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(12/06/18 11:00am)
In a tense 1-1 game by the end of two overtime periods, the women’s soccer team was edged by the Williams Ephs 3-2 in penalty kicks in the NCAA Division III championship. This was the Panthers’ first championship appearance in program history.
The previous day, on Friday, Nov. 30, the Panthers defeated the WashU Bears 1-0 in a stunning upset to advance to the national championship. Led by NESCAC Coach of the Year Peter Kim, this was the team’s second journey to the Final Four in program history, having previously competed in 2013. On the way to the championship match, the team secured wins against Maine-Farmington (4-1), Ithaca (0-0 with a win on penalty kicks), Swarthmore (2-0), Misericordia (1-0) and most recently WashU (1-0). Last year, Middlebury’s 12-4-2 record brought them to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
After a collision that caused Caitlin Magruder ’20 to sustain a game-ending injury, Simone Ameer ’21 was the game’s only scorer in the NCAA semifinal, assisted by Ellie Greenberg ’20 and Gretchen McGrath ’21. This was Ameer’s fourth goal of the season. Goalie Ursula Alwang ’20 walked away with three saves, including a header shot by the Bears’ Maggie Crist. The Panthers’ defense was led by Rose Evans ’22, assisted by starters Amanda Dafonte ’19, Janie DeVito ’19 and Isabelle Hartnett ’21.
“I think this was probably one of the hardest games of the season for us,” captain Dafonte said in a press conference following the semifinal. “It was one that we went into saying that we were going to work harder, go out with heart and leave it all out on the field.”
Williams’ journey to the championship match was achieved after a 2-0 win against Christopher Newport in the semifinals and placing second in the NESCAC Championship. The Ephs traveled to Greensboro with a 17-1-4 record.
This was the third time Middlebury competed against Williams this season. The Panthers suffered a 1-0 loss at the end of the regular season on Tuesday, Oct. 23 and won the NESCAC Championship 1-0 in Williamstown on Sunday, Nov. 4.
The first half included a goal by Williams’ Aspen Pierson assisted by Ilana Albert and Georgia Lord, Pierson’s fourth goal of the season. Olivia Miller ’20 and Eliza Robinson ’21 attempted shots on Williams goalie Olivia Barnhill.
With 13 minutes remaining in the second half, the game became tied 1-1 by a Williams own goal. Clare Robinson ’19 and Eliza Robinson ’21 contributed to the Panthers’ total of six shots during regulation play. With the score tied at the end of the second half, the game proceeded into overtime.
In the first overtime period, a shot by Williams’ Sarah Scire was saved by Alwang. This was her second save of the game and 67th of the season. Continuing through the rain, both teams went into a scoreless second overtime period and penalty kicks.
Goalie Eva Shaw ’19.5 was substituted for Alwang for the penalty kicks. She made two saves against Amherst in the NESCAC semifinals and three saves against Ithaca in the NCAA tournament. With shots made by Sara DiCenso ’19 and Cate Shellenback ’22 and missed by Magnolia Moskun ’21.5, Riley Kinum ’22 and Clare Robinson ’19, the Ephs defeated the Panthers 3-2 in penalty kicks.
The Ephs’ win was their third title in four years, making the team the fourth program in NCAA Division III history to win back-to-back championship titles. The championship match was the first between two NESCAC teams in NCAA Division III history and the fourth NESCAC team appearance in the past five years.
“It’s always a hard-fought battle between these two teams. We know each other really well,” head coach Peter Kim said in a press conference following the game. “We have a very special senior class. … They have led by example and pulled the team along.”
“I think we really did a great job playing how we like to play — possessing the ball — and we knew when we had to play a little more direct. We were in it the whole time, and I’m just really proud of that,” said senior captain Abby Blyler.
The Panthers finished their season with a 19-1-4 record, 51 goals and an average of 19.3 shots per game. Clare Robinson ’19 and DeVito ’19 were selected to the first all-NESCAC team, while Alwang, Dafonte and Eliza Van Voorhis ’21 earned spots on the second team. At the conclusion of the final match, Alwang, Evans, Ameer and Clare Robinson were named to the all-tournament team.
BENJY RENTON
(12/06/18 10:58am)
The 15th-ranked women’s squash team came out swinging this past weekend, when they began their 2018-2019 season with a home opener on Saturday against Tufts. The Panthers swept with a 9-0 victory, and team captains Bea Kuijpers ’19 and Alexa Comai ’19 led the way.
The Panthers blanked Tufts and continued a streak of dominance that has lasted against the Jumbos for the past couple of years. Mira Chugh ’20 began the sweep with her win at line nine in a four-game victory (10-12, 11-3, 11-2, 11-4) over Chloe Kantor. Natalie Madden ’21 followed close behind in the sixth spot (11-8, 11-7, 11-9), and gave the Panthers a comfortable 2-0 lead. Captain Alexa Comai ’19 tallied another win with a 9-11, 11-5, 11-2, 11-4 at line three against Zarena Jafry.
The next couple of wins followed suit from Natasha Lowitt ’20 in the eighth spot (11-3, 8-11, 11-6, 11-5) and Emily Beinkampen in the fifth spot (7-11, 11-7, 11-7, 11-9). Ideal Dowling ’22 had an amazing showing at No. 2 over Julie Yeung (11-4, 11-3, 10-12, 11-2), and grabbed her first collegiate win. Dowling, a strong addition to the top line, is a fresh face to keep an eye on. First-year Gwen Davis ’22 also captured the first victory of her college career at line seven (11-8, 11-7, 11-3) over Diya Sanghi.
Head coach Mark Lewis has an optimistic outlook for the rest of the season. “The team looks very strong and deep,” Lewis said. “The addition of the two first-years in the top nine adds strength throughout the lineup.”
Virginia Schaus ’21 made the score 8-0 with an 11-5, 11-4, 11-7 triumph against Rachel Windreich in the fourth position, and Kuijpers completed the sweep with a five-game victory (11-9, 11-13, 12-10, 6-11, 15-13) against Claire Davidson in the top spot.
