164 items found for your search. If no results were found please broaden your search.
- « First
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- Next ›
- Last »
From cluttered homes to an uncertain fall, survey lays bare students’ pandemic struggles
(06/04/20 5:24am)
We sent students a survey last week asking some of the questions that have continually shaped our lives since March 10.From the data collected, we learned that: Most students felt that professors were understanding. Ninety percent of surveyed students were satisfied with professors’ accommodations through remote learning. Classes could get a lot smaller if we remain remote this fall, as 58% of students would elect to take a leave of absence if Middlebury chooses to remain fully-remote during that term. The pandemic has not been kind to Middlebury students’ job opportunities. Sixty two percent of surveyed students at one point had a job or internship that was cancelled due to the pandemic. Few people opted in to credit/no credit. In the wake of the failed movement for mandatory credit/no credit grading, 63% of respondents took all of their spring classes for letter grades.At the end of the survey, we also gave students the chance to anonymously share opinions or anecdotes about experiences in quarantine. We’re really glad we did so — the responses you provided were at turns poignant, urgent and funny, and all of them capture the bizarre reality we’re living through. These anonymous opinions have been included in this article in places where they complement our findings expressed through data visualization.General demographics!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Of the roughly 2,500 Middlebury students who were sent the survey, 583 — roughly a quarter — participated. Respondents were split fairly evenly across class years, with a slight majority of respondents coming from the classes of 2021 and ’21.5. (Though they will not be enrolled this fall, members of the class of 2020 were invited to complete the survey because of their perspectives on the spring semester and experience graduating during the pandemic).!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Reflecting the demographic reality of the college’s student body, a majority of respondents identified as white. Ten percent, or 58, respondents identified as international students.Spring semester and summerMental health during remote spring semester!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();A majority of students — 64% of respondents — reported having experienced mental health-related challenges during the course of their spring semester. Twenty-five percent reported knowing where to go to get virtual mental health support from the college, 27% said they did not know where to access care and the remaining 47% reported being “somewhat” aware of how to seek care.But the logistical realities of being at home with parents, siblings and other family posed challenges for some students to seek help. “As someone who struggles with mental health, it's a lot harder to reach out for help when I'm at home and I feel at higher risk for falling into really bad lows and having no one around to help,” one student wrote.“One challenge that I have faced has been less mental health problems myself,” a student wrote in their anecdotal response, “but more caring for family members struggling with their mental health.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Students reported feeling high levels of stress over uncertainty of life during the pandemic, as well as over jobs, relationships, academics, family life and home life. Often, multiple demands intersected to create unique challenges to tackling remote learning from home.“Mother lost her job, father might too,” a student wrote. “Having everyone under the same roof in a small house has driven my parents to the brink of divorce.”Approval rating of communication by college entities since March 10!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Students generally approved or were ambivalent about communication methods from college entities such as Schools Abroad, Parton counseling and the administration. However, several anecdotal responses expressed frustrations with a lack of solicitation of student input on the part of the college throughout the spring.“Many other schools are hosting webinars and Zoom calls explaining directly to students what options they are considering in the fall,” one student wrote. “Middlebury has not told us the options and therefore there are more rumors/speculations. Even if the answer is ‘we don't know yet - here are some options,’ [that would be] better than barely hearing from them at all.”Covid-19 infection among family, acquaintances and community!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Nine Middlebury students responded as having tested positive for Covid-19. Forty percent reported knowing a friend who had tested positive, and another 41% responded as not knowing anyone who had tested positive.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Almost half —48% — of students reported high levels of concern over viral transmission in their communities, while roughly 12% reported low levels of concern in their communities.Opinions on spring remote academic programming!