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(09/10/20 9:58am)
The rising student debt crisis in the U.S. is not breaking news. From 2000 to 2016, the average annual cost of college has more than doubled, from around $15,000 a year to nearly $32,000. Over the past 20 years, only two other goods or services have risen as much as college: hospital services and college textbooks. Importantly, wages have been unable to keep up with these Everest-like spikes. Since 1989, the cost to attend a university has increased nearly eight times faster than wages. While the cost of a four-year degree exploded to $104,480, real median wages only rose from $54,042 to $59,039 between 1989 and 2016. As a result, many families have been pressured to take out student loans to send their kids to college. This is where it gets bad.
In 2020, Americans currently owe over $1.64 trillion in student loan debt, spread out among about 45 million borrowers. That’s about $587 billion more than the total U.S. credit card debt. Sixty-nine percent of seniors graduating with a four-year degree in 2019 had student loan debt, with 75% of graduates from private, nonprofit colleges (like Middlebury) having loans as of May 2018. As much as 14% of borrowers who go to nonprofit colleges will default on their loans within 12 years, leaving their credit scarred and crippling them financially for years to come.
But doesn’t the value of a college degree make up for the cost of the loans? This question requires a two-fold answer. Historically, obtaining a college degree led to a life of greater financial security than a life without one. College graduates received cultural and social capital in a way that put them at an economic advantage over their peers. However, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found in a recent study that the wealth premium (the increase in wealth because of having a degree) for recent college graduates is almost at zero. In other words, the value of a college degree may not actually be the investment it is purported to be as high costs and lack of job opportunity negate gains.
The second part of the question concerns the actual value of a college degree. College tuition costs and the demand for degrees keep increasing, so one would assume that this reflects the increasing value of a college degree. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Current median pay for bachelor’s degree holders is below 1990 levels, yet college tuition fees have gone up 391%. As many as 40% of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. For context, higher education tuition has outpaced healthcare costs about two-fold in that period — despite the marginal value of a college degree remaining stagnant.
As more people have become aware of the income gap between college and high school graduates, the demand for college degrees has skyrocketed. Colleges have taken advantage of this by jacking up their prices to obscene heights. This leaves people with a choice: forgo college and accept a lower living standard or take on insurmountable student loans with a limited chance at future prosperity. In both situations, the average student loses and colleges benefit.
At this point, you may be asking whether taking out student loans to go to Middlebury is worthwhile. It is a complicated question, but the answer is likely yes. Middlebury has a positive return on investment (ROI) over twenty years. This means that for most Middlebury alumni, their degree will earn them a job that will make the hefty tuition “worth it.” However, Middlebury is ranked 379th in the country in ROI, despite being ranked in the top 60 for tuition. Shouldn’t the price of a college reflect the value of its degree?
Obviously, college is more than just a measure of how much money a student will make with their degree. People are paying as much for the social aspects as for the academic opportunities. There is living in dorms, going to parties, eating in the dining hall and other experiences that, to some, make the value of college priceless. Regardless, that absolutely does not mean that colleges must raise prices eight times faster than wages, and twice as fast as healthcare costs. That is predatory.
I was fortunate enough that I did not have to borrow any money to go to college. But when I look around at my peers worrying about paying off their student loans — while colleges like Middlebury sit on their endowments and rake in mountains of tuition — it makes my blood boil. Millions of kids throughout America are being lured into borrowing money to pay for a degree that will never pay off. This is a system that benefits the rich and privileged while everyone else is left mired in debt and begging for a job. While student debt continues to metastasize, the federal government and colleges stand idle. And why wouldn’t they? They just keep collecting their interest and tuition fees, while American students are left wilting under economic stress.
Some politicians, like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have called for a cancellation of student debt. With both of their presidential campaigns falling short this year, that demand seems unlikely to materialize anytime soon. To address the immediacy of this crisis, the American people need to take it into their own hands. Some have called for Americans to come together and forge a debt strike. By refusing payments on student debt, the government may renegotiate the terms of the loans, making them more amenable. Regardless of the method, stemming the rise of college tuition can only happen if those buying college degrees take initiative and stake their claim on the value of their education. A movement against student debt is long overdue.
Joseph Levine is a member of the class of 2021.
(09/10/20 9:58am)
This article is an installation of the new column "Direct Your Attention" by Arts and Culture Editor Owen Mason-Hill. Each week, he will discuss his favorite media projects he’s discovered.
I can think of no better subject for the inaugural issue of Direct Your Attention than Malcolm Gladwell’s “Revisionist History” podcast because it has done for me precisely what I intend to do with this column. It is hard for me to remember a time when I wasn’t aware of this masterclass in podcasting; I have begun to mark my calendar year by interchanging periods of listening to “Revisionist History” and then those of waiting for another season like one would a new iPhone.
To listen to “Revisionist History” is to become acutely aware of the world around yourself. There is an unquenchable thirst for truth that permeates Gladwell’s authorship of this podcast; even in his intro dialogue one comes to understand that he is unlike other hosts because of his refusal to take part in our historical zeitgeist. The aim of the podcast is to undermine the historical narratives we retell without question in order to find a better, more accurate version of the story we share.
The stories Gladwell tells and the narratives he weaves are unexpected to say the least, and nearly impossible to predict. He uncovers the reason why our society deems hoarding a disorder yet praises art museums that rapidly collect pieces. Later, in the next episode, he explores the invention of napalm and our weaponization of it in wartime. If “Revisionist History” were a ship, Malcolm Gladwell would most assuredly be a captain away from his steering wheel, letting the winds of curiosity fill his sails.
Despite being released just a month ago, the finale of Season 5 has lived in my mind for what seems like years. In this episode, “A Memorial for the Living,” Gladwell interweaves two seemingly unrelated stories so that only in their combined retelling does the audience join Gladwell himself in understanding their link.
In the Season 5 finale, the first story is Gladwell’s deep dive into what he describes as “the world’s most perfect memorial,” the 9/11 memorial in New York City. It is almost difficult to express in numbers just how much money, time, personnel and resources were thrown at the complex problem of translating a nation’s collective trauma into a single architectural design.
The second story Gladwell recounts is about a trip he took earlier this year to Jacksonville, where he visited Changing Homelessness, an organization that conducts a yearly survey of their city’s homeless population. The results of this search are represented on a scatter plot, arraying them along a scale of vulnerability. Each dot on the plot has a name, and each week during their meetings the leadership of Changing Homelessness become increasingly familiar with the identities of their city’s most vulnerable.
The question Malcom Gladwell presents is simple: What is the purpose of a memorial? Why is it that we have constructed, in Gladwell’s own words, “a gorgeous mausoleum for the dead and only a scatterplot for the living?”
I will not attempt to answer this question in a way that will spoil the episode for you but for me, it encapsulates everything that makes “Revisionist History” and its author unique: a fearless progression towards a better tomorrow. Gladwell has no intention of tearing down our attachment to our nation’s trauma, he simply implores us to uncover its purpose. Every episode can be summarized in two simple questions. The first: Why? The second: How can we do it better?
When something as large as a pandemic looms over your shoulder like a perpetual storm cloud, it is hard to discern what is worthy of our time and interest; suddenly all the world’s problems seem to pale in comparison. Yet, despite the overwhelmingness of it all, Gladwell always seems to make the issues feel approachable and, most importantly, personal.
The sense one gets from “Revisionist History” is a warmth of humanity that is deeply embedded within every aspect of the podcast: Gladwell’s voice is both carefully articulate and wildly emotive, the show’s writing is conversationally casual while driving its emotional beats home with an undoubtedly poignant accuracy — and Gladwell’s own quirks make the show deliberately unacademic. I am not someone who can read a 40-page dissertation without a lapse in concentration, yet every time I finish an episode of “Revisionist History,” I feel immensely more knowledgeable than when I started and nonetheless light.
“Revisionist History” was my first artistic love: a project in which I saw no flaws, not a single scuff on its polish. While Malcolm Gladwell’s search is to find and uncover the overlooked and misunderstood, mine is to find artists like him at the top of their craft. The purpose of this column is to direct your attention toward what I think are masterful projects more than worthy of your time, and “Revisionist History” is most assuredly at the pinnacle of artistic creation, head and shoulders above its peers.
(09/10/20 9:57am)
Back in Los Angeles, my Latino working-class background didn’t turn heads at weekly meetings with Extinction Rebellion, a grassroots organization that uses nonviolent civil disobedience tactics to draw attention to government inaction in addressing climate change. It was the norm to find a diverse group of folks meeting to plan the next freeway blockade or die-in or other art-centered action — folks from different racial, socioeconomic and religious backgrounds actively engaged with all comrades. It was a space where I felt incredibly comfortable and ready to advocate for climate justice that truly included all people, because I knew all people were included in the process.
So when I arrived at this institution, I was shocked. I quickly came to see that there was a sort of problematic, yet normalized, expectation for environmentalists at Middlebury College. They are assumed to be straight, white and male, hailing from wealth and a suburb, able-bodied and with tremendous experience in the outdoors. They are vegan and deplore your inability to be vegan, paying no attention to the barriers to and gentrification of such a diet. They walk around in fancy clothing from outdoor brands and incessantly talk about their extravagant NOLS trips in a developing country. They focus on solar power but don’t ask if the lithium mined for those panels was acquired ethically. They weep at the sight of a precious animal poisoned by polluted water but do not fight for the communities of color downstream.
There is nothing wrong if you see yourself in parts of this description; identifying as or advocating for one or all of these things isn’t inherently wrong. However, advocating and affirming this singular conception of environmentalism, and creating space for nothing else, is dangerously exclusive.
Why is Middlebury’s environmentalist culture exclusive? For starters, not all environmentalists are white, straight, male, wealthy or able-bodied. By creating campus culture and spaces that cater to this ideal, we exclude so many crucial individuals who care for the environment and humankind’s future. By excluding BIPOC, poor, disabled, queer, female-identifying and city folks, we not only lose essential comrades to fight for the movement but also fail our community in advocating for real climate justice. I believe this exclusion is a mode of environmentalism inherited from problematic environmentalists in the past, from John Muir to Gifford Pinchot and Teddy Roosevelt, three foundational influences on America’s conservation movement and the advancement of America’s eugenics movement and racist ideologies. We can no longer ignore the significant influence these histories have had on our environmentalism at Middlebury.
It’s time Middlebury’s idea of environmentalism changes. Environmentalists on this campus should take a bold stance in denouncing their organizations’ hurtful words and actions and mobilize to fight for real climate justice. We need to center Indigenous, Black and POC voices and make an effort to include them in our actions, events and processes. It isn’t enough to “stand in solidarity” with #BlackLivesMatter, or any other movement, solely when it is trending.
Real climate justice has to fight for racial justice, migrant justice, disability justice and class justice. So it is imperative that Middlebury environmentalists create inclusive spaces that prioritize the voices and needs of BIPOC and marginalized neighbors. As artist and activist Johanna Toruño says, “If your environmental advocacy doesn’t include folks of color, you refuse to acknowledge the impact of environmental racism on communities of color.” We cannot turn a blind eye to this ever-growing reality that low-income communities of color are subject to the disastrous (and disproportionate) effects of climate change.
So I ask my predominantly white, wealthy, able-bodied and male environmentalists and outdoor organization members reading this right now: What are you doing to make sure your membership doesn’t look just like you? What are you and your organizations doing to serve as allies to BIPOC communities regarding racial and climate justice?
As for my fellow BIPOC environmentalists who have yet to find a safe space: I invite you to “BIPOC Sunrise” on Thursday, September 24 @ 7 pm EDT. The Justice, Equity, and Anti-Oppression working group at Sunrise Middlebury will be starting these monthly meetings to create a safe space for BIPOC persons with love for the outdoors, the environment, a healthy future for all and a desire to fight for racial and climate justice. A Zoom link and collaborative agenda can be found on Sunrise’s Instagram in the coming week.
May this brief critique of Middlebury’s environmentalist culture not bring anger or disdain but instead inspire folks to start prioritizing this movement for our marginalized communities.
Andrés Oyaga is a member of the class of 2023.
(07/29/20 4:38am)
In the wake of nationwide protests against police brutality and systemic racism, universities across the country are confronting their own issues of racism and exclusivity. Varsity and club sports teams at Middlebury have begun to examine privilege and exclusion present within their own groups, and some are taking direct action to foster an environment welcoming to all members.
Varsity teams reexamine recruiting practices
An open letter penned by Middlebury athletes across sports and addressed to the athletics department petitions coaches and faculty to shift practices to better serve underrepresented communities, widen geographic areas of recruitment and deprioritize recruiting trips.
The letter asks that the athletics department move recruiting efforts online to better reach individuals who cannot afford to fund their own recruiting trips, and to shift away from prioritizing face-to-face recruitment interactions, which disenfranchise certain potential athletic recruits.
“Quite simply, we are calling for the demographics of Middlebury student-athletes to better represent those of our country and world,” the letter reads.
The Middlebury track and field team is taking the matter into its own hands, developing a new student-led recruiting strategy. “Student-athletes will recruit high school track and field [and] cross country athletes from racially and socioeconomically diverse high schools located in the Middlebury student’s hometown,” said track athletes Greta Sirek ’22, Grace Kirkpatrick ’22, and Kate Holly ’21.
The swimming and diving team at Middlebury is exploring a similar strategy.
Swimmer Courtney Gantt ’22 is among those who want to make Middlebury’s swim and dive team more diverse and inclusive. “This could include expanding opportunities for virtual recruiting trips if people cannot afford to come to campus or bringing Middlebury admissions representatives to more [places] where there are high POC populations that may not know about Middlebury otherwise,” Gantt said.
The swimming and diving team is predominantly White — in fact, there were no Black athletes on the 2019–2020 roster. In addition to addressing recruitment tactics, the team is also working on educating themselves about race and swimming.
