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(02/15/18 1:51am)
The men’s basketball team’s 10-game winning streak was snapped last Friday, Feb. 9, when the Panthers fell to Hamilton 102–83, in Clinton, New York. In a crucial game for Nescac seeding the next night at Amherst, Saturday, Feb. 10, Middlebury lost to the Mammoths 80–68. After sitting atop the conference standings entering the weekend, the Panthers fell into a five-way tie for first place and lost the tiebreaker because of their 1–3 head-to-head record with the other teams, dropping them all the way down to the fifth seed in the Nescac tournament.
In Middlebury’s loss on Saturday, Jack Daly ’18 became the 23rd Panther in program history to score 1,000 points. Daly has accumulated 1,002 career points, 611 rebounds and 579 assists, and is believed be the first player in Nescac men’s basketball history to tally 1,000 points, 600 rebounds and 500 assists.
“Jack is a unique player,” said Head Coach Jeff Brown on Tuesday. “He has the ability to impact a game in so many different ways with his scoring, passing, rebounding and defense. His mental and physical toughness is at an elite level. The fact that Jack is the first NESCAC player to reach 1000 points, 600 rebounds and 500 assists shows the impact that he has had in our success.”
A week earlier in a 75–56 victory over Colby, the Panthers’ star player became Middlebury’s all-time assists leader, surpassing Jake Wolfin ’13’s record of 553 helpers. He leads all of DIII this season with 8.7 assists per game.
Middlebury will travel to Middletown, Connecticut, for their quarterfinal matchup with Wesleyan this Saturday, Feb. 17, which will mark the first time the Panthers have had to play a conference tournament quarterfinal game away from Pepin since 2004.
Middlebury had two chances to clinch the No. 1 seed in the conference tournament, the first coming on Friday at Hamilton. Middlebury entered the matchup 7–1, while Hamilton was 6–2 in second place. The Continentals led by as many as nine points in the first half after going on an 8–0 run to go ahead 32–23. But the Panthers responded with an eight-point run of their own to pull within one. At the end of the first twenty minutes, Hamilton led 38–32.
Middlebury struggled with turnovers in the first half, giving the ball away 12 times compared to Hamilton’s six.
The Panthers kept pace with Hamilton the first nine and a half minutes of the second half, staying within six. But then the Continental offense took off, hitting four straight threes to take an 11-point lead, 73–62. Middlebury cut the lead to single digits a couple more times, but Hamilton’s attack was too much in the second half. The Continentals scored 64 points in the final 20 minutes to defeat the Panthers 102–83.
Hamilton’s Kena Gilmour scored a career-high 29 points on 10 of 15 shooting, including four of four from three. The Continentals’ shooting from beyond the three-point line carried them to victory, as they knocked down 15 of 24 threes after making only eight per game before Friday.
Eric McCord ’19 led the Panthers with 21 points coming off the bench. Matt Folger ’20 scored 17 while hitting four threes, and Daly added 15 points, nine rebounds, and six assists.
With the win, Hamilton moved into a tie for first place with Middlebury, but controlled their own destiny heading into the last game of the regular season by beating the Panthers.
Entering the last game of Nescac play on Saturday, Middlebury, Hamilton and Williams sat atop the Nescac standings, one game ahead of Amherst and Wesleyan.
Ahead 16–14 a little over seven minutes into the first half on Saturday afternoon, Amherst went on a 16–0 run to take a 32–14 lead at the 7:20 mark in the first half. The Mammoths hurt the Panthers with offensive rebounding all afternoon, and half of their 16 points in this game-defining run were second chance opportunities.
Over the final 7:20, Middlebury outscored the Mammoths by three but still trailed 43–28 at halftime.
Middlebury could never get much closer either, only trimming the lead to single digits with around a minute remaining in the game, 75–66. McCord got the Panthers within eight, but Amherst hit four free throws to secure an 80–68 win.
Middlebury shot 35.8 percent from the field and 25 percent from three on an afternoon when the Panther offense never got going, scoring its lowest total of the season. Amherst hurt the Panthers inside, where the Mammoths outscored the Panthers 42–30. The hosts also scored 17 more second chance points than the visiting Panthers, 22–5, and outrebounded the visitors 60–34.
Jack Farrell ’21 scored a career-high 22 points for Middlebury, and Nick Tarantino ’18 also finished in double digits with 11 points. Daly had a tough day from the field, making only two of 15 shots on the afternoon when he scored his 1,000th career point.
The Panthers’ hopes at hosting the Nescac semifinals were dashed with the losses to Hamilton and Amherst, and with those hopes also went any playoff game in Pepin Gym. But Middlebury still finished in a tie for first place with a 7–3 record in conference. And as Coach Brown pointed out, “I am going remind our guys that two years ago, we lost our last two regular season games on the road and won the NESCAC Tournament. We will put last week’s results in our rear-view mirror.”
Now fifth-seeded Middlebury will travel to Wesleyan on Saturday, Feb. 17, to play the fourth-seeded Cardinals at 3 p.m. Earlier this season, on Jan. 6, Wesleyan beat Middlebury 80–70 but led by only three with 47 seconds remaining. With the win, the Cardinals snapped a 15-game losing streak against the Panthers dating back to the 2004-05 season.
Wesleyan lost two of its first three Nescac games, but won six of its last seven to finish in the five-way tie for first in the standings.
The Cardinals had the third-stingiest defense in Nescac play, allowing only 65 points per contest. They’re led by junior guard Jordan Bonner, who averages 15.6 points per game, and have four other players averaging at least seven points per game. Senior forward Nathan Krill averages 11.9 points and nine rebounds per game, while shooting 38.5 percent from three-point range.
The Panthers tip off in Middletown on Saturday afternoon at 3 p.m.
(02/09/18 12:21am)
Men’s Basketball
The men’s basketball team is on an 11-game win streak and looks to finish the season with 21 wins with conference battles against Hamilton and Amherst on the road tomorrow, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10. With a win over Hamilton tomorrow night, the Panthers would wrap up the regular season Nescac title and home court advantage for the conference tournament. By winning their last two games, the No. 5 team in the D3Hoops.com poll will have equaled their 21-win total from last season in which they went all the way to the Elite Eight.
Women’s Basketball
The 16–6 women’s basketball squad will play host to Hamilton and defending national champion, top-ranked, and undefeated Amherst at Pepin Gym tomorrow, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, to wrap up their most successful season since their 2001-02 campaign when they rode a 22–4 record into the championship game at the 2002 Nescac tournament.
Assuming the Panthers split their final two games, they will clinch the four seed in the Nescac tournament which will mean a home game in the quarterfinals on Saturday, Feb. 17. (Amherst has not lost since the Final Four at NCAAs in March 2016). Middlebury has already defeated their prospective quarterfinals opponent, Wesleyan, earlier this season at home 77–60. The Panthers will tip off tomorrow night against Hamilton at 7 p.m. and on Saturday for the season finale at 3 p.m. against Amherst.
Men’s Hockey
This weekend the men’s hockey team is set to take on Williams in a home-and-home with the Ephs. They will be in Williamstown for a 7 p.m. puck-drop tomorrow night, Feb. 9, and then will be back in Kenyon for the home side of the back-to-back on Saturday when the puck will drop against the Ephs at 7 p.m.
While the Panthers have struggled of late, they have given some promising signs with ties against Conn. College 2–2 at home on Jan. 26 and against Tufts 1–1 at home on Jan. 27. With four games left to play in the season, the Panthers still have a chance to qualify for Nescacs, as they are only one-and-a-half games behind Tufts for eighth place.
Women’s Hockey
With four games left in the season, the Panthers play tomorrow, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, against Colby. Currently, the Panthers (14–4–2, 10–1–1) lead Conn. College (14–3–3, 9–1–2) by a half game in the Nescac standings.
After their 10-game unbeaten streak was snapped when they fell 2–1 at No. 1 Plattsburg hSt. on Jan. 30, the Panthers shut-out Wesleyan, outscoring the Cardinals 7–0 in two games at Kenyon this past Friday and Saturday, Feb. 2 and 3. Sidney Portner ’20 and Jessica Young ’18 led the way for the Panthers in the two-game series with two goals apiece.
A highlight for the Panthers was their 2–2 tie on Tuesday on the road against No. 2 Norwich. After two early goals by Jenna Marotta ’19 and Young, Norwich capitalized on a power play opportunity in the second period and then registered a late goal before time expired in regulation. Puck drop tomorrow night in Waterville, Maine, is set for 7 p.m.
Track & Field
The track teams collectively finished first at the Middlebury Invitational on Jan. 26 and 27 in the penultimate home indoor meet at Virtue Field House for the winter season. The Panthers were led on the men’s side by Matthew Durst '21 in the 500 meter race (1:09.98), Kevin Serrao ’18 in the 1,000 (2:30.74), the 4x400 relay team of Durst, Arden Coleman ’20, Tyler Farrell ’18 and Cameron Mackintosh ’20 (3:28.08), the 4x200 relay squad of Nicholas Hendrix ’20 , Jimmy Martinez ’19 , Jackson Bock ’19 and Michael Pallozzi ’18 (1:31.47), Jonathan Perlman ’19 in the one-mile race (4:19.62), Harrison Knowlton ’19 in the 5,000 (15:18.73), Minhaj Rahman ’19 in the 35-pound weight throw (52'7.5"), John Natalone ’19 in the pole vault (14'5.25") and Jonathan Fisher ’20 in the heptathlon (4,197 pts – school record). On the women’s side the Panthers winning efforts were led by Alex Cook ’20 in the long jump (16'11.25"), Lucy Lang ’19 in the 500 meter race (1:21.65), Kate McCluskey ’18 in the 400 (57.89s) and Lang, McClusky, Kai Milici ’21 and Meg Wilson ’20 in the 4x400 relay (4:05.69). Last weekend the Panthers took part in the unscored Tufts challenge and they will head to the David Hemery and Gordon Kelly Invitational meets tomorrow, Feb. 9, and Saturday, Feb. 10, where they will tune up the for Division III New England Championships that will take place next week, Feb. 16-17.
Skiing
The ski teams have enjoyed several eventful weeks as the weather has turned more favorable for their craft. Highlights have included the men’s Nordic squad’s 10K Classic win at the Vermont Carnival last Saturday, Feb. 3. In the final races, Peter Wolter ’21 finished third (27:04), which came on the heels of his being named Men’s Nordic Skier of the Week by the EISA, Adam Luban ’18 finished six seconds behind Wolter (27:10) and Sam Wood ’19 also headlined the Panthers’ efforts (27:22). The women’s side finished third in the 5K Classic, led in the final races by Katie Feldman (15:20), Alexandra Lawson (15:25) and Cate Brams ’18 (15:26). On the Alpine side of the UVM event, the usual slalom contributors led the way for the Panthers. On the women’s side that was Lucia Bailey ’21 (combined 1:53.57) and Caroline Bartlett ’19 (combined 1:54.24), and on the men’s that was Erik Arvidsson ’21 (combined 1:47.61) and Riley Plant ’18 (combined 1:50.70). The previous day, the only finisher for the women’s side in the GS was Katie Utter ’20 (combined 2:16.67), while the men’s side saw Arvidsson (combined 2:05.45) and Angie Duke ’19 (combined 2:10.08) finish. The Alpine squad was also in action in the previous week’s St. Michael’s Carnival, which was headlined by Riley Plant’s career best GS sixth-place finish (1:48.01).
Tomorrow and Saturday, Feb. 9–10, the Nordic and Alpine teams will head east to New Hampshire to take part in the Dartmouth Carnival.
Men’s Squash
Men’s squash has played some of its best squash of the season over the last few weeks – timely as it coincided with the toughest stretch of the team’s schedule.
Following a third-place finish at Nescac’s Feb. 3–4 in Clinton, New York, where the Panthers avenged a 6–3 Jan. 6 loss to Williams by beating the Ephs 8–1 in the third-place game, the Panthers stand at 21st in the College Squash Association’s rankings heading into this weekend’s matchups on the road against Nos. 16 Navy, 11 George Washington and 12 Drexel. This weekend will decide the team’s seeding fate for nationals later this month.
Women’s Squash
Women’s squash has continued playing well as J-term wound down and with the second semester set to begin. Following a 9–0 loss to a top-10 Cornell Big Red team in the home finale Sunday Jan. 21, the Panthers have won three of five and defeated the likes of Nos. 18 Bates and 16 Amherst to finish third at the Nescac tournament Feb. 3–4.
The Panthers head into this weekend ranked No. 15 and solidly in place to play in the B bracket for the Kurtz Cup at nationals next weekend, Feb. 16–18, in Boston. The Panthers are set to play tomorrow, Feb. 9, against Georgetown at Navy’s courts in Annapolis, Maryland, in what promises to be a compelling matchup given that Middlebury coach Mark Lewis held the head job at Georgetown prior to coming to Middlebury. Bigger challenges for the Panthers will be their matchups this Saturday, Feb. 10, at No. 14 George Washington, and then on Sunday, Feb. 11, on the courts of No. 9 Drexel.
Swimming & Diving
After an eventful January, the men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams are off this weekend in advance of Nescacs later this month. The women’s side will be in action next weekend, Feb. 16–18, where the championships are set to take place in Williamstown, while the men’s side gets two weeks off before heading to Brunswick, Maine, where the championships are set to take place from Feb. 23–25.
(01/25/18 3:35pm)
Even though not all students spend time as part of the Residential Life staff, they all have contact with them over our four years. Whether it is putting in work orders or feeling homesick as a first-year, the Residential Life team spends hours of their time upholding the Middlebury’s values as a residential college. They are being asked to do more, but their pay and training does not reflect that.
Last year, it was announced that the position of the Commons Residential Advisor (CRA) would be replaced with the creation of the Commons Residential Director (CRD). While the name change is insignificant, the changes to what the roles entail are not. The main differences are the CRDs do not live in the First-Year dorms, they need to have a masters degree or higher, and take on a less personal role overall due to the less direct interaction they have with students. The CRDs now also did not attend Middlebury. The CRAs were described as the connective tissue, bridging the gaps between students, deans, and all of the Residential Life staff. CRDs function closer to administrators and disciplinarians. Now that this integral part of Residential Life is gone, student staff, mainly First Year Counselors (FYC) are left to fill in the gaps.
Some of the responsibilities of FYCs have grown to include increased hours on duty, more formalized rounds, fire safety checks, regular programming for their halls and dealing with any crisis their first-years are facing. While these all seem like they should be under the job description of FYCs, CRAs used to be in charge of or assisted with many of these tasks. Further, CRDs are officially supposed to handle programming, but there is no time or accountability to make this happen. Another issue that arises from CRDs not living in First-Year dorms is the FYCs are often the first responders to incidents of assault, alcohol and sexual misconduct. There is a deficit in training that makes FYCs unqualified to handle these situations. If the lack of training is not enough, Residential Life staff are also underpaid. This year, FYCs made $2,400 with an extra $200 that came after asking. This is around 58% of what they should be paid – about $4,500 – under Vermont’s minimum wage law. However, since they are classified as student leaders, there is a loophole that allows the college to pay them less. After a series of meetings this past semester, the stipend was raised to $3,150. A position on Residential Life is advertised as an employment opportunity, and for students who need to work, this is a disincentive. Even if students do not need to work on campus, they are being told to do more, but their pay and training are not reflecting the increase in tasks.