“The team has been working hard on all aspects of their games — from fitness and the mental game, to tactics and technique. My assistant coach David Cromwell and I try to keep things very simple on all fronts,” Lewis said. The women’s squash team, having had a history of tough injuries, will be especially careful of their physical health. “Our biggest challenge will be to stay healthy and fit. Though we have a very difficult schedule, we relish the opportunities each match provides.”
Hoping to continue their hot start to the season, the Panthers will return to action as they hit the road this weekend, Dec. 8 and 9, against Wesleyan and George Washington in Connecticut.
(12/06/18 10:58am)
There will be no more all-nighters this exam season — at least not in Davis Family Library.
The library will close at 2 a.m. this week and next week instead of remaining open 24/7 as it has in the past. This decision was made for several reasons, including budget challenges, general low usage during late-night hours and difficulty finding staff to work through the night. The change was also partly informed by concerns about the message that 24/7 library hours sends to students about sleep habits and wellness.
“We have had to look at things and say, ‘Are all of the services that we’re offering really being used to the best extent possible?”’ said Mike Roy, dean of the library.
Roy ultimately made the decision to adjust the library hours after looking at several factors. According to Roy, it costs roughly $3,000 to keep the library open 24/7 during exam week each semester. The library also tracks how many people are in the building during finals, and the numbers past 2 a.m. in previous years dwindled so much that staff felt there was no reason to make the building available. It was also difficult to find people to staff the library through the night.
This data led the library to extend their hours to 2 a.m. this exam week, an hour later than they typically close, rather than remaining open 24/7. The library will still close at 11 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, its normal closing time on those days.
Once the library decided that a lack of funding was one reason to cancel 24/7 exam week hours, the Student Government Association (SGA) discussed providing funding to maintain those hours.
“Some students were pushing back on this change because exam period is a really stressful time and it’s important for students to know that they have a place to go to check out books and get help,” said SGA Senator Rae Aaron ’19.5.
The SGA ultimately decided that it was not worthwhile to keep it open because so few students made use of the library during the early hours of the morning and because there are other available spaces on campus that do not require funding to remain open.
One of Roy’s concerns, based on feedback by students, was access to computers. He pointed out that there are two locations on campus that will be open 24/7 during exam week that provide computer access — the Axinn computer lab in Axinn 105 and the Sunderland computer lab in Sunderland 122. There are seven other study space locations that will be available 24/7 during finals, including Wilson Café, the study carrels in Hepburn, the Stewart 2 lounge and Pit, LaForce Library, the Milliken 3 lounge, the Milliken 2 lounge and the Fireplace Lounge in Ross.
Roy believes the library and the college are sending a positive message to the student body about health and wellness by offering limited hours during finals week.
“It sends a better message to say ‘It’s 2 a.m., you should go get some sleep,”’ Roy said.
The college’s health and wellness staff agreed.
“I’m excited about the new hours,” said Barbara McCall, director of health and wellness education. “I’m looking forward to community boundaries and policies that support the notion that students can and should take time to sleep at night, especially during exams.”
The Davis Family Library will be open until 2 a.m. on Sunday-Thursday, and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday for the rest of the semester.
(12/06/18 10:57am)
The Middlebury women’s hockey team participated in the Panther-Cardinal Classic on Nov. 24 and 25, but fell to the fifth-ranked Adrian College Bulldogs 4-1 in the championship game. The Panthers got off to a fast start with many early chances testing Adrian goalie Katie Turner. With 7:28 remaining in the first period, Middlebury got on the board with a goal from junior Anna Zumwinkle, who was assisted by sophomores Meghan Keating and Madie Leidt. Leidt even managed to ring a shot off the crossbar from the left faceoff dot with a few minutes remaining, almost doubling Middlebury’s lead.
In the second period, Adrian scored with 7:43 remaining as Maggie Mitter slotted a rebound behind sophomore goalie Anna Goldstein. Adrian added three more in the last period, pulling ahead of the Panthers. Bulldog skaters Tory Harshman, Brianna Buchanan and Hannah Dalrymple set up for an even-strength, power play and empty net goal, respectively. Goldstein finished with 23 saves, and the Bulldogs led shots 27-17. Zumwinkle and senior captain Jenna Marotta received all-tournament honors.
The Panthers continued NESCAC play this weekend on the road in New London, Connecticut, where they squared off for a doubleheader against Connecticut College. In Friday’s game, Middlebury handed the Camels their first loss of the season, besting them in a 3-0 shutout. During the first period, the Panthers killed off a two-man disadvantage, surviving a 5-on-3 for more than a minute. While the period ended with shots 7-6 in Middlebury’s favor, the scoreboard was still empty. Early in the second period, Leidt started off what would become a three-point night with a goal assisted by sophomore Ellie Barney. She also scored in the third frame, netting from the high slot after receiving the puck from Marotta and skating coast to coast. First-year Jenna Letterie added the insurance goal on the power play with just over eight minutes remaining after cleaning up a rebound from Leidt’s initial shot. Junior goaltender Lin Han earned her first shutout of the season, stopping all 25 shots that came her way.
At Saturday’s rematch, Middlebury’s conference record improved to 3-0-1 (3-1-2 overall) in a 1-1 tie. The first period was dominated by Panther play, when Middlebury outshot its opponents 12-4. The first goal, however, came with 4:45 remaining in the second period, as Letterie netted during the power play off assists from Marotta and Leidt. The Camels equalized in the third period when Jordan Cross sent a redirected puck past Goldstein. Minutes later, they thought they had the go-ahead goal, but the referees ruled goaltender interference. The game ultimately ended with a 1-1 tie and a slim advantage to Connecticut College on shots (28-26).
