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Please don't take a vacation in the middle of a global pandemic

As I boarded the final leg of my journey home, a 12-hour flight from Boston to Honolulu, I was overcome with emotion. Not only had the process of moving out of Middlebury been exhausting, but it had also been extremely hard to decide where I was going to go after leaving campus. In the end, I decided to fly home. Upon arrival, I would immediately self-isolate to mitigate any possible Covid-19 exposure to my local community. Still, as I walked down the jetway, I was barely sure of my decision — and so I was shocked when the plane quickly filled up with tourists. A woman behind me gave an explanation. She had the next two weeks off from her work as a school teacher, and had always wanted to go to Hawaiʻi. When she saw how cheap the tickets were, she just had to buy them. I was stunned. This woman was vacationing to the most remote major city in the world, to the state with the seventh oldest population in the country, in the middle of what had just been declared a global pandemic. I immediately thought of my friends who work in the tourism industry and live with their grandparents (­a common situation in the islands). Working in close proximity to tourists, they’re at high risk for contracting the disease and passing it along to their family members. Every tourist’s decision to vacation jeopardizes the lives of my friends and their families.   I’m aware of how upsetting the drastic change to spring break plans can be. I’m also aware of the seemingly incredible travel opportunities presented by low airplane fares and plummeting hotel prices. But right now, your decisions as a traveler, as a tourist, are bound to have unintended consequences. At present, any travel disregards social distancing recommendations suggested by doctors and actively harms international efforts to minimize the transmission of Covid-19. For some — namely those traveling home — such transgressions are necessary evils. For others, however, these recommendations are simply white noise to be tuned out on their cheap flights to exotic locales. Even under normal circumstances, tourism has an outsized impact on local communities. On one hand, it often drives local economies, creating jobs and expanding businesses. On the other hand, members of these communities are often made to watch as their homes are turned into effective theme parks for wealthy out-of-towners. Given the extraordinary circumstances we find ourselves in at the moment, these impacts are multiplied exponentially. The societal impacts are compounded by much more serious health risks. Residents of these often geographically isolated locations are already at high risk for a pandemic. The very isolation that makes getaways so enticing also makes it harder for necessary supplies to reach the destinations in question. The locales’ healthcare infrastructure is most likely already susceptible to overload. Moreover, placing a further burden on already delicate food and resource supply chains could prove to be debilitating for locals. Such repercussions are so likely that the Governor of Hawaiʻi is asking tourists to stay out for a month.  Corona-tourism isn’t confined to the 50th State. Masses of vacationers are flocking to the slopes of Vermont during this crisis. The beaches of South Florida are filled with college students continuing spring break plans. In the time between when my plane landed and this piece was published, the number of cases in the state of Hawaiʻi rose from 2 to 37. Out of the 37 cases, 35 are believed to have been contracted from out-of-state travel. And the still-crowded beaches of Waikiki indicate that the worst is yet to come. The responsibility of flattening the Covid-19 infection curve lies upon all of us. But tourists who use this crisis as an opportunity to vacation should bear the full guilt of actively making things worse and threatening human lives.    Jake Gaughan '22 is one of The Campus’s Opinion editors. He is from Honolulu, Hawaii.

Approximately 175 students approved to stay on campus

In an unprecedented decision meant to address concerns over the global Covid-19 pandemic, the college ordered students to leave campus last Tuesday. While the majority of students were expected to head home, those who wished to remain on campus  — because of travel distance to home, high numbers of Covid-19 cases in their hometowns or other reasons — had the option to petition to remain on Middlebury’s campus. Many who did so, however, were disappointed, as deans tasked with communicating the decisions pushed most applicants to find alternatives. At the same time, most of the students The Campus spoke with expressed understanding of the college’s safety concerns as the number of Covid-19 cases in Vermont increases.  Now, even those who were eventually granted permission to stay face uncertainty about the rest of the semester, as the college contemplates closing its campus to students completely depending on continual reassessments, according to emails sent by deans to students remaining on campus. From 2,500 to 175 Administrators originally predicted that a few hundred students would be allowed to remain on campus. Ultimately, they permitted roughly 175 students to stay, according to an email sent by President Laurie Patton Saturday night. By Wednesday, March 18, as major U.S. cities instituted lockdowns and the U.S. closed its border with Canada, some students left campus for home; now, fewer than 140 students remain physically on campus, according to Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor. Deans were expected to tell students who petitioned to stay whether they could remain on campus for at least three weeks by Friday, March 13, the same day students were originally told to leave campus. The college later moved the departure deadline to Sunday.  The tight turnaround left students who were denied permission — many of whom were confident their situations warranted staying on campus — scrambling to find alternatives. The college advised those who were able to stay with family or friends stateside, which many are now doing, and is offering financial aid to those who need help traveling. Deans were unable to respond for comment before this story was published. But many of the emails students received from their deans emphasized the importance of getting as many students off-campus as possible due to safety concerns arising from a potential Covid-19 outbreak. The emails encouraged students to exhaust all other potential options before petitioning to stay. Donovan Compton ’23, a U.S. citizen who calls Italy home, had his petition to remain on campus rejected. With Italy on lockdown, he says returning home to that country’s Veneto region — one of the regions most heavily-affected by Covid-19 in the country — is not an option.  “If I were to actually attempt to go back to Italy … I would most likely not be able to access the country, and in the case I would be let into Italy, my parents wouldn't be able to retrieve me at the airport since the roads are blockaded so as to make driving extremely limited,” he wrote in an email to The Campus.  Compton’s request to stay was denied through a mass email sent to many students in Ross Commons. He said the decision so surprised him that he screamed aloud upon reading the email. While Compton has family in the states, they are all located in Seattle, another coronavirus epicenter. For now, he is staying with family friends in Massachusetts. Shahmeer Chaudhary ’21, who is from Dubai, also had his request to stay on campus denied.  “The decision did surprise me,” Chaudhary wrote in an email to The Campus. “I did not feel like I had any room or opportunity to negotiate. In fact, I was told by my dean, ‘You’re welcome to stop by and talk with me about that, but the answer will unfortunately be the same.’ I felt like I was out of options and the administration was unwilling to even hear me out.” Domestic students also had concerns about leaving campus. Kai Milici ’21 is from Seattle and petitioned to remain on campus. She did not plan to stay there indefinitely, but felt that she needed a few more days beyond the Sunday move-out date to assess whether it would be smarter to return home or to stay with friends on the East Coast. When Milici’s application was denied she, like many of her peers, reacted with frustration.  “I felt like I was being forced into a potentially dangerous situation,” she said, adding she was stressed by how the required self-quarantine would exacerbate existing feelings of isolation. But in hindsight, with the possibility of travel restrictions and lockdowns looming in the coming days and weeks, she understands the college’s decision. Milici has since returned to Seattle, where she said the high degree of social isolation has already resulted in increased stress. She does not expect to be able to leave for “at least a couple of months.” While she hopes to return to the East Coast to participate in summer internship opportunities, she is grappling with the potential that this may no longer be a possibility depending on how the situation progresses. Tre Stephens ’21 was granted permission to remain on campus. Stephens is from Chicago, Illinois and petitioned to stay due to “extraordinary personal circumstances” regarding his home situation. He explained that he wrote to his dean out of fear, more than anything else. “I wanted to stress that if I am requested to leave campus, I will literally have no place to go,” Stephens wrote in the email he sent to his dean. “I am honestly scared. Please please please consider letting me stay.” This past summer, the stove in Stephens’ house exploded, causing a house fire that so completely destroyed the house that his family is currently living with other relatives. Stephens simply does not have a home to return to, he said.  The school initially denied Stephens’ request, instead offering to pay for his travel home. Stephens responded with another plea to stay. In his email, he wrote that he was not able to stay with family and close friends because they said they did not have space for him. Following this secondary plea, Stephens was granted permission to stay. Many students allowed to remain on campus have been warned that they may need to return home if the situation does not improve when the college re-evaluates its plan in three weeks. An email from Assistant Director of Community Standards Elaine Orozco Hammond to multiple students last week insinuated this possibility. “It is possible we will be back in session, or asking people to leave in a few weeks,” it said. “We are taking this one step at a time.” In that situation, Stephens has no idea what he will do. “Where will I go? How will I get there? Money? Food? Clean clothing? These are all concerns that rush through my mind,” he said. But Stephens believes that college administrators are doing their best to act in the interests of students. Other students applied to remain on campus for health concerns. Marisa Edmondson ’20 is from rural Colorado and has severe asthma. This condition compromises her immune system, and makes her particularly vulnerable to Covid-19. Edmondson’s hometown is a two-hour drive from the nearest hospital, and her health condition posed a serious risk of possible contamination if she tried to fly home, she said. She considered living with friends in Rhode Island indefinitely when the school denied her request, but ultimately decided to road trip home to Colorado, where she will stay in quarantine with her parents. Jake Guaghan ’22, from Honolulu, Hawaii, was denied permission to remain on campus. In his petition to stay, Guaghan cited the length and difficulty of traveling home and the likelihood that he may be exposed to coronavirus while in airports.  At the time of his petition — last Tuesday — he felt that it would be irresponsible to risk the possibility of bringing coronavirus back to an isolated locale. The denial of permission to remain on campus left Guaghan feeling anxious and scared, but not surprised.  “Throughout my time here, I've realized that American students who don't live in the contiguous 48 are often forgotten by the school,” he said. Students from Hawaii and Alaska face many of the same challenges as international students, he said, but there are no institutional structures to assist these students. Owen Marsh ’20, from Scarsdale, New York, where there are multiple confirmed cases of Covid-19, has also been denied permission to remain on campus. After a middle school teacher in his town tested positive, many have been placed in quarantine.  Those living in Scarsdale are only leaving their homes when it is absolutely necessary and are constantly maintaining a distance of six feet away from all other people, according to Marsh’s parents. He was surprised, he said, when he received an email alerting him that he would not be able to remain on campus.  “I am lucky enough to have friends who have been willing to house me, but I don't know how long that will last, and I am sure that there are many much less fortunate than me,” Marsh said.  As of now, Marsh plans to move from place to place and avoid returning home. He hopes to be back at Middlebury before May — but at the time, it is unclear whether or not that will happen. Gaughan’s plans changed constantly throughout the two days following the denial of his request to remain on campus. Ultimately, he has decided to go home. Given the escalating crisis, he is concerned that if he remains in the continental U.S., he would eventually be unable to return home. During his flight home, another passenger seated in the row in front of Gaughan fell ill. The passenger was quarantined mid-flight and required the assistance of emergency medical services to deplane.  “While no one knows necessarily with what he is afflicted, I couldn’t help but think about how this type of scenario was exactly what I outlined in my petition to stay on campus,” Gaughan wrote in an email to The Campus on Saturday night. Returning home will also impact the lives of students beyond the possible transmission of Covid-19. Due to the six-hour time difference between Vermont and Hawaii, there is the possibility that Gaughan will need to take his online courses at 2 a.m. Chaudhary, the student from Dubai, expressed similar concerns. Dubai has a nine-hour time difference from Vermont. He is worried about how this will impact his ability to partake in classes that many professors are planning to conduct in a “video-chat” format. Chaudhary said he is anxious about the impact returning home could have in the long-term, especially because he is hoping to do an internship in the states this summer. Jiaqi Li ’22 is from China and, like Stephens, was granted permission to remain on campus. Li was concerned that flying home was not a viable option for her logistically or financially.  “I love Middlebury College dearly and at present, I truly consider this my home, my only home. The news on Tuesday really made me feel as if my world is falling apart, when the support system I rely on is no longer feasible,” she wrote in the email she sent to her dean requesting permission to remain on campus. If Li’s request to stay had been denied, she felt that the best option would have been to explore housing options in Middlebury, off-campus, with the financial support of the college. “This is a scary time for all of us. I know many people were sad to leave for multiple reasons, and for some of us leaving has never truly been an option,” Stephens said. Editor’s note: Jake Gaughan and Owen Marsh are both Opinion editors for The Campus.

