Skip to Content, Navigation, or Footer.
Logo of The Middlebury Campus
Saturday, Oct 3, 2026

Opinion


The Setonian

On the need for political activism

I’ll never forget the day I saw democracy at work. It was June 26, 2009 — Michael Jackson had just died and the House of Representatives was voting on a massive climate and energy bill. I was working for 1Sky — a campaign devoted to the very principles that the bill embodied: reductions in carbon ...


The Setonian

There is no future ... there is only the past

It is natural for human beings to look towards the future, to dream of what tomorrow, or twenty years from now may bring. We work for the future, save for the future and plan for the future. It is impossible to conceptualize life without an assumption of a future, and having been born with the ability ...


The Setonian

Egypt Liberated

Yalla ya Misr! My heart is with the Egyptian people! Smiles, confidence, thiqa, reason, passion, righteousness, strength, pride, unbroken honor, respect, unyielding passions that resonate through all the fiber optic cables and all the air waves of the world. And what a world it is! And Egypt the mother ...


The Setonian

Letter to the Editor: Why must we be so politically correct?

This question plagues my mind almost every time I sit down to write an article for The Campus. This past week I went to one of The Campus’ editors with a story. A good story… at least I thought so. The story was interesting and thought provoking; it was a story that had depth and that asked questions. ...


The Setonian

Editorial

It is an exciting time for young entrepreneurs at Middlebury College — and consequently, for everyone else as well. With the impending opening of the new student-run Juice Bar, the recent opening of the on-campus thrift store The Trunk, the new micro financing group MiddStart and the grocery-delivery ...


The Setonian

In defense of an all-male Dungeon

In the fall of 2008, I arrived on Middlebury College campus to learn, with some disappointment, that I would be living on an all-male hall for the duration of the year. My friends at other schools expressed sympathy for me, as I bemoaned the constant “sausage-fest” that would surely comprise my ...


The Setonian

Febulously Febtastic

They’re here. They’ve come. Amidst a campus of jaded liberal arts zombies, morosely trudging to class while praying for global warming to kick in, they enter the Middlebury community. I am, of course, referring to those little rays of sunshine we call “Febs” (aka Feblets, Febbies, Fmunchkins, ...


The Setonian

What’s Next for Jim Douglas

Recently retired Governor of Vermont Jim Douglas is not a man to sit idle. First elected to the Vermont legislature the same year he graduated from Middlebury with a degree in Russian studies, he rose rapidly through the state’s elected offices despite his unenviable status as a Republican in the ...


The Setonian

The Secret Life of the American Administrator

Winter Term is over and spring semester has begun. And somehow, we have more snow now than we did during the entire month of January. So Middlebury. Anyway, dear Campus readers, since this semester shall be my last in the land of bovine, I aim to please you as much as possible. And obviously, the best ...


The Setonian

Plastic, Paper, Cups...Shoot

A few weeks ago, I had a wonderful back and forth with a student and it came to both of us that perhaps the e-mail should be put in the paper. It asks a simple question but it is laced with tongue in cheek humor. I took that lead and gave more back. In the answers and fun, there is truth to how the ...


The Setonian

In need of a new strategy

We are losing the fight with carbon usage. Since the summer of 2009, climate and energy legislation has gone from passing the House of Representatives with bipartisan support to worse than dead on arrival in the Senate. Climate change has evolved — according to President Obama — from an “epochal ...


The Setonian

MAlt lessons reach into College life

Musical Chairs is an incredibly stressful game. I have few fond memories of this birthday party favorite. As I recall, manic kiddie music was featured prominently. Perhaps when we were a bit older and I was a bit luckier, we’d get to take a stroll around to Aaron Carter’s “Dream Street.” This ...


The Setonian

Editorial

The uprisings in Egypt, along with similar demonstrations in Tunisia, Jordan and Yemen, have shaken the sociopolitical status quo in the Middle East. These revolts are, ostensibly, calls for reform and change in certain ‘corrupt’ governments; but the protests often become violent in nature. The ...


The Setonian

Social Entreprenueurship in the Liberal Arts

Jon Isham is an associate professor of economics This Winter Term, 21 students and I have learned a lot about social entrepreneurship. First, the idea is not new. For three decades, leading champions of social change have promoted social entrepreneurship. Bill Drayton founded the Ashoka Foundation ...


The Setonian

Call to Establish a Peace and Conflict Studies Program

To The Campus, According to the New York Times, more than 400 universities and colleges worldwide offer individual courses, certificates and undergraduate or graduate degrees in peace studies. We believe that now is the time for Middlebury to join the ranks of schools dedicated to the cultivation of ...


The Setonian

A Hunt submission

To The Campus, They say that home is where the heart is. So, when I was preparing to come to college last year as an awkward first-year from Dallas, Texas, I was concerned about how I was going to make this new, scary, cold place called Middlebury College my home. My parents told me that it would be ...


The Setonian

Making sustainability mainstream

To The Campus, You start your day with a cup of hot coffee. You grab a banana in the dining hall for a snack after class. You go to the lab to print out your most recent assignment. We establish a routine that dictates a rhythm in our day, but seldom do we stop to consider where all of these things ...


The Setonian

A trust in democracy despite tragedy

Seventy-six days ago, across the Unites State of America, contentious election after contentious election took place. At the end of the night, the Republican Party had taken back the house with a staggering sixty-three seat majority. The Democrats were narrowly left in control of the senate with only ...


The Setonian

Shakespeare in the Dark

The 24-Hour Play Festival, which began at 8:00 on Saturday and ended with performances at 8:00 and 10:00 on Sunday, was a definite highlight of this week. Full disclosure: I acted in the festival, playing an unemployed and promiscuous Princess Belle. It was mad fun, and I got to say, “I did it with ...