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(05/20/21 3:15am)
The Fostering and Restoring Community section involves strategies that are concerned with creating restorative mechanisms to address harm, facilitating spaces for critical conversations and workshops, creating avenues for dialogue between different stakeholders and providing opportunities to report incidents of bias and discrimination. These strategies are wide in scope, addressing students, faculty, staff, administration and community members.
Director of Equity and Inclusion Renee Wells said that being in a community means that people will both experience and cause harm that is often unintentional.
“Harm is happening all over the campus all the time,” Wells said. “I think that cultural change requires that we acknowledge where systemic, institutional, interpersonal barriers and harms exist and the ways in which we are either unintentionally complicit in or sometimes benefit from that.”
“Due to differences in lived experience, every individual has a different comfort level navigating and talking about harm, and it is important to meet students where they are at in their journey,” Wells said. Though some people may feel discomfort during conversations about diversity, equity and inclusion, ultimately, they are feeling discomfort with a threat to the status quo, Wells explained.
“But what we have to acknowledge is that this status quo is a whole bunch of interconnected systems of oppression that perpetuate inequity and harm,” she said. “So we have to get comfortable with the fact that people are going to be uncomfortable with that.”
Of the 14 strategies detailed in the Fostering and Restoring Community Section of the Action Plan, 10 were scheduled for completion this year. Twelve of the fourteen have either been accomplished or commenced at the time of publication, and eight strategies are ongoing.
Responding to incidents of harm
Strategy #1 is about developing a system for using restorative practices, which is a framework used to proactively build community in response to incidents that cause harm on campus. There is a current framework in place, but the Restorative Practices Steering Committee — which includes several staff and administrators — is constantly tweaking the framework and is still integrating it into bodies around campus.
Associate Dean of Community Standards Brian Lind said that restorative practices, which have been employed by the college for several years in place of traditional disciplinary avenues, consist of three pillars: community building, responding to harm, and leadership. Residential Life and staff members have been trained in facilitating community building circles and restorative frameworks to address breakdowns in community, such as when communities cause harm to each other.
The restorative practices framework can be used in a variety of contexts, but often involves bringing parties who have experienced and caused harm together to discuss the impact of a behavior or breakdown in community.
“Restorative practices give us a meaningful framework to develop relationships so that we have stronger bonds when we cause or experience harm,” Lind said. “And we have a shared practice of how to respond to [harm] appropriately.”
Strategy #12 establishes alternative options for responding to incidents of relationship misconduct outside of the traditional adjudication process. Before this alternative pathway was available, students who wished to report misconduct filed a complaint with the Title IX office and underwent a formal investigation, according to Lind. This strategy creates another option.
“The [adaptable process] gives us a way, I think, to address it in a form that isn't punitive, that will hopefully help repair the harm that's been caused, and help everybody involved kind of process and work through writing the situation.
Establishing opportunities for critical conversations
Strategy #2 is about engaging students in critical conversations around healthy relationships including sexual encounters and consent, and strategy #4 is about critical conversations about consent, sexual violence, and misconduct. These initiatives have commenced and are ongoing.
According to Emily Wagner, assistant director of health and wellness education, their office has already had successful engagement with a variety of programs, including ProjectConnect, a six-week group series where students learn about developing authentic relationships, and Finding Your People, a panel for students to share ideas about expanding your friendship circle and creating community at Middlebury.
Green Dot, a pre-existing program that aims to prevent sexual violence and promote healthy relationships through bystander intervention and conversation, will begin providing training at each of the Middlebury schools abroad. The training will be tailored to the cultural and linguistic differences of that country beginning in the fall of 2021, Wagner said in an email to the Campus.
Sex Positive Education for College Students (SPECS) and confidential advocacy services such as MiddSafe have also sought to create a safer space on campus regarding relationships and consent.
For the past three semesters, the Title IX office has also incorporated Speak About It — a program about consent and communication — into first-year student student orientation. The Title IX office also hosted a book club for students for the book Sexual Citizens, which discusses sexual assault on college campuses, according to Wagner and Civil Rights and Title IX Coordinator Marti McCaleb.
“As we move into the 2021-2022 school year, we are working closely with Residential Life and other campus partners around strategic ways to reach more students in person,” Wagner said in an email.
Avenues for dialogue and feedback
Several strategies in this section are concerned with establishing channels of communication between students and staff, faculty, and administration.
Wells hosts weekly office hours on Fridays from 12 to two and by appointment where students, faculty and staff can share concerns, seek support, and explore strategies to address concerns, an initiative introduced in strategy #6 of the Plan.
Per strategy #7, the Senior Leadership Group (SLG) — a collection of senior-level administrators — has been meeting monthly with a group of BIPOC students who “represent key stakeholders and leadership of different cultural organizations to have collaborative discussions that aim for the implementation of institutional change,” according to a school-wide email from Dec. 15.
Strategy #8 calls for the creation of a Student Advisory Council for the Office of Institutional Diversity, Equity and Inclusion to provide feedback and recommendations related to campus concerns, barriers to marginalized students on campus and forms of oppression. According to Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández, this strategy has not yet been implemented.
Strategy #9 tasks Faculty Council and the Educational Affairs Committee with “explor[ing] the possibility of including a question about accessibility, equity, and classroom climate on Course Response Forms.” This strategy is slated for 2021–2022, and work has not yet begun on this initiative, according to Faculty Council member Natalie Eppelsheimer.
Strategy #13 tasks Community Council (CC) with exploring the role of Public Safety and collaboration with police and security. CC will then present a proposal to SLG outlining their findings. According to Co-Chair of Community Council Christian Kummer, CC has been in conversation with administration to create a formal recommendation on this topic, which will likely be completed next fall.
Workshops
Strategy #5 calls for regular workshops for faculty and staff to better understand the reporting requirements and investigation process for discrimination, harassmaent and sexual violence, and appropriate resources for members of the campus community. OIDEI provides the workshops and has presented them to various offices and groups, including Directors of the Language Schools, faculty and staff at the Center for Nonproliferation Studies, staff of the Schools Abroad and incoming new faculty at Middlebury, according to McCaleb.
“Every Middlebury employee has the responsibility to participate in and promote a respectful environment at Middlebury,” said McCaleb in an email. “Our conversations in this area are geared towards individuals understanding their personal impact and obligations within our community.”
Strategy #14 calls for “regular education opportunities related to diversity, equity and inclusion in the local community.”
Wells has spearheaded these efforts, and has facilitated various workshops in the past year about anti-racism, microaggressions and stereotyping for local non-profits, the Rutland NAACP, campus and community members, Middlebury Co-op managers and the Ilsley Public Library.
Communication and Reporting
Strategy #3 is concerned with clear communication about behaviors prohibited under the Non-Discrimination Policy and how to report breaches of this policy. This strategy has already been implemented.
Strategy #10 advises the creation of an online form that can be used to report incidents of discrimincation, harassment and violence. This form has been in use since at least last fall, and can be found at go/bias. As of January of this year, the form had received 28 incident reports representing 16 incidents, according to Fernández.
