1000 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
(03/04/21 11:00am)
After Middlebury took a financial hit due to the pandemic, the Board of Trustees met in the last week of January to establish a plan for financial stability.
The Board of Trustees established three main conditions the institution must fulfill to achieve financial stability: operating at a surplus by fiscal year 2022, growing the endowment and paying off half of the institution's outstanding debts.
To achieve those goals, the board increased tuition and fees by 2.5%, limited the endowment draw to 5% and instructed the administration to begin making principal payments on half of the institution's outstanding debt.
Middlebury will not make any decisions about extending or ending the wage and hiring freezes until May.
Generating a surplus
Middlebury has operated at a budgetary deficit since 2012. When the board appointed President Laurie Patton in 2016, they established the “Road to a Sustainable Future,” a plan to break even on the budget by FY21. Middlebury was on track to achieve that goal by FY21 before the pandemic arrived, but instead closed out FY20 with a $11.6 million dollar deficit due to the pandemic.
Middlebury initially projected a $18.5 million deficit for fiscal year 2021 — which stretches from July 2019 to July 2020 — but the latest projection estimates a $10.2 million deficit instead. Middlebury experienced worse-than-expected losses from the shuttered schools abroad and a lack of revenue from room and board fees for remote students. However, unexpected “federal and state support for Covid-19 related costs and lost revenues” decreased operating costs and better performances by the summer Language Schools and the Monterey Institute made a significant difference, Executive Vice President for Finance and Administration David Provost said in an email to The Campus.
Despite recent losses, the board decided to resume the effort to balance the budget in the January meeting. They instructed the institution to produce a small surplus by 2022 and operate at a surplus of at least 1% by FY23, or $2.6 million.
A major part of balancing the budget relies on the college raising tuition. Though the college’s 3.25% tuition hike for the 2020-2021 academic year was met with staunch protest from students, parents, faculty and staff, the board decided to raise tuition and fees by another 2.5% for the upcoming year. Students will pay a total of $76,820 — $59,330 in tuition, $17,050 for room and board, and a $440 student activities fee.
But tuition increases alone will not close the budgetary gap, at least as the college defines it.
The college has defined the deficit based on the total revenues, which include the annual amount drawn from the endowment. If the college kept the draw on the endowment to a consistent figure closer to the endowment’s actual rate of growth — between 6 and 7% on average — instead of limiting the draw to 5%, the college may well be operating at a surplus instead, according to Professor of Economics Peter Matthews, who serves as co-chair of the the Middlebury chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) Finance Committee and as a member of its Executive Committee.
A hard cap on the endowment draw artificially limits the resources available, a decision that may force the college to make unnecessary cuts and sacrifices in the future, according to Matthews.
“It's one thing to say that the sacrifice is absolutely essential to the well-functioning of the institution,” Matthews said. “But I am at the least incredibly uncomfortable with sacrifice on the altar of some arbitrary definition of deficit and surplus.”
Limiting the endowment draw
Between July 1 and Dec. 31, 2020 — the start of FY21 and the end of calendar year 2020 — the endowment grew by more than 15.4%, a $170.21 million increase. The institution is still awaiting information on the fourth-quarter returns, but Provost estimates that growth may actually exceed 16% or even 17%, making it the largest growth in more than a decade and more than twice the rate of growth in 2019. As of Feb. 2, Provost estimated that the total value of the endowment exceeded $1.25 billion.
The annual endowment draw is calculated based on a rolling average of the endowment balance for the previous three calendar years. The 5% Middlebury will draw for FY22 will come from the mean size of the endowment over 2018, 2019 and 2020 as of Dec. 31 2020. This strategy ensures that an individual year’s spike or decrease does not cause massive fluctuations in the amount of the draw, according to Provost.
Middlebury increased the endowment draw to 7.5% in FY21 in response to the pandemic, but the board elected to limit the endowment draw to 5% for FY22 and beyond. Middlebury assumes that the endowment will grow an average of 6 or 7% annually over a 10 year period. A 5% draw would therefore allow the endowment to grow by 1 or 2% each year, according to Provost.
Financial mismanagement by the previous administration ate through the institution's unrestricted reserves — the portion of the endowment not earmarked for specific purposes or programs by either donors or the board — which currently amount to just $4.7 million. Provost said the institution has to grow the endowment so it will be prepared for the next “rainy day” after the pandemic ends.
“The endowment is a multi-generational investment tool to support multiple generations of students and programs,” Provost said in an email to The Campus. “It is not a bank account, and we cannot use it to solve the dilemma of the college living beyond its means for the last decade nor solve the short-term strains of the pandemic.”
But Matthews questions why Middlebury is trying to grow the endowment for a future rainy day while the institution is currently in the midst of a crisis.
“It's important that we preserve a Middlebury for the next generation that is at least as good as the one that you're enjoying,” Matthews said. “But it works in both directions. [Current students are] entitled to a Middlebury that is at least as good as the Middlebury that future generations are going to enjoy.”
The AAUP advocated for an annual endowment draw of at least 7% in a statement published in May of 2020. A draw of that size would keep pace with the endowment’s average yearly growth. While the endowment would not grow, it also wouldn't shrink, fulfilling what Matthews views as the extent of the institution’s duties to future generations at this current moment.
“Especially during the period of Covid, [limiting the endowment draw to] five or even 6% effectively punishes this generation [for the sake] of future generations,” Matthews said. “[Current students are] one of the generations that count when we talk about intergenerational equity.”
Repaying debt
Rather than increase the endowment draw, the Board of Trustees during their summer meeting authorized the institution to borrow up to $30 million over the next five to seven years to make up for budget shortfalls. The institution will decide on how much money they will borrow in April or May, according to Provost.
Provost estimates that the loans will have interest rates between 1.75% and 2.25%. However, the real interest rate — what the institution will actually have to pay back after adjusting for inflation, typically around 2% — may very well be negative, meaning that the institution would pay less than they originally borrowed, according to Matthews.
“If one needs to borrow in order to cover shortfalls, this is not a bad time to do so,” Matthews said.
Even as the institution is proposing taking out more loans, the board’s latest plans prioritize paying back its current $268,093,000 debt. Rather than continue to pay only interest and defer payments on the principal of the loan, Middlebury amortized half of the outstanding debt, meaning the institution will make principal payments of $5 million to $13 million annually over the next ten years.
Provost believes that continuing to refinance the loans, even given current financial hardships, would not be “fiduciarily responsible” and unfairly punish future generations.
“With interest rates so low, some would argue that we should push out debt and not pay back the debt, just keep rolling it over,” Provost said in an email to The Campus. Instead, Provost advocates for paying back debt taken on to acquire assets as they are being used. This way, future generations are not burdened with the responsibility to pay for amenities that previous generations enjoyed.
The board also authorized renovations to Warner and Voter Halls as well as Dana Auditorium in Sunderland Hall in their January meeting. Construction is set to begin this summer and is projected to cost $10.8 million. The majority of those funds come from 2010 bonds, which have to be used within 36 months of the date the institution refinanced them last year.
The decision to focus on paying back debts and continuing with large-scale infrastructure renovations directly contradicts the AAUP’s call to “prioritize people before buildings and debt retirement” in their May 2020 statement.
“It is people, not capital assets, that define the Middlebury community, and funds otherwise set aside for infrastructure or accelerated debt repayment should be diverted in a crisis,” the statement said.
Middlebury has yet to make any decisions about many of the people-oriented issues the AAUP referred to in their priorities — including lifting the hiring freeze, adjusting faculty and staff compensation and ending or extending wage continuity. Provost said such decisions will come in May, when the institution does its normal budgetary planning for the coming fiscal year.
Moving forward
The Board of Trustees’ announcement came as “a complete surprise” to faculty, according to Matthews. Not only were they not consulted or part of the decision making process at all, faculty were not even informed that these decisions were being made.
Matthews views these financial decisions as central to the values Middlebury prioritizes, values which he says the entire Middlebury community — faculty, staff and students included — should be a part of determining.
“We still need a conversation about what our common goals are and what kind of financial practices would allow us to achieve those goals that aren't unilateral and don't presuppose some assumptions about the way financial markets work that's completely untethered from reality,” Matthews said.
The AAUP will meet in March to discuss the Board of Trustees’ announcement and to develop a formal response.
(03/04/21 10:57am)
(03/04/21 10:57am)
(03/04/21 10:57am)
As Covid-19 ground international travel to a halt and the college gradually rolled out fall and spring closures for all 16 Middlebury schools abroad, juniors watched their study abroad plans crumble. A year later — even as vaccine distribution begins worldwide — many current sophomores are reevaluating their plans while anxiously awaiting news about the status of international programs for the 2021–22 academic year.
Hesitation about study abroad is reflected in the size of this year’s batch of applications. The International Programs office received 424 applications for the 2021–22 academic year, a nearly 13% decrease from this time last year, when the college received 486 applications, according to Associate Dean of International Programs Liz Ross. Though the application period for studying abroad in the 2021–22 academic year closed on Feb. 15, Ross expects that numbers will continue to shift.
Some sophomores decided not to apply to study abroad next year given the significant amount of time they have already spent away from campus.
Ben Knudsen ’23, an English and Education Studies double major, did not submit a study abroad application. Knudsen said he wants to spend his remaining time at Middlebury on campus, spending time with friends and participating in club soccer.
“This is my first spring on campus, and I want to get as much time here as possible,” Knudsen said. “I don’t have an infinite amount of time on Middlebury’s campus. I’ll enjoy my time here; after I graduate, hopefully there’s going to be more opportunities for me to go out and experience the world.”
Other sophomores revised their original abroad plans in light of possible limitations brought on by the pandemic.
Husam AlZubaidy ’23, an International Politics and Economics (IPE) major studying Arabic, originally planned to go to Amman, Jordan during his junior year. Instead, he applied to spend next year at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies via the study away program.
“I think [the pandemic] has helped me moderate my expectations,” AlZubaidy said. “I think that it’s unreasonable that I could expect the same experience I could have gotten before the pandemic, where I could get my linguistic immersion with people who live locally in Jordan.”
Although it is situated in the U.S., the program in California will still offer a change of scenery and the opportunity to meet new people, which AlZubaidy is looking forward to.
“I thought that maybe it would be good to refine some of my language in terms of my profession, focusing on policy development and working on my vocabulary and language at more of an official level,” AlZubaidy said.
Though some have misgivings, many students still applied for study abroad, hoping international programs will be operational by spring 2022.
Sofia West ’23 is studying International and Global Studies (IGS) on the Global Security Studies track. She plans to study abroad in Paris, where she will take the language pledge to speak exclusively in French.
