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(02/21/19 11:00am)
Middlebury dining halls generally accommodate students’ desires to eat where they want. Whether that means taking plates of food outside when it is sunny, eating in Proctor Lounge or deciding to take food back to a dorm room, students have freedom to dine where they choose.
College staff say that oftentimes students abuse this privilege, creating a nightmare scenario for custodians in the process. Many students opt to abandon dirty plates and silverware in dorm bathrooms, hallways and kitchens. Some students even throw dirty dishes in the trash.
Missy Beckwith, the associate director of Facilities Services, said that this is a persistent problem that adds significant unpleasant work for staff who end up collecting dishes from residential spaces.
“These dishes tend to attract bugs and rodents and begin to smell,” she said. “So, while it is not expected that custodial teams return the dishes or even pick them up, they do.”
Cindy Webb, a custodian who works in Hadley Hall, said she leaves whatever dishes she may find for a few days to see if a student will pick them up before she does so herself. Webb also confirmed that she often finds dishes in the trash, even though she works in a dorm attached to Ross Dining Hall.
[pullquote speaker="Cindy Webb" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Just in my trash bin over in the middle of second floor Hadley, I pulled out 14 cups, two plates and a bowl in two days.[/pullquote]
“Just in my trash bin over in the middle of second floor Hadley, I pulled out 14 cups, two plates and a bowl in two days,” she said. “The last few years I felt like it had tapered off and then for whatever reason this year it’s worse again.”
Webb estimated that about 80 percent of the dishes she comes across while making her rounds in the dorms are in the garbage.
Even when custodians see dishes in the trash, Beckwith said they are not supposed to remove them for health and safety reasons.
“The contents of the average trash or recycling bin can be hazardous — broken glass, improperly disposed needles, pathogens,” she said. “While the custodial staff wears gloves when removing trash, it is unreasonable to ask them to suit up in the personal protective equipment required to rummage through a bag of trash.”
While custodians like Webb who work in Ross are able to return recovered dishes directly to the dining hall, custodians in other dorms are not able to fit such trips into their already busy schedules. Instead, they typically place dorm dishes on the curb with the trash to be taken down to the Recycling Center.
There, waste management workers set the dishes aside in storage bins. They also open up trash bags and sort through the garbage, pulling out any plates, cups or silverware they see and storing them alongside the dishes picked up from other locations.
According to Waste Management Supervisor Kim Bickham, once the bins are full, they send the dishes back up the hill to the dining halls. Bickham said that on average half of the dishes they see are in the trash and half have been collected elsewhere.
“We bring them back to the dining halls once a month, or more often if we have to,” Bickham said. “We return on average 600 to 700 pounds of dishes a month.”
Executive Director of Food Service Operations Dan Detora said that at the end of Winter Term the dining hall received far more dishes than usual — a whopping 1,700 pounds. Detora said that big returns like that often happen before breaks.
[pullquote speaker="Kim Bickham" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]We return on average 600 to 700 pounds of dishes a month.[/pullquote]
When dishes arrive from the Recycling Center they are uniquely difficult to clean after having been stored with food on them for weeks.
“They have to soak at least two days, at least, because they are filthy,” he said. “Then we run them through the dishwasher once or twice, typically twice because they are just nasty.”
Randy Bushey works in the dishroom in Ross and helps when dishes arrive from the recycling center.
“A lot of them come back with mold and stuff. They are really really disgusting and I don’t think people understand or know that,” Bushey said. “There’s times where the aroma just fills the room and I have to leave to go get my breath.”
He said the hardest food to get off month-old plates is fried eggs.
Some of the dishes are so dirty and moldy that they are unsalvageable and have to be thrown away. This, along with normal wear and tear, causes Dining Services to spend up to $20,000 a year on replacement dishes.
Webb pointed out that this wastes both money and resources. “The dining hall has a budget. That’s what they have to work with,” she said. “Do you want to have quality food? Or do you want to just keep buying dishes? And to think about the impact on the environment too, how much ends up in the landfill, it’s kind of ridiculous.”
Dining Services and Facilities have struggled to solve the problem. A few years ago, Detora said they added the dish racks outside of Ross and Proctor to make it easier for students to return dishes after hours.
Detora also said they created the to-go box program in the hope that students would remove fewer plates from dining halls, but it has not made much of a difference.
Webb said that the college used to impose fines on hallways that left dishes out, but she raised concerns about the fairness of that practice.
[pullquote speaker="Cindy Webb" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Do you want to have quality food? Or do you want to just keep buying dishes?[/pullquote]
“I seriously objected to that because I felt that students that could not afford to pay their portion of the fine would be the ones that would end up picking the dishes up,” she said.
Others, including Cook Commons Coordinator Francisca Drexel, think that students should be prevented from removing dishes from dining halls in the first place.
Or, as Detora pointed out, students could fix this problem by returning their dishes.
“I get it, students are busy. But I really wish they would just bring back their dishes,” he said. “It would be a tremendous help to a whole lot of people if they would just bring their dishes back on a regular basis. And if they want something to go, get a to-go container. That’s the whole idea of the program.”
(02/14/19 10:58am)
Members of the Middlebury track and field team have been giving it their all during the past few weeks as they begin to prepare for upcoming championship meets. During the Middlebury Invitational on Friday, Jan. 25 and Saturday, Jan. 26, both the men and women placed first among the competition. The Panthers then had great performances during the Tufts Cupid Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 2. The most recent meet was the non-scoring Fastrack National Invitational in Staten Island, New York, where the team yet again did its best against top opponents.
Gretchen McGrath ’21 stated, “I think that any time we get a chance to compete at a meet it helps us to get ready in a way that ordinary training doesn’t. Even though the meet was “non-scoring,” we all were going 100 percent during the competition, which we don’t do in practice.... Meets also give us an opportunity to test ourselves and do our best under some pressure that can’t be simulated in practice.”
At the Fastrack National Invitational, there were several standout performances by the men. In separate 400-meter finals, Arden Coleman ’20 was able to achieve eighth place while Jimmy Martinez ’19 got third. Coleman had a time of 50.47 ,and Martinez had a time of 48.69. In the mile finals, Jon Perlman ’19 had a time of 4:13.69 and Will Meyer ’20 had a time of 4:19.31. They got fourth and ninth place, respectively. In a separate mile finals, Theo Henderson ’20 placed eighth with a time of 4:22.36. Minhaj Rahman ’19 also continued his strong season as he placed first in the weight-throw finals with a throw of 18.63 meters.
There were also some equally great performances by the women. In the 400-meter finals, McGrath had a time of 59.83, which got her fourth place, and Lucy Lang ’19 had a time of 1:00.80, which got her ninth place. Katelyn Pease ’22 came in fourth in the 800-meter finals with a time of 2:19.45. In the same race, Emily Bulczynski ’22 had a time of 2:21.45, which allowed her to capture 11th place. The women were also able to get fourth in the 4x400 relay as Lang, McGrath, Julia Munz ’22 and Ava O’Mara ’21 led the way with a time of 4:01.83. In another strong performance, Cady Barns ’22 placed first in the triple-jump finals with a jump of 10.39 meters.
The team’s upcoming meet will be the Middlebury Team Challenge on Saturday, Feb. 16. This meet will be further preparation, as the Division III New England Championships are right around the corner.
McGrath echoed this when she said, “It’s our last opportunity in individual events to improve to the point where we feel confident heading into New Englands the following weekend.... Relays ... give us a chance to synchronize working on handoffs and that kind of stuff. It’ll be a good last meet here at home to get excited before New Englands.”
If the team continues on its current trajectory, it should be able to do very well during the next couple of weeks.
(02/14/19 10:57am)
[gallery ids="42994,42995"]
The Celebration of Vermont Poetry & Poets came to the town of Middlebury this past weekend. At the center of the Vermont Book Shop on Main Street, a number of scattered seating options faced a small open space where six poets read from “Roads Taken: Contemporary Vermont Poetry.” This anthology presents a variety of works from young, undiscovered Vermont poets all the way back to the celebrated Robert Frost. The six poets at the Middlebury reading included Karen Gottshall, Gary Margolis, Dennis Nurkse, Bianco Stone, Sydney Lea and Chard deNiord.
“Bringing together these voices has a unique bonding capability, especially when brought to the public through a reading such as this one,” Serrin Kim ’22 said after attending the event.
The compilation of so many diverse poems was neither quick nor easy for editors Lea and deNiord. However, the two worked well together, making the work as smooth as it could be.
“We almost always agreed and that really is a blessing,” said diNiord, “It would have felt like an even longer process if we didn’t.”
The final product contains the work of over 80 poets and took more than two years to complete. The idea of an anthology of contemporary Vermont poetry came to deNiord while Lea held the title of the Vermont poet laureate. Lea’s schedule quickly became full with readings and so she asked deNiord to hold off on the book for a bit. After a switch of roles though, deNiord, finding himself the next poet laureate, asked Lea again and off they went.
This is not the first time this anthology has been the focus of a celebratory event such as the one at the Vermont Book Shop. The poets whose work is included live all over the state of Vermont. “There are more poets per capita in Vermont than any other state,” diNiord said in a Vermont Public Radio podcast. “It just made sense to want to share their work and expose people to the themes within their poems,” diNiord continued.
In order for poets to qualify to have their work included in the book, there were two criteria: residence in Vermont for five years and the prior publishing of a book of poetry with a press that isn’t a Vanity press. Poets were asked to submit five poems from which diNiord and Lea then picked two to include in the book.