Next week, the Panthers will face the Utica College Pioneers, who are coming off the best start in their program’s history and currently boast a 9-1 record. The Pioneers’ first loss of the season came in their last game, and they are anticipated to be a tough match for Middlebury.
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(12/06/18 10:57am)
The Panther women’s basketball team improved to a 6-0 record after beating the Sage Colleges on Thursday, Nov. 29 and Colby-Sawyer on Saturday, Dec. 1. Their winning streak is a testament to the squad’s versatility on both sides of the court.
The team is ranked sixth nationally for team defense, which, alongside offensive tenacity, is a dangerous combination — one that has led them to their 6-0 start.
“We’ve done a really good job at playing our game and staying consistent and composed. Our defense has also been extremely effective,” said junior forward Vanessa Young. “We’ve been holding teams to fewer points than they normally score.”
Against Sage, the Panthers pulled away 63-44, scoring 28 points off of turnovers and amassing an impressive field-goal percentage of 42.9. The third quarter characterized a 19-point scoring run, compared to the competition’s five points. The Panthers kept Sage at a 15-point deficit for the final quarter, securing their victory.
Middlebury’s defense proved its dominance on Saturday, Dec. 1 against Colby-Sawyer. Not only did the Panthers hold their competition’s field-goal percentage to 16.4 (9-55), but they also held out 56-31 for rebounds.
Junior Maya Davis had a notable presence in both games, combining for 26 points and 18 rebounds. Colleen Caveney ’19 dropped 19 points against Sage, while Catherine Harrison ’19 led the team with 17 points on Saturday versus Colby-Sawyer.
“We are really excited to have had such a strong start. We’re looking forward to finishing a strong preseason and getting into NESCAC play in January,” Young said.
Last year, in NESCAC standing Middlebury finished fourth, behind No. 1 Amherst, No. 2 Bowdoin and No. 3 Tufts. Amherst and Bowdoin met in the NCAA championship last year, while Tufts made it to the semifinals, where they lost to Bowdoin. Amherst, Bowdoin and Tufts will prove to be tough competition for the Panthers once again, as the NESCAC teams are successful at the national level.
The Panthers still have to face nonconference play before getting to the NESCAC stage. Looking forward, the team will hopefully go into January with experience that could help it against other NESCAC powerhouses.
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(12/06/18 10:57am)
Discussions during a recent reunion of the department of Gender, Sexuality and Feminist Studies (GSFS) led alumni to write a letter to President Laurie L. Patton, calling for her condemnation of U.S. Secretary of Education Betsy DeVos’ proposed changes to Federal Title IX policy that the letter identifies as “regressive” and “terrifying.”
In a message scheduled to be sent to the community on Wednesday as of press time, Patton commented on the proposed changes to Title IX policy without mentioning the alumni letter. When The Campus asked the college whether Patton would respond directly to the letter, College Spokesperson Bill Burger referred The Campus to Patton’s statement.
The reunion, which took place at the college on Nov. 17, brought graduated GSFS majors and current students in the department together to discuss various strategies of activism against sexual violence at the college. The changes to Title IX that DeVos announced on the morning of Nov. 16 quickly became a focus of discussion, with attendees expressing particular concern about a new policy that would require schools to offer a trial option, in which both parties would be cross-examined by the other party’s advocate.
The discussions at the reunion prompted six GSFS alumni who graduated between 2008 and 2016 to sign a 500-word letter and email it to President Patton. The letter was drafted in the days following the reunion and sent to her on Nov. 20. Their goal, they said, is to ensure that the college would continue to provide survivors of sexual assault support under the proposed new federal laws.
“The policy proposed by Betsy DeVos threatens to return us to an era where campus sexual assault is pushed under the rug,” Maddie Orcutt ’16, one of the letter’s signees, wrote in an email to The Campus. “As someone who lived through an era where campus sexual misconduct proceedings were inaccessible to survivors and opaque at best, let me assure you we do not want to return to that era. It’s important to get the college on record about its policies and procedures because it promotes transparency and accountability.”
Beyond calling for Patton’s condemnation of the cross-examination rule and DeVos’ Title IX policy changes as a whole, the signees reflected on the importance of protest and activism as part of their time at Middlebury, writing that activism was “integral to our educations and to the very formation of our identities” during their time here. Noting the importance of activism to any student’s ability to speak out against sexual assault on college campuses, the letter calls current Middlebury College protest policies “managed and restricted” in ways that the alumni fear may be limiting students’ voices as they attempt to grapple with issues such as sexual assault and Title IX laws on campus.
Through conversations with students during the Nov. 17 alumni reunion, the six alumni signees of the letter — Orcutt, Emily Pedowitz, ’13, Margo Cramer ’12, Kolbe Franklin ’08, Luke Carroll Brown ’14 and Kristina Johansson ’14 — felt that the culture surrounding campus activism had changed over the years and that these changes needed to be addressed in the letter.
“What is clear from our time on campus is that students are terrified of Betsy DeVos’ recently announced Title IX policy. What is also clear to us is that Middlebury students are equally as terrified of speaking out on a campus where protest is now so managed and restricted,” the letter reads. “When we listened to students this weekend, we didn’t see the anger that had been such a catalyzing emotion for all of us. We saw students who were defeated, disillusioned, and shutdown.”
The alumni view current college protest policies as curtailing students’ ability to start conversations and hold demonstrations related to sexual assault on campus, a development they see as alarming in what the letter identifies as today’s “chilly political climate.”
“Based on my understanding of these policies, the effectiveness of activism is likely hindered due to the ways in which these policies restrict the creativity and visibility of necessary forms of activism,” Franklin said.
The letter closes with three demands that the alumni hope to see addressed in Patton’s response.
“We are asking you to go on the record to publicly state the following,” the letter reads.“That Middlebury will continue to adhere to a preponderance of the evidence standard in Title IX proceedings; that live cross-examination in Title IX cases will curb reporting and make our campus less safe; and that Middlebury College does not think that Betsy DeVos’ recently announced Title IX policy is in the best interest of Middlebury students.”
