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(05/09/19 9:56am)
If you have taken a course in the Film & Media Culture Department, enjoyed a movie on the big screen in Dana Auditorium or snuck into Axinn 232 on a Friday night with some friends, popcorn and a six-pack, you should thank Ted Perry.
On Friday, May 3, a group of faculty, staff, students, toddlers and President Laurie L. Patton gathered at the Axinn Center to hang a plaque honoring Perry, Fletcher Professor of the Arts Emeritus, for his many contributions to all things film at Middlebury, including the founding of the department in 2008.
“I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened without him,” said Film Professor Leger Grindon.
Perry arrived at Middlebury in 1978 as a dean with tenure and teaching duties. He had previously been the director of the Film Department at the Museum of Modern Art in New York and chaired the Cinema Studies Department at New York University. His proposal to teach film classes upon his arrival initiated film studies at the college.
The plaque now hangs outside the Film & Media Culture offices in Axinn, beside a poster of “The Passenger” (1975), a film by Michelangelo Antonioni, a director who has been at the center of Perry’s own scholarship.
“As students would say: this is really cool,” Perry said on Friday.
In brief remarks, he reflected on the decades-long fight for film studies at Middlebury, noting that over the years, some college administrators had been supportive of the department’s work, while others questioned its place at the college. Ten or 15 years ago, Perry said, a senior administrator approached him and said that once Perry retired, the college would eliminate the department.
“I had to then wait until that person retired before I could retire,” he said to laughter and applause, “but today, it wouldn’t be done away with because there’s such outstanding teachers, scholars and filmmakers in the department. I think it really has a life and I’m very proud of it.”
Members of the Film & Media Culture Department decided earlier this year to purchase the plaque using department funds.
The plaque notes Perry’s founding of the film-video program, the precursor to Film & Media Culture, in what was then the Department of Theater, Dance and Film-Video. Perry also raised funds to endow the Hirschfield International Film Series and helped lead the planning and design of the college’s film facilities. He retired in 2012.
“Ted had begun his work in the administration and was an excellent negotiator with the powers that be and the ebb and flow of those powers,” Grindon said, noting that the department now has seven faculty members. “Without Ted’s continuous and persistent effort, this would not have happened.”
At Friday’s dedication, Emmie Donadio, formerly the chief curator of the Middlebury College Museum of Art, thanked Perry in particular for the films and speakers he brought to campus over the years, noting that he helped Middlebury become “a very stimulating place to be.”
“This was a really nice place to raise kids, because there were films to be seen; they didn’t have to go to New York,” she said. “You have no idea how many people you have affected deeply.”
Editor’s note: Will DiGravio, a Film & Media Culture major, worked as a research assistant to Prof. Perry in the spring of 2018.
(04/24/19 12:06am)
At least nine Student Government Association senators have threatened to resign en masse if college officials do not meet a list of 13 demands, a decision that would effectively dissolve the elected body for the remainder of the academic year.
The demands were outlined in a letter emailed Tuesday morning to senior college administrators, including President Laurie L. Patton, with all students copied. Demands in the letter are wide-ranging, and include: “structural changes” to college policy aimed at increasing administrative transparency; “improvements to existing programs” like Green Dot and bringing all buildings into Americans with Disabilities Act compliance; and “new initiatives,” including the creation of an LGBTQ+ Center and a Black Studies department.
In the letter, senators also asked Patton to appear before students at a town hall on Tuesday, April 30 in Mead Chapel. Senior Senator Travis Sanderson ’19 told The Campus that the resignations would occur sometime after then, depending on how and if administrators respond to their demands.
“We just received the SGA communication and are reviewing it. Many of the concerns are already being addressed,” Patton told The Campus Tuesday afternoon. “For others, we believe we can find a way forward to work together. We welcome an opportunity for engagement with SGA and have already reached out to its leaders. We will be providing a response, which we hope we can work on collaboratively, next week.”
While not every member of the SGA Senate has promised to resign, all members approved sending the letter to administration, Sanderson said. The resignation of at least nine of the 18 senators would mean the absence of a quorum at all future meetings, and thus the effective dissolution of the elected body for the remainder of the academic year. With the threat of resignation, senators hope to send a message about inadequate student representation in administrative decision-making.
“It has become evident that the connection between the administration and students has been reduced to a one-way street,” they wrote. “The administration has failed time and again to listen to the desires of its students.”
Their demands, titled “Thirteen Proposals for Community Healing,” are aimed to improve student representation and promote community healing on campus, including several proposals that had previously been brought to the administration but were either tabled or overlooked.
“There is a long history of SGA recommendations being ignored,” Sanderson said.
As it stands now, SGA resolutions are mostly symbolic recommendations to college officials — no real student check exists on administrative authority. But in the letter, the senators claim a right to participate in administrative decisions.
“Our tuition funds the college, and the college’s purpose is our education,” senators wrote. “Middlebury College is first and foremost a school, not a corporation. Why is it that decisions are often made with little to no consent or involvement from us in our own school?”
