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(02/13/20 9:15pm)
They did it!
The alpine and nordic ski teams earned their first carnival win in a very close victory over UVM. All members of the team clocked in speedy times to dominate the Bates Carnival.
For the alpine men, Justin Alkier ’21 placed first in giant slalom and Erik Arvidsson ’21 trailed him closely with a fourth place finish. In slalom, Tim McGavett ’22 finished second.
Alkier commented on the team’s successful weekend.
“After being so close to victory in the prior carnivals, it was amazing to see things come together for a well deserved win,” said Alkier. “It’s a great feeling to be in contention for the win every weekend — let alone win. The entire team is showing some serious speed right now and we’re all excited for the remainder of the season, especially the Midd Carnival.”
It wasn’t just the men who showed up this last weekend though. The women also came to play. Lucia Bailey ’21 led the pack with her third place finish in slalom. Meanwhile, Nina Reichhelm ’23 brought in a top 10 finish in grand slalom, placing 8th.
Bailey reflected on her team’s performance.
“There was an unspoken pressure to ski well this weekend because we have been so close to winning and the stars finally aligned,” said Bailey. “Everyone contributed to the win.”
Heading into Williams Carnival, excitement surrounds the team as it is the final Carnival before the beloved Midd Carnival, hosted at the Middlebury Snow Bowl. Hopes are that the success will continue throughout the remainder of the season.
Go Panthers!
(02/13/20 9:09pm)
Middlebury put up a dominant performance at Wesleyan on Sunday to improve to 19–3 for the season. The Panthers shot 60% (39-65) from the field, outscoring Wesleyan 48–37 in the first half and putting up 47 more in the second half en route to a 95–79 victory.
The Panthers started out on an explosive 30–12 run which Wesleyan was able to cut down to 30–21, but the Panthers would hold an eleven point advantage at the half. In the second half, Middlebury was able to nullify Wesleyan’s plays, getting out to a 56–39 lead. Wesleyan never cut the deficit to less than fifteen the rest of the way through the game.
Jack Farrell ’21 and Tommy Eastman ’21 led the squad in scoring with 20 points apiece and Matt Folger ‘20 turned in an all around impressive performance with 19 points, 11 rebounds, and 6 assists. Ryan Cahill ’21 was impressive off the bench with 14 points and Griffin Kornaker ’21 led the team with 10 assists and has 19 helpers in the team’s last two games.
The boys will play next on Friday night at 7:00 p.m. at home when they host Tufts.
(02/13/20 11:05am)
Rural Vermont schools are consolidating with larger schools under the guidelines of Act 46, a bill passed in 2015.
“It is the conclusion of a multiyear process to create more sustainable and efficient school governance structures and improve access to quality PreK-12 education for all Vermont students,” reads the State of Vermont Agency of Education’s web page.
While the Senate passed Act 46 — which stipulated school consolidation — in 2015, it allowed schools to merge on their own terms, not forcing consolidation until 2019. This led the act to resurface at the start of last year.
Although some schools requested and received an extension on forced school consolidations at the start of last year, many are fighting against forced mergers altogether.
In a vote last November, the town of Ferrisburgh voted against merging its elementary school with the larger school in nearby Vergennes. Even with the support of the popular vote, Ferrisburgh Central School may still be forced to merge with Vergennes Elementary School next fall, a shift incentivized at the administrative level with the possibility of budget savings.
In addition to voting locally against the mergers, over two-dozen districts have sued the State of Vermont in an attempt to fend off consolidation. The case was heard by the State Supreme Court on Jan. 15, though a decision has not yet been handed down.
The plaintiff schools and attorney David Kelley argue that consolidation of districts disproportionately impacts rural schools, the rural towns that will lose such schools and the students who would be forced to attend school in larger towns nearby. The case against consolidation states that lengthened bus rides, larger class sizes, and the impersonal nature of larger schools disproportionately affect students who previously attended smaller, rural elementary schools.
Editor’s Note: This is the introductory article to a series on school consolidation in rural Vermont.
(02/13/20 11:01am)
Electronic cigarettes, climate change, marijuana, the safety of sex workers and paid family-leave are all topics that have come before the Vermont General Assembly this year. The topics have caused consequential debates about what is, and what is not, best for the state.
Electronic cigarettes and vaping products have become increasingly prominent in recent years, prompting legislators to propose bills addressing these devices and their markets. The 2020 session brought a proposed ban on menthol products, which was met with significant pushback from the tobacco industry. The bill as introduced (H.823) proposes “to ban the sale or possession of flavored cigarettes, flavored e-cigarettes, and flavored substances that contain nicotine or are otherwise intended for use with an e-cigarette.”
Led by Representative Jessica Brumsted (D-Shelburne), over thirty members of the House sponsored bill H.823. Brumstead explained teenage use of flavored vaping products underpinned her sponsorship. “Those who start using e-cigarettes while in their teens are four times more likely to become traditional cigarette smokers than teenagers who do not,” Brumsted said.
The General Assembly has made multiple efforts to combat the health effects of e-cigarettes and similar products, including the ‘Tobacco 21’ bill passed last year to ban the sale of and use of tobacco products for people under the age of 21. Still, the Assembly sees a need for further action.
“We know that by reducing the number of people vaping and smoking, we will also reduce health care costs for our state,” Brumsted said. H.823 was read and referred to the Committee on Human Services Jan. 21 of this year.
Legislators are also working on several climate-related bills this session. Senator Ruth Hardy (D-Addison) said this an area of particular importance for lawmakers. “I am a member of the Climate Solutions Caucus, [which] has been working hard since the end of last session to put forth a bunch of different proposals,” she said.
Legislators are considering bills to create and meet targets for greenhouse gas emissions, to increase electric vehicle accessibility and use and to create carbon credit programs for owners of forest land, among other bills addressing climate change.
“In Vermont, our number one emissions [source] is automobiles,” Hardy said.
Though the effect auto emissions have on Vermont’s carbon footprint is immense, its prominence allows lawmakers such as Hardy to address the problem head-on.
“We all have to do our part as individuals because we don’t have one big smoke stack it’s all coming from, it’s all coming from our tailpipes,” she said, adding that she wants students to know that the legislature is working to pass “meaningful climate legislation.”
“I don’t know what the end result will be, but [climate legislation] is something that we work on every day on a number of fronts,” Hardy said.
Legislators are also working on cannabis-related issues. S.54 was introduced last year and has been actively worked on to date. The bill proposes the creation of the Cannabis Control Board to regulate “the production and sale of cannabis and cannabis products in Vermont.” The senate passed S.54 on March 1 of last year, moving it to the House, where it was referred to Government Operations and then to by Ways and Means. It was referred to Appropriations on Feb. 6 of this year.
Senator Joe Benning (R-Caledonia), a cosponsor of S.54, believes that the need for the bill is simple given the activity that takes place on the black market.
“In the black market, we have no control over who obtains [cannabis], no control over what it contains, and no revenue to promote educational or prevention programs that might help eliminate this and other problems,” he said.
Benning said that the bill, if passed, would introduce a method of distribution that would take on an educational stance, monitor product quality, and prevent minors from accessing cannabis. Benning said too that the bill generates revenue to put towards prevention and rehabilitative programs, including law enforcement efforts.
One bill gaining national attention this session is H.569, an act relating to prostitution. The bill as introduced reads that, “It is the intent of the General Assembly to repeal the laws pertaining to prostitution between consenting adults, while retaining strict prohibitions and criminal penalties for human trafficking.” H.569 was referred to the Committee on Judiciary Jan. 7 after a first reading.
The 2019 session also included a proposal that creates a Paid Family Leave Insurance Program within the Departments of Labor and Taxes. This program is funded by contributions from employers and employees as part of H.107. Following a sustained veto from Governor Phil Scott (R), sponsors of the bill reformed and brought a new version of the bill to the legislature in the 2020 session. Gov. Scott vetoed the bill again on Jan. 31, 2020 in accordance with his promise to not raise taxes. The bill then returned to the House where the assembly sustained the governor’s veto by one vote.
Gov. Scott said he is not opposed to paid family leave but said he is opposed to the notion of raising taxes to sustain a mandatory family leave policy. Gov. Scott talked about his work on a voluntary paid family and medical leave plan in his veto message to the Legislature, Jan. 31.
“Our approach is voluntary for employers and employees,” he said in the address. “It can be accomplished more efficiently, affordably and quickly, without a $29 million payroll tax that Vermont workers simply should not be burdened with, and without putting the risk of underfunding on taxpayers.”
Representative Constance Quimby (R-Essex Caledonia) explained that the Republicans agreed with Gov. Scott and came together to support his position. The Republican party needed all members present to have any hope of sustaining the veto, given the significant Democratic majority.
“It’s a shame that the liberals did not think it was a good idea to ‘tweak’ the bill and make it a voluntary program so that perhaps all members of the house could have voted for it,” Quimby told The Campus.
Legislators are also considering bills relating to electric vehicles, water quality, gun regulation and other points of interest. More information about activity in Vermont’s capital can be found at legislature.vermont.gov.
Editor’s note: Senator Ruth Hardy (D-Addison) is the spouse of Prof. Jason Mittell, The Campus’ academic advisor. Any questions may be directed to campus@middlebury.edu.
