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(01/17/13 1:09am)
Middlebury, along with Williams College and Connecticut College, collaborated in a new initiative to increase faculty diversity called the Creating Connections Consortium (C3). The program is sponsored by a $4.7 million grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation.
“We recognize now that trying to do this alone doesn’t solve the problem. Middlebury, Williams, Connecticut College and the other [Liberal Arts Diversity Officers Organization] schools are all committed to creating a more diverse faculty,” said President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz of the Consortium in a press release on Dec. 12. “Studies have shown that the quality of education is enhanced with a greater diversity of ideas and perspectives that come with a diverse faculty.”
“Now we have a strong, effective, multi-faceted strategy rooted in collaboration, and we’re very grateful to the Mellon Foundation for recognizing its potential,” he continued.
C3 will help address a problem liberal arts colleges have faced when trying to maintain a diverse faculty.”
“[Liberal arts colleges] are in isolated locations, and my insight is that many top graduate students at research institutions are hardly ever advised to think about teaching at a liberal arts college,” said Dean of the College Shirley Collado. “We’re not on their radar. There are a lot of myths about liberal arts colleges, especially if you’re coming from a major research institution to a place with different demographics that is rural and isolated. This provides an additional barrier.”
“As a minority hire, I believe my presence affirms Middlebury’s commitment to act in a culturally conscious manner to achieve the goal of diversity on this campus,” said Christal Brown, assistant professor of dance, and the only female African American member of the College’s faculty.
“In my opinion, that goal is to reconfigure a systematic inequality that engenders change,” said Brown. “The issue of diversity is one of many worthy social battles that the College is investigating in an effort to lead our students and peer institutions into an era where cultural pluralism is met with respect, sensitivity and inquiry rather than assessment and assignment.”
Middlebury, Williams and Connecticut College will be working with the other 23 Liberal Arts Diversity Officers Organization (LADO) member institutions and will seek to create a relationship between these colleges and two large research universities — Columbia University and the University of California, Berkeley.
“Liberal arts colleges and research universities do not typically work with one another,” explained Liebowitz. “By bringing these two types of institutions together and sharing our resources, we’re creating a clearer and wider pathway to the professoriate for underrepresented groups.”
There are five elements to the C3. The first is an annual Summit for Diversity and Innovation that will be held at a LADO college to provide networking opportunities. In addition, postdoctoral fellowships will be offered to graduates from the research universities as an invitation to work with professors at one of the three consortium member schools.
The postdoctoral fellowship has mutual benefits for the professors as well as the College.
“[Postdoctoral fellows] get to come here not alone, and they get an automatic network of support,” said Collado. “We get the benefit of their talent.”
As the third component, partner universities will offer summer opportunities to underrepresented students at these three colleges. The fourth part is the C3 Faculty Exchange Program, which is a long-term goal for LADO member colleges. In the fifth and final part, the Center for Institutional and Social Change at Columbia Law School will help assess and reflect on strategies for implementing diverse faculty at the LADO schools.
“The Center for Institutional and Social Change is excited to be participating in this game-changing partnership with C3,” said Susan Sturm, George M. Jaffin professor of law and social responsibility and director of the center at Colombia University. “Together, we will provide a knowledge and collaboration hub with a pragmatic yet visionary approach to diversifying higher education. Building on a track record of unusual institutional collaboration and partnerships among liberal arts colleges and research universities, C3 offers an ambitious yet doable strategy for building higher education institutions that will attract and retain diverse students and faculty, enable them to succeed and thrive and in the process, to build inclusive learning communities.”
Many hope that C3 will expand to more LADO schools and research universities. After the first year of the program, a fourth LADO College will be joining Middlebury, Williams and Connecticut College.
“We are very proud of the results our efforts have achieved to date on our own campus, and are delighted to be part of this new consortium that will assist other colleges as they seek to build a more diverse faculty,” said Roger Brooks, dean of the faculty at Connecticut College.
“It’s my hope that our faculty colleagues will see this as a significant opportunity to infuse our curriculum, add talent to our teaching pool, provide an opportunity to build community here and mentor and support members of the faculty,” said Collado.
(12/05/12 11:18pm)
On Wednesday, Nov. 28 students gathered in the McCullough Social Space to attend a discussion on socioeconomic diversity, race and higher education, led by Senior Fellow at the Century Foundation Richard Kahlenberg. The event was organized by Money at Midd, a group of students that works to address and discuss the role that money plays at the College.
