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(09/10/20 10:01am)
Middlebury’s second round of Day Seven Covid-19 tests revealed no new cases of the virus among students, leaving the college’s total number of active cases at two. All enrolled students living on campus and in town were tested on Sept. 2, when 821 tests were administered, and on Sept. 4, when 1,138 tests were administered.
One student in the Sept. 2 cohort tested positive, bringing the number of active student cases to two. All other students tested negative or were retested due to insufficient samples.
The student who tested positive on Sept. 2 had previously received a negative result from their Day Zero test. Following their release from room quarantine, the student learned about a possible exposure at home. Upon receiving notification of the potential exposure, the college informed the Vermont Department of Health for contact tracing purposes and told students who may have come into close contact with the individual to quarantine in their rooms until cleared. That student tested positive, but all of their contacts have since been released from quarantine.
Middlebury will now move toward its Targeted Dynamic Testing program, testing 750 members of the college community each week starting Tuesday, Sept. 8. The first week of testing includes many employees who are working on campus, ResLife staff and MiddView leaders. The college will report the results of those tests by noon on the day they are received on Middlebury’s Covid-19 Reporting Dashboard.
To be tested, students arrive at Virtue Field House within a specified time slot, where they blow their nose and sanitize their hands before entering. Staff then direct them down a path to a specific testing station, where students confirm their information with a staff member who sits behind a clear barrier. Finally, they pick up a cotton swab and vial and go to another staff member, who instructs them about how to properly swab the inside of their nostrils.
Samples are later sent to the Cambridge-based Broad Institute, which conducts the tests and returns results to the college in about 24 hours. The Broad Institute is working with 108 colleges and universities in Massachusetts and the surrounding states to test students, faculty and staff for Covid-19.
Targeted dynamic testing will follow the same procedures as earlier rounds of testing. According to the Return to Campus Guide, “While this kind of ongoing, periodic testing of a population has not been widely studied, there are indications from some countries that it can be beneficial in detecting asymptomatic or presymptomatic cases.”
The college may adjust how much testing is done weekly if positive cases remain low or tick upwards, according to the guide. It also notes that the Center for Disease Control and Vermont Department of Health have instructed that individuals who have a positive PCR test should not be re-tested until 90 days later. In the case of a false positive, those individuals would be excluded from testing and could later contract the virus without being identified by dynamic testing.
Individuals who receive insufficient samples are retested shortly thereafter, but, after a negative Day Zero result, they do not have to room quarantine while awaiting retest results. Students whose Day Zero samples were insufficient had an extended room quarantine, while the rest of the student population was released to campus quarantine.
Beau Berg ’24 was one of the few students whose test came back inconclusive.
“Being online [for orientation] was definitely good, so I didn’t miss out on as much as I might have otherwise, but it was pretty hard just sitting in my dorm all day when it seems like everybody is out making friends,” said Berg.
Berg took his Day Zero test when he arrived on Wednesday, Aug. 26 with other first-years, and received an email telling him his test was inconclusive on Friday morning. He then retested with the group of students arriving on Friday, Aug. 28 and remained in room quarantine until Sunday night.
With Day 7 testing now completed for all students, the campus is looking toward a relaxation of restrictions in Phase 2 of the reopening plan — possibly beginning on Sept. 15.
(09/10/20 9:59am)
As total Covid-19 cases in the United States topped six million late last month, thousands of students from all over the world returned to Middlebury in anticipation of a largely in-person fall semester. Staff members’ experiences have varied greatly across departments since the college announced its fall plans in June and subsequently put in place a hiring freeze. Many staff now deal with uncertainty and the looming threat of furloughs should students be evacuated prematurely this semester.
Cautious optimism
Many community members, including staff, feared that students’ return would bring the same infection spikes — and resulting campus closures — that have plagued colleges and universities across the country.
“I’m cautiously optimistic,” said Katie Gillespie, associate director for research compliance and a representative on the Staff Council. “The test results that have come back are very promising.”
Following Day Zero and Day Seven testing, just two students have tested positive for Covid-19. Despite the encouraging signs, many worry that cases will eventually spike.
“I am concerned a little bit about once the initial phase is over,” said Amy Holbrooke, the economics department academic coordinator. “Then things start to loosen up a little bit, and they start leaving campus or sneaking their friends in.”
Some staff expect the college to close well before Thanksgiving break, according to Tim Parsons, the college horticulturist. Parsons served as president of Staff Council last year and is a current Staff Council representative.
“Everyone feels like they’re trying to make the best out of a bad situation,” he said. “They’re not really expecting it to last.”
Staff worry that a sizable outbreak could result in students being sent home, leading to a partial refund of students’ room and board fees and putting their Covid-19 pay protections in jeopardy.
“Some people are worried about what might happen if we do have an outbreak,” Gillespie said. “We’ve been told they’re going to reevaluate in October, and if students are sent home and they have to refund room and board, then the furloughs happen.”
Amid concerns, many staff members are glad to see students in person again. “I am happy that the students are back for sure,” said Custodial Supervisor Dan Celik. “Every student I speak to is so appreciative to be back and makes sure to thank me/us for what we have been doing to the campus … I hope we can be a model for other institutions.”
Safety and clarity first
Many staff members were happy with their new work environment’s protections, including barriers, personal protective equipment and social distancing, all provided or mandated by the college.
“I think they’re really trying to make it a safe work environment,” Holbrooke said, adding that the college has encouraged staff who can work remotely to do so.
Staff also feel more positive about the administration’s communication, which they believe has improved since March, according to Parsons. Many have also found the administration to be especially receptive regarding concerns about workplace safety, Gillespie said.
Gillespie cited an incident in which a constituent of hers felt uncomfortable being scheduled to work at the entry testing site. In response, administrators offered information about safety measures at the site and the option to meet with Medical Director Mark Peluso. This, along with conversations with students who completed testing, reassured the staff member, according to Gillespie.
One longtime dining employee, who spoke on the condition of anonymity due to fear of retribution, echoed the reserved praise of the administration's handling of the return to campus. “I think the administration is doing that best they can, with having students come back. Was it the right decision to have on campus classes? It is such a double edged sword, but we can only hope for the best,” they said.
“There is more work for the rest of us to cover”
Still, many staff members in departments like Dining and Custodial have seen their workload increase since students first began arriving on Aug. 18. New safety measures along with preexisting staffing shortages have left employees feeling the strain.
“From our work standpoint in Dining, it has been a real challenge,” the anonymous dining staff member said. “The procedure for feeding (students) now requires a substantial amount of time because we just don’t have the people to pull it off in a normal paced timeframe.”
All hiring has been frozen until July 2021. As some dining staff retired, left for new jobs or faced childcare issues, the anonymous employee estimated each dining hall had lost at least two staff members. The employee noted how this has increased work for the remaining staff members in conjunction with the new practice of packaging students’ meals in to-go boxes.
On top of added Covid-19 processes, as the majority of students moved in, entered room quarantine and had all meals delivered to their door, dining staff received jumbled communication on how many meals to prepare.
“There were last minute changes and shifts on the numbers,” the anonymous dining staff member said. “We had to pivot and shift gears constantly for four straight days because the numbers and situation kept shifting. It may not have been anyone's real fault, but people feel there’d better be a pretty hardy debrief after this is over, especially if we have to go through this again in January for spring semester.”
The custodial department has also been heavily impacted by the increased workload.
“They’re slammed, they’re down a lot of positions,” Parsons said. “[Custodial] had to expand some of their shifts.”
Custodial reorganized their work schedule to accommodate cleaning classrooms and implementing the extra round of disinfection, Celik said.
“We now have shifts that work around the clock, seven days per week,” he said. “We do have to get most of our work in the residence hall completed between 4 a.m. and 8 a.m., which has posed some time challenges. But, as we learn the routines, we are getting more efficient at it.”
In an Aug. 28 email to most of the Senior Leadership Group and a lengthy list of staff and administrators, Dean of Students Derek Doucet asked for help to “make sure students stay spread out as they line up and get their food” and attached a sign-up sheet. The email was soon passed along to many staff members across departments.
To fill in the staffing gaps, staff, coaches, faculty and administrators have been enforcing social distancing in dining lines.
Following confusion among staff regarding whether hours spent enforcing distancing in dining halls would be eligible for overtime pay, Karen Miller, vice president for human resources and chief risk officer, specified in a Sept. 3 email that enforcing distancing in dining hall lines is treated as volunteer work and will not count as overtime. Staff eligible for overtime — mostly hourly workers — cannot volunteer.
As staff members face additional pressures at work, the complications of home life create an evermore challenging situation. Childcare is a source of stress for many staff members: those with children are particularly overscheduled as they attempt to balance work with homeschooling and childcare, Gillespie said.
Schools in Addison County will be using a phased approach to their fall semester and will begin in-person class two days a week, although that is subject to change based on Covid-19 transmission both in the county and statewide.
While some staff members worry about the potential for an outbreak of Covid-19 as on-campus restrictions are relaxed in phases two and three, others fret about the polarizing nature that the college’s return has had to the town of Middlebury. In the weeks prior to students’ return, there were increasing calls by local community members and college employees for the college to switch to remote learning in anticipation of a Covid-19 outbreak.
Parsons only sees one way out. “We need to really band together and treat this like a community problem and have this not be so polarizing.”
(09/10/20 9:59am)
We’re in his American-made car, this blue beast equipped with two Lysol cans and enough sports equipment to outfit half a hockey team. As he rolls to a stop next to my Honda, he expertly (maybe a little too expertly) toggles to Niall Horan’s “Slow Hands” and the sensual lyrics fill the car.
Slow hands, like sweat dripping off our dirty laundry. No chance that I’m leaving here without you on me.
We make initial eye contact — you know, that look — and I’m ready to close off our date with a smooch. Unsure if we’re supposed to kiss through our masks (that could be hot, right?), I make the executive decision to take mine off. In a manifestation of my unparalleled sex appeal, the mask strings get caught on my dangly earrings and, when I finally wrestle them free, I’ve broken a sweat from the stress of my unexpected skirmish. Oblivious to my struggle, he seamlessly removes his own mask, revealing a set of lips destined for Chapstick advertisements. I ready myself for the soft impact of the kiss.
And then, in all of my wisdom, I lunge forward and give him a side-hug — a side-hug — and blurt out, “Thanks for such a fun time!” before bolting.
I’m a natural at a lot of things, but boys have never been my forte. Add a global pandemic into the mix, a healthy dose of personal anxiety, and Middlebury’s “We encourage sexting during Phase One” policy, and I am left wondering: what could possibly go wrong?
While I’m undeniably outgoing, have a deafening laugh (some would dare call it a cackle), and say “hi” to people I follow on Instagram but have never had a conversation with, my boldness does not necessarily translate into romance. Sure, I’ve asked out guys first, mailed some love letters and, most recently, private messaged my Zoom crush (ballsy, I know), but these spurts of confidence are nevertheless intertwined with my (somewhat endearing?) clumsiness.
You might not find “chronic awkwardness” on Web MD, but trust me, I have all the symptoms.
A relic of my high school love life (or rather, the wasteland that resembled a love life), my romantic awkwardness developed when my eight closest friends all started dating each other. The ninth wheel of my friend group, I was on my own to navigate proms and first dates while it seemed that everyone around me had already figured it out.
I’d like to think that I’ve stockpiled enough good karma to carry me through my love life, but I have stumbled through nearly every romantic milestone. Namely, when I had my first kiss, I pulled away after ten seconds and exclaimed “I’m a virgin!”
Even more famously, one week after “Cupid Shuffling” my way through senior prom, my date, a dashing lad with a penchant for backflips, started successfully pursuing the 2016 U.S. Olympic gymnast, Laurie Hernandez.
And finally, lest I forget the times during my freshman year that I would wake up in the morning to booty calls and, worried that not responding would be rude, message back with a genuine, “Sorry didn’t see this, was asleep!”
Thankfully, I have managed to survive these cringey moments with only mild bruising and a considerable amount of laughter. For the most part, I have kept my awkwardness at bay during college (I no longer flirt by sending my class crushes unsolicited Quizlets) and, despite hook-up culture at Middlebury, have found myself on a number of dates. With time, patience and a bit of hopeless romanticism, I have gained some footing when it comes to love.
Romance in college, naturally accompanied by its own anxieties, is even more challenging when you’re a girl of commitment. In truth, there’s a part of me that wishes I were comfortable with casual flings, those drunken hook-ups that end nearly as soon as they start (I’m talking figuratively and physically here, boys). However, through the years, I have learned that attracting the people you desire, whether that’s a short-term or committed connection, hinges on being honest with yourself and others.
As we begin at Midd, I wonder what love in our rural Vermont town will look like this year. The musky autumn breeze, usually crisp and sweet, will now mingle with the potent smell of hand sanitizer. Friends who typically reunite on Battell Beach will be replaced by individuals waving to each other as their masks hide their elation. Even Atwater, the setting of many freshmen’s first college party, will be overwhelmed by the sound of crickets chirping rather than drawn-out tones of “Mr. Brightside.”
Despite limiting our physical connections, both romantically and platonically, our desire for love and acceptance remains steadfast. Now, more than ever, we will seek comfort in one another and search for unique ways to show others we care about them. Tune in to my Middlebury Campus column, MASK OFF, MIDD. Laugh with me (or at me) as I navigate relationships during the era of Covid and have honest conversations about college romance.
MASK OFF, MIDD, I’m telling all.
Maria Kaouris is a member of the class of 2021.
(09/10/20 9:58am)
The rising student debt crisis in the U.S. is not breaking news. From 2000 to 2016, the average annual cost of college has more than doubled, from around $15,000 a year to nearly $32,000. Over the past 20 years, only two other goods or services have risen as much as college: hospital services and college textbooks. Importantly, wages have been unable to keep up with these Everest-like spikes. Since 1989, the cost to attend a university has increased nearly eight times faster than wages. While the cost of a four-year degree exploded to $104,480, real median wages only rose from $54,042 to $59,039 between 1989 and 2016. As a result, many families have been pressured to take out student loans to send their kids to college. This is where it gets bad.
In 2020, Americans currently owe over $1.64 trillion in student loan debt, spread out among about 45 million borrowers. That’s about $587 billion more than the total U.S. credit card debt. Sixty-nine percent of seniors graduating with a four-year degree in 2019 had student loan debt, with 75% of graduates from private, nonprofit colleges (like Middlebury) having loans as of May 2018. As much as 14% of borrowers who go to nonprofit colleges will default on their loans within 12 years, leaving their credit scarred and crippling them financially for years to come.
