In her column in this week’s Campus, President Laurie Patton stresses the importance of resilience. “Resilience,” she writes, “is one of those words we think we know, but we don’t necessarily stop to reflect on.” Starting this year, she writes, the Middlebury community will “embark on ...
The year before I came to Middlebury, I lived in Israel for ten months while studying on a college leadership program for North American Jews. In many ways that year, I was given a single story of what Israel was. I left loving Israel and wanting to move there forever. I still feel very connected to ...
Twenty-nine years ago, the Middlebury College Board of Trustees stood on the right side of history when they voted to divest from the South African Apartheid. The College was one of over 150 campuses across the country to divest from companies doing business in South Africa – the leading ethical issue ...
Erin: I sought to validate my political opinions when I started writing this column. Now that it has come to a close, I can say this – I am definitely a Democrat, but no more of one than when my debating with Phil began. What do I mean by this? I mean that researching and arguing the liberal stance ...
Preface: I love my city. But in trying to unpack the events that have unfolded over the past two weeks, I have at times been guilty of focusing on symptoms more than chronic problems. I have been guilty of chastising rioters, while those who are culpable of much more heinous crimes elude reprimand. ...
Stuart Warren, dark-horse candidate for SGA President, was runner-up in the elections with 38 percent of the votes in the third round of tabulations. The reason we voted for Stuart comes down to a single sentence written on many of his campaign posters: “You can vote for snack-time, or you can vote ...
If you visit the “About” page on Middlebury’s website, you will find that “[Middlebury graduates] should be independent thinkers, committed to service, with the courage to follow their convictions and to accept responsibility for their actions.” Tangentially, (or conversely?), if you visit ...
I’m not quite sure what compelled me to sign up to write for the Features section one Friday in January of 2012. Maybe it was because I had not gotten very involved in a campus organization until that point. Maybe it was because I knew I wanted to improve as a writer and thought the newspaper was ...
As the school year comes to a close, the Campus would like to reflect on this passing of time. We saw a long foliage-filled fall, a perhaps longer bone-chilling winter and now enter the days of spring, soon to be summer. While the sun has re-emerged and an excitement for the end of school builds, a ...
Since last week’s issue, some students have voiced concerns regarding the editorial board’s endorsement of Caroline Walters for SGA President and Durga Jayaraman for Student Co-Chair of Community Council. We would like to explicate the process by which the editors came to this decision. Process ...
People worry about campaign finance, and reasonably so. There’s something unsettling about millions of dollars being shuffled around during political campaigns, especially when the process is so opaque to the public. What really bothers me, though, is the opportunity cost – I’ve ...
The Socially Responsible Investment (SRI) Club’s mission is simple: we believe that Middlebury’s $1 billion endowment should reflect our College community’s values. This process must be as transparent and inclusive to all stakeholders as possible, and we work closely with the administration to ...
It’s been a hard winter and a hard spring semester. We grow restless as the cold weather drags on long into April, and we’re given only a few of the most tantalizing warm days to enjoy. Project upon test upon essay upon book piles up before us, each clamoring to be completed and each weighing down ...
Phil Hoxie’s column “Unions and Unfunded Pension Liabilities” blames middle-class workers – teachers, nurses, bus drivers, firefighters – and their organizations for the crises that are now plaguing many large cities. Hidden behind a veneer of economic “common sense,” his argument is actually ...
In the April 23 issue of the Campus, the editorial board of the paper chose to publish a political endorsement regarding the SGA elections. The paper put their support behind SGA presidential candidate Caroline Walters. The editorial outlined Walters’ various credentials, celebrated her non--SGA ...
“Hey, how are you?” “Fine, but I have so much work to do.” How many times have you heard this exchange? Presumably, too many to count. We at Middlebury are perpetually busy, treading water in a proverbially stormy (and decidedly cliché) sea of academic and extracurricular pressure. ...
This year in May, key provisions in the Patriot Act that allow the bulk collection of private data and information are set to expire. In light of that, I find it particularly chilling that within Middlebury’s ongoing micro-debate about security there is an erroneous proposal to increase surveillance ...
It is easy and natural to have a strong emotional reaction to issues of privacy and security. As skeptical, educated adults, we are quick to react whenever we feel our autonomy is being violated — as demonstrated by the incidents of graffiti on our campus commenting on the proposed cameras — or ...
During the annual Davis UWC Scholars dinner, I met Middlebury graduates, members of the board of directors and the philanthropist, Shelby Davis. They shared tales of Middlebury UWC scholars’ success in social entrepreneurship, science and business. I even spoke in person to the philanthropist who ...
My grandfather used to tell me about growing up in the Italian suburbs of New York City. The Church, family, shared hardships – all these made neighborhoods more than a place where you lived. In a time before the Internet and cell-phones, personal connections, loyalties and reputations ran peoples ...