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();A vast majority of respondents — 91% — reported professors being flexible in adjusting to the demands of remote learning. “Two of my professors were amazing — completely accommodating and conscious of the circumstances,” one student wrote. However, anecdotal responses saw many students report frustrations with how professors adjusted syllabi or failed to provide opportunities for asynchronous learning.Many students wrote that some professors were patient and accommodating while others approached the semester in starkly different ways.“I felt like most of the concessions certain professors claimed were just talk,” one student wrote. “One of my professors did not cut the workload at all and just added the material from the week we missed onto the post-break semester.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Despite high rates of approval for professors’ levels of accommodation, 64% of students reported that their academic experience this spring was at least “generally” impaired amid the adjustment to remote learning.“If students were disadvantaged before, this pandemic only exacerbates the previous systemic issue,” one student wrote. “We should focus Middlebury's financial support to pledge to support students who have a less than ideal home situation for learning. This is a serious concern for accessibility reasons as well.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Students reported “news and outside distractions” as the most significant impediment to their distance-learning experience. Financial burdens were another —more than 100 students reported a need to make money while living at home as being at least somewhat of an obstacle to their learning, and thirty-four students reported lacking a home as a significant obstacle.“I've been taking care of my two younger cousins whose both parents have brain injuries,” a student wrote. “Being home means that I have to step up in my family, and that involves home-schooling and helping to raise an 11-year-old girl and a six-year-old boy. It has also meant caring for my father who has early-onset Alzheimers. The playing field is extremely unequal when school is remote.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();A significant majority of students — 63% — reported not taking any classes credit/no credit this spring. In the push for a credit/no credit system in the spring, students cited disadvantages faced by less-privileged students as the primary reason for offering such a system. Some students acknowledged that the credit/no credit system remained relevant because of these challenges, even if they were able to choose letter grades.“My grades ended up good this semester,” one student wrote, “but I support universal credit/no credit because I know how much stress my friends have experienced in deciding whether to take courses for standard grading or for credit.”Summer plans!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();About half of students surveyed will participate in remote internships or jobs this summer. However, 62% reported previously having a job or internship that was later cancelled due to the coronavirus.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();A slight majority of respondents reported that they will be spending the summer months in the same location as where they spent their spring semester.Fall 2020“The Plan”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Respondents favored an in-person, socially distanced semester for fall 2020 — a plan that raises questions about the college’s ability to enforce social distancing protocols in classrooms, dorms and the town of Middlebury. The other favorite options — delayed on-campus semester and pre-Thanksgiving end to the semester — raise similar questions that colleges will continue to grapple with as they consider on-campus possibilities.Students are thus not enthused by the prospect of another semester of fully-remote learning. A significant percentage of anecdotal responses submitted at the end of this survey centered around respondents’ anxieties for the fall.“I would easily trade my off campus/ traveling privileges for an in person-semester,” one student wrote. “Being able to socialize and learn in person with friends and colleagues is my highest priority.”“I am going to be incredibly depressed if we can not return to campus in the fall,” another wrote.But others expressed concern that the college committing to an in-person fall semester would pose too many uncertainties to be worth it. “I would rather have a clear remote fall than a chaotic one on campus,” one student wrote. More directly, others pointed out that an in-person fall would raise pressing questions about how to enforce social distancing guidelines.Others offered their own tips on how the college should plan for the fall. “I think we should arrive to campus early, spend 14 days in isolation with the highest social distancing measures in place, and then have a normal fall semester,” a respondent wrote. “This would hopefully eliminate any risk of the virus spreading after the two weeks of isolation.”As students sort through anxieties about what the fall will bring, immunocompromised students are experiencing higher degrees of concern about how the semester will look than most.