Onward: How The Campus is continuing its coverage

We had three Covid-19-related stories on the docket a week and a half ago. Now, it’s hard to think about — and report on — almost anything else. A lot has changed since then. We’ve since shared goodbyes, packed up our commons-office-provided boxes and dispersed around the world.  Some watched their friends leave, unable to return to their own homes themselves. Some of us worried about work-study; others grappled with food insecurity.  As the dust settles, so many questions linger: What will online classes look like?  What are the implications of the suspension for the town of Middlebury? Will the college provide its staff with financial security as operations come to a grinding halt? The Campus is committed to continuing our investigation into these questions — and the coverage of the diverse narratives of our greater Middlebury community.  Amid the ambiguity and uncertainty of current events, we want to provide a sense of clarity. And during a time when we are the furthest apart physically, we want to be a platform that helps Middlebury stay connected. What can you expect from us? The show must go on. The Campus will continue its coverage remotely, online. We will publish stories as they are ready this and next week, and will re-assume regular Thursday coverage on April 2, the first Thursday after spring break.  Our weekly newsletter will also highlight the key stories from the week, so don’t forget to sign up for it here. That newsletter will start back up on April 2 as well. We see ourselves as a forum to amplify voices that can no longer chat around dining hall tables, greet each other between classes and convene at local coffee shops and teahouses in town.  As we scatter geographically, we want to explore what remoteness means for the different members of our community. This is work we cannot do alone. Here are some ways to get involved: Help us with coverage: Let us know if you’re interested in joining our team of writers — no prior experience necessary and the commitment is flexible. Express your opinion: Tell us what you’re thinking by submitting an opinion piece or a letter to the editor. Keep us in the loop: Know something that’s going on or want us to explore a certain topic? Drop us a tip. Tell your story: We want to fill our (virtual) pages with stories from every corner of the now-dispersed Middlebury. Send us a short story about your experience, or email us if you’re interested in contributing regularly with tales from your living room couch, quarantined city or quiet dorm room. We will have prompts regularly for potential letters to the editor (200 words) and op-eds (800 words). This week’s prompt is about all the feels that came with last week’s announcement. Our mission is to serve our readers and to reflect the goings-on and spirit of the college in this extraordinary time, so please stay in touch. We are looking forward to seeing you engage with — and participate in — our coverage this semester.

A plea for international students

The following letter was sent via email to members of the Senior Leadership Group (SLG) on Wednesday, March 11. A list of SLG members is available here. The list was also shared with the college’s commons deans, heads and coordinators, whose names can be found here, as well as the Student Activities Office and the Office of International Student and Scholar Services. Parts of this letter have been lightly edited to comply with The Campus’ style guidelines. Dear President Patton, Dean Taylor, Provost Cason, members of the SLG, and commons deans, We are afraid. As the International Students’ Organization Executive Board, we are distressed about the impact the administration’s decision to evacuate campus will have on the international student population. Although we come from over 74 countries and territories and distinct cultural backgrounds, the recent developments have united the international student community through the fear that we will be disproportionately affected if requested to leave Middlebury. First, we want to assure you that we take your requests to find alternatives to staying on campus seriously. We acknowledge the reasons motivating the college’s decision, and we are doing everything in our personal capacities to come up with reasonable plans.  However, the decision to evacuate Middlebury poses an inequitable and disproportionate burden on us. While the college has been supportive in offering financial assistance to traveling, there are other serious concerns about our living conditions beyond Middlebury. For many of us, Middlebury is a sanctuary and the most reliable provider of housing, dining and resources that ensures our wellbeing. In addition to our support networks being hundreds to thousands of miles away, they are not all able to accomodate us at this point. Some of us do not have homes to go back to, and many others depend on their incomes from Middlebury to support their families.  Sending us to other students’ homes instead of our own does not address the core of the problem. Instead, it transfers the college’s responsibility to look after us to third parties. It is unfair to shift your commitment to house, feed, and support us onto the families of our friends and other members of the community. It is unreasonable for the college to impose on them the financial burden of indefinitely — or even temporarily — supporting and sustaining us. If financial support is being made available for traveling, the question remains whether international students will be awarded a living allowance for the periods during which they are asked to be removed from campus. We urge you to consider how the college has brought many of us here on scholarships precisely because of our considerable needs and disadvantages. Our situation requires special consideration. While we acknowledge that much of what is happening is beyond the college’s control, we urge you to consider how domestic students are generally not similarly affected by being sent home as we are. We feel wary of making decisions on returning home or committing to stay in the United States when little is known on how travel restrictions will evolve over the coming weeks. We look to the administration for assurances that there are plans in place to assist the relocation of international students from their domestic hosts should the school decide not to continue the semester, and to support their decision to return from abroad when invited back. Additionally, whereas the CDC has not issued domestic travel restrictions, travelling internationally poses a higher risk to our own health and to the health of those around us. In requiring that we leave campus and financing our travels abroad, the college exposes us to contagion. Beyond our personal health, there are concerns that, due to being potentially exposed to the virus during high-risk travel, international students would not be as easily reintegrated to the college community. Again, we urge you to consider that the decision to evacuate us has severe implications that may not be present for other people requesting to stay. We request that you situate your reviews on stay approvals around the pressing needs of international students. We are not residents of this country, we do not have far-reaching access to support networks here and we do not have assurances of being able to come back should things deteriorate.  This is an unprecedented situation and we call on you to consider our cases in a caring and understanding manner. Some of us have already been denied stay on campus and many of us are frightened by the prospect of having to scramble for alternatives as the college turns us away. We urge you to be lenient and considerate as you review our applications and work thoroughly with us before requesting our departure. We call Middlebury home, and we are confident you will not overlook our plight in these trying times. We call on you to: Compensate for the financial burden of leaving campus by covering not only travel expenses, but considering living allowances for the duration of leave, particularly for students who have exceptional financial needs; Accommodate students who are not able to return to their home countries and those who would not be able to reenter the United States due to travel bans or visa status concerns; Acknowledge the unfairness of transferring the college’s responsibility to provide housing, dining and resources to international students onto other students’ friends, families, and communities; Seriously evaluate the health and contagion risks posed by requesting international students travel through long distances and major transportation hubs to and from home; Recognize that a lack and distance of communication — though not the intention — breeds an environment of anxiety and fear where students are panicking because they feel unsupported and lost; Understand that Middlebury College is a sanctuary for many international students who cannot return to unstable or hostile conditions in their home communities. Signed, The ISO Executive Board Arthur Martins '22.5, Masud Tyree Lewis '22, Kelly Zhou '22, Claire Moy  '22, Monique Santoso '21, Husam AlZubaidy '23 and Ariana Popa ’22

