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Club sports at Middlebury have rapidly increased in popularity among students in recent years, but many of their leaders say that the administration and the Student Government Association (SGA) have not given them the budget necessary to maintain safe and competitive teams.
Women’s golf placed second in the 2021 NESCAC Fall Golf Qualifier on Oct. 9–10, earning admission to the four-team NESCAC Championship next spring. Amherst College, who won the event, will host the championship.
The heart of Addison County is aged and well worn. Past the pumpkin spice storefronts, oreo cows and paint-chipped houses dotting the hills lies an ancient site with stories to tell. It is the color of rain-dampened sugar maples and ginger leaves, trampled to a fine pulp on the forest floor. It smells of moss and walnuts left to rot under a blanket of fresh snow. The heart of Addison County is fire-singed and beaten by the steel-toed boots of men, unaware of the clouds grimacing from above. We call it Snake Mountain. Locals call it cryptic, beautiful and home.
If you’re walking around the concrete of the new Triangle Park in downtown Middlebury, look down at the ground. You’ll be able to see two parallel diagonal lines on the sidewalk that reflect the shape of the new rail tunnel directly below.Last Wednesday, Bridge and Rail Project Community Liaison Jim Gish took the two of us on a tour of the recently finished Bridge & Rail project. As community liaison, Gish relays updates on the project to Middlebury residents by publishing weekly blog posts, among other methods. Along the way, we were able to learn not only about the technicalities and logistics of taking on such a huge construction project but also about Gish’s life and what led him to this crucial work.
Otter Creek Used Books looks and smells exactly like what one would expect of a secondhand bookstore in rural Vermont. Hidden behind the main highway that cuts through the town, the store had a sign that announced the weekday hours and a cheeky “Sundays by chance.” Next door, a deli played jovial jazz tunes, and customers at a nearby teahouse chatted out in the sun.
The 9th annual Cocoon featured many of the constants that have marked its past decade. A faded paisley rug. A single microphone. A winged logo. And, once again, the gentle hum of a packed crowd. Compared to last year’s heavily-modified Cocoon event, the energy in the lobby before Friday night’s show was electric. Students, professors, parents and community members were clearly overjoyed to be gathering in Mahaney Arts Center’s Robison Hall after so many months away from campus. For students who have been inside the Middlebury bubble over the past year, the sight of so many silvery heads in the audience was bizarre, given how accustomed they are to seeing only young adults. Despite the weight of this anticipation, Cocoon exceeded expectations. The event was organized by the student organization known as Moth Up, led by co-presidents Alex Burns ’21.5 and Kristen Morgenstern ’24, who doubled as emcees. Inspired by the Moth Radio Hour, the evening features true stories told without notes in fewer than ten minutes. This year’s theme, “Rebuilding,” stands in contrast to the 2020 theme of “Downpour,” and inspired stories that generally ended on a hopeful note. The evening opened with a lively story from journalist and community member Christopher Ross. His impeccable comedic timing drew lots of laughs from the audience, even if their smiles were hidden behind their masks. He told the story of his original move to Middlebury in the early 2000s, fraught with snow storms, locked doors and his least favorite song — “Hotel California.” The ten-minute tale had all the makings of a classic road trip comedy, and ended with a heartwarming speech about how, despite initial misgivings, he and his family grew to love the community they found in Vermont. The second storyteller was Luna Simone-Gonzalez ’24. She shared how her relationship with music shifted from being taught to love music as a lifestyle at the performing arts schools she attended in New York City to loving it in her own right and on her own terms at camp and at Middlebury, her first non-music school. Senior Assistant Director of Admissions Steve Zatarain ’15 closed out the act with an emotional story about his evolving relationship with his younger brother, Bobby — whom he named after his favorite TV show, “Bobby’s World.” The two were close as children, but their parents’ difficult divorce pushed a wedge between them. The story ended on a sad note, as Zatarain explained how his brother had been a victim of gun violence twice. While Zatarain used humor throughout, this was definitely one of the night’s more somber stories, and gave audience members a lot to mull over during the intermission. After the show’s intermission, Assistant Director of the Anderson Freeman Resource Center Janae Due welcomed the audience back with her moving tale about the links between her health and her hair. With intense honesty, Due recounted her experiences with precocious puberty as a child, undergoing surgeries as a teenager and suffering from premature menopause as a young adult. This story wasn’t always easy-listening, but Due’s powerful narrative left audience members with a compelling story of will and resistance. Student Life Dean Scott Barnicle offered a good-natured, self-deprecating account of the ups and downs in his life over the past year and a half. He shared how the March 2020 lockdown left him sharing a home with his then-wife, with whom he was already in the process of getting a divorce after 29 years. When he eventually moved out, he overcame the relatable technological hurdles of Match.com and was lucky enough to meet a new partner. They celebrated their one-year anniversary last Saturday. The final speaker was Keziah Wilde ’24, who shared how she has been running at least one continuous mile every day since before her 10th birthday. Whether limping along on a strained hamstring or disguising her mile as a game of tag while at summer camp, she seems to view this challenge as an equalizer in her life, connecting who she is on a given day with who she has been on all the other days for the past decade. While she may not inspire every audience member to pick up the habit, she certainly left us thinking about what it means to be committed. Missed the event? Catch a recording of the livestream from now until October 17 here.
As I sit down to write this, I ask myself, “why bother?” It is common and far too accurate to joke about the absence of young people in concert halls. Such jokes were made to me at least twice in reference to last weekend’s concert by the Doric String Quartet and Jonathan Biss. Of course, the stereotype is not entirely true — there are a few young people who still enjoy hearing, as composer Felix Mendelsohn put it, “songs without words.” Yet the question remains — why do some of us enjoy what so many others on this campus do not? I’d like to bring up a theory which I believe is refuted by last weekend’s concert: so-called “classical” music lacks the vivacity to engage younger audiences. Regardless of the fact that the pieces played on Sunday — quartets by Beethoven and Béla Bartók, and a quintet by Edward Elgar — would be more accurately classified in the Romantic and Modernist periods, I can certainly understand why one would believe this proposed theory. The audience at last Saturday’s concert was, at times, verging on catatonic. The only head-bopping to be found in the audience may have been my own. After the concert, I walked past a number of thumping, sweaty dorm parties. The juxtaposition between these two ways of listening to music was not lost on me. Popular music, by any definition, is made for dancing. It’s a shame that the bourgeois history of “classical” music in the last two hundred years has led to such stoic practices. The music performed last Saturday was every bit as physical as the music played through dorm speakers. Biss and the Doric String Quartet are well aware of this fact. Leaning together, swinging apart and swaying side-to-side, the quartet embodied the music’s swells and drops. The right foot of violinist Alex Reddington never seemed to stop tapping. At moments, I half-expected the group to leap out of their seats and perform a jig. These musicians were, in a very literal sense, a sight to be seen. Many of them forwent the traditional black suit for those of striking blue. Reddington even sported a pair of brightly colored, striped socks, which nicely highlighted his active feet. The musicians’ outfits brought a touch of levity, as if to say, “We’re here to have fun.” Dismissing the pretentiousness that has built up around “classical” music, the performers seemed more like children at play than bastions of European high culture. They seemed to play for the love of the activity itself. As a piece hurtled to its finale, bows were flourished like raised rapiers above the performers’ heads. One could imagine them in some melodrama on an Italian piazza, perhaps costumed as Mercutio or Tybalt. Theatricality is no trivial element when it comes to music. Good music deserves to be fully embodied. It is no coincidence that, in English, music is played just the same as a theatrical play. All of these activities share the adoration of life found in child’s play. That adoration is communal. We feel the highs, the lows and the middling stretches together. Music has an inherent togetherness. Even if the quartet hadn’t introduced pianist Biss as “our really dear friend,” the comradery between all five musicians would have been obvious. They passed themes and motifs one to the other with as much playfulness as technical skill. The folk-dance-inspired second part of Bartók’s Third String Quartet was announced with a sudden plop which violist Hélène Clément sent deftly to violinist Ying Xue. Xue held the note’s tension through a gorgeous passage of pizzicato, or plucked, folk themes. This is music that rewards close cooperation. The Doric String Quartet and Jonathan Biss played excellently together. To the skeptical listeners who are still reading: “classical” music is no less lively, emotional or personal than anything else on Spotify. Sure, it can be esoteric and sometimes just bizarre, but there are outliers in any genre. If you’re still unconvinced, I encourage you to give the next Performing Arts Series concert a try. My meagre 700 words can’t convey the joy and aura of a concert, but I can assure you, there is a particular joy reserved for the musical. That joy is, at its essence, the same you’ll find in a packed Friday-night dorm party or a Wednesday-night open mic.
