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(02/18/16 1:54am)
For most students, group projects are a source of dread, when unfairly divided workloads and conflicting schedules among group members contribute to a less-than-enjoyable college experience.
This was not the case for nine students in Professor Christopher Andrews’s fall section of Software Development, an advanced course in the computer science department that is targeted towards upperclassmen. Those students, Rob Bracken ’15.5, Joey Button ’17, Andrew Hwang ’15.5, David Cromwell ’16, Max White ’16, Hanna Nowicki ’16, Marisa Dreher ’16, Mohamed Houtti ’16 and Jack Desmarais ’16, not only enjoyed a successful working relationship throughout the semester, but kept working together throughout J-Term in order to finish what they started. Their final product, website Carpanion.org, seeks to fill what Bracken described as an opening the group saw on campus.
“What we set out to do was to solve the need for a ride that so many Middlebury students experience every weekend,” Bracken said.
The group estimated that there are around 15-20 trips undertaken by Middlebury students to popular destinations like Burlington, Boston or New York City on any given weekend, with a huge surge coming at the beginning and end of semester breaks. With the common knowledge that many of those rides often have empty seats, however, Bracken and his classmates decided to create a network that could better coordinate the supply of rides with the demand.
“Right now, if you want to go somewhere off campus, you have two choices: beg a friend, or pay a ton,” Bracken said. “There’s no marketplace for getting off campus.”
Carpanion allows drivers planning an off-campus trip to post their ride online, where potential fellow trip-goers can then view what is available on a given weekend. Riders can then bid on the ride, with the driver ultimately having the final say in accepting bids and who he or she takes for the weekend. All participants will need to have a middlebury.edu email address in order to register.
While the app is currently driver-centric, the next step Bracken and the group intend to take is to allow a rider to post a desired ride in order to attract any drivers thinking of making a trip but who may be hesitant over variables such as the cost of gas. Bracken and the group see the app as both a functional way to solve an existing problem, and as providing other benefits.
“There are a few places people do this already, but everyone in the group felt that the other services were inadequate and incomplete,” Button said. “The cumulative goal was to create a site for members of the Middlebury community to find cheap solutions for rides off-campus, and maybe meet someone awesome in the process.”
“We’re trying to make it easier to see what’s out there, rather than just having to post in a Facebook group and hope someone responds,” Bracken added. Bracken stressed that the rides will also provide a social aspect, as there’s “no better way to get to know someone than on a long car ride.”
Although Carpanion originally started as a class project last fall, the group found themselves unprepared to launch the app at the class’s conclusion in December. They also found themselves unwilling to simply write the app off as a project of a now-past class and forget about it. Thus, they took advantage of a lax J-Term schedule to buckle down and finish the website. The group met three times each week, and started each meeting with the members detailing what they each had accomplished since they had last met.
This system of group accountability was ultimately quite successful with the group putting the last touches on the site and launching it in the final week of the term. Now, as the group advertises the app they have created, they are waiting to see how the student body will react.
“If people see this as we do, as a real need within the student body, then it could easily take off,” Bracken said.
Should the app find success, Bracken and the group face a difficult path forward, with Bracken and another group member graduating with the class of 2015.5 and leaving campus. Right now, the plan for the group is to see how the app fares now that it is open for Middlebury students to use and judge.
Regardless of whether Middlebury students take up the app, Bracken emphasized that the whole experience has been an entirely worthwhile one.
“What is great about it is that we built it all the way through. All the front-end and back-end stuff, the coding, all of us contributed,” Bracken said. “It’s very satisfying to see the finished product.”
(02/17/16 11:50pm)
If you made plans to leave campus this weekend, cancel them. Don’t have any? You do now. First, you will witness one of the most captivating trumpet prodigies of our time, Bria Skonberg, on Friday at 8 p.m. in the Mahaney Center for the Arts (MCA). What’s that, you don’t like Jazz? You will.
The next evening, Saturday at 8 p.m., you will be sitting in Wright Theater, enthralled by Tina Packer’s ‘Women of Will’ as she artfully deconstructs Shakespeare’s most famous female characters in world-class performances that will make you laugh out loud while also considering the Bard from an entirely fresh perspective. After watching Part One of the show, not even this weather will stop you from going to Part Two on Sunday at 7 p.m.
If Louis Armstrong and Ella Fitzgerald were one person, that person would be Bria Skonberg. Seriously, after going to her performance, put on “Dream a Little Dream of Me” — the resemblance is uncanny. The Wall Street Journal calls her “one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation.” And although Skonberg may not be Louis reincarnate, she is pretty close.
According to All About Jazz Magazine, “It’s a rare talent that can straddle — and dare request membership in — the trumpet artist continuum emanating from Louis Armstrong ... However, with her bravura performance on ‘So is the Day,’ Bria Skonberg confirms that she is not only indeed a triple threat musician — player, vocalist, and composer — but also that that esteemed lineage, consummate entertainers all, would heartily approve her membership.”
But Skonberg is not just a powerful vocalist, musician and songwriter: she is also a consummate entertainer. She is a young, hip woman who wields a trumpet like Thor wields a hammer.
On Friday, Skonberg will lead her quintet in a dynamic program that includes an ode to Satchmo himself as well as mix of jazz standards and her own original works that explore worldly rhythms and modern jazz variance.
Speaking of powerful women, the incredible scholar and actor, Tina Packer, will perform “Women of Will,” her masterful summation of over forty years spent investigating all things Shakespeare. Through a combination of riveting scenes and trenchant analysis, Packer draws upon her astonishing wealth of knowledge to explore themes of love, loss, freedom, control, violence and power in the heroines of Shakespeare’s texts.
The two consecutive performances, “Force and Heat: The Early Plays” and, “Chaos and Redemption: The Later Plays” will open at 8 and 7 p.m. on Saturday and Sunday nights, respectively, in Wright Memorial Theatre. The New York Times call this performance by Packer and her costar, Nigel Gore, “Marvelous!” while the Associated Press hails it as “Boundless and irresistible!”
Packer is the founding Artistic Director of Shakespeare & Company. She has directed almost every single Shakespeare play, acted in several and taught the whole canon at over 30 colleges in the U.S., including Harvard, MIT, Columbia and NYU.
Packer began her career in England, where she trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Art. Soon after winning their Ronson Award for Most Outstanding Actor, she became an associate artist of the Royal Shakespeare Company and has since risen to become an authority on everything Shakespeare. She has also proven her acting chops on BBC Television, where she played Dora to Ian McKellen’s “David Copperfield” and was a love interest for Patrick Troughton’s “Doctor Who.”
Packer came to the U.S. in 1974 on a Ford Foundation-funded project to research the visceral roots of Elizabethan theater. Ford Foundation awarded her two subsequent grants to travel the world, looking at the relationship of mind, body, sacred texts, stand-up comedy, voice and actor–audience relationship in her studies. Based on this work, she founded Shakespeare & Company in 1978 at Edith Wharton’s derelict mansion in Lenox, Massachusetts.
“Women of Will” promises to deliver a deeply thought-provoking but accessible performance that delves into our favorite playwright’s feminine side, tracing the developmental arc of his female characters along his own personal journey.
The Bria Skonberg Quintet concert will take place on Friday, Feb. 19, at 8 p.m. in the MCA. “Women of Will” will open at 8 p.m. on Saturday, Feb. 20 and 7 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 21 at Wright Theater.
Tickets for either event are only $6 for students (first-years and Febs, watch your email for a free ticket offer). To find more information or purchase tickets, stop by either of the box offices in McCullough or the MCA or visit go/boxoffice.
(02/17/16 8:59pm)
You may notice 100 new faces walking around Campus this week: the new Febs. We know what you’re thinking and, yes, this is another editorial on how to improve the Feb program. The Campus welcomes the Class of 2019.5 and would like to wish them luck in fielding the inevitable small-talk staple, “What did you do on your Febmester?”
Middlebury promotes the Febmester as a time for educational enrichment, advertising students studying at the Sorbonne, trekking through the Himalayas or interning near home. The time is open and totally theirs: there are no requirements, no credits to fulfill, no Feb bonding programs to go on. While we applaud the freedom that the program allows, we think that some are left overwhelmed by options or without funding to do what they want to do. Programs abroad are expensive and internships require connections. We do not buy into the stereotype of a “good Feb experience,” one all too frequently characterized by an exotic trip abroad instead of a local job near home. All Febs should spend their semesters as they wish, without pressure to live up to a particular ideal. Valuable experiences are not marked by extravagance. We do, however, want all Febs to spend their semesters intentionally, aware of the options available to them and with increased resources available to accomplish whatever they wish to do.
There are easy and inexpensive ways for the College to improve the Febmester experience. Many Febs on our Editorial Board recall being sent an uninformative pamphlet and then being set free for the longest unstructured period of their cognitive lives. The expanse of empty months before them was daunting – even paralyzing – as they attempted to decide what to do. The Campus proposes a mentorship program connecting incoming Febs to older Febs. The College could distribute a list that profiles Febs from older grades, including where they are from, their majors and how they spent their time before Middlebury. Incoming Febs could then contact older Febs to chat about their similar interests or to ask questions about an internship. These mentor-mentee relationships would help those who don’t know what to do with their time off, as well as facilitate friendships that will continue when they get to campus.
This is particularly important when considering that not all Febs wanted the semester off. On the Middlebury application, there are three options: Preferred regular admit, preferred feb admit, or either. All three choices leave open the possibility of being deferred a semester. As a result, 6 percent of students admitted for February during regular decision were not originally open to taking time off. More structure — or at least clearer and more comprehensive options — may ease the apprehension of students who did not anticipate February admission.