Vandalism spikes as students prepare to leave campus

Faced with the sudden reality that their semesters would likely be ending, many Middlebury students spent their nights before the mandatory Covid-19-related evacuation partying, drinking and vandalizing the campus and town in abundance. Damage has included broken glass, stolen signs, strewn garbage, smashed furniture and windows, and items thrown into trees. Facilities staff are spending the weekend cleaning up messes across campus.  Normally, two employees must walk the campus twice a week for two hours to clear the campus of trash and hazards outside, explained College Landscape Horticulturist and Staff Council President Tim Parsons. On Thursday and Friday, it took teams of five entire days. “There are seniors seeing people maybe for the last time ever, I get it,” Parsons said. “But why take it out on other people here? You’re part of a community.”  On Friday morning, as a group of five landscapers prepared to secure buildings that will be closed to students in the coming weeks, they reflected on spending the last two days walking around the campus picking up broken glass and demolished items.  One worker said he has seen items like fans and microwaves thrown out of windows, and that at least 10 to 15 soap dispensers have been ripped off the walls in residential halls and smashed. Others expressed concern for dogs and students walking across the campus who might be injured by the shards of glass strewn in the grass and on sidewalks.  Some landscapers had to wrestle bikes, bike racks and other large items down from trees. Government traffic signs, weighing several hundred pounds and buried three feet into the ground, were torn out of the earth and discarded, or are missing entirely.  The sign that designates President Laurie Patton’s parking space was ripped from the ground — it is still missing. According to Custodial Supervisor Dan Celik, other residential hall damages have included smashed windows in Forrest Hall and Battell Hall, a shattered glass door in the Tavern Social House, smashed scaffolding outside Atwater Hall B, broken lights and windows in Chateau, ripped-down hall lights in the Ross complex, a hole smashed into the wall at 48 South Street (KDR House), discharged fire extinguishers in Allen Hall and other ripped signs and bulletin boards around campus. The college has not yet assessed the total cost of the destruction. Damages in residential halls are charged to students based on their location. Damages outside are absorbed by the facilities budget. Parsons said that the damage in the past few days has been worse than that of a typical Senior Week. He theorizes that Senior Week usually has a series of planned activities that keep students off campus or otherwise busy, which can prevent chaos like that which occurred this week. “[Landscaping staff] would have loved to help students and their families pack up their cars,” Parsons said. “But instead, they spent their time picking up broken glass.” Damage also extended into the town of Middlebury. Two Brothers Tavern, a restaurant and bar located a short walk from campus, was hosting its weekly Thursday College Night when its sign was partially pulled off and its American flag torn down. https://www.facebook.com/twobros/posts/3072215259456274 “Small businesses like ours have razor thin profit margins and even less time to pay for and fix such things as those caused by last night's destructive behavior,” Two Brothers wrote in a Facebook post. “Have a little respect when you are here, at home and everywhere you go in the world.”  According to the Facebook post, Two Brothers is now reevaluating the continuation of College Night come fall.

Developing: Middlebury suspends all programs abroad and in Monterey

!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}(); Last updated March 20, 2:40 p.m. For updates on the suspension of classes at the Vermont campus, check here. All remaining students abroad Middlebury has advised all remaining students studying abroad on externally sponsored programs to return to the U.S. immediately, according to an update from Dean of International Programs Carlos Vélez. This advisory follows the U.S. Department of State’s Global Level 4 Health Advisory announced on March 19 and will impact 108 students. “These decisions never come easily, and we never could have imagined that we would be suspending all of our programs and calling all of our students home from abroad,” the message read.  The State Department has advised all U.S. citizens to avoid international travel and for those currently abroad to arrange for immediate return to the U.S. Many of the universities where Middlebury students were studying this semester have implemented online learning options so students can complete course work remotely. Read the college's March 20 announcement here. Schools abroad in Argentina, Brazil, Cameroon, Chile, Uruguay Programs suspended on March 13 for spring semester The remaining five Middlebury schools abroad were suspended on Friday, according to an update from Dean of International Programs Carlos Vélez. "Despite the fact that confirmed cases of COVID-19 remain relatively low in your host countries, we are very concerned about the imposition of future travel bans and other restrictions around the globe," the statement said. Students enrolled in the programs in Latin America will be given the option to withdraw from the program with no academic credit and a full tuition refund, or to remain in the program with remote coursework for a full semester of Middlebury credit, according to a Friday email to enrollees' parents from Assistant Director of International Programs Alessandra Capossela. The Campus is currently looking into what the academic options will be for students enrolled in programs in other areas. Read the college's March 13 announcement here. Schools abroad in France, Germany, India, Japan, Jordan, Morocco, Russia, Spain Programs suspended on March 12 for spring semester The college suspended eight of its abroad programs on Thursday, two days after the college  suspended on-campus classes at his core campus. An email to all schools abroad students said the decision was based in part on the CDC's newly elevated advisory of all European countries to Level 3 status, as well as the U.S. Department of State's new global health advisory and President Donald Trump's proclamation of a travel ban on foreign nationals from Europe to the U.S. The email asked students to make arrangements to go home "as soon as possible." Read the college's March 12 announcement here. Middlebury Institute for International Studies in Monterey Classes to continue remotely after spring break ends on March 23 The institute had a planned spring break beginning this Friday, March 13. After break, classes will resume remotely on March 23, and will remain so for the rest of the semester.  Read the college’s March 10 announcement here. Middlebury-CMRS program in Oxford Program suspended on March 10 for spring semester The college suspended the Middlebury College CMRS-Oxford Humanities Program in England on March 10. The 35 participating students will complete their studies remotely, including the research project that constitutes a main part of the program. They have been asked to leave the country by March 15.  School abroad in Italy Program suspended on Feb. 20 for spring semester The college suspended its programs in Florence, Rome and Ferrara on Feb. 29, 11 days after the programs there began. Students were given the option to take the semester off and get refunded for the semester’s tuition, or to take online classes taught by professors at Sede Capponi, the Middlebury Center in Florence. Read The Campus’s coverage of those cancellations here. School abroad in China Program suspended on Jan. 28 for spring semester The schools Hangzhou, Kunming and Beijing were closed in late January, before the spring semester began and while the coronavirus was still peaking in the country. The 11 students who had already arrived in China had to evacuate, some of whom were able to reenroll at the college in the spring. Read The Campus’s coverage of those cancellations here. !function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();