(01/31/20 5:55pm)
Charles Murray came to prominence in 1994 by arguing in “The Bell Curve” that black people and Latinx people are genetically less intelligent than white people. He doubled down on these arguments and, for good measure, added more about women’s “innate” genetic differences from men in articles like “Deeper Into the Brain,” and books like “Human Accomplishment: The Pursuit of Excellence in the Arts and Sciences, 800 BC to 1950.” He staged a cross burning as a senior in high school in 1960, at the height of the Civil Rights movement. At no point has Murray recanted or revised these arguments.
Thus, when we are told by a student group led by former governor Jim Douglas to “engage diligently and respectfully” with Murray’s “controversial ideas” that are “influential in mainstream politics” in order to “develop as thinkers,” we are left with more questions than answers. First, Murray’s ideas are sadly mainstream. The argument that people of color are genetically distinct from, and inferior to white people is several hundred years old, and Murray’s pseudoscience has existed in various forms long before “The Bell Curve” was published. In the 19th century, these arguments were justified by the pseudoscientific use of calipers, and though the methods have changed, the logic has not.
Second, we agree that Murray’s arguments, and the arguments upon which Murray has built are “influential.” But what is the influence they have had? The idea that people of color are genetically distinct and less intelligent than white people has been used to justify policies and practices that, among other things, promoted unequal medical treatment, justified slavery and kept places like Middlebury College all white at their founding. The idea that women are genetically distinct and less intelligent than men has been used to justify preventing women from gainful employment, barred women’s suffrage, and again, kept places like Middlebury College all male at their founding. If you believe Murray’s arguments, there are certain, unmistakable implications for how the world and places like Middlebury should be constructed. Jim Douglas and the College Republicans should be clear about this.
Third, as noted above, Murray’s fundamental argument is that people of color are genetically less intelligent than white people. In what way are people of color and/or women and/or their allies supposed to “engage diligently” with this? How are they supposed to “respectfully” debate the claim that they are inferior? The entire basis of this argument denies an equal footing to women and people of color.
Fourth, how, exactly, will this help us develop as “thinkers”? Murray’s claim that race is not socially constructed is just wrong. Around the same time that Murray published The Bell Curve, Ignatiev wrote “How the Irish Became White,” in which he pointed out that similar deterministic arguments about the difference between black and white people were in the past applied to the Irish, who were at one point described as “a missing link [between] the Gorilla and the Negro.” Currently, in the US, the Irish have been incorporated in the group of people now known as white. Did Irish people miraculously develop an entirely different genetic code between the 19th and mid 20th century? Of course not. Moreover, who is “genetically” black? Modern genetic research has shown that certain genomes tend to predominate in certain parts of Africa, and others elsewhere. However, some people who are coded black, and who live in the world as black, do not have these genomes. Further, some people who are coded white, and who live in the world as white, do. If a person has half genetic ancestry from Africa and half from Europe, are they black? What if they have a quarter of their genome from Africa? Or one eighth? If one-eighth African genes and seven-eights European genes are enough to call someone black, which genes in that one eighth must be present to make that distinction? From which part of Africa? Are aboriginal people in Australia black? They certainly get coded black. Those questions have been determined in the post-slavery era not scientifically, but politically. Murray’s genetic deterministic argument is silent on this, because he is not a geneticist. Inviting Murray to speak about genetics is like inviting a Flat Earth theorist to speak about geology, with the distinction that Murray’s arguments are directly harmful to people. In neither case is it clear how we actually advance knowledge and develop as “thinkers” by re-litigating already debunked theories.
Jim Douglas and the College Republicans are, of course, free to invite whomever they wish. However, they should be clear about why they are inviting certain people, and what the implications for these invitations are. We are also left wondering where they want to draw the line on speech that is non-intellectual and harmful. Surely, we cannot justify bringing a speaker just because they happen to be “prominent.” Both David Irving and, before he died in 2018, Robert Faurisson published extensively in respected journals and presses, and both were ardent Holocaust Deniers. Are they the sort of people whom we should invite to Middlebury, to “engage diligently and respectfully” with? Because using this criteria, we could certainly get there.
Signed,
The Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion
Kemi Fuentes-George, Political Science
Erin Eggleston, Biology
Chong-suk Han, Sociology
Laurel Jenkins, Dance
Daniel Silva, Luso-Hispanic Studies
Shawna Shapiro, Writing and Rhetoric
Trinh Tran, Sociology
Editor's Note: The above faculty members comprise the entirety of the Committee on Diversity, Equity and Inclusion. Learn more here.
(01/23/20 11:21am)
The Panthers took on Albertus Magnus, a team in the midst of an 11-game winning streak at the time, on Tuesday, January 14th. This series of victories ended as Midd landed an 84–76 victory over the Falcons. The Panthers trailed by six early, but turned the game around to own an eight-point lead at the end of the half. Middlebury led by as many as 21 points in the second half, which would be cut down to seven late in the game but the Panthers held on for the eight-point victory. Max Bosco ‘21 led Middlebury’s offense, putting up 23 points. Matt Folger ‘20, Tommy Eastman ‘21, Jack Farrell ‘21, and Ryan Cahill ‘21 also turned in double digit point performances.
Middlebury suffered their second loss with an 89–82 loss to an undefeated Colby on Friday, January 17th. The contest began in back and forth fashion with Colby taking a 9–2 lead. Middlebury would comeback to within a point before Colby soared to a ten point advantage fueled by an 8–0 stretch. The Panthers closed out the half on a 7–2 run to cut the deficit to five. This pattern extended into the second half as Colby got back out a double digit lead, which the Panthers cut to four, only to have the Mules stretch the lead out to eleven. In a furious comeback bid, the Panthers sailed into the lead thanks to a 15–2 run. This didn’t last long as Colby turned the game around again to take a ten point lead that they didn’t surrender this time, and Midd lost by seven. In the defeat, Farrell led the squad with a 20 point performance Eastman followed with 14 points, and Folger added 12 rebounds.
The Panthers were quick to make up with an offensive onslaught on Saturday, January 18th against Bowdoin. The game remained tight throughout the first half, going into the break with Middlebury on top 40–34. The Panthers hit the ground running in the second half going on a 31–12 run fueled by three three-pointers by Cahill and two each from Folger and Kornaker. Bowdoin went on a 14–4 run but Midd’s lead only grew from there and they soared to a 93–71 victory. It was the fifth time Midd surpassed the 90-point mark this season and it was led by a 19 point effort from Bosco, 17 points from Eastman, and 16 points and six rebounds from Farrell. Cahill delivered 13 points off the bench. Folger led the team with seven rebounds and Kornaker had eight assists to lead the squad. Middlebury returns to action on Saturday against Williams at 3 p.m. at Midd.
(01/23/20 11:10am)
On Tuesday, Jan. 14, the Panthers and the Engineers fought an exciting and tightly-contested game. Middlebury led Worcester Polytechnic Institute with a 21–11 advantage with only a minute left on the clock in the first quarter. However, the Engineers showed no signs of backing down in the second and third quarters, the teams were neck and neck with Middlebury holding only a one point advantage in both quarters. Kamryn You Mak ’23 helped the Panthers gain a higher margin when she first defended a three and then connected from long range. As a walk-on athlete, You Mak felt welcomed by everyone on the team. “We played well together as a team — moving and sharing the ball, talking on defense, and helping each other out,” she said.
Middlebury’s record suffered a blow from a loss to Colby on Friday, Jan. 17. The game remained a tie during the first two quarters until the Mules topped the Panthers by one point heading into the last quarter. During the fourth quarter, the Mules stepped up and tallied 16 out of 18 of the first points of the period. Although Middlebury tried to come back, the Panthers ultimately fell 48–62. Betsy Knox ’20 broke the blocked shots record held by Catherine Harrison ’19 and became the school’s all-time leader with 109.
The Panthers were unable to bounce back from the loss as they also fell to Bowdoin the following day, Jan. 18. The team had a hard-fought battle with the second-ranked Polar Bears. Bowdoin had a six point advantage over Middlebury at the end of the first quarter, and its advantage grew larger as the second quarter was closed out with a score of 32–25. In the third quarter, Middlebury worked tirelessly to close the gap from 44–27 with five minutes left on the clock to 46–32. Unfortunately, Polar Bears eventually secured a 80–61 win over Middlebury. Maya Davis ’20 led the scoreboard with 21 points, followed by Kira Waldman ’20 with 13, Reagan McDonald ’23 with 11, and Knox who put up 10.
Middlebury will face Williams on the road on Saturday, Jan. 25, before returning home Friday, Jan. 31 to host Trinity.
(01/23/20 11:07am)
Middlebury now recognizes the economics major as a STEM program, following an internal review of the major’s requirements and the growing importance of quantitative reasoning within the department. The decision went into effect retroactively, beginning in the 2018-2019 academic year.
An email explaining the changes, sent to all economics majors in December, said that the new classification better represents the department’s “evolving curriculum, its increasingly quantitative coursework, and the purpose of the economics major.”
The shift will impact the F-1 visas held by many international students. F-1 students majoring in economics will now be eligible for the 24-month STEM-OPT Extension, which prolongs the standard 12-month stay available to all F-1 students after graduation. The additional year allows students on an F-1 visa more time to find an employer that will sponsor their continued stay.
The college formerly categorized the major under the Classification of Instructional Programs (CIP) code as “Economics, general.” It will now be listed as “Econometrics and Quantitative Economics,” which qualifies as STEM due to its greater emphasis on mathematical and statistical analysis.