Strategy #11 recommends that an online form be used to report incidents of discrimination, harassment and violence. This form can be found at go/report and has been promoted through various social media channels and partners, though it is not yet widely utilized, according to McCaleb.
(05/20/21 3:14am)
The section of the Action Plan for Anti-Racism, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion that focuses on students is broken down into four categories of initiatives: recruitment, financial aid, development and support.
Renee Wells, Director of Education for Equity and Inclusion, hopes that these initiatives address the questions about community
“How do you help students understand what it means to be a part of a community and to foster community with and for others?” Wells said.
Wells, working alongside Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández and a variety of other staff members across the college, have aimed to interact with students when there are opportunities to engage with the entire student body, specifically through ResLife and Orientation.
Fernández has also aimed to increase the amount of direct student feedback for the respective initiatives, and has met consistently with Concerned Students of Middlebury and the SGA Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) Committee.
They hope to use these initiatives to make DEI a key component of the Middlebury experience across all parts of campus and academic life.
“Part of what it means to be at Middlebury is to be a part of a community and to think about how you are part of a community in a way that's intentional,” Wells said.
Out of 15 total initiatives in the student section of the Action Plan, eight have been completed, four have been partially completed, one is unknown, and four have not yet been completed. The initiatives that have not been completed at all have completion dates in future years.
Recruitment
Nicole Curvin, Dean of Admissions, has relied on demographic data and institutional research to integrate DEI initiatives into several aspects of the admissions process.
Strategy #1 is to increase the admission of historically underrepresented groups. Curvin reports that 40% of the incoming class of 2025 is BIPOC. In 2019, for comparison, only 27% of the student body were BIPOC.
Strategy #2 outlines the creation of a Student Ambassador Program, which was formed in the last academic year in order to reach underrepresented prospective students. The program, which typically sends ambassadors to high schools around the country, has temporarily moved online because of the Covid-19 pandemic.
“We plan to continue to develop this program and eventually return to in-person visits with high school students once it is safe to do so,” Curvin said.
Strategy #3 involves introducing DEI as a core value in the recruitment process. This has involved training staff and student employees on DEI in a variety of ways.
“In the past two years, we hosted facilitators during our annual staff retreat and as we embarked on application review to consider how we approach our evaluation of lived experiences and school context,” Curvin said.
Staff have also read texts, listened to podcasts, and attended conferences and workshops focused on DEI in order to better understand how to best recruit a diverse student body.
“We become better recruiters by understanding and acknowledging our applicant pool for who they are,” Curvin said.
Strategy #4, to increase the accessibility of campus visits, has been put on pause as in-person campus tours did not resume until May 6. Now that in-person tours are allowed, Curvin hopes to consult the community about how to make them more accessible to all prospective students.
“We have already begun discussions and have added features to our website and videos to support prospective students,” Curvin said.
Financial Aid
Strategy #5 outlines a plan to offer opportunities for critical conversations about DEI among staff in both Admissions and Financial Aid, both of which have taken part in DEI workshops. ResLife staff have also attended four mandatory DEI workshops this year, according to Dean of Student Life AJ Place.
According to Kim Downs-Burns, associate vice president of student financial services (SFS), SFS has initiated several strategies to implement DEI in their work that aim to better support low-income students.
The SFS office has met with incoming Posse cohorts to review financial aid decisions, collaborated with other NESCAC schools to reach out to low-income students to answer questions about financial aid, worked with SGA to provide an emergency assistance fund for J-term, and participated in Discover Middlebury to meet first-generation students.
Strategy #6 aims to increase accessibility to Middlebury by creating a financial aid policy that goes “beyond need blind and covering full demonstrated need.” One example of this policy that the college has started implementing, according to Downs-Burns, is that many students in Posse cohorts receive financial aid that goes above and beyond their demonstrated need.
SFS has also worked to use fundraising as a way to increase financial support available.
“One of our upcoming fundraising campaigns is prioritizing new gift funds to expand our current pool of eligible students,” said Downs-Burns.
Strategy #7 also addresses accessibility by aiming to reduce the barrier of the cost of course materials such as textbooks.
“SFS has done some work analyzing the costs of textbooks, average course costs, and comparing textbook allowances with what our peer institutions offer in their aid packages,” Fernández said.
SFS already conducts an annual review of their average textbook costs compared to peer institutions. More work will continue on the project in upcoming semesters.
“Currently Midd incorporates a $1000 annual book allowance in the individual student aid budgets which is the median of all Consortium of Financing Higher Education (COFHE) colleges,” said Downs-Burns. COFHE contains 35 other selective liberal arts colleges.
In the fall of 2020, 489 students qualified for SFS’ book advance program, but many students didn’t take advantage of their qualification, which has led SFS to reevaluate the program.
SFS plans to work with the Office of Advancement to fundraise for a book grant program to assist aid recipients with purchasing textbooks, which has been hampered by Covid-19 costs.
“Currently the funding is limited, but we hope a successful pilot will lead to an increase in eligible students,” Downs-Burns said.
Fernández will be working on the textbook accessibility initiative, as well as Strategy #8, which aims to grow an endowed fund to enable students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds to participate in the full Middlebury experience, including funding for travel home or trips to Burlington. An endowed fund entails investments of capital that can be periodically withdrawn.
Because of the Covid-19 pandemic, the demand for funds has been so high that all donated funds have been put in use and not placed in an endowed fund.
According to Fernández, President Patton plans to make the fund a priority in upcoming fundraising campaigns. The college aims to have the textbook accessibility initiative complete within the next year, while the endowed funds for underprivileged students is expected to be completed in two years.
Development
Strategy #9 extends Wells’s work with DEI workshops to student leaders in Orientation, ResLife, International Student Services, MiddSafe, SGA, and other student organizations.
Similarly, Strategy #10 aims to embed DEI into Orientation programming, and Strategy #11 outlines increasing opportunities for critical conversations among the general student body.
“I have been meeting weekly with the JusTalks students throughout the 2020-2021 academic year, and they have developed and facilitated dozens of peer education workshops during the fall, J-term, and spring semesters,” Wells said. JusTalks also collaborated with Orientation to offer workshops for the class of 2024.5.
While the scale of activities has been inhibited by social distancing requirements, there are plans to expand these initiatives once operations go back to normal. Amanda Reinhardt, Director of Student Activities, said that the virtual workshops are just the beginning.
“As we start planning for MiddView 2021 and Feb Orientation 2022, we will continue to explore ways to incorporate and assess additional DEI content into Middlebury’s Orientation programming in order to meet the goals outlined in the Action Plan,” Reinhardt said.
Rob Moeller, Associate Professor of Psychology and Director of Residential Education and Innovation has been involved in adding DEI components to the ResLife program.
“This spring we have been partnering with the Anti-Racist Task Force to join and support their work fostering these important conversations. ResLife has also been working in collaboration with JusTalks to hold workshops for first-year [residential hall] communities in-person and virtually this past fall and in the planning process for doing the same this spring,” Moeller said.
To help with these initiatives, Crystal Jones, who will join the staff in July as the inaugural Assistant Director of Education for Equity and Inclusion, will help to develop and facilitate these critical conversations.