But doesn’t the value of a college degree make up for the cost of the loans? This question requires a two-fold answer. Historically, obtaining a college degree led to a life of greater financial security than a life without one. College graduates received cultural and social capital in a way that put them at an economic advantage over their peers. However, the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis found in a recent study that the wealth premium (the increase in wealth because of having a degree) for recent college graduates is almost at zero. In other words, the value of a college degree may not actually be the investment it is purported to be as high costs and lack of job opportunity negate gains.
The second part of the question concerns the actual value of a college degree. College tuition costs and the demand for degrees keep increasing, so one would assume that this reflects the increasing value of a college degree. Unfortunately, the opposite is true. Current median pay for bachelor’s degree holders is below 1990 levels, yet college tuition fees have gone up 391%. As many as 40% of recent college graduates are unemployed or underemployed. For context, higher education tuition has outpaced healthcare costs about two-fold in that period — despite the marginal value of a college degree remaining stagnant.
As more people have become aware of the income gap between college and high school graduates, the demand for college degrees has skyrocketed. Colleges have taken advantage of this by jacking up their prices to obscene heights. This leaves people with a choice: forgo college and accept a lower living standard or take on insurmountable student loans with a limited chance at future prosperity. In both situations, the average student loses and colleges benefit.
At this point, you may be asking whether taking out student loans to go to Middlebury is worthwhile. It is a complicated question, but the answer is likely yes. Middlebury has a positive return on investment (ROI) over twenty years. This means that for most Middlebury alumni, their degree will earn them a job that will make the hefty tuition “worth it.” However, Middlebury is ranked 379th in the country in ROI, despite being ranked in the top 60 for tuition. Shouldn’t the price of a college reflect the value of its degree?
Obviously, college is more than just a measure of how much money a student will make with their degree. People are paying as much for the social aspects as for the academic opportunities. There is living in dorms, going to parties, eating in the dining hall and other experiences that, to some, make the value of college priceless. Regardless, that absolutely does not mean that colleges must raise prices eight times faster than wages, and twice as fast as healthcare costs. That is predatory.
I was fortunate enough that I did not have to borrow any money to go to college. But when I look around at my peers worrying about paying off their student loans — while colleges like Middlebury sit on their endowments and rake in mountains of tuition — it makes my blood boil. Millions of kids throughout America are being lured into borrowing money to pay for a degree that will never pay off. This is a system that benefits the rich and privileged while everyone else is left mired in debt and begging for a job. While student debt continues to metastasize, the federal government and colleges stand idle. And why wouldn’t they? They just keep collecting their interest and tuition fees, while American students are left wilting under economic stress.
Some politicians, like Bernie Sanders and Elizabeth Warren, have called for a cancellation of student debt. With both of their presidential campaigns falling short this year, that demand seems unlikely to materialize anytime soon. To address the immediacy of this crisis, the American people need to take it into their own hands. Some have called for Americans to come together and forge a debt strike. By refusing payments on student debt, the government may renegotiate the terms of the loans, making them more amenable. Regardless of the method, stemming the rise of college tuition can only happen if those buying college degrees take initiative and stake their claim on the value of their education. A movement against student debt is long overdue.
Joseph Levine is a member of the class of 2021.
(09/10/20 9:57am)
Middlebury College increased tuition by 3 percent for the 2020-21 academic year, sparking criticism from students, parents, faculty and staff. The Board of Trustees voted in January to raise tuition and revisited the decision after the Covid-19 pandemic hit, but decided to move forward with the increase.
“At that time there were so many uncertainties,” Treasurer David Provost said. “We’d just refunded about nine million dollars … so the 2020 loss is going to be about $12 million.”
The planned FY21 budget draws an extra 2.5 percent from the endowment, in addition to the typical 5%. This amounts to a maximum of $23.5 million extra this year, according to Provost. The FY21 budget also includes approximately $5 million to cover costs created by the pandemic, such as testing, PPE and classroom modifications.
While fewer students will be on campus in the fall, no faculty or staff have been laid off. More intense cleaning regimens and complicated food distribution necessitated by Covid-19 have increased costs this semester, according to Provost.
“At the time, because of the level of the deficit, with $23.5 million dipping into the endowment, the board did not feel comfortable reversing its decision like some schools have,” Provost said.
Annual tuition increases are not unusual at colleges and universities throughout the country, even in years without the financial uncertainties of a global health crisis. In spring of 2019, the board voted to increase Middlebury’s tuition by 3.25 percent for the 2019-2020 school year, and other NESCAC schools implemented similar increases. In April of 2019, Provost said he expected an annual tuition increase of roughly 3 percent for the next three to five years.
This year’s increase has been controversial given the impact pandemic precautions will have on college life, with a shift to largely online courses, new physical distancing and gathering-size guidelines, and many students enrolled as remote learners.
During the spring term, students across the country petitioned universities for partial tuition refunds because of the shift to remote learning, and some students brought class-action lawsuits demanding reimbursements. A Middlebury Language Schools Masters student began a petition urging the college to refund tuition for all affected students, but the college refunded only room and board fees for the spring.
Many have questioned why the college is not relying more heavily on the endowment, how the increase is justified when the liberal arts college experience shifts to remote learning and why tuition is increasing amid faculty and staff wage freezes.
“I understand why they are raising tuition in theory, but I wish that they had not done it in a time where so many families are financially vulnerable,” Eva Stanley ’23 said.
Several other colleges have adjusted their fall tuition rate because of the pandemic’s effects on in-person education and the financial circumstances of families. Georgetown, Princeton and Lafayette have announced a 10 percent discount for students studying remotely, and Williams is cutting tuition by 15 percent for both in-person and remote students.
One of the reasons Middlebury cannot do the same, according to Provost, is the donor-restricted portion of the endowment. When donors give to the college, they can earmark their contribution for a particular program or purpose, making those funds unavailable for emergency use during the pandemic. Middlebury has a comparatively high proportion of donor-restricted funds in its endowment, Provost said.
“Of the 1.157 billion, 1.126 billion is restricted, of which 946 million of it is donor-restricted, so we can’t use it for any other purpose,” Provost said. “We could go back and ask donors — if they’re still alive — if we can change it, and we still may have to do that if things get much worse.”
Another $180 million of the endowment is board-restricted, meaning the board could choose to change the designation of those funds for other purposes. However, many of the top board-designated endowments are for faculty salaries, student financial aid, the museum and athletic facilities, leaving less funding available for future years.
The Middlebury chapter of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP) issued a statement on their website and Twitter expressing surprise at the tuition increase. “All employee salaries have been frozen (and with cost of living [increase] about 1.6 percent this means all employees are earning less than in 2019). Employees also face threats of 15 percent compensation cuts that remain in the current budget plans depending on whether students can remain on campus this fall,” the statement said.
The response also said publicly available IRS forms from previous years indicate that the college regularly draws more than 5 percent from the endowment, contrary to the college’s claim that they are taking more from the endowment this year than they normally would. According to Priscilla Bremser, professor of mathematics and member of the Middlebury AAUP, the college’s goal has been to annually draw 5 percent from the endowment for many years, but it has consistently drawn more than 5 percent for the last 10 years.
“We are concerned this is an excuse to justify future further cuts to worker compensation, inevitably creating tension between Middlebury workers and students, which only hurts us all as we enter into an uncertain and highly stressful fall semester,” the AAUP statement said.
“I do think long-term it will have an impact on future increases,” Provost said. “If we get through this year, I think the pressure not to increase tuition next year will be much greater than it’s been.”
In addition to an increased tuition, Middlebury’s student activities fee has also remained the same. Some colleges have also discounted the mandatory student activities fee for the academic year because of restrictions on in-person events and travel. Middlebury students studying remotely will not pay room and board, nor will they pay the mandatory student activities fee. Students studying on campus will pay the full $436 student activities fee this year, although many events will happen entirely online and remain open to remote learners.
The SGA Finance Committee distributes the student activities fee collected by the college through a budgeting process that may change this year. The committee does not set the activities fee but is adjusting their budgeting process to reflect the unusual semester.
“We have to go back and look over everything we funded in the spring, so we actually have pushed off a lot of our budgeting process to this fall because it is looking so different, and we want to be up to date with the requirements on campus for health and safety,” said Mason Olmsted ’21, director of the SGA Finance Committee.
Approximately a third of the student activities funds go to the Middlebury College Activities Board (MCAB) each year to pay for popular events like concerts. This year those events will not be possible, so the Finance Committee has been working with MCAB to reassess how funds will be distributed and used.
“I’ve been wholly impressed with MCAB’s creativity and ability to start planning events despite the circumstances, especially considering many of their programming and events typically function around being together and being in person around many people,” said Alison Hudson ’21, the other director of the SGA Finance Committee.
The committee is also working to evaluate how the student organization budgeting process, usually completed in the spring of the previous school year, will potentially change during the fall.
“It’s gonna take the first month to figure out what’s going on, what are the rules, what can we do, what can we not do. That’s where I really hope organizations come in with great ideas via new money requests, and we can fund those events on campus,” Olmsted said.
(09/10/20 9:56am)
Senior field hockey player Erin Nicholas ’21 has a decorated athletic career at Middlebury. A two-time National Player of the Year and two-time All-American, Nicholas was a key player for the team’s three-straight NESCAC Championships and three-straight NCAA Division III National Championships. She was named the 2017 Rookie of the Year and the 2019 NCAA Field Hockey Championship Most Valuable Player.
Despite her successes, Nicholas did not always have her heart set on playing field hockey in college. In fact, she almost tried out for soccer instead of field hockey as a high school freshman. With some convincing from her sister, though, Nicholas decided the day before soccer try-outs to pursue field hockey instead.
Even so, she did not seek to play the sport in college until her junior year of high school. Although she had previously been looking at colleges for lacrosse, Nicholas ended up committing to Middlebury to play field hockey. Shortly after, she reached out to the lacrosse coach and received approval to join both teams. Nicholas has also seen success on the lacrosse field as a First Team All-American selection in 2019.
The balance between competitive athletics and rigorous academics, coupled with the opportunity to play both sports, made Middlebury stand out for Nicholas.
“I had always heard about [Middlebury’s] reputation for having people who are genuine and down to earth, and I wanted to surround myself with that type of person for my four years of college,” Nicholas said. “And being able to compete for a championship each year is something that’s very attractive as an athlete.”
Grappling with the effects of Covid-19
Unfortunately, with the cancellation of NESCAC fall sports competition, Nicholas and the field hockey team will not make a bid for a fourth-straight ring. Despite the lack of outside competition, Middlebury Athletics is striving to maintain the same energy as previous years. The field hockey team is practicing four to five times a week in smaller groups, and Nicholas stressed their continued devotion to playing the game they love.
“Practice intensity should stay the way it has been in order to grow and get the most out of our season,” Nicholas said. “We are staying positive and seeing this as an opportunity to improve for next year and the next few seasons for the underclassmen.”
Without the need to scout other teams and play their formations, this season offers a unique opportunity to concentrate on team-specific goals and improvement. “We definitely have a ‘be where your feet are’ mindset,’” Nicholas said. “We are living in the present moment, focusing on what’s surrounding us and where we currently are, and allowing that to build up to our success.”
Because some members of the team are not on campus, staying unified is an extra challenge this year. However, Nicholas explained that the team’s mindset has set the tone for the field hockey team’s approach to the season.
“It’s a bummer to not have games and the preseason we would typically have, but it’s been really cool to see everyone on campus making the most of having to be outdoors,” Nicholas said. “It’s been fun to be forced to be creative with the ways we bond and interact as a team. This time definitely has a lot of challenges but it also has a lot of silver linings that we’re trying to make the most of.”
Katie George ’23, fellow field hockey member, spoke about Nicholas’s leadership and importance to the team.
“Erin is one of those players that impacts every aspect of the game on and off the field. Once she graduates, the team will definitely be changed, but her drive, passion and skill are passed onto every player when we come together,” George said. “Her leadership and attitude will leave a lasting mark on MCFH and will without a doubt help the program continue to grow.”
Off the field, Nicholas is a member of the Pre-Health Society, the PR manager of the club Love Your Melon, and attends Impact Middlebury, an organization that pairs students with pediatric cancer patients to help support them through their treatment process. She is also a member of the Athletic Policy Committee and the SGA Athletic Affairs Committee.
Nicholas is a Molecular Biology and Biochemistry major and a Psychology minor. Although she plans to attend medical school in the future and is considering a career as an orthopedic surgeon, she isn’t counting out coaching either. She said she cannot imagine sports not playing a role in her life. “I’ve grown up always playing a sport so I couldn’t imagine a year without it.”
Nicholas has a busy schedule; life as a two-sport student athlete and a pre-med student isn’t simple, but she never fails to find the positives amidst all the chaos.
“It’s a huge time commitment, and I definitely have to make a lot of sacrifices, but it’s worth it because of the people I get to surround myself with every day,” Nicholas said. “I love the sports, but the people are what make it so special and so incredible. I’m very grateful.”
(09/10/20 9:56am)
Normally, it takes at most a day for You Tao ’22.5 to travel from Beijing to Middlebury College. This year — between the passing of travel bans and the global Covid-19 pandemic — it took him almost a month.
On Jan. 31, President Trump announced that all aliens who had spent time in mainland China within the past 14 days would be denied entry to the U.S., including F-1 visa holders such as You.
You became one of many Chinese international students forced to make a decision about whether or not to return to campus. To bypass the proclamation, he knew he had to spend 14 days in a third country open to Chinese tourists. But the resources associated with spending 14 days in a different country posed a challenge, not to mention health risks during international travels.
At the end of July, You finally decided to return to Middlebury.
“Being able to see my girlfriend was the decisive factor,” he said. “But it wasn’t the only reason.” He explained that poor internet connection and the substantial 12-hour time difference make taking remote classes from China difficult.
You did not expect that he would be facing such a difficult choice. He had hope that the Trump administration would lift the travel ban before the end of summer.
Before flying to the U.S., You first spent 14 days in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. His family did not support the trip at first because they thought the journey was too long and risky, but his mother eventually deemed the travel route safe enough.
In Phnom Penh, he completed mandatory room quarantine while waiting for his initial Covid-19 test result. He was then released on the second day, upon which he observed that life in Phnom Penh had seemingly returned to some semblance of normalcy. “People are just casually going about their days,” You said.
