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Phase Two start date pushed to Thursday, Sept. 17

The next period in the college’s “phased approach” to a safe reopening will be pushed back to Thursday, Sept. 17, two days after it was originally planned to begin. Phase Two allows for greater freedoms, including leaving campus for other locations in Addison County and relaxing physical distancing with a small number of close contacts.   The announcement was made in an all-school email in the afternoon of Tuesday, Sept. 14, and came just one day before the widely anticipated start date of Sept. 15, which was described in the Return to Campus Guide as the optimal Phase Two start date, and shared in the mandatory pre-arrival SafeColleges training.  Dean of Students Derek Doucet said that the transition to Phase Two was delayed because remote students and students taking leaves of absence who are living in the area and only recently arrived in town had not yet completed their arrival quarantine phase mandated by the state of Vermont. “We were concerned that an immediate move to Phase Two would open the possibility that students on campus who had been through multiple rounds of testing might be inadvertently interacting with these recent arrivals, which would pose an exposure risk,” he told The Campus. Doucet said that, additionally, observations of other colleges and “evolving public health guidelines” led the college to push the start date. He also clarified that Sept. 15 was the earliest possible start date for Phase One, as opposed to a set date. Only two individuals have tested positive for Covid-19 on campus, both of which were detected during the two rounds of arrival testing. Both of those cases are now listed as recovered, and there are zero active cases on campus after 5,362 tests. A few students have been asked to leave campus for violations of Covid safety rules. Some of the freedoms that come with a move to Phase Two will include local recreational travel within Addison County and the use of student vehicles. The college will also begin phasing in limited indoor dining hall seating, limited use of indoor athletic facilities and student use of outdoor athletic spaces such as the golf course, Snow Bowl and TAM. When using personal vehicles, students will be required to wear face coverings, keep the windows open at least two inches for ventilation and maintain physical distancing as much as possible. Phase Two will also allow students to define a small social circle of individuals with whom they relax physical distancing. The announcement email notes that students will be allowed to have no more than four individuals with whom they are “close contacts”.  A guide called Sex in the Time of Covid-19, published by the Health and Wellness office in August, noted that they “anticipate that any dating/sex partners would be part of this circle.”  Students will need to complete another online training before being released from campus quarantine. Engaging in Phase Two activities without completing the training will be considered a violation.

Jay Parini’s “Borges and Me”: Beyond Just a Memoir

Professor of English Literature Jay Parini’s new memoir, “Borges and Me,” is a smart, soulful coming-of-age story that recounts a 1970 road trip through the Scottish Highlands that Parini took with aging Argentine writer Jorge Luis Borges.  I recently chatted with Parini over Zoom about “Borges and Me.” During our conversation, we discussed how Parini went through reconstructing his 50-year-old memories, the long-term effects of mentors on their students, an upcoming film adaptation of “Borges and Me” — and even Donald Trump.  John Vaaler: “Borges and Me” is about a road trip you took with the Argentinian surrealist writer Jorge Luis Borges in 1970. Writing this memoir after that trip, in what ways did you go about revisiting these episodes, and was there a process that helped you weave memories with approximations? Jay Parini: Well, I go to Scotland pretty much every other year, so I was in the Highlands only about two years ago. And I actually revisited — I redrove — much of that route. And I’ve done that many times over the last 50 years. Think about that: it’s been 50 years since I took that original trip, so a lot of it is faded from memory, which is why I, after 50 years, really think of it as a novelized memoir, as I say at the end. [“Borges and Me”] is a kind of autofiction. So, I’m inventing scenes, I’m making up the dialogue. JV: You were talking about autofictions and how a fair amount of your memoir is recreation, but an even bigger amount is a novelization of past events. JP: Memoir is a very tricky genre. I think I’m being pretty experimental with the genre here. So I’m foreshadowing things and really creating characters, although all the characters are real people. JV: In what ways did Borges’s work influence your memoir about you and Borges? JP: I feel like in many ways I’m reinventing Borges and rewriting him, although the style is not Borgesian, but I’m using so many of the Borges tropes and themes. In many ways, I tried to make this tour of three or four days a tour through the major stories of Borges. So, when they stop at the [Carnegie] library, I’m kind of referencing the “Library of Babel,” one of Borges’ main stories. When Borges falls, hits his head and goes into the hospital, he himself alludes to an accident that had happened to him in 1938, which led to the writing of his famous story “Funes The Memorious.” I keep referencing the great essay “Pierre Manard, Author of the Quixote,” because I believe I got from Borges the idea that we’re all just rewriting literature. So I’m rewriting Borges’ story by writing my story.  JV: I was frequently moved when reading your memoir, but it’s also really quite funny. Are there any comic writers that you especially revere? JP: I was modeling myself on Evelyn Waugh. I mean, Evelyn Waugh is a very funny writer - sharp. The dialogue is understated but sharp. JV: Your memoir begins when you’re a graduate student fleeing possible deployment to the Vietnam War. “Borges and Me” has arrived in bookstores in 2020 during a Trump presidency, a watershed moment in how Americans address systemic racism and a global pandemic that’s ended thousands of lives. Does the anxiety of 2020 remind you of the anxiety you sometimes express in your memoir? JP: I was stunned by the fact that the time we’re living in now is very like the late sixties. ​Very l​ike the late sixties. There’s riots in the streets, there’s looting, there’s a president who’s out of control, people are feeling very uncertain and afraid. The economic fissures are really being horribly widened by the president. I don’t think I could have ever predicted we would be living under a truly mad president, but we are. “Truly certifiable,” as the British would say. JV: At the end of “Borges and Me,” you talk about one inspiration for this book: an English film director told you that your experience with Borges would make a fantastic movie. What are some details you can tell The Campus about a film adaptation of your book? Are you currently involved with the project? JP: I can say this whole book came about when I was sitting in a café in a little village — a seaside village in southern Italy — working on a film with Kevin Spacey about the life of Gore Vidal, which I wrote with the director Michael Hoffman. During [the] filming project, there are a lot of visitors to the set. Ross Clarke, who’s done two or three films, was visiting the set because he’s the friend of the producer, Andy Patterson, and the director, Michael Hoffman. I was sitting at a table with Ross and Andy, and Ross happened to pull out a copy of the stories of Jorge Luis Borges. I said, “Do you like Borges?” And he said, “I love Borges, he’s my favorite author!” And I told him that I once chauffeured Borges around the Highlands of Scotland 50 years ago or so. I told him a few of the stories, and Ross said to Andy, “That’s our next movie!” So I wrote this, and Ross and I started adapting this as a script, and we’re just finishing it up now. We expect to go to actors very, very soon. Andy Patterson, who did “Girl With Pearl Earring” (2003) and “The Railway Man” (2013) and many other films — “Beyond the Sea” (2004) and so forth, [is] producing. JV: Are you writing any fiction or biography right now? JP: You know, I’m the third of the way through a novel right now, but I’m putting it on hold. I’m never going to do [another] “biography” biography. JV: Are those too exhausting? JP: Yeah, they’re exhausting and I don’t want to spend thousands of hours in libraries interviewing people. They’re very hard to write. [“Borges and Me”] is a very light-hearted book, but with serious themes.

​Snake oil and student loans

The rising student debt crisis in the U.S. is not breaking news. From 2000 to 2016, the average annual cost of college has more than doubled, from around $15,000 a year to nearly $32,000. Over the past 20 years, only two other goods or services have risen as much as college: hospital services and college textbooks. Importantly, wages have been unable to keep up with these Everest-like spikes. Since 1989, the cost to attend a university has increased nearly eight times faster than wages. While the cost of a four-year degree exploded to $104,480, real median wages only rose from $54,042 to $59,039 between 1989 and 2016. As a result, many families have been pressured to take out student loans to send their kids to college. This is where it gets bad. In 2020, Americans currently owe over $1.64 trillion in student loan debt, spread out among about 45 million borrowers. That’s about $587 billion more than the total U.S. credit card debt. Sixty-nine percent of seniors graduating with a four-year degree in 2019 had student loan debt, with 75% of graduates from private, nonprofit colleges (like Middlebury) having loans as of May 2018. As much as 14% of borrowers who go to nonprofit colleges will default on their loans within 12 years, leaving their credit scarred and crippling them financially for years to come. But doesn’t the value of a college degree make up for the cost of the loans? This question requires a two-fold answer. Historically, obtaining a college degree led to a life of greater financial security than a life without one. College graduates received cultural and social capital in a way that put them at an economic advantage over their peers. However, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found in a recent study that the wealth premium (the increase in wealth because of having a degree) for recent college graduates is almost at zero. In other words, the value of a college degree may not actually be the investment it is purported to be as high costs and lack of job opportunity negate gains. The second part of the question concerns the actual value of a college degree. College tuition costs and the demand for degrees keep increasing, so one would assume that this reflects the increasing value of a college degree. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Current median pay for bachelor’s degree holders is below 1990 levels, yet college tuition fees have gone up 391%. As many as 40% of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. For context, higher education tuition has outpaced healthcare costs about two-fold in that period — despite the marginal value of a college degree remaining stagnant. As more people have become aware of the income gap between college and high school graduates, the demand for college degrees has skyrocketed. Colleges have taken advantage of this by jacking up their prices to obscene heights. This leaves people with a choice: forgo college and accept a lower living standard or take on insurmountable student loans with a limited chance at future prosperity. In both situations, the average student loses and colleges benefit. At this point, you may be asking whether taking out student loans to go to Middlebury is worthwhile. It is a complicated question, but the answer is likely yes. Middlebury has a positive return on investment (ROI) over twenty years. This means that for most Middlebury alumni, their degree will earn them a job that will make the hefty tuition “worth it.” However, Middlebury is ranked 379th in the country in ROI, despite being ranked in the top 60 for tuition. Shouldn’t the price of a college reflect the value of its degree? Obviously, college is more than just a measure of how much money a student will make with their degree. People are paying as much for the social aspects as for the academic opportunities. There is living in dorms, going to parties, eating in the dining hall and other experiences that, to some, make the value of college priceless. Regardless, that absolutely does not mean that colleges must raise prices eight times faster than wages, and twice as fast as healthcare costs. That is predatory. I was fortunate enough that I did not have to borrow any money to go to college. But when I look around at my peers worrying about paying off their student loans — while colleges like Middlebury sit on their endowments and rake in mountains of tuition — it makes my blood boil. Millions of kids throughout America are being lured into borrowing money to pay for a degree that will never pay off. This is a system that benefits the rich and privileged while everyone else is left mired in debt and begging for a job. While student debt continues to metastasize, the federal government and colleges stand idle. And why wouldn’t they? They just keep collecting their interest and tuition fees, while American students are left wilting under economic stress. Some politicians, like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have called for a cancellation of student debt. With both of their presidential campaigns falling short this year, that demand seems unlikely to materialize anytime soon. To address the immediacy of this crisis, the American people need to take it into their own hands. Some have called for Americans to come together and forge a debt strike. By refusing payments on student debt, the government may renegotiate the terms of the loans, making them more amenable. Regardless of the method, stemming the rise of college tuition can only happen if those buying college degrees take initiative and stake their claim on the value of their education. A movement against student debt is long overdue.   Joseph Levine is a member of the class of 2021.