Five students opened the lecture by stating the cost of their college education to them and their families. Kahlenberg applauded the students for the creative opening, noting that he was pleased to see students discussing their socioeconomic status in such a frank manner.
Kahlenberg provided information about present levels of socioeconomic diversity at selective colleges, before then suggesting reasons why he believed it was important for colleges nationwide to address these imbalances. Kahlenberg also addressed what he believes to be the root of socioeconomic disparity, and provided his analysis on the future of diversity on campus given recent legal and political attacks on racial affirmative action programs.
“Higher education is really the only way to assure upper or middle class status for adults,” said Kahlenberg. “Likewise, as more students go to college, it becomes important where you go to college.”
Kahlenberg stated that he believed that it was crucial for elite colleges to have socioeconomic diversity, recognizing that many of the students who study at the College and its peer institutions will go on to hold positions of leadership.
“We want at least some leaders to have personally known what it’s like to be on food stamps,” said Kahlenberg.
The speaker also explained that socioeconomic diversity helps promote racial diversity.
“Whites on average have about 20 times more wealth than African Americans,” he said.
A question and answer session followed the lecture.
One audience member asked the speaker how to create allies in upper-class white people on socioeconomic issues.
“Point out that diversity is good for their own upper class children,” replied Kahlenberg. “Demonstrate the ways that socioeconomic diversity can enhance their education.”
Overall, audience members seemed pleased with the lecture and the discussion it generated.
"I feel like class inequalities at Midd are pretty startling and every time someone throws out a number at me, I always wish it were different,” said Anna Shireman-Grabowski, ’14.5, who asked a question at the lecture about whether preferential treatment was given to students whose families had donor potential. “It’s something we in the community need to look at and address, and it plays out in our future of life at Middlebury. It's nice to see events like this.”
On Thursday, Nov. 29, Money at Midd also hosted a panel on accessibility, race, class and affirmative action at Middlebury.
Panelists for the event included Peggy Nelson, professor of sociology, Tiffany Sargent, director of civic engagement, Jackie Davies, student services director, Gregg Buckles, dean of admissions and Charlie Arnowitz ’13, Student Government Association (SGA) president.
All agreed that having such discussions on campus about socioeconomic diversity are extremely important, especially coming from the students themselves.
"The people who have the strongest voice and have the most power to affect change is the students,” Sargent said. “The administration is trying to figure out these issues; but if their actions don’t match your goals, then by all means vocalize them," she said, addressing students directly.
Yet several panelists acknowledged that many find it challenging to have discussions about socioeconomic diversity and class.
"Money is the most awkward topic, no matter where you are,” said Arnowitz. “People will talk about politics and religion at cocktail parties and it's still less awkward than talking about money."
When the panel was finished, Sam Koplinka-Loehr ’13, one of the Money at Midd organizers, asked audience members to turn to those beside them to speak about the issues that had been discussed.
Koplinka-Loehr posed two questions to audience members.
“What is the biggest barrier that you face in engaging on issues of money and socioeconomic class in your life, and how do guilt and anger enter into these conversations?” he asked the audience.
Koplinka-Loehr then invited groups to discuss a time at Middlebury in which they felt completely alone in some part of their identity, their socioeconomic background and a time in which they had witnessed classism.
Both events were organized by Money at Midd members Sam Koplinka-Loehr, Carter Kelly ’15, Sarah Bates ’14 and Jay Saper ’13.
“Our work primarily stems from working to break through the pervading silence that many feel on Middlebury's campus surrounding issues of class and money…Talking honestly about these issues can be very difficult as money and class relate to almost every aspect of our lives,” said Koeplinka-Loehr.
“Despite their importance, Middlebury students and staff rarely talk about these issues,” continued Koeplinka-Loehr. “How often have you talked with the cleaning staff in your building about socioeconomic class on campus? What about your roommate? Your best friend? Administrators? How is it that we so rarely engage these conversations?
“Money at Midd works to create space for these critical conversations to happen.”
(11/28/12 11:32pm)
After many adaptations to first-year orientation trips ranging from MOO to OINK, the College has arrived at a new, expanded program titled MiddView. The name is recycled from the original version of MiddView, temporarily shelved because of the recession after its first year in 2008.
The main difference between OINK, which has been the College’s orientation program for the last four years, and MiddView is that MiddView will be a mandatory part of first-year orientation that comes with no additional fees. This financial privilege comes from joint funding provided by the College and the SGA.
