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(12/09/15 7:58pm)
The Middlebury men’s basketball team has begun to claw their way back towards a .500 record by stomping Johnson St. for the second time in five days on Thursday, Dec. 3 and beating Castleton St. in Middlebury’s home opener on Tuesday, Dec. 8, sandwiched around a five-point loss on the road at Skidmore on Saturday, Dec. 5, to move to 4-5 on the season.
Middlebury once again had an easy time dispatching the Badgers of Johnson St., using its considerable size advantage while out rebounding a winless Johnson team 45-12. It was all systems go out of the gate for Middlebury, as the Panthers jumped out to a 7-0 lead off of layups from Connor Huff ’16 and Matt Daley ’16 and a three-pointer from leading scorer Matt St. Amour ’17. Middlebury took a 10-point lead with 8:20 to go in the first half and led by double digits from that point on. Jack Daly ’18 capped a 12-0 run to end the half with a layup to make the score 45-21.
The Panthers scored 50 points in the second half on the way to a 95-48 win. St. Amour led all scorers with 19 points on 7-10 shooting and 5-7 from beyond the arc. Forward Eric McCord ’19 posted a career-high 10 points and added five boards to his stat line. Daley was efficient and productive with eight points on 4-6 shooting and eight boards.
Middlebury’s next contest at Skidmore, who beat NESCAC Champion Wesleyan in the first round of the 2015 NCAA Tournament and returned two All-League players including Co-Liberty League Player of the Year Aldin Medunjanin, proved to be much tougher. The Panthers caught a break with Medunjanin out for the contest, but still could not overcome the Thoroughbreds.
St. Amour had a great first half for Middlebury, scoring 14 points on 4-7 shooting, 3-4 from deep and 3-4 from the charity stripe, as the Panthers went into halftime with a 35-29 lead.
The Thoroughbreds began the second half with an 11-6 run to take the lead by one, lost it on a couple of layups from McCord and Hilal Dahleh ’19, then took a lead they would never relinquish when Nick Volpe drained a three-pointer to make it 47-45 with 12:13 to play.
Skidmore kept Middlebury at bay for the rest of the game, stretching the lead to 10 with 4:35 left, but failing to put the Panthers away.
The Thoroughbreds led by just five late in the contest when Daly fed Dahleh for a three-pointer to tighten the score at 72-70 with exactly one minute to play. At the other end, Skidmore’s Edvinas Rupkus hit a pair of free throws to go back up by four. The Panthers tried to get a quick shot up but missed. Daley was able to corral the rebound and put it back up and in, drawing the Panthers within two once again. Rupkus once again made things difficult, hitting another pair of free throws for Skidmore. Middlebury closed the gap to one with 18 seconds remaining when Daly finished a three-point play the old-fashioned way, making a lay up and calmly sinking the free throw, but Skidmore just could not miss from the line, as point guard Royce Paris made two more free throws for the Thoroughbreds. It took all of six seconds for Dahleh to make a layup to make it 78-77, but once again it was Rupkus who made two more free throws to make it 80-77. With five seconds left, the Panthers needed a three-pointer, but the last-ditch attempt missed the mark, and Skidmore sank two more free throws to close it out, 82-77.
“I was happy with the run we had down the stretch to get a chance to tie the game in the final seconds,” Head Coach Jeff Brown said. “Our group plays with grit and determination.”
The Panthers coasted to their fourth win of the season with a 96-74 victory over Castleton St. Middlebury lead for the final 38:28 of the contest. Middlebury loves to run on offense, and finally showed off their aptitude to do so with 18 fastbreak points.
“We weren’t as successful as we wanted to be in our transition game [against Skidmore],” Coach Brown said.
Jake Brown ’17 notched a game-high 16 points and added eight assists to the mix. St. Amour continued his hot shooting with four three-pointers, including a 75-footer right before halftime, and 12 points overall. Zach Baines ’19 and Adisa Majors ’18 tallied double digit points with 11 and 10, respectively.
Middlebury plays just one more game before the long Christmas break, a Saturday, Dec. 12 contest with a Plattsburgh St. squad that has proven difficult in the past.
(12/03/15 1:12am)
The Middlebury Panthers got their season off to a strong start with a 3-1 record. The team beat NESCAC rival Trinity twice, 5-1 and 2-1, on opening weekend, then hosted the Panther/Cardinal Classic this past weekend, where they fell to second-ranked Elmira College 3-1 and defeated Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3-1. Maddie Winslow ’18 led the way for the Panthers, tallying two goals and four assists in the four games and garnering NESCAC Player of the Week for her play at the tournament.
On Friday, Middlebury scored three times on the power play on its way to a 5-1 win over Trinity in the NESCAC season opener. Middlebury was slow to find its groove in the first minutes of play, as Trinity took a 1-0 lead 3:43 into the game on a power play goal from the right point. The women soon found their momentum with a power play goal of their own. Carly Watson’s ’17 shot from the left point, though blocked, was put home for a rebound by Katie Mandigo ’16. The Panthers struck again with the extra attacker at 11:22, taking a 2-1 lead with a goal by Elizabeth Wulf ’18.
Leading 2-1 in the second period, the Panthers added to their lead when Mandigo finished after a shot from Watson had been saved, and Kelly Sherman ’17 added one on a breakaway.
Julia Wardwell ’16 found the goal 5:00 into the third period to score Middlebury’s third power play goal of the night and seal a 5-1 victory for the Panthers.
The next day, the Panthers again defeated the Trinity Bantams with a score of 2-1.
Just as in the previous night, Trinity took an early 1-0 lead in contest. Melissa Maffeo’s initial shot was blocked before Shelby Labe jumped on the rebound and scored to put her team ahead.
Winslow answered for Middlebury in the second period, shooting a wrister to the top left corner of the net.
The game appeared to be heading into overtime when Wulf broke free from a pack behind the net and gained some space. She quickly fed Anna Van Kula ’16 in front, who sent a shot into the back of the net for the game-winning tally with only 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
This past weekend, the Panthers hosted the Panther/Cardinal Classic in Kenyon Arena. On Friday night, they fell to second-ranked Elmira by the score of 3-1 after leading midway through the second period.
The Panthers took the 1-0 lead when Wulf one-timed a shot from the slot on the power play into the back of the net at the 16:38 mark in the first period.
Elmira tied the game with an extra attacker 12:48 into the second period.The Panthers went on the power play at the 7:36 mark, with their best chance coming when Mandigo’s shot hit the pipe.
Elmira took a 2-1 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the third period with a snipe of a shot into the top-right corner of the net, and the Panthers were unable to answer the goal despite a power play opportunity less than a minute later.
The Soaring Eagles gained some breathing room as the power play expired when the puck bounced off the stick of a Middlebury defender, leaving a race down the ice. Watson knocked the puck away, but the aggressive Soaring Eagles slipped the puck into the goal.
Following an Elmira timeout with 3:22 left, the Panthers pulled Dreher, but were unable to close the gap as Elmira took home the win.
“While we had a disappointing loss on Friday night, we felt good about how we played,” Mandigo said. “We competed all over the ice, and although we had a few breakdowns, overall we played well.”
On Sunday, the Panthers redeemed themselves with a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin-Stevens Point (5-4-1) during the final game of the Panther/Cardinal Classic in Kenyon Arena.
Middlebury got on the board first at 4:13 when Jessica Young ’18 stuffed home a pass from Janka Hlinka ’18. Only 22 seconds later, the Pointers came right back and tied the game at 1.
Two minutes into the second period, Winslow dug the puck out of the corner, skated to the goal and sent a cross to Shanna Hickman ’19, who scored her first career goal.
The Panthers added an insurance goal on the power play in the third period when Winslow sent her wrist shot to the far side of the net, securing a 3-1 win for her team.
“We had a good weekend battling some of the top teams in the country,” Mandigo said. “We have a young team, but everything is coming together nicely. We have high expectations for ourselves, but most importantly we are willing to put the hard work in for the outcomes that we want.”
With its pair of wins against conference rival Trinity, Middlebury sits atop the NESCAC, tied with Amherst at 2-0. The Panthers return to the ice this weekend for a two-game homestand against Connecticut College (0-2) on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4-5.
(12/03/15 12:55am)
The Middlebury women’s basketball team has had quite the hot start thus far in the season. Going undefeated in the month of November, the team has beaten Oneonta State (60-38) on Friday, Nov. 20, Hartwick College (61-58) on Nov. 21 and Johnson State (57-52) on Tuesday, Nov. 24. The Panthers have relied on their underclassmen’s talent to win games in the absence of captain and most senior leader, Elizabeth Knox ’17, who is injured and hoping to return to the courts in January.
Middlebury began the season at the Holiday Inn Classic at SUNY Oneonta where they played the host. The Panthers ended the first quarter with a 14-9 lead, and did not look back.
Oneonta only hit 14 of their attempted 75 shots (18.7 percent shooting), and grabbed 40 rebounds while Middlebury shot an impressive 41.7 percent from the field, going 25-60. The Panthers also grabbed 58 rebounds. Point guard Sarah Kaufman ’18 led Middlebury’s scoring effort, sinking 23 points total in the game. Catherine Harrison ’19 also helped seal the win in her impressive college debut: she knotted her first career double-double, scoring 12 points and grabbing 15 boards.
One day later, the team carried this momentum into their matchup against Hartwick College. Middlebury emerged victorious from the constant back-and-forth that ended with a score of 61-58.
Harrison was the high scorer of the game, with 20 points and 9 rebounds, while Colleen Caveney ’19 had 12 points and went 6-7 from the field. Kaufman again scored in double-digits, racking up ten points total. Middlebury continued their shooting success going 24-50 from the field (48 percent).
Three days later on Tuesday, Nov. 24, the Panthers embarked on another road trip to face their local rival, Johnson State (JSU). Middlebury won what proved to be another close contest 57-52.
JSU cut Middlebury’s lead down to two with just under a minute remaining. However, the Panthers hit three foul shots and a layup to seal a five-point win. Kaufman led Middlebury again in scoring with 18 points, while Harrison scored 12. Eileen Daley ’18 scored five and recorded a career-high of 13 rebounds.
After a very promising start to her Middlebury career, Harrison — who averages 16.0 points and 12.0 rebounds per game, and shot an 82.4 percentage from the floor (14-17) — was named the NESCAC Player of the Week.
The Panthers will begin to rev up their out-of-conference schedule as they face Skidmore on the road this Saturday, December 5th at 2 p.m. before NESCAC competition begins after the New Year.
(11/19/15 3:52am)
Nov. 14 through the 22 is National Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This national social movement is held every year on the week leading up to Thanksgiving in order to reflect on and raise awareness for the hunger and homelessness that exists in our country.
Hunger Free Vermont is a statewide nonprofit education and advocacy organization whose goal is to provide “nutrition education and [expand] access to nutrition programs that nourish Vermont’s children, families and communities.”
Katie Green, Adult Nutrition Specialist from Hunger Free Vermont, commented that, “[the] organization’s mission is to end the injustice of hunger and malnutrition in the state of Vermont. We go about doing that in a holistic way, and really trying to get at the root causes of food insecurity.”
Using U.S. census data from 2010-2012, the organization exposes the prevalence of hunger in the state and Addison County.
At the state level, Hunger Free Vermont reports that 13 percent of all Vermont households, or 83,200 Vermonters are food insecure. According to the organization, this means that 19 percent of Vermont Children live in food insecure homes and 7.5 percent of Vermont seniors live with food insecurity. Further, the organization found that 12,290 Vermont Children depend on emergency food from food shelves each month.