Ultimately, the authors hope that the letter will help survivors of sexual assault at Middlebury receive the recognition and support they need.
Patton has issued statements on controversial Trump administration rulings in the past, such as the amendments to DACA and legal recognition of transgender people. The alumni who penned the letter hoped to see a similar level of recognition for survivors of sexual assault after DeVos’ Title IX announcement.
“In the midst of our current political climate, there is such an importance for schools, organizations and leaders to actively speak up and against policies that fail to protect vulnerable populations and that promote a culture of intolerance,” Pedowitz said. “I believe this allows students to feel safe and protected by their organization when there is so much chaos, unknown and intolerance being perpetrated politically in the national landscape.”
(12/06/18 10:56am)
After an 83-37 victory in its home opener in Pepin Gymnasium, the Middlebury men’s basketball team propelled itself to five more wins, only suffering one recent loss this past Saturday. The Panthers remain 12th-ranked and continue with momentum, having yet to host or visit another NESCAC team.
Middlebury improved to 4-0 on the season with a 78-63 road win at Morrisville State on Tuesday night, Nov. 27. The Panthers came out fast with a 10-2 lead, with seven points from Jack Farrell ’21. With that, Middlebury’s bench also outscored Morrisville State’s by an impressive margin of 43-8.
Hot shooting led the men’s basketball team past New England College, 4-1 in their schedule, shooting .556 from long-range distance to pull out a 97-68 victory on Thursday, Nov. 29. Matt Folger ’20 led Middlebury in points at NEC, recording a career high of 28. Max Bosco ’21 and Hilal Dahleh ’19 netted 14 points, while Eric McCord ’19 pulled down eight rebounds.
On Saturday, Dec. 1, Middlebury hosted Keene State for its third game in five days, falling to Keene 93-88. A setback in the sixth game of the season, the loss marks Middlebury’s only loss in the 2018-19 season. Farrell led the Panthers in points, with a career high of 30. McCord, co-captain with Dahleh, posted 10 boards for the game.
McCord commented on previous meetings with the Panthers’ opponent, Keene State, and the team’s mentality going into Saturday: “We want to be confident going into any game, but at the same time we know that Keene State is a great opponent who we have battled with every year, so we had a lot of respect for them. We know we had to come to play.”
The team fought back hard in the second half, which McCord described as “showing fight and relentlessness.”
The Panthers (5-1) have a lot to be proud of, and will show up to play Plattsburgh State on Tuesday night, Dec. 4. Plattsburgh State is ranked 13th, one spot below Middlebury. “We’re definitely disappointed in the loss, but there are a lot of positives to take away [from the Keene State game]. Our team chemistry continues to improve, and we just keep getting better playing together,” McCord said. As the season continues, the Middlebury men’s basketball team is a force to be reckoned with.
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(12/02/18 3:01am)
In a tense 1-1 game by the end of two overtime periods, the women's soccer team was defeated by the Williams Ephs 3-2 in penalty kicks in the NCAA Division III championship. This was the first championship appearance of the Panthers in program history.
The previous day, on November 30, the Panthers defeated the WashU Bears 1-0 in a stunning upset to advance to the national championship. Led by NESCAC Coach of the Year Peter Kim, this was the team's second journey to the Final Four in program history, having previously competed in 2013. On the way to the championship match, the team secured wins against Maine-Farmington (4-1), Ithaca (0-0 with a win on penalty kicks), Swarthmore (2-0), Misericordia (1-0), and most recently WashU (1-0). Last year, Middlebury's 12-4-2 record brought them to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
Williams' journey to the championship match was achieved after a 2-0 win against Christopher Newport in the semifinals and placing second in the NESCAC Championship. The Ephs traveled to Greensboro with a 17-1-4 record.
This was the third time Middlebury competed against Williams this season, suffering a 0-1 loss at the end of the regular season on October 23 and winning the NESCAC Championship 1-0 in Williamstown on November 4.
The first half included a goal by Williams' Aspen Pierson assisted by Ilana Albert and Georgia Lord, her fourth goal of the season. Olivia Miller '20 and Eliza Robinson '21 attempted shots on Williams goalie Olivia Barnhill.
With 13 minutes remaining in the second half, the game became tied 1-1 by a Williams own goal. Clare Robinson '19 and Eliza Robinson '21 contributed to the Panthers' total of six shots during regulation play. With the score tied at the end of the second half, the game proceeded into overtime.
In the first overtime period, a shot by Williams' Sarah Scire was saved by goalie Ursula Alwang '20. This was Alwang's 2nd save of the game and 67th of the season. Continuing through the rain, both teams went into a scoreless second overtime period and penalty kicks.
Goalie Eva Shaw '19.5 was substituted for Alwang for the penalty kicks. Against Amherst, she made two saves at the NESCAC semifinals and three saves against Ithaca in the NCAA tournament. With shots made by Sara DiCenso '19 and Cate Shellenback '22 and missed by Magnolia Moskun '21.5, Riley Kinum '22 and Clare Robinson '19, the Ephs defeated the Panthers 3-2 in penalty kicks.
This is the Ephs' third title in four years, making the team the fourth program in NCAA Division III history to win back-to-back championship titles.
"It's always a hard-fought battle between these two teams. We know each other really well," head coach Peter Kim said in a press conference following the game. "We have a very special senior class…they have led by example and pulled the team along."
"I think we really did a great job playing how we like to play — possessing the ball — and we knew when we had to play a little more direct. We were in it the whole time and I'm just really proud of that," commented senior captain Abby Blyler.
The Panthers finished their season with a 19-1-4 record, 51 goals and an average of 19.3 shots per game. Clare Robinson '19 and Janie DeVito '19 were selected to the first all-NESCAC team, while Alwang, Amanda Dafonte '19 and Eliza Van Voorhis '21 earned spots on the second team. At the conclusion of the final match, Alwang, Rose Evans '22, Simone Ameer '21 and Claire Robinson '19 were named to the all-tournament team.
