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(04/18/19 10:38am)
The town of Middlebury received a $62,500 grant from the state government to begin planning for the future of its downtown area. The award came through the “Better Connections” program, a partnership between the Vermont Agency of Transportation and the Agency of Commerce and Community Development. Awards were announced in a press release on April 9. The money will go towards the hiring of consultants, data collection and community outreach to determine how to make the best use of Middlebury’s downtown.
According to Middlebury’s successful 118 page grant application, the town plans to create a “Downtown Master Plan focused on enhancing the vitality and functional efficiency of Downtown Middlebury.” The plan will be created through a public process, seeking input from community members as well as stakeholders such as local businesses and Middlebury College.
Numerous downtown businesses have voiced support for the Downtown Master Plan, many of them providing letters of support which accompanied the grant application.
In addition to Middlebury, the towns of Fairlee and Northfield also received grants from the “Better Connections” program. “This interagency collaboration allows communities to plan and grow in a way that integrates transportation and land-use planning with economic development decision-making,” said Agency of Transportation Secretary Joe Flynn, as quoted in the April 9 press release.
The planning project is anticipated to be completed by March of 2020 and, according to Middlebury Director of Planning and Zoning Jennifer Murray, “will be implemented over the course of many years.”
Jennifer Murray, who is also the project manager, named many important considerations the plan will address, including downtown parking, river access, engagement with college students, bike path linkages and the future of the Bakery Lane Municipal Lot - an underutilized piece of prime real estate. The planning grant comes at a timely moment as major development is set to arrive soon to the town of Middlebury in the construction of an Amtrak station. “Amtrak is anticipated to start serving Middlebury in 2021. We have to ask, ‘how do we plan around it, how do we make sure downtown functions to make best use of it,’” said Murray.
According to Murray, public facilitation will be a crucial element of the planning process. In addition to the local economic data that will be collected this summer, much input will be solicited from all community members and stakeholders. Meetings will take place between the planning team and key stakeholders such as Middlebury College and downtown businesses, and a public outreach strategy will be developed to get people thinking about downtown and promote input from the community.
Murray said to stay tuned for downtown events to come later this year, especially “design charrettes” in September or October, where all stakeholders will come together in intense collaboration and consultation. The grant application holds much more in the way of community engagement including “an art contest to engage youth, wayfinding describing previous uses of Downtown structures and sidewalk art and poetry.”
It has been a long time since large-scale planning efforts have been made in Middlebury. The most recent major planning effort took place in 2000, when a system of sidewalks and street-lamps was planned and implemented. The last truly comprehensive planning took place in the 1970s. This acquisition of this grant marks the beginning of a new, as yet unplanned era in the development of the town of Middlebury.
(04/11/19 9:58am)
Following the departure of its only full-time professor, next year, the college’s Hebrew program will no longer offer upper-level Hebrew classes on campus and will instead require students to video conference into Middlebury-devised courses at other colleges. These changes have raised concerns about the program’s future among students who see it is as an invaluable focal point of both academic learning and Jewish life on campus.
The program’s current professor, Oz Aloni, will leave the college when his contract expires after this semester. In the last year, Hebrew Program Head Tamar Mayer — who teaches only geography at Middlebury — requested twice that a new Hebrew professor be hired. Mayer’s requests were denied both times.
According to Vice President for Academic Affairs Andrea Lloyd, the college denied Mayer’s request because the Hebrew program continually sustains a very low level of enrollment in its classes. Since 2013-14, there has been an average of three students per semester enrolled in one of the introductory Hebrew courses, which are offered in a three-course sequence.
Additionally, the college must maintain an equilibrium of 248 full-time equivalent (FTE) professors across departments at all times, and must decide each semester which new hire requests to approve to keep that number constant. Enrollment level is one of the factors that the Educational Affairs Committee considers when approving new hire requests.
Board members from Hillel, the college’s Jewish student life organization, voiced fear in a March 21 op-ed in The Campus that reductions in the program will ultimately result in the end of the Hebrew program entirely. The op-ed, entitled “We Need the Hebrew Department,” encouraged the college to hire more Hebrew professors and advocated the importance of Hebrew studies, both linguistically and culturally, for Jewish students on campus.
“Middlebury is an academic institution; this title implies a commitment to academic excellence above all else and a responsibility to make the campus inclusive to all students,” the board wrote. “Refusing to fill this position in the Hebrew Department would be a failure on both counts.”
But although the op-ed said the reductions would “effectively end the Hebrew Department on this campus,” the college insists that the program will continue through its beginner-level Hebrew course offerings taught by a teaching fellow, who is scheduled to leave after next year, and through indeterminate alternative advanced language studies and video conference classes.
The Hebrew program has always had one FTE with a three-year appointment, meaning that the sole Hebrew professor changes every three years. The other professors are fellows, not FTEs. Mayer believes that this lack of continuity has hurt the program.
Each semester, the Hebrew program offers one 100-level introductory Hebrew language course, taught by the teaching fellow, and one or two intermediate and advanced Hebrew language courses at the 300, 400 and 500 levels, taught by Aloni. It also offers cross-listed courses about Hebrew culture and history, taught in English by Israel Institute Teaching Fellow Zohar Gazit.
The teaching fellow will continue teaching the introductory courses next Fall. The higher-level Hebrew language courses are listed in the Fall 2019 catalogue, but the professors teaching the courses remain unlisted. As it currently stands, these classes will be taught online through the video conferencing software Zoom, through which students will video conference with professors at other colleges.
300 and 500-level courses will no longer be available.
“People wishing to take advanced Hebrew will need to be in the one 400 level course,” Mayer explained. “This means that some students will simply have to stop their Hebrew education.”
Currently, students can minor in Classical or Modern Hebrew, as well as Jewish Studies. They can also make Hebrew their primary or secondary language in an International and Global Studies (IGS) Middle East major, or can integrate the language into a Comparative Literature or Religion major.
The new cutbacks will make these courses of study more difficult. The Hillel op-ed expressed concern for students currently planning to minor in or study Hebrew and highlighted the importance of maintaining Hebrew as a language option in the IGS Middle East major. In the absence of Hebrew, the major will now require the study of Arabic, which Mayer believes limits the Middle Eastern perspective that the study of Hebrew offers. When IGS Middle Eastern Studies was created in 2004, it was conceived of as a track that would include both Arabic and Hebrew.
“It is difficult to think of Middle Eastern conflicts while exposing students to one language only, providing a limited opportunity, at best, for those who would like to get the Israeli perspective,” Mayer said. “A loss of Hebrew at the undergraduate college means a loss of perspective and a narrower education for our students.”
Earlier this year, the Middlebury study abroad school in Beer-Sheva, Israel was suspended, again for reasons related to low enrollment.
Advocates of the Hebrew program’s continuation argue that low enrollment in Hebrew classes is not enough of a reason for its shrinking, and emphasize the cultural and academic significance of the program.
“Our argument is that you can’t base the value of a class on the number of people enrolled, and that Hebrew is really important on this campus, not despite low numbers but separate from them,” said Rachel Horowitz-Benoit ’21, one of the authors of the op-ed and a Comparative Literature major with a focus in Hebrew Literature. Horowitz-Benoit and Mayer both argue that Hebrew is a uniquely valuable program because of its connection to Jewish cultural and religious life on campus.
Horowitz-Benoit also does not see lack of interest as the sole reason for the program’s low enrollment.
“The size of the program inhibits many people who want and plan to take Hebrew from doing so,” she said. “It’s not necessarily a lack of interest but a lack of availability.”
Since only one Hebrew class at any given level is offered in a semester and all of the upper-level classes are taught by one professor, students with an interest in taking Hebrew may not be able to because the single class time conflicts with another course. Additionally, students might not click with the teaching style of the single Hebrew professor teaching those courses.
Horowitz-Benoit and other Hillel Board members formed a committee to advocate for the program. They are collecting signatures in support of increased Hebrew programming and used the op-ed to publicize the situation. Over four weeks ago, the committee sent suggestions to President Laurie Patton, Dean of Faculty Andi Lloyd and Provost Jeff Cason. These suggestions included hiring a student employee to promote enrollment in Hebrew classes and creating a committee of students to assist in the hiring of a new faculty member so that the professor is well-suited to the students in the program. This week the committee received a response from administrators and, as of press time Tuesday, are planning to meet with Dean of Curriculum Suzanne Gurland soon to discuss their concerns.
In the meantime, administrators have suggested creative solutions to learning Hebrew at an advanced level without a professor: in addition to the integration of video conference classes, they have proposed that students attend the summer Hebrew language school.
Mayer takes issue with both of these propositions, especially the language school, which she sees as an insufficient replacement for courses, and a resource only accessible to the wealthy.
“The language schools are expensive and even if students are able to secure a full ride, they are unable to spend the summer making money that they need for the upcoming year,” she pointed out. “I see this as an opportunity only for rich kids and that is not okay.”
Mayer also finds the new virtual class plan problematic.
“Students do not want to pay such high tuition to just sit in front of their computers,” she said. During this past Winter Term, Aloni was ill for a week and students in his class video conferenced with a professor at another university. Some students reported to Mayer that they were not satisfied with the experience, and that video conferencing does not replicate the classroom language-learning environment that Middlebury is known for.