“I’m going to be fully culturally and linguistically immersed for four and a half months,” West said. “I’m looking forward to getting to know the city of Paris and meeting new people.”
Isabela Bahadorzadeh ’23 is also an IGS major and is on the Global Gender and Sexualities track and studying Spanish. Bahadorzadeh applied to a school in Chile but recognizes how Covid-19 has changed her perspective on study abroad.
“I think with college in general, not just with study abroad, a lot more things feel more important right now, like my family and my community,” Bahadorzadeh said.
Current juniors who were supposed to be abroad this spring or this past fall are scrambling to change their plans. Sophie Bardetti ’22, an IGS major in Global Security Studies taking Arabic, had initially planned to spend her entire junior year abroad. She is considering applying to study abroad in Morocco this fall.
Even though her plans have been disrupted, she keeps an optimistic attitude and hopes to travel safely in the future. She picked her major with the intent to live abroad after graduation.
“I am trying not to be too upset because I know that there are opportunities in the future,” Bardetti said. “I’ll get abroad, but it was supposed to be part of my immersive Arabic learning experience at Middlebury.”
(03/04/21 10:56am)
The Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) has been hard at work organizing a socially distant Winter Carnival to take place from March 12–20. The events will be a mix of indoor, outdoor and virtual activities. The final itinerary for the weekend will be sent out to students next week.
“The weekend will have larger events, and the weekdays will have smaller repeating events so everyone has the opportunity to participate in them,” Chloe Fleischer ’21.5, the MCAB traditions co-executive who has been leading the planning effort, said.
The carnival will span eight days this year to make activities accessible for all students despite capacity limitations.
Instead of the usual day at the Snowbowl, MCAB has organized neon ski and sledding to take place on the Mead Chapel hill on March 13.
“We will have a mid-2000s themed glow-in-the-dark dance and are hoping it will be available digitally and in-person with hula hoops to maintain distance,” Fleischer said.
Students can also participate in night sledding and a virtual escape room the evening of March 13.
“We will also have music, lights, fire pits and hot cocoa to make a great atmosphere,” Fleischer said.
On March 19, students can look forward to live performance art fest featuring students in WOMP and a cappella, stand-up comedy, and improv groups.
Instead of the traditional Winter Ball, student DJs will be performing in different locations so students can dance at a “Mask-erade ball” on March 20.
The organization of some activities later in the weekend is reliant on whether students follow Covid-19 protocols in the initial events. Students can sign up for events with limited capacity on Presence and can check MCAB social media and email announcements for the final itinerary next week.
(02/04/21 11:00am)
After 13 seasons in the NFL, Stephen Hauschka ’07 is hanging up his boots.
The Needham, Mass. native departs the NFL with an impressive legacy, marked by a Super Bowl win with the Seahawks in 2014 and a career field goal accuracy of 85.2%. But when his achievements are put against the backdrop of his unorthodox beginnings, they become all the more impressive.
Hauschka enrolled at Middlebury in 2003 with the aspiration of playing varsity soccer, but that dream never panned out. Instead, he joined the junior varsity soccer team and played lacrosse. Football wasn’t in the picture — it had never been — but once Hauschka arrived at school, the sport surrounded him. His freshman roommate, Scott Secor, was a member of the football team, and Scott’s teammates frequented their dorm room in Battell Hall.
In 2003, the football team went 4–4, with only two field goals all season. Looking to improve, the team started thinking — and that’s when an idea sprouted.
Secor and his football teammates knew that Hauschka had a strong leg — they had seen him use it on the soccer pitch — and with deficiencies on the kicking end of the gridiron, they saw Hauschka as a possible solution. So, they alerted head coach Bob Ritter about Hauschka’s potential, and sure enough, he earned an invitation to preseason camp the following fall.
Hauschka was a hit.
“The first time I really remember him was when he came out in the fall and there were actually three other kickers [but] you knew right away that he was different,” Ritter told The Campus. “The ball just popped off his leg. You could tell right away that he had the skills and talent that the other guys didn’t.”
At first, the ex-soccer player sprayed his kicks all over the place with little accuracy. But after spending time with kicking coach Steve Wolf, who has since retired from coaching at Middlebury, he quickly improved.
“He would drive up from Rutland, and we got to work during practice every day,” Hauschka said in an interview with The Campus. “I learned so much from him and kept getting better and better.”
By opening day, on Sept. 25, 2004, Hauschka had earned a starting position.
“I think I was lucky,” Hauschka said. “My first game, I made my first field goal, which was really helpful. And back then I hadn’t really associated what it feels like to make or miss field goals — but I knew it felt good to make it.”
With such a strong leg, Hauschka was also employed as a punter, tasked with pinning teams far back in their end. Only a few weeks removed from his first football practice, Hauschka was a dual threat.
“He punted the ball inside the 20[-yard line] a ridiculous number of times,” said Ritter. “So he really did have a big impact on the game, not only in the points he scored, but also the hole he put defenses in when punting.”
Every year, Hauschka improved. He hit 10 field goals between his sophomore and junior seasons, and then hit another 10 his senior year. Those tallies lifted him to the top of the program record book in career field goals (20) and most field goals in a season (10). Those records still stand today.
Hauschka was evolving into a polished kicker, so Ritter sent some of Hauschka’s tape to the Baltimore Ravens during his senior year.
“We always felt he had the talent and leg strength to [play in the NFL],” Ritter said. “He would kick a lot of our kickoffs deep and out of the endzone, so we knew he had that leg, and we knew that pro teams also look at that.”
Still holding onto a year of NCAA eligibility since he didn’t join the team until his sophomore year, Hauschka began to consider options for a final season. While a return to Middlebury was possible, both Ritter and Hauschka knew that a bigger school would provide a sturdier stepping stone to the NFL. So Hauschka sent emails to Division I teams, targeting programs with a departing or underperforming kicker. The list included around 45–50 schools.
That’s when North Carolina State University called, offering Hauschka a spot to walk on during training camp. A storied program in the Atlantic Coast Conference, NC State competed against teams like Florida State, UMiami and Clemson. These programs performed on the highest echelon of college football and had a proven track record of producing NFL talent. It was an opportunity that Hauschka couldn’t pass up.
While the setting changed — NC State’s stadium seated over 50,000 — Hauschka's momentum didn’t dwindle. In preseason, he beat out the competition for the starting position and never looked back. That year, he went 16-of-18 for field goals and 25-for-25 on extra points, finishing as a semifinalist for the top college kicking award. It was a dream season.
“After playing at NC State, I think it was January of that year, a couple [NFL] teams started reaching out,” said Hauschka. “Then I put everything I had into it and got signed [by the Minnesota Vikings] as an undrafted free agent.”
Just like that, Stephen Hauschka, a former collegiate JV soccer player, was now signed to a professional contract in the NFL. It was a career that would span 13 seasons, including stops at eight different teams: Minnesota, Baltimore, Atlanta, Detroit, Denver, Seattle, Buffalo and Jacksonville.
Hauschka’s most successful stop was in Seattle. In his six seasons with the Seahawks, he captured six franchise records and was named an alternate for the 2016 Pro Bowl. He also played in two Super Bowls with the Seahawks, winning one in 2014 against the Broncos.
“Just seeing him reach those heights and handle it — it's really exciting to see,” Ritter said. “He just had a great mindset and he really learned how to operate his body under pressure and stay smooth, and that's really the secret to his success.”
JV-soccer-player-turned-Super Bowl winner: it’s a wild success story, punctuated by an unconventional path.
“I think the whole thing is unexpected,” Hauschka said. “I never really thought I'd even play football. I was excited just to play at Middlebury to be honest — I didn’t really know what I was doing. And then I had this great career — win a Super Bowl, lose a Super Bowl — have lots of success on a few different teams and travel all over the country. It really opened my mind to life in general. It's quite an experience being an adult playing a sport.”
Now that Hauschka has a little more time on his hands, he looks forward to planting some roots with his family. After bouncing around the league for the past 12 years, it’s a chance to focus on those relationships and enjoy some semblance of stability.
As for a return to Middlebury, Hauschka won’t rule that out. Once the pandemic calms, he says, Middlebury will be one of the first stops on the docket.
“I'm sure he’ll come back,” Ritter said. “He’s always been very true to Middlebury.”
(01/28/21 11:00am)
Ripton voted on Jan. 12 to leave the Addison Central School District (ACSD) in an effort to keep its elementary school open amid declining enrollment, budget cuts and potential school consolidation. The town of Weybridge voted to stay.
Vermont schools have faced funding challenges in recent years due to the aging and decreasing population of the state. To combat ongoing demographic and funding shifts, ACSD is considering closing schools in Bridport, Ripton and Weybridge. The closures are meant to streamline the ACSD and eliminate the cost of maintaining additional staff and infrastructure. But in order for Ripton to leave ACSD, the other six towns in the district must vote to allow Ripton to leave. The bid will then move to the Vermont Board of Education, which will ultimately decide if Ripton can become independent.
Ripton mother Erin Lacey Robinson is leading Ripton’s effort to secede from ACSD. Robinson says she does not believe that closing Ripton Elementary School is a long-term solution to the budget problems that ACSD has cited as reason for consolidation. Her sentiment has been echoed by others parents in the town and across the state.
“The problems that our schools are facing across the state are not an individual school’s problems,” Robinson said. “It’s not all about declining enrollment.”
But it is, in part, about declining enrollment: Vermont’s schools are funded by property taxes from across the state, meaning that taxpayers from the Northeast Kingdom to Bennington are paying to keep schools open in places like Ripton. With so few students, the tiny elementary schools require higher overhead costs in comparison to larger schools with lower teacher-to-student ratios.
Robinson believes teacher and staff healthcare costs are the biggest drains on funding, but did not indicate other potential avenues for funding benefits for school employees. She said that budget issues will continue to occur until schools are better funded at the state and federal levels.
And she believes that closing Ripton’s school will only create additional problems, including hour-long bus rides for students and a lower ratio of teachers and paraeducators to students. This would mean students would spend less time outdoors and would receive less individual attention from educators.
“I’m worried about kids falling through the cracks,” she said.
Molly Witters, another Ripton parent involved in the effort to keep Ripton Elementary School open, voiced concerns about what closing Ripton would do to the community.
”Without Ripton Elementary School, the town becomes a vacation community and loses the reality and grittiness of working people that still exist here,” Witters said, adding that she is concerned young families and working class people will be less likely to settle in Ripton without a local school.