Strategy #12 aims to provide more mental health resources to students and support for historically underrepresented groups. Moeller has worked with ResLife to create skill building sessions on making friends, addressing friendship myths and creating panels for students to discuss navigating the social contexts of Middlebury.
“Additional collaborations are underway with CTLR to help reduce stress by offering tried and true time management strategies,” Moeller said.
Maddie Hope, Assistant Director of Health and Wellness Education, has also worked with ResLife to promote mental health strategies through several events and training. Some of these events include ProjectConnect, stressbuster series, speed friending events, mental health peer educator workshops and ResLife student staff training.
Support
As listed in Strategy #13, the College plans to join the Consortium on High Achievement and Success (CHAS) to focus on advancing the academic success of BIPOC students at selective liberal arts institutions by 2023.
Strategy #14 is a broad goal, hoping to increase resources to underrepresented groups, specifically in the Parton Center for Health and Wellness and Anderson Freeman Resource Center (AFC). The initiative to assess staffing at the AFC has been initiated and a new director will be starting July 1.
“We have just hired a new Director of Counseling who is a person of color and has years of experience providing counseling to these communities,” Fernández said. The new director, Alberto Soto, specializes in advocating for diverse populations and the intersection of social justice and mental health, according to Fernández.
Ben Gooch, associate director of clinical operations for counseling services, said that social justice practices and experiences with multicultural counseling are a required component of counselings’ application process.
“We work with programs that we know have a strong stance on supporting underserved communities and training their future counselors to be social justice advocates and allies,” Gooch said.
The counseling department has also recently adopted a new model of counseling called the Flexible Care Model (FCM). FCM, which Soto is an expert in, aims to move care away from systems that perpetuate white and Eurocentric concepts of counseling.
“Our overall goal with this model is to increase immediate access to counseling for students, incorporate multicultural counseling understandings into our session to make sure that we are providing good care that takes into account the diversity of our campus community, and to provide more options to students for what their relationship to counseling can look like,” Gooch said.
The counseling deparment also participates in anti-racist reading groups and training oppurtunities. The Center for Health and Wellness has also collaborated across departments to form working groups for specific issues.
“An example of this is our Trans Care Working Group, which is designed to help make sure staff are up-to-date on the best practices and to work toward dismantling barriers to care for trans-identifying students,” Gooch said.
The Office of the President has completed Strategy #15 by creating a taskforce that has been meeting since the start of the year to explore the creation of a center to support LGBTQ+ students.
Fernández explained that there is a multi-year plan to move forward. “The first year, we will work to find a designated lounge or another existing meeting space; the second year, we will explore the possibility of using a College-owned house; and during a subsequent year, once the new student center is built, we recommend that the center for LGBTQ+ students be located there,” said Fernández.
(05/13/21 9:58am)
Women’s softball (6–10) battled Hamilton (6–7) twice at home this weekend, marking their last two contests of the season. After dropping two games to the Continentals two weekends ago, the Panthers had a strong showing this time around, winning the first game, 3–2, and the second, 6–1.
In the first match, Hamilton tallied a two-run lead in the bottom of the fifth inning, but a home run from Kaylee Gumm ’21 and a run from pinch runner Kate Likhite ’23 brought the Panthers ahead by one – a lead they would secure for the win. Pitcher Jewel Ashbrook ’23 allowed no earned runs on five hits and struck out two.
In the second contest, the Panthers jumped out to an early lead, winning 4–0 at the top of the third. Melanie Mandell ’21 and Lizzie Hannafey ’23 also scored for the Panthers, extending the lead to 6–0. Pitcher Chloe McNamara ’23 allowed only one run in the win, with Hamilton scoring once in the seventh to end McNamara’s shutout.
“It was one of those weekends where everything was coming together at the same time offensively and defensively allowing us to play and win two games to finish off the season,” Jordyn Johnson ’23 said.
(05/13/21 9:58am)
In their second dual meet of the season, women’s track and field reigned victorious over Hamilton College, 102–69. Out of 18 total events, Middlebury placed first in 14, winning every event they participated in.
In the short distance races, Eva Kaiden ’23 placed first in the 100m dash (13.04) for the second week in a row, while Michelle Louis ’24 also took first in the 200m dash (25.87). Gretchen McGrath ’21.5 also climbed atop the leaderboard, winning the 400m dash (59.17).
Saturday also marked senior day for the Panthers, honoring McGrath, Simone Ameer ’21.5, Lauren Boyd ’21, Kate Holly ’21, Kai Milici ’21, Chloe Smith ’21, Victoria Toth ’21 and Emma Walsh ’21.
“Our senior class has been such great role models and leaders especially under the circumstances of Covid and having a big team,” McGrath, who will graduate next February, claimed. “I believe we’ve done an awesome job creating this healthy culture of support and care; the entire team knows everyone is there for everyone else.”
In the distance races, Katelyn Paese ’22 finished far ahead of the pack in the 800m (2:18.98), while Smith prevailed in the 5000m (18:53.91). Cassie Kearney ’22 also set the Dragone Field record in the 1500m (4:34.09), previously held by Catherine Beck from Tufts University in 2007 (4:35.28).
“I hadn’t run the 1500m since freshman year, but I just wanted to go for it,” Kearney delighted. “I’ve been training so hard all throughout the winter, and I feel like I'm the strongest I've ever been as a runner — so I knew I could lay it all out there.”
In the 4x100m relay, Middlebury’s team consisting of Liza Toll ’24, Kaiden, Jackie Topping ’22 and Joely Virzi ’24 edged Hamilton by four seconds (50.34). The Panthers also won the 4x400m relay with a squad of Ashley Raynor ’24, Kearney, McGrath and Louis, crossing the finish line in 4:08.13.
In the field events, Cady Barns ’22 was a two-event winner for the second straight week, leaping to wins in the long jump (5.41m) and the triple jump (11.63). Eliza Broughton ’22 similarly impressed in the 3000m steeplechase (11:52.27), while Walsh was Middlebury’s lone victorious thrower in the javelin (30.90m).
Women’s track and field will look to stay hot next weekend at Williams College, with action beginning at 11 a.m.
(05/13/21 9:58am)
Women’s tennis (4–3) couldn’t extend their winning streak to four on Saturday, losing to Williams, 5–4. After defeating the Ephs at home last weekend, Williams (2–3) earned the final laugh with their season-ending victory against the Panthers.
While Middlebury started with an early 2–0 lead since Williams had insufficient numbers, the Ephs made it hard for the Panthers to accrue points all day. In doubles play, the Ephs captured two straight victories, beating Ann Martin Skelly ’21 and Emily Bian ’21 at the #1 slot, as well as rookie tandem Sami Remis ’24 and Amy Delman ’24 at slot #2.
Gena Huang ’24 and Remis both won in singles play for the Panthers; for Huang, the win marked her fifth-straight singles win. The Ephs would win at #1, #4, and #5 singles, though, finding three more crucial points that sealed the win.