"The 2013 program will look much like MiddView in 2008,” said Derek Doucet, director of outdoor programs and club sports. “It will differ in scale, and in the scope and breadth of trip offerings. The most important distinction is that it will be intentionally integrated in the College's overall orientation efforts.”
Instead of happening separate from orientation like OINK, with students leaving on trips the weekend after classes begin, next year MiddView will happen at the end of orientation week. Themes and discussions introduced at the beginning of orientation will continue through the MiddView trips.
"The primary goal is to help first-years in the transition from home to Middlebury,” said Doucet. “They carry with them all kinds of hopes, dreams and anxieties, and the trips program will provide a peer group they can lean on in what can be a very challenging time.
“It will also provide an invaluable opportunity for them to connect them with older student leaders,” he added. “Finally, the trips introduce first years to the new academic, cultural and physical landscapes that will become their home for their time here.”
Along with the program’s expansion and required participation come a variety of trips, the hope being that this will let every first-year find a trip of interest. Three categories of trips will be offered next year. Wilderness exploration trips will be similar to the outdoor trips currently offered by OINK and will include activities such as backpacking and canoeing. Vermont exploration trips will explore the cultural aspects of Vermont as opposed to the physical; they might entail looking at organic farming or contemplative practices in Vermont. The third category for trips will be community engagement trips, which will be service oriented. OINK offered five such trips this year, and the new program hopes to more than double that number next fall.
"It gives new students a chance to realize problems that they might not otherwise hear about in Vermont, such as hunger and homelessness,” said Community Engagement Coordinator Ashley Calkins ’06. “This way they can experience what communities need, with the hope that they will choose to stay involved in civic engagement throughout their Middlebury career. They also will be able to meet other students who are interested in community service.”
The program organizers hope that these service trips will increase student involvement in community projects and student community organizations and allow first-years to connect their participation in high school service organizations to such organizations at the College.
"I graduated in 2006, and I still remember the people I went on my orientation trip with and those core relationships I made before classes even started,” said Calkins.
Next year students will leave Friday morning of their orientation week and spend the following three days and two nights with their MiddView group. The program coordinators are looking for between 100 and 120 volunteer student leaders for these expanded trips.
Posters will go up to recruit students and the link for the student application, due Jan. 30, will be go/lead.
"We are looking to help [first-years] become contributing members of the campus community, to launch their college experience in a meaningful way and to help broaden their sense of community to the areas surrounding Middlebury" said Shannon Gair ’13, an orientation intern working on MiddView.
The coordinators are looking for leaders who are enthusiastic about the trips and who will be able to facilitate discussions between first-years and help them to find a place at the College.
Many students seem optimistic about moving the orientation programs so they are a part of orientation week.
"I really liked my OINK trip, but I would have preferred to have had it during orientation" said Gair.
This is a common theme among those who experienced meaningful OINK trips that came after their first week of classes. Upperclassmen who volunteered with the Mountain Club to go on these trips had to give up their first weekend back at the College to participate.
“I wanted to go on an OINK trip, but I didn’t sign up in time. I would have preferred if they were during orientation and everyone participated” said Amy Pickens ’15.
“The OINK program as a whole was probably the best part of my orientation experience,” said Emily Sarich ’16. “If I could change anything about the experience, I would definitely agree that it should be part of orientation. I know a lot of people had to miss out on the trip because they had too much work to do the first week of classes. OINK was still a fantastic experience for me and I would love to see next year's [first-years] enjoy it just as much as I did.”
(11/07/12 10:10pm)
On Oct. 20 the Bahrain government issued a temporary ban on all public rallies and gatherings, citing recent episodes of violence in the West Asian country. Bahrain, which has been trying to control mass protests since the Arab uprisings in spring 2011, has come under criticism from the international community, human rights groups and opposition activists for this ban.
Protests in Bahrain have mainly been in response to the ruling Sunni monarchy’s unwavering grip on political power and systematic discrimination against the island nation’s majority Shiite population. The government of Bahrain maintains that the ban is temporary and is in response to deaths of protesters and policeman in recent violent demonstrations. This is not the first time the government has cracked down in this manner — public protests were also banned last March when the king declared a state of emergency that stayed in effect until June 1.
Interior Minister Lieutenant-General Shaikh Rashid bin Abdullah Al Khalifa justified the new ban, and claimed that the privilege of holding rallies and gatherings had been “abused repeatedly by organizers’ violations and the participants’ lack of commitment to the legal regulations.”