[pullquote speaker="BIANCA STONE " photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]I was surrounded by family members who were authors and poets, so it was natural for me.[/pullquote]
The goal of the book and these public reading events is to create an ongoing celebration that will grow and spread throughout the state. Each of the individual public readings takes place in different parts of Vermont, and those poets published in the book who live in the area are invited to read aloud. At the Middlebury reading, the six poets present also chose poems outside of the book to share.
Advertised as a poetry reading in preparation for Valentine’s Day, heart-shaped chocolates encased in pink and red wrappers could be found in a bowl to the side of the seating. In addition, some of the poems read were prefaced with this light-hearted explanation: “Because Valentine’s Day is coming up, I’m going to read this love poem.”
During the readings there was complete silence in the bookstore. A couple in one of the far corners had their eyes closed and held hands. One woman sat on the ground next to the couch, knitting while she listened.
“I noticed that those in attendance were definitely more representative of the older Middlebury population,” Elaine Vidal ’22 said, “I think it would have been great to also see some younger faces.”
Bianca Stone, one of the younger poets included in the book, addressed this observation when talking about growing up in Middlebury. “I was surrounded by family members who were authors and poets, so it was natural for me,” she said. “I don’t know whether I would have become interested in poetry if it weren’t for them.”
Poetry seems to be an integral part of Vermont tradition, based on a section of the book’s introduction that refers to poems in the volume as “claim[ing] Vermont as their place of origin, bearing witness to the remarkably rich and ongoing legacy of the state’s poetic tradition.” However, Stone pointed out that there’s not too much exposure to poetry, based on her experience in middle school and high school here in Middlebury. “There’s definitely room for improvement,” she said.
On the other hand, there is a lot of writing going on if you know how to find it; as National Poetry Month approaches this coming April, the college community and Middlebury residents will have ample opportunity to delve into poetry. David Weinstock, who was in attendance on Saturday, leads a weekly poetry workshop at the Ilsley Public Library. “We will put aside our usual round of reading and critiquing in April and feature guest poets and speakers instead, many from the college,” he said.
“This event had a lot of facets that would have made it attractive to college students, especially the intimacy of hearing poems read in person by the authors themselves,” Lucy Townend ’22 said. “I think that events like these should be advertised more on campus. Also, for a larger audience, it would need a bigger and more comfortable venue to support more people.”
Events like this have originally been catered to a small audience. So, according to Townend, it could be important to strike a balance between creating a small and intimate environment and allowing for a bigger audience to share events like this.
Ultimately, diNiord’s statement that there’s “a fierce self-reliance in Vermonters and mystical love for the landscape” will hopefully continue through the creation of poetry that will be shared and celebrated throughout Vermont and in the Middlebury community.
(02/14/19 10:54am)
The men’s basketball team sealed away its 2018-19 regular season schedule with two NESCAC conference games this past Friday and Saturday, Feb. 8 and 9. Middlebury hosted No. 8 Hamilton (5-3 in the NESCAC) on Friday night, pulling off a 80-79 win over the Continentals.
Max Bosco ’21 shot a three with 2.4 seconds left in the game, propelling the Panthers to a one-point win as the buzzer sounded.
“Anything that we had to do to win and get the chance to clinch home court for [the] NESCAC tournament was big. We didn’t give up, even down a few points, and coming up with a win definitely propelled us with energy into Saturday against Amherst,” said Bosco.
Middlebury faced No. 19 Amherst on Saturday afternoon in Pepin Gymnasium and ultimately fell to the Mammoths 97-93. Jack Farrell ’21 led the Panthers in points, posting up 22, and Bosco and Eric McCord ’19 each had 12. Amherst tallied the final five points for the victory.
The Panthers stand second in the NESCAC, as Amherst and Hamilton will play a makeup game on Tuesday night, Feb. 12, which will determine the final conference standings. Middlebury comes in hot to the postseason with an 18-6 record, and 7-2 in the NESCAC.
“Against both Hamilton and Amherst we played really good, team basketball,” commented Bosco. “We all wanted to win for each other, which was great.”
The Panthers will stay attentive to the outcome of the NESCAC game on Tuesday night, but have a focus at practice this week.
“We feel confident in how we are playing right now, but will continue to work on defensive intensity,” said Bosco. “We came into both games this past weekend with a lot of energy and well-prepared.”
(01/24/19 10:57am)
On the road last Saturday, the swimming and diving teams conquered Union by an overwhelming 194-87 on the women’s side and 190-76 on the men’s side.
The women’s team beat Union to the wall in 11 out of the 15 events that day. The 200 medley relay quartet of Frances Vandermeer ’20, Erin Kelly ’21, Maddie McKean ’22 and Audrey Hsi ’22 started the meet with a winning time of 1:52.73. The four competitors also collected individual wins in their respective events. Vandermeer claimed the 100 backstroke (1:00.41) and 100 freestyle (55.27). In the 100 breastroke, Kelly triumphed with a 1:11.38. Hsi sprinted to first in the 50 freestyle, swimming 25.74. Finally, McKean flew through the 100 butterfly to win in 1:00.94.
Other top scoring finishes came from Jessica Lipton ’20 in the 200 butterfly (2:18.16), Hannah Wander ’22 in the 200 breaststroke (2:35.12), Georgia Houde ’20 in the 500 freestyle (5:23.73), and Grace Stimson ’19 in the 200 individual medley (2:14.79).
To end the successful day, the 200 free relay squad of Courtney Gantt ’22, Erin Kelly, Audrey Kelly ’21 and McKean stopped the clock at 1:42.58, beating Union by several seconds.
The men’s side saw similar results, dominating 12 out of the 15 events. The 200-meter medley relay team of Brendan Leech ’19, Bryan Chang ’22, Will Pannos ’20 and Jake Gaughan ’22 won in 1:40.75, immediately putting Middlebury ahead of the Dutchmen. From there, the Panthers kept building momentum.
Morgan Matsuda ’19 totaled three wins in the 200 freestyle (1:47.89), 200 breaststroke (2:13.79), and 200 individual medley (2:02.33), while Corey Jalbert ’21 out-touched the rest of the pool in both the 50 free (22.30) and 100 free (49.44).
Four other swimmers also claimed their individual events: Leech in the 100 backstroke (54.56), Cody Kim ’22 in the 100 breaststroke (1:02.07), Kevin Santoro ’21 in the 200 backstroke (2:01.80) and Aska Matsuda ’22 in the 500 free (4:53.01). Diver Mike Chirico ’20 was victorious in the three-meter event, scoring 270.98 points.
The 200 free relay team of Keegan Pando ’21, Alex Corda ’20, Leech and Gaughan earned the final points of the day, capping off the meet with a 1:29.72 win.
Before the championship season begins, the Panthers look to secure a couple more wins and fine tune technique. “We’re trying to mimic races in practice and make ourselves feel fast,” Leech said.
“We’re really hoping to move up at the end-of-season NESCAC meet. Looking ahead, we’re really focused on getting strong times to feel good about heading into NESCACs. We have a very large class of first-years who have been working hard all season, and we’re excited to see what we can do at the end of the season,” he continued.
The Panthers return to the Natatorium this weekend, where they will host Hamilton and Williams in their final dual meets of the season.
(01/24/19 10:55am)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team pulled off its second straight win of the week, knocking off No. 3 Williams in a NESCAC contest this past Saturday, Jan. 19. Middlebury led Williams 47-31 nearly five minutes into the game, and concluded with a 12-point, 80-66 victory.
Co-captain Hilal Dahleh ’19 commented on the momentum: “We were confident after beating a good team in Albertus Magnus. We knew we were looked at as the underdogs, but we didn’t see it that way and were ready to compete as soon as we got off the bus at Williams.”
Jack Farrell ’21 was named NESCAC Player of the Week, and led the game in points and assists at 24 and five, respectively.
With eight minutes remaining in the game on Saturday afternoon, Farrell netted five points while Dahleh scored a three to help the Panthers regain their double-digit lead.
“The key to our win on Saturday was also our defense. Williams is one of the best teams in the country, with a lot of weapons, so we had to dig in and play a great defensive game. They have a lot of guys who can light it up from behind the arc, but we were able to hold them to just 2/20 from three just by being there on every catch.”
Matt Folger ’20 added 17 points, and co-captain Eric McCord ’19 led the game in rebounds for Middlebury.
The Panthers will return to action on Sunday, Jan. 27, hosting Trinity at 2 p.m. in Pepin Gymnasium.
“We’re going to build off of the big win and prepare hard for Trinity on Sunday. Ultimately the goal is the same as it always is, which is to win the NESCAC and be playing our best basketball once tournament time rolls around.”
Middlebury has five games remaining in the regular season before the tournament, and all of them are NESCAC games. The team persists with the goal as it always has been: to win the NESCAC Championship.
(01/24/19 10:54am)
Students in the Sociology & Anthropology course Trust and Social Capital recently produced a paper analyzing causes and effects of exclusion on Middlebury’s campus. The department released the paper titled “Trust and Social Capital at Middlebury College: An Analysis of Community and Isolation,” and investigated inequality in four principal sections: race, economic isolation, the queer community and body image.
“I want (this paper) to be a moment of honesty, for us. To look at what our campus culture is right now and for everybody in their own way to do something about it,” said co-author Eva Bod ’20.
The paper combines the results of interview case studies and a 27-question online survey completed by 607 respondents. The survey represents a relatively even distribution of class years, but is more heavily weighted toward female respondents and non-varsity athletes, representing 60.6 percent and 80.7 percent of respondents respectively.