The SGA, with the help of many concerned Residential Life staff members, has proposed a bill that will attempt to address the gaps. First, the pay for the job should reflect the minimum wage law in Vermont. The college cannot ask students to do more, like have a required amount of hours, without raising how much they are paid. Also, training for Residential Life should include CPR and First Aid. FYCs are often first responders since the CRDs do not reside in the First-Year resident halls. They should not be dealing with violence, injuries and alcohol without training. Finally, a position should be created for a Senior Residential Advisor (SRA) that mirrors what used to be the role of the CRA. This position could be a recently graduated student who contracts with the college to fill in the support gaps. The SRA could also be a senior student who does this job in exchange for a lighter course load or as credit for a class. While the specifics of the role has not been communicated, living in First-Year dorms could be included.
Over winter break, there was an email sent out with an updated pay scale, but it did not address the issues in training or support. The SGA and Residential Life staff members hope this bill can attempt to address the remaining issues. The purpose of a Residential Life team is to foster and support a robust residential learning community, an important counterpart to academics, but they cannot do that without the skills or pay. We as The Campus Editorial Board propose that this bill passes. If this bill is not approved, people will be less inclined to apply and Residential Life will be in crisis.
Editor’s note: Our board includes members of Residential Life staff, past and present. We invited Kyle Wright to our editorial meeting to help us understand his legislation, and our News team met with administrators to discuss the issue. Our managing editor, Will DiGravio, played no part in the discussing, writing or editing of this editorial due to his past involvement in Residential Life negotiations.
(01/24/18 10:58pm)
Literatures and cultures librarian Katrina Spencer is liaison to the Anderson Freeman Center, the Arabic department, the French department, the Gender Sexuality & Feminist Studies (GSFS Program), the Language Schools, Linguistics and the Spanish & Portuguese departments. These affiliations are reflected in her reading choices. “While I am a very slow reader, I’m a very critical reader,” she says.
Rating: 3/5 cardigans
THE WHAT
Humorist David Sedaris chronicles and shares 25 years of his life in his diaries. His adventures in apple-picking, exploring his sexual identity and drug use in his early 20s are all recorded in his entries and reveal the fodder that has inspired his 10 tomes of stories, encounters, (mis)adventures and the narratives he has shared via National Public Radio’s “This American Life” for years. Entries from his later years cover his experience as an expatriate in France and the challenges of foreign language learning, the mundanity of his tour circuits as a best-selling author and the comfort of his long-term, romantic partnership with Hugh.
THE WHY
I first heard Sedaris sharing his writings on the radio in the late 2000s. They were quirky and wry, both leading factors in their appeal. He talked about the Bible Belt of the South, a world that was foreign to me, and what it was like growing up there sensitive, male and queer. As a member of an oppressed minority group, he was obliged to conceal parts of his identity for his own protection; his story immediately inspired my compassion and I have been keeping loose track of his career ever since. I went to see him read in Columbia, Missouri once and have followed his essays whenever possible, such as “Now We Are Five,” which tells of his sister Tiffany’s 2013 suicide.
“Theft,” readers will see, does some presaging of events to follow. Another of Sedaris’s sisters, Amy Sedaris, has, like her brother, been successful in entertainment, and is featured as a regular on “The Unbreakable Kimmy Schmidt” and voices the anthropomorphic Princess Carolyn on the animated Netflix series “Bojack Horseman.” The two are a pair of comedic talents and the diaries reveal that the two cut their teeth on public displays of humor together on the New York theater scene before making it big.
While David Sedaris retains my undying admiration, here I wish he would have given us less. At over 500 pages, this is the longest book I’ve ever read and it took me months of visits and revisits to make the necessary progress to write this review. Another edit for length would make the text more potent, but, of course, less thorough. I think this memoir could still span the same length of time in 300 pages. When I laughed, it was genuine, but it wasn’t as frequent as I would have expected. As a lover of language, I especially enjoyed Sedaris’s language-based foibles in French. I also loved the way the author so effortlessly puts U.S. society’s hypocrisies and shortcomings on display while generally eschewing judgment of the flawed characters he encounters. Sedaris realizes quite readily that he, too, is as odd and imperfect as the people he meets and the rest of us in between.
(01/24/18 9:31pm)
Swimming and diving conquered Union in the natatorium last Saturday — the women’s side by a score of 205–74 and the men’s side 198–75. Each side’s meet had 15 events and both won 12 of the 15.
Frances VanderMeer ’20 continued her impressive win streak with another two victories in the pool. She flew past her competition in the 100 butterfly (58.83) and 50 freestyle (24.64). The fierce competitor also chipped in for the 200 free relay, along with Audrey Kelly ’21, Erin Kelly ’21 and Stephanie Andrews ’18, winning the competition with a time of 1:41.09. The relay’s nearest competitor came in 7.48 seconds behind the Panther’s top squad.
Alongside VanderMeer, Elissa DeNunzio ’18 again had success on the boards, contributing two winning efforts with victories in both the 1- (263.93) and 3-meter (274.95) events.
Other first-place finishes included Sarah McEachern ’21 in the 100 backstroke (1:02.15) and 500 freestyle (5:19.89), Erin Kelly in the 100 breaststroke (1:10.16), Kristin Karpowicz ’19 in the 200 free (1:59.93), Stephanie Andrews ’18 in the 100 free (55.50) and Jessica Lipton ’20 in the 200 fly (2:16.11).
The men’s side saw the same success against Union.
Morgan Matsuda ’19 and Stefan Pla ’18 each won two individual events. Matsuda touched the wall in the 400 individual medley in 4:21.26 as well as the 200 freestyle in 1:47.80. Pla claimed first in the 200 breaststroke (2:14.23) and 100 breaststroke (1:00.55). Pla also contributed a leg in the victorious 400 medley relay (3:36.83), consisting of Pla, Brendan Leech ’19, Keegan Pando ’21 and Nick Handali ’20.
Along with the 400 medley relay, the 200 free relay team of Cory Jalbert ’21, Leech ’19, Keegan Pando ’21 and Connor McCormick ’18, closed out the day for the Panthers on a high note, finishing first with a time of 1:29.55.
Other individual victories were attained in the lanes and on the boards. Mike Chirico ’20 won the 3-meter diving event with 358.43 points. Five other Panthers claimed gold in their respective swimming events: Kevin Santoro ’21 in the 200 backstroke (1:59.52), Leech in the 50 free (22.43), Jalbert in the 100 free (49.61), Handali in the 100 butterfly (53.78) and Andrew Buchser ’18 in the 500 free (4:58.78).
“My main goals moving forward are to stay healthy and in good condition,” Buchser said. “I started this season unable to swim with a back injury, but with help from sports medicine I’ve managed the pain. The bulk of our training is done, so now we just have to stay in shape until we start taper.”
The Panthers head to Williamstown on Saturday looking to improve their conference record, but Buchser points out Middlebury’s results so far may be misleading.
“Teams take opportunities throughout the season to rest for meets,” Buchser said. “We train through all of our meets to maximize our potential by the time Nescacs come around. It’s hard to know how I’m really doing until I’m rested in February. I’m ahead of where I’ve been at this time in past seasons, so it should all be good news moving forward.”
(01/17/18 11:45pm)
The college and PEN America presented a panel on Thursday, Jan. 11 on free speech and inclusion, entitled “Whose Freedom, Whose Speech? The Future of Community and Free Speech at Middlebury.” This panel was designed to continue the ongoing conversations at the college about the relationship between free speech and community values since last spring.
The panel was a part of the Critical Conversations series that was started in the fall of 2017 in an effort to engage the diversity of perspectives on campus in discussion. PEN America, the college’s partner in the panel, is a nonprofit organization that works with colleges and universities to address issues of free expression.
The panel was moderated by Suzanne Nossel, the executive director of PEN America. The panelists included Roberto Lint Sagarena, director of intercultural programs and associate professor of American studies at the college, Elizabeth Siyuan Lee ’17, campaigns strategist at Coworker.org, James Lyall ’02, executive director of the Vermont ACLU, and Nabiha Syed, the assistant general counsel at Buzzfeed.
The discussion began with demographic questions to get a sense of the backgrounds and perspectives of audience members on how much the college is doing to promote free speech and inclusivity.
Syed discussed the role that the First Amendment law related to free speech plays in public versus private universities. She said that, while the law is quite narrow, there is cultural meaning layered on top of what the law says that gives private universities the opportunity to think about their values without strictly adhering to the First Amendment. Lyall agreed that private colleges have the unique opportunity to make value judgments about what type of speech should be allowed on campus.
Lyall said he felt it is critical that the college continues the difficult conversations that have come out of the Charles Murray talk.
Sagarena said that to call the Charles Murray events an attack on free speech oversimplifies the significant events leading up to his talk. He said, “We cannot think about the event in a vacuum. The response to Charles Murray was a proxy for events happening nationally following the election.”
Syed echoed his thoughts, saying, “Free speech is messy, loud, and sloppy because it invokes moments of great emotional and political turmoil and the national backdrop of the Charles Murray event stoked that flame.”
Lee reminded the other panelists, “We need to see Middlebury as a home, not just a platform for ideas. While we need to preserve a platform for people to discuss, it feels more violent when we live on this campus and there’s only around 2,500 of us.” She went on to say that the classroom should be the place where students can engage with uncomfortable ideas so that they can actually discuss those ideas.
Syed warned that, “When a group of people protest so loudly that the person can’t be heard, you open yourselves up to others doing the same to you, which leads to a race to the bottom.”
The conversation then turned to the role that the college should have in policing free speech online. Sagarena said that he feels that Facebook posts are private and should not be part of the college’s dominion. Lee agreed but said, “When you insert yourself into the public sphere, you need to take responsibility for the speech you put out there.” Syed argued that many people have taken to expressing themselves online when they feel that other systems of justice have failed them.
As the conversation turned to hate speech, Syed said, “We carve out categories of speech as being beyond the pale all the time, but historically we have refused to carve out hate speech.” She argued that it is important to pay attention to who is drawing the lines for what speech is acceptable. She and other panelists also emphasized the importance of paying attention to the matrix of power that exists around speech.
In a poll at the end of the panel and after time was given for questions, 29 percent of students said a lot more needs to be done for open expression on campus, while 50 percent of faculty said a lot more needs to be done. Twenty-eight percent of students also said they had not yet decided, which makes it clear that these conversations continue to be critical to understand how our campus will move forward with these issues.
(01/17/18 11:22pm)
On Dec. 22, President Donald Trump signed into law a significant and controversial overhaul of the nation’s tax system, featuring large cuts for corporations and wealthy taxpayers. The legislation was passed by the Republican-controlled Congress despite opposition from large universities and small colleges alike, due to provisions that may significantly disadvantage some institutions of higher education.
Most glaring among the clauses affecting colleges is a 1.4 percent excise tax on endowment returns at private colleges which enroll at least 500 students, and whose endowment assets are valued at $500,000 per full time student. The endowment threshold initially sat at $100,000, encompassing scores of colleges, before being revised to $250,000 and finally bumped up to its current state in the final bill. As it stands, about 35 schools are likely to be affected by the endowment tax in 2018.
Middlebury, whose endowment per student averages $330,000-340,000, narrowly escapes the margin of taxability. However, given its current $1.073 billion endowment and a 10-year annualized return rate of 6.3 percent Middlebury may become subject to the tax within the next three years if its total enrollment remains around 2,500.
College treasurer David Provost estimates that if the tax had been levied against Middlebury in 2017, it would have reduced Middlebury’s annual investment income by up to $600,000.
The colleges expected to be newly taxed in 2018 range from Ivy League schools like Harvard and Princeton to NESCAC colleges including Amherst and Bowdoin. The new endowment tax may prove to be damaging to college initiatives such as research funding and financial aid. Harvard, for example, estimates that if the reforms had been law in 2017, it would have been required to pay $43 million to the federal government.
Large research institutions are not the only victims of the new tax. Some small colleges are especially disadvantaged, as much of their endowment revenue is funneled toward financial aid. Debby Kuenstner, the Chief Investment Officer at Wellesley, stated in 2009 that that a third of Wellesley’s endowment income goes toward scholarships.
Berea College, a small liberal arts college in Kentucky, is dealt a particularly devastating blow in regard to their financial aid program. Every year, 1,600 students receive a tuition-free education from Berea, whose $1 billion endowment covers all costs. However, with the new tax in place, Berea could face a significant financial obstacle, challenging its tuition-free system.
Although Middlebury will not face this new tax in 2018, other provisions in the GOP tax plan may harm the college’s finances. According to Provost, Middlebury previously took advantage of advance refunding of tax exempt debt, which saved the college millions of dollars in past years as a result of lower interest rates. This option will no longer be available to Middlebury.
In addition, changes to personal deductions may lower taxpayers’ incentive to make charitable donations. “Less people will itemize their deductions with the increase in the personal exemption. We are unsure if this will impact charitable giving to the college, but it could,” Provost said. “Time will tell.”
(01/17/18 10:56pm)
Over winter break and into New Year’s, the country as a whole and New England in particular experienced severely cold temperatures. Vermont saw many days of below zero degree weather with temperatures in Burlington dipping to 28 below during the day and as low as 40 below at night. The cold weather even forced Jay Peak Resort to close down its upper mountain lifts; temperatures came in at 31 below zero without windchill for areas higher than 2,500 feet above sea level. Forecasters warned people to be wary of hypothermia and frostbite from the arctic blast in Vermont and large areas of the Midwest and Northeast.
The severe temperatures negatively affected many local ski areas in Vermont. According to Candice White at Sugarbush Resort, “The cold temperatures certainly had a negative impact on lift ticket purchases over the Christmas holiday. We were down in revenue.” Peter Mackey at the Snow Bowl offered a similar insight stating, “[the cold weather] impacted us negatively for sure; our busiest day was the day after Christmas, which was the only day during the holiday week above zero.”
Ben Arquit ’20, who skied in Vermont over break and explained how the cold temperatures had a big impact on skiing in Vermont: “Many people, especially families, chose to stay home on days where the wind chill resulted in temperatures of 40 below zero. One day was so cold (55 below with wind chill) that Killington, the biggest ski area in the east, had to close for a whole day for the first time in recent memory. The mountains were definitely less crowded than usual during the winter break.”
Towards the end of break, the country experienced another round of drastic weather in the form of a ‘bomb cyclone.’ ‘Bombing’ occurs when a low pressure system’s central pressure falls 24 millibars in 24 hours or less. The country saw the effects of the bomb cyclone on a large scale. The storm’s path through some of the busiest air travel corridors in the country also prompted airlines to cancel more than 4,000 flights and delay 2,000 more. Boston’s Long Wharf was impacted by a three-foot tidal surge that pushed floodwaters into buildings and down the steps of the Aquarium mass transit station.
According to White, “The recent bomb cyclone brought us Winter Storm Grayson, which delivered some terrific snow, driving skier visits, also brought cold temperatures, which typically negatively impact skier visits.”
“Following break, the bomb cyclone was awesome for the ski areas. More than a foot of snow was welcome news to many of the resorts after a cold, icy break,” Arquit said. “The Snow Bowl especially benefited and was fully open by the beginning of J-Term.”