“Nearly all of our classes incorporate quantitative-type analysis,” said John Maluccio, chair of the economics department, “so it’s a better description of what we’re doing in the department.”
Student inquiries about the nature of the major last year led the Economics faculty to explore economics programs at peer institutions, many of which are considered STEM and have comparable curriculum to the courses taught at Middlebury. The department voted unanimously to change the CIP code for the major, a decision then approved by the college.
Maluccio emphasized that the economics department has not seen dramatic changes to its course offerings in recent years. “This is not about changing who might be taking economics,” he said. “It’s much more about—okay, you’re in the major, these are the things we’re doing, let’s give it a more appropriate label within the Department of Education.” He does not expect the change to impact enrollment in the major.
(01/23/20 11:05am)
Student members of Sunrise Middlebury dropped banners in Davis Family Library and McCardell Bicentennial Hall at the end of the fall semester to stand in solidarity with the climate strikes organized by Sunrise Movement hubs across the country. The national youth-led climate organization focuses on fighting for climate justice.
Sunrise Middlebury organizers aimed to highlight the urgency of the climate crisis, writing, “Grades don’t matter on a dead planet” on the sign dropped at Davis Family Library on December 5, and, “You know the science. Do something!” on the one dropped in Bicentennial Hall on December 6, in an effort to bring the focus back to the future.
“By dropping these banners and disrupting the normal flow of people in these spaces we could emphasize the importance of immediate climate action,” said Victoria Andrews ’23, a student organizer. Andrews said Sunrise Middlebury hoped to bring attention to their presence on campus.
Fearing that in an academically rigorous environment like Middlebury, students preoccupied with grades and classwork may not prioritize climate justice, Sunrise Middlebury wants to educate students and hold them accountable for the future of the planet.
(01/23/20 11:04am)
Every winter, Middlebury attracts visiting scholars and professionals who bring innovative J-Term classes to campus that not only challenge students in all disciplines, but often extend beyond the constraints of normal lectures. This year, visiting instructors discuss Vermont’s food system, build Japanese tea houses and uncover the workings of Vermont’s Supreme Court.
Visiting instructors undertake a rigorous vetting process led by the Curriculum Committees headed by Dean of Curriculum and Professor of Psychology Suzanne Gurland. The committee balances a variety of high quality classes that can satisfy the student body’s general interest. (Read about how the college picks its J-Term professors here)
Some of this year’s winter courses share the theme of political advocacy, storytelling and social activism through different prisms.
Eleni Schirmer, a PhD candidate at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and former co-president of the Teaching Assistants’ Association, teaches “Educational Change and Teachers Strike.” The class begins with a discussion of major issues currently faced by teachers’ unions while considering today’s economic and political context. Key questions the class explores throughout the month include whether teachers’ unions improve or undermine democracy, the relationship between teachers and the working class, and the history of teachers’ unions.
After outlining the major themes, Schirmer dives deeper into each topic using specific case studies, such as teachers’ strikes in Chicago and Los Angeles. Since teachers’ strikes garnered much national attention in 2019, Schirmer notes that students in this year’s course are more fluent in basic concepts related to unions. Ultimately, Schirmer wants to share with students the complexity behind bringing democracy to workplaces and schools. “I have personal activist experience and a certain amount of academic expertise, and I try to bring both into the classroom because I think they’re both valuable,” she said.
She designs the classroom dynamic to resemble an employer-employee relationship rather than that of professor and student. From the first day, students collectively bargain with her to set up a contract. This teaching method is highly regarded by her students. “[Professor Schirmer] employs so many interesting teaching techniques and activities, and facilitates discussion really wonderfully,” said Caitlin Barr ’22.5. Schirmer’s unique experience as both activist and scholar brings valuable perspectives to the issue of teachers’ unions and educational change in America.
While Schirmer’s class focuses on a specific cause in the grand scheme of political activism, Phil Aroneanu ’06.5 and Deborah Moore explore how to conduct successful campaigns in broader terms in their class “Waging Winning Campaigns: How to Advocate for Change.”
[pullquote speaker="Phil Aroneanu '06.5" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]I think it’s important for students at Middlebury to understand how power works in the world, and in particular, at a college.[/pullquote]
Aroneanu wants to reconnect with the Middlebury community and teach a class on campaigns because he feels “there is a lot of student activism but not a ton of investment from nonprofits that provides the nuts and bolts of how to run a campaign.”
“There is a hunger for applied skills to make real changes in the world,” Moore, parent of a Middlebury alumna, said. They decided to co-teach the class after a mutual acquaintance introduced them to each other.
Throughout the class, students design and implement a campaign strategy using tactics they learn in the class, such as writing press releases and op-eds. Additionally, the class has an opportunity to travel to the Vermont State Legislature to meet with elected officials and advocate for their issues.
Instead of solely focusing on one type of activism, they look at issues ranging from civil rights, to healthcare, to immigration rights. They also discuss causes across the political spectrum.
“I think it’s important for students at Middlebury to understand how power works in the world, and in particular, at a college,” said Aroneanu. “I hope to see students integrate civic engagement into their lives, because that’s what democracy requires,” said Moore.
In a similar vein, Kim Gagne teaches a class on advocacy and story-telling. He was previously a MiddCORE mentor and jumped at the opportunity to teach a course this winter. Gagne’s career is equal parts nonlinear and impressive: from a high school teacher in Texas, to an attorney in D.C., to foreign service officer in Haiti and Saudi Arabia and to policy campaign manager in Europe. Because of his own experience, he wants students to realize that the critical thinking and writing skills they acquire from their liberal arts education will be of immense value to them for the rest of their lives. In “Controlling the Narrative: Legal, Diplomatic, and Political Advocacy,” Gagne explains that advocacy entails something completely different in today’s political landscape. “We used to think of Clark Gifford when we think of advocacy in the old time.” However, good advocacy includes elements such as “direct outreach” and “influencer outreach.” In order to help students better understand each element, he invites many speakers who, according to Gagne, are “people at the absolute top of the discipline.”
For their final project, students examine what happens behind the scenes of a chosen advocacy project and analyze the tactics that it used. Gagne hopes that after his class, students will be able to look at campaigns happening around them and understand them on a deeper level. Essentially, advocacy is about how to properly present your story when adversarial narratives exist, according to Gagne. “Life is about storytelling,” Gagne said. “That’s how you persuade people.”
Similar to Gagne’s course, Joel Fendelman, an award-winning producer, aspires to tell socially-conscious stories in his professional career. This winter term, he teaches “Voice Through Documentary” after being encouraged to do so by his co-producer, Assistant Professor of Writing and Rhetoric James Chase Sanchez.
[pullquote speaker="Kim Gagne" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Life is about storytelling. That's how you persuade people.[/pullquote]
Fendelman hopes to teach this course as an opportunity to share with students what it means to find their own voice. “There could be something that spans the artistic spectrum that you may not even think of as documentary,” he said. In order to help students move past their preconceived notions about documentaries, he assigned a variety of documentaries in the first week.
From there, an intensive three-week preparation period begins, during which Fendelman works alongside his students to provide them with guidance. Since students come from different backgrounds, the technical aspect of filmmaking is the most challenging. To combat this, he assigns students LinkedIn video-making tutorials, and even inexperienced students can quickly reach a basic level of proficiency.
Fendelman hopes students can plow through the plethora of techniques and find the one that they truly connect with. He emphasizes that a person must first recognize their own individuality in order to tell a unique story.
Following a year of widespread activism in Hong Kong, Paris and Algiers, among others, these classes show an urge from visiting professors and students to study and scrutinize political advocacy and storytelling techniques together.
(01/23/20 11:03am)
Editor’s note: Ariadne Will is a member of the Dance Company of Middlebury and a Local Editor for the Campus.
After five months of rehearsals, the Dance Company of Middlebury will be performing a new work, On A Limb, this upcoming weekend. Dancers Lí Buzzard 22.5, Christian Kummer ’22, Emma Lodge ’19.5, Mai Thuong ’22 and I have been working since early September to create work centered around the concept of “presence as performance.” Led primarily by Scholar in Residence Karima Borni, the dancers also worked with Portland, Ore.-based artist Meshi Chavez.
Chavez, who practices primarily the Japanese dance style of Butoh, has used the opportunity to introduce dancers to more intentional methods of movement.
“I feel like my job as a choreographer is to help my dancers shine in the best light while learning how to get out of the light in a certain way,” Chavez said. “I think part of Butoh is learning how to remove ourselves, our opinions and our judgments and let the beauty of simplicity arrive.”
This practice of patience and simplicity has been challenging for the dancers, but they have used it to create something they hope resonates with their audience.
“I hope the audience can see our honest and genuine effort to feel movement and intensity without having to add anything performative to it,” said Mai Thuong ’22. “I hope that the audience will embrace the simplicity [the piece] has to offer.”
Even with strong intent behind movement, Chavez says that an idea alone is not enough to create a stimulating performance. “It’s not enough to have an idea. We have to be able to communicate the idea,” he said. “What do we have to say? Right now I am trying to help the dancers figure out what they’re trying to say.”
The dancers, too, are trying to decipher what they want to tell their audience.
“[The creative process] has been about committing to the task at hand, whatever that task may be, and knowing that in 15 minutes the task may be entirely different,” said Emma Lodge ’19.5. “There’s been so much working with other people and learning to listen in new ways.”
As Lodge has been learning to listen, other dancers have been relearning the ways different bodies fit into the dance narrative.