The men’s and women’s varsity soccer teams are no longer the only Panthers on the soccer pitch. As of this fall, Middlebury now has a fully operational men’s club team. Founded by Blaise Siefer ’23.5 and Marco Fengler ’23, the club took to the field for the first time this fall, after spending months in the works. According to Fengler, the process of getting the team off the ground began two years ago, when he and Siefer first arrived on campus and the college had recently cut its junior varsity men’s soccer team. But even though the program was gone, interest in soccer remained high. “We had a lot of guys interested in soccer, but we lacked organization and infrastructure,” Fengler said. Seeking to create a more structured program, Fengler and Siefer reached out to the Middlebury Director of Club Sports, Doug Connolly. Although he supported the vision for the club, he explained that there were still many obstacles, some of which included medical supervision, budgetary restrictions and field time. Just as things looked like they were finally starting to get going, the Covid-19 pandemic brought club soccer to a screeching halt. “It was tough,” Fengler said. “We got sent home in the spring, and in the fall we realized the school had a lot going on, so it wasn’t the right time.” Not to be deterred, the pair continued to operate behind the scenes throughout the spring semester of 2021. After long talks with the Student Activities Office, they finally got the green light in May. “We still had a lot to do, but we knew we finally had a team,” Fengler said. Middlebury men’s club soccer took its fully fledged form this fall, donning navy and white jerseys on the pitch. Led by Fengler and Siefer as co-presidents, the club now has a full executive board, consisting of three class captains (Otis Miliken ’24, Ben Knudsen ’23, Hugo Bocker ’22), the two aforementioned presidents and social chair Captain Rudolph ’23.5. The team consists of a 27-man travel roster that practices regularly and plays away games in addition to a practice squad that trains several times per week as well. “There is fluidity between the two [the travel roster and the practice squad], however,” Fengler said. “If guys are working hard in practice, then they can potentially make the travel team.” The team has been in fine form on the field with an unbeaten start to the season. Following a statement victory over UVM’s club side in their season opener, the team played to a hard-fought draw against Clarkson before earning back to back victories against University of Massachusetts Lowell and Brandeis. The team is currently listed as a provisional outfit for this season, so they will not be allowed to compete at regionals, but they have big goals for the year nonetheless. “We want to have an unbeaten season,” Fengler said. “We play a fast-paced yet composed game, so fans can expect a lot of goals too.” You can stay up to date with the club’s schedule on the team’s Instagram page as well as on the club’s page on Presence. Middlebury club soccer takes on UVM B and Dartmouth B at 9:30 AM and 4:45 PM this Sunday at Middlebury. Editor’s Note: Blaise Siefer is the Senior Sports Editor for The Campus.
In the early morning of Monday, Sept. 27, the stone slab engraved with “Mead Memorial Chapel” was removed from its place atop the entrance of the chapel. A few hours later, college President Laurie Patton and Chair of the Board of Trustees George Lee sent an email to the community explaining that chapel would no longer bear the name John Mead, Vermont governor from 1910 to 1912 and Middlebury class of 1864, due to his role in promoting eugenics policies in the state that led to the involuntary sterilization of an estimated 250 people. In 1914, Mead and his wife Mary Madelia Sherman donated $74,000, the equivalent of about $2 million in today’s money, for the creation of a new chapel. As the highest point on campus, the site of freshman convocation and a frequent symbol on college merchandise, the chapel has since become an iconic feature of Middlebury’s landscape and branding. It will now be referred to as “The Middlebury Chapel” or just “the chapel.” Following unanimous decisions in the Vermont House and Senate in spring of 2021 to “sincerely apologize and express sorrow and regret” for the state’s eugenics campaign, a working group composed of members from the Senior Leadership Group chosen by Patton, as well as student, faculty and alumni representatives, began working in May 2021 to develop a recommendation for the Board of Trustees on the question of removing Mead’s name from the chapel. The working group members included Provost Jeff Cason, Dean of Admissions Nicole Curvin, Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernandez, Vice President for Advancement Colleen Fitzpatrick, Vice President for Communications David Gibson, Alumni Association President Janine Hetherington ’95, Director and Curator of Special Collections Rebekah Irwin, Student Government Association President Roni Lezama ’22, Associate Professor of History Joyce Mao, Executive Vice President David Provost and General Counsel Hannah Ross, who acted as chair of the group. The committee was gathered with the aim of including a variety of viewpoints. “Different members brought their own expertise and experience to these conversations,” Ross said. Over the course of a month, the committee reviewed a comprehensive and varied group of materials largely put together by Irwin. The first group of documents were Vermont Public Records, mainly from 1911 to 1914 but including some published onward through the 1930s. One of the reports, submitted to the “Trustees of the Vermont State Hospital for the Insane,” explicitly named Mead as an advocate of eugenics. In the report, a hospital official wrote, “Governor Mead has an idea in view, which in my opinion, should be endorsed by legal enactment, for the sterilization of these degenerates.” The degenerates in question were identified as “dangerous imbeciles,” particularly females during the “procreative period.” Other resources included the scholarship of independent historians Mercedes de Guardiola, Kevin Dann and Nancy Gallagher, an online archive called “Vermont Eugenics: A Documentary History,” Vermont newspapers from the early 20th century, college archival records, college Trustee minutes, correspondence between John Mead and Middlebury President John Thomas, College Advancement records and documents in the Records of the Office of the Governor at the State Historical Society in Middlesex, VT, according to Irwin. Irwin further noted that the group considered experiences of other schools in similar situations, such as the efforts of the “Yale University Committee to Establish Principles on Renaming.” This document also guided the University of Vermont’s renaming of the Bailey Howe Library. Other schools that have grappled with the symbolism of building names, mascots and campus symbols include Bryn Mawr College, the University of Richmond, Princeton University and Georgetown University. Of all the information available, particularly influential was the State Legislature’s background research, witnesses and documentation around Bill J.R.H.2. This Joint Resolution points directly to a 1912 bill put forward by Governor Mead, which was passed by the Vermont General Assembly but then vetoed by Governor Allen M. Fletcher due to constitutional concerns, that led “directly to Vermont state agencies and institutions adopting policies and procedures that carried out ‘the intent of the vetoed legislation and the beliefs of the eugenics movement,’” wrote Irwin in an email to The Campus. “The state legislature itself drew that painful line back to Mead’s proposed legislation,” she continued. After a careful review of these materials, the group made its recommendation to remove Mead’s name in June 2021. The Board of Trustees made its decision unanimously by late August. The email announcement stressed the working group’s concerted efforts to recognize the complexities involved in renaming: “We want to stress up front that this was a process involving deep reflection and discussion. No issue like this should be undertaken lightly or often,” it read. For Lezama, this comprehensive process led to a clear conclusion. “People will praise academia for being a space to have young students deliberate hard topics, but as we actually consider the individual lives of the students that compose Middlebury, it’s also about providing equitable spaces for these students, especially BIPOC and low-income students, to thrive. There is no ‘maybe we should hear them out’ when it comes to a subject like eugenics that is terribly harmful and has very serious impacts on the well-being of students,” he said. As the only student in the group, Lezama’s main goal was to ensure that the name change itself, though symbolic and powerful, is not the end of the college’s efforts to support students from historically marginalized communities. “This is about moving forward and actively educating ourselves on harm that is done to members of our community, past or present. With these actions, Middlebury has an opportunity to differentiate itself from the rest of academia by actively taking a stance against ideals that harm its students. A space representing eugenics has no place on our campus.” However, not everyone in the Middlebury community shares Lezama’s conviction that the removal of Mead’s name was the proper choice. James Douglas ’72, a former governor of Vermont and executive in residence at the college, expressed a number of reasons he was unhappy with the decision. The first regarded the process itself: “I was shocked to see the lack of transparency. This was done by a secret committee. The [slab’s removal] was done under the cover of darkness. I don’t understand that mentality, when in other endeavors the college has been open and inclusive,” he said. According to Ross, the early morning removal of the slab was due to the Facilities Department’s schedule, which begins its workday at 7 a.m. Next, Douglas explained why he does not feel the removal of Mead’s name is a fair representation of Mead’s career. “I certainly don’t condone the study of or implementation of a eugenics program, but those were different times. There was a great deal of support for eugenics among people with distinguished careers, including Teddy Roosevelt, Margaret Sanger, W.E.B. Du Bois and Helen Keller. So, I think it’s unfair to apply a 21st century lens to another era in our history,” he said. Douglas also noted that the removal announcement ignores many other positive aspects of Mead’s career, including his support for progressive child labor laws, his creation of a school of agriculture that is now Vermont Technical College, his doubling of highway funding and his efforts to reform campaign finance. “I really believe that someone’s legacy should be determined by the entirety of his or her life, not by comments that are later unfortunate. No one is perfect, especially with the hindsight of history,” Douglas said. Taking issue with the college’s claim that the name removal does not amount to an erasure of history, Douglas replied, “Of course they are. One important element of history is that he gave the money, and his name has been on it for more than a century. I think it would be appropriate to return the money [for the chapel] and other money that he gave to the college.” According to the administration, Mead’s financial gift to the college was not conditional upon his name being put on the building, so the college is not obligated to return the gift to the Mead family. Lastly, Douglas was perplexed as to why the action was taken when the vast majority of students were likely unaware of Mead’s history and connection to eugenics. Nor does he believe the Vermont legislature’s formal apology necessitated the name removal. “I don’t think [the apology] leads to this cancellation of the legacy of the philanthropy of Governor Mead. The college has made a serious mistake,” he said. Though there have been no previous calls for the removal of Mead’s name by Middlebury community members, Irwin noted that more and more colleges and universities across the country are beginning to engage in honest debates and conversations about what and who they choose to commemorate. “It’s about how those choices express our values,” she said. Thinking of the broader implications of the decision, Douglas commented, “There is a growing attitude in academia of wokeness and political correctness. We all need to take a deep breath. A college campus is the kind of place we ought to be able to have these discussions, even uncomfortable decisions. This decision runs counter to the purpose of higher education.” Reiterating the official announcement, Ross stated, “This is not about erasing history, but just the opposite — engaging with it so we can learn from it. Our educational mission is at the center of all these deliberations.” The Educational Task Force is currently planning to work with a variety of departments and groups on campus to develop recommendations on how to acknowledge and educate about the decision to first honor a member of this community and then remove that honor, according to Ross. “Our educational efforts might include signage, architectural installations and public art – with the goal of encouraging constructive dialogue and debate around not only the issue of the chapel name but also its wider implications as a complex issue of our time,” she said. As of now, there are no plans to actively enforce the new name or obligate employees to refrain from referring to the chapel as Mead Chapel, according to Ross. The Educational Task Force may consider a publicity campaign to promote a new name if one is chosen for the chapel, but such a campaign is not part of the administration’s current plans.