“Obviously we wish we could’ve pulled out the 5–4 victory, but everyone played really well and put up a good fight,” Bian said postgame. “It's going to be a great learning experience for the freshman and sophomores so they can come back even more pumped up. Sometimes you learn more from losing a match than winning.”
Bian and Skelly wrapped up their four-year careers on Saturday, with the co-captains set to graduate in the coming weeks.
(05/13/21 9:50am)
To accommodate workplace safety measures put in place due to Covid-19, the custodial department developed a new cleaning schedule which now includes readjusted shifts — including some at night or starting as early as 4 a.m. — and services seven days a week. Staff members not only were forced to adjust to new hours but were rearranged across campus, leaving some frustrated with their new shifts and locations.
The more rigorous cleaning and disinfecting regimen necessitated by the pandemic prompted the department to reorganize its operations last fall. Before Covid-19, staff members primarily worked during the day, according to Associate Director for Custodial and Support Services Missy Beckwith.
Custodial is now disinfecting classrooms daily — an increase from the previous Monday, Wednesday, Friday schedule — a change put in place during the fall semester. Teams are also cleaning residential spaces between 4 a.m. and 9 a.m. to minimize contact with students.
Beckwith said that the change allowed the department to meet the higher bar for cleaning set by the pandemic and was also instituted to protect the health of staff members tasked with cleaning these spaces.
“In order to be efficient and effective and meet Covid cleaning standards that keep us safe and to help our staff feel good and safe — meaning that they’re not in congested, heavily occupied buildings — we created the overnight shift,” Beckwith said.
Previously, only public places like the library were cleaned on weekends, but according to Beckwith, the pandemic has increased the need to disinfect surfaces around campus.
These changes have prompted mixed reactions from staff.
“The only really big thing that I feel in how my job has changed is the added work of disinfecting and the times that we clean spaces,” one staff member, who wished to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, said. “[For] example, [we] used to not be able to clean a dorm until after 8 a.m. Now we go in at 4 in the morning.”
While reassigning new shifts, the department sent a survey to its staff that allowed them to share when they were able and willing to work.
“I feel like things are working well. However, I feel there are some of my co-workers who want to change shifts,” the anonymous staff member said.
Custodian Jenny Hargett was unhappy with the new arrangement. She had previously spent the last four years working in Hadley, but was recently moved to the Chateau, where she continues her job of daily cleaning and disinfecting. Hargett was unsure why she and other staff had to be relocated to new buildings.
“I get that there's guidelines, and we all understand,” she said. “But we're not doing anything different in these dorms that we're in now than the dorms we would have been in originally.”
Hargett misses the students that she got to know over the course of each year in Hadley, and believes that students in that dorm knew her name and were more comfortable approaching her with issues — such as broken appliances or the need for toiletries — or questions. She feels like her time would be better spent on her old floor rather than in the Chateau.
“We’re all very upset; morale around campus is really low for staff. We just don't feel like we're appreciated.” Hargett said. “I don't think any of us feel like we've got an opinion that is heard.”
As a result of the increased workload, workplace safety measures and the taxing schedule, custodians no longer clean suites. Custodial also no longer fully cleans small houses, though they do come through to disinfect surfaces. Students living in either of these types of residences were provided with cleaning supplies at the beginning of each semester and are expected to keep their spaces tidy.
Beckwith hopes that this gives students in apartment-style living more independence. Additionally, she said that the risk of spreading Covid-19 in these spaces is reduced because the same small groups of students are living in one place instead of a more highly trafficked dorm building.
While the pandemic has brought new challenges, it has also allowed the department to become more adaptive, according to Team Liaison Sierra Lane.
“Ideally, no one wants to be dealing with coronavirus, but we are managing,” Lane said. “We are definitely stepping up.”
(05/06/21 10:00am)
Stuck on campus for the entire semester, many students long for home-cooked meals and the warm smile of someone preparing food just for them. Alejandra’s Tacos supplies both, accepting orders for tamales, empanadas, tacos and more.
The go link go/sundaytacos leads to a sign-up form for Alejandra’s email list. And the menu, which goes out to her email list Friday evenings, changes each week. Alejandra makes the deliveries Sunday at 12:30 p.m. at the drop-off shed in front of 75 Shannon Street.
Alejandra prioritizes affordable prices over profit — $3 for each item on her campus menu — because, above all else, she wants to be able to share the joy of her cooking and culture with those around her.
“I was born poor, and I’m sure I will die poor as well,” Alejandra said. “I’m never going to be a millionaire, but that’s not my goal. I have a different, more human goal: to create bonds, to give a little bit of Mexico to those who don’t know her, and, for my countrymen, to give them a dish that makes them remember their mother, their home, their grandmother. That’s what I want, and that’s what makes me happy.”
Alejandra makes all of her food by hand, including the flavorful salsas that accompany each order of tacos and the corn masa shells encasing each empanada. Students can order for a Sunday lunch or stock up on items like tamales to pop in the microwave for a delicious meal throughout the week whenever dining hall food isn’t quite doing it for them.
In addition to now selling food to Middlebury students, Alejandra sells a wider variety of dishes out of her home in Addison County each Sunday and prepares meals for migrant workers on a daily basis. She hopes to continue to grow her business and save up enough money to eventually return to Mexico.
Alejandra first immigrated to the U.S. in 2009 from her hometown, Querétaro, in central Mexico, joining her father in North Carolina. He owned a Mexican restaurant and taught her how to cook when she was not working her job at the paper factory. Within a year, her father moved back to Mexico to be with her mother, and Alejandra moved to Vermont, where she struggled to adjust. The cold came as a brutal shock to Alejandra, who had never seen snow before. She spent her first winter stuck inside her house, unable to drive on the icy roads, longing for the community she left behind.
Soon, she met and fell in love with the man who would become her husband and began cooking for her own family. Over the next couple years, they had three daughters together — twins who are now 11 years old and their now nine-year-old little sister.
While her husband went to work at a dairy farm, Alejandra struggled to find a job. She takes great pride in her work ethic, and she couldn’t afford to sit idle. She needed to support her parents back in Mexico, and her medical bills for her diabetes were a constant strain on the family’s finances. Alejandra decided to start her own business selling food to other migrant farmworkers, many of whom work 12- to 14-hour shifts, leaving them little energy to cook.
Her business and her reputation grew steadily as she began to cater some college events, providing food for the Spanish house, Juntos and other groups. Two years ago, she was offered an opportunity to teach a Mexican cooking class at City Market in Burlington. She quickly befriended her students with her vivacious personality and unfailing optimism, and they encouraged her to branch out and sell more of her own food.
She started a mini restaurant out of a makeshift kitchen she set up in her garage and began selling food on Sundays. Over the last two years, her business has grown considerably, almost entirely through word of mouth. She now employs one or two other women each week to help her out.
Sundays are a marathon. Alejandra begins cooking at 4 a.m., and the other women arrive to help her five hours later. They cook “until the meat runs out,” sometimes stopping at 2 p.m. and sometimes continuing until 5 p.m. It's grueling work, standing on her feet in a hot kitchen all day, though the music and the company of her friends lightens the load considerably. “My body is tired,” Alejandra said. While the hard work combined with her diabetes symptoms leave her completely drained, she still loves to cook.