Updates: College details plan to send students home

UPDATE — Thursday, March 12 The college is now allowing students to stay until Sunday, March 15 at 5:00 p.m., according to an email sent to students and parents yesterday. Students who wish to stay until then, but have already indicated to the school they will leave on or before Friday, should fill out this form indicating their plans. The email also promised students who are leaving refunds for room and board "for the time students would have been on campus." "Understanding that students may be returning to campus to finish the semester, we cannot at this time know the amount of the credit or when it will be applied to student accounts," it said. —— Wednesday, March 11 The college released a series of statements Tuesday afternoon elaborating on next steps following its announcement that it will suspend in-person classes indefinitely after March 13. Evacuating campus Students must respond to a form indicating whether they will leave campus or petition to remain on campus for the duration of the semester. The criteria used to determine who can stay on campus will be stricter than for winter break, according to Baishakhi Taylor, vice president for student affairs and dean of students. To gauge whether it is unsafe for a student to return home, the college will consider factors such as travel advisories for those areas. “This is preventative — we want students in safety sooner rather than later,” said Baishakhi Taylor, vice president for student affairs and dean of students.  Dean of Faculty Sujata Moorti and Provost and Executive Vice President Jeffrey Cason have recommended that professors lighten the workload for their classes as students prepare to leave campus. But the decision ultimately rests in the hands of faculty members.  Middlebury students are required to leave campus by Friday at 8 p.m. Amherst College, which yesterday announced a similar plan to suspend classes and asked students to remain home after spring break, is giving students until next Wednesday to depart campus. While departing students will not be required to fully move out of their dorm rooms by Friday night, all of their belongings must be packed in boxes and labeled with their name, student ID number and their building name and room number. Boxing materials can be found in Commons Offices. Posters are plastered around campus with the slogan “Box, label & leave.” Students are encouraged to pack whatever belongings they might need for the remainder of the semester and summer. The college is currently working with SGA to provide break buses to students. The details are still uncertain, but the college will update students as necessary. The college will also provide eligible students with travel-based financial assistance. [gallery ids="48987,48988,48989"] Remote learning Remote learning, beginning on March 30, will remain in effect until the administration gives further notice. Middlebury will re-evaluate the status of remote learning during the first two weeks of April. Moorti has confirmed that classes will end as scheduled on May 11 and professors will adjust their syllabi to accommodate the shortened semester. While some classes are easily transferable to a digital platform, others will be more challenging to shift. Amy Collier, associate provost for digital learning, will be overseeing the remote learning process. Collier cited the unique challenges posed by teaching classes such as language courses and lab sciences remotely.  “We are recognizing that there are some kinds of remote teaching and learning options that are more challenging for faculty and some remote teaching options that are more challenging for students,” Collier said.  Collier is working with faculty on a case-by-case basis to assist professors in translating their classes to a format that will work for both faculty and students. “We're trying to make recommendations based on what we hope will be very inclusive for students and very manageable for faculty and students and that respond to the teaching goals the faculty are bringing to us,” Collier said. Moorti explained that the college is considering the possibility of making all classes pass/fail for the remainder of the semester, in response to requests from students and faculty members. “We are looking into the implications, which are more complicated than they appear,” she said. Making the call Consultation with the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and the Vermont Department of Health informed the college’s decision to suspend classes, according to Taylor.  She explained that a myriad of factors — including the inability to control who comes to campus and concerns about students returning from traveling over spring break — impacted the school’s decision. “We just don't have the capacity — we cannot wait for a case to break on campus because then it's too late in many ways and we are a small school with limited resources,” Taylor said. “The state of Vermont is pretty small. We just don't have the capacity to have testing for everybody and we don't have enough personal protective equipment.”  The Crisis Management Team (CMT) oversees the evolving planning related to Covid-19. The group comprises a variety of stakeholders on campus including Collier, members of the Senior Leadership Group (SLG) and Mark Peluso, director of health services and college and head team physician, among others. Peluso explained that the college’s decision to suspend in part hinged on a policy of what he called “social distancing.” “Social distancing is one of the most effective mitigation strategies when pharmaceutical treatments (vaccines, medications) are not available and there is the potential for high numbers of cases,” Peluso wrote in an email to The Campus. “Close living quarters and shared dining facilities place students at higher risk for exposure if there is an illness outbreak This is a developing story and will be updated accordingly. The Campus will also continue to chart the impact these changes have on the greater Middlebury community over the next few weeks, including how they affect staff, local business owners, and those at the Monterey campus and the C.V. Starr Schools Abroad. Visit middleburycampus.com for updated coverage.

Field hockey combats human trafficking in India

A 17-year-old girl, the oldest of six children, was offered the chance to go to leave her town and make money for herself and her family. She was brought by a male acquaintance to Delhi, where she proceeded to work as a maid for a family. By the time she realized she wasn’t being paid, it was too late. Her “friend” was long gone with the money, and she was left with only the hope of being rescued.  This is the labor trafficking story shared by one of the 106 girls who attended the second annual East India Hockey Project (EIHP), a weeklong field hockey camp and tournament aimed at combating trafficking by helping female athletes ages 14–17 gain self-confidence and leadership skills to bring back to their communities. The EIHP is run through a partnership between Middlebury College, the US State Department, the Indian Consulate and the anti-trafficking NGO Shakti Vahini. It was led by head coach Katherine DeLorenzo and assistant coach Rachel Palumbo, with support from five alumnae who attended the first camp in November of 2018 and seven current players: senior Kelly Coyle, junior Erin Nicholas and sophomores Grace Harlan, Riley Marchin, Grace Murphy, Hannah Sullivan and Joan Vera. The program is based in Jharkhand, one of the most remote and impoverished regions in India. Each girl who attended the camp is at a high risk for human trafficking.  “On the surface level, it seems like we’re just playing field hockey, like what is that doing?” Coyle said. “But it’s the small, intangible things about telling the girls to speak up, plus their additional workshops [that teach them] how to use their voice in all those scenarios, that make a difference. Seeing all that together, it made it seem like the impact was a lot bigger than just coming to the field and playing hockey.” Although the camp only ran from January 27 to February 3, the field hockey girls arrived in India on the 5th, along with eight members of Middlebury’s BOLD Scholars, a women’s leadership program. The students all traveled to Delhi and Kolkata together, and while the athletes helped with the EIHP, the BOLD Scholars worked at a school peace fair. During their travels, Baishaki Taylor, vice president for student affairs, and Rebekah Irwin, the director and curator the Special Collections & Archives, taught a special winter term class for the students, focusing on gender in Indian society.  “It’s really easy to come in and do a workshop and leave,” Taylor said. “Given our commitment and our mission statement, we want Middlebury students to be able to leave this campus and be ready to address and actually make meaningful contributions to the communities that they live in, no matter where it is. [We want them to] be able to address some of the world’s most challenging problems, not just go in and do a project. The class part provided some glimpses to get a sense of the differences and similarities the world’s largest democracy has [in common] with the world’s strongest democracy.” It is estimated that over 30,000 young women are trafficked each year from Jharkhand alone, and the EIHP aims to combat this tradition. In addition to practicing field hockey from 8 a.m to 4 p.m each day, the players attended informative workshops. The Shakti Vahini leaders taught the girls practical skills to bring home, such as learning how to spot human traffickers, how to intervene in different situations and how to record evidence on a phone to build a case against a trafficker. At night, the girls were encouraged to share their stories with each other through performative arts, and at the end of the camp, four stories were selected to be professionally reproduced.   “The girls were all inspirations to everyone who traveled from our team,” said Nicholas. “We kept saying the whole trip that we were probably getting out of it more than they were because we were learning from them the whole time. They have been through so much, and then would come to the field everyday so excited to learn. They’d be dancing in circles and laughing and having a great time and finding the joy in every little moment that they had.” At the end of the week, the Panthers hosted a tournament for the girls, an event attended by local press and students and even Marie Royce, the assistant secretary of state for educational and cultural affairs. On the last day, the five most outstanding campers were invited to come to Middlebury in April, where they will have the opportunity to attend the spring field hockey training camp and immerse themselves in the American culture.  “One of the girls who I coached all week had won the ‘Most Outstanding Defensive Player’ award had a smile on her face the entire week,” Coyle said. “She was always giggling, always laughing. But on the last day, she started [crying]. One of the interpreters explained that she had never experienced this kind of attention or award or recognition in her life and it was completely overwhelming for her. [She] received awards and people [were] paying attention to her and honoring her in a way she had never [had] before in [her] life.”