(12/01/18 12:09am)
The third-ranked women's soccer team defeated top-ranked and undefeated Washington University-St. Louis (WashU) in a 1-0 win at the NCAA Division III semifinals in Greensboro, North Carolina. Advancing to the championship game Williams, this will be the first championship appearance in the program's history.
The team's journey to the Final Four was the first since 2013 and second in program history. After winning the NESCAC Championship 1-0 against Williams, the team scored wins against Maine-Farmington (4-1), Ithaca (0-0 with a win on penalty kicks), Swarthmore (2-0) and Misericordia (1-0) and traveled to Greensboro with an 18-1-3 record. Last year, the team's 12-4-2 record brought them to the second round of the NCAA tournament.
The first half was largely a battle at midfield, with Caitlin Magruder '20 sustaining an injury after a collision with WashU's Maggie Crist. Jinx Charman '20 was brought in as a substitute following Magruder's injury.
With just over two minutes into the second half, Simone Ameer '21 brought the Panthers' lead to 1-0 with a goal assisted by Ellie Greenberg '20 and Gretchen McGrath '21. This was Ameer's fourth goal of the season. With eight minutes left in the second game, Alwang saved a header shot by the Bears' Maggie Crist. The Panthers' defense was led by Rose Evans '22, assisted by starters Amanda Dafonte' 19, Janie DeVito '19 and Isabelle Hartnett '21.
"I think this was probably one of the hardest games of the season for us," captain Dafonte said in a press conference following the game. "It was one that we went into saying that we were going to work harder and we were going to go out with heart and leave it all out on the field."
Fellow captain Abby Blyler '19 attributed the team's success to intense competition throughout the season. "In every game that we face, anyone could win on any given day. We have had competition throughout the entire season and I think that has prepared us a lot for this tournament," she said.
Ameer, the game's only scorer, agreed with her teammates when she said that the team was able to hold together following Magruder's injury. "When we were able to just get in the game and settle down a bit we found our rhythm more and just felt more able to play like ourselves," she said.
Urusula Alwang '20 spent all 90 minutes in goal with three saves. The WashU Bears finished their previously 21-0 undefeated season with a total of 62 goals and an average of 2.95 goals per game.
Williams enters the championship game after a 2-0 win and will seek its second consecutive championship and third in four years.
"There is an energy on this team that feels like a winning team and so I think to go all the way to the national championship is an awesome reward for that feeling we had at the beginning of the season," Dafonte commented. "It’s going to be a great game and we couldn’t be more excited."
The championship game will be streamed on NCAA.com here, starting at 7 p.m on Saturday, December 1.
(11/29/18 10:56am)
College students and the community have the opportunity again this year to come together for racial justice and movies — the Middlebury Marquis will be organizing their Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) film series for the second time this winter with a new selection of films and fundraisers.
The Marquis partnered with the national organization SURJ, which encourages white people to fight for racial justice and organize against racism, and Black Lives Matter Vermont to show films to the Middlebury community that highlight themes of racial justice and discrimination. The Marquis first joined with SURJ to put on the film “I Am Not Your Negro,” a film about black writer and social critic James Baldwin, in 2017. After the success of that showing, Marquis owner Ben Wells decided it was time to expand their mission into a film series.
“It is an opportunity where people from the community can come together and talk about some of the events and issues in the world specifically around racial justice, or the lack thereof,” Wells said.
Last year’s film series covered a variety of topics, from the influence of Native Americans on rock ‘n’ roll music to the Loving v. Virginia Supreme Court case that legalized interracial marriage, to the killing of Michael Brown and the Ferguson uprisings and more.
The first selection this year, which was shown on Wednesday, Nov. 14, was “Sorry to Bother You,” a 2018 film that addresses race and poverty in the context of telemarketing. The film is based on a short story by rapper and writer Boots Riley, and portrays a young black man named Cassius Green in an alternate modern-day Oakland, California, who takes a job as a telemarketer. In the business, he learns about the power of the “white voice” and uses an affected speaking style to talk to customers on the phone, making more sales as a result of the voice. Success in telemarketing, however, has consequences, as Cassius is asked to sell things he isn’t comfortable selling.
“Sorry to Bother You” is a perfect film for the series, because it includes strong themes of racial justice and is also a captivating and interesting film with elements of magical realism and humor. The film will also be shown on campus as part of the Hirschfield Series on Saturday, Dec. 1 in the Dana Auditorium, at 3 p.m. and 8 p.m.
Next in the series, the Marquis will be showing “The Hate U Give,” a 2018 film about a teenage black girl who witnesses the shooting of a friend by a cop and her subsequent involvement in the world of advocacy and civil rights in response to his death. The film will be playing on Wednesday, Dec. 12.
Although there will be a break in the series for January, the theater is considering a couple of films for the following months, including “Green Book,” about the friendship between a black pianist and an Italian-American man from the Bronx; “Blindspotting,” about a pair of friends whose relationship is tested after they witness a police shooting; and “The Miseducation of Cameron Post,” about teenagers in a gay conversion therapy camp.
All of the films are associated with a fundraiser organized through SURJ. The showing of “Sorry to Bother You” raised money for Monica Cannon, a Black Lives Matter activist in Boston, who is pregnant and unable to afford a doula. Past fundraisers have involved the Vermont chapter of the ACLU, the African American Policy Forum in NYC, Black Lives Matter VT, the Addison Allies Network, Migrant Justice, The Nulhegan Abenaki Tribe and the Rutland Area NAACP.
Wells sees the SURJ series as an opportunity to open new eyes to racial inequality and discrimination throughout the country. SURJ organizers Kathy Comstock and Joanna Colwell hope that the majority-white Middlebury community learns from the series, and that individuals who might not be exposed to or aware of certain aspects of racial justice have such an opportunity.