Molly Babbin ’22 was a student in the intro winter term Hebrew class. “I understood the importance of filling Professor Aloni’s brief absence with the video calls, but I probably would not be satisfied with it as a long-term solution. I found that I was less engaged, as I was not sitting in a classroom and was not speaking as much Hebrew to the other students,” Babbin said. “The class therefore lacked the social aspect that I have enjoyed in my in-person Hebrew classes. I understand that online classes can be effective, but it felt more difficult in a language class where I would prefer to have an immersive classroom experience.”
It is unclear precisely what will happen to students who are already pursuing Hebrew studies. In an email to The Campus, Lloyd said that these students “will be working with their advisors to address any issues that arise with respect to course offerings.”
According to Horowitz-Benoit, there are five students hoping to take above-300-level Hebrew next year, and several first-years who were planning to minor in the language.
For these students, the future is uncertain.
“I’d probably have to switch my major to English,” Horowitz-Benoit said. “I’ll graduate, but I’m in the Comparative Literature major, I’ve done the prerequisites for that, and this is really out of left field.”
(04/11/19 9:55am)
Middlebury will welcome all of its language schools back to Vermont next summer. Beginning with the 2020 summer session, Bennington College will host the three schools that are currently held in Oakland, Calif., joining the eight schools that are already held on the Middlebury campus.
President Laurie L. Patton and Bennington College President Mariko Silver announced the agreement last Wednesday on the Bennington campus.
“Middlebury and Bennington really are sister institutions and this is a great opportunity for higher-ed in Vermont,” Silver said at the signing event. “What we want here truly is a partnership. It is not a transactional relationship.”
Dean of Language Schools Steve Snyder said that the college selected Bennington, after surveying many Vermont institutions, for its excellent facilities, isolated environment and its goals and values, which align with those of Middlebury.
Bennington granted language schools exclusive use of its campus during the summer session. This is critical, as it provides an environment free from “language pollution,” and allows students to deeply engage with the curriculum and language pledge.
Middlebury’s language schools currently offer 11 programs, three of which have been housed in Oakland at Mills College for the last decade. The language schools educate about 1,500 students each summer, ranging in age from 17 to 70 and coming from all over the world.
Snyder said the directors of each school came together to identify some new goals during a recent strategic planning process as part of the“Envisioning Middlebury” framework. Curricular innovation, faculty professional development, research in language pedagogy and digital learning were among the top priorities they identified.
These new objectives required that all the Language School faculty and directors be in one place and able to meet before and after the summer session.
“To have one-third of the faculty located in California was preventing us from achieving some of our major strategic goals,” Snyder said.
The college is planning to create time at the beginning of the summer to bring in experts from around the world to hold a workshop for faculty professional development and curricular innovation.
The expansion to California in 2009 was an effort to accommodate a growing population of Language School students in Middlebury, and in recent years about 300 students each summer have studied Arabic, Italian and Korean at Mills. The schools also hoped that students at the Monterey Institute would enroll in the provided language courses, though the idea didn’t catch on in the way they anticipated.
“In the end it was a very marginal number of students (from the Institute) that actually attended the Language Schools.”
Snyder praised Mills as a wonderful institutional partner, even as they have experienced challenges of their own in recent years. The increasing number of English-speaking summer programs on their campus, combined with the operational difficulty of travel between the two locations, were some of the factors in the decision to relocate the schools to Vermont.
This new proximity will allow a cooperative and interconnected relationship between Bennington and Middlebury, as first demonstrated in the co-signing ceremony attended by the colleges’ presidents.
“We are hoping to create a broad relationship where the faculty exchanges, where Bennington students are able to attend the Language Schools more easily and we begin to think about various areas where we can cooperate across the institution,” Snyder said.
Snyder foresees only a few challenges that may accompany this upcoming transition, primarily concerning the demanding use of the Bennington campus over the summer and the residential problems that often arise when hosting such a diverse group of students.
“These are things we are used to handling and we will work with Bennington to manage what may arise,” Snyder said.
It has not yet been decided which schools Bennington will host. The remaining schools will stay at Middlebury.
(04/11/19 9:52am)
Thanks to a $20,000 fund, the Ski and Snowboard Scholarship pilot program that brought 103 new skiers up to the Snow Bowl this Winter Term will continue into future seasons. The fund, compiled by Student Affairs and the Dean of Students, helps students dodge the steep costs of winter sports by providing each participant with five ski, snowboard or telemark lessons and equipment rentals at the Bowl.
This past Tuesday, Vice President of Student Affairs Baishakhi Taylor met with students, college administrators and Daphne Diego, administrative director of the Middlebury Snow School, to discuss the future of the scholarships. Based on positive feedback from the pilot program, they secured funding so that the subsidized lessons can be offered in years to come.
Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández will allocate an additional $1,600 to help cover extra ACTR buses to the Bowl on busy days.
This year, the scholarships helped boost involvement in the ski and snowboard lessons. In total, a record-breaking 201 students participated in ski or snowboard lessons over Winter Term this year, nearly half of whom were part of the scholarship program.
“Skiing is expensive, and we are welcoming students from all over the world, all over the country, where skiing is not something you will have natural access to, in terms of geography,” Taylor said. “So how do we make that something that is available to everyone if they want to try it? And I think that was the philosophy, was that if a student is interested, we have this amazing opportunity and facility. We want students participating in the full Middlebury experience.”
Sabian Edouard ‘21 and Rodney Adams ‘21 both took part in the scholarship program over Winter Term. Edouard chose to take snowboarding lessons and Adams opted for ski lessons. Both students felt that the scholarships made skiing and snowboarding more accessible.
Edouard’s snowboarding skills drastically improved and he was asked to become a snowboarding instructor next season.
“Where we come from, we don’t have these sort of experiences,” said Edouard, a Chicago native. “But also, when you get to Middlebury, especially as a first-generation student, a lot of the kids have this familial tie (with skiing and snowboarding) and leisurely activities that might not be as prominent in another environment. So being a part of that experience made me feel closer to being a Middlebury student.
“There’s been a stigmatization surrounding the POC and snowboarding at this campus, and I think that the scholarship is a great way to bridge that gap,” he added.
Adams, who is the first person in his family to learn how to ski, said that learning the sport made him feel more comfortable going to the ski races during Winter Carnival and talking with his fellow students about skiing.
“[The Snow Bowl] is a whole different social environment,” Adams said. “It’s another part of campus that we socialize at. Skiing is another way we can be active, especially during the winter when you can’t do anything else, so you might as well ski or snowboard.”
In a sport that has historically been dominated by affluent white people, the scholarship is an important step the college has taken to ensure that skiing and snowboarding is available to all Middlebury students. Skiing is ingrained in campus culture through traditions like Winter Carnival and Feb graduation, during which February graduates ski or ride down the Bowl in celebration.
In addition, skiing and snowboarding have their own languages and vocabularies that may not be familiar to non-skiers. A skier may “carve” (make turns with your edges) down “fresh corduroy” (a run that is freshly groomed) before heading into the ski lodge for “apres-ski” (the socializing that occurs after a long day on the mountain).
Jacob Freedman ’21 and Alex Gemme ’21, who were in attendance at Tuesday’s meeting, played instrumental roles in creating the scholarship program. They initially acquired around $5,500 dollars this past Fall, pulling funds from the Student Government Association, the Seizing Opportunities fund, the Mountain Club, Wonnacott, Brainerd, Ross, and Cook commons and the Intercommons Council. When the demand for scholarships quickly surpassed the available funds, the administration agreed to cover all remaining need, contributing an additional $15,000. This allowed every student on financial aid who applied for a snow scholarship to receive one.
Students enrolled in the scholarship program filled out surveys after completing their lessons asking them to rate and comment on various aspects of the program. The survey revealed overwhelmingly positive feedback, with 100% of 24 respondents rating 5 out of 5 point scale to the question, “Was this scholarship beneficial to your Middlebury and Winter-term experience?”
100% of respondents marked yes to the question, “Do you want this scholarship to be offered again?” and 97.8% of 46 respondents said yes to the question, “Were your fears and concerns (of skiing or snowboarding) addressed by Winter-term lessons?”
Survey respondents, all of whom remained anonymous, left comments giving feedback on the program.
“Being a kid from Chicago, I never thought I would get the opportunity to come to a place like Middlebury and be able to enjoy a sport like skiing,” one survey respondent wrote. “The Snow Scholarship was a significant part of my J-Term experience…..Without the funds provided by the scholarship, I would have never been able to ski since it is such a costly sport.”
Participants were also asked about their favorite part of Winter-Term lessons. Many respondents commented on how fast they improved and “learning how to ski in a comfortable environment.”
Other participants enjoyed meeting new people and learning from the snow school instructors. Most instructors are Middlebury students, but some are adults with decades of teaching experience at the Bowl. One survey respondent indicated a positive experience with the teaching method used by ski instructors.
“It started slow and progressed once I was ready for the next step,” wrote the respondent. “I also really enjoyed having peers at almost all the lessons, but really appreciated the help of the ‘older’ folks. I think it was great to learn from someone my age, and also from someone that has been skiing for 30+ years. (It) made me feel much more comfortable in a situation where I was nervous and afraid.”
The participants were also asked for suggestions to improve the lessons and the scholarship program in the future. Some common recommendations were to have more instructors and lesson times, to better place skiers within a group of their ability level, to inform students of injury risk and to be more organized. Other students suggested making the program more widely publicized.