Frances VanderMeer: Leaving a wake at all levels of competition

Senior Frances VanderMeer has had a collegiate athletic career many would dream of.  A captain of the women’s swim team, she has earned All-NESCAC praise, attended NCAAs three out of her four years here and broken her own school record. For VanderMeer, though, swimming is about so much more than an impressive list of accolades.  “I don’t think any of this would have been possible without the team that I have,” said VanderMeer. “It’s great to break your own records and go to NCAAs, but if you don’t have a team behind you, it doesn’t mean nearly as much” VanderMeer has been swimming for as long as she can remember. Her mom rowed at Cornell and her dad was a member of the surf team at the University of California, Santa Barbara —  swimming was a skill they wanted their children to learn as early as possible. VanderMeer joined her first competitive swim team at age seven. But her high school — Notre Dame High School in Elmira, New York — did not have a swim team when VanderMeer began attending (she played tennis instead). The summer before her sophomore year, VanderMeer, her parents and another family worked to create a swim team, which started out as a mere squad of five. Because that team was so small, Middlebury has been her most authentic team experience. She did not always plan to swim in college; during her sophomore year of high school, her parents, both being college athletes, encouraged her to pursue collegiate swimming. VanderMeer was unsure, as she had not yet experienced the bond of being on a team and wondered if swimming in college was something she wanted. Her parents knew from experience, however, how different swimming for a college team would be than VanderMeer’s club and high school experiences.  She expresses her gratitude for having decided to swim in college. “All of those people who were there [my freshman year] and all the people who are here now and everyone in between has made this sport absolutely incredible,” said VanderMeer. “The support that we have for each other as a team, that is what has made this special, and that has been the best part of all of it.” Being able to experience the dynamics of being a part of a close, supportive team has been more meaningful to Vandermeer than her accomplishments in the pool.  Her numerous accolades, however, cannot go unnoticed; she will be attending her third NCAA Division III Championship this year from March 18 to March 21. She earned a qualifying 50-yard freestyle time of 23.60 in the NESCAC tournament, which was her second-straight conference title in the event. She also earned her third straight All-NESCAC honors in the 50-yard backstroke, while simultaneously breaking her own school record in the event with a time of 25.69. Senior teammate Hannah Kredich ’20 spoke about Frances’s strong work ethic. “Even when she went abroad to Bordeaux the fall of her junior year and did not have the opportunity to train as much as she would have at Middlebury, she came back even more determined to improve and work hard, and because of that fire I don’t think it is a coincidence that that was the first year she got an individual title,” said Kredich. Coach Bob Rueppel is excited to watch Frances compete in her final NCAA championship, “Our goal is to achieve what she has never done before so I am very excited to see her perform,” said Rueppel. “I am confident she will have a great week at NCAA’s.” Though Frances is preparing for the competitive race, she stresses that her goal “has never been to get to the [nationals] meet. [My] primary goal was to have fun with it and see where that took me and funny enough, when that’s your goal and you don’t put pressure on yourself, good things tend to happen.” VanderMeer’s composed demeanor carries into her leadership position as a captain of the team. “She has an amazing presence on deck at meets and is someone that, even when she has not had a good swim, will be the first to get right back behind the lanes to cheer for her teammates and to offer words of support and encouragement to anyone who needs it,” said Kredich.  Coach Rueppel also commented on VanderMeer’s leadership skills “Her impact on the group has been incredible,” said Rueppel. “My hope is that her legacy will continue after she graduates.” VanderMeer is an International Politics and Economics major, as well as a member of the Middlebury Consulting Group and the Academic Judicial Board. She will be moving to Washington, D.C. this summer to work at Accenture Federal Services, a consulting firm with a focus on the federal government. In terms of swimming, VanderMeer plans to take a break from the pool for a little while. Without her teammates, swimming would be different. She can see herself coaching in the future, but in the short-term, VanderMeer plans to play more tennis. Swimming will always be important to VanderMeer’s life, though.  “This sport has taught me so much in terms of work ethic, teamwork, getting along with other people, and leading a large group of people, and those lessons will be with me forever,” said VanderMeer. “And in that way, I guess swimming will always be a part of me and what I do.”

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College confirms suspension of on-campus classes in response to coronavirus concerns

For updates on the situation at Middlebury, check here. For updates on the situation at Monterey and at the Middlebury programs abroad, check here. President Laurie Patton confirmed Tuesday afternoon that students will be required to leave campus on Friday, March 13 to begin an extended two-week spring break in response to the Covid-19 viral epidemic. Following this break, Middlebury will begin remote classes on March 30. Students will be expected not to return to campus “until further notice,” according to Patton’s statement.  Students who may be compromised due to additional health conditions are permitted to leave campus before Friday. Those who cannot leave campus — such as some international students and domestic students who will be at a greater risk in their home community — can petition the school to remain on campus, where they will also resume courses digitally.  All students must indicate to the college their intentions to depart or petition to remain on campus. Students who wish to remain on campus must complete the form before 3 p.m. on Thursday, and will be notified of a decision before 9 a.m. on Friday.   The announcement outlines a myriad of other stipulations for the coming weeks. The Campus will continue to update our coverage online as necessary.

Campus waits for news on coronavirus following professor’s email

Update: Since this article was published, the college officially and indefinitely suspended all on-campus classes. Check out our update here. A campus-wide anxiety has ensued following a widely circulated email that said Middlebury will suspend all in-person classes starting this Friday, March 13 as a response to the Covid-19 viral epidemic. The email was sent by Héctor J. Vila, associate professor of writing and rhetoric and a member of faculty council, to students in two of his classes. The college has not yet sent out an official statement about plans for suspension. The Campus is waiting for confirmation of the statements in the email, which explained that students will have a two-week spring break and classes will resume remotely beginning Monday, March 30. Vila and the college will not comment before the college's official email is sent out. Most students are required to leave campus “until further notice,” the email read. Those who cannot — including some international students and domestic students who will be at a greater risk in their home community — can petition to remain on campus, during which they will take classes digitally.   Colleges and universities across the country have been taking steps to contain the virus. Many are moving students off campus and switching to remote instruction. New England schools that have acted accordingly include Amherst College and Harvard University. A list of schools that have taken action, curated by Campus Editor at Large Benjy Renton ’21, can be found here. This story is developing and will be updated accordingly.

All schools abroad in Italy canceled due to coronavirus concerns

Middlebury has canceled the three C.V. Starr Schools in Italy for this spring semester due to concerns over the coronavirus COVID-19.  In an email sent to students studying in Florence, Rome and Ferrara on Feb. 29, the college advised students to return to the United States as soon as possible. Each student will have the option to take the semester off and get refunded for the semester’s tuition, or to take online classes taught by professors at Sede Capponi, the Middlebury Center in Florence. The decision was prompted by concerns that students might face more difficulties leaving the country as the virus spreads and governments impose stricter travel travel regulations, according to Assistant Director of International Programs Alessandra Capossela. The CDC raised the Italy travel advisory to “Level 3 — Avoid Non Essential Travel” on Feb. 28. The next day, the U.S. State Department raised the travel advisory level for Lombardy and Veneto, the epicenter of coronavirus in Italy,  to “Level 4 — Do Not Travel.”  In January, President Trump placed strict restrictions on travel to and from China, where the virus originated. The college cancelled its schools in Hangzhou, Kunming and Beijing China that month. Middlebury waited to suspend its programs in Italy even as multiple other universities with programs in Florence told their students to leave the country. Syracuse University announced it was canceling its program on Feb. 24, and both Fairfield University and Elon University followed the next day. On Feb. 24, New York University announced it was evacuating its students and suspending the program until March 29 at the earliest.  “We know that this decision came as a disappointment to many of our students and their families,” Capossela told The Campus. “We did not make this decision lightly, and it was made with the students’ health and wellbeing as our first priority.” A prevailing sense of melancholy hangs over the Middlebury Schools in Italy students, according to Marco Kaper ’21, who was studying in Florence. “A lot of students woke up to the email [on Feb. 29], cried a little bit and then cried a lot. For a lot of people, this is a really big deal,” he said. “They’ve been looking forward to going abroad for a very long time, and that opportunity has been taken away from them.” However, Kaper understands that leaving the country is also a privilege. “We are very privileged to be able to leave right now and ‘escape’ the pandemic as far as going to the U.S. is concerned,” said Kaper.  “I live with a native Italian [roomate], and he’s freaking out right now because he doesn’t really have a home to go to to leave like we do.” Twenty-three students were enrolled in the Middlebury Schools in Italy, including six Middlebury undergraduates, five Middlebury graduate students, and 12 students from other institutions. Most were studying in Florence, with the exception of one student in Rome and one in Ferrara. On Feb. 24, the college closed its school in Ferrara, prompting the student studying there to transfer to the school in Rome. Students were not in Italy long before the cancellation. All arrived in Italy by Feb. 9, and classes at Middlebury’s Sede Capponi Center began on Feb. 18. Some students feel the decision exacerbates overblown fears about contracting the virus.  “The cancellations were very upsetting because none of us were afraid of getting coronavirus,” Eva Ury ’21.5 said. “The virus wasn’t impacting our daily lives in Florence at all. Only the Middlebury program’s fear of us getting the virus and their liability was affecting us.” The Sede Capponi Center is set to begin online classes next week, which they will conduct through a mix of recorded lectures and video chats, according to a campus-wide email. Professors and students will have to surmount the logistical hurdle of differing time zones — Ury, for example, plans to remain in Europe and spend the semester traveling, while other students will return to their homes elsewhere.  The Sede courses are not designed to accommodate students who test into the advanced level of Italian. Those students are normally permitted to take only one class there, and must enroll in two local university courses or one university course and one internship. Those students, should they opt to take the online courses, will have to fit into existing intermediate or graduate level courses, according to Ury. The college told returning students that they will most likely have to submit to health checks upon arriving in the U.S., but will not have to undergo quarantine unless they fail the screenings. But CDC and U.S. State Department guidelines could change in the upcoming days, according to Capossela.  Dean of International Programs Carlos Vélez said that decisions to close further schools will depend on a confluence of several factors, including increases in the number of coronavirus cases in the immediate vicinity of a program’s locations, indications that travel options will become limited, advisories from the Department of State and the CDC and decisions by local university partners. Velez declined to comment on any specific sites that he is considering closing. “Given the spread of the virus we have to actively monitor every site with [the] possibility [of closing them] in mind,” Vélez said. ”Health and safety are our primary concerns.”