This meant organizing conversations concerning race and diversity in the sport with Director of Equity and Inclusion Renee Wells. Gantt emphasized the importance of engaging in these difficult conversations as a team in order to make a difference both in and out of the pool.
“Our team is making a commitment to educate ourselves about the history of race and swimming and the different access that Black people have had to higher education, jobs, healthcare and all spheres of life,” Gantt said.
The swim and dive team also plans to provide more swim lessons to low income families in the area to expand access to swimming.
The women’s soccer team also reflected on their presence on campus as a majority White team by hosting team meetings with faculty to discuss anti-racism. “We hope to make efforts to diversify our team and are looking into tangible ways we can do that throughout the summer and when we get back to campus,” Ellie Bavier ’22 said.
Club sports take on addressing Whiteness and exclusion
Although club sports teams often offer messages of inclusion in their recruiting and mission statements, many face similar issues of exclusion and discrimination.
Alyssa Brown ’20 is a member of the Middlebury ultimate frisbee team. In Brown’s memory, there have been few to no Black players on the men’s and women’s frisbee teams. Brown attributes much of this lack of diversity to frisbee’s origins as a countercultural sport that has historically been played in majority White and wealthy communities.
“The Pranksters have certainly come a long way since 2016 in terms of intentional learning and commitment to inclusivity, but students of color still do not feel welcome, so there is still a problem,” Brown explained.
Because club sports do not receive the same funding as varsity sports on campus, teams often count on players and their families to make monetary contributions. Although Brown said the Pranksters have always tried to be inclusive by providing monetary aid for those who need it, the personal funds needed for team social activities can be hindering.
“Being surrounded by a community that is interpreted as ‘wealthy’ can generally be discouraging for low-income students,” Brown said. “This is also important to note because race and class are undeniably linked, although obviously it’s case by case.”
Rugby has made steps to decrease the stress that can be created through these required finances. Freshmen are no longer required to pay the annual dues, and players have the option to rent equipment and gear instead of buying.
Megan Salmon ’21 also spoke of issues with racist culture that the team had five years ago. “There was an alum who had a position of power on the team who abused it and created a very racist and generally unwelcoming environment on the team,” Salmon said.
“In the years since, it’s my personal opinion that the women's rugby team has done an excellent job of turning around the culture by having meetings discussing the harm and racism, and gradually having more and more BIPOCs present in our leadership positions. Not intentional, but it helped.”
Salmon and her teammate Lenny Gusman ’21, both athletes of color, recently facilitated a two-hour dialogue about the history of the prison-industrial complex and policing and how they impact the team and team culture. They plan to continue the conversation by conducting similar meetings throughout the semester.
The Pranksters are also having conversations about race and inclusion. Since 2018, the team has held a community workshop each semester with the goal of creating a more inclusive team environment. At these meetings, leaders of the men’s and women’s teams discuss the barriers that are presented through the sport of frisbee and set expectations on how to lessen these obstacles.
Now, both the men’s and women’s frisbee teams are committed to adopting the format of these workshops to address issues of Whiteness and exclusivity within the sport.
The crew team is in the same boat. “Issues of exclusivity on our team are evident from the overwhelming Whiteness of our membership, high rates of attrition of BIPOC from our team and the unacceptable acts of discrimination, notably microaggressions, that many of our rowers of color have experienced,” captain Sophie Smith ’21 said.
Smith explained that the team is planning on changing their financial aid and fundraising system, as well as increasing flexibility to the practice schedule to remove barriers for members who may need to work to support their education. The team is also considering adding new leadership positions, such as a novice captain position, to ensure these changes will be as impactful as possible.
Above all, athletes of color emphasised the necessity of a cultural shift in making long lasting changes.
“I think it’s important to address the reason why POCs are not joining the teams and tackling them instead of just giving into the consensus that Middlebury club sports are just predominantly White and we can’t do anything.” Gusman said. “Our team still has a long way to go just like everybody in this country, but I am proud of the active steps we have taken. Even if we think we are doing our best we can always do better.”
Student athletes raise funds for the Black Lives Matter movement
Many sports teams have also stepped up to raise money and awareness in support of the Black Lives Matter movement, using social media as a means to spread information.
The women’s swim and dive team organized a fundraising campaign, raising over $4,000 for the Rutland Area NAACP through a 48-hour “sweat-a-thon.” The team donated $1 for every minute of exercise logged and accepted donations through an online fund.
Gantt, along with fellow organizer Ellie Thompson ’22, said the fundraiser helped generate conversations about the Black Lives Matter movement among family and community members, who shared posts, educational materials and photos of their workouts on social media. Although she considers the fundraiser successful in garnering support from friends, family and alumni, she isn’t satisfied yet.
“We know that it is not enough to raise money,” Gantt said. “We must continue the conversation and do more.”
The women and men’s varsity squash teams fundraised a total of $12,260 for the Vermont branch of the ACLU’s Smart Justice Campaign. The teams chose to support a more local organization to “become more engaged with the problems of [their] wider community” and “to spread awareness about the prevalence of racism in Vermont,” according to their official statement. The teams held several discussions over Zoom and shared their learnings with friends, family, alumni and Instagram followers via an informational sheet as part of their fundraising efforts.
The squash program will continue their commitment to antiracism by appointing three “Social Justice representatives” who will lead conversations to “ensure awareness of systemic racism.” The teams also plan on designating one match each season as an annual fundraiser for a cause related to Black Lives Matter, according to their latest statement.
The women’s soccer team raised over $2,300 to donate to Bryan Stevenson’s Equal Justice Initiative (EJI), a non-profit organization providing legal representation for prisoners who have been wrongfully convicted, unfairly sentenced or abused in jail. Bavier said the team elected to support an organization that actively works to end mass incarceration and inspire lasting change within the criminal justice system.
“We appreciated the tangible legal steps implemented to create change, and we found their story incredibly compelling,” Bavier said.
The track and field team arranged a virtual 4,000-meter race on July 19 to collect money for the Know Your Rights Camp (KYRC) COVID-19 Relief Fund. Coordinated by Sirek, Kirkpatrick and Holly, the fundraiser supports communities of color that have been disproportionately affected by the coronavirus outbreak.
The three organizers explained that they chose the KYRC fund, which was founded by Colin Kaepernick in 2016, for its mission to engender social and economic change in Brown and Black communities across America. So far, the team has collected over $1,500 and expects more donations as the summer continues.
Several club sports teams have also joined the fundraising effort to support the Black Lives Matter movement within the sports arena and beyond.
Coordinated by Salmon, Gusman and teammate Betsy Romans ’23, women’s rugby hosted a fundraising campaign to support BLD PWR, a Black-run nonprofit organization dedicated to training a more diverse community of entertainers and athletes. The team challenges other clubs to do the same, without disclosing the amount of money raised to avoid performativity.
“We believe that group silence contributes to a lack of accountability among individuals which justifies neutrality and inaction — thus serving the agenda of the oppressor,” the team’s social media post stated. “For this reason, we challenge other Middlebury organizations to take the route of action rather than just words.”
Similarly, Middlebury’s ultimate frisbee team published a statement of their unequivocal support for the Black Lives Matter movement, outlining a course of action for implementing change in our communities.
The Pranksters also raised $4,818 to split between the NAACP Legal Defense and Educational Fund, the Marsha P. Johnson Institute, Black Lives Matter of Greater Burlington and Ultimate Impact through donations from team members, family, friends and alumni.
The sailing team recently collected funds to support Campaign Zero, an organization dedicated to researching policy-based solutions for ending police brutality and urging other NEISA (New England Intercollegiate Sailing Association) to take action. Middlebury’s sailing team is also part of NEISA’s Equity and Inclusion Committee, which elects one representative from each team in the league to discuss issues of exclusivity within the sport of sailing.
Middlebury’s crew team gathered monetary donations for three organizations, including the NAACP, National Bail Out and Row New York, which provides academic and athletic support for youth, regardless of background or rowing ability.
While team fundraising campaigns have helped spread awareness and raise funds to support anti-racist organizations, each team recognizes that the pocketbook itself is not powerful enough to create permanent change.
“We are hopeful that there will be changes at an institutional level to do more to bring prospective POC athletes to Middlebury and increase teams’ diversity,” Gantt said. “We must increase access to our school and our sport so that more Black leaders can emerge and contribute their voice to the national conversation.”
Copy Editor Ideal Dowling ’22 contributed reporting.
(07/14/20 4:53am)
Summer of 2020 is a time of national soul searching. After the horrific killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless other Black Americans, Black Lives Matter has become a rallying cry for a sizable number of American citizens and residents.
It is sadly telling that just when many programs and departments at Middlebury College, including my own, have issued statements of support for racial justice, my colleague and friend Marissel Hernández-Romero recounts some of the many racist incidents she has experienced at Middlebury and at the Department of Luso-Hispanic studies since her arrival three years ago.
Middlebury College prides itself on promoting diversity among its students and faculty, often boasting its statistics and glossy images of BIPOC community members. But our college will not be truly diverse until it provides a safe environment for the handful of Black and other minority employees. In failing to nurture them, we undermine their careers and benefit those who have always held power. In other words, we support a White supremacist institution.
I can say many things about Dr. Hernández-Romero’s years at Middlebury College, but her letter provides a better glimpse into her life here as a hell of alienation and silence than I could offer. And what better evidence is there of this hell than the college taking less than two hours to scrub her message from our community’s email servers? Then came the explanation to add paternalism to the silencing.
I am angry. I have been angry seeing colleagues act as if she did not exist. I am angry that her concerns were not taken seriously, and her demands postponed. Sadly she is not alone; she is one of several women to leave Middlebury this year for appointments at peer institutions. I feel a deep sense of loss but also of responsibility. We failed to support them; thus, we deserve losing them. But our students do not.
As hurtful as these events are, they are not unique, but simply the latest in a long timeline of the college’s failures to demonstrate a true commitment to diversity. They find echoes in my department’s own history. I have many times seen colleagues — the vast majority female, many of color, some LGBT — feel unwelcome, fail to thrive, then leave. Others have stayed, but cope by keeping distance from a toxic environment.
I am disheartened by how little has changed since I arrived on a one-year appointment, 24 years ago. Soon after my arrival, I met my two “senior junior” colleagues who, unlike me, had tenure track appointments. I was happy to have role models who could show me the way, until the end of the year when they announced they were both quitting. When I asked why, one of them, a Black female colleague, said: Stay long enough and you will see.
I did, and soon my departed colleague’s words proved right. I saw many colleagues, mostly members of vulnerable groups, humiliated and undermined. In addition to my colleagues who departed in 1997, at least two more left their tenure track jobs after passing the first reviews. Two others saw their applications for tenure-track positions dismissed in what I believe to be irregular and unethical ways. Two more endured and were awarded tenure, but within a few years their bodies gave out. If you were here in 2013 or 2017 you remember them; if not, you probably have heard their names — Ana Martínez-Lage and Juana Gamero de Coca.
I too was part of that group. Throughout my pre-tenure years, I was the target of misogynistic and racist attacks while the leadership in my department stood by: some as enablers, others as co-victims. Only when I got tenure — in what seemed a miraculous event — did I feel I could ask for protection. My many meetings with the Dean of Faculty and the President of the College (in a previous administration) went nowhere until I hand-delivered to them a written account of what they already knew. That was the turning point: the paper trail compelled them to act. My tormentor left, and I eventually healed.
Others came after me, and eventually Dr. Hernández-Romero: the first Black woman to join our department since 1997. Like me, she went for help to the leadership after many instances of racism. Unlike me, she was listened to, but received no recourse. In this we have failed her. The fact that some in our department have been targets of misogyny, racism, classism or other forms of bigotry does not remove our responsibility. On the contrary, our experiences should foster deeper empathy for others and raise the standards we hold ourselves to.
What happened to Dr. Hernández-Romero is not an individual problem, but an institutional one. Our review system, for instance, places our junior colleagues in a relationship of dependency. The mentorship they require is based on trust and respect. If senior colleagues doubt juniors’ lived experiences, if they deny them support and recourse, if they believe they are not “one of us”: how can they overcome? We could, instead, start by taking their grievances seriously; we could show that we want them to succeed — a disposition that has surely helped many White male professors through the tenure process.
What would it take for us to apply our policies towards the anti-racist goals in our Black Lives Matter statements? And can we turn our liberal institution into a radical one? We have the expertise and the resources; I hope we have the courage.
Gloria Estela González Zenteno is Professor of Luso-Hispanic Studies and Director of the International and Global Studies Program.
(07/14/20 4:41am)
Police reform took center stage in the Vermont legislature as lawmakers voted unanimously to approve S.219 on Friday, June 26 before adjourning for six weeks. The bill, which aims to address racial bias and excessive use of force by law enforcement, was first introduced in January but gained new attention from lawmakers following the murder of George Floyd by police in Minneapolis this May.
The bill, which now awaits Gov. Phil Scott’s signature, prohibits officers from using any restraint maneuver — including chokeholds — that “applies pressure to the neck, throat, windpipe or carotid artery that may prevent or hinder breathing, reduce intake of air or impede the flow of blood or oxygen to the brain.” In addition, the bill updates the definition of unprofessional conduct to include prohibited restraints. Officers who cause serious injury or death by using such a restraint face up to 20 years imprisonment and a $50,000 fine.
S.219 also requires that Vermont State Police officers begin using body cameras and that Vermont law enforcement agencies comply with existing race data reporting requirements in order to retain state grant funding. Under 20 V.S.A. § 2366, for all roadside stops Vermont police agencies are required to report the race, age and gender of the driver; the reason for the stop; any type of search that was performed; any evidence that was collected and the outcome of the stop.