The interior minister also cited the violent nature of recent protests, the disturbance of private and public facilities and the threat to public safety that the protests posed as justification for the ban.
The minister also added that the ban on public protests would remain until it was ensured that national unity and a strong social fabric were maintained.
Many international human rights groups have publicly condemned the Bahranian government’s decision. Amnesty International has been vocal on the issue, and asserted that the ban is a violation of the right to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly as noted in Articles 19 and 20 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights. Amnesty International has called for the ban to be immediately lifted.
“Even in the event of sporadic or isolated violence once an assembly is underway, the authorities cannot simply declare a blanket prohibition on all protests. Such a sweeping measure amounts to nothing less than nullifying the rights to freedom of association, expression and assembly,” said Middle East and North Africa Programme Deputy Director at Amnesty International Hassiba Hadj Sahraoui on Oct. 30. “Law enforcement officials must act to protect peaceful protesters rather than using the violent acts of a few as a pretext to restrict or impede the rights of all.”
In the past few months, Amnesty International has adopted several Bahranian Prisoners of Conscience, jailed solely for exercising their right to peaceful assembly, including noted activist Zainab Al-Khawaja, charged with tearing up a picture of Bahrain’s king. Amnesty International has repeatedly urged the Bahrainian government to free these prisonors.
U.S. State Department Spokesman Mark Toner and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have both expressed “deep concern” about the ban, along with Great Britain.
A spokesperson for Ban Ki-moon on Nov. 1 announced that the Secretary General “reaffirms his belief that there needs to be an all inclusive and meaningful national dialogue that addresses the legitimate aspirations of all Bahrainis, as this is the only way towards greater stability and prosperity for all Bahrainis”.
(10/31/12 4:48pm)
On Oct. 22 Dean of Students Katy Smith Abbott sent an all-student email inviting students to participate in the new Community Working Group. In her email, Smith Abbot explained that the decision to form this group — which will be comprised of students, faculty and staff — is a result of a recommendation from the 2011-2012 Task Force on Alcohol and Social Life, of which Smith Abbot served as co-chair. The group will consider a social honor code, a “Community Renewal program” and other topics dealing with community standards. Interested students were encouraged to reply with their name, class year and a brief explanation of why they hoped to participate.
According to Smith Abbott, many students have demonstrated interest in participating in the group. While the size and membership of the group has not yet been finalized, she hopes the group will begin meeting in early November.
The 2011-2012 Task Force on Alcohol and Social Life, which was convened in response to a 2010 alcohol survey administered by the College, submitted a final report with over 40 recommendations to the office of the president and the dean of students at the end of last year. The final report, which addresses alcohol use on campus and its effects on the community, can be accessed through Dean of the College Shirley Collado’s blog, One Dean’s View.
The “community” section of the final report begins, “Our work has suggested that the culture of drinking at Middlebury College is intimately tied to the strength of community within and among the students, faculty and staff. Consequently, fostering responsibility towards, and understanding of, other members of the community may be effective in mitigating excessive alcohol consumption and the linked negative behaviors.”
According to Smith Abbott, this perceived problem with the community, and not necessarily with alcohol, brought up an unexpected point for members of the Task Force.
“It was striking that it was a consistent theme, from first years to seniors,” said Smith Abbott. “It felt like a really critical piece to hold on to, to see what we might come up with as new or better approaches to what we’re doing.”
However, the Task Force was charged with dealing with problems arising from alcohol and its impact on the community, and didn’t have enough time to also look at problems with the community as a whole.
“It was as if we were dealing with the symptoms of the disease, but preventative measures also needed to be addressed,” said Brainerd Commons Residential Advisor Nial Rele ’12, who was a member of the Task Force last year. “In our conversations we realized we’d often talk about the larger problem of community building at Middlebury, and though we thought these were important discussions to have they didn’t relate directly with our charge.”
One of the ways the Task Force recommended dealing with this problem was by creating a Community Working Group as a space where students, staff and faculty could all come together to look specifically at community-building problems at the College.
The Task Force’s final report states, “The Task Force strongly recommends the implementation of a year-long working group including student, staff, and faculty that is focused on the question of Community and the viability of a social honor code or community renewal model”.
Some of the issues discussed within this group will coincide with those discussed in the Community Council, which deals with nonacademic community issues at Middlebury.
"I'm really excited for this group's thoughts and input and to work in conjunction with them this year," said recently elected co-chair of Community Council Barrett Smith ’13, who ran for his current position on a platform that included a proposed social honor code.