In Addison County specifically, Hunger Free Vermont states that one in five children are food insecure. Of grade school and high school students, 38 percent are eligible for free or reduced priced lunches. However, there are zero after school meal programs in the county even though six towns are eligible. In addition, ten senior community meal sites serve meals at least twice a week.
To help people afford three meals a day, the USDA funds 3SquaresVT, also known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly known as food stamps.
“I think that all programs have room for growth … but that program serves over 82,000 Vermonters and helps them afford nutritious food, and put better food on the table for themselves and their families. So I would say it’s a very successful, and very essential program,” Green said on the effectiveness of 3SquaresVT.
According to a report conducted by the Vermont Department for Children and Families (DCF), the budget totals for 3SquaresVT in 2014 were $867,138. While the federal share made up 50 percent of SNAP funds for 3Squares VT, state funded dollars amounted to $346,214 and private discretionary funds totaled $87, 355.
In 2001, Hunger Free Vermont found that there were 38,558 3SquaresVT participants in 2001. Today, there are over 93,000 participants. According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) as of 2015, the change in participation in the last five years has increased by 39.4 percent. Although the number of participants in 3SquaresVT is rising, Hunger Free Vermont reports that about one in five eligible individuals do not yet have access to the program.
While 3SquaresVT fails to reach everyone who needs SNAP benefits, Green points out that Vermont is taking some key steps to address this shortcoming.
“In the state of Vermont we have expanded eligibility for the program,” Green said. “Some states do not allow expansion eligibility, but we allow up to 185 percent of the federal poverty level. So this in Vermont makes a lot more people eligible for the program.”
Based on the inherent need for food stamps, 3SquaresVT created certain parameters for eligibility. For one person, an individual must have a monthly gross income limit of $1,801. An individual who qualifies for benefits based on these standards would receive approximately $37 a week from 3SquaresVT. For a family of four, the household income must have a monthly gross income limit of $3,678. A family of four who is eligible to receive benefits would receive approximately $99 a week from 3SquaresVT.
Although the number of participants is on the rise, Green acknowledged the stigma that is still attached with the 3SquaresVT program.
“There shouldn’t be stigma or shame associated with just trying to provide healthier and more nutritious meals for individuals and their families,” said Ms. Green. “Changing the name to 3SquaresVT was something that we did as a state to try and alleviate some of that stigma … the fact that eight out of ten people in their life will experience economic hardship at some point [means] it is sort of a myth that this is a program that only a few people use and rely on”
In addition to food insecurity, homelessness is also a prevalent issue in Vermont.
According to the United States Department of Housing and Urban Development, there were 25 percent more homeless Vermonters in 2013 than there were in 2012. Based on data collected in 2013, the report found that in total there were 574 people in emergency shelters, 215 people in transitional housing and 160 people who were unsheltered.
Given the growing need of homeless shelters throughout the state, United Ways of Vermont identified 16 locations that offer emergency shelter, transitional housing, and community shelters.
For example, the John Graham Shelter, located in Vergennes, has been open for 38 years. The shelter itself can house up to 25 residents at a time. By owning scattered transitional housing, the John Graham has been able to increase the number of people they serve up to 75 people at a time.
The Charter House Coalition, located in Middlebury, was founded in 2005. According to the Coalition’s website, the Charter House served 24,000 meals in 2014 and housed 79 adults and children. Doug Sinclair, the Coalition’s Volunteer Executive Director, also added that the Charter House’s volunteer ranks have tripled to over 970 in 2014, as with their donations from individuals and organizations. Furthermore, Sinclair reported that the Charter House is already housing 26 people a night. Sinclair compared this figure to back in 2008, when the Charter housed about 20 adults and children over the entire winter.
With these impressive figures, Sinclair highlighted how the Charter House has been quick to respond to the community’s needs.
“Thanks to the increasing support our organiation receives across Addison County, especially from churches and Middlebury College students, more and more people have become part of our community of neighbor helping neighbor ... simply stated, as the need has grown, so has the response,” Sinclair said.
When asked why he felt the number of guests eating and sleeping at the Charter House had been increasing steadily, Sinclair pointed out numerous examples.
With the economic downturn in 2008, Sinclair explained how low and middle income families have become unable to keep up with meeting their basic necessities such as food and housing.
In addition, Sinclair suggested that challenges relating to mental illness and substance abuse have led more locals to turn to the Charter House.
“While we do not have hard local data to back that up,” Sinclair stated, “our experience with our neighbors who are served by our programs is consistent with the national data. There is no question, we are seeing more challenges related to mental illness and substance abuse.”
Additionally, Sinclair pointed to senior citizens, especially those who do not qualify for health care, who find it increasingly difficult to stay in their homes.
Sinclair noted, “[seniors] seeking to maintain their independence strive not to take advantage of government programs, but will accept the support of organizations like Charter House Coalition.”
Vermont Foodbank is responsible for 225 food shelves and meal sites, feeding as many as 153,000 Vermonters each year.
In addition to hunger and homelessness, this week also raises awareness about the prominence of poverty in the state and the county.
According to the Food Research and Action Center (FRAC) as of 2015, the poverty rate in Vermont is 12.3 percent. In comparison to other states, this statistic ranks Vermont 40th out of 50 overall. In addition, American Fact Finder published that in 2013, Vermont had a 4.6 percent unemployment rate and that 7.6 percent of families and people had incomes in the past 12 months that fell below the poverty line.
The Addison County Community Action Group (ACCAG), who started Helping Overcome Poverty’s Effects (HOPE), is a local poverty relief organization that has been working to address the mounting poverty in Addison County since 1965. According to their website, HOPE’s vision is that “all people in Addison County have access to the tools and resources necessary to meet their own basic needs.”
Jeanne Montross, Executive Director at HOPE described the work of the organization.
“We are a first response, and a last resort. We do what no one else does. Many other local agencies refer people to us when they don’t know where else to turn,” Montross said.
Montross explains that unlike other government assistance organization, HOPE doesn’t use formulas.
Instead, Montross said, “we sit down with people and ask them what they need. If it makes sense, if no one else provides the resource, and if we can afford it, we do it.”
For Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week, the College’s Community Engagement Office has planned many events.
Elle Bacon, the College’s AmeriCorps Vista member, organized the week’s events along with several students, including Bella Carey ’17.5, Julia Trencher ’18 and Abla Lamrani-Karim ’16.
Bacon prefaced by saying, “these events are by no means a holistic discussion of both hunger and homelessness and they do not encompass all that could or should be discussed.”
However, she then explained, “my intent for this week is to continue current discussion on campus about these issues, while also (hopefully!) sparking new conversation and action.”
Through Volunteer Service Organization (VSO), 14 students went to HOPE last Friday and helped prepare holiday food for their food shelf.
Julie Ehrlich ’17.5, one of the volunteers, said, “HOPE is an amazing organization that works really hard to fill a lot of the gaps caused by poverty in Addison County ... HOPE does the best they can, but there are only so many people working there full time. In a short time, a group of many volunteers significantly helps HOPE accomplish what would have taken them hours or days.”
Ehrlich continued by saying, “the take away message of volunteering at HOPE is that in order for an amazing organiation to do amazing things, it really needs support and volunteer help from the community.”
On Tuesday Nov. 17, Katie Green from Hunger Free Vermont came to speak at an Atwater dinner.
Green first talked about the issue of food insecurity and hunger in Vermont, and went into detail about the history of hunger. Green explained, “I think that a lot of people who aren’t familiar with the issue of hunger … can be surprised that hunger is such a far reaching issue today.”
Then, Green discussed the ways in which Hunger Free Vermont uses advocacy and legislative means to work to end the injustice of hunger, and the ways in which the organization works within a community.
On Wednesday, Nov. 18, there was a screening and subsequent discussion of “A Place at the Table.” The documentary, released in 2012, is told through the lens of three individuals and examines the issue of hunger in America.
Bacon explained why she chose this movie.
“This documentary, I think, does a pretty good job acknowledging the devastation of food insecurity in the United States,” she said. “It connects individual stories with the larger systematic issues that prevent individuals and families in poverty from ‘making ends meet’ and debunks the myth that there is a certain type of person that is ‘hungry” in the U.S.”
On Thursday, Nov. 19 at 4:45 pm, the Community Engagement Office is sponsoring volunteers to attend Charter House Community Supper.
Bacon highlighted the community-based ethos of the Charter House supper.
“While we will not be serving the meal, my intent is to ask students to share a meal with those they might not otherwise,” she said. “I hope students will engage in community beyond the campus and get out of their comfort zone. Community Supper is more than a meal, it is a social event for a lot of the people that attend, and I think one way in which students can bridge the campus-community gap is by showing up, conversing and listening as a willing and open participant in such social events.”
In addition to publicized events throughout the College, some professors have taken it upon themselves to focus on the issues.
For example, in her class ‘Hunger, Food Security and Food Sovereignty,’ Professor Molly Anderson gave her students the opportunity to participate in the SNAP Challenge. Each student who participates was given the allotted $37 to spend on food for the week.
“Since our class is about hunger and food insecurity, and how various agents are trying to address these problems,” Anderson explained, “I wanted students to understand that food insecurity is significant in the US as well as in other countries.”
“Although the SNAP Challenge is just a small window into the kinds of difficult decisions that food insecure people make on a daily basis,” Anderson pointed out, “It is a way to raise our awareness and understand better at a gut level the issues that are caused by lack of jobs with a decent wage, lack of job training, poor daycare options for our next generation and insufficient food stamp allotments.”
“For me, I think the take away [of this week] is just to raise awareness on the issue, and get some talking points out there,” Green commented.
(11/19/15 3:36am)
The Panthers could not steal a win on the road in Medford, Mass. against the Tufts Jumbos in the season finale on Saturday, Nov. 15. Formerly a perennial cellar-dweller, Tufts has risen from the ashes over the past two seasons and, with the win over Middlebury, clinched a 6-2 re- cord, good for third in the NESCAC and the program’s first winning season since 2007. Meanwhile, Middlebury finishes 2015 at 5-3, the program’s fourth-straight winning season, but also its worst record since 2011, which speaks to the consistent level of greatness that the Panthers have played at over the past four years.
Coming into Saturday’s game, the Jumbos had not bested Middlebury since 2001, but it was immediately evident in this game that Tufts would not go down easy. The Panthers’ opening drive lasted just six plays before J.P. Garcia picked off QB Matt Milano ’16 along the sideline, but Tufts would not capitalize. Later in the first quarter, the Jumbos did strike first when QB Alex Snyder hit senior Jack Cooleen for a 14- yard touchdown.
Middlebury struck right back, though, answering with a seven play, 74-yard touchdown drive and a 10-yard strike to WR Matt Minno ’16 in the end zone.
The pace became frenetic partway through the second quarter. With the Jumbos driving and the ball at the Middlebury 31- yard line, safety Kevin Hopsicker ’18 jumped a route and picked off Snyder. It then took all of one play for Tufts’ Tim Preston to in- tercept Milano and get the ball back for the Jumbos. On the following play from the Middlebury 25, Tufts then ran a wide receiver pass, and sophomore Joe Nault completed the first pass of his college career, a 25-yard TD to junior Ben Berey, to make it 14-7 Tufts. The rest of the half was hard-fought but fruitless. Tufts was able to stop TE Dan Ful- ham ’18 one yard short on a 4th & 5, but otherwise neither team threatened again before halftime.