In the section on race, the writers noted the frustration felt by respondents of color, 70 percent of whom revealed feeling a disconnect between the administration’s ideology and practice when it comes to people of color.
The paper describes a “pervasive sense of racially-based isolation on campus.” In particular, students discussed geographical segregation on campus, with certain areas, such as Atwater parties, the central areas of the dining halls and the gym being widely acknowledged as white and/or for athletes. The Anderson Freeman Center received conflicting reviews, with some students lauding the space as accepting, and others feeling as though the center spreads itself too thin in attempting to act as a resource for all minority identities.
“We have a lot of work to do toward supporting students who are historically from marginalized groups,” said Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor, who met with the students to discuss their results. “We all have to work towards building it back and it is not on the students alone to do so.”
Recent administrative efforts addressing these feelings of exclusion include the recent hiring of Renee Wells as director of education for equity and inclusion and the creation of a faculty committee on diversity and inclusion.
The section on economic isolation also echoes ideas of exclusion — especially for students of color, student-employees and first-generation students — discussing how expenses prevent students from fully participating in college life. For example, 49 respondents mentioned being unable to afford concert tickets and 36 noted they were unable to participate in clubs and sports due to the extra costs.
The Snow Bowl, in particular, highlights the economic stratification on campus. Skiing and snowboarding, activities over which students build friendships, are too costly for many students. The paper suggests the school establish gear exchanges or create less expensive activities, such as ice skating, so that low-income students can engage with the Snow Bowl.
For this economically isolated cohort of students, working on campus can be an alienating experience. Not only do students miss out on bonding time with non-working friends, but also the interactions they do have while working may be atypical. An interviewee said, “you’re not always treated as you’d expect to be, and it’s weird interacting with other students as a student versus as a laborer.”
In the section on style and exclusion in the queer community, the writers draw attention to the way queer students use clothing as a form of communication, a way to implicitly broadcast their sexual identity to others and avoid having to explain it out loud.
The paper also highlights the challenge for students who feel on the periphery of the queer community. The question of who is queer enough to be included was a common theme in the survey and interviews. An interviewee said, “I hate when I used to go to [Queer House] events and people in the “queer” community would tell me I looked too straight to be there. [My presentation] doesn’t mean I don’t love women.”
The writers suggest using non-queer spaces for queer events, like holding a drag show in McCullough, as a way to spread acceptance of the LGBTQ+ community. They also offer the suggestion of hiring a queer-specific staff member.
The last section, on body image as a source of social isolation, examines perceived attractiveness. According to the survey, 74.1 percent of respondents defined the “good body” at Middlebury to be toned and athletic. Furthermore, 70.7 percent said that being “skinny” is what constitutes the good body.
The data also presents a striking contrast between athletes — over 80 percent of whom identified themselves as “attractive” — and students of color and economically isolated students, who reported feeling less attractive than their white, or more well-off peers, respectively.
Lastly, the section highlights the dining halls and the gym as spaces where students negotiate ideas of thinness and beauty. 58 percent of survey respondents reported thinking that people take note of what they eat, and another 46 percent thought others take note of how often they work out.
“The students have put their fingers on a number of wicked problems,” said Anthropology professor Mike Sheridan, referring to problems that evolve as one tries to solve them. He said there is little chance that his students’ suggestions for improvement would be completely effective. However, he concluded, “without clumsy solutions, we’re just stuck living with wicked problems.”
(01/16/19 10:53am)
The swim and dive teams began their second semester with a home meet against Colby on Saturday, Jan. 12. The women conquered Colby with a 204-95 score, while the men were defeated 167-131. The Panthers hosted Bates the following day, falling 163.5-130.5 on the women’s side and 192-102 on the men’s side.
The women’s team won 14 out of the 16 events against the Colby Mules. The 200-yard medley relay team consisting of Audrey Hsi ’22, Erin Kelly ’21, Maddie McKean ’22 and Frances VanderMeer ’20 opened the meet with a win, finishing with a time of 1:50.8. Hsi continued her winning streak with individual victories in the 100 butterfly (59.81), 100 backstroke (1:01.08) and the 100 individual medley (1:02.55).
Alongside Hsi, Kristin Karpowicz ’19, Hannah Wander ’22 and VanderMeer each secured two first place finishes. Karpowicz swam the 1,000-yard freestyle in 10:49.15 and then went 55.87 in the 100 free. Wander claimed the title in both the 50 breaststroke (32.44) and 100 breaststroke (1:10.35), while VanderMeer won the 50 back (27.68) and the 50 fly (26.14). Courtney Gantt triumphed in the 50 free (25.36), then joined McKean, Kelly and VanderMeer to win the 200-yard free relay in 1:40.16. Divers Kacey Hertan ’20 and Mary Cate Carroll ’21 captured wins in the 1-meter and 3-meter diving events, respectively, with Hertan scoring 228.45 and Carroll scoring 219.98 points.
The men’s team also saw success in the lanes and on the boards. The 200-yard medley relay team of Brendan Leech ’19, Cody Kim ’22, Will Pannos ’20 and Corey Jalbert ’21 out-touched Colby by 0.01 seconds, winning with a time of 1:37.64. The 200-yard freestyle relay of Jalbert, Pannos, Jake Gaughan ’22 and Leech ended the day with a first place finish (1:27.99).
Individually, Pannos triumphed in the 100 butterfly (53.46), while Mike Chirico ’20 won the 1-meter (243.40 points) and the 3-meter diving events (242.18 points). Runner-up finishes included Charles Quinn ’20 in the 50 backstroke (25.46) and 100 individual medley (54.95), as well as Kim in the 50 breastroke (27.43) and 100 breastroke (1:00.28).
The Panthers fared another day of competition against Bates. Although the 25th-ranked Bobcats attained an overall win, the swim and dive teams earned several individual victories.
VanderMeer and Hsi again dominated their events, claiming the 50 free (24.81) and 400 individual medley (4:43.13), respectively. Alongside VanderMeer and Hsi, Kelly and McKean won the 200-yard medley relay, stopping the clock in 1:50.57. Riggins went the distance by winning the 1,650 free in 18:14.28. Karpowicz conquered the 500 free in 5:17.96. Hertan again scored her second 1 meter event title of the weekend, tallying 215.4 points. Olivia Rieur ’22 took the 3-meter title with 235.28 points.
The Panthers were bolstered by numerous second place finishes, including Kelly in the 100 breastroke (1:09.87) and the 200 breastroke (2:33.11). VanderMeer was runner-up in the 100 free (54.73), then ended the day by placing second in the 200-yard free relay with McKean, Kelly and Gantt (1:39.66).
On the men’s side, Aska Matsuda ’22 won the distance events, finishing in 16.56.20 for the 1,650 free and 4:54.13 in the 500 free. Chirico again achieved titles on both the 1-meter (255.83 points) and 3-meter boards (260.70 points).
Four swimmers claimed second in their events: Leech in the 100 backstroke (53.64), Zack Einhorn ’21 in the 200 butterfly (2:01.30), Gaughan in the 50 free (22.33), and Kevin Santoro ’21 in the 200 back (2:00.80).
Both relay teams secured runner-up finishes, including the 200 -yard medley relay team of Leech, Kim, Pannos and Jalbert (1:37.79), and the 200-yard free relay team of Gaughan, Jalbert, Pannos and Leech (1:28.12).
The Panthers head to Union this Saturday, Jan.19, where they hope to see major team success.