In an op-ed published by The Campus Tuesday afternoon, SGA President Nia Robinson ’19 supported the actions of senators regardless of where they stand and promised to keep advocating for students in her role.
“For the final weeks, I will continue to support those who come to me and offer advice to any students who will listen. I will continue to advocate for them whether in trustee or SLG meetings when I am the only student in the room,” Robinson wrote. “My sole goal is, and has always been, to help leave this campus in a better state than I found it.”
Reaching a Breaking Point
The letter enumerates instances of administrative neglect of student proposals, from the failure to make Middlebury a sanctuary campus in 2016 to the recent cancellation and fallout from the the controversial scholar and Polish politician Ryszard Legutko’s scheduled lecture, which also resulted in the cancellation of a peaceful, non-disruptive student protest scheduled to take place outside. In the letter, senators condemn the administration for waiting until Friday, April 19 to unequivocally say that the student protesters were not the security concern. That delay, they write, caused misinformation about the protest to spread in the national media.
Senior Senator Alexis Levato ’19 said that the SGA saw the period following the lecture cancellation as an opportune moment to act.
“I think we cared about these issues as individuals, and cared about them as SGA, but didn’t feel there was a possibility of actually doing anything until this happened,” she said. “Which I think speaks to the way the administration is structured, that it only really allows students to be activists in moments in which it’s blowing up in their faces.”
Varsha Vijayakumar ’20, a junior senator and the SGA president-elect, also saw the moment as a culmination of SGA and student activists’ frustrations.
“I personally reached a point where I feel like the administration has been taking advantage of our empathy, and I think that’s unfair to put a disproportionate burden on students to work hard to make this place more like a home for students,” she said. “We’re at a point where it’s not just the SGA, but also a lot of student activism and mobilization that is pushing for change. And we want to support that.”
The letter alleges that it was only when administrators heard that senators were discussing dissolution that they said, in an email sent by Provost Jeff Cason and Dean of the Faculty Andi Lloyd, and forwarded to students by Dean of Student Baishakhi Taylor, that “our assessment of the potential safety risks of Wednesday’s planned lecture did not reflect concerns about threats from student protesters or students attending the event. Rather, we were concerned about the safety of those participants.”
“We are extremely disappointed that only after hearing threat of SGA’s dissolution did an administrator publicly clear organizers of blame as the unnamed security threat that led to cancellation of the Ryszard Legutko event,” the letter reads.
No member of the SGA reached by The Campus would comment on the record about the alleged interaction with an administrator.
Vetting Speakers
After The Campus posted the letter online Tuesday, debate ensued over the senators’ third proposal, which calls for the creation of a due diligence form that includes questions aimed to determine whether a speaker’s views align with Middlebury’s community standards, “removing the burden of researching speakers from the student body.”
The proposal also asked for each academic department to create a student advisory board that would have access to a list of invited speakers one month in advance in order to provide feedback when necessary.
“This is absurd. Students should relish the chance to research speakers, to interact with speakers, to debate with speakers,” Rich Cochran ’91 wrote on The Campus Facebook page. “I am shocked that the SGA would publish this list of unilateral demands.”
Sanderson clarified to The Campus that the proposal would not bar speakers from campus. Instead, the answers to the form would be made public to inform the community in advance of the speaker’s arrival.
“If anything, this ensures a greater degree of informed free speech and assembly,” he said. “Critics are arguing that we want to keep speakers from campus, which is incorrect.”
The Process
Senators first began to discuss what would eventually become the letter on Wednesday afternoon in the wake of the Legutko cancellation. Over the weekend, they began to gather feedback from student leaders, including the heads of cultural organizations and leaders of the Legutko protest. Some senators spent most of Friday drafting the letter, which they then shared with all senators.
Vijayakumar was one of the students who spent the better part of the day working on the letter. She was also notified around midday that she had won the SGA presidency.
“I celebrated for maybe 20 minutes, but that was not my focus,” she said. “It’s the last thing I’m thinking about. Even on Friday, the entire day, I was working on these demands.”
On Sunday, April 21, senators went into executive session during and following their regularly scheduled meeting to discuss the draft. The session lasted one hour.
The following night, senators hosted a student-only town hall in Mead Chapel to gather feedback on the letter and demands. Robinson opened the forum by reading the demands and introduced the senators’ proposed plan to resign. Then, attendees divided into focus groups to discuss further. Each group parsed the drafted demands and suggested modifications to senators, who led the groups. Senators then met later that evening to finalize the letter based on student feedback. According to Vijayakumar, they discussed the suggestions made on every point, and identified major trends in feedback in an attempt to incorporate as many as possible.
In an interview with The Campus, Sanderson stressed the senators’ desire to involve other members of the community in the draft. He said the SGA is only one forum in which students have tried and failed to work with administrators to address the concerns of the student body. Specifically, he cited the title of the letter, which was recommended by members of the community. They also received emails with suggestions and ideas from students who could not attend the town hall.