In response to student feedback, Gemme and Freedman are planning to streamline the sign-up process for the scholarships applications. They are also working on establishing a check-out system for borrowing snow pants and gloves.
One respondent felt that, while their ski skills improved during the 5 lessons, they will not be able to continue skiing in the future due to the high cost of the sport.
“I was glad that the scholarship was offered. As someone that is low-income, I would never have been able to afford any kind of ski lessons or rentals” she said. “I now know how to ski, but because of the high cost associated with rentals and lift tickets it is very unlikely that I will be skiing again this ski season. I cannot express how thankful I am for the opportunity to have been able to learn to ski.”
(03/21/19 10:34am)
Within only two months of Green Mountain College’s announcement that it will close after this academic year, Southern Vermont College (SVC) has followed suit. Located in Bennington, VT, the private, liberal arts college announced on March 4 that it too would shut down this summer, to the shock and surprise of many of its students.
In his statement, SVC President David Evans said that the decision to close the college occurred after the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE) voted to remove the college’s accreditation “based on institutional resources.” Evans specifically referenced financial problems due to “regional demographics” and “enrollment challenges.”
Evans stressed in his announcement to the SVC community that “NECHE’s concern was limited to SVC’s finances only. The quality of the education we offer, institutional integrity, the transferability of courses and the value of our degrees, are not in question.” SVC’s accreditation will last until Aug. 31, 2019, allowing for students who need the summer to complete graduation requirements to do so.
SVC’s current enrollment is around 330 students, a number that reached a peak of 500 in past years. Seventy of those students are eligible to graduate this year.
The Massachusetts College of Liberal Arts (MCLA), a short twenty minute drive from SVC’s campus, has been announced as SVC’s preferred teach-out partner, an agreement that would allow current SVC students to finish their degrees at MCLA.
“We selected MCLA primarily because we have great confidence in their faculty and staff to be supportive of our students and the challenges they are and will be facing, which has already been demonstrated by their outstanding response to our situation,” Evans told The Campus in an email. “They have had teams on campus almost every day since the closure announcement, working with students and our staff to provide advice and options for transferring.”
SVC is also working with Norwich and Castleton Universities to provide other transfer options for students who might not find equivalent degree programs at MCLA.
SVC’s closure will also greatly affect its 100 full-time and 30 part-time staff members.
“The staff and faculty have been distressed because they love our students and the work we do at SVC,” Evans told The Campus. “My sense is that their first impulse has been to protect the students, but of course they face employment issues and all kinds of other uncertainty as well, which is very stressful.”
When asked about the seemingly abrupt nature of the closure announcement, Evans responded, “Ultimately, I’m afraid, there’s simply no good way to do something like announce the closure of a college, because people invest very intense emotions in these institutions for all kinds of very good reasons, and those emotions make our current situation deeply painful for everyone.”
SVC began in 1926 as Saint Joseph College, first located in downtown Bennington. In 1974 the college was turned over to a board of independent trustees and moved to its current spot on the Everett Estate, according to the school’s website.
The closures of Green Mountain College and Southern VT College reflect a greater pattern cropping up across both Vermont and the nation as a result of declining enrollments. Rural states like Vermont are struggling to retain a consistent pool of college-age applicants, causing significant financial problems for their small, private colleges.
In addition to GMC and SVC, Goddard College in Plainfield, VT, is on probation with NECHE, and the College of St. Joseph in Rutland, VT, recently suspended its undergraduate program and faces a removal of its accreditation for both its graduate and undergraduate programs.
“More than half of us are facing existential threats,” Evans told The Campus, speaking to the number of VT colleges in danger of closing. “Vermont has a tremendous problem with demographics already, which is a major cause of the challenges our colleges are facing, but at the same time the colleges’ problems are going to make the demographic issues even worse. From an economic and social standpoint, there is nothing good about what is happening to private colleges in Vermont.”
(03/21/19 9:57am)
On a red piece of cloth (two units tall, three units wide) are five yellow stars. What the stars mean, no one can really agree upon, but that is no pressing matter. The flag does not need to mean anything in and of itself in order to stake a claim to 3.7 million square miles of territory. However, that flag, which represents only the government of the People’s Republic of China, now seems to be imposing itself upon the most mundane forms of personal expression.
Recently, a minor on-campus controversy has emerged on the matter of flags. Middlebury College’s Student Government Association (SGA) has been considering hanging a set of national flags in Ross Dining Hall, each one representing a country to which a current student belongs. The idea is not original to Middlebury — Colgate University’s Curtiss E. Frank Dining Hall is one example of a college cafeteria which already represents its students’ diverse national origins this way. Yet, the initiative has nonetheless received criticism among certain Middlebury students. Their complaint? That Middlebury’s SGA has dared to suggest hanging Taiwan’s flag.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]The initiative has received criticism among certain Middlebury students.[/pullquote]
The controversy over Taiwan began in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War as conflicting claims to power arose between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Since the war, each government has recognized the other as illegitimate. Consequently, on an international level, the issue has only become more complex over time. In 1971 the Republic of China’s seat on the UN Security Council was given to the People’s Republic of China. Later in 1979, Congress passed into law the Taiwan Relations Act which gave Taiwan a degree of de facto recognition by the government of the United States, although the U.S. has maintained a strictly informal recognition of Taiwan since. Internationally, seventeen countries exclusively recognize the Republic of China while fifty-seven countries (including the United States) possess informal relations with Taiwan.
Clearly, regardless of the stance of the People’s Republic, Taiwan is a country with de facto sovereignty as well as a good degree of formal and informal international recognition. Those students, then, who feel the hanging of the flag of the Republic of China is illegitimate, are advocating for the effective elimination of a country’s nationhood. By insisting that the flag of the Republic of China be excluded from the rafters of Ross Dining Hall, they seek to define for the college (and, more importantly, the community) which countries are permitted to exist. This perspective seemingly suggests that the issue at stake is the political sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China. Yet this view necessarily suggests that Middlebury College, an educational institution of 2,500 people in Vermont, somehow possesses the ability to determine which government of China is legitimate. That is nonsense.
Even setting aside the issue of the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China, there should be no reason for students to feel attacked on any grounds. Take that red, five-starred flag. If the flag of the Republic of China was hanging, would it be any smaller? If the flag of Tibet was hanging alongside it, would the flag be any less red? Would the five stars dwindle to four or to three? No, not at all. The only situation under which student supporters of the People’s Republic of China would lose the representation of their national identity would be by removing the flag they believe represents them — a proposition which no student has publicly endorsed. These students would undoubtedly feel attacked by such an act, yet they intend to do the same to students of other national identities.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Students attending a college are not and should not be diplomatic agents of a foreign government.[/pullquote]
There are very real issues related to political jurisdiction in China. Whether the flag of the People’s Republic hangs alone or with the Republic of China and/or Tibet should not be interpreted as an attack on people’s civic identities. This would matter to the government of the People’s Republic of China on the grounds that their authority depends on symbolic gestures. However, students attending a college are not and should not be diplomatic agents of a foreign government. They are individuals with their own specific traits. The idea that some students should be able to decide which flag represents another person’s national identity is wrong on these grounds and many others.
It is not my intention to cast judgment on the geopolitical conflicts related to China. While I am no fan of the human rights abuses, denials of basic human liberties and oppositional posturing of the People’s Republic of China, none of those factors should matter in the assessment of this issue. There is no reason why the individual rights of students should be violated because of political controversies which have no direct impact upon daily life at the college. Before the end of my time at Middlebury, I hope to see a wide assortment of flags representing all the national origins of students who attend the college.
George Werner is a member of the Class of 2021.
(03/21/19 9:54am)
At most colleges and universities, professional admissions officers deliver information sessions to prospective students and their families. Not so at Middlebury, where each year, eight seniors are tasked with serving as the face of the college to the more than 10,000 visitors that come to campus.
The senior fellows program, founded by Dean of Admissions Greg Buckles, was originally created to fill a staffing shortage created by traveling admissions officers.
“In a nutshell, the senior fellows are the group of seniors who basically are the main public relations agents at the college for the admissions office,” said Sam Prouty, associate director of admissions and the supervisor of the fellowship program. “The public can hear directly from someone who is about to get out of here who is an example of what Middlebury education might look like. It almost feels like they are living the life of a Middkid for a day.”
In addition to leading hour-long information sessions, senior fellows are responsible for working at open house events, performing administrative duties and assisting admissions with various programs and projects. They are given flexibility in the information they choose to share and represent a diverse cross-section of the student body — an intentional effort on the part of the Admissions Office.
“We want a group of people who, added up, represent as much of the college as possible,” Prouty said. “We don’t want them all to be neuroscience majors and we don’t want them all to be cross country runners.”
[pullquote speaker="Senior Fellow Kahari Blue ’19" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]I’m really honest about Midd in my sessions. I don’t sugarcoat things that don’t need to be sugar coated, and I don’t lie about some of the college’s more negative characteristics.[/pullquote]
“I’m really honest about Midd in my sessions,” said Senior Fellow Kahari Blue ’19. “I don’t sugarcoat things that don’t need to be sugar coated, and I don’t lie about some of the college’s more negative characteristics. But my audiences seem to love that.”
Separately, Blue worked with the Institutional Diversity Committee of the SGA to create a Student Ambassador program. The program allows students from underrepresented communities to give short information sessions at local high schools when they are home over breaks.
