As the Class of 2014 and I start the school year together, we share a similar sense of excitement and anticipation of what life at Middlebury will be like. We may also share some concerns and questions. And as I step into my new role as the dean of the college, there is one question [...]
When you hear my Brooklyn accent, you know that I am not from Vermont. But I feel as if this is where I am meant to be. When I left Middlebury in 2008, after serving two years as vice president for institutional planning and diversity, I did not anticipate that I would be fortunate enough [...]
The wires have been silent here since the holidays for reasons I will explain in my next post—in the next week or so. But the point of this post is to engage the The Campus‘ ill-informed editorializing on the recent decision not to include the MiddView program in next year’s first-year Orientation. To get a [...]
As everyone on campus should know, Middlebury will soon launch a new website. The new site, designed by an outfit called White Whale, will support videos, slide shows, enhanced search features, and other bells and whistles. I won’t try to explain the significance of these enhancements—why this build out will be better than our current [...]
I am confused by the CAMPUS these days. Take, for instance, its recent editorial (in the Sept 24 issue) on the CORE survey that the office of Health Education and Wellness administered last year. After questioning the validity of the survey data—suggesting that Middlebury students drink less than some might imagine—the editors say they are [...]
The responses to my post on the Phoenix prompted me to dig up additional information on the history of fraternities at Middlebury. Perhaps the most substantive issue at play here concerns the right of free association, which is protected by the First Amendment to the Constitution. Why, the question goes, should Middlebury students be prohibited from [...]
Rumblings have reached the spires of Old Chapel that a secret sorority is afoot on campus. Administrators have received anonymous tips from students, identifying the women associated with the sorority, and expressing unease with the group’s exclusive ways. The sorority is reportedly called the Phoenix, named, apparently, for the mythological bird that rises from a [...]
The ongoing search for budget savings and Ryan Kellett’s excellent post on MiddBlog prompt a question: at what point will student leaders consider tapping the funds that flow into SGA Finance coffers through the Student Activities Fee ($380 per student in 2008-2009) to help pay for programs that may be redlined out of the College’s operational budget? [...]
I don’t know how many times one can revisit a topic before it collapses under the weight of words, but today’s announcement by President Liebowitz that accepted the Budget Oversight Committee’s recommendation that 51 Main continue—under significant qualifications—has brought me back to this subject one last time. I believe strongly in the mission of 51 [...]
This week marks the anniversary of Nick Garza’s disappearance, and the beginning of the almost four-month search that led in May to the discovery that Nick (class of 2011) died during the February break, after apparently walking off from campus and falling into Otter Creek. We have mourned Nick’s passing, and struggled to understand how [...]
