Politics today seems to be more about shouting insults than offering solutions. Fox, MSNBC, Donald Trump, all seem to be more interested in ratings than the issues faced by every day Americans. At this point, we are all numb to it. For years we have looked at politics in terms of red and blue and have ...
Dear Katrina, I want to thank you for letting us hear your story. Thank you for saying what you really mean to say. It is only through such difficult dialogue that understanding may ever begin. So thank you again for being yourself. I totally agree with you. Political correctness means nothing. Back ...
I face lingering disappointment after re-reading Katrina Drury’s piece “I’m Only Human,” published on Feb. 18. On the other side of the fold, a column over, Laurie Patton offers timely, levelheaded comments on the much-discussed Texas Supreme Court case, which questions the role of race in college ...
We are writing directly in response to the op-ed from the last issue, “I’m Only Human.” The op-ed has upset a lot of people and has hurt a lot more. As demonstrated by the polarized comment section online, it unfortunately represents the views of a sizable portion of the student body. And while ...
Dear Katrina, As always, the willingness to put pen to paper, with a signature, and publish it in a public forum is important and admirable. Thank you for taking the time to write and for offering your thoughts. As I understood your op-ed, you are deeply frustrated with what you perceive to be hyper-sensitivity ...
I wrote an article last semester on mental health on campus. Here is why this problem is still relevant. I am a human being attending college. If you are reading this, chances are you are also a human being attending college. The current population of students in college is experiencing an incredibly ...
I came very close to passing up Bernie’s big dreams for the sake of rationality last week. But in the end, I sent in my ballot for the Vermont primary with a vote for Bernie, thanks to my naive faith in America’s most unreliable electorate (I’m not kidding). Like many millennials, I initially ...
Issues related to race, privilege and language have been frequently and publicly discussed on our campus in the last few months. Town-hall forums were orchestrated by Miguel Fernandez, Chief Diversity Officer and Professor of Spanish. Numerous op-eds have been published. Some of these op-eds have incited ...
I write at the start of a new semester to address an important and timely issue relating to diversity and inclusivity in higher education—one that is of great relevance for us here at Middlebury. Sometime before the end of June, the United States Supreme Court is likely to issue a decision in an ...
Just prior to the start of February Break, SGA President Ilana Gratch sent an email to notify the student body of a SGA Senate Resolution condemning Supreme Court Associate Justice Scalia’s comments during the Oral Arguments in the case of Fisher v. University of Texas. I’m writing to address both ...
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 ...
January was National Mentoring Month! We at Community Engagement wanted to say: Thank you to our Middlebury College mentors! National Mentoring Month (NMM) was created by the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health and MENTOR in 2002. The month aims to focus national attention on the need for mentors, ...
I am a white student who has “white privilege” and who has committed hundreds of “micro-aggressions” throughout my life due to my “ignorance” of other cultures. There. That’s what most of you want me to say. But now, please allow me to say what I really feel. I warn you, though, you may ...
I am writing as a white student in response to the editorial written last week by Eli Susman. When I talked to Eli over dinner, he emphasized that his intention was to foster open listening and unify the campus against racism. Unfortunately, many of the things he said were hurtful to our fellow ...
Since returning for J-term you might have noticed that your dining hall coffee is better than usual. But you may not know just how much better it is. Dining Service’s recent switch to Vermont Coffee Company represents more than an improvement in taste. Your new morning brew also happens to be fair ...
Dear Middlebury Community, Through this letter I want to address a previous op-ed named “Letter to the Middlebury Community.” I would like to thank the author for writing this article and his good intentions, but I would like to address some things that need to be clarified. I would like to disclaim ...
“Middlebury is not a charity.” Critics of Go/Refuge, the movement for the College to take an active role in the world refugee crisis, have presented this argument. The criticism, though not yet fully elaborated, seems to base itself on the idea that an institution of higher education’s only obligation ...
In the midst of a refugee crisis, driven in large part by turmoil and civil war in Syria, the provision of safety, food and shelter for displaced persons is a priority for conscientious segments of the international community. And rightfully so. Communities around the world are eager to lend a hand ...
With J-Term more than halfway over, many of us have accomplished a great deal: we have plowed through new Netflix series (Making a Murderer, anyone?!), spent afternoons at the Snow Bowl and caught up on much-needed sleep. But while many enjoy this brief respite from the busyness of the spring and fall, ...
My dear people of Middlebury, I saw an 18-year-old white woman crying in front of 800 people in Mead Chapel; she’d been publicly berated for wearing a hat. Not out of spite. Not out of hate. She had been attending Middlebury for a matter of weeks and did not yet learn that wearing a sombrero was ...