The College could also go a step further, though at a greater expense, and provide resources for student travel. For example, there could be funds set aside to support Febs on pricey abroad programs that provide students an educational and structured travel experience across the globe. Many students have the resources to go on these trips, while others who may desire to do the same lack opportunity. Middlebury could even go as far to host its own Middlebury-sponsored abroad programs, possibly run through select schools abroad, at a reduced price. We can learn from peer institutions like Colby and Hamilton, who have similar “Jan” programs that offer their students the chance to spend their first semester studying abroad while earning college credit. Colby and Hamilton’s programs are designed to keep Jans on track to graduate in the Spring, which is a different cultural institution than Middlebury’s Feb program. However, the idea of being able to spend the semester with fellow Febs provides a structured option to those without a clear idea of what they want to do, as well as eases the transition to campus.
Travel is certainly not the only productive way to spend a Febmester. The Center for Careers and Internships (CCI) could utilize its infrastructure to reserve internships with alums for students on their Febmesters, or at least provide students with opportunities to interview. In addition, the CCI could allocate some of its internship grant money to support unpaid fall internships.
For those who prefer to stay home and get a paying job or volunteer at a local non-profit, we applaud you. We believe that there should be more opportunities for students to opt into if they desire to do so, though students should also have the freedom to do what they wish with their time off. Our hope is that all Febs have the adequate information and resources to spend their semesters with intention. There is no right or wrong answer to “how did you spend your Febmester?”
Like September admission, matriculating as a February admit comes with its advantages and disadvantages. While some first-year Febs enjoy living in upperclassmen dorms their first term, others feel they miss out on the quintessential freshman hall experience. Febs who want to study abroad often feel pressed for time to fulfill language requirements. Others thrive in their close-knit community of 100 peers. Clearly, the February admission program is unique and beloved by many who have done it. While ups and downs are inevitable, the Campus believes that offering pen-pal mentoring, as well as considering subsidized Febmester programs or formalized internships, will help incoming Febs make the most of their gap semester. All Febs should be equipped with the resources to have the Febmester they desire — whatever it may be — and Middlebury can do more to help these plans come to fruition.
(02/17/16 4:18pm)
The annual off-campus housing lottery was conducted on Tuesday, Feb. 16 in Crossroads Café as a part of the 2016-17 Housing Process. The lottery brought the total number of students approved to live-off campus next fall to 75, marking a nearly 25 percent drop from last year’s 95 and the preceding year’s 106.
According to Associate Dean of Students for Residential and Student Life Doug Adams, the ongoing construction of the new Ridgeline Residence Complex served as the greatest factor in the decision to lower the off-campus approval number for the upcoming academic year. Upon completion, the complex — which will consist of four buildings with townhouse and suite-style apartments — is set to provide new housing for 158 upperclassmen students.
“In the spring of 2015, the College announced that the new construction would serve three purposes: the removal of the Mods, the return of residential lounges currently used as rooms and the reduction in the number of students living off-campus,” said Adams. “The new housing is on track to open this fall and we anticipate continuing with all of these plans.”
Concerns regarding town-gown relations and off-campus incidents with partying were not responsible for the upcoming school year’s approval drop.
“The reduction in the number of students living off-campus has been our plan since the announcement [of the new residence complex] last year,” Adams said.
The lottery was a random selection process that permitted students to apply as individuals or groups of up to eight peers. 28 students currently living off campus extended their status to the fall semester, leaving 47 spots available to be included in this year’s lottery. In total, 119 students applied for these remaining spots and were invited to observe the process, which was intentionally made transparent to mitigate concerns of tampering.
Controversy rose last year when several students accused the administration of rigging the lottery against varsity athletes who may have been likely to throw off-campus parties. 37 varsity athletes applied and only eight were accepted. A study conducted by the Paige-Wright Professor of Economics Paul Somers reported the probability of this outcome occuring was .0035 percent. However, Adams maintained the lottery was and continues to be completely random and noted it has always been an open process that permits students to observe the proceedings.
The only change to this year’s lottery was the creation of a “reserve list” that included students who were not selected to live off campus. Applicants in this list will be contacted in the event there is an emergency need for students to live off campus. However, Adams does not anticipate such a need for the upcoming year, remaining optimistic the Ridgeline Housing Complex will be ready by its projected September 2016 completion date.
In an article released following the announcement of the construction project, Adams said, “The design of these buildings will allow students to live near their academic and social centers while continuing the small-community feel they’ve enjoyed in the ‘mods’ or off campus.”
(01/26/16 2:52am)
This week we talk to Middlebury students who are engaging in exciting internships across the country and abroad. Read more about their adventures below:
Annie Taylor ’16 and Casey Harlow ’16
Santa Cruz Island, California
Annie Taylor ’16 and Casey Harlow ’16 are spending their Winter term hiking all over Santa Cruz Island off the coast of California, religiously searching the remote island for one species in particular: the Bishop pine tree. Taylor, a Biology major and a California native, is spending her year long thesis investigating the spatial pattern of Bishop pine mortality on Santa Cruz Island; in other words, she aims to understand where and why the pine is dying and to map its future distribution, especially in the light of California’s recent devastating droughts.
Harlow, an International Politics and Economics major, accompanied Taylor to Santa Cruz Island, after the Nature Conservancy, which owns the majority of the unpopulated island, suggested it would be unsafe for Taylor to conduct her research alone. While on the island, Harlow is personally investigating how the Bishop pine tree is surviving depending on fence lines.
Together, both women spend their days driving the skinny, dirt island roads, hiking to reach secluded stands of pine trees, marking trees with their GPS units and collecting data. They are staying on a small ranch, leftover from the days when the island was covered in sheep and managed by cowboys. In the evenings, they help Jay, the ranch manager and the only other person currently on the island, with small chores around the ranch.
“I feel very lucky to be able to spend time in this beautiful place, especially because I am not a scientist or a big donor for the Nature Conservancy,” said Harlow. “This project has really allowed me to study something new and take advantage of a liberal arts education.”
Joanna Balla ’18
Columbia Heights, D.C.
An aspiring teacher, literary studies major Joanna Balla ’18 has been spending her days surrounded by three and four-year-olds at the AppleTree Institute, a Public Charter Pre-school located in Columbia Heights, D.C.
Even though the classroom can quickly become hectic and difficult to manage, Balla says she loves the challenge. “I’ve had a passion for education from an early age and it has been so rewarding to start putting these dreams into action by actually spending time working in the classroom. I’m learning so much about classroom control and behavior management from the awesome team of teachers they have.”
Apart from leading activities for the children, Balla notes that one of the most difficult – yet fulfilling – parts of her internship has been working alongside kids with learning disabilities.
For Balla, the greatest joy comes from seeing the small glimmers of progress in her students. “Some of the students that I work with are struggling especially with basic skills such as letter recognition and [simple] tasks such as counting to 10. It is really rewarding to get that rare one-on-one time with the kids and start to see progress even in the short whole that I have been here.”
Christopher Diak ’18.5
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Amidst the lab benches of the Rapoport Laboratory at Harvard Medical School, neuroscience major Christopher Diak ’18.5 is hard at work purifying an “endoplasmic reticulum associated” protein that has been linked to multiple neurodegenerative diseases. The end goal of the Rapoport Team’s research is to discern the precise chemical structure of the protein and to make hypotheses to “see how its pathway works.”
As most of his work takes place at the microscopic level, Diak still marvels at the way in which the smallest of molecules can have such great physiological effects. “I love this work because I am learning to see neurodegenerative disease in terms of the tiniest movements of molecules. It is amazing to think that if we can just make some proteins better at the jobs, we could prevent immense suffering.”
Although the scientific method works on the premise of a strictly defined set of controlled conditions, Diak says that each day in the lab is anything but predictable. Interestingly enough, a crucial part of scientific research consists of eliminating the ways in which things do not work in order to figure out how the actual mechanism functions.
“A typical day involves lots of optimizations – experiments never run the way you want them to the first or second (or [even] eighth) time, so we look at the data from the last experiment and use what we know to tweak our approach.”
Diak, however, is not disappointed when experiments fail. “Even on days when the proteins crash I leave the lab having learned or accomplished something important. The value of an experience like that can’t be overestimated.”
Jiya Pandya ’17
Washington, D.C.
Along with a cohort of three other Middlebury College students, Jiya Pandya ’17 is in midst of completing a four-week long internship in Washington, D.C. A history major at the College, Pandya notes that the internship is a perfect complement to her age-long love for “working with old artifacts and documents.”
“The Smithsonian itself is a incredible institution, and being a part of it, even for a month, seemed not only like a great way to connect with history, but also to see how public history organizations work in the real world.”
Besides being able to access the brimming archives of a world-class institution, Pandya says that her experience at the museum also sheds light upon the incredibly powerful social impact that the organizations such as the Smithsonian have on the public.
By “thinking critically about [issues of] public history, power, control, privilege, and identity,” Pandya says that her internship has given her the invaluable opportunity to engage firsthand in the behind-the-scenes conversations that collectively determine which particular artifacts museum-goers see when they make a trip to the Smithsonian.
“Our supervisor at the museum – who works with disability history – really pushes us to question and think about the reasons why certain histories are displayed, while others are not. She has been encouraging and teaches me how to be a better activist in a field where having an impact is very much about [finding ways to engage] with an audience to educate them about alternative ideas and affirm their own emotions.”
Kate Bauman ’16
Prince Edward Island, Canada
Ever wonder how new medicines and antibiotics are discovered? These days scientists mostly find new drugs by analyzing microbes from remote corners of the planet, like secluded caves and the bottom of the ocean. For Winter Term, Kate Bauman ’16 is joining this hunt for novel antibiotics by analyzing microbic samples from Antarctica in a laboratory at the University of Prince Edward Island in Prince Edward Island, Canada. She will be accompanied by Assistant Professor of Chemistry/Biochemistry Lesley-Ann Giddings. Bauman’s findings will be part of her thesis, the subject of which is “Exploiting cryptic gene clusters for the discovery of bioactive secondary metabolites.”