“The bomb cyclone affected us very positively but, unfortunately, only for a short time. We were in full operation for a few days with great conditions even where we don’t make snow,” said Mackey.
In the next phase of dramatic weather, Vermont saw unusually warm temperatures in early January that negatively affected skiing. “The warm temperatures were accompanied by almost two inches of rain, which hits our natural snow trails fairly hard. Our man made snow trails, which make up 70 percent of the mountain, can withstand the rain much better. On Jan. 13, we closed many of our natural trails for the day. The changeover from rain to cold temperatures also caused some icing on our lifts, which caused delayed openings on some lifts. And the winds were strong, which caused wind-hold on some upper-mountain lifts,” said White.
Mackey explained how, “We’re only operating the Sheehan Chair presently while we make snow on the Worth Mt. Chair to make those snowmaking trails safe. Two to three feet of natural snow that we accumulated over the course of a month basically disappeared within 36 hours!”
Arquit further described the impact on the snow bowl stating, “Unfortunately, the recent warm weather dealt a blow to the Bowl. Even as temps dropped this weekend, only one lift at the Bowl was open. Luckily, they are blowing lots of snow and should be back fully open within a few days.”
“We’re experiencing extreme weather and extreme swings in the weather,” Mackey described, “going from 10 degrees and full operation on Wednesday (Jan. 10) to 53 degrees with one lift open two days later and back to 13 degrees the next – that’s a 73 temperature swing over the course of 3 days!”
“This business is fickle - we’ve certainly had better years. It’s tough when any holiday period is impacted by the weather, because they are critical to our success,” White said.
(01/17/18 10:07pm)
As the season begins, the men’s and women’s track and field teams have already started off strong. After participating in the unscored Dartmouth Relays, both teams captured first place finishes in last Saturday’s Middlebury Winter Classic.
A total of 148 points netted the men’s team first place. RPI came in second with 136 points and Franklin Pierce came in third with 101 points.
In the course of earning a first-place finish, the men’s side had quite a few first place finishers. Matthew Durst ’21 was first in the 400-meter dash with a time of 52.38. Jimmy Martinez ’19 was first in the 500-meter dash with a time of 1:04.87. A time of 2:38.10 got Sawyer Tadano ’21 first in the 1000-meter run. A time of 8.64 helped Mike Pallozzi ’18 to earn first in the 60-meter hurdles. John Natalone ’19 had a height of 4.35 m to get first in the pole vault event. Also, Minhaj Rahman ’19 threw a distance of 15.05 m in order to get first in 35-lb weight throw. Middlebury’s A team also got first in the 4x400 meter relay. The team was comprised of Martinez, Durst, Arden Coleman ’20 and Cam Mackintosh ’20.
The women’s team scored a hefty 157.50 points to gain first place. RPI came in second with 121.50 points and Franklin Pierce came in third with 106 points.
The women’s side had several events where several of their scorers came in the top eight. In the 200-meter dash, Kate Holly ’21 came in second, Gretchen McGrath ’21 came in fourth and Lizzie Walkes ’20 came in sixth. Respectively, their times were 27.33, 27.65 and 27.84. In the 400-meter dash, Kate McCluskey ’18 captured first and Kai Milici ’21 captured third. McCluskey had a time of 57.97 and Milici had a time of 1:02.70. Anna Willig ’20 with a time of 1:20.80 and Lucy Lang ’19 with a time of 1:21.08 came in first and second respectively in the 500-meter dash. First, second, and third in 60 meter hurdles were taken by Chima Dimgba ’21, Kisha Kalra ’18 and Catherine Walker ’20. In order, they had times of 9.45, 9.62 and 9.94. In the pole vault event, Kreager Taber ’19 got first with a height of 3.20 m and Molly Colwell ’20 got second with a height of 3.05 m. Victoria Toth ’21 was in a three way tie for third with a height of 2.90 m and Annalise Arant ’21 was in a two way tie for sixth with a height of 2.90 m.
Even with this great start, the team will look to improve as the season progresses. For now, they look forward to continuing their momentum at the Middlebury Winterfell this Saturday, Jan. 20, at Virtue Field House where the events will start at 11:30 a.m.
(01/17/18 9:59pm)
The men’s basketball season can be split into three phases. The first ended with the team’s 91–76 win over previously undefeated No. 16 Skidmore on Friday, Dec. 8. Its second phase occurred over the break, when the Panthers experienced their first road bumps of the season and lost their first three (and only) games so far. Now, the team is in its third phase as they have experienced a resurgence since the beginning of J-term, including Nescac victories over Bates 82–76 on Friday, Jan. 12, and Tufts 78–63 on Saturday, Jan. 13. After this stretch of nine games, Middlebury stands at 12–3 overall and 3–1 in the Nescac, good for a three-way tie in the conference with Tufts and Williams and a half-game behind undefeated Hamilton.
In its final game before winter break, Middlebury travelled to Skidmore and managed to recover from a 38–34 halftime deficit with a monstrous 57-point second half that propelled them to a 91–76 defeat of the Thoroughbreds.
The Panthers’ starting-five led the way offensively, scoring 82 of the team’s 91 points. Jack Farrell ’21 tallied a career-high 22 points, while Nick Tarantino ’18 added 20 and a career-high 17 rebounds. Entering the game, the Panthers ranked second nationally, behind only undefeated Whitman.
After final exams and returning home for break, Middlebury returned to campus for a couple days of practice, before heading south to play in the Washington & Lee Holiday Tournament. In their first game of the tournament, the Panthers faced their second-consecutive undefeated opponent in No. 25 York (Pa.) on Friday, Dec. 29. Down 70–60 with only 4:16 remaining in regulation, the Panthers reeled off a 14–2 run to take a two-point lead with 36 seconds left. York responded with a late layup to tie the game and force overtime.
York jumped out to an eight-point lead in overtime, but Middlebury came right back with an 8–2 spurt to get within two points with 10 seconds left. York then turned the ball over, but Middlebury gave it right back and York sank one free throw to take a three-point lead. Farrell had a look to tie, but his three bounced off the back of the rim. The Panthers lost their first game of the season in overtime to York, 90–87.
Middlebury’s starting five once again did most of the scoring, tallying 73 of the team’s 87 points. Matt Folger ’20 and Jack Daly ’18 led the pack with 22 and 20, respectively.
The Panthers rebounded from its first loss of the season in the consolation game of the Washington & Lee tournament, handling Clarks Summit 81–58. Daly was the only Middlebury scorer in double digits with 16 points on an efficient five-of-eight shooting from the field. He added eight rebounds and six assists.
The following Tuesday, Jan. 2, No. 4 Middlebury returned home to host No. 12 Swarthmore. The Garnet built a 47–32 halftime lead that the Panthers could not recover from, as the visitors came away with a 91–75 victory. Folger scored 21 points and grabbed eight rebounds, and Daly and Eric McCord ’19 both added 12 points in the Middlebury loss.
Middlebury took a 7–2 record into Nescac play when they travelled to Connecticut for games at Connecticut College on Friday, Jan. 5, and at Wesleyan on Saturday, Jan. 6. The Panthers doubled the Camels’ first half total to take a commanding 46–23 lead into the locker room, and cruised to an 82–60 win in their first conference game. Folger led the way again with 16 points, while five other Panthers scored at least eight points.
In a back-and-forth affair, No. 12 Wesleyan outlasted Middlebury the following night 80–70. Daly scored a game-high 21 points, grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds, and assisted on eight baskets. However, the Cardinals got to the line far more often and shot 28 more free throws in their 10-point victory.
Two days later, on Monday, Jan. 8, Middlebury had another non-conference game at home against Morrisville State. The Panthers won 85–64 with a balanced scoring effort, as Hilal Dahleh ’19, McCord and Adisa Majors ’18 all scored 12 points. Daly made only one shot from the field, but handed out a career-high 14 assists.
On Friday, Jan. 12, Middlebury played its first home Nescac game against Bates. The Bobcats built the largest lead of the contest in the first half when they led 43–31. However, the Panthers scored the last four points of the first half and extended their run into the second half, tying the score at 48. Middlebury went ahead by as many as seven two times, but Bates cut the lead to one, 71–70, with 2:32 left. Folger and Daly closed the game out by scoring Middlebury’s last thirteen points and leading the Panthers to a 82–76 victory.
A game after recording his career-high in assists, Daly scored a career-high 26 points, along with nine rebounds and eight assists. In coming from behind in the second half, Middlebury shot a blistering 64 percent from the field to outscore Bates 47–33.
The next night, the Panthers came from behind once more in Pepin Gym to knock off Tufts, who was previously undefeated in the Nescac, 78–63. Tufts led by as many as ten points in the first half, and took a 38–36 lead into halftime. Middlebury led 52–51 at the 13-minute mark, before going on a 14–0 run to put the game out of the Jumbos’ reach. The Panthers secured a 78–63 win by outscoring Tufts 42–25 in the second half, holding the visitors to only 24 percent shooting in the final twenty minutes.
Middlebury dominated on the boards, out-rebounding Tufts 70–41 and grabbing 33 offensive rebounds. McCord retrieved a career-high 15 rebounds and added 13 points, while Daly scored 16 and Folger tallied 15.
On Jan. 15, Small College Basketball released its Top 100 Watchlist for the 2017–18 Bevo Francis Award, given to the best player from Division II, Division III, the NAIA, USCAA, and NCAA men’s basketball. Daly was named to the watchlist, after averaging 16.4 points, 8.8 assists, and 8.6 rebounds per game in Middlebury’s first 14 contests. Daly also recorded what is believed to be the first triple-double in the program’s history. He is also leading the nation in assists per-game with 8.8.
On Tuesday, Jan. 16, the Panthers fell behind in their third straight game, this time to Albertus Magnus in Pepin Gym. At halftime, the Falcons led 36–34. Middlebury took a 57–47 lead with 8:37 left in regulation, and led 64–56 with just under five minutes. But Albertus Magnus scored 10 out of the last 12 points in regulation, including two free throws with 20 seconds left to force overtime.
Tied at 71 with a little over one minute remaining in overtime, Daly scored on a fastbreak layup to put Middlebury ahead for good. The Panthers scored the last six points of the game to outlast Albertus Magnus 77–71.
Daly scored 22 points to lead the Panthers, while Folger, Dahleh, and Joey Leighton ’20 all added nine. With nine assists, Daly brought his career assist mark to 503, becoming the third player in program history to record 500 assists.
Middlebury returns to the court on Saturday, Jan. 20, when it hosts Williams in an anticipated matchup between Nescac rivals. Last season, Williams beat Middlebury in the regular season, Middlebury got revenge in the Nescac championship game, but the Ephs got the last laugh in the NCAA Quarterfinals. Their rankings once they come out and records. On Sunday, Jan. 21, the Panthers travel to Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts, to face non-conference opponent Pine Manor.
(12/07/17 12:24am)
Hoping to improve the holiday experience for dining hall staff members, Joslyn Sullivan ’19.5 has created a GoFundMe page to raise funds for holiday bonuses. “The GoFundMe seemed like a really tangible thing that students could do to show that they appreciate the dining hall staff,” Sullivan said.
As of December 4, the page had received 46 donations for a total of $734. Sullivan is hoping that with increased knowledge about the project, the donations will increase. The stated goal is $3,500.
“People just really need an outlet to show that they care,” Sullivan said, citing the individual efforts of residential halls to give holiday bonuses to their custodial staff. “That shows that students really do care and want to do that but might not think of it themselves.”
“That’s also one of the biggest ways that I’ve been able to get donations, is just going up to my friends and looking them in the eyes and being like, ‘Please donate to this,’ ” Sullivan said. Whether or not they are able to donate, Sullivan encourages students to post the link to their Facebook pages and ask friends to donate.
Although Sullivan did not start the project with specific plans to continue it in future years, she thinks it is a possibility.
Sullivan believes the project is especially important now considering recent changes to the dining system that the staff has had to keep up with. She was also inspired by an op-ed by Nia Robinson ’19 in the Nov. 2 issue of The Campus, titled “Put That Thing Back Where It Came From (Or So Help Me),” which criticized the way students treat Middlebury staff.
Sullivan expressed appreciation for the diverse support she has received. “I have had a couple of friends that go to different schools that visit here enough that they were like, ‘I love those people, I love those dining halls, I’m gonna donate,’ and that was really special to hear.”
Still, she emphasizes that this is a great opportunity for Middlebury students specifically to show appreciation. “I also kind of wanted it to be on the students who were interacting with these people every day.” She hopes her efforts will make it possible for students to give back this holiday season.
To donate, visit go/welovedining.
(12/07/17 12:24am)
Last Friday and Saturday, Dec. 2 and 3, the No. 7 Middlebury Women’s Hockey blanked No. 8 Connecticut College in Friday’s contest while losing an overtime heartbreaker the next day on Saturday. The Panthers move to 3–3 with only a game against Castleton remaining before the Christmas break. While they sit .500, all the team’s losses came to opponents ranked in the top 10.
In the first contest the Panthers won 3–0. Neither team scored in the opening period, although Elizabeth Wulf ’18 and Katherine Jackson ’19 had a two-on-one opportunity. As they skated with an advantage toward the Camels’ goal Jackson’s backhand attempt was deflected and Maddie Leidt ’21’s rebound shot was swatted away by the Camels’ keeper Bailey Mertz. Conn. College had a chance to capitalize on three separate power-plays, but they could not find the net.
Heading into the second period, the Panthers took the lead when they capitalized on a five-on-three powerplay opportunity. The dynamic duo of Jessica Young ’18 and Maddie Winslow ’18 connected when Young skated to the right side of the ice, touched a pass to Winslow on the left post where she deflected the puck into the back of the net — the first second-period goal allowed by the Camels all season.
The Panthers solidified their lead in the third stanza with two insurance goals. Jackson recorded the first of them for her team-leading fifth goal of the season when she one-timed a pass from Winslow. Young added to the lead when she picked up her own rebound in front of the net, circled the net and fired the puck past the goalie.
Lin Han ’20 made 22 saves in her second shutout of the season, including a sprawling save to her right and several other incredible stops to keep the Camels at bay. The Panthers improved to 3–2, while Conn. College suffered their first loss of the season.
“We responded well in the third period and played our best period of the game,” said Wulf after Friday’s matchup went final. “Conn. College is a good game and always tough to play. Going into the third up 1–0, we knew the next goal would be huge so we did a good job of putting the game away in the third scoring two goals. We also stayed out of the box in the third which helped,” she said.
Saturday’s contest was a thriller, as the Panthers got down basically at puck-drop and then had to dig themselves out of a two goal hole.
Just two minutes into the opening period, Conn. College got on the board when a Camel beat a Middlebury defender behind the net and connected with a teammate, blasting the puck into the net for a 1–0 lead. The Camels doubled the score when a backhanded feed from Kaylyn Paiva was connected by Elena Gualtieri.
Ellie Barney ’21 responded with her first career goal, assisted by team captain Janka Hlinka ’18 and Young. Trailing by one, the Panthers controlled the puck for the three minutes, winning several face-offs, including one by Hlinka to set up the game tying goal. Leidt scored, marking her second goal of the series thanks to a beautiful assist by Young and knotting the score with five minutes left in the first.
