What pops into someone’s head when you tell them you go to Middlebury College? Languages? 350.org? The price tag? Or have they never even heard of it? This past week Bill Burger, vice president of communications, pondered these questions when soliciting feedback from students, faculty and the board ...
I am sure that many of you, like me, fall into certain familial rituals after spending a few days back home on break. Laundry is done in collective family-sized loads, your normal dinner schedule is thrown horribly out of sync or perhaps you must perpetually update your parents as to your whereabouts, ...
Here at Middlebury, we live by an extensive set of rules. Some are necessary to maintain our safety, but many are superfluous and actively undermine our autonomy as students. A student body that lacks agency also lacks community standards. I simply propose that we deserve more trust. The presence of ...
When I read the article by Jeanette Cortez, class of 2015 and from Los Angeles, not Philadelphia, as reported in last week’s issue, “Not Like a Fifth Class,” I had an immediate, almost visceral reaction. In her article, she criticized the negative reactions of students of color to incidents of ...
My parents often ask about my future and about what I’m doing to prepare for a career. Most of these conversations descend into arguments, during which they become frustrated with my steadfast uncertainty about what I want to do. During one such discussion, my father exclaimed in frustration, “Where ...
Hey kidiots! Does that start us out on the wrong foot? These days I’ve been feeling like my social filter is made out of Swiss Cheese, holes punched through with the heavy artillery of being “totally over it.” I am frustrated with how seriously we take each other and bummed with how we casually ...
Self-proctored exams are one of the most visible manifestations of our honor code. Our professors hand out the exams, answer questions, and then retreat to their offices, coming back only occasionally to check in and make sure everything is ok. For the Economics department, this norm may be changing. ...
To the Editors: I am writing as an alumnus and recent visiting instructor (Winter Term 2014) in support of the student cultural organization, Midd Included, and in particular their campaign to revise the Cultures and Civilizations requirement at Middlebury. As Midd Included accurately puts it, "Under ...
Last night I had another terrible experience with Western Union. It was supposed to transfer my money to my friend in need in Rhode Island within a minute. But, the transaction was not processed until the next day. I spent four hours trying to fix it. The company told me that my first name “Muhammad” ...
A recent student initiative suggests that Middlebury’s system of academic requirements is in need of reform. Specifically, the authors of the proposal, Daniela Barajas ’14.5 and Rana Abdelhamid ’15, criticize the AAL requirement for failing to embody the College’s commitment to expose students ...
An article in the November 13, 2013 edition of the Campus, “Racial Casting Call Criticized” quoted Debanjan Roychoudhury ’16 as saying that “being a student of color at Middlebury is kind of like taking a fifth class.” I hope that after this piece comes out, someone quotes me saying that being ...
This has been a good year for movies. Tom Hanks gave a mesmerizing performance in Captain Phillips, Mud captured the spirit of the South with subtle grace, and 12 Years a Slave depicted slavery without resorting to revisionist comedy and violence. The movie that most blew me away, however, was Martin ...
To honor Valentine’s Day, what better to discuss than relationships and sex? Middlebury is probably not unique in its messed up idea of courtship. Think about how you usually meet the people you sleep with. It’s at a party full of grimy, sweaty students that you weave your way through. As a woman, ...
The philanthropic sector in the U.S. is broken. According to Jeffery Sach’s estimate in his book, The End of Poverty, just $175 billion dollars annually over the next 20 years, appropriated efficiently, could end global extreme poverty, defined as people living on less than $1.25 a day. The estimate ...
If before this issue of the Campus hit the stands, you were to walk up to a student in Proctor and ask them what they think about the new dining swipe system coming soon, most would look back at you puzzled. “What swipe system?” Here’s what we know. A swipe system will be implemented. This is ...
I recently asked a top administrator what percentage of the faculty read the Campus in some capacity every week. “What do you think?” She asked me. “Fifty percent.” “Try twenty,” was the response. Twenty percent is unacceptable. Faculty members, you are part of our community. To receive ...
You cannot avoid them as you walk around campus. The black posters with white writing that reads, “It Happens Here” plaster every door in the Proctor entryway, line the glass on your way into Ross, sit on all the tables in Atwater and coat the walls of the mail center. Sexual assault survivors work ...
Last week in my article “Empathizing with Mental Illness,” I made some serious errors that offended some readers. First, I want to apologize to those I offended and to the Middlebury Campus editorial staff. I accept responsibility for my submission. Even more importantly, however, I want to thank ...
I spent most of my life wanting to be more alone: wanting to leave neighborhood pickup whiffle ball games early so that I could instead go read a book, wanting my own bedroom at home instead of sharing with my brother, wanting to leave home for college and, once here, waiting anxiously to have a single. ...
Fun facts about my oral contraceptive use: • The reminder to take my birth control pill (a chewable, generic brand that sounds like the scientific name of a flower that blossoms only at night) on my phone is scheduled for 9 a.m. every day and says “babies making babies!” because I think it ...