“As an immunocompromised student I am very scared of what life back at Middelbury would look like, yet also do not want to give up the rest of my college years,” a student wrote. “I worry about whether Middlebury is talking with the ADA coordinators/more vulnerable students to form a fall semester plan.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();Four-hundred and twelve respondents — 71% — would be “very unwilling” to pay full tuition for a remote fall semester. And in the anecdotal responses, students posed concerns about how tuition payments and financial aid would work in the event of a remote semester.“Will the college allow students on financial aid to take the semester off without restrictions? If I take the semester off and am on financial aid will I still be assured financial aid for the rest of my time at Middlebury? Will financial aid decrease due to financial hardships of the college? I am concerned that the college will hold financial aid over students' heads to prevent them from withdrawing from the semester if it is all remote,” a student wrote.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();41% of respondents said they would prefer a mandatory credit/no credit system in the event of a fully remote fall semester.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();And strikingly, 337 said they would attempt to take a leave-of-absence for the fall in the event of a fully-remote semester.“Everyone I know would try to take a semester off if it were to be remote,” one student wrote in their anecdotal response. Another wrote that a fully in-person semester would be necessary for them to even consider paying full tuition and that “it isn't worth my money or my time otherwise.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",(function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}}))}();In voicing anxieties about the fall, students — already three months into social distancing protocols by June — were most concerned about the ability of the pandemic in preventing them from socializing with friends.Other significant anxieties stemmed from the ongoing public health risk and potential restrictions on campus activities.“I am extremely concerned about the potential of party/social culture instigating an outbreak,” a student wrote. “I do not know that every student may follow social distancing/quarantining rules. In fact, I expect many to break them...I am worried that places of massive, close social gatherings (social houses, Atwater, etc.) will create a possible breeding ground for the virus.”To the college, one student wrote, “good luck making these really tough decisions.”Correction 6/4/20, 9:30 A.M.: A previous version of this article stated that "about a third [of students] reported knowing a friend who had tested positive and another third responded as not knowing anyone who had tested positive" for Covid-19. The correct figures are 40% and 41%, respectively.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2020/06/from-cluttered-homes-to-an-uncertain-fall-survey-lays-bare-students-pandemic-struggles
Students define "hook-up," discuss romantic scene at Middlebury
(05/07/20 9:50am)
The Campus asked Middlebury students to participate in the second annual Zeitgeist survey in November, looking to gain insight into campus culture by asking the questions that are often not discussed. This year’s survey included an exploration of love, relationships and the ever ill-defined “hook-up culture.” A total of 1,245 students responded —nearly 48.25% of the student body.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();The vast majority of Middlebury students — 90.82% — prefer a romantic relationship to a hook-up, according to the second annual Zeitgeist survey.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();Despite this indicated preference, 50.44% of respondents said that they have had a one-night stand in the past and 43.53% reported having had an, “unspecified, slightly-monogamous ‘thing.’”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();About 55.37% of respondents, or 686 students, reported having been in a committed romantic relationship before starting at Middlebury. However, only 39.43% of students, or 491 respondents, reported being in a committed/monogamous relationship at Middlebury.Athletes are 7.09% more likely to have partaken in a one-night stand and, on average, have a higher number of sexual partners than non-athletes.Students identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community are equally as likely to participate in all forms of relationships and sexual activity as non-LGBTQ+ students.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();When asked about their satisfaction with the romantic scene at Middlebury, 46.01% of respondents answered that they were somewhat dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied, 30.41% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 23.58% said that they were somewhat satisfied or extremely satisfied.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();The length of relationships for students have varied. 34.90% of respondents said that their longest relationship lasted over a year, while 22.35% have never been in a relationship.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();More than one in ten students — 10.17% of respondents — said they have cheated in a romantic relationship.Respondents were asked how many partners they have engaged in consensual sexual activity within the last 12 months. The most common response was 2-4 partners, with 386 students. 