When asked about the college’s recent work with students to divest from fossil fuels by 2028, Sanderson said that the administration did not adequately credit student activists in their announcement.
“In the case of divestment, it was a massive student campaign for a long time, but it was co-opted by the administration in the end,” he said. The letter addresses this concern: “Students who work on these initiatives alongside faculty must receive credit for their work, and will not be excluded from these initiatives once faculty begin working on them.”
When reached for comment, Community Council Co-Chair John Gosselin ’20 said he supported some of the senators’ demands and disagreed with others.
“I disagree with the general strategy of demands and dissolution because it has forced the student government to express opinions too quickly and without any nuance, reflection, or evidence of serious discussion, despite the best efforts of the SGA meeting on Sunday and the poorly attended student town hall on Monday,” he said.
History Repeats Itself
In 1967, members of the Student Association, then equivalent to the SGA, took a similar approach to addressing feelings of powerlessness vis-à-vis the administration. Members saw the body as a mouthpiece for administrative decisions and doubted its own ability to advocate for students, and voted to hold hold a campus-wide referendum on the body’s dissolution. The proposal passed overwhelmingly among students, who voted 407-70 in favor. Two years later, the current iteration of the SGA, newly-endowed with more representative and legislative capacities, formed.
Today’s SGA is drawing inspiration from its predecessors’ decision.
“When circumstances mirror those faced by student leaders half a century ago, we must consider options similar to the ones they faced,” senators wrote. “In the words of Brian Maier, the equivalent of an SGA senator at the time, ‘we must take power rather than ask for it.’”
But senators are also wary of the unintended consequences their predecessors’ actions had on the student body. Last time, dissolution of the Student Association left student organizations without funding. This time, the resignation of senators would leave the other components of the SGA intact, including the SGA President’s Cabinet and the SGA Finance Committee, which allocates the student activities budget.
“We don’t want to hurt students and nullify all the projects they’ve spent a full semester working on. That’s definitely not our intent,” Levato said. “I think we’re learning from that decision in order to make sure that students are only positively affected by this.”
Senators still think, though, that the threat is substantial enough to warrant a serious response from the administration. Vijayakumar believes the student body is on board.
“We do feel like this is the most productive way to enact change right now on this campus,” she said. “We wouldn’t be doing it if we didn’t think so.”
(04/19/19 4:25pm)
College Provost Jeff Cason and Dean of Faculty Andi Lloyd sent an email to all faculty Friday, April 19, that made clear for the first time that student protesters were not the cause of the safety risk cited in the cancellation of Wednesday's lecture by Ryszard Legutko. Cason and Lloyd emphasized, rather, that concerns for protesters' safety were the reasons behind the cancellation. The email was forwarded to students by Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor.
The email also said students feared retaliation from faculty members for their position on yesterday's events. In the email, Cason said "students have also reported being called out in classes and over e-mail, by both faculty and other students, for the positions they took on the planned speaker." They urged faculty members to "pay particularly close attention to how even well-intentioned comments may be received as retaliatory or punitive."
In her email forwarding the message to students, Taylor wrote, "I want you all to hold me accountable and I will continue to keep communication open."
The full email can be read below:
As you are aware, our assessment of the potential safety risks of Wednesday’s planned lecture did not reflect concerns about threats from student protesters or students attending the event. Rather, we were concerned about the safety of those participants. Nonetheless, students have reported concerns about potential retaliation by faculty whose position on the event may have differed from their own. We know that many of you have taken the time this week to engage these issues thoughtfully and respectfully in class, and we are grateful for that. However, students have also reported being called out in classes and over e-mail, by both faculty and other students, for the positions they took on the planned speaker.
At this time of heightened tensions, we ask all of you to pay particularly close attention to how even well-intentioned comments may be received as retaliatory or punitive. We thank you for your efforts to support our students, and to foster a respectful classroom environment.
(04/18/19 5:00pm)
The college canceled a lecture by Ryszard Legutko, a controversial scholar and far right member of the European Parliament from Poland, on Wednesday, April 17. The email announcing the decision was signed by Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor and Provost Jeff Cason three hours before the event.
"This decision was not taken lightly," they wrote. "It was based on an assessment of our ability to respond effectively to potential security and safety risks for both the lecture and the event students had planned in response."
In an email to The Campus on Thursday, April 18, Head of Media Relations Sarah Ray clarified the “safety risk” that prompted the cancellation was an inability to crowd-manage the escalating number of people planning to attend the event.
“We canceled the event because we simply did not believe we could respond effectively to potential security and safety risks given the large number of people planning the two events – the lecture and the event the students had planned in response,” Ray wrote.
The planned student protest, a celebration of queer identity, was intended to be peaceful and non-disruptive, and the students planned to allow Legutko’s talk to play out uninterrupted. In a second email on Thursday, Ray clarified that, "The fact that there were students who were planning to hold an event near the lecture was not an issue."