Things are finally starting to feel normal again here at Middlebury. Proc is bustling, classrooms are full and Atwater residents are throwing ragers again. And with nearly 99% of on-campus students fully vaccinated, the days of universal twice-weekly testing, outdoor masking and close contacts have been relegated to the past — at least for now. But for some, Middlebury’s high vaccination rate isn’t enough. For immunocompromised students, students with autoimmune disorders, for anyone who is at higher risk of contracting Covid-19, the rapid return to pre-pandemic times is not just a respite from strict policies. It’s also cause for anxiety. Look. We’re not saying we want to return to the way things were last year, no one does. What we’re hoping is that the college will meet us somewhere in the middle — to make it possible for immunocompromised students and other high risk individuals to make informed decisions about their health. And while we can’t speak for all members of the Middlebury community who are at higher risk of contracting Covid-19 or becoming severely ill, we wanted to share what’s been on our minds for the past few weeks. We know the vaccine is effective. Even though there have been breakthrough cases, these have nearly all led to mild illness. But we also know that for some people — including immunocompromised individuals — the vaccine is not as effective. And we know there are people with autoimmune disorders or who are otherwise at higher risk of contracting Covid-19 here at Middlebury. You’re hearing from two of them right now. So for Middlebury community members who are unsure how effective their two (or three) shots will be against the Delta variant, seeing packed dining halls and teeming classrooms and knowing that there is no campus-wide testing in place is a major cause for concern. Middlebury admin, we’ll level with you. We’re pretty frustrated with the way high risk populations appear to have been overlooked this semester. It feels like we’re fending for ourselves on a campus where most people think they’re invincible. Here’s what we propose. The school is currently testing in-season athletes and unvaccinated students. It’s also offering optional “asymptomatic testing” on Mondays for those who have a known or suspected exposure to someone with Covid-19 or who have engaged in activities that put them at higher risk for contracting the virus. But limited testing for small portions of Middlebury’s community isn’t enough to keep its most vulnerable members safe — and it’s unacceptable given what the college has said it’s capable of. (Not to mention, every other NESCAC is regularly testing students as of this writing.) Midd, you’ve said you have the capacity to set up a regular testing program and that current conditions have not made it necessary. But how will you even know if and when testing becomes necessary considering the absence of campus-wide screening? Testing should be proactive, not reactive. And how will your decision not to test all students impact the community members who stand to lose the most? If Middlebury still deems testing unnecessary, we ask that, at a minimum, the college supports students and is transparent about the presence of Covid-19 on campus. While many professors have been incredibly understanding about students needing to miss class, some even advocating that anyone feeling even a little sick should take the day off, this has not been universal. We ask that all professors discourage sick students from coming to class until they’ve received a negative test, and provide a Zoom link or other resources to help prevent students from coming into class to avoid missing something important. We also ask that the college support students who make the choice to quarantine after a known exposure — even though CDC guidance doesn’t require it for those who are vaccinated — by offering a dean's excuse to students who have to miss class. The campus Covid-19 reporting dashboard was updated twice-weekly last semester, but it is now updated only once a week. The dashboard doesn’t seem to be keeping up with the real case counts, even contradicting other messages sent out by the college. A Sept. 16 email from Dean of Students Derek Doucet said that the college had identified positives — in the plural — since students had arrived, but only one case was displayed on the dashboard at the time. On the same day, Vermont reported its highest number of positives in a single day since the start of the pandemic. What we’re asking is for the college to give us more information. Regularly update the Covid-19 case dashboard — even if there really are no new positives on a given day. Give us updates on all cases in the on-campus college community. Let us know if there are contacts in quarantine. We need this information because, even though our peers may not need to worry about getting severely ill if they contract Covid-19, not everyone can assume the same. We need this information so we can make our own decisions about what we need to do to stay safe — whether that’s double masking, avoiding crowded dining halls or seeking more regular testing off campus. As much time as we’ve put into thinking about and writing this op-ed, what we really hope is that it will be obsolete by the time it’s printed. We know we’re not the only ones feeling overlooked by current Covid-19 measures. Recently, we’ve seen posters around campus calling for similar measures. We all want to get back to normal. But normal shouldn’t come at the expense of the students who have the worst prognosis. Abigail Chang is a managing editor for The Campus and a member of the class of 2023. Anna Metzler is a member of the class of 2023.5.
Middlebury’s Mead Memorial Chapel, named for John Mead, a Vermont governor and member of the class of 1864, lost the name Mead this morning in acknowledgement of its namesake’s role in promoting eugenics in Vermont during the early 1900s. The piece of stone bearing the chapel’s name was removed as of this morning.In a message to the community, college President Laurie Patton and George Lee, chair of the Board of Trustees, announced that a working group and the trustees had engaged in a careful deliberative process and decided to remove the Mead name. “We want to stress upfront that this was a process involving deep reflection and discussion. No issue like this should be undertaken lightly or often,” they wrote. The chapel will now be referred to as “The Middlebury Chapel” or just “the chapel.” In 1914, Mead and his wife Mary Madelia Sherman donated $74,000 to the college to create a new chapel. In 1912, two years before his donation, Mead gave a farewell address to the Vermont legislature in which he advocated for the use of eugenic theory in creating legislation and policy. His comments in that speech about marriage restrictions, segregation and sterilization inspired the research behind the Eugenics Survey of Vermont and led to the legalization of voluntary eugenical sterilization two decades later. The renaming follows unanimous decisions in the Vermont House and Senate earlier this year to “sincerely apologize and express sorrow and regret” for the state’s role in the eugenics movement, including the forced sterilization of 250 Vermonters. A Middlebury working group convened in May after the Vermont Legislature’s apology to examine the college’s relationship to Vermont’s eugenics history and the role of Governor Mead. After reviewing archival research regarding Mead and the history of eugenics in Vermont, considering the history and use of the chapel today, and reflecting on actions taken by other organizations that acknowledged historical connections to eugenics, the group recommended that the Mead name be removed.“Following its review, citing his central role in advancing eugenics policies that resulted in harm to hundreds of Vermonters, the working group determined that ‘the name of former Governor Mead on an iconic building in the center of campus is not consistent with what Middlebury stands for in the 21st century,’” Lee and Patton wrote in their email this morning.Patton then sent the working group’s recommendation to the Board of Trustees’ Prudential Committee, which voted unanimously to remove the name.The email from Patton and Lee also clarified that the decision was not made in response to student protest, nor was it an effort to erase part of the college’s history. The college said they “will be candid” regarding the decision to remove the Mead name where there are currently references to the chapel and that they are considering “educational signage.”The chapel is an iconic feature of Middlebury’s landscape and branding. It marks entry into the Middlebury community as the site of convocation, appears on merchandise and can be seen far and wide due to its location at the highest point on campus. In addition, alumni of the college, along with faculty and staff and their children, can use Mead Chapel for weddings.Mead’s financial gift to the college was not conditional upon his name being put on the building, so the college is not obligated to return the gift to the Mead family. Changing the name is not a fundraising opportunity, and there are currently no plans to rename the chapel, according to the announcement. Other signage around campus and text on the website containing the Mead name had not been changed at the time of writing, but is expected to be altered soon.