“People like myself think that [Ripton elementary school] could not only be the place for our children to be educated but could be even more of a community center,” Witters said. She said that a range of residents want the local school to stay open, from young families who moved to Ripton specifically for the school to elderly residents who attend the school’s Thanksgiving dinners.
The situation in neighboring school district Addison Northwest School District (ANWSD) foreshadows what may happen if Ripton Elementary School is closed.
Addison Central Elementary School closed in 2020 and students were moved to Vergennes Union Elementary School. ANWSD parent Mary O’Donovan said the transition has been better than expected. The process of consolidation, however, was painful.
“It was heartbreaking the way the school board treated us,” O’Donovan said of the school’s swift closure.
But O’Donovan has worked hard to put any hard feelings aside.
“When you send a kid to a new school, you can’t hate it,” she said. “You have to embrace it, otherwise your kid will feel it.”
O’Donovan also mentioned deeper issues in funding Vermont schools and recognized that improvements are necessary. More money is needed, she said, either at the state or federal level. As it is, school funding is coming mostly from property taxes, an untenable solution in a state with a declining population.
The Ripton Elementary School’s independence, if successful, will transfer operational budget woes into the hands of Ripton residents.
Witters said she believes funding will be the school’s biggest challenge going forward. This is in addition to questions of staff and student retention.
Far from feeling hopeless, however, Ripton’s organizers seemed energized, ready to work and think outside the box for creative solutions to save their school.
And if they succeed, Ripton parents will be able to make decisions on their own. As is, the school is represented by a single member on the 13-man ACSD School Board.
“So even if you do the math,” Wittters said, “there’s no way to really have a voice about our future school choices in the school district.”
Correction: An earlier version of this story misspelled Bridport as Bridgeport.
(01/27/21 8:46pm)
In J-Term of 2017, Thor Sawin swiped his ID card to get into a Middlebury College building for the first time. Sawin, an associate professor at MIIS, was teaching a winter term course in linguistics, and had a moment of realization when he first set foot on the Vermont campus.
“I'm like, ‘Oh yeah, I'm home,’” Sawin said. “I didn't even need to do anything special. I can check out a book out of the library with the ID card that I already had. It works in both places.”
Sawin, who also serves as the current president of the Faculty Senate at MIIS, understands that faculty at the college might not know just how intertwined the two schools are. He had been previously asked by college faculty who his provost was (Jeff Cason, just like the college) and who his president was — to which he replied, of course, “Laurie Patton.”
Financial fears about MIIS and its purported drain on the college aren’t the only barriers to total cohesion between the two institutions. Some college faculty still believe that MIIS simply doesn’t offer anything to the undergraduate liberal arts experience that Middleury provides, while others suggest that a failure of communication has left college faculty in the dark about MIIS’ efforts and values. And for some, a belief that MIIS is a fundamentally independent institution colors these sentiments.
“It's just not Middlebury. It's not Middlebury College to me,” Frank Swenton told The Campus.
From an administrative perspective, that simply isn’t true.
“Monterey employees are Middlebury College employees. These folks are part of the family. They do fantastic work for the College and for Big M,” Provost said, using the term for the whole Middlebury institution, which includes the college, institute, schools abroad, Bread Loaf School of English and more. He also noted that Middlebury’s effort throughout the pandemic to provide wage continuity for employees and educational continuity for students applies unquestionably to all units, including the college and the institute.
However, for Monterey faculty and staff, a division between the institutions described by some college faculty isn’t just less visible — it’s impossible.
“Here in California, we can't help but be constantly thinking about Vermont. Everything that happens in Vermont totally affects our life.” Sawin said, noting that many decisions at MIIS can't be made "without thinking about Vermont first," but that college faculty aren't always obligated to think first of their California counterparts.
Word traveled in pieces to MIIS after Middlebury’s faculty voted 122 for and 133 against ending the college’s relationship with the institute. Even though the motion lost, a nearly-split vote was a blow to morale at the institute, according to Sawin.
“It was a depressing feeling around here,” Sawin said. The vote was especially disheartening in light of herculean efforts taken by institute faculty over the last several years to fit themselves into Middlebury by streamlining work, adjusting their jobs and cutting costs. MIIS reduced its full-time faculty from 84 to 71, 11 of them through a workforce planning process, last year, and the institute’s programs are currently well-enrolled despite an expected hit because of pandemic. However, Sawin said, the college’s faculty didn’t seem to be recognizing these painful belt-tightening measures and intense enrollment efforts.
In reflecting on the climate at Middlebury that led to the vote, Sawin noted, “Either [college faculty] don’t know what we do, and we haven’t done a good job of telling our story,” Sawin said. “Or what if they know our story and they still think that what we do is not valuable?”
Swenton’s proposition to move some current MIIS programs to the Vermont campus rather than eliminating them was met with mixed feelings. Sawin emphasized that while some faculty would be happy to do their job anywhere, many have a deep sense of pride about being Californians, and connect their academic work to the state and local environment. Sawin cited the institute’s close relationship to Silicon Valley, connections to Asia and the Pacific and research on oceans as some of the ways that the California location is integral to the work of its faculty.
“We’re glad that you like us, and we get that ending our campus doesn’t mean you want to fire us and throw us into the street,” Sawin said. “But California is a big part of what we do, and what we are.”
Swenton likens MIIS to an office of a company being moved, or employees being transferred to a different branch, and he says that expecting individuals to move for a job is “legitimate and not unexpected”.
“I don't think it's an unreasonable ask,” he added.
While moving operations to the Vermont campus may be plausible — if not academically practical — for the institute’s faculty, this strategy doesn’t present a contingency plan for staff in California, who would likely lose their jobs were the campus to be dissolved and its programs transplanted.
Swenton acknowledges that job loss would likely occur, but says that this fact does not excuse the expenditures of maintaining MIIS. In his view, Middlebury bailing out a bankrupt Monterey on accreditation probation 15 years ago has already been a service to the employees of MIIS, but the college is not obligated to maintain that employment in perpetuity. “Would I say that for sure every single person who is used is working there, every single staff member and faculty member, would be moved over? I don't know, maybe that's part of the reason for the resistance,” Swenton said.
From an administrative perspective, moving Monterey’s programs to Vermont isn’t on the table — in addition to the benefits of having a West Coast presence, David Provost says that the presence of 600 graduate students alone would be unsustainable for Addison County.
“There isn’t housing stock in Addison Country to support 600 new individuals living here,” Provost said, noting that their existence would require massive new development. “Where would we put them? Where would they learn?”
In addition to unrealistic infrastructure investments, Provost also noted that, without a doubt the closure of the Monterey campus would result in job losses for staff. He said that while he believes the college would hypothetically offer new jobs at the college to those staff first, asking those individuals to transplant from Northern California to the drastically different central Vermont would be logistically difficult for both those staff and the college and would lead to the widespread layoffs that the college has tried to avoid.
Correction: An earlier version of this piece identified the wrong number of faculty who left MIIS through the workforce planning process. It was 11, not 13.
(01/24/21 1:41am)
Although two-thirds of students said they did not regret their Fall 2020 enrollment decision, 76% of students said their mental health was worse during the fall semester than during a typical semester and nearly two in three students broke Covid-19 health protocols, according to a Campus survey. Other major findings include:
More than a third of students — 38% — said the semester exceeded expectations, while almost 40% said that it was worse than expected.
Almost half of students said that they disapproved of the administration’s handling of the fall semester.
A vast majority of students, 75%, said they felt stressed about their relationships this semester.
Students emphasized increasing social opportunities for students, promoting inclusivity and providing greater clarity on Covid-19 safety rules when suggesting improvements for the spring.
At the end of the survey, we also offered students the opportunity to anonymously share their ideas on how to make the spring 2021 semester better and provide any additional anecdotes from the semester. We have included some of these anonymous responses throughout this article and compiled specific student suggestions for improving the spring semester.
Academics
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
The data reveal a striking lack of consensus regarding how the fall semester went: while 38% of students said the semester exceeded their expectations, nearly 40% of students said the semester was worse than they expected. About a quarter of students said the semester was about the same as they expected.
In the anecdotal responses, many students wished for more in-person classes. “Middlebury should prioritize its primary duty, which is to educate its students to the best of its abilities by making every possible effort to make classes in-person,” wrote one student.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Satisfaction with the fall semester also varied by class year. While one in three members of the classes of 2021 or 2021.5 said the semester was worse than they expected, one half of respondents from the classes of 2023 or 2023.5 said the semester fell below expectations.
The vast majority of respondents, 87.5%, said they took four courses during the fall semester. A third of students indicated that two of their courses had in-person components, while 17% of students said they had zero classes with in-person components. The average student had in-person components in roughly half — 45% — of their courses.
Approval of college entities
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Of the six different entities we asked students to evaluate, Middlebury faculty enjoyed by far the highest approval rating. Still, in their anecdotal responses, students said they hoped that faculty would be more “lenient,” “understanding” and “flexible” during the spring semester. Some students wished faculty would go one step further and lighten students’ workloads.
“It seems like professors are concerned that reducing workloads means that we're learning less and not getting enough for our money,” one respondent wrote. “But the stress and depression of this fall made it so hard to learn that covering less material would be beneficial and we would actually learn more.”
Almost half of students, or 47%, disapproved of the administration, while a quarter approved of it. Some students said they thought Covid-19 policies were unrealistic or unclearly communicated in their anecdotal responses. “I hope that there can be more dialogue between students and administrators to understand how to better create rules that students will actually follow and feel safe,” one wrote.
Fall satisfaction and spring intentions
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Overall, two in three students said they did not regret their enrollment decision. One-tenth of respondents said they regretted their decision, and a quarter of students said they regretted the decision “somewhat.”
“I am not returning Middlebury in the Spring as they never fulfilled most of the things they told us they would throughout the semester,” one student wrote.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
If students’ intended spring plans are an indication of enrollment rates for the spring semester, Middlebury may see fewer students on campus this spring. 68% of students who said they intend to enroll as an on-campus student in the spring, compared to the 87% of respondents who identified as on-campus learners in the fall.
Compared to the 3.5% of students who took the semester off in the fall, 10% of respondents said they would not enroll or take the semester off.
One senior student said they were part of a group of friends leaving campus in the spring as a result of the strict rules. “It’s not how I wanted to spend my senior spring but we can’t deal with the rules on campus and just want to be able to be together for our last few months,” the student wrote.
An additional 9% of students were unsure of their spring plans. The number of remote students and the number of students living off-campus but taking classes on-campus is projected to remain the same for the spring at about 7% and under 3% respectively.