Museum of Art shuts its doors for reorganization, plans to reopen in spring 2021

The Middlebury College Museum of Art will be closed to all visitors for the fall semester as it undergoes a complete reorganization of its permanent collection. The museum will reopen its doors at the beginning of the spring 2021 semester, with a tentative date set for February. Originally, the museum had planned to provide limited access for faculty and students during the reinstallation, yet a new plan was made following the college’s evacuation in March.  “We made the decision to ‘make lemonade from lemons’ and fast track the reinstallation,” Richard Saunders, director of the museum, said. “We are gambling that by spring, the pandemic cloud presently over us will be reduced to a level that makes visiting the museum a much more pleasurable experience.” The reorganization of the museum’s permanent collection is part of a larger plan to reimagine the museum experience. Currently, the museum’s gallery of Asian art is located upstairs, connected to the passage that leads into the special exhibition galleries. Every semester, the entire floor has to be closed to prepare for the debut of a new exhibit, creating stretches of time where visitors miss out on the art of the entire region. By moving the gallery of Asian art to the ground floor with the rest of the museum’s permanent collection, its contents will always be accessible — even as the second floor closes for new installations. Jason Vrooman, director of engagement for the museum, added that another aspect of rethinking the museum experience is to shift away from traditional geographic and chronological organization of art. “What ends up happening [with this approach] is, by accident, and maybe sometimes by design, there start to be these priorities put on different cultures and different time periods,” Vrooman said. “The truth is our collection is still pretty centered in European art, but we do have art from all over the world. So what we’re trying to do is a thematic approach to the gallery.” By looking at art through a number of different lenses, including themes such as the body, rituals and devotion and environmental impact, the museum hopes to be able to connect art from multiple cultures while still telling their individual, unique stories. But, this kind of change will not happen overnight. “I’ll be honest; it’s going to be a slow process because the history of most European and American museums have been so focused on European tradition,” Vrooman said. “But the hope is that when people come through the museum, it'll be a much more inclusive story of global history.” Another key component of the renovation is its attention toward greater physical accessibility, such as implementing a larger font on the labels and creating a greater contrast between the wall color and the font in order to make it easier to read. “I think it’ll look like a very different museum [in the spring],” Vrooman said. On top of their newly launched database, which allows visitors to examine their collection of close to 6,000 works of art online, the museum will also begin to provide more information through virtual tours as part of their efforts to increase their digital presence. “Museums have already had a digital presence, but it’s increased so much since March,” Vrooman said. “We’ve realized it’s not perfect; there are still kinks to iron out, but we can reach so many more people [with this], and that’s a different kind of accessibility. The goal would be to integrate what happens in the galleries online so that someone anywhere in the world can have a connection to the museum.” Connection, especially with the Middlebury community, is one of the museum’s main goals for the fall semester. Student Friends of the Art Museum (SFoAM) is a student-led group with more than1000 members that hosts a number of events throughout the year, which in previous semesters have included yoga, coloring sessions and scavenger hunts all located inside the museum. “Museums are not necessarily accessible spaces where everyone feels comfortable and welcomed,” former SFoAM coordinator Flo Montes ’21 said. “[SFoAM] attempts to break that barrier by creating an interactive environment that reminds students that it is our museum. We host events that invite students to view an art museum in a way they may have never before and thus reinvent their relationship with it.” Although its physical doors are closed until the spring, the museum will continue working with SFoAM to plan events for students in addition to collaborating with other departments for events offered to everyone in the community. “This fall, I hope that we can really have a virtual presence and get people engaged when they can't come through the doors,” Vrooman said. “Some of that is relying on partners: our Student Friends leadership group that will be chosen soon and the other departments. But, I also hope that working internally, we can deliver on those promises on having the museum look and feel very different [in the spring].”

After delays, Aug. 28 testing results show no new Covid-19 cases

UPDATE: Tuesday, Sept. 1, 12:03 a.m. The student in isolation in Porter House, who was placed in isolation Monday morning after developing Covid-19 symptoms, received a negative test result late Monday night for a test administered after they developed symptoms. The student told The Campus that they would remain in Porter House Monday night and would consult with college health workers the following morning about next steps. —— After delays in the delivery of test results nearly doubled the “room quarantine” period for students who arrived on Middlebury’s campus Friday, results returned throughout Sunday afternoon and evening showed promising early signs for Middlebury’s reopening efforts, with no new positive results among those who arrived on campus Friday.  Updated Monday morning, the Covid-19 dashboard showed zero positives among the 1,109 tests conducted Friday and 26 from Saturday (six people tested Friday were re-tested due to insufficient samples). Middlebury has thus logged just one Covid-19 case since students returned to campus (a student tested positive after arriving on August 26). While the lack of positive results marks an early success in the college’s reopening, administrators cautioned in an all-school email against students taking a lax approach to Covid-19 guidelines in the week ahead.  “While we are encouraged by these early results, follow-up testing of all students seven days after their arrival is another vital component of our plan and an important safeguard against potential spread of the virus,” wrote Director of Health Services Mark Peluso and Dean of Students Derek Doucet in an all-community email Monday. All students who arrived Friday living on and off campus will be tested again on Sept. 5, seven days after their initial test.  At least one student developed Covid-19 symptoms, including a fever, sore throat and chills overnight Sunday after receiving a negative arrival test result earlier that day and being released from room quarantine. The student, who told The Campus about their situation on condition of anonymity because of privacy concerns, was moved into isolation in Porter House Monday morning and is awaiting results of a second Covid-19 test administered today. The student said they were placed in Porter rather than Munford because the latter house is reserved for those with confirmed Covid-19 cases.   A Parton staff member initially told the student’s suitemates and residents of an adjacent suite who had spent time with the student to temporarily self-isolate. However, hours later they were told by a Parton nurse practitioner that they were allowed to return to campus quarantine pending the symptomatic student’s results. Some of the students who were in contact with the symptomatic individual told The Campus that they have chosen to take extra precautions of their own accord, and all said they had followed distancing and mask protocols around the symptomatic person. None said they have developed symptoms of their own.  When asked about the status of the quarantined student, Director of Media Relations Sarah Ray wrote in an email to The Campus that “to protect the privacy of our community, we will not be releasing any information about individuals who test positive or who are in isolation for any reason.” Ray did not respond to a question about whether contact tracing had begun for students outside of the symptomatic student’s living partners, or whether contact tracing would take place only in the event of a positive test.  Students who arrived Friday were originally expected to receive test results sometime Saturday, and expressed increasing frustration as the hours of room quarantine wore on through Sunday evening. But negative test results began to arrive in inboxes that afternoon and evening, and students gradually trickled out of their rooms onto a changed campus, where masked, socially-distanced gatherings and outside dinners eaten from to-go containers are now the norm.  The delays in returning results occurred due to a staff scheduling issue at the Broad Institute, the Cambridge, Mass.-based lab that is providing Middlebury’s testing, Doucet wrote in an email to The Campus on Sunday evening.  “It appears to be less a total capacity issue and more a scheduling one,” he wrote, when asked if the slow turnaround was due to the increase in the number of tests Broad is performing, as it tests at other colleges with move-in dates this week. “Broad operates around the clock, but needed to adjust its staffing plan to ensure that it had sufficient staff at the busiest times of their processing day, which turned out to be at different times then they anticipated. They tell us they’ve now adjusted.” In an email to The Campus, Broad Communications Director David Cameron said that Broad’s testing capacity is presently at 50,000 tests per day, and that “we should have that up to 100k per day in a few weeks if needed.”  On its website, Broad claims its tests are processed with turnaround time “typically less than 24 hours.” The institute is also providing testing for more than 100 other colleges and universities including Williams, Harvard, Colby and UVM, all of which have intensive testing plans and saw large numbers of students return to campus in the past week.  Most Middlebury students now on campus moved in on Friday, a day on which Broad performed the most tests of any day since it began Covid-19 testing in March. The institute processed nearly 44,000 tests that day, and more than 30,000 each of the two days prior.  Managing Editor Hattie LeFavour contributed reporting.  Correction 9/1/20: A previous version of this article stated that 1,103 tests were conducted Friday, Aug. 28. The correct number was 1,109 tests, with 1,103 negative results and six yielding insufficient samples that led to re-tests. Update 9/3/20: A previous version of this article stated that the Broad Institute is providing testing to 25 colleges and universities The Campus was able to find. In a press release on Sept. 2, Broad stated the true number was 108 colleges and universities. 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Middlebury athletic teams reckon with Whiteness and exclusivity