When asked if he was frustrated during the arduous trip back, You said that there was general organizational chaos throughout his stay in Phnom Penh. “We were packed into a poorly air conditioned auditorium [to get tested],” he said. “It was a little bit irresponsible, because you don’t want the testing center to become a petri dish for the virus.”
You admitted that this entire journey back to campus made him feel like he was in a “magical realism novel.” He said that he was not overly shocked that the travel ban was not lifted in time, given the U.S.'s tumultuous relationship with China.
Having been an international student in the U.S. since high school, You never felt too stressed at the border. However, after the president’s proclamation restricted certain Chinese students from entering America, he felt more pressure than he usually would, even though the proclamation applied to graduate students.
You arrived on campus on Aug. 26 after more than 20 days of traveling. Upon arrival, he had to begin room quarantine because he was unable to quarantine at home for 14 days.
“I now quarantine without any defiance,” he said jokingly. “Quarantine doesn’t feel like oppression anymore.”
Coincidentally, while You traveled from Beijing to Middlebury, Liu Bo ’23 left the college for Chongqing, China, which he calls home.
After the college evacuated students in March, Liu decided to stay on campus and wait for the situation to develop. But in May, the college’s plan to ask all students to leave campus prompted him to begin looking for a ticket home. In early August, he was finally able to secure one. His host family took him to Burlington, and he flew to New York City with “pure luck.”
Liu described his journey as “ordinary.” He traveled through Burlington, New York City, Seoul and Shenyang to finally reach his destination of Chongqing. Without the pandemic, Hainan Airline runs a direct flight from Chongqing to New York City twice a week.
“The most memorable part about the trip was finally being able to eat hotpot,” he said of a food that Chongqing is famous for.
You and Liu decided to travel in opposite directions after carefully considering their individual circumstances. The Covid-19 pandemic, exacerbated by complicated international relations, created an entirely new universe for international students.
One thing remains certain: academic work goes on. On Tuesday, You and Liu began taking remote classes from their rooms located on opposite ends of the globe, one in Forest West and the other in Yubei, Chongqing.
(09/08/20 1:18am)
Dozens of pages of online instructions and 151 minutes of educational videos laid out a plethora of restrictions and regulations that were put in place to make a return to campus this fall possible. Since the majority of students returned to Middlebury last Friday, those rules have become reality.
For the most part, students have followed regulations. By day, they widely obey mask guidelines when out in public on campus, usually only removing masks to eat meals. At the direction of staff, they follow delineated paths through dining halls, and students have taken to socializing safely in distanced settings on Battell Beach and the Knoll.
But nighttime gatherings that exceed 10 participants, sometimes without masks, have sprung up in the past week, leaving student Residential Life workers and orientation leaders to take on new roles as disciplinary figures tasked with curtailing gatherings that violate Covid-19 guidelines.
“For ResLife, the past three days have honestly been pretty intense,” Luisa Vosmik ’21, a Resident Assistant who works in sophomore housing, told The Campus. “We are all super excited to have residents living in our halls and to be able to put our training to use… That being said, there have definitely been some chaotic moments that were a bit disheartening. At times, it has felt as though other students don’t recognize the impact their actions might have on our ability to remain on campus.”
Dean of Students Derek Doucet is encouraged by the low number of positive tests in Middlebury’s mandatory testing for students (since students returned to campus, two rounds of all-student testing have yielded just two positive test results). What remains essential, he told The Campus, is practicing behaviors that preserve the encouraging results first seen after processing move-in day results. “We’re open,” he wrote in an email to The Campus. “Now we have to remain sharply focused on doing what we must to stay open.”
The burden of enforcing Covid-19 regulations that seek to maintain that reality has fallen heavily on student leaders, including Residential Life members and MiddView Orientation leaders. Student leaders “have been working tirelessly over the last week or more to help pull off the reopening,” Doucet wrote. “Without them it would not have been possible to get this far.”
While Doucet acknowledges Public Safety as an important part of the college’s enforcement policy, Maya Gee ’22, the Community Assistant for Voter Hall and Painter Hall, and other student leaders told the Campus that Public Safety has been given a reduced role this year. Unlike in previous years, Residential Life members are now expected to collect the names, and sometimes the ID numbers, of students who break college Covid-19 policies.
Public Safety and Residential Life administrators did not respond to requests for comment by press time.
The student leaders are expected to enforce regulations related to mask-wearing, social distancing, gathering sizes and the presence of parents during move-in. Issues within ResLife’s purview before the pandemic — such as alcohol consumption, noise complaints and large gatherings — now have higher stakes, as many of these activities can lead to increased Covid-19-related risks. Residential Life members can choose from a variety of steps in these situations, including asking students to correct their behavior, filing an incident report or calling Public Safety or their Residence Director for assistance.
“It all depends on the situation,” Gee said.
Sophie Smith ’21, a MiddView leader leading virtual first year orientation sees the role MiddView leaders are playing in enforcing Covid-19 policies as similar to that of the rest of the student body. They are tasked with providing students with reminders of Covid-19 policies, reporting through the online tool or contacting Public Safety upon noticing a Covid-19 policy violation.
Several students have already been asked to leave campus while more are awaiting appeals for violating guidelines, according to Doucet. Due to the college’s rule against disclosing details from the disciplinary process, Doucet did not specify the nature of students’ violations, but he wrote that “we’re taking a firm stance on Covid violations which expose the community to elevated levels of potential risk.”
Besides the students who have already been sent home, a number of other students have received a sanction or removal from campus housing, held in abeyance. This status indicates that if the student violates any additional Covid-19 protocol, they will be dismissed from campus.
Following the release of first years from room quarantine, Residential Life members noted many violations of college Covid-19 policies, including reports of large gatherings of students both on Battell Beach and near the baseball field.
“There have been groups of 10-plus the past few nights, [especially] Friday and Saturday, where students were disregarding the physical distancing requirement, even when asked repeatedly to distance and disperse into smaller groups,” Vosmik said last week.
Gee saw some of these violations and contacted her Residence Director and Public Safety.
“I am trying to deal with it more as a friendly reminder perspective, rather than a more enforcement perspective,” she said. While Gee said she’s fixated on helping protect the Middlebury community, she is also giving students the benefit of the doubt and recognizes that this semester has brought a lot of changes. “It is a very fine line between intentionally breaking the rules and forgetting,” she said.
Gee said that she did not know the full extent of her responsibilities until she arrived on campus on August 18 and underwent Residential Life training. She acknowledged that the role can feel overwhelming at times.
The boundaries of the job are changing and becoming less distinct than in previous years, Gee noted as one of the many ways in which this year is different from last year, when she served a First-Year Counselor in Battell Hall. “We feel like we have to oversee so many more things, both inside and outside,” Gee said.
“Some staff members are really struggling with not feeling burnt out, that they always have to be on,” she said. Gee feels that every time she goes outside there is constantly some small violation she could find.
Residential Life student workers have been given a $500 pay raise for the year, following salary increases that took place over the past two years. Gee said that this is not enough, but recognized the financial limitation of the college and said that “we’re getting there.”
Residential Life workers have been instructed to never put their own health and safety at risk; if a situation arises where close contact with another student is required, they have been directed to call Residential Life administrators or Public Safety, Gee explained.
“Their job is not an easy one and we all owe them a debt of gratitude,” Doucet said, also pointing to the role MiddView orientation leaders have played in promoting and enforcing Covid-19 policies.
The college has put in place an online reporting system through which anyone can report a Covid-19 policy violation. As of early last week, roughly 30 reports had been submitted through the system. According to Doucet, each report has received follow-up, but the majority have been minor violations.
“The college is not playing around,” Gee said, explaining how each situation needs to be treated differently depending on the circumstances and the nature of the violation.
Gee said she supports the reallocation of duties to student Residential Life leaders, particularly when it comes to no longer having Public Safety officers patrol dormitories. But she added that this creates an increased level of responsibility for Residential Life and could result in a type of hierarchy among students; she noted the array of challenges that can come with trying to find a balance between holding students accountable and not making them feel over-policed by peers.
“We are really starting to move towards more of a community policing model,” Gee said.
And while Doucet acknowledged the essential role of Residential Life, he also knows that they cannot do everything.
“We need to avoid the temptation to think of our student leaders as responsible for carrying the whole weight of this enormous undertaking for their peers,” he said.
(09/04/20 2:03am)
By August 29, all but one member of the on-campus student body had tested negative upon arrival for Covid-19. As results trickled in Sunday afternoon, cheers echoed down residence halls as students, who had been confined to their room for nearly two days, rushed outside to join their friends and peers. Many embarked on jogs around campus while others sat distanced on the grass in groups — resisting the familiar temptation to hug, hold hands or share a meal in close proximity. Despite the strangeness that accompanied navigating this new normal, the tone that fell over campus was one of elation, commotion and relief.
But as we continue to reunite with friends, classmates and significant others, it remains imperative that we do not allow our excitement to sideline or relax the necessary safety precautions. Yes, our arrival day results were favorable — affirming that students took their 14-day home quarantine seriously. But we cannot let our guard down right now.
It is crucial to remember that Covid-19 has a median incubation period of four to five days. Any transmission that occurred during travel to campus, especially in regard to airplane travel, will likely not result in a positive test until about five days following the original exposure — if not later. This is why all students will be tested on Day Seven, as testing negative on Day Zero does not necessarily mean you do not have the virus. Thus, we urge the administration to underscore the importance of the next few days regarding the ability to pull off an on campus semester — a message that has been somewhat vacant from administrative communication since last Friday.
As the Day Seven testing approaches, we must remain attentive to this risk and not fall victim to a distorted sense of security or freedom. Take the University of Notre Dame as an example: Positive results from testing on arrival there first remained in the single digits. Ten days later, there were over 600 active cases on campus. We must ensure that we are not celebrating prematurely while unknowingly rushing headfirst into a situation that endangers both the wider community and those around us.
While it may not seem like it at first glance, the behavior we exhibit this week will determine how the rest of the semester plays out. If we do not strictly adhere to safety guidelines during its incubation period, the virus can easily disperse through the student body. Even slight transgressions have the capacity to be unmasked as precarious consequences, as actions of a few individuals could cause infection to reverberate throughout the community. For instance, at the University of Southern California, small group gatherings like study groups or students playing board games are believed to be the leading source of Covid-19 spread, even though larger parties have been taking place in tandem.
We get it. This is tough. Not seeing your friends for five months (if not more) is excruciating. Finally reuniting with them after so long and still being unable to hug or interact in close proximity doesn’t come naturally. But as painfully enticing as it may be to visit a romantic partner or invite another suite over for drinks, the potential damage of such choices far outweigh the temporary high.
It can feel bleak, but we must let go of our beloved routines for the time being — the Saturday morning trips to Burlington, the jam-packed Atwater ragers, the bustle of Proc at 6:30 p.m. It’s hard and it sucks — and we shouldn’t pretend that it doesn’t. But we also cannot pretend that it is possible for us to live those same lives right now. After all, the more intentional and patient we are now, the more independence we’ll be granted in later phases.
More importantly, now more than ever, we must consider the implications of what it means to be a part of the Middlebury community: acting not just for ourselves and those around us, but also for those we have never met. For the staff that clean the spaces we use and serve our meals. For professors who return home to their families each day. For those in town who have welcomed us over the years. And in the case of a campus closure, for our fellow students who may not have homes to return to.
Students must be responsible in their social and personal lives, but they can only do so when given the tools to succeed. Ambiguity and a lack of clarity in official communications have enabled dangerous and reckless behavior. Notably, the college did not substantially differentiate protocols for this week — the time between Day Zero and Day Seven tests — from the remainder of Phase One, even though this stage of campus quarantine is significantly more consequential.
Students have also received nebulous mixed messages as the line between activities that are “permitted” and “suggested” continues to be blurred. For instance, students encountered conflicting information pertaining to regulations about visiting other student's rooms. Ambiguity has also characterized other facets of campus life: visitors have sauntered through campus, assigned dining halls and times are going unenforced, and students report having not completed any of their daily health checks. Without distinct enforcement and clarity regarding supposed rules, it’s no wonder students have been left to make half-hearted guesses about serious health considerations.
Therefore we urge the administration to reinforce explicit stances in order to uphold safe and consistent conduct. After all, it is impossible for any of us to make perfect choices without their leadership and transparency, which we hope they can consistently and definitively provide from here on out.
Countless colleges and universities across the nation have risen only to quickly fall, leaving behind a wake of exposure and infection, not to mention the widespread financial catastrophe and emotional loss. Complacency is not an option, and we cannot pretend like Middlebury will be the inevitable exception. We have to fight for this, hard.
Lily Laesch
Porter Bowman
Benjy Renton
Shaye Anis
Brinlea La Barge
Bochu Ding
Kenzo Okazaki
Emmanuel Tamrat
Ideal Dowling
Micaela Gayner
Ben Glass
Rebecca Amen
Hannah Bensen
Owen Mason-Hill
Ho June Rhee
Blaise Siefer
Sarah Fagan
Diana Diaz
Riley Board
James Finn
Sophie Hiland
Daleelah Saleh
Van Barth
Jane Earley
Sabrina Templeton
Em Ballou
Erin Kelly
Katelyn Mei
Cheryl Engmann
Elsa Korpi
Lucy Townend
Constance Gooding
Isabella Marcus
Shirley Mao
Annika Hoerner
Abigail Chang
(07/14/20 4:53am)
Summer of 2020 is a time of national soul searching. After the horrific killings of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor and countless other Black Americans, Black Lives Matter has become a rallying cry for a sizable number of American citizens and residents.
It is sadly telling that just when many programs and departments at Middlebury College, including my own, have issued statements of support for racial justice, my colleague and friend Marissel Hernández-Romero recounts some of the many racist incidents she has experienced at Middlebury and at the Department of Luso-Hispanic studies since her arrival three years ago.
Middlebury College prides itself on promoting diversity among its students and faculty, often boasting its statistics and glossy images of BIPOC community members. But our college will not be truly diverse until it provides a safe environment for the handful of Black and other minority employees. In failing to nurture them, we undermine their careers and benefit those who have always held power. In other words, we support a White supremacist institution.
I can say many things about Dr. Hernández-Romero’s years at Middlebury College, but her letter provides a better glimpse into her life here as a hell of alienation and silence than I could offer. And what better evidence is there of this hell than the college taking less than two hours to scrub her message from our community’s email servers? Then came the explanation to add paternalism to the silencing.