Criticism
Although activists across the country have called for swift action to address police brutality, some Vermonters have criticized the bill as hasty and lacking in input from the state’s Black and Brown communities. Vermont State Senator and President Pro Tempore, Tim Ashe, explained that the legislature’s biggest challenge has been “the battle between time and progress.”
“I’ve watched ‘the process’ derail too many no-brainer reforms. So my encouragement as Senate leader was to act in as many instances as possible,” he wrote in an email to The Campus. “While these discussions will rightly continue in the months and years ahead, the will to act is now and it would be a mistake to miss it."
In addition, legislators set a repeal date of July 1, 2021 on the prohibited restraint and justifiable homicide statutes in order to prompt further action on them during the next session.
“In looking at [the justifiable homicide] statute, when our judiciary committee was taking up [bill S.219], they realized ‘this is really out of date and we need to do something with this,’ but we just didn't have the time to dig into it,” said Vermont State Senator Ruth Hardy in an interview with The Campus.
She explained that S. 219 is only a first step, and that the repeal forces the legislature to deal with the statute during its next session.
“It basically continues the conversation and continues the work and the testimony and the research into updating these statutes to make sure that they are relevant and timely and fair and unbiased and that they hold the police accountable for their actions,” Hardy said.
Furthermore, though this bill takes steps to address misconduct by individual officers, it does not include many of the demands made by advocates of institutional reform.
As part of his campaign for High Bailiff of Addison County, Dave Silberman began a petition titled “Repair Our Public Safety Systems: Center Justice and Community.” Calling for officials at all levels of government to move beyond words, it demands for civilian oversight of police use of force incidents, a review of all pending cases with Black defendants for signs of racial bias and the strengthening of existing hate crime laws.
Silberman said in a recent call with The Campus that addressing the systemic racism that “infests” policing systems starts with reevaluating the state and municipal budgets to reallocate resources towards models of public safety that center community justice instead of retribution and punishment.
His petition calls for reallocating law enforcement budgets to services such as crisis intervention and substance use counseling.
“Some people might want to call that ‘defund the police’; I call that reallocating our budget,” Silberman said. “But at the end of the day, it's about spending less on policing and more on effective models of community safety.”
Other bills
The legislature has made progress on other bills pertaining to policing and criminal justice reform. Bill S.338, also known as “Justice Reinvestment II,” passed on Wednesday, June 24 and also awaits Gov. Scott’s signature.
Based on the results of a decade of research into Vermont’s criminal justice system, it aims to reduce the state’s incarcerated population and reduce related expenses by streamlining furlough and parole policies.
The bill also commissions a new study into racial disparities in Vermont’s criminal justice system, with a focus on exploring the relationship between demographic factors and sentencing outcomes as well as whether the use and length of incarceration contributes to racial disparities.
In addition, the bill aims to reduce recidivism by providing greater support to persons transitioning into the community. Recidivism contributes significantly to Vermont’s incarceration rates, with an average of 78% of accepted inmates in the past three years returning from furlough, parole and probation. In addition, nearly 80% of furlough returns to incarceration are due to technical violations — such as a lack of housing or employment — rather than new criminal offenses.
When the legislature reconvenes in August, it will continue to work on S.119 — a bill that authorizes police use of deadly force only when “necessary” in the context of each situation — and S.124 – which modifies the state’s police recruitment, training and conduct standards and expands civilian membership in the Vermont Criminal Justice Training Council.
Editor’s Note: Ruth Hardy is married to Middlebury College Professor of Film and Media Culture Jason Mittell, who is The Campus’s academic advisor. All questions may be directed to campus@middlebury.edu.
(07/07/20 10:00am)
On Sunday evening of June 28, the entire Middlebury College community — faculty, staff, current students, alumni, retirees and more — received an email from Professor Marissel Hernández-Romero. In it, she details her experiences with racism at the college. She goes on to name specific incidents and people, and ends her letter by encouraging, “all BPoC staying, students, staff and faculty to share their stories without fear and held [sic] the institution accountable for their systemic racism”. It is with those words of encouragement that I am inspired to write this op-ed.
As one of the few Black female faculty at Middlebury College, I’m keenly aware of how White supremacy works in academia and how it has been a contributing factor in the current exodus of Black female faculty and staff. It saddens me to see so many of my friends and incredible scholars leave because of ongoing incidents that left them feeling unsupported, demeaned, silenced and more. It has been infuriating and exhausting to hear their stories or even see these incidents play out in front of me. I have participated in the ongoing work that has been taking place over the last few weeks to address and tackle these issues, and eagerly await the changes that must come.
And, I choose to remain at Middlebury, following my track towards tenure, with plans to continue raising my three daughters here.
Why?
The students. Since the Charles Murray protests, I have been in awe of how successfully our students have been able to articulate their concerns, voice their demands and organize to fight against systemic racism. They regularly inspire me to be a more curious, more thorough scholar and filmmaker. If I ever feel like giving up, their presence encourages me to keep fighting for a more inclusive, equitable future.
The department of Film and Media Culture. It has been so affirming to work in a department that has always been welcoming, unconditionally supportive and actively engaged in being more inclusive in their curriculum and classrooms. I am grateful to be surrounded by such colleagues and excited to continue working with them.
Last but not least, the presence and work of specific professors. These are people who have been consistent in their emotional and professional support from the first day I arrived here with my husband, Professor David Miranda Hardy, and our children in early 2015. They have opened their homes and hearts, giving us and other BIPOC faculty a safe space to land, to feel like we’re “home”. These are faculty that are constantly calling out racism wherever it is, from speaking out against Charles Murray and other public and private racist incidents to using their curriculum to showcase work by BIPOC creators and scholars. Without these faculty, I’m not sure I would still be here.
The faculty I’m talking about are Professor Enrique Garcia (and his wife, Professor Nikolina Dobreva), Professor Marcos Rohena-Madrazo and Professor Patricia Saldarriaga. In the five and a half years that I have been at Middlebury, raising our three Black (biracial) children, navigating what it means to fight anti-Black racism as faculty and parents in a predominantly White state, I am so grateful that they (along with many other faculty and staff I met mainly through the Department of Luso-Hispanic Studies) are here too. They have been an anchor for so many BIPOC faculty. And not just because they cook amazing pernil and provide a space for us to complain about the various micro and macro aggressions we experience — but because they’re also doing the work to fight racism in their classrooms and beyond.
In her email denouncing institutional racism, Professor Marissel Hernández-Romero names specific incidents with these colleagues and my husband to imply that they are part of the institutional racism here at Middlebury.
I strongly denounce that implication. In doing so, I know I risk being accused of negating Professor Hernández-Romero’s experiences or further silencing her. I risk being told, “well that’s your experience, not hers.” But I will continue. Because yes, I am speaking from my own experience. My years and years of close, regular, daily experience with these people have made me — a Black female professor teaching at Middlebury — feel unconditionally and vitally supported.
I am especially compelled to speak out against her claims because there are now calls to devote time and resources to investigating these faculty of color. If Professor Hernández-Romero has the right to share her personal perspective — a perspective that has long-lasting implications, a perspective that has already caused a lot of stress, confusion and heartache — then I, too, have the right to share mine.
I first heard of Professor Hernández-Romero through Enrique Garcia and Marcos Rohena-Madrazo. They were raving about an amazing candidate in their departmental search for a visiting professor. They were excited about what she would be able to bring to the department as a woman of color, a Black woman. As faculty whose scholarship contributed to de-centering Europe/Spain as the epicenter of intellectual contributions to their field (led by the hard work of Patricia Saldarriaga), Professors Garcia and Rohena-Madrazo have offered many classes that center BIPOC voices and were thoroughly invested in giving a platform to non-white scholars.
I later heard more about Professor Hernández-Romero through my husband, Professor Miranda Hardy. Since he was an active voice in the fight against Charles Murray at the time, Professor Hernández-Romero turned to my husband for support whenever she experienced racism.
As someone who had proven himself to be an anti-racist, as the husband of a Black woman and the father to three Black-identifying children, he felt personally affected by her stories about her incidents of racism in the town of Middlebury. And he didn’t just sit with them, he organized to have her stories heard, taken seriously. Perhaps this is why she continued to seek his advice and support whenever she encountered racism.
I name these incidents to counter the implication that they are part of the problem of systemic racism at Middlebury. Over the years, I have seen time and time again only the opposite. From the classroom to personal interactions, they have shown up in ways that have had a significantly positive impact on the lived experiences of me and many BIPOC faculty, staff and students here at Middlebury.
Finally, I must address Professor Hernández-Romero’s claim that the faculty she specifically names in her email are “White-passing”. Perhaps this is an attempt to give more credence to her claims. Perhaps it is just her personal perspective. But by sharing this perspective in her community-wide email, she negates the lived experiences of these people of color. They have all experienced racism here at Middlebury and beyond, precisely because of the way they look. To deny this identity is to deny these experiences, and it is simply wrong.
Although Professor Hernández-Romero purports to be denouncing institutional racism at Middlebury, her email mainly targets individual professors of color who are actively fighting it (all while fielding various micro and macro aggressions in their own personal lives). She has now garnered the attention and support of students who are eager to hold the college accountable for the very real institutional racism that exists, but now it is at the expense of the professors of color that will continue to work here. It is peculiar to say the least, that someone supposedly invested in fighting institutional racism would exit this community with individualized accusations against the very people who are fighting to make this place more inclusive. These serious accusations of racism against people of color at Middlebury cannot exist without scrutiny simply because they are coming from a Black woman.
I end this letter with a heavy heart but empowered with the hope that my voice will also be heard. Because I won’t be silenced either. And I will continue to use my voice to fight structural racism and highlight the voices of people who do the same.
In solidarity,
Natasha Ngaiza
Natasha Ngaiza is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Culture at Middlebury.
(07/06/20 4:18am)
President Patton acknowledged departed professor Marissel Hernández-Romero’s email and echoed the statement sent by Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández
Face masks will be mandated, and the college will install Plexiglass barriers, visual reminders, hand sanitizer stations and other measures to minimize risk
The July 6 deadline is non-binding, and students who withdraw before the start of the semester will be able to receive a full refund and preserve their financial aid eligibility
Spaces will be reconfigured to adhere to “physical distancing” guidelines
Administrators redoubled their commitment to racial equity after SGA Vice President Roni Lezama drew their attention to a question from Joel Machado ’22
Panelists from the Student Leadership Group (SLG) and other administrative offices shared an overview of the school’s plans for fall semester during a June 29 student Town Hall hosted by the Student Government Association (SGA). Afterward, panelists answered students’ specific questions, some pre-submitted and others asked live via chat. SGA President John Schurer ’21, SGA Co-Vice President Sophia Lundberg ’21.5 and SGA Co-Vice President Roni Lezama ’21 moderated the Town Hall.
The letter
Before the presentations began, President Laurie Patton addressed the June 28 email from departed professor Marissel Hernández-Romero and its larger import as a representation of the pervasive presence of racism on campus. President Patton reaffirmed the statement emailed to the student body earlier in the day by Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández, acknowledging Middlebury’s entrenched, underlying culture of racism, the harm caused to Hernández-Romero, as well as all community members of color, and the urgent need to adequately address these issues with anti-racist initiatives.
“Because we must be focused on action, we are working now on a strategic plan… for diversity, equity and inclusion that is focused on a number of different issues, [including], particularly in this moment, anti-black racism,” Patton said.
Though unable to comment on the specifics of individual incidents mentioned in Hernández-Romero’s email because of due process and confidentiality requirements, Patton stated that each case will be investigated.
She also reiterated that the email was removed from servers in order to prevent any additional harm caused by potential misuse of the “reply all” function, such as responses insulting Hernández-Romero or making light of her experiences. However, Patton recognized that the decision to remove the email prevented Hernández-Romero from being heard and had its own negative impact.
Following President Patton’s introductory remarks, panelists shared plans for campus life during the pandemic.
Health and Safety
To ensure the health and safety of the community, ResLife staff, Public Safety, faculty and staff are being trained to handle the new challenges posed by Covid-19 on campus and to support health protocols.
Middlebury has also signed a contract with the Broad Institute in Cambridge, a testing company that uses a less-invasive anterior nares swab (not a nasopharyngeal swab, which goes deep into the back of the nose). In addition, a contact-tracing app is currently being tested for use in the fall.
Face coverings will “absolutely” be required, so Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator Jen Kazmierczak recommends finding a fit most comfortable before returning to campus. “Cloth face coverings should not be considered PPE (personal protective equipment),” added Kazmierczak, who clarified that face masks are a public health measure necessary to protect others, not just an optional protection for oneself.
The college plans to provide two cloth face masks to each student. In addition, administrators are also looking into the possibility of providing clear face coverings for professors to accommodate hearing-impaired students.
The college is preparing to bolster safety in a number of ways, including the installation of directional arrows and other visual reminders to maintain distancing. The college will also install Plexiglas barriers and hand sanitizer stations, as well as providing materials for cleaning and disinfecting.
Once on campus, there will be daily health checks, and students will be required to stay in their rooms if sick. The administration did not elaborate on how health checks will be performed.
A finalized health pledge will be sent to all students and their families. “We are looking at both the internal work that a student needs to do to keep themselves healthy, as well as the ways in which, in our environment, we can be accountable for keeping each other healthy,” Patton said.
Clear expectations of adherence to health protocols will be communicated pre-arrival, along with a rubric outlining what consequences will be administered for specific violations of the protocol. Depending on the seriousness of and level of risk created by the violation, consequences may range from educational sanctions to dismissal from campus housing.
Dr. Mark Peluso, medical director of Parton Health Services, noted that there is no specific threshold of cases that will trigger an evacuation mid-semester. Additionally, because such a measure will be dependent upon local and national data, an evacuation would not be sudden but instead would follow a rolling-back of phases. While the college will aim to send as many students home as possible, requests for exceptions will be possible. “We understand it will not be realistic for everyone to evacuate campus,” said Peluso.