'In Search of Air: Growing Up Dyslexic'

“This is a story about the transformative power of art,” said Assistant Professor of Dance Lida Winfield in a performance on Jan. 16. Her work, titled “In Search of Air: Growing Up Dyslexic,” has been performed across the country since 2011 and combines oral storytelling with dance to depict Winfield’s journey to knowledge. Winfield, who struggled in school — a challenge exacerbated by the presence of a learning disability — says that this piece allows her to frame her disability as “a glimpse of brilliance.” In this manner, Winfield’s show inspires possibility and rebukes a narrative of humiliation and self-hatred. In her show, Winfield is candid about the shame she experienced because of her learning disability and the love that surrounded her despite it. “I think that shame is really the crux of what happens with learning disabilities,” she said. “I think I was loved by many of my former teachers, but I think because of the situation and the circumstances and the system, I was misunderstood.” Toward the beginning of Winfield’s poignant program, she faces the audience and says that “opportunity was in our fingertips; love was in our arms.” In spite of the support, Winfield points out that she did not learn to read until much later in her life.  “[Not learning to read] happened because of a whole set of circumstances,” she said. “Part of what’s so tricky about these things is that our lives are rarely straight lines: they’re these wandering, messy, sometimes heartbreaking and sometimes amazing pathways. I think for me, the scale tipped that there was too much shame, there was not enough access [and] I then couldn’t get myself through.” Though the show’s narrative is centered around Winfield’s learning disability, it is also a story that offers themes of hope, strength and resilience. Its universality allows the show to connect with audiences and leave an impact after its viewers exit the performance space.  For Winfield, connecting with her audience through personal story has been a pillar of her performances even before “In Search of Air: Growing Up Dyslexic.” “Years and years ago, I was working on a different show and I told a story that [I now tell] in ‘In Search of Air.’ I was really struck by how moved and interested people were in that particular story,” she said. “It felt clear to me that there are so many folks that have amazing, rich and complicated lives who have stories to tell, and this happens to be mine.” By speaking up about her experiences, Winfield has used her show to open up conversation about accessibility in education. As someone who “think[s] better when [she’s] moving,” Winfield’s performance is not just a celebration of knowledge, but also an invitation to revisit other methods of learning. “I think before reading and writing really became a commodity in the West, [human interaction] was really how knowledge was passed,” she says. “I think my body and all of our bodies are smart, that there is wisdom inside of us, and I know that I process the world by moving, by doing.” It is perhaps because of this initiation of dialogue – one culminating in a Q&A Winfield conducts at the end of each show – that “In Search of Air: Growing Up Dyslexic” remains regularly booked. “I think [this show still gets booked] because there’s a desire and an interest to be talking about the value of the arts and to be talking about learning disabilities,” Winfield said.  Along with details of Winfield’s struggle to learn — beginning in elementary school and lasting through her high school years — the show also involves moments where she realizes her potential. “I could be a doctor,” she tells the audience, later in the piece, during a moment when her character is attending college. “I could be your doctor,” she adds. Ensuingly, she says, “I start to think and I start to feel smart.” It is this empowering feeling of capability that Winfield hopes to instill not just in her audience, but also in her own students. “I think as a learner, you sometimes need someone else to help move [fear and self-hatred] out of the way,” she said. “There is so much self-hatred and there’s so much fear riddled inside of all of us and that is a barrier to being our best self. If, as a facilitator, I can help shift that in any way, then I think the other things just get to grow.”

In defense of the Hamilton Forum

As students who have been actively involved in and have benefited from Alexander Hamilton Forum lectures, debates and dialogues, we write to set the record straight and defend deliberating on the Green New Deal. First, we believe the Hamilton Forum is the most politically and philosophically diverse program on campus, both in terms of the speakers it hosts and the students involved. Since its inception in 2018, the Hamilton Forum has hosted the world’s leading Marxist economist, Richard Wolff; the editor of the foremost magazine of the American Left, Michael Kazin; a lion of the civil libertarian left and the first female president of the ACLU, Nadine Strossen; and Harvard professor and clerk for Justice Thurgood Marshall, Randall Kennedy. The Hamilton Forum has also hosted several speakers on the political right, like New York Times columnist Ross Douthat, as well as speakers from the political center, such as former Clinton domestic policy advisor William A. Galston.  [pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Political diversity is not a bug, but rather the most impressive and beneficial feature of the Hamilton Forum.[/pullquote] On Thursday, Feb. 20, the Hamilton Forum will host Manhattan Institute Senior Fellow Oren Cass and economist Robert Pollin, the latter of whom has actually designed Green New Deals for states like New York and Washington. This political diversity is not a bug, but rather the most impressive and beneficial feature of the Hamilton Forum. In a recent op-ed entitled “We don’t need a Koch sponsored Green New Deal,” two students wrote that debates like the one happening this Thursday challenge “progressive ideals.” “The speakers don’t have to disprove every argument as long as they can plant doubts in our heads,” the authors wrote. “By hosting the debate, the organizers of the forum choose which questions to ask, therefore reinforcing and normalizing discourses that question climate activism.” To us, this sounds like education. We think that challenging ideals, raising doubts and normalizing questioning is what good educators do. Shouldn’t we “normalize” the questioning of all political viewpoints, including both climate activism and opposition to climate activism? In fact, this would make a good, aspirational motto for our campus. “Middlebury College: Normalizing questioning since 1800.” Put it on the stationery, sweatshirts and key chains. It is also puzzling that someone would suggest that the Hamilton Forum cherry-picks “questions to ask.” Does anyone really believe that it is the Hamilton Forum that determined the Green New Deal should be a topic of public and academic debate in America in 2020? It is important to discuss the hotly debated issues of our day, and we certainly believe that the Green New Deal is one of them. Also, as anyone who has attended Hamilton Forum events knows, the hosts leave a long amount of time for unfiltered student questions, and those questions come from students of every persuasion. Afterwards, speakers stay behind to continue discussion over dinner, which are some of the best out-of-the-classroom intellectual experiences we have had here at Middlebury.  Some maintain that the Hamilton Forum takes direction from outside sources. This is demonstrably false. As the list above indicates, no foundation or organization could possibly see the Hamilton Forum as its mouthpiece because the diversity of speech is so vast. You would need to be a Marxist, populist, libertarian, nationalist, neo-liberal, socialist, anti-traditionalist, Catholic, anti-populist, traditionalist and centrist to see the Hamilton Forum as your mouthpiece. We have never met any such individual. The Hamilton Forum receives grants from external foundations just like many other programs on campus, and it operates with complete academic independence, as is evident in what we have said above. Additionally, anyone who wonders whether the Hamilton Forum’s director — Political Science Professor Keegan Callanan — is susceptible to political pressure should review his record of standing on principle and speaking his mind, even as a non-tenured professor back in 2017. [pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Challenging ideals, raising doubts and normalizing questioning is what good educators do.[/pullquote] Those who speak of “Koch funding” for the Hamilton Forum leave out a key factual detail. The Hamilton Forum’s grant from the Institute for Humane Studies is funded by the Clifford S. Asness Family Foundation’s Free Speech and Open Inquiry Program, with no grant funds from the Koch family. Why do the editorialists never mention this fact? Could it be that they realize it may “put doubts in our heads” about their narrative? The broader principle regarding gifts and grants to Middlebury is that there should be no political purity test. A purity test barring donations on the basis of a donor’s political views would be out-of-step with Middlebury’s stated commitment to political diversity. It would be discriminatory. It would be a great way to alienate a substantial portion of the alumni donor base. Middlebury should no more discriminate on the basis of political viewpoint in its acceptance of grants and gifts than it discriminates in its admissions or (let’s hope) in hiring new professors. Middlebury is not a political campaign. We are a learning community, and we are here to ask important questions together, to be challenged, and to challenge ourselves. Akhila Roy ’20, Joey Lyons ’21, Quinn Boyle ’21.5, Max Taxman ’22, Maddy Stutt ’21.5 and Rati Saini ’22, are 2019–20 Alexander Hamilton Forum fellows. If you would like to attend Hamilton Forum events and dinners, you can sign up at go/joinAHF. 