“We have learned about the difference between doing choreography and allowing choreography to be done unto you,” said Christina Kummer ’22. “The latter allows for a more authentic performance to take place as the piece gets to live and breathe as its own entity.”
Thuong learned that anyone can become a member of the dance community. “Before coming to Middlebury, I hated dancing,” she said. “I thought dancing [was for] the sake of aesthetic beauty or entertainment and meant long legs, flexibility and shallowness.”
This changed in her first semester, when Thuong attended the Fall Dance Concert. “I thought, ‘where are all those stereotypes about dance?’ I felt there was a meaning I wanted to grab,” she said. Thuong then took Intro to Dance in the spring of 2019 and has been dancing ever since. “I love this feeling of being free and letting my body be open to the vulnerability and thrill of moving,” she said.
It is perhaps this attention to learning — an attention that has played as large a role as the movement itself — that has led the work to assume an essence which dancers have described as both “uncomfortable” and “meditative.”
“If you’re wanting to feel comfortable and catered to, this may not be the piece for you,” warned Kummer. Despite his disclaimer, Kummer believes that this work also carries with it a universality.
“I want this piece to be a sounding board that brings up particular emotions and memories for everyone in the audience,” he said. “That is something that is so exciting about the dance we do in the department – [dance] means something different to everyone. The task becomes to make something that is compelling enough to draw out meaning.”
The universality to which Kummer hopes the work appeals is something Chavez says is the result of the ages of DCM’s dancers.
“I think the work is about [the dancers’] experience at the age that they are right now,” he said. “You go off to college and you’re on your own and you’re discovering what that ownness is. So in some ways I feel like this piece is about feeling our ownness and all of the emotion and feeling that comes with that.”
(01/23/20 11:01am)
Lt. Governor David Zuckerman announced Monday that he will run for governor of Vermont in 2020 in an effort to oust incumbent Governor Phil Scott. Zuckerman, a Progressive who has served as lieutenant governor since 2017, will join former Vermont Education Secretary Rebecca Holcombe on the Democratic ticket. Zuckerman cited the climate crisis as his primary motive for entering the race, claiming that Scott’s moderate republican approach has been insufficient.
“I think the urgency of our climate crisis has not really been felt in the political process,” Zuckerman said in an interview with Vermont Public Radio last week. “When we talk about the climate crisis, we can also talk about economic opportunity and investing in our future.”
Although Governor Phil Scott, who has served in the position since 2017, has not formally announced his candidacy for the 2020 race, his team has started fundraising operations and his entry is likely. A markedly popular governor who, according to Morning Consult, currently enjoys a 65% approval rating for his center-right ideology, Scott would be seeking his third two-year term. He most recently defeated Democrat Christine Hallquist, the first openly transgender candidate for governor in America, by a comfortable margin of 14.9 points in 2018.
The first challenger to Phil Scott for the 2020 election was Rebecca Holcombe, former Vermont Education Secretary, who announced her candidacy in July. Originally appointed to the position in 2013 and reaffirmed under Gov. Scott upon his election, Holcombe resigned in March 2018 in protest of Scott’s education agenda, which included a voucher program she believed would deepen inequality across the state. Now, she is running against him.
“I want to put it to work for every Vermonter in every corner of the state – not just the areas that are already doing well,” Holcombe told Seven Days after her announcement. “I’m gonna win by showing everyday working Vermonters that it’s not enough to talk.”
Zuckerman and Holcombe will face each other in Vermont’s gubernatorial Democratic primary later this year. If Gov. Scott officially enters the race, it is all but assured that the popular incumbent will represent the Republican party, though lawyer and farmer John Klar has also announced a bid for the nomination. Like Zuckerman and Holcombe, the political neophyte is running on the assertion that Gov. Scott’s moderate approach has been lackluster, though Klar believes the missing factor is traditional Republican values. “Vermont’s state government has grown unwieldy and wasteful,” Klar’s website reads. “In order for Vermonters to thrive economically, these swollen tax and regulatory burdens must be lifted.”
As these candidates vie for the top seat in Montpelier, a queue has already formed to fill Zuckerman’s lieutenant governorship position. Most notable among them thus far is the Vermont State Senate’s President Pro Tem Tim Ashe, a Democrat who was first elected in 2008 and has led the governing body for three years. After spending 2019 advocating for a $15 minimum wage and abortion rights legislation, Ashe seeks to use the new position to focus on “revitalizing small communities, trying to lift more people out of poverty.”
Also running for the lieutenant governorship are progressive activist Brenda Siegel, who was defeated in the gubernatorial Democratic primary in 2018, and Republicans Meg Hansen, Dana Colson and Dwayne Tucker. The race may continue to grow as many other potential candidates announce their campaigns publicly.
Although technically the second in command, the title of lieutenant governor is mostly ceremonial and not as policy-oriented as the governorship. Vermont is just one of two states, alongside New Hampshire, that holds gubernatorial elections every two years instead of four — and does not have term limits for top positions, allowing Gov. Scott to run indefinitely yet leaving significant room for challengers.
From the left, Gov. Scott has garnered some support for banning bump stocks, passing pro-choice legislation and frequently criticizing President Trump. However, the same groups have condemned the Governor for other times wavering on these issues and taking a leisurely approach to the climate crisis. He has avoided passing sweeping legislation and was quoted in fall 2019 saying that going forward he is “not looking to come out with something dramatic,” despite a recent poll from the Vermont Public Research Interest Group that shows 76% of Vermonters are worried about global warming. Both Zuckerman and Holcombe plan to capitalize on this discrepancy.
Zuckerman has proposed a marginal tax surcharge for Vermont’s wealthiest residents, the money from which he plans to allocate toward weatherization, solar panels and grants for working-class residents to access environmentally-friendly resources such as lectric cars.
Likely to back such measures is Independent Vermont Senator and 2020 Democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders, who has endorsed Lt. Gov. Zuckerman in past elections. Although Sen. Sanders has yet to comment on the race at hand, Zuckerman has already endorsed the senator’s bid for president. The pair’s relationship dates back more than 30 years, and they have often aligned on initiatives and worked alongside one another in office. Sen. Sanders also helped Zuckerman campaign in the past. In a fundraising email blast from 2018, the Senator shared a 1992 photo of himself and Zuckerman and wrote, “We need leaders like him who fight for what is best for all of us, not just the wealthy and corporations.”
It is speculated that Sen. Sanders’s corresponding presidential campaign will bolster Lt. Gov. Zuckerman’s chance at defeating Gov. Scott with the hope that the politicians can align on the ballot in November.
“Win or lose,” Zuckerman told the VTDigger, “It’s important that we get out there, we talk about these issues, and we put them on the front-burner.”
(01/23/20 11:00am)
What has unfolded since the morning of January 3, 2020 has been incredibly difficult for me to unpack as an Iranian-born Canadian citizen and a U.S. permanent resident. To summarize the sequence of events, the United States, under President Donald Trump launched an airstrike that killed Iranian General Qasem Soleimani, the leader of the Quds Force, sparking an escalation in tensions between the Iranian regime and the U.S.. Iran then launched over a dozen missiles to two Iraqi bases housing U.S. troops. Four or so hours later, a Ukrainian passenger plane, UIA Flight 752, crashed in Tehran after take-off. After initially blaming the crash of engine failure, the Iranian government admitted to mistakenly launching a surface-to-air missile (some reports now say two missiles were launched).
To put it simply, the recent events involving the Iranian regime have been overwhelming. Although I am against escalating tensions in the Middle East, the narratives of Soleimani and the Iranian regime presented in western media, specifically concerning Soleimani’s popularity and the general opinion of the Iranian people, are entirely false. It is disheartening that world powers economically involved with Iran have turned a blind eye to the Iranian regime’s ongoing abuse of power and attempts to silence its opposition. The powerful individuals within the Iranian regime are not humans: they are monsters who must be held accountable for all the pain and suffering they have caused their innocent people and those affected by Soleimani’s actions outside of Iran.
I am adamantly against the current regime and its treatment of the Iranian people. My family would not have had to leave Iran if the regime allowed its citizens to practice their human rights. As my father likes to say, “there may be freedom of speech, but there is no freedom after speech.” The Islamic Republic of Iran consists of a broken government, economic disparity and minimal human rights, where the Ayatollahs and the rich become richer and the rest are left to suffer. I have always wished for the fall of this disgraceful regime, and hope the death of Qasem Soleimani could be the beginning of the end.
Soleimani, who dictated Iran’s foreign policy, was the second most powerful man in the country. He was personally sanctioned by the U.S., the European Union, and the United Nations, and the U.S. even deemed him a terrorist. Until his death, many of you may not have even heard his name. But to many Iranians, he was either seen as a “selfless hero” or a murderer. Soleimani’s minority of supporters was made up of regime sympathizers who favored expansionism and military interventionism in hopes of returning to the glory Iranians once enjoyed during the Persian Empire.
Under Soleimani’s leadership, the Quds Force has been responsible for the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Syria, Yemen, Iraq, Lebanon, and Afghanistan, as well as hundreds of U.S. soldiers in the region. The Islamic Republic’s financial and military support for its proxies and allies is alarming because it has placed greater importance on power over the condition of the Iranian people.
The Iranian regime declared the days that followed Soleimani’s death national days of mourning, closing businesses, workplaces and schools during that period. Protests erupted in some cities with Soleimani supporters chanting “death to America.” The Iran state media outlets released videos of the streets of major cities packed with black-clad mourners. The funeral procession for Soleimani eventually led to a stampede that killed 70 mourners and injured over 100 other people.