In the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism, universities across the country are confronting their own issues of racism and exclusivity. Varsity and club sports teams at Middlebury have begun to examine privilege and exclusion present within their own groups, and some are taking direct action to foster an environment welcoming to all members.  Varsity teams reexamine recruiting practices An open letter penned by Middlebury athletes across sports and addressed to the athletics department petitions coaches and faculty to shift practices to better serve underrepresented communities, widen geographic areas of recruitment and deprioritize recruiting trips. The letter asks that the athletics department move recruiting efforts online to better reach individuals who cannot afford to fund their own recruiting trips, and to shift away from prioritizing face-to-face recruitment interactions, which disenfranchise certain potential athletic recruits. “Quite simply, we are calling for the demographics of Middlebury student-athletes to better represent those of our country and world,” the letter reads.  The Middlebury track and field team is taking the matter into its own hands, developing a new student-led recruiting strategy. “Student-athletes will recruit high school track and field [and] cross country athletes from racially and socioeconomically diverse high schools located in the Middlebury student’s hometown,” said track athletes Greta Sirek ’22, Grace Kirkpatrick ’22, and Kate Holly ’21. The swimming and diving team at Middlebury is exploring a similar strategy.  Swimmer Courtney Gantt ’22 is among those who want to make Middlebury’s swim and dive team more diverse and inclusive. “This could include expanding opportunities for virtual recruiting trips if people cannot afford to come to campus or bringing Middlebury admissions representatives to more [places] where there are high POC populations that may not know about Middlebury otherwise,” Gantt said. The swimming and diving team is predominantly White — in fact, there were no Black athletes on the 2019–2020 roster. In addition to addressing recruitment tactics, the team is also working on educating themselves about race and swimming. This meant organizing conversations concerning race and diversity in the sport with Director of Equity and Inclusion Renee Wells. Gantt emphasized the importance of engaging in these difficult conversations as a team in order to make a difference both in and out of the pool.  “Our team is making a commitment to educate ourselves about the history of race and swimming and the different access that Black people have had to higher education, jobs, healthcare and all spheres of life,” Gantt said.  The swim and dive team also plans to provide more swim lessons to low income families in the area to expand access to swimming. The women’s soccer team also reflected on their presence on campus as a majority White team by hosting team meetings with faculty to discuss anti-racism. “We hope to make efforts to diversify our team and are looking into tangible ways we can do that throughout the summer and when we get back to campus,” Ellie Bavier ’22 said. Club sports take on addressing Whiteness and exclusion Although club sports teams often offer messages of inclusion in their recruiting and mission statements, many face similar issues of exclusion and discrimination. Alyssa Brown ’20 is a member of the Middlebury ultimate frisbee team. In Brown’s memory, there have been few to no Black players on the men’s and women’s frisbee teams. Brown attributes much of this lack of diversity to frisbee’s origins as a countercultural sport that has historically been played in majority White and wealthy communities. “The Pranksters have certainly come a long way since 2016 in terms of intentional learning and commitment to inclusivity, but students of color still do not feel welcome, so there is still a problem,” Brown explained. Because club sports do not receive the same funding as varsity sports on campus, teams often count on players and their families to make monetary contributions. Although Brown said the Pranksters have always tried to be inclusive by providing monetary aid for those who need it, the personal funds needed for team social activities can be hindering.  “Being surrounded by a community that is interpreted as ‘wealthy’ can generally be discouraging for low-income students,” Brown said. “This is also important to note because race and class are undeniably linked, although obviously it’s case by case.” Rugby has made steps to decrease the stress that can be created through these required finances. Freshmen are no longer required to pay the annual dues, and players have the option to rent equipment and gear instead of buying. Megan Salmon ’21 also spoke of issues with racist culture that the team had five years ago. “There was an alum who had a position of power on the team who abused it and created a very racist and generally unwelcoming environment on the team,” Salmon said.  “In the years since, it’s my personal opinion that the women's rugby team has done an excellent job of turning around the culture by having meetings discussing the harm and racism, and gradually having more and more BIPOCs present in our leadership positions. Not intentional, but it helped.” Salmon and her teammate Lenny Gusman ’21, both athletes of color, recently facilitated a two-hour dialogue about the history of the prison-industrial complex and policing and how they impact the team and team culture. They plan to continue the conversation by conducting similar meetings throughout the semester. The Pranksters are also having conversations about race and inclusion. Since 2018, the team has held a community workshop each semester with the goal of creating a more inclusive team environment. At these meetings, leaders of the men’s and women’s teams discuss the barriers that are presented through the sport of frisbee and set expectations on how to lessen these obstacles.  Now, both the men’s and women’s frisbee teams are committed to adopting the format of these workshops to address issues of Whiteness and exclusivity within the sport.  The crew team is in the same boat. “Issues of exclusivity on our team are evident from the overwhelming Whiteness of our membership, high rates of attrition of BIPOC from our team and the unacceptable acts of discrimination, notably microaggressions, that many of our rowers of color have experienced,” captain Sophie Smith ’21 said.  Smith explained that the team is planning on changing their financial aid and fundraising system, as well as increasing flexibility to the practice schedule to remove barriers for members who may need to work to support their education. The team is also considering adding new leadership positions, such as a novice captain position, to ensure these changes will be as impactful as possible. Above all, athletes of color emphasised the necessity of a cultural shift in making long lasting changes.  “I think it’s important to address the reason why POCs are not joining the teams and tackling them instead of just giving into the consensus that Middlebury club sports are just predominantly White and we can’t do anything.” Gusman said. “Our team still has a long way to go just like everybody in this country, but I am proud of the active steps we have taken. Even if we think we are doing our best we can always do better.” Student athletes raise funds for the Black Lives Matter movement Many sports teams have also stepped up to raise money and awareness in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, using social media as a means to spread information. The women’s swim and dive team organized a fundraising campaign, raising over $4,000 for the Rutland Area NAACP through a 48-hour “sweat-a-thon.” The team donated $1 for every minute of exercise logged and accepted donations through an online fund. Gantt, along with fellow organizer Ellie Thompson ’22, said the fundraiser helped generate conversations about the Black Lives Matter movement among family and community members, who shared posts, educational materials and photos of their workouts on social media. Although she considers the fundraiser successful in garnering support from friends, family and alumni, she isn’t satisfied yet. “We know that it is not enough to raise money,” Gantt said. “We must continue the conversation and do more.” The women and men’s varsity squash teams fundraised a total of $12,260 for the Vermont branch of the ACLU’s Smart Justice Campaign. The teams chose to support a more local organization to “become more engaged with the problems of [their] wider community” and “to spread awareness about the prevalence of racism in Vermont,” according to their official statement. The teams held several discussions over Zoom and shared their learnings with friends, family, alumni and Instagram followers via an informational sheet as part of their fundraising efforts. The squash program will continue their commitment to antiracism by appointing three “Social Justice representatives” who will lead conversations to “ensure awareness of systemic racism.” The teams also plan on designating one match each season as an annual fundraiser for a cause related to Black Lives Matter, according to their latest statement.  The women’s soccer team raised over $2,300 to donate to Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a non-profit organization providing legal representation for prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted, unfairly sentenced or abused in jail. Bavier said the team elected to support an organization that actively works to end mass incarceration and inspire lasting change within the criminal justice system. “We appreciated the tangible legal steps implemented to create change, and we found their story incredibly compelling,” Bavier said.  The track and field team arranged a virtual 4,000-meter race on July 19 to collect money for the Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC) COVID-19 Relief Fund. Coordinated by Sirek, Kirkpatrick and Holly, the fundraiser supports communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus outbreak. The three organizers explained that they chose the KYRC fund, which was founded by Colin Kaepernick in 2016, for its mission to engender social and economic change in Brown and Black communities across America. So far, the team has collected over $1,500 and expects more donations as the summer continues. Several club sports teams have also joined the fundraising effort to support the Black Lives Matter movement within the sports arena and beyond.  Coordinated by Salmon, Gusman and teammate Betsy Romans ’23, women’s rugby hosted a fundraising campaign to support BLD PWR, a Black-run nonprofit organization dedicated to training a more diverse community of entertainers and athletes. The team challenges other clubs to do the same, without disclosing the amount of money raised to avoid performativity. “We believe that group silence contributes to a lack of accountability among individuals which justifies neutrality and inaction — thus serving the agenda of the oppressor,” the team’s social media post stated. “For this reason, we challenge other Middlebury organizations to take the route of action rather than just words.” Similarly, Middlebury’s ultimate frisbee team published a statement of their unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement, outlining a course of action for implementing change in our communities. The Pranksters also raised $4,818 to split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington and Ultimate Impact through donations from team members, family, friends and alumni. The sailing team recently collected funds to support Campaign Zero, an organization dedicated to researching policy-based solutions for ending police brutality and urging other NEISA (New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association) to take action. Middlebury’s sailing team is also part of NEISA’s Equity and Inclusion Committee, which elects one representative from each team in the league to discuss issues of exclusivity within the sport of sailing.  Middlebury’s crew team gathered monetary donations for three organizations, including the NAACP, National Bail Out and Row New York, which provides academic and athletic support for youth, regardless of background or rowing ability. While team fundraising campaigns have helped spread awareness and raise funds to support anti-racist organizations, each team recognizes that the pocketbook itself is not powerful enough to create permanent change.  “We are hopeful that there will be changes at an institutional level to do more to bring prospective POC athletes to Middlebury and increase teams’ diversity,” Gantt said. “We must increase access to our school and our sport so that more Black leaders can emerge and contribute their voice to the national conversation.” Copy Editor Ideal Dowling ’22 contributed reporting.

A response to professor Marissel Hernández-Romero’s email

On Sunday evening of June 28, the entire Middlebury College community — faculty, staff, current students, alumni, retirees and more — received an email from Professor Marissel Hernández-Romero. In it, she details her experiences with racism at the college. She goes on to name specific incidents and people, and ends her letter by encouraging, “all BPoC staying, students, staff and faculty to share their stories without fear and held [sic] the institution accountable for their systemic racism”. It is with those words of encouragement that I am inspired to write this op-ed.  As one of the few Black female faculty at Middlebury College, I’m keenly aware of how White supremacy works in academia and how it has been a contributing factor in the current exodus of Black female faculty and staff. It saddens me to see so many of my friends and incredible scholars leave because of ongoing incidents that left them feeling unsupported, demeaned, silenced and more. It has been infuriating and exhausting to hear their stories or even see these incidents play out in front of me. I have participated in the ongoing work that has been taking place over the last few weeks to address and tackle these issues, and eagerly await the changes that must come. And, I  choose to remain at Middlebury, following my track towards tenure, with plans to continue raising my three daughters here.  Why? The students. Since the Charles Murray protests, I have been in awe of how successfully our students have been able to articulate their concerns, voice their demands and organize to fight against systemic racism. They regularly inspire me to be a more curious, more thorough scholar and filmmaker. If I ever feel like giving up, their presence encourages me to keep fighting for a more inclusive, equitable future. The department of Film and Media Culture. It has been so affirming to work in a department that has always been welcoming, unconditionally supportive and actively engaged in being more inclusive in their curriculum and classrooms. I am grateful to be surrounded by such colleagues and excited to continue working with them. Last but not least, the presence and work of specific professors. These are people who have been consistent in their emotional and professional support from the first day I arrived here with my husband, Professor David Miranda Hardy, and our children in early 2015. They have opened their homes and hearts, giving us and other BIPOC faculty a safe space to land, to feel like we’re “home”.  These are faculty that are constantly calling out racism wherever it is, from speaking out against Charles Murray and other public and private racist incidents to using their curriculum to showcase work by BIPOC creators and scholars. Without these faculty, I’m not sure I would still be here.  The faculty I’m talking about are Professor Enrique Garcia (and his wife, Professor Nikolina Dobreva), Professor Marcos Rohena-Madrazo and Professor Patricia Saldarriaga. In the five and a half years that I have been at Middlebury, raising our three Black (biracial) children, navigating what it means to fight anti-Black racism as faculty and parents in a predominantly White state, I am so grateful that they (along with many other faculty and staff I met mainly through the Department of Luso-Hispanic Studies) are here too. They have been an anchor for so many BIPOC faculty. And not just because they cook amazing pernil and provide a space for us to complain about the various micro and macro aggressions we experience — but because they’re also doing the work to fight racism in their classrooms and beyond.  In her email denouncing institutional racism, Professor Marissel Hernández-Romero names specific incidents with these colleagues and my husband to imply that they are part of the institutional racism here at Middlebury.  I strongly denounce that implication. In doing so, I know I risk being accused of negating Professor Hernández-Romero’s experiences or further silencing her. I risk being told, “well that’s your experience, not hers.” But I will continue. Because yes, I am speaking from my own experience. My years and years of close, regular, daily experience with these people have made me — a Black female professor teaching at Middlebury — feel unconditionally and vitally supported.   I am especially compelled to speak out against her claims because there are now calls to devote time and resources to investigating these faculty of color. If Professor Hernández-Romero has the right to share her personal perspective — a perspective that has long-lasting implications, a perspective that has already caused a lot of stress, confusion and heartache — then I, too, have the right to share mine.   I first heard of Professor Hernández-Romero through Enrique Garcia and Marcos Rohena-Madrazo. They were raving about an amazing candidate in their departmental search for a visiting professor. They were excited about what she would be able to bring to the department as a woman of color, a Black woman. As faculty whose scholarship contributed to de-centering Europe/Spain as the epicenter of intellectual contributions to their field (led by the hard work of Patricia Saldarriaga), Professors Garcia and Rohena-Madrazo have offered many classes that center BIPOC voices and were thoroughly invested in giving a platform to non-white scholars.  I later heard more about Professor Hernández-Romero through my husband, Professor Miranda Hardy. Since he was an active voice in the fight against Charles Murray at the time, Professor Hernández-Romero turned to my husband for support whenever she experienced racism.  As someone who had proven himself to be an anti-racist, as the husband of a Black woman and the father to three Black-identifying children, he felt personally affected by her stories about her incidents of racism in the town of Middlebury. And he didn’t just sit with them, he organized to have her stories heard, taken seriously. Perhaps this is why she continued to seek his advice and support whenever she encountered racism.   I name these incidents to counter the implication that they are part of the problem of systemic racism at Middlebury. Over the years, I have seen time and time again only the opposite. From the classroom to personal interactions, they have shown up in ways that have had a significantly positive impact on the lived experiences of me and many BIPOC faculty, staff and students here at Middlebury.  Finally, I must address Professor Hernández-Romero’s claim that the faculty she specifically names in her email are “White-passing”. Perhaps this is an attempt to give more credence to her claims. Perhaps it is just her personal perspective. But by sharing this perspective in her community-wide email, she negates the lived experiences of these people of color. They have all experienced racism here at Middlebury and beyond, precisely because of the way they look. To deny this identity is to deny these experiences, and it is simply wrong.  Although Professor Hernández-Romero purports to be denouncing institutional racism at Middlebury, her email mainly targets individual professors of color who are actively fighting it (all while fielding various micro and macro aggressions in their own personal lives). She has now garnered the attention and support of students who are eager to hold the college accountable for the very real institutional racism that exists, but now it is at the expense of the professors of color that will continue to work here. It is peculiar to say the least, that someone supposedly invested in fighting institutional racism would exit this community with individualized accusations against the very people who are fighting to make this place more inclusive. These serious accusations of racism against people of color at Middlebury cannot exist without scrutiny simply because they are coming from a Black woman.   I end this letter with a heavy heart but empowered with the hope that my voice will also be heard. Because I won’t be silenced either. And I will continue to use my voice to fight structural racism and highlight the voices of people who do the same.  In solidarity, Natasha Ngaiza Natasha Ngaiza is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Culture at Middlebury.