Academic Affairs
The college plans to use the data from July 6 — the deadline for students to request a leave of absence for the fall semester — to create the final course schedule, which they intend to release by the third week of July. All class descriptions will include their modality.
Students who choose to withdraw after the July 6 deadline but before the beginning of the semester will be entitled to a refund and will preserve their financial aid eligibility.
Provost Jeff Cason warned students to prepare for the possibility of all courses returning to the online format as needed with the progression of the semester, but he emphasized that professors are working extensively with DLINQ to address the challenges students faced during the spring semester as a result of the emergency transition to virtual learning.
“Online learning is not inferior to in-person learning,” said Cason, assuring webinar attendees that the college is working diligently to create support systems and other mechanisms to provide the resources and maintain the opportunity for close faculty-student relationships. These initiatives aim to nullify the inequities exacerbated by online learning.
Considering the financial strain caused by the pandemic, many students are wondering if Student Financial Services (SFS) plans on adjusting packages accordingly. Kim Downs-Burns, associate vice president of SFS, noted that the office has begun awarding packages via BannerWeb and will continue to do so. She encouraged students to call SFS with any questions. Additionally, there will be student employment opportunities throughout the semester.
Student Life
Kazmierczak noted that the college is emphasizing the term “physical distancing” in the place of “social distancing” as a representation of their commitment to still provide opportunities for meaningful social interaction this semester.
Common spaces will be open in residential and other areas but at dramatically reduced capacity. Furniture in most spaces will be reorganized to ensure physical distancing. “We recognize that students need to get out of their rooms,” said Dean of Students Derek Doucet.
When asked about the reality of traditional student social life existing this semester, Doucet responded that all gatherings will need to adhere to physical distancing guidelines, capacity limits and face-covering requirements. In other words, sweaty Atwater parties cannot happen. Doucet suggested MCAB and SGA work to “think outside the box” to reimagine social life, as parties are going to look “pretty darn different.”
The Dining Services team will communicate a phased dining plan to students later this summer and “are considering Grille takeout even in phase one.”
The Athletic Center will also follow a phased approach in regards to increasing capacity limits in facilities, according to Director of Athletics Erin Quinn.
In response to a question about Middlebury’s plan to improve its lack of sufficient counseling services, a problem that predated the Covid-19 pandemic, Executive Director of Parton Health Services Gus Jordan said that the college is working to supplement the existing staff with a telehealth company that will provide free access to psychologists online for up to 12 sessions. The service will be accessible whether students choose to return to campus or not, and Jordan is “confident it will meet demand.”
There will be another opportunity this summer to retrieve any belongings left behind for students who choose not to return in the fall. For those unable to travel to campus, the school has storage space available.
Kathy Foley, associate dean and director of the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) office, stated that an email with drop-in hours this week and FAQs answers will be sent shortly. Though there is little information available from the U.S. government about travel restrictions, international students should respond to the July 6 form to let the college know of their intentions should entry into the country be possible by the fall.
Commitment to racial justice
Toward the end of the Town Hall, Co-Vice President Roni Lezama brought the administration’s focus to a question from Joel Machado ’22. Machado had entered his submission immediately after the chat function was enabled.
“...Since President Patton at the beginning of this Town Hall identified Covid-19 and racism as two of the biggest crises of our time, we should all be on the same page in the understanding that Middlebury MUST commit the same energy toward tackling both problems,” the question read. “Will the Senior Leadership Group commit to holding a Town Hall meeting like this one to address the specific campus policy adaptations and long term actions the college will be taking to address systemic racism?”
President Patton thanked Machado for his question and said she is “eager to share thoughts and plans.” She noted that the administration is working on a strategic antiracist plan in contingency with the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, the SGA, campus cultural organizations and faculty. The five-year plan will draw on feedback from last year’s campus climate external review to bolster diversity, equity and inclusion. Patton thanked students for the many good ideas they have already shared.
Some of the college’s priorities include providing support for Black Studies and Black professors, facilitating better interactions between students of color (particularly Black students) and the administration, as well as decolonizing the curriculum department by department.
Additionally, Patton noted a continued commitment to “intensive fundraising in this area.” She also reaffirmed the college’s focus on the Twilight Project, which will “commission artistic performances and support academic research that confronts Middlebury’s historic treatment of underrepresented and excluded groups.”
Fernández agreed that a separate Town Hall will be necessary to adequately address the topic of racism at Middlebury and that hearing students’ perspectives is important. The college will hold a forum with further information on their plans in late August, at which point students will have the opportunity to give more constructive feedback.
Looking ahead
Although administrators offered initial estimations of how the fall semester will unfold, Doucet noted that these plans are highly flexible and dependent upon both the internal success of keeping campus free from infections and outside conditions locally and statewide. Middlebury will continue its close collaboration with Vermont health officials, and the ability to move into more open phases will be heavily dependent upon state guidelines.
As of now, Vermont is far below the national average of daily rates of new infections, and, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the state is on track to have fewer than 10 new cases per day in September and October.
“We are optimistic,” said Doucet about the possibility of lifting restrictions to permit travel into downtown Middlebury and possibly throughout the state as well. However, this progress is contingent upon having confidence in community members to hold one another accountable and take personal responsibility for the benefit of everyone, according to Doucet.
The college will continue to update the FAQ page, and a mutual information database created by students is also available.
(07/01/20 6:12pm)
Marissel Hernández-Romero, departing visiting assistant professor of Spanish and Portuguese, sent an email to the Middlebury community on Sunday evening describing in detail a series of alleged incidents of racism she experienced in her department and at the institution during her three years as a faculty member.
Hernández-Romero, who is Black and Puerto-Rican, presented a weighty critique of systematic marginalization at the college punctuated with descriptions of allegations involving nine faculty members, all referenced by name.
“I came to Middlebury College in 2017 with a positive attitude, and within a month here, my opinion shifted to survival mode. A sense of powerlessness and marginalization took over my perspective of my place here,” read the email’s opening. “I am an outsider. I was hired, but never accepted, nor welcomed.”
The email was sent to all students, faculty, retired professors and alumni, as well as many administrators, student organizations and other individuals.
Hernández-Romero’s email went on to criticize the institution’s treatment of people of color. She states that the institution ignores and oppresses people of color — expecting them to assimilate into a hostile culture of whiteness and exclusivity without professional or personal support.
Her email frames the college as hypocritical — an institution that claims to advocate for faculty of color while protecting tenured faculty who defend “the continued and uninterrogated comfort of privilege under the guise of ‘free speech.’”
The email opened with a claim that Professor of Political Science Murray Dry made a threatening statement in 2017 directed at non-White faculty and administrators, which she interpreted as meaning that “challenging white privilege will bring worse consequences.” Dry denied this accusation in an email to the Campus, also noting that the meeting in question — centered on racial discrimination — was closed and confidential, therefore limiting his ability to discuss it.
“I would also observe that the statement attributed to me by Professor Hernández-Romero does not reflect my views on this important subject,” Dry wrote in the email . “I am more committed than ever to doing the work necessary to help make Middlebury [a supportive] environment for everyone.”
The remainder of the accused professors teach in Hernández-Romero’s own department. Those allegations vary in severity — from an interpreted racial microaggression from Professor Laura Lesta García to an alleged comment from Professor Patricia Saldrriaga suggesting that Hernández-Romero was an affirmative action hire. Both García and Saldarriaga directed the Campus to the Dean of Faculty when reached for comment.
Another assertion in the email alleges that Associate Professor of Luso-Hispanic Studies Marcos Rohena-Madrazo addressed Hernández-Romero with an offensive term.
“Professor Marcos Rohena called me ‘pendeja’ in front of a candidate, and two other male professors white passing, Enrique García and David Miranda, found it funny and inoffensive,” Hernández-Romero wrote. “When I confronted [Professor] Rohena, and asked if he would call other white female professors in the department such as he firmly said: ‘no, never.’” (“Pendeja” is a Spanish slang term that loosely translates to “dumbass” in English. The letter “a” at the end of the word denotes a female recipient, therefore making this a distinctly gendered term.)
Professors Rohena-Madrazo and García did not respond to a request for comment. Professor Miranda Hardy declined to comment.
Roughly two hours after Hernández-Romero sent the email, the college deleted it from Middlebury servers, removing the message from the inboxes of those who had received it. This retraction was met with outcry from students on social media, who criticized the removal as an action of censorship that violated free speech doctrines.
On Monday afternoon, seventeen hours after the contentious deletion, Chief Officer of Diversity Miguel Fernández sent a “Message of Accountability,” co-signed by Dean of Faculty Sujata Moorti and President Laurie Patton, to the campus community.
“[Hernández-Romero’s] email demonstrates the ways that individual incidents of racism and our inability to respond to such incidents in a way that addressed the underlying climate both reflect and reinforce racism at the systemic level,” Fernández wrote in his email to the community Monday. “We must be accountable for responding to incidents as they arise and for addressing the culture that enables such incidents to occur.”
Notably, Fernández is one of the named faculty members accused in Hernández-Romero’s email. She claims that he was dismissive when she inquired about race-related policy, an allegation he did not comment on in his message to the community. Fernández did not respond to The Campus’ inquiry.
In an email sent to the Campus, Hernández-Romero also alleged that Fernández ignored emails she sent about allegations of harassment regarding Department Chair Mario Higa. When reached for comment about this allegation, Fernández wrote in an email to the Campus that “I have never failed to take any claim of harassment seriously and to follow through appropriately and empathetically. I am fully aware of my obligations and responsibilities.” Higa did not respond to requests for comment.
According to Fernández’s statement to the community, Hernández-Romero’s email was deleted from the college server “in order to prevent an influx of reply-all messages from the thousands of recipients and the additional harm that might have been caused if anyone responded in ways that did attempt to dismiss or make light of her experiences.”
For many students, the acknowledgement came too late. By Monday morning, Dr. Hernández-Romero’s email had been widely circulated on Twitter and Facebook, and was posted on Instagram by accounts such as @dearmidd, @dearpwi, and @blackatmidd. Many individuals took it upon themselves to disseminate it, such as former sophomore SGA senator Paul Flores-Clavel ’22, who forwarded the email to all students. Student organizations such as SNEG, WRMC and JUNTOS followed suit in distributing the email to their registered domain lists.
Joel Machado ’22 composed an email template for students to send to administrators, which demanded both student oversight for the Anti-Racism fund and that the SLG investigate the faculty accused in Dr. Hernández-Romero’s email. “Rest assured knowing that the student body will continue to hold you accountable to the promises that have been made by President Patton,” Machado wrote in reference to Patton’s recent communications on racism within the Middlebury Community.
Monday night’s town hall on the college’s plans for re-opening in September led to conversation about the allegations that had been disclosed the night before. SGA Vice Presidents Roni Lezama ’22 and Sophia Lundberg ’21.5 along with SGA President John Schurer ’21 gave introductory remarks that called for all students to read the email. President Patton later alluded to Dr. Hernández-Romero’s allegations.
“We need to focus on accountability particularly as it relates to systemic racism and in the ways at Middlebury we must be accountable in addressing that racism,” Patton said. “Our policies of due process and confidentiality require that we cannot address this.” She then doubled down on her commitment to intensive fundraising in these areas.
In an email to The Campus sent on Wednesday — two days later — Patton stated that “[t]he deletion of the email in no way reduces our need to confront systemic racism, to diminish the deep pain that racism inflicts on individuals at Middlebury, and to hold public discussions as we work toward changing our institutional culture.”
Middlebury’s general counsel Hannah Ross affirmed that she cannot speak on the allegations, as proceedings under the code of Faculty Misconduct are completely confidential. The faculty misconduct code in question states in Section 3 that, "The principle of presumed innocence applies: until the process of review is complete, the faculty member is presumed innocent." It is unclear if any such review is taking place at this point, as Dean of Faculty Sujata Moorti did not respond when asked for comment.
The only faculty member named in Hernández-Romero’s email who was not the subject of an accusation was History Professor Darién Davis. Hernández-Romero alleged that the administration attempted to impose a harassment claim against Davis — who is Black — from her against her will. “I never had any problem with Darién,” she wrote in an email to the Campus.
She did, however, describe receiving a message from Davis she deemed as inappropriate, but that she did not feel uncomfortable or harassed. She did not further describe the contents of that message. In her communications with the Campus, she repeated that it was Higa, not Davis, against whom she had allegedly attempted to file a harassment claim.
Hernández-Romero is not departing Middlebury earlier than planned, as her visiting professor contract was three years long. She has accepted a tenure track position at an institution in New York that she declined to name. She also declined to provide evidence verifying her claims, although she stated that she has indicatory notes, emails, and witness accounts in her possession.
Hernández-Romero says that in the days since she sent the email, students and some professors from other departments have reached out to show their support. At the time of publication, the administration has yet to contact her.
“A lot of Black, Hispanic, and Latinx students have contacted me to show support and to share with me their experience[s] here at Midd, which are heartbreaking,” Hernández-Romero wrote in her email to The Campus. She noted the uproar that students are making on social media, which has become home to a myriad of calls to action on her behalf.
Hernández-Romero’s own statement to students was circulated on Instagram by Lily Colón ‘21.5, a student in her Socio-Culture of Salsa Music class this semester.
“I urge you all to continue denouncing racism until our institutions and people that run them change,” Hernández-Romero wrote. “I imagine for many of you, your experience may mirror mine, and for that I am sorry.” She then went on to reinforce the messaging in her email, calling upon students to listen and act fearlessly as they continue to move through a world seeped with systemic and institutional racism.
Colón, who has maintained a close relationship with her now-departed professor, fortified the feelings of isolation and hurt that afflicted Hernández-Romero at Middlebury.