It is difficult to gauge the reactions of Iranians living in Iran because of the restrictions on communication within the country. A prominent tweet reposted by Shaun King, an outspoken civil rights advocate and journalist, claimed 82% of Iranians inside the country looked favorably upon Qasem Soleimani. This statistic originated from a 2019 study conducted by the University of Maryland’s School of Public Policy. This data was collected by interviewing 1,000 Iranians inside the country via phone interviews. The methodology of this study is problematic because it is a common belief in Iran that the government has all phones tapped, so how could Iranians comfortably express their true opinion over a presumably tapped phone?
A more credible study done in 2018 by the Group Analyzing and Measuring Attitudes in Iran (GAMAAN) surveyed over 19,000 Iranians, 80% of whom lived inside Iran, through a secure online survey platform shared via social media networks. Only 0.2% of respondents said they would vote for Qasem Soleimani in a free election. While I understand that not all of Soleimani’s supporters would vote for him for president, these findings are an indicator of Soleimani’s perceived popularity among Iranians.
Prominent American news media outlets have brought on foreign policy experts and political analysts to weigh in on the escalating tensions with the Iranian regime, deafening the public to important matters at hand. Republicans have proudly supported the “accomplishment” of Trump in ordering the airstrike that killed a terrorist. Democrats have expressed their fears of what the regime and its allies may do, and have focused on how the crisis is Trump’s way of diverting attention from his impeachment.
Since the UIA Flight 752 crash, U.S. media coverage has diminished because the crisis no longer appeals to the U.S. public or the political agenda of U.S. politicians. But the crisis in Iran is not just a political matter: it is a matter of human rights and holding a corrupt regime accountable. These events remain relevant to millions of innocent Iranians who continue to live through the dire conditions, even if they’re not deemed important enough to be covered by U.S. media.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]U.S. media coverage has diminished because the crisis no longer appeals to the U.S. public or the political agenda of U.S. politicians.[/pullquote]
In a recent interview, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi was asked whether she supported the protesters in Iran. She diminished the majority of protesters opposing the regime by focusing her response on protests involving Solemani’s supporters because they were “protesting against the U.S..” Pelosi’s disregard for the majority of Iranians is a representation of how the Iranian people have been treated by foreign governments, which have disregarded the regime’s oppression of the Iranian people’s rights.
The IRGC has a long history of hindering the Iranian people’s right to freely express their opinions: most recently, over 1,500 were killed during the November 2019 unrest protesting the exponential spike in fuel prices. Since the regime’s admission of guilt to their role in the UIA Flight 752 crash, thousands of protesters have flooded the streets of major Iranian cities, chanting “Shame on you” to the IRGC forces and calling for Ayatollah Khamenei to step down. The IRGC’s response? Firing tear gas and sometimes shooting and killing its own people.
Irrespective of international response, the Iranian government will continue to silence its own people with excessive force throughout these protests because this crisis has placed them in a vulnerable position. During these trying times of conflict, I ask you to go after the facts and to not be afraid to question what your favorite politicians may say. Evidence surrounding these events will continue to come out, and the Iranian people will continue to risk their lives by sharing damning evidence on social media platforms displaying the regime’s troubling actions in hopes of uncovering the truth that the regime frequently tries to hide from the world. Innocent Iranians have suffered far too long and deserve to be heard. The Iranian regime refuses to give a voice to the voiceless, so as a free society, we must hear those who are trying to speak up.
Niki Kowsar is a member of the Middlebury class of 2021.5
(01/22/20 7:42pm)
Charles Murray, the controversial conservative speaker whose 2017 campus visit incited massive student protests and made national news, has been invited to return to Middlebury.
Murray is set to speak in Wilson Hall on March 31 at 4:30 p.m. The Middlebury College Republicans issued the invitation, according to an op-ed written by the club’s co-presidents Dominic Aiello ’22.5 and Brendan Philbin ’21 and published in The Campus today. Philbin said that Murray has accepted the invitation.
“We understand that this will have ramifications for us personally and the community at large. Nevertheless, we will continue to support free inquiry on our campus,” Philbin wrote in a text to a Campus editor. “We wanted to be transparent, up-front, and as clear as possible about the planning of the event. In our view, The Campus is the best vehicle to communicate directly with the community.”
The talk, which is being co-sponsored by the Open Campus Initiative along with the College Republicans, will focus on Murray’s new book “Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class.” Many of the event’s details and logistics are still being discussed, according to a statement sent to The Campus by Director of Media Relations Sarah Ray.
Murray first visited the college in 2007 to talk about his book, "The Bell Curve." His second visit a decade later, on his book "Coming Apart," sparked protests by hundreds of students, which ultimately prevented him from speaking to a live audience in Wilson Hall. Murray later delivered his talk via live-stream on the college’s website. Political Science Professor Allison Stanger, who moderated the live-stream and had been set to preside over the live event, sustained serious injuries at the hands of protesters after she, then-Vice President of Communications Bill Burger and Murray exited McCullough Student Center.
In the op-ed, Philbin said that the administration has been involved in discussions about organizing the event since last September, when the College Republicans first proposed bringing Murray back to campus. Ray said that the college’s policy of open expression should not be interpreted as an endorsement or approval of Murray’s views, and acknowledged the importance of open expression and student protest during speaker visits.
“Each year Middlebury hosts nearly 300 speakers who come to campus from across the country and around the world, invited either directly by the institution, by its faculty, or by its registered student organizations,” Ray wrote in the statement. “With each event, we are committed to providing a forum in which the Middlebury community can engage in a thoughtful, rigorous, and respectful manner.”
Box Office Manager Debby Anderson told The Campus that the college has hired additional security for the event.
Murray’s ideology has been classified by the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) as white nationalism; the SPLC website describes Murray’s work as driven by “racist pseudoscience and misleading statistics [that] argue that social inequality is caused by the genetic inferiority of the black and Latino communities, women and the poor.” Student protesters widely decried his views, such as those espoused in “The Bell Curve,” as racist, misogynistic and hateful.
After his 2017 visit, though, members of the American Enterprise Club (AEI), which invited Murray for that visit, argued that the prevention of the talk constituted a violation of campus free speech policies. Some national news outlets agreed.
Since 2017, Murray’s visit has contributed to re-evaluation of the college’s protest policy, prompted administration-led town halls and broadly influenced discussion about free speech on Middlebury’s campus and beyond.
Middlebury was thrust into the national spotlight after that visit, as news outlets including the New York Times, The Atlantic and Politico editorialized and reported on the event. Three weeks ago, Forbes magazine named the 2017 visit as one of 10 moments that “capture a decade in education.”
The college disciplined 74 students in the fallout of the event. In one case, an accused student filed a racial profiling complaint. Middlebury’s Title IX & Compliance Office launched an eight-week investigation and concluded that the Public Safety officer associated with the case did not violate its policies.
Charles Murray and certain members of the administration involved in the event’s planning process could not be reached for comment at press time.
This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly. Managing Editor Bochu Ding '21 contributed reporting.
Correction: A previous version of this story did not mention Murray's first visit to the college, in 2007. The article has since been updated to reflect that information.
(01/12/20 3:16am)
A month after students protested for higher staff pay, the administration has raised its minimum entry-level wages for some staff positions in the lowest pay bands.
Effective December 30, 2019, the increases affect workers in about 80 existing benefits-eligible positions — jobs in which employees work at least half of a full-time work schedule — and raise the starting rates for numerous open positions, most of which fall in Facilities Services and Dining Services. Previously, staff in entry-level Operations Level 1 (OP1), 2 (OP2) and 3 (OP3) positions made $11, $12.07 and $15.22 an hour, respectively. The new minimums fall at $14, $15 and $16 an hour.
The Campus reported in a series of stories last October that insufficient wages were causing widespread discontent among staff in some of the lowest pay bands, spurring some facilities staff to consider unionizing and creating staff shortages in other areas.
Last month, hundreds of students protested in support of paying staff higher wages. In response, the administration reiterated that it would address such concerns with a compensation review meant to gather market data and make the college a more competitive employer.
That compensation review is slated to finish in late spring. But Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration David Provost said it was already apparent that the review would indicate an issue with entry-level positions. While Provost did not share how many OP1, OP2 and OP3 positions are currently vacant, The Campus previously reported that a large number of openings in certain departments have put significant strain on college staff.
Provost also said the administration thought raising wages now would send a strong message about the college’s priorities, one he feels has been reiterated by various groups across campus, from the student-led protest to conversations at faculty meetings.
“The messaging I was hearing from faculty, staff and students was that this is our top priority,” Provost said. While the college has known it would need to address low pay for a long time, the extensive support for higher wages allowed it to circumvent “a lengthy conversation about prioritization” and to commit those dollars now.
When asked where the college found the money for the wage increases, Provost chuckled. “I haven’t yet,” he said. But since the budget for fiscal year 2021 goes into effect this July, the college will only need to find extra funds to tide itself over for half the year. Any changes made following the spring compensation review will be factored into the new budget.
Provost explained that the college determined the amounts for the wage increases based on market data from comparable positions in the area. The college had originally only committed to reexamining OP1 and OP2 jobs, but included OP3 wages in its adjustment as pay increases excluding OP3 would have placed OP2 wages only 22 cents below OP3 rates.