“I have met many wide-eyed, ambitious high school students who are so enthusiastic about joining this community, which makes me optimistic the student body will be in good hands when I leave in a couple of months,” Blue said.
Both Blue and Hollie Haigh ’19, also a fellow, said that participating in the fellowship improved their public speaking skills. They also enjoy helping to plan programs like Preview Days and Discover Middlebury, which allows high school seniors from traditionally under-represented groups to visit Middlebury.
“To have your say in how certain programs or events are going to work is cool because we are the current students and we are influencing what the next generation of students are going to be involved in or be interested in,” Haigh said. “It feels very genuine from our part.”
[pullquote speaker="Senior Fellow Hollie Haigh ’19" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]To have your say in how certain programs or events are going to work is cool because we are the current students and we are influencing what the next generation of students are going to be involved in or be interested in.[/pullquote]
Last Friday, Haigh gave an information session to a school group of about 30 students and their teacher who drove 1,500 miles from Arkansas to tour various East Coast schools. Haigh said she enjoyed connecting with prospective students and sharing anecdotes from her time at Middlebury, including her misadventures from study abroad in Uruguay when she fell off a bus and hurt her ankle.
Teddy Gold ’16 said that the skills he learned as a Senior Fellow have been relevant in his career.
“The program ... stands out as some of the best program management I have experienced in the few jobs I’ve had out of college,” Gold wrote in an email to former supervisor Prouty, which was shared with The Campus. “For me, (it) was a year-long crash course in public speaking, narrative storytelling, and persuasive communication,”
The feedback from visitors has been positive.
“We have heard overwhelmingly that people enjoy connecting with students,” Prouty said. “I think it feels more topical and up to date to hear from somebody who is literally in the midst of a job search about where they are and what the CCI (Center for Careers and Internships) is doing to help them conduct that search.”
Members of the class of 2020 and 2020.5 who are interested in being a Senior Fellow can apply online at the Student Employment Office Website. The application is due this Sunday, March 24. Students can email Prouty with questions about the paid fellowship at sprouty@middlebury.edu.
(03/14/19 9:53am)
After rallying for a comeback in the ninth inning, the Middlebury College baseball team (0-1, 0-0) sent its first non-conference game of the season versus the Stevens Institute Ducks (2-4, 0-0) to extra innings. The Panthers ultimately lost 5-4 last Saturday at Stevens.
The Panthers scored in the top of the first on an infield single by sophomore infielder Ryan Hanrahan, who was later driven in by senior right fielder Sam Graf on a sacrifice fly. The Ducks responded with a two run inning, setting the score to 1-2, and then with another run in the seventh inning to increase their lead, 1-3. Middlebury then went scoreless until the ninth inning.
According to senior catcher Phil Bernstein, having the mentality to get on base is key for the Panthers.
“Ultimately, it comes down to our approach at the plate,” Bernstein said. “We simply struck out way too much and didn’t put any pressure on their defense and for us to be successful we need to put the ball in play and make their fielders actually feel the ball cleanly and make the play. We gave their pitcher too much credit by not changing our approach with two strikes and forcing them to earn the out.”
Senior pitcher Colby Morris started on the mound for the Panthers, adding four strikeouts on six innings. Stevens sophomore pitcher Joseph Deitz received the win for the Ducks, after pitching the final 1.2 innings and striking out one batter.
The Panthers’ ninth inning comeback started with a center field single by Hanrahan, which drove home junior shortstop Brooks Carroll. Carroll hit .500 for Middlebury, with one run and one RBI. Sophomore center fielder Henry Strmecki scored on a sacrifice fly by junior catcher Gray Goolsby to put Middlebury in the lead.
The Ducks then responded with two runs in the bottom of the 10th inning, scoring on a Panther fielding error.
The Panthers return to the field at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (2-3, 0-0) at 4 p.m. this Thursday, followed by a three-game series against Emory University (6-4, 0-0) starting at 12 p.m. this Saturday in Atlanta.
“The loss left a bad taste in our mouth and we’re excited to get back in competing again against RPI,” Bernstein said. “It’ll be a chance for us to flush the loss and get our minds right before we head to down to Atlanta to take on Emory. We open our season competing against high level competition who have been playing games outside for weeks now and our only experience since the fall has been indoors in the field house. In the past we’ve made that an excuse and this year we’re using it as a crutch in order to prove we belong in the conversation with those teams down south. This week is going to be super important for understanding who we are and how we handle adversity and respond to it.”
(03/07/19 11:30am)
MIDDLEBURY — In recent years, housing costs have reached a crisis level throughout Addison County, significantly increasing homelessness among low income residents. A coalition of Addison County nonprofits are coming together in an effort to address shortages and increased demand.
Organizations including Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects, The Counseling Service of Addison County and Middlebury’s Charter House Coalition are currently searching for roughly two acres of land to build about a dozen housing areas for the homeless. Called “Middlebury Shares,” the project will be financially supported by various nonprofits and businesses, which will sponsor each individual dwelling.
The vision behind Middlebury Shares is to create 10 to 15 units that will function like “tiny homes,” a concept favored by Ingrid Pixley, an organizer of Middlebury Shares and resident service coordinator with the Counseling Service of Addison County (CSAC).
“The idea is to have a shared common space with shared resources; a place that’s close to the downtown area or to transportation downtown so that residents can get to work back and forth,” Pixley told The Campus.
The “tiny home” model is a series of buildings, all less than 500 square feet, structured around a common area that would facilitate both independence and community living. These consolidated spaces, complete with solar panels, would allow for an energy efficient, subsidized living situation among Addison County’s homeless.
“It’s an affordable way for someone to live. A lot of people don’t need the big footprint and would rather choose to live more affordably with others,” Pixley said.
This past fall, local human service officials determined that 49 households in Addison County are in need of a permanent residence. While individuals comprise most of this number, there are nine couples and five families who are food and shelter insecure.
“Right now, there’s the Charter House; that’s always full,” Pixley said. “People move around and go from friend to friend, sleep on couches, and stay in storage units.”
“If you make minimum wage, you cannot afford to live in Middlebury, and you need a vehicle too,” said Doug Sinclair, co-director of the Charter House Coalition. “We are trying to help those who need a stable way to live. I can tell you that half of the people in Charter House shelter have jobs and can’t afford to live in the community.”
Those experiencing homelessness often also have to grapple with health complications, which can be made more difficult due to a lack of access to stable housing, Sinclair explained. “They can go to the ER or Urgent Care and get assistance there, but it’s band-aids; it’s not taking care of chronic challenges,” he said.
Members of Continuum of Care, a long-term program that guides patients through various health services, believe the county needs a deeply subsidized housing option that provides support and help for residents complying with the terms of their lease. Middlebury Shares hopes to provide just that, along with services to help them learn tenancy skills and connect with other community-based programs.
Currently, the project is facing multiple roadblocks. The nonprofits funding Middlebury Shares would like to build the units on Seymour Street, but they still have a long way to go before the concept can be brought to fruition. According to Elise Shanbacker, creator of the initial Middlebury Shares proposal, the project is a “three legged stool.”
“You need capital to build the housing, operating subsidy to pay the rent and money to pay for on-site services,” she wrote in an email published in the Addison Independent.
“A big barrier to building this kind of housing in Addison County is that the Vermont State Housing Authority doesn’t have any more project-based Section 8 vouchers to make available, so we lack access to operating subsidy that can pay for housing expenses,” she said.
Despite the economic and environmental benefits the tiny home villages could offer, some town officials have offered pushback, concerned with the aesthetic component of the project.
“The concept we’re fighting is that the tiny home is cheaply put together, not eye pleasing and that Middlebury has to look appealing,” Pixley said. “Town officials are asking, ‘What will this look like? Will it be an eyesore? Will it be seen from the road?’ and those kind of perceptions.”
But, Pixley added, “Maybe they can look traditionally Vermont; there are so many ideas out there, right now we’re just talking with all kinds of people. There’s amazing interest in this tiny home movement.”
According to Pixley, Middlebury Shares is applying for a grant from a state arch group who does free designs for community projects.
“Vermont sees itself as a progressive state, yet other areas, such as Syracuse and Ithaca, have big tiny home villages,” Pixley said. “Some places have figured it out and they are good working communities. We just haven’t quite figured it out yet.”
To learn more about or donate to the project, visit www.charterhouse coalition.org, www.hope-vt.org or www.csac-vt.org.
(02/28/19 11:36am)
MIDDLEBURY – Following three days of physical labor and over three months of planning, Middlebury’s Recreation Center at 154 Creek Road received a new dance floor last week. The brainchild of Christal Brown, Chair of the college’s Dance Department, the floor’s upgrade came to fruition after being a goal of hers for about a year and a half.
Brown directs and oversees Dance Xplorations, which has used the Rec Center space and will benefit from the newly installed floor. The group offers 10-week sessions in ballet, jazz, contemporary and hip-hop “designed to increase body awareness, technical trainings, confidence, and performance skills,” according to the organization’s Facebook page.
“Before last week’s installation, the floor was just a regular linoleum concrete floor,” said Brown. “It just wasn’t designed for dance.”
Dancing on concrete forces one’s bones and joints to absorb the energy exerted when they jump and move. The new floor installation aims to keep shin splints and other injuries and discomforts to a minimum.
“Dance floors are very particular,” explained Brown. “They are floors that are lifted off the ground, providing a certain level of buoyancy so that the shock absorption between joints over time is not harmful to the body. It’s the same way that a basketball court is designed for basketball.”