(12/06/18 10:56am)
[gallery ids="42216,42218"]As any Vermonter knows, a cornerstone of surviving the winter is good, honest carbs. Caroline and Matt Corrente, married co-owners of the newly-opened Haymaker Bun Co. and The Arcadian restaurant, know this well. The two businesses now co-inhabit the space at 7 Bakery Lane, formerly occupied by The Lobby. Entering in the morning, however, you’d never guess the dual purpose of the space. Greeted by a charming pastry counter stacked with Caroline’s fresh-baked buns, an espresso bar and lines of succulent-clad wooden tables, you’ll see crowds of early birds from Middlebury students parked on laptops to sticky-fingered toddlers digging into their breakfast.But between the hours of 11:30 a.m., when Haymaker Bun Co. closes for the day, and 4:30 p.m., when The Arcadian opens for the night, Caroline and Matt Corrente turn the place on its head. The barista behind the counter is replaced with a bartender, dough-kneading becomes pasta-pressing, and the fresh white walls once filled with natural light take on a glowing, cozy ambiance to become an elegant Italian restaurant.The businesses opened their doors earlier in November, and, as the Correntes told The Campus, it’s been going great. “We’ve had nothing but awesome support from people,” said Matt, to which Caroline added, “It’s a little nuts, but it’s been a great turnout from the community.”This all may seem like a lot to take on, but the Correntes are no strangers to the Vermont food scene. Matt is a Middlebury College alumnus of the Class of 2006.5, and Caroline graduated from the University of Vermont in 2012. Caroline formerly worked as a baker at Otter Creek Bakery, and Matt is the former head chef of Two Brothers Tavern and opening chef at Notte.Asked if these connections remain important to them, Matt immediately replied, “Absolutely.” At a time when many Middlebury businesses are struggling, Matt is glad to fill an unoccupied niche.“We saw that as an opportunity to provide the community with something that wasn’t currently here, rather than competing with somebody else,” he said.More than that, though, the Correntes are both seizing the opportunity to do what they love. “Cinnamon buns are my favorite pastry,” Caroline told The Campus. She previously attended Le Cordon Bleu pastry school in Paris, where she perfected the brioche dough she uses to make them. Matt, too, said of deciding on a pasta-based menu, “It was an easy decision. We said, ‘Let’s do what we love to do.’”[gallery ids="42222,42220,42225"]By now, both businesses have established their core menu items, having been thoroughly taste-tested by the third owner, their two-year-old son. For Haymaker Bun Co., it’s the “OG Bun,” a quick-selling classic that’s well-represented on the pastry counter. For The Arcadian, it’s the homemade pasta dishes complete with fresh seafood. But the couple is excited to keep developing their repertoires.Seasonal flavors are well-represented from morning to night on 7 Bakery Lane, beginning with Caroline’s specialty buns. She has already begun baking the “Gingerbun Man,” inspired by the classic holiday cookie. But, Caroline said, “Why stop there? Why not do all the flavors?” She plans to have eggnog- and mint-chocolate-flavored buns too, and is excited to be able to incorporate fresh local produce in the spring and summer.Matt shares a similar sentiment and added that he’s looking forward to adding seasonal specials to the Arcadian menu. He can’t wait for tomato season, though neither business imports much produce — because of their heartfelt connection to Vermont, the Correntes use locally-sourced ingredients as much as they can.That doesn’t mean The Arcadian’s winter menu isn’t colorful. One of Matt’s favorites is the Tricolore Salad, a Caesar-style salad that’s true to its name with red, white and green lettuces. Both the Correntes also gave their official seal of approval to the lamb neck, which Matt described as “the perfect food for a snowy November.” The two businesses are also planning to start collaborating on Sunday brunch beginning Dec. 9.Beyond just good food, though, the Correntes want to create a space that welcomes people from all corners of the community. They have already seen locals turning into regulars, and love the idea of the space, which seats 75-80 people, becoming a hangout spot. They also offer free WiFi. “It makes me really happy to see people hanging out and doing work,” Caroline said.The Arcadian will be hosting the graduation party for the Middlebury Feb class of 2018.5, and Matt, having graduated Middlebury as a Feb himself, can’t wait. The restaurant’s reservation list is also already filling up for spring graduation, but the Correntes have even more in store for Middlebury students.The Arcadian, usually serving traditional Italian food, will be hosting “Throwback Thursdays” during January, aligning with the college’s J-Term. Not much must have changed since Matt’s time as a Midd Kid, because looking back, Matt remembers the frenzy that chicken parmesan would incite at the dining halls. He plans to serve the dish on a menu of Italian-American comfort foods, recognizing the need for warm carbs and melted cheese during Vermont’s coldest month.Haymaker Bun Co. and The Arcadian have both started off strong in the town’s somewhat precarious food scene, and Matt and Caroline are hoping to bring them nowhere but up. Both businesses welcome Middlebury students with open arms and, as Matt reminded, “If you can make it to Twilight, you’re five minutes away.”
(12/06/18 10:56am)
A sunny day signaled the end of the Storm Café. The restaurant, located in the Old Stone Mill building on the banks of Otter Creek, had been a staple in the Middlebury food scene for years. Last year, their American cuisine made from local ingredients won the café a spot in Visiting New England’s “12 Favorite Places for Breakfast” list.
On Nov. 11, Beth and John Hughes, who ran the restaurant for the past 13 years, said goodbye to regular customers, many of whom had been coming there since it opened in the lowest floor of the Old Stone Mill 25 years ago.
“It’s bittersweet,” John told Seven Days.
“This was our dream—to own our own business together,” Beth said in an interview with the Addison Independent. In a statement on the Storm Café’s website, they both thanked the Middlebury community for their patronage and promised they would miss all those who dined with them over the years. The Storm Café will be missed by many in the Middlebury community. John estimated that roughly 80 percent of the café’s customers came from the college. “The Storm’s cozy atmosphere, the sounds of the waterfall and [the] delicious food never failed to provide happy meals for me and my family,” Sophie Hiland ’22 said.
The café joins a long list of recently-closed local businesses, but the decision to close was not made solely by the business owners. Middlebury College, which owns the Old Stone Mill building the Storm Café called home, informed the Hughes this past summer that their lease would not be renewed.
However, there is a rainbow after the storm for the Hughes family. Both Beth and John are now working as a paraprofessional and a cafeteria chef, respectively, at Salisbury Community School. And, to sweeten the deal, their twin daughters Molly and Lilly are both students at the school. “For the first time in 20 years, I’ll have my weekends off,” John added.
As the Hughes move on to other things, Middlebury College announced an end to its search for a new partner to move into 3 Mill Street. The lucky tenants? Community Barn Ventures, a group based in town that, in the words of co-founder Stacey Rainey, helps businesses “solve whatever problems they have, getting them from where they are to where they want to be.”
The group started work just over a year ago and already has about 15 clients. It has been looking to expand beyond just its current advisory role, and found the perfect opportunity on the banks of Otter Creek.
Middlebury College bought the Old Stone Mill building in 2008 for $2.1 million. Since then, the college has used the space above the Storm Café as an incubator for student creativity and innovation. The building has been home to students and locals alike, fostering specifically non-academic, self-designed projects ranging from art exhibitions to band practices. However, Bill Burger, vice president for communications and chief marketing officers, explains, “the building needs such investment that it didn’t make sense to go ahead with the same use of the building.”
Community Barn Ventures will close the deal on purchasing the building for $500,000 in early January. The group has already contracted local firm McLeod Kredell Architects to help bring its vision for the historic building to life, opening up to the public in summer 2019. The Middlebury-based modern architecture firm emphasizes a “search for appropriate local expressions of universal qualities and ideals,” according to its website. John McLeod is a visiting professor of architecture at the college, while Steve Kredell teaches at Norwich University’s School of Architecture and Art.
Stacey Rainey and Mary Cullinane, co-founders and partners at Community Barn Ventures, are Middlebury residents who stepped away from corporate jobs and now focus on making their work “have a positive impact on our community,” Cullinane explained. Their plans for the four-and-a-half story, 9,000-square-foot space reflect this desire for community engagement and support for local business.
The top floor and a half will become five Airbnb units, each with its own bathroom and secure access but with a shared living room and kitchenette, intended for parents, visiting professors, or tourists. Just below the mini-hotel will be the Community Barn Network, a shared workspace divided into seating for people working on personal laptops or without a need for private space, dedicated offices and a shared conference room, and telephone booths for those who need to make private calls. The second floor will house a public market with eight to 10 permanent vendor stalls, half of them food-based and half for hard goods, as well as a stall for coffee and a general watering hole.
The objective is to create a “daily destination,” a place where students and town residents can go for a variety of functions. This deliberate attempt to engage with the community was instrumental in the college’s decision to sell to Community Barn Ventures.
“There were a number of different groups interested in the building,” Burger said. “But we wanted to find the right partner who would do something that we felt was best for Middlebury and that would create opportunity for Middlebury College students.”
The iconic space at 3 Mill Street is being brought into a new age by Community Barn Ventures, but the new plans include a nod to the building’s past: the first floor will remain a restaurant, though Community Barn Ventures is still looking for the perfect partner to take over the space. No matter who ends up taking over the first floor at 3 Mill Street, they will have big shoes to fill with the Storm Café’s departure.
(12/06/18 10:55am)
A sunny day signaled the end of the Storm Café. The restaurant, located in the Old Stone Mill building on the banks of Otter Creek, had been a staple in the Middlebury food scene for years. Last year, their American cuisine made from local ingredients won the café a spot in Visiting New England’s “12 Favorite Places for Breakfast” list.
On Nov. 11, Beth and John Hughes, who ran the restaurant for the past 13 years, said goodbye to regular customers, many of whom had been coming there since it opened in the lowest floor of the Old Stone Mill 25 years ago.
“It’s bittersweet,” John told Seven Days.
“This was our dream—to own our own business together,” Beth said in an interview with the Addison Independent. In a statement on the Storm Café’s website, they both thanked the Middlebury community for their patronage and promised they would miss all those who dined with them over the years. The Storm Café will be missed by many in the Middlebury community. John estimated that roughly 80 percent of the café’s customers came from the college. “The Storm’s cozy atmosphere, the sounds of the waterfall and [the] delicious food never failed to provide happy meals for me and my family,” Sophie Hiland ’22 said.
The café joins a long list of recently-closed local businesses, but the decision to close was not made solely by the business owners. Middlebury College, which owns the Old Stone Mill building the Storm Café called home, informed the Hughes this past summer that their lease would not be renewed.
However, there is a rainbow after the storm for the Hughes family. Both Beth and John are now working as a paraprofessional and a cafeteria chef, respectively, at Salisbury Community School. And, to sweeten the deal, their twin daughters Molly and Lilly are both students at the school. “For the first time in 20 years, I’ll have my weekends off,” John added.
As the Hughes move on to other things, Middlebury College announced an end to its search for a new partner to move into 3 Mill Street. The lucky tenants? Community Barn Ventures, a group based in town that, in the words of co-founder Stacey Rainey, helps businesses “solve whatever problems they have, getting them from where they are to where they want to be.”
The group started work just over a year ago and already has about 15 clients. It has been looking to expand beyond just its current advisory role, and found the perfect opportunity on the banks of Otter Creek.
Middlebury College bought the Old Stone Mill building in 2008 for $2.1 million. Since then, the college has used the space above the Storm Café as an incubator for student creativity and innovation. The building has been home to students and locals alike, fostering specifically non-academic, self-designed projects ranging from art exhibitions to band practices. However, Bill Burger, vice president for communications and chief marketing officers, explains, “the building needs such investment that it didn’t make sense to go ahead with the same use of the building.”