Covid-19 policies, rules, and guidelines
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Almost two in every three respondents — 64% — indicated that they broke Covid-19 safety rules this semester. A third of respondents said they exceeded room or suite capacity during the semester and a fourth of students reported having more than four close contacts. More than one in every ten — 13% — of students said they participated in a party or gathering with more than 10 people.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
One respondent said they were with as many as 30 other people in a house or suite without masks “every weekend.” The respondent added, “The rules were too strict. If I had followed them I would have become depressed.”
Some respondents believed that Covid-19 policies were enforced unevenly. “The inconsistency in punishment for breaking the Covid rules was absolutely unreal,” one respondent wrote. “Do not create a rule if it will not and cannot be enforced consistently.”
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Students greatly differed in their understanding of Middlebury’s Covid-19 policies. Nearly half of students said they felt confused by guidelines, compared to the 43% that said they were clear. “I worried pretty constantly that I would get reported for something that was me misunderstanding the rules and be kicked off campus,” one student responded.
Mental Health
The survey finds a striking decline in student mental health during the fall semester.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Three-fourths of students said their mental health was worse than it has been during a typical semester. The three factors most likely to affect student mental health this semester were stress about an uncertain future amid the pandemic, stress about academic work and anxiety over friendships or “fear of missing out,” according to survey results.
“The one thing that was amazing was my professors, but it is hard to motivate oneself to do work when you feel miserable all the time,” one student wrote.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Two-thirds of students reported feeling greater social isolation than in a normal semester, and almost a third of respondents experienced significant changes in their diet which led to either weight loss or gain. Nearly one in 10 students experienced intrusive thoughts of suicide which worsened during the semester.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Three-fourths of students felt stressed about their relationships. Some students expressed that the Covid-19 restrictions implemented by the college were successful in limiting cases of virus, but did so at the expense of students’ mental health. One student put it succinctly: “Mental health is just as important as physical health.” Others said they experienced mental strain due to the inability to socialize with friends or the fear of being punished for breaking Covid-19 rules.
General Demographics
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
This survey was sent to about 2,500 Middlebury students studying both remotely and on campus, and 549 — slightly less than quarter — responded. Eighty-seven percent of respondents were on-campus students this past fall, 2.3% of respondents lived off-campus but took classes on campus and 6.9% of respondents were remote students.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Respondents were fairly evenly distributed by class year, with a slight majority of respondents coming from the classes of 2022 and 2022.5 at 28.2%.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Three-quarters of respondents identified as white, 8.4% as Asian, Native Hawaiian, or Pacific Islander, 6% as of Latino or Hispanic Origin, 6% as biracial or multiracial, and 1.6% as Black or African American. Thirty-one or 5.6% of respondents identified as international students.
Slightly more than one-third of respondents said they receive financial aid.
Ideas from Student Responses for an improved Spring 2021 semester
Social Life
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
80% of students said that they thought spaces for hanging out or socializing were inadequate. 75% of students said they thought there was inadequate space for hosting events.
In the anecdotal responses, students repeatedly said they hoped for more in-person social opportunities in the spring, either facilitated by the college or through extracurricular activities, and improved access to spaces for socializing. One respondent wanted “more opportunities for virtual students to stay connected to campus events with students in person.”
Other student ideas included having heaters for tents, changing policies so that it is easier to register events and providing “funding for students to figure out how to make their own fun.”
Several students said they would be willing to sacrifice off-campus privileges in order to make on-campus rules less strict.
Inclusivity
Some anecdotal responses mentioned the ways in which rules and policies create different playing fields for different students.
“This semester exasperated the divide between the 'haves' and 'have-nots' because the students who had access to a car to drive places in Addison County tended to have a better experience overall than those who didn't,” wrote the student, adding that they wished the college provided a “rent-a-car” service for students.
“Promote inclusivity,” wrote another student. “White students spend time with white students and are intimidating to students of color. There is an apparent divide.”
Other students felt that they had to exclude friends from social gatherings due to capacity limits. One student felt particularly strongly about Covid-19 policies capping the number of people in a room: “Rules [related to Covid-19] essentially required us to ruin our friendships.”
One student said that they hoped students would be allowed to rank their preferred dining hall. “Some dining halls have a reputation of being predominantly white spaces, whereas other dining halls have a perception of being more inclusive to BIPOC students,” the student wrote.
Creation and Communication of Covid-19 Policies
Some students hoped for student input regarding Covid-19 policies. One respondent recommended that new rules should first be run by Residential Life.
Several students perceived the college’s Covid-19 guidelines to be vague and worried that they would accidentally break a rule. “I wish that it was more clear what people [were] disciplined for,” wrote a student. Another student hoped for “more concise guidelines from fewer sources.”
Editor’s Note: Survey questions pertaining to mental health were designed in conjunction with the Student Government Association Health and Wellness Committee.
(12/03/20 10:59am)
At their senior celebration, on-campus members of the class of 2020.5 donned beanies and parkas instead of caps and gowns. Sitting socially distanced on the sloped stands of Alumni Stadium, the Super Seniors’ celebration bore little resemblance to the traditional ski (or sled) down the Snow Bowl. But, like many Covid-19-adapted events, their moment together was a cherished stand-in.
After the Oct. 8 announcement that J-Term would be conducted remotely this year, a committee of students and administrators planned a November substitute ceremony for the Class of 2020.5 that was to take place on the last Saturday on campus.
But on Friday, Nov. 13, with caps and gowns still in the mail and another week of classes on campus remaining, Gov. Phil Scott announced that social gatherings would be restricted to members of the same household. A few hours later, the college announced similar restrictions on campus.
But the Class of 2020.5 was determined to come together one last time. The restrictions would not take effect until 10 p.m. on Saturday, more than 24 hours after the announcement was made to students via email.
Class officers Julia Sinton ’20.5 and Ben Slater ’20.5 immediately hopped on Zoom and got to work. They coordinated with school administrators, the event management department and school health officials to expedite a version of the event.
On the afternoon of Nov. 14, members of the Class of 2020.5 gathered at Alumni Stadium to celebrate the end of their Middlebury careers.
For Sinton, the announcement of the new restrictions was gutting. Not only was she going to miss out on the February ceremony at the Snow Bowl that she had been looking forward to for over four years, but the many hours she and the committee had spent planning an alternative November ceremony were also thwarted.
“We had been planning every small detail to make sure it would abide by guidelines and be a safe event,” Sinton said. “I think every single college student deserves to be honored and celebrated, and to have that loss was really devastating.”
The original graduation, scheduled for the morning of Nov. 21, the final day on campus for students, would have included as many elements of a normal February graduation as possible.
The Snowbowl had offered to blow snow and provide equipment rentals so that graduates could ski down the trail. Students were going to wear caps and gowns, receive a replica of Gamaliel Painter’s cane and eat a special meal before and after the ceremony at Proctor Dining hall.
“I was really impressed from the start with the care and involvement the administration was willing to take in order to make some kind of celebration possible, given the circumstances,” Sinton said.
When students were informed on Thursday, Nov. 12 that a campus quarantine would begin the following day, Sinton was assured that the event would still be permitted. But on Friday, the state restricted events to only one household due to a statewide increase in Covid-19 cases, resulting in a last-minute cancellation of the event.
Sinton called her co-chair. He had not yet heard the news but immediately suggested that they “just do it tomorrow.” Sinton was skeptical, but Slater was steadfast. He believed they could — and had to — try to make it happen.
The two began calling their contacts in the administration and the event management department. School officials were doubtful that the logistical challenges of the proposal could be overcome, but Sinton said they were also sympathetic.
“People really wanted it to happen for us,” she said.
Mid-morning the next day, Sinton received a link to a Zoom invite. The celebration would take place.
“It was really special to know that so many people at the college had worked hard all night, trying to collaborate and make sure something could happen before the restriction set in,” she said.
Sinton sent Facebook messages and emails to her classmates to tell people about the afternoon event, encouraging them to spread the word.
Annie Blalock ’20.5 had been selected in October to be the class speaker. When Sinton called and asked if she still wanted to deliver her speech, Blalock at first said “definitely not.”
Class speakers are chosen based upon a speech that they write and submit ahead of time. Blalock felt she could not give her original speech because it addressed a different occasion, under different circumstances.
“I had written the speech for chaos, but this was even more chaotic — this was a different level,” she said.
But, after thinking it over, Blalock made a phone call to Tom Sacco ’20.5.
Sacco had also submitted a speech. Blalock remembered Sacco’s humorous writing style, and thought that his voice might help bring joy to the occasion.
“He wrote the speech that would have brightened people’s day,” she said.
Sacco enthusiastically agreed to work with Blalock, and the two met less than two hours before the celebration to combine their speeches and add new elements.
Though the speech was “full of typos” according to Blalock, she still felt proud of the final product.
“Our Feb essences combined and we created something beautiful,” she said. The two printed the speech at MiddXpress with just minutes to spare before the celebration began.
The class of 2020.5 filed into Alumni Stadium, each receiving a tote bag filled with gifts including a blanket from the alumni association and a “Class of 2020.5” beanie.
From the turf below, President Patton greeted the students and introduced Blalock, who delivered a speech that weaved Sacco’s witticisms with the main message of her own original remarks.
Blalock noted the tumultuous four years her class had shared — from Charles Murray to the introduction of swipe-in dining — and joked that despite these events, “we still lacked the foresight and were ignorant enough to come back this semester amidst a pandemic and thought it would go well.”
But, she continued, the community and unity of spirit among her class made it inevitable that they would join together on campus for their final term. She described the confidence, quirkiness, drive and communal love that defined their “Feb-ness” and their experience together.
The end of their Middlebury careers would be wistful, and the world they entered tense and uncertain, but Blalock encouraged her peers to “bring Feb-ness to whatever [they] do.”
“Feb-ness will help us deal with this chaotic garbage fire,” she concluded, “and this chaotic garbage fire will be better for it.”
President Patton followed with her address, and the celebration concluded with a blessing from Dean for Spiritual and Religious life Mark Orton.
The celebration, having lasted about 30 minutes, ended with Sean Kingston’s “Fire Burning” blasting through the stadium’s sound system. The Super Seniors began to dance.
The music was soon shut off and the students were reminded of the importance of distanced congratulations.
The atmosphere was not filled with sadness. Sinton, Blalock and Sacco each described the happiness and gratitude of the Feb class for being able to come together in person one last time.
“It was really amazing to feel how grateful the class was to have any kind of anything,” Sinton said, adding that many were comforted “just to have a space to be together.” Sacco emphasized the atmosphere of celebration and cohesiveness he felt during and after the event.