Three new businesses have arrived on Merchants Row in downtown Middlebury, including the Little Seed Coffee, new locations for Berkshire Hathaway Realty - Vermont Realty Group and the food spot Juice Amour, which was previously located in East Middlebury. Merchants Row’s central location provides its shops with heavy foot traffic, which has become even more important for local businesses during the ongoing economic downturn. Shops on Merchants Row are also frequented by college students, since the street is within walking distance of campus, making the location a significant draw for new establishments. Little Seed Coffee occupies 24 Merchants Row, and its owners Anthony and Maggie Gerakos are avid coffee roasters who lived in Brooklyn just last year. The couple began roasting coffee beans a few years ago on a small sample roaster, a move which set plans in motion to launch a coffee shop. Maggie Gerakos indicated that the pandemic sped up the timeline of opening Little Seed Coffee but ultimately expressed that it has paid off. “We really loved the community of Middlebury and how supportive everyone has been here,” she said. While Little Seed Coffee does not officially open until Oct. 2, it is already buzzing with pre-opening activity. As the Gerakoses prepare each day by hiring new employees, working with contractors, amassing a variety of coffee beans and creating merchandise, they make an effort to embrace the locals who walk by. “We’ve had people in the neighborhood sort of wandering around . . . we’d be around to answer them as best as possible about what we’re planning to do,” Anthony Gerakos said. “We’re hoping [Little Seed] will be a really nice spot for the community of Middlebury,” Maggie Gerakos said. The location has two floors, and the Gerakos plan to use each space differently. The couple intends to fill the upstairs space with music, and customers will be able to chat and purchase coffee there. The downstairs will have room for two long communal tables and is meant to be a quiet space where students and working professionals can gather. The couple hopes to do community outreach through their “You Sip, We Give” program. This program will involve donating 5% of the shop’s quarterly proceeds to small nonprofits based in the communities that their beans originate from. Since Little Seed Coffee plans to change the coffee beans it offers every few months, the Gerakos plan to give back to multiple communities. “That way, we can support not only the [coffee] farmers but their communities at large,” Maggie Gerakos said. At 32 Merchants Row, Brokers Neil and Sue Mackey partnered with several real estate agents to open a branch of Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices - Vermont Realty Group in mid-July. Berkshire Hathaway - Vermont Realty Group has gone through several changes throughout its almost fifty-year history in Vermont. Started in 1972 by Jack Russell in his home in Georgia, Vermont, the group was originally called Jack Associates and was part of the Century 21 franchise. In March 2020, the group changed its name to Vermont Realty Group and switched to partner with Berkshire Hathaway HomeServices. “Having been with the Century 21 franchise since the inception of [Jack Associates], it was somewhat of a difficult decision,” said Neil Mackey. “I think [the Russells] have been very pleased with the change.” Mackey himself started his own real estate company in Middlebury in 1986, which was later acquired by Jack Associates in the early 2000s. Over the course of the pandemic, real estate has been subject to plenty of changes and adjustments. Due to travel restrictions and quarantine requirements, some out-of-state buyers have been unable to look at properties in person, instead relying on associates at Berkshire Hathaway to do video tours of properties. These changes have also led to many out of staters buying property in Middlebury and the greater state of Vermont. “We’re seeing a tremendous influx of out-of-state people coming in and buying property in Vermont right now,” Mackey said. Although Juice Amour currently has a store in Middlebury on Route 7, owner Sheri Bedard is moving her Middlebury store to a more downtown location at 16 Merchants Row. Bedard opened the business with her father, Jack Bedard. Juice Amour serves juices, smoothies and vegan food, which, according to the Addison Independent, aligns with Bedard’s values, as she is a vegan. According to Juice Amour’s website, “creating nutritious, delicious, beautiful and accessible food to our community is at the core of everything we do.” The business buys their produce from organic farmers in Vermont, and juices are served and delivered in glass jars that can be reused when brought back into the shop. Juice Amour also uses “100% compostable single use items'' to eliminate waste and plastic usage, according to its website. Bedard hopes to open Juice Amour’s new location on Merchants Row on Oct. 1, the Addison County Independent reported. The three businesses join six others that are set to open their doors in Middlebury within the next year, including an ice cream parlor, a climbing gym and an art supply store.
Miguel Sanchez-Tortoledo seemed to know everybody. On campus, he couldn’t help stopping to greet nearly everyone he passed, which often made those walking with him late. His family and friends remember him as an overwhelmingly positive presence and magnetic personality whose ambition never got in the way of his care for those around him. Miguel died on Aug. 14 after a months-long battle with cancer. He was 19. Miguel grew up in Bell Gardens, Calif. — a city just outside of Los Angeles. At Middlebury, he studied sociology and political science, served as first-year and sophomore Student Government Association (SGA) senator and as a representative on Community Council, worked at the Student Financial Services office and much more. He wanted to be involved in everything, and he gave his all to everything he did. His mother, Juana Tortoledo, always knew that Miguel would be the first in their family to go to college. He came from a low-income, immigrant household, and he was determined to give his parents a better life. He told his mother, “When I get rich and have a good job, I’m going to buy you a house… I’m going to help all my family and my community.” Miguel was always sure of himself. After joining the cheerleading squad in junior high, he refused to pay credence to those around him who teased him saying that cheerleading was for girls and that he should quit. His mother remembers him telling her, “I'm going to stay [on the team] because I know who I am, and I know what I want and I know I can do it.” Miguel attended Bell Gardens Senior High School, where he served as the Associated Student Body (ASB) class president his first three years and ASB president as a senior. He received the presidential volunteer service award four times for completing 600 hours of community service each year. In addition to juggling multiple part time jobs, he led the marching band as a horn sergeant. During breaks in the long practices, he worked on his college applications under his tuba. “He was never supposed to stay in Bell Gardens,” his friend since middle school, Emily Galdamez, said. “He was always made for much bigger things.” After winning several scholarships, including a $20,000 Coca-Cola Scholarship, Miguel threw himself into life at Middlebury. He scored a job at the Student Financial Services office off of one conversation with Associate Vice President Kim Downs-Burns during orientation. She knew instantly that he would put students coming into the office for difficult conversations at ease. He went above and beyond his job description and took every opportunity to question the school’s policies and advocate for his peers. His greatest passion at Middlebury was SGA, and he was committed to making the college better for all students. He tried to meet as many as he could so that he could best serve their needs. And once he set his mind to do something, he made it happen no matter what. After overhearing students complaining about having to fill their water bottles from the bathroom sink in Stewart Hall, his first-year dorm, he organized to get water bottle refilling stations installed soon after. “He never did things for himself,” Melisa Gurkan ’23.5 said. “Anything that he did, he did it with a purpose, and he did it for other people.” In class, Miguel was animated by questions of how he could practically improve his community and city, rather than abstract theories. His career ambitions changed often, but they were always oriented towards public service — he had recently settled on working in politics and law. “He had a vision that he wanted to contribute to make things better,” Associate Professor of Sociology Linus Owens, Miguel’s advisor, said. “If we’re going to get anywhere, we’ll need people like him and people inspired by what he did in his life and the courage with which he faced such an unfathomable thing to happen to someone so young.” Even after moving across the country, Miguel remained closely connected to his family and carried his pride and love for them wherever he went. His first year, he returned from winter break with carefully-wrapped packages of his mother’s tamales packed in his suitcase, which he proudly gave out to all his friends. “Everything he did was to make his parents proud,” his high school friend, Joel Leyva, said. “I think that was what made him the proudest, and I think that's what allowed him to be at peace towards the end, knowing that he made his parents proud.” As committed as Miguel was to his family, school and future, he never took life too seriously. His friends disagree about how his laugh sounded — Eric Burchill ’23 said it was a deep belly laugh and Gurkan remembers it as fast and high pitched — but they all say it rang out often. He was deeply devoted to his friends. When Leyva was bedridden alone at home, recovering from a surgery, running out of money for food and too proud to tell his parents that he needed help, Miguel showed up at his doorstep unprompted with bags full of groceries. And when Miguel found out that Adam Maguire ’23 hadn’t celebrated his birthday much growing up, he tracked down Maguire’s friends from home to plan a party for him. Miguel spent much of his time with friends, exploring Vermont and bringing them along on spontaneous visits to restaurants and spots he found online. He belted along to Adele, Taylor Swift and Olivia Rodrigo with unabashed enthusiasm, if not talent, and dominated the dance floor at parties when “Shake It Off” came over the speakers. In his rare moments of free time, he liked to clean and reorganize the 150 knives he kept cloth-wrapped and stored in a black duffel bag in his closet to sell for his side job as a knife salesman where he set records for most sales in his first few months. On quiet mornings, he sat in the back corner of Proctor lounge, facing the door to the dining hall so that he could greet people as they came through and pull them in to share a conversation or breakfast with him. His friends remember him as unshakably positive, even after he was diagnosed with cancer in March and had to return to Los Angeles for treatment. While undergoing 52 rounds of chemotherapy, he was determined to finish the semester and keep up with his job. Throughout his illness, Miguel never lost hope. He was elected junior SGA senator from his hospital bed. From there, he applied to scholarships, plotted his eventual run for SGA president and shared his excitement about returning to Middlebury in the fall and possibly studying abroad in Spain. He also never lost his joy or his adventurous spirit. Whenever he got sick of hospital food, he would pull out his IV, tape down the needle to stop the bleeding and hit the road with his friends to visit his favorite restaurants, more often than not Dave’s Hot Chicken. On June 12, Miguel fell into a coma, just two treatments shy of completing his chemotherapy. He died nine weeks later, on Aug. 14, less than two weeks before his 20th birthday. Miguel is survived by his mother, Juana Tortoledo, father, Miguel Sanchez and brothers, Sebastian, 17, and Kevin, 31, but he touched many more people. A GoFundMe organized to cover his medical and funeral expenses gathered more than 1,200 donations. The college is planning an event to celebrate Miguel’s life early this fall. Editor’s note: Eric Burchill ’23 is a copy editor for The Campus.