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]The objective: to create “a daily destination” for students and residents.[/pullquote]
Community Barn Ventures will close the deal on purchasing the building for $500,000 in early January. The group has already contracted local firm McLeod Kredell Architects to help bring its vision for the historic building to life, opening up to the public in summer 2019. The Middlebury-based modern architecture firm emphasizes a “search for appropriate local expressions of universal qualities and ideals,” according to its website. John McLeod is a visiting professor of architecture at the college, while Steve Kredell teaches at Norwich University’s School of Architecture and Art.
Stacey Rainey and Mary Cullinane, co-founders and partners at Community Barn Ventures, are Middlebury residents who stepped away from corporate jobs and now focus on making their work “have a positive impact on our community,” Cullinane explained. Their plans for the four-and-a-half story, 9,000-square-foot space reflect this desire for community engagement and support for local business.
The top floor and a half will become five Airbnb units, each with its own bathroom and secure access but with a shared living room and kitchenette, intended for parents, visiting professors, or tourists. Just below the mini-hotel will be the Community Barn Network, a shared workspace divided into seating for people working on personal laptops or without a need for private space, dedicated offices and a shared conference room, and telephone booths for those who need to make private calls. The second floor will house a public market with eight to 10 permanent vendor stalls, half of them food-based and half for hard goods, as well as a stall for coffee and a general watering hole.
The objective is to create a “daily destination,” a place where students and town residents can go for a variety of functions. This deliberate attempt to engage with the community was instrumental in the college’s decision to sell to Community Barn Ventures.
“There were a number of different groups interested in the building,” Burger said. “But we wanted to find the right partner who would do something that we felt was best for Middlebury and that would create opportunity for Middlebury College students.”
The iconic space at 3 Mill Street is being brought into a new age by Community Barn Ventures, but the new plans include a nod to the building’s past: the first floor will remain a restaurant, though Community Barn Ventures is still looking for the perfect partner to take over the space. No matter who ends up taking over the first floor at 3 Mill Street, they will have big shoes to fill with the Storm Café’s departure.
(11/29/18 11:00am)
Within the past year, several Middlebury businesses have shut down, leaving “For Sale” and “For Lease” signs in once-crowded window displays. The facades of the empty buildings have cast a somber shadow over the town, and many are wondering what the lasting implications of the closures will be.
A vibrant town is just as important to the Middlebury community as a vibrant college. With these losses, we have also lost unique opportunities to engage with the people of Middlebury by supporting businesses that are important to the larger Middlebury community. The relationship between the student community and the town community has often been fraught with tension, perhaps rightfully so, as the student body often does very little to engage with the surrounding town. One sad example was the cancellation of the Vermont Chili Festival; students loved the event, but hardly ever did more to make it happen than drunkenly consume chili. It should be the student body’s long-term goal to improve the existing relationship between students and the town’s long-term residents. This will take time, and perhaps a few generations of students, but we believe every student has the opportunity and the obligation to contribute to a thriving greater Middlebury community.
Carol’s Hungry Mind Café, The Lobby, Ben Franklin, Clay’s Clothing, Rough Cut and Storm Café, each on or near Main St., have all closed just in the last few months. Store owners say high rent prices, the joint railroad and bridge construction and increased competition from online retailers have all contributed to the closings.
We know the college has worked in the past to help small business owners in the town. (A sizeable fraction of the town’s annual budget is made up of college funding.) We also recognize that some Middlebury students, or students participating in Middlebury programs, attend the college year-round and contribute to the local economy year-round.
In September, several members of our staff had a conversation with Angelo Lynn, the editor and publisher of the Addison Independent. He asked us to think about the types of businesses that would bring Middlebury students into town more often and get them invested in the community. In light of his question, we have been thinking about what could fill the town’s unfortunate new vacancies.
[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]The success of a college depends on the success of the town surrounding it.[/pullquote]
Taste of India and Sabai Sabai, restaurants that serve international cuisines that can be hard to find in rural Vermont, are enduringly popular with students, who often come from urban areas with a wide variety of foods. We think it would be great to fill in gaps left by closed restaurants with more types of cuisine. The Lobby has been replaced by the newly-opened Italian restaurant The Arcadian, but we hope that this will be only the beginning.
Other ideas include more social spaces, where students can spend more than an hour in town. On a campus that sometimes feels overcrowded, spaces for group hangouts are more needed than ever. A bowling alley or arcade could also bring in revenue. Some of the successful businesses in town, like the Tinker and Smithy Game Store, offer social experiences in addition to merchandise or food.
However, this conversation cannot occur in a vacuum. While these options seem appealing to us as students, we must consider the town’s need to fill the vacant storefronts with businesses that will benefit the entire community. This past summer, the Town of Middlebury email list (you can sign up to be on the list and receive town updates at go/middmailinglist) asked residents what alternatives they would like to see replace Clay’s and Ben Franklin. Of the 230 respondents, over 80 stated that they would want a clothing store of some kind. Over 60 said they would prefer a small-format Target.
Some argue that the responsibility to revamp local infrastructure should be placed on the town. The Editorial Board believes that the onus should be equally placed on students. We think the success of a college depends on the success of the town surrounding it. Therefore, supporting the local economy is essential to ensuring the longevity of the college. The Black Student Union (BSU), for example, rents out the Middlebury Marquis to screen films for their members. BSU has actively engaged with the town community, making that space part of college activity and helping to bridge the gap between Middlebury students and town residents.
Our ways of participating do not have to be solely economic, however. The Middlebury Campus has a longstanding relationship with the Addison Independent; Campus editors often intern with the newspaper over the summer.
Recently, The Campus covered the local midterm elections in Addison County. After our election issue came out, our staff compiled a live report on Election Day of the results of local and state elections. The issue and live report received positive feedback from students, faculty and most importantly, town residents. Other organizations have taken similar steps to integrate the college with the larger community through their work.
This Saturday, the Better Middlebury Partnership will host Very Merry Middlebury, a public celebration to kick off the holiday season, with events in town from 9:30 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. There will be horse-drawn wagon rides, hot chocolate, gingerbread house-making and a gingerbread house exhibit, caroling and free gift-wrapping for all presents bought in town, not to mention that Santa Claus is expected to make an appearance. It should be a perfect opportunity for students to have fun engaging with the community and support local businesses.
It is also the responsibility of the SGA External Affairs Committee to serve as a liaison between Middlebury, Addison County, the state of Vermont and other governmental and non-governmental bodies external to the college. Many students, particularly first-years, simply don’t know what the town of Middlebury has to offer. The SGA should but together a list or map of local business, interesting local places to visit, and ways to get involved with the community. The External Affairs Committee could host an event similar to Chili Fest — something that encourages collaboration between students and locals. But the change doesn’t have to come from our institution; it can start with interactions between us students and the members of our community who make Middlebury, Vermont feel like another home.
(11/29/18 10:51am)
The Middlebury swim and dive teams opened their 2018-19 season on Nov. 17 with an away meet against Connecticut College. Both the men’s and women’s teams fell to the Camels by 163-99 and 175-119, respectively. The following day, the Panthers traveled to Tufts, where they were defeated by 168-89 on the men’s side and 167-116 on the women’s side.
The women’s team claimed three individual victories against Connecticut College. First-year Audrey Hsi won the 200 backstroke in 2:12.57, out-touching teammate Emma Borrow ’22, who finished second in 2:12.75. Hsi also snatched a win in the 200 individual medley, swimming 2:14.46. In the 500 freestyle, Kristin Karpowicz ’19 claimed first place, finishing in 5:16.56.
Runner-up swims included Angela Riggins ’19 in the 1,000 free (11:11.12), Ellie Thompson ’22 in the 100 butterfly (1:01.80), and Erin Kelly ’21 in both the 100 and 200 breastroke (1:11.56 and 2:36.49). Borrow, Kelly, Hsi and Maddie McKean ’22 swam the 200 medley relay, claiming second with a time of 1:52.48.
The Panther men also took three individual wins. Jack Dowling ’19 whipped through the 200 butterfly in 2:00.69 and finished second in the 100 fly (54.35). Corey Jalbert ’21 won the 50 freestyle in 22.29, then took second in the 100 free (48.94). Charles Quinn ’20 claimed the 200 individual medley (2:02.04), then placed second in the 100 backstroke (55.18).
Other second place individual finishes came from Aska Matsuda ’22 in the 1,000 free (10:14.94) and Cody Kim ’22 in both the 100 breaststroke (1:01.42) and 200 breaststroke (2:15.44). The 200-yard free relay of Jalbert, Bryan Chang ’22 , Keegan Pando ’21 and Brendan Leech ’19 finished second, stopping the clock in 1:29.29.
The women’s diving squad dominated the field in the one meter event. Olivia Rieur ’22 won with 210.07 points, while teammate Mary Cate Carroll ’21 took second with 205.57 points.
In their second meet of the season against Tufts, both the men’s and women’s teams earned another trio of individual event victories.
On the women’s side, Riggins won the 500-yard freestyle (5:24.92), while Maddie McKean claimed the 50 butterfly in 27.25. Karpowicz was first to the wall in the 200 individual medley title with a time of 2:19.57. The winning 400 free relay team of McKean, Hsi, Courtney Gantt ’22 and Kelly finished in 3:46.44.
Second-place efforts came from Thompson in the 200 IM (2:20.04), Sarah McEachern ’21 in the 500 free (5:30.69), Borrow in the 50 fly in 28.60, and Karpowicz ended in the 1,000-yard freestyle (11:03.10).