Bauman is traveling to Prince Edward Island so that she can collaborate with Dr. Russell Kerr. Kerr has the Arctic counterparts to Bauman’s Antarctic samples so collaboration between them will allow a comprehensive look at extremophilic microorganisms—tiny organisms that live in the most extreme environments on earth—from both poles. 50 percent of drugs approved by the FDA in the last thirty years have been from natural products like extremophilic microorganisms.
Bauman, who will be in PEI for two weeks, hopes to hike in the Prince Edward Island National Park when she is not working on her research.
(01/21/16 4:15am)
Kimberlé Crenshaw, a professor of law at Columbia University and UCLA, filled Mead Chapel last Friday night as the keynote speaker for the grand opening of the Anderson Freeman Resource Center (AFC). Crenshaw’s speech was one of many events held over the weekend to celebrate the opening of the new intercultural center on Saturday, Jan. 16.
The opening of the AFC is the culmination of more than a year’s worth of effort by students and former Vice President of Affairs and Dean of the College Shirley Collado. The grand opening coincided with the College’s second Alumni of Color weekend.
Crenshaw is known for coining the term “intersectionality.” Her talk, titled “Intersectionality Matters: Why We Can’t Wait for a Racial Justice Agenda That Centers Us All” highlighted the multiple avenues through which racial and gender oppressions are experienced.
Crenshaw spoke to changes happening on college campuses nationwide. She said: “We are at a moment to transform our society. In some ways, racial discourse has reached a new low with the presidential candidates. But at the same time, we have new forms of social justice agitation that have sprung the conversation back to life.”
She also talked about the defenders of Justice Scalia’s recent comments on black students’ incompetency at elite institutions. “If it is not institutional factors, structural factors, historical factors, that explain inequality, then we are talking about racial differences without talking about racial power, creating a formula for individual and cultural responsibility,” she said. “Individuals in their social groups are responsible for their lack of participation in higher education, for the lack of access.”
Crenshaw then turned her focus to injustice for women and girls in society. She discussed how critical it is to reverse the cycle of invisibility for women and girls with initiatives such as President Obama’s “My Brother’s Keeper” which excludes girls and young women of color.
She asked the audience to identify the names of victims of police brutality, revealing that females were mostly unknown. “We don’t know who these girls are, because the media doesn’t tell you; our leaders don’t tell you,” she said.
Crenshaw concluded her speech with a plea for racial justice and inclusion. “I can’t think of a better time than now to create a new inheritance and a better legacy to foster creating inclusion for everyone. I hope we all lift up in our hearts the possibility of creating racial justice that fulfills the desperate needs of everyone and unfolds to embrace all of us,” she said.
The AFC will function as a center for the College community to come together to foster inclusion and education in support of students who have been “historically underrepresented or marginalized in U.S. higher education.”
“Meeting alumni who are doing amazing things makes me ask them how they survived. There was a joke at the keynote where Crenshaw was amazed that alumni of color actually came back, because I don’t know if I’d come back. But with the alumni here, and the center here, there is a sense of victory,” Jenn Ortega ’18 said.
The celebration continued on Saturday afternoon with a panel discussion titled “History of Diversity and Student Activism at Middlebury College.” Participants included Collado, Chief Diversity Officer Miguel Fernandez ’85, Leroy Nesbitt ’82, Alumni of Color and current students.
One of the first discussions addressed themes of collaboration. Nesbitt noted that student activism at the College has been important throughout its history. He said, “Every growth around issues of diversity have come from student activists. It was activism that created the Chellis House, the Jewish Center, Palana House and Coltrane. The spirit of collaboration also speaks to those faculty and administrators who were excited to see the student activism over the years so they could find ways to join in and support.
In 2010 Collado became the first ever woman of color to join the College’s administration. Last Jan. Collado left the College to work at Rutgers University- Newark but she has remained dedicated to efforts of diversity. She said, “We wanted to dream up what would it mean to move the work of diversity, equity, inclusion, social justice to the center of a place rather than leaving it at the margins of a campus. Harder questions of policy, are we really talking about all students?”
Some of Collado’s turning points included leading a working group of faculty who made the Center for the Comparative Study of Race and Ethnicity possible.
“We felt that we needed a space for something as simple as, but as loaded as, using the word race in the name of a building, in the name of a place at the institution in 2007,” Collado said. “The issue of intersectionality was a great concern because if we focused on race, some assumed everything else would get lost gender, class, ability. But we worked hard to have race in the title.”
Collado also spoke about inclusion programs on campus led by students such as the First Generation Peer Mentoring Program.
“What also emerged were white students who cared, vocal about their curriculum and faculty not being as diverse as the student body, alongside, and sometimes separate, from students of color,” she said.
“There was amazing visibility in that the administration realized this is no longer an issue for just students of color, and this is going to hit us in the face repeatedly because the demographics of this nation are changing,” she added.
The dedication was followed by a ribbon cutting by President Laurie Patton. Associate Professor of History William Hart then gave a talk titled “To ‘engraven her [Middlebury College] an imperishable name ... with honor’: Martin Henry Freeman 1849, Mary Annette Anderson 1899, and the Challenges of Early Diversity at Middlebury College” Anderson was the first woman of color to graduate from the College and Freeman was the first African American college president in U.S. history.
Fernandez finds the AFC playing an essential part in talking, processing and making a plan of action. “Some people say we shouldn’t have a multicultural center because it separates. But collaboration is possible in that center. We live in a racist society and we need to think of our institutions. Students who felt they had no space on campus opened our eyes.”
Roberto Lint Sagarena, director of the AFC, called it a day of celebration, and a day of awareness. “The center is only as powerful as the community,” he said.
(01/21/16 1:14am)
As campaign season rolls around, this column decided to look back at the talk on campus during the famous 1960 election between Kennedy and Nixon. Such issues of concern were Kennedy’s Catholicism, his plans for a welfare state and the newfound presidential television debate.
The March 31, 1960 article reported on polling results showing the faculty’s strong support for Kennedy but a divide between student independents.
“Kennedy Beats Nixon Among Independents As Faculty Strongly Opposes Republican”
By Edward S. Rothchild
Overall results of the presidential preference poll conducted last month by the Middlebury Political Council showed that … the first choice of 99 Democrats is Senator John Kennedy, while the 330 Republicans pick Vice President Richard Nixon. Kennedy beats Nixon as the favorite … among independents. This last figure is largely due to the violently anti-Nixon sentiments expressed by the faculty and administration personnel who replied. Limiting the results to students, Nixon beats Kennedy by a very slim margin among Independents.
On April 28, 1960, a columnist addressed the impact of Kennedy’s religion on his ability to be an effective president.
By Guest Columnist, assistant to the chaplain, F. Dale Branum
A storm of controversy has recently arisen as to whether a Roman Catholic (John F. Kennedy) can or should be elected president. In spite of the fact that all candidates have stated that religious affiliation should not be considered at all by the voter, it is a question that should be given careful thought by every citizen. It cannot be simply ignored ... I see no reason why Kennedy’s Catholicism should be counted for or against him. Indeed, if elected, it is likely that Kennedy will be more resistant to Catholic pressure than a non-Catholic.
But now we come to the question: Can a Catholic be elected? There is no intrinsic reason why he could not, but the prospect is doubtful … His religious affiliation should not affect the votes – but it will.
The November 3, 1960 issue reported on a mock presidential debate on campus, the national television debate and plans for the actual election night.
“Nixon Victorious in Mock Election”
A mock presidential election, conducted by the Middlebury Political Council last Friday between 10 a.m. and 5 p.m. showed Nixon to be victorious by a 216-118 margin.
Donald Rubin ’61, president of the Young Republicans commented on the outcome of the poll: “This victory indicates the independent thinking and optimistic outlook of college youth who will not tolerate the welfarism inherent in Kennedy’s program.”
“Nixon-Kennedy Debates Leave Three Questions Unanswered”
By Gordon Henderson
The future of a TV debate must remain very much in doubt. Much will depend on who is elected next Tuesday, on what effect the ‘political analyists’ decide the debates had on the election’s outcome and finally on how much public demand there is for this type of thing in 1964.
Also, Nixon’s performance on the fourth debate undoubtedly solidified hatred of the Vice President always latent in the hearts of many Democrats. The Vice President’s statements may have been welcomed by Republicans, but may they not have done him great harm in the end by driving Democrats into the Kennedy-Democrats’ arms?
“Election Night”
Proctor Hall’s lounge will remain open until 2 a.m. Tuesday night, according to Lyn Hinman, social director. Coffee and donuts will be served from 11 a.m. until 2 for late election – return watchers.
(01/20/16 6:54pm)
Last Friday, the Middlebury faculty voted to indefinitely renew the Pass/D/Fail program. The program permits students to take two courses for college credit, receivng a “Pass,” D or “Fail” in lieu of a traditional grade. The faculty also extended the deadline to invoke the Pass/D/Fail option — students now have four weeks to decide instead of two. This gives students more time to experience a class and complete more graded assignments before making their choice.
The editorial board commends the faculty for taking student input into consideration and voting in favor of the Pass/D/Fail program. Middlebury students, generally speaking, are risk averse. Many students are planning on attending graduate school, applying for fellowships and seeking jobs that value high GPAs. Even without these incentives, Middlebury students are typically high achievers and are naturally compelled to seek high grades, with no purpose beyond the pride of achieving Magna Cum Laude come graduation day. The Pass/D/Fail option encourages students to leave their comfort zones and incentivizes academic risk-taking, giving students the chance to explore a topic they are unfamiliar or un- comfortable with. The liberal arts education is characterized by both depth and breadth, and the Pass/D/Fail option allows students to broaden their horizons without fear of falling below their own standards.