The Jumbos kept up their fine level of play in the third quarter. Kicker Willie Holmquist, NESCAC Special Teams Player of the Week, drilled a 28-yard field goal to go up 17-7, and on the next possession Milano was intercepted again, one of three picks on the day thrown by the signal-caller.
“We don’t focus a lot on those [turnovers],” Head Coach Bob Ritter said. “You don’t want your quarterback afraid to throw and throw through windows. If they’re bad turnovers that’s different, but the reality of it is that those interceptions on Saturday — one, our receiver fell down, the other one it was in the receiver’s hands and got tipped and the third one the kid made a great play on it.”
Late in the third quarter, though, the Panthers were able to close the gap when Milano hit Minno for his second touchdown of the game, a 49-yard catch and run. That score was Minno’s 30th career touchdown reception, moving into sole possession of first place on the Middlebury leaderboard, passing Zach Driscoll ’13. Minno also finished his career second in Middlebury history in receiving yards with 2,093.
“Zach was an unbelievable player and role model,” Minno said. “His class really started the winning culture and tradition that we’ve benefited from the past four years. He’d also agree with me that Middlebury is the perfect place be a receiver between the coaches and quarterbacks, and most of the credit should go to them.”
The momentum seemed to be swinging into Middlebury’s favor in the fourth quarter when, with the score 17-14 in favor of Tufts, defensive tackle Gil Araujo ’16 blocked a Tufts punt, Middlebury recovered, and RB Diego Meritus ’19 eventually scored on a one-yard TD plunge, giving Middlebury its first lead of the game, 20-17 after the missed PAT.
The fireworks kept coming in the fourth quarter. Snyder found wideout Mike Rando for a 31-yard TD to regain the lead for Tufts, 24-20. A few possessions later, Tufts blocked a punt of its own, and the Jumbos took over at the Middlebury 24-yard line. Snyder shortly found tight end Nik Dean for a 16-yard TD, putting Tufts ahead 31- 20.
“The disappointment with the blocked punt ... that was too bad,” Ritter said. “When it was a one score game, I felt really confident that we were going to get in the end zone again.”
Middlebury followed that up with a masterful 15-play, 75-yard touchdown drive that included two fourth-down con- versions and another fourth down on which a Tufts defender was called for defensive holding, giving Middlebury the first down. Milano eventually found WR James Burke ’17 for a two-yard score, and then hit Burke again for the two-point conversion to make it 31-28 with 54 seconds left in the contest. Burke had his best two games of the season in week 6 against Trinity and in the season finale.
“I can’t say enough good things about Burkey,” Minno said. “He had a great preseason and came in as one of the most improved guys on the team. We all had full confidence in him once he finally got his shot, and I can’t wait to see him tear it up next year.”
After the score, with just one timeout remaining, Middlebury was forced to try the onside kick. Unfortunately for the Pan-
thers, the ball rolled easily into the hands of a Jumbo, and after a few kneel downs the game was over.
“That last drive, a big part of it is urgency and desperation,” Ritter said. “We made some big plays and converted some fourth downs and some guys stepped up, and I still thought that if we had gotten the onside kick, I felt really good about it.”
The final contest notwithstanding, the 2016 class was an accomplished one. Minno imprinted his name throughout the record books in his career. Milano threw 47 touchdowns and accumulated 4,591 yards over the past two seasons. Linebacker Tim Patricia ’16 started 32 games over the course of his career and amassed 289 tack- les — the third-most in Middlebury history since 1994 when individual defensive num- bers began being recorded. Jake Clapp’s ’16 12.5 sacks in his career are also good for third all-time in Middlebury history, and Araujo’s 8.5 sacks this season are the second-most in one year for a Middlebury player. Despite the loss, the Class of 2016 finishes its Middlebury career with a cu- mulative 25-7 record, the most wins for a class since the Class of 1973 won 26 games.
(11/19/15 3:26am)
The women’s field hockey team (18-2) has earned their second consecutive and seventh overall trip to the NCAA Final Four after winning the regional final this past weekend Nov. 13-14. The third-ranked Panthers topped No. 5 Franklin and Marshall 2-0 in Saturday’s semi-final before beating No. 6 William Smith 3-0 in Sunday’s regional final.
“We held our ground firmly all weekend in the defensive end,” Head Coach Katharine DeLorenzo said. “Both teams were tough to break defensively, but the Middlebury offense was persistent and produced when it needed to.”
The Panther offense came out strong in Saturday’s game, with co-captain Jillian Green ’16 sending a hard shot towards the goal after only a few minutes of play, but a defensive save by Franklin and Marshall kept the game scoreless. The offense continued to put pressure on the Diplomats and was able to break through in the 11th minute. Co-Captain Bridget Instrum ’16 collected a loose ball just inside the circle and sent a hard shot toward the net that was redirected in front by Annie Leonard ’18. Franklin and Marshall almost tied the game on their lone shot of the opening half, but Panther goalie Emily Miller ’17 kicked the ball away to keep the lead. Middlebury continued to apply pressure, but the game held at 1-0 for the remainder of the half.
The Panthers came out blazing in the second half and grabbed a 2-0 lead in the 38th minute. Grace Jennings ’19 worked her way down the left side of the field and sent in a shot that deflected off a Diplomat defender into the goal for a 2-0 lead. Franklin and Marshall’s best scoring chance of the second half came in the 55th minute, but the shot by Mary Kate Olson went just wide of the net. With six minutes remaining, the Diplomats pulled their goalie in favor of an additional attacker, but they were unable to break through the strong Middlebury defense.
Middlebury held a 7-3 advantage in both shots and penalty corners. Miller made two saves for the Panthers, while Diplomat goalie Ili- anna Santangelo was credited with three stops.
With Saturday’s win, the Panthers met William Smith for their sixth consecutive NCAA regional final. Again, the Panthers came out strong, earning four penalty cor- ners in the first ten minutes of play, but were unable to capitalize on any of them. The Herons returned pressure, sending in a hard shot that was blocked by Panther goalie Miller in the 12th minute. The Panthers refused to back down and at the 13:11 mark scored on their fifth penalty corner. Leonard sent a shot in from the left side after the insertion, and Pam Schulman ’17, who was positioned on the near post, tapped in the ball for her 17th goal of the season. Middlebury played a man up following a five minute yellow card and was able to increase their lead on their ninth penalty corner of the game. Schulman dribbled the ball inside the circle and sent a pass to Leonard, who redi- rected the ball off a Heron defender into the cage for a 2-0 lead at 28:54. The Panthers took the 2-0 advantage into the halftime break.
William Smith had a great scoring chance early in the second half, but Miller was able to kick away the attempt on her left pad to keep the Herons scoreless. With four min- utes remaining in regulation, William Smith pulled their goalie in favor of an extra attacker. Just before the 67-minute mark, Leonard netted Middlebury’s third goal, and her 23rd of the season, off an assist from co-captain Anna Kenyon ’16. With that goal, Leonard moved into a fourth-place tie in the Middlebury single-season record books.
“Our cohesiveness as a team is allowing us to play at a very high level,” Leonard said of the week- end’s performance. “Moving forward we’re focusing on what we can do in practice to get better and stronger, and prepare ourselves for what’s to come.”
Middlebury held a 17-5 advantage in shots and a 13-7 edge in penalty corners. Miller made four saves in the Panther victory for her seventh shutout of the season, while Biz Chirco was credited with nine saves for the Herons.
“In this repeat national semi-final against TCNJ (The College of New Jersey), we’ll prepare again to be at our very best at both ends of the field,” DeLorenzo said looking towards the upcoming match. “The team is completely committed to the effort and will challenge each other on the practice field until we arrive for the final four.”
The Panthers will meet second-ranked The College of New Jersey on Saturday in a national semifinal at 2 p.m. on the campus of Washington & Lee in Lexington, Virginia. The other semifinal features top-ranked Bowdoin and fourth-ranked Ursinus playing at 11 a.m. The winners will meet in the championship game on Sunday at 1 p.m.
(11/19/15 1:07am)
Because of our remote location, Middlebury students do not often get to directly interact with organizations that they study, especially for majors who study those who currently hold great power. Members of the Environmental Studies and Food Studies curriculums enjoyed an exception to this last Tuesday, Nov. 10, in the form of a lecture titled “A Growing World Population and Creating Sustainable Communities: What role is crop biotechnology playing?”
In the lecture, two representatives from the agribusiness giant Monsanto spoke to students, faculty and community members about genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in agriculture. Monsanto is the leading American producer of genetically modified (GM) seeds, which makes up the bulk of its revenue, and is also a huge pesticide manufacturer, giving it one of the most directly relevant perspectives on issues of biotechnology in agriculture. The talk was given by Dr. Phillip Eckert, an academic engagement lead and former dairy scientist at the company. He was supported by Monsanto scientist Michael Spenzer.
The talk was primarily sponsored by the Environmental Studies curriculum and in particular by William R. Kenan Jr. Professor of Food Studies Molly Anderson. Anderson is strongly opposed to many of Monsanto’s practices and beliefs about GMOs, but she sponsored the talk on the basis that “it is important for students to understand both sides of the genetically modified crops argument.” She wanted to present Middlebury students with Monsanto’s side of the GMOs argument, and plans to follow this lecture with other talks addressing the controversy over biotechnology in food from other perspectives.
As the title of the talk made clear, Monsanto’s side of the issue is that GM crops are necessary for feeding a growing population. They also argued that biotechnology would help make agriculture sustainable, citing studies arguing that GM crops reduce land use and carbon dioxide emissions. Eckert argued that this reduction in emissions is made possible primarily because of how some GM crops do not require tilling (which releases carbon sequestered in the soil) and also because they “decrease the number of cultivation passes” that pollution-emitting farm vehicles need to make to spray crops with pesticides and herbicides.
Finally, Eckert argued that biotechnology could help agriculture adapt to climate change. Climate change has decreased the arable land available per person, increased the range of pests and made crops vulnerable to hostile weather, increased drought and natural disasters. In Monsanto’s vision, crops should be selectively modified to increase yields, promote better nutrition and adapt to changing conditions.
The presenters were careful to acknowledge that biotechnology cannot solve food insecurity on its own. Eckert noted that a huge amount of food waste in developing countries comes from a lack of infrastructure, saying that “the solution is not always to just double crop yield.” Poor transportation infrastructure and inadequate storage infrastructure and techniques prevent many crops from getting to market and the failure to sync markets with harvests prevents food from reaching the table.
Eckert also took great pains to portray crop biotechnology as safe. He did not make a blanket statement that all GM crops are necessarily safe for human consumption, but that they are “safe when proven to be.” He contended that the long vetting process that new biotechnology is subjected to by both Monsanto and governmental regulators, which takes an average of 13 years and $136 million per product, ensures that no unsafe products reach the market. This argument drew considerable ire from the audience, who raised concerns about research linking pesticides that are used with pesticide-resistant crops (namely Monsanto’s Roundup and other glyphosate-based pesticides) with cancer, hormone issues, and danger to wildlife.
The presentation met with a deluge of questions from the audience, enough that Eckert was only able to finish two-thirds of his talk. One of the most important questions the audience had about the talk was also the most basic: what was Monsanto even doing at Middlebury, a tiny college that also happens to be a bastion of the environmental movement? Both Anderson and Eckert argued that they were in the business of repairing Monsanto’s reputation. The presenters, two jovial scientists, were not what one usually associates with Monsanto, a name that conjures up images of a shadowy megacorporation manipulating policy through an army of lobbyists. But the choice of representatives seemed aimed to recast Monsanto as a progressive, scientific company instead of a self-interested agribusiness giant.