263 students reported they had not engaged in sex within the last year. Respondents who identified as cisgender female were more likely to have not engaged in sex compared to their cisgender male counterparts: 24.25% compared to 16.26%.Despite the fact that many students have participated in hook-up culture to some degree, it is not clear what this term actually means. Students attempted — and struggled — to define “hook-up” in the survey. 1,130 students heeded the call to demystify the ambiguous (and popular) term.“Hook-up is a deliberately ambiguous word in English that can connote anything from just making out to full-on sex,” reads one response, adding that “hook-up” is not a term they use when speaking of their own encounters. “I believe that encounters of any sexual nature would constitute a hook-up, but I’d be wary of defining mine as such because of the social implications this term carries.”Many responses stated that hooking up is the range that begins with making out and ends with sex. Some designated hook-ups as an act that must occur privately, while others included infamous Dance Floor Make Outs (DFMOs) in their definition. Many others explicitly defined hook-ups as, “anything more than kissing”, requiring some sort of sexual encounter.One respondent wrote that hook-ups are, “Something sexual in nature that can turn into something more, but [that] doesn’t necessarily have too much meaning or … emotion.”The word “party” appears in responses 40 times. One response says that hook-ups are “having sex with someone after a party and then not getting into a relationship for more than a couple weeks or so afterward.” The words “casual” and “casually” appear 66 times in responses. “Spontaneous” and “spontaneously” appear seven times.A common theme in the responses is a lack of emotional connection or significance. As one respondent puts it, hook-ups are, “Having a sexual relationship with someone without necessarily the need for an emotional/romantic connection or committment to that person.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();For those involved in the romantic scene at Middlebury, survey respondents were given a range of options to select how they have met romantic partners. The most popular option was through mutual friends, with 527 people, followed by on nights out (495), extracurriculars (275) and through residence halls (225). Respondents also pointed to orientation and on-campus jobs as places they met romantic partners.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();The data also shows that Middlebury students tend to download dating apps during their later years at Middlebury. The percentage of students who use dating apps increased as students aged, with only 17.25% of the class of 2023 respondents having used a dating app at the time of the survey compared to 44.19% of the class of 2022, 48.36% of the class of 2021 and 57.32% of the class of 2020.Editor’s Note: This article was originally published in The Campus' April 23 Love Issue.Riley Board and Caroline Kapp contributed reporting.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2020/05/students-define-hook-up-discuss-romantic-scene-at-middlebury
Zeitgeist takes on love
(04/23/20 12:58am)
The Campus asked Middlebury students to participate in the second annual Zeitgeist survey in November, looking to gain insight into campus culture by asking the questions that are often not discussed. This year’s survey included an exploration of love, relationships and the ever ill-defined “hook-up culture.” A total of 1,245 students responded —nearly 48.25% of the student body.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();The vast majority of Middlebury students — 90.82% — prefer a romantic relationship to a hook-up, according to the second annual Zeitgeist survey.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();Despite this indicated preference, 50.44% of respondents said that they have had a one-night stand in the past and 43.53% reported having had an, “unspecified, slightly-monogamous ‘thing.’”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();About 55.37% of respondents, or 686 students, reported having been in a committed romantic relationship before starting at Middlebury. However, only 39.43% of students, or 491 respondents, reported being in a committed/monogamous relationship at Middlebury.Athletes are 7.09% more likely to have partaken in a one-night stand and, on average, have a higher number of sexual partners than non-athletes.Students identifying as part of the LGBTQ+ community are equally as likely to participate in all forms of relationships and sexual activity as non-LGBTQ+ students.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();When asked about their satisfaction with the romantic scene at Middlebury, 46.01% of respondents answered that they were somewhat dissatisfied or extremely dissatisfied, 30.41% were neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, 23.58% said that they were somewhat satisfied or extremely satisfied.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();The length of relationships for students have varied. 34.90% of respondents said that their longest relationship lasted over a year, while 22.35% have never been in a relationship.