Some faculty members expressed concerned about the program. Many professors are worried that students will use Pass/D/ Fail to “game the system” in order to protect their high GPAs without having to do as much work. The most frequent grade for students who invoked Pass/D/Fail is a B, demonstrating that the performance of Pass/D/ Fail students is typically average. We under- stand the weariness amongst some faculty over a GPA-driven student body. However, given that we attend a competitive institution of higher education where risk-aversion is both inherent and rewarded, we do not see how the presence or absence of Pass/D/Fail will change the culture. Students gravitate toward academic environments where they are comfortable and feel successful. Pass/D/ Fail allows students to feel a similar level of comfort in an unfamiliar discipline. Two Pass/D/Fail classes taken outside of one’s major and distribution requirements will not significantly affect a student’s ability to graduate with honors. Two of the 36 credits needed to graduate from Middlebury should permissibly become an opportunity for risk and exploration.
Our time is both valuable and finite. Taking a course Pass/D/Fail allows students to test out a new interest without taking on too much additional stress or compromising their focus on their major. If he or she has the time, a student may be able to do perfectly well in a course outside of his or her major or area of interest. But rarely do overscheduled, overcommitted Middlebury students have that extra time and energy. The Pass/D/Fail option gives students the chance to pursue a subject that would normally require a disproportionate percentage of their attention. This is not laziness; rather, it is time management, a critical skill that college does and ought to teach us. We concede that perhaps some students are “gaming the system” by putting less effort into a class that they would ordinarily take for a grade. However, this does not diminish the importance of having the option for students to take advantage of opportunities they would not otherwise seek out. The benefits, in our opinion, outweigh the possible costs to academic rigor.
While extending Pass/D/Fail is a progressive step in encouraging exploration and reducing stress, we can continue to look to our peer institutions for inspiration. Other colleges and universities have taken a more lenient approach to Pass/D/Fail. Students at Williams College, often ranked the most academically rigorous of the NESCAC schools, may take up to three courses on a Pass/Fail basis and have up to the tenth week of the semester to decide. Bowdoin allows students to take up to four Pass/D/Fail courses and have up to the sixth week of classes. Harvard University does not place a specific limit on the number of pass/fail classes students can take, though they cannot be used to satisfy any requirements. Yale has a similar policy to Harvard, and even allows students who invoked Pass/Fail to switch back to a letter grade until shortly after midterms if they find themselves doing better than anticipated. These examples should quell any fears that expanding Pass/Fail comes at the expense of academic integrity.
We the students must challenge ourselves by fully and authentically using the Pass/D/ Fail option. A Political Science major who uses Pass/D/Fail to take a difficult History course has, perhaps, not fully utilized this opportunity. We encourage students to step outside their comfort zones and take courses that will push them to think differently. Pass/D/Fail is an opportunity for English students to study Computer Science and Biology majors to study Classics. We ought to use the Pass/D/Fail option as productively as we can. There are 34 other chances to play it safe at Middlebury. Let’s take this one risk and use it to add unforeseen value to our education.
(12/10/15 2:18am)
Planet X is in the early stages of human development. Should it adopt communism or capitalism?
This motion was debated in the final round of the 2015 Oxford Inter-Varsity Debating Competition. On the weekend of Nov. 13, the Middlebury Debate Society sent its three most experienced debaters to compete in this prestigious event. The society is a student-run organization that brings together students who love to argue for and think about both sides of a polarizing issue.
This fall, the Society sent students to England to compete at the Oxford Tournament, Cambridge Tournament and Cambridge Women’s Tournament. These three events are among the most esteemed debate competitions in the world, bringing together debaters from many different countries.
The competitions are held in the British Parliamentary Style, a common form of academic debate. In this format, debaters are presented with the topic, called a “motion,” and assigned a stance only fifteen minutes before the debate. They fulfill one of four roles, the “opening government,” “opening opposition,” “closing government,” or “closing opposition.” In this short period of time, each student prepares a seven-minute speech that they will use to try and sway the judges. Debaters need to be ready to argue for or against any motion that is thrown their way.
Elizabeth Lee ’17 is president of the Middlebury Debate Society and attended all three of the international competitions. “What you really have to do is learn a lot about what’s going on in the world right now and understand the most prominent theories in philosophy,” she explained. Staying up to date with current events is key when preparing for a competition. “The Economist is the debater’s favorite news source,” Lee added.
The motions that were considered at these events spanned such diverse topics as the feminist movement, climate engineering and whether or not Western democracies should abandon an Olympics hosted by Russia.
“One idea that I really liked [debating] was a right to emigration,” Lee recalled. Students discussed whether a government should pay for people to immigrate to a different country if they can’t afford it themselves. The central question became whether or not the failure to fund such a trip would be comparable to forcing someone to stay somewhere they don’t want to be. “If you have a fundamental disagreement with the country you’re living in, presumably you should be able to leave that society,” Lee reflected.
From Dec. 27 to Jan. 4, the Middlebury Debate Society will be sending students to the World Universities Debating Championship. This is the largest debate tournament in the world and some of the best debaters from every continent will compete. Every year it is held in a different country. Last year it was hosted in Selangor, Malaysia and this winter it will be in the historical port city of Thessaloniki, Greece. Over 70 different nations will be represented.
“Getting to know people from all over the world that share your passion for debate is great,” Lee added. There are some clear differences in the way that teams prepare for the competition, of course. At several universities in England, for example, a debate society comes with it’s own exclusive union, grand chamber, and library. The benefit of the international tournaments is that societies like these will encounter groups that are less formal in their approach. There is more than one way to argue persuasively. “Staying in the U.S., you don’t realize that there are so many different styles of debate, and that they are all very effective,” Lee explained.
The Middlebury Debate Society also participates in events closer to home. About once a week the students attend a domestic debate tournament. And during J-term, Middlebury will be hosting it’s own event. The 2016 Middlebury Debate Invitational will take place the weekend of Jan. 16 and will include college teams from all over the East Coast.
No previous debating experience is needed to join the Middlebury Debate Society. Getting involved with the organization can be a rewarding experience for those who want to think about today’s biggest questions as well as those who are more interested in the competitive aspect. Lee explained, “It’s a lot of work, but it’s really worth it. We have a really great community. We put on social events and are trying to find ways to foster dialogue.” The Debate Society is currently working with President Laurie Patton to plan a joint event that would encourage controversial conversations.
If you are someone looking forward to debating today’s most pressing questions around the dinner table this holiday season, the Middlebury Debate Society might be just the place for you.
(12/09/15 8:05pm)
Middlebury men’s and women’s swimming and diving traveled to Amherst College’s Pratt Pool last Saturday, Dec. 5 to race against the Lord Jeffs in their first dual meet of the season. Both the Panther men and women fell to their hosts, emerging from the meet with very similar scores of 173.5-111 and 177.5-111.5, respectively.
“Dual meets are always a great opportunity to get up and race while we’re in the middle of our training,” women’s co-Captain Lily Sawyer ’16 said.
Isabel Wyer ’18, Liza MacCowatt ’19, Megan Griffin ’16 and Morgan Burke ’17 were some of Middlebury’s first off the blocks for the 200 medley relay, and their time of 1:50.50 secured second place for the Panthers.
In the next race, Lucy Scott ’16 finished less than three seconds behind Amherst’s Marie Maxwell (first) to take third in the 1000 free.
Burke placed third in the 100 free (54.12), touching the wall just 0.12 and 0.07 seconds behind the top two Amherst swimmers, while Alaina Pribis ’19 finished the 500 free a heartbreaking 0.16 seconds behind Lord Jeff Charlotte Chudy to notch another third place finish for the Panthers.
Wyer left her competitors in the 200 free in her wake with a time of 1:55.45, and first-year Grace Stimson ’19 took first in the 200 IM (2:14.77).
Stimson touched the wall just 1.10 seconds before Pierce (2:15.87), and Katie Aman ’19 captured third in the IM event with her 2:18.48-second swim.
“We beat Amherst for the first time in a long time last year, so they came back with a vengeance,” said Maddie Pierce ’16, Sawyer’s co-captain. “[However,] we came off a tough week of training, and the team performed really well given that.”
Burke, Griffin, Stephanie Andrews ’18 and Wyer later won the 400 free relay in a combined time of 3:41.96.
Sawyer’s other co-captain, Griffin, explained that “Coach Rueppel sees meets as extensions of training, so our goal was to race hard, have fun and not worry about times.”
On the men’s side, the Panthers’ ‘A’ entry — made up of Paul Lagasse ’16, Jack McLaughlin ’18, Brendan Leech ’19 and Bryan Cheuk ’16 — won the 400 free relay with a time of 3:14.04.
Individually, Michael McGean ’17 tied Lord Jeff Connor Haley to win the 1000 free (9:54.51).
Later, McGean (first) and Andrew Rosenthal ’16 (third) swept two of the top three spots in the men’s 500 free. McGean sealed his win by 7.45 seconds with a time of 4:50.94, while Rosenthal rounded out the podium with a 5:00.90.
Connor McCormick ’18 won the 200 IM with a time of 2:04.03.
Cheuk’s 21.86 in the 50 free earned him a third place finish as he came in just 0.74 seconds after the winner, and his 48.84 in the 100 free secured him second in that race.
Leech and Andy Grant ’17 earned overall points for Middlebury, swimming a 2:02.84 in the 200 backstroke and a 2:05.66 in the 200 IM respectively to place second in each of those events.
In the diving portion of the meet, both Will Greene ’19 (209.25) and Elissa DeNunzio ’18 (188.63) placed second on the 1-meter board to earn points for the Panthers, while DeNunzio led the competition in the 3-meter event (198.00).