“Their charge was clearly to get people to feel better about Monsanto,” Anderson said. “They were very carefully not argumentative up there.”
Both presenters and audience members played fast and loose with the various types of GM crops and their many purposes. Audience members and Monsanto representatives were sometimes talking about different GM crops with different purposes or about entirely different applications of biotechnology. For example, in response to claims that GM crops were important for addressing global hunger, an audience member questioned how for aesthetic purposes, like apples that do not brown, helps promote food security. Some audience members were particularly critical of how the presenters never explicitly broke down the distribution of uses of GM crops. Anderson and one audience member accused the presenters of not adequately addressing the fact that most GM crops are engineered for pesticide resistance instead of to adapt to a changing climate or a growing demand for food.
“I didn’t like how they evaded some topics,” Anderson said. “Something like 95 percent of crops that are being used around the world that are being genetically engineered are pesticide-resistant crops, not pest-resistant crops; they aren’t being engineered for the things that [Eckert] talked about.”
The fact that many GM crops are engineered specifically to be pesticide and herbicide resistant was displayed briefly on a slide but not explained by the presenters.
Additionally, there was confusion of Monsanto with the broader GM crops industry, with presenters and audience members implicitly or explicitly attributing the ills or benefits of biotechnology in general to Monsanto specifically. Spenzer pointed out that the aforementioned genetically modified apple is not made by Monsanto, for instance. As he noted, “most genetically modified seeds are not made by Monsanto, but [Monsanto] became a byword for the issue.”
Anderson also criticized what she saw as deliberate obfuscation of the definition of genetically modified crops by the presenters. She argued that they confused hybridization (also known as crossbreeding), which is credited with producing high-yield and drought-resistant crops that enabled an explosion in agricultural productivity in the 20th century, with biotechnology, or the direct insertion of a small piece of DNA into an organism.
“In many ways they tried to make [what] biotechnology [is] less clear,” Anderson said. “For example their assertion that we’ve been genetically engineering crops for ages is a little bit of a red herring. We have been genetically modifying only if you think of crossbreeding things that can naturally cross in nature as genetic engineering, but we certainly haven’t been taking a gene from a fish and putting it in a tomato for ages.”
(11/18/15 9:26pm)
Following the terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris on Friday, Nov. 13, Vice President and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott and Dean of International Programs Jeff Cason reported that all 50 undergraduate and graduate students studying at Middlebury’s School in France, in addition to ten other students studying at other sites, were safe.
“We are grateful that all of our students in Paris are safe, and we will continue to monitor the situation to be sure that students are receiving the support they need,” Cason and Smith Abbott said in their email.
According to Cason and Smith Abbott, the School in France spent the evening reaching out to each of the students to confirm their well-being. Additionally, the families of students were notified of their safety.
When the attacks occurred, Vanessa Manjarrez ’17 was in the Stade de France with a group that included two other Middlebury students. According to Manjarrez, they heard “two huge bangs” when they were in the stadium and initially assumed them to have come from fireworks. Manjarrez and her friends later learned the noises came from a suicide bomber who had tickets to the game they were watching.
“We didn’t think anything of it,” Manjarrez said. “We continued watching the game until about the middle of the second half when my friend got a text message from the [Associate Director of the School in France Amy Tondu] saying there was a shooting and that we needed to go straight home. We didn’t realize the gravity of the situation, so we waited until the end to leave. At that point, our phones were flooded with ‘Are you ok?’ messages from friends and family, still not really knowing what everyone was panicked about.” She continued, “It’s been pretty traumatizing. Middlebury has told us to stay inside as much as possible this weekend and to not go anywhere where large crowds can gather.”
“I can’t stress enough how helpful the Middlebury team was during this event. They kept in touch with every student and our families until everyone was confirmed safely at home,” she said.
Edward O’Brien ’17 realized something was wrong when he learned that some metro stations were closed “by order of the Police Prefecture.”
“When [my friend and I] emerged from the station, two panicked men ran up to us to ask if the metro was still running. We told them what we knew and they ran into the subway. That was when we knew something was wrong,” O’Brien said.
“As we walked back to my apartment, we saw several people running down the street away from one of the closed stations so we sped up until we were inside,” he continued. “When I came in and turned on my computer, I had over ten messages on Facebook [from] panicked people asking where I was. Apparently, Middlebury had been calling people even before any official alerts went out. Because my phone wasn’t working, no one knew where I was.”
After watching the news, O’Brien realized that several of the attacks were a few blocks away from his apartment.
“While that night was tense, the scariest part of the attack for me was the next morning when I looked at the accurate locations of the attacks,” he said. “I realized that I had been in a restaurant right next to one of the attacks just the day before. It continues to occur to me that it was complete chance that I was not there.”
He continued, “I now feel paralyzed when deciding to leave the apartment. Each time, I wonder whether it’s a good idea. I, like many others in Paris, I think, recognize that the reason I wasn’t a victim of the attacks was nothing but chance. There’s just so much uncertainty.”
According to Cason and Smith Abbott, the College is making counseling services available for students in Paris in the wake of the attacks.
“Yesterday’s heartbreaking events have understandably created considerable anxiety, both for our students in Paris and for many here on the Middlebury campus,” they said. They encouraged students to seek additional help from residential life staff members, Commons Residential Advisers (CRAs), and Commons Deans.
Members of the Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life sponsored a vigil held outside of Mead Chapel on Monday, Nov. 16. The vigil was held following the College’s weekly, all-community silent reflection, which President of the College Laurie L. Patton invited students to attend.
“These challenging times require that we come together as a community in as many ways as possible,” she said in an email sent to students, staff and faculty.
(11/18/15 9:20pm)
SGA President Ilana Gratch ’16 opened the Nov. 9 senate meeting with an announce- ment that The Cellar (originally named The Coat Rack) is a student-run bar in Cross- roads Cafe that is still looking for bartenders. Students do not have to be 21 and can gain certification online through Vermont’s DLC server training. The training costs $25, but is covered by SGA/MCAB.
(11/18/15 7:33pm)
Over 250 students and faculty crammed into Dana Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 17 for a panel discussion hosted by the Department of Political Science on the Paris attacks. Mediated by Robert R. Churchill Professor of Geosciences Tamar Mayer, the panel consisted of Professor of Political Science Erik Bleich, Edward C. Knox Professor of International Studies Jeff Cason, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Ophelie Eglene, Assistant Professor of Political Science Sebhem Gumuscu and Associate Professor of Political Science Nadia Horning.
The discussion explored how issues of French-Muslim identity, the European Union’s open-border policy and regional instability in the post-colonial era created a volatile mix, allowing the Islamic State to recruit, organize and implement the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. They also discussed possible ramifications of the attacks on the E.U.’s policy on border security, France’s declaration of war on the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS and ISIL) and the College’s study-abroad programs.
According to Bleich, the Paris attacks should not be misconstrued to represent all French-Muslims as extremists who support the Islamic State. Citing interviews with French-Muslims in Lyon, France for a research project last January, he said:
“Most French-Muslims feel very French. Research shows French-Muslims identify with their country more than in any other European country. So why did these French-Muslims turn on their country?”
Although France has a controversial immigration policy, it has one of the easiest paths to citizenship for immigrants, even compared to Germany, which accepts more refugees than any other country in the E.U.
“Once you’re [a citizen], France promises liberté, égalité and fraternité,” Bleich said.
However, he also noted racism towards French-Muslims is not uncommon in France. He recalled interviewing a French-Muslim mother whose nine year-old son was called a “dirty, shitty Arab” in front of his classmates and his teacher.
“The vast majority of non-Muslim French people may be kind to French-Muslims in one-on-one interactions. But that doesn’t take the sting out [of racist events like this],” he said.
Racism is rampant in the poor Parisian suburbs where most Muslim immigrants live, separated from the rest of Parisian society and generally ignored by the city’s government.
“Unfortunately, France has failed to deliver in other ways,” Bleich said. “These suburbs are plagued by vandalism, violence, drug use and riots.”
Mayer added that these same neighborhoods have high unemployment rates and high birth-rates, creating communities of young, unemployed, disenfranchised men that IS recruiters prey on.
“It’s not the sermons at the mosques that radicalize people,” Mayer said. “The recruiters go to the gym where all the young people hang out. If there is a concerted effort to fight IS, it can’t be bombings.”
Horning showed two maps to explain the context of what happened in Paris and what may happen in the near future. The first map showed regions controlled by terrorist groups in Africa and the Middle East.
“The geographic spread of Islamic extremist groups connects West Africa, Central Africa and the Middle East,” she said. “The problem is bigger than the Islamic State.” The second map depicted the spread of IS and how it straddled state borders.
“The problem is bigger than individual states,” she said. “The enemy is not the state. It’s actually an idea [jihad and shari’a law]. You don’t fight an idea with bombs.”
Professor Horning was dismissive of the West’s current foreign policy when it came to dealing with IS and the crisis in the Middle East, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The problem we’re facing today has a lot to do with interventions that have no grand strategy, no real political project, just immediate action; countries flexing their muscles and showing strength to their democratic population who demand this kind of action.”
She noted that the current breeding grounds for terrorism like Afghanistan and Iraq are countries that have weak central governments.
“Jihadism is simply a view that the application of Shari’a law is the means of establishing social justice where people feel disenfranchised and mistreated,” she said. “These groups [like IS and Boko Haram] begin to constitute themselves as a voice against oppression or a voice against an inept, unfair, negligible government … Let’s not forget that we might be dealing with the ramifications of colonization. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Islamic State [is] in Iraq and Syria, [which] used to be British colonies.”
Eglene discussed the potential effects of the Paris attacks on the E.U.’s policy within the Schengen zone, which removes border controls between certain states across Europe.
“President Hollande immediately closed France’s borders,” she said. “Hollande has asked for suspension of the Schengen area for three months.” She mentioned the possibility of the Paris attacks in dismantling Schengen agreement, already in talks due to the recent refugee crisis.
The E.U. council will meet tomorrow in the aftermath of the attacks. Strengthening the external borders of the E.U., either directly through patrolling or indirectly through multi-national police and intelligence cooperation, is likely.
“The Paris attacks have shown a lack of intelligence sharing among members of the E.U.,” she said, noting that the terrorists responsible for the Paris attacks were active in Brussels, Belgium prior to Friday.
In regards to the College’s study abroad program in Paris, all students were located as safe within an hour and half of the first attack. Three of them had been at the soccer stadium when the bombing happened. Cason, the last panelist to speak, emphasized that the recent attacks should not dissuade students from going abroad. The recent attacks, he said, highlight the difference between studying abroad and simply traveling on vacation.
“Students should feel uncomfortable. They should be shaken up,” Cason said. “There is inherent risk in the world … students somehow think that going to Europe is less risky [than Cameroon or India], perhaps because it is more prosperous. But prosperity does not guarantee safety.”
Despite the attacks, no undergraduate students at the Middlebury School in Paris have asked to leave the program early.
“The communication we have been getting from students [in France] indicate how embedded they’ve become in the culture they are studying,” he said. “To me, this is a good sign.”
(11/13/15 4:42am)
In their annual announcement of objectives for the year, the Community Council identified “installing a living wage for all workers campus-wide” as of primary importance for their faculty and staff goals.