For the first time in history, Middlebury will house undergraduates at the Bread Loaf campus to accommodate some of the more than 300 extra students enrolled at the college this fall. The college also purchased the Inn on the Green in August and arranged several rooms at the Marriott Hotel on Court Street to house students during the semester. Disruptions from the Covid-19 pandemic led to a drastic increase in the college’s student population. This fall, several hundred students returned after taking time off during the 2020-21 academic year, approximately 150 more students remained on campus who would typically have been abroad, and high enrollment in the first-year class brought the student body to more than 2,800. After exhausting campus dorm spaces and allowing all upperclassmen who applied to live off-campus, additional rooms were still needed to house students. Residential Life assigned 63 students to Bread Loaf and an additional 20 to the Inn on the Green, which the college intends to use for student housing over the next three years. Another 15 students will reside in the Marriott Hotel, according to AJ Place, associate dean of students. The decision to reserve 33 Adirondack View and 220 College Street as quarantine and emergency use spaces further limited on-campus housing options. The college announced the new Bread Loaf housing option via email July 15, presenting it as a “unique opportunity for juniors and seniors” and an “intentional community.” Middlebury initially tried to incentivize students to volunteer to live at Bread Loaf by offering a $1,500 room and dining credit to Bread Loaf residents. However, the incentives were later expanded to 50% off room and board costs, an advanced housing selection draw for fall 2022, free ski equipment rentals and passes to the Snow Bowl and Rikert Nordic Center, complimentary laundry service and a faculty/staff parking pass to allow parking anywhere on campus aside from ADA-only spaces. “After further consideration and conferring with some student groups, we decided to offer a more significant incentive to draw more applicants,” Place said. He also said the costs of housing students at Bread Loaf would exceed any revenue from extra tuition but could not offer more specific estimates. Only 22 students elected to live at Bread Loaf, while another 41 had no other choice due to a late housing draw time slot. The Marriott residents will receive the same discounted room and board as the Bread Loaf students, but those at Inn on the Green will not. “We got to Middlebury expecting to have a Middlebury experience, paying to have a Middlebury experience, and not being a part of campus life and having a room on campus is in no way that experience,” Sam Lipin ’23.5 said. Lipin was assigned involuntarily to live at Bread Loaf. For Lipin, the college’s incentives are insufficient compensation for the social and academic costs of living at Bread Loaf. Further increasing Lipin’s frustration is that he has only had about five weeks of normal campus life. He and other members of the class of 2023.5 living at Bread Loaf came to Midlebury in the spring of 2020 and have not yet experienced a full, normal semester on campus. “The incentives to me are basically nothing. Honestly, it should probably be all of room and board off, and maybe even some of tuition,” Lipin said. Residential Life has worked to create the advertised “intentional community” at Bread Loaf by planning social and outdoor activities at the satellite campus, but isolation from the main campus and other obstacles have hampered efforts. “Since the group of students living at Bread Loaf will be fairly small, we’re expecting to help build a strong community for these students,” Place said. “This will include programming that utilizes outdoor spaces and the resources that are abundant at Bread Loaf.” Bread Loaf students were promised an on-campus student lounge, but as of Sept. 14, the college is still working to identify and designate an on-campus space to serve as a lounge. Another concern for Bread Loaf students is transportation between the campuses. Shuttles depart from Bread Loaf beginning at 6 a.m., and run every hour with a mid-morning and mid-afternoon break in service. The shuttle also stops at the Marriott before reaching Adirondack Circle (ADK), an estimated half hour after leaving Bread Loaf. On weeknights (Sunday through Wednesday), the final shuttle departs ADK for the Marriott and Bread Loaf at 11:30 p.m., and on weekends (Thursday through Saturday), the last time slot is extended to 1:30 a.m. Bread Loaf students will have full access to dining halls on the main campus, as well as a continental breakfast from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m., dinner from 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. and grab-and-go options offered in the Bread Loaf dining hall. Four positions were added to the dining department to staff the new dining hall; two new hires and two previous employees from the main campus will work at Bread Loaf, according to Executive Director of Food Service Operations Dan Detora. The dining department currently has 12 vacant positions. Despite the obstacles, Place and Dean of Students Derek Doucet remain optimistic about the success of Bread Loaf. “We know that there are some inconveniences to the location,” Place and Doucet said in an email to The Campus. “But we are confident this group will find the experience of living at the Bread Loaf campus rewarding.” Note: Sam Lipin ’23.5 is a Sports Editor for The Campus
The leaves are beginning to change in Vermont, and it's starting to feel like fall. I compiled a list of books that remind me of autumn, my favorite time of year to curl up with a cup of tea and a good read. “Circe” by Madeline Miller When I think about fall reading, “Circe” is one of the first novels that comes to mind. Although Miller does not specify the season in which it takes place, “Circe” is filled with magic and stunning landscapes, two aspects that remind me of fall at Middlebury. There is an enchanting feeling on campus that is echoed in the book — the time when the leaves begin to change and golden light filters through the trees. Circe is the daughter of the sun god Helios and the ocean nymph Perse. There’s something unusual about her from a young age as she quickly discovers that she possesses the power of witchcraft. This power is strong enough to threaten even the gods, leading Zeus to banish her to a remote island. Circe is one of my favorite female protagonists. She is strong-willed, independent and resilient. Miller expertly weaves countless well-known Greek myths into this story, making it a very fun read. “Writers and Lovers” by Lily King I love stories that are deeply rooted in a place. In “Writers and Lovers,” the city of Cambridge, Massachusetts is tangible to the reader. The novel follows Casey Peabody, a young woman who feels lost as she arrives there in 1997. She picks up a waitressing job and is forced to find her way in a new place with new people. I found a lot of comfort in this book, making it perfect to curl up with in the fall. Casey has no idea what she’s doing, and I read it during a time when I was feeling a bit unmoored myself. Casey is a relatable protagonist, and I appreciated that King does not sugarcoat her experience. “The Secret History” by Donna Tartt “The Secret History” is a classic New England fall read. This novel takes place at a small liberal arts college in Vermont, a place that draws many parallels to Middlebury with its intimate classes and beautiful campus. However, unlike its setting, the plot of “The Secret History” is far from tranquil. The tight-knit group of classics majors, who are the central figures in the novel, murders one of their closest friends. I loved the unpredictability of this novel as well as the suspense that grows with each page. It is not a whodunnit story, but instead an investigation into what led to the dire circumstances that are revealed in the prologue. The characters are vibrant and twisted, each carrying their own secrets and demons. “Sing, Unburied, Sing” by Jesmyn Ward “Sing, Unburied, Sing” is a Southern Gothic novel filled with ghosts and complicated family dynamics. Jojo and his younger sister Kayla live with their grandparents, since their parents are largely absent. This is a sad read, dealing with drug addiction, prison and parents ill-equipped to raise their mixed-race children; however, I loved the relationship between Jojo and Kayla, which is both beautiful and heartbreaking. Jojo is forced to take on responsibilities that no child should have to deal with at the age of 13. The paranormal aspect of “Sing, Unburied, Sing,” in particular reminded me of fall. It is rare to find a novel that successfully mixes elements of spookiness with strong lyrical writing, something Ward achieves effortlessly here. I also loved the Mississippi setting.