“Cooking is like therapy; it takes away a little of the sadness,” Alejandra said. “I’m not thinking about when I can return to Mexico. Instead, I feel comfortable and relaxed. It excites me to think about how my dishes will taste, if it will taste good. I love to see the happy faces of people when they say, ‘This is delicious!’”
Though she loves Vermont, Alejandra longs for home. She misses the market she used to visit with her mother. Perusing the stalls for ingredients to use in their dishes, they would chat with local farmers selling their harvests and friends and acquaintances they ran into. She misses Sunday evenings when she would sit on the benches outside of church after mass and lick an ice cream cone from one of the vendors parked right outside the gates as everyone mingled in the afternoon glow. Most of all, she misses the sense of community and togetherness imbued in every aspect of life in Mexico.
Some days, Alejandra closes her eyes and imagines she is a bird. With just a few flaps of her wings, she is airborne, soaring over the Vermont pastures, past the Carolinas where she first lived after migrating to the U.S. She flies across the border, over the Rio Grande, and through the desert. She imagines in just a few minutes, a few wingbeats she will find herself back home. But when she opens her eyes, the spell is broken.
She feels closest to home on Sunday afternoons when her customers gather on her lawn to eat her food. They set up picnic blankets and chat amongst themselves about their lives, troubles and families. Gazing over the picturesque tableau each week, Alejandra is reminded of the community she left behind in the new one she is creating through her food.
“I think that cooking is a form of communication, of demonstrating love, of creating bonds with those you love,” she said. “It’s a form of saying, ‘I love you, and I care for you.’ And that’s why it makes me so happy to cook.”
Editor’s Note: The interviews in this piece were conducted entirely in Spanish, and the quotes were translated by the reporter, Sophia McDermott-Hughes. The translation of all quotes featured in the piece were corroborated by an independent native speaker. Alejandra’s full name has been redacted to protect her privacy.
(05/06/21 10:00am)
In a year when dining staff have faced longer working hours and increased responsibilities, the bare minimum we can do as community members is return our to-go containers in a timely manner. But students have failed to do even that this year — forcing custodial staff to pick up containers en masse, and necessitating the purchase of an additional 4,200 containers to replace the original 2,000 in circulation.
Our custodial and dining staff work tirelessly to create a healthy living environment for students. A refusal to return to-go containers — and dumping them in public spaces such as hallways, stairwells and outside buildings — shows a gross disrespect and lack of appreciation for their work.
After weeks of cleaning up after students, Residential Life staff announced that custodial workers would no longer be responsible for removing dining hall to-go containers scattered across campus.
“It is not fair nor reasonable to add this additional task to their already packed list of responsibilities. They are not here to clean up after you,” wrote several Residential Directors in building-wide emails to students last month.
But that shouldn’t have been the responsibility of custodial staff in the first place.
Students’ refusal to carry out this simple task demonstrates a sense of privilege that has continually characterized Middlebury culture. This semester is not the first time students have left dining supplies unreturned: A February 2019 article detailed how nearly 1,700 pounds of dishes were either abandoned or thrown away across campus over one J-Term. This attitude of negligence and laziness remains unacceptable, especially as Covid-19 has changed the ways we access food.
This sort of community-wide behavior is not only disrespectful to staff, but its consequences also widen inequities. As to-go containers have continued to pile up in public spaces like hallways and lounges, RDs have informed floors and building communities that they could be billed for the cost to clean up and return their neglected boxes. In the previous article about discarded dishes, a member of the custodial staff raised concerns about how such a fining system might disproportionately affect low-income students, forcing them to clean up after their peers to avoid these dorm-wide fines.
We echo these concerns — and ask that students consider not only the impact their individual decisions may have on their peers, but also how they increase the workloads of already overburdened dining and custodial staff.
Our Middlebury staff and custodial team are just as integral to the function of our community as the student body. These hardworking people are not anonymous, and their time and effort should not be treated as dispensable or less important than ours.
By failing to take the time to do simple tasks like properly returning to-go containers, we are acting as though we see staff members as nameless faces that are simply here to serve us.
And if you think that this is the way that Middlebury operates, then you have fundamentally misunderstood your role in this community. So, return your to-go boxes — and be conscientious of the impact your decisions have on the broader community.
It is a privilege to be in person while many other institutions are either fully online or functioning at significantly reduced capacity. This privilege requires both respect and responsibility.
This editorial represents the opinions of the Middlebury Campus’ editorial board.
(05/06/21 9:57am)
Women’s softball (4–10) went head-to-head against Amherst this weekend, playing two games on Saturday and one on Sunday. Falling 2–7, 4–5, and 10–11 respectively, the Panthers walked away without a victory.
The Panthers played at home for both games on Saturday, celebrating seniors Kaylee Gumm ’21, Melanie Mandell ’21 and Emily Moore ’21 in their final season as Panthers.
In the opening game, Middlebury was not on the board until the fifth inning, when a lead-off double by Gumm was batted in by Moore. In spite of this, Amherst scored a run every inning, precluding a Middlebury comeback.
In the second game, Gumm distinguished herself with a two-run homer in the fourth inning, tying the game at 3–3. But Amherst regained the lead in the fifth inning and never looked back, winning 4–5.
In the weekend’s final match on Sunday, Middlebury staged a comeback during the top of the seventh inning, scoring five runs and foiling a 10–5 deficit. The Panthers hit a season-high 16 hits in Sunday’s fixture but ultimately fell to Amherst 10–11.
Women’s softball will continue their season this weekend, facing Hamilton for two home games on Saturday, May 8.
(05/06/21 9:57am)
In their first competition since March 7, 2020, Middlebury women’s track and field dominated in their season opener, beating Union College 97–58. Middlebury finished first in 14 of 18 events.
Eva Kaiden ’23 had a big day for the Panthers, placing first in the 100-meter dash (13.03) and the 200m dash (26.92) — as well as the 4x100m relay (50.85), where she was joined by Liza Toll ’24, Jackie Topping ’22 and Joely Virzi ’24.
“I haven’t run the 4x100 relay since my senior year of high school,” Kaiden said. “Just being out on the track and doing real handoffs felt really nice.”
Middlebury also won the 4x400m relay (4:07.67) by eight seconds, a team consisting of Dana Glackin ’22, Michelle Louie ’24, Ashley Raynor ’24 and Gretchen McGrath ’21.
Cady Barns ’22 also had a solid day in the field, winning both the long jump (5.32m) and the triple jump (11.36m). Both were personal records for Barns.
“I was at home last semester, working and training, hoping we’d have an outdoor season,” Barns said. “I think that served me well because I feel really fresh coming into the season.”
Mary Scott Robinson ’24 dominated in the field events, winning both the hammer throw (38.76m) and the shot put (12.12). Her shot put distance broke the Middlebury record set by Helene Rowland ’20 in 2017 (11.95m).
“Recruiting her, I knew she was a good thrower and that she’d do well for us eventually,” head coach Martin Beatty said. “I didn’t know she would do this at the first meet!”