A living wage, according to the Harvard Living Wage Fact Sheet, is a wage that “takes into account the area-specific cost of living” so that people working in a given community can afford to live there comfortably.
Community Council member Dan Adamek ’18, who first raised the issue, cited the College’s pay scale as evidence that it was failing to pay its employees the wages required to live comfortably in Addison County.
“Somebody in Addison County can’t have all of their basic needs fulfilled if they’re making $10 an hour working at the College,” he said. “It’s impossible.”
Adamek made an astute observation on the disparity that exists between the cost of living estimated by he National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and the College’s pay scale.
According to a study conducted by the NLIHC, in Vermont, the Fair Market Rent (FMR) for a two-bedroom apartment is $1,007. That means that in order to afford rent and utilities, “a household must earn $3,356 monthly or $40,272 annually.”
Conceptualizing this number in terms of a 40-hour workweek, 52 weeks per year, this level of income translates into an hourly wage of $19.36.
According to Patrick Norton, the Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, the College uses the MIT living wage calculator to determine that the livable wage for a single adult living in Addison County is $10.86 per hour.
This data assumes that people are working 40 hours per week, 52 weeks per year.
By further examining the Middlebury College Staff Pay Ranges report published by the College’s office of Human Resources on July 1, 2015, the truth behind staffers wages at the College can be brought to light.
The report is separated into hourly and annual salaries. Then, it is broken down into two separate pay ranges. Within each pay range, there are four band/levels: specialist, management, operations and administrator. Each band/level is then further separated into the lower third, middle third, and upper third of possible pay scales. Each third is then further broken down into the ranges of minimum and maximum wages of that third.
In the lower third of the operations band/level, the lowest possible wages range from $9.74 per hour to $11.68 per hour.
According to Patrick Norton, Vice President for Finance and Treasurer, 26 full-time employees working in operations are making $9.74 an hour. This means that currently, 26 employees fall short of the livable wage benchmark as stated by the MIT living wage calculator.
Although the wage of $9.74 an hour is above the state’s legal minimum wage of $9.15 an hour, it clearly does not meet livable wage standards.
In response to the pay ranges report, Patrick Norton stated, “While our lowest pay range OP1 has a starting salary of $9.74 ... the average rate for that subset of workers is $13.15 per hour, well above the starting salary amount and the relevant livable wage benchmark.”
Although only 26 full-time employees fall below the living wage standards according to the MIT living wage calculator, many more would fall below the living wage standards when using the NLIHC study.
According to the NLIHC study, the average wage for a renter in Addison County is $11.83 per hour. Based on the College’s pay ranges, staff workers working in operations who make $9.74 an hour and $11.68 an hour would fall below the average wage that a renter in Addison County makes.
The inconsistency that exists between the living wage data that the College and the Community Council provide suggests that the community needs to use comparable data moving forward, and needs to develop an agreeable definition of what a living wage in Addison County means.
Even though the College has met all of its legal requirements, many staff members have indicated that the salaries that they receive are not enough to comply with a living wage in Middlebury.
When asked about whether or not he thought he was paid enough, another anonymous member of the dining hall staff retorted, “No, absolutely not.” An anonymous member of the dining hall staff commented, “I actually bought a house in Brandon because I couldn’t afford living in Middlebury.” “I had to get a second job to be able to live here,” commented another anonymous dining hall staff member. Before simply pointing fingers, it is important to acknowledge that some of the imbalance that exists between pay scales and cost of living is outside of the College’s control.
For example, the Institute for Energy Research released data in 2010 that showed Vermont’s electricity prices as 29 percent higher than the national average.
In addition, Sperling’s Best Places, a website that ranks cost of living indices, states that cost of living in Middlebury is 19.60 percent higher than the U.S. average. This statistic takes into account grocery, health, housing, utilities and transportation costs for the town.
In light of the high cost of living in Vermont, USA Today ranked Vermont the fifth worst state to make a living.
Heather Pipino, the Development Coordinator for the Vermont Workers Center, which fights for the workers’ rights in Vermont, high-
lights her frustrations over the current circumstances.
“It’s been an untenable situation with people not being able to afford the high cost of living here in Vermont,” she explained.
Although there are certain constraints that make creating a living wage difficult to achieve, the College is situated in a unique position to make positive change.
Through the study “the Economic Impact of Middlebury College” conducted by Northern Economic Consulting Inc. in November 2014, the central role that the College plays in the town of Middlebury and in Addison County is evident.
Middlebury College is the eight largest employer in Vermont and provides one out of every ten jobs in Middlebury. In 2011, the College was responsible for creating 437 jobs in Vermont above the 1,983 jobs it created in Addison County.
In addition, about 45 percent of the College’s payroll goes to town residents. Explained another way, in 2011, wages paid by the College accounted for at least 17 percent of the income of Middlebury residents.
Given its status as a huge economic force, many believe that the College has an obligation to support the local area.
“It is illogical,” Adamek said, “for a college with institutional goals of positive global engagement to pay its workers less than a living wage.” “I saw a wonderful op-ed that Laurie Patton wrote in the Addison County Independent about positive community engagement,” Adamek continued, “and I don’t think there’s anything that’s more positive community engagement than paying those who work for your institution a living wage.”
Tiff Chang ’17.5, the Council’s student co-chair, agreed. “It’s one of the most basic things we can do at the College to affect change,” she said, “and it’s just so simple compared to anything else we could address.”
Chang, who thinks about Community Council through the lens of inclusivity, also added, “based on the current system, we have failed to be inclusive of the entire College community.”
Further, Heather Pipino commented, “I think the Middlebury community should hold the College to a higher standard and make sure that the people that working there are able to afford to live in Middlebury and contribute to the community.”
Comparing the concerns from workers themselves with the College’s recent efforts to address these concerns, it seems that there is still a lot of work to be done. There still remains confusion and frustration over how raises are distributed.
According to one anonymous dining hall staff member, raises range from 2.5- 2.75 percent of their annual salary. In response, another anonymous dining hall staff worker added, “I think most of us think we should get a higher raise here. I mean come on, wouldn’t you think it would be higher?”
A third anonymous dining hall staff worker continued by saying, “They tell us every year how well we are doing and how we are under budget and saving money, but our raises won’t ever go up.”
“They tell us great job, but here, have this little bit,” he added.
From the College’s perspective, raising wages is something taken very seriously.
Tim Spears, Vice President for Administration and Professor of American Studies, created a blog titled “Across Campus,” which is meant to update the College community on administrative projects. On February 4, 2011, Spears published a three-part post that detailed the efforts be- hind the Revising the Staff Salary Increase Program.
For starters, Spears wrote that the College has a stated goal of “paying staff in the top 20 percent of the market for their jobs.”
Spears then explained how the College reorganized its compensation structure in 2006. First, Human Resources arranged similar positions into their own band and level, and calculated the minimum, mid- point and maximum of each grouping’s salary.
Spears wrote, “when the SRC (Staffing Wages Committee) and Wage and Salary Committee reviewed the spectrum of staff salaries [in 2011] it discovered that 808 employees were at or below the midpoint of their salary ranges; 366 were between the midpoint and the maximum; and 118 were at the maximum. (Note that these 1292 employees also include part-time workers).”
“In order to move more employees in the lower half of the salary range toward the midpoint,” Spears wrote, “the committee realized that it would need to find a way of redistributing the funds going to the top of range.”
Patrick Norton reiterated the validity of the Revising the Staff Salary Increase Program by clarifying that the program’s key principles are, “(1) recognizing individual performance, as determined through an annual performance summary (APS) process and (2) providing greater opportunity for individuals to move up within the salary range for their position.”
Staff workers who commented for this article found the redistribution of funds unfair. One anonymous dining hall staff worker commented, “The hiring wage goes up about what the raise is and so if someone has been here ten years, and then some new person gets hired and they’re making only 10 cents less than you, it’s very frustrating.”
Another anonymous dining hall staff worker echoed his co-workers' sentiments.
“Some of us, you know, may have 15- 20 years of experience, if not more,” he said. “That guy coming off the street, that has maybe two years of experience, is making pretty much exactly what I’m making.” In addition, staff workers felt that raises based on performance were nonexistent. “I also feel,” one dining hall staff worker lamented, “that there should be some sort of discussion about perhaps merit wages where I work better than the next guy, why should that guy that doesn’t work as hard as I do get the same raise that I’m getting, or a bigger one because he’s making less? That’s a little frustrating.”
What workers are responding to might simply be the College’s effort to rectify the imbalance that may exist within a certain pay scale. Although the College’s initiative to create equality within a certain band is important, it clearly has the potential to marginalize the efforts of a hardworking, dedicated individual.
Despite the overarching complaints about not receiving a living wage, staff members were sure to commend the College’s generous benefits package.
“I can’t complain about the benefits,” one anonymous staff member said. “I’m 45, and they are contributing 15% [towards my retirement]. I mean that’s huge.”
Overall, Chang said that she believed the implementation of a living wage would be generally uncontroversial, explaining, “everyone I’ve mentioned it to gets behind it very quickly.”
Adamek echoed her sentiments. “I’ve never heard a single person not say, ‘Yeah, we’re a wealthy institution and people should be able to live on the wages that we pay them. That makes sense, it’s normal. Wait, we don’t do that?’”
Most importantly, both Chang and Adamek stressed their hope that any recommendation the Council may make going forward would be paired with constant dialogue and collaboration with the administration.
Heather Pipino agrees that the answer must be community based.
“It’s good to have faculty, students and staff all standing together,” Pipino said, “I mean that’s the way we win things, is when people stand with each other.”
Ms. Pipino was also quick to add, “We [the Vermont Workers Center] would love to find out how to be more involved, how to be more supportive.”
“The conditions are not easy,” Pipino said. “But it’s when we stand together, and when communities stand to support workers living right in their town that we have our strength and when we can push back against this race to the bottom.”
This report includes anonymous interviews with three dining hall staff members. It does not reflect the official position of Middlebury College staff. They were granted anonymity so they could speak candidly about their experiences.
Additional reporting by Nick Garber.
(11/12/15 12:25am)
What matters to our President Laurie L. Patton, and why?
(11/11/15 9:34pm)
Leading up to the matchup between Middlebury and Wesleyan in the semifinal, Head Coach Dave Saward predicted that it would be a very even contest. He was correct, and after no score in regulation and two overtimes, the Middlebury men’s soccer team fell to Wesleyan by penalty kicks (5-4) in the NESCAC tournament semifinals on Saturday, Nov. 7. The loss ended the Panthers’ season when they were not granted an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.
The Cardinals came out with a lot of confidence after upsetting previously undefeated Amherst looking to knock off the highest-seed remaining in the NESCAC tournament for the second straight game, and possessed the ball early on by moving the ball well.
In the 18th minute, the Panthers moved into the offensive end and Daniel O’Grady ’19 played a little chip to Greg Conrad ’17. Conrad gave it right back on a lead pass into the box, and O’Grady cut into the middle and fired a low shot that Wesleyan goalkeeper Jack Katkavich pounced on. Four minutes later, Adam Glaser ’17 attacked from left to right, using his speed to draw a foul and set up a free kick. Glaser lined up the kick and sent it past Wesleyan’s wall to the right side, but Katkavich dove and corralled the shot to keep the game scoreless.
Off another Wesleyan foul in the 27th minute, Conrad’s header off the free kick was stopped but rebounded to Kyle Moffat ’19 who got his head on it. It looked like Moffat had scored the game’s first goal, but Wesleyan’s Charlie Gruner cleared the ball off the goal line to prevent the goal. Wesleyan had a chance of their own less than a minute later, but Max Jones’ chip sailed over the bar.