“Overall, both the women’s and men’s teams had great swims this past weekend,” Griffin said. “It’s always fun to race against a NESCAC rival.”
When the teams began their official practices a few weeks ago, Head Coach Bob Rueppel pointed out that, “Not looking too far ahead is the key with such a long season.”
“Right now, [we] are focused on putting in the work for the last few weeks on campus before we head off to Florida for training camp [in late December and early January],” Pierce said.
Before the teams leave campus for their short winter break, the Panthers will host Springfield for their second dual meet of the season this Saturday, Dec. 12 at 1 p.m.
(12/09/15 3:44pm)
On Wednesday, Nov. 2, in Wilson Hall, three administrators — Katy Smith Abbott, Andi Lloyd and Miguel Fernández — unveiled a plan they developed over the summer to remedy student stress. This was the first time that the plan, which they termed “The Grid,” was available to the student body. About seventy students and faculty were in attendance at the forum.
At their May meeting the Board of Trustees charged the administration with addressing stress and inclusivity on campus. The resulting plan outlines short-term and long-term solutions that are broken down into three categories: building community and resilience, promoting mind–body well-being and fostering diversity and inclusivity. Each objective has its own chart and associated time agenda.
“It seems to me like the administration is very desperate for some kind of concrete action,” Prasanna Vankina ’18 said. “It is clear that the administration cares a lot, but a lot of the proposals they suggested seemed reactive.”
During the presentation, Smith Abbott described intensive brainstorming sessions over the summer between herself, Lloyd, and Fernández, in a room on the second floor of Old Chapel, with a white board, “a great deal of snacks,” and diagrams and buzz-words of stressors for today’s college students.
“I don’t know how much interaction there actually was with students,” Vankina said.
SGA President Ilana Gratch ’16 said that the SGA’s main goal in holding this stress forum was to create an opportunity for students to enter the conversation. Last week, the Campus editorial board called for administrators to base their solutions on student input rather than on their anecdotal or outdated perceptions of student stress.
“I am encouraged that three senior level administrators spent the entire summer addressing issues relating to stress in the student body,” Gratch said.
At the forum, Gratch gathered responses and suggestions from student attendees, which she will compile in a briefing and send to Smith Abbott, Lloyd and Fernández. She said the SGA will also conduct a survey during winter term asking about perspectives and experiences related to stress at Middlebury.
“I look forward to compiling the student input we received at the forum for administrators so the proposals can incorporate students’ ideas, too,” she continued.
Some commented on the low number of student attendees at the forum. One student suggested that students were too stressed about their academic work to show up. When the attendees broke into small groups to reflect on the presentation, many were dismayed that few solutions in the plan dealt with academics.
“Almost everyone in my small group was frustrated that ‘slow learning’ came up once in the presentation,” Vankina said. “The other prevalent issues of diversity and inclusivity and health are piled onto an already existing issue in the classroom, this rapid form of learning. No one is internalizing anything they learn.”
During a question-and-answer period, one student stood up and said that if he received one extension on a paper, “that would do more to solve his stress than any of these proposals combined.”
Marie Vasitas ’18 said that stress is largely self-imposed by students.
“We need to learn how to deal with the stresses of the real world, because the world is not going to adapt to us,” she said. “Once we leave Middlebury, there won’t be opportunities to have conversations about how we can make the world less stressful. I think that’s something that you have to do on your own, and that’s part of the learning experience.”
One student suggested that students and faculty “take breaks for what they are,” specifically fall and Thanksgiving breaks. “Not having work over break, not piling up work before and after break, and actually reevaluating what a break means would help so much.”
Another student lamented the lack of traditions on campus.
“There are traditions within certain groups on campus, but there’s no one unifying tradition,” she said. “Even a homecoming dance. How many people actually go to Winter Carnival?”
Kathryn Morse, chair of the history department, said the conversation that occurred at the stress forum was thoughtful and showcased multiple points of view.
“The overall bottom line seemed to be that there is too much to do with too little time,” she said. “Students have been saying there’s too much academic work here for years. In response, faculty often suggest that students might be overcommitting themselves beyond the classroom. The question might be, How does our culture pressure students to want to do so many things at once?”
Morse also said that there are too many talks offered each day.
“Perhaps limiting the number of talks across the institution to one per day would reduce stress. Students and faculty seem to have too many talks and obligations to go to — there’s just too much going on.”
Tiffany Chang ’17.5, co-chair of Community Council, expressed excitement for Gratch’s work with the forum and with the upcoming survey. “It will be beneficial to the conversation to hear the opinions of students en masse.” she said. “I would also like to see the solutions focus more on faculty and staff stress, which Community Council has been discussed this semester. All of us — students, faculty, and staff — live and work on campus together, and all our stresses affect one another.”
Matthew Gillis ’18 expressed concern about the way Middlebury markets itself.
“People feel deceived about having come here when they see institutional and social forms of racism and classism” he said. “It is disheartening to realize how many students are accepted from similarly privileged areas each year and how the way you present yourself in admissions can, in many cases, immediately divide, shape and burden your experience. When the college annually boasts how each class is more brilliant, more diverse, and ultimately more ‘perfect’ each year, you internalize the surrounding imperfections you see—and begin to doubt the ability to be perfect yourself.”
“I think being honest, sharing why you feel a certain way, why you hold a certain view or why you’re having a tough time is so important. Many times I stay silent instead of admitting ignorance or slap on a smile when I’m feeling down. We can’t be afraid of making mistakes, appearing vulnerable, revealing ignorance, or showing that we aren’t perfect people, because this is how will eventually help us learn and reform ourselves and our stress,” he concluded.
(12/03/15 2:06am)
I am tired of the empty, easy-come-easy-go gratification of most of the things I watch these days. Don’t get me wrong, sometimes all I want is two hours of slack-jawed vegetation, but recently I have been thirsting for more.
Middlebury’s event listing describes Clickshare as a play about “a group of employees at a popular news website who live and die by the viral content of their pieces. But when they break a story that’s bigger than anything they’ve ever seen before, their lives hang in the balance.” I am here to promise you that it is so much less melodramatic and so much more gratifying than such a description would suggest. Rather than hiding out in your room this weekend and putting on a unfulfilling movie that you will forget as you shuffle back from your post-credits bathroom visit, come down to the MCA and immerse yourself in a play that will leave you both stimulated and satisfied.
The playwright, Lucas Kavner ’06.5, is a Brooklyn-based writer, performer and comedian from Plano, Texas who possesses an incredible gift for what New York Magazine describes as “artfully underwritten, unaffectedly colloquial and often uproarious dialogue.” Since graduating from Middlebury, Kavner has been filling newspapers, televisions, stages and websites with his evocative and critically acclaimed works.
Like the best of Kavner’s writing, both his major 2011 play, Fish Eye (a critic’s pick in Time Out and a featured work in New York Magazine’s Best Theatre of the Year list) and his 2013 play, Carnival Kids (a critic’s pick of The New York Times), approach intimately pertinent topics with brilliant ingenuity and humor.
According to one critic, Fish Eye “explodes the traditional chronology of romance and offers a modern take on the impossible exhilaration of love — when nothing means everything and everything means nothing — and the entire world shrinks down to a single moment.” Meanwhile, Carnival Kids was hailed by The New Yorker as “a hilariously funny ode to slightly immoral and irresponsible losers.”
When asked what motivates his writing, Kavner stated that he likes “writing that doesn’t feel like it’s trying to be smarter than everyone else in the world” and loves “when even the most serious of plays with the most serious of topics manage to be hilariously funny.”
Most people would agree with Kavner’s sentiment that he wants “more messy plays that don’t wrap up in a nice little package and you forget about five seconds later.” Clickshare is certainly one such play.
Onscreen, he has acted in or written for projects with Comedy Central, ESPN, VH1, ABC, Netflix and Dreamworks. His comedy videos have garnered millions of views online, and have been featured on the BBC, MSNBC, NPR and online in The New York Times, Huffpost, Time, Gawker, Vanity Fair and The Atlantic, among other places.
When not writing for the stage and screen or acting, Kavner composes essays for The Washington Post, The Believer, New York Magazine, The New Yorker, Slate, Dallas Morning News, The Billfold, Flavorwire and McSweeney’s. Along the way, he also spent three years as a staff reporter and videographer at The Huffington Post.
Scrolling through his hundreds of articles and projects, I was most captured by The Days of Yore, a website Kavner co-founded in 2013 to host interviews with some of the most celebrated artists and writers in the country about their pre-fame years.
When asked what kind of theater he finds most inspiring, Kavner responded, “I love plays that don’t go where you think they will. I hate things that are too clean or overwritten or plot-heavy. Any time I see the writer’s writing onstage, when a character is too consciously well spoken, I immediately tune out. Early on, I tried really hard to always write to the left of what the characters really wanted to say, so when they say exactly what they’re thinking, it becomes startling, rather than some over-eloquent norm. I also tend to love things I’d never think of writing myself … I like seeing plays about underdogs, about people whose stories aren’t getting told anywhere else.”
Although Kavner has not said where the vision for this particular work originated, Clickshare was first developed at the Middlebury Summer Play Labs. Taking place in August, the labs offer students the opportunity to flourish creatively in a non-academic setting. Current students are paired with experienced alumni to develop ideas, generate art pieces and learn valuable career skills related to the theatre and film industries.
Kavner absolutely loves what he does, but if he could change one thing about theatre, it would be the cost of attendance.
“We all say it,” he said, “but affordability is just the biggest thing. If the people who actually love theater, who are active members of the community, can’t afford to see it, that’s such a profound problem. The affordability thing ends up playing into so many other things, too. Because when only old, rich, white people can afford to see new plays, then the plays have to cater to the old, rich, white people. And that often leads to very boring plays.”