With 12:25 left in the second stanza, Middlebury took a 3–2 lead when Leidt centered a pass to Young, who one-timed the feed from the top of the left faceoff circle into the back of the net.
Conn. College mustered an equalizing score though when they fought for a rebound off Han’s pads and sent it into the back of the net with 6:37 left to play. That score would hold as the contest headed into overtime with the game tied at three apiece.
For the first three minutes, the Panthers and Camels battled to possess the puck — a shot by Sidney Portner ’21 went wide, Barney blasted the puck towards the Camels’ net that was saved by Mertz and a shot by the guests was saved by Han. However, a shot by Kalyn Paiva that was blocked by Han would be rebounded and then passed to Ein Dilon, who tapped the puck inside the net for the clinching goal for the Camels. Middlebury outshot Conn. College 30-28, but Bailey Mertz picked up 27 stops for win.
“Just like [Wulf] said, we played our best period on Friday at the end of the game,” said Hlinka. “It shows that we can figure out how to regroup when we’re not playing well and I think that is very important. Conn is always a good game to play and managing to get that next important goal in the third was critical. As for Saturday, we did do a better job of staying out of the box, but also getting more shots on net.”
The Panthers return to action on Dec. 9 against Castleton for their last home game before Christmas break and a trip to Amherst College for an away Nescac series.
(12/07/17 12:10am)
Competing on the road against Amherst this past weekend, the Middlebury men’s and women’s swimming and diving teams both suffered their third losses of the young season. The Mammoth women’s team defeated the Panthers 167-122, while on the men’s side, the Mammoth men’s team came out of Pratt Pool victorious, 165-102.
Frances VanderMeer ’20 came out of her third straight meet with another individual first-place finish for the Panthers, good for her fourth individual win on the year. Afterward, although the team score came up a little short, she nevertheless remained optimistic about what lies ahead.
“I think all of our work in preseason really set us up for a good season,” she said. “ Everyone is very dedicated to the team and has been working really hard. Paying attention to the little things makes a big difference as well.
“We also have an incredible team dynamic, which makes it easy get excited and race well. We’re looking to have a strong end of the winter season and come off of our 10-day training trip with an even better endurance base. This will be especially important as we head into j-term, where we have a meet every weekend.”
Kristin Karpowicz ’19 also claimed an individual title for the women’s squad in the 200-yard individual medley (2:16.93).
Stephanie Andrews ’18 pulled out a solid 25.24 second 50-free race, good for a second-place finish. Kathryn Bullen ’18 found her groove in the 200-yard individual medley, coming in second behind Karpowicz in a time of 2:22.21.
VanderMeer also had a hand in the 400-yard freestyle relay victory, which consisted of VandeerMeer, Maya Gomez ’20, Andrews and Erin Kelly ’21. The team touched the wall in a time of 3:42.84.
Elissa DeNunzio ’18 claimed the 3-meter diving title for the third straight meet with 236.03 points. DeNunzio also placed second in the 1-meter with 241.65 points.
For the Panther men’s side, Andrew Buchser ’18, Connor McCormick ’18 and Jack Dowling ’18 registered a first-place finish in their individual races. A relay consisting of Cory Jalbert ’21, Keegan Pando ’21, Will Pannos ’20 and Brendan Leech ’19 claimed the first place-title in the 400-yard freestyle event.
McCormick clocked in at 2:01.67 in the 200-yard individual medley for the Panthers which was good for his second individual first-place finish this season. Buchser completed the 500-yard freestyle in 5:02.37 and found himself atop the podium. Dowling was the third Panther to come out of the pool in an individual event triumphant after he won the 100-yard butterfly in 54.31 seconds.
Jalbert, Pando, Pannos and Leech ended the meet on the high note of tying for first in the 400-yard freestyle relay with a time of 3:20.53.
Alec Wilson ’21 (500 frees), Charles Quinn ’20 (200 IM), Pannos (100 fly) and Kevin Santoro ’21 (200 back) all finished second for the Panthers in their respective events, as well as the other Panther 400-yard relay team, consisting of Dowling, Zack Einhorn ’21, Henry Mooers ’21 and Nick Handali ’20.
Though the Panthers have faced difficult competition thus far, the team is looking forward to this Saturday, Dec. 9, when they are set to host Springfield for their last chance to notch a victory before the calendar year ends.
But some of the Panthers can’t help looking beyond that — to the postseason meets that take place in February and March. “On the diving team,” said DeNunzio, “we are excited to host the regional championships for the first year. I’m looking forward to our upcoming meets and getting the opportunity to showcase the new dives we have been working hard on so far this season.”
But the number one priority for the Panthers, according to DeNunzio? “We’re hoping to keep improving our scores to better prepare ourselves for the Nescac meet at the end of the year.”
(11/16/17 1:25am)
As Republicans in Congress move forward with tax reform legislation, administrators at Middlebury and at colleges across the country have expressed concerns about several provisions that could significantly alter the federal government’s role in higher education.
Most significant is a proposal to impose a 1.4 percent excise tax on the investment income of private schools with endowments worth over $250,000 per full-time student. Middlebury enrolls over 2,500 undergraduate students, with an endowment of $1.1 billion — or about $440,000 per student. It therefore ranks among the 60 to 70 colleges that would face new tax burdens if the legislation passes.
Republican leaders in the House introduced their tax reform bill on Nov. 2; the Senate rolled out its own version on Nov. 9. The endowment tax exists in both bills, along with other provisions that could impact alumni donations, student loans and tuition discounts for college employees.
“There’s a lot in this bill that attacks higher ed,” said David Provost, the college’s treasurer. “It’s clear that they’re coming after us.”
Bill Burger, the college’s spokesman, articulated the college’s opposition to the endowment tax.
“Middlebury’s endowment, like the endowments of other schools, sustain generous financial aid programs that make a high-quality education available to admitted students regardless of their ability to pay,” he said. “The perverse consequence of an endowment tax would be to shift the burden of the cost of higher education to the families that are least able to afford it.”
Provost estimates that a tax of 1.4 percent could have reduced the college’s investment income by up to $600,000 in the past year.
“Our average financial aid package is $45,000,” he said. “That’s 12 or 13 students where we wouldn’t have money to give financial aid.”
Beyond this immediate impact, the college is concerned that passing an endowment tax could embolden Congress to levy additional taxes against private colleges in the future, or to simply raise the endowment tax rate far above 1.4 percent.
“If it starts at 1.4 percent, what’s to say that they won’t make it 5 or 10 percent?” Provost said. “Once it’s in place, where does it stop?”
The endowment tax is not the only provision that has drawn the college’s attention. Both the House and Senate plans call for a significant increase in taxpayers’ standard deduction, which would reduce the incentive to make tax-deductible charitable contributions, such as donations to Middlebury.
“We have a high participation rate of alumni that give,” Provost said. While this provision would not severely harm the college’s finances, “in the context of keeping alumni engaged, it could sting.”
Next, the House bill would eliminate the student loan interest deduction, which currently allows student borrowers to reduce their yearly tax burden by up to $2,500. The Senate bill leaves this deduction intact.
Finally, the House bill would repeal tax breaks for employer-funded educational assistance. Currently, faculty and staff can receive tax-exempt tuition assistance from the college, helping them, or a dependent, take college classes or pursue a degree. This provision, like the student loan deductions, would not impact Middlebury as an institution, but could negatively impact college employees who benefit from the deduction.
Provost, who spent the past weekend at Swarthmore College discussing the tax plan with financial officers from other small liberal arts colleges, said that Middlebury’s senior administrators would meet this week to develop an official response to the legislation. Options could include releasing a joint statement of opposition alongside other selective liberal arts colleges.
Republicans in Congress, anxious for a legislative victory, hope to pass tax reform before the mid-December recess. The House could vote on its bill this week, and is expected to pass it; the Senate is still finalizing details on its own plan, which will likely encounter more opposition. If both bills pass, GOP leaders from both houses would then need to collaborate on a final bill to send to President Trump’s desk.
“I think it’s fair to say that higher education’s view of these tax proposals is well understood in the halls of Congress,” Burger said. “It’s sad that this issue has become so politicized. We hope that the Senate, in particular, will be a place where sound public policy can emerge on this issue.”
(11/16/17 12:56am)
The Student Government Association (SGA) Finance Committee has allocated $2,500 to help students receiving financial aid pay for Winter Term workshops. The SGA has added other improvements intended to streamline the application process and improve accessibility to workshops.
Every year, the Student Activities office hosts non-credit, student-led workshops, ranging from board game building to log rolling. However, since the workshops program does not have its own budget and is entirely self-sustaining, there is a fee for enrollment.
The SGA’s financial aid program was first conceptualized by former president Karina Toy ’17, student activities dean Derek Doucet, and former finance committee chair Kevin Benscheidt ’17 in the winter of 2016.
At the time, average enrollment costs stood at $33.50, and Toy recognized that some could impose a financial burden on students who wished to participate.
The previous model relied on a two-step reimbursement process, which caused a number of students who could not register in time to lose their aid opportunity. Under the SGA’s new policy, the aid application is embedded in the registration process for the Winter Term workshops.
“There will be no upfront payment required and aid awardees will not be billed,” said Jin Sohn ’18, the current SGA president. “Students’ spots will be held in the workshop until their eligibility for aid has been confirmed. In order to maintain confidentiality the SGA will never see the names of students who apply for or receive aid, nor any of their financial information.”
The finance committee, including chair Peter Dykeman-Bermingham ’18.5 and deputy chair Isabella Martus ’19, worked with Doucet and the financial aid office to implement a model that both protected students’ privacy and made it convenient to apply for aid.
“[We] wanted to remove any perceived social stigma from applying. We all know that issues of socioeconomic status are present on our campus, and we were concerned that students might be reluctant to apply if they thought their peers would be involved in any way in the application process,” Doucet said.
“We therefore needed to come up with a way to ensure it was only college staff who reviewed the applications, while still providing transparency so the SGA could see, in general terms, how their money was spent.”
In the new model, the Student Activities office collects aid applications and cross-checks with the Student Financial Services office to ensure that the applications meet the criteria set forth by the SGA. By serving as the only line of communication with applicants, the Student Activities aims to ensure confidentiality of student financial aid status.
In addition, Doucet worked to ensure that SGA assistance would not impact recipients’ overall financial aid status.
Dykeman-Bermingham hopes the program will enable more students to participate in a quintessential aspect of Middlebury.
“J-Term workshops are Middlebury’s most explicit format for students to learn from their peers. They are so often odd, fun filled monuments of student passion and they should be part of everyone’s Middlebury experience,” he said.
Registration for the workshops begin midnight on Sunday, Nov. 19, and end on Sunday, Dec. 17. Aid applications close on Dec. 9, and are awarded on a first-come, first-serve basis.
(11/14/17 7:19pm)
College president Laurie Patton sent a school wide email on Wed., Nov. 8, inviting students, faculty and staff, to a town hall the following day, Nov. 9.
“It is clear to me and, I believe, to many of you, that the essential bond of trust and assumption of good intentions that should unite us is broken,” she wrote. You can access the email here.
Co-sponsored by the Black Student Union and the Student Government Association, the audience filled Wilson Hall to capacity, causing event organizers to move the event to Mead Chapel. At the event, which was monitored by SGA and BSU members, students had the opportunity to ask administrators direct questions.
Below is a full transcript of the meeting, which has been edited for clarity. Please look for further analysis of the event in our issue after Thanksgiving Break. This transcription was done by features editors Sarah Asch and James Finn. Editor-at-large Elizabeth Zhou and managing editor Will DiGravio helped edit.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AO6XMI8V1oI&t=1749s
Jin Sohn (’18, SGA President): "SGA would like to acknowledge the presence of everyone in this room, and to thank you for taking the time to join us, together, as a community for an imperative conversation on respect and inclusivity. Over the past week, members of the SGA student cabinet have been working to support the student body in light of the recent painful and alienating events and dialogues. Likewise, many cultural orgs including BSU and other student activists have been working overtime to support students. We want to recognize those efforts especially because they were led by students from marginalized backgrounds. Today's conversation is not a solution in itself. But it can and must lead to transformations on our campus. We are here today because, in whatever way, we care. We care about our friends, we care about our peers, we care about our community. Please let us join together in that shared core value in order to foster change on our campus. In order to make this discourse constructive, active, and supportive of everyone, we are requesting that all comments, observations, and questions be respectful. We would like to encourage individuals to acknowledge their own identities and privileges when speaking. Please acknowledge the role and position with which you inherently enter this conversation. Further, while this event is crucial in providing a voice for students who are affected by the actions of others on this campus, it is important to remember that active listening is meaningful and important to engage with others in this room. Please listen and wait until someone finishes speaking before wanting to speak so that we can be respectful of all that is being said. To encourage collaboration and abolish any hierarchies present today, we will be limiting questions and answers to two minutes each. Additionally, to be conscious of everyone's time, we will be ending this event promptly at 6 pm. Ultimately, for the SGA, the goal of this meeting today is both to facilitate learning and listening in our community and to work toward establishing active next steps that students, faculty, staff, and administrators can collaborate on and be held accountable for. This is not the first conversation. It likely will not be the last. The point is that we all, all of us, are trying, and by simply being here today are actively working to change. Thank you, and I will now hand over the mic to President Patton for her to speak on her hopes for this event and then Wengel Kifle will provide some background and context on the current campus climate. Once the floor has been opened for conversation, Ishrak Alam, the SGA chief of staff, Annie Cowan, the SGA deputy chief of staff, and Rae Aaron, the SGA speaker, will ensure that a single voice is heard at a time by distributing a microphone. Finally, we recognize that these are really difficult issues, and if anyone needs to step out of the room or take care of themselves, please do so."
Patton: "Thank you so much. I'm really, really pleased to see everyone here. Thank you for being here, thank you for hanging in and staying in the difficult conversation. I want, particularly, to thank student leadership, particularly BSU and SGA for hosting this event, and we really look forward to hearing the voices of the members of all of our communities. We are in new territory at Middlebury, where we need to begin building a new kind of community, one that includes voices that we either have not heard or only partially heard. There are so many ways that such communities need to be built and the first is to give voice to experience. We want to pay attention to structures that cannot give voice to that experience, the economic, social and status hierarchies that limit us. Because of acts of racial bias on this campus and in this town, many students, faculty and staff have called us to account and are hurting. And while we are in new territory of trying to build a new kind of community, we are also in very old, unacknowledged territory. Part of Middlebury's unspoken story includes our acting according to racial stereotypes, acting in ways that serve to alienate. We have not acknowledged that enough. I want to acknowledge that hurt. I am deeply sorry that members of our community are in pain, and that people feel they have not been heard by the administration. It is our job to make better structures and more equitable relationships where voices can be heard and where people feel that they belong. It is our job to make a more inclusive public square where not just individual acts of bias but structural racism can be addressed and challenged. Middlebury can and should be a challenging place where we experience intellectual discomfort, and part of that discomfort includes listening to unheard voices better. For students who live here at Middlebury for only four years, this can take on a particular sense of urgency. We are working on many ways to address this and look forward to sharing those with you, but most importantly, today we need your help and creativity and thoughts. We also look forward, as Jin said, to follow up conversations from this one, to continue to visit student groups in dining halls, commons houses and other meeting spaces such as AFC, and to continue to move forward with concrete actions and timelines where we can work together both what our community is and what our community means to us. Together, I do believe with all the hard work we can build a new Middlebury. Thank you for bringing your voices to help begin that task today."