Brown had been hoping to update the floor since 2017 when she began working at a program at the Rec Center, but the idea became more concrete following her 40th birthday party on Nov. 17, 2018, a bash that she hosted at the Town Hall Theater.
“For my birthday I wanted to ask people to contribute to something different than the larger Facebook campaigns,” Brown said. “I wanted to make sure that the impact was felt immediately by the community that I am a part of and that I work with.”
Brown chose to gear her birthday party towards creating positive change in the community by making it a fundraiser for the project.
“I wanted to make sure that my party was not only fun for me and had a real celebratory mood, but that the impact of the giving could be felt by the community and not just in my life,” Brown said.
The party raised $2,500, and attracted the attention of Sean Flynn, President of Silver Maple Construction, who decided to involve his company as part of a larger effort to start more pro bono projects.
“At Silver Maple, we’re looking to start a backlog of pro bono projects,” Flynn said. “We’re hoping to do either a project every month or maybe a larger one every quarter moving forward from here.”
“Silver Maple Construction decided to donate their time and the materials,” Brown said. Now, she explained, the money raised at the Town Hall birthday bash will go to scholarships for residents to have greater access to dance classes.
The floor installation has been a resounding success for all parties involved.
“Our company is already strongly involved with the community, but we want to make our involvement more regimented and occurring on a regular basis,” said Flynn. “I think that the floor was a great fit in this particular case because it’s supportive of the arts but also supportive of people who may not be able to attend a regular dance school. I think it’s a win all the way through.”
Brown’s experience growing up in a smaller community partially inspired her project idea. “It feels great to give back to the community,” she said. “I come from a very small town in North Carolina where I know that the only reason I am who I am is because people invested in me when I was a young person.”
Brown recognized how hard it can be to fit giving and charitable acts into already full lives. She continued to say, however, “I think the more creative we are with the resources we do have, the more we can figure out ways to impact other people.”
Like Brown, Flynn’s decision to help with the dance floor went beyond directly supporting dance and the safety of dancers. He also cited a desire to give back to the Middlebury community as a major motivation for the project.
“Middlebury has been very good for this company,” Flynn said, “and I think that it can use a little boost. I think that it feels like we’re in a little rough patch lately with things closing and reopening, so having a cohesive community effort that builds community back up is important.”
The floor will do exactly that, with spring classes in session as of Monday. It will also provide a space where college students and people of the town of Middlebury can safely move together.
“I’m so excited about the floor,” said Dance Major Marquise Adeleye ’20. “I can’t wait to dance on it, to have my ankles feel great the next day.”
Though Flynn himself will not be taking classes anytime soon, Brown encourages anyone interested to try a class.
“Come check it out,” she said. “Come dance with us!”
For more information, visit www.facebook.com/dancexmidd or email Dancexplorations@gmail.com.
(02/21/19 10:59am)
The Middlebury Panthers hosted the Middlebury Team Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 16, where they once again displayed their prowess against tough competition.
The women’s squad was able to win first place in a field of five teams, where they had a total of 200 points. In the 600-meter run, the Panthers were able to get the top two spots. Lucy Lang ’19 came in first with a time of 1:38.36, while Ava O’Mara ’21 came in second with a time of 1:38.92.
“This was my first 600m of the season, and I went into the race with the goal of running a good time to place me well at New England DIIIs,” said O’Mara, when asked about her performance. “I think the team performed well as a whole. Our depth as a team in all events is very evident.”
For the 800-meter run, Cassie Kearney ’22 came in first place, Emily Bulczynski ’22 came in second, and Meg Wilson ’20 came in third. Their times were 2:17.97, 2:20.95 and 2:21.20, respectively. Also, the Middlebury “A” team won the 4x400-meter relay with a time of 4:04.68. This team was comprised of Kearney, Bulczynski, Katelyn Pease ’22, and Nicole Johnson ’22. Kreager Taber ’19 was able to get first in the pole vault event with a vault of 3.35 meters. Other important finishers at the meet were Tasha Greene ’21, Abigail Nadler ’19, Katie Glew ’21, Rory Kelly ’19, Alex Cook ’20, and Helene Rowland ’20.
Rowland has been a consistent top finisher so far in the shot put event. Rowland said, “Especially this season, I’ve been trying to work on being more explosive, which means working on speed and strength. For me, this extends beyond throwing and into my general fitness. This has really improved my mindset when throwing because I feel like I’m preparing myself as best I can. That being said, I have a lot of room to improve on technique!”
The men were able to get first place with a score of 237 points while facing three other teams. In the 60-meter dash, Conor Banky ’19 captured first place with a time of 7.12, while Nick Hendrix ’20 got second with a time of 7.16. In the 200-meter dash, Hendrix won first place with 22.37, while Jimmy Martinez ’19 came in behind him with a time of 22.39. Martinez also won first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 49.87. Jon Perlman came in first in the 800-meter run with a time of 1:57.53, while Theo Henderson ’20 came in first place in the one-mile run. Harrison Knowlton ’19 came in first in the 500-meter run.
The Middlebury “C” team was comprised of Michael Wasserstein ’21, Graham Rainsby ’21, Thomas Tarantino ’21, and Nate Evans ’20. They were able to capture first in the 4X400-meter relay. The men also had an impressive outing in the pole vault event, as they captured the top four spots. John Natalone ’19 came in first with a vault of 4.45 meters. Nate Albers ’20, Will Behm ’22, and Robert Cassidy ’19 got second, third, and fourth place, respectively. Other important finishers at the meet included Jack Litowitz ’20, Jonathan Fisher ’20, Dylan Mortimer ’19, Nathaniel Klein ’21, and Minhaj Rahman ’19.
When asked about his performance, Litowitz said, “I was pretty happy with my race yesterday overall. It was a small personal best by about two seconds, and I was able to beat some Amherst runners in the process as well. It was definitely my best performance of the indoor season thus far.”
The team will be competing in the Division III New England Championships on Friday, Feb. 22 and Saturday, Feb. 23. The women will be at Bowdoin, while the men will be at MIT.
“As far as preparation goes for DIIIs, I think the team will focus on ‘quality over quantity,’ bringing down the mileage and resting up more this week while also focusing on getting comfortable at race pace and working on top-end speed,” said Litowitz. “We will also have a few pre-race meetings with both the coaches and the captains to get us pumped up and excited for the weekend. Our captains this year have been especially good at generating a lot of energy across the team, so I would expect a pep talk from them for sure.”
“This next weekend is looking to be really competitive with many talented athletes from around New England,” said Klein. “Our senior captain Minhaj Rahman wrote a new team pump-up speech and cheer, so hopefully we can feed off of that energy and bring the noise this weekend. We’ve been training hard all winter, and this is the weekend to go all out.”
(02/21/19 10:56am)
The women’s swimming and diving team competed at Wesleyan in the 2019 NESCAC Championship from Thursday to Sunday, Feb. 14 to 17, where they placed eighth. Williams took the winning title for the sixth consecutive year, scoring 1,873 total points. Finishing second was Tufts with 1,439.5 points, followed by Amherst (1,322 points). The Panthers amassed 730 points, many of which came from Frances VanderMeer ’20.
VanderMeer claimed gold by .04 seconds in the 50-yard freestyle, sprinting to a victorious time of 23.55. Last winter, she was runner-up with a school-record-breaking performance. VanderMeer made the NCAA “B” standard for the second year in a row. She also earned All-NESCAC honors in the 50 backstroke, where she placed third and narrowly missed the school record.
The Panther relay teams acquired solid scores on Thursday and Friday. The 800-yard freestyle quartet of Kristin Karpowicz ’19, Audrey Hsi ’22, Angela Riggins ’19, and Grace Stimson ’19 secured eighth (7.43.32). Also scoring eighth was the 200 free relay of VanderMeer, Maddie McKean ’22, Stimson, and Erin Kelly ’21 (1:36.84), in addition to the 400-yard medley relay of VanderMeer, Kelly, McKean, and Hsi (3:57.83).
Notable individual performances included Hannah Wander ’22, who took 10th in the 50-yard breaststroke (30.82), and Karpowicz, who claimed seventh in the 500-yard free (5:01.47).
The Panthers continued their feats on Saturday, showing strong efforts in many of the individual events. The 200-yard medley relay team of Hsi, VanderMeer, Kelly, and McKean finished eighth in 1:46.7. Wander also took eighth in the 100 breastroke (1:07.1), stopping the clock just before Kelly, who swam to 13th in 1:07.83. In the 1,000 freestyle, Riggins touched the wall 10th (10:28.51). Karpowicz scored 11th in the 200 free (1:53.22), while Sarah McEachern ’21 swam the 400 individual medley in 4:42.38, earning 16th.
Ending her individual events on a high note, VanderMeer scored third in the 100 free, achieving another NCAA “B” cut mark with a time of 51.46. Runner-up in 2018, she made All-NESCAC honors for the second time in this event. Indicative of her impressive season as a whole, VanderMeer’s performance provided the Panthers with momentum heading into the rest of Sunday.
Riggins took 13th in the 1,650 freestyle, completing the 66 laps in 17:38.01. In the 200 breastroke final, Hannah Wander and Kelly took 11th (2:26.74) and 12th (2:26.88), respectively.