I am angry. I have been angry seeing colleagues act as if she did not exist. I am angry that her concerns were not taken seriously, and her demands postponed. Sadly she is not alone; she is one of several women to leave Middlebury this year for appointments at peer institutions. I feel a deep sense of loss but also of responsibility. We failed to support them; thus, we deserve losing them. But our students do not.
As hurtful as these events are, they are not unique, but simply the latest in a long timeline of the college’s failures to demonstrate a true commitment to diversity. They find echoes in my department’s own history. I have many times seen colleagues — the vast majority female, many of color, some LGBT — feel unwelcome, fail to thrive, then leave. Others have stayed, but cope by keeping distance from a toxic environment.
I am disheartened by how little has changed since I arrived on a one-year appointment, 24 years ago. Soon after my arrival, I met my two “senior junior” colleagues who, unlike me, had tenure track appointments. I was happy to have role models who could show me the way, until the end of the year when they announced they were both quitting. When I asked why, one of them, a Black female colleague, said: Stay long enough and you will see.
I did, and soon my departed colleague’s words proved right. I saw many colleagues, mostly members of vulnerable groups, humiliated and undermined. In addition to my colleagues who departed in 1997, at least two more left their tenure track jobs after passing the first reviews. Two others saw their applications for tenure-track positions dismissed in what I believe to be irregular and unethical ways. Two more endured and were awarded tenure, but within a few years their bodies gave out. If you were here in 2013 or 2017 you remember them; if not, you probably have heard their names — Ana Martínez-Lage and Juana Gamero de Coca.
I too was part of that group. Throughout my pre-tenure years, I was the target of misogynistic and racist attacks while the leadership in my department stood by: some as enablers, others as co-victims. Only when I got tenure — in what seemed a miraculous event — did I feel I could ask for protection. My many meetings with the Dean of Faculty and the President of the College (in a previous administration) went nowhere until I hand-delivered to them a written account of what they already knew. That was the turning point: the paper trail compelled them to act. My tormentor left, and I eventually healed.
Others came after me, and eventually Dr. Hernández-Romero: the first Black woman to join our department since 1997. Like me, she went for help to the leadership after many instances of racism. Unlike me, she was listened to, but received no recourse. In this we have failed her. The fact that some in our department have been targets of misogyny, racism, classism or other forms of bigotry does not remove our responsibility. On the contrary, our experiences should foster deeper empathy for others and raise the standards we hold ourselves to.
What happened to Dr. Hernández-Romero is not an individual problem, but an institutional one. Our review system, for instance, places our junior colleagues in a relationship of dependency. The mentorship they require is based on trust and respect. If senior colleagues doubt juniors’ lived experiences, if they deny them support and recourse, if they believe they are not “one of us”: how can they overcome? We could, instead, start by taking their grievances seriously; we could show that we want them to succeed — a disposition that has surely helped many White male professors through the tenure process.
What would it take for us to apply our policies towards the anti-racist goals in our Black Lives Matter statements? And can we turn our liberal institution into a radical one? We have the expertise and the resources; I hope we have the courage.
Gloria Estela González Zenteno is Professor of Luso-Hispanic Studies and Director of the International and Global Studies Program.
(07/14/20 4:47am)
In addition to the Covid-19-related difficulties all Vermonters face — such as finding childcare or struggling to pay rent — migrant farmworkers in the state are encountering additional challenges during the pandemic, according to Vermont Director of Racial Equity Xusana Davis.
“[Migrant workers] are more legally vulnerable than a lot of other Vermonters because of things like immigration, wage effects, lack of labor protection, et cetera,” Davis said. “So all of these things really compounded to make Covid-19 especially difficult for a population that was already vulnerable for a lot of reasons.”
The roughly 1,300 migrant farmworkers have also been excluded from the $1,200 stimulus payments that were a product of the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Congress passed the bill in late March to provide economic assistance to families, businesses and workers.
Federal regulations mandate that states use federal Covid-19 relief funds for U.S. citizens, permanent residents and other qualifying immigrant groups who meet certain specifications. Recipients must also have t a Social Security number, meaning that certain groups, such as undocumented immigrants or F-1 student visa holders, would not qualify for stimulus payments.
In cases of mixed-status families, in which one spouse with a Social Security number is married to an individual with an Individual Taxpayer Identification Number (ITIN) and the pair filed taxes jointly, neither individual would qualify for federal payments.
In mid-May, Migrant Justice, an organization based in Vermont whose mission is to organize for economic justice and human rights for the farmworker community, spearheaded a call-your-legislator campaign that advocated for Vermont legislators to create a Covid-19 relief fund for immigrant families.
“We have a population of people we consider to be essential,” Davis said. “But they are essential not just to Vermont’s bottom line. They are essential to our state as a whole, just as people.”
According to Vermont State Senator Ruth Hardy, Vermont received about $1.25 billion from federal Covid-19 Relief Funds (CRF), money distributed to each state to help with economic consequences of the virus. Hardy was involved in discussions with the Senate Agriculture Committee back in May to provide $500 payments to every farmworker in Vermont. These efforts have fizzled as the legislature later learned that providing payments to migrant workers would not be an eligible use of the CRF money “for a variety of reasons,” according to Hardy.
First, states cannot use federal funds for stimulus payments to people who do not have social security or other documentation, Hardy said. The state must also be careful to use the funds for eligible recipients — the state would never want to provide stimulus payment and then be in the position where they would have to ask for that payment back, according to Hardy.
“There isn’t a clear connection between just providing the funds to the workers and the allowable uses of the CRF funds, which have to be for economic harm or expenses due directly from the Covid-19 crisis,” said Hardy.
State funding is not really an option either, Hardy said. Vermont’s General Fund, which is normally used to fund state programs and operations, has been severely depleted due to the declining revenues from sales taxes and other taxes. According to Hardy, the state’s funds are about “$350 million in the red right now.”
Last week, Hardy was among a group of legislators who met with the Vermont Community Foundation, a charity that identifies communities in need and provides financial resources, to investigate the possibility of using private philanthropic funds to assist migrant workers and other workers who were not eligible to receive a federal stimulus payment.
The discussions are still in their early stages, and Hardy said that the Foundation has received inquiries from other groups of people requesting philanthropic assistance. However, Hardy said she believes the private route may be the best option at this point.
“There is a lot of demand for every type of money, whether it is federal money or state money or private money,” Hardy said.
Many of Vermont’s dairy farms, where many migrant workers are employed, have responded with precautionary measures to prevent the spread of the virus. The measures have seemingly been effective so far: the Open Door Clinic, a free health clinic for people who are uninsured or underinsured in Addison County, has documented only one patient with Covid-19, said Julia Doucet, the clinic’s outreach nurse and nurse case manager.
“What [farmers] have done is isolate the farm instead of isolating the individuals,” Doucet said in an interview with The Campus. According to Doucet, the challenges that migrant workers are facing are not unique to the Covid-19 pandemic, but are nonetheless heightened by it.
“They have always struggled with food insecurity,” Doucet said. “They have always struggled with social isolation. They have always struggled with lack of transportation. But Covid-19 has, in some ways, made it worse.”
Doucet said that the coronavirus has diminished the support system that migrant workers have. For example, The Addison Allies, a network of volunteers in Addison County that provides transportation, social interaction and in-person English lessons to migrant workers, has had to hold off on volunteering during the pandemic. Many of the volunteers are considered “higher risk” and therefore have to abide more strictly by social distancing guidelines.
Migrant workers may also face language barriers in acquiring health care or information about the virus. In addition, some workers may not have the necessary materials to identify the symptoms of the coronavirus, according to Doucet.
“There was not a single farmworker that we spoke to who said, ‘Oh, let me take my temperature on this thermometer I have in the bathroom,’” Doucet said.
The Open Door Clinic subsequently put together “Covid Kits” with soap, hand sanitizer, ibuprofen and masks. Many of the supplies were donated, and the masks were hand-sewn by community members. In total, the clinic was able to give 750 masks to 51 farms, according to Doucet.
Doucet also said the Open Door Clinic has been working hard to plan ahead and reach out to farmworkers ahead of the coronavirus spike that is expected to occur in fall and winter. They are also working with the Vermont Department of Health to make sure there is proper language access for contact tracing in Spanish.
“We’re all fairly concerned about what this fall will bring,” Doucet said. “I don’t know if we can get lucky enough and get through a second season with only one worker getting sick.”
Editor’s Note: Ruth Hardy is married to Middlebury College Professor of Film and Media Culture Jason Mittell, who is the Campus’s academic advisor. All questions may be directed to campus@middlebury.edu.
(07/14/20 4:35am)
UPDATE — Tuesday, July 14
The Trump administration has rescinded its policy that would have forced international students pursuing remote learning to leave the country. Middlebury alumna Judge Alison D. Burroughs announced the decision on Tuesday.
——
International students who only take online courses next fall must leave the country, according to a new policy from the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). Issued on July 6, the policy affects roughly 10% of the Middlebury student population — or 250 international students with F-1 or M-1 visas — according to the college's statistics.
The new regulation also refuses visas to incoming students enrolled in fully-online schools. Nationwide, it impacts 1,095,299 international students, according to The Institute of International Education.
In response, Harvard and MIT — two schools that have announced fully remote semesters — filed a lawsuit against ICE protesting the policy. Middlebury will file an amicus brief in support of Harvard and MIT, according to an email sent to all students. In addition, Middlebury alumna Judge Alison D. Burroughs ’83 will preside over the hearing.
Arthur Martins ’22.5 from Brazil, co-president of the International Students’ Organization (ISO), and Masud Tyree Lewis ‘22 from Guyana, executive board member of ISO, called the policy “pure xenophobia.”
New Uncertainties
Under the policy, international students from hybrid schools such as Middlebury must take at least one in-person class. According to Martins, this requirement eliminates the option of a remote semester.
If the colleges close down mid-semester, international students must also leave the country. If not, “they may face immigration consequences including, but not limited to … removal proceedings,” the policy read.
A mid-semester close down and the resulting eviction is Lewis’ biggest worry, who believes that a second wave is likely. “For someone like me who can't easily travel home, it's just a very uneasy place to be,” Lewis said.
Martins, who also faces severe travel restrictions, shares Lewis’ concerns.
As Brazilian citizens are currently prohibited from entering the United States, Martins must spend two weeks in Mexico before crossing the border and then undergo more quarantine and testing on campus. He is concerned about the added Covid-19 health risk of taking more long international flights as a result of a mandatory departure.
Martins is also very worried about his “complicated family and housing situation and [his] reliance on insurance from the college to treat [his] mental health” if he has to leave the country. He believes this concern is shared by many other international students.
“It's all too clear that we're not welcome here,” said Lewis.
For international students enrolled in fully-online institutions, the policy requires them to leave the country or “transfer to a school with in-person instruction.” The latter is almost impossible given the lack of notice. The policy also neither grants visas to new students enrolled in fully-online institutions nor allows them to enter U.S. borders.
Judge Burroughs said during the hearing that “the idea that the students could be irreparably harmed, as well as the interests of society in the outcome, were fairly clear,” according to a New York Times article.
When reached for a comment, Burroughs said that she could not respond due to legal reasons.
Dissenting Voices
The policy is seen as the Trump administration’s way of “pressuring universities into reopening...even as U.S. virus cases topped three million,” according to a New York Times article.
Currently, 59% of colleges are planning to resume in-person teaching, 25% are planning hybrid mode, and 8% are planning to hold classes online only, according to the Chronicle of Higher Education. Aaron Reichlin-Melnick, policy counsel at the American Immigration Council, anticipates changes to universities’ fall plans due to the new policy.
“The United States is back with its gross brand of nativism,” said Elsa Korpi ‘22 from Finland. “It’s a ... perverted way to force foreign nationals into in-person instruction after [its] Covid-19 response failed miserably.”
A current petition on the White House’s website calls for the Trump administration to rescind the policy. It argues that the policy eliminates the economic benefits derived from international students, harms universities’ revenues, diverts global talent, as well as increases Covid-19 health risks by compelling schools to reopen prematurely.
The petition currently has over 143,000 signatures.
Martins and Lewis believe that policy causes a great deal of harm without legitimate benefits.
“International students are constantly targeted and discriminated against in the United States,” Martins said. “We need to constantly prove that we are worthy of pursuing an education in this country.”
Response from the College
Kathy Foley, director of International Students & Scholar Services (ISSS), said the “college did not anticipate this outcome.” In addition to filing an amicus brief, the college administration said in a recent email that they are working to ensure that international students can enroll in at least one in-person course.
It “encourages students to explore the option of independent study courses.” Several professors have announced that they will accept any in-person independent study proposals with students affected by the policy.
The email also claims that students currently abroad who are unable to return to the campus “will be able to study remotely with Middlebury in the fall.”
According to the ISSS, despite the lack of clarity surrounding the policy, there is no immediate effect on students’ visa status.
“The July 6 SEVP announcement is subject to change,” Foley wrote in a recent email sent on July 14. “Please do not make any sudden decisions based on the SEVP guidance.”
Nevertheless, many students remain bitter and frustrated over the policy.
“It is hard to ... not feel afraid, tokenized, forgotten, and reduced to our passports. [The policy] is a painful reminder that we are not like our fellow students,” said Martins.
Editor’s Note: Elsa Korpi ’22 is an Arts and Culture editor for The Campus.
(07/07/20 10:00am)
On Sunday evening of June 28, the entire Middlebury College community — faculty, staff, current students, alumni, retirees and more — received an email from Professor Marissel Hernández-Romero. In it, she details her experiences with racism at the college. She goes on to name specific incidents and people, and ends her letter by encouraging, “all BPoC staying, students, staff and faculty to share their stories without fear and held [sic] the institution accountable for their systemic racism”. It is with those words of encouragement that I am inspired to write this op-ed.
As one of the few Black female faculty at Middlebury College, I’m keenly aware of how White supremacy works in academia and how it has been a contributing factor in the current exodus of Black female faculty and staff. It saddens me to see so many of my friends and incredible scholars leave because of ongoing incidents that left them feeling unsupported, demeaned, silenced and more. It has been infuriating and exhausting to hear their stories or even see these incidents play out in front of me. I have participated in the ongoing work that has been taking place over the last few weeks to address and tackle these issues, and eagerly await the changes that must come.
And, I choose to remain at Middlebury, following my track towards tenure, with plans to continue raising my three daughters here.
Why?