The strength of the bond between Lionel Messi and FC Barcelona cannot be overstated. He joined the team when he was just 13, and has led the club to the pinnacle of domestic and international soccer. When he recently became a free agent on July 1, it scarcely made the news. It was his complete intention to rejoin Barcelona, taking a pay cut so that the team could be rebuilt around him. Messi is 34, with the possibility of two or three contract extensions left in his career. When Messi became a free agent, I was just about to start my grand European adventure. Like many students, I enrolled in Middlebury with the hope of utilizing their vast network of schools abroad to spend a semester in another country. And when it came time for me to apply to these schools and programs, I did just that. I was set to arrive in Copenhagen in the fall of 2020, but of course the world had other plans. After deferring to the spring 2021 semester, I withdrew my application, realizing that it wasn’t worth the eight hour flight and the financial burden to sit in a room, staring out my window at an unavailable outside world. Instead of semesters filled with new experiences, foods and languages, I returned to campus for two semesters of online courses, clubs and friends. After spending two weeks alone in Copenhagen, gorging myself on fried foods and art museums, I flew to Paris for the remainder of my summer abroad. One day in Paris, I was sitting in my rented apartment late at night, watching the day's Olympic events and medals recapped on the small television that sat in the living room. I had just purchased tickets to a Paris Saint-Germain (PSG) soccer match on a whim. They were $30, and as far back in the stadium as you could go. And I was going to see Neymar da Silva Santos Júnior, Messi’s former teammate, and Kylian Mbappé Lottin, a top star in world soccer, pummel whichever team was unfortunate enough to face-off against the Parisian juggernauts. Their season home opener was just days away, giving me enough time to see them play before I had to board the eight-hour flight home. I picked up my phone and scrolled through Instagram to kill some time before I could go to bed at a reasonably late hour. Just after 9 p.m., I saw a post about Messi pop into my feed. He had left Barcelona without a contract renewal. I feverishly went to the Twitter page of Fabrizio Romano, the world’s leading soccer transfer reporter. He had confirmed it: Messi was leaving Barcelona. I was shocked, stunned, and energized, like I had downed two espressos. I wanted to tell someone about it — shock like this needs to be shared — but there was no one. I was alone in a foreign country, with no local friends or family. I texted my brother, who was still asleep due to his near nocturnal sleep schedule, but it didn’t satiate the urge I had to share the news. I needed to tell someone. So I tested how it sounded out loud. “Messi is leaving Barcelona,” I said to my empty apartment. I wanted to run out in the streets and talk with strangers, to see how they felt, but it was night, and I scarcely spoke their language enough to convey the news. I spent the night flipping through the rolodex of teams that both wanted and — more importantly — could afford to sign Messi. By the time I woke up, PSG had extended an offer. Not only that, they were Messi’s first choice. My eyes shot open as I came to the realization that I might have bought the cheapest tickets ever to see Messi play. Two days later, I was heading to the airport to pick up my girlfriend from her arriving flight, as she would spend the last week with me in Paris before we both returned home. After leaving the airport, my feed was flooded with pictures of hoards of fans just yards from where I had been. They were at the airport to see Messi. He had just flown in from Spain to a hero’s welcome. Hundreds of Parisians flocked to the airport to catch a glimpse of the man who would bring fame and glory to their team and, for this week, my team. Before the match, I wanted to get a real Messi PSG jersey. I thought it was momentous to be in Paris when the world’s greatest soccer player joined the local team, the kind of story I’d tell my grandkids about. So I ventured to the PSG store on the Champs-Élysées. Before I even rounded the corner to the correct block, a father and son, in matching navy-blue jerseys, passed by. I swiveled to see “Messi” printed across the back. One out of every ten people walking along the Champs-Élysées that day wore a Messi jersey. It was incredible. I had to wait over an hour just to get inside the store — it was a Black-Friday-like rush to grab each and every Messi jersey the store could print. Messi didn’t play in the match I attended; he was understandably taking time to adjust to his new life in a new country before he was ready to make his debut. When we arrived, however, they were giving a special presentation of all the year’s new signings. After each one was presented, the anticipation built until finally the Argentine stepped foot onto the field. A hauntingly loud chant of “Messi. Messi. Messi.” echoed through the stadium. It was followed by an equally spirited chant of “Ici c’est Paris” (This is Paris). It was the first time in over a year that it mattered where I was. In a year that was remote, when you could be a student or a friend from anywhere in the world, it never mattered where I set up my computer. I’ll always remember the time that I was in Paris when the world’s best decided to lace up his boots for this city. It felt like it was my city too.
With the academic year underway at Middlebury, fall sports are back in full swing — and in typical fashion, the Panther squads carry high expectations this season. Here are previews for each of the 11 fall varsity sports teams competing this season. Women’s golf season preview by Josh Rosenstein Head coach: Bill Mandigo (33 years at Midd) Captains: Maddy Cordeiro ’23, Katie Murphy ’23 Players to watch for: Audrey Tir ’25, Kayla Li ’23, Jacqueline Slinkard ’24 Background: Women’s golf didn’t have the best of seasons last spring, finishing fourth among five teams in the 2021 NESCAC Championship. There are positives to take away from last semester, though, including the play of captain Katie Murphy ’23. Last spring, Murphy led the Panthers in finishes in every tournament. With her paving the way, how far can the Panthers go? Are there any first-year players who can step in and immediately compete for a top spot? Key matches: George Phinney Classic (Home; Sept. 18–19), Williams Invitational (Away; Oct. 2–3) The Middlebury women’s golf team kicked off their season last weekend at the Hamilton Invitational at Yahnundasis Golf Club in New Hartford, New York. The opener was the first of five tournaments of the fall season. The Panthers are also excited to travel together as a team in a more normal manner, as far as Covid-19 restrictions are concerned. The players still get tested every Monday, and remain cautious when interacting with other teams, but their travel schedule is that of a typical season. Besides the tournament at home next weekend, the NESCAC qualifiers on Oct. 9 and 10 are marked on all the players’ calendars. The top four teams qualify for the NESCAC Championships in the spring, and the winner gets the privilege of hosting the tournament. “We are so beyond grateful and just so pumped to be able to compete this season,” Murphy and Cordeiro said in an interview with The Campus. “There is still a lot of uncertainty in the world, so [we are] thankful Midd and the NESCAC did everything possible to make this happen.” Men’s golf season preview By Charles Crounse Head coach: Bill Beaney (34 years at Midd) Players to watch for: Colin McCaigue ’24, Anthony King ’23, Sean McGarrity ’23, Hogan Beazley ’23, KJ Dieker ’22 Background: Men’s golf won the NESCAC Championship last spring, giving them some momentum ahead of this season. The Panthers will certainly miss the contributions of recently graduated captain Jordan Bessalel ’21, the reigning NESCAC Player of the Year, but the team has the pieces to restock the lineup. One key player will be Hogan Beazley ’23 — the junior was an All-NESCAC First Team player last year. Key matches: Williams Fall Invitational (Away; Sept. 18–19), Sap Bucket Challenge (Away; Oct. 12) Men’s golf opened its season this past weekend with a home match against 22 other teams, with the Panthers taking fourth over the course of the two-day event. Beazley took home the individual honors with an impressive score of 140 over the two 18-hole rounds, finishing a comfortable three strokes ahead of second place. The team will turn to their returning seniors for leadership this year, with Phin Choukas ’22 and Chris Thompson ’22 among those returning to the team after taking the past year off due to Covid-19. Thompson and Choukas were among those competing for Middlebury’s first team this weekend, with both set to play key roles this season. Returning NESCAC Freshman of the Year Colin McCaigue also looks set to star, as do Hogan Beazley ’23 and Sean McGarrity ’23. The team has also added four first years to its all-star lineup as they look to blend youth with experience. Men’s cross country by Charles Crounse Head coach: Nicole Wilkerson (19 years at Midd) Captains: Quinlan McGaugh ’22, Noah Whiting ’22 Players to watch for: Drew Donahue ’25, Alec Gironda ’24, Zander Kessler ’22.5, Max Cluss ’23 Background: Men’s cross country has depth in every class this season, from first years to seniors. The question is, as usual: How do the Panthers stack up against other leaders in the NESCAC? How well could they do against Williams, a perennial national contender, for example? Middlebury always finds a way to compete, but could they vault to the top of the NESCAC this year? Key matches: Aldrich Invitational (Home; Sept. 18), Purple Valley Classic (Away; Sept. 25), Connecticut College Invitational (Away; Oct. 16) Men’s cross country kicked off their season this past week with a win at the Maple Syrup Challenge. The Panthers nearly swept the top ten with just three rivals sneaking in in second, seventh and eighth respectively. Alec Gironda ’24 earned an impressive victory in his Panthers cross-country debut. The team looks primed for a strong year this season, hoping to improve on their third place in the NESCAC back in 2019. They will look to top their sixth place finish in the NCAA Regionals and 29th place at the NCAA Championship. Captains Noah Whiting ’22 and Quin McGaugh ’22 are excited about the team’s prospects this season. Whiting says the team is particularly excited about the first-year and sophomore classes, all of whom had yet to race a proper college 8k coming into the season. Alec Gironda ’24, Peter Burke ’24, Drew Donahue ’25, Oscar deFrancis ’24.5 and Will Lavey ’25 all look set to play big roles as part of the up-and-coming cast of untested runners. Other key runners will include Zander Kessler ’22.5, who placed 57th at the last edition of the NCAA Regional race, and captain Quinlan McGaugh ’22, who placed 62nd at the same race. The team remains under the