Pay compression
Every staff member The Campus interviewed for this story said they were glad to see the college raise at least some wages earlier than expected, but many are concerned that those changes only impact employees in entry-level positions. The raises create an issue known as pay compression, in which more senior employees who have received incremental annual raises for years will not receive raises because their wages exceed the new minimums — sometimes only slightly.
Waste management/custodial employee Brenda Hansen has been working at the college since 2001. Over the last 19 years, her pay has increased to $15.78 an hour.
Hansen’s job is classified in the OP2 band, in which the new entry-level minimum rate is $15. She said she feels she has “fallen between the cracks,” and thinks the college should have refrained from increasing entry-level wages until it could increase wages for all employees in the affected pay bands.
“People are going to be starting in here making 78 cents less than what I have been making,” she said. “I’m dedicated employee. I’ve worked hard.”
When she inquired about pay compression in an email to the Office of Human Resources, Hansen was told the college is aware of the issue and will make decisions on the matter following the compensation review, in “several more months.” The email emphasized that the college had to focus its efforts on starting salaries first to “attract and retain” employees.
Provost told The Campus he thinks addressing compression pay will be an important next step for the college.
“The next couple months for the people in that compression area are going to be difficult,” Provost said. “I’m going to ask for their patience. And I hope that our ability to do this now shows that this is what we want to do.”
Atwater Dining cook Patti McCaffrey said the administration told staff at a meeting last fall that it would probably have to look at compression issues soon. She said Executive Director of Food Services Dan Detora also acknowledged pay compression would be a problem when he visited the dining halls the morning before the announcement about the wage increases was made.
Landscape worker Todd Weedman is somewhat optimistic that the college will address compression come spring.
“I think a lot of people are upset about compression, and I understand that and I get it,” Weedman said. “But I know they’re working on it. I’m willing to take them at their word for it and I think we will see something as we move forward.”
Others, frustrated by what they identify as repeated patterns of bad communication, are not confident the administration will raise their wages. One facilities employee, who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution, is concerned that the administration’s decision was just for show. He did not receive a wage increase because he was earning slightly above the increased minimum in his pay band.
“That email is all smoke and mirrors,” he said. “It’s a decoy. Because now students think the college followed through and everyone’s happy.”
Staff largely credit students for putting pressure on the administration to address wages. In multiple interviews, they repeatedly brought up how grateful they were for students’ displays of concern. One of the co-organizers of the December student-led protest, Celia Gottlieb ’21.5, said she does not feel the change adequately addresses underlying institutional issues.
“It is a shame that this issue has only seen progress after student involvement,” she said in an email to The Campus. “This is an issue staff members have raised for the past three years without making much headway.” Gottlieb and others said this is a start on a longer road toward better staff treatment.
Many workers, like Facilities Service Floater Isaac Larocque, say the change indicates more broadly how the college treats its long-term employees.
“Seniority doesn’t really mean anything,” he said. “How can somebody who’s been here 20 years, or 10 years, just be left in the dust?”
The Campus will continue following the story as the college moves forward with its compensation review.
Managing Editor James Finn '20.5 contributed reporting.
Editor’s note: The Campus has granted anonymity to a number of sources in a series of stories about staff pay and treatment. Granting anonymity is not a practice we take lightly, but we feel the sensitive nature of the subject matter and some employees’ fears for retaliation warrant anonymity in these cases.
(12/11/19 4:24am)
Middlebury professor and visiting scholar Stanley Sloan should have been in Copenhagen, Denmark today, speaking at the NATO 70th Anniversary Seminar about the subject he has studied for 50 years: European security issues and the NATO alliance. Instead, he is at home in Vermont, watching as the world reacts to the cancellation of that conference.
The cancellation followed Sloan’s disinvitation to the event, which came at the request of the U.S. Ambassador to Denmark Carla Sands. Until its cancellation, the seminar was to be hosted jointly by the Danish Atlantic Council (DAC) and the U.S. Embassy in Denmark, and was set to include 12 keynote speakers. Sloan was asked to fill in for one after a last-minute withdrawal on Dec. 1. He immediately accepted and booked flights to Copenhagen.
“On behalf of the Embassy of the United States of America and the Danish Atlantic Council, we take great pleasure in requesting your company as Keynote Speaker at the Conference,” read a letter sent to Sloan on Dec. 1, signed by Ambassador Sands and the Secretary-General of the DAC, Lars Bangert Struwe.
However, on the morning of Saturday, Dec. 7, a follow-up letter from the DAC struck a different tone.
“The Danish Atlantic Council via the official channels became instructed that Ambassador Carla Sands does not want [your] presence at the Conference,” Struwe wrote in the letter, followed by an affirmation that the council still supported Sloan’s attendance.
“It must be made perfectly clear that this is in total disharmony with the way the Danish Atlantic Council want to act,” Struwe wrote. “Thus, knowing that you do criticise the President of the United States, we believe that Freedom of Speech is paramount in every democracy, and we do not see a conflict between the Freedom of Speech and participating as a Speaker at an international conference.”
However, Struwe wrote, the embassy is a “major financial founder” of the conference, and the Council did not have the power to disagree with the embassy’s decision to disinvite Sloan.
On Twitter, the U.S. Embassy in Denmark has written that the choice to disinvite Sloan was related to his last-minute appointment to the speaking roster, and the lack of collaborative decision making in the invitation process. Sloan has not had any direct communication with the embassy or the state department.
Despite the embassy’s claims that Sloan was disinvited over procedural concerns, Sloan is confident that it is related to his recent critiques of President Donald Trump over Twitter, especially ones related to the NATO Leaders Meeting in London two weekends ago. The DAC’s comments seem to echo a similar sentiment.
“I was just continuing my critique of his approach to NATO, which has been disastrous,” Sloan said. Sloan has been publicly critical of Trump through social media, public appearances and his books for years.
On Dec. 8, the DAC decided to cancel the entire NATO 70th Anniversary Seminar because the planning of the conference had become “too problematic” and it would be unfair to ask the invited speakers to involve themselves, which Struwe said in a letter published by the DAC.
The U.S. Embassy critiqued the DAC’s decision to cancel the Seminar in a series of Dec. 8 tweets.
Sloan thought that the order to cancel his lecture could have been enacted by either Ambassador Sands or by a direction from Washington, according to personal sources in Denmark.
“This is a consequence of Trumpism,” Sloan said. “Whether the order came from Washington or the ambassador, if it was her and she canceled it because she knew the president would not want someone critical of him on the program ... they’re all the same thing to me.”
If his public criticism is in fact the reason for the cancellation, Sloan said, then he is fearful for American democracy. He has been giving lectures through the State Department Public Diplomacy program since 1983, and says that he has always had the ability to critique policy of any administration, Republican or Democrat.
When his appearance was canceled, Sloan took to social media and posted a written copy of the speech he had planned to give, which received support from Danes and Americans on Twitter and Facebook, as well as from the DAC.
In his speech, Sloan intended to talk about the external threats to NATO — Russia, terrorism and China — as well as internal threats, which he said include Trump. He also concluded the speech by imagining the “negative” future of the alliance, one in which Trump is re-elected.
Sloan noted the irony of the embassy’s decision: “Frankly, if I had given that talk at the conference, it would have produced some debate at the meeting, might have gotten a little bit of press in Denmark,” he said. “Now, I’m sure that the embassy and state department aren’t happy because they created a whole new reality, and they’ve gotten slammed by Danish press, and this continues to be a topic of discussion in Denmark and the U.S.”
Travis Sanderson ’19 is one of several Middlebury students who worked as a research assistant under Sloan at the college. Sanderson helped Sloan conduct research into advocating for strengthening of the political center.
Sanderson expressed worry about the administration's reaction to a speaker as centrist as Sloan.
“He is a mainline voice in defense of Western institutions,” Sanderson wrote in an email to The Campus. “If the Trump administration is now pressuring think tanks to not welcome the voice of someone who advocates for ‘radical centrist populism,’ a middle-of-the-road viewpoint, then we have already moved beyond partisan attacks and into the realm of silencing any voices that do not belong to the far right politics of the administration.”
Sloan agreed.
“[The Trump administration] won’t allow all variety of perspectives. It is a weakness of democracy under this president, and something that everyone should be concerned about,” he said.
Sloan is teaching “American Power: Soft, Hard, or Smart” this January. He has been teaching courses during Middlebury’s Winter Term since 2005.
A previous version of this article incorrectly stated that Sloan is a fellow at the Danish Atlantic Council. He is a non-resident Senior Fellow at the Atlantic Council of the United States.
(12/05/19 11:40am)
Women’s hockey tops No. 1 Plattsburgh in Panther/Cardinal Classic
BY MAX PADILLA
Women’s hockey remains undefeated as the team enters its third week of the season. The Panthers tied Amherst, 1–1, on Friday, Nov. 22 before shutting out the Mammoths the following day, 2–0. Middlebury repeated the pattern this past weekend during the Panther/Cardinal Classic, tying Adrian 1–1 on Saturday, Nov. 30 and triumphing over top-ranked Plattsburgh State, 2–1, on Sunday, Dec. 1.
“We focus a lot on having a strong defensive zone no matter what team we play and that was definitely a huge factor in the win this weekend,” Sidney Porter ’20 said. “We knew it wasn’t going to be easy going into it and that we had to work as hard as we could from start to finish which I think set us up for a successful outcome.”
