12,000,000 Syrians have fled their homes. A third have become refugees. Photographs of children’s corpses in Greece have surfaced, as have images of the terrible conditions of camps in the Middle East and Europe. The latter has scrambled to cope with the influx. Hungary and Slovakia have shut their ...
I will be writing at further length on these concerns in future issues, but I thank The Campus for the opportunity to comment now.
Our Trustees’ response to the petition asking Middlebury to change the design of the new residence halls west of Adirondack View is profoundly disappointing. On the one hand, our VP for Communications and Marketing, Bill Burger, and the Editorial Board of the Campus make a very important point: ...
The topic of this column — the death of the divestment movement — may appear strange, given that it is coming on the heels of The Campus’ editorial endorsement of fossil fuel divestment a few weeks ago, and moreover, because I am, as avid readers of my column know, an active leader in the Middlebury ...
I was inspired to write this piece in light of the Paris attacks. About an hour before I read about the beginning of the siege, I spoke with my mom and sister who were in Paris at the time as they were relaxing at a friend’s apartment getting ready to go out to dinner. They’re safe, as are all the ...
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 ...
Across the United States, controversies are erupting over race relations on college campuses. The responses to these controversies reflect a range of emotions — from revulsion to surprise and even defiance that such issues still plague our nation. These outside events are incredibly relevant to our ...
I recently read Heinrich von Kleist’s short essay, “On the Marionette Theatre,” in which he recounts a conversation with a dancer friend, known as Mr. C. To von Kleist’s surprise, Mr. C expresses delight in watching marionettes. Von Kleist “had regarded the handling of marionettes as something ...
“We apologize that we offended with our poster. We care about the role of comedy in discourse on this campus. As intentional members of the community, we take this issue seriously. We look forward to reflecting and engaging in future dialogue.” The Otter Nonsense Players are an improv comedy ...
Recently posters advertising an improv show, an athletic event and more have been circulating around campus with jokes evoking marginalized identities — specifically race, class and ability — and their corresponding stereotypes. These posters have been met with opposition from marginalized people, ...
I read with interest the opinion piece by Ethan Brady, “The State of the Endowment,” and I feel it’s important to address some of what Ethan discussed in his piece and to provide some important context and facts that readers of the Campus can use to make up their own minds.
Last Thursday, film enthusiasts and our friends across the pond celebrated Guy Fawkes. He wasn’t the greatest guy to grace the planet, nor was he particularly successful in his endeavor to blow up government. But he became iconic. He’s a symbol for resisting government oppression; thus, he’s especially ...
This past Friday, the Middlebury faculty met for its monthly session to discuss the AAL requirement and whether or not to renew the pass/D/fail option. Representatives from the Campus and the SGA were present, as is sanctioned by the College’s bylaws. When the conversation turned to student stress, ...
As the faculty prepare to discuss and possibly even vote on distribution requirement changes this Friday, as a community, I encourage us to reflect on what we mean by “liberal arts” education. What is it that we, the Middlebury community, seek to achieve here? Though 2015 Vermont is not Ancient ...
It is easy to discount “American Culture” as a loose, insufficient, reductionist term for the patchwork heritage of the U.S. As we all know, America is called a “melting pot” for a reason – this country is primarily composed of people who have cultural roots elsewhere, often across several ...
“What would America be like if we loved black people as much as we love black culture?” Amandla Stenberg, teen actress and pop prophet, asked exactly that in a videopublished on Tumblr nine months ago. She wasn’t the first, but she fanned the question’s popularity. Since then it has blazed ...
I am disappointed by this paper’s recent coverage of the endowment return for the fiscal year that ended June 30, 2015. Let’s get one thing straight: Middlebury’s endowment had a terrible showing this year. The return on investment was 6.9 percent, which equates to a $19.1 million increase from ...
Four years ago as a sophomore enjoying my first summer at Middlebury, I would also have another first — giving my first accessible tour. Up to this point during my career at admissions, and in the three subsequent years I spent working there, not once did I tour an individual in a wheelchair or see ...
Below is a letter drafted by Lauren Kelly ’13, Dan Egol ’13, and Barbara Ofosu-Somuah ‘13. It aims to communicate interest and concern regarding accessibility in the four new residential buildings currently under construction at Ridgeline. It is currently a Google document that is being signed ...
The construction of a new residence hall—the first at Middlebury in more than a decade—has sparked an important discussion in our community over what standards we should set for ourselves regarding the accessibility of our campus. I’m sure we all wish this question had arisen last spring during ...