leadership of coach Nicole Wilkerson, who has led the team to the NCAA Championship race in every year of her coaching tenure, which spans back to 2011. Women’s Field Hockey - Blaise Siefer Head coach: Katharine DeLorenzo (20 years at Midd) Captains: Isabel Chandler ’21.5, Danielle Brown ’21.5, Erin Nicholas ’22 Players to watch for: Katie George ’23 (F), Grace Harlan ’22.5 (GK), Meg Fearey ’21.5 (D) Background: Is there a better D-3 women’s field hockey team in the nation? The answer is probably no. Women’s field hockey has won the NCAA National Championship the past three seasons — 2017, 2018 and 2019 — and return a core group of top players. It would be silly to bet against this team in any game this season. Key matches: Bowdoin (Home; Sept. 18), Tufts (Home; Oct. 10), Williams (Away; Oct. 26) Women’s Soccer - Blaise Siefer Head coach: Peter Kim (17 years at Midd) Captains: Eliza van Voorhis ’21.5, Isabelle Hartnett ’21.5, Simone Ameer ’21.5 Players to watch for: Fanny Lodge ’24 (F), Elizabeth Peebles ’23 (M), Eliza Robinson ’21.5 (M) Background: After an early exit in the 2019 NCAA Tournament, how well can women’s soccer respond this year? They are a perennial juggernaut, last making the NCAA Championship game in 2018, when they fell in dramatic fashion to Williams. The Panthers will have firm tests against Tufts, Williams and Amherst this fall, which could go a long way in determining the ultimate course of their season. Key matches: Amherst (Home; Oct. 3), Tufts (Home; Oct. 10), Williams (Away; Oct. 26) Men’s Soccer - Blaise Siefer Head coach: Alex Elias ’08 (6 years at Midd) Captains: Liam Sloan ’22.5, Raffi Barsamian ’21.5, Michael McFarlane ’22 Players to watch for: Ryan Grady ’23 (GK), Jordan Saint-Louis ’24 (F), Ben Powers ’23 (M), Brandon Reid ’21.5 (F) Background: Men’s soccer hasn’t finished atop the NESCAC since 2008 — could this finally be the year that breaks that streak? The team would need to get past the likes of Tufts, Amherst and Connecticut College first, which won’t be an easy task. But there is a lot of promise among the first-year and sophomore classes, and the Panthers have no shortage of experience; Liam Sloan ’22.5, Raffi Barsamian ’21.5 and Michael McFarlane ’22 are all All-NESCAC caliber players when healthy. Don’t bet against men’s soccer turning a few heads this season. Key matches: Connecticut College (Away; Oct. 2), Amherst (Home; Oct. 3), Tufts (Home; Oct. 10) Men’s Tennis - Blaise Siefer Head coach: Andrew Thomson ’10 (3 years at Midd) Captains: David Vilys ’22, Stan Morris ’22, and Zach Hilty ’22 Players to watch for: Robby Ward ’23, Aidan Harris ’23 Background: It’s been two years since men’s tennis competed, as the team didn’t have enough players to field a team last spring. After all that time off — and with a relatively new head coach — it’s hard to predict how men’s tennis might fare this season. Will their senior leadership help propel them to success? Key matches: Middlebury Invitational (Home; Sept. 18–19), Panther Classic (Home; Oct. 2–3), Wesleyan Invitational (Away; Oct. 16–17) Women’s Tennis - Blaise Siefer Head coach: Rob Barr (interim head coach) Captains: Brinlea La Barge ’23, Amanda Frank ’23, Caitlin Neal ’23, Nora Dahl ’22, Ruhi Kamdar ’22.5 Players to watch for: Gena Huang ’24, Amy Delman ’24 Background: Many sophomores and juniors on women’s tennis took the spring semester off — how strong will they return? Also, with former head coach Rachel Kahan taking the head women’s tennis coaching job at Yale several months ago, the team enters an adjustment period as they search for a permanent head coach. Key matches: Williams Invitational (Away; Sept. 24–26), Middlebury Invitational (Home; Oct. 8–10) Women’s Volleyball - Sam Lipin Head Coach: Sarah Raunecker (26 years at Midd) Captains: Corley Doyle ’22, Maggie Wise ’22, Jane Nelson ’22 Players to Watch: Laney Sullivan ’23 (OH), Gabbie O’Toole ’25 (S), Kelly Ferrero ’23.5 (L) Background: After jumping out to a 5–0 start to the season having only lost one set in total, the volleyball team is primed for a big season. The squad went 15–10 two seasons prior, and those sophomores and first-years (five players total) have worked tirelessly to rebuild their team. Senior Jane Nelson ’22 claimed she has never been a part of a team as closely knit as this one. The Panthers will look to stay undefeated when they play their first NESCAC opponents of the year this coming weekend. Key Matches: Amherst (Home; Sept. 24), Wesleyan (Away; Oct. 8), Tufts (Away; Oct. 16) Women’s Cross Country - Sam Lipin Head Coach: Nicole Wilkerson (19 years at Midd) Captains: Emily Bulczynski ’22, Cassie Kearney ’22, Grace Kirkpatrick ’22 Players to Watch: Sophie Nardelli ’23, Eliza Broughton ’22, Katelyn Pease ’22 Background: Cassie Kearney ’22 has dominated the field during her time at Middlebury, once again doing so when she broke a course record in the 5k at Vermont Tech this past weekend. She leads an experienced team poised to build upon their fourth place NESCAC finish in 2019. Middlebury hosts their only cross country event of the season this coming Saturday at their annual Aldrich Invitational. Key Matches: Aldrich Invitational (Home; Sept. 18), Connecticut College Invitational (Away; Oct. 16) Men’s Football - Sam Lipin Head Coach: Bob Ritter (26 years at Midd) Captains: Gordon Pollock ’22, Will Jernigan ’21.5, Jack Pistorius ’21.5 Players to watch: Zander Bailey ’21.5 (LB), Jimmy Connell ’21.5 (TE) Background: In their last full season in 2019, Middlebury football dominated the field, going 9–0 and winning the NESCAC Championship. However, their games were not won by huge margins, with five games ending in a one-score lead. As players return from their semesters off due to Covid-19 and a large freshmen class steps onto the field, will Middlebury once again prevail as champs? Key Matches: Williams (Away; Sept. 18), Hamilton (Away; Nov. 6), Tufts (Home; Nov. 13)
When Roni Lezama ’22 first stepped onto campus, he “looked around, wanting to hear Spanish in a place where most have spent their whole lives breathing and living English.” Though he was unsure whether Middlebury was the kind of place where he — an only child of Mexican immigrants and one of many students from New York City — would have the opportunity to make a difference, that changed quickly. Lezama did not come to Middlebury planning to run for president of the Student Government Association (SGA), but he has wanted to create change at Middlebury since his first year, animated by the drive to make white-oriented places more inviting and supportive for those traditionally excluded. He went on to win the Spencer Prize in his first year, using his speech to describe the fear of not being accepted at Middlebury because of his heritage and bilingualism. Later, the work of SGA presidents like Nia Robinson ’19 and Varsha Vijayakumar ’20 and seeing women of color in the role early on in his time here set the tone for his image of SGA leadership. “It gave me an initial impression of what SGA can do,” Lezama said. “It made me think, ‘there is a place here where I can make change.’” He first became involved with SGA through the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) committee during Robinson’s presidency, and was mentored by the committee’s chair Kahari Blue ’19. It was his close friend John Schurer ’21, who would later become SGA president himself, who nudged Lezama to take on another leadership role. “I still remember that day,” Lezama said. “John got all serious and clapped his hand on my shoulder and said, ‘I think you should run for Community Council Co-Chair.’” Lezama did run, won, and led the group of students, faculty, staff and administrators his sophomore year. Schurer then took on Lezama as one of his vice presidents after he was elected SGA president in spring 2020. While inspired by the work of previous presidents and conscious of the continued challenges posed by Covid-19, Lezama is focused on the future. “[Past presidents] showed me that it was more than OK to challenge and push the administration,” Lezama said. “They are our gateway, but in the end it is our job to advocate for students.” Lezama said this balance is emblematic of his leadership style: being effective in his term will be about combining disruption and cooperation, needing the administration to listen and knowing when to make them. He admits to having sworn at the administration — on the record — in SGA meetings before. At the same time, a key goal on his senior bucket list is to have a coffee with each member of the Senior Leadership Group individually. As president, he hopes to take the lessons learned from the pandemic and use them to set up systems of support for years to come. Though the pandemic revealed that the need for such support was far deeper and broader than was previously realized, to Lezama, these are not pandemic-specific issues. “So much of what I have done with SGA in the past has been reactive,” Lezama said. “It had to be. But I want to be proactive.” His first priority is to create a permanent substitute for the Student Emergency Fund established in 2020 to help with unexpected financial burdens of the Covid-19 pandemic. “It was unbelievable to see how immense, and palpable, the need was for emergency funds once they were available,” Lezama said. He also wants to improve the accessibility and availability of on-campus mental health resources, and bolster the services tailored towards BIPOC and LGBTQIA+ students. Lezama is ready for his administration to be a disruptive one, working to reshape Middlebury in deep but tangible ways to support the students who often do not get a seat at the table. DEI will be at the “front lines” of his administration, the lens through which every SGA department does its work, he said. Sophia Lundberg ’21.5, this semester’s Community Council co-chair and a vice-president last year, describes Lezama as someone with both immense drive and humility, who values vulnerability in leadership and has a tireless work ethic. “His determination to pursue justice and equity is informed by his own life circumstances,” Lundberg said. He works constantly “in the hopes that it allows those who have been traditionally barred from comfortably enjoying their time here to access institutional resources and support with more ease.” President Laurie Patton expressed similar admiration. “Roni Lezama is the real deal,” Patton said in an email to The Campus. “He is relentless, as we all should be, about making Middlebury better. Because he also possesses an accurate sense of what it takes to build an institution, he begins by being open, and invites you to be on his team to get it done. This combination of traits is the source of his effectiveness as a leader.” Though Lezama jokes that he will have to apologize to his professors because “SGA is [his] life now,” he has other hopes for his senior year. He wants to go out for coffee in town more (his order is an americano, black), and finally go to the Woodchuck Cidery. He also wants to take someone on the perfect date off campus that he has been planning for years.