The Panthers will face off against Utica this Saturday, Dec. 7 at Kenyon Arena. Things look good for the Panthers as they head into this game, as they’ve beat the Moose in the last three games the two have played.
Men’s puck successful in NESCAC road trip, falls in PrimeLink Championship
BY BLAISE SIEFER
The Middlebury men’s hockey team are quickly gaining momentum this season, winning three of their past four games. The Panthers now boast a 4–2–0 record, good for third in the NESCAC.
Men’s hockey swept their first away trip of the season on Friday, Nov. 22 and Saturday, Nov. 23, defeating Tufts, 2–1, and Connecticut College, 5–2. Antoine Belisle ’23 netted a goal in each, notching the first two goals of his collegiate career.
This past weekend, Middlebury headed north to Plattsburgh State, competing in the 22nd annual PrimeLink Great Northern ShootOut. The Panthers started the weekend hot, defeating top-seeded Norwich, 2–1 (OT) in the semi-finals. Entering this matchup, Norwich was one of four teams remaining in Division 3 with a perfect record. Zach Shapiro ’22 delivered the winning blow just under two minutes into overtime, slapping in a loose puck following a scramble in front of the Norwich net. With the win, the Panthers booked their ticket to the tournament final the next day.
Despite their recent success, men’s hockey failed to extend their winning streak to five on Sunday, falling to the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, 4–3.
Middlebury will hit the road again this weekend, facing off against Amherst on Friday and Hamilton on Saturday. Games times are scheduled for 7 p.m. and 3 p.m., respectively.
Women’s hoops wins narrowly against Castleton and Cabrini
BY RAIN JI
After winning its first five games of the season, women’s basketball has proven itself to continue its success from last season.
“We are playing great team basketball,” Captain Kira Waldman ’20 said. “I am excited to follow this momentum and continue to show up with energy, effort and enthusiasm.”
On Nov. 23, Middlebury defeated the Skidmore Thoroughbreds in a convincing 74–59 victory. The Panthers fought a close battle in the first quarter, having been outscored by the Throroughbreds 16–17, but they managed to build a lead by halftime when the score was 33–28. Middlebury then extended its lead in the third quarter to a comfortable 15 points. After the last quarter, the game was settled at 74–59, Middlebury. The win wouldn’t have been possible without Betsy Knox ’20, who scored a career-high 23 points.
Middlebury then fought hard against Castleton on Nov. 26 and won the game in overtime, 64–60. Captain Maya Davis ’20 proved to be an offensive threat, having scored 21 points. The NESCAC weekly release cited her outstanding performance during the game and she was also selected as the NESCAC Player of the Week.
On Nov. 30, the Panthers battled in another nail-biter when it faced Cabrini. Middlebury was down 58–59 with just 46 seconds remaining in the game, but it managed to regain the lead at 60–59 thanks to a pair of successful free throws by Knox. The Panthers then forced a key turnover and padded their lead to six points with more clutch foul shots by Davis, Knox and Gianna Palli ’23.
The team will play Colby-Sawyer on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2:00 p.m.
Fifth-ranked men’s basketball routs Endicott, improves to 7-0
BY MICHAEL SEGEL
On Sunday, Dec. 1 men’s basketball improved to 7-0 with a 98-78 rout of Endicott, fueled by a huge second half where they outscored their opponents 54-28.
Endicott held a six-point lead at the half, but Midd turned the game into a blowout, with a 25-8 run and a subsequent 11-0 run.
Jack Farrell ’21 led the Panthers with a career high 31 points, along with seven rebounds, four assists and four steals. Griffin Kornaker ’21, Max Bosco ’21, and Tommy Eastman ’21 each added 14 points (Eastman also providing 13 rebounds), and Perry DeLorenzo ’20 was a perfect four-for-four from beyond the three point line to give himself 12.
The big differences in this one were bench points and defense. Middlebury shot a clean 50% on field goals while holding Endicott to a slim 35.8%. Midd scored 32 points from the bench whereas Endicott had only 18.
It was the end of a 5-0 road trip for Middlebury, who will come home to take on New England College at 5:00 p.m. on Friday, Dec. 6 before getting back on the road again to face Stevens on Sunday, Dec. 8.
Men’s and Women’s XC tackles NCAA Championships
BY JORDAN HOWELL
The Cross Country season came to a close when the Panthers ran in the NCAA Championships on Nov. 23. The men ended in 29nd place, while the women ended in 15th place.
The men were beaten out by first place Pomona-Pitzer. Key contributors for the Panthers included Theo Henderson ’20, who finished 34th with a time of 24:55.1. Next, there was Henry Fleming ’20 whose time of 25:25.6 placed him in 93rd place.
“Obviously the team was a little bit disappointed with our result,” said Zander Kessler ’22, when asked about the men’s performance. “I’d like to thank the best captains ever, Henry Fleming and Theo Henderson for leading an otherwise young team through an awesome season. We’ll be back next year on a revenge tour. It was awesome to see Theo get all American in his final race.”
The women’s squad was beaten out by first place Johns Hopkins. Crucial members for the women included Cassie Kearney ’22, who captured 26th place with a time of 22:01.0. Talia Ruxin ’20 had a time of 22:30.3 which netted her sixtieth place.
“We were very pleased with our performance at the NCAA Championships. Going into nationals we were ranked 22 out of 32 teams that qualified for NCAAs, but we ended up placing 15th,” said Phoebe Colvin-Oehmig ’21. “The team dynamic was incredible this year. We're excited to carry this energy into next season!”
Overall, the Panthers had an exciting season filled with many impressive performances, especially by Cassie Kearney ’22, who recently earned All-American accolades for the second year in a row.
Clearly, the Panthers can’t wait to come out and compete again next season.
(12/05/19 11:02am)
The Student Government Association (SGA) has been working throughout the semester on projects and initiatives with the goal — as always — of helping the student body. As the semester comes to a close, here is an update on some of the recent activity of the SGA Student Senate and Cabinet:
SGA structure
The senate has engaged in ongoing discussions about the future structure and function of the SGA. The conversations were sparked both by the impending dissolution of the commons system, as well as by a reform-minded SGA administration led by president Varsha Vijayakumar ’20, who hopes to increase the visibility, legitimacy and impact of the body.
At the Nov. 24 meeting, Vijayakumar stated her support for eliminating the commons senator positions, as well as for removing the voting power of the Community Council co-chair in the senate. This would shift the number of voting members from 17 down to 11.
While nothing has been formally decided at this point, these discussions on the future of the SGA have taken place in their weekly meetings, as well as behind the scenes, as members hope to pass a series of structural changes in the coming weeks and months. If such changes were approved, the senate would then have to approve changes to the SGA’s constitution.
Vegetarian Atwater
At the same meeting, the senate voted down a proposed referendum which would have made Atwater Dining Hall fully vegetarian for the upcoming Winter Term. If passed, the referendum would have been put on a special ballot and sent out to the student body before the end of the current semester — instead it was rejected in a 15–2 vote.
Many senators found several issues with the plan, and raised concerns on behalf of constituents who felt that dining halls should serve fewer meat entrees at each meal, rather than make an entire dining hall meatless. Additionally, many senators felt that a meatless Atwater would increase traffic at Proctor and Ross dining halls, especially after recent commentary from Atwater chefs about the low attendance on its Meatless Mondays.
Senators expressed a desire to find other options to meet the Environmental Affairs Committee’s goal of 30% meat reduction in college dining halls.
Ethical investing
In the wake of the divestment movement and Energy2028, the senate passed a resolution to support ethical investing of Middlebury’s endowment toward companies and industries that fit within the college’s values. Elisa Gan ’20, the newly appointed Student Liaison to the SGA on Endowment Affairs, is planning a series of forums with several members of the college administration to help students better understand how the endowment is invested and how that will change over the next several years.
Thanksgiving break
First-Year Senator Miguel Sanchez ’23 has taken the lead on a bill that would make Thanksgiving break a full week, rather than just a five-day weekend. Sanchez has worked with Dean of Faculty Sujata Moorti to find ways to make the transition easier for faculty and staff, such as helping adjust the academic calendar, in order to make this possible.
The bill has yet to be formally presented to the senate, since Sanchez is waiting on confirmation from Moorti and others that the change would in fact be possible.
The New York Times subscriptions
The Finance Committee, in conjunction with the Institutional Affairs Committee, received approval to fund the return of digital subscription access to The New York Times for all students. The college formerly paid for both a digital subscription to the paper, available to all students, and for print copies in the dining halls, but the decision was made by the Finance Committee only to fund digital access without returning the copies of the paper to campus.
Student Ambassador Program
The senate passed a bill to fund the Student Ambassadors Program for the remainder of the year. The program, which pays current students to give information sessions about the college at low income schools in their areas over breaks, will be funded by the admissions office beginning in the 2020–2021 school year.
PE credits
Ross Commons Senator Teddy Best ’22 has been working with Director of Athletics Erin Quinn to change the current requirement for physical education (PE) credits. The goal is to give students the opportunity to earn both of the required PE credits for the same activity. This would apply to all credit bearing activities, from student-led yoga classes to seasonal sports, and would benefit varsity athletes, who currently only get a maximum of one credit for their sport.
(12/05/19 11:01am)
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President Laurie Patton announced the college’s new Policy on Open Expression in an all-school email on Nov. 21. The policy, she wrote, was changed in conjunction with an updated version of the policy on demonstration regulations. Together, the policies constitute the college’s rules about student protest.