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();More than one in ten students — 10.17% of respondents — said they have cheated in a romantic relationship.Respondents were asked how many partners they have engaged in consensual sexual activity within the last 12 months. The most common response was 2-4 partners, with 386 students. 263 students reported they had not engaged in sex within the last year. Respondents who identified as cisgender female were more likely to have not engaged in sex compared to their cisgender male counterparts: 24.25% compared to 16.26%.Despite the fact that many students have participated in hook-up culture to some degree, it is not clear what this term actually means. Students attempted — and struggled — to define “hook-up” in the survey. 1,130 students heeded the call to demystify the ambiguous (and popular) term.“Hook-up is a deliberately ambiguous word in English that can connote anything from just making out to full-on sex,” reads one response, adding that “hook-up” is not a term they use when speaking of their own encounters. “I believe that encounters of any sexual nature would constitute a hook-up, but I’d be wary of defining mine as such because of the social implications this term carries.”Many responses stated that hooking up is the range that begins with making out and ends with sex. Some designated hook-ups as an act that must occur privately, while others included infamous Dance Floor Make Outs (DFMOs) in their definition. Many others explicitly defined hook-ups as, “anything more than kissing”, requiring some sort of sexual encounter.One respondent wrote that hook-ups are, “Something sexual in nature that can turn into something more, but [that] doesn’t necessarily have too much meaning or … emotion.”The word “party” appears in responses 40 times. One response says that hook-ups are “having sex with someone after a party and then not getting into a relationship for more than a couple weeks or so afterward.” The words “casual” and “casually” appear 66 times in responses. “Spontaneous” and “spontaneously” appear seven times.A common theme in the responses is a lack of emotional connection or significance. As one respondent puts it, hook-ups are, “Having a sexual relationship with someone without necessarily the need for an emotional/romantic connection or committment to that person.”!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();For those involved in the romantic scene at Middlebury, survey respondents were given a range of options to select how they have met romantic partners. The most popular option was through mutual friends, with 527 people, followed by on nights out (495), extracurriculars (275) and through residence halls (225). Respondents also pointed to orientation and on-campus jobs as places they met romantic partners.!function(){"use strict";window.addEventListener("message",function(a){if(void 0!==a.data["datawrapper-height"])for(var e in a.data["datawrapper-height"]){var t=document.getElementById("datawrapper-chart-"+e)||document.querySelector("iframe[src*='"+e+"']");t&&(t.style.height=a.data["datawrapper-height"][e]+"px")}})}();The data also shows that Middlebury students tend to download dating apps during their later years at Middlebury. The percentage of students who use dating apps increased as students aged, with only 17.25% of the class of 2023 respondents having used a dating app at the time of the survey compared to 44.19% of the class of 2022, 48.36% of the class of 2021 and 57.32% of the class of 2020.Editor’s Note: All the results from the second annual Zeitgeist survey will be published on May 7, in the special Zeitgeist issue.Riley Board, and Caroline Kapp contributed reporting.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2020/04/zeitgeist-love-issue
A love letter to the class of 2019.75
(04/23/20 12:00am)
Boy, what a ride it’s been.When we first got to campus as doe-eyed teens, I don’t think any of us knew we’d be signing up for a rollercoaster ride. Within our first three months, Donald J. Trump was elected President of the United States. Shortly thereafter, anti-Muslim hate speech was found on a classmate’s whiteboard and a swastika on the door of a Jewish congregation in town. Our second semester was marked by Charles Murray’s infamous visit and all the protests, multiple racial profiling cases and ensuing sanctions. It was a jarring start to our college careers, to say the least.Sometimes I think back to when the letters of the word “RACIST” were spray painted across the pillars of Mead Chapel back in late 2017. Honestly, I think that image perfectly encapsulates Middlebury. That graffiti was a stark reminder of the not-so-pretty side of our school, that we have a long way to go; at the same time, Mead Chapel is also an edifice of hope and opportunity and celebration.Late one night after I learned that the college would close early because of the pandemic, I found myself sitting at the steps of that very building. I stared out at our dimly lit campus and suddenly began crying uncontrollably — not because of all the sh*t we’ve gone through, but because of how we’ve persevered and even found some beauty along the way.I’m thinking about the excitement of Preview Days, or the first time we experienced the Winter Carnival bonfire and fireworks in all their