Blalock described a reluctance in the air. “No one really wanted to accept that this was it, this was the reality,” she said.
“While I don't see that as closure,” she said, “I don't think I'll have closure on the semester or Middlebury. I think that was as close to closure as I can get at this time.”
The three agreed that they did not consider the event their true graduation, hence why it was called a “celebration” instead. This was both because it did not look like what they had imagined and hoped for, but also because a week on campus, finals, theses and other milestones were still to come.
“It was an overwhelming feeling of like, ‘wow, this is it,’” Sacco said of the end of the event. “Which quickly went away because it was like, ‘I have homework to do.’”
“This is not by any means the last event the college will hold for the class of 2020.5,” Sinton said. “But it's a space for the class to gather together one last time and enjoy each other's presence and remind each other of how far we've come and all of our accomplishments.”
(11/19/20 10:57am)
Students received an escalating series of emails informing them of an unexpected campus quarantine and new restrictions on social gatherings on Thursday, Friday and Saturday of their penultimate week on campus.
With fewer than 24 hours of notice, students were confined to campus as of 6 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 13. The Friday email mandated that students only have social gatherings with those they live with, a further restriction from the “four close contacts” rule implemented earlier in the semester. In-person classes, athletic practices, the athletic center, dining halls and libraries are allowed to continue operations. Students can also still eat distanced in dining halls together and study in classrooms or lounges.
Failure to comply with the new restrictions can lead to consequences including removal from campus for spring semester, according to the Nov. 13 email.
The college communicated some initial information about new gathering restrictions a few hours after Gov. Phil Scott issued an executive order limiting gatherings and recreational activities in response to rising cases across the state. The college’s new gathering restrictions officially went into effect at 10 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 14.
The emails announced the cancellation of the in-person Feb Celebration planned for Nov. 21. An alternative impromptu event was eventually held on the afternoon of Saturday, Nov. 14
The college offered optional pre-departure Covid-19 testing for students on Monday and Tuesday. According to the Middlebury College Covid-19 reporting dashboard, three students are currently in isolation after testing positive during optional testing on Monday and Tuesday and 24 student-contacts are currently in quarantine.
Associate Dean of Student Life AJ Place emphasized that students are approaching the finish line, but must remain cautious as the cases increase in Vermont.
“I think the biggest takeaway students should have is to continue to be vigilant and keep doing the methods we know work (face coverings, physical distancing, and good hand hygiene),” Place said in an email to The Campus.
(11/12/20 10:59am)
On Nov. 12, 2005, the Middlebury football team delivered a strong 21-16 victory in the season finale against Tufts. Quarterback Tiger Lyon ’06 — the reigning NESCAC Offensive Player of the Week — helped propel the team to victory with 24 completed passes for 282 yards and three touchdowns. Lyon’s spectacular performance was complemented by an impressive performance by the rest of the Middlebury offense.
The Panthers came out of the gates strong when Ryan Armstrong ’06 received the ball from Lyon on a reverse and tossed it 30 yards to Cole Parlin ’06. Four plays later, Lyon threw a five yard touchdown pass to Jamie Staples ’07 for an early 7-0 lead. The lead was quickly snapped when Tufts quarterback Casey D’Annolfo launched a 70-yard pass to William Forde for a touchdown.
The teams traded sides in the following quarters but weren’t able to create much offensively.
Entering the fourth quarter, the game was deadlocked at 9–9. But a fumble by Derek Polsinello ’08 allowed Tufts to recover the ball, and the Jumbos capitalized as D’Annolfo found Steve Menty on a 10-yard score to give Tufts a 16-9 lead. With 8:34 remaining on the clock, Lyons completed a 43-yard throw to Parlin for a touchdown. However, the extra point by Steve Haushka ’07 was blocked, holding the game to 17-16 in favor of the Jumbos.
The Panthers increased their lead after Lyon found Armstrong in the end zone with a perfect toss, taking the lead to 21-16, but the two-point conversion failed. In the waning moments of the game, defensive back Phil Ford ’06 delivered his second interception of the day, taking the ball from Tufts at the 37-yard-line all the way to the Panther’s 12-yard-line before being stopped. Neither team scored in its final possession, earning Middlebury a thrilling comeback win in the season finale.
Staples finished the game with 10 catches for 123 yards, and Parlin finished with 92 yards and a touchdown in his last game as a Panther. Ford’s two interceptions loomed large on defense, and Coleman Hutzler ’06 and Eric Woodring ’08 picked up 13 and 11 tackles, respectively.
Although the Panthers ended the season with a 3–5 record, they finished on a 3–1 run in their final four games. Leaving the season on a high note certainly gave the team reason to be optimistic that the 2006 campaign could be the first to finish with a winning record in five seasons.
(11/12/20 10:58am)
Restaurants and access to food in Vermont have both been notably altered by the Covid-19 pandemic: restaurant revenue has declined, resulting in layoffs, and food insecurity now affects one in four Vermonters. In order to mitigate both of these concerns, Vermont put into place Everyone Eats, a temporary program started in July to distribute free meals to food-insecure households at dozens of sites around the state. The meals are prepared by local restaurants, which receive funds to purchase ingredients from Vermont farms and food producers.
The program, run by the Agency of Commerce and Community Development in partnership with Southeastern Vermont Community Action (SEVCA), is funded by a $5 million portion of the state’s Covid-19 Relief Fund. SEVCA is responsible for allocating the funding and administering it to the program’s hubs.
Charlie DiPrinzio ’21 is a coordinator for the Rutland “hub” of this program, which is run through the Vermont Farmers Food Center (VFFC). The center began distributing over 800 meals per week in late August, according to the VFFC’s website. There are currently nine restaurants associated with the Rutland hub of this program.
DiPrinzio noted that the mission of the Everyone Eats program is not only to help “people who have been impacted by Covid-19, whether that’s financially impacted or emotionally or physically” but also to help by “providing some steady income to restaurants that have been struggling, and injecting more money into the local economy,” because of the program requirement that the meals include 10% local food.
Everyone Eats has seen significant success throughout Vermont. The coalition of local food shelves, shelters, other service providers, businesses, community groups and private citizens working in partnership with SEVCA is producing and distributing 11,000 meals per week, according to their website.
While DiPrinzio noted that college restrictions requiring students to stay within Addison County have kept him from going into the Rutland community to see success at those restaurants firsthand, he says that the Rutland hub of this program has been collecting positive feedback from those picking up meals.
One catering business in particular, Mamma Tamara, cucina Italiana, has benefited significantly from its involvement in Everyone Eats. Tamara Musto, owner of the business, joined Everyone Eats in order to minimize the impacts that Covid-19 has had on her business. “Business slowed down a lot because of Covid. I used to be at the market in Rutland, and we had to shut down, so basically my business shut down too,” she said. Musto’s situation is one that many other restaurant owners across Vermont and the country can relate to, as their primary sources of income are put to a halt. Musto has been working with BROC Community Action, a nonprofit in Rutland helping with food security, and Everyone Eats in order to build up her catering business again, aiming to soon open her own deli.
“I started to do the markets, and they give me a little help, and [I receive] love from people around, but the big push that I had with Everyone Eats really helped with making my dream come true,” Musto said. She’ll be opening her deli on Nov. 13 in Danby, Vt.
DiPrinzio makes sure to pass these comments on to the state funders to let them know how beneficial this program is. He says that although funding is set to expire in mid-December, administrators of the program are working to extend it, which requires legislative action. DiPrinzio notes that since the hubs of this program have known all along that Everyone Eats is a temporary program, they have been trying to provide information and connect the beneficiaries of the meals with existing food programs and resources in Vermont, including 3SquaresVT and other food security programs that can help with food access.
It is hard to say what the future will look like for DiPrinzio’s hub of Everyone Eats, but despite uncertainty, the program is focused on achieving their goals of stimulating the economy and helping food-insecure families and restaurants.
(11/12/20 10:58am)
“It has been a momentous week for our country,” said Liza Sacheli, the director of Middlebury College’s Mahaney Center for the Arts, at the most recent virtual Performing Arts Series (PAS) concert held virtually on Nov. 6. Despite a week filled with anxiety, anticipation and questions regarding the 2020 presidential election, audiences found themselves enjoying the work of award-winning pianist and educator Gilbert Kalish, who performed on the virtual stage. Kalish’s earliest visit to the campus was in 1966, and he has established a long-lasting and firm relationship with the college ever since.
The concert featured Kalish along with other musical guests and collaborators, namely soprano Lisette Oropesa, clarinetist David Shifrin, violinist Nicolas Dautricourt, violist Paul Neubauer and cellist Torleif Thedéen.
The evening opened with Affiliate Artist Sadie Brightman, who played a short piano program. The concert itself, originally curated as a broadcast this past summer for the Chamber Music Society of Lincoln Center’s CMS: Front Row Series, began with a video of Kalish discussing how he has kept himself busy at home during the pandemic. Audiences saw him cooking an omelette, eating cherries while reading the newspaper, preparing for teaching online and chatting with his family.
“As an artist, I’m able to, at this time, have the leisure to look back at things that I’d like to read through and learn a little bit better,” Kalish said.
Among other subjects, Kalish, who is the head of performance activities at Stonybrook University, talked about the difficulties of the transition to holding classes over Zoom, an experience many college students and faculty have shared.
The program itself consisted of three works, all recordings from different concerts written by George Crumb, Franz Schubert and Johannes Brahms. Kalish has had a long history of collaboration with Crumb and on several occasions has premiered pieces by the modern composer. Commenting on the work of Crumb, Kalish said, “As George is now near 90, I’ve heard his most recent piece, and it is as unique, as original, as surprising, as exciting, as anything he has ever written.”
The Schubert piece, “Der Hirt auf dem Felsen,” featured clarinet player Shifrin, whose own concert was streamed as part of the PAS Fall 2020 season in October. The song was composed barely a month before Schubert’s death in 1828, and it was widely considered one of his greatest works. Almost a quarter hour in length, Kalish and Shifrin successfully presented the piece in a way that was slow and relaxed at first but gradually moved to be more jaunty and cheerful.
During a post-concert Q&A moderated by pianist Wu Han and cellist David Finckel, Kalish discussed his love of playing both classic and modern pieces as well as his personal philosophy of never saying no to musical challenges.
Kalish’s concert remained on the PAS Digital Stages website through Nov. 11. The finale of the fall season will feature the award-winning Jupiter String Quartet, with an opening act by the Middlebury College Choir on Nov. 13.