Students seemed interested in the idea of a social honor code, but wanted to hear more details before forming definite opinions.
“I support the idea of extending the honor code beyond academics into social life, but I don’t yet understand how the policy would be structured or implemented,” said Carolynn Johnson ’15.
(10/10/12 9:17pm)
This year the College will reconsider a proposal for a Food and Agricultural Studies minor that was first discussed in the fall of 2011.
The proposal for the minor was submitted to the Educational Affairs Committee by a sub-group of the Environmental Council consisting of Pier LaFarge ’11, David Clark-Barol ’12, Amanda Warren ’12, Ben Blackshear ’12, Manager of Bread Loaf Campus and Waste Management Missy Beckwith and Professor of Biology Helen Young.
The initial proposal discussed a number of key administrative details, including the required courses for the minor, and the possibility of a required internship/study project. The document also provided information about the hiring of a faculty member for the minor and gave suggestions of food studies courses at other colleges that courses at Middlebury could be modeled upon.
“The proposal was in response to tremendous student interest in food, food justice and food production … along with the realization that faculty here were already teaching relevant courses,” said Young. “We put the two together to write the proposal.”
Last year the proposal was not taken up by the Educational Affairs Committee due to concerns about additional staffing needs, as well as a desire to develop a more comprehensive approach to deal with the increasingly large number of minor offerings and an increased interest in on-the-job learning at the College.
The committee will discuss these issues this fall and Associate Vice President of Academic Affairs and Professor of Religion James Calvin anticipates taking up the Food and Agricultural Studies proposal as part of the discussion.
“In general I can say that there is quite a bit of enthusiasm for food studies in the administration, as well as among many faculty and students,” said Calvin.
“But there are also institutional issues that complicate a minor proposal like this, given that it commits us to staffing an academic program for years down the road, so the Educational Affairs Committee is trying to sort through [this decision] responsibly.”
Anticipation for the Committee’s review of the proposal is high, as many students are already involved with and interested in working with and studying their food.
“I really like food,” said Katie Michels ’15.5, a student director of the Middlebury College Organic Farm who is majoring in environmental studies and geography. “It’s helpful, it’s valuable to talk about in a critical way and everyone eats it.
“There’s a lot of activity in the food world right now, and for Middlebury to be a part of that would be super,” she added. She said that she would definitely minor in food studies if it were offered.
(09/26/12 8:48pm)
Fraud Schemes Obtain $700,000 From Student Aid (Huffington Post)
21 people in California have been charged with fraud for attempting to steal federal college funding for nonexistent students. U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of California Benjamin B. Wagner and Inspector General of the U.S. Department of Education Kathlenn Tighe announced on Tuesday, Sept. 18 that seven fraud schemes allegedly collected $770,000 in federal student aid. Such schemes typically prey on community colleges with online class options, where students receiving federal money may be more anonymous.
“Federal student aid exists so that individuals can make their dream of a higher education a reality, not for criminals to use as a personal slush fund,” said Inspector General Tighe.
Police Arrest Suspect For Phony Bomb Threat at LSU (Huffington Post)
On Monday, Sept. 17, an anonymous 911 phone call was made claiming that three bombs on the Louisiana State University (LSU) campus would detonate within the next two hours. Thousands of people were evacuated from campus, and students were only allowed to return to dormitories late Monday night. The police tracked down a suspect, William Bouvay Jr., 42, who admitted to making the calls upon questioning. He was taken into custody Tuesday night and, according to authorities, will be charged with communicating false information of a planned bombing, possibly along with other charges.
LSU Police Captain Cory Lalonde said that the police do not currently believe there is any connection between this threat and the bomb threats made that week at other universities — the University of Texas, North Dakota State University and Hiram College.
Chancellor of UNC Chapel Hill Steps Down (The Chronicle of Higher Education)
On Monday, Sept. 17, Holden Thorpe, the chancellor of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, announced that he will resign at the end of the academic year. This decision is widely viewed as a result of several controversies that occurred while he was in office and the pressure of serious public scrutiny. Just last week, the campus’ fundraiser Matt Kupec resigned following accusations that he and another employee used campus funds for their personal vacation. UNC Chapel Hill also suffered several controversies with the athletics program while Mr. Thorpe was in office. Thorpe has served as chancellor for four years, and now plans to return to his previous faculty position in the chemistry department. Several faculty members have expressed sorrow at his resignation.