On the diving boards, Olivia Rieur claimed ninth in both the one- and three-meter events, accumulating 343.85 points. Following closely behind in 10th place was Mary Cate Carroll ’21, scoring 335.15 points.
Closing out the final day of competition, the 400 freestyle relay quartet of VanderMeer, Stimson, Hsi, and Karpowicz finished eighth in 3:30.74.
Overall, the Panthers uncapped the majority of their potential in this year’s NESCAC Championship, conquering record-breaking times, attaining personal successes, and winning several individual titles. This weekend, Feb. 22–24, the men’s team host their half of NESCACs in the Natatorium.
(02/14/19 11:00am)
Middlebury residents will vote on whether to enact legislation that would ban plastic bags within the community on March 5. A Town Hall meeting will take place the night before the vote, giving residents, business owners and members of the Selectboard a chance to discuss the proposed ban and its possible implications before making their decision.
Middlebury resident Amy McAninch and Middlebury College student Amelia Miller ’20 are spearheading the movement to ban plastic bags. Prompted by the news of other towns that have approved plastic bag bans, McAninch said she “felt really strongly that we could do this.” Since then, they have held several meetings throughout town to hear concerns, questions and suggestions about the bag ban.
On Feb. 12, two of these meetings were held at the Residence at Otter Creek, an Independent and Assisted Living Facility in Middlebury and the Ilsley Public Library. The meetings have been happening in town for months now, and McAninch and Miller’s hard work has paid off: the signatures on their petition were verified by the Town Clerk in January, which means the proposal can be voted upon in the Town Meeting. Should the motion go through, the Selectboard will then manage the exact wording and logistics of the program.
The benefits of a ban are clear from a sustainability viewpoint. The Mass Green Plastic Bag Cost Calculator shows that the town of Middlebury, with a population of 8,500, uses about 4,513,500 bags every year. These bags cost retailers $180,540 each year — a figure that doesn’t include the environmental impacts of the plastic production.
As it is now, consumers can choose to use reusable bags or recycled plastic or paper bags. However, those involved in the movement to ban plastic bags are not confident that shoppers will consistently opt for alternatives, continuing generally to use the bags supplied by retailers. The thin composition of these bags poses a problem. They can break, blow into the water, or turn into microplastic particles, thereby contaminating water sources or threatening wildlife.
The Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Change group, a project of 350Vermont, met in late January to discuss potentially banning plastic bags in Middlebury. The group, run by Ashley Laux of the college’s Center for Community Engagement, meets once a month to take action against climate change. The structure of the group mirrors similar groups throughout other Vermont communities, designed to provide a forum for families to be proactive in climate change action while also balancing their familial responsibilities. Past issues included eco-Sabbath days, where consumers change their patterns of behavior to “try to live lighter on the earth”, explained Laux. She feels that the group has helped her learn more about causes she might not have otherwise engaged with as well as making her a more conscientious consumer and environmental activist.
The group meets once a month in the Town Recreation Center, where dinner and childcare are provided by 350Vermont. According to their Facebook page, Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Action represents “a network of parents across Vermont who are coming together to take organized, empowered action to protect the health and safety of our collective future.”
The participants in the Middlebury chapter of the project engage in local action, as highlighted in January’s meeting where community members brainstormed the best ways to campaign on behalf of the ban. From letters to the Front Porch Forum and the Addison County Independent to speaking at the Town Hall Meeting next month, parents are prepared to play an active role in the environmental movement in town. They also discussed the possibility of donating reusable bags in order to reduce the worry that getting rid of plastic bags would force people to buy new bags that might be unaffordable for some.
The engagement displayed by the Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Change is reflected in the community as a whole. McAninch noted that there has been very little pushback from community members at any of the meetings so far. In fact, she noted that the next step would be to tackle plastic straw usage in town.
Laura Asermily, a member of the Middlebury Selectboard, attended the meeting as well, appearing optimistic about the success of the proposed ban. She explained that last year, 70 percent of surveyed Middlebury residents supported a ban of this nature. However, it could take about a year from the time the town votes on the possible ban to its actual implementation. The Selectboard would need to finalize logistics of getting rid of plastic bags, from grandfathering them out to providing a cheap and sustainable alternative. Those details could take a while, explained Asermily, but they would also create great change for the community.
In the meantime, Mother Up!: Families Rise Up for Climate Action has turned their efforts towards the capital. In February, the group is planning to have their children make Valentines for the Earth to deliver to the state legislature in Montpelier on their Annual Lobby Day in an effort to encourage more eco-friendly laws. Hopefully, their civic-minded dedication will provide dividends as residents cast their ballots on Feb. 5.
Middlebury students can support the ban by not using plastic bags and, whenever possible, patronizing stores who support the bag ban and are committed to building an environmentally sustainable town. Registered Middlebury voters can add their names to the petition by emailing KeepMiddleburyBeautiful@gmail.com.
(02/14/19 10:58am)
When Nadia Murad was taken captive as a sex slave by ISIS in August 2014, she was 19 years old — the same age as many of the students who packed Wilson Hall to hear her speak on Tuesday night. Today, at age 26, Murad is using the atrocities she and her community faced to fuel a life of activism. Her talk, “Pursuing Peace and Justice: A Conversation with Nadia Murad,” explored her story as an activist and captive of ISIS and her recognition as a recipient of the Nobel Peace Prize, which she was awarded last fall. Murad became both the first Iraqi and Yazidi to receive the prize.
The talk Murad gave on Tuesday was originally scheduled for Oct. 5, but Murad had to cancel her visit last minute because she was awarded the Nobel Prize on that day. Murad and her co-winner Denis Mukwege received the prize “for their efforts to end the use of sexual violence as a weapon of war and armed conflict.”
Murad’s apology for the cancelation at the beginning of her talk on Tuesday was met with laughs from the audience.
The talk was introduced by Vice President for Academic Development and Professor of American Studies Tim Spears and facilitated by Associate Professor of History Febe Armanios. Murad was joined on stage by her fiancé and translator Abid Shamdeen.
Murad opened her talk by describing her background as a member of the Yazidi, a little-known ethno-religious minority group. The Yazidi only number around 500,000 to 700,000, and most of them live in Iraq. The region of Sinjar in northwestern Iraq is the Yazidis’ home, and Murad’s home village of Kocho is located in this region.
Kocho was home to around 1,700 people, and most families were dependent on farming and cattle. The youngest of 11 children, Murad was the only one of her siblings to attend school, as they could only afford for one child to go. “Our life was simple,” she said.
But by June of 2014, ISIS had begun to attack many villages around Sinjar. Members of other religious minorities, such as Christians, were given the option to stay in their homes and pay a fee or flee the territory. When ISIS entered Sinjar on Aug. 3, the Yazidi were not given such options.
“They had a specific plan of eradicating Yazidis from that region,” Murad said. “A specific plan of executing men mostly and enslaving women and children.”
The United Nations has classified ISIS atrocities against the Yazidis as acts of genocide. Six of Murad’s eight brothers were killed in the attack along with her mother and many nieces and nephews.
While much of the Sinjar region has been liberated from ISIS, political competition, reflecting regional conflicts, along with a lack of resources and reconstruction has made the Yazidi homeland difficult to return to, Murad said. Rather than return home, many Yazidi remain in refugee camps around the Middle East.
“It’s not a stable environment for Yazidis to go back to,” Murad said.
Today, over 3,000 Yazidi women and children remain in captivity in ISIS territory in Syria. Many are missing including Murad’s sister-in-law, who disappeared two years ago.
Many Yazidis are displaced, including about 350,000 who are living in camps in Northern Iraq along with more living in refugee camps in Greece and Turkey. About 65,000 Yazidi have returned home, Murad said, but those who did face daunting challenges, including poor health and lack of electricity.
While Yazidis have received some support from governments in Canada, Australia, France and Germany, Murad has called on regional governments, such as Turkey, for help.
Last year, Murad returned to Iraq and met with many local leaders. They discussed why the Yazidi people remained unprotected by the government even after the genocide and talked about ways in which the government could help support the Yazidis so they can start rebuilding Sinjar. Murad also helped obtain approval from the Iraqi government to build a genocide museum in Sinjar.
During her visit, Murad returned to Kocho, where she attended a religious celebration meant to honor the dead. This was the first time they celebrated the holiday since the genocide.
“I wanted to do this as a restart of our culture and traditions and to help people start doing the same thing we used to do,” she said.
In 2016, Murad founded Nadia’s Initiative, a nonprofit organization working to address issues of sexual violence, advocate for victims and aid communities affected by crisis. In the talk, Murad discussed the difficulties of using her personal tragedies to construct a life of activism.
“For me as a woman, as a survivor, someone who has lost family members and been through this trauma it was especially difficult for a woman from the Middle East, from that region, to break taboos and speak about these stories,” she said. “But I had no other choice but to do it.”
Murad explained how she hopes that the Nobel Peace Prize will help further her goals.
“We are hoping to use this recognition to put more light on these communities that are facing persecution and genocide and prevent these acts to take place in the future,” she said, stressing the importance of recognizing the genocide in real terms to ensure against the extinction of the Yazidi community.
Murad recognized the possibility that the Yazidis will leave their ancestral homeland in order to seek better and safer lives somewhere else. But, even when Yazidis have made it to different places in Europe, she said, many still face discrimination. Their homes are raided by police looking to deport them, and many have been denied asylum.