‘Sent Without Permission: A Farewell from an Unwelcome Hire’: Departing visiting professor alleges incidents of racism

Marissel Hernández-Romero, departing visiting assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, sent an email to the Middlebury community on Sunday evening describing in detail a series of alleged incidents of racism she experienced in her department and at the institution during her three years as a faculty member.  Hernández-Romero, who is Black and Puerto-Rican, presented a weighty critique of systematic marginalization at the college punctuated with descriptions of allegations involving nine faculty members, all referenced by name.  “I came to Middlebury College in 2017 with a positive attitude, and within a month here, my opinion shifted to survival mode.  A sense of powerlessness and marginalization took over my perspective of my place here,” read the email’s opening. “I am an outsider. I was hired, but never accepted, nor welcomed.”  The email was sent to all students, faculty, retired professors and alumni, as well as many administrators, student organizations and other individuals. Hernández-Romero’s email went on to criticize the institution’s treatment of people of color. She states that the institution ignores and oppresses people of color — expecting them to assimilate into a hostile culture of whiteness and exclusivity without professional or personal support.  Her email frames the college as hypocritical — an institution that claims to advocate for faculty of color while protecting tenured faculty who defend “the continued and uninterrogated comfort of privilege under the guise of ‘free speech.’”  The email opened with a claim that Professor of Political Science Murray Dry made a threatening statement in 2017 directed at non-White faculty and administrators, which she interpreted as meaning that “challenging white privilege will bring worse consequences.” Dry denied this accusation in an email to the Campus, also noting that the meeting in question — centered on racial discrimination — was closed and confidential, therefore limiting his ability to discuss it.  “I would also observe that the statement attributed to me by Professor Hernández-Romero does not reflect my views on this important subject,” Dry wrote in the email . “I am more committed than ever to doing the work necessary to help make Middlebury [a supportive] environment for everyone.”  The remainder of the accused professors teach in Hernández-Romero’s own department. Those allegations vary in severity — from an interpreted racial microaggression from Professor Laura Lesta García to an alleged comment from Professor Patricia Saldrriaga suggesting that Hernández-Romero was an affirmative action hire. Both García and Saldarriaga directed the Campus to the Dean of Faculty when reached for comment.  Another assertion in the email alleges that Associate Professor of Luso-Hispanic Studies Marcos Rohena-Madrazo addressed Hernández-Romero with an offensive term. “Professor Marcos Rohena called me ‘pendeja’ in front of a candidate, and two other male professors white passing, Enrique García and David Miranda, found it funny and inoffensive,” Hernández-Romero wrote. “When I confronted [Professor] Rohena, and asked if he would call other white female professors in the department such as he firmly said: ‘no, never.’” (“Pendeja” is a Spanish slang term that loosely translates to “dumbass” in English. The letter “a” at the end of the word denotes a female recipient, therefore making this a distinctly gendered term.)  Professors Rohena-Madrazo and García did not respond to a request for comment. Professor Miranda Hardy declined to comment.  Roughly two hours after Hernández-Romero sent the email, the college deleted it from Middlebury servers, removing the message from the inboxes of those who had received it. This retraction was met with outcry from students on social media, who criticized the removal as an action of censorship that violated free speech doctrines.  On Monday afternoon, seventeen hours after the contentious deletion, Chief Officer of Diversity Miguel Fernández sent a “Message of Accountability,” co-signed by Dean of Faculty Sujata Moorti and President Laurie Patton, to the campus community.  “[Hernández-Romero’s] email demonstrates the ways that individual incidents of racism and our inability to respond to such incidents in a way that addressed the underlying climate both reflect and reinforce racism at the systemic level,” Fernández wrote in his email to the community Monday. “We must be accountable for responding to incidents as they arise and for addressing the culture that enables such incidents to occur.”  Notably, Fernández is one of the named faculty members accused in Hernández-Romero’s email. She claims that he was dismissive when she inquired about race-related policy, an allegation he did not comment on in his message to the community. Fernández did not respond to The Campus’ inquiry.  In an email sent to the Campus, Hernández-Romero also alleged that Fernández ignored emails she sent about allegations of harassment regarding Department Chair Mario Higa. When reached for comment about this allegation, Fernández wrote in an email to the Campus that “I have never failed to take any claim of harassment seriously and to follow through appropriately and empathetically. I am fully aware of my obligations and responsibilities.” Higa did not respond to requests for comment.  According to Fernández’s statement to the community, Hernández-Romero’s email was deleted from the college server “in order to prevent an influx of reply-all messages from the thousands of recipients and the additional harm that might have been caused if anyone responded in ways that did attempt to dismiss or make light of her experiences.” For many students, the acknowledgement came too late. By Monday morning, Dr. Hernández-Romero’s email had been widely circulated on Twitter and Facebook, and was posted on Instagram by accounts such as @dearmidd, @dearpwi, and @blackatmidd. Many individuals took it upon themselves to disseminate it, such as former sophomore SGA senator Paul Flores-Clavel ’22, who forwarded the email to all students. Student organizations such as SNEG, WRMC and JUNTOS followed suit in distributing the email to their registered domain lists.  Joel Machado ’22 composed an email template for students to send to administrators, which demanded both student oversight for the Anti-Racism fund and that the SLG investigate the faculty accused in Dr. Hernández-Romero’s email. “Rest assured knowing that the student body will continue to hold you accountable to the promises that have been made by President Patton,” Machado wrote in reference to Patton’s recent communications on racism within the Middlebury Community.  Monday night’s town hall on the college’s plans for re-opening in September led to conversation about the allegations that had been disclosed the night before. SGA Vice Presidents Roni Lezama ’22 and Sophia Lundberg  ’21.5  along with SGA President John Schurer ’21 gave introductory remarks that called for all students to read the email. President Patton later alluded to Dr. Hernández-Romero’s allegations.  “We need to focus on accountability particularly as it relates to systemic racism and in the ways at Middlebury we must be accountable in addressing that racism,” Patton said. “Our policies of due process and confidentiality require that we cannot address this.” She then doubled down on her commitment to intensive fundraising in these areas.   In an email to The Campus sent on Wednesday — two days later — Patton stated that “[t]he deletion of the email in no way reduces our need to confront systemic racism, to diminish the deep pain that racism inflicts on individuals at Middlebury, and to hold public discussions as we work toward changing our institutional culture.” Middlebury’s general counsel Hannah Ross affirmed that she cannot speak on the allegations, as proceedings under the code of Faculty Misconduct are completely confidential. The faculty misconduct code in question states in Section 3 that, "The principle of presumed innocence applies: until the process of review is complete, the faculty member is presumed innocent." It is unclear if any such review is taking place at this point, as Dean of Faculty Sujata Moorti did not respond when asked for comment.  The only faculty member named in Hernández-Romero’s email who was not the subject of an accusation was History Professor Darién Davis. Hernández-Romero alleged that the administration attempted to impose a harassment claim against Davis — who is Black — from her against her will. “I never had any problem with Darién,” she wrote in an email to the Campus.  She did, however, describe receiving a message from Davis she deemed as inappropriate, but that she did not feel uncomfortable or harassed. She did not further describe the contents of that message. In her communications with the Campus, she repeated that it was Higa, not Davis, against whom she had allegedly attempted to file a harassment claim.  Hernández-Romero is not departing Middlebury earlier than planned, as her visiting professor contract was three years long. She has accepted a tenure track position at an institution in New York that she declined to name. She also declined to provide evidence verifying her claims, although she stated that she has indicatory notes, emails, and witness accounts in her possession.  Hernández-Romero says that in the days since she sent the email, students and some professors from other departments have reached out to show their support. At the time of publication, the administration has yet to contact her.  “A lot of Black, Hispanic, and Latinx students have contacted me to show support and to share with me their experience[s] here at Midd, which are heartbreaking,” Hernández-Romero wrote in her email to The Campus. She noted the uproar that students are making on social media, which has become home to a myriad of calls to action on her behalf.  Hernández-Romero’s own statement to students was circulated on Instagram by Lily Colón ‘21.5, a student in her Socio-Culture of Salsa Music class this semester.  “I urge you all to continue denouncing racism until our institutions and people that run them change,” Hernández-Romero wrote. “I imagine for many of you, your experience may mirror mine, and for that I am sorry.” She then went on to reinforce the messaging in her email, calling upon students to listen and act fearlessly as they continue to move through a world seeped with systemic and institutional racism.  Colón, who has maintained a close relationship with her now-departed professor, fortified the feelings of isolation and hurt that afflicted Hernández-Romero at Middlebury.  “The constant teaching they have to do only to be continually undermined and pushed aside by administration and other students didn’t sit well with her,” Colón said in an email to the Campus, in reference to Black faculty and other professors of color. “Her email shows the ways the school failed her to the point where her hope turned into rage and frustration.”  Colón, who was working on a symposium project with Hernández-Romero and one other student, noted that the three of them met often. “I would like to say the email does not begin to cover the frequency or severity of the abuse she received here,” Colón said.  Hernández-Romero described this rage and frustration as beleaguering throughout her time at Middlebury. She stated that she had already been planning to denounce the racism she experienced when the Luso-Hispanic department released their Black Lives Matter statement last week, which she saw as hypocritical. Dr. Hernández-Romero concluded her email by imploring all members of the Middlebury community to enact change and hold the institution accountable.  “Create a record of all these events, that are not rumors, but real traumatic experience[s],” Dr. Hernández-Romero wrote. “Make noise. Enough of hiding these events, enough of being off the record.”