"The safety concerns stemmed from the rapidly growing number of people who had expressed an interest in attending the two events," she reiterated. "We simply did not have adequate staffing to ensure the safety of all the attendees."
When asked whether other students were threatening the protesters, Ray responded that she could not confirm this.
In an email sent on Wednesday evening, Cason and Taylor recognized the protesters' intention to be non-disruptive.
"We recognize that students worked hard and transparently to plan a non-disruptive event that would remain within the bounds of our protest policy," they wrote. "We also recognize that students, staff, and faculty planning to attend and critically engage with Ryszard Legutko's lecture lost the opportunity to do so."
Legutko's talk was scheduled to take place at 4:30 in Kirk Alumni Center on Wednesday, which is housed at the college golf course. The event was moved there from Bicentennial Hall as interest in Legutko's visit grew, and to reduce potential security risks.
The administrators said the college had worked with both events and protest organizers to find a new location.
"However, it became clear with the increased number of participants that we didn’t have the staff capacity to adequately ensure everyone’s safety," they wrote. "We appreciate the thoughtful work of faculty and student organizers, their contributions to the planning process, and their desire to prevent disruption." They said they made their decision based on Middlebury's event policy. The college will meet with organizers of both events in the future.
According to Grace Vedock '20, a protest organizer, the decision to cancel the event was made by the college's senior leadership.
"It was never our intent to prevent the event from happening; we have reiterated at every step of the process that we did not want to impede his right to speak," she said.
Vedock said the protest, which was to incorporate a celebration of queer identity, will be rescheduled once safety concerns are addressed. The protest group's statement can be found here.
Legutko was invited by the Alexander Hamilton Forum, a speaker series founded last year that “aims to foster thoughtful engagement with the ideas that have informed the creation and development of the American polity.” The director of the program is Assistant Political Science Professor Keegan Callanan. When reached for comment on the administration's decision, Callanan said he had already invited Legutko to speak on campus next year.
"The principle of freedom of inquiry must be held inviolable, " he said. "I have asked Professor Legutko to speak at Middlebury College during the 2019-2020 academic year. I have proposed that he speak on totalitarian temptations in free societies. Hundreds of students now wish to hear him speak; their right to open inquiry must be vindicated."
This story will continue to be updated.
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(02/28/19 10:59am)
Let’s be honest: sometimes this paper doesn’t do a good job.
In the nearly four years I have been a member of The Campus, I have interacted with hundreds of members of our community. During the course of reporting, conversations often drift to unrelated topics. Sometimes, those nuggets of information become stories. Other times, they remain nuggets.
Time and time again, I, and members of our staff, have heard stories about the lack of adequate mental health services on campus. This paper has failed to seriously report on this issue in a meaningful way. For instance, we received this anonymous message via our website:
“I really, really think you guys should do a story about the lack of counselors at Parton. It is so difficult to get an appointment. Even though I have a counselor, it’s sometimes impossible to get an appointment with them; counselors with such a heavy load can’t guarantee continuity of care for all of their patients. There are no counselors of color either. … Parton needs to hire more counselors to accommodate demand for counseling services. I know lots of people (my counselor included) who feel strongly that Parton needs more counselors. Especially a non- white counselor.”
Since the new year, reporting on this issue has been our top priority. We still need your help. We want to hear your stories, experiences, concerns and ideas for the future. This is a tremendous ask, and one we do not take lightly. Of course, we understand why people may be hesitant to share their experiences regarding this particular topic. That being said, there are several ways you can engage with us that offer different levels of anonymity. If you would like to share your story with us, here is how you can do it:
Talk to Us On Background
This means we can tell your story in full, but we will not attribute it to you. For example, if you told us about your experiences, we would write something like: “said a person who wished to remain anonymous due to the personal nature of the story.” Though I and at least one other editor must know who you are, we will not share your identity with anyone else.
Talk to Us On the Record
We can tell your story in full and attribute it to you.
Talk to Us Off the Record
You tell us your story, but we will not publish it unless you give us permission.
Submit A Tip
When submitting a tip, you can decide whether to include your name and contact information. However, without a name or contact information, we won’t be able to follow-up and ask questions. If you submit a tip and include your name and contact information, we will not publish anything without consulting you first.
How to Get in Touch
Fill out the form at http://go.middlebury.edu/campustips. Or email me at wdigravio@middlebury.edu. Or, if you feel so inclined, reach us the old-fashioned way via campus mail: The Middlebury Campus, Drawer 30.
Note: A version of this article ran in the Dec. 6 issue of The Campus. We are still gathering information for a future story.
(12/06/18 11:00am)
Let’s be honest: sometimes, this paper doesn’t do a good job.
In the nearly four years I have been a member of The Campus, I have interacted with hundreds of members of our community. During the course of reporting, conversations often drift to unrelated topics. Sometimes, those nuggets of information become stories. Other times, they remain nuggets.