Empty bookstore shelves make room for Amazon

When the Middlebury College Bookstore stopped stocking physical books in 2018 — some say the ensuing collective groan still echoes in the hills — a large part of its rationale was students’ increasing use of Amazon. As a result, the bookstore replaced its concrete, in-person services with an online supplier called MBS Direct; Amazon orders swelled. While students have always scrambled to get their school books in time for the start of classes each semester, the Middlebury College Bookstore once provided the most convenient on-the-spot option that guaranteed timely access. By removing this source, the college has created space for Amazon’s fast delivery and low prices to occupy an even greater portion of schoolbook sales than it once did. Whereas students once used Amazon in take-as-needed doses, the college has now essentially written the campus an open prescription to mainline it, leaving the hazardous side effects to fall on the book industry.  Many already revile Amazon for its laundry list of legal and ethical vices, though few are aware that the company had its not-so-humble beginning in book sales. CEO Jeff Bezos chose books as a jumping-off point because they were a uniquely exploitable commodity due to vast variety, worldwide demand and low unit price. The company has been dealing despotic blows to publishing houses and their authors ever since. After significantly expanding its merchandise, Amazon now relies on book sales for just a sliver of its revenue. However, the website is responsible for more than half of all books sold worldwide. So, while Amazon doesn’t rely on books, the company enjoys unparalleled leverage over book sales, including the ability to manipulate publishing houses and authors and abuse supply chains. An example might help. As a student studying English and American literature and political science, I was required to order a total of 16 books for the spring semester — mostly novels and nonfiction titles published by single authors through conventional publishing houses. One item on my list is “Caucasia” by Danzy Senna, a phenomenal contemporary novel published in 1999 by Riverhead books, an imprint of Penguin Random House. A used copy, ordered through MBS Direct, costs $12; a brand-new copy of the same edition costs $5.88 from Amazon via a third-party supplier. On paper, ordering “Caucasia” in better condition for half the price may seem like a no-brainer. But what does “third-party supplier” mean? Amazon intentionally leaves the answer murky. Oftentimes, these books are promotional copies circulated without permission; others are simply counterfeited. One thing that every purchase of a book from a third-party supplier has in common is that the publisher and author do not see a single penny of profit. Despite countless complaints, Amazon has excused itself from the responsibility of vetting these sources for such infractions, claiming that it is the suppliers’ responsibility to “ensure that [their] content doesn’t violate laws or copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity or other rights.” [pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Whereas students once used Amazon in take-as-needed doses, the college has now essentially written the campus an open prescription to mainline it, leaving the hazardous side effects to fall on the book industry. [/pullquote] Beyond the problem of third-party suppliers, the scope of Amazon’s business model allows it to routinely take intentional losses in book sales, often pricing books lower than the wholesale price it paid the publisher and making up for the profits elsewhere. The company then uses the sheer quantity of customers to strongarm publishing companies into agreeing to disadvantageous wholesale and royalty contracts. A notable example is a dispute between Amazon and major publishing house Hachette that occurred in 2014, during which Amazon raised listed prices of Hachette books and delayed delivery times by weeks — all the while advertising cheaper and faster-shipping books from other houses — to injure Hachette’s sales until the house was willing to renegotiate.  Publishing houses rely on the revenue generated by big-selling titles. In turn, these revenues  provide publishers room to experiment with content, diversify their repertoires, take on new authors and publish the higher-quality, medium-to-low-selling content. These are the works that often win prestigious awards like the Pulitzer, Booker and Nobel Prize in Literature (and that we are often assigned at Middlebury). When Amazon uses its leverage to skimp publishing houses on profits or sells new copies from third-party suppliers, not only are these houses less able to produce high-quality, wide-ranging content, but new and diverse authors are dissuaded from entering the field at all due to lower financial rewards. I am aware that, for many students, the cheapest option is the only viable option. Whether the bookstore is online or on campus, Amazon often fills this role, and I do not intend to shame students who use it for this purpose in any way. The problem is that, though the old Middlebury College Bookstore was not necessarily the most affordable, it was frequently the most convenient. By transitioning to an online supplier, the college makes room for Amazon to occupy this role as well. Thus, in the wake of the bookstore’s digitization, the student pivot to Amazon is unfortunately reasonable, as it is often the only service that can deliver books as quickly and cheaply as required by Middlebury’s quick-moving academic calendar and rigorous homework schedule — in one of my literature classes, for instance, my professor told students not to bother attending class until they have the book in hand. By clearing the bookstore’s shelves and ushering students to the internet, Middlebury has raised a de facto white flag to Amazon’s literary abuses, inviting the company into our classrooms at the expense of the very books we study. Hattie LeFavour ’21 is a Local editor for The Campus.

Incoming Feb deferred due to China travel ban

ZhiZhong Pu ’24, a Chinese international student who intended to matriculate at Middlebury as part of the class of 2023.5, was barred from starting school this semester due to President Trump’s travel ban. The ban, intended to prevent the spread of coronavirus, prohibits any foreign nationals, including F-1 student visa holders, from traveling to the U.S. if they have been in China within the last 14 days. Trump issued the executive order that instituted the ban on Jan. 31, and it went into effect on Feb. 2 at 5 p.m. EST. On Feb. 4, after the ban went into effect, the college told Pu that he would not be able to begin at Middlebury as a February admit this spring, and would have to wait until the fall to matriculate.  As the last Middlebury students studying abroad in China quickly evacuated after the college cancelled the spring semester of the Middlebury C.V. Starr School Abroad in China, Pu remained stuck in the country without access to his passport.  “I’m so frustrated,” Pu said. “I’ve been looking forward to this for so long, and I had everything prepared. To suddenly have this tragic issue, I’ve never felt so bad in my life.” Pu had intended to visit Montreal before beginning orientation at Middlebury on Feb. 5. He applied for a Candian visa through Visa Facilitation Services Global and submitted his passport to the agency. The company had not processed his request before the Lunar New Year began on Jan. 25. Although the holiday ended on Feb. 2, many companies, including VFS Global, remain closed to prevent the spread of the virus.  “Technically, if I had paid a huge amount to get here before the deadline, I still could have come. I would have done that, except it was impossible [because VFS Global has my passport],” Pu said.   Once VFS Global reopens and returns Pu’s passport to him, he would still have to travel to a third country and remain in self quarantine for 14 days before coming to the U.S. With a growing number of airlines suspending flights to and from China, even leaving the country could prove difficult. If Pu received his passport today, he would still miss more than two weeks of classes. According to an email sent to Pu on Feb. 7 by Vice President of Student Affairs and Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor, an absence that long would exclude him from enrolling at all this spring. “We are a residential college where our living-learning community requires on-campus residency and participation,” Taylor wrote in the email. “I cannot grant your request to join the spring semester late. Please know that we are looking forward to welcoming you in the Fall.”  “The travel ban itself wasn’t that bad. I anticipated it very early on,” Pu said. “What I didn’t anticipate was the dean of students’ disapproval of me arriving two weeks late given this exceptional situation. I never thought that would be a problem.” The returning Middlebury school in China students were instructed to self quarantine for 14 after their departure from China in accordance with Trump’s executive order and CDC guidelines. They may participate in the spring semester, though some will miss the first week of classes.  Pu lives in Xinjiang, the easternmost region of the country, more than 2,000 miles away from Wuhan, the epicenter of the outbreak. Despite the distance, Pu said that the disease remains a constant presence in the minds and lives of the residents in his region. “The situation in China is very depressing. The government is trying to limit people’s interaction and prevent people from going out or traveling across the country,” Pu said.  Pu said he receives constant temperature checks whenever he goes into public. When he visited the VFS office, security checked his temperature upon entering the building and again when he reached the fourth floor. Face masks are mandatory for entering train stations or other public spaces. Pu spoke to the Campus via Skype on a train from Shanghai to Xinjiang. His face mask, usually carefully secured, was haphazardly hanging on one ear, his face open to the computer camera. As the only passenger in his compartment, he was not worried about the possibility of infection. “I’ve never seen this in my life,” Pu said. “In China, train stations are always so busy. You can’t even find a seat in normal times, and now, all the seats are empty. I’m literally the only person.” Pu said he is not afraid of contracting the virus, since he is confident that his youth and good health would protect him from its fatal consequences. However, he finds the atmosphere of tension and fear in China nearly unbearable. “The situation is very bad, but the sensationalization of fear, that’s even worse than the virus,” Pu said. [related title="Related Stories" stories="48150" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]