Neither team could separate itself from the other as the game continued to be wide open in the second half. Both the Panthers and the Cardinals created numerous opportunities but could not put the ball in the net. Glaser and Conrad both missed just wide, and Wesleyan’s leading scorer Chris Kafina came close to breaking the deadlock as well. As tension rose on the field and in the stands, the game remained scoreless and the teams needed overtime to settle.
Deklan Robinson ’16 almost ended the game in the 96th minute when he rose up to head a corner kick that went just to the right of the goal.
Fatigue started to show in the second overtime period when the Middlebury defense sloppily let Adam Cowie-Haskell get free for a one-on-one with Panther goalkeeper Greg Sydor ’17. Sydor was able to deny Cowie-Haskell to bail his defense out, and had to do so again less than three minutes later when Kafina beat the exhausted Middlebury side. Sydor made the save, keeping the score 0-0 and forcing a penalty shootout to decide who would advance to the NESCAC championship game.
In front of Middlebury’s largest and loudest home crowd this season, Kirk Horton ’17 took Middlebury’s first shot and sent it over the bar. Brandon Sousa knocked his in the opposite direction of the diving Sydor and put Wesleyan ahead 1-0. Robinson got Middlebury on track, tying the score, but Gruner quickly responded, just beating the outstretched Sydor. Down 2-1, Tom Bean ’17 brought the Panthers even again with his penalty kick.
Then Sydor stepped up again, making a diving save on Hans Erickson’s shot to keep the score even, or so it seemed. The line judge ruled that Sydor left his line early and awarded Erickson another attempt, which he made to put Wesleyan up by one again.
“In 31 years, I have never seen a retake,” Saward said. “It was a very questionable decision. To me it was a great save.”
Glaser, Kafina and Andres Chamorro ’16 all scored, so with the score tied, it came down to Dylan Hoy against Sydor. Hoy chipped his shot right down the middle, beating Sydor who dove off to the side.
With the win, the Cardinals advanced to the championship, but fell to Bowdoin there, as the Polar Bears won their second NESCAC title in a row.
The loss left the Panthers hoping for an at-large bid into the NCAA tournament to continue their season when the committee announced the field on Monday, Nov. 9. Middlebury did not get a bid, and they ended their season with a 13-2-2 record, while Bowdoin, Amherst, and Tufts will represent the NESCAC in the NCAA tournament, the latter two as at-large selections.
“This is one of the very best teams I have coached here,” Saward said. “They captured the real essence of what it means to be on a team. They worked hard and supported one another throughout the whole year, and every single member of the squad impacted the outcome.”
Although ultimately a disappointing way to end the season, the 2015 season will be in the record books for a number of reasons. The Panthers tied the program’s single game goal record with 10 against Green Mountain State. They broke the 17-year old season goal record by scoring their 46th goal of the year against Trinity in the NESCAC quarterfinals. Adam Glaser set both the single season and career assist records with 14 assists this year, twice as many as any other player in the NESCAC, and 23 on his career. Entering his senior season, Glaser will need 16 points to break Kyle Dezotell ’03’s career points record of 90.
Robinson, Chamorro, Tyler Bonini ’16, Andres Rodlauer ’16 and John Lower ’16 will all graduate this spring. Robinson’s started 57 games in his four career at Middlebury, scoring seven goals and assisting on 6 while playing defensive back for a defense that conceded eight goals in 17 games this season.
“They have been the foundation of the team’s success, and will leave a legacy of excellence both on the field and in the classroom that will inspire those that follow,” Saward said. “We will miss them all.”
The Panthers will have nine players who started at least ten games this year returning for the 2016 season, including Glaser, Conrad, Horton and Bean, who started all 17 games this season.
(11/11/15 9:31pm)
After taking down fifth-seeded Tufts last Friday (25-21, 25-20, 19-25, 25-16) to advance to the semifinal round of the NESCAC championship, the Middlebury volleyball team saw their season come to a close with a difficult loss to Bowdoin on Saturday (21-25, 24-26, 13-25). The Polar Bears would go on to defeat Williams in the championship round on Sunday, earning a berth in the NCAA tournament; the Panthers, finishing their season at 18-7 and 7-3 in the conference, were left to wonder at what could have been, despite having thoroughly exceeded the on-paper expectations for a team with no seniors that finished 12-12 last year.
“We’ve had some lopsided matches recently (good wins, and tough losses), and I think we’re learning what it feels like to really play well together, and we just need to do that consistently this weekend,” Head Coach Sarah Raunecker said. “I like where we are now heading into NESCAC’s. If we play well, we can compete with anyone there so we feel like we’re in control of our destiny.”
After defeating Tufts in their last regular season game, Middlebury drew the Jumbos in the first round of the NESCAC tournament. The Jumbos showed up ready to play, hoping to exact their revenge, but the Panthers refused to budge. The score ran all the way to 22-22 before some strong play from middle hitter Gabi Rosenfeld ’17 and outside hitter Becca Raffel ’18 allowed Middlebury to wrap up the first set. The Panthers capitalized upon that momentum in the second, racing out to going ahead 13-4 and then coasting to a 24-16 lead. Tufts stuck around for a bit, stringing together four straight points, but ultimately fell on a service error that gave the Panthers a 2-0 lead.
With their backs against the wall, the Jumbos fired off a quick eight points to start off the third and would lead the rest of the way. Middlebury made a push to get within five at 19-14, but Tufts regained control with three straight and went on to notch their first set victory, 25-19.
In the fourth set, the match concluded with some hard-nosed play. The two teams fought to a 13-13 tie before the Panthers began to distance themselves from the Jumbos, building a 17-14 lead and then running away with a 25-16 victory and the match. Notable players for Middlebury include Raffel, who led both sides with 15 kills, Rosenfeld, who had 1 solo block and 4 block assists, libero Emily Kolodka ’18 who dug up 25 balls and setter Hannah Blackburn ’17 who dished out 36 assists.
“We weren’t even thinking about the fact that it was Tufts,” outside hitter Alice Roberts ’17 said. “This tournament, we went in saying that we can only focus on what we’re going to do — and we want to win the whole thing. Tufts came back and definitely fought, but we were playing too well.’”
On Saturday, the Panthers found themselves in the opposite situation, trying to get back at a Bowdoin team that had handed them their first conference loss back in September. However, some of the consistency problems that plagued Middlebury at times earlier in the season reared their heads once more, and little errors prevented the Panthers from stringing together runs when they needed them. In the first set, the Panthers stuck with the Polar Bears until Bowdoin, leading 15-14, rattled off seven straight points to go up 22-14. The Panthers fought back to make it 24-21 before the Polar Bears finished off the set.
Always resilient, Middlebury pushed Bowdoin to a 19-19 tie in the second set. The Polar Bears scored four straight points, but the Panthers responded with a 5-1 run of their own to tie things up at 24-24. The Polar Bears took control, scoring two quick points to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
In the third set, nothing seemed to go Middlebury’s way. Bowdoin jumped out to an early lead and never took their foot off the pedal, closing things out with a 25-13 third set victory.
“Our serve-receive went very well in the first two sets,” Roberts said. “Once Bowdoin started to control the match a little bit, we got a little disjointed.We kept bringing ourselves back — we were composed the entire time — but Bowdoin just played a great game. They had almost no errors, whereas we had some unforced errors here and there.”
Looking forward, good things seem to be on the horizon for the Panthers. They return every member from a squad that featured a number of players on NESCAC leaderboards. Raffel finished third in the conference in kills per set with 3.80. Middle blocker Melanie English ’17 was second in blocks with an average of 1.04 each set, and Blackburn was third in assists with 9.68 per set.
Roberts shared that the team is even more excited to see where the added experience, along with a handful of incoming freshmen, might be able to take them next time around.
“Honestly, people were looking at our team as though we weren’t going be great this year, but I was very much expecting us to play well because our team was first-year and sophomore heavy last year, playing-wise,” Roberts said. “Now I’m extremely excited for next year because we went this far, with this team that’s not changing—if anything, we’ll just be adding some more players,” she said.
(11/11/15 9:23pm)
The men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at Mt. Greylock High School this past Saturday, Nov. 7. The men competed in a field of 40 teams, placing third with 117 points total. They followed Amherst, with 53 points and Williams with 77. The women also had an impressive finish, ending fourth overall with 78 points in a field of 46 teams. This was an upset for the other teams in the competition, as the women entered the ECAC Championship ranked eighth. They followed Tufts with 45 points, University of New England with 63 and Williams with 73 points. Both teams rested their top eight runners in preparation for NCAA Regionals this weekend, and the NCAA National Championship the following weekend.
The women had five runners finishing in the top 20 runners of a 311-runner field. The top finisher for the women was Robin Vincent ’18 who finished fifth. She was followed closely by a tight pack of Olivia Artaiz ’16 (18), Caroline Guiot ’16 (19), Claire Gomba ’19 (20) and Read Allen ’18 (66). Artaiz and Guiot finished out their final season and final race on a high note, crossing the finish line at nearly the same time. Tiana Thomas of University of New England won the race with a time of 22:54.20.
Artaiz was proud of her team after running her last race for the Panthers.
“I would say that we went into this weekend all knowing it was our last race so wanted to have fun with it,” she said. “We were all in a good mood in the line and it was a symbolic race for Caroline and I as it was out last race ever wearing a Middlebury uniform. We ran the entire race together and finished at the exact same time. We had plans to hold hands across the finish but we found out you can’t actually do that in cross country or you get disqualified. It was a good close to the season and we were all happy to race one last time for each other.”
On the men’s side, Samuel Klockenkemper ’17 was the top finisher for Middlebury, finishing in 10th place. He was followed by Kevin Serrao ’18 in 15th, Harrison Knowlton ’19 (18), Benjamin Hill ’19 (25) and Andrew Michelson ’19 (50). The men competed against a field of 277 runners, making their top five finishes all the more impressive. Liam Simpson of Williams College topped the competition with a time of 26:24.13.
“It was a great day,” Klockenkemper said. “We ran a team of mostly first-years and to get third like that speaks to the depth of our team. We’ve got a lot of positive energy moving forward from this meet and our performance at NESCAC’s, and I think we’re all just excited to see what this team can do. We’re running fast when it counts.”
While many of the Panthers finished out their season with this meet, the runners who were rested this weekend will compete again this Saturday, Nov. 14 at regionals. The women race at 11 a.m. and the men follow at 12:30 p.m.
(11/05/15 3:58am)
Below is a letter drafted by Lauren Kelly ’13, Dan Egol ’13, and Barbara Ofosu-Somuah ‘13. It aims to communicate interest and concern regarding accessibility in the four new residential buildings currently under construction at Ridgeline. It is currently a Google document that is being signed in support by members of the college community - alumni, parents, current students, etc. Please take a moment to read this letter. If you would like add your voice to the conversation, add your name to the bottom of the Google document. Lastly, please pass the link on to others to sign. Feel free to reach out to Barbara Ofosu-Somuah with any questions or comments - bofosusomuah@gmail.com.
The Google doc petition is available here.
Dear Middlebury College Leadership and Board of Trustees,
We, Middlebury alumni, current students and friends are committed to the College’s success and integrity. We want to share our concerns about a pressing issue at our beloved alma mater: the four new residential buildings currently under construction. As two recent Campus newspaper articles make clear, our college community now faces a critical moment: we can choose to demonstrate in word and in deed our values of diversity and inclusion.