David Ayer’s 2016 film “Suicide Squad” was a failure of cinematic creativity. Awkwardly-written, sloppily-paced and with scenes stitched together as if at random, the comic book film attempted to capture the playfulness of the Marvel Cinematic Universe and the dark gravitas of Christopher Nolan’s “Dark Knight” trilogy. Instead, it ended up with neither, and the movie was quickly derided by critics for its futile reach for both comedy and drama. Five years later, director James Gunn has delivered a new film adaptation of the DC comics brand, brazenly titled “The Suicide Squad,” that sidesteps the identity crisis suffered by its predecessor for an unabashedly fun take on a franchise that is a perfect match for the singularly outrageous vision of the filmmaker. “The Suicide Squad” follows a group of imprisoned supervillains who are recruited by government official Amanda Waller (played by a ruthless Viola Davis) to complete a so-called suicide mission in exchange for a 10-year reduction of their prison sentences. Their goal is to infiltrate Corto Maltese Island and destroy all evidence of what is known only as Project Starfish. The roster of mostly second-rate characters from the comics is led off by Bloodsport (Idris Elba), the world’s most lethal marksman; Harley Quinn (Margot Robbie), a murderous sociopath who has become the star of the franchise; and Peacemaker (John Cena), an extremist willing to commit acts of brutal violence in the name of peace. Other featured characters, such as a walking-and-talking great white shark and a man who can dispel lethal polka dots from his body, are just as obscure. Gunn is once again at work making stars out of unknowns in the same way he did for Marvel’s hit “Guardians of the Galaxy.” Gunn wastes no time in establishing his film as a much more spontaneous experience than the painfully self-serious 2016 version. A comically violent red herring opens the film, completely disorientating the audience in preparation for the gleeful chaos that unfolds once the surviving members of the Suicide Squad land on Corto Maltese. It is here that King Shark has to be talked out of eating his friends, Bloodsport and Peacemaker compete to kill enemies as creatively as possible and Harley Quinn escapes from and then massacres her captors as CGI flowers explode from their bloodied bodies. These moments are played for dark laughs, but the real surprise of “The Suicide Squad” — and what truly elevates it above the 2016 film — is how it manages to layer real emotional stakes into the playful mayhem. In one instance, Ratcatcher 2 (Daniela Melchior) begins to cry while telling the team about the love she shared with her lost father. It is then genuinely moving to see her discover a sense of purpose in the film’s climax, which was something her father promised that she would find. Even something as seemingly ridiculous as an undisguisable King Shark waiting alone in a van as his friends try to blend in at a club earns the character compassion from the audience. These moments of pathos amidst the outrageous action prove the film’s ability to actualize the dual tonality that the original strove for in vain. The film owes its success to the creative license that Gunn held over the project. Working from his own original screenplay with a $185 million budget and having been granted complete creative control by Warner Bros., he was able to inject all of his signature filmmaking tendencies into this film. It has his edgy but likeable characters, his hyper-stylized action and colorful visual effects, his unexpectedly emotional storytelling and, to top it all off, a healthy dose of gratuitous violence and profanity. Together, these features produce a newest Suicide Squad movie that is completely and appropriately over-the-top. Within this efficient execution of the Suicide Squad mythos, there are a few features that deserve individual recognition. For one, Idris Elba is excellent as Bloodsport. An early scene, in which Elba gets into a fervent shouting match with his on-screen daughter, showcases the actor’s intense dramatic talents. He displays his comedic prowess when Bloodsport is forced to reveal his rat phobia while surrounded by Ratcatcher 2’s army of rodents, and in the concluding battle, Elba shows off his leading-man persona when he rallies his team against an extraterrestrial enemy. This last moment provides the film with its most moving sequence. Bloodsport finds the good in himself that he denied existed, and the Suicide Squad, a team of villains, takes a triumphant hero’s stand to save Corto Maltese. It is enhanced by John Murphy’s propulsive score, which never sounds better than when Bloodsport constructs his rifle to the beat of a pulsating electric guitar. A bright, colorful mix of digital and practical effects displayed on a large 1.90:1 aspect ratio makes “The Suicide Squad” a visual delight. In fact, everything about this film is a delight. It won’t win Best Picture; it is not the seminal superhero masterpiece that was “The Dark Knight,” but it sure is a blast to watch. To steal a line from that other DC Comics film, this was the Suicide Squad movie that we needed and deserved.
Two students and two employees at the Middlebury Language Schools tested positive for Covid-19 near the end of the college’s seven-week summer program, prompting tighter restrictions for those staying on campus. Both students remained in self-isolation on campus, the college announced on Aug. 13, while positive employee cases recovered off campus. Rumors began to circulate around Thursday, Aug. 12, just two days before many students planned to leave campus. Students in different language programs received conflicting information about the source and location of the outbreak, while some were led to believe that canceled classes were a result of scheduling conflicts, according to Sydney Armor ’24, who attended the German Language School over the summer. “I did have a friend in [another language school] who was texting me and said, ‘All of my classes got canceled, but they didn’t tell us why,’” Armor said. “They just said it was due to ‘scheduling conflicts.’ And then I explained to her what I had heard, and then she didn’t hear the truth from her school until about two days later.” Ben Beese ’21.5, also a member of the German school this summer, said the program’s administration communicated some information about Covid-19 exposure and event cancellations on Thursday afternoon. “Most information we were working with were [essentially] rumors,” Beese said in an email to The Campus. “We heard bits and pieces of info from admins as we ran into them outside but nothing concrete. It sounded like the students might have been from the Spanish program. Maybe they were unvaccinated.” Until August 13, when the college updated face covering requirements and visitor policies via email, vaccinated students were not required to wear masks in any setting. According to Beese, masks and Covid-19 guidelines were loosely enforced, especially after arrival testing yielded zero positive results. All students were required to be vaccinated before or during the summer session, and vaccinated students were not tested during the summer. Meanwhile, student research assistants and lab workers relied on their peers for any information they could gather. Hira Zeeshan ’22, who studied in a neuroscience lab on campus this summer, said she heard about the two active Covid-19 cases from a group of peers. “I first learned about the Covid outbreak amongst language school students from my fellow RAs,” Zeeshan said. “The school didn’t inform us until a few days later when they started implementing Covid restrictions in the dining halls and in buildings.” Zeeshan said that many language school students and research assistants did not mix over the summer, instead forming their own factions within the school. She expressed disappointment with some language schools students’ failure to respect Covid-19 protocols. She also suggested that the guidelines for social gatherings among research assistants seemed to be undefined. “One thing, however, that we were unclear about was that [sic] whether research assistants could have small gatherings, because they were common for language school students,” Zeeshan said. “There was a strong divide between the language school students and the research assistants… RAs were quite disappointed with language school students because we were respectful of the Covid guidelines but had to adjust to this change after a summer of not wearing face coverings.” Before the outbreak, students experienced a “near-normal” summer session, thanks to a high vaccination rate among students in the language programs and lower rates of infection near Middlebury. “We were going in town, having parties, masks were just about nowhere to be seen. It was great, and I think everyone felt pretty safe,” Beese said. “We weren’t being tested regularly — after all, we all thought the vaccines were going to prevent infection until Delta took off this summer.” In the final weeks of the session, the college offered testing to students who needed to show a negative PCR test for international flights, but did not provide universal testing for vaccinated students. Some language schools directors instead encouraged their students to receive testing at a site in town, but there were few available appointments before groups were scheduled to depart on Aug. 13 and 14. As the college commences what seems to be a more “normal” fall semester thus far — with in-person classes, traditional dining hall operations and sports competitions — student concerns about Covid-19 cases and the spread of the Delta variant linger. “It was amazing to be back to normal,” Beese said. “Hearing that there were [Covid] cases on campus then and that we should be masking and distancing, etc, made it feel like we’d been too optimistic… So realizing that there was a chink in our utopia was a big wakeup call, and I think we were unsure of what that meant for us personally, for the fall and for the pandemic in general.”