Time and time again, I, and members of our staff, have heard stories about the lack of adequate mental health services on campus. This paper has failed to seriously report on this issue in a meaningful way. Just last week, we received this anonymous message via our website:
“I really, really think you guys should do a story about the lack of counselors at Parton. It is so difficult to get an appointment. Even though I have a counselor, it’s sometimes impossible to get an appointment with them; counselors with such a heavy load can’t guarantee continuity of care for all of their patients. There are no counselors of color either. ... Parton needs to hire more counselors to accommodate demand for counseling services. I know lots of people (my counselor included) who feel strongly that Parton needs more counselors. Especially a non- white counselor.”
Going into the new year, reporting on this issue is our top priority. But, we need your help. We want to hear your stories, experiences, concerns and ideas for the future. This is a tremendous ask, and one we do not take lightly. Of course, we understand why people may be hesitant to share their experiences regarding this particular topic. That being said, there are several ways you can engage with us that offer different levels of anonymity. If you would like to share your story with us, here is how you can do it:
Talk to Us On Background
This means we can tell your story in full, but we will not attribute it to you. For example, if you told us about your experiences, we would write something like: “said a person who wished to remain anonymous due to the personal nature of the story.” Though I and at least one other editor must know who you are, we will not share your identity with anyone else.
Talk to Us On the Record
We can tell your story in full and attribute it to you.
Talk to Us Off the Record
You tell us your story, but we will not publish it unless you give us permission.
Submit A Tip
When submitting a tip, you can decide whether to include your name and contact information. However, without a name or contact information, we won’t be able to follow-up and ask questions. If you submit a tip and include your name and contact information, we will not publish anything without consulting you first.
How to Get in Touch
Fill out the form at go.middlebury.edu/campustips. Or email me at wdigravio@middlebury.edu. Or, if you feel so inclined, reach us the old-fashioned way via campus mail: The Middlebury Campus, Drawer 30.
(11/01/18 9:57am)
PIA CONTRERAS
Just about everyone says this is the most important election of “our” lifetime. In other words, this election will determine the future of Trumpism. All agree: a Democratic Congress most likely means a quicker end to the Trump Presidency. Some think this would be good, others bad.
But, this election is about much more than that — it is, as hyperbolic as it may sound, about the future of democracy. Voter ID laws are limiting voters, particularly people of color, from exercising the right many of us take for granted. Gerrymandered districts result in inaccurate and inequitable representation. In Georgia, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, also the Republican nominee for governor, is overseeing his own election, and has tried to purge eligible voters off the rolls and ignored the real threat of election hacking.
As Middlebury’s own Scholar-in-Residence Sue Halpern tweeted in August, “Years ago, when I got my doctorate in political (democratic) theory, I never imagined disenfranchisement would still be a tactic, but here we are.”
The Harvard Institute of Politics released Monday the results of their biannual National Youth Poll, which found that “young Americans are significantly more likely to vote in the upcoming midterm elections compared to 2010 and 2014.” Hopefully, our student body will help prove their prediction true. In 2014, just 14.3 percent of Middlebury College students voted in the midterm elections. That is pathetic. It is even more pathetic that it took the last two years to remind us of the need to (hopefully) get out and vote.
Voting is more than just a fun activity from a “Schoolhouse Rock” song, it is a habit. Would you forget to dress up for a Halloween party? Buy gifts during the holidays?
And that’s where the idea for an “Election Issue” comes in. Here we are, reminding you to vote. We’re doing our part as young journalists to get you, and us, in the habit of voting — of thinking about the issues in your community, state and beyond.
If you missed your home state’s absentee deadline, or won’t be able to make it home for Election Day, we semi-forgive you. That is because it is not too late for you to vote here in Middlebury. Yes, as a Middlebury College student, you are a resident of Vermont. We explain how to vote in town step-by-step on Page A2. Since I know every student reads The Campus cover-to-cover, now no one has an excuse not to vote. Again, it’s a habit. Do it.
Finally, I must say that this week’s issue is the culmination of months’ worth of planning and hard work by our entire staff.
Over the summer, when the managing editors and I pitched the idea to the rest of the team, they hit the ground running and never looked back. We are proud of their work, and grateful to those who agreed to talk with them during the course of their reporting, and to those who wrote op-eds.
Thank you and go to the damn polls.
(10/31/18 6:53pm)
This is your one-stop page for all election-related articles. The Campus staff has spent the last two months tracking trends in local, state and national midterm election races. What are the most salient issues in this election? Who are the candidates to watch? What are Middlebury College's ties to this race? Below you'll find profiles on gubernatorial candidates, Q&As with a range of prominent figures and pieces on what this surge of democracy looks like on campus.
Why an election issue? Check out Editor-in-Chief Will DiGravio's "Notes From the Desk" this week on how this special edition came to fruition.