It is exciting to witness Middlebury’s new leadership and an expanded vision of inclusion and diversity efforts. We hope to see these values applied to the new living spaces, enabling all of our members to access them. While we appreciate the College’s efforts to expand residential options, it is important to consider how the design of these new spaces implicitly and explicitly reflects the college’s values. As of right now, only 25 percent of the townhouse units (four of sixteen units) and three of the 16 suites in the residence hall will be wheelchair accessible, for example. In its current iteration, the design plan for the townhouses does not include elevators. This means only the first floor in each building will be wheelchair accessible and students with mobility impairments will not have full access to the whole building. We realize that the current designs, which are already on the way and were agreed to last year, satisfy building code requirements. However, providing only the minimum number of accessible spaces required by law is simply not adequate for our college community. We have earned an impressive reputation for innovation, global engagement and sustained interactive learning. Our new buildings should model innovative, inclusive designs that enable all our members to be in them.
Why should this issue matter to the broad Middlebury community? Inaccessible residential spaces will not only affect students, but also all of the individuals within students’ social networks. This includes relatives and classmates (of all age groups) who might visit throughout students’ careers at Middlebury. Among those signing this letter are people — disabled and nondisabled — for whom this has immediate impact. Maintaining spaces that are not fully accessible have both financial and human costs. Exclusion from social activities and the high price of retrofitting buildings are just two of the many examples of these costs. It is our deepest hope that the College will not continue to overlook such an important aspect of creating inclusive living spaces for all members of the community.
Middlebury College proudly claims its history of leadership. We ask our current administrators and Trustees to model inclusive, innovative leadership on this issue. And we call on the broad community to support our college leaders in this effort. Creating spaces that are fully accessible demonstrably signals the College’s core dedication to innovation, diversity and inclusion.
Admittedly, this situation holds many complications. With respect and hope, we ask the administration and the Board of Trustees to modify the blueprints for these buildings. Please consider taking the needed time to fully and transparently pause and reassess with us what it means to create spaces that are habitable and accessible by all people in our community. We believe this is a discussion worth having now.
The College is moving into a new era, with a new president at the helm. We have an opportunity right now to create buildings that can represent who we say we are and who we hope we continue to be — a community that is innovative, compassionate, diverse and inclusive. We hope that the current challenges can be resolved in the present moment, establishing a clear expression that our actions mirror our intentions. Ultimately, we see many choices before us in this matter, and these choices are important. Buildings are meant to last, and so the decisions about accessibility — and inaccessibility — will last as well.
Sincerely,
Dan Egol ’13, Lauren Kelley ’13 and Barbara Ofosu-Somuah ’13
Undersigned by 467 Middlebury alumni, current students and friends
(11/05/15 1:05am)
Men’s Soccer
Both of the Panthers’ losses this season came in 1-0 road losses against Amherst and Tufts. Amherst ended the regular season undefeated and as the top-ranked squad nationally, while Tufts began the campaign as the pre-season number one. Yet, after the both squads were improbably bounced from the conference tournament on the first weekend, Middlebury (13-2-1, 7-2-1 NESCAC) appears to have jumped onto the fast track to its first conference title since the 2010 edition of the team squeaked by Bowdoin on penalty kicks.
The Panthers are set to take on Wesleyan this Saturday Nov. 7 at 11 a.m. at the soccer field. Wesleyan was the team responsible for knocking off the top-ranked Lord Jeffs. In their first match up this season, Greg Conrad ’17 headed in a beautifully centered ball by Philip Skayne ’17 in the 80th minute to seal a 2-1 victory for the Panthers.
Saturday’s match figures to be high scoring as well, as Middlebury’s 2.49 goals-per-game average is the highest in the conference, while Wesleyan’s 1.9 goals-per-game is the third-highest. Defensively, however, the Panthers hold the edge over Wesleyan by a wide margin, as Middlebury’s goals-against-average is under half a goal-per-game, while Wesleyan’s 1.5 goals-against-average ranks in the bottom half of the conference.
Rounding out his 31st season at the helm of the men’s soccer squad, head coach David Saward’s team knows all it needs to do this weekend is execute and he will be heading to his 11th trip to the NCAA tournament.
“I think their record completely belies their ability,” Saward says of Wesleyan. “I think they’re really a very good team. Beating Amherst on Saturday does not surprise me…I think they’ve got a number of very good players. It’s not going to be easy. They’re going to come full of confidence now even though they’ve had a tough run. I know a number of their players, and I really think they’re very, very good. Well-coached. I think it will be a very even game. It’s going to be who can find the special moment to win the game.”
If the Panthers execute against Wesleyan on Saturday, they would take the field again Sunday Nov. 8, playing either Connecticut College or Bowdoin for the NESCAC title.
Women’s Soccer
The women’s soccer team (7-4-5, 4-3-3 NESCAC) heads to Bowdoin this weekend on the heels of its 3-2 upset over Amherst on Halloween.
Turning attention to the task that awaits them in Williamstown, Captain Katherine Hobbs ’17 said that although the Amherst game was more nerve-wracking than the team would have hoped, it provided a spark for the team.
Hobbs emphasized that “by coming back from behind and battling through the final minute, we proved to ourselves that we can get the job done when it counts most.”
The Panthers face a tall task this Saturday Nov. 7 when they head to Williamstown to take on the Ephs, who were undefeated until last week then the Panthers knocked of Williams at home 2-0. Last week’s result against Williams proved that though the Panthers are the sixth seed in the NESCAC tournament, they are certainly a legitimate contender.
“Saturday’s game is going to be another huge battle and is going to come down to little moments like those that won us the game this past weekend at Amherst. We definitely rattled Williams this past week,” Hobbs said.
The Panthers shut-out Williams in last week’s match, which was only the second time this season that Williams failed to find the back of the net for only the fourth time over the last three seasons, and it was Kate Reinmuth’s ’17 fourth clean sheet of the season.
“Williams is certainly a worthy opponent,” said Reinmuth, who saved all three shots on goal registered by the Ephs. “We know that it’s going to be a battle every time we face them, no matter the week or the field – or the year for that matter. We beat them last week, but that’s no guarantee of anything, so we’re working to fine tune our game in anticipation of Saturday.”
The Panthers’ defense needs to limit Williams’ dangerous duo of junior forwards, Audrey Thomas and Kriste Kirshe – the top two goal scorers in the NESCAC – as they did in their first meeting when Thomas and Kirshe were held without a shot-on-goal.
Hobbs reflected how the team is embracing the rematch with the top-ranked Ephs, who she says “will be coming into this rematch with a vengeance, but that makes the game that much more fun. We have already taken away their perfect season and now we are excited to end their NESCAC run as well.
Field Hockey:
If the Panthers (15-1, 9-1 NESCAC) are going to repeat as NESCAC tournament champions, the odds are that they will likely have to go through Bowdoin, as the last four NESCAC tournament finals pitted Panthers against Polar Bears. The Panthers have only been the higher seed in two out of the six meetings between Middlebury and Bowdoin in the finals.
Field hockey almost certainly does not need to win its game Saturday Nov. 7 in Brunswick, Maine against Tufts to guarantee it a spot in the NCAA tournament; however, the team would relish a chance to avenge its only loss of the season, off of a penalty stroke in the last minute, to Bowdoin in Brunswick on Sept. 26.
If the Panthers are going to repeat as NESCAC tournament champions, the odds are that they will likely have to go through Bowdoin, as the last four NESCAC tournament finals pitted Panthers against Polar Bears.
After easily handling Hamilton last Saturday afternoon Middlebury leads the nation by wide a wide margin in assists-per-game with 3.63, more than half an assist better than the next-best team. The Panthers also lead the nation in average margin of victory at almost 4 goals-per-game and rank fourth in goals scored per game at 4.56.
Moreover, it could easily be argued the Panthers have the best scoring duo in the country in Pam Schulman ’17 and Annie Leonard ’18 with 33 combined goals on the year thus far. The Panthers’ goalkeeper, Emily Miller ’17 is also having a tremendous year for the Panthers, as she ranks 8th in the nation in goals-against-average, having allowed only 11 goals in 977 minutes.
Nevertheless, Leonard says that the team is not looking beyond the next game.
“We are just focused on taking everything day by day and not looking too far ahead,” she said. “The team is working hard to get better, and we are just focusing on doing our jobs. We can only control what we do as a team, so we’re working our hardest to prepare ourselves. We are certainly excited for the road ahead.”
Volleyball:
The volleyball squad (17-6, 7-3 NESCAC) has enjoyed a successful regular season especially for such a young team: the Panthers have no seniors on this year’s roster.
The talented young team is headlined by Becca Raffel ’18 who currently leads the NESCAC in kills with 334, and has more than avoided a “sophomore slump” after being named co-Rookie of the Year in 2014. Raffel is joined by veteran presence Melanie English ’17, who is also the conference blocks leader, as well as fellow outside hitter Emily Kolodka ’18 and Hannah Blackburn ’17 as the team’s key contributors.
Middlebury enters the NESCAC tournament as the fourth seed for the second straight year. No one on the current roster has advanced passed the quarterfinal round of the NESCAC tournament, but their match with Tufts this Friday evening Nov. 6 in Brunswick, Maine provides an opportunity for this team to have a breakthrough.
“Tufts is a very strong team,” Raffel said in preparing for the Jumbos early this week. “We had a competitive match with them last week and [so] we know their tendencies and their game. It’s nice to be able to go into the game having proved to ourselves that we are capable of beating them, but at the same time it’s never easy to beat a good team twice, especially at NESCACs.”
The Panthers’ mental toughness certainly cannot be questioned, especially with the way that it handled the highs and lows of this season. At the times when the Panthers faltered they got right back up again – the most notable example being how they followed losing two-straight hard-fought matches to NYU and Bowdoin in mid-September with a ten match winning streak.
“No one on our team has won a NESCAC championship,” Kolodka. “We are hungry for the opportunity to play Saturday and Sunday, and that’s driving us to bring our best volleyball on Friday.”
(11/05/15 1:02am)
The Middlebury men’s soccer team advanced to the NESCAC tournament semifinals on Saturday, Oct. 31 by stomping Trinity 5-0. Adam Glaser ’17 continued his record-breaking season by setting the program’s career assist record and earning NESCAC player of the week.
The Panthers defeated Bates 4-1 on Saturday, Oct. 24 and Williams 1-0 on Wednesday, Oct. 28 to clinch the second seed in the tournament, hold off Tufts, and extend their winning streak to six games.
At Bates, Middlebury fell behind 1-0 for the fifth time in their last six NESCAC games when Noah Riskind found the back of the net in the third minute for the Bobcats. Playing from behind, the Panthers outshot the Bobcats in the first half, but the score remained 1-0 entering the halfway point.
Greg Conrad ’17 tied the game in the 60th minute off an assist from Glaser, and less than a minute later, Tim Ogle ’17 put the Panthers ahead.
“The team has shown resilience,” Head Coach David Saward said. “We’ve got an inner belief that even when we give up a goal we can get back into it.”
In the 78th minute, Conrad scored his second goal of the game off another brilliant setup from Glaser. Daniel O’Grady ’19 added one more for Middlebury in the 86th minute, as the Panthers sealed a 4-1 victory, outshooting Bates 26-3 and staying a half-game ahead of Tufts in the standings.
Heading into their regular season finale against Williams, the Panthers could clinch second place in the NESCAC with a win.
