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Monday, Dec 8, 2025

Opinion


jena-food120

Food for Thought

We have all seen them: the placards on every table in our dining halls hawking EatReal, a student-run organization seeking to advocate for more socially and environmentally responsible food at the College. The idea is to move toward a food system that is local/community-based, humane, fair and ecologically ...


The Setonian

The Death and Re-Birth of the Hip-Hop Group

For much of its early history, hip-hop’s basic unit was the group. The most popular artists of the mid to late 80s, when rap began to make headway into mainstream pop-culture, were groups: Run-DMC, Eric B. and Rakim, NWA and Public Enemy.  As the 90s rolled through, more individual stars began to ...


The Setonian

Sexual Assault Clarification

We are writing in response to the article Oct. 8 Campus article “Report Shows that Sexual Assault Numbers Tripled.” While we think it is important that the topic of sexual assault is covered in the Campus, we were disappointed by the ways that the article misrepresented the issue. First of all, ...


nolan122

Respecting All Identities

Everyone is anxious on the first day of school. You walk into a new classroom, you scan the room in the hopes you know some people, you pray the syllabus is reasonable, then your professor walks in, starts to take roll and you settle into the swing of it. But for gender nonconforming students, this ...


The Setonian

Hit ‘Em Where It Hurts

Over the last few weeks, a portion of the student body here has been upset about something.  Not the kind of upset where they’re not being themselves for a while, and finally, a friend pulls them aside and says, “Hey, Chase, do you want to talk about anything? I’m here for you, man.”  Rather, ...


The Setonian

Looking Beyond 2014

A few weeks ago Erin proposed that the environment and global warming would — or rather should — be a major issue this election cycle. That is simply not going to be the case. To quote President Clinton, “it’s the economy, stupid.” More importantly, that hurts Democrats and their overall standing ...


The Setonian

Why SGA?

Shortly after the administration announced its controversial change to the tailgating policy, many students asked me why I, as the President of the SGA, had no knowledge of the impending change. Their concern highlights a question I imagine many of you have pondered at one point or another while at ...


The Setonian

Love of Country

I had the remarkable experience of growing up as an ex-patriot. Yes, I grew up in the strange and foreign land of Canada, our friendly neighbor to the North. While my citizenship remained firmly American, an interesting thing happens when you live abroad. You suddenly become the spokesperson for your ...


The Setonian

Politics and Generation Y

As of 2012, the estimated population of Americans belonging to the so-called “millennial” or Generation Y numbered around 80 million, making those born between the mid-1980’s and late 1990’s approach one-third of the total population. Of these 80 million, only 41.2 percent that were of voting ...


cause-the-party-does-stop

Choose Not To Party

This year, I have not gone to a single party. I have not been involved in any of the party culture, I have only once even seen alcohol, and I go to sleep early on the weekends. Small gatherings of friends have supplanted loud, raucous parties. Video games, reading for fun and playing cards occupy my ...


The Setonian

A Letter on Yik Yak Harassment

Dear Middlebury community, Last spring, a friend encouraged me to download the app Yik Yak. “It’s like an anonymous twitter for Midd people, it’s hilarious,” she said.  I hadn’t spent much time reading it, until one day at lunch when I scrolled through the message board and saw: “If I could ...


The Setonian

Why Not Ban Yik Yak?

From time to time, the editorial board simply cannot come to a consensus around an issue — banning anonymous posting on forums like Yik Yak is one of them. We as two members of the editorial board would like to present a dissenting recommendation for the Administration as the College thinks about ...


the-line-up

Changing the Way We Yak

Editor’s Note: The following text contains vulgarity. It seems innocuous. An app where you can post something witty, watch it get up-voted and monitor your karma score changing as people respond. But this seemingly harmless “fun” often comes at the expense of members of our community.   When ...


Screen-Shot-2014-09-25-at-4.07.47-PM

The Cost of Acting on Climate Change

Last week Erin, in support of the “People’s Climate March,” argued for policies called “cap-and-trade” which essentially set emission caps on companies and then allow them to buy and sell these emission permits with each other. However good or bad this program may be, it is not the only “pro-climate” ...


tailgatin

What’s Really Going On

While I don’t agree with the manner in which the College administration revised the tailgating policy, I understand it. Especially with the advent of social media, we have the need to play up our college experiences. There’s the constant pressure to make our normal college experiences align with ...


Heintz

The Hunt For Heinz

You may already know about my campaign to get Heinz ketchup in all of our dining halls. Between the WeTheMiddKids petition, the go/heinzforall posters, and my somewhat unconventional ketchup solicitation in Atwater last week, I feel as though “Heinz Girl” has become something of a campus character. ...


The Setonian

My Summer In Jerusalem

So where were you over the summer?  Well, you know, I was back at home in Palestine-Israel.  Oh, wow, how was it? Umm, I mean, if you wanna talk about it… Ah, yeah, I mean, I guess it’s important to talk about it. But it’s not the casual response. What do you mean? I mean, you might not enjoy ...


The Setonian

Let’s Get Back to the Game

A large majority of you reading this letter will not recognize my name, so as a way of introduction, I was the football coach at Middlebury from 1973 to 2000.  With that experience, I would like to add my thoughts to the continuing dialogue expressed by some students and alumni regarding the administration’s ...


Door

Inclusion: More Than Acceptance Letters

Over the last 10 years, accessibility and diversity have become buzzwords in higher education. They are the benchmarks for admissions — signs that elite colleges and universities are doing more than simply securing a future for the already privileged in an era of diminishing social mobility and growing ...


The Setonian

Reorient Yourself

 Over the last few weeks, an internet blog has been making the rounds throughout Middlebury students. At this point, you’ve probably heard of it. Called the Middlebury College Disorientation Guide, the blog contains several posts outlining some of the problems with Middlebury’s approach to environmentalism ...