The students. Since the Charles Murray protests, I have been in awe of how successfully our students have been able to articulate their concerns, voice their demands and organize to fight against systemic racism. They regularly inspire me to be a more curious, more thorough scholar and filmmaker. If I ever feel like giving up, their presence encourages me to keep fighting for a more inclusive, equitable future.
The department of Film and Media Culture. It has been so affirming to work in a department that has always been welcoming, unconditionally supportive and actively engaged in being more inclusive in their curriculum and classrooms. I am grateful to be surrounded by such colleagues and excited to continue working with them.
Last but not least, the presence and work of specific professors. These are people who have been consistent in their emotional and professional support from the first day I arrived here with my husband, Professor David Miranda Hardy, and our children in early 2015. They have opened their homes and hearts, giving us and other BIPOC faculty a safe space to land, to feel like we’re “home”. These are faculty that are constantly calling out racism wherever it is, from speaking out against Charles Murray and other public and private racist incidents to using their curriculum to showcase work by BIPOC creators and scholars. Without these faculty, I’m not sure I would still be here.
The faculty I’m talking about are Professor Enrique Garcia (and his wife, Professor Nikolina Dobreva), Professor Marcos Rohena-Madrazo and Professor Patricia Saldarriaga. In the five and a half years that I have been at Middlebury, raising our three Black (biracial) children, navigating what it means to fight anti-Black racism as faculty and parents in a predominantly White state, I am so grateful that they (along with many other faculty and staff I met mainly through the Department of Luso-Hispanic Studies) are here too. They have been an anchor for so many BIPOC faculty. And not just because they cook amazing pernil and provide a space for us to complain about the various micro and macro aggressions we experience — but because they’re also doing the work to fight racism in their classrooms and beyond.
In her email denouncing institutional racism, Professor Marissel Hernández-Romero names specific incidents with these colleagues and my husband to imply that they are part of the institutional racism here at Middlebury.
I strongly denounce that implication. In doing so, I know I risk being accused of negating Professor Hernández-Romero’s experiences or further silencing her. I risk being told, “well that’s your experience, not hers.” But I will continue. Because yes, I am speaking from my own experience. My years and years of close, regular, daily experience with these people have made me — a Black female professor teaching at Middlebury — feel unconditionally and vitally supported.
I am especially compelled to speak out against her claims because there are now calls to devote time and resources to investigating these faculty of color. If Professor Hernández-Romero has the right to share her personal perspective — a perspective that has long-lasting implications, a perspective that has already caused a lot of stress, confusion and heartache — then I, too, have the right to share mine.
I first heard of Professor Hernández-Romero through Enrique Garcia and Marcos Rohena-Madrazo. They were raving about an amazing candidate in their departmental search for a visiting professor. They were excited about what she would be able to bring to the department as a woman of color, a Black woman. As faculty whose scholarship contributed to de-centering Europe/Spain as the epicenter of intellectual contributions to their field (led by the hard work of Patricia Saldarriaga), Professors Garcia and Rohena-Madrazo have offered many classes that center BIPOC voices and were thoroughly invested in giving a platform to non-white scholars.
I later heard more about Professor Hernández-Romero through my husband, Professor Miranda Hardy. Since he was an active voice in the fight against Charles Murray at the time, Professor Hernández-Romero turned to my husband for support whenever she experienced racism.
As someone who had proven himself to be an anti-racist, as the husband of a Black woman and the father to three Black-identifying children, he felt personally affected by her stories about her incidents of racism in the town of Middlebury. And he didn’t just sit with them, he organized to have her stories heard, taken seriously. Perhaps this is why she continued to seek his advice and support whenever she encountered racism.
I name these incidents to counter the implication that they are part of the problem of systemic racism at Middlebury. Over the years, I have seen time and time again only the opposite. From the classroom to personal interactions, they have shown up in ways that have had a significantly positive impact on the lived experiences of me and many BIPOC faculty, staff and students here at Middlebury.
Finally, I must address Professor Hernández-Romero’s claim that the faculty she specifically names in her email are “White-passing”. Perhaps this is an attempt to give more credence to her claims. Perhaps it is just her personal perspective. But by sharing this perspective in her community-wide email, she negates the lived experiences of these people of color. They have all experienced racism here at Middlebury and beyond, precisely because of the way they look. To deny this identity is to deny these experiences, and it is simply wrong.
Although Professor Hernández-Romero purports to be denouncing institutional racism at Middlebury, her email mainly targets individual professors of color who are actively fighting it (all while fielding various micro and macro aggressions in their own personal lives). She has now garnered the attention and support of students who are eager to hold the college accountable for the very real institutional racism that exists, but now it is at the expense of the professors of color that will continue to work here. It is peculiar to say the least, that someone supposedly invested in fighting institutional racism would exit this community with individualized accusations against the very people who are fighting to make this place more inclusive. These serious accusations of racism against people of color at Middlebury cannot exist without scrutiny simply because they are coming from a Black woman.
I end this letter with a heavy heart but empowered with the hope that my voice will also be heard. Because I won’t be silenced either. And I will continue to use my voice to fight structural racism and highlight the voices of people who do the same.
In solidarity,
Natasha Ngaiza
Natasha Ngaiza is an Assistant Professor of Film and Media Culture at Middlebury.
(07/06/20 4:30am)
As the college unveils its fall semester plans, anxieties about making a decision with limited information and a pressing deadline are overshadowing previous uncertainties related to the fall.
While most international students would like to return and reunite with friends, they are also concerned about whether the dramatically altered college experience is worth the long trek back.
Many expressed that their decision would be easier if the college could provide more details on the course schedule, specifying the modes of teaching for individual courses and social distancing protocols.
“I feel the announcement seems more like a guideline instead of a practical plan with enough details,” said Steven Zheng ’23 from China, who is leaning towards taking another remote semester.
The long trek back
With major travel bans in effect and many airlines cancelling their overseas routes, international flights are very limited. While trying to get home in March, some students even faced cancellations after they had booked and paid for their flights.
The cost of travel poses yet another challenge. International tickets are likely to be more expensive, according to a BBC article, so returning to campus is financially impossible for some students. An economy ticket from the United States to Europe in early June cost $2,126 with Delta, according to Forbes. The normal price for this flight would be around $700, according to the same source.
There are also strict border restrictions in place.
According to the CDC, foreign nationals that have been in China, Iran, the European Schengen area, the United Kingdom, Ireland or Brazil during the 14 days before their arrival at the U.S. border may not enter. This means students from these countries would have to quarantine in another country for 14 days before entering the United States.
“I find this process exhausting and not worthwhile,” Zheng said.
International students are currently scheduled to arrive at Middlebury on Aug. 26. Although the college has not specified procedures for international arrival, they will likely have to undergo testing and quarantine on campus until all students complete the arrival testing process.
Despite all these challenges, some students see many benefits of returning to campus.
Many students expressed that in-person learning is likely to be more rewarding. They also value the opportunity to reunite with the community, engage in some extracurricular activities and have a larger selection of courses to choose from, since students can pick between online, in-person and hybrid-style courses.
Some students expressed that they would feel more comfortable given Vermont’s relatively low number of Covid-19 cases. They also hope its low population density would act as a natural defense against the virus.
Students will have to weigh these on campus benefits against the possibility that their classes of choice might be offered strictly online anyway, in addition to stringent quarantine and social distancing measures. The cost and risk of traveling to and from Middlebury, as well as the possibility of a second wave interrupting the fall semester, are also reasons for concern.
“The experience of evacuating as an international student in March was borderline traumatic. I can’t imagine doing that again if a second wave hits,” said Elsa Korpi ’22, who has been in Finland since March. “Daily cases in Finland are down to the tens, while the United States is now starting to hit new records. Voluntarily leaving Europe feels silly.”
She still has not yet decided her next semester plans.
Another remote semester?
For some, remote classes remain the only option given travel difficulties, family situations and challenges with maintaining a student visa during a gap semester.
“As I have high-risk family members back home, it would be painful if I couldn't support or be with them, especially since the health system isn't the best,” said Smith Muhuri ’23 from Kenya, the incoming co-president of the International Student Organization. He still hasn’t decided on his plans but is leaning towards staying on campus, as he has been there since March.
Others, most of whom live in urban settings, believe that staying at home will be a richer experience. They hope to take up internships, part-time jobs and other extracurricular activities in their hometowns while taking online classes.
According to International Student & Scholar Services (ISSS), it is still unclear if students can maintain F-1 student records if they attend classes remotely in the fall. Current regulations restrict F-1 students to taking only 1 course online that counts towards their enrollment requirement to maintain their visa status.
However, ISSS anticipates changes to the requirements that will allow students outside of the United States “to take more than one online course.”
The college will be charging full tuition for students who choose to take a remote semester from home.
The downsides of this choice include a smaller course selection, as many classes will not be offered online because the college discourages professors from “teaching simultaneously in multiple modalities,” according to the Fall 2020 FAQ page.
Muhuri believes that the college should encourage professors to offer both remote and in-person options in order to give international students more choices. Zheng and Korpi would also like to see more online courses and career related-resources for students taking a remote semester.
Muhuri and Zheng expect the remote learning experience to be less fulfilling and more difficult.
“It was just a tiring experience that I had to get up at 4 a.m. in China for my political philosophy classes this semester,” Zheng said.
A semester off
Reluctant to start another remote semester or travel back to the United States for a limited college experience, some have opted for a leave of absence instead.
However, according to ISSS, an interruption in student status can impede a student’s ability to apply for a work visa for jobs and internships in the United States. Reapplication for a student visa may even be necessary, depending on the individual case.
For many, Optional/Curricular Practical Training (OPT/CPT) and student visa complications are major reasons for deciding against a semester off.
“I would really appreciate it if schools push the government to loosen the qualification for OPT,” said Zheng. “I will be more likely to gap [a semester] if so.”
Scott Li ’23 from China is taking a semester off. He plans to do an internship and spend one to two months road tripping to Western China.
Despite his decision, Li supports the college’s plan for the fall semester and looks forward to returning next spring.
“I'm sure [the college] carefully balanced everything and tried their best to come up with what's best for everyone,” Li said. “It's just that this is really a tough time, and it's nobody's fault. Everybody should keep staying positive.”
The deadline to apply for a fall leave of absence is July 6.
However, students will get a full tuition refund if they withdraw before the semester starts according to the college’s refund policy.
How can the college help?
“There really is no good option. A remote semester feels like a missed learning opportunity, but I also have plans after undergrad that I wouldn’t want to delay,” Korpi said.
International students such as Muhuri and Zheng believe more details on the modalities of courses offered will help them make the best decision for next fall. According to the FAQ page, the college is planning to announce its course scheduling details in late July after professors plan their courses.
The college should also provide more details on how clubs would run and whether athletic facilities would remain open, according to Li.
Muhuri and Zheng also have concerns regarding how the pandemic would worsen the inequality on campus affecting international minorities.
“I don’t want to be left behind simply because I cannot be physically present on campus as an international student,” said Zheng.
ISSS plans to offer Zoom meet-ups or webinars this summer. It is also collaborating with the Admissions Office on virtual events with incoming international students to discuss their transition to campus.
“There are no guarantees regarding how this will all work out,” said Kathy Foley, associate dean and director of ISSS. “Fortunately, there are many dedicated faculty and staff colleagues on our campus who are doing everything they can to create a positive and workable experience for students to resume their studies in the fall.”
Editor’s Note: Elsa Korpi ’22 is an Arts and Culture editor for The Campus.
(07/06/20 4:18am)
President Patton acknowledged departed professor Marissel Hernández-Romero’s email and echoed the statement sent by Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández
Face masks will be mandated, and the college will install Plexiglass barriers, visual reminders, hand sanitizer stations and other measures to minimize risk
The July 6 deadline is non-binding, and students who withdraw before the start of the semester will be able to receive a full refund and preserve their financial aid eligibility
Spaces will be reconfigured to adhere to “physical distancing” guidelines
Administrators redoubled their commitment to racial equity after SGA Vice President Roni Lezama drew their attention to a question from Joel Machado ’22
Panelists from the Student Leadership Group (SLG) and other administrative offices shared an overview of the school’s plans for fall semester during a June 29 student Town Hall hosted by the Student Government Association (SGA). Afterward, panelists answered students’ specific questions, some pre-submitted and others asked live via chat. SGA President John Schurer ’21, SGA Co-Vice President Sophia Lundberg ’21.5 and SGA Co-Vice President Roni Lezama ’21 moderated the Town Hall.
The letter
Before the presentations began, President Laurie Patton addressed the June 28 email from departed professor Marissel Hernández-Romero and its larger import as a representation of the pervasive presence of racism on campus. President Patton reaffirmed the statement emailed to the student body earlier in the day by Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernández, acknowledging Middlebury’s entrenched, underlying culture of racism, the harm caused to Hernández-Romero, as well as all community members of color, and the urgent need to adequately address these issues with anti-racist initiatives.
“Because we must be focused on action, we are working now on a strategic plan… for diversity, equity and inclusion that is focused on a number of different issues, [including], particularly in this moment, anti-black racism,” Patton said.
Though unable to comment on the specifics of individual incidents mentioned in Hernández-Romero’s email because of due process and confidentiality requirements, Patton stated that each case will be investigated.
She also reiterated that the email was removed from servers in order to prevent any additional harm caused by potential misuse of the “reply all” function, such as responses insulting Hernández-Romero or making light of her experiences. However, Patton recognized that the decision to remove the email prevented Hernández-Romero from being heard and had its own negative impact.
Following President Patton’s introductory remarks, panelists shared plans for campus life during the pandemic.
Health and Safety
To ensure the health and safety of the community, ResLife staff, Public Safety, faculty and staff are being trained to handle the new challenges posed by Covid-19 on campus and to support health protocols.
Middlebury has also signed a contract with the Broad Institute in Cambridge, a testing company that uses a less-invasive anterior nares swab (not a nasopharyngeal swab, which goes deep into the back of the nose). In addition, a contact-tracing app is currently being tested for use in the fall.
Face coverings will “absolutely” be required, so Environmental Health and Safety Coordinator Jen Kazmierczak recommends finding a fit most comfortable before returning to campus. “Cloth face coverings should not be considered PPE (personal protective equipment),” added Kazmierczak, who clarified that face masks are a public health measure necessary to protect others, not just an optional protection for oneself.
The college plans to provide two cloth face masks to each student. In addition, administrators are also looking into the possibility of providing clear face coverings for professors to accommodate hearing-impaired students.