Divers Kacey Hertan ’20 and Rieur took first and second in the three meter event, earning 205.80 points and 201.52 points, respectively.
The men’s team managed victories in the same events. Matsuda won the 500 freestyle, Dowling finished first in the 50 butterfly (24.85), and Quinn claimed the 200 IM (2:07.36).
Second place finishes came from Max Eihausen ’22 in the 500 free (5:10.82), Kim during the 200 IM (2:07.72) and Alex Corda ’20 in the 50 fly (24.93).
The Panthers capped off their weekend with a win in the 400 free relay. The team of Jalbert, Chang, Pando and Leech stopped the clock in 3:20.69.
Next up, the swim and dive teams face Amherst in the Natatorium on Dec. 1.
(11/07/18 9:12pm)
Last Wednesday, Oct. 31, the indie-pop bands U.S. Girls and tUnE-yArDs brought their electric tunes and energy to Higher Ground. The Burlington venue, which regularly hosts popular indie musicians, was dressed for the occasion: cobwebs stretched across the ballroom’s walls, orange lights flashed, and fog obscured the stage. Although turnout was smaller than I had expected (“It’s a school night,” Tune-Yards’ Merrill Garbus reminded us), the bands’ music showcased their fun, yet lyrically-complex repertoire.
The concert opened with U.S. Girls, the experimental pop project of Meghan Remy. Dressed as a “sexy nun,” Remy took the stage with eight other musicians that, together, looked like the band from the Muppets (among them, a banana, a clown, and Kenny from South Park).
Throughout their set, the group performed with dynamic energy, livening up the sometimes melancholy songs on U.S. Girls’ latest album, “In a Poet Unlimited.” Fast-tempoed renditions of “Pearly Gates” and “Rosebud” resembled 80s funk songs, mixing saxophone solos with synth refrains, Congo drums, and two electric guitars. Remy performed alongside another singer—also dressed as a nun—and their breathy, soprano voices sometimes faded into whispers, howls, or moans. Towards the end of their set, the two singers sunk down to the floor and then rose slowly, clawing the air like zombies as the funk music slowly built behind them. While the crowd remained small, the audience bopped enthusiastically to U.S. Girls’ songs, and thanked them with a warm applause.
By the time Merrill Garbus, the front woman of Tune-Yards, emerged on stage, the crowd had begun to fill into Higher Ground’s mid-size ballroom. Concert-goers buzzed with excitement, their cat ears and witch hats puncturing my sightline. Compared to U.S. Girls’ elaborate, 9-piece band, Tune-Yards’ setup was basic: only Garbus, her collaborator and bassist Nate Brenne, and a drummer appeared on stage.
Their set combined fan favorites, like “Gangsta” and “Powa”, with songs from their latest album, “I can feel you creep into my private life”, released in January. The mix was diverse but still cohesive: while the new songs matched the vivacity of older classics, their lyrics felt more political and cutting. In “ABC 123” for example, Garbus sings, “Sitting in the middle of the sixth extinction / Silently suggesting the investment in a generator.” Garbus imbued her lyrics with Tune-Yards’ signature humor (AKA, silly meets oh-no-I’m-serious). Dressed in a bee bib with two jiggling antennas, she danced around the stage, pantomimed and clasped her face as if in “The Scream.”
In concert, Garbus’ musical prowess became apparent. Rather than layering instruments, she looped vocal tracks, ukulele lines and miscellaneous recordings, creating a chorus of eclectic sounds. Her looper pedal sometimes caught noises from the audience—an effect that I appreciated. (You don’t go to a concert to hear what you can hear on Spotify!)
Most impressive though, was Garbus’ voice. Spanning what must be at least two octaves, she hit every note with equal power, a touch of raspiness, and even some sweetness. From whispers to shouts, she maintained the same timbre and perfect pitch. Her bee antennas swung off, but her voice never wavered, which, to me, stuck out as the highlight of the show.
Tune-Yards closed the night with one of their biggest hits from “I can feel you creep”, a poppy song called “Heart Attack.” Before exiting the stage, Garbus waved to the cheering crowd. “Go vote,” she said. “Take care of each other.”
While Tune-Yards and U.S. Girls wrapped up their U.S. tour last week, November at Higher Ground is jam-packed with concerts. On Saturday, Oct. 11, Vancouver Sleep Clinic will open for Kasbo—a Swedish electronic producer—and on Wednesday, Oct. 14, you can catch the Weeks, an alt-rock band from Mississippi. For showtimes, tickets, or more information, visit https://www.highergroundmusic.com.
(11/06/18 7:04pm)
[video credit="AMELIA POLLARD" align="right"][/video]
ADDISON UPDATE: 11:06 pm
Democrats Ruth Hardy and Chris Bray were both declared winners of the local state senate race at 9 pm this evening. The announcement was followed by a joint speech, in which the two cited Universal Primary Healthcare, paid family leave and a comprehensive lake cleanup plan as the top priorities to tackle in Montpelier.
Hardy, a first-time elect, thanked her staff and husband, Jason Mittell, professor and chair of the Film & Media Culture department, for their support on the campaign trail. She spent the day visiting 10 of the 25 towns with campaign treasurer Dave Silberman. She drove from Huntington to Middlebury "blasting 80s tunes and dancing," she said at the Middlebury Inn this evening.[infogram id="addison-senate-district-25-towns-total-1ho16vvomr0v6nq" prefix="PeT"]
Paul Forlenza, who's on the Addison County Democratic Committee in Lincoln, Vt., was stationed at the corner of the Middlebury Inn, intermittently connecting his computer to the large TV in the room to broadcast up-to-date local election results.
"Town clerks report into candidates or somebody who's close to a candidate in town," Forlenza said.
Vermont House seats for Addison-3 were won by Democrats Diane Lanpher and Matt Birong by a narrow margin. Democrats Mari Cordes and Caleb Elder were also elected to Addison-4 with 26.5 percent and 29.1 percent of the vote, respectively.
"Yes! We have two Ds. Caleb and Mari have just won," declared Dave Sharpe, the retiring legislative from Lincoln, Vt. to a packed crowd at the Middlebury Inn Tuesday night just before 9 pm.
STATE UPDATE: 10:46 pm
At the VT Dems event in Burlington this evening, Senator Bernie Sanders and Congressman Peter Welch were among the politicians to give speeches.
"Being the United States Senator from Vermont has been the honor of my life," Sen. Sanders said during his speech this evening.
Attorney General T.J. Donovan was re-elected for his second term. Jim Condos, the secretary of state, addressed the crowd just after the announcement of Donovan's win, harping on the emphasis of voting in this midterm election.
"This election was about one four-letter word: vote," Condos said during his speech. He believes the state's voter turnout was 55 percent today -- the highest of any midterm election. 69,000 early votes were cast, as opposed to 33,000 in 2014.
Democratic gubernatorial candidate Christine Hallquist addressed the crowd, thanking supporters and volunteers for the arduous hours put in during the last six months. She admitted defeat with 82 percent of votes reporting in the state.
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"I'm very proud of the campaign we've run," Hallquist said in her concession speech at the Burlington Hilton. "Phil is going to be very committed to the future of Vermont. We sparred well and I think Vermont is a beacon of hope of what democracy looks like."
Hallquist began her campaign on March 2 and has been lauded by Democrats for supporting single-payer healthcare, the $15 minimum wage and paid family leave -- all proposals Gov. Scott's vetoed in the last few months[pullquote speaker="Christine Hallquist" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]We sparred well and I think Vermont is a beacon of hope of what democracy looks like.[/pullquote]
Gov. Scott's favorability dropped dramatically after passing stricter gun laws this past summer. However, he's continued to be one of the most favored Republican governors nationwide. Vermont is one of the only states that often has split ballots. Many voters are willing to vote for a Republican governor, but Democratic senators and congressman.
Editor's Note: Ruth Hardy is the spouse of Prof. Jason Mittell, The Campus' academic advisor. Mittell plays no role in any editorial decisions made by the paper. Any questions may be directed to campus@middlebury.edu.
(10/25/18 9:59am)
A group of students are circulating a petition to ban a local Crisis Pregnancy Center (CPC) from advertising and participating in on-campus activities.
CPCs, also known as Pregnancy Resource Centers, are nonprofit organizations that generally provide peer counseling related to pregnancy and childbirth, as well as financial resources and adoption referrals. The mission of these organizations is to advise women with unintended pregnancies against having an abortion, and offer adoption or parenting as alternative options. Historically, research has shown that 80 percent of CPCs provide misleading or factually inaccurate information regarding the physical and mental effects of abortions. Currently, there are an estimated 2,300 to 3,500 CPCs actively operating in the United States.
The local Pregnancy Resource Center of Addison County is located downtown at 102 Court Street, near Middlebury Union High School. Their mission statement is “Empowering Individuals to Make Informed Choices.” They operate without state or federal funding. In the past two years, the center has attended and advertised their services at the college’s fall student activities fair. Students at the college have also previously worked at or with the local CPC chapter, serving as on-campus representatives.
Toria Isquith ’19 and Kelsie Hoppes '18.5 started the petition to ban the CPC. Several of the students learned about CPCs in Gender, Sexuality, & Feminist Studies Professor Carly Thomsen’s Politics of Reproduction class last year. Isquith was ispired to take action when she saw the CPC’s booth at the activities fair .