She described what is has been like to live away from her home for the past few years. In addition to drastic cultural and day to day differences, she discussed the sad truth that her perpetrators were able to stay in her homeland while she had to flee.
Murad finished her talk with a message for young people, and Middlebury students in particular.
“You as students here are lucky to have the chance to come here and study and choose your own path,” she said, emphasizing that not all young people have these opportunities.
Murad also highlighted that governments and weapons can’t solve all these problems and that she counts on young people to accomplish her goals.
Following the talk Nora Peachin ’21 reflected on the importance of having Murad speak at Middlebury.
“The takeaway for me is there really is no excuse not to be doing activism work and speaking out and fighting for justice and peace,” Peachin said.
(01/24/19 10:58am)
Stroll into a dining hall to grab a sweet treat anytime between November and February, and you’re likely to find an array of desserts meant to give a taste of wintertime in Vermont: maple mousse, maple-walnut brownies, maple cheesecake, and other treats featuring Vermonters’ favorite winter flavor.
Using seasonal ingredients to liven up the dining halls’ dessert selection is one of head college baker Ashley LaDuke’s favorite strategies when it comes to keeping hungry students happy. But although the wintertime gives her plenty of opportunities to experiment with Vermont’s signature flavor, her favorite season to be in the bake shop is the time when normal classes come to a close and language schools begin.
“The summer is by far my favorite season because I’m a huge berry fan,” LaDuke said. “I’m a berry-holic. And It’s very easy for us to get in tons of fresh blueberries, raspberries, strawberries and for me to play up lighter fare desserts that incorporate those fresh fruits.”
Fall offers its own array of delectable seasonal ingredients, while winter presents the baking staff more of a challenge.
“If it’s fall, I’m going to try to highlight things that are growing here at that time of year and are being harvested,” she said. “Apples, pumpkins, squash, things of that nature. This time of year I’m trying to think more of warm, savory notes that I can fit into our desserts, focusing more on maple, chocolates, caramel, coffee, some flavors of that nature.”
On days when she doesn’t need to drop her daughter off at daycare, LaDuke’s morning in the bake shop usually starts at around 5:00 a.m. -- an hour she describes as her favorite time of day. The early morning team in the bake shop, which is located below Proctor Dining Hall, usually consists of LaDuke and baker Peter Halpin, who has worked there for the past ten years (with 21 years’ experience on the college’s dining staff prior to that).
The pair begins their mornings by mixing bread dough for the day, then moves on to making cake batter, garnishing pastries and scaling out dessert portions for lunch and dinner. They are joined later in the morning by two to three more bakers, one of whom is usually a student worker.
On a typical day in the college bake shop, LaDuke’s team uses up to 50 pounds of sugar and 75 pounds of flour in order to produce desserts for three dining halls and over 2,500 students. Her crew bakes bread in an oven that can hold up to 16 loaves at a time. For a pastry chef or baker, that scale is enormous; a 2010 graduate of the Culinary Institute of America, LaDuke noticed immediately upon arriving at Middlebury that working as head baker at a small college would bring a set of challenges that differ starkly from those of smaller-scale restaurant work.
“In restaurant life you’re worried about producing enough desserts for, on a busy night, 150 to 200 people,” LaDuke said. “To go from that level to now producing desserts daily for over 2000 students is definitely challenging…but it’s been a great opportunity.”
A native New Yorker, LaDuke worked as a pastry chef at Shelburne Farms beginning five years ago, then spent time at Bristol Bakery prior to earning the position of head baker at the college in June 2017. Though the scale of her work at Middlebury differentiates the college bake shop from her earlier jobs, she finds that the creative process involved in dessert making has been a common thread in her work, one that drew her to baking in the first place.
“I might have a little bit of ADD and I get bored very easily,” she said. “I’m always looking to create something new, create something interesting, so I’m constantly researching when I’m in the office aside from just doing emails and things of that nature.”
Interactions with the students since she began work at the college have been rewarding, LaDuke said. She pointed to improved student conduct in the dining halls after discussions around last year’s 10 o’clock Ross fiasco as an example. One area in which students can continue to improve their relationship with the dining staff, she said, is feedback forms.
“We don’t get as much feedback as I’d like, which makes it challenging because we don’t necessarily know how well received the dessert was” LaDuke said. “I think if students took maybe a little more time to just let us know what we’re doing right or not doing right, because at the end of the day we want to put things out that you guys enjoy.”
Students can give the dining staff feedback on meal and dessert selections at go.middlebury.edu/dining?comment.
For full staff issue coverage, click here.
(01/24/19 10:57am)
On the road last Saturday, the swimming and diving teams conquered Union by an overwhelming 194-87 on the women’s side and 190-76 on the men’s side.
The women’s team beat Union to the wall in 11 out of the 15 events that day. The 200 medley relay quartet of Frances Vandermeer ’20, Erin Kelly ’21, Maddie McKean ’22 and Audrey Hsi ’22 started the meet with a winning time of 1:52.73. The four competitors also collected individual wins in their respective events. Vandermeer claimed the 100 backstroke (1:00.41) and 100 freestyle (55.27). In the 100 breastroke, Kelly triumphed with a 1:11.38. Hsi sprinted to first in the 50 freestyle, swimming 25.74. Finally, McKean flew through the 100 butterfly to win in 1:00.94.
Other top scoring finishes came from Jessica Lipton ’20 in the 200 butterfly (2:18.16), Hannah Wander ’22 in the 200 breaststroke (2:35.12), Georgia Houde ’20 in the 500 freestyle (5:23.73), and Grace Stimson ’19 in the 200 individual medley (2:14.79).
To end the successful day, the 200 free relay squad of Courtney Gantt ’22, Erin Kelly, Audrey Kelly ’21 and McKean stopped the clock at 1:42.58, beating Union by several seconds.
The men’s side saw similar results, dominating 12 out of the 15 events. The 200-meter medley relay team of Brendan Leech ’19, Bryan Chang ’22, Will Pannos ’20 and Jake Gaughan ’22 won in 1:40.75, immediately putting Middlebury ahead of the Dutchmen. From there, the Panthers kept building momentum.
Morgan Matsuda ’19 totaled three wins in the 200 freestyle (1:47.89), 200 breaststroke (2:13.79), and 200 individual medley (2:02.33), while Corey Jalbert ’21 out-touched the rest of the pool in both the 50 free (22.30) and 100 free (49.44).
Four other swimmers also claimed their individual events: Leech in the 100 backstroke (54.56), Cody Kim ’22 in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.07), Kevin Santoro ’21 in the 200 backstroke (2:01.80) and Aska Matsuda ’22 in the 500 free (4:53.01). Diver Mike Chirico ’20 was victorious in the three-meter event, scoring 270.98 points.
The 200 free relay team of Keegan Pando ’21, Alex Corda ’20, Leech and Gaughan earned the final points of the day, capping off the meet with a 1:29.72 win.
Before the championship season begins, the Panthers look to secure a couple more wins and fine tune technique. “We’re trying to mimic races in practice and make ourselves feel fast,” Leech said.
“We’re really hoping to move up at the end-of-season NESCAC meet. Looking ahead, we’re really focused on getting strong times to feel good about heading into NESCACs. We have a very large class of first-years who have been working hard all season, and we’re excited to see what we can do at the end of the season,” he continued.
The Panthers return to the Natatorium this weekend, where they will host Hamilton and Williams in their final dual meets of the season.
(01/17/19 10:59am)
In recent months, we have become aware of concerns that divestment might present a risk to financial aid. Divest Middlebury would like to state publicly that the accessibility of our institution is a top priority for our group. We are a climate justice organization that stands for racial, gender and economic equity. Financial aid is a priority of our group as a whole and also of personal importance to many of our organizers. In writing this op-ed we also hope to stress the economic benefits of divestment and reaffirm our commitment to our fellow students. Arguments that pit financial aid and environmental justice against each other are unfair and inaccurate. These arguments ultimately put the burden for climate inaction on Middlebury College’s most vulnerable students.
There is ample evidence that divestment from fossil fuels is a financially savvy decision. In the official referendum ratified by the student body, SGA and the faculty, Divest Middlebury asked the Board to pledge to divest all holdings in the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel corporations over a five-year time period. This extended timeline would allow the college’s investment managers to divest holdings in a controlled way, ensure low financial risk, and reinvest in more profitable and sustainable industries.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]There is no evidence that divested financial institutions experience increased losses.[/pullquote]
In 2010, MSCI, a prominent provider of stock market indices and analysis, created two investment indices of the largest 9,500 corporations, one that included fossil fuel investments and another that did not. Over the next five years, the fossil-free portfolio averaged an annual return .97 percent higher than the index including fossil fuel corporations. If $1 billion had been invested in the fossil free index in 2010, it would now be worth $2.24 billion, whereas its counterpart would be worth $2.13 billion. In 2017, fossil fuels were also the second worst performing sector in the S&P 500 stock market index, losing four percent compared to market gains of 19 percent. The Rockefeller Brothers Fund, a fortune that made its money in the fossil fuel industry, recently published a report stating that the Fund’s success has shown that fossil fuel divestment “can be done without causing harm to the overall performance of your investment portfolio.” These sentiments are shared by the nearly 1,000 other institutions that have pledged to divest. A recent analysis by investment strategist Jeremy Grantham found that there was no evidence that divested financial institutions experience increased losses. Similarly, another study demonstrates the potential financial penalties for not divesting, suggesting that New York State pension funds have lost $22 billion by staying invested in fossil fuels.