The college is preparing to bolster safety in a number of ways, including the installation of directional arrows and other visual reminders to maintain distancing. The college will also install Plexiglas barriers and hand sanitizer stations, as well as providing materials for cleaning and disinfecting.
Once on campus, there will be daily health checks, and students will be required to stay in their rooms if sick. The administration did not elaborate on how health checks will be performed.
A finalized health pledge will be sent to all students and their families. “We are looking at both the internal work that a student needs to do to keep themselves healthy, as well as the ways in which, in our environment, we can be accountable for keeping each other healthy,” Patton said.
Clear expectations of adherence to health protocols will be communicated pre-arrival, along with a rubric outlining what consequences will be administered for specific violations of the protocol. Depending on the seriousness of and level of risk created by the violation, consequences may range from educational sanctions to dismissal from campus housing.
Dr. Mark Peluso, medical director of Parton Health Services, noted that there is no specific threshold of cases that will trigger an evacuation mid-semester. Additionally, because such a measure will be dependent upon local and national data, an evacuation would not be sudden but instead would follow a rolling-back of phases. While the college will aim to send as many students home as possible, requests for exceptions will be possible. “We understand it will not be realistic for everyone to evacuate campus,” said Peluso.
Academic Affairs
The college plans to use the data from July 6 — the deadline for students to request a leave of absence for the fall semester — to create the final course schedule, which they intend to release by the third week of July. All class descriptions will include their modality.
Students who choose to withdraw after the July 6 deadline but before the beginning of the semester will be entitled to a refund and will preserve their financial aid eligibility.
Provost Jeff Cason warned students to prepare for the possibility of all courses returning to the online format as needed with the progression of the semester, but he emphasized that professors are working extensively with DLINQ to address the challenges students faced during the spring semester as a result of the emergency transition to virtual learning.
“Online learning is not inferior to in-person learning,” said Cason, assuring webinar attendees that the college is working diligently to create support systems and other mechanisms to provide the resources and maintain the opportunity for close faculty-student relationships. These initiatives aim to nullify the inequities exacerbated by online learning.
Considering the financial strain caused by the pandemic, many students are wondering if Student Financial Services (SFS) plans on adjusting packages accordingly. Kim Downs-Burns, associate vice president of SFS, noted that the office has begun awarding packages via BannerWeb and will continue to do so. She encouraged students to call SFS with any questions. Additionally, there will be student employment opportunities throughout the semester.
Student Life
Kazmierczak noted that the college is emphasizing the term “physical distancing” in the place of “social distancing” as a representation of their commitment to still provide opportunities for meaningful social interaction this semester.
Common spaces will be open in residential and other areas but at dramatically reduced capacity. Furniture in most spaces will be reorganized to ensure physical distancing. “We recognize that students need to get out of their rooms,” said Dean of Students Derek Doucet.
When asked about the reality of traditional student social life existing this semester, Doucet responded that all gatherings will need to adhere to physical distancing guidelines, capacity limits and face-covering requirements. In other words, sweaty Atwater parties cannot happen. Doucet suggested MCAB and SGA work to “think outside the box” to reimagine social life, as parties are going to look “pretty darn different.”
The Dining Services team will communicate a phased dining plan to students later this summer and “are considering Grille takeout even in phase one.”
The Athletic Center will also follow a phased approach in regards to increasing capacity limits in facilities, according to Director of Athletics Erin Quinn.
In response to a question about Middlebury’s plan to improve its lack of sufficient counseling services, a problem that predated the Covid-19 pandemic, Executive Director of Parton Health Services Gus Jordan said that the college is working to supplement the existing staff with a telehealth company that will provide free access to psychologists online for up to 12 sessions. The service will be accessible whether students choose to return to campus or not, and Jordan is “confident it will meet demand.”
There will be another opportunity this summer to retrieve any belongings left behind for students who choose not to return in the fall. For those unable to travel to campus, the school has storage space available.
Kathy Foley, associate dean and director of the International Student and Scholar Services (ISSS) office, stated that an email with drop-in hours this week and FAQs answers will be sent shortly. Though there is little information available from the U.S. government about travel restrictions, international students should respond to the July 6 form to let the college know of their intentions should entry into the country be possible by the fall.
Commitment to racial justice
Toward the end of the Town Hall, Co-Vice President Roni Lezama brought the administration’s focus to a question from Joel Machado ’22. Machado had entered his submission immediately after the chat function was enabled.
“...Since President Patton at the beginning of this Town Hall identified Covid-19 and racism as two of the biggest crises of our time, we should all be on the same page in the understanding that Middlebury MUST commit the same energy toward tackling both problems,” the question read. “Will the Senior Leadership Group commit to holding a Town Hall meeting like this one to address the specific campus policy adaptations and long term actions the college will be taking to address systemic racism?”
President Patton thanked Machado for his question and said she is “eager to share thoughts and plans.” She noted that the administration is working on a strategic antiracist plan in contingency with the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity, the SGA, campus cultural organizations and faculty. The five-year plan will draw on feedback from last year’s campus climate external review to bolster diversity, equity and inclusion. Patton thanked students for the many good ideas they have already shared.
Some of the college’s priorities include providing support for Black Studies and Black professors, facilitating better interactions between students of color (particularly Black students) and the administration, as well as decolonizing the curriculum department by department.
Additionally, Patton noted a continued commitment to “intensive fundraising in this area.” She also reaffirmed the college’s focus on the Twilight Project, which will “commission artistic performances and support academic research that confronts Middlebury’s historic treatment of underrepresented and excluded groups.”
Fernández agreed that a separate Town Hall will be necessary to adequately address the topic of racism at Middlebury and that hearing students’ perspectives is important. The college will hold a forum with further information on their plans in late August, at which point students will have the opportunity to give more constructive feedback.
Looking ahead
Although administrators offered initial estimations of how the fall semester will unfold, Doucet noted that these plans are highly flexible and dependent upon both the internal success of keeping campus free from infections and outside conditions locally and statewide. Middlebury will continue its close collaboration with Vermont health officials, and the ability to move into more open phases will be heavily dependent upon state guidelines.
As of now, Vermont is far below the national average of daily rates of new infections, and, according to the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, the state is on track to have fewer than 10 new cases per day in September and October.
“We are optimistic,” said Doucet about the possibility of lifting restrictions to permit travel into downtown Middlebury and possibly throughout the state as well. However, this progress is contingent upon having confidence in community members to hold one another accountable and take personal responsibility for the benefit of everyone, according to Doucet.
The college will continue to update the FAQ page, and a mutual information database created by students is also available.
(06/22/20 8:22pm)
This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly.
Middlebury expects to invite most students back for an on campus fall semester; September 8 will be the first day of class and the first batch of returning students will arrive on August 18
Students will be required to quarantine before their return and the college will test all students upon arrival
Professors can decide to offer their courses in an in-person, remote or hybrid capacity, and the college expects approximately one-third of classes to be conducted online
Student access cards will only open the residence that they live in, and the academic buildings they need to access
Staff who can work from home will likely continue to do so, while those who work closely with students must receive approval to return to campus
Parties and gatherings must not exceed a 25-person limit and must take place where physical distancing is possible
Middlebury will reopen its campus to students, faculty and staff in the fall with certain precautions, according to a copy of the college announcement shared with The Campus. The College plans to welcome students back, with classes beginning on September 8 for a 12-week semester, which will continue without interruption until Thanksgiving Break, before a transition to remote learning. The cost of attendance remains unchanged.
With the removal of October Break, November 20 will be the last day of in-person classes. Students will not be allowed to return to campus, with classes and exams following Thanksgiving break held in a remote capacity. The statuses of J-term and the spring semester remain unclear.
Students will be required to quarantine before and after they return to campus, and will be tested for Covid-19 upon their arrival in Middlebury. Students will return at staggered start times, and will have to begin quarantining 14 days prior to their planned arrival date; they will be expected to maintain safe practices during their travel to campus.
There will be three start times: First@Midd peer leaders, ISSS PALS and other student leaders will arrive August 18; new students, transfers, international students and fall athletes (if athletics are approved) will arrive August 26; the remaining students will be permitted to return on August 28.
While many classes will be offered in-person, others will be offered remotely or in a hybrid capacity, even as students live on campus. The college expects roughly a third of classes — approximately 175 of 530 courses — to be taught remotely. Professors will have the opportunity to choose whether they teach online, in-person or using a combination of the two. Students will be informed of which courses are offered in which format before course registration.
Students will be tested for Covid-19 upon their arrival on campus, and again after seven days. They will have to remain in isolation in their rooms for roughly 24 hours until results are available — and will only be allowed to leave to use the bathroom, to collect meals from a delivery point and in the case of medical emergencies.
If students test negative, they will then be ‘quarantined’ to campus, and can move about while following safety protocols. Off-campus students will quarantine in their off-campus housing.
Students who test positive will be isolated in Munford House and be monitored by health professionals.
Students and staff will have to adhere to a variety of health protocols throughout the semester as well, including undergoing Covid-19 symptom pre-screening each day and wearing face coverings whenever possible. The college is planning to provide cloth face coverings for all students.
The announcement mentions that students will live in singles and doubles, but that the school, “will share more information with students about room draw and housing accommodations in a separate communication.” Student access cards will only open the residence that students live in, and the academic buildings they need access. Students who live in off-campus residences must adhere to the same guidelines as those who live on campus.
Middlebury plans to increase its capacity for mental health services including counseling as well as nutritional, medical and psychiatric services by contracting with a telehealth company which will aid students both on and off campus.
Dining will progress in three phases, the first of which requires that each student be assigned to one dining hall and provided with to-go meals only. While indoor seating will be prohibited, there will be limited outdoor tent space in some areas. Each dining hall will have the same menu and abide by a one-way traffic format, and all meals will be prepared by dining staff.
The announcement includes initial restrictions and monitoring of off-campus travel, for which guidelines are being developed and will vary depending on the travel destination. On-campus speakers and visitors will also be severely limited — if they are permitted at all — and required to abide by both college and state health guidelines. Students will not be allowed to have any personal guests, except for a single person who will be allowed to assist them at move-in.
The announcement notes that the college, “will not be able to organize large-scale events in person,” although more specific announcements about dining, fitness and other activities and events will be released later in the summer. The school will also continue to make announcements about the status of sports and extracurricular activities through the summer.
As for parties, “At present … group gatherings of up to 25 people are permitted, though this could change at any time. Any such gatherings must be scheduled in spaces large enough to allow adequate physical distancing.”
Off-campus travel to the town of Middlebury, trails, lakes and other destinations will be prohibited until all students have completed the first two rounds of testing, after which restrictions may be relaxed depending on student behavior.
While staff who are able to work from home will continue to do so, those whose work is better completed on campus will undergo an approval process to work in modified, socially distant office spaces.
Bowdoin, one of Middlebury’s peers, announced earlier today that the college will open its doors in the fall, but only to certain students — first-years, transfer students, residential life staff and senior honors students who require Bowdoin’s facilities to complete their projects. Almost all classes will be taught in a remote capacity. Students who take a voluntary leave of absence will need to seek readmission to continue their studies at Bowdoin.
Although Middlebury does not expect to have to evacuate students mid-semester, Vermont health guidelines maintain that all students should be prepared to evacuate or go into lockdown at any time.
Students, both returning and newly admitted, will now have until July 6, two weeks from today, to make a decision about whether they want to take a leave of absence. While Middlebury maintains that those who choose to do so will be welcomed back, their return date may be restricted by housing limitations. Students will receive a full refund as long as they withdraw before the semester begins.
(06/18/20 6:53pm)
Even if Middlebury students return to campus in the fall, it will be to a college transformed in many ways by safety measures and changes related to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Administrators plan to announce a blueprint for next year on Monday, June 22, following colleges across the nation that have made transformative decisions about the fall semesters of their schools. On June 8, President Laurie Patton and Middlebury College Director of Health Services Mark Peluso published a letter in the Addison County Independent addressing the local community about their efforts and intentions regarding the return of students.
This week, screenshots of an email supposedly outlining a plan for fall were widely shared among students, although Sarah Ray, director of media relations, said that the plans detailed in that email cannot be confirmed and that the college will not make any official announcement until next Monday.
Meanwhile, it is clear that no matter what that announcement contains, Middlebury students will see a drastically different fall semester. “There is no scenario in which Fall 2020 will look like Fall 2019,” Provost Jeff Cason said in an email to The Campus.
At a Staff Council meeting on May 20, Patton shared that if a return to campus does occur, she is committed to bringing back as many students as possible. However, she noted, “In Vermont, that will probably not be the number of students we normally have because of a combination of things: summer melt in students depositing, those who are immunocompromised [and] international students because of visa challenges.”
Many of the Schools Abroad, including Germany, France, Brazil, Chile, India and Italy, have already officially been canceled for the fall. Spain will be in operation, while many others are still pending decisions.
Before the college officially reveals whether the Vermont campus will operate remotely or in-person next fall, here’s a look at how life at Middlebury could be different in a coronavirus-altered world.
Health Guidelines
One condition of the campus reopening this fall is the college’s ability to test every single student when they arrive at Middlebury, according to an announcement made by Patton at the May 20 Staff Council town hall.
The college will also need to be capable of isolating and quarantining students who test positive and of continuing testing throughout the semester.
“We have every expectation of being able to test every student upon their return to campus,” Cason said. “The cost is still to be determined.”
In their Addison Independent article, Patton and Peluso state that mandated contract tracing will also be a part of the health plan. They also mention that testing will occur in multiple rounds and that students will need to quarantine before and after traveling to campus.
Other health measures like daily temperature checks, a health pledge and a social distancing commitment may be required of students. The health communications and student life teams are currently designing the health pledge.
Students will also need to agree to sign a personal assumption of risk document, according to Patton.
“To date, in order to be equipped in advance, we have secured a high-volume testing supplier, are close to securing a [personal protective equipment] (PPE) contract, and have excellent options for contact tracing involving the Vermont Department of Health as well as other possible online solutions, which we are vetting now to ensure that they are effective while also maintaining privacy,” Patton and Peluso wrote.
Classroom procedures
“It’s likely that a percentage of our classes will be remote,” Patton said at the town hall. Many of the offices that students may regularly visit, she noted, may continue to operate remotely.
According to Cason, all students will “have courses that will be in person and remote.”
“In person classes will be very different because we will have to have social distancing protocols in place, so classes will need to have fewer students in them,” he said.
“Some [faculty] will teach remotely because of their own health risk factors. Other faculty will teach remotely, or in a hybrid fashion, because it will make sense for them to do that pedagogically,” Cason said.