“The booth had information about STDs, free flip flops, and business cards, but the CPC did not bring any of their information about abortion to campus,” Isquith said. “This struck me and other students as an effort by the CPC to misrepresent themselves on campus. I followed up with many of these students, who in turn spread the word to their friends and peers, and soon we had a group suggesting ideas for how to get the Middlebury CPC off our campus.”
“Our goal is to protect our peers from misinformation, bias and fear mongering,” Isquith added. “CPCs pose a tangible threat to students’ reproductive autonomy, and our goal is to protect this autonomy while also spreading awareness about CPCs and starting a larger conversation about them in Middlebury.”
[pullquote speaker="Toria Isquith '19" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]This struck me and other students as an effort by the CPC to misrepresent themselves on campus.[/pullquote]
Several college staff and faculty have signed the petition, including the Director of Chellis House Karin Hanta, who read over the petition and offered edits.
Thomsen led the only successful movement to ban CPCs from advertising on a college campus when she attended the University of California, Santa Barbara.
“In my class, we read academic articles about CPCs and watch related documentary films,” Thomsen said. “These texts provide useful tools for discussing many feminist studies concerns far beyond the topic of CPCs, including, for example, the state’s responsibility to counter misinformation deliberately circulated by activists.”
“These scholarly texts do not, of course, provide a simple road map for participating in political activism or for conducting their own research,” Thomsen continued. “This is what we are witnessing at Middlebury. Students are taking information learned in their GSFS courses and applying it in the world. This is happening in the form of circulating petitions, creating websites, writing op-eds and marching in the Homecoming parade.”
Joanie Praamsma, the director of the Pregnancy Resource Center, defended the center.
“The claim that we provide inaccurate information to our clients is categorically false,” Praamsma wrote in an email to The Campus. “Through our free services, our center is helping to build healthy and stable families.”
Praamsma described the center’s commitment to Christian faith and this influence on their health services.
“We make no secret of the fact that our center’s work is motivated by a Christian commitment to the dignity of every life and the preciousness of the family,” Praamsma said. “It is called faith, and it is a faith shared by millions of Americans.”
[pullquote speaker="Joanie Praamsma" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]...our center’s work is motivated by a Christian commitment to the dignity of every life and the preciousness of the family[/pullquote]
Isquith criticized the CPC in an op-ed published in The Campus in November 2017. She has also worked with former Middlebury students to create an interactive map providing information on abortion services in Vermont. For Isquith, the petition is the first step in raising awareness of the issue.
“Beyond this, I’m hoping that students, especially younger, will continue to partake in reproductive justice activism at Middlebury and in the broader community,” Isquith said. “I would love to collaborate with the Middlebury Union High School to educate students about the CPC, especially since they are located so close to the high school and pose a threat to younger students. But I am trying to tackle one project at a time.”
“That students are transforming academic material learned in their GSFS classes into activism and new research reflects the spirit of GSFS as well as Middlebury’s mission to create opportunities for students to ‘learn to engage the world,” Thomsen said.
Correction: an earlier version of this article mistakenly stated that faculty had helped circulate the petition, and misidentified the students who were involved in the effort.
(10/11/18 9:59am)
Mail center employees processed almost 4,000 more packages this September than they processed in September 2017.
The number of packages that the mail center receives has grown steadily over the past decade. Yearly totals were in the fifty-thousands from 2009 to 2012, and then increased in 2013 to approximately 70,000 packages — a 24 percent jump. Between 2014 and 2017, totals climbed from about 80,000 to roughly 89,000. If this September is any indication, the 2018 annual total will easily surpass 90,000 packages.
Many Middlebury students, including some student mail center employees, attribute this semester’s surge in packages to the bookstore’s decision to contract with online bookseller MBS Direct instead of selling books in the physical store.
Jacki Galenkamp, the mail center supervisor, agreed that the influx of packages this September was partially due to an increased number of online book orders.
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“We were getting quite a few books that were meant for the bookstore,” she said. All United States Postal Service (USPS) shipments arrive at the mail center, Galenkamp explained, and since most books ordered after the start of the school year were sent through USPS, the mail center bore the brunt of the work.
“We processed them for about two weeks maximum and then I ended up calling the post office and having them sort out what was addressed to 58 Hepburn, the bookstore’s address,” Galenkamp said.
But Galenkamp does not believe the bookstore is solely responsible.
“I can’t say with any kind of certainty say how much the bookstore affected us,” she said. “It definitely did affect the number, but I don’t know how much.”
All MBS Direct packages were delivered by USPS, and USPS packages accounted for only about 40 percent of this September’s 4,000-package increase. Because the bookstore no longer sells physical books on campus, students have started buying nearly all of their books online, whether from MBS Direct, Amazon or other sites.
“People order from ThriftBooks, Book Depository, Amazon rentals. There are so many companies,” said Nicole Duquette, one of the mail center’s two full-time mail clerks.
[pullquote speaker="Rachael Salerno '18.5" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]The transition from a physical bookstore to the online bookstore just means that everyone and their mother’s uncle is trying to get their books from the mail center.[/pullquote]
“The transition from a physical bookstore to the online bookstore just means that everyone and their mother’s uncle is trying to get their books from the mail center,” joked Rachael Salerno ’18.5, a mail center employee.
The surge of packages made the last month a challenging time for mail center employees.
“During September we were working seven days a week, we were staying late, we never closed the window until the last person was helped,” Galenkamp said. “And then after we closed we would stay for an hour, two hours, as late as our personal lives would allow.”
According to Galenkamp, employees were so swamped on some nights that they were unable to process everything despite staying late after work.
“It was really hard for us to walk out the doors without having finished everything, and we would come in early the next day. That was a little bit of a struggle.”
The number of packages also made it harder for employees to find specific items during peak pickup times between regular morning classes.
“We don’t want it to be a long and arduous process for students, but with the number of packages that are there all the time, it’s been increasingly difficult to find the number of packages right away,” said Mattea Preece ’19, another student employee.
“It’s really hard because you’re trying to keep the students as happy as possible. Obviously you want to find each package, but sometimes you have to disappoint one student,” Preece said.
For the most part, students were patient during the September package rush.
“Students went out of their way to thank us and we really appreciate that,” Galenkamp said. “We worked non-stop, leaving at the end of the day and working weekends, and students were really understanding.”
“The good times definitely outweigh those bad and awkward encounters that you have,” Preece said. “I just think a lot of students aren’t used to having to wait for their packages. I have had a few students be rude to me, and I’ve heard stories from other employees as well, but I understand why people are frustrated.”
Students can help the mail center function quickly and efficiently by respecting the center’s policies.
“One of the biggest things that students can do is not come down until they get an email from the mail center saying that their package has arrived,” Galenkamp said. “It wastes their time because they’re waiting in line, it wastes our time because we have to stop processing in order to tell them that their package hasn’t been processed yet.”
Galenkamp said it could be helpful for professors to consider switching to e-books, and employees have ideas for ways to redesign the mail center to maximize efficiency.
“It would probably speed up the lines so much more if we had an extra window or if they just expanded the counter space. Then we could all be working together to make sure that we got the lines cut down,” Preece said.
Galenkamp’s ideal mail center would be bigger and able to accommodate oversized items with a larger window. However, she is unsure if it would be cost-effective to renovate the center only to cope with the three busiest weeks each year.
“If you could convince the town to put in a Target, that would help us a lot,” Galenkamp laughed.
(10/04/18 9:59am)
This past Friday, Divest Middlebury took a major step towards our goal of finally aligning the college endowment with our mission statement. At 11:30 a.m., three students from Divest Middlebury arrived at Old Chapel to present the students’ position on fossil fuel divestment and the necessary steps the school must take going forward. Students gathered outside of the building to hear the presentation, intent on learning more about the movement that is currently gaining so much worldwide momentum. This day came as a result of years of effort by multiple generations of student and community activists; we are honored to build upon the work that initially created the Divest movement, and the influence of previous students’ activism has remained essential to guiding our cause forward.
Friday morning, three students met with the Board of Trustees to present the case for fossil fuel divestment on behalf of the student body. The presentation lasted 15 minutes and was met with applause and support from members of the Board. Trustees were engaged and curious; they inquired about paths forward and were supportive of the conversation. The sounds of chanting, singing and shouting from student activists surrounding the building added to the urgency emphasized in the presentation. Our movement is more than conversations behind closed doors, but a campus-wide issue; in fact, it was student power that made the presentation possible.
Last spring, the Middlebury student body demanded divestment through an SGA referendum in which 80 percent of students supported fossil fuel divestment with a 70 percent voter turnout, the largest in recent memory. Students pressed the Board to pledge divestment of all endowment assets that include any of the top 200 fossil fuel companies. This referendum brought the issue to the Board’s attention and showed them an irrefutable truth: divestment is a worldwide movement that addresses a crisis threatening members of our community at school, at home, and all over the globe. While divestment alone isn’t the solution to that crisis, it is a tactic that can fight it.
Middlebury students do not come from a single background unaffected by environmental struggles. We come from the coast of California, from mountains on fire, from decimated coal mining towns in Tennessee, from wetlands in Florida ravaged by development, from communities feeling the impact of super storms and hurricanes. We come as immigrants who have fled the impacts of drought and resource wars, as international students from Indonesia, Siberia, Mexico, Brazil, Zimbabwe, New Zealand and countless other impacted nations. Furthermore, the Middlebury community extends beyond students, encompassing low-income staff members impacted by changing weather in Vermont, faculty with the Vermont Gas Pipeline in their backyards and alumni and families scattered across this world. We come from farms without soil, from urban environmental justice areas clogged with power plants and oil trains and refineries, from communities torn apart by fracking and pipelines, from nations slowly going underwater.