“The constant teaching they have to do only to be continually undermined and pushed aside by administration and other students didn’t sit well with her,” Colón said in an email to the Campus, in reference to Black faculty and other professors of color. “Her email shows the ways the school failed her to the point where her hope turned into rage and frustration.”
Colón, who was working on a symposium project with Hernández-Romero and one other student, noted that the three of them met often. “I would like to say the email does not begin to cover the frequency or severity of the abuse she received here,” Colón said.
Hernández-Romero described this rage and frustration as beleaguering throughout her time at Middlebury. She stated that she had already been planning to denounce the racism she experienced when the Luso-Hispanic department released their Black Lives Matter statement last week, which she saw as hypocritical.
Dr. Hernández-Romero concluded her email by imploring all members of the Middlebury community to enact change and hold the institution accountable.
“Create a record of all these events, that are not rumors, but real traumatic experience[s],” Dr. Hernández-Romero wrote. “Make noise. Enough of hiding these events, enough of being off the record.”
(06/23/20 4:50pm)
In her recent email, President Patton urged non-Black members of this community to be “true allies in developing deeper knowledge about racism, inequality and the way oppression operates within our culture, within our institutions and within ourselves.” White supremacy works not only by constantly placing White people in positions of power, but also by diminishing the contributions of Black people to our society. I want to bring your attention to a group on our campus that has been dishonoring the legacy of Black and Brown students.
Jamaican women founded the Riddim World Dance Troupe in 1998 with the purpose to, “provide the Middlebury College Community with an outlet of expression through diverse dance styles, such as hip-hop, jazz, samba, reggae, calypso, merengue, modern, and African dance forms.” The Riddim that performs in Wilson Hall today does not reflect the original purpose put forth in 1998. Instead, it emphasizes Eurocentric dance forms and erases the many forms that were originally meant to be featured. In fact, I was told as an incoming first year that Riddim was the White dance group mainly for technically trained dancers. There was no mention anywhere of the origin of the troupe.
Over the years, this shift has not only been in this group’s informal reputation — it is also reflected in their updated constitution. The constitution posted on the 2009 website states, “The purpose of Riddim is as follows: Section 1: To explore and provide awareness to the Middlebury College community on Caribbean, African and Hispanic, European etc., cultures through the participation of dance.” The policy that allows for constitutional changes to student organizations has made it possible for Riddim’s successors to white wash the history of this organization.
The 2019-2020 Riddim Constitution states, “Article II Purpose: The purpose of RIDDIM World Dance Troupe is as follows: 1. To provide an outlet for dancers who come from all backgrounds, training, and styles from around the world to learn from each other by choreographing and teaching.” Instead of starting a new group or working harder to honor Afro-Caribbean and Afro-latinx styles of dance, they kept the name and the prestige while changing everything that it initially represented. Other dance groups, namely Evolution Dance Crew, have come to fruition to occupy the void that Riddim used to fill.
In light of recent circumstances, it is imperative now more than ever that the Middlebury community show greater respect for the legacy of Black and Brown students. This troupe benefits from its years of existence, despite the fact that the execution has clearly strayed from the original vision of the group. European was once last on the list of styles, but now Euro-centric dance has displaced cultural dance forms like samba or reggae that have little representation on our campus.
The name itself “Riddim” is a patois word taken directly from Carribean culture. I can attest as the child of two Caribbean immigrants that members of our community do not pronounce the word correctly or show any reverence for its heritage. Performance titles such as “Riddim Goes to Werk” and “Riddim Throws It Back” reference Black vernacular and Black dance forms that aren’t represented in their shows.
In a 2020 Middlebury Campus article, a member described Riddim as, “shifting towards a contemporary, modern, more ballet-based [style]”, which showcases the disconnect between its name and the dances they choreograph. Furthermore, Riddim leaders routinely reach out to Black- or Latinx- majority cultural organizations to co-host their after parties. All of these actions produce the illusion that Riddim is aligned with the POC community at Middlebury, when in reality, that has not been the case. They continue to reap the benefits of a POC cultural orientation while doing no work to preserve the culture itself. Riddim went from being a statement that Black and Brown cultures matter to a statement that all cultures matter. “All,” of course, meaning just the white ones.
This is unacceptable.
I recognize that Riddim as it stands today is a fully functioning and respectable dance organization; however, what the group has become is not representative of the name or its history. If this group wishes to keep their name, they must be required to honor the legacy of the Riddim founders by meaningfully representing the original dance styles in practice and in their constitution. If they cannot meet these requirements, the leaders need to start a new group with a more appropriate name.
While this may be a tall order, the root of the issue is that many students of color don’t join Riddim because their culture is no longer represented. These students of color will not feel safe in joining this group and choreographing culturally-rooted dances until its leaders make radical changes. In this time of deep societal unrest, Riddim publicly acknowledged its problematic history for effectively the first time. Vague statements of diversity and inclusion are not the same as being anti-racist and pro-Black. Instagram posts are not enough to undo the damage. Riddim needs to be led by a new group of students who are dedicated to upholding the legacy of this remarkable student organization.
It is an expectation that groups will evolve over time. However, the evolution of Riddim continues a larger societal trend of White people co-opting and erasing the humanity of people of color. In the United States, you will rarely see a predominantly White group becoming predominantly Black, but time and time again we see predominantly Black groups and cultures get appropriated by a White majority. While Riddim’s current members may not have intended to perpetuate injustices against Middlebury’s students of color, that has been the undeniable result. This is the time for the Middlebury community to take a stand with their students of color and against accepted modes of systematic oppression.
(06/15/20 10:00am)
“Protests Work!” read the flyer handed out at a vigil in downtown Middlebury last Sunday night. Roughly 500 people gathered at College Park and along Cross Street to denounce police terror against Black communities and bodies.
Sunday’s event follows a vigil held on May 30 that drew roughly 375 participants. The Middlebury chapter of Showing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) organized a second event after the first gathering’s popularity and again asked protestors to wear masks and maintain social distancing. SURJ members also distributed flyers with actionable steps to take against racism, a list of positive advances made in the past weeks and solidarity tools for White allies.
“I have been heartened by the mobilization of people around the globe, but especially of people in my own little community of Middlebury who are demanding that the white supremacy and racial oppression that lay at the core of American society must end,” said Bill Hart, professor of history and director of Black Studies. “I showed up to show that the Black bodies of Middlebury students, faculty and staff, and of Black people in the community, matter — that my black body matters.”
The town of Middlebury is a small community, and “no one is under the illusion that standing on the Cross Street Bridge will end police terror,” said Jamie McCallum, professor of sociology. However, McCallum noted that vigils and protests show solidarity, love and respect for the larger uprisings going on around the country and the world.
“In a vastly, vastly white place like Middlebury, even something small like safely standing with Black Lives Matter flags in downtown goes a long way towards making me feel at ease here,” said Kemi Fuentes-George, professor of political science. Fuentes-George recounted previous instances of harassment and being called the n-word in downtown Middlebury.
However, attending protests and vigils is only the bare-minimum in protesting white supremacy, according to Lana Povitz, visiting assistant professor of history. Povitz expressed disappointment that the organizers of Sunday’s gathering did not take the opportunity to ask more of participants or advertise upcoming events or actions.
“This was a crowd that would probably have said ‘yes’ to any number of asks,” Povitz said. “I wonder when we might be ready for something a little less anodyne. How can we disrupt business as usual?”
For Fuentes-George, the vigil went as expected. “We’re not going to get the kinds of demonstrations that we’re going to get in New York for many reasons, including that it’s not very diverse,” he said.
“I understand that there were some people who felt disappointed with how the protest went, that it wasn’t radical enough, but the reality is that’s the town that we live in,” Fuentes-George added.
McCallum hopes the vigils will encourage people to step up their commitments for racial justice in other ways. Hart remains “cautiously optimistic” and questions what real change the growing movement will bring about.
“The image of Derek Chauvin’s knee on George Floyd’s neck reminded my mother of what her father — my grandfather — often told his children: the White man will forever keep his boot on the Black man’s neck,” Hart said. “Floyd’s murder reminds us that little seems to have changed in White attitudes toward Black lives and bodies.”
Some have described the past decade as a turning point for racial justice, Hart said, and he “certainly hope[s] so,” but history has shown a trend of White America resisting change and reasserting White privilege. Hart cited the Civil Rights legislation in the 1950s and 1960s, the Great Society, Affirmative Action and the election of President Barack Obama as only a few examples.
“Meaningful change will only come when Black Americans build alliances with Brown and other disfranchised peoples as well as with White allies, and with one powerful voice, as now, demand massive, transformational change,” Hart said, “and when White Americans re-examine everything they think they believe in, to paraphrase James Baldwin’s “The Fire Next Time.””
“Healing without justice is no healing at all,” Hart said.
(06/15/20 10:00am)
We recognize that the trauma of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, Tony McDade and too many others is felt deeply by all — and disproportionately by Black students, faculty and staff in our community.
We state unequivocally: BLACK LIVES MATTER.
The College and our community must commit, with actionable steps, to anti-racist work in our classrooms and campus community spaces, as well as in our personal lives and communities.
We support the action steps laid out in this letter from students. Please read this letter in full, and sign here to endorse their call to action. We will be following up with the coalition of student leaders who put this letter and petition together to see what progress is being made on these requests.
We explicitly ask the administration to lay out plans for mandatory anti-racist faculty education at the institutional level and an outline for ongoing institution action steps and accountability.
As the faculty Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), we are tasked with being the platform for faculty engagement and governance on issues pertaining to diversity, equity and inclusivity. We must also be held accountable for our actions.
We will continue to amplify and share the voices and concerns of faculty of color, and, especially in this moment, Black faculty. We look forward to sharing what we have learned in interviews with a number of underrepresented faculty on campus with the broader faculty and, more specifically, setting up meetings with departments and programs to strategize and implement DEI practices based on our findings.
We continue our work within faculty governance structures to support changes to foster campus environments which are anti-racist, supportive and equitable to all of our community members. Actions this year include: 1) advocating for and implementing the recognition of teaching accomplishments addressing diversity and inclusivity in our annual faculty salary forms; 2) continued work on addressing bias in course response forms; 3) engaging in high-level conversations about hiring, budget, academic planning and other aspects of faculty governance; 4) responding to campus issues related to DEI work, including: On engaging with Charles Murray, Making Opt-in More Equitable and Facing the COVID Crisis.
We will continue to address the racist structural and cultural barriers that severely limit our ability to recruit and retain Black faculty and staff, as well as other faculty and staff of color.
Anti-racist action can take several forms. Self-educating, having challenging conversations with friends and family, chipping in financially (as we are able) to organizations who are doing this work and more. A few additional resources:
Black Lives Matter: Ways You Can Help
The 1619 Project
Scaffolded anti-racism resources
General anti-racism resources
Anti-racism resources for all ages
There is clearly more work to be done. Silence and inaction in a moment such as this cannot be an option. However, in our eagerness to support and make our concerns known, we must not fall into problematic tropes or utilize painful metaphors that cause Black and other community members to relive past trauma. We will continue to push one another to consider our words and actions for their impact and not merely their intent. Part of accountability is truly apologizing when we make mistakes and outlining how we will do better.
While the recent deaths and protests impact us all, we especially encourage White and non-Black Middlebury members to take time each day to reflect — and then act — on what you can do to hold yourself and others accountable for taking discrete anti-racist steps. To our Black community members, we see you, we are here to listen if you want to share and our work continues. BLACK LIVES MATTER.
Sincerely,
Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
Summer Membership, alphabetical:
Tara L. Affolter, Education Studies Program
Erin Eggleston, Biology
Kemi Fuentes-George, Political Science
Laurel Jenkins, Dance
David Miranda Hardy, Film and Media Culture
William Nash, American Studies
Shawna Shapiro, Writing & Rhetoric, Linguistics
Editor’s note: The above faculty members comprise the entirety of the Committee on Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Learn more here.
(06/15/20 10:00am)
This letter was previously sent to President Laurie Patton, members of the Senior Leadership Group, and the Middlebury College community in response to an email President Patton sent on May 31 to the members of the Middlebury Community. Since then, she has responded to this letter in an email sent on June 5. Parts of this letter have been lightly edited to comply with The Campus’ style guidelines.
Spurred by the momentum of the nationwide uprising against racial injustice, we felt compelled to create a call to action for the Middlebury administration. We sent an email in direct response to the tone-deaf statement issued by the Office of the President on May 31. However, that statement is just the tip of the iceberg of the institutionalized oppression faced by Black students on campus. Ultimately, we want to spark a collaborative dialogue about creating a Middlebury community that is not only more inclusive, but more equitable. To voice solidarity, you can fill out our petition of support linked here.
To President Patton, members of the Senior Leadership Group, and Middlebury College community members,
“Black Lives Matter”
This statement is plain and simple, and its overcomplication can cause it to become diluted. Furthermore, discussion of the current protests responding to police brutality can be harmful if done without proper care, as demonstrated in the May 31 message from the Office of the President. This message is an example of how needlessly overcomplicated discussions about the state of our nation have understated today’s current reality and in doing so, disappointed Black members of Middlebury’s community.
To name a few of the offenses in the message sent:
The false equivalence of Covid-19 and racism
The conflation of Covid-19 — a disease that afflicts its victims arbitrarily and that has been disproportionately affecting Black and minority communities that have historically been medically neglected — and racism — which derives from the concerted effort of those who hold privilege to work against those who don’t— is an incredible macro-aggression. The hardships one endures because of racism versus Covid-19 are vastly different because Covid-19 infection is largely by circumstance while racism is a conscious decision. To abdicate responsibility for intentional actions is yet another instance of the College’s neglect for its Black students, by way of not acknowledging the difference between choices and circumstance. Additionally, the current pervasive, institutionalized racism affecting America deserves its own separate email, especially when Covid-19 has been addressed by the Office of the President multiple times, while racism and its impact on Black individuals has not. In attempting to use fluffy and soft language, such as the comparison between a virus and violent oppression, the message dances around the severity of our nation's issue of systemic racism, leaving Black readers without any true solace.