(11/12/20 10:57am)
Despite the barriers to group gatherings and performances this semester, the Middlebury College Choir conducted by Professor Jeffrey Buetner will be premiering their fall choral concert performance this Sunday, Nov. 15 as a pre-recorded event.
“The program wrestles with colonialism as well as American intolerance,” Buettner said. “I wanted to acknowledge these themes as an educator, but don’t claim to solve them.”
The set is a celebration of the ability to come together in song in such an unusual semester. The program includes a mix of songs that are enjoyable to sing and also those that are especially thought-provoking.
The concert will begin with two traditional African songs. The first is “Bonk’ Abaphandle," an arrangement of a traditional South African folk song by Michael Barrett and Mbuso Ndlovu. In a time of divisive rhetoric, “Bonk’ Abaphandle” is an inviting greeting song, translating to “all those outside, call them in.” It will be followed by, “Bwana, ni nani atakayekaa,” a Sukuma song from the Southeastern African Lakes region, arranged by Graham Hylsop. “Bwana, ni nani atakayekaa” offers an intricate combination of traditional African song and colonial, European influence by combining folk tunes and a psalm text.
Next in the set is an original composition by acclaimed African American composer Rosephanye Powell. Her piece “Non, nobis Domine” is a Latin hymn and, notably, a composition rather than an arrangement; it is neither gospel music nor a spiritual. “I wanted to avoid stereotyping African American choral music,” Buettner said.
“Non nobis, Domine,” a piece of insistent, driving repetition, is followed by “Meet Me Here” from Craig Hella Johnson’s “Considering Matthew Shepard” which conveys a message about inclusivity and diversity. This work was inspired by Shepard’s death as the result of a horrific anti-gay hate crime, which occured in 1998.
The College Choir’s set concludes with Buettner’s own arrangement of American composer William Billings’ “Hark, I Hear the Harps Eternal” in a celebration of song and making music together.
Buettner said that with more time, he also would have liked to include Indigenous and Hispanic music, to further represent the diversity of the American experience and impact of colonialism. Still, even with a reduced program, students have appreciated the value of coming together to sing and understand the world in a different way.
“We are a singing community. We explore the past, present and future through music of different times and places,” Buettner said.
If you can’t wait until Sunday to hear the choir’s performance, you can hear the first three pieces as part of the opening act for the final concert of this semester’s Performing Arts Series Friday, Nov. 13. Recordings of the first three pieces from the program will open the concert before a performance from the Jupiter String Quartet, an acclaimed chamber music ensemble.
The video of the College Choir concert will be available on the Music Department website.
(11/12/20 10:57am)
In preparation for the spring semester, Middlebury has released a breakdown of its course modalities in a Nov. 3 email from Dean of Curriculum Suzanne Gurland.
Based on a Campus analysis of the document outlining initial teaching plans for the semester, 241 of the 518 courses — or 48% — will be offered completely in either “scheduled online” or “flexible online” modalities, with no in-person components at all. Meanwhile, 67% of all classes will be taught online in some capacity.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Compared to this fall semester, the proportion of classes that will be completely in-person has more than doubled — 13% of courses were completely in-person this fall, compared to the projected 26% in the spring. The proportion of classes in-person increased due to cutting the proportion of “flexible” online courses in half and decreasing the number of “blended” courses.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
130 of the 518 courses — 25% — include a discussion, lab, drill or screening session alongside the lecture component. The Campus found that 33% of discussions, 36% of labs, 43% of drills and 29% of screenings will be held in-person. Some courses that have in-person discussions or labs also include another “scheduled online” section.
!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();
Out of the 51 departments listed in the course catalog, seven — 14% — will hold the lecture portions of their courses exclusively in “scheduled online” or “flexible online” modalities. This fall semester, that figure was much larger at 17 — more than a third of all departments.
Registration for spring courses begins Wednesday, January 27.
(10/29/20 9:59am)
“Great News: BIG TEN FOOTBALL IS BACK,” President Donald Trump announced via Twitter on Sept. 16, confirming that the most prominent college football division would return for a nine-week season starting in late October.
(10/22/20 10:00am)
There are very few events I watch live. I’ll tune in to the Super Bowl on occasion, if only to watch what millions of dollars look like in 30-second commercial form. I’ll watch the presidential debates every four years. And maybe, just maybe, I’ll stay up late enough at my grandparents’ house — the last residence I know to still have a cable subscription — to catch the early moments of SNL. Yet every few months, when Apple hosts one of their world-renowned events, I find myself eagerly attending the virtual affair, counting down the seconds until the start.
Of the principles Apple is conscious of when creating a product intended for home users, none is more important than ease of use. Approachability is crucial for Apple, not only in its products but also in its marketing. I am by no means a tech person. I couldn’t tell you how many megapixels my phone’s camera has — or even what a megapixel is. Nor could I tell you how my earbuds connect to my iPhone, except for the possibility of magic being real. And still I sat down on Oct. 13 for over an hour to listen to Apple executives talk about an array of shiny new toys for consumers to play with.
Despite my lack of knowledge and marked non-expertise, I was compelled by the event — though more as a fan of filmmaking than of tech. Apple has long since been known for its brilliant events. While Covid-19 undoubtedly rocked event plans that had been thought of years in advance, Apple only seemed to flourish in this new technological era. The event was live-streamed on YouTube to millions of concurrent viewers and, as of the publication of this article, has over 53 million views.
The event started off in the Steve Jobs Theatre in Apple Park, where CEO Tim Cook stood beside the brand new HomePod Mini and detailed the event’s proceedings. After a brief montage showing off the new and exciting features of Apple’s smart speaker — now in a smaller build — the camera slowly crept toward the HomePod and peered around the corner in the first of many brilliant cinematographic choices. Just behind the miniature speaker laid an even smaller diorama of a living room, and as the camera moved in closer, Apple’s Vice President of Worldwide Product Marketing Bob Borchers stepped out from behind the fireplace and began to introduce the HomePod in more detail.
Less than four minutes into the event and Apple had absolutely floored me with an elegant camera move wherein a miniature diorama filled the shot to become a full-sized set. This is where the fun began. Displayed beside Borchers as he spoke were key bullet points from his speech, presented in the easily legible Helvetica font in a plain white color. Everything about this presentation screamed ease of use. Suddenly, as Borchers introduced a new speaker, the camera pulled back to reveal a new kitchen set adjacent to the previous one, separated only by a false wall. While Acoustics Engineering Manager Dave Wilkes Jr. prattled on about the glorious sound of the new speaker, the camera seemed to peer behind Wilkes and moved inward toward the new kitchen set. As the camera panned forward, an actor walked into the kitchen and opened the fridge, instantly filling the space with life and intimacy. Apple wanted to make viewers feel how easily the new HomePod could be integrated into daily life so they showed it — brilliantly, I might add. After all was said and done for the HomePod, the camera pulled back once again to reveal a six-section, two-story set complete with a kitchen, garage, living room and bedroom built specifically for this event.
Throughout the remainder of the event, Apple introduced the new iPhone 12 lineup with presentations from a wide swath of Apple employees, each in a different location. The beauty of this portion was that the presentation was focused on just one product, but each new feature was given its own speaker and set. Vice President of Policy and Social Initiatives Lisa Jackson discussed Apple’s committal to carbon neutrality while literally standing on the solar panels of Apple Park’s roof, while Camera Software Engineering Senior Manager Alok Deshpande talked about the iPhone 12 Pro’s new incredible camera from within Apple’s own photography lab, complete with lighting kits and massive photographs presumably taken on the new iPhone.
Apple cuts down on the boredom associated with what is essentially a massive Powerpoint presentation by providing little slices of newness throughout the event to keep its audience attentive.
In the event’s most wonderful stroke of presentational surprise, Vice President of iPhone Product Marketing Kaiann Drance opened up a briefcase containing the littlest big surprise of the night. “To add to all these big announcements” said Drance, “we also wanted to do something a little different.” As she walked offscreen left, the iconic James Bond theme began to play overhead. Drance proceeded to dramatically open up a steel briefcase only to reveal another briefcase, which upon its opening revealed a third briefcase. Laid within that third briefcase was the new iPhone 12 Mini.
Now, did Apple have to take up 30 seconds of my life opening three briefcases only to reveal an iPhone less than an inch smaller than its peers? No. But was it fantastic to watch? Yes. Obviously yes.
To be an Apple fan is to be a fan of the dramatic. It’s the little moments treated with overwhelming attention and deliberateness that makes these events so compelling as entertainment. I would recommend watching this event for the sheer filmmaking alone; it possesses a greater understanding of the craft than many movies I see in theaters. Apple isn’t so much selling technology as it is a way of life: a lifestyle that turns little moments into memorable ones. I’m all in on Apple — partly for how incredibly functional their phones and computers are, but mostly I’m in for the lifestyle it promotes. Sure a phone can just be a phone, but why can’t it be something more?
(10/22/20 10:00am)
At 12:30 p.m. each day, the 48 bells suspended in Mead Chapel’s tower ring out. The sounds of Irish folk songs, Baroque fugues and ragtime jigs echo across campus. The chapel’s tower is a central landmark on campus, but its virtuoso remains an enigma to many.
George Matthew Jr. has played the carillon — the set of bells suspended in the tower — for 59 years, 35 of them at Middlebury College. His love for the instrument started long before that, more than 81 years ago.
In one of Matthew’s first memories, he sat on his grandfather’s shoulders, his head standing high above the crowd at the 1939 World’s Fair in Queens, New York City. He had an unimpeded view of the carillon tower rising high above him. When the bells began to play so thunderously loud that they echoed in his head, he stared, enraptured. His four-year-old heart sang, and from that moment on, he was hooked on the carillon.
Matthew comes from a family of musicians who were more than supportive of his interests, but his early efforts to learn music were unsuccessful.
At age five, his uncle tried to teach him how to play the violin. But as a naturally talented player, his uncle didn’t understand how to teach Matthew, who didn’t share his gift.
At age six, his father, who directed the church choir and played the organ, started him on the piano with a stern German instructor, but, once again, the instrument didn’t stick.
At age seven, the magic struck. His parents bought him a mellophone, an instrument similar to the french horn. He played it for hours, practicing and practicing until his lips swelled up, and he was forced to take a break. He drove the neighbors crazy, so his parents banished him to the cellar, where the walls muffled his playing, and he could happily practice for as long as he liked.
Still, he dreamed of playing the big, booming organ that he watched his father play at church. His parents insisted that he learn to play the piano before advancing to the larger instrument. So he started piano lessons again at age nine, until he finally graduated to the organ at age 12.