Charles Rainey (’19): "Hello everyone, thank you guys so much for coming today. I really appreciate and it really warms my heart to see this many people in this building to come and talk about some of the hard issues that are affecting racial minorities, particularly black students, on our campus. My name is Charles Rainey. I serve as president of the BSU this year, and what we hope to create through this conversation is a way for black students and racial minorities and other marginalized groups to be able to voice concerns about things that have really been festering on this campus for a long time. A lot of students have been jaded and have been really, really scared, really frightened and upset and we hope that this space is allowed not only for solution oriented steps to prevent a lot of the things that have been happening on campus, but also to serve as a forum where people can express their truest and deepest feelings about a lot of those things as well. We want to center this conversation by bringing up Wengel Kifle, who has prepared some remarks to share with you guys today. Thank you.
Wengel Kifle (’20): "Thank you so much for coming. When we discuss the current state of our campus, it's important to keep in mind what happened this past spring. Many students voiced deep and urgent pleas to Middlebury concerning not only Charles Murray, but also the deeply ingrained institutional and social aspects of Middlebury that do not make it a welcoming and inclusive space for students of color. After the start of this semester, there have been more events that have made students of color feel uncomfortable and unsafe. These events include the racial profiling of Addis; violent and explicit images and messages on chalkboards in Munroe directed toward Addis, racial profiling of a black female professor, harassment of black women on campus, faculty and students alike, and daily incidents, big or small, that students have to deal with in and out of the classroom in such white spaces. Personally, this semester has taken an extreme toll on me and my mental health. I found it impossible to have the motivation to survive my schedule and everything else Middlebury threw my way. And the lack of action by the greater community and the school in general to say 'we see you and we will fight for you' was all the more crippling. And I couldn't help but ask myself: why am I expected to give my best to a school and a community that was clearly not giving me its best? I hope that after today, that people that share my narrative can go away with seeing that administration and this school is recognizing them and is finally going to address these issues. Thank you.
Ishrak Alam (’18): "Thank you, Wengel, for your comments. We are going to open it up now to everyone -- we're going to have two mics upstairs and one down here."
Sohn: "If everyone can just be respectful of the two-minute rule. And also, faculty, administrators, students, everyone in this community, please feel free to weigh in and speak. If you could raise your hand if you'd like the mic, we can come to you."
Madeleine Bazemore (’19): "Hi, my name is Madeleine Bazemore and I'm a junior at Middlebury. I was in a meeting yesterday with some students activists...members here of the SGA, President Patton and some other administrators. We talked a lot about moving forward on campus, and something really concerning happened in that meeting. Our Title IX coordinator said that she didn't believe that white supremacy existed, was in her office or in the decision that was made regarding Addis in racial profiling. And I think the refusal of this campus and this administration to admit that white supremacy is present is very concerning. And I think that -- I don't even know how to address that, to have to take the time to explain what white supremacy is to a white woman felt like such a waste of time. Like, why are we having this meeting if I have to explain something so basic? Now, I don't know how to move forward with that, with the refusal that white supremacy exists, and because of that refusal that Addis will not receive an apology for being racially profiled."
Patton: "Yeah, thank you, Maddie. I did say that white supremacy existed, so I just want to make sure that there is a correct narrative. I would say, the really important thing that is true, structural racism exists and it exists at Middlebury. White supremacy, a way of being in the world, where the heritage is that white people have built something where they are unconscious of their own perspectives and unconscious of the way that they take up space, those are absolutely present at Middlebury. So that's a really important thing that I want to make sure I say, and that I said yesterday. And the other thing, in terms of the question, if we mean conduct that is based on or motivated by someone's personal characteristic that creates a hostile work environment, Middlebury is absolutely a place where that happens. Racism exists at Middlebury. Structural racism exists at Middlebury, and we have to work together to move forward to change that. And in our system, there is that conduct...or any other violation of our non-discrimination policies, we will act upon it and we have acted upon it. And we have a well-developed system in place to deal with those situations. The hard part of this conversation is that we can't apologize based on a narrative that wasn't supported by an investigation. I myself as a president have no part of that investigation. I want to make sure that's clear to everybody. So I don't know.... I didn't know that this investigation was going on. The reason why that office is independent is because they could investigate me, and that's really important for everyone to know. I want to say very clearly here, we are moving towards restorative practices as a culture, particularly in student life. And I and other members, individual members of SLG, are willing to sit with anyone -- anyone -- in a restorative practices circle, with trained facilitators, that acknowledges harm. I will sit with anyone [for] as long as it takes, in as many restorative practice circles as it takes, to change this community. And I would welcome any request to do that."
Sohn: "This is a quick announcement. We're also aware that some people might not be comfortable speaking up on a microphone, so we're gonna pass around some index cards if you'd rather pose a question that way. And then one of the students here can help ask that question. Thanks."
Liz Dunn (’18): "Going along with the point that President Patton just made, if there is white supremacy and structural racism at Middlebury, and if that is present in the Title IX Office, and if the investigation found that there was no evidence that Addis was racially profiled, does that not draw into question the investigative practices that Middlebury uses, and the standards that are currently in place? And is there any direct way to address that and to change that?
Patton: "Is our Title IX person here? I think there are a couple of things that probably should get clarified. The first is — and thank you, Liz, for your question — the fact that we need to always think about structural racism that we have, that doesn't mean that we don't stand by the integrity of the work that we've done, and that's the hard piece of this. And I need, as a president, and I do, as a president, stand by the integrity of the work that was done... Again, standing in restorative practice circles is part of acknowledging all of the different impacts for all of us here. But it's really important that even if there is a constant need for us to look at making the systems better, we still have to abide by the integrity of the process that exists here now."
Sue Ritter, Title IX Coordinator: "So I'm in a difficult position here because I can't discuss much of what I did in terms of the investigation that we did. I also completely reject the characterization that was just given of my office, and will continue to reject that. I have spent since 2008 here working really hard to make sure that the investigations that we do are free of bias, that they're fair, that they are full and fair investigations done by trained experts. My job is to be the guardian of our anti-discrimination policy. If I thought that this operation that I'm overseeing was grounded in white supremacist principles, I wouldn't be here. So people are going to have their opinions. I understand that. And I know I'm going to get blasted for everything that I'm about to say, but I am very confident in the people that conducted this investigation and worked extremely hard to make sure that all of the evidence was being considered in a careful and thorough and fair way. I don't know what else to say about that. And to get the response that I'm getting, that I don't have an understanding of what white supremacy is, in this context, is insulting. I didn't speak in that meeting yesterday because I was too flabbergasted to speak. I understand that people are entitled to their opinions. I have offered and will continue to offer to talk to anyone about the language of our policy and the process that we follow and will always be open to suggestions about how we can make it better. I never want to exclude somebody from coming into my office and saying, 'hey, this is language I think you ought to include,' 'this is language that I think you should take out.' I welcome anyone to look at the anti-harassment policy at any time and tell me what they think and I'm probably over my time speaking. But it's hard for me to stand here and speak without looking defensive, but I'm very confident in the work that we do, the work that we've been doing for ten years and the office that we've built. And that's all I have to say."
Rainey: "Hi, I'm Charles Rainey. I have a question. Sue, thank you so much for the contribution to the conversation. I am personally curious about how many people of color were involved in the investigation process and making this determination that came out of your office. And I think that that's a very important question to get us to understand what influences and what overwhelming perspectives may be in the office that may impact what the perception of the reality of the situation is in this regard... and creating definitions of what racial profiling is when there are no people — racial minorities in the room. And that may not be the case, but I just want to know — specifically, the question is: how many people of color were involved with this determination?"
Ritter: "Charles, I just want to make sure I understand the question. Are you saying how many people of color were interviewed in connection with the investigation? Is that what you're asking?"
Rainey: "So I think my question is not necessarily interviewed -- in terms of the process, the members of the administration who made the decision on what the determination is, how many, if any, were people of color?"
Ritter: "I have two people that work for me; they're both white. Is that what you're asking me?"
Rainey: "Yes."
Ritter: "Yes, so one was the investigator and one was the adjudicator. Correct."
Rainey: "Right. And I don't want to go over my time and I don't want to take up too much space in this conversation -- but I think my point in making this is that -- you know, what effect does the overwhelming whiteness in terms of the people who were involved in the determination have on the conclusion? And do you think personally that that may have affected what is going on here in terms of what the determination is?"
Ritter: "If I personally thought that, we would be having a different conversation. So I don't think it had an effect, no."
Shatavia Knight (’20): "On the idea that there are three white people in the Title IX office, I want to talk about the idea of administration. And one thing that I learned in my high school is that you can't be what you can't see. And there are very, very few professors of color here on campus. And so as a black female here, it's very hard for me to be in an environment where everyone says 'you can go on, you can be successful, you can learn a lot from your Middlebury experience' when I don't have many examples of, you know, black professors here on campus. And I wanted to know what Middlebury is trying to do about that, because I know that if I was to go into academia, Middlebury wouldn't be one of the schools that was on my list to get hired to. And I want to know what the administration is doing about that, to get more professors of color here so that students like myself don't feel like they're learning about race from white professors, and they're not learning about problems in society that they probably haven't actually experienced themselves."
Miguel Fernández (Chief Diversity Officer): "Thank you, Shatavia. That's an excellent question. You're absolutely right. Our diversity efforts within the student body over the last 20 years have been quite successful. I was a student here in the early '80s and I look out across this room and I see lots of diversity present here, and that was definitely not the case in the '80s. Some people feel as though we have a long way to go, and I won't disagree with that, but there has been significant change in the student body. That process has not been nearly as quick in the faculty -- you're absolutely right. We have been working on that hard lately — let me explain a couple of things that we've been doing. Over the last two years, we've been working with outside consultants who have been coming in, and it's mandatory now for all the search committees that are searching to go through a series of four workshops to work on how to diversify their pool, how to learn about bias in the evaluation system, et cetera, how we are going to present ourselves in interviews, the kinds of questions we're asking and the kinds of signaling we're doing in our advertising, and working with all the departments in that way. We're producing data for the search committees and working very hard. This year was the first cohort that came from having worked with them, and it was possibly the most diverse entering class of faculty in recent memory that we've seen, and we hope that this will continue. One of the frustrations is that faculty turns over a lot slower than students and so it's a slower process, but we're really working hard there. Some of you are aware of the C3 program — that's the idea of bringing in post-docs. We're part of a consortium of liberal arts colleges. The diversity officers are working to bring post docs in, folks from underrepresented groups and first generation, and also working on different topics to bring some diversity to give them exposure to what a liberal arts college is like. We visit the research universities to talk to the the graduate students about what a career is like, because oftentimes advisors in grad school advise their advisees not to go to a liberal arts college. They have this misconception that it's only teaching, and they don't maintain their research. So we go to break those myths and try to get folks -- and we take colleagues from the faculty to go talk to them about what that experience is like, what it's like to teach at a liberal arts college to try to get them into the pipeline. So those are a couple of the efforts we're doing, a lot of efforts in that way to try to address that. But you're absolutely right."
Student, Unknown: "So I thought it was great that you talked about some of the training that certain administrators get, and I was wondering if that training — if the faculty, as well as the people in Title IX, also get that training?"
Fernández: "Yes, so that's a good question, too. So the search process — there isn't mandatory training right now, and that is something that we have been talking about that's been made very present. And I think that is something the discussions are going toward, to make it for faculty, staff, students and the administration. There is currently for staff and faculty a -- I would say a minor training... there's a bigger thing around sexual harassment and other things that also talks about bias and discrimination. And everybody has to go through that. It's not enough. And that's exactly the kinds of discussions we're in right now. What we've done is we've had a lot of opt-in types of things, and we also do sessions with the new faculty as they come in. But that is part of the ongoing conversation."
Jeff Holland (’19): "I have a question directed generally at the administration. I understand that there's a desire, even possibly a requirement, an obligation, to stand behind the integrity of the judicial process and also to maintain confidentiality about any processes that may be undergone. But also there has been a very blatant contradiction in the judicial process involving Addis that was pointed out in The Campus, which is the most widely read student-run media outlet we have. So I don't think that there's any way that it could be more widespread that there was a contradiction between the judicial officer who said there was no need to move the investigation further, and then later came the guilty verdict after that. And at the same time, that same article pointed out that there was an ample amount of evidence that Addis was not present at that event. So I'm just wondering -- I know you want to uphold the integrity of your judicial process, but at what point does that break down, when there's evidence in the most widely read student publication there is, pointing that there's been a contradiction and pointing out that there's evidence to the contrary of what the judicial officer said? Thanks."
Hannah Ross (General Counsel): "I am a lawyer and I am responsible for Middlebury's compliance with laws. We did a full, fair and thorough investigation over the summer in response to a student's complaint that an employee acted wrongly. We looked very seriously at the question of whether our employee had engaged in a violation of our anti-harassment and anti-discrimination policy. Commencing an investigation about employee misconduct does not start a student conduct case. There is no student conduct case that can be brought against a person who's not a student of Middlebury. The investigation came to a conclusion following our policy and our process. The facts, as we understand them, do not support the narrative. That's where we are. It's not a guilty verdict. There is no proceeding that remains pending, and as I said, there is no process that Middlebury engages in that relates to a student's behavior when that person is no longer enrolled at Middlebury. That doesn't happen."
Sam (’18): "My name is Sam and I'm a senior here. Uh, what if you were wrong? I didn't mean that in a rude way, but seriously, what if you were wrong? Because you're talking about this as if, since Addis doesn't go here anymore there's nothing more you can do, it's not your problem. But I don't think that's even the point of it because the public safety officer who racially profiled her is still here. That person is still here. People say that the same public safety officer racially profiled a professor on campus this fall, which is something that the administration has also not addressed in particular, except for some rhetoric. So my question is, where's the process -- is it in Title IX? Is it in the judicial office? Is it through legal counsel? -- that would actually seek to respond to the allegations made against that officer who's still employed."
Ross: "I certainly didn't mean my comments about the fact that there's no student conduct process that gets started against a person who's not enrolled as a student at Middlebury to suggest that because a student has graduated, we don't care about our alumni. That's not at all a reflection of what I said. What I was trying to say is, there is no action that Middlebury takes that can impose a guilty verdict on a person who's not a student of Middlebury. And the investigation's conclusion, as I assume a number of you have read in the statement that we posted on Monday in the newsroom, the investigation concluded based on a wide array of evidence, including 22 interviews of members of our community. That investigation concluded that our public safety officer told the truth and acted within our policies. That's where we are."
Zeke (’21): "I realize that as a white male coming from an upper-class background, I hope a different perspective in this conversation. But at the same time -- I haven't suffered any racial biases here and I don't mean to detract from the Addis conversation going on -- but in my short time here I've also noticed that there are some serious institutional barriers preventing diversity from growing on campus. I find that we've touted our Posse and First at Midd programs ant stuff like that, but those don't actually account for a great deal of diversity percentage-wise in the student body. So I have a question for the administration as a whole. How can we make this a safer and less homogenous environment for future students? Could we, say, make Middlebury test-optional in the admissions office or perhaps look at tuition prices, as we clearly need a certain percentage of the student body to pay full price to account for the financial aid that we offer to other students?"