“What I hope is that our Middlebury community can get more comfortable with the fact that we are a very white town, and we need to acknowledge the privilege that this affords us,” Comstock said.
Colwell said, “I feel like our mostly white, progressive community is inching toward a better understanding of race, and I hope we white people are getting a bit closer to understanding our own whiteness, and understanding all the racist messages we have absorbed, and the harm that we cause when we don’t work to dismantle white supremacy in ourselves and the spaces we inhabit.”
SURJ is an organization that has faced opposition in the past because of lack of accountability to people of color-led organizations and the debate over the existence of white-led racial justice groups. However, the Middlebury chapter of SURJ makes extensive efforts to stay accountable by sharing financial resources with organizations led by people of color, and by showing up to events run by these groups in support and solidarity. They also work to encourage community members to become a part of Black Lives Matter VT and are hoping to form a relationship with the Black Student Union on campus.
Film as a medium has incredible value, and can be used in important and influential ways.
“I hope that these films give us the platform to stand on and become more verbal and physically active to change the inequities that exist in our neighborhoods and in our country,” Comstock said.
(11/29/18 10:55am)
“That’s what we need to do, step up, show up and break the silence,” said Senator Christopher Bray on Thursday, Nov. 15 as he introduced “Break the Silence” to the audience at the Town Hall Theatre. In the film, documentary filmmaker Willow O’Feral explored sexual reproductive justice and gender justice by featuring reproductive and sexual health stories of a diverse group of 17 women from Brattleboro, Vermont.
“Break the Silence” was not a project formed by chance, but a project born as a direct response to the presidential election two years ago. A few weeks after the election, O’Feral came together with a group of women and formed the Women’s Action Team, a feminist collective in Brattleboro. As the group was discussing ways to protect women’s autonomy over their own bodies and lives, storytelling came naturally to their discussion.
“We were talking about how storytelling was so visceral and core to [changing] people’s hearts and minds,” said O’Feral during the panel discussion after the screening. “Hearing someone expressing their lived experience with vulnerability, it is really hard to be judgmental.”
Starting the project with no funding, O’Feral was constrained by the limited tools available in her little studio. However, with only one white backdrop, one camera, one tripod, one light and one lavalier microphone, O’Feral managed to record authentic voices of women who shared candidly some of their most personal, intimate and vulnerable experiences, discussing topics such as their first time having sex, birth control, abortion, sexual assault and pregnancy. Though produced under technical constraints, the result was more than powerful.
For Lucy Leriche, Vice President of Public Policy at Planned Parenthood of Northern New England and one of the three panelists at the discussion, it was not the first time seeing “Break the Silence.” Nonetheless, it moved her to tears just as it had the first time she watched it.
“What really strikes me about this is that people are letting themselves [be] so vulnerable. There is so much shame in so many of those stories, but the courage of the people enabled them to tell their stories, to overcome that shame, and to rip through it to survive,” Leriche said.
The style of simplicity not only corresponded to those stories, but cultivated a raw and powerful intimacy throughout the interviews presented in the film and let the stories tell themselves. By zooming in and out during the interviews, O’Feral let the camera mirror the story and allowed the audience to “become intimate with the person when she is revealing a vulnerable part of her story.”
“When I could tell someone was getting to an emotional part of their story, I usually zoomed in so that you felt more intimate, and zoomed out when she was telling the background or the context of the story,” O’Feral said.
O’Feral had difficulty putting together a representative group of women with a broad diversity of age, race, experience, economic background and gender and sexuality experiences.
“It is a feminine project, so I wanted cis women, trans women, women of color, white women, young and old women, women who have more or less money, coming from privileges or no privileges,” O’Feral explained.
With the first five or six volunteers, who were all white, middle-class, straight women, on board, O’Feral realized that she needed to seek out different kinds of women, and it took her a while to feel comfortable approaching people and asking them to be part of the project.
“I felt a little awkward approaching women of color and saying, ‘Can you please be part of my project because I want to include women of color?’ I felt I was targeting them racially. But all of them were so happy that I wanted to be diverse. Every woman of color I asked said yes,” she said with a smile.
O’Feral reached out to transgender women in the community as well. One of the trans women featured in the film actually turned O’Feral down when she first reached out, but eventually was touched by her patience and persistence at her third approach months later. O’Feral’s efforts and persistence were worthwhile, as she gained trust in the local transgender community and more people came to her with their stories.
After the screening, the response from the audience was incredible. Several community members, who were all women, stepped forward one after another and shared their own stories or concerns with the panelists and the rest of the audience. One of the overarching themes from their response was the shared concern over the younger generations about how to educate them to have a healthy view of sex and gender.
Kerri Duquette-Hoffman, the executive director at WomenSafe, was another panelist at the discussion. As a mother of three kids, Duquette-Hoffman related to that concern.
“What strikes me about this film is that it is 2018 and people are still so hurt,” Duquette-Hoffman said. “I think [the] first thing we can do is to be curious, and learn, and educate our children to make sure kids know the boundaries, have empathy building skills and understand one another.”
While some of the icebreaker questions during the interviews included, “What was your first sexual experience?,” “What was sex like at home or at school or at religious institutions?,” etc., O’Feral never asked about sexual assault or rape. However, when asked about their first sexual experiences, half of the 17 women featured in the film said that their first sexual experience was being raped.
“So near the end of the project, I was like, God, I want to hear about really great sex, excellent, consensual, enthusiastic sex, and I started to pivot towards not just fight[ing] the world that is threatening, but [building] the world we want,” said O’Feral.
The last woman O’Feral interviewed was Sheila. Starving for more positive stories at the end of the process, O’Feral asked Sheila about her first orgasm rather than her first sexual experience, which led to the opening of the film — Sheila sharing a happy sex experience. Even though that did result in an unwanted pregnancy, Sheila said she never regretted the sex.