In regard to Riddim’s history: Give it back

In her recent email, President Patton urged non-Black members of this community to be “true allies in developing deeper knowledge about racism, inequality and the way oppression operates within our culture, within our institutions and within ourselves.” White supremacy works not only by constantly placing White people in positions of power, but also by diminishing the contributions of Black people to our society.  I want to bring your attention to a group on our campus that has been dishonoring the legacy of Black and Brown students. Jamaican women founded the Riddim World Dance Troupe in 1998 with the purpose to, “provide the Middlebury College Community with an outlet of expression through diverse dance styles, such as hip-hop, jazz, samba, reggae, calypso, merengue, modern, and African dance forms.” The Riddim that performs in Wilson Hall today does not reflect the original purpose put forth in 1998. Instead, it emphasizes Eurocentric dance forms and erases the many forms that were originally meant to be featured. In fact, I was told as an incoming first year that Riddim was the White dance group mainly for technically trained dancers. There was no mention anywhere of the origin of the troupe. Over the years, this shift has not only been in this group’s informal reputation — it is also reflected in their updated constitution. The constitution posted on the 2009 website states, “The purpose of Riddim is as follows: Section 1: To explore and provide awareness to the Middlebury College community on Caribbean, African and Hispanic, European etc., cultures through the participation of dance.” The policy that allows for constitutional changes to student organizations has made it possible for Riddim’s successors to white wash the history of this organization. The 2019-2020 Riddim Constitution states, “Article II Purpose: The purpose of RIDDIM World Dance Troupe is as follows: 1. To provide an outlet for dancers who come from all backgrounds, training, and styles from around the world to learn from each other by choreographing and teaching.” Instead of starting a new group or working harder to honor Afro-Caribbean and Afro-latinx styles of dance, they kept the name and the prestige while changing everything that it initially represented. Other dance groups, namely Evolution Dance Crew, have come to fruition to occupy the void that Riddim used to fill. In light of recent circumstances, it is imperative now more than ever that the Middlebury community show greater respect for the legacy of Black and Brown students. This troupe benefits from its years of existence, despite the fact that the execution has clearly strayed from the original vision of the group. European was once last on the list of styles, but now Euro-centric dance has displaced cultural dance forms like samba or reggae that have little representation on our campus. The name itself “Riddim” is a patois word taken directly from Carribean culture.  I can attest as the child of two Caribbean immigrants that members of our community do not pronounce the word correctly or show any reverence for its heritage. Performance titles such as “Riddim Goes to Werk” and “Riddim Throws It Back” reference Black vernacular and Black dance forms that aren’t represented in their shows. In a 2020 Middlebury Campus article, a member described Riddim as, “shifting towards a contemporary, modern, more ballet-based [style]”, which showcases the disconnect between its name and the dances they choreograph. Furthermore, Riddim leaders routinely reach out to Black- or Latinx- majority cultural organizations to co-host their after parties. All of these actions produce the illusion that Riddim is aligned with the POC community at Middlebury, when in reality, that has not been the case. They continue to reap the benefits of a POC cultural orientation while doing no work to preserve the culture itself. Riddim went from being a statement that Black and Brown cultures matter to  a statement that all cultures matter. “All,” of course,  meaning just the white ones. This is unacceptable. I recognize that Riddim as it stands today is a fully functioning and respectable dance organization; however, what the group has become is not representative of the name or its history. If this group wishes to keep their name, they must be required to honor the legacy of the Riddim founders by meaningfully representing the original dance styles in practice and in their constitution. If they cannot meet these requirements, the leaders need to start a new group with a more appropriate name. While this may be a tall order, the root of the issue is that many students of color don’t join Riddim because their culture is no longer represented.  These students of color will not feel safe in joining this group and choreographing culturally-rooted dances until its leaders make radical changes. In this time of deep societal unrest, Riddim publicly acknowledged its problematic history for effectively the first time. Vague statements of diversity and inclusion are not the same as being anti-racist and pro-Black. Instagram posts are not enough to undo the damage. Riddim needs to be led by a new group of students who are dedicated to upholding the legacy of this remarkable student organization. It is an expectation that groups will evolve over time. However, the evolution of Riddim continues a larger societal trend of White people co-opting and erasing the humanity of people of color. In the United States,  you will rarely see a predominantly White group becoming predominantly Black, but time and time again we see predominantly Black groups and cultures get appropriated by a White majority. While Riddim’s current members may not have intended to perpetuate injustices against Middlebury’s students of color, that has been the undeniable result. This is the time for the Middlebury community to take a stand with their students of color and against accepted modes of systematic oppression.

The sew must go on

The Middlebury College Theatre Department Costume Shop is accustomed to last minute alterations, so when the Covid-19 pandemic hit Vermont, employees quickly changed course from sewing costumes to sewing face masks. Led by Associate Costume Director Robin Foster Cole and Costume Shop Director Carol Wood, the seamsters immediately set to work organizing materials and mask patterns the moment the college shut down in March. “We call it the Massive Midd Mask Making Movement,” Wood said. “It’s all about the silver linings to the pandemic,” Foster Cole added. “We weren’t going to sit idly. This is bigger than a show.”  Foster Cole’s best friend from high school is an emergency room doctor in Rhode Island. After speaking with her on the phone, Foster Cole realized she had the opportunity to play a role in the fight against the virus too.  According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, cloth masks are not interchangeable with medical grade masks, but can help reserve medical masks for health service professionals and others who critically need them.  Shortly after most students evacuated campus, Mark Peluso, Middlebury’s director of health services, contacted Alex Draper, chair of the Theatre Department. Peluso requested the department’s costume shop sew face masks for healthcare workers at Porter Hospital, where there was a limited supply of standard masks; by that time, Wood and Foster Cole were already on it. Not long after that, the college made another mask request: this time, could the students and staff remaining on campus also be supplied two masks each? “There was no doubt we could execute this,” Wood said. After seeing a Facebook post online of the costume shop’s progress, members from the college’s laundry services offered their sewing skills and joined in on the mask-making mission.  For Foster Cole, this communal effort by all ends of the Middlebury community was not left unnoticed. “I grew up in Middlebury,” she said. “It’s amazing how many people here stepped up to take care of each other.” The masks are made with cotton fabric, a layer of fleece for extra comfort and protection, and elastic bands to wrap securely around ears. But even with the stockpile of supplies in the costume shop, Wood and Foster Cole needed more materials to continue manufacturing masks.  President Laurie Patton stepped in, generously offering to financially support this endeavor with personal discretionary funds for more fabric and elastic. “I love that this simple skill of sewing we love to do is helping the community,” Foster Cole said. “We’re doing it for the college, but also for the greater community.” Wood explained sewing the masks is not difficult, especially with her 11 years experience as a draper and stitcher with the San Francisco Opera, and the aid of her mother, Nancy Wood. This professional experience allows her to cut about 100 pieces of fabric for masks every hour, plus the additional three-and-a-half minutes of sewing it takes Wood and her mother to make one mask. After the measuring, cutting and sewing takes place, the masks are washed twice, pleats pressed, size marked, and packaged up for distribution: 300 masks to add to the college’s augmenting stockpile, the rest to Round Robin, the local nonprofit overseeing mask collection and delivery to Porter Hospital and other local organizations. According to Wood, the costume shop churns out 400–600 masks per week. To date, the mask makers have produced 3,000 masks and counting. Wood and Foster Cole, along with their tenacious team of sewers, do not have a numerical goal for the number of masks they are manufacturing. “We’re going to do whatever is needed,” Wood said. “Whatever it takes, however many we make, no one is going to go without a mask.” Mai Thuong ’22 is one of the students who remained on campus. She was given a homemade mask a few weeks ago and wears it on a regular basis. “We use them when we go to the dining hall to make both the dining staff and the students less paranoid of transmitting something to each other,” Thuong said. “Psychologically, it just also appears safer.” “The fashionable nature of the mask is also a big plus,” Thuong added. “When I got my masks with bright sunflowers on them, it made me really happy.” After hearing of the costume shop’s production-efficient assembly line, senior Abbey Knight ’19.75 also joined in, offering their sewing skills to whip up additional masks while isolating off-campus in Middlebury. “I love hands-on projects, so making masks felt like a fun craft project with a purpose,” Knight said. Knight is new to sewing, having learned how to this year for a puppet show. “Making masks has been a good way to learn more about the ever-mysterious sewing machine and practice the basics.” Volunteer residents of the greater Addison County have also joined in the nationwide effort to provide health care workers and neighbors in the community with protective face masks. Faith Daya of Brandon, a retired community organizer and mentor at the sewing lab at the Makery – the collaborative maker space at the Hannaford Career Center in Middlebury – is one of those volunteers. A month ago, Daya pulled together an email list of “just a few people, maybe 45 women,” sending out the call for help in making masks. “It’s truly a labor of love,” she said. “This is like having a mission, a purpose to help others.” To date, Daya’s group, dubbed “Sew Vermont Safe,” has made and donated more than 2,500 face masks to area businesses, clinics, assisted living residencies, subsidized housing works, and hospice care employees across the Addison and Rutland counties. For those interested in joining the cause and obtaining mask sewing kits, contact Carol Wood at cbwood@middlebury.edu, Faith Daya at faithdaya55@gmail.com, or visit https://unitedwayaddisoncounty.org.

Notes from the desk: Racism, journalism and our role

The death of George Floyd at the hands of Minneapolis police officers and the other acts of cruelty and merciless killing we have seen are but a sliver of the full scope of the systemic and constant violence that Black Americans face — and have faced throughout history. Black Americans continue to be the target of a carnage characterized by impunity, which includes the recent death of Ahmaud Arbery in Georgia and the still-unprosecuted death of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, among countless others. Before anything else, we are all forced to ask ourselves what role we play in perpetuating a system that leaves room for such injustices. These reflections are not meant to be comfortable. They are not meant to be stagnant. To be anti-racist is not an achieved state of being, but rather a commitment to fighting complacency in your every motion.  As a media outlet dedicated to informing the Middlebury community and uplifting its voices, we have a responsibility to engage in this fight with everything we publish. We recognize dissatisfaction with national media coverage of the ongoing protests and cases of violence against Black communities, and we have our own frustrations about which protests and events are covered — and how.  Peaceful protests aren’t sensational, but they matter. And when news outlets gratuitously cover violence, looting and rioting while neglecting to thoroughly document peaceful demonstrations and the messages behind current movements, they lose deeply important context about what is happening in America right now. Even worse, they contribute to an inherently negative framing of protestors and obfuscate the intentions of protest movements. To meet our standards of reporting, we commit to coverage of protests that is multifaceted and message-focused. We have a commitment to the truth, but truthful narratives hinge upon those who get to speak them. This involves actively seeking the sources that matter most when it comes to telling those stories. Right now, it requires amplifying the voices of the Black community in our coverage, especially when it comes to Black-led national and campus initiatives, activism and protests. Furthermore, the violence against protestors calls for a reevaluation of the conventional standards of journalism. While the purpose of photos is to document events, we recognize that they can be weaponized by police forces — and that Black and Brown protestors are particularly vulnerable. Thus, going forward, we plan to prioritize the safety of protestors by omitting photos of Black Lives Matter and related protests that can be used to identify individuals easily.  But police brutality only scratches the surface of the institutional racism deeply entrenched in American society — one underpinned by political and economic structures that disenfranchise Black Americans and other people of color. These structures of marginalization are pervasive — and their existence at Middlebury is no exception. More importantly, they will persist long after protests leave the news cycle and Instagram stories sharing anti-racism resources expire. Not long ago, The Campus had also been an institution that played a role in perpetuating these inequalities at Middlebury. Only four years ago — in 2016 — a group of cultural organizations sent an email to the entire student body condemning The Campus for failing Middlebury’s marginalized communities. Organizations have a responsibility to address internal racism and bias — and The Campus is no different. We recognize that we as an organization, and as a platform, can do more to uplift the voices that often go unheard. As we begin our summer coverage, we invite you to point us in the right direction, inform us of the gaps in our coverage and share your perspectives with us.  The burden of making our coverage more inclusive also shouldn’t lie solely with underrepresented communities. In the coming weeks, we plan to reach out to the leaders of cultural organizations in an effort to begin dialogues that we hope will continue throughout the school year — and beyond. We also welcome you to share with us other proactive measures we can take.  The Campus is meant to serve as a forum for all voices — and not just in the Opinion section. While we encourage op-ed submissions from the student body at all times, there is space for your voice on every page. The Campus invites new writers and reporters to join any section, whether in News, Local, Arts & Culture or Sports. But we also welcome you to submit a letter to the editor, where we hope you will speak out against anything you feel we did wrong, missed or need to improve upon. As a publication, we must continue to recognize that anti-racism is not a status that is conferred. Rather, it’s a series of deliberate decisions that we must make every day and consider with each issue we publish. We hope you’ll hold us accountable.  Bochu Ding ’21, Hattie LeFavour ’21 and Riley Board ’22 comprise The Campus’ executive team.

