Following a brief introduction by Hanta with three student members of the SAOC as well as a brief speech from SGA Director of Health and Wellness Addie Cunniff ’13, the evening’s participants broke into small groups to discuss questions addressing sexual assault on campus.
The small group discussions led to conversations regarding the lack of role models and larger discussion surrounding sexual assault on campus. Some of the student participants suggested creating a discussion similar to MiddUncensored, an event normally held at first year orientation, but instead tailoring it to upperclassmen conversation.
“We don’t have a lot of role models on campus” said Alex Strott ’15, speaking to one of the impediments to opening conversation about sexual assault. “Without role models, it is difficult to find people to lead conversations on serious topics.”
“It’s important to draw on people in the community and what they want to discuss at these forums. It’s all about giving more voices and having discussions that we wouldn’t normally be having,” said Smith.
Participants at the November event were asked to submit future forum topic ideas before leaving. After submitting their suggestions, many attendees lingered afterwards to continue their conversations.
While November’s forum was well-attended, finding ways to motivate members of the community to attend future forums is a concern for Arnowitz, Smith and Collado. The forum organizers anticipate that identifying widely-appealing and relevant discussion topics as well as spreading awareness of the events will be key to the forums’ success.
Open forum events will be held for one hour, once each month. Topics will be dictated by student submissions and shared by email.
(10/31/12 4:53pm)
This past weekend, the College hosted over 14 global health professionals as part of the annual GlobeMed Hilltop conference during which students, healthcare professionals, professors and community members gathered to discuss global healthcare in the context of sustainability and connectivity, which the College’s GlobeMed chapter selected as themes.
"This conference was an opportunity for college students to connect with and be inspired by mentors in the field, and it was an opportunity for the mentors to cultivate passion in the next generation," wrote Pamela Berenbaum, a visiting lecturer in the sociology/anthropology department and the faculty advisor for the club in an email.
The weekend featured five keynote addresses and several small breakout sessions among participants intended to foster discussion and exchange of ideas. Friday began with a keynote address by Dr. Rishi Rattan of Physicians for Haiti who spoke about sustainable interventions and the relationship between the environment and health.
Saturday began with breakout sessions on outreach in Central America, tuberculosis, social entrepreneurship and food charity, among other topics. The day concluded with speeches by Dr. David Egilman and Dr. Hiba Salih on the role of students in the global health movement and by Dr. Michael Rich on health strengthening systems and creating sustainable preferential options for the poor. The weekend was completed on Sunday with closing remarks by Ms. Perry Dougherty of Still Harbor, who spoke to the significance of mission and values to impact and resilience in the global health field.
While each speaker offered a unique perspective on global health, the common theme throughout the talks centered around sustainability. The members of the College’s GlobeMed chapter selected sustainability as the weekend’s theme due to its prevalence on campus, as well as its importance to the mission of its Rwandan partner institution, Gardens for Health International (GHI).
"With sustainability being such a big thing at Middlebury, we thought it would be interesting to explore it through global health," says Ellen Halle ’13, director of external development for GlobeMed at the College. "The environment is inextricably linked to health, so it made sense," she added, referring to the selection of the theme during the application process.
The conference was well attended, with over 115 participants, including the College’s 60 GlobeMed chapter members. Each of the sessions addressed a different issue within global health — from nutrition and cholera to strengthening health systems — and incorporated common ideas of health equity and using local resources to solve problems.
"People were really excited to see the ideas we talk about in GlobeMed applied in the professional world," said chapter member Emily Nuss ’15. "There was a lot of energy and eager participation."
The chapter’s co-preisdents pointed to the dedication of its student members as one reason for the weekend’s success.
"I don't think that GlobeMed at Middlebury could have put this event on two years ago or even last year — it's a huge testament to the amazing staff of students we have," wrote co-president Hannah Judge ’12.5 in an email.
GlobeMed at Middlebury College applied last July to host the Hilltop conference. Out of the 50 institutions in the United States with a GlobeMed chapter, the College and Columbia University were selected to host Hilltop events in 2012.
Sarah Endres, a program director with the GlobeMed national office, said that the College chapter’s successful use of its resources makes it unique among GlobeMed schools.
"The geography department has been incredibly useful for Middlebury's partnership," she commented, referring to a project completed last summer by some of the College’s GlobeMed students. Chapter members worked with Gardens for Health International on a project which mapped homes in Rwanda with high rates of malnutrition to help GHI better target its work.
Both Halle and Judge noted that this type of partnership between the chapter and various offices and departments on campus have been key to the chapter’s success. In the past, the club has partnered with the Middlebury Center for Social Entrepreneurship, which provided some funding for GlobeMed students to go to Rwanda, according to Halle. The group has also found partners in the Rohatyn Center for International Affairs and the Sustainability Integration Office.
Members of the College’s chapter hope that the weekend’s success will help the group’s visibility and participation on campus.
"Global health as a field at Middlebury is really growing in popularity," says Halle. "We'd like there to be more global health events in the future."
(09/26/12 9:00pm)
On Monday, Sept. 24, Crossroads Café reopened its doors to the college community, boasting upgraded food and more student-friendly hours.
Originally scheduled to open on Sept. 19, the opening was delayed by small technical snafus, but was fully operational for student enjoyment starting Monday.
"We've created [work] schedules, put everything back together and hired people," said Front Server Manager Jessie Lussier ’13 of the work that has gone into preparing the venue. "We had 18 employees last year, and came back with only 10," she added, noting that having to find employees has been an obstacle to opening.
In only its third year of operation, Crossroads still has not established a consistent set-up protocol for the venue, which has proven another challenge for the staff. Current managers must figure things out as they go along, taking notes from their predecessors. The managers say they hope that in the future Crossroads will have a mentor or overseer who could provide consistency even as the staff changes, but that position has not yet been established.
Along with staff changes, Crossroads will be making changes to its menu items this year .
One of the highlights is the updated smoothie line.
"We're adding boosters to the smoothies," explained Food and Operations Manager Craig Thompson ’13.5.
Students will be able to add ingredients, such as protein. In addition to the boosters, Culinary Manager Cayla Marvil ’13.5 said that new flavors like passion fruit and pineapple will be available.
The staff has also made improvements to the popular noodle bowls and altered the pricing of other items. The price of the cookies, which are one of the venue's biggest sellers, have been reduced from $1.50 apiece to only 99 cents.
In the past, Crossroads has suffered complaints from students for running out of items, but the management hopes to avoid this problem by setting new policies to prevent food shortages.
"Our goal this year is not to run out of stuff," Thompson said.
In addition to food improvements, the management has made changes to accommodate other student needs.
New hours will allow more students to benefit from the venue’s atmosphere.
"The environment is really calm and relaxed; it doesn't have all the tension of the library," said Holly Burke ’15.
The venue will be open for student use from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. and from 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. Monday through Thursday; 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. on Friday and 6:30 p.m. to 10:30 p.m. on Sunday.