Patton: "Thanks, Zeke. That's a great question. I should just say that I'm a white woman who comes from a privileged background. So, in terms of financial aid, financial aid is the number one priority for this administration, to create more financial aid for students of all backgrounds. And it really, really matters to me that we do that. The other part of the balance that we have to make all the time is around questions of — we are required by law to balance our budget, so we kind of have to do both things. We are now, in any given year, we are between 42 and 48 percent of students on financial aid. The average grant is about 45 or 46 thousand dollars. And so we are in the top 40 or 50 schools in terms of giving financial aid. That doesn't mean that we can't and should do better, which is why this past meeting of the trustees -- the number one thing we did on a retreat with the trustees is to say, we want in the next 10 years to get to a much, much higher percentage of students on financial aid. Just so you all are aware, it would take us raising 360 million dollars to get to 55 percentage of financial aid endowed so we could just give that to folks. We haven't set a goal yet. One of my first jobs is to push the trustees, my 36 bosses, to set a goal, and that's we are now pushing to do. The last campaign, in terms of raising money, was 500 million dollars, and it took about 10 years to raise that, and a lot of it went to different kinds of things. So there needs to be a real concerted effort. That's what it's going to take to do that, and that is my number priority. So that is where we want to go and I hope we can get there. I hope that -- one of the things that would be really great to hear from people about is thinking about this larger question of, how do we get the word out about where we are and who we are without folks feeling like all we're doing is PR or touting a rhetoric or that kind of stuff. If there's a more real way that we could communicate both where we've come but also how much farther we need to go, that would be greatly appreciated, because we need help on making sure that we communicate in a genuine way. I hope that answered your question. I would love your help in making this a reality over the next 10 years. Is Andi Lloyd here, by the way? Can you address the faculty issue that was raised?"
Andrea Lloyd (Vice President for Academic Affairs/Dean of Faculty): "About diversity?"
Patton: "No, about the faculty member."
Lloyd: "So there was an allegation of racial profiling made by a faculty member. That case was also investigated. There was a determination that there was not racial profiling in that case. Um, what else?
Sohn: So, we just want to be conscious of people who don't feel comfortable speaking up on the mic, so we have collected some notecards. If we can just read one, so that we can be fair in that way, that would be great. So, one of the questions, is: isn't it important to address specific incidents of racism on campus quickly? What do you mean by inclusivity? Oh, so those are two questions. Just a blanket statement to avoid talking specifics of people's experiences."
Karla Nuez (’19): "My question was, in the email sent out to students regarding this event, it was stated that the community was broken. My question is why is there a constant need to describe the Middlebury community as a homogenous one, when that in turn avoids that there are people on this campus that struggle. By calling it homogenous, you're completely disregarding those struggles. And I feel like that makes it seem like the administration doesn't know the students that can pay the 60k-plus to attend this college. And when I was at the board of trustees meeting dinner, I told the chair about the racial profiling cases, and she looked at me, baffled. I think that is a clear indication that the administration and the board of trustees do not know their students, do not know what is happening on campus, and if their job is to protect us I feel like they're not doing the greatest job."
Weston Uram (’18): "I grew up at Kenyon College, where my mother is a faculty member, and one of the things I admire most about Kenyon is the president. Shawn Decatur, also known as D-Cat among the students, is a fun, approachable president who loves to talk with the students about any topic they bring up. One of his best qualities is his ability to find an autonomous voice. He was never afraid to say what he thought even if it differed from the public stance of the college. I hope to ask a few questions that Laurie, as the person and not as the institution, could answer. I want to know if you think Addis was at the Charles Murray talk. I'm not asking what the college has said or what they have not said. I want to know what you believe. I want to know what you believe because I want to know why you call Addis a friend. I want to know why you and your administration would take the time to mail a framed photo of you and Addis together to her personal residence, but don't seem to take the time to acknowledge the pain and suffering you have caused her. I want to know why the administration has refused to mention Addis's name in relation to the racial profiling or in response to the violent imagery found on the chalkboards in Munroe. I want to know why a photo of Addis walking at commencement, cane in hand, is repeatedly being used as promotional material for graduation. And I want to know when the administration will stop using black bodies as simply props and advertisements, and when they will recognize them as real people who have real feelings, who have real struggles, and who deserve real apologies."
Toni Cross (’18): "I have a mic up here, but I would love to hear President Patton's response to those questions."
Patton: "So, first of all, the comment about Middlebury communities, I absolutely agree. And I think that we should be continuing to talk about different communities. And if we haven't done so enough, I apologize for that. It's really important that we think through those questions of acknowledging different communities and acknowledging specifics about pain that you all have felt. One of the things that I really, really want to hear about, and I know we want to continue to think about, is particularly in classroom environments where people of color are not feeling that they can speak up. Or that they feel if they do speak up, that they will be misunderstood. Those are an incredibly important place for us, and I hope that as faculty and staff we can work together to change those experiences. So I think that that's absolutely right and that's really important to do. I also want to say that what Dean Loyd was talking about, I actually sat with that professor and apologized for her experience. And it's a very important thing that she was in pain, and that was acknowledged. So I think it's an unfair characterization of me to say that acknowledgement doesn't happen. It was important to reach out and engage. When I -- I don't know what the images are that are being used. I think it's really important in a conversation that we're all trying to do better, that we're all doing a lot of work every day to raise inclusivity where it's really hard. If we could find a way -- I don't know, I can't supervise every single thing that goes out. If that image that goes out is there, I'm sure that that was painful for people to see. I am willing to sit with anyone in the community in a restorative practices circle, including Addis, to hear the pain that she has experienced. I will do that with anyone in this community. And I think it's really important that we continue to think about those specific experiences. And that's why restorative practices matters. Part of what is hard in presidential speech, and I wish I could answer you as a person -- I can't right now, I'm here as a president. And so, I would be happy to walk with you and talk with you, but my role at this moment is to uphold all of the hardworking people. And so -- I do spend a lot of time with students and tell them what I think all the time in the luncheon halls, I'm in classrooms, I'm walking throughout the campus every day. And so, I'm more than happy to sit and talk to you. I'm sure the president of Kenyon also wouldn't be able to speak about a case in this way, but I will say again, those images were very, very disturbing. And perhaps, yes, we should have used Addis's name. I will sit with Addis, I will sit with any of you in restorative practices and talk about harm any time. That is me both as a person and as a president. I hope that answers your question, and let's go for a walk."
Jasmine Crane (’18): "It really hurt my heart to hear Wengel's struggle, because her struggle is my struggle and as a black women in science, there's only one black female teacher in all of BiHall. And I really look up to her. She's a shinning example for me who contemplates going far and taking the extra mile, but when I'm with some of my colleagues I don't feel like I'm very far, I don't feel like I'm their colleague. I just feel like I am a black face here. And I feel like as a black, African-American woman here, I feel like community which is being thrown around so carelessly I feel it's just a word it's not a feeling. I feel like it's just a structure like a church. We come in here and do we really do anything pertinent? I don't seem to feel that. I feel that I see Latinos coming together, from different countries, I see South Asian, East Asian people coming together, and I feel like they have to do that on their own because there is no place even for them. And especially for black Americans here, I feel like that's a diaspora, there is no place for us on this campus. I feel like African's stick together, that's great to hear, but I feel like as an American black woman I have no place here. No voice. And I don't know how to change this, honestly, because it doesn't start with the people of color. We have to start all together as one body, as Middlebury. We have created this iconic self-image of being woke, of being liberal, of knowing more than ourselves. But do we even really know ourselves? And so I ask not only students to look in their heart and think about oppression. But I want the administration to look at themselves and how they conduct themselves in their everyday lives. And how they treat not only the students but each other.
Cross: "I just had a couple of questions: is there a timeline for fixing this broken Middlebury community? I know when I visited here for preview days in 2014 at least six people told me: do not come to this school, it will crush you and I don't know that I could in good conscious tell a black senior in high school to come here. It's been four years. Is there a timeline for making it better. And also I would like to ask the administration who have spoken here today how they would grade themselves in presentation and the image that they are giving to us? With the defensiveness that we constantly see, with the willingness to label actions, or to call themselves victims or point out unfairness towards themselves but not necessarily extend that same courtesy to the students. So I'm asking how would you grade yourselves? What kind of message do you think you're putting forward?
Treasure Brooks (’21): "I haven't been here very long but earlier Charles mentioned the overwhelming whiteness at this school and I just want to bring attention to the overwhelming blackness that doesn't come in the form of bodies. I live in Battel and I can't walk to the bathroom or back to my room without hearing trap music. And there is an overwhelming amount of black culture here but it's not represented in the population, in the student body. We've had CupcakKe come here last week, we're having Elle Varner come, and before that we had Noname Gypsy, she came here as well. And I think that how can we allow for the student body to be consuming black culture at such an alarming rate when we don't even value the black women that are walking around on this campus? I think that is remarkably grotesque, honestly, and if you really want to show support, if you want to show a greater cultural sensitivity towards black students then maybe we should make those events exclusive until we can show a general respect for all of the black diaspora, all of the black faculty, of the black students, and not just black culture. And additionally, to respond to something you said, President Patton, I would hope that you did not see your presidency and personhood as mutually exclusive because in the event that you do I think there needs to be a greater consideration for what leadership is."
James Sanchez (Assistant Professor of Writing): "I want to say a couple of things. I haven't heard anyone from faculty speak yet and I don't want to absolve us from any of these issues because this is just as important for students and administrators as it is for faculty. A couple of things I want to mention is one I feel like faculty needs to do a better job of modeling anti-racist behavior for our students in the classroom. I say that because when I did my interview here I spoke with a Latina student and this was before Charles Murray and she was telling me with issues that she had with white professors in the classroom and how as a Latina student she often felt that racist, bigoted viewpoints were held on equal playing field as anti-racist viewpoints and I think that's something that I challenge all faculty to really consider when having classroom discussions. I also want to say that faculty have a lot of agency in creating change on campus environments and that's something we all need to remember as faculty members when conducting our classes, creating new courses, interactions with students, we have agency in creating change. So I really want to challenge my colleagues here to on campus to really consider that in the future.
Sha (’19): "This is more a clarifying question. I understand a lot of time when it comes to the judicial process there's need for privacy but I also I feel there has been a lack of transparency with a lot of things that go on at this college. And I would like to be informed or educated in possible: is a student assumed guilty until proven otherwise? Or is a student assumed innocent until proven guilty? Why is it that when there is a sexual assault case reported, the victim is often the one asked to prove that there was actually assault, when in this case a student was accused and she was actually asked to find evidence to prove that she was not there?"
Ross: "Under all our policies individuals going through any kind of discipline are innocent until proven guilty. And the obligation is not on them to provide evidence. That's why we employ people and pay their salaries to gather evidence but people are free to offer evidence if they chose to offer evidence. If you want to learn more about how our policies work or want to learn more about our processes Dean Baishaki Taylor has solicited volunteers to serve on a policy advisory group. I'll be working with that policy advisory group to get feedback from students on policies that are of importance to you. We welcome other folks joining that committee
Júlia Athayde: (’19): "I want to raise attention to something that I found very troubling last semester and that was the fact that Bill Burger, who is the vice president of communications here, was personally involved in the Charles Murray incident and also very involved in writing all the articles and the communication that is written to alumni, articles in the New York Times, in the aftermath of the incident. First something I wanted to say, I work for the Office of Investment so after Charles Murray I actually had to talk to alumni and explain to them what was happening on campus so I'm very sympathetic to the fact that it was a very hard conversation and I know how difficult it was for administrators to deal with all of that. Since then, I've been thinking about the fact that [Burger] was personally involved and I'm not sure if he's here or not, this is not a personal attack, I just wanted to raise awareness for that. He was there, and he was also writing the communication for the college. And this latest article in the newsroom talking about racial profiling, I was wondering if that was the first time that we addressed that to the outer community and our alumni? And who wrote that article, because there was actually no author? And the last paragraph of that article actually talks about his involvement and that he was found not guilty. And I was wondering if that process involved the same kind of investigation that Addis had to go through? Why was he found not guilty, and why was that written in an article in the newsroom this week?"
Ross: "I was one of the folks who helped write that statement and the final paragraph addresses the fact that there were two separate investigations about what went on March 2. One was the Middlebury Police Department Investigation. The Middlebury Police are of course responsible for investigating criminal behavior, driving a car dangerously would be criminal behavior. The police did not find any evidence that caused them to have concern about that. They did not investigate that, they did not bring charges. The independent investigators concluded based on unanimous testimony from all the witnesses to the event that Mr. Burger drove carefully. Those are the facts in that case found by two different investigations."
Esteban Arenas-Pino (’18): “I would like the administration to expand on their stance on activism on campus. It feels like after last spring activism has become a dirty word and is often vilified. Is the administration willing and ready to accept activism as a part of the campus culture, and is the administration willing to foster this as a value? After many years witnessing activism especially by women of color on this campus I would like to see this fermented as a stronger value? We will leave Middlebury to be organizers and activists in our communities. Shouldn't Middlebury foster these skills?”
Sedge Lucas (’19): "I have a quick question for President Patton. I saw online that you and Professor Stanger are going to be having a talk this coming February titled "Campus Speech: when protest turned violent" at the Cronkite School of Journalism in Arizona. Can you explain what the goal of this talk is? What do you think other schools or academia as a whole can learn about how Middlebury handled the situation last spring?
Patton: "Thanks for the question. Lots of different thoughts there. There are so many ways in which we could have done better. We have been slow to respond to graffiti incidents. I would just ask people to understand that we are living in the world where immediate response and the fact that we have to get the facts right is we want to make sure we get the facts right before we actually make a statement and so sometimes if we can't do it in 12 hours it's because we're wanting to make sure we have all the facts right. That being said it's really important that that slowness of response is something that we can do better on. And we want to do better on. Secondly, the things that I have learned as a leader and a person here at Middlebury, number one, I was hoping that all the work that we've done in the last two years about inclusivity and scholarships raised and C3 developed and AIM, and the alliance on disability, the bias response team, the more funds raised for financial aid, the restorative practices, all of these are things that have happened since 2015, since I got here. My mistake was in thinking that all those things and inviting everyone to do more of those things and invite us into those conversations would heal the hurt and it didn't. I did not understand the degree of hurt in this community and again I want to say how deeply sorry I am for that. So in response to that, part of what I push on in everywhere that I go is that inclusivity has to be part of any conversation around freedom of expression but we have to do both in the 21st century. And that we do not become more free unless we focus on inclusivity and all the ways that we've been talking about. And we do not become more inclusive if we can't have that freedom of expression as the basis of who we are. And so that is a very powerful message that we want to send in as many different places as possible. So I hope that gives you as sense of both what I have learned personally as well as the kind of push I want to make on creating both inclusivity and freedom of expression as a balance, as well as the only way we can become more free in the 21st century is to become more inclusive. I also want to say that in our conversation yesterday, Liz [Dunn] said something really powerful. And I want to make sure that we say that and say something about that and talk more about it. And that is "What do you need and how can we help?" was a question that one of her common's deans asked her and how powerful that was. And I think that even as we have to uphold policies and procedures, I think that having student advisory groups as well as the faculty motion that was really fantastic that I publicly endorsed and was thrilled to publicly endorse last week, where we are going to be doing an external review of our diversity practices. Again the big learning that I had last semester is clearly all the stuff that we've done since 2015 is not enough, and it's not effective enough, and that's really powerful so we are developing an advisory group on diversity for faculty and for building faculty I have been really powerfully advocating and only faculty can build a black studies program but we are really excited because faculty are moving to create that and I want to say here how important it is that we create that black studies program. So, lot's more to say, and I know I need to hand over the mic.