Luckily, the College has adressed the affordability problem. Tickets to Clickshare are only $6 for students, so show your support by walking down to the MCA this Thursday, Friday or Saturday (Dec. 3-5) at 7:30 p.m. or Saturday at 2:00 p.m. Friday’s performance will also feature a talk with Kavner, Theatre Professor and Director Alexander Draper and the cast. You will not want to miss this hilarious and evocative play as it offers a dark satire of Internet culture in the age of viruses, both real and imagined. It was written by a Midd kid and directed by a Midd kid – it is only right for it to be attended by Midd kids. Visit go/boxoffice or stop by either of the box offices in McCullough or the MCA for tickets.
(12/03/15 1:12am)
Beyond emissions from heating and cooling, travel and waste, the College must address emissions from purchased electricity in order to reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2016. When the Climate Action Plan (CAP) was adopted in 2008, electricity purchases accounted for only 2 percent of the College’s total carbon emissions. By 2014, this figure had risen to almost 7 percent. Though this was largely due to a decrease in total gross emissions from heating and cooling, emissions from purchased electricity did rise from 676 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent in 2007 to 864 tons in 2014.
The College uses about 22 million kilowatt hours of electricity per year. Of this energy, 20 percent is cogenerated on campus by turbines connected to the central heating plant. The steam generated by the plant (from biomass and fossil fuel combustion) drives turbines, which generate electricity. The steam is then piped throughout campus to meet the heating and cooling demand. The remaining 80 percent of the College’s electricity is purchased from the Central Vermont Public Service Corporation (CVPS). Because the combustion of biomass is considered carbon neutral, it is this purchased electricity that accounts for the College’s net carbon emissions from electricity usage.
When the College purchases electricity from CVPS, it cannot control the source of the electricity or whether it is carbon neutral. Until 2013, the vast majority of Vermont’s power (70 percent) came from nuclear energy, which is carbon neutral. Much of the remainder of the state’s electricity came from hydropower, another source of clean energy. Most of Vermont’s nuclear power came from the Vermont Yankee nuclear power plant, which shut down in late 2014. Due to this, utilities have since had to purchase electricity from non-renewable sources.
Green Mountain Power, which recently merged with CVPS, predicts that only 55 percent of its fuel mix in 2015 will be renewable, coming from nuclear and hydroelectric sources. The other 45 percent of its fuel mix will consist mainly of “system” power, which comes from various sources, including fossil fuels. In calculating carbon emissions from purchased electricity, the College must factor this in.
To help reduce net emissions from electricity, the CAP recommended conservation as well as investigating alternative energy sources, such as wind and solar power.
In 2012, well after the CAP went into action, the College installed a small 143kW demonstration solar system near McCardell Bicentennial Hall, which consists of 34 solar trackers. In total, the system produces about 200,000 kilowatt-hours annually, which is only one percent of the College’s total electricity consumption. According to the College’s website, the electricity generated by this system is enough to power Forest Hall throughout the year.
Though solar power could be used to offset the College’s energy usage, it is not currently feasible for large-scale power generation. Because of the relative inefficiency of modern solar panels, the College would need a huge solar system to meet its energy needs. This presents multiple problems, including the physical infrastructure of the system and energy storage.
In order to further reduce net emissions from electricity purchases, the College should continue to focus on reducing electricity consumption. Signs asking students to turn off lights when they leave the room have become increasingly prevalent on campus and help to encourage more sustainable practices. Despite these efforts, there is the sentiment that students are still largely unaware of the impacts of their lifestyle choices on sustainability.
Since 2007, carbon emissions due to purchased electricity at the College have risen by 188 metric tons of carbon dioxide, nearly 30 percent. Though only a small contribution to the College’s overall carbon emissions, reduction of electricity usage or a shift toward renewable energy sources will help the College reach its goal of carbon neutrality by 2016.
(12/03/15 1:12am)
The Middlebury Panthers got their season off to a strong start with a 3-1 record. The team beat NESCAC rival Trinity twice, 5-1 and 2-1, on opening weekend, then hosted the Panther/Cardinal Classic this past weekend, where they fell to second-ranked Elmira College 3-1 and defeated Wisconsin-Stevens Point 3-1. Maddie Winslow ’18 led the way for the Panthers, tallying two goals and four assists in the four games and garnering NESCAC Player of the Week for her play at the tournament.
On Friday, Middlebury scored three times on the power play on its way to a 5-1 win over Trinity in the NESCAC season opener. Middlebury was slow to find its groove in the first minutes of play, as Trinity took a 1-0 lead 3:43 into the game on a power play goal from the right point. The women soon found their momentum with a power play goal of their own. Carly Watson’s ’17 shot from the left point, though blocked, was put home for a rebound by Katie Mandigo ’16. The Panthers struck again with the extra attacker at 11:22, taking a 2-1 lead with a goal by Elizabeth Wulf ’18.
Leading 2-1 in the second period, the Panthers added to their lead when Mandigo finished after a shot from Watson had been saved, and Kelly Sherman ’17 added one on a breakaway.
Julia Wardwell ’16 found the goal 5:00 into the third period to score Middlebury’s third power play goal of the night and seal a 5-1 victory for the Panthers.
The next day, the Panthers again defeated the Trinity Bantams with a score of 2-1.
Just as in the previous night, Trinity took an early 1-0 lead in contest. Melissa Maffeo’s initial shot was blocked before Shelby Labe jumped on the rebound and scored to put her team ahead.
Winslow answered for Middlebury in the second period, shooting a wrister to the top left corner of the net.
The game appeared to be heading into overtime when Wulf broke free from a pack behind the net and gained some space. She quickly fed Anna Van Kula ’16 in front, who sent a shot into the back of the net for the game-winning tally with only 47 seconds remaining in regulation.
This past weekend, the Panthers hosted the Panther/Cardinal Classic in Kenyon Arena. On Friday night, they fell to second-ranked Elmira by the score of 3-1 after leading midway through the second period.
The Panthers took the 1-0 lead when Wulf one-timed a shot from the slot on the power play into the back of the net at the 16:38 mark in the first period.
Elmira tied the game with an extra attacker 12:48 into the second period.The Panthers went on the power play at the 7:36 mark, with their best chance coming when Mandigo’s shot hit the pipe.
Elmira took a 2-1 lead with less than nine minutes remaining in the third period with a snipe of a shot into the top-right corner of the net, and the Panthers were unable to answer the goal despite a power play opportunity less than a minute later.
The Soaring Eagles gained some breathing room as the power play expired when the puck bounced off the stick of a Middlebury defender, leaving a race down the ice. Watson knocked the puck away, but the aggressive Soaring Eagles slipped the puck into the goal.
Following an Elmira timeout with 3:22 left, the Panthers pulled Dreher, but were unable to close the gap as Elmira took home the win.
“While we had a disappointing loss on Friday night, we felt good about how we played,” Mandigo said. “We competed all over the ice, and although we had a few breakdowns, overall we played well.”
On Sunday, the Panthers redeemed themselves with a 3-1 victory over Wisconsin-Stevens Point (5-4-1) during the final game of the Panther/Cardinal Classic in Kenyon Arena.
Middlebury got on the board first at 4:13 when Jessica Young ’18 stuffed home a pass from Janka Hlinka ’18. Only 22 seconds later, the Pointers came right back and tied the game at 1.
Two minutes into the second period, Winslow dug the puck out of the corner, skated to the goal and sent a cross to Shanna Hickman ’19, who scored her first career goal.
The Panthers added an insurance goal on the power play in the third period when Winslow sent her wrist shot to the far side of the net, securing a 3-1 win for her team.
“We had a good weekend battling some of the top teams in the country,” Mandigo said. “We have a young team, but everything is coming together nicely. We have high expectations for ourselves, but most importantly we are willing to put the hard work in for the outcomes that we want.”
With its pair of wins against conference rival Trinity, Middlebury sits atop the NESCAC, tied with Amherst at 2-0. The Panthers return to the ice this weekend for a two-game homestand against Connecticut College (0-2) on Friday and Saturday, Dec. 4-5.
(11/19/15 4:34am)
I was accepted into Middlebury as a Top 100 Applicant (a now discontinued program) with a 32 on the ACT and a 3.91 GPA. I served for three years on Community Council, one year on the Academic Appeals Board, two years as a Residential Advisor of an academic interest house; I committed time to various organizations on campus and I also helped to research and write confidential briefings for President Liebowitz. However, it’s likely that I would choose not to casually share this information with anyone. My justification is not for a lack of pride in my previous commitments, or because I consider them relatively insignificant historical details — which I do — but rather because they are from a different lived reality. I am a student who lives with schizophrenia and depression.
(11/18/15 9:26pm)
Following the terrorist attacks that occurred in Paris on Friday, Nov. 13, Vice President and Dean of the College Katy Smith Abbott and Dean of International Programs Jeff Cason reported that all 50 undergraduate and graduate students studying at Middlebury’s School in France, in addition to ten other students studying at other sites, were safe.
“We are grateful that all of our students in Paris are safe, and we will continue to monitor the situation to be sure that students are receiving the support they need,” Cason and Smith Abbott said in their email.
According to Cason and Smith Abbott, the School in France spent the evening reaching out to each of the students to confirm their well-being. Additionally, the families of students were notified of their safety.
When the attacks occurred, Vanessa Manjarrez ’17 was in the Stade de France with a group that included two other Middlebury students. According to Manjarrez, they heard “two huge bangs” when they were in the stadium and initially assumed them to have come from fireworks. Manjarrez and her friends later learned the noises came from a suicide bomber who had tickets to the game they were watching.