In addition to those who competed at Dragone Field on Saturday, nine Panthers traveled to Tufts to compete in longer distance events against Connecticut College, Wesleyan University, Tufts University and Trinity College.
At Tufts, Cassie Kearney ’22 and Nicole Johnson ’22 finished first (2:11.81) and second (2:13.66), respectively, in the 800m. Eliza Broughton ’22 also finished sixth in the 3000m steeplechase.
Middlebury will host Hamilton College this Saturday, May 8, at Dragone Field with the action starting at 12 p.m.
(05/06/21 9:57am)
(05/06/21 9:57am)
Women’s tennis (4–2) extended its winning streak to three on Sunday, defeating Williams, 5–4. The win marks the third time in two weeks that the Panthers have won a match 5–4, with the other two victories coming against Amherst (2-2) and Skidmore (5-1). Co-captains Emily Bian ’21 and Ann Martin Skelly ’21 were also honored during senior day on Sunday.
The Panthers automatically jumped out to a 2–0 lead on Sunday, since Williams had an insufficient number of players on their roster. A doubles win from Sami Remis ’24 and Amy Delman ’24, followed by singles wins by Kavina Amin ’24 and Gena Huang ’24 sealed the deal for the Panthers. Once again, the rookie class compiled another impressive showing, a theme all season for the Panthers.
Notably, Huang tallied her fourth straight singles win on Sunday, improving her overall record to 5–1 on the season. The rookie from Bath, Ontario has been on a roll this year, punctuated by her game-winning point against Skidmore on April 25.
“Feeding off my teammates energy is something that really motivates me on the court,” Huang said. “I never really expected to do this well in my freshman year––it’s definitely been surprising.”
The Panthers face Williams (1–3) again this Saturday, marking their final contest of the semester. The match will be played in Williamstown, with the start time slated for 1 p.m.
(05/06/21 9:57am)
Men’s baseball (2–6) concluded its regular season this past weekend, splitting a double-header with division leader Amherst College (8–3). Sitting at the bottom of the NESCAC West Division, Middlebury will miss out on the playoffs, with only the top team from each division — Amherst and Tufts (9-2) — playing in a single three-game series to determine the league champion.
In the first match, the Panthers played a competitive game but fell short, losing 8–5. Middlebury jumped out to a quick two-run lead in the first inning, capped by a solo home run from Lucas Cai ’24. Henry Gustavson ’24 started on the mound for Middlebury and put in a solid effort, striking out three and giving up four runs. He would leave the game after the fourth inning with the Panthers down 3–4.
Amherst tallied two runs in each of the next two innings to give the Mammoths a five-run lead going into the last inning. Middlebury was able to put the game in striking distance with RBI singles from Baker Angstman ’24 and Jack Torpey ’24. But with the tying run at the plate, Evan Hunter ’24 could not quite repeat his heroics from the week before, grounding out to the shortstop to end the game.
The Panthers continued their resilient play in the second game, completing the comeback this time to finish the season with a win.
Andrew Gatland ’23 was on the mound for Middlebury and delivered his best performance of the season, giving up just one run off of one hit and two walks while striking out two. He attributed his good outing to the stellar defensive play of his teammates.
“I felt like I pitched well and that my pitches were working well, but I have to give a lot of credit to the defense,” Gatland said. “They were making all the outs for me and it felt like we really put everything together in this game.”
Cai would give the Panthers the lead with an RBI single in the following inning before Amherts scored three runs in the bottom of the sixth, giving the Mammoths a 4–2 lead going into the final inning.
But the Panthers fought back yet again. Andrew Ashley ’24 delivered a sufficient RBI groundout, leaving a runner on third with only one out. Middlebury came down to its final out, but a timely error by the Amherst right fielder saved the game, tying it at four apiece.
After a quick 1-2-3 inning in the bottom of the seventh, a walk and a sacrifice bunt in the top of the eighth put a runner in scoring position for Sammy Smith ’24 who delivered with the RBI single that would give the Panthers the lead.
“I took it as an opportunity to see how relaxed I could be in a situation like that,” Smith said when asked about his approach to the at-bat. “I just let all the work I put in the offseason come into play then and not really think about the situation.”
Charlie Kutz ’24 was nearly perfect in relief for the Panthers, striking out four and giving up only one hit in just over two full innings of relief. He picked up the win and earned the save.
(04/29/21 7:43pm)
I think that it is a sad reality that inviting a Catholic intellectual who believes all the teachings of the Church to Middlebury is scandalous, but such a state of affairs is not nearly as surprising to me as it once was. In my nearly three years on campus, I have seen multiple instances of intolerance toward traditionally religious viewpoints.
As President of the Newman Catholic Club, I wanted to organize an event that would engage everyone in the Middlebury community. Dr. Peter Kreeft, a practicing Catholic, was an obvious choice. He has written over 80 books on Christian philosophy, theology and apologetics — many of them geared toward college students. He has been a professor in the philosophy department at Boston College for decades and has spoken at countless campuses.
In a meeting via Zoom, the Newman Catholic Club board was pressured by a religious life administrator to “reconsider” our invitation of Dr. Kreeft. The administrator asked us to “reconsider”— to cancel — our invitation to Dr. Kreeft because of his views on gender theory — which had no bearing on the content of his talk. The Newman Catholic Club decided not to “reconsider” our invitation of Dr. Kreeft. While I cannot speak for all Newman Club officers, the first reason why I refused to “reconsider” Dr. Kreeft’s invitation is because of my view of the purpose of a liberal arts college.
College provides us all with the time and leisure to pursue truth and to think seriously for ourselves. To “reconsider” Dr. Peter Kreeft’s invitation on the basis of his difference of opinion with the campus’s orthodoxy on gender theory seemed antithetical to the whole reason we study at Middlebury. Further, I am the first member of my family to attend college, and I did not accomplish this just so that I could be told by other people what ideas and views I can and cannot consider.
There is some disagreement over the purpose of a liberal arts education. I once heard the analogy that Middlebury is a seminary, wherein only an orthodox perspective can be promoted. I think this view is derogatory toward seminaries: seminarians are very well-read people and they are exposed to plenty of “heretical” perspectives. Even the Vatican has its “devil’s advocate.” The analogy of Middlebury to a fundamentalist religious group is more appropriate: certain students desire for Middlebury to be rid of any speaker that is not in agreement with their doctrine. If anything were worthy of an anathema at a liberal arts college, it would be this view.
The second reason why I refused to “reconsider” Dr. Peter Kreeft’s invitation is that I believe that Catholicism is one of the most charitable religions, as we believe that God is infinite in love and mercy. Dr. Kreeft’s closing words at the lecture expresses this principle: “all human beings must be accepted as creatures of God, children of God, lovable and beloved. That’s one absolute nonnegotiable.” Whereas the administrator thought that the interview wherein Dr. Kreeft shares his views on gender theory were hurtful, I read the interview to be that of a person that is genuinely sensitive, charitable and faithfully representing the Catholic Church’s teaching.