Vermont State Police condemn police brutality in death of George Floyd

Members of the Vermont State Police (VSP) and Department of Public Safety Commissioner Michael Schirling publicly condemned the actions of police officers in Minneapolis that led to the death of George Floyd in a press release published Friday. Director of the Vermont State Police Col. Matthew T. Birmingham, described the police conduct he had seen on video as “beyond disturbing.” “This kind of conduct has no place in policing,” Birmingham said. “It goes against everything we are taught from our earliest days in training academies. It goes against our mission to protect and serve the public. It goes against our oath and our badge. It goes against human decency.” The members of the state police sent “their deepest condolences to the family, loved ones and friends of George Floyd and to people everywhere who are aggrieved by his death.” The press release reiterated the state police’s commitment to “fair and impartial policing,” including de-escalation training, building relationships of trust with communities of color and marginalized communities, as well as diversifying the police workforce. VSP is in the process of reviewing its policies and training procedures regarding use of force so that the agency is “in line with best practices and account[s] for the safety and well-being of the public and of the police,” the press release read. Policy assessment has been ongoing for the past two to three years, and members of VSP are continuously examining tools officers currently use and coming up with non-lethal alternatives, said Captain Garry Scott, Director of Fair and Impartial Policing and Community Affairs. The Fair and Impartial Policing Committee was established in 2009 to bring together community members to discuss issues such as addressing bias in policing and building trust within communities of colors — and to advise VSP. In 2015, VSP hired Northeastern University and University of Vermont to analyze five years’ worth of traffic stop data. VSP began collecting traffic stop data in 2008 and formalized the process in 2010. Vermont was one of the first states to do so voluntarily, Scott said. Scott said the data showed that the agency “hadn’t trained [its] members properly.” So, Scott’s position was created to improve cultural awareness, bias training, diversification efforts and relationships with communities of color. He believes VSP is the only state police agency in the country with his position. Today, supervisors monitor uses of force, high-speed pursuits and civilian complaints in real time to ensure accountability. VSP has also embedded mental health workers at two barracks, and Scott hopes to continue this program at more locations across the state. Other efforts include recruiting people of color by sending recruiters out of state to predominantly black universities along the East Coast and hiring employees who understand VSP’s fair and impartial policing mission. VSP also conducts annual implicit and explicit bias training for all members and offers lunchtime discussions for troopers. Peer learning has been especially effective, according to Scott. Scott meets regularly with the Pride Center of Vermont, NAACP in Rutland and Windham County, LGBTQIA Alliance of Vermont, Vermont Partnership for Fairness and Diversity and the Sudanese Foundation of Vermont to build trust and mutual understanding. VSP also works closely with the Vermont Human Rights Commission and Vermont Legal Aid.  Scott explained that the agency refers reports of bias to the organization that “we recognize as being racial but that don’t rise to a criminal level or require police response.” “We made a very conscious decision at the highest level to make a full commitment to this by listening to our community,” Scott said, and added that agencies around the country have contacted VSP to model their approaches after Vermont. More information on Vermont State Police’s policies on their website.

Values matter in money matters

As widespread financial downturn and economic instability pepper front-page headlines and punctuate the inner workings of our day to day lives, institutions of higher education also find themselves facing their own fiscal obstacles. From offering partial tuition refunds to investing in online learning tools and canceling a variety of programs, budgetary shortfalls are threatening the livelihoods of countless colleges and universities. Even with an endowment that hovers around $1 billion, Middlebury is currently confronting a projected $30 million deficit for the 2021 fiscal year. This is a reality that cannot be easily circumvented or sidestepped. The truth is that we’re going to be in a financially tight spot for the time being, and the way that Middlebury chooses to wield its budget is even more critical in a world of financial uncertainty and anxiety.  In this crisis, we expect  Middlebury’s most intrinsic and consequential values will be decisively highlighted. We hope that these values, in turn, are ones that seek to help and support the most vulnerable members of our community. The discussion over staff wages was paramount even before Covid-19 led to the evacuation of the campus. Extensive under-compensation and pay compression have continued to affect staff members all across campus for a while now. Student protests that took place in December in response to the disconcerting state of staff wages succeeded in raising pay for entry-level staff positions. And while we oppose the fact that it took student intervention to catalyze that achievement, we appreciate and commend the administration’s current commitment in prioritizing staff wages during these unprecedented times. It has been affirmed that these supports will continue “as long as possible” and will be evaluated monthly, and senior leadership executives have taken pay cuts as well. Especially when compared to some of our peer institutions, we are thankful for Middlebury's actions and for the transparency that has accompanied them, as college staff undoubtedly serve as the backbone of our institution.  But we as a board also feel that it is imperative to call attention to the long-term consequences of this budget deficit — both in regards to staff and other essential aspects of the Middlebury community. The protections of on-campus resources such as the Anderson Freeman Center and mental health services are vital. Newer academic offerings like the Black Studies and Education Studies departments must also be similarly treated as indispensable. In response to their own financial troubles, Ohio University is cutting professorship positions in Women’s and Gender Studies and African-American Studies. We sorely hope the administration continues to support academic inquiry in underrepresented fields — to abandon such subjects would be severely antithetical to Middlebury’s mission. Furthermore, as students' own finances continue to be affected, the college must commit to providing consistent and comprehensive support networks for the student body.  Middlebury’s financial responsibilities and our commitment to a robust community do not have to be mutually exclusive. We hope that the administration will use this crisis as an opportunity to chart a new path, particularly when it comes to supporting our staff. Now more than ever, staff deserve to be adequately compensated for their time and labor. The longstanding disregard of staff issues at Middlebury has been well-documented — and as the largest employer in Addison County, the college has an outstanding obligation to support staff and their families. We demand that the administration prioritize staff not just during these difficult months, but always and without reserve. Our institution would fail to run without them.  Of course, such responsibilities cannot weigh solely on the shoulders of the administration. In anticipating our eventual return to campus, we as students must act more conscientiously than we have in the past. Our antics should have never escalated to the point where damage fees had to be accrued — but as Middlebury heads toward an inevitable tightening of the fiscal belt, we cannot afford this level of recklessness and disrespect toward the place we call home. Whether it be urinating in Atwater elevators, committing widespread vandalism, or yes, assaulting a tree, these events burden facilities team members and accumulate avoidable fees. Let’s be cognizant of how irresponsible and self-centered actions can exacerbate already troublesome issues that amass additional costs. Moving forward, the Middlebury community will need to step up and act more considerately.  This year is asking a lot from all of us and will continue to do so. We will only be able to weather the storm together if we — administration, faculty, and students — are committed to protecting and supporting each and every member of our community, whether that be financially or otherwise. This moment, albeit terrible and terrifying, is an opportunity for us to build towards the Middlebury that we truly want to see. We will only get there if we all buy in.  This editorial represents the opinions of the Middlebury Campus’s editorial board.

A financial future for all of us: Honoring Middlebury’s values

The following statement was sent to members of the college administration, as well as the Board of Trustees, on May 8. Signatories are listed at the bottom of this piece. The piece has been lightly edited in accordance with The Campus’ style guidelines. The coronavirus pandemic has disrupted the lives of hundreds of millions of people across the globe, causing death, sickness, stress and isolation. The parallel economic impact has likewise been enormous. As businesses have shut down, some have chosen to furlough or fire their workers, which has, in turn, led to massive increases in unemployment and economic hardships. Middlebury has not been immune to the consequences of the virus. Some faculty, staff and students have fallen ill, we’ve lost loved ones, and our work lives have been quickly disrupted and transformed. At the college, there will be greater expenses than revenues this fiscal year and a projected deficit in the tens of millions of dollars next year. What is the best way to deal with this crisis? The Middlebury chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) believes that the solutions we should adopt should reflect the values the college has long espoused in its public statements and deeds. One place to view the college’s values is through the people it chooses as recipients of honorary degrees. Each year Middlebury College chooses an Honorary Degree Recipient whose aspirations and achievements are meant to serve as role models for our graduating seniors. In 1996, Middlebury conferred an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters on Aaron Feuerstein. Feuerstein was the owner of Malden Mills, the producer of Polartec fleece. The company’s factory was destroyed by the largest industrial fire in Massachusetts. He could have collected the insurance money and retired to a comfortable life, leaving his former employees scrambling to find other jobs. Instead, Feuerstein vowed not only to rebuild the plant, but to continue to pay all his employees their wages and benefits during the construction process. Could Middlebury follow Feuerstein’s example, one it so visibly honored, as it works through a temporary period of disruption caused by the virus? We believe that it can and that it should. Here’s how. The AAUP plan: Stop endowment hoarding and create real transparency and faculty governance now There are adequate funds in Middlebury’s endowment to get us through a 12- to 18-month period without firing staff and reducing the compensation — salaries, healthcare, sabbatical leaves, parental leaves, etc. — of those who work here. The small additional draw down from the endowment would have little long-term negative impact on the institution while providing much needed support for its loyal employees. There is no principle of financial management, no wisdom of corporate governance or tenet of economics that would argue against an increased draw from the endowment in the face of a once-in-a-lifetime pandemic. Yet, all the models Senior Administration is sharing with faculty groups only allow for a 5% draw from the endowment. In reality, we have the ability to use at least 20% of the endowment to confront this crisis. This includes unrestricted funds, the Trustee-designated funds, and funds designated for capital building projects. Increasing the amount we draw from the endowment to at least 7% would allow us to maintain current compensation levels while weathering the crisis. We propose the college pursue this path instead of widespread austerity. The so-called “five percent rule,” which has its origins in the laudable desire to preserve intergenerational equity, should itself be reconsidered. There is no ethical reason the current generation of Middlebury students, staff and faculty should bear all of the burdens. In fact, Middlebury has used up to 7.1% of the endowment as recently as 2001/02. Further, the particular choice of five percent, which delineates “surplus” from “deficit,” is itself a matter of some debate: intended to preserve the real value of endowments, there is evidence that it has allowed institutions to “endowment hoard,” and at least one New York Times op-ed has called for an eight percent rule which, if adopted, would transform the conversation on our campus. In this moment of extraordinary upheaval, we must utilize our resources to support the extraordinary education we offer here at Middlebury. The budget challenges we now confront are not a choice between prudent finance and community values. Rather, we believe that the college must choose a financial path forward that honors the commitments it has made to faculty, staff and students — and to the values it so often endorses in public. To help ensure that happens, we propose the creation of a collective bargaining process that will allow faculty and staff to negotiate with the administration over compensation and the financial future of the college. A democratic workplace means we must elect a body that is trained and committed to this specific bargaining task during this unique time. We need faculty advocates with a seat at the table who are treated as equals, not merely an advisory board. Such a bargaining committee would have full access to the college’s financial planning resources, and would be able to consult with the larger faculty and staff before big decisions are set in stone. We suggest that the AAUP seed such an organization, as it does at over 500 colleges across the country. We are concerned about more than compensation, but the well-being of the institution and its future reputation. If faculty compensation is cut — as proposed in all of Senior Leadership’s projections, including the best-case scenario where students return in the fall — faculty will be forced to recalibrate their time and energies. Already, there is precarity among our community members who are supporting their families on one salary or who are living dual lives in order to maintain careers alongside their academic partners. Less money will translate to lower productivity because, necessarily, faculty will find alternative ways to generate income, such as freelance work, to pay their rent and mortgages and to support their families. All of this means that our students will get less: fewer faculty with engaged research agendas, less faculty time and energy, and fewer faculty who feel they are being treated fairly by an institution that claims to put education first. The administration talks of “the Middlebury Way,” and relies on the rhetoric of “family” as they ask us to sacrifice for our jobs. This line of reasoning uses our own best intentions against us even as it obscures the reality that Middlebury is a nonprofit entity that has generated nearly a billion dollars in a sheltered endowment. We must ask: what is this money for if not to secure the well-being of the workers and students who make up the Middlebury community? Middlebury’s future gets decided now What we do now will define the future reality of working at the college. Research in the American Economic Review shows that when endowments experience negative shocks, hiring and benefits are taken away. When endowments experience positive shocks, these are not returned. We need full transparency and collaboration between our stated financial planners and the faculty and staff. To make decisions while only informing a small portion of the faculty and staff — some of whom were appointed by the administration or elected for unrelated committees — undermines faculty governance. Decisions about capital improvements, real estate acquisitions or even “brokering” a dorm building in Monterey, Calif. should not be made without the entire faculty being able to see the actual long-term costs of such projects. As a community, we must ask ourselves what we value most — and act accordingly. Our AAUP chapter believes that high-quality education and maintaining our fair compensation for labor should be our primary concerns. We need a financial plan that reflects our mission and will rise to the occasion, not set us back a decade. We look forward to implementing such a plan alongside our faculty, staff and administrative colleagues — one that utilizes our endowment responsibly and ethically, to ensure a vibrant future for the college and those who work and learn here. Signed, Rachael Miyung Joo, American Studies Marybeth E. Nevins, Anthropology Ellen Oxfeld, Anthropology Peter Matthews, Economics Andrea Robbett, Economics Tanya Byker, Economics Julia Berazneva, Economics Jeffrey Carpenter, Economics Carolyn Craven, Economics Akhil Rao, Economics Tara L. Affolter, Education Studies Antonia Losano, English & American Literature Yumna Siddiqi, English & American Literature Marion Wells, English & American Literature Rebecca Kneale Gould, Environmental Studies Erin J. Davis, Film & Media Studies David Miranda-Hardy, Film & Media Culture William Poulin-Deltour, French & Francophone Studies Laurie Essig, Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies Hemangini Gupta, Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies Catharine Wright, Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies and Writing Program Carly Thomsen, Gender, Sexuality & Feminist Studies Natalie Eppelsheimer, German Florence A. Feiereisen, German Guntram H. Herb, Geograpy Tamar Mayer, Geography Carrie Anderson, History of Art & Architecture Edward A. Vazquez, History of Art & Architecture Febe Armanios, History Maggie Clinton, History Darién J. Davis, History Joyce Mao, History Jacob Tropp, History Max Ward, History Linda White, Japanese Studies Enrique Garcia, Luso-Hispanic Studies Gloria Estela González Zenteno, Luso-Hispanic Studies Patricia Saldarriaga, Luso-Hispanic Studies Luis Hernán Castañeda, Luso-Hispanic Studies Irina Feldman, Luso-Hispanic Studies Fernando S. Rocha, Luso-Hispanic Studies Priscilla S. Bremser, Mathematics Michael Olinick, Mathematics Frank Swenton, Mathematics Kemi Fuentes-George, Political Science Justin Doran, Religion Matthew Lawrence, Sociology Jamie McCallum, Sociology Linus Owens, Sociology Rebecca Tiger, Sociology James Chase Sanchez, Writing & Rhetoric Hector Vila, Writing & Rhetoric The signatories are members of the Middlebury branch of the AAUP.