Stranded assets theory confirms the financial risk of not divesting: continued investment only exposes portfolios to risk, since marketed valuation of fossil fuel corporations is contingent upon the burning of 942 gigatons of carbon reserves. Fossil fuel corporations cannot approach their market valuation without ignoring the Paris Climate Agreement, which restricts future carbon emissions to 800 gigatons. Failure to divest puts our endowment at unnecessary risk of the carbon bubble caused by stranded assets. Furthermore, when other institutions of higher education have divested, donations have significantly increased. For all of these reasons, we believe that divestment is the fiscally responsible action.
Even in the unlikely case that Middlebury loses returns due to divestment, losses should not impact financial aid. Investments in the top 200 publicly traded fossil fuel companies make up 0.6 percent of Middlebury’s endowment, with 5 percent of the endowment having exposure in the entire fossil fuel industry. Currently, 25 percent of Middlebury’s endowment goes toward financial aid. In the case of any loss due to discontinued exposure to the fossil fuel industry, risk would be spread evenly across the endowment. It is unlikely that fossil fuels outperform the rest of the market and all alternative investments, yet even if fossil fuels outperformed the other 95 percent of investments by 10 BP points (.1 percent), the impact of not being invested in the fossil fuels industry would be $55,000 from our total endowment. This would result in a total loss of $13,750 from financial aid, a minimal loss in comparison to millions our school commits to financial aid each year. In the past, Middlebury has not cut its institutional commitment to funding financial aid in years of poor endowment performance. For this reason, individuals who argue that financial aid should be the first thing to be cut reveal much more about their own priorities than the priorities of the college or the divest movement.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Divestment represents an important action that Middlebury can take to condemn climate change, support the college mission statement, and protect students’ futures.[/pullquote]
It is unfair and insulting to use students on financial aid as an excuse for inaction and the perpetuation of injustice. Divestment represents an important action that Middlebury can take to condemn climate change, support the college mission statement, and protect students’ futures. We would like to point out that students of more vulnerable socio-economic backgrounds are statistically more likely than wealthier classmates to experience negative impacts from fossil fuel infrastructure and environmental injustice. We are here to learn the skills necessary to protect our families and home communities from climate change. Falsely using our education as an argument to continue investment in the same industry that is hurting us is both cruel and flawed.
In the end, discourse that frames divestment as being at odds with financial aid is fearmongering. We know that divestment and financial aid can go hand in hand and we are thrilled to stand for both. We regret that our fellow classmates may have felt nervous about the financial impacts of divestment and will happily participate in further conversation about concerns regarding this issue. As always, our movement is open to everyone, especially those most marginalized by the climate crisis. We will not allow our educations to be used as a rhetorical device with which to jeopardize our futures as we move towards climate justice together.
(01/17/19 10:54am)
Last Saturday marked the beginning of the indoor track and field season for the Panthers who had participated in the Middlebury Winter Classic. The day was filled with many notable performances.
“The first meet always helps all of our different event groups to come together as a big team and get back into the swing of competition,” said Lucy Lang ’19. “We are so lucky that we got to have the meet at home with our track alumni.”
The men’s team finished in second place out of a total of five teams. While the Panthers garnered 137.5 points, Plymouth State finished in first with 170 points. One key performer for the men’s squad was Conor Banky ’19, who finished second in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.29.
When asked about his performance, Banky said, “It was a good starting point for me. Saturday was my first track meet and I lost by .01. Not the result I wanted, but I am happy to know where I stand and plan to improve throughout the season.”
In the men’s 200-meter dash, the Panthers took five of the first seven spots. Jimmy Martinez ’19 finished in first with a time of 22.27, William Robertson ’21 took third with a time of 23.14, and Arden Coleman ’20 came in fourth with a time of 23.47. The other top finishers were Matthew Durst ’21 in the fifth, and Josh Howard ’19 in seventh. Max Memeger ’21 took first place in the high jump event with a jump of 1.83 meters.
Minhaj Rahman ’19 took first place in the 35 lb. weight throw with a throw of 18.17 meters. This throw also happened to break the current school record, which was set by Rahman just last year. “Truly this is a highlight of my career that I will remember forever,” Rahman said.
With 123.5 points, the women finished in second place behind Plattsburgh State which had a score of 160 points. There were many notable contributors for the team. In the 400-meter dash, Julia Munz ’22 and Lang came in second and third place, respectively. Munz had a time of 1:01.67 and Lang had a time of 1:01.68. Emma Hills ’22 placed first in the 500-meter run with a time of 1:21.32, while Emily Bulczynski ’22 placed first in the 800-meter run with a time of 2:24.21.
The 4x400 relay team was able to get a first place victory with a time of 4:14.97. This team was composed of Lang, Hills, Julia McClain ’22 and Ava O’Mara ’21. In the pole vault event, Kreager Taber ’19 won with a vault of 3.35 meters. In the shot put event, Helene Rowland ’20 was able to place first with a throw of 11.92 meters.
“We are still very early in the season and just came off of the winter break, so I think that our early successes are very promising for the rest of our season,” said Lang.
“Right now a lot of the team is making sure we ease ourselves back into the season to make sure we are setting ourselves up for the rest of J-term properly and not having a shaky foundation,” Rahman said.
The Panthers clearly look to improve as the season progresses in order to become the best team possible. The next meet will be the Middlebury Winterfell on Saturday, Jan. 19.
(01/16/19 10:53am)
The swim and dive teams began their second semester with a home meet against Colby on Saturday, Jan. 12. The women conquered Colby with a 204-95 score, while the men were defeated 167-131. The Panthers hosted Bates the following day, falling 163.5-130.5 on the women’s side and 192-102 on the men’s side.
The women’s team won 14 out of the 16 events against the Colby Mules. The 200-yard medley relay team consisting of Audrey Hsi ’22, Erin Kelly ’21, Maddie McKean ’22 and Frances VanderMeer ’20 opened the meet with a win, finishing with a time of 1:50.8. Hsi continued her winning streak with individual victories in the 100 butterfly (59.81), 100 backstroke (1:01.08) and the 100 individual medley (1:02.55).
Alongside Hsi, Kristin Karpowicz ’19, Hannah Wander ’22 and VanderMeer each secured two first place finishes. Karpowicz swam the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:49.15 and then went 55.87 in the 100 free. Wander claimed the title in both the 50 breaststroke (32.44) and 100 breaststroke (1:10.35), while VanderMeer won the 50 back (27.68) and the 50 fly (26.14). Courtney Gantt triumphed in the 50 free (25.36), then joined McKean, Kelly and VanderMeer to win the 200-yard free relay in 1:40.16. Divers Kacey Hertan ’20 and Mary Cate Carroll ’21 captured wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, respectively, with Hertan scoring 228.45 and Carroll scoring 219.98 points.
The men’s team also saw success in the lanes and on the boards. The 200-yard medley relay team of Brendan Leech ’19, Cody Kim ’22, Will Pannos ’20 and Corey Jalbert ’21 out-touched Colby by 0.01 seconds, winning with a time of 1:37.64. The 200-yard freestyle relay of Jalbert, Pannos, Jake Gaughan ’22 and Leech ended the day with a first place finish (1:27.99).
Individually, Pannos triumphed in the 100 butterfly (53.46), while Mike Chirico ’20 won the 1-meter (243.40 points) and the 3-meter diving events (242.18 points). Runner-up finishes included Charles Quinn ’20 in the 50 backstroke (25.46) and 100 individual medley (54.95), as well as Kim in the 50 breastroke (27.43) and 100 breastroke (1:00.28).
The Panthers fared another day of competition against Bates. Although the 25th-ranked Bobcats attained an overall win, the swim and dive teams earned several individual victories.
VanderMeer and Hsi again dominated their events, claiming the 50 free (24.81) and 400 individual medley (4:43.13), respectively. Alongside VanderMeer and Hsi, Kelly and McKean won the 200-yard medley relay, stopping the clock in 1:50.57. Riggins went the distance by winning the 1,650 free in 18:14.28. Karpowicz conquered the 500 free in 5:17.96. Hertan again scored her second 1 meter event title of the weekend, tallying 215.4 points. Olivia Rieur ’22 took the 3-meter title with 235.28 points.
The Panthers were bolstered by numerous second place finishes, including Kelly in the 100 breastroke (1:09.87) and the 200 breastroke (2:33.11). VanderMeer was runner-up in the 100 free (54.73), then ended the day by placing second in the 200-yard free relay with McKean, Kelly and Gantt (1:39.66).
On the men’s side, Aska Matsuda ’22 won the distance events, finishing in 16.56.20 for the 1,650 free and 4:54.13 in the 500 free. Chirico again achieved titles on both the 1-meter (255.83 points) and 3-meter boards (260.70 points).
Four swimmers claimed second in their events: Leech in the 100 backstroke (53.64), Zack Einhorn ’21 in the 200 butterfly (2:01.30), Gaughan in the 50 free (22.33), and Kevin Santoro ’21 in the 200 back (2:00.80).
Both relay teams secured runner-up finishes, including the 200 -yard medley relay team of Leech, Kim, Pannos and Jalbert (1:37.79), and the 200-yard free relay team of Gaughan, Jalbert, Pannos and Leech (1:28.12).
The Panthers head to Union this Saturday, Jan.19, where they hope to see major team success.
(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.”