When asked about Sheila and her positive sex experience, O’Feral said, “I interviewed her for two hours, and she sobbed through almost all of it. And this is the one happy story in that whole interview. I decided to choose that one because I felt like she was so raw and vulnerable in the rest of her interview and it did not feel right to present her as a broken person as I can see her beauty and strength in this story.”
(11/29/18 10:52am)
Coming off of a successful 2017-18 season, the Middlebury men’s squash team is optimistic leading in to this 2018-19 season. At the end of the CSA Team Championships in February, the team clinched a 9-12 record and a top-20 national ranking. Dedicating countless hours to training this preseason and maintaining their 19th spot in national preseason rankings, the group is eager to get started. Although the squad has lost five important seniors, there is no doubt that the three first-years, Teddy Best, Justin Ghaeli and Nate Moll, will hold their own and make a mark.
This very young team consists of no seniors. Instead, they will be led by juniors Nick Bermingham, Jacob Ellen and Thomas Wolpow. Consistently playing in one of the top positions last year, Ellen is expected to be a strong leader on this team. With a respectable 10-10 record while primarily playing in the second spot last season, Ellen is a crucial asset to this team.
William Cembalest is another junior star to watch. Consistently playing at the top position last winter, Cembalest earned his way to the College Squash Association Individual Championships in Washington, D.C. back in March. Junior Jack Kagan was another Panther invited to the Individual Championships where he finished his season. Kagan sat at #3 and had a strong 14-10 record.
Likewise, sophomores John Epley and Wiatt Hinton saw success in their first season as Panthers and are ones to watch out for as they look to repeat their strong records.
The Panthers will begin their season by hosting #16 Navy in the recently dedicated Bostwick Family Squash Center on Friday, Nov. 30. Falling 9-0 to Navy on the road last February, the Panthers are looking forward to seeing them at home. A consistently solid team, Navy is already 9-0 for the season with a 5-4 win over #13 University of Virginia.
After their face-off with Navy, Middlebury will host #27 Tufts at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Dec. 1. Like Navy, Tufts has been able to get in a few matches before they face the Panthers. With a 2-0 record so far with wins over Colby and Wesleyan, Tufts cannot be underestimated.
(11/17/18 9:05pm)
After a NESCAC championship victory on November 4 and a 14-hour bus ride to Manheim, Pennsylvania, the field hockey team secured a spot in the NCAA Division III Championship after a 4-2 victory against Rowan University.
Grace Jennings '19 led the Panthers with goals at 7 and 27 minutes into the first half, while Danielle Brown '21 continued to carry the team with two goals in the second half. Marissa Baker '20 was also responsible for two assists and Jennings assisted Brown for Brown's 12th goal of the season. Goalie Meg Collins '19.5 achieved six saves during her time in goal.
"I thought it was a terrific display of athleticism on both sides. Rowan was the most physical, the quickest, the most powerful opponent we have faced this year," head coach Katharine DeLorenzo said in a press conference following the game.
The Panthers will now face NESCAC foe Tufts tomorrow at 1 p.m. in the NCAA Division III championship. This will be the third time the Panthers have played the Jumbos this season; the Panthers won 2-1 in an overtime match in the regular season and 1-0 in the NESCAC Championship. The Panthers aim to capture their fourth NCAA title, having previously won in 1998, 2015 and 2017 and advancing to the finals in 2003, 2004, 2007 and 2011.
The game will be streamed on NCAA.com here, starting at 1 p.m.
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(11/15/18 10:59am)
After racking up a total of 13 goals in two massive wins, field hockey hits the road for Spooky Nook in Manheim, Pennsylvania, for the NCAA Championship weekend.
On Saturday, Middlebury easily defeated Keene State by a whopping score of 8-0, scoring four goals in each half. The Panthers dominated throughout the game, managing to rip 31 shots while allowing only two attempts from the visitors. Erin Nicholas ’21 and Grace Jennings ’19 each scored twice while Emma Johns ’20, Ali Denby ’20, Julia Richards ’20 and Amanda Bozorgi ’19 each tallied one goal.
Middlebury took home the NCAA Regional Championship title on Sunday with a 5-1 victory against The College of New Jersey (TCNJ). The Panthers drew 11 penalty corners and made 20 shots, compared to TCNJ’s three and five, respectively. Johns, Nicholas and Jennings each scored another goal, while Meg Fearey ’21 and Marissa Baker ’20 also joined the long list of goal-scorers this weekend.
It is not uncommon for teams to let their guard down when in complete control of a game, which can sometimes lead to mistakes. But Middlebury’s commitment to its game plan was as strong as ever this weekend. “On Sunday, we were up by three within the first 10 minutes of being on the field,” Fearey explained. “However, this did not change our game. We don’t settle until a game is completely over, treating every minute as if it’s tied 0-0. It’s this mentality that contributes to our successes and allows us to be together for one more week and compete in the Final Four.”
With the NCAA Championship approaching and just one more week of practice left, the team remains focused on the present.
“One of the hardest things to do in sports is to defend a championship,” Baker said. “Every year is a clean slate for a team, for better or for worse. What we did or didn’t accomplish last season has no effect on this season. So all we do is take it one game at a time, one team at a time.”
Nevertheless, the Panthers are feeling confident in their team’s ability and are ready to take flight at Spooky Nook this weekend. “I’m so proud of how far this team has come this season,” Bozorgi, one of the senior captains, said. “I feel like every week we’re just improving and adapting and hitting our peak just at the right time. I think that we’re just where we want to be heading into the Final Four this weekend.”