“We didn’t think anything of it,” Manjarrez said. “We continued watching the game until about the middle of the second half when my friend got a text message from the [Associate Director of the School in France Amy Tondu] saying there was a shooting and that we needed to go straight home. We didn’t realize the gravity of the situation, so we waited until the end to leave. At that point, our phones were flooded with ‘Are you ok?’ messages from friends and family, still not really knowing what everyone was panicked about.” She continued, “It’s been pretty traumatizing. Middlebury has told us to stay inside as much as possible this weekend and to not go anywhere where large crowds can gather.”
“I can’t stress enough how helpful the Middlebury team was during this event. They kept in touch with every student and our families until everyone was confirmed safely at home,” she said.
Edward O’Brien ’17 realized something was wrong when he learned that some metro stations were closed “by order of the Police Prefecture.”
“When [my friend and I] emerged from the station, two panicked men ran up to us to ask if the metro was still running. We told them what we knew and they ran into the subway. That was when we knew something was wrong,” O’Brien said.
“As we walked back to my apartment, we saw several people running down the street away from one of the closed stations so we sped up until we were inside,” he continued. “When I came in and turned on my computer, I had over ten messages on Facebook [from] panicked people asking where I was. Apparently, Middlebury had been calling people even before any official alerts went out. Because my phone wasn’t working, no one knew where I was.”
After watching the news, O’Brien realized that several of the attacks were a few blocks away from his apartment.
“While that night was tense, the scariest part of the attack for me was the next morning when I looked at the accurate locations of the attacks,” he said. “I realized that I had been in a restaurant right next to one of the attacks just the day before. It continues to occur to me that it was complete chance that I was not there.”
He continued, “I now feel paralyzed when deciding to leave the apartment. Each time, I wonder whether it’s a good idea. I, like many others in Paris, I think, recognize that the reason I wasn’t a victim of the attacks was nothing but chance. There’s just so much uncertainty.”
According to Cason and Smith Abbott, the College is making counseling services available for students in Paris in the wake of the attacks.
“Yesterday’s heartbreaking events have understandably created considerable anxiety, both for our students in Paris and for many here on the Middlebury campus,” they said. They encouraged students to seek additional help from residential life staff members, Commons Residential Advisers (CRAs), and Commons Deans.
Members of the Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life sponsored a vigil held outside of Mead Chapel on Monday, Nov. 16. The vigil was held following the College’s weekly, all-community silent reflection, which President of the College Laurie L. Patton invited students to attend.
“These challenging times require that we come together as a community in as many ways as possible,” she said in an email sent to students, staff and faculty.
(11/18/15 7:33pm)
Over 250 students and faculty crammed into Dana Auditorium on Tuesday, Nov. 17 for a panel discussion hosted by the Department of Political Science on the Paris attacks. Mediated by Robert R. Churchill Professor of Geosciences Tamar Mayer, the panel consisted of Professor of Political Science Erik Bleich, Edward C. Knox Professor of International Studies Jeff Cason, Visiting Assistant Professor of Political Science Ophelie Eglene, Assistant Professor of Political Science Sebhem Gumuscu and Associate Professor of Political Science Nadia Horning.
The discussion explored how issues of French-Muslim identity, the European Union’s open-border policy and regional instability in the post-colonial era created a volatile mix, allowing the Islamic State to recruit, organize and implement the Nov. 13 attacks in Paris. They also discussed possible ramifications of the attacks on the E.U.’s policy on border security, France’s declaration of war on the Islamic State (IS, formerly known as ISIS and ISIL) and the College’s study-abroad programs.
According to Bleich, the Paris attacks should not be misconstrued to represent all French-Muslims as extremists who support the Islamic State. Citing interviews with French-Muslims in Lyon, France for a research project last January, he said:
“Most French-Muslims feel very French. Research shows French-Muslims identify with their country more than in any other European country. So why did these French-Muslims turn on their country?”
Although France has a controversial immigration policy, it has one of the easiest paths to citizenship for immigrants, even compared to Germany, which accepts more refugees than any other country in the E.U.
“Once you’re [a citizen], France promises liberté, égalité and fraternité,” Bleich said.
However, he also noted racism towards French-Muslims is not uncommon in France. He recalled interviewing a French-Muslim mother whose nine year-old son was called a “dirty, shitty Arab” in front of his classmates and his teacher.
“The vast majority of non-Muslim French people may be kind to French-Muslims in one-on-one interactions. But that doesn’t take the sting out [of racist events like this],” he said.
Racism is rampant in the poor Parisian suburbs where most Muslim immigrants live, separated from the rest of Parisian society and generally ignored by the city’s government.
“Unfortunately, France has failed to deliver in other ways,” Bleich said. “These suburbs are plagued by vandalism, violence, drug use and riots.”
Mayer added that these same neighborhoods have high unemployment rates and high birth-rates, creating communities of young, unemployed, disenfranchised men that IS recruiters prey on.
“It’s not the sermons at the mosques that radicalize people,” Mayer said. “The recruiters go to the gym where all the young people hang out. If there is a concerted effort to fight IS, it can’t be bombings.”
Horning showed two maps to explain the context of what happened in Paris and what may happen in the near future. The first map showed regions controlled by terrorist groups in Africa and the Middle East.
“The geographic spread of Islamic extremist groups connects West Africa, Central Africa and the Middle East,” she said. “The problem is bigger than the Islamic State.” The second map depicted the spread of IS and how it straddled state borders.
“The problem is bigger than individual states,” she said. “The enemy is not the state. It’s actually an idea [jihad and shari’a law]. You don’t fight an idea with bombs.”
Professor Horning was dismissive of the West’s current foreign policy when it came to dealing with IS and the crisis in the Middle East, including the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
“The problem we’re facing today has a lot to do with interventions that have no grand strategy, no real political project, just immediate action; countries flexing their muscles and showing strength to their democratic population who demand this kind of action.”
She noted that the current breeding grounds for terrorism like Afghanistan and Iraq are countries that have weak central governments.
“Jihadism is simply a view that the application of Shari’a law is the means of establishing social justice where people feel disenfranchised and mistreated,” she said. “These groups [like IS and Boko Haram] begin to constitute themselves as a voice against oppression or a voice against an inept, unfair, negligible government … Let’s not forget that we might be dealing with the ramifications of colonization. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that the Islamic State [is] in Iraq and Syria, [which] used to be British colonies.”
Eglene discussed the potential effects of the Paris attacks on the E.U.’s policy within the Schengen zone, which removes border controls between certain states across Europe.
“President Hollande immediately closed France’s borders,” she said. “Hollande has asked for suspension of the Schengen area for three months.” She mentioned the possibility of the Paris attacks in dismantling Schengen agreement, already in talks due to the recent refugee crisis.
The E.U. council will meet tomorrow in the aftermath of the attacks. Strengthening the external borders of the E.U., either directly through patrolling or indirectly through multi-national police and intelligence cooperation, is likely.
“The Paris attacks have shown a lack of intelligence sharing among members of the E.U.,” she said, noting that the terrorists responsible for the Paris attacks were active in Brussels, Belgium prior to Friday.
In regards to the College’s study abroad program in Paris, all students were located as safe within an hour and half of the first attack. Three of them had been at the soccer stadium when the bombing happened. Cason, the last panelist to speak, emphasized that the recent attacks should not dissuade students from going abroad. The recent attacks, he said, highlight the difference between studying abroad and simply traveling on vacation.
“Students should feel uncomfortable. They should be shaken up,” Cason said. “There is inherent risk in the world … students somehow think that going to Europe is less risky [than Cameroon or India], perhaps because it is more prosperous. But prosperity does not guarantee safety.”
Despite the attacks, no undergraduate students at the Middlebury School in Paris have asked to leave the program early.
“The communication we have been getting from students [in France] indicate how embedded they’ve become in the culture they are studying,” he said. “To me, this is a good sign.”
(11/13/15 4:18am)
On Friday, the faculty convened for their monthly plenary session to discuss the Cultures and Civilizations Distribution Requirement, the expiration of the Pass/D/Fail option in Dec. 31, 2015 and student mental health. In attendance were roughly 80 faculty. Per committee bylaws, select students were also in attendance, including the Campus and the Student Government Association (SGA).
The Faculty Educational Affairs Committee (EAC) presented a proposal to revise the current geographic areas covered in the requirement as well as refine the comparative (CMP) requirement with the introduction of the Critical Perspectives (CRP) designation.
In an email to the Campus, Jiya Pandya ’17, Director for Academic Affairs in the SGA and chair of the Student Educational Affairs Committee said that the proposal was encouraging, and that faculty at the meeting posed thoughtful ques- tions and counter proposals.
“I think the conversation needs to continue, because while the Cultures and Civilizations amendment is pressing, it is also about bigger questions about the ‘ethic of diversity’ (as President Laurie describes) in our classrooms and curricula,” she said. “I’m excited to see that changes are happening and to see where they will go (hopefully, of course, to a vote that passes to change AAL), and also that the ad- ministration has been responsive to student feedback from the SEAC.”
Under the proposal, students would be required to take any three courses in three of the seven geographic designations: Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean, North America, Middle East and Oceania. Faculty have called into the question the relevancy of the Oceania requirement, as few if any classes offered at the College receive the designation. There has also been controversy over the optionality of the NOR requirement. If accepted, the new requirements would go into effect in the Fall 2017 semester.
The EAC also presented legislation vote to reinstate the Pass/D/ Fail option, which is set to expire this year on Dec. 31 after a three year pilot program that began in Spring 2013. The stated goal of the original legislation was to encourage students to explore the curriculum outside their usual comfort zones.
In their proposal the EAC noted that the data they had collected regarding utilization of Pass/D/Fail did not conclusively point to its efficacy in encouraging students to move out of their academic comfort zone. In each of the five semesters in which the option has existed, more than half of the students invoking it have been seniors.