Here in Vermont, Lyme disease rates are skyrocketing, summer programs at Middlebury are interrupted by heat waves and winters are getting both shorter and warmer. As a board member pointed out after the presentation, climate change is one of the most challenging problems our generation will ever face. Global warming is not a problem contained to the scope of traditional environmental thought. It is a crisis where oppressive forces intersect and augment—a crisis that disproportionately devastates already marginalized populations.
Middlebury currently owns $53.7 million worth of the fossil fuel industry. As such, the college lends its reputation for sustainability and its social credibility to an industry whose base economic model requires the continued burning of fossil fuel reserves.
Using our school’s name and money, the fossil fuel industry continues to feed climate change. The money that funds our education should not be used as a tool of the fossil fuel industry at the expense of the future. It is wrong to finance our education with a strategy that supports the destruction of our planet and our home communities.
On Friday, we told our Board of Trustees that continued investment in the fossil fuel industry is unacceptable. We must end our support for this industry — both for justice and for the future. We are confident that the Board will align Middlebury’s endowment with the College’s values of sustainability, community, and global leadership. After the presentation, Divest Middlebury received an email confirming that the Board is considering paths forward and will be releasing an official statement by the January 2019 Board meeting. To the Middlebury student body — thank you for your support. To those suffering from climate change and other injustices — we see you and we stand with you.
This article was submitted on behalf of Divest Middlebury.
(10/04/18 9:57am)
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MIDDLEBURY — Since the end of July, Middlebury’s Henry Sheldon Museum has been home to the exhibit “Doughboys and Flyboys: WWI Stories by Vermonters from the Home and Battlefront.” The culmination of over a year of work by Executive Director William Brooks and museum staff, Doughboys and Flyboys highlights the stories of Addison County residents who were in the service during WWI. The exhibit will be accompanied by a series of “noon-time talks” throughout October and early November.
Timed to align with the 100th anniversary of the Nov. 11, 1918 armistice, the Sheldon exhibit focuses on the stories of four Middlebury residents. Brooks explained that the inspiration for the exhibit came from the centennial and his personal connection to Middlebury’s WWI history. His grandfather, Dr. Jacob Johnson Ross, once the head of the college’s physical education department, served as a flight surgeon for the US 17th Aero Squadron during the war.
“World War I is a huge subject matter — how was I going to approach this exhibit?” said Brooks. “[I] decided to advertise to people in the area who had relatives in the service.”
Along with Ross’, three other residents’ stories are featured in the lower level of the exhibit: Stephen A. Freeman, longtime head of the French department at the college, Middlebury resident Waldo Heinrichs and former Middlebury Professor of German Werner Neuse.
Enter the Sheldon Museum’s primary exhibit room, and you’ll be greeted with a bounty of WWI artifacts. Vintage posters line the walls, advertising war bonds or decrying the “Hun,” while exhibit cases dotted with century-old documents, diaries and photographs await perusal. The museum’s upper level is a visual treat, filled with pristinely preserved artifacts on display, including helmets, a stretcher and even an original Luger P08 pistol. Walk into the back room, and you may feel a chill down your spine as papier-mâché-swathed faces peer at you from the opposite wall.
These eerie faces make up part of Brandon-based artist Fran Bull’s art installation “In Flanders Fields,” inspired by Canadian army doctor John McCrae’s poem of the same name. The poppies that to this day “blow between the crosses, row on row,” in the fields of the Somme are brought to life in the installation by the visitors themselves. Museum attendees are encouraged to write thoughts on red squares of paper provided at the entry and stuff them into gaps in the papier-mâché figures, reinforcing the poppy imagery central to McCrae’s poem. The dark shadows of carrion-bird figures hung from the ceiling accompany the ghostly faces, with the somber ambiance further supplemented by sounds of battle emanating from a speaker near the entryway.
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The family history of Middlebury residents Karl and Diane Neuse is deeply rooted in the first World War, and, interestingly, connected to both sides of the conflict.
“My father didn’t talk much about the First World War,” said Karl. “[He] was drafted at the age of 16 into the German army, [and] his father was killed on the Russian front in 1914,” Karl said.
A professor of German at Middlebury College for 37 years, Werner Neuse saved his wartime diary and passed it along to his children. Karl’s sister provided a translation from the original German before loaning it to the Sheldon Museum. Diane’s grandfather, William H.H. Childs, who served on the other side of the conflict in the American Field Service and the U.S. Army Ambulance Service, is featured in the same exhibit case as Werner Neuse.
“I had given the museum some postcards that my grandfather wrote from the front to his future wife and her family,” she explained. Although Diane never met her grandfather, she remembered the intense family stories of his painful respiratory issues stemming from poison-gas injuries during the war.
“He was so severely wounded,” she said, that it was extremely fortunate that “he was from a family well-enough-to-do that he didn’t have to work [after the war].”
On Wednesday, Oct. 10, Middlebury Vice President for Academic Development and Professor of American Studies Tim Spears will be giving one of the featured talks on WWI. He will focus on his ongoing study documenting the national cemetery system and the American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC). As Spears outlined, the inspiration for his project of visiting and photographing American cemeteries began while traveling in France.
“I didn’t really know a lot about American World War One cemeteries in France, and so ... I started looking into the history of it, all the while conscious of the fact that what was really drawing me to these places was the visual landscape,” he explained.
After completing a photography workshop in Sante Fe to learn new techniques, Spears began his project in earnest.
“There’s no comprehensive treatment of the ABMC,” he said. “I’ve written an article on this part of my research, which I’m now trying to get published.” Having visited over 80 national cemeteries in the U.S. as well as many sites in France, Spears noted, “I was being drawn to these places because I like taking pictures. I’ve been trying to figure out how to balance my interest in photographing these sites with the historical aspects of the project.”
The Doughboys and Flyboys exhibit will remain on display at the Sheldon Museum until Armistice Day. The Sheldon’s “Noon-time Talks” series began with a poetry discussion by Professor Jay Parini on Tuesday, Oct. 2. A full list of talks is available on the Sheldon Museum’s website.
A thorough exhibition of some of Middlebury’s most interesting WWI stories, “Doughboys and Flyboys” explores the impact of such a large-scale conflict on a small town like Middlebury. Diane Neuse truly felt the powerful message behind the commemorative aspect of the exhibit. “[I] was on the verge of being overwhelmed by the art that went along with the show,” she said. “WWI was horrific, and what did we learn? We just continue to do it again, again, and again, it seems … and for what?”
(09/27/18 10:00am)
The Panthers just wrapped up a successful yet brutal week, both at home and on the road. Last Tuesday, Sept. 18 the men’s soccer team traveled over four hours to Newburgh, NY for an out-of-conference matchup with Mt. Saint Mary College. Middlebury had a hot start with Raffi Barsamian ’21 scoring his first career goal in style. Barsamian hit a spectacular 40-yard shot in the ninth minute after an assist from Drew Goulart ’20. Ben Potter ’20 scored back-to-back goals in the 12th and 40th minutes. Fazl Shaikh ’20 rounded out the half by finding the net in the 44th minute. The Panthers cruised through the second half and Matthew Hyer ’21 recorded yet another shutout. After the game, the boys hopped right back on the bus, returning to Midd at 2 a.m. the following morning.
Only three days later, the 2-3 Bowdoin Polar Bears rolled into Middlebury looking to inch back to .500 on the season. Bowdoin took the early lead, as Drake Byrd scored in the 11th minute. The Panthers spent the remaining 80 minutes trying to equalize, but fell short.
“Just look at the number of shots we had to theirs. [Middlebury 12 vs. Bowdoin 5],” said Kye Moffat ’19. “We had the better of the chances. They scored on a nice free kick and we just weren’t able to get it back.”
After the match, the Panthers made their way to New York again for an away game against Hamilton.
The match against Hamilton started slowly. At halftime the scoreline remained at 0-0. Four minutes into the second half, Hamilton’s Jefri Schmidt scored after an assist from Jeff Plump on a free kick. The following 34 minutes remained scoreless, and it looked as if the Panthers were heading for a devastating weekend of back-to-back 1-0 losses. However, the Panthers proved their resiliency once again as Barsamian assisted and Henry Wilhelm ’20 shot an equalizing goal in the 84th minute.
At 90 minutes, the game remained tied at 1-1 and the match went into overtime. The first OT went by scoreless. With time running out, Middlebury was able to convert one of their 22 shots into a goal. Shaikh assisted Davis Oudet ’20, who scored his first career goal for Middlebury during the most critical seconds, with only 1:37 remaining on the clock. The Panthers locked down on defense for the remaining minute and a half to get the win.
“The two goals against Hamilton came because the entire team was fighting for the man next to him,” Hyer said about the win from behind. “Henry and Davis both came off the bench and put their bodies on the line to get the ball in the back of the net. The message for the game was essentially to grind until you can’t anymore, then trust the guys who come on after you. In the end, it worked.”
The Panthers have a more relaxing week ahead of them without a midweek game. On Saturday, Sept. 29 the team will head to Colby before wrapping up the weekend against the University of Maine at Farmington. Hyer said the Panthers have been looking forward to Saturday’s matchup for some time now.
“Colby beat us last year so we’ve had their name marked on the calendar for a long time,” Hyer said. “Like every NESCAC game, getting three points is essential and if we bring the fight we had at Hamilton, I think we can beat anybody.”