The Panther defense did its job all afternoon, but the offense could not breakthrough in regulation so the game went to overtime. A little under five minutes into overtime, Glaser passed to Kyle Moffat ’19 who attacked Williams’ net. Drawing the keeper out, Moffat went back to Glaser, and the junior one-touched Moffat’s feed into the empty net from a difficult angle for the game-winning goal.
The Panthers finished the regular season with a 13-2-1 overall record and a 7-2-1 mark in the NESCAC. With that record, Middlebury grabbed the second seed in the NESCAC tournament and drew seventh-seeded Trinity in the quarterfinals on Saturday, whom they had come behind to beat 2-1 two weeks earlier.
Trinity almost struck first again when Sam Milbury got free down the right side and launched a shot from 12 yards out but missed just over the crossbar in the 17th minute.
Three minutes later, Glaser drove down the left side with pace, feeding the ball to Conrad in the middle, who touched it back to O’Grady. The midfielder played a beautiful little chip over the defense to Luis Echeverria ’17, who slid his shot past the Trinity keeper for the first goal of the contest.
Glaser put tremendous pressure on the right side of the Trinity defense when he attacked carried the ball along the left again and sent a cross through the air to the middle. Echeverria was in the right place at the right time once again, and headed the ball towards the net. Domenic Quade stopped the first attempt, but Echeverria got to the rebound first and knocked his second goal past Quade.
Middlebury persisted offensively, but Quade made a nice save on a shot by O’Grady off a pretty setup from Conrad. O’Grady then set substitute Jeremy Barovick loose down the left side with a pass, and Barovick made a nice cut into the middle only to see his left-footed shot sail way left of the mark. The Panthers still held their two-goal lead with 45 minutes between them and a berth and the semifinals, and needed one more strong half to get there.
“In the first fifteen minutes of the second half, we defended efficiently. They never really got a look at the goal,” Saward said. “But we didn’t really have the ball much, and we didn’t really make any inroads.”
In the 72nd minute, Glaser sent in a corner kick that Moffat directed from his head to Conrad’s before Conrad finished it off.
“The corner kick is a bit of our bread and butter right now,” Saward said. “We’re big and strong and pretty good in the air. That goal really killed the game off.”
With that assist, Glaser became the all-time assist leader in program history with 23, breaking Baer Fisher ’09’s and Kyle Dezotell ’03’s record of 22. Three minutes later, Conrad’s deft pass set up the speedy Glaser who raced past the defense and powered a shot past Quade.
“Glaser’s goal was wonderful,” Saward said. “He can do that.”
Tyler Bonini ’16 made history for the Panthers in the 82nd minute when he tapped in a goal off assists from Echeverria and Tom Dils ’17, scoring Middlebury’s record-setting 46th goal of the season and breaking the 1998 team’s record of 45 goals in a single season.
Middlebury secured the 5-0 win, and Greg Sydor ’17 did not have to make a single save.
As the highest seed remaining, the Panthers host the semifinals and championship on Nov. 7-8. They will matchup with eighth-seeded Wesleyan on Saturday while Connecticut College and Bowdoin will play in the other semifinal game.
(11/05/15 12:57am)
This past Saturday, Oct. 31 the men’s and women’s cross country teams competed at the NESCAC championships hosted by Wesleyan University at Long Lane Farm. It was a beautiful fall day and the conditions were great for running on Halloween. The Panthers competed against the ten other teams in the NESCAC, some of the best teams in the country. The competition included Middlebury, Williams, Tufts, Connecticut College, Wesleyan, Bowdoin, Bates, Colby, Hamilton, Trinity College and Amherst College. Overall, the women placed third out of eleven and the men placed fifth, with great performances on both sides.
The women finished third behind Williams and Tufts, with a total of 92 points. Williams and Tufts had 30 and 66, respectively. The women were well ahead of fourth place Amherst with 113 points and fifth place Bates with 139 points. The top five finishers for the women were Abigail Nadler ’19 (2), Adrian Walsh ’16 (13), Emma DeCamp ’17 (22), Katherine Tercek ’16 (27) and Sasha Whittle ’17 (31).
“Overall, I’m very excited about getting second place, but I know there’s still room for improvement,” Nadler said. “I’m really proud of how hard the team ran, but we all know that we still haven’t reached our full potential.” She finished just one second behind the NESCAC Champion Lizzie Lacy of Amherst.
The men’s team finished fifth behind Williams, Amherst, Tufts and Hamilton. They finished with a total of 147 points, just three points behind fourth place Hamilton. They averaged a four second faster 8K pace overall than the fourth place finisher, indicating just how close the race was. The top five finishers for the men were Sebastian Matt ’16 (13), Chony Aispuro ’18 (17), Brian Rich ’17 (18), Sam Cartwright ’16 (37) and Sam Klockenkemper ’17 (58).
“A lot of people really stepped up this weekend,” Rich said. “Now that we’ve qualified for regionals, we can focus on building the speed necessary for the late-season meets.”
Overall, Head Coach Nicole Wilkerson was happy with her team’s result.
“We were happy with the results but will look to improve on them,” Wilkerson said. “We had some excellent performances from the women but I think we can close the gap (and pass) on Tufts even more. MIT will be in the mix as well at Regionals.”
Next weekend, the teams go on to compete at ECACs hosted by Williams, and NCAA Regionals at Connecticut College the following weekend. There are only three more potential meets left in the season for Panthers Cross Country, with the final meet being the NCAA Division III National Championship in Wisconsin.
(11/05/15 12:55am)
The Middlebury football team has experienced an up-and-down October, and while the team has emerged with a winning record, its ultimate goal is now out of reach.
A cake walk victory back in Week 2 over Colby was soon followed by a handy defeat at perennial title contender Amherst. The Panthers bounced back by defeating Williams 36-14 on Homecoming weekend, making them 3-1 as they prepared for a battle in Lewiston, ME with Bates. A second-half offensive explosion lead Middlebury to a 41-27 victory and set up a pivotal game with Trinity on Halloween. Unfortunately for Middlebury, the game, knotted at 14-13 for much of the first half in favor of the Panthers, slipped through their hands in tragic fashion as a couple of late turnovers resulted in a 26-14 Bantam victory. Middlebury now stands at 4-2, with its championship hopes completely out the window. With Amherst and Trinity both 6-0 and set to meet this weekend, one or the other will finish no worse than 7-1 on the year and in sole possession of the NESCAC crown.
The Panthers fought back-and-forth with the Bates Bobcats on Saturday, Oct. 24, eventually securing the victory despite a mere four-point lead at halftime. Bates opened the scoring with a long first quarter drive that resulted in a field goal, but Middlebury responded with a quick strike and a 84-yard TD drive culminating in the fourth touchdown catch of the year for WR Matt Minno ’16. Bates would take the lead late in the first when slot back Frank Williams broke loose for a 39-yard touchdown run. The next four series were ugly for both teams, as Middlebury surrendered an interception and a fumble and Bates lost a fumble and missed a field goal attempt. The Panthers then went on an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive, on which Conrado Banky ’19 caught a 34-yard TD down the left sideline by out jumping his defender in the end zone. The score would stay 14-10 going into halftime.
Milano had 276 of his passing yards in the first half to go along with two scores and two interceptions.
The second half belonged to Middlebury, which outscored its opponent 27-17 after the break. Minno, Tanner Contois ’18 and Ryan Rizzo ’17 all caught touchdown passes, making it five scoring strikes on the day for Milano. The scoring was capped off when QB Jared Lebowitz ’18 kept a read option and darted up the gut for a 40-yard scoring run.
Milano finished the day 31-53 for 405 yards, five touchdowns and three interceptions. Minno had 10 catches for 138 yards and two scores, his second two-touchdown game of the season, and second-consecutive 100-yard receiving game. Banky also had 100-plus yards through the air and a score, and the defense had three interceptions, one apiece from Kevin Hopsicker ’18, Wesley Becton ’18 and Dan Pierce ’16.
The victory over Bates prepared Middlebury to host the undefeated Trinity Bantams with the knowledge that this game would be do-or-die for the Panthers’ championship hopes.
The Panthers began the game severely short-staffed, with starters Banky, RB Diego Meritus ’19, TE Trevor Miletich ’16, LB Addison Pierce ’17 and CB Andrew McGrath ’18 all out with injury. On Middlebury’s first drive the panthers lost receiver Rizzo to a season-ending knee injury, and late in the contest Contois went down with a serious injury, as well.
Despite these hurdles, Middlebury struck first. Contois’ first quarter TD reception gave the Panthers an early lead, which would last until early in the second quarter when Trinity’s electric return man Darrien Myers took a punt 74 yards for a score to make it 10-7 in favor of the Bantams.
Middlebury attempted to tie the game in the second quarter, but Charlie Gordon’s ’19 31-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Trinity’s Brandon Blaise, representing the sixth blocked kick against Middlebury this season.
Middlebury did put another score on the board late in the second quarter, however, as TE Dan Fulham caught an eight-yard score from Milano. That touchdown made it 14-13 with Trinity having converted on two field goal attempts.
The next 27 minutes of football were scoreless. Middlebury tried to strike first, but Gordon’s 30-yard field goal attempt in the third quarter sailed wide right, seemingly deflating the Panthers. However, Becton rose to the occasion two plays later and gave the ball back to Middlebury by intercepting a Trinity pass. On the ensuing possession, the Panthers drove 37 yards to the Trinity five, but with the issues in the kicking game and the Panthers’ confidence that they could convert, Head Coach Bob Ritter elected to go for the touchdown. Milano found an open target in the end zone but the ball was dropped, and it remained a one-point game.
The two teams traded punts back-and-forth for much of the fourth quarter, but the fateful mistake came with 4:18 left in the ball game on the Middlebury 34. RB Jon Hurvitz ’17 coughed up a fumble that Trinity was able to recover. It took just three plays for the Bantams to convert and score the go-ahead touchdown, taking a five-point lead after the two-point conversion attempt failed.
The Panthers had just 2:52 to go 75 yards and only two timeouts remaining. A defensive pass interference and a completion to Fulham took Middlebury to the 48-yard line, but the Panthers’ momentum was quickly reversed when Trinity safety Spencer Donahue picked off Milano and returned the ball 13 yards to the Trinity 41. With two timeouts left, the Panthers were able to force a Trinity punt with over one minute left in the game.
Middlebury began its last-ditch effort from its own 28 with 1:17 remaining and no timeouts. On the drive’s opening play, Milano found Minno wide open 15 yards down the middle of the field, but the usually reliable wideout failed to reel in the pass, making it second down. On the next play, needing to connect deep down the sideline in order to stop the clock, Milano targeted Emilio Ovalles-Misterman ’19, a running back-turned slot receiver thanks to all of Middlebury’s injuries, on a long corner route. Trinity cornerback Archi Jerome could not have been in better position, and hauled down Milano’s errant throw over his shoulders before planting his foot in the ground and sprinting up the right sideline for a 50-yard touchdown return and sealing the win for Trinity.
Special teams and injuries ruled the day. Trinty’s Kyle Pulek punted the ball nine times, pinning Middlebury within its own 14-yard line six times, and Myers’ punt return touchdown was momentous. As for Middlebury, the Panthers left, at minimum, nine points on the board by failing to convert in the red zone, and Middlebury is now missing five of its Week 1 starters for the season.
The Panthers, now 4-2, will look to extend their 19-game winning streak against the Hamilton Continentals at home this Saturday, Nov. 7 on Middlebury’s Senior Day.