Hannah Pustejovksy (’18): "I wanted to bring it back a little bit to the point about financial aid. So I am a white student, I'm also on almost full financial aid, and I am pretty lucky being a student who is white having had a lot family who have gone to college and have dealt with this system. But if having difficulty with the financial aid system here I cannot even imagine what other students, of color, are having on this campus because I have been here for four years and I have yet to understand what happens in the financial aid office. I was incredibly hurt by an email that came out last week or the week before encourage students to consider if they actually could take on the loans that they were being given because I have no choice. I don't know what I'm supposed to do if I can't personally take those loans on, am I just supposed to drop out? I also think that financial aid is one of the most important things to making sure that students here also feel welcome because we do have only 48 percent of students here on campus who have financial aid and if students of color are on campus and we are not making it easy for them to be here including the huge financial responsibility we are putting on them, how are we even supposed to start and feel like equals? Every day I am aware that I have so much less money than people here. And how is the financial aid office going to make that easier?"
Nia Robinson (’19): "I don't really have a question, more so a comment. Looking around this room most of the people in here are people I expected to be here. There are some surprises, like good surprises but nonetheless a surprise. And I think that it's really important when we're talking about community we claim who we are talking about. Because for example, the people who have called me the n-word are not found in this room. And I understand that people have commitments, I understand that people have other things going on, but everyone in this room ahs something else going on and so I think we need to make at who is making sacrifices for global community. A lot of people in this room are part of my community and I respect and love them a lot. But I think there are people who are not found in this room who have no stake in building a community and that's okay whereas if I take a step back then suddenly it's a problem. So that's not really question, just more so a call for everyone in here to talk to your friends, talk to your commons, talk to your professors, because if we are building a community we need to make sure we're reaching everyone and not just the people who self select to be here."
Kifle: "To touch upon the faculty member who spoke about faculty responsibility and accountability as well as Nia's comment about community, and also Treasury's comment. So we do consume a lot of black culture here and it's amazing how much we consume it and then don't acknowledge black people. I'm also in the classroom I'm so sick for having to stand up for something problematic that arises. If my professor is here, I'm sorry, I meant to have a private conversation with you, but this going to happen. So here we are talking about [solar] power in Africa and then the professor says 'There's 40 countries in Africa" and I said, 'no.' And then my art history professor was talking about Western Art and then mentioned Egyptian art and I questioned why that is because it's African art. The thing that surprised me is not the fact that it happened but in both of those classes where there's a huge amount of people in there I was the only one that had a problem with this and I was the only one that was expected to speak out, and of course I did because nobody else was doing it. But I'm so tired of taking on that mental labor. If you call yourself an ally, if you say you care about us, this movement, please speak up because I am tired. I am so tired and if you say you support this community and if you say you support these conversations and whatever Midd needs to progress on then take your part. And it's not just on the administration and it's not just on the faculty, it's on students as well. Show us that you care."
Sandra Luo (’18): "I really want to appreciate all of you for offering to have conversations with us but we're really tired of just talking. When is the administration going to show that they care beyond just sitting in a circle and talking and continuing to exploit the vulnerability and emotions of students? When are we going to see some sort of tangible, concrete action that comes from these conversations. And if you want to talk about helping us maybe address the list of demands here that we've been passing out. Apologize to Addis and provide reparations for all the trauma the school put her through, actually investigate Bill Burger and take anonymous sources seriously because that's the way of providing safety for people who are willing to come forward and share their experiences, fix the judicial system instead of just telling us that it's flawed but that's just how it's always going to be. And I want to recommend that a lot of people have been talking for years and a lot of work has been put towards inclusivity and diversity for years, long before March 2. It would be great if they could do something more than just conversations. It's one thing to acknowledge pain and flaws it's another to actually address the flaws so that current and future students won't continue to experience pain. I know a lot of people around me really want to listen to answers from the administration so I'm just going to hold on to this mic until we get an answer from the administration. I really want to hear about a concrete action plan that is something beyond a conversation."
Fernández: "Where to start. So in regards to the demands that you referenced, I think you heard in regards to the judicial piece I think Hannah made the invitation to serve on a policy committee there. That's a very direct way of impacting judicial change. The second one is about the mandatory training for everyone and I hope I addressed that earlier but that's in the process. It's not going to happen tomorrow but there are things in process and more to come, can't be more specific about that because that part to come is still being worked on and I don't have the details. I did share details for things that are ongoing. More things that are happening that are on the ground that we are doing: I did mention that we're working hard at diversifying the faculty, I think we had a good example and make some comments and probably just fill his spring courses. The bias incident thing was a new effort by the community bias response team, I will grant you it is imperfect, and if you will continue to work on it it's been an effort to try to address a lot of the issues we've been talking about. It is imperfect, it is new, we're going through that rocky start that many things do. I expect communications to improve and we will continue to work on that. Concrete things that are going on other things, more things we've been working on: we've been trying to work a lot around the support o DACA and undocumented students, putting a lot of effort on resources there, supporting them in many different ways. The first generation programs, those kinds of things. Opportunities to engage, one of the things a lot of folks have been talking about today is the administration, how it acts and why it doesn't change and one of the things we heard yesterday and I think this is valid is more student input in decision making, and that's been heard. And the SGA has had a proposal to create student advisory boards that will meet with the different VPs, so there you've got advisory boards that will meet with different folks to learn about the process how decisions get made how does the process work and to have a direct influence on that so for instance with finance, with a lot of the different areas. There's much to talk about, but there's a lot more to do, too."
Rainey: "I have a really quick question. There's been a lot of talk about this in the black community and many other communities especially in the after math of Charles Murray. We all know how many of us feel the complete community embarrassment of how interrogating and punishing students for protesting on campus. And as we more forward in terms of restorative practices from the administration, going back to what Toni and others have said providing a timeline with that but also after we put in these new restorative practices and these new restorative justice measures, are they going to be retroactively implemented and have retroactive application regarding people who have gone through unfair processes in the past and students who have gone through extremely unsettling and unfair disciplinary procedures here at Middlebury, for case by case basis? If anyone in the administration could speak to that?"
Katie Smith Abbott (Vice President of Student Affairs): "I have been charged with leading our exploration of how to bring restorative practice to Middlebury. We are partnering with a firm called the Consortium for Equity and Inclusion and the two anchors for that are a woman named Stacy Miller who is the associate provost of inclusivity at Valparaiso and Dennis DePaul who is from the Dean of Students Office at UVM which has had real success for a very long period of time with restorative practices, grounded in Residential Life at UVM. So they came to explain the basic concepts of what is referred to as RP to the SLG in June, the Senior Leadership Group which is the Presidents and all the Vice Presidents. They came back for a subsequent training because we didn't fit everything in, they came back in September, they have met for an introductory session with a broad range of faculty and staff who work in student life. And they're coming back for a three-day training December 18, 19, and 20 and if there are folks in this room who want to participate in that training I'd be happy to talk to you. The only requirements are that you're able to fully commit for the three full days. It's 8:30-5, it's three full days, and you're willing to be part of the ongoing implementation conversations. It is not a fast process to implement but we're fully committed to it. The other thing I would just note is that restorative justice and restorative practices are kind of getting used interchangeably, and I do want to be honest about the fact that I'm learning, this is not something I knew about before I started on this journey working with Stacy and Dennis, being part of a group that's being doing some deep diving into this work. But what I will offer is that they have explained to us very clearly that restorative justice is a small subsection of restorative practices, and the reason we're drawn to restorative practices is because they can be used proactively not just reactively so that a moment like this one wouldn't be appropriate for a restorative circle, like President Patton was referencing earlier, but something called a conference that's very intentionally facilitated. Although I've got to say that I think the student leaders of this session are doing a pretty amazing job. So that's the timeline, we're moving into this training in December with an eye towards hopefully grounding it in student life and residential life by next fall."
Vee Duong (’19): "I had a question: so something kind of disturbing that I have been noticing this year being involved in more cultural orgs is that a lot of students say "Oh wow I didn't know that existed, when do y'all have meetings?" And then we're like oh well we had a booth at activities and we have a mailing list that's been open, we operate out of the AFC which is always open, and to have these open discussions that we have been having about race, to have people who do not identify as that come into that space, that is acceptable and that's fine and we encourage you to do that but to have people come in and not be aware of the space they're taking up is very frustrating. So this is a point for faculty and staff and/or administrators, in that what are you all doing to provide real educational resources for students, incoming students especially, so that the burden doesn't fall on cultural orgs where we are already working really hard to provide a space to take care of our members mentally and emotionally to support each other so we don't have to take on the additional burden of educating people because all the educational resources I have seen have been put together laboriously through hours of our personal time.
Baishakhi Taylor (Dean of Students): "Vee I hear your question and I agree that we also need to do more. We have added sessions during the MiddView. President Patton has now made JusTalks mandatory for the entire class. We have also added more training in our reslife program and among colleagues who are in the reslife group and that's obviously not adequate so on top of having all these sessions that introduce with the incoming class this year we'll continue to build on that and I also acknowledge that having those sessions only during MiddView and JusTalks is not sufficient so we need to build on it throughout the year so the responsibility is not on the Anderson Freeman Center and thank you for doing the work that you're doing and raising the question."
Anonymous question (read by Rainey): "It seems like both Alison Stanger and Laurie Patton have been taking a lot of public, national opportunities to speak about the events of the spring, including at a congressional hearing on C-SPAN, the Free Speech Conference Laurie spoke at. For the purpose of transparency, are President Patton or Alison Stanger being financially compensated for these talks? Are they profiting off the terrible situation the administration has put us in?"
Patton: "I was not paid to go to the University of Chicago and I have no interest in profiting any situation that happened at Middlebury. I am very clear that any conversation that's part of the national discourse where Middlebury is mentioned we need to create balance so at the Chicago conference part of what we pushed on with many, many people there is where is our inclusivity? Where are our inclusivity efforts? We've always got to balance those two things no matter what happens. I had no intentions of profiting in any way my intent is to work on moving a national conversation where people who are constantly talking about free speech also talk about inclusivity. So both of those things are balanced and fair and appropriate, so that's the very direct answer. I had a couple more responses to questions I didn’t get a chance to answer but if there’s time later [I’ll answer].”
Victor Filpo (admissions counselor, class of '16): "I hope I really speaking for myself here rather than any hat of student, alumn, or staff member here on campus. Something that is frustrating, honestly, about this conversation is that we've really been centering around the case that happened with Addis or the case that happened with the professor. And that's completely legitimate because they are people who've been struggling a lot and they've been carrying a lot of the heaviness of what's going on. But I would like to say that the reality is that a lot of people of color deal with this. It is not surprising. We are tokenizing them right now by only brining up those instances. When I was freshman, when I was walking with my Posse member in Battell, a public safety office stopped us and told us, 'I haven't seen you on campus can you show us your IDs?' When we were first years here at Middlebury. He still works here. I have also gotten accused by other Public Safety officers for other things. It turns out completely fine because my dean loves me, obviously. And all the deans here do an amazing job at really caring for their students and really trying to look out emotionally for everyone. But this continues happening on the daily. Just this last summer I was crossing with two other students, and I'm glad this stuff happens to me when I'm with other people because I would not be able to believe that it happens to me on this level, weekly or biweekly, it's insane. Crossing the street, people start accelerating and then they stop and they yell the n-word at you. You are walking to your house or walking to your dorm and someone stops in a car and just yells at you, 'that looks stolen,' yells a rap lyric at you, choses another slur. It really does baffle me that this happens so often and I was just here as a senior two years ago and we had the same conversation about a sombrero right here. And every year we will continue to have this conversation right here. And yet I still have to walk home and have this experience all over again. And the only time I will be taken seriously isn't even when I'm with another person of color but rather when I have the kind, woke, white lady who is willing to represent me and say whoa he's going through some pain let's do something about it. I don't want someone to have a voice for me. I want to be able to talk for myself to be able to talk for myself, to be believed, for something to happen when I ask for it. When a person of color is going through a lot they don't have means to be able to express it. Do we really understand the amount of people of color who haven't said anything about their experiences. And when you sit with someone and they say, 'that baffles me,' does it really? Does it really? It shouldn't because it honestly happens on such a daily level. And you yourself you're all very smart people. We know that this happens. We ignore it. We choose to ignore it because it makes us feel comfortable. And I wonder when we're going to stop with this comfort because we just sit here every single year and have this conversation all over again in this comfort and I hope that in future instances when the next one comes up it's not Shatavia, it's not Victor, it's not the professor. It's a collective group of people who are going through a lot."
Student, unknown: "You said something about conversation and us being free and all that. There's a lot of dark forces in general on this campus and beyond this campus and a lot of what was just talked about were references to instances where students are facing racism from other white students on this campus that I'm sure a lot of people don't know about. If we look we have Donald Trump as our president and there's just crazy things going on while we're sitting here having restorative conversations, there's evil things going on and this stuff that we're talking about is just a small sample of something that's going on. It comes to a point where people have to decide whether they're going to actually be on the side of what's right or what's wrong and everyone has to make their own choice. I hope that especially the white people here will make that choice and not hide behind good sounding rhetoric or kind words, because those things are good and genuine kindness is good but a lot of people here feel like unless the school addresses the issues that are going on at the institutional level how are we going to be able to talk about what's going on in the world?"
Patton: "I wanted to mention that we're working with public safety, public safety has gone through a mandatory de-escalation training as well as diversity training this fall and will continue to do so. Concrete action. Concrete action: we created a seizing the opportunity fund for any student at Middlebury who wants to and needs to do something different, whether they need their parents to come here, or whether they need to go to MiddCore, whether they need more money for something they need more access to at Middlebury. We have raised that money so that every student has access to all educational opportunities. We started that last year, it's available, talk to Katy Smith Abbott, another concrete action. Third, one of the things we're really excited about is, I really appreciate what you said about facing racism and acknowledging and the everyday racism that happens on this campus that I acknowledged in the beginning. I think that if we could create an archive to create news stories of what is happening to people that would make it even more powerful for us so we need to get those kinds of stories on the books. We need to do a lot more mandatory training, that concrete action is happening in the next year, and in the back there are about 15 more concrete actions, none of them are enough. We need your advice on how to make it more effective and again I want to acknowledge the hurt that people are feeling and we are going to create a lot of student advisory committees to be better and more effective. And I am so proud of this community for being here tonight. Thank you very much."
Sohn: "We also know that tonight not all of your questions have been answered and we want to thank everyone for raising those question."