(10/25/18 9:57am)
At The Campus, we’re always looking for ways to involve the broader college community more closely in our coverage. We’re excited to announce the creation of a new tipline on our website, that allows readers to anonymously suggest stories for us to look into. The tipline can be accessed at go/campustips, or by clicking the “News Tips” tab on our website, middleburycampus.com.
We recognize that our editorial board is limited in number, so we represent only a small fraction of the students, faculty, staff and town residents that make up the Middlebury community. We need your help to tell us about the issues, events and important conversations that deserve to be covered in our newspaper.
In the past, informal tips have been an essential way for us to discover important subjects that would have otherwise gone uncovered. The life and death of former college employee Suad Teocanin, which we wrote about in a feature story last month, was only brought to our attention after a Middlebury alumna emailed us over the summer and urged us to write about him. We hope that by making the tipping process more accessible, readers can alert us to more things that fall within our blind spots as student journalists. As issues like workforce planning become more prevalent, we need your help to tell this community’s stories.
At a small college like Middlebury, we recognize that it can be difficult to speak candidly about events and people to which we feel connected personally. While we encourage readers to include their contact information with tips, we also hope that the option of anonymity will relieve some of that pressure. We can’t wait to hear what you have to share.
(09/17/18 2:17am)
Volume 118, Number 25 — May 9, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_c938cf69247b41
Volume 118, Number 24 — May 2, 2019 (Zeitgeist)
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_5095f997d8b1ab
Volume 118, Number 23 — April 25, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_790d9b2d7c30aa
Volume 117, Number 22 — April 18, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_387b9e2091f19a
Volume 117, Number 21 — April 11, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged__2_
Volume 117, Number 20 — April 4, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged__1__compressed
Volume 117, Number 19 — March 21, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged__1__ca67f0de5f4e14
Volume 117, Number 18 — March 14, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged__1__3d76ccd7b3ad12
Volume 117, Number 17 — March 7, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged__1__49dcbc3438a054
Volume 117, Number 16 — February 28, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged__1_
Volume 117, Number 15 — February 21, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged__1__fe66a5d50317f4
Volume 117, Number 14 — February 14, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_5f60252fa17a09
Volume 117, Number 13 — January 24, 2019 (Staff Issue)
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_72be6bd4e8c36b
Volume 117, Number 12 — January 17, 2019
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_c39e2906110e28
Volume 117, Number 11 — December 6, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_a25cfcf9adb281
Volume 117, Number 10 — November 29, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_d80718f6efb71d
Volume 117, Number 9 — November 15, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/pg01-1115-merged
Volume 117, Number 8 — November 8, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/pg01-1108-merged
Volume 117, Number 7 — November 1, 2018 (Election Issue)
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/pga1-1101-merged
Volume 117, Number 6 — October 26, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_35cf851ab3a87e
Volume 117, Number 5 — October 11, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged_888e333a53993b
Volume 117, Number 4 — October 4, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/ilovepdf_merged
Volume 117, Number 3 — Sept. 27, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/pg1-0927-merged
Volume 117, Number 2 — Sept. 20, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/pg1-0920-merged__1_
Volume 117, Number 1 — Sept. 13, 2018
https://issuu.com/middleburycampus/docs/pg1-0913-merged
(09/13/18 10:00am)
This is the question we have been asking ourselves since we assumed these roles last spring.
The Campus is unique. We are a weekly paper, run 100 percent by students. In many ways, we are the college’s journalism program, where students teach students. While we would not change a thing, this makes us prone to mistakes — we learn on the job.
It is important to recognize our own limitations. We are not the New York Times, nor do we wish or strive to be. Our Arts writers are not interested in tearing down the work of student performers. Sports reporters do not file 1,000-word diatribes on a player’s failure to perform at a certain level. And we do not see Old Chapel as our version of the Trump Administration.
We see ourselves first and foremost as a community newspaper. If we are to succeed, The Campus must be an active stakeholder in the broader Middlebury community, working to inform, and tell the stories of, its readers. We are not stenographers or cheerleaders, but journalists working to capture and understand what life is like here in this moment.
Our goal: if someone were to open up the pages of this paper 50 years from now, they would be able to take an accurate glimpse into what students, faculty and staff were thinking, feeling and doing at that time. We accomplish this by telling both the good and bad at Middlebury.
Like all journalists should, we believe our role here is to hold those in power accountable for their actions. When administrators go back on their word or the Student Government Association passes resolutions that do not serve the interests of students, it is our job to ask the tough questions, spend time understanding the history of the institutions and, yes, be adversarial when need be.
However, it is also important that we recognize the role The Campus plays as one of the largest and oldest student groups on campus. We as editors should not sit in our office and type stories about a community from which we have detached ourselves. On the contrary, when it fits our mission, we are willing and able to be a partner and participate in initiatives that bolster dialogue and community building on campus.
We recognize that our position atop this masthead is fleeting. After this issue, we will go to press a mere 24 times this year; considering the 218-year history of the institution, and the 113-year history of this paper, that ain’t a lot.
