While there are certainly a lot of communities co-existing, I know I see intersections of those groups in the people that I consider my friends and I imagine that is the case for others as well even if they do not realize it. The institutional priority on promoting diversity that has been developing organically as a combination of the students, administrators, staff and professors this campus attracts and broader social movements in education is a just one. In terms of diversity, I think Middlebury is pretty good and the fact that so many of us, with so many different backgrounds, can comfortably use the word “home” to describe Middlebury – I do – is a testament to how far we’ve come, even if there are many who do not feel that way at all.

Sometimes it makes me want to kick a wall with how much better Middlebury can be, and I believe will be (dorm damage humor – too soon?). I want to reiterate what Rhiya said about the group of 30ish dynamic students working on creating a safe environment where we ALL can talk about these topics, plus other things that factionalize and challenge our campus. We believe its absolutely necessary to take the next step as a community, and hope anybody interested in supporting it or working with us will reach out to Rhiya or me hcavanagh@middlebury.edu, even if you might not agree with the specifics of what either of us have said.

Middlebury is more diverse in numbers, yes, than it was 6 years ago. And diversity is not just a thing of cognitive factors; of race and sex and and class (which isn’t always cognitive anyway). It is a thing of experience and perspective and worldview.

But Middlebury as an institution does very little of the necessary work that Manny talks about here. They are not interested in discomfort as far as I am concerned.

Because it would be uncomfortable to have conversations about the gross privilege and entitlement that underlies dorm damage and dish stealing. It would be uncomfortable to truly question why students call Public Safety regarding non-white guests in our community and why Public Safety calls the police in turn. It would be uncomfortable to admit openly that we have a problem with substance abuse and sexual harassment and gender biases and ability-based discrimination and that most professors completely lack the sensitivity necessary to tease out when their students are being silenced or marginalized by others.

Admitting it might threaten our standing as one of the best. It might suggest that building a community is not some calculus of recruitment; but that radical inclusion and an honouring of perspective are things to be aspired to over time, not just written about in a mission statement.

This is not a community. It is a spatially constrained campus, with several communities co-existing (only sometimes peacefully) within it. I happen to be a big fan of the one I roll in on most days, but that doesn’t mean I don’t lament everyday the absence of a larger one. It takes work, and I’m willing to do it. But I’m not convinced that Middlebury as an institution is.