In the case that students return to campus in the fall, he said, students will be informed of which classes will be in-person and which ones will still be remote. He noted that students who do not return to campus but are enrolled will have priority access to remote-only courses.
Residential life
A safe return to campus will likely involve a rethinking of residential spaces.
“We need to house students in ways that maximize social distancing and minimize spread,” Patton said at the town hall. “We will probably need to provide additional housing that may spread us out farther.”
Patton mentioned that, if Middlebury does reopen, the college would likely have fewer students on campus overall this fall.
“Many of our students will probably be living in singles,” Patton said. She also mentioned “eating in a socially distanced way” and that the college would need to reconcile the communal dining hall system and Vermont health guidelines regarding congregation.
A Campus analysis of currently available residential spaces suggests that, in Spring 2020, there were roughly 2,000 total residential rooms on campus open to students — including singles, doubles and triples. This does not account for rooms like lounges that could potentially be converted to housing.
This means that there were about 2,000 single-occupancy options on campus. In Spring, there were roughly 2,324 students living on campus.
In April of this year, the college addressed its plans to house an increased volume of students — a response to a presumed decrease in students studying abroad — by allowing students to live in properties owned by the college but not currently occupied by students and allowing more students to live off campus.
“We’re still working through use of communal spaces, but enhanced cleaning and sanitation regimens will certainly be in place, as will clear and specific instructions and expectations for how to share such spaces appropriately,” Doucet said. “In all cases, we’ll be guided by the latest public health information.”
Travel, visitors and events
According to Cason, visiting campus next fall would be limited.
“We are likely to have a dramatically reduced number of visitors to campus,” Cason said. “We are also going to need to rely on guidance from the State of Vermont when it comes to restrictions on the number of people who can be in the room at a time.”
It is unclear how exactly this will affect events like concerts, performances and guest lectures, although the current Vermont health guidelines allow a maximum gathering size of 25 people.
Patton and Peluso’s article states that part of a safe return will include “restrictions on travel and visitors, limiting gatherings according to Vermont guidance, social distancing protocols and other preventive measures to reduce the risk of infection, and an evacuation plan.”
The leaked email
An email disseminated among students and community members throughout this week appeared to outline certain protocols for next semester and seemed to suggest a return to campus. Screenshots of the email listed a fully-remote J-Term, a contract that would not allow students to leave campus and a plan to finish the in-person semester before Thanksgiving break as facets of a safe fall semester plan.
Sarah Ray says that the college considers these screenshots to contain “inaccurate information.”
“As we have stated before, Middlebury will release its plans on Monday, June 22. These official plans will be the result of exhaustive research and continual consultation with authorities and expert advisers, including the Vermont Department of Health, Governor Scott’s office, the CDC, and others,” Ray said in an email to The Campus. “Our plans are being informed by perspectives of Middlebury stakeholders through an inclusive process.”
Leaves of absence and enrollment
Uncertainty about next year has brought about an increase in student interest in taking a semester off, according to Doucet. A May 27 email from the Dean of Students revealed that those hoping to take a leave of absence will have to make that decision by July 6, two weeks after the college’s scheduled announcement of a roadmap for the fall semester.
“It’s pretty clear students and families just want to understand their options, so a proactive communication seemed like the best approach,” Doucet said of the decision to announce the option to students.
“The policy on leaves of absence hasn’t changed,” Doucet said. “The only difference from typical years is that we’re asking students to notify us of their intent to take a leave by July 6 to allow us some time to plan accordingly.”
“Inquiries about taking a gap year or deferring to enter with the Feb class have been slightly higher this year, although our official number of approved requests is in line with previous years as of this week,” Nicole Curvin, dean of admissions, said.
Curvin said that the target for incoming students is 640 for Regs and 110 for Febs — “As of today, our incoming deposits are above these targets to hopefully account for any melt that we experience through the summer.”
She cited Covid-19 and concerns about policing and race relations as topics that have been on the minds of incoming international students. Economic hardship as a result of the pandemic, she said, is a major consideration of incoming domestic students.
Incoming students also have until the July 6 deadline to defer for a semester or year.
Digital Director Benjy Renton contributed reporting.
(06/15/20 10:00am)
This letter was previously sent to President Laurie Patton, members of the Senior Leadership Group, and the Middlebury College community in response to an email President Patton sent on May 31 to the members of the Middlebury Community. Since then, she has responded to this letter in an email sent on June 5. Parts of this letter have been lightly edited to comply with The Campus’ style guidelines.
Spurred by the momentum of the nationwide uprising against racial injustice, we felt compelled to create a call to action for the Middlebury administration. We sent an email in direct response to the tone-deaf statement issued by the Office of the President on May 31. However, that statement is just the tip of the iceberg of the institutionalized oppression faced by Black students on campus. Ultimately, we want to spark a collaborative dialogue about creating a Middlebury community that is not only more inclusive, but more equitable. To voice solidarity, you can fill out our petition of support linked here.
To President Patton, members of the Senior Leadership Group, and Middlebury College community members,
“Black Lives Matter”
This statement is plain and simple, and its overcomplication can cause it to become diluted. Furthermore, discussion of the current protests responding to police brutality can be harmful if done without proper care, as demonstrated in the May 31 message from the Office of the President. This message is an example of how needlessly overcomplicated discussions about the state of our nation have understated today’s current reality and in doing so, disappointed Black members of Middlebury’s community.
To name a few of the offenses in the message sent:
The false equivalence of Covid-19 and racism
The conflation of Covid-19 — a disease that afflicts its victims arbitrarily and that has been disproportionately affecting Black and minority communities that have historically been medically neglected — and racism — which derives from the concerted effort of those who hold privilege to work against those who don’t— is an incredible macro-aggression. The hardships one endures because of racism versus Covid-19 are vastly different because Covid-19 infection is largely by circumstance while racism is a conscious decision. To abdicate responsibility for intentional actions is yet another instance of the College’s neglect for its Black students, by way of not acknowledging the difference between choices and circumstance. Additionally, the current pervasive, institutionalized racism affecting America deserves its own separate email, especially when Covid-19 has been addressed by the Office of the President multiple times, while racism and its impact on Black individuals has not. In attempting to use fluffy and soft language, such as the comparison between a virus and violent oppression, the message dances around the severity of our nation's issue of systemic racism, leaving Black readers without any true solace.
The notion that racism is a new concept
Racism did not appear recently as the email from the statement suggests. In the email sent by the Office of the President, the following was stated: “In light of this recent death and others (Ahmaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor), our country is again engulfed in anger and protest as the plague of racism infects the early days of our American summer.” This statement panders to the privileged perspective that White Americans have been inconvenienced by being forced to confront the reality of racism as summer approaches. White supremacy was the foundation that America was built upon, and racism is an ingrained part of the lives of Black people in America. Black students face that reality every day, both on and off campus. To suggest it is a new circumstance makes light of this harsh reality for the Black community.
The hypocrisy associated with Middlebury’s verbal allegiance to racial equity but lack of action
The claim that Middlebury seeks to create a safe space for collaboration and a campus against racism directly contradicts the College’s actions. We recently invited Charles Murray to campus for a third time to discuss his racially offensive and scientifically baseless book, "Human Diversity: The Biology of Gender, Race, and Class," in which he once again postulates a similar ideology as his earlier racist novel, "The Bell Curve.” The physical and psychological violence that Charles Murray and his visits have disproportionately inflicted upon the Black population of Middlebury College was never fully addressed, nor was there any real community reconciliation. Furthermore, the College’s intention to hire outside “security” is incredibly problematic given the traumatic history of Black individuals being targeted by police, security and law enforcement in an often fatal manner.
Failing to specifically support Black community members that are disproportionately impacted by this situation
The ambiguity in supporting specifically Black staff and students is incredibly problematic in its negation of the difference between Black people and all people of color. In saying, “This is an anxious and difficult time, particularly for students, staff, and faculty of color,” this message reduces the specific struggles of Black individuals in our community who are disproportionately impacted by institutionalized racism. It does our community a disservice to conflate the oppression faced by Black people with that faced by all people of color. Our institution should not hesitate to proclaim that #BlackLivesMatter. Failing to do so resembles that of an #AllLivesMatter approach by creating a sense of erasure of Black issues. This is yet another instance of the struggles of Black communities seemingly being negated. It is important that we recognize how other marginalized communities are affected by systems of oppression, but at this time, it is necessary we hold space for and honor Black lives specifically.
The disturbing and insensitive use of air as a metaphor
The statement claims that “in a world beset by two plagues, we are gasping for air.” This use of air as a metaphor, here and throughout the message, is grossly offensive, given that George Floyd’s (and before him, Eric Garner’s) final words were “I can’t breathe.” This is deeply disturbing given that Floyd was needlessly asphyxiated for nearly nine minutes. Their juxtaposition is deeply hurtful and strips away the reality and significance of Floyd’s death. Saying "we are gasping for air" begins to minimize the experience of Black people who have both literally had their breath taken away by police brutality and are at a higher risk of infection of Covid-19. There is a certain level of privilege held by many in the Middlebury community, who are at lower risk of contracting Covid-19 and are able to avoid police brutality; the use of this literary device illustrates such ignorant privilege. To reiterate, Covid-19 and police brutality are not one in the same, and though the message is not the first instance where they are metaphorically compared, any case of such comparison is deeply offensive and cannot be silently accepted.
This statement hardly scratches the surface of the harm done to Middlebury’s Black students. This is not the first time that damage has been inflicted on our community. In just the past few years wherein institutional memory can guide us, Middlebury College has been complicit in allowing pervasive racism to exist on our campus. We hope the following instances will be properly recognized:
In 2016, the SGA passed a resolution denouncing insensitive comments made during the Jan. 18 Martin Luther King Today event. This resolution was not acted upon and emails such as the one sent on May 31 mirror the insensitivity illustrated four years ago.
In 2016, the Middlebury SGA and BSU Resolution Supporting Black Lives Matter sparked conversation within the Senior Leadership Group (SLG) regarding how Black students can exist on Middlebury’s campus without fear of discrimination. These conversations died out until students brought the conversation to the forefront again (i.e. 2019’s Thirteen Proposals for Community Healing).
In 2017, the SGA Resolution to Support Black and Minority Students was passed, but many of the items outlined were inadequately implemented (specifically items two, four, five, six (a), seven, and eight).
In 2017, the invitation of Charles Murray to discuss his racially charged pseudoscience, his introduction to the community by President Patton and the ensuing reactions towards students of color, including Black individuals, all marked a form of psychological violence on communities of color.
In 2018 and 2019, the administration failed to properly and definitively denounce the actions of faculty distributing racially insensitive and offensive course material (e.g. the original Fall 2018 chemistry exam from a professor that featured questions with racist and antisemetic undertones and the Spring 2019 powerpoint “joke” surrounding the transatlantic slave trade).
In 2019, Middlebury’s invitation of Ryszard Legutko — who opposes the civil rights of a multitude of identities, including Black identifying individuals — marked yet another offense.
In 2020, the re-invitation of Charles Murray to discuss his newest iteration of racist pseudoscience and a lack of empathy or resources provided for Black (and POC) students was another institutional action of unprovoked disrespect for Middlebury’s Black community.
This list could go on. We hope that by now we have made clear the blatant hypocrisy and performativity of President Patton’s statement given the College’s history of perpetuating racial injustice. The habitual dereliction of duty and meaningful action has become characteristic of Middlebury College as an institution. We need definitive and immediate action to be taken to put Middlebury on a more appropriate course of supporting its Black students, as well as those from other marginalized backgrounds. We agree that it is necessary to “collaborate with all members of our community to act against racism and become accountable for the work that needs to be done." In the spirit of working together to build a more equitable and aware community, we believe the following actions would be highly beneficial for the healing of Middlebury’s Black students. Find them below:
Immediate Actions:
We ask that an all-community email be sent out apologizing for the harm — both past and current — inflicted upon the Black community of Middlebury College by the May 31 email and subsequent social media posts. We believe that this will begin to ease tensions during this tumultuous time for Black people everywhere, including Black students.
For this email to be successful, we suggest the College formally denounce the racism and harm caused by certain problematic faculty, staff and speakers — in at least all of the aforementioned instances — as they have left wounds which are still open within Middlebury’s Black community.
Additionally, that students be provided with tangible actions Middlebury will take in order to ensure the safety and fair treatment of Black community members when returning to campus in a state where the population is over 90 percent white.
We ask for a separate all-community email which provides resources specifically for Black community members to utilize during this time in which our lives are constantly threatened with violence from national institutions.
We ask for a third all-community email which provides resources for non-Black community members that will empower them to become better allies of Black students, both on and off campus.
These are only beginning steps in repairing the damage caused by the historical actions and inaction taken by Middlebury. Please consider the depth of this situation and the importance of each student’s valuable experience while Black at this institution.
We recognize that Middlebury will not be able to immediately fix all of these disparities. Nevertheless, we ask that this outreach be considered as a starting point for reparations.
With that in mind, the following proposals are potential solutions to hardships faced in the past and present by Black students, other students of color and the cultural organizations that represent them. We hope these solutions will spark critical conversations with the College Administration about the improvement of the treatment of students of marginalized backgrounds, especially those who are Black.
Suggested Actions to Take for the 2020-2021 School Year:
We ask for the implementation of a program in which cultural organizations will have collectively appointed correspondents (not from the same organization), self-selected by our memberships to engage in regular meetings with the Senior Leadership Group of the College, with regularity occurring at a minimum of three times a semester.
We ask that Middlebury designate a student or faculty member (or multiple students/faculty) who will specifically represent communities of color within the Board of Trustee meetings with the College administration.
There comes a time at which Black voices become tired of being silenced; it is unfortunate that we have reached that point in time with Middlebury College. We await your timely response and are hopeful that we will be able to work together to create positive change for marginalized students on campus.
Cordially,
Concerned Students of Middlebury College
Endorsed By:
Black Student Union
Distinguished Men of Color
Womxn of Color
PALANA Social House
UMOJA
ALIANZA Latinoamericana y Caribeña
International Student Organization (ISO)
JUNTOS
Queer and Trans People of Color (QTPOC)
Queers and Allies
Feminist Action at Middlebury (FAM)
Underrepresented in STEM (UR-STEM)
Verbal Onslaught
This letter was written by Concerned Students of Middlebury College, whose membership is composed of Myles Maxie ’22, Gifty Atanga ’23, Charice Lawrence ’23, Andrés Oyaga ’23, Daleelah Saleh ’23, Jarlenys Mendez ’23, and Kaitlyn Velazquez ’23. The letter was signed by student organizations in support of their message. For more information, click here.