This paper is more than just those who write for and edit it. The Middlebury Campus holds meaning for many people: those who read, submit op-eds, respond to our emails and share their stories, and especially those who have written, are writing, and will write in its pages.
As temporary stewards of this paper, we will strive to be fair, accurate, collaborative, committed and unrelenting over the coming months, to be a paper worthy of this community.
(09/04/18 11:12pm)
Thirty-three student parking spaces will likely be added to E-lot once construction of the area is complete, a college official told The Campus.
The college's announcement came two days after The Campus published an article detailing the elimination of all 115 student parking spaces in E-lot, the area behind Wright Memorial Theater, Allen Hall and Atwater Dining. Bill Burger, vice president for communications and chief marketing officer, initially said the college would reassess the use of the lot at the end of the fall semester and could not guarantee that student parking would be reinstated.
On Monday, however, Burger said student spaces will most likely be restored once construction on the northeast side of E-lot is complete around September 12.
To compensate for lost student parking, Public Safety has also now designated 65 additional parking spaces for juniors and seniors: 46 in the lot behind the Mahaney Center for the Arts (Q-lot) and 19 near the Ridgeline Residential Complex (R-lot).
Burger also said there were 30 junior/senior parking spaces in R-lot that "were not utilized by students last year." He said that between those 30 spaces, the 65 additional spaces, and the 33 likely to be added to E-lot, the college views the changes as a net gain of 13 spaces.
The north side of E-lot will be home to temporary offices. The building is expected to open in the fall of 2019.
(09/01/18 8:56pm)
All student parking spaces have been eliminated from E-lot, the parking area behind Wright Memorial Theater, Allen Hall and Atwater Dining.
Much of the parking lot had previously been reserved for junior and senior students, as shown in the map below. However, the construction of a temporary academic building, begun earlier this summer, caused the elimination of all parking spaces behind Wright Theater. The portion of the lot behind Allen Hall is now exclusively reserved for faculty and staff, with the exception of commuter and handicapped spaces.
There were 115 student parking spaces in E-lot prior to construction.
"We believe that between the CFA and Ridgeline parking areas there is ample student parking on campus, though we understand that for some this will result in a longer walk to their car," said Bill Burger, the college's vice president for communications and chief marketing officer, in response to an inquiry from The Campus.
Though the tennis courts adjacent to E-lot were demolished to make way for more parking, there will be a net loss of 20 spaces by the end of construction.
Burger said the college will reassess the use of E-Lot in late fall or early winter. He did not say whether student spaces would be reinstated.
"It is possible, but by no means assured, that this may lead to the re-designation of some spaces in E-Lot or elsewhere," Burger said.
(08/28/18 1:08am)
(08/28/18 1:06am)
The Campus will publish digital-only issues during the fall 2020 academic semester due to the constraints of the Covid-19 pandemic. Issues are published every Thursday and can be found here. We will also publish breaking news, other articles and multimedia pieces exclusively on this website, outside of the regular publication schedule. If you would like to submit a piece outside of our publication schedule, please email campus@middlebury.edu.
(07/30/18 11:08pm)
E Lot is no more, kind of.
The college broke ground on a temporary office behind Wright Memorial Theater last week, demolishing the Atwater tennis courts and rendering much of the parking lost behind Wright and Allen Hall inaccessible. Some parking spaces are still available.
As reported in The Campus last November, the board of trustees approved the $4.5 million project to house the college's computer science department, which is currently located in McCardell Bicentennial Hall. The temporary building will also house faculty and staff during future renovations to Monroe and Warner Halls. The building will stand for 12 years, according to the college.
The Atwater tennis courts were demolished to make room for more parking spaces.
The project will be completed in June of 2019, the college said.
[gallery columns="1" size="large" link="none" ids="39089,39088,39090,39091,39086,39087"]
(07/22/18 4:09pm)
*Insert cheesy Star Wars lede here*
Harrison Ford visited Middlebury College last month!
The actor best known for playing Han Solo in Star Wars and the titular role in the Indiana Jones series took a tour with his son, who is a prospective student. By all accounts, he was kind and gracious, pausing for many pictures and even holding the door open for his entire tour group as they made their way through Axinn. This makes him more polite than most Middlebury students (JK).
When I texted CeCe Wheeler '19 and asked her for a picture, she replied, "I'm still shaking."
"And I would like to add the wet marks on his shirt are from a wet umbrella," she said. "Harrison Ford doesn't break a sweat."
Will DiGravio is editor in chief.
(04/26/18 8:50pm)
If I walk at a brisk pace and have the right song playing on Spotify, I can get there in eight minutes. I take one left, one right, and cross the street. I go there when I am stressed and in need of a break, when I want to temporarily trade our world for a new one. I could only be talking about one place: the movies. More specifically, our very own Marquis Theater in the heart of downtown Middlebury.