Both proposals will be voted on at a plenary session in January.
The session then moved into a discussion of student mental health. At this point the faculty voted 45 to 33 in favor of initiating an executive session. Only voting members of the Faculty committee may be present during executive session, and all proceedings are confidential. Non-voting members, including certain administrators and students, were asked to leave.
(11/13/15 4:15am)
They dress like debonair secret agents, win over more hearts than a basket of puppies and sing like angels. Founded in 1968 at King’s College in Cambridge, England, The King’s Singers are one of the world’s most foremost vocal ensembles. While Pentatonix and Pitch Perfect have rekindled popular interest in the vocal arts, The King’s Singers have been using their musical virtuosity and irresistible charm to garner international fame for decades, performing for hundreds of thousands of people each season all over the globe. Now, they are coming to Middlebury.
Instantly recognizable for their immaculate intonation, vocal blend, diction and incisive timing, The King’s Singers are consummate entertainers. If you love our campus a cappella groups half as much as I do, this performance offers an exceptional treat and insight into the very highest level of talent. Tickets are selling out so quickly that the venue was changed from the MCA to Mead Chapel.
Since the group’s founding, there have been 25 King’s Singers — the original six and 19 replacements, each joining as somebody else leaves. Current members include: countertenors David Hurley and Timothy Wayne-Wright, tenor Julian Gregory, baritones Christopher Bruerton and Christopher Gabbitas and bass Jonathan Howard. The longest tenured is Hurley, with 26 years to his credit as a King’s Singer. This is his final concert tour with the ensemble.
“I am now into my twenty-sixth year standing at the left hand (as you look at it) end of The King’s Singers, and I don’t know where the time has gone,” he said. “I still love the variety that each day brings as we travel to wonderful places around the world, and I always get a buzz from sing- ing to a live audience. I was the youngest child of three, with older sisters, so I rather enjoy the novelty of being the oldest in the group.”On the other end of the spectrum, Julian Gregory is the group’s youngest member, having joined just last year.
“I will always remember the summer of 2014: the time when I was having an incredible time living in Aix-en-Provence, singing in two inspirational operas at Le Festival d’Aix, exploring the stunning Mediterranean coastline nearby and, one wholly unsuspecting morning, being called out of the blue by The King’s Singers to ask whether I’d like to be flown out to Riga in Latvia the following week to audition for the tenor spot of their group,” Gregory said.
Auditions are only offered when a current member is ready to step down. This alone makes them exceedingly rare. Furthermore, auditions are never open to the public. You do not go to the King’s Singers; The King’s Singers come to you. When it is time to replace a member, they evaluate the best vocal talent in the world and invite a few for a chance at the spot. Members come from all walks of life, but the presiding thread is an unparalleled love for and appreciation for singing. For Timothy Wayne-Wright, that recognition came when he was just six years old, singing the daily services as a boy chorister at Chelmsford Cathedral.
With almost all the group’s members initially finding their love via singing in church choirs, it is appropriate that The King’s Singers perform in our beloved Mead Chapel. The chapel was built in 1916, and while service requirements disappeared decades ago, it is still the favorite place of many choral and a cappella groups on campus, from the College Student Choir to the Mamajamas to Dissipated Eight. According to Christopher Gabbitas, although The King’s Singers have performed in the world’s most renowned venues, he is happiest in chapels like ours.
To Christopher Bruerton, being a King’s Singer is more than simply astounding audiences all over the world with vocal prowess and presence: It is an unparalleled opportunity to guide and inspire those who will keep the tradition alive.
“Since making my debut in The King’s Singers I have loved every moment,” he said. “I am so fortunate to have had the chance to sing in world-renowned concert halls from New York to Sydney with Beijing in between. However, I get the biggest buzz from being able to pass on my experience to the next generation through the workshops we do across the world. There is no greater joy than seeing others making their first steps in a cappella and ensemble singing.”
The group’s diverse repertoire includes more than 200 commissioned works, including landmark pieces from leading contemporary composers such as Luciano Berio, György Ligeti, Sir James MacMillan, Krzysztof Penderecki, Toru Takemitsu, Sir John Tavener, Gabriela Lena Frank and Eric Whitacre. The King’s Singers have also commissioned arrangements of everything from jazz standards to pop chart hits, explored medieval motets and Renaissance madrigals and encouraged young composers to write new scores. They are two-time Grammy award-winning artists, and were recently voted into the Gramophone Hall of Fame. For Jonathan Howard, a King’s Singer since 2010, the music never gets old.
“The breadth of our repertoire also staggers me,” he said. “I smile seeing pro- gram sheets that list all of Gesualdo’s Tenebrae Responsaries for Maundy Thursday and our staged Great American Songbook show in consecutive concerts. But most of all, it brings me such joy to think that, as the group grows and we approach our 50th anniversary, we still dare to defy musical classification. We’re not just classical singers, folk singers, jazz singers or pop singers. We’re simply six friends who love to sing, and we’re thrilled there still seems to be a place in the market for groups like ours that aren’t bound to a stereotype.”
The King’s typically either sing a set of Renaissance music or more contemporary pieces. However, The King’s Singers have agreed to do a very unique program for Middlebury. The first half of the show, drawn from the group’s recording Pater Noster: A Choral Reflection on the Lord’s Prayer, will include sacred music from the English Renaissance. After intermission, The King’s Singers will take a musical tour around the globe with songs from their “Postcards Project,” a collection of folk and popular songs amassed on their travels. This half will include works from Canada, Mexico, Ecuador, Brazil, South Africa, South Korea, Italy, France and the United States.
Special thanks to our amazing Performing Arts Series Director Allison Coyne Carroll for arranging this incredibly unique program in reflection of the College’s international strengths and outreach.
To learn more about The King’s Singers, come to the pre-concert lecture given by Jeffrey Buettner, Chair of the Department of Music and Director of Choral Activities, at 6:30 p.m. at Mead Chapel. Audience members are more than welcome to come to hear more about the ensemble, their musical tradition and the works to be performed.
The King’s Singers concert will take place on Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7:30 p.m. in Mead Memorial Chapel.
Tickets are $6 for students. Visit go/ boxoffice or stop by one of the offices in McCullough or the MCA.
(11/13/15 4:11am)
On Sunday, Nov. 8 the Middlebury community gathered in the Mahaney Center for the Arts (MCA) for the sixth annual TEDx Middlebury event. Seven speakers gave speeches under this year’s theme “Caught in the Act.”
The event focused on understanding the lines created by society that people constantly endeavor to live with or rise above. The speakers and moderator urged that in creating identity in the world in which we live, there must be an awareness of one’s surroundings and an understanding of intersectionality. With a last minute cancellation by Marco Mezzavilla due to travel issues, the event featured seven speakers: The Lady B, Elizabeth Ready, Casey Wanna ’17, Wagatwe Wanjuki, Brendan O’Neill, Enrique Balcazar and Joshua Allen. In each of their 18-minute speeches, the speakers elaborated on their own interpretations of this year’s theme in conjunction with their experiences of identity. “We picked ‘Caught in the Act’ partly because it is about self-reflection, but also because it is about communal reflection,” said Jiya Pandya ’17, who was the moderator of the event and a TEDx board member.
“Middlebury as a community has been thinking a lot recently about the way we understand this space and each other and ourselves as a collective, and with President Patton’s arrival, a lot of these conversations have taken on a new light,” said Pandya.
According to Pandya, the event was meant as a continuation of existing dialogue about self-discovery within the community under the College’s new leadership. Each speak- er took a different approach to this goal.
Wagatwe Wanjuki, a self-professed Internet junkie and “crazy bunny lady,” spoke out about feminism and campus rape culture. Her online presence began with blogging during her years in prep school and continued when she enrolled in Tufts University. There, she began a campaign against rape culture after being sexually assaulted, unsupported by her university and subsequently asked to leave.
Wanjuki spoke about the waves of con- sequences associated with rape. According to her, it is not the trauma of a moment, but rather a trauma that continues to affect the survivor for years. After taking ten years to get her undergraduate degree, she accrued a debt of $124,402.78. With loans of this size, her credit tanked and access to housing and even jobs that would help her recover were inaccessible to her. She pointed to this as the literal cost of not believing survivors.
Wanjuki pointed out the flawed reasoning associated with rape: that victim- hood is a coveted state as The Washington Post columnist George Will expressed. Her reaction to this sentiment sparked her nationally trending hashtag #SurvivorPrivilege on Twitter. Wanjuki concluded her talk by beseeching audience members to believe survivors.
Another speaker, Joshua Allen, called upon fellow activists as he presented a poignant message of true liberation through a black, gender non-conforming lens. From a young age, Allen was told to “always ask
questions. Things are never as simple as they seem.” Allen continued, “It is in our failures that we find the ability to organize.”
Allen works as an abolitionist, organizing social justice movements to end imperialist ideals and bring about black liberation. They lead a campaign to end genocide against black trans and gender non-conforming femmes, women and girls in the hopes of bridging the gap between racial and gender justice.
Abolition of police and prisons is at the forefront in Allen’s work. They note that of the 25 million incarcerated in the United States, only 1 percent are murderers. Allen believes there are better ways to prevent criminal activity than the retroactive punishment of jail. Education, transformation and restoration of criminals through employment and other means, they argue, will help eradicate walls that harm society.
These speakers and the five others were meant to represent a wide range of subject matter that somehow share a core set of values of self-expression and reflection.
“The aim of TEDx ... is to bring together seemingly disparate topics and present them to our community to spark different conversations,” Pandya said. “All the speakers at the event on Sunday, even though they come in with different lenses, are passionate people who are thinking forward, stand for something important, and are making change in their communities.”