The notion that racism is a new concept
Racism did not appear recently as the email from the statement suggests. In the email sent by the Office of the President, the following was stated: “In light of this recent death and others (Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor), our country is again engulfed in anger and protest as the plague of racism infects the early days of our American summer.” This statement panders to the privileged perspective that White Americans have been inconvenienced by being forced to confront the reality of racism as summer approaches. White supremacy was the foundation that America was built upon, and racism is an ingrained part of the lives of Black people in America. Black students face that reality every day, both on and off campus. To suggest it is a new circumstance makes light of this harsh reality for the Black community.
The hypocrisy associated with Middlebury’s verbal allegiance to racial equity but lack of action
The claim that Middlebury seeks to create a safe space for collaboration and a campus against racism directly contradicts the College’s actions. We recently invited Charles Murray to campus for a third time to discuss his racially offensive and scientifically baseless book, "Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class," in which he once again postulates a similar ideology as his earlier racist novel, "The Bell Curve.” The physical and psychological violence that Charles Murray and his visits have disproportionately inflicted upon the Black population of Middlebury College was never fully addressed, nor was there any real community reconciliation. Furthermore, the College’s intention to hire outside “security” is incredibly problematic given the traumatic history of Black individuals being targeted by police, security and law enforcement in an often fatal manner.
Failing to specifically support Black community members that are disproportionately impacted by this situation
The ambiguity in supporting specifically Black staff and students is incredibly problematic in its negation of the difference between Black people and all people of color. In saying, “This is an anxious and difficult time, particularly for students, staff, and faculty of color,” this message reduces the specific struggles of Black individuals in our community who are disproportionately impacted by institutionalized racism. It does our community a disservice to conflate the oppression faced by Black people with that faced by all people of color. Our institution should not hesitate to proclaim that #BlackLivesMatter. Failing to do so resembles that of an #AllLivesMatter approach by creating a sense of erasure of Black issues. This is yet another instance of the struggles of Black communities seemingly being negated. It is important that we recognize how other marginalized communities are affected by systems of oppression, but at this time, it is necessary we hold space for and honor Black lives specifically.
The disturbing and insensitive use of air as a metaphor
The statement claims that “in a world beset by two plagues, we are gasping for air.” This use of air as a metaphor, here and throughout the message, is grossly offensive, given that George Floyd’s (and before him, Eric Garner’s) final words were “I can’t breathe.” This is deeply disturbing given that Floyd was needlessly asphyxiated for nearly nine minutes. Their juxtaposition is deeply hurtful and strips away the reality and significance of Floyd’s death. Saying "we are gasping for air" begins to minimize the experience of Black people who have both literally had their breath taken away by police brutality and are at a higher risk of infection of Covid-19. There is a certain level of privilege held by many in the Middlebury community, who are at lower risk of contracting Covid-19 and are able to avoid police brutality; the use of this literary device illustrates such ignorant privilege. To reiterate, Covid-19 and police brutality are not one in the same, and though the message is not the first instance where they are metaphorically compared, any case of such comparison is deeply offensive and cannot be silently accepted.
This statement hardly scratches the surface of the harm done to Middlebury’s Black students. This is not the first time that damage has been inflicted on our community. In just the past few years wherein institutional memory can guide us, Middlebury College has been complicit in allowing pervasive racism to exist on our campus. We hope the following instances will be properly recognized:
In 2016, the SGA passed a resolution denouncing insensitive comments made during the Jan. 18 Martin Luther King Today event. This resolution was not acted upon and emails such as the one sent on May 31 mirror the insensitivity illustrated four years ago.
In 2016, the Middlebury SGA and BSU Resolution Supporting Black Lives Matter sparked conversation within the Senior Leadership Group (SLG) regarding how Black students can exist on Middlebury’s campus without fear of discrimination. These conversations died out until students brought the conversation to the forefront again (i.e. 2019’s Thirteen Proposals for Community Healing).
In 2017, the SGA Resolution to Support Black and Minority Students was passed, but many of the items outlined were inadequately implemented (specifically items two, four, five, six (a), seven, and eight).
In 2017, the invitation of Charles Murray to discuss his racially charged pseudoscience, his introduction to the community by President Patton and the ensuing reactions towards students of color, including Black individuals, all marked a form of psychological violence on communities of color.
In 2018 and 2019, the administration failed to properly and definitively denounce the actions of faculty distributing racially insensitive and offensive course material (e.g. the original Fall 2018 chemistry exam from a professor that featured questions with racist and antisemetic undertones and the Spring 2019 powerpoint “joke” surrounding the transatlantic slave trade).
In 2019, Middlebury’s invitation of Ryszard Legutko — who opposes the civil rights of a multitude of identities, including Black identifying individuals — marked yet another offense.
In 2020, the re-invitation of Charles Murray to discuss his newest iteration of racist pseudoscience and a lack of empathy or resources provided for Black (and POC) students was another institutional action of unprovoked disrespect for Middlebury’s Black community.
This list could go on. We hope that by now we have made clear the blatant hypocrisy and performativity of President Patton’s statement given the College’s history of perpetuating racial injustice. The habitual dereliction of duty and meaningful action has become characteristic of Middlebury College as an institution. We need definitive and immediate action to be taken to put Middlebury on a more appropriate course of supporting its Black students, as well as those from other marginalized backgrounds. We agree that it is necessary to “collaborate with all members of our community to act against racism and become accountable for the work that needs to be done." In the spirit of working together to build a more equitable and aware community, we believe the following actions would be highly beneficial for the healing of Middlebury’s Black students. Find them below:
Immediate Actions:
We ask that an all-community email be sent out apologizing for the harm — both past and current — inflicted upon the Black community of Middlebury College by the May 31 email and subsequent social media posts. We believe that this will begin to ease tensions during this tumultuous time for Black people everywhere, including Black students.
For this email to be successful, we suggest the College formally denounce the racism and harm caused by certain problematic faculty, staff and speakers — in at least all of the aforementioned instances — as they have left wounds which are still open within Middlebury’s Black community.
Additionally, that students be provided with tangible actions Middlebury will take in order to ensure the safety and fair treatment of Black community members when returning to campus in a state where the population is over 90 percent white.
We ask for a separate all-community email which provides resources specifically for Black community members to utilize during this time in which our lives are constantly threatened with violence from national institutions.
We ask for a third all-community email which provides resources for non-Black community members that will empower them to become better allies of Black students, both on and off campus.
These are only beginning steps in repairing the damage caused by the historical actions and inaction taken by Middlebury. Please consider the depth of this situation and the importance of each student’s valuable experience while Black at this institution.
We recognize that Middlebury will not be able to immediately fix all of these disparities. Nevertheless, we ask that this outreach be considered as a starting point for reparations.
With that in mind, the following proposals are potential solutions to hardships faced in the past and present by Black students, other students of color and the cultural organizations that represent them. We hope these solutions will spark critical conversations with the College Administration about the improvement of the treatment of students of marginalized backgrounds, especially those who are Black.
Suggested Actions to Take for the 2020-2021 School Year:
We ask for the implementation of a program in which cultural organizations will have collectively appointed correspondents (not from the same organization), self-selected by our memberships to engage in regular meetings with the Senior Leadership Group of the College, with regularity occurring at a minimum of three times a semester.
We ask that Middlebury designate a student or faculty member (or multiple students/faculty) who will specifically represent communities of color within the Board of Trustee meetings with the College administration.
There comes a time at which Black voices become tired of being silenced; it is unfortunate that we have reached that point in time with Middlebury College. We await your timely response and are hopeful that we will be able to work together to create positive change for marginalized students on campus.
Cordially,
Concerned Students of Middlebury College
Endorsed By:
Black Student Union
Distinguished Men of Color
Womxn of Color
PALANA Social House
UMOJA
ALIANZA Latinoamericana y Caribeña
International Student Organization (ISO)
JUNTOS
Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC)
Queers and Allies
Feminist Action at Middlebury (FAM)
Underrepresented in STEM (UR-STEM)
Verbal Onslaught
This letter was written by Concerned Students of Middlebury College, whose membership is composed of Myles Maxie ’22, Gifty Atanga ’23, Charice Lawrence ’23, Andrés Oyaga ’23, Daleelah Saleh ’23, Jarlenys Mendez ’23, and Kaitlyn Velazquez ’23. The letter was signed by student organizations in support of their message. For more information, click here.
(06/08/20 5:30am)
Thousands of Vermonters assembled in Burlington on the evening of Saturday, May 30, as a part of nationwide protests against police brutality in the wake of George Floyd’s death at the hands of Minneapolis police.
Protesters, many wearing masks and carrying signs, first gathered in Battery Park to hear from Harmony Edosomwan, a University of Vermont student and one of the event’s organizers. Other opening speakers included Vermont poet Rajnii Eddins, who read a piece commemorating Black and Brown victims of police brutality and racial violence, and Kahlia Livingston from the Vermont Peace & Justice Center, an activist organization that helped coordinate the event.
“I haven’t been able to sleep well all week,” Edosomwan said in her opening speech. “My heart aches for George Floyd. My brother’s name is George. What if that was my brother? He was my brother. Burlington, y’all have to do better. White liberals, you have to do better. It’s not enough to come to protests like this.”
After the opening words, protesters marched to the Burlington Police Department and replaced the American flag with a Black Lives Matter flag. Edosomwan, who stood elevated on the bed of a truck in front of the building, confronted Interim Police Chief Jen Morrison and Deputy Police Chief Jon Murad, an event that was captured and posted on the Vermont Peace and Justice Center’s Facebook page. The surrounding crowd echoed her calls for officers with histories of abusing their power and using disproportionate force against Black people to be held accountable.
Edosomwan called specifically for the removal of Jason Bellavance and Cory Campbell, two Burlington police officers with records of using excessive force. In May 2019, the officers attacked two Black men, brothers Jérémie and Albin Meli, while investigating reports of fights outside of a Burlington bar, causing Jérémie a lasting head injury.
At the time, the Vermont State Police were also investigating Campbell for the March 2019 death of Douglas Kilburn. Three days before his death, Campbell had punched Kilburn repeatedly outside of the UVM Medical Center, fracturing his skull in multiple places. In April 2019, Vermont Chief Medical Examiner Steven Shapiro officially ruled Kilburn’s cause of death a homicide. Still, in November 2019, Vermont Attorney General T.J. Donovan announced that Campbell would not face charges for Kilburn’s death.
“How do you expect Black and Brown people, or just people in general, to feel safe on the streets if you’re letting like Jason Bellavance or Cory Campbell still patrol?” Edosomwan asked Morrison and Murad. The protesters echoed her question and called for the officers to “do their job” of protecting all members of the community.
Protesters also called for Morrison and Murad to apologize after one protester told his story of being held at gunpoint by Burlington officers who accused him of “stealing his own vehicle” and falsely claimed that they had a warrant for his arrest. The protester, who moved away from Burlington due to this incident, refused Morrison’s offer of her card as he and the surrounding crowd called repeatedly for an apology. No apology appeared to be issued.
This exchange culminated in Edosomwan pouring red liquid from a jug at the feet of the police officers standing below her. “Their blood is on your hands if you don’t do anything to fix this motherf*cking department,” she said into a bullhorn. Edosomwan explained that the red liquid symbolized the blood shed by Black individuals in the city of Burlington, the state of Vermont, the country and in the world.
“You said that you’re going to listen. If you do not listen … if another black person dies … trust me, we’re all going to be here, and this building is going down,” Edosomwan said. The statement was met with loud cheers from the protesters. “Their blood is on your hands,” she repeated to the officers.
“I will give y’all grace today, but I am angry as f*ck, we could easily turn this sh*t up right now.” she said. “We could be Minneapolis in this place right now if we wanted to.”
“I believe that you [Jen Morrison] are a nice person and I believe that you will take heed to what I am saying,” Edosomwan continued, before being cut off by fellow protesters who shouted at the officers, asking what concrete steps they would take.
“I appreciate your remarks, I really do. I’m listening — I’m trying to be respectful and listen,” Morrison responded, before her remarks were drowned out by the cries of protesters. “If you turn this into Minneapolis, guess what? That’s going to set us back five more years,” Morrison added. The crowd expressed their disagreement with yells of disapproval.
Morrison announced to Edosomwan and the crowd that the officers would return to the building. Protesters responded by questioning her if they would get an apology. “I’d be happy to chat with you anytime. Would you like an apology?” Morrison says as she attempts to hand her card to Edosomwan. Several protesters demanded an immediate and public apology, shouting, “We’re here right now!”
Morrison and Murad left the scene as protesters screamed “coward” and booed the officers. Edosomwan told the protesters not to touch the officers and to make way for their exit.
The group then made their way to Battery Park, where organizers held an open mic that featured Black performers, a handful of them high school students. A small group of White protesters stayed behind and vandalized the police department, which sustained minor damages, including a shattered window and graffiti, according to Rachel Fridal Siegel, executive director of the Peace & Justice Center and co-organizer of Saturday’s protest.
“It was White people, and they were called to task that doing that puts black people at risk, not them as much," she said.
Siegel said that the center is committed to uplifting the voice of and following the leadership of Black and Indigenous activists. “As an organization, it’s just critical to us to be following and centering Black and Indigenous people of color,” Siegel said in an interview with The Campus. “So, [Edosomwan] made the final call on some things that I honestly felt really conflicted about — the one significant thing being having an in-person protest at all.”
Siegel cited concern over new outbreaks of Covid-19 following large, unregulated in-person gatherings. Organizers encouraged protesters to wear masks and practice social distancing at the park, and the center arranged a caravan for those who felt unsafe physically attending. But once the march to the police department began, interpersonal distance became impossible to maintain.
But in the end, Siegel said that the Peace & Justice Center made the right choice in supporting Edosomwan, explaining that the mission of the center is to offer the infrastructure of the organization to activists who drive social change.
Leah Salzman ’21, who attended the Burlington protest, also noted how the pandemic and worries about new outbreaks complicate protests. “There’s so much going on on social media right now because people are supposed to be social distancing and at home,” she said. “There’s this conflict of ‘What’s enough? You’re sitting on your phone and posting things, but is that really enough?’”
Kevin Santoro ’21, another Middlebury student who attended the protest, said that “there was a large emphasis in the rhetoric of being the Whitest state, and how that exacerbates a lot of these issues, and there was also this narrative of breaking the idea that Vermont is this idyllic place separate from all of this.”
Siegel also noted this issue, explaining that White Vermonters get “tremendously activated” when racial injustice reaches the national media but do not react to local occurrences of police brutality with the same outrage.
“We want simple answers as humans, and especially as White people, I think. I just want to fix it,” Siegel said. “And there’s no ‘fix it.’ There’s just ‘do more.’”
(05/22/20 10:36pm)
Kat Cyr ‘11
Alumna and current interlibrary loan associate at Middlebury
Location: Ferrisburgh, Vermont
Submitted April 9, 2020, updated April 29, 2020
When the virus came stateside, I heard whispered rumors of Midd closing, though most of us in the library were unconcerned beyond washing our hands more frequently. Midd never closes. Heck, I have coworkers who have skied to work because it was safer than driving, and the library doesn’t close for anything. When the official email sending students home went out, we were floored. Concern instantly rose about how our student workers would be affected, particularly after that initial rejection of applications to stay on campus. Our staff are mainly Vermonters, but our student staff is almost entirely international, several from countries that were unstable or already deeply entrenched in outbreaks of their own. While our staff members chugged along, doing our best to sanitize and adapt to the constant changes thrown at us, we worried. Policies shifted from "please return your overdue items," to, "keep it, we'll figure out the renewals," and we urged people to take care of themselves first and worry about the logistics later.
I more or less started living by the word of The Campus and the updates we got from our student workers — no one ever thinks to update the staff on campus events, so we were just kind of making things up as we went. Soon we were down to four student workers and a mostly empty library, in a strange sort of limbo where we knew there was a crisis, we knew people were struggling, but students and faculty were off campus on “vacation” leaving us with an oddly light workload and an uncertain future. We prepped for work from home, but our department was more-or-less experienced in working from unusual places, mainly due to Midd’s history of staff reductions and its need to be open regardless of the situation, so there wasn’t much to prep.
Eventually, faculty started replying to our emails about establishing reserves for online classes, which at least gave us some sense of purpose directly related to the crisis. With help from circulation staff, we set to work scanning as much as we could of any reserve book acquisitions that couldn’t be acquired digitally. Copyright had been relaxed significantly because of the crisis, so we were scanning tables of contents, indices, chapters and even entire books for any faculty or student who asked for them.
We stayed right up until we were ordered out of the building, unwilling to deprive remote-access students and faculty of the resources in the library. We've been working from home ever since, frustrated at lack of access to physical items, but doing what we can to provide access to online resources and procure scans from the few libraries worldwide that still have staff in-building.
What has been your greatest worry or day-to-day concern as coronavirus has spread?
Personally, I worry about the high-risk relatives and friends I have — diabetes, asthma, anxiety and depression are common on both sides of my family. Many of my friends have health complications and occupations that could make Covid-19 very dangerous for them. I’m pretty well safe in the backwaters of Vermont, but I worry for those who aren’t here with me.
What has made you happy over the past few weeks?
The cats have adored having me home and have taken to sitting on me when I work. Regaining that commute time has been amazing and, since I'm privileged enough to have a safe place where I can take my dogs running without fear of other humans, I've spent a great deal of time outside with my dogs (and cats). I’ve even gotten back into a bit of gaming to pass the time and get me out of my own head.
Anything else you'd like us to know?
I want students to know that we're here for them, especially those who aren’t the stereotypical rich white Midd Kidd. Staff, particularly those of us at the bottom, don't have any control over what happens at Midd. That said, especially at the library, we want to help so dang badly. If you have accessibility needs, tell us — we will not ask you to prove it. If you have limited access to the internet, let us know and we’ll work with you to shrink down files and find alternate sending methods. Helping you is literally our job and in the utter chaos of our current times, it feels so good to be able to make even the smallest bit of difference.
(05/14/20 10:39am)
Two weeks ago, we witnessed the faculty vote to maintain the opt-in credit/no credit grading system for this semester. The vote proved that even in a time of crisis, Middlebury College continues to conduct itself in a neoliberal manner, emphasizing “financial-sustainability” over the well-being of its students, staff and community. Arguments surrounding graduate school requirements, individuals’ “right to choose” and sustained academic rigor exhausted themselves against a virtual student movement calling for empathy and equity — and won. What does that say about us? In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, this grading decision offers us a painfully poignant lense to examine who we — as a college, student body and community — are.
We do not wish to revive an old debate, but rather to contextualize its result in order to answer the question many students have been asking themselves: how did this happen?
We believe that Middlebury, by upholding an opt-in grading system this semester, has demonstrated that it is a business first and a college second, caring more about its reputation than its ability to educate. The story we tell ourselves — of a close-knit community striving for academic excellence together — has been supplanted by an incessant drive to progress as marketable individuals, rather than as an educated community.
Welcome to the neoliberal arts.
We are well aware that “neoliberalism” is a loaded word with more definitions than there are students at Middlebury.
For the purpose of our understanding, however, neoliberalism is an ideology – one with resulting policies and praxes – that reorders social interactions not around a polis, or a community, but around the market. When Margaret Thatcher said “there’s no such thing as society” she meant it literally; under neoliberal logic, there are only rational, individual actors.
It is difficult to imagine prioritizing community over the individual when we’ve been fed a culture of competition since we could stack toy rings on a pole or kick a soccer ball (or, for that matter, get into a college with an acceptance rate under 20%). So although it was disappointing to see our faculty and administration bow to the forces of competition and individuality, we should have expected it.
But the question we’ve been asking ourselves is “why?” In our capitalist economy, the dominant story of success includes attending graduate school and securing a high-paying job. These markers of “success” profoundly shape our education. Liberal arts schools like Middlebury tend to pride themselves on the diversity and interrelation of their disciplines, claiming to holistically educate students and create well-rounded individuals who are “good people” as well as good additions to the labor force.
Despite this, we opted for a grading system that aligns with the core priorities of neoliberalism and its narrative of success. By prioritizing letter grades, we have proven that we value competition over cooperation. By arguing that the current grading model affords every student freedom of choice, we have again overlooked the question of who is able to choose. This again disadvantages those in our community who are in situations where they have no choice, making it clear that we value the rights of the individual over those of the collective.
In this way, we perpetuate the inequalities within our community by continuing to privilege the privileged and disadvantage the disadvantaged. By choosing the option that maintains the status quo, we have chosen to continue preparing students to participate in, instead of resist, the system that is now falling apart around us.
It can seem like Middlebury is too small, and we are too powerless, to make any practical stabs at creating an education not beholden to neoliberal beliefs. However, we strongly believe that any choice to shift outside these narratives is a necessary step toward action. We had an opportunity to change our narrative, and unlike comparable institutions — Columbia, Harvard, Dartmouth and Yale — we failed.
We do not want to trivialize the concerns expressed by our fellow students, nor imply that our faculty and administration have acted with anything but the best of intentions. We also want to recognize that spending these weeks online has proven to us over and again the aspects of community that supersede our hyper-individualized education — the daily acts of friendship, kindness and love that we are missing so often right now.
Yet it is in crises like these that communities must reimagine and renegotiate their underlying values and internalized narratives. As we do so, it is becoming clear that Middlebury is still stubbornly stuck in the ideology of neoliberal arts. We have the capacity to change, and the obligation to do so when members of our community are suffering.
We love Middlebury. As students who call this place home, we hope it can take this moment of crisis to change in powerful and lasting ways.
Connor Wertz is a member of the class of 2022. Hannah Laga Abram is a member of the class of 2023.
(05/14/20 10:01am)
Faculty members have reestablished the campus chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) to expand their influence in the college’s decision-making. The chapter has been reactivated in the past, including during the 2008 financial crisis and following Charles Murray’s 2017 visit to campus. In its two weeks of existence, the revived chapter has held Zoom meetings, elected leaders, formed subcommittees and amassed a 60-person email list.
The AAUP is a national organization with campus branches at colleges and universities across the country. The group promotes academic freedom and shared governance between faculty and administrators.
Laurie Essig, director and professor of gender, sexuality and feminist studies, was elected president of the campus chapter. She said the AAUP can help with three things: protecting faculty governance, protecting academic freedom and aiding salary negotiations. Concerns about the future of employee compensation helped spur the revival of the campus AAUP chapter. With the school exploring ways to reduce the financial toll of the pandemic, Essig said employee compensation packages may suffer.
“Even before the pandemic happened, there were certain austerity measures that were confusing to many faculty,” Essig explained. But once the pandemic began to unfold, Essig noted that the focus of budgetary cuts were employee compensation packages instead of selling certain pieces of property or ceasing to develop new properties.
Essig clarified that these are not official policy proposals, but scenarios put forth by senior administrators. As of last week, some of the scenarios included cuts to retirement contributions and salaries.
One possible scenario suggests an up to 15% percent cut from salaries and retiree benefits. Even if the school does not reduce employee salaries, Essig states that a cut to benefits is especially concerning to her because employees are encouraged to consider their total compensation packages — which include benefits like retirement plans — alongside salary when accepting their positions.
The school’s financial plan has been a major point of discussion for campus AAUP members. Last week, the chapter released a document entitled “A Financial Future for All of Us” that was sent to President Laurie Patton, the trustees and members of the Senior Leadership Group. The statement urges the administration to increase the usual 5% annual draw on the endowment to 7% to avoid scenarios in which employees are fired or compensation is decreased.
The statement details the potential impact of a reduction in employee compensation. “Less money will translate to lower productivity because, necessarily, faculty will find alternative ways to generate income, such as freelance work, to pay their rent, mortgages, and support their families,” it reads. The statement notes the possible disadvantages to students if faculty are forced to split their time and focus in this way.
The statement also proposes a collective bargaining approach, suggesting the formation of a committee to advocate for faculty and staff in the ongoing discussions regarding employee compensation and college finances.
The chapter is also working to involve staff and has established a subcommittee for outreach. According to the national AAUP constitution, non-faculty are able to join the organization as associates. There is, however, no information on AAUP’s website regarding staff members.
Members have spread the word about the chapter through virtual faculty meetings and an all-faculty email, but Essig said it has been more challenging to get in touch with staff remotely. Noting a recent, unsuccessful unionization attempt, Essig said she hopes staff are eventually able to unionize.
“I think the AAUP is a stopgap measure for staff, but we are certainly willing and hopeful to bring them into the process and allow them to express their concerns," she said, noting that the AAUP chapter can represent both staff and faculty concerns.
Middlebury’s AAUP chapter is not a union. Essig said the organization may function similarly in some ways, given its focus and training on collective bargaining.
The AAUP website lists an assortment of resources and benefits available to its members, including insurance plans and various channels for expert advice and training. However, Jamie McCallum, sociology professor and vice president of the campus AAUP chapter, said Middlebury faculty are not interested in the AAUP for its member benefits.
“I think the important thing to realize from our standpoint is that the AAUP is not really a service organization. It's not like, what do you get. It's what can you do with it,” he said. “So, we see the AAUP as a platform from which to launch, or from which to start an organization that has greater faculty voice and greater faculty input into important decisions that the college makes.”
Essig said AAUP meetings thus far have involved a lot of information sharing and brainstorming. The chapter is still working to establish a collective bargaining process, the focus of one of its subcommittees, especially considering concerns about compensation cuts and the long-lasting effects of such decisions.
“What Middlebury does now with regards to faculty compensation will impact it for more than a decade in the future,” said McCallum. “It is very important that faculty and staff have a voice in that process.”
(05/07/20 10:48am)
Enthusiastic. Slick. Industrious.
Those are the words that head men's lacrosse coach, Dave Campbell '00, used to describe the team's rookie class. This tight-knit group includes 12 first-years who hail from five different states and cover all positions: attackman, middie, defenseman and goalie.
Due to complications presented by Covid-19, the men’s lacrosse team was afforded just three games this season. “It was really tough for everyone when the news broke,” said first-year player Johnny Kantaros ’23. “We invested countless hours throughout the offseason into prepping for the season, but had little time to display our hard work.”
The truncated season impacted each class differently. While the seniors saw one final chance to win a NESCAC title evaporate, the first-years were left with only three games to introduce themselves to the program. But for a rookie class like this, three games were more than enough time to build a lasting impression. How?
“The most obvious trait [the first-years possess] is talent; however, the most important trait is character,” Assistant Coach Gus Brakeley explained.
The character of the rookies gleamed in multiple areas this past year, including their commitment to preserving team traditions with enthusiasm.
One tradition held by the lacrosse program is to honor former team manager Myron “Peter'' Kohn, who worked for the team between 1981 and 2003. A constant presence from the sidelines, Kohn devoted substantial time and effort into the program; for his efforts, he earned induction into the National Lacrosse Hall of Fame — the first manager ever to receive this distinction.
Kohn struggled with a mild developmental disability, but that didn’t dampen his spirits. From keeping the team grounded to sharing an electrifying collection of words before games, he was one of the most influential figures in the history of the men’s lacrosse program.
Kohn died in 2009, but his impact on the program wouldn’t fade. “You enter the program as a first-year, and you’re instantly swarmed by this aura of a guy,” Kantaros said. “You quickly realize how important he was and how vital it is to carry on his legacy.”
It is tradition for one or two members of the first-year class to speak a few words in Kohn’s honor before every game, along with wearing helmets that symbolize him to and from games — practices known as “Keeper of the Kohn.” This year, first-years Finn Muldoon ’23 and Luke Simpson ’23 were responsible for carrying out these rituals. “They did a great job and really cared about what their responsibility represented,” Kantaros said. “They treated their duties with respect and humility.”
Besides honoring Kohn, the rookies have also demonstrated a sense of charity. This year, several first-years opted to shave their heads to benefit children’s cancer research through a foundation known as “Lacrosse for Life.” For every head shaved, the foundation donates $1,000 to the Boston Children’s Hospital.
First-year Luke Simpson was among the participants this year. In early March, Simpson and 17 other teammates picked up razors to set the standard of generosity and civic responsibility for Panther lacrosse. “Men’s lacrosse is committed to giving back in any way we can,” Simpson said. “Whether it is with us shaving our heads or through local Addison County charities, the lacrosse team is very motivated to help out.”
The pattern of giving back and honoring tradition from the rookie class didn’t go unnoticed from upperclassmen. “What was most impressive about this group was their willingness to help the community,” said senior captain Jake Madnick ’20. “Whether it was being a ball boy for the football team or volunteering to do community service, this group was always eager to help.”
While this cohort has made a mark in the community, their contributions didn’t diminish when they took the field; in the short three-game season, the first years contributed seven goals and four assists. Among the point contributors was Will Ryan ’23, an attacker who netted five goals in two games. “The other first-years were extremely supportive [when I scored] along with the rest of the guys on the team,” Ryan said. “I think I’ll remember getting swarmed by teammates when I came off the field more than the goals themselves.”
Other first years also made an early-season impact, including fellow attacker Will Zink ’23. Zink dished the assist to Ryan when he netted his first collegiate goal, and again set up Ryan in the next game. The Massachusetts native also tacked on a goal of his own in Middlebury’s match against Plattsburgh State.
To top off their remarkable character and talent, the rookie class supplied high-spirits and an appropriate dash of comedy to the team this year, both in the locker room and on the field.
Their sense of humor was on full display during their annual Halloween scrimmage. On the last day of October, the lacrosse team traditionally plays an intra-squad scrimmage while donning their costumes — which is a practice some members take seriously. First-year attacker Tom Conley ’23 arrived at his first-ever Halloween game dressed head-to-toe in a Spider-Man costume.
Required to wear a helmet, Conley was forced to fit it over his suit, presenting a slight issue: “He couldn't see that well — it was hard to see through the Spider-Man costume and his mask,” said teammate Johnny Kantaros. “I don’t really know what he was thinking, to be honest.”
Conley’s struggle with sight presented all sorts of issues for the attacker. “A few times, a ball would be thrown at him and he wouldn't react,” Kantaros said. “It’d just fly right by him. He had everyone laughing.”
Despite these challenges, Conley was determined to make an impact. When the two teams tied and the game came down to the next goal, the ball landed in Conley’s hands. “Then, somehow, he managed to fire a rocket into the net, good for the game-winning tally,” Kantaros recounted. “It was hilarious — everyone was shocked.” Conley was even sure to complement his goal with a silly celebration.
“Classic Tom,” Kantaros mused. “That was definitely the highlight of the game for most of us.” From the costume to the celebration, Conley’s game-winning goal in his first-ever Halloween game is just one semblance of the positive energy the first-years have brought to the team.
The immediate, multi-dimensional impact from the first-year class is inarguable, undergirded by a truly remarkable character. “They brought great enthusiasm to the team this year and were willing to do anything that was asked of them,” said Campbell, the head coach. “I think everyone in that class has the potential to play a major role for us down the road.”
Madnick similarly predicts a bright future for this rookie group. “This class is filled with great players that have a ton of talent and a bright future at Middlebury,” he said. “More importantly, they have outstanding character and a bright future beyond Middlebury.”
(05/07/20 10:01am)
Although disasters such as the Covid-19 pandemic are often regarded as “great equalizers,” the homeless population of the U.S. has experienced a disproportionate impact. Local infrastructures, such as shelter programs, have become crucial for these populations to survive the tremors of the pandemic. However, under the extreme stress of increased demand for their resources, shelters across the country have come to a pressing juncture. In many states, the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak has resulted in an upheaval of the entire structure of the shelter system and all of the essential services such programs provide. Numerous shelters have been forced to reduce operations to avoid spreading the disease further, while others have shut down entirely.
In Vermont, state resources have bolstered the shelter system. Middlebury community spaces such as Charter House have been able to find relief in state funding. “The state of Vermont has been fantastic,” said Walter Stugis, chair of Charter House’s board of directors. “They’re great. They’re very supportive. They say, ‘Keep doing the right thing and the money will follow. Don’t worry about if it’s going to cost us too much.’”
Coordination between shelters across the state has been a key component in continuing effective operation amid the pandemic. “Our Executive Director, Doug Sinclair — at least a couple times a week — is on a conference call with shelters and the state human service agency leaders about coordinating how to handle things on a state level,” Stugis said.
Government programs such as State General Assistance are key actors in providing relief for homeless populations and are currently feeling the added pressure. The Campus reached out to the State of Vermont GA program, but was declined an interview.
The need to meet certain health guidelines has compelled most shelters nationwide to enforce stringent protective measures. The Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) encourages those living at home with a person who is infected to use separate bedrooms, bathrooms and personal “household items,” including dishes, towels and bedding. In Nevada, this has meant that some shelters have placed cots in parking lots, as rapidly filling space within the complex has rendered maintaining six feet of distance impossible.
Homeless residents of Addison County have been given the option of staying in hotels in Middlebury and Burlington through the program established by Charter House. While the state is usually reluctant to fund these more expensive measures, the decision to limit those in need to confining spaces could result in dramatic spread.
“It’s a very collegial approach,” Stugis said. “If there’s no more room in hotels in Middlebury… as the population of homeless grows, there’s been other places established that can start taking them and getting transport for them.” Stugis mentioned that Charter House as completely emptied their North Pleasant street facility, as well. “This created space in the Charter House for some future eventuality,” he said. “The state knows now that people could go there now if a need arises.”
In a period where many shelters struggle to secure resources, collaboration has been critical for organizations like Charter House and other local shelters to stay afloat, together. “It’s all new territory… But if there’s a problem, at [our virtual meetings] they get solved,” Stugis said.
For communities across the U.S., it has become impossible for human service programs to serve any form of hot meal. Instead, they are opting for bagged lunches passed off at designated areas. Charter House has established a program to provide a daily breakfast, lunch and dinner for those in their care, without needing to risk travel to crowded areas.
For three meals a day, the Middlebury College dining staff has become a resource in providing those relocated to local hotels with delivered food. Shelter volunteers bring the prepared food to the doors of guests to limit risks and other difficulties of a pickup, Stugis explained.“It’s working great.”
Stugis described other measures taken to limit the extent that their guests would be obligated to enter public spaces. “There’s been a system put in place, so that if someone is showing symptoms in one of the hotels that we’re supervising, then the local medical folks go to the hotel room to do a Covid test,” he said. “All kinds of examples like that, which are mutually supportive to all of the shelters and feeding centers around the state.”
Managing options for temporary sheltering options in this period has become a matter of staying several steps ahead of coming change. Stugis explained that when one option becomes unviable, another must be in the works. “It’s kind of like a game of musical chairs.”
In the face of an onslaught of sudden shifts brought on by the spread of Covid-19, Charter House has maintained the fundamentals on which it was founded. “We have a value statement up on the wall, in various places in the shelter,” says Stugis. “It has words like compassion, dignity, and family. This is how we treat each other. Always.”
Editor’s Note: Please consider donating to the Charter House Coalition, as they continue shelter residents during the Covid-19 outbreak. Donations can be made to the Charter House Coalition on their website.
(05/07/20 10:00am)
Bad Feminist by Roxane Gay, 2014
Is it “good”? Yes. It’s Roxane Gay. Of course it’s good. It’s Roxane Gay. She is the definition par excellence of “good.” Does it deliver on what’s promised? Hey, wait a minute there. No. Not exactly. “Bad Feminist” is a collection of essays in which Gay examines her personal life, the media and race rhetoric in the United States, all within one tome. The work is equal parts memoir, musings and in-depth cultural analysis of television, movies and gender politics. It makes you wonder how Gay effectively pitched the collection to an agent/editor given the work’s somewhat negotiated cohesion. Let’s be clear: Roxane Gay is brilliant. She’s a deep thinker and a writer who makes her complex and nuanced ideas accessible to a broad public of people. But why is a recounting of her participation in a competitive Scrabble tournament in this collection alongside her critiques of Quentin Tarantino’s slavery era cinematic film “Django Unchained”? I want to be open to new types of publication, especially if they’re featuring the black, first generation, Haitian American child of immigrants who grew up in Midwestern towns, as Gay is and as she did. However, “Bad Feminist”challenges my concept of the very concept of a “book.” Assuming a book is a compilation of writing that is centered on a singular theme or narrative, as they often, but not exclusively, are, this is not a book. It happens to be a collection of essays that exists within the same binding and perhaps the reader should be given more of a clue as to what they’re in store for.
Are we praising Roxane Gay because she’s engaging topics that are long overdue for public discourse? (Yes.) Or because she is producing work that makes sense in the publications, layouts and formats in which it appears? (Not so much.) What do I mean when I say the work is “good” then? Well, what I’m actually saying is Roxane Gay herself is an impressive person. She has fought tremendous self-loathing. She is undeniably an admirable activist for women’s rights and bodily autonomy. Her voice is a critical one that sees truth and does not balk from it, even when it’s ugly— especially when it’s ugly. However, “Bad Feminist” is an uneven work. It reflects her intelligence. Yet, it is an early and “green” work that does not reflect talented, editorial skill. I wouldn’t write her off — and I have the benefit of saying this after having read and listened to her works “Hunger” and “Not That Bad.” But I think she was still getting her bearings when this one came out— still sharpening her tools. I would only recommend individual essays of this work, for example, if someone was teaching a class on media representations of Black suffering, encouraging them to review Gay’s words on “12 Years A Slave.” But it’s harder to recommend the compilation as a whole as it’s so diffuse in its focus. For other thematic works like this one, maybe see “Why I’m Not A Feminist” by Jessica Crispin (which I have yet to read) or “Sister Outsider” by Audre Lorde, which I’ve listened to via OverDrive.
Hunger: A Memoir of My Body by Roxane Gay, 2017
Trigger Warning: This book regularly references rape and bulimia as lived experiences by the author.
Brilliant. Personal. Timely.
Gay’s “Hunger” is a compilation of more than 80 autobiographical essays, vignettes and commentaries in which the author tells of growing up in a loving family and how she was traumatically gang raped at the age of 12. The rape destabilized her confidence, sense of self-worth and relationship with her body for decades to come. For the record, Gay refers to herself as a “victim,” not a “survivor.” As a tween, Gay believed that if she made her body unattractive, she would never again be subjected to the sexual violence she experienced. So she ate and ate and her body grew and grew. And while she engaged this protective mechanism, she was utterly unable to reveal the cause of her excesses to her parents and family for many, many years.
What’s special about this book is that Roxane Gay articulates a nuanced notion that isn’t nearly as broadly held as I believe it ought to be: who we are is wildly distinct from the bodies we inhabit. She is a smart writer, bisexual, Haitian American, a Midwesterner with a doctorate degree who also happens to be morbidly obese. And while we live in bodies that can be unruly, non-conforming and may not encounter appropriately accommodating furniture, walkways, vehicles and the sort, who we are and what we can accomplish is not determined by thigh gaps and washboard abs, despite what the culture might suggest.
I would recommend this work to anyone who feels that their body is seen, read and assigned a narrative even before their thoughts are shared, heard and weighed. For more works like this, see “meaty” by Samantha Irby or “Shrill” by Lindy West.
Not that Bad: Dispatches from Rape Culture edited by Roxane Gay, 2018
“Not That Bad” is an anthology of testimonies from people who have been victimized by rape culture. Rape culture refers to a whole series of phenomena that surround and may include rape: victim blaming and shaming, the proclivity to protect abusers, the widespread ignorance surrounding conversations that seek sexual consent and more. Editor Roxane Gay is a writer and academic who was gang raped as a child and shares some details surrounding her own story in the opening introduction. The gang rape she experienced caused her to lose her faith and to engage in eating habits that she believed would protect her from further abuse, which ushered in a decades’ long era of struggles with her weight, as documented in her memoir, “Hunger.” Gay has a strong history of seeking fair and broad representation of women’s voices and she achieves that goal in this compilation, including a few men’s testimonies as well.
In “Not That Bad,” inviting over two dozen participants, Gay does everything you expect she would: she seeks out and collects a diversity of voices to speak to the nuances and fissures of a theme. She includes a Hollywood actor’s voice who was not touched, groped or raped but whose sense of bodily autonomy was violated in other ways via the media. She includes a story from a woman who studied law and was trained to discredit women through character attacks. She includes the voice of a woman who never learned to say no as she is much more familiar with acquiescence and prioritizing her sexual partner’s needs and demands. In terms of the prevalence of rape and rape culture, the book is much needed and long overdue. In some ways, rape is so commonplace that our societies have become desensitized to its impact as demonstrated by the use of rape narratives in video games or the word “rape” as a shorthand for minor, non-sexual violations or as a punchline for jokes. This collection shakes readers and re-awakens us to the actuality of rape-related trauma, reminding us that there are victims and victimizers all around us. This work is available in print and as an audiobook. For a different type of title that celebrates women’s pleasure in sex, see “Moan: Anonymous Essays on Female Orgasm.”