Led by repeat NESCAC Coach of the Year Katharine DeLorenzo, the Panthers will take on Rowan at 2 p.m. on Saturday. Tufts, who earned a bid after losing to Middlebury last weekend, battles Johns Hopkins in the other semifinal. The winners will meet in the NCAA Championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
(11/15/18 10:55am)
This past Friday evening, I had the great pleasure of hearing Music and History major Gareth Cordery ’20 perform piano pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Leos Janacek and Aaron Copland in Robison Hall. Beginning with Beethoven’s “Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major” (commonly referred to as “The Hunt”), moving on to Chopin’s “Ballade No. 1 in G Minor,” continuing with Janacek’s suite “In the Mists,” and finishing with Copland’s “Piano Variations,” this concert provided a diverse array of pieces running the gamut from classical to romantic to modern. From the beginning, Cordery showed himself to be in complete control of these pieces, performing with a rare zeal, the apparent ease of which belied his intimate familiarity with the music.
Perhaps one of the most wonderful aspects of a student concert is that the performers are far more likely to comment on their work for The Campus! I first asked Cordery about how he went about designing the program.
This concert was notable for the differences between each piece, whereas most concert programs, including one he is preparing for a future recital, try to note the thematic similarities between pieces. For example, the last article I wrote featured an all-Bach program, and the upcoming concert by the Jupiter Quartet on November 30 will feature string quartets by French modernists Ravel, Debussy and Dutilleux.
The Beethoven piece, though it has some formal features which put it on the edge of the classical piano sonata tradition, including four fast movements and some thematic instability in the first movement, sounds far different from the Chopin piece, and both of these 19th-century works felt tame in comparison to the rhythmic anomalies in “In the Mists” and the grating dissonances in Copland’s variations.
I also asked about the program notes, which I found detailed and intelligent, for they balanced historical details with formal characteristics. Especially for the Janacek and Copland, pieces with which I was unfamiliar, I found the written notes helpful for understanding the musical notes. Cordery wrote the program notes himself, abridged from his longer research papers on the pieces.
The performance itself was impressive for the creative choices Cordery made in preparation for the concert: he performed without notes. When I asked what led to this decision, he replied that not only is it expected that a musician would have the music memorized before the concert, but that performances with sheet music inhibit his musicality because the act of turning them over distracts the audience from the sound.
The Copland variations exhibited the most powerful playing of the night, and, especially in the final chords, showed why it is valuable to play pieces people may not have heard before. These variations are a loud, angry set which take a certain degree of careful control to manage properly. The dissonances create a foreboding sense of dread, a feeling compounded by the contrast of the overlapping overtones of low notes and the sharpness of the high notes.
Cordery’s notes include some information on the mix of influences Copland used in the piece: Schoenberg’s 12-tone methods, Stravinsky’s neoclassicism and the American contribution of jazz. One of the most interesting parts of hearing a piece like this, and reading about its sources, is the idea that someone like Copland knew these sources and knew to combine them into something unique. The influences affecting Beethoven and Chopin were limited to what they heard and saw in their lives, just like those that inspired Copland, but the latter’s experiences translated into a piece that sounds completely different than his predecessors’, showing how he received the great diversity of inspiration which makes his music great.
Cordery was concerned about putting this piece on the program. “I will admit to worrying about the Copland; it’s relentless in its modernity, but the “Piano Variations” are an important and consequential piece,” he said. “I think it’s important that everyone gets a chance to hear it at least once.”
I wholeheartedly agree with him; it was a bold choice to program this rarely heard piece and I count myself lucky to be able to hear it in a place like Robison Hall.
The final part of the variations, a coda consisting of the repetitive drone of dissonant chords, gives way to one special moment at the end. Cordery played the final chord more loudly than he had all night, and his use of the pedal combined with the spectacular acoustics of the hall allowed the overtones of the deepest keys to play uninterrupted for more than 30 seconds. Usually, like in the Beethoven for example, the final cadence lasts for 2-3 seconds, if that. Having just heard a Beethoven piece, the radical change between the two provoked a meditative state for the duration of that final chord, one where I felt I could focus on hearing the notes and just the notes, just like one hears the final ringing of the carillon bells in the late evening.
(11/08/18 10:58am)
The Panther football team took home a big win against the Hamilton Continentals this weekend, pulling off a 35-17 victory in the Old Rocking Chair Classic. Not only did the Panthers improve their Old Rocking Chair Classic record, beating the Continentals 31 out of their 39 meetings all-time, but they also improved their season record to 5-3, heading into the last game of the season.
Along with the win, the Panthers brought home the rocking chair — a tradition created in 1980 by John Kirk ’39 and Mac Bristol, a 1943 Hamilton graduate, to intensify the competition between the two NESCAC schools. Every year, the Hamilton and Middlebury football teams compete for the rocking chair, given to the athletic department until the next season’s bout.
The road to the rocking chair began in the first quarter of the game, as the Panthers successfully took control within the first five minutes. Sophomore quarterback Will Jernigan found Conrado Banky ’19 for a 49-yard touchdown and first score of the game. On the ensuing Hamilton drive, Middlebury recovered a fumble that led to a touchdown connection between Jernigan and junior Frank Cosolito.
Though Hamilton shot back in the second quarter with a six-yard rushing touchdown to put the Continentals on the board, Jernigan and Cosolito connected on another pass in the last five minutes of the half, to put the Panthers up 21-7 with 3:56 on the clock.
The half was far from over. Hamilton was able to punch in another touchdown with 1:30 before halftime, and a turnover on the part of the Middlebury offense offered an opportunity for Hamilton to decrease the deficit. The Continentals were able to score a 30-yard field goal right before the half, closing the Middlebury lead to 21-17.
Middlebury running back Peter Scibilia ’21 added two more touchdowns to the scoreboard, making the final score 35-17.
The Panthers were able to capitalize on plays to secure their victory on Saturday. They edged out the Continentals in total offensive yards 379 to 351, and time of possession 30:34 to 29:26. Additionally, the Panthers only had two turnovers to Hamilton’s three, which all aided Middlebury in its fight for the win.
Next week, Middlebury will take on the Tufts Jumbos on their own turf. Last year, the Panthers concluded their 7-2 season with an on-the-road victory against Tufts. This season, Middlebury will look to do the same in front of the home crowd, for its last game of the 2018 season.