It is love that informs Church teachings. Bishop Barron has said that “[s]ince God is love, the Church is endeavoring to place every aspect of human life--personal, social, political, cultural--under the aegis of love. And love is willing the good of the other as other.” The Church also believes that “speaking the truth is love.” In Matthew 19:4, Jesus refers to Genesis 5:2 when he says, “Have you not read that he who made them from the beginning made them male and female.” The Church interprets this and other Scripture verses in such a way that it has a view of the relationship of body to soul that is incompatible with modern gender theory. The Church’s unitive vision of the person can be seen in St. John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” and the Congregation For Catholic Education’s document, “Male and Female He Created Them.”
A third reason why I refused to “reconsider” Dr. Peter Kreeft’s invitation to Middlebury is the precedent that it would set. If we were to “reconsider” Dr. Peter Kreeft’s invitation for his Catholic views on gender theory, then Pope Francis would also be ineligible to speak at Middlebury, as he has been quite vocal against gender theory. The Newman Catholic Club would be unable to invite many Catholic intellectuals to speak at Middlebury College. The Committee on Speech and Inclusion correctly stated that “[a]ttempts to curtail speech that is considered offensive or controversial by some can lead to a chilling effect,” namely the soft ban on traditional religious believers from stepping foot on our campus.
I want to express my gratitude to Middlebury for respecting free inquiry and dialogue. Furthermore, in spite of the preponderance of unproductive behavior from some protestors such as tearing down our posters, we ensured (as planned) that everyone who had a question could ask their question. In overtime, the final question came when a trans-identifying student challenged Dr. Kreeft on his view on gender theory. I commend this highly. This student’s exchange with Kreeft gave us all a sense of what honest dialogue looks like when we treat one another with respect.
When I informed Dr. Kreeft about the controversy surrounding his invitation, he responded brilliantly: “Everyone has an absolute, a God: either the real one or an idol.” I think that too often, people have let their political beliefs serve as their absolute and thus political disagreements become the basis on which they seek to cancel others. I object to that view, and instead share the one promoted by St. Mary’s Fr. Luke: “As we are created in the image of the triune God, we are called to dialogue, not to cancel.”
Pedro Guizar is a member of the class of 2022.
(04/29/21 1:00pm)
(04/29/21 10:15am)
In designing this year’s survey, The Campus’ Zeitgeist team reviewed questions from last year’s survey (both those that were on the survey itself and others that were submitted but did not make it into the survey) and then distributed a form to solicit potential survey questions from members of The Campus’ editorial board. After consolidating the questions and in careful consultation with other editors, members of the Zeitgeist team generated 58 survey questions in total, including 16 demographic questions. The Campus distributed the survey in all-student email on the evening of April 4, 2021. Responses were open for 8 days, until midnight on April 12. The survey was also distributed on The Campus’ social media platforms, posting at frequent intervals until the deadline. Upon receiving the email, respondents followed an anonymous link to the survey hosted on Qualtrics. This link ensured that no personally identifiable data as to the respondent’s computer or location could be tracked. After completing the survey, respondents had the option to enter a raffle on a separate Google Form, which ensured that the participants’ identifying information for the raffle and the survey data were not linked. Following the demographic questions, this year’s survey questions were grouped into six general categories: Academics and the Institution, Social Life, Love and Relationships, Mental and Physical Health, Politics, and Community. Survey respondents were encouraged to answer all the questions, but none of the non-demographic questions were mandatory. All demographic questions offered an “I prefer not to answer” option. The survey data was stored on the Qualtrics platform and was distributed to a small group of reporters in sections via Google Drive. Sharing permissions for the Google Drive folder were deleted after the completion of data analysis. Data remained only on the devices of reporters and never shared externally.When analyzing the data, the team did not examine specific entries or attempt to extract the entirety of a respondent’s data, but worked with the data as a whole to survey general trends. In order to protect the confidentiality of respondents, we have chosen not to disclose or report the responses of groups with 5 or fewer members in demographic breakdowns. In total, 1,041 students responded out of Middlebury’s degree-seeking undergraduate student population of 2,434, making the response rate 42.77%.The findings were then compiled and published in the April 29 edition of The Campus. In total, 12 students were closely involved with the making of this year’s Zeitgeist.
(04/29/21 10:15am)
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A vast majority of respondents — over 75% — responded with “yes” or “sometimes” when asked if they struggled with their relationship with food or exercise during their time at Middlebury. Nearly half of respondents responded “yes” — a sharp uptick from last years’ 35%. Almost 80% said they knew someone who had. Students have written several op-eds in the last year about this campus’s disordered eating problem and how it has been exacerbated during the pandemic.
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Still, 751 respondents reported turning to exercise to relieve mental health struggles, only second to socializing as a means of coping. Additional findings show that more than one out of every 10 respondents frequently turn to alcohol to cope with stress; another 30% do so occasionally.
One out of every six students sought counseling during the fall semester, and Counseling Services has seen a marked increase in students showing signs of anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts on intake forms this year. Common struggles include isolation, existentialism and grief, according to Associate Director of Clinical Operations Ben Gooch.
In the midst of their struggles, respondents overwhelmingly found Middlebury’s mental health resources inadequate, with 80% indicating they were unsatisfied.
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Nearly 30% of students had already received the vaccine when the survey closed on April 12, and more than two-thirds of respondents planned on getting vaccinated as soon as possible. Vaccine hesitancy is much more prevalent nationally, where only 30% have the same plans. While only one Middlebury respondent said they would “definitely not” get vaccinated, 13% of the U.S. is dead set against getting vaccinated.
Respondents who indicated they would get the vaccine as soon as possible counted for roughly 94% of those who had not yet received it.
More than 5% of respondents have tested positive for Covid-19, slightly higher than the roughly 4% in Vermont and lower than the 10% in the U.S..
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One in five respondents (20%) reported having survived sexual assault, and 8% of respondents reported experiencing sexual assault on campus.
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Gender and race played a large role in who experienced sexual assault. More than half of nonbinary respondents, 25% of female-identifying students and 10% of male-identifying students reported that they have been assaulted. BIPOC respondents reported experiencing sexual assault at a 22% higher rate than white students.
Of the 82 respondents who said they were sexually assaulted on campus, only nine chose to report the incident to Middlebury. Several respondents chose not to report because the perpetrators were friends, teammates or intimate partners.
“I was too afraid of the social backlash because he was a teammate,” one respondent wrote. “I didn’t think Middlebury would actually punish him and I thought it would be more traumatizing than helpful.”
Others cited fears of social repercussions, worries about being victim-blamed and “self-gaslighting” about whether what happened to them truly counted as sexual assault as reasons why they did not report. Many anticipated little support or action from the school and thought the reporting process would exacerbate the trauma they were already dealing with.
Five out of the nine students who reported their sexual assaults to the school were dissatisfied with how Middlebury handled their cases.
At the beginning of this academic year, the college changed its disciplinary procedures for reported cases of sexual assault following new Title IX guidance from the Department of Education. Major changes include a more stringent definition of sexual assault, a live hearing process for those accused of perpetrating sexual violence and a new informal process for mediating cases of sexual assault when survivors don’t want to seek official discipline or cases don’t fall under the new definition.