glory. I’m thinking about how we didn’t always have to swipe in to get into the dining halls, and how the lines would be out the door just for black pepper tofu or Midnight Breakfast. How every weekend the Grille would be packed after Cafe con Leche, and how at least one person most definitely lost their jacket or student ID along the way. Free & For Sale, anyone?And then there was the snow. Do you remember that one tree on Mead Chapel hill that was always decorated like a Christmas tree around the holidays? Random snowmen and the occasional igloo would pop up all around, new playthings for our feisty campus squirrels. MiddKids are generally really smart, but for some reason we would always try to cut across Battell beach even though walking around would probably be much faster.With the chilly winter of our third semester, though, came The List. Our campus plunged into conversations about just how widespread sexual violence is at Middlebury. But it also inspired our community to gather more intentionally around It Happens Here, a storytelling event that centers on the voices of survivors of sexual violence. There were only about 20 of us in Wilson Hall the year before. After The List, I couldn’t even get in.We protested the Muslim ban and spearheaded divestment. We cheered on our peers at dance and cultural performances, a cappella concerts and comedy shows. We learned to tell when it’s spring because everyone would start walking around in shorts, even though it was still 50 degrees outside. And soon enough, students would pull out their hammocks as Facilities set up the outdoor dining tables. Even Sean Kingston was excited about warmer weather at Middlesbury.But we weren’t so excited about a chemistry test question referencing Nazi gas chambers, or a slave trade joke in a geology class. And before we could catch our breath, the invitation of Ryszard Legutko threw us in for another loop. Just like that, our junior spring, too, was marked by controversy. In moments like that one, I would dream of eating too much at the all-school barbecue, of milling around campus late at night during Nocturne, of throwing paper airplanes in BiHall, and of seeing President Patton’s adorable dogs. Sometimes I even missed the carillon chiming away for what sometimes feels like hours.But back to reality. We learned of Charles Murray 2.0 (technically 3.0) near the end of this past J-Term, and it suddenly felt like we were time-travelling back to our first year. But we were ready this time. Many of our peers had worked alongside the administration to revise the protest policy. We saw the creation of the Black Studies major and got to talk about the 1619 project with Nikole Hannah-Jones. We mobilized in a way that recognized the past and looked to the future. And of course, just when we thought we could handle everything that came our way, Covid-19 forced us to abruptly leave behind everything we knew and held dear.There’s no denying that we’ve been dealt a pretty sh*tty hand. Yet somehow, despite it all, we’ve made the most of our time at Midd —our response to the pandemic is proof. In just a few days, we developed an abridged Senior Week, cheekily hung up crush lists and took a good look at that beautiful Middlebury sunrise one last time.These are the things that shape who we are, seniors, and I don’t want you to forget it. I want you to remember just how excited you were when you first got here, and I want you to take a deep breath and celebrate the fact that you’re almost done. Maybe we don’t get to walk down the stage in a cap and gown come May, but our accomplishment is so much bigger than that because we’re true Midd Kids: quirky and resilient, no matter what life throws at us. And when it comes down to it, that is what we will be remembered for.I love you so much, class of 2019.75. Maybe we’ll be reunited someday.Varsha Vijayakumar is a member of the class of 2020 and this year’s SGA president.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2020/04/a-love-letter-to-the-class-of-2019-75
Approximately 175 students approved to stay on campus
(03/19/20 6:14pm)
In an unprecedented decision meant to address concerns over the global Covid-19 pandemic, the college ordered students to leave campus last Tuesday. While the majority of students were expected to head home, those who wished to remain on campus — because of travel distance to home, high numbers of Covid-19 cases in their hometowns or other reasons — had the option to petition to remain on Middlebury’s campus.Many who did so, however, were disappointed, as deans tasked with communicating the decisions pushed most applicants to find alternatives. At the same time, most of the students The Campus spoke with expressed understanding of the college’s safety concerns as the number of Covid-19 cases in Vermont increases.Now, even those who were eventually granted permission to stay face uncertainty about the rest of the semester, as the college contemplates closing its campus to students completely depending on continual reassessments, according to emails sent by deans to students remaining on campus.From 2,500 to 175Administrators originally predicted that a few hundred students would be allowed to remain on campus. Ultimately, they permitted roughly 175 students to stay, according to an email sent by President Laurie Patton Saturday night. By