Admin-staff relations tested by health crisis

As college employees geared up last summer for another presumably normal academic year, some facilities staff members, frustrated with a lack of communication from upper management and the aftershocks of workforce planning, contemplated forming a union. Now, only nine months later, nothing is the same. Efforts to unionize with the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) — the trade union that originally approached staff about organizing —  are all but dead in the water, many staff say. And the college, which is the largest employer in Addison County, has scrambled to keep its approximately 1,500 employees with full pay during the pandemic until at least June 30. Yet, as unemployment surges past 20 percent statewide and Middlebury deliberates how college will look come fall, employees are divided. Some workers feel that the crisis has led to a return of the “family feel” that had, according to many, dissipated as the college expanded. The acquisition of the Middlebury Institute for International Studies (MIIS) in Monterey and the growth of the Language Schools necessitated an operations model that became more business-oriented.  !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")}}))}(); But during the pandemic, administrators have ramped up college-wide communications, reiterating that they are committed to paying staff for as long as possible, whether or not they are able to report to work.  Other staff members — many of them working in facilities jobs in the college’s lowest pay bands — are less congratulatory. Several feel that the health crisis has only exacerbated an already strained relationship between administrators and staff, one that plummeted with workforce planning and years of insufficient pay. Some said they would still really like to see a union happen. Most of the dozen workers The Campus spoke with for this story said the uncertainty about their employment status and pay after June 30 brought a great deal of stress.  The Covid-19 Pay Bank Eight days after administrators announced that the college would transition to remote learning, staff received an email outlining the college’s plan to ensure continued pay. Through a new program, the Covid-19 Pay Bank, staff would be provided an additional 21 days of paid time off.  Three weeks later, staff received yet another email that guaranteed pay until June 30, regardless of whether or not workers had already burned through their Pay Bank days. If they had, but still had hours left in their combined time off (CTO), they would dip into those hours. Rick Iffland, an Atwater dining hall staffer who has worked at the college for 14 years, has used some of his accrued CTO. “The Covid Pay Bank was very gracious,” he said. “But I’ve had to use my own days now. That’s just the way it is.” Full-time staff receive eight hours biweekly of CTO, with more hours allotted with years of experience. Staff can have over 288 hours saved up at any given time !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")}}))}(); Several staff said they were frustrated about having to dip into their CTO hours. “Don’t get me wrong, I am grateful to be getting a paycheck,” said one custodial worker, who asked to be kept anonymous for fear of retribution from upper management, “but I am being forced to use all my banked CTO time now that the Covid Bank is used up.” Vice President for Human Resources and Chief Risk Officer Karen Miller said she understands that staff might wish to hold onto their CTO. “But we’re operating in extraordinary times and the plan we developed was a way to ensure our commitment to wage continuity,” she said. Communicating change Many staff previously told The Campus that low morale mushroomed during last year’s cost-reducing workforce planning efforts. Grace O’Dell, a career and academic advisor at MIIS and a representative on the Staff Council, said that staff were sometimes frustrated about how messages were communicated during that process. “These crisis communications, however, have been really excellent,” she said. In particular, O’Dell said she has been reading the Covid-19 page on the college’s website for updates about the college’s budget, among other news. Patti McCaffrey, who works in Atwater dining hall and has been with the college for 23 years, says she thinks morale might vary by department, depending on how communicative and understanding supervisors are. !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")}}))}(); “Some of it has to do with the people who are managing you,” she said. “Whether you feel like they could be more empathetic to whatever issues you might have is crucial.”  Landscaping worker Todd Weedman agreed that communication depends on management. “I’m going to say the upper administration has been as good as they can be,” he said. “I do feel sometimes communication among supervisors and management could be better, but it could be worse.” Some staff say that the family feel the college had allegedly lost in recent years has returned. “What more could they have done for us?” said McCaffrey. “Family is a ‘looking out for your own’ sort of thing. And I really feel like they’ve done that the best they can.”  [pullquote speaker="Patti McCaffrey" photo="" align="right" background="off" border="left" shadow="off"]Family is a ‘looking out for your own’ sort of thing. And I really feel like they’ve done that the best they can.[/pullquote] At the beginning of the remote work period, the college sent out a voluntary online survey to all staff, including those in Monterey and abroad. The survey in part gauged how the 695 staff who responded (45% of the college’s workforce) felt about college communications from the administration. One comment alluded to a string of stresses staff faced this year. “Please keep in mind that this is a population already fatigued and low morale after workforce Planning, the headaches of a challenging Oracle migration, and now COVID-19,” it read. “We are ready to be inspired. The decisions the college makes in the next two weeks — and how they communicate to and involve staff — will ripple through the Middlebury community for years to come.” Separately, several staff also told The Campus they are also still frustrated by the pay compression caused by this year’s wage raises. The college has plans to potentially address the compression, pending the results of a compensation review it spearheaded this year, but that timeline has been affected by dismal budget projections for the upcoming fiscal year. Miller said the review is slated to be finished this summer, and that the college “will consider its findings in context with other decisions we must make in response to Covid-19.” !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")}}))}(); The months ahead Dining hall staff are hoping to return to work once Governor Phil Scott lifts the stay-at-home order for the state, most likely moving to facilities or other departments on campus. For employees deemed “essential,” like Public Safety officers, work has settled into a new normal. Public Safety Officer Rodney Grant says staff in the department are equipped with personal protection equipment and new protocols: all officers have personally fitted N95 masks; there is only one officer per car; and Parton Health Center, rather than Public Safety, is now transporting students to Porter Hospital. Staff are now waiting to hear about what will happen after June 30, a decision that will ultimately depend both on whether the college will have students back on campus this fall — which the college will announce by June 22 — as well as a host of financial factors. Miller insisted that wage continuity will remain a priority as the college deliberates on a course of action come fall, but emphasized that the situation at hand is quite severe. “My biggest concern is that at the end of June they will furlough me,” the anonymous custodial worker said. “Also, if they don’t furlough me, where will they put me? Will I still be able to be where I was, do what I was doing, have the same shift?”

Career Center assists students with internships, entering the job market in uncertain time