For those who have yet to visit, the Marquis has two theaters; one downstairs and one upstairs. The upstairs theater is smaller and more intimate, with a few dozen seats and a slanted wooden floor that brings you to the front row, which is so close to the screen you can almost reach out and touch it. The downstairs theater is larger, with more seats and a hodgepodge of couches and armchairs spread throughout for moviegoers to enjoy a film in complete comfort. The snacks are good too. There is popcorn, candy, soda, a bar, and a small restaurant serving Mexican cuisine.
Lately, I have been thinking a lot about how important the movies are, not only to those of us who study and write about film, but to our society. In a time where we all are on our devices nonstop, always able to be contacted by our employers, family and friends, the movies may be our final refuge from the responsibilities and stresses of everyday life. (Unless, of course, you’re a professional film critic.)
I was thinking about this a couple of weeks ago, as I attended a screening (not at the Marquis) of Jean Renoir’s The Rules of the Game. Prior to the screening, I had worked at my job, ate a quick dinner, and co-led this paper’s editorial meeting. As I made my way to the screening, I was thinking about the homework I had yet to start, of the applications that had yet to be completed, and of the interview I had the following day. But, as the lights dimmed and Renoir’s masterpiece began to play, the mental to-do list faded away, and as it did, I thought to myself, “Man, how lucky am I to be at the movies?”
There are many places folks often go to temporarily seek refuge from the responsibilities of everyday life: the gym, a restaurant, a sports game, the park, a drive around town, the pages of a novel. But even at those places, the cell phone’s allure is difficult to resist; the ping of a push notification is constant, CNN is always on one of the TVs behind the bar, and the sight of everybody else on their phone/tablet/computer serves as a constant reminder of all you have yet to do. The more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the movies are our final refuge from the aforementioned reminders of daily life. Sure, one could see a play or ballet, or go camping or hiking if you’re in a rural area, but those are not as accessible to the masses as the movies. For the most part, they are not places one can go on a whim and budget.
And that is why I love the Marquis. On a rainy day, or in between studying, I will often walk down there and forget my responsibilities for a couple of hours. It is there where I saw most of this year’s Oscar nominees, where I skipped class to attend a screening of I Am Not Your Negro, cohosted by a local racial justice organization, and where I saw a group of friends race to see the new Star Wars as soon as they were able. What makes the Marquis even more therapeutic than a corporate theater chain is not just the couches, armchairs, and throwback décor, but the sense of community it embodies. When you walk into a movie theater, you’re walking into a new world with a group of people, all of whom have willingly signed up to go on this mission and leave society and their technology (hopefully) behind for a couple hours. Where else does this happen today?
A couple weeks ago, Steven Spielberg made headlines when he said that Netflix movies should not be eligible for Academy awards. His comments came at the same time the Cannes Film Festival barred Netflix films from competition. I agree with both decisions.
Each year, the old and better ways of filmmaking and exhibition occur less and less. The rise of streaming and digital formats have made the movies less exciting, and give moviegoers even less of an incentive to leave the house. Why drive to the movies and pay money when you could sit on your couch and watch almost anything for a fraction of the price? The answer: the experience.
In 2018, the movies are more than just a place where cows go when it rains, they are our final refuge from the obligations of existence. We should visit them more.
Will DiGravio is the managing editor of this paper.
(04/20/18 5:25pm)
Nia Robinson '19 was elected president of the Student Government Association for the 2018–19 academic year on Friday, April 20.
Robinson received 66 percent of the vote (1,122 votes), more than the total number of students who voted in last year's SGA election.
"I want to thank everyone who supported me and thank the other candidates who participated in a great race," Robinson told The Campus. "I am excited to get to work."
Rae Aaron '19.5, the current speaker of the SGA, came in second place, with 26% of the vote (435). Charles Rainey '19, a former first year senator and community council member, came in third (129).
Lynn Travnikova '20 was elected the co-chair of Community Council for the fall semester and John Gosselin '20 was elected co-chair for the spring semester. Gosselin currently serves as the senator for Atwater Commons.
A referendum to support a complete divestment from fossil fuels by the college passed with 80 percent of the vote (1,325 to 340).
The Campus will publish a more detailed report in the April 26 issue of the paper.
(04/19/18 2:55am)
The three candidates running to be president of the Student Government Association (SGA) for the 2018-2019 academic year debated in Crossroads Cafe on Wednesday. The candidates, from left in the below video, are Nia Robinson ’19, Charles Rainey '19, and Rae Aaron ’19.5.
Students can vote for all SGA positions at go.middlebury.edu/vote, beginning at noon on Thursday, April 19. Polls close at noon on Friday, April 20.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RD5rdCBSaGs
The Campus' coverage of the SGA presidential candidates' platforms can be accessed here.
Campaign websites can be found here:
Rae Aaron: go.middlebury.edu/SGRae
Charles Rainey: go.middlebury.edu/Charles
Nia Robinson: go.middlebury.edu/Nia