Experiences from the coronavirus outbreak in China's capital

I expected to write this column under vastly different circumstances. Today, Thursday, February 13, should have marked the start of Middlebury’s semester-long study abroad programs in the bustling Chinese metropolises of Beijing, Hangzhou and Kunming. Over two weeks ago, I finished a month-long intensive language program and was looking forward to traveling with my classmates on our new year holiday break and visiting the Snow and Ice Festival of Harbin and the ancient Mogao Grottoes of Dunhuang.  Instead, I sit writing this piece at home, having repatriated back to the U.S. and a week into self-quarantine. The new year travel period, known as chunyun, is usually the largest annual human migration in the world. Normally, close to 3 billion trips are made over the 40-day period as workers across the country return to their families to celebrate the new year. And yet my new year holiday, like many others’, ended only two days after it started, train tickets refunded and plans upended.  Beyond holiday cancellations, the spread of the coronavirus has invoked a sense of fear and xenophobia towards Chinese around the world, causing division and provoking often discriminatory attitudes in shops, restaurants and college campuses. As countries have closed their borders to those from China in an attempt to halt the spread of the virus, disinformation spread through the media has resulted in a perceived global crisis.  So how did we get here?  On Jan. 16, Middlebury students studying abroad in China received an email from Global Rescue, indicating that the “U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention ha[d] issued a Watch Level 1 Alert.” We were advised to “be aware and practice usual precautions” for an “outbreak of pneumonia in Wuhan, China, preliminarily identified to be caused by a novel (new) coronavirus.” It was not until the following week, however, on Jan. 21, when I began to focus on the coronavirus outbreak shaking China to its core. The virus was and is believed to have originated in Wuhan, the sprawling capital of central China’s Hubei Province and home to 11 million residents. I visited Wuhan in the summer of 2017 and had fond memories of my time there. Under the blazing heat, I enjoyed dishes of reganmian — hot dry noodles — as I climbed the Yellow Crane Tower for a view of a city larger than New York or London. More than 500 Americans have been evacuated from that same city since the beginning of the outbreak. From our position in Beijing — over 600 miles away — our group initially felt a sort of immunity to this new disease that few could confirm exact details as to its source and spread. And yet as cases began to pop up in Beijing and throughout the country (as of now, the virus has spread to every region in China), we began to echo the sense of fear and paranoia felt by our Chinese counterparts.  During the final week of our J-term program, residents of Beijing donned masks and started to cancel new year plans. We watched as a typically joyous time transformed into a grim one. Wuhan and the surrounding area went into lockdown and quarantine. Residents in Beijing rushed to the supermarkets and pharmacies, buying every face mask and hand sanitizer in sight. The Chinese government China made an impressive response to the coronavirus’ spread, shutting down tourist attractions nationwide and attempting to limit travel on the country’s extremely popular rail network. The effects of the virus were felt on a person-to-person level as well. On the eve of Chinese New Year, I had the privilege to be invited to a local friend’s celebration banquet. A depressing undertone filled the air of a usually lively restaurant, as the family next to us removed their masks only to eat. The following day, I made the decision to continue with our small group’s trip up north to Harbin. After analyzing the situation as it stood at the time, I believed that the risk of anyone in our student group contracting the virus was still quite low. However, the country remained on high alert. China’s supply of thermometers seemed to quadruple as in every public place, temperature checks became ubiquitous. Even outside walking around Harbin’s Snow and Ice Festival, tourists wore masks as security guards pointed thermometers at every entrance.  Still, a day into our trip we received an email from Middlebury’s study abroad office, instructing us to return to Beijing and gather in our dorm hotel to await further instructions. The rapidly changing situation meant that each day brought new restrictions nationwide — intercity bus services suspended, the official new year holiday extended, schools and universities cancelled until further notice. Many of our Chinese counterparts spent upwards of a week at home, with friends in Harbin cancelling dinner plans in fear of spreading the virus. Upon arriving back in Beijing, myself and my classmates were all placed in separate single rooms to undergo 14 days of health screening, since we came from outside Beijing. This consisted of three temperature checks throughout the day: one in the morning, one at noon and one at night.  On the few occasions I ventured out during those days, I saw a city unlike the Beijing I had seen before. China’s capital had begun to show early signs of a “ghost town.” Many gated neighborhood communities in Beijing sealed themselves off from the outside. Taxis and cars sped along Beijing’s usually congested streets, with most people inside in fear of spreading the virus. Restaurants closed and dozens queued outside one of the only open eating establishments, hoping for a supply of fresh vegetables to bring home.  On Jan. 29, we woke up to notice from Middlebury that the college had made the decision to suspend all programs in China for the spring semester. The days that ensued consisted of trips to the bank and cell phone store, closing accounts and refunding phone plans. Our group of 24 dwindled as students left on flights operated by airlines that were constantly announcing cancellations. On campus, movement became more restricted as security guards required us to register and inform them of our whereabouts whenever entering or leaving campus. Fast food and takeout became the norm for meals, as they were the only establishments open and involved minimal amounts of close contact. Takeout drivers crisscrossed the city as bags of food piled up in restaurants, waiting to be delivered.  After 37 days in China, I was among the last Middlebury students to leave. On the final night before my repatriation, I walked around an eerily quiet dorm building. I mentally prepared to cut my semester abroad short by more than three months and wondered when I would return. Leaving China is a privilege. I know that for many in the country, leaving is not an option. Many of my local counterparts have friends and family affected by the coronavirus epidemic. People who have visited mainland China in the past 14 days are currently unable to travel to the U.S. Fear around the global spread of the coronavirus has fueled racism and xenophobia around the world. These thoughts are misinformed and those who believe them fail to understand the vibrancy and diversity of China, its culture and its people. After completing my 19th trip to the Middle Kingdom since 2006, I have every motivation to return. Why? Because this country has given me hope, opportunity and energy, and we should give it the same. Benjy Renton ’21 was The Campus’ senior local editor this fall.

Charles Murray round two: A chance to get it right

“If people are determined to be offended — if they will climb up on the ladder, balancing it precariously on their own toilet system to be upset by what they see through the neighbor’s bathroom window — there is nothing you can do about that.” — Christopher Hitchens In 1755, the lexicographer Samuel Johnson published his famous dictionary of the English language. Shortly after his work was distributed, many people in London sought him out to praise him for his work. As the story goes, one group of ladies congratulated Johnson on excluding any inappropriate or indecent words from his dictionary. “Ladies,” Johnson replied, “I congratulate you on your diligence in searching for them.”  It’s easy to hear this story and connect it to contemporary occasions in which individuals go out of their way to find offense with a given author or speaker. Despite my best efforts, I cannot grasp the inner workings of the minds of those who embark upon these kinds of searches. In some cases, the sought-for offense is more easily found than in others. “The Bell Curve” by the re-invited Charles Murray arguably represents a more obviously controversial publication (as is the case with his newest book). However, the actions of those at the 2017 protest who found offense in Murray’s work were far more serious than those of the ladies of London. They were so extreme that, when I was the treasurer of the American Enterprise Institute Club and co-president of the College Republicans in 2017, I could not have envisioned the outrage his presence generated on campus, which culminated in protests governed by a mob mentality the afternoon of his talk. Would you return to a place that greeted you with, “Racist, sexist, anti-gay, Charles Murray go away?” Perhaps the hundreds of student and non-Middlebury protesters should have been more diligent in the search to be offended — as the ladies in London were with Johnson — because they didn’t appear to be relying on accurate information. For example, one could choose to counter their chants by pointing out that Murray was one of the most forthright conservative intellectuals in favor of the Republican Party modifying its platform to support both gay marriage and abortion. Or by pointing out that Murray’s calls for a more socially liberal stance on those issues were made in 2013, when gay marriage and abortion were even more unpopular among Republicans than they are today, within just months of President Obama’s own 180-degree switch on the issue of marriage equality. But I suppose the protest chant had a nice jingle to it and seriously engaging in a dialogue with “sexist and anti-gay” Murray was much less convenient than reading a half-page summary of Murray’s work on the Southern Poverty Law Center’s website. Can I understand why some people were offended by Murray’s visit? Certainly. I came to Middlebury with a worldview that was challenged, shattered, built up and shattered again multiple times throughout my time there. But I sought out guest lectures on race, equity, religion; worldviews that often made me uncomfortable in my own skin, clothes and head. My time at Middlebury popped the bubble in which I was raised and forced me to encounter issues on my own through the free expression and engagement of ideas. Patting myself on the back through conversations with ideologically identical friends whose views echoed my own was of no interest or value to me. Yet, despite running towards these challenges, I not only found the Murray protesters uninterested in engaging with any contrary viewpoints (or even understanding what they were really opposing), but found myself running away from the event. Literally. I still recall that evening in vivid detail, when my brisk pace turned to a full-on sprint as a masked protester (who I assume was not a student) holding a large sign chased me back to my dorm room from the event. I was wearing a suit and tie; I had to be with the bad guy, they figured.  If you didn’t feel that the protesters’ response — effectively shutting down the Murray event, as well as the events which occurred immediately afterwards — was an embarrassing moment for the college prior to reading this op-ed, I doubt I’ve convinced you. But for those who are on the fence, having Murray back provides an opportunity to engage without shutting down and redeem the college’s stained image in the eyes of many alumni, donors and the general public. Rarely do such second chances present themselves. If you don’t agree with me, I want to leave you with this thought: Consider what would have happened if, instead of attending those lectures to challenge my viewpoints and gain more information, I had simply taken offense to paragraphs posted on Facebook. Imagine if I had organized a group of dozens, or even hundreds, of students to shut down that event. Or pulled the fire alarm three times. Or stood in front of a car carrying Murray and college staff. Or protested with outside professionals on campus, culminating in the concussion of a professor. Imagine if my gut reaction was not to engage, but to resist forcefully something which I hadn’t read about and based on my opinion of a speaker whom I heard third-hand. Now, imagine if this was done again. And again. And again. Would that be helpful to anyone? Would it further the college’s mission? Would it reflect well on my own (and my peers’) cause? Most importantly, would it right the supposed wrong embodied in the offense that was taken?  The views you cherish and express today might be offensive to someone else tomorrow. And if a precedent is set that offense justifies the cancellation of the exchange of ideas on the basis of offense, then you’ve cut off the very branch upon which you sit. My advice: Be careful not to make yourself a victim of your own actions. Hayden Dublois '17 helped organize Charles Murray's 2017 visit to Middlebury. Dublois currently works at the Foundation for Government Accountability.