The newest version of both policies, which are part of the 2019–2020 Student Handbook in sections A.5 and C.4, make clearer distinctions between “disruptive action” and “substantially disruptive action.” The Policy on Open Expression also more explicitly acknowledges the educational value of protests, and states that the college “recognizes the historical importance of nonviolent public demonstration and protest.”
These changes, among many others, were made following a two-and-a-half year process of reflection on the college’s protest policy after the protest against Charles Murray in 2017. Following that incident, the college convened a Committee on Speech and Inclusion, made up of students, faculty and staff, which made some general recommendations about hosting controversial speakers. The SGA also contributed suggestions in the form of a bill that May.
The college has since seen two drafts of a new policy — the first which was shared on Nov. 15, 2018, and the second on May 19, 2019. The 2018 draft, which was crafted using feedback from two open meetings held that fall, defined “civil disobedience” as a punishable violation of college policy, among other additions. It was widely criticized for ambiguities in its language.
The 2019 draft more closely reflected the finalized updated policy. That policy was created by a Policy Working Group of students, faculty and staff. According to Michael Sheridan, group member and professor of anthropology and African Studies, the group looked to other college’s policies for reference.
“I was deeply concerned about the [2018] policy’s retributive impulses, which is why I was one of a handful of students who voiced concern and led a teach-in to engage students in the process of proposing a more holistic protest and demonstrations policy,” said Grace Vedock ’20, a member of the Policy Working Group and student activist.
Members of that group told The Campus they are generally pleased with the new finalized policy, and feel it reflected their recommendations.
“[We] worked for two years on this issue and developed two statements that have both been adopted,” said Amy Briggs, a group member and professor of computer science, referring to both the statement on Academic Freedom, Integrity and Respect that faculty crafted in spring 2018, as well as the May 2019 policy draft. The 2018 statement “now appears as a preamble to the institution-wide policies in the Handbook,” Briggs said.
The new policy is “clearly built around the key components of the framework created by the policy committee and voted on by the faculty at the end of the spring semester,” said Renee Wells, a group member and the director of education for equity and inclusion.
“I’m very happy that the new policy clarifies how our community should interact when faced with controversy,” Sheridan said. “We will be a stronger community, and this policy will, I hope, be the foundation for building more trust on our campus.”
Sheridan highlighted what he sees as important aspects of the new policy, including the clarification that open expression affirms the aforementioned three pillars from the faculty statement, as well as the expansion to allow all members of the campus community to “engage in personal activity involving protest and demonstration to express one’s own ideas.” The 2018 draft said that members of the Senior Leadership Group could determine that some staff positions were “incompatible” with participation in certain manifestations of expression at the college; now, staff are also free to protest under policy guidelines without fear of getting fired, according to Sheridan.
“This expansion of the pillars to include staff will, I hope, enhance respectful relationships in our community,” Sheridan said.
Despite mostly positive feedback, Vedock emphasized the importance of continued actions to improve the campus environment around protest.
“Though I am optimistic about this new policy, I remain concerned about a campus environment that is, in my opinion, hostile to student protest,” Vedock said, explaining that she and fellow Policy Working Group member Taite Shomo experienced hostility last spring as they were planning a protest of the planned talk of right-wing Polish politician Ryszard Legutko who was planned to speak on campus.
“I hope that this policy is quickly followed by concrete and continued action that affirms these rights,” Vedock said.
According to Hannah Ross, the college’s general counsel and chief of staff, the administration intends the new policy to reflect the college’s “equal commitments to open expression and an inclusive community.” Ross reaffirmed the college’s “conviction that all community members can participate equally and all voices can be heard.”
In an all-school email on Nov. 1, President Patton described the college’s struggles over questions of speech and inclusivity as “a work in progress.” In addition to updating its policies, the college has also been working to strengthen relationships and planning practices with local law enforcement partners, and has developed workshops for students on college protest policy, amongst other projects.
(11/21/19 11:20am)
Field hockey is headed to its 11th final four
BY MIGUEL ESPINOSA
Second-ranked field hockey triumphed in NCAA regionals after scoring wins against Babson College and Kean University in the first and second rounds, respectively.
The team will advance to the NCAA tournament’s Final Four where it will face off against third-ranked Salisbury on Saturday, Nov. 24 in Manheim, Pennsylvania. Should field hockey win the semifinal and championship matchups, the program will earn its third straight title.
The blue and white’s 2–1 victory against Babson proved to be a close battle. While Babson tallied the first goal six minutes into the first period, the Panthers responded with two unanswered goals in the second, thanks to shots by Erin Nicholas ’21 and Julia Richards ’20. Richards was assisted by Marissa Baker ’20. For the rest of the game, the score remained unchanged.
The Panthers then dominated their following matchup against Kean with a convincing 4–1 victory. Katie George ’23, Meg Fearey ’22 and Baker all posted goals within the first ten minutes of the first period and Emma Johns ’20 extended the Panthers’ lead to 4-0 in the third. Kean, however, managed to strike back four minutes later, settling the score to 4–1.
On Nov. 24, the Panthers will journey into the Final Four with an incredibly talented roster and head coach. Midfielder Erin Nicholas captured her second-consecutive NESCAC Player of the Year Honors prior to the Babson game. Having also won Rookie of the Year for the 2017 season, Nicholas becomes the first NESCAC player to win Rookie of the Year and then back-to-back Player of the Year honors.
Nicholas also earned NESCAC first-team honors along with Baker, while Isabel Chandler ’21 and Katie George gained second-team honors. George was named conference Rookie of the Year and Head Coach Katherine DeLorenzo took NESCAC Coach of the Year.
XC logs solid performance at NCAA Regionals
BY JORDAN HOWELL
The Panthers had the opportunity to compete in the NCAA Regional Championships on Saturday, Nov. 16. The women were able to capture fifth place while the men picked up sixth.
The top finisher for the women was Talia Ruxin ’20. She was able to come in 22nd place with a time of 22:07.02. Not too far behind her was Meg Wilson ’20 who captured 25th place with a time of 22:16.22. Another top finisher was Cassie Kearney ’22 whose time of 22:19.60 netted her 27th place.
Theo Henderson ’20 led the men with a fourth place time of 24:59.12. Next up was Henry Fleming ’20 in 25th place with a time of 25:34.06. Connor Montgomery secured 40th place with a time of 25:56.47.
Both the women and the men received bids to compete in the NCAA Championships and they will be racing on Saturday, Nov. 23. If the Panthers show up with the same energy and determination that they have demonstrated all season, they will be a tough pack to beat.
Men’s soccer falls in penalty kicks
BY MIGUEL ESPINOSA
Men’s Soccer fell in its NCAA regional final matchup against 12th-ranked Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) after three overtimes and a 5–3 penalty-kick thriller. Both sides played excellent defense during regulation, considering that neither the Panthers nor the Engineers scored during regulation. RPI, however, carried the upper-hand in shots, having attempted 16 compared to Middlebury’s nine.
Ben Potter ’20, Kiernan Bhave ’20 and Shams Mohajerani ’20 each connected with the back of the net for the first three rounds of penalty kicks, matching the Engineers 3–3. RPI’s Michael Harten gave then Engineers the advantage, 4–3, when his shot landed successfully. Liam Sloane’s ’22 subsequent kick was blocked and when RPI’s Paul Silva scored to set the penalty-kick tally to 5–3, the match was decided.
The elimination comes after the Panthers defeated Johnson and Wales University in the first round of the NCAA Tournament, 2–0.
Women’s soccer eliminated in NCAAs
BY HEATHER BOEHM
Women’s soccer had its season cut short this past weekend with a heartbreaking loss to Stevens in the round of 32. Middlebury advanced to this second round of play after shutting out the University of New England 2–0 at home on Saturday, Nov. 16.
The conditions were tough for the Vermonters on Saturday when they were forced to compete in single digit weather to kick off NCAA tournament play. With a scoreless game with 18 seconds to go in the first half, senior veterans Olivia Miller and Virginia Charman showed their experience when the duo found a way to get past the UNE defense. Miller picked up her eighth assist of the season as Charman awarded Middlebury its first goal.
Despite creating numerous opportunities, it took Middlebury 30 minutes into the second half to bring their total to two. Eliza Robinson ’21 found the left goal post to solidify her team’s win. The hosts’ 10 shots on goal to the visitor’s zero shows the way in which Middlebury dominated the field.
Sunday’s contest was the true test. With Stevens’ 17–3–1 record and 14 game winning streak, the Panthers knew it was going to be a battle. In just the first few minutes, the Ducks got themselves on the board with an impressive shot by Gianna Nitti ’22 on a direct kick.
The game held a score of 1–0 until well into the second half. Once again, Robinson showed up with a well-placed slap to the left post to tie the game. With about 15 minutes left on the clock, Middlebury suffered some bad luck. A shot from Stevens bounced off of a Panther defender and found its way into the goal.
Middlebury seemed to dictate play with its 11 shots on goal compared to Stevens’ three, but just did not have the same luck. The Panthers say goodbye to six seniors, who contributed greatly to the team’s overall successful 2019 year. Among the seniors, Virginia Charman and Ursula Ulwang ’20 were recently selected as First-Team All-NESCAC Honorees.
Fortunately, the Panthers will return plenty of talent next year, when they return First-Team Selections Isabelle Hartnett ’21 and Gretchen McGrath ’21, and Second-Team Selectee Simone Ameer ’22.