Anonymous notecard (read by Sohn): "Hoping on Wengel and Mia's point on allyship, please understand that these may be very sensitive times for POCs, QTPOCs on campus and on that note if you find yourself going to the AFC I hope you take the responsibility to learn about what it means to the POC/QTPOC community. You could speak to the directors and student staff in the space, and it's very central to understand what it means to take up space in times as sensitive as this one. On that note please come feel free to come learn more about the positive impact the AFC is making on this institution."
(11/08/17 5:31pm)
On a late August day in the middle of the NBA offseason, the news broke that the Cleveland Cavaliers were trading Kyrie Irving, their second-leading scorer and four-time all-star who requested a trade in July, to the Boston Celtics. Many people around the NBA applauded Cleveland for getting the return that they did after it became public knowledge that Irving had requested the trade. They were praising Koby Altman ’05, who became Cleveland’s general manager the same day the news was reported. That same Altman graduated from Middlebury just over twelve years before rising to one of the most powerful positions in the National Basketball Association.
Altman did not take a typical route to head coach Jeff Brown’s Middlebury men’s basketball roster. He grew up in Brooklyn, New York, a few blocks from where the Barclays Center is now, and was accepted early decision to Middlebury as a part of the third group of Posse scholars at the college in December 2000. Brown heard that Altman was a potential prospect for his team, so he travelled to New York in December shortly after Altman’s acceptance to Middlebury to see him play.
“The recruiting process for Koby was reversed,” Brown said. “He had decided on Middlebury College before I actually I had a chance to watch him play and see where he might fit in. Watching him play I was really confident he had the ability to help our program.”
Altman arrived on campus the following fall in a big class of four other first-years. Brown was entering his fourth season as head coach of the men’s basketball team, and was still trying to build up a program that had only finished over .500 five times since 1980. That season, Altman appeared in 17 out of 25 games, averaging five minutes and one point per game on a team that went 11–14.
He moved into the starting lineup in his sophomore season, starting 13 out of 24 games and upping his scoring average to seven points per game, along with four assists and three rebounds. In his final two seasons, Altman started the majority of games as a point guard for the Panthers.
Brown remembered Altman as a player who filled his role well as a pass-first point guard.
“As a player, Koby was a ball-handler,” Brown said. “He had quickness and a little bit of craftiness to his game. He handled the ball pretty well, was pretty creative going to the basket and finding his teammates. He was a reliable three-point shoot, but never was a big scorer. But he was certainly a great teammate, a hard worker, a player that really understood the game well, and was really a leader on the floor. ”
The team started to make strides during this time as Brown began to mold the program. In Altman’s junior season, the Panthers finished over .500 for the first time in Brown’s sixth year as head coach. To put Brown’s tenure into context, before he took the helm, only two of the 16 coaches in program history had career records over .500.
Altman was there to see the dawn of a new era in Middlebury men’s basketball. In 2008, the Panthers qualified for the NCAA tournament for the first time, and have done so seven times since then, including a run to the Final Four in 2011 when they finished 28–2. They also won four Nescac titles from 2009 to 2017, more than any other team in the conference has in that span. Brown, whose record over 20 years is 336–189 and whose winning percentage is .640 (easily the highest in program history), laid the groundwork for his success, while Altman was at Middlebury. He and his teammates helped Brown to establish the foundation that he built the men’s basketball program on.
While at Middlebury, Altman spoke to Brown a lot about being interested in pursuing a career in professional sports.
“Sports was certainly a passion of his,” Brown said. “He certainly developed some great leadership skills before Middlebury and here at Middlebury.”
Brown saw in Altman many of the important attributes that make for successful coaches and people in professional sports front offices.
“He really was a connector,” Brown said. “He had really strong relationships with all of his teammates, was very engaging, and funny at times. He was really a great leader, with work ethic and communication.
“His personality is so engaging. His teammates really enjoyed speaking with him. He just had one of those personalities that just really kind of captured his teammates.”
When talking about Altman as a person, Brown cracked a smile, as he remembered his former player’s time on his team. Although Altman’s playing career ended after his time under Brown at Middlebury, his leadership skills and engaging personality and his ability to connect people on and off the court, Brown knew, would certainly help him when he left Middlebury.
But after graduating from Middlebury in 2005, Altman went down a different path than a career in professional sports: He took a job at Friedman-Roth Realty, a commercial real estate firm in Manhattan. Back in New York, Altman would take his lunch four blocks away from his office at Xavier High School, where he would spend an hour helping out with the freshman basketball team.
Altman spent three years at Friedman-Roth, then began his basketball in earnest. He left New York to enroll in a master’s program in sports management at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. While studying at UMass, Altman also joined the men’s basketball coaching staff at Amherst College, of all places, under legendary head coach David Hixon. His first year there (2007–8), Amherst beat Middlebury in their only matchup. Then in Altman’s second season, the Mammoths won in the regular season, but Brown and the Panthers defeated the Mammoths 77–68 in the Nescac championship game for its first conference title.
In his second year at UMass, Altman got paired with his mentor Sean Ford, the director for men’s programs at USA basketball. Through Ford, Altman served as a manager on the USA Under-19 and Under-17 teams that won gold medals in 2009 and 2010, respectively. In his second year with USA basketball, Altman entered the DI ranks for the first time as a graduate assistant at Southern Illinois in the Missouri Valley Conference. Then he moved back to New York to become an assistant at Columbia, who was looking for a quantitative assistant coach. It paid off for Altman, who still wanted to break into professional sports. At Columbia, he got connected with Cleveland Cavaliers general manager Chris Grant.
In 2012, Cleveland hired Altman as their manager of pro personnel. He was there when the Cavs had the first overall pick in the draft twice, he was there when LeBron James returned to Cleveland, and he was there when they won their first NBA championship in team history. After the championship in 2016, Altman was promoted to assistant general manager under David Griffin. The following season, Cleveland returned to the finals, but lost in five games to the Warriors. Griffin’s contract expired after the season, and he and Cleveland parted ways after not coming to terms on an extension.
Altman stepped in as the head of Cleveland’s front office on an interim basis as the ownership conducted its search. 35 days after Griffin and the Cavs parted ways, and high profile candidates like 2004 NBA Finals MVP Chauncey Billups considered and were considered for the job, Cleveland named Altman its next general manager on Monday, July 24, 2017. At 34 years old, the second-youngest general manager in the NBA, Altman took the helm of the team that had appeared in three consecutive finals won its first championship less than two years ago, but then parted ways with the general manager of the team during those years.
If that were not enough pressure to perform, Altman also entered a situation fraught with internal tension. The same day Altman was hired, it was reported that Irving requested a trade from Cleveland. On top of that, rumors swirled around LeBron all summer, wondering whether he would depart after his contract expires at the end of this season.
Altman certainly entered a difficult position, but that is the nature of professional sports management. To trade one of your best players to your biggest conference rival is a difficult choice, but quite probably necessary because of Irving’s request. With so little leverage, Altman did an admiral job turning Irving into Isaiah Thomas, a two-time all-star and Boston’s leading scorer the last three seasons, Jae Crowder, a versatile forward on offense and defense, Ante Zizic, an intriguing young big man, Brooklyn’s 2018 first round pick that could easily turn into a top-5 selection in next year’s draft, and Miami’s 2020 second round pick.
Considering the many steps Altman took from Middlebury to Cleveland, it is easy to forget Altman graduated from Middlebury 10 years ago. He rose very quickly from college student, to real estate agent, to unpaid graduate assistant, to being employed by the Cleveland Cavaliers, to general manager of the Cavaliers. But Brown remembers what Altman told him and envisioned then that Altman could make a mark on professional sports.
“Koby was able to capitalize on his great leadership skills,” Brown said. “I’m certainly not surprised that he has elevated to the level he is at with the Cavaliers.”
(10/11/17 10:26pm)
The Department of Public Safety’s latest Security and Fire Safety Report reveals marked differences in on-campus criminal activity since 2014, including a drastic increase in student violations of liquor law and a smaller increase in burglaries.
The report is compiled using data from Public Safety, the Middlebury Police Department and other law enforcement agencies, in accordance with the 1990 Clery Act. The Act requires all colleges receiving federal funding to publicize annual security reports covering four categories over three years: arrests and referrals for disciplinary action, criminal offenses such as burglary and rape, domestic and dating violence and hate crimes.
This year’s report, released on Oct. 1, reveals a 500 percent increase in referrals given for liquor law violations since 2014. The report defines liquor law violations as “the violation of state or local laws or ordinances prohibiting: the manufacture, sale, purchase, transportation, possession, or use of alcoholic beverages; transporting, furnishing, possessing of intoxicating liquor (i.e. under the age of 21).” Students received 115 citations for alcohol in 2014, but this number rose to 672 citations in 2015 and 595 in 2016. In 2015 and 2016, Middlebury had no arrests for liquor violations, and had no arrests or referrals for drug violations.
More on-campus burglaries were also documented in the 2017 report, jumping from eleven reported burglaries in 2014 to eighteen reported in 2016. Burglary is defined as “the unlawful entry of a structure to commit a felony or a theft,” and is distinct from robbery in that burglary does not involve physical intimidation. No known robberies took place on campus property between 2014 and 2016.
2016 saw fewer fires than previous years. Four fires occurred in residential buildings in 2016, compared to nine in 2014 and ten in 2015. The significant drop can be attributed to normal fluctuation, however, since residential fire counts have ranged between two and twelve since 2012.
Eight rapes were reported in 2016, down from 21 reported in 2015. Reports of dating violence remained steady, with six incidents reported per year. For further analysis of the data related to sexual assault, refer here.
No hate crimes were reported between 2014 and 2016.
(10/04/17 11:17pm)
If you were conscious and used the internet between mid-2015 and the end of 2016, you might have noticed the presence of a particularly dank meme (well, several, let’s be real) in the form of a guy who probably hadn’t heard the term until it was applied to him.
I am, of course, referring to the unlikely political fortunes of the junior senator from Vermont, the brusquely-spoken old guy who for a brief moment somehow turned the majority of our supposedly egocentric millennial generation into enthusiastic critics of late-stage capitalism.
The near-simultaneous surges in support of leftist politicians like Jeremy Corbyn in the U.K., Jean-Luc Mélenchon in France or the Podemos party in Spain further demonstrate that socialism is no longer a dirty word in electoral politics. In fact, it may ultimately be the only long-term alternative to the current wave of authoritarian populism currently sweeping the developed world.
Socialism is, however, very much a dirty word in most media outlets, if it’s even mentioned at all. Journalism that is totally configured for ad revenue and profit generation is journalism that will censor ideas hostile to its owners/shareholders. (It’s simple business sense.)
But unlike the disappointing real world, our mainstream newspaper will apparently publish incendiary left-wing diatribes that I imagine the editors of The Wall Street Journal would only see as fit to light their $500 cigars with (or whatever cartoonishly malevolent banker types do these days — 24 karat vapes, perhaps?).
This is why I’m proud to introduce Sharp Left, a bi-weekly series of my very own refreshing and exceedingly pithy hot takes on the accumulation of crises that the tabloid-esque dishrags of our decadent political culture refuse to acknowledge.
If this thought makes you uneasy, rest assured that this column will not feature articles like: “Seven Ways Bernie Can STILL Win, So Take That Hillary,” “Lenin Was Right All Along, but Mao was Righter,” or a reprinting of my 9th grade book report on the Communist Manifesto. (I got an A-.)
Instead, I’m interested in discussing the multitude of heterodox thoughts, actions and developments that I see as broadly comprising a new leftist political program, one founded on radical democracy, nonviolence and solidarity, and opposed to the deeply interconnected damages that continued faith in modern capitalism rains down everyday on our environment and billions of marginalized people.
More provocatively, I want to critically examine Middlebury’s role as an institution deeply situated within the prevailing discourse of neoliberal capitalism. Seeing as our school now bills itself as an outspoken proponent of free speech, it hopefully won’t mind me attempting to expose contradictions between their lovely stated goals and less rosy ideological realities, right?
At this point, I’m sure I’ve whet your appetite for the undergraduate-written socialist polemics you never knew you needed — unless you’re reading The Campus for the new conservative column, in which case you probably haven’t gotten this far anyway. Regardless, please grab a copy in two weeks to see if I can live up to my own hype, unlike, well, socialism (until now!).
(05/11/17 1:32am)
The track and field teams traveled to Williams last Thursday, May 4 to Saturday, May 6, where they put together yet another strong performance at the the DIII New England Championships.
Athletes who finished in the top eight earned All-New England laurels. The women set two new school records as they garnered eight such finishes en route to a sixth place standing out of 32 teams. Meanwhile, the men snagged seven All-New England honors of their own to wind up 10th out of 32.
Maddie Pronovost ’17 added yet another first-place medal to her collection with a resounding victory in the heptathlon. She amassed 4,419 points over the seven events of the two-day event, capped off by event victories in both the 100-meter hurdles (15.13) and the long jump (18′ 2.25″). Her totals surpassed the old school record, set by Hannah Blackburn ’17 in 2015, by over 240 points—not to say that she didn’t take care of this weekend’s field almost as handily, finishing 125 points ahead of second place.
Pronovost had nothing but positives to offer after competition was over. “The meet went really well for myself and the team,” she said. “We had a lot of season–best times and a few school records broken, all well deserved.”
Helene Rowland ’20 put up the other school record set this weekend, tossing the shot put 39′2.5″ on Saturday to finish sixth overall in the event. In doing so she broke the old school record, which Whitney Creed ’06 set in 2004, by 5.5″.
Other All-New England finishes for the women on the track included Sasha Whittle ’17, who finished second in the 1,500-meter run in 4:33.34, and Abigail Nadler ’19, who finished fifth in the same event (4:356.96). Paige Fernandez ’17 crossed the line seventh in the 400-meter hurdles (1:05.16) and Meg Wilson ’20 ran to a seventh-place finish in the 800-meter race (2:13.14). Off the track, Devon Player ’18 landed a sixth-place finish in the javelin (132′1″) and Kreager Taber ’19 leapt to seventh in the pole vault (11′6.5″).
The men’s 10th place finish featured contributions from a usual crowd of strong performers. Kevin Serrao ’18 finished second in the 800-meter race (1:52.40), just ahead of teammate Nathan Hill ’20, who finished fourth (1:53.07). Jimmy Martinez ’19 raced to a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter dash (48.82) and teammate Arden Coleman ’20 finished fifth in the same event (48.93). In the 1,500-meter race, Jonathan Perlman ’19 crossed the line seventh (3:55.39). Over in the field events Minhaj Rahman ’19 threw the hammer 162′4″ to place sixth overall, and in the pole vault, John Natalone ’19 tied for eighth with a jump of 14′2″.
Since only select athletes will be competing in the final two meets of the season, last weekend’s competition marked the end of the season for most of the Panthers. But the decrease in practice numbers won’t get in the way of the remaining athletes, according to Pronovost. “Even though the majority of the team has stopped competing, those that are continuing are still driven to work hard and do well,” she said. “Athletes often get more personal attention during the championship season as there are less people competing, which can be helpful.
“While we won’t have the entire team at practice, people still find ways to see each other who aren't continuing with their season outside of the normal practice schedule."
Next weekend, the Panthers will head down to Williams once again to compete in the Open New England Championships, a meet featuring athletes from all three NCAA divisions. The following weekend, qualifying athletes will travel to the Division III National Championships hosted by the Spire Institute in Geneva, Ohio.