Wednesday, March 18, as major U.S. cities instituted lockdowns and the U.S. closed its border with Canada, some students left campus for home; now, fewer than 140 students remain physically on campus, according to Dean of Students Baishakhi Taylor.Deans were expected to tell students who petitioned to stay whether they could remain on campus for at least three weeks by Friday, March 13, the same day students were originally told to leave campus. The college later moved the departure deadline to Sunday.The tight turnaround left students who were denied permission— many of whom were confident their situations warranted staying on campus — scrambling to find alternatives. The college advised those who were able to stay with family or friends stateside, which many are now doing, and is offering financial aid to those who need help traveling.Deans were unable to respond for comment before this story was published. But many of the emails students received from their deans emphasized the importance of getting as many students off-campus as possible due to safety concerns arising from a potential Covid-19 outbreak. The emails encouraged students to exhaust all other potential options before petitioning to stay.Donovan Compton ’23, a U.S. citizen who calls Italy home, had his petition to remain on campus rejected. With Italy on lockdown, he says returning home to that country’s Veneto region — one of the regions most heavily-affected by Covid-19 in the country — is not an option.“If I were to actually attempt to go back to Italy … I would most likely not be able to access the country, and in the case I would be let into Italy, my parents wouldn't be able to retrieve me at the airport since the roads are blockaded so as to make driving extremely limited,” he wrote in an email to The Campus.Compton’s request to stay was denied through a mass email sent to many students in Ross Commons. He said the decision so surprised him that he screamed aloud upon reading the email.While Compton has family in the states, they are all located in Seattle, another coronavirus epicenter. For now, he is staying with family friends in Massachusetts.Shahmeer Chaudhary ’21, who is from Dubai, also had his request to stay on campus denied.“The decision did surprise me,” Chaudhary wrote in an email to The Campus. “I did not feel like I had any room or opportunity to negotiate. In fact, I was told by my dean, ‘You’re welcome to stop by and talk with me about that, but the answer will unfortunately be the same.’ I felt like I was out of options and the administration was unwilling to even hear me out.”Domestic students also had concerns about leaving campus. Kai Milici ’21 is from Seattle and petitioned to remain on campus. She did not plan to stay there indefinitely, but felt that she needed a few more days beyond the Sunday move-out date to assess whether it would be smarter to return home or to stay with friends on the East Coast.When Milici’s application was denied she, like many of her peers, reacted with frustration.“I felt like I was being forced into a potentially dangerous situation,” she said, adding she was stressed by how the required self-quarantine would exacerbate existing feelings of isolation.But in hindsight, with the possibility of travel restrictions and lockdowns looming in the coming days and weeks, she understands the college’s decision.Milici has since returned to Seattle, where she said the high degree of social isolation has already resulted in increased stress. She does not expect to be able to leave for “at least a couple of months.” While she hopes to return to the East Coast to participate in summer internship opportunities, she is grappling with the potential that this may no longer be a possibility depending on how the situation progresses.Tre Stephens ’21 was granted permission to remain on campus. Stephens is from Chicago, Illinois and petitioned to stay due to “extraordinary personal circumstances” regarding his home situation. He explained that he wrote to his dean out of fear, more than anything else.“I wanted to stress that if I am requested to leave campus, I will literally have no place to go,” Stephens wrote in the email he sent to his dean. “I am honestly scared. Please please please consider letting me stay.”This past summer, the stove in Stephens’ house exploded, causing a house fire that so completely destroyed the house that his family is currently living with other relatives. Stephens simply does not have a home to return to, he said.The school initially denied Stephens’ request, instead offering to pay for his travel home. Stephens responded with another plea to stay. In his email, he wrote that he was not able to stay with family and close friends because they said they did not have space for him.Following this secondary plea, Stephens was granted permission to stay.Many students allowed to remain on campus have been warned that they may need to return home if the situation does not improve when the college re-evaluates its plan in three weeks.An email from Assistant Director of Community Standards Elaine Orozco Hammond to multiple students last week insinuated this possibility. “It is possible we will be back in session, or asking people to leave in a few weeks,” it said. “We are taking this one step at a time.”In that situation, Stephens has no idea what he will do.“Where will