(06/04/20 5:24am)
We sent students a survey last week asking some of the questions that have continually shaped our lives since March 10.
From the data collected, we learned that:
Most students felt that professors were understanding. Ninety percent of surveyed students were satisfied with professors’ accommodations through remote learning.
Classes could get a lot smaller if we remain remote this fall, as 58% of students would elect to take a leave of absence if Middlebury chooses to remain fully-remote during that term.
The pandemic has not been kind to Middlebury students’ job opportunities. Sixty two percent of surveyed students at one point had a job or internship that was cancelled due to the pandemic.
Few people opted in to credit/no credit. In the wake of the failed movement for mandatory credit/no credit grading, 63% of respondents took all of their spring classes for letter grades.
At the end of the survey, we also gave students the chance to anonymously share opinions or anecdotes about experiences in quarantine. We’re really glad we did so — the responses you provided were at turns poignant, urgent and funny, and all of them capture the bizarre reality we’re living through. These anonymous opinions have been included in this article in places where they complement our findings expressed through data visualization.
General demographics
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Of the roughly 2,500 Middlebury students who were sent the survey, 583 — roughly a quarter — participated. Respondents were split fairly evenly across class years, with a slight majority of respondents coming from the classes of 2021 and ’21.5. (Though they will not be enrolled this fall, members of the class of 2020 were invited to complete the survey because of their perspectives on the spring semester and experience graduating during the pandemic).
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Reflecting the demographic reality of the college’s student body, a majority of respondents identified as white. Ten percent, or 58, respondents identified as international students.
Spring semester and summer
Mental health during remote spring semester
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A majority of students — 64% of respondents — reported having experienced mental health-related challenges during the course of their spring semester. Twenty-five percent reported knowing where to go to get virtual mental health support from the college, 27% said they did not know where to access care and the remaining 47% reported being “somewhat” aware of how to seek care.
But the logistical realities of being at home with parents, siblings and other family posed challenges for some students to seek help. “As someone who struggles with mental health, it's a lot harder to reach out for help when I'm at home and I feel at higher risk for falling into really bad lows and having no one around to help,” one student wrote.
“One challenge that I have faced has been less mental health problems myself,” a student wrote in their anecdotal response, “but more caring for family members struggling with their mental health.”
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Students reported feeling high levels of stress over uncertainty of life during the pandemic, as well as over jobs, relationships, academics, family life and home life. Often, multiple demands intersected to create unique challenges to tackling remote learning from home.
“Mother lost her job, father might too,” a student wrote. “Having everyone under the same roof in a small house has driven my parents to the brink of divorce.”
Approval rating of communication by college entities since March 10
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Students generally approved or were ambivalent about communication methods from college entities such as Schools Abroad, Parton counseling and the administration. However, several anecdotal responses expressed frustrations with a lack of solicitation of student input on the part of the college throughout the spring.
“Many other schools are hosting webinars and Zoom calls explaining directly to students what options they are considering in the fall,” one student wrote. “Middlebury has not told us the options and therefore there are more rumors/speculations. Even if the answer is ‘we don't know yet - here are some options,’ [that would be] better than barely hearing from them at all.”
Covid-19 infection among family, acquaintances and community
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Nine Middlebury students responded as having tested positive for Covid-19. Forty percent reported knowing a friend who had tested positive, and another 41% responded as not knowing anyone who had tested positive.
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Almost half — 48% — of students reported high levels of concern over viral transmission in their communities, while roughly 12% reported low levels of concern in their communities.
Opinions on spring remote academic programming
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A vast majority of respondents — 91% — reported professors being flexible in adjusting to the demands of remote learning. “Two of my professors were amazing — completely accommodating and conscious of the circumstances,” one student wrote. However, anecdotal responses saw many students report frustrations with how professors adjusted syllabi or failed to provide opportunities for asynchronous learning.
Many students wrote that some professors were patient and accommodating while others approached the semester in starkly different ways.
“I felt like most of the concessions certain professors claimed were just talk,” one student wrote. “One of my professors did not cut the workload at all and just added the material from the week we missed onto the post-break semester.”
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Despite high rates of approval for professors’ levels of accommodation, 64% of students reported that their academic experience this spring was at least “generally” impaired amid the adjustment to remote learning.
“If students were disadvantaged before, this pandemic only exacerbates the previous systemic issue,” one student wrote. “We should focus Middlebury's financial support to pledge to support students who have a less than ideal home situation for learning. This is a serious concern for accessibility reasons as well.”
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Students reported “news and outside distractions” as the most significant impediment to their distance-learning experience. Financial burdens were another — more than 100 students reported a need to make money while living at home as being at least somewhat of an obstacle to their learning, and thirty-four students reported lacking a home as a significant obstacle.
“I've been taking care of my two younger cousins whose both parents have brain injuries,” a student wrote. “Being home means that I have to step up in my family, and that involves home-schooling and helping to raise an 11-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. It has also meant caring for my father who has early-onset Alzheimers. The playing field is extremely unequal when school is remote.”
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A significant majority of students — 63% — reported not taking any classes credit/no credit this spring. In the push for a credit/no credit system in the spring, students cited disadvantages faced by less-privileged students as the primary reason for offering such a system. Some students acknowledged that the credit/no credit system remained relevant because of these challenges, even if they were able to choose letter grades.
“My grades ended up good this semester,” one student wrote, “but I support universal credit/no credit because I know how much stress my friends have experienced in deciding whether to take courses for standard grading or for credit.”
Summer plans
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About half of students surveyed will participate in remote internships or jobs this summer. However, 62% reported previously having a job or internship that was later cancelled due to the coronavirus.
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A slight majority of respondents reported that they will be spending the summer months in the same location as where they spent their spring semester.
Fall 2020
“The Plan”
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Respondents favored an in-person, socially distanced semester for fall 2020 — a plan that raises questions about the college’s ability to enforce social distancing protocols in classrooms, dorms and the town of Middlebury. The other favorite options — delayed on-campus semester and pre-Thanksgiving end to the semester — raise similar questions that colleges will continue to grapple with as they consider on-campus possibilities.
Students are thus not enthused by the prospect of another semester of fully-remote learning. A significant percentage of anecdotal responses submitted at the end of this survey centered around respondents’ anxieties for the fall.
“I would easily trade my off campus/ traveling privileges for an in person-semester,” one student wrote. “Being able to socialize and learn in person with friends and colleagues is my highest priority.”
“I am going to be incredibly depressed if we can not return to campus in the fall,” another wrote.
But others expressed concern that the college committing to an in-person fall semester would pose too many uncertainties to be worth it. “I would rather have a clear remote fall than a chaotic one on campus,” one student wrote. More directly, others pointed out that an in-person fall would raise pressing questions about how to enforce social distancing guidelines.
Others offered their own tips on how the college should plan for the fall. “I think we should arrive to campus early, spend 14 days in isolation with the highest social distancing measures in place, and then have a normal fall semester,” a respondent wrote. “This would hopefully eliminate any risk of the virus spreading after the two weeks of isolation.”
As students sort through anxieties about what the fall will bring, immunocompromised students are experiencing higher degrees of concern about how the semester will look than most.
“As an immunocompromised student I am very scared of what life back at Middelbury would look like, yet also do not want to give up the rest of my college years,” a student wrote. “I worry about whether Middlebury is talking with the ADA coordinators/more vulnerable students to form a fall semester plan.”
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Four-hundred and twelve respondents — 71% — would be “very unwilling” to pay full tuition for a remote fall semester. And in the anecdotal responses, students posed concerns about how tuition payments and financial aid would work in the event of a remote semester.
“Will the college allow students on financial aid to take the semester off without restrictions? If I take the semester off and am on financial aid will I still be assured financial aid for the rest of my time at Middlebury? Will financial aid decrease due to financial hardships of the college? I am concerned that the college will hold financial aid over students' heads to prevent them from withdrawing from the semester if it is all remote,” a student wrote.
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41% of respondents said they would prefer a mandatory credit/no credit system in the event of a fully remote fall semester.
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And strikingly, 337 said they would attempt to take a leave-of-absence for the fall in the event of a fully-remote semester.
“Everyone I know would try to take a semester off if it were to be remote,” one student wrote in their anecdotal response. Another wrote that a fully in-person semester would be necessary for them to even consider paying full tuition and that “it isn't worth my money or my time otherwise.”
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In voicing anxieties about the fall, students — already three months into social distancing protocols by June — were most concerned about the ability of the pandemic in preventing them from socializing with friends.
Other significant anxieties stemmed from the ongoing public health risk and potential restrictions on campus activities.
“I am extremely concerned about the potential of party/social culture instigating an outbreak,” a student wrote. “I do not know that every student may follow social distancing/quarantining rules. In fact, I expect many to break them...I am worried that places of massive, close social gatherings (social houses, Atwater, etc.) will create a possible breeding ground for the virus.”
To the college, one student wrote, “good luck making these really tough decisions.”
Correction 6/4/20, 9:30 A.M.: A previous version of this article stated that "about a third [of students] reported knowing a friend who had tested positive and another third responded as not knowing anyone who had tested positive" for Covid-19. The correct figures are 40% and 41%, respectively.
(05/22/20 10:19pm)
Timothy Castner ’93.5
Location: Massachusetts
Submitted April 2, 2020
I am a high school teacher who was on medical leave for six weeks, prior to the pandemic closing schools and colleges throughout the country. As an introvert and former Mountain Club guide I already had gone through "basic training" in social isolation. The biggest stressor was rescuing my daughter from her elite liberal arts college in the Pioneer Valley of Massachusetts, and adjusting to everyone unexpectedly being at home.
I am currently still out from work and getting exercise in an (exurban) area by doing trail maintenance in nearby conservation land and working in my lawn. I am trying to be a support for family and friends while avoiding getting sick myself in order to flatten the curve. I also am trying to spend my "surplus" to support small local businesses and those most impacted by the crisis.
What has been your greatest worry or day-to-day concern as coronavirus has spread?
That people won't listen to experts or officials and make things worse.
What has made you happy over the past few weeks?
The many examples of people showing love and concern for those suffering.
Anything else you'd like us to know?
Geography, history and the relentless pursuit of honest dialogue are crucial for understanding our present predicament and charting a path towards a better future.
The disease is tracking the European settlement and conquest of the New World. The first cases were among “globe trotting” leaders and business people. They were biotech executives in Boston and frequent flyers from Seattle, New York City and San Francisco. People who look a lot like Middlebury students and graduates and faculty.
The greatest damage has been among the urban and rural poor and elderly. Maps around Boston show that the “support staff” for global elites are being harmed disproportionately. Hotel workers have been laid off. Taxi, Uber and Lyft drivers are now competing to deliver groceries. The custodians at hospitals and the food inspectors do not have the luxury of retreating to rural hideaways. They are threatened with being fired or are the first to be laid off. The pattern of "outsourcing suffering" has been repeated throughout our shared history.
My experience as a social studies teacher and a Middlebury graduate keeps bringing me back to the “settlement” of Massachusetts. Even before “Plimoth was planted” 400 years ago, virgin soil epidemics ravaged coastal New England.
Scholars such as Emerson “Tad” Baker of Salem State University have argued that no human intervention could have prevented the population collapses that Wampanoag, Nipmuc and Abanaki populations suffered in the 17th century and beyond. Even in the midst of the pandemic, federal officials are scheming to deprive the Mashpee Wampanoag of their ancestral lands and sovereignty on Cape Cod.
My education at Middlebury and beyond has allowed me to connect the dots between the virgin soil epidemics in the 1610s with the smallpox epidemic during the Revolutionary War and the Spanish Flu outbreak in the midst of World War I. The failure of many leaders to connect these dots represents a failure to teach and submit ourselves to the grim lessons of history. Many high school history textbooks spout talking points to corporate leaders instead of environmentalists and ecologists. As a result most leaders mystified by the “unprecedented” events of the present and have to be reminded that students in the 1970s were also sent home due to campus unrest in the wake of the Kent State shootings.
But even in the midst of great suffering, leaders have always emerged to battle injustice and speak for a more inclusive world. None of them are perfect. Most are heavily critiqued or even pilloried by contemporaries. But learning about their lives and lessons can bring us new comfort and resolve as we move forward. I would recommend reading biographies and memoirs from such diverse voices as Roger Williams and Abigail Adams, who experienced and wrote about pandemics and wars. George Washington and Frederick Douglass fought for the rights of their people and then sacrificed their own interests for the good of the whole. Henry David Thoreau and Elizabeth Cady Stanton accepted internal isolation and rejection from their peers to prophetically imagine a better world. Sojourner Truth fought for the rights of women and enslaved Africans. Abraham Lincoln chose mercy over judgment during the nation’s greatest crisis.
Mother Jones became a tireless advocate and grandmother to embattled coal miners. John Steinbeck should be required reading again for his elegant nature writing, and chronicling of the dispossessed from an early depression and environmental crisis. Reinhold Niebuhr, Dr. Martin Luther King, Dorothy Day, Harvey Milk, Robert F. Kennedy, Ralph Nader, Bernie Sanders, Bill McKibben, Ellen Degeneres, Oprah, Barack Obama and even the current occupant of the White House have all tried to speak out on behalf of people who have felt “left behind” by rapid change. A new generation of scholars such as Lisa Brooks at Amherst College are helping us to reconnect with the "toxic legacies" of stories that we would prefer to forget. Such activists and authors who live at the bleeding edge of change often pay the greatest price, as Rachel Carson, climate change activists and "The Squad” can attest.
The list is never ending but it shows that prophetic and loving critique matters and that "honest patriots" lose many battles. Their sacrifices, however, inspire the next generation to keep fighting for "The Healing of the Earth."
We need the technocrats and the experts, but we also need the “synthesizers” who can make connections across diverse fields of inquiry to solve pressing challenges. Making “liberal arts” education available for everyone, especially for those excluded by the stressors of poverty and oppression, is more important now than ever before.
Those of us who have the advantages of secure jobs, retirement funds, access to health care and housing should be doing what we can to ease the suffering of those in our neighborhoods, communities, nation and planet. Only when our circle of care includes the whole ecosystem can we begin to recover from the Covid-19 crisis. An economy that values profits over health will not get us there. We need to combine the insights of both ecology and economics to imagine a better future.