(04/29/21 10:00am)
This year, 1,041 students completed the third annual Middlebury Zeitgeist survey. This represents 43% of degree-seeking undergraduate students, according to the Spring 2021 Enrollment profile, a compilation of demographic data collected by the Registrar's Office this spring. The 903 on-campus learners in the sample size represent roughly 45% of the student population on campus this semester
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Participants in Zeitgeist 2021 were divided roughly equally among classes. The class of 2024 had the highest number of participants, with 208 respondents.
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This year’s survey allowed students to select all racial groups they identify with, meaning that some students are counted more than once in analyses that break down responses by race.
Seventy-one percent of respondents identified as white, compared to 59% of domestic student respondents who identified as white in the Spring 2021 Student Enrollment profile — though the student profile separates international students into a distinct racial and ethnic category.
The second-largest group of respondents — at 12.6% — was students who identified as Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander. About 7% of respondents identified as Hispanic or Latinx, and about 2% of respondents identified as Black or African American, while 5.4% of respondents identified as biracial or multiracial.
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Respondents were also given the option to indicate multiple gender identities in this year’s survey. Nearly 56% of respondents identified as cisgender female, while only 36% of respondents identified as cisgender male. The remaining respondents identified as nonbinary (nearly 5%), transgender male or female (0.85% combined), or chose not to respond to the question.
The Spring 2021 Enrollment profile, which used a binary classification of gender, reported that 53.4% of degree-seeking students were women and 46.6% were men.
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Nearly 40% of Zeitgeist survey participants are on need-based financial aid, and just under 9% of respondents are first-generation college students.
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There was also an uptick in the number of queer respondents — students who identified as lesbian, gay, bisexual, queer or questioning — at about one-third of respondents, compared to 28% from last year’s survey.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Nearly one in three respondents hail from New England states. One in five students are from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, or the D.C. area. Twelve percent of respondents are from the South, 12% are from Pacific states, 9% from the Midwest and 5% are from the Great Lakes region. Nearly 8% of respondents selected “International” as where they are from.
More than half of respondents consider their hometowns to be suburban. Twenty-eight percent are from urban hometowns and 18% are from rural areas, results that are consistent with last year’s Zeitgeist.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
More than half of respondents (52%) attended public high schools, and a third of respondents attended private/parochial day schools. Nine percent attended boarding schools, and 5% attended a charter/magnet school. These demographics are roughly consistent with last year’s results.
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Fifteen percent of respondents were varsity athletes. Notably, nearly 40% of all varsity athletes respondents attended private/parochial schools, compared to 31% of non-athletes.
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Ten percent of this year’s respondents reported having one or two parents who attended Middlebury College. The class of 2024.5 had the highest proportion of legacy or double legacy students, at 15% in total.
Differently-Abled Students
Nearly 13% of participants identify or have identified themselves as differently-abled. According to the Disability Resource Center (DRC), one in every six students at Middlebury contacted the DRC for a form of disability-related accommodation during the 2019–20 academic year.
Major Groups of Respondents
Nearly 20% of respondents have yet to declare their major(s). The most popular majors among respondents are Economics (8%) and Environmental Studies (Joint Majors) (8%), followed closely by Neuroscience (6%) and Political Science (5.5%). About one in four students indicated that they have a second major. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
On-campus learners are overrepresented in Zeitgeist results. Eighty-seven percent of Zeitgeist respondents were on-campus students, 7% were remote learners and 5% were taking the semester off. According to the Spring 2021 Enrollment profile, 436 students are studying remotely, comprising 18% of the student body. With 76 remote respondents, 17% of remote students participated in Zeitgeist.
The Fall 2020 semester saw 2,210 on-campus learners, a figure that dropped to 1,998 students this spring, according to the Registrar.
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Men’s baseball (1–5) tallied its first win of the season this past weekend, splitting a double-header with Hamilton (4–7). While the Panthers were shut out in the first game, they captured the win in the second after a walk-off home run by Evan Hunter ’24.
The Panthers were unable to produce much offense in the first game, losing 11–0 as Hamilton’s pitcher completed a shutout. Middlebury tallied three hits in total with singles from Lucas Flemming ’24, Joseph Duran ‘24 and Tyler Leinan ’24. Starting pitcher Charlie Kutz ’24 struggled, giving up 10 runs (seven earned) and five walks.
The Panthers bounced back in the second game, though. Starting pitcher Henry Gustavson ’24 had his best outing of the season, going four innings and striking out two, giving up two runs (one earned) off four hits and one walk.
“I felt like I did a much better job of getting ahead in the counts,” Gustavson said. “I tried to be aggressive right away. I only had two strikeouts, but I got into a lot of two strike counts that ended in outs so I was really happy about that.”
Gustavson was taken out after the Continentals tied the game at 2–2 after a double drove in an unearned run in the top of the fourth inning. In the bottom of the inning, after a single, a double and a hit-by-pitch loaded the bases, Jack Torpey ’24 doubled in two runs to retake the lead for the Panthers. A single by Hunter brought in two more runners, extending the Middlebury lead to 6–2 ahead of the fifth inning.
“He struck me out in the first at-bat, so I was looking to be aggressive in the next at-bat,” Torpey said about his fourth inning clutch hit. “I got a pitch I could hit and I got it pretty good.”
Hamilton’s offense revved to life in the sixth inning, scoring four runs to tie up the game. The score remained 6–6 until the bottom of the last inning, when Hunter led off the inning and took the game into his own hands.
“I had one approach for the first pitch: I’m only swinging if I see a fastball right in my zone which is what I got,” Hunter said about his at-bat in the bottom of the seventh. “After it went out, there was just that instant feeling of excitement knowing we just won our first game.”
With only 15 players currently on the roster — consisting exclusively of sophomores and first-years — the Panthers continued to prove that they can compete in the NESCAC despite their young complexion.
Men’s baseball will conclude its regular season next Saturday, May 1, with a double-header against the red-hot Amherst College Mammoths (7–2). The action will begin at 1:30 p.m. in Amherst, Massachusetts.
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Women’s softball (4–7) traveled to Hamilton (6–5) this Saturday for three games against the Continentals, winning the first contest but dropping the next two.
The Panthers took an early lead in the first game with scores from Sophie Bolinger ’22 and Noelle Ruschil ’22. The Panthers had an impressive five-run fourth inning and eventually won, 8–5.
“The biggest thing for the team has been adjusting to real games after having not played for so many months,” Chloe McNamara ’23 said. “The more comfortable and loose we play with each other, the better we do.”
In the second outing, Middlebury held a 3–2 lead until the fifth inning when Hamilton had a three-run drive, securing their 5–3 win over the Panthers.
The Continentals took an early 5–1 lead in the final game of the day, but Middlebury closed the gap to one off back-to-back doubles from Emily Moore ’21 and Ruschil, followed by a two-run homer from Sophia Marlino ’22. Marlino scored again in the sixth, but the Continentals ended on top, 6–5.
Middlebury will return home on Saturday, May 1 for a double-header against Amherst (6–5) at 2 p.m.