Middlebury students have seen their summer plans upended in recent weeks, as Covid-19 restrictions and the economic downturn impact internships and jobs. The Center for Careers and Internships (CCI) is working with students to create alternative summer plans, even while staff members shift to working remotely. The center has continued regular advising appointments with staff through Zoom, and Peer Career Advisors host daily virtual “Quick Questions” to review resumes and provide internship search tips, as they typically do on campus.  The CCI is also launching several new initiatives this spring to support students in career exploration and job searches. “We’ve done some things that I think are particularly creative that, if things were normal, might have taken six months to a year to get off the ground,” said Ursula Olender, the CCI director of career advising and employer relations. Seniors graduate into a difficult job market Many seniors have had their job searches derailed as they head into an uncertain job market. While Middlebury reported a record high post-graduation employment rate last year, the class of 2020 faces an economy crippled by Covid-19 closures and the highest rate of US unemployment since the Great Depression.  Rachel Veneziano ’20 had planned to stay in Vermont after graduation to do environmental service work in the state. Now, she is looking at moving to Boston, where she hopes there will be more job opportunities. “Even in the past few weeks, I've become increasingly flexible with the types of jobs I'm applying for as well,” Veneziano said. “As an Environmental Policy major, I was originally hoping to dive into that and find environmental work after graduation.” She has since accepted the possibility of not finding work in her field right away. Veneziano said she has found the CCI’s online programming effective and helpful in recent weeks. She and 54 others have joined the center’s new Senior Career Action Groups, in which five to seven seniors on similar career paths meet virtually with an advisor to talk about their job searches, interview experiences and ideas. “We've been having robust discussions regarding our thoughts and concerns on the post-graduation job search,” said Jack Carew ’20, who joined an action group led by Associate Director of Career Advising Tim Mosehauer, who focuses on consulting, government, law and public policy. “I've appreciated the opportunity to hear from my peers about the strategies they use when job searching and hearing Tim’s feedback as well,” Carew said. Carew, along with another student, was planning a series of theater and dance workshops with high school students who are writing personal statements for college, sponsored by grants from the Kathryn W. Davis Foundation’s Projects for Peace program. He is waiting to hear if the grants have been postponed until next year or canceled. In the meantime, he has found an opportunity to intern remotely with the National Council for Science and the Environment this summer. The CCI also hosted a panel titled, “Dear Class of 2020, We've Been There! Advice from Alumni of ’07–’09,” during which Midd alumni who graduated during the Great Recession shared their stories and suggestions about entering a difficult job market.  “One of the things that we’re really working to counteract too is all the doom and gloom, and while we are certainly aware of all of the challenges…there are many organizations that indeed are still hiring and are very interested in our talented Middlebury pool of applicants,” said Peggy Burns, executive director of the CCI.  “I think it’s super important to understand that your first job doesn’t define you, it doesn’t define the rest of your life,” Olender added. “You’ve got to get your foot in the door — and it doesn’t even have to be the right door, it can be any door — but get yourself out there.” Summer internships change amid uncertainty Many summer internships, jobs, research positions and opportunities abroad have been canceled or postponed, leaving a gap in many students’ summer plans. The CCI’s webpage now lists “Ideas for an Impactful Summer,” which lists several recommendations for students: asking an organization to continue an internship remotely, completing a micro-internship, volunteering, studying for graduate school exams, working on senior independent research and using various online learning tools.  The center also plans to launch a new micro-internship program called MIDDGigs in the near future, connecting students with alumni for one- or two-week internships. “This is a great way for a student whose internship may have fallen through to still be able to get some experience, do a concrete project, build some skills, network a bit and be able to get a recommendation down the road,” Burns said. “And, it’s a relatively low commitment on the part of an alum.” The CCI is also still funding internships this summer, but they have only been authorized at this time to fund remote positions, according to a page on the website. They are also funding internships that are currently remote but that have the expectation of transitioning to in-person later in the summer — after June 15, students who have been granted this status will be able to apply to make their internships in-person, though the ability to do this will be based on CDC guidelines and local restrictions.  The CCI is not funding any international internships unless students are conducting remote internships from their hometowns abroad.  Many students have been able to adapt and create new summer plans. Gwen Davis ’22 was applying to consulting firms near Philadelphia when she got the news that Middlebury was sending students home. The internships she had applied to were canceled or unresponsive. Davis had worked with Mosehauer during the semester to create her initial summer plan, and spoke with him on Zoom after those positions disappeared. “He sent me a whole list of resources, but reminded me that this will be a summer like no other for everyone, and that networking and our Middlebury community is one of our greatest resources,” Davis said. She eventually found an internship with her father’s friend at a moving services company. “It certainly is not the industry I saw myself working in, but I know I have to be flexible at a time like this,” Davis said. “I now have the chance to be exposed to something totally new.” Celeste Levy ’22 was planning to live on campus this summer as an intern with Oratory Now, working with language school programs and traveling to Burlington and Boston to coach clients. She is currently working to brainstorm how that experience will continue remotely. “Coaching is so personal and physical, and doesn’t have the same effect over a screen. I think it will be less useful for our clients and less beneficial for me improving as a teacher. But, it will make us be creative and possibly expand our range of offerings,” Levy said. The CCI is also partnering with Oratory Now to provide virtual interview workshops, where students record videos of themselves responding to interview prompts and send it to Oratory Now coaches for annotations. After receiving feedback, students reach out to a Midd2Midd alumni volunteer to ask for a practice interview.  The center planned to partner with Oratory Now before the pandemic, but sped up the process as recruiting shifted online. The CCI anticipates that virtual recruiting will become the new norm for first-round interviews even after students return to campuses, because it is more cost-efficient for employers. Employment at the college may also change this year. According to Middlebury’s decision-making calendar, researchers and workers can expect a decision on their summer positions by Friday, May 15.  Francis Shiner ’23 intended to work as Music Professor Jeff Buettner's summer choral assistant. In that capacity, Shiner would have worked to digitize Middlebury’s choral archive, plan for the choir’s 2021 Japan tour, organize volunteer opportunities for music students in town and learn about running a college choir. “In case Midd doesn't keep summer research positions, I've been figuring out other options, including a possible grant from the CCI,” Shiner said. “As of now, I don't know what my summer will be like, and that terrifies me.” Shiner applied for an art grant to fund a summer project preparing the choir for the impacts of Covid-19, including how to have rehearsals and concerts without large group meetings. Although the CCI will continue providing advice and resources through the summer, staff members are also trying to allay students’ anxieties. “We talk about how this will always be the summer that has an asterisk. If there’s a gap in your resume and it happens to be this summer, I’m sure that you will be forgiven. But employers will want to know, how did you use your time?” Oldender said. “And it doesn’t have to be an internship for it to be productive.” Correction May 14, 2020: An earlier version of this story used the incorrect pronoun for Francis Shiner '23. 

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Parton-Mental-Health-—-Michael-Borenstein

Students and counselors navigate challenges of tele-mental health care

Anticipating new anxieties the realities of Covid-19 might impose on students, Parton Health Center overhauled its counseling program in the first week of an elongated spring break to provide therapy remotely for the remainder of the semester.  The counseling center has what Counseling Services Director Gus Jordan calls an “obligation to provide continuity of care”— that is, when students departed campus, Parton committed to ensuring that those who needed counseling would continue to receive support remotely. While spring break is usually a time when the health center quiets down, this year counselors spent that time educating themselves about remote counseling: learning Zoom therapy guidelines and studying ethics and risk-management practices for tele-mental health care.  However, they immediately faced a bureaucratic mess of state health department laws that restrict therapists in practicing outside of their state of licensure. While counselors on Middlebury’s staff are licensed to provide counseling in Vermont, licensing requirements for therapists vary from state to state, and call for different levels of certification ranging from Ph.D. to counseling certificates.  Some state officials recognized the need for quick access to tele-mental health services during the pandemic and changed their guidelines quickly (states like Mississippi and Illinois quickly offered “temporary licensure” for this purpose), but others did not. This meant that even as Middlebury counselors were available, they were in some cases unable to keep providing counseling over Zoom to students who had moved away from Vermont.  “The moment students scattered all across the country, we had to get looking at what the laws were that allow or prohibit providing counseling to students,” Jordan said.  Instead of continuing to provide therapy to every student, counselors divided their approach. They have held Zoom counseling sessions with the students whose home states permit it, while simultaneously taking a “case management” approach with those residing where regulations prevent continuity of care directly from a counselor in Middlebury. In these cases, counselors worked with student patients to locate a licensed therapist in their area who might be a good fit using Psychology Today’s Therapist Finder tool.  Jordan said that counselors have shifted from helping some students with pressures shaped by Middlebury’s environment—academics, social dynamics, feelings of not belonging—to new anxieties: fear of returning to unstable homes, in some cases, but more broadly the uncertainty of the pandemic. Counselors who have continued meeting with students have helped them work through that uncertainty—worry over finding employment during an emerging recession, concern about the health of family members and simple questioning of whether to make plans in the murky weeks ahead—alongside the usual worries that come with the end of a semester.  Brigett Weinstein ’20, who lived in Fairhaven, Vt. with her boyfriend during spring break before returning home to New Jersey, was able to meet twice with her Middlebury counselor via Zoom while she was still in Vermont. During those sessions, she said that discussions with her therapist focused on stress around future plans.  “Probably most of the anxiety is shifting towards looking towards the future, job stuff, and what that will look like in a pandemic,” she said. “I think that that's kind of natural—I wouldn't say that that's happening now because we're off campus, but also probably because we're just getting closer to graduating.”  Weinstein said that she did not initially assume she would be able to keep receiving care from her counselor once she left campus. She was surprised and grateful when her counselor reached out, and when they later offered to help put her in touch with a therapist in New Jersey. (She already had a therapist she is familiar with at home with whom she felt she could meet if necessary. New Jersey, according to Jordan, was a state that quickly changed its licensure rules so that therapists from out-of-state could meet with patients there.) “My [Middlebury] therapist did the best she could with what she had,” Weinstein said. “I'm really grateful to her and grateful that Midd is still somewhat offering some things to help.” Madeleine Ciocci ’20 had to stop seeing her Middlebury counselor, with whom she had been meeting regularly for two years, when she returned home to New Hampshire. But the two were able to meet several times over Zoom during spring break, and like Weinstein, Ciocci said that many themes of conversations they had had at Middlebury shifted in the face of uncertainties posed by the pandemic.  “All of us are trying to reconcile this huge life shift that we're trying to make with no warning or preparation,” she said. “At the same time dealing with all the stressors that come with graduating college and trying to make a huge life transformation while all these things are thrown into question.”  Ciocci said that the last session she had with her counselor, when she was told that they would no longer be able to meet, was “devastating.” Still, she was grateful for the efforts her counselor made to connect her with a new therapist in her area.  Technology has become a defining feature of remote mental health support, both in how it shapes the experience of interacting with a therapist and in how it dictates who is able to receive care (not every student has a stable internet connection or a private room in which to speak with a counselor). Using Zoom meetings as a primary communication method over the past two months has also led to what Jordan terms "Zoom fatigue"—people are simply tired of sitting in Zoom meetings at this stage of the semester. And, students said, speaking to a therapist over Zoom can lead to facial expressions, gestures and mood shifts not being picked up as readily as they are in person. "Zoom definitely adds a weird dynamic where the body language isn't always there, and that's really important in therapy," Weinstein said.  Beyond therapy sessions with counselors, Jordan said that Parton has seen a “dramatic” increase in the number of students seeking guidance from Parton-run support groups, which the counseling department has held over Zoom in the past weeks. These groups included a weekly meditation series and a four-part workshop focused on college life called “Riding the Wave of Emotions: Being in College during Covid-19.”  Counseling appointments have been in high demand at Middlebury over the past few years. Still, Jordan said that on average when compared to past semesters, the number of students enrolled in counseling has decreased this semester as students are connected to providers in their home areas.  “If a student calls in and says ‘hey, I need help,’ we will have an appointment for them today, tomorrow...we can get them connected to a counselor right away,” Jordan said.  Students seeking counseling support may call Parton’s 24/7 counseling support line at (855) 465-5013.  Update 5/14/20, 11:00 A.M.: this article was updated to include more specific information about state-by-state counseling rules. 

News in Brief: Middlebury expects 750 in the class of 2024 and 2024.5

Middlebury College will welcome a total of 750 new students as members of the classes of 2024 and 2024.5, an uptick from last year’s cohort of 703. The increase comes after the college’s acceptance rate jumped to 24% this year, an 8% rise from last year’s admission cycle. 640 new students currently plan to enroll in September and 110 will join the college in February. !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")}}))}(); Among those planning to matriculate, 30% are students of color and 15% will be first-generation students, increases of 3% and 4% respectively. International students will comprise 11% of the class, while 18.9% will be Pell Grant recipients. The students hail from 44 states and Washington, D.C. as well as 54 countries. The number of students receiving financial aid has also increased to 51%, up from 41% last year. Such fluctuation from year to year is common as Middlebury remains a need-blind institution. The college will award a total of approximately $16.6 million, with the average grant being $51,378.  After the pandemic led to the cancellation of traditional admissions events such as Preview Days and on-campus tours, the college has been forced to improvise. Admitted prospective students were offered a medley of remote programs and events including three Experiential Learning Centers that offer virtual connection to staff and faculty, as well as the option to be matched with a current Middlebury student with whom to text in lieu of Preview Days.   Although these students have all accepted Middlebury’s offer of admission, these statistics are tentative. The status of the upcoming academic year is still in question, with the administration set to communicate a contingency plan for the fall semester by June 22. The admissions staff is continually monitoring deferral requests and availability of student visas for incoming first-years and other students alike, leaving concrete enrollment numbers uncertain. !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")}}))}();