He “loved every aspect of it,” and demonstrated a natural gift. By age 13, he became the church organist, playing for his congregation every Sunday.
Matthew inherited his love of music from his father, but he never wanted Matthew to follow in his footsteps. He recalls his father telling him, “You won’t make any money. You’ll be unhappy, and you’ll turn against yourself because your art won't be supporting you.”
Matthew showed a natural aptitude for science, so he followed his father’s advice and enrolled at Columbia University, where he graduated with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry.
Even as he committed himself to his studies, he never forgot about music or the carillon. Whenever he had breaks from classes, labs or other responsibilities, he would go outside to hear the great Belgian carillonneur Kamiel Lefevere play the 74-bell carillon at Riverside Church just four blocks away. Matthew tried approaching LeFevre for lessons, but he was refused.
Matthew held on to his dream of playing the carillon even as he went on to work in chemical research. He continued to play music on the side, working as an organist at various churches and temples.
In 1963, he learned that Princeton carillonneur Arthur Lynds Bigelow was offering free lessons in New Canaan, Connecticut. He jumped at the opportunity. Once a week for a year, Matthew attended carillon lessons with a group of other students. The experience was well worth the long wait. Matthew loved playing the carillon even more than he enjoyed listening to it.
For the next five years, Matthew drove all over the northeast to play whenever and wherever could until the First Presbyterian Church in Stamford, Connecticut hired him as their carillonneur in 1968.
Matthew continued to work as a chemical researcher for 15 years while simultaneously playing music at a series of churches and synagogues. In 1972, he was working upwards of 80 hours a week between his multiple jobs while studying for a master’s degree in world music. He quit his job as a chemical researcher to dedicate himself to a career in music.
“There was no use fighting it anymore,” he said. “Music just took over my life.”
In 1985, Allan Dragone, then the chair of Middlebury College’s Board of Trustees, approached Matthew to help the college create their own carillon. Matthew helped expand the college’s set of bells to a full-scale, four octave carillon that he has played for the last 35 years as the college’s carillonneur.
One condition of Matthew’s contract with Middlebury is that he teaches whoever asks him for lessons, for free. He estimates that he's taught between 80 and 90 students in the 35 years he’s played at Middlebury. One of his students, Amy Heebner ’93, began playing the carillon under his tutelage and has since gone on to a successful career as the Albany, N.Y. city hall carillonneur.
When he’s not playing the carillon at Middlebury College, Matthew is playing the organ for St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church in town or traveling around the country or the world to play elsewhere. He began his first carillon tour of the U.S. in 1979. Since then, he has traveled on 39 more tours in North America and 13 in Europe.
When Matthew plays, he hopes that his listeners understand his “emotional language.” He recalls a woman approaching him after a carillon concert in Brussels, Belgium. When she began speaking to him in Flemish, he had to interject to tell her that he couldn’t understand. She spoke again, and a bystander translated.
“You don’t speak our language, but your hands speak our language,” she said.
When Middlebury evacuated students from campus last March, he played the carillon for several hours each day as students moved out. He interspersed Bach with the alma mater every 15 minutes to tell students, “We ain’t beat yet, and we want you back.”
When the college permitted Matthew to play again in mid-May, he returned to an empty campus. Matthew regards himself as serving Middlebury the town as much as the college, so he played every day to try to lift the town’s spirits.
As the pandemic continues, he frequently plays “Va, pensiero” from the opera Nabucco by Giuseppe Verdi, one of the songs that people across Italy sang to each other from their balconies during the national lockdown. He wanted to transmit that same spirit of community and hope to Middlebury.
He also uses the carillon for political messages. Matthew views the Trump administration’s family separation policy as “one of the [greatest] crimes of this century.” For the past two years, he has been playing Mexican folk songs every day as his own form of protest. He also frequently plays the spiritual “Joshua fought the Battle of Jericho,” the second line of which is “and the walls come tumbling down” in defiance of Trump’s “build a wall” rallying cry.
After police killed George Floyd in May, Matthew began playing songs related to the Black Lives Matter Movement. For the past six months, he has alternated between playing “O’ Freedom,” “We Shall Overcome” and “Lift Every Voice and Sing” — otherwise known as “The Black National Anthem” — every day.
“I'm hoping to just make people aware of this and pay tribute to the many millions of people who have gone through a pretty hellish experience here,” Matthew said.
Though already 85, Matthew has no plans to retire or stop playing, not until he “can’t play decently anymore or Gabriel blows his horn, whichever comes first.”
Corrections: An earlier version of this piece incorrectly reported that Matthew rode on his father’s shoulders at the 1939 World’s Fair; it was his grandfather’s shoulders. It also said that Matthew recalled reaching up to the piano keyboard to practice when he was six years old when he was two years old at the time. The previous version erroneously stated that George Floyd was shot and killed by police. He was choked to death as a police officer knelt on his neck.
(10/08/20 9:53am)
Middlebury students are navigating all-new or altered absentee voting systems ahead of the general election on Nov. 3. Although absentee voting is hardly new to college campuses, the pandemic has ignited nationwide debate about mail-in voting systems. Many states have expanded voting options for the 2020 election cycle because of safety concerns during the pandemic, but implementation varies significantly from state to state.
Lily Shannon ’23 registered in Tennessee last year, but was unable to vote in the Mar. 3 primary because of a state rule stipulating that voters who register online or by mail must vote in person their first time. The law affects mostly young voters and was temporarily halted by a federal judge in September, partly because of Covid-19 concerns. Still, absentee rules for the upcoming election are not always clear.
“There are all these rules — like it says you can email your ballot request in, but then on another website it says you can’t — so it’s really confusing. Then there’s three addresses to send your ballot to just in my county alone, so I don’t know which one I’m supposed to send it to,” Shannon said.
Many students are voting from Middlebury for the first time, trying to meet deadlines and adjust to an unfamiliar mail system. Policy changes at the U.S. Postal Service coupled with the pandemic led to nationwide mail slowdowns this summer, with Vermont experiencing some of the worst delays for long-distance mail in the nation.
“I haven’t mailed anything from here yet, so this will be my first time and that’s kind of nerve-wracking. I’m confident in my ability to do it, but it’s crazy that this is the first time,” Brianna Beach ’23 said.
Several students expressed anxiety about sending absentee ballots and not all were confident their votes will end up being counted.
“I was expecting to receive my local and state primary ballot... but that ballot got lost in the mail, and I had to go in person to re-request it. When it finally did come I had to hand it in day-of, which wasn’t going to be my intent with requesting an absentee ballot,” said Sophie Johnson ’22, who is registered to vote in New Hampshire.
Johnson was concerned that her ballot for the general election would also get lost. She visited her city hall before beginning her pre-arrival quarantine in August, trying to verify that her ballot would go to the right address in Middlebury.
“I had to call twice since coming to college — and now I think that my information is accurate and up to date — but it was a lot of phone tag,” Johnson said. “I still haven’t received my ballot, whereas one person I know from New Hampshire has received theirs and voted already, which makes me nervous that my ballot won’t get here in time.”
Beach, who votes in Georgia, also ran into issues during the primary. Georgia’s presidential primary was initially scheduled for March 24, shortly after Middlebury students were sent home because of the pandemic.
“It was a big hassle coming home. I know there was limited polling and a lot of stuff closed, and I had to figure out getting rid of my absentee ballot which I had requested in order to do it in person because I had missed the deadline,” Beach said.
Now she is voting from Middlebury for the first time.
“I’ve been really anxious about deadlines for requesting my absentee ballot, because it’s just not something I’m super familiar with,” Beach said. “I feel confident in being able to vote, but I definitely have been thinking about the way the virus is going to impact everything in Georgia.”
Even though students are eligible to vote in Vermont, Shannon chose to vote in Tennessee because the state leans Republican and she feels her vote can do more there.
“I still obviously am going to try to vote… but whether it be some miniscule fault of mine that they count as invalid, it not getting there on time, or just being lost, I definitely don’t think [my ballot] will be counted,” Shannon said.
Five states — Oregon, Washington, Utah, Hawaii and Colorado — conduct all-mail elections, in which voters automatically receive a mail-in ballot and limited in-person voting is available the day of the election.
“I had already set up receiving my ballots over email in previous semesters, so nothing changed at all. I still got an email with my ballot, I just have to print it off,” said Anika Heilweil ’21, who votes in Utah.
Nevada, California, Vermont, and New Jersey will join those states for the 2020 election and send mail-in ballots to all registered voters by default. Over a dozen states will also automatically send an application for a mail-in ballot to registered voters.
Many states have also implemented no-excuse absentee voting for the 2020 election cycle, meaning that voters do not need to have an approved excuse to vote absentee. These excuses typically include a voter being outside of the county they are registered in, working a shift during the times the polls are open, physical disabilities or being over 65 years of age. Others have maintained that voters must have an excuse to vote absentee, but have expanded the approved list of excuses to include concerns about vulnerability to Covid-19. Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, Tennessee, and Indiana will require an excuse beyond a fear of Covid-19.
College students residing outside of the state they are registered in are included in the excused reasons for voting absentee. Middlebury students are eligible to vote in Vermont and can register as late as the day of the election to vote absentee.
Despite the added challenges of voting this year, students were committed to voting in the general election.
“I’ve been getting a lot of texts for canvassing and reminders to register, and this year it feels like people are really pushing for people to vote — more than ever before,” Beach said.
States have different deadlines for registering, requesting absentee ballots, and returning absentee ballots. Some have deadlines based on when mail is postmarked while others have deadlines for when mail is received. Certain states may also require a notarized ballot. Ongoing legal battles may change deadlines for registration and absentee ballot submission in several states. Information on how to vote in your state is available on state government websites or from non-partisan organizations such as vote.org. All listed dates and hours are in local time zones.
ALABAMA
Incumbent Democrat Doug Jones is facing strong opposition from Republican challenger Tommy Tuberville, making the state one of the few with a senate seat likely to flip from a Democrat to a Republican.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 19
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 29.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked one day before Election Day and received by noon on Election Day.
ALASKA
No close statewide or federal races.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 4
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 24.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 13.
ARIZONA
Arizona has voted for a Republican every year since 1952 except for Bill Clinton’s 1992 presidential run, but many believe it is likely to flip in favor of Joe Biden this year. Arizona also has one of the most hotly contested senate races, between Republican Martha McSally and Democrat Mark Kelly.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 23.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received no later than 7 p.m. on Election Day.
ARKANSAS
The Democratic candidate for Senate in Arkansas dropped out, leaving incumbent Republican Tom Cotton (who is heavily favored to win) and Libertarian candidate Ricky Dale Harrington Jr. the two major names on the ballot.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 27.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7:30 p.m. on Election Day.
CALIFORNIA
California has no elections for senate or governor this cycle, but congressional districts CA-21, held by a Democrat, and CA-25, held by a Republican, are considered toss-ups. The state is automatically sending mail-in ballots to voters.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 19
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to all registered voters.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 20.
COLORADO
Colorado has a close senate race between former governor and presidential candidate John Hickenlooper and incumbent Republican Cory Gardener. Colorado conducts elections by mail.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 26
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to all registered voters. The deadline to submit a mailing address change for ballots is at least eight days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7:00 P.M. on Election Day.
CONNECTICUT
No close statewide or federal races.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 27
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Applications automatically sent to all registered voters. Deadline to apply is one day before Election Day, but recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
DELAWARE
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 10
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 30.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA
Although D.C. residents cannot vote in presidential elections, there are several local elections occurring.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to all registered voters. Submit a mailing address change for ballots to be sent to at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election day and received by Nov. 13.
FLORIDA
Florida is likely to be one of the closest states in the presidential election, and has a close congressional race in the Democrat-held FL-26.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Postmarked by 5 p.m. on Oct. 24
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election day
GEORGIA
Georgia has two close senate seats up for election, between Democrat Jon Ossof and incumbent Republican David Perdue, and between incumbent Republican Kelly Loeffler and a broad field of special election challengers. The state is a toss-up for the presidential election.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 30.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
HAWAII
Conducts elections by mail.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to all registered voters. The deadline to submit a mailing address change for ballots is at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day
IDAHO
No close statewide or federal races.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 9
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 23.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
ILLINOIS
The IL-13 congressional district leans in favor of incumbent Republican Rodney Davis.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 6
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 29.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received no later than Nov. 17.
INDIANA
A congressional seat in the IN-05 is open and is a toss-up that leans slightly in favor of Republicans.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 22.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by noon on Election Day.
IOWA
Iowa has a surprisingly close senate race, in one of the reddest states with the potential to elect a Democrat this cycle. Incumbent Republican Joni Ernst faces a tough challenge from Democrat Theresa Greenfield. The IA-01, IA-02, and IA-03 are also all congressional seats held by Democrats that have the potential to flip to Republicans.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 24
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 24.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by Nov. 9.
KANSAS
Democratic challenger Barbara Bollier has an uphill battle to the senate seat against incumbent Republican Roger Marshall, but has drawn on her credentials as a doctor to make this seat competitive.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 27.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received no later than Nov. 6.
KENTUCKY
Although Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is almost certain to win his re-election bid, Amy McGrath has mounted a serious campaign against him.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 9.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 6.
LOUISIANA
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 4
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 4:30 p.m. on Oct. 30.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 4:30 p.m. on Nov. 2.
MAINE
Democratic challenger Sara Gideon seems poised to defeat incumbent Republican Susan Collins, in a state that favors Biden but could split some electoral votes in favor of Trump.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 19
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 29.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by Election Day.
MARYLAND
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 20.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day, received by 10 a.m. on Nov. 13.
MASSACHUSETTS
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 24
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 28.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 6.
MICHIGAN
All eyes have been on Michigan this election, since the state unexpectedly went for Donald Trump in 2016 by the narrowest margin of victory in the nation. It seems likely to flip back in favor of Biden this year. The senate race leans in favor of Democratic incumbent Gary Peters over Republican John James, and is one of the only senate seats currently held by a Democrat that is competitive. Several congressional districts are competitive, including the MI-03, M-06, MI-08 and MI-11.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 19
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 30.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received on or before Election Day, pending ongoing lawsuit.
MINNESOTA
Although Trump did not win Minnesota, this was another state where he outperformed polls and came much closer to a victory than predicted. Some say this is one of the only states that could flip in favor of the president, but polls put Biden ahead by a relatively wide margin. Tina Smith, Democratic incumbent who is likely but not guaranteed to hold her senate seat, is also up for re-election. Competitive house races are the MN-01, MN-02 and MN-07.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received one day before Election Day but recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 10.
MISSISSIPPI
Democrat Mike Espy has run a tough campaign, but incumbent Republican Cindy Hyde-Smith looks likely to keep her senate seat.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: No specific deadline, recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 10.
MISSOURI
Missouri has a somewhat competitive gubernatorial race between incumbent Republican Mike Parson and Democrat Nicole Galloway, and one competitive house race in the MO-02.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 7
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 21.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
MONTANA
Montana is another deep red state with a competitive senate race, where current Democratic governor Steve Bullock is running against incumbent Republican Steve Daines. Montana’s open gubernatorial race between Democrat Mike Cooney and Republican Greg Gianforte is also close. Gianforte’s current position as the at-large representative for Montana leans slightly in favor of Republican candidate Matt Rosendale, but Democrat Kathleen Williams has polled ahead of him in recent weeks.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 26 and received by Oct. 29.
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by noon on Nov. 2, but recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
NEBRASKA
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 16
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 23.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by Election Day.
NEVADA
The Democrat-held NV-03 is strongly favored to remain with Democrats, but is competitive.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 6
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to all registered voters.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 10.
NEW HAMPSHIRE
Incumbents are favored in all the New Hampshire races except for president, with Democrat Jeanne Shaheen heavily favored to be re-elected to the senate, the Democrat Chris Pappas likely to be re-elected in the NH-01, and Republican Chris Sununu likely to be re-elected in the gubernatorial race.
Registration deadline: Varies by county, with earliest deadlines on Oct. 21
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Nov. 2.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 5 p.m. on Election Day.
NEW JERSEY
New Jersey has competitive house races in the NJ-02, NJ-03 and NJ-07.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to all registered voters.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by 8 p.m. on Nov. 10.
NEW MEXICO
The Democrat-held NM-02 is a competitive toss-up that leans slightly in favor of the incumbent.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 6
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 20.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
NEW YORK
The state has several competitive congressional districts, including the NY-01, NY-02, NY-11, NY-22 and NY-24.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 9 and received by Oct. 14.
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Postmarked by Oct. 27, but recommended at least 15 days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 10.
NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina went for Trump in 2016 and is a toss-up again in this election. Incumbent Republican Thom Tillis and Democratic challenger Cal Cunningham are in a close race for the senate seat, and the state’s gubernatorial election leans slightly in favor of incumbent Democrat Roy Cooper over Republican Dan Forest. The NC-08 seat leans in favor of its Republican incumbent but is competitive.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 9
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 5:00 P.M. on Oct. 27.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received no later than 5 p.m. on Nov. 6.
NORTH DAKOTA
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Does not require registration.
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Nov. 2, but recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by Nov. 9.
OHIO
Ohio has shifted more Republican in recent years but is a toss-up between Trump and Biden. The Republian-held OH-01 is a competitive toss-up.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by noon on Oct. 31, but Oct. 27 or earlier is recommended.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Nov. 2 and received by Nov. 13.
OKLAHOMA
The Democrat-held OK-05 is a competitive toss-up.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 9
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
OREGON
The Democrat-held OR-04 leans in favor of the incumbent but is competitive.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to registered voters. Submit address change at least five days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 8:00 P.M. on Election Day.
PENNSYLVANIA
Pennsylvania is a state Biden will almost certainly have to win for an electoral college majority, which he is slightly favored to do. The state has several competitive congressional districts, including the PA-01, PA-07, PA-08, PA-10, and PA-17.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 19
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 27.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by 5 p.m. on Nov. 6.
RHODE ISLAND
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 4
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 4 p.m. on Oct. 13.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 8 p.m. on Election Day.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Incumbent Republican Lindsey Graham looks likely to hold his senate seat against the strong challenge from Democrat Jaime Harrison, but the race has been close for South Carolina. The SC-01 leans slightly in favor of its Democratic incumbent.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 24.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
SOUTH DAKOTA
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 19
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Nov. 2, but recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by Election Day.
TENNESSEE
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 27.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by Election Day.
TEXAS
Although the state leans heavily Republican, recent Texas polls generally show Biden and Trump in a statistical tie. Incumbent Republican senator John Cornyn is likely to hold his seat but has seen a strong challenge from Democrat M.J. Hegar. The state has several competitive congressional districts, including TX-03, TX-07, TX-10, TX-21, TX-22, TX-23 and TX-24.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 5
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 23.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 4.
UTAH
The UT-04, held by a Democrat, is a toss-up.
Registration deadline: Received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 23
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Ballots automatically sent to all registered voters. Submit an address change at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked one day before Election Day. Reception deadline varies by county.
VERMONT
Vermont allows voters to register up to and through Election Day and will mail a ballot to all registered voters in 2020. Middlebury students are eligible to vote in the state of Vermont.
Registration deadline: Received by Nov. 3
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Nov. 2 but recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
VIRGINIA
The VA-02, VA-05 and VA-07 are competitive house races.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 23.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by noon on Nov. 6.
WASHINGTON
The house race in WA-03 is likely to go in favor of incumbent Republican Jaime Herrera Beutler but is competitive.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 26
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Automatically sent to all registered voters. Contact the county elections department to request a ballot be forwarded to a different address.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by election day and received by Nov. 23.
WEST VIRGINIA
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 13
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Oct. 28.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Postmarked by Election Day and received by Nov. 9.
WISCONSIN
Trump won Wisconsin by less than one percent in 2016, and it is one of the competitive states Biden will likely need to win to receive a majority in the electoral college. The WI-03 is likely to re-elect Democrat Ron Kind.
Registration deadline: Postmarked by Oct. 14, though this may change due to an ongoing lawsuit.
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by 5 p.m. on Oct. 29.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, with possible extensions due to an ongoing lawsuit that is likely to be appealed.
WYOMING
No close statewide or federal elections.
Registration deadline: Received by Oct. 19
Deadline to request an absentee ballot: Received by Nov. 2 but recommended at least seven days before Election Day.
Deadline to turn in ballot: Received by 7 p.m. on Election Day.
Unless otherwise noted, registration deadlines are for registering by mail. Some states offer online registration options, but deadlines may differ from mail-in registration.
Some voter registration and absentee ballot rules may change due to ongoing legal battles in several states.
Sources for race ratings include FiveThirtyEight’s senate election forecast, 270toWin’s house ratings table and interactive map, 270toWin’s presidential election consensus electoral map, CNN’s race ratings map, the Cook Political Report’s house and senate race ratings and the Cook Political Report’s governor race ratings.
News Editor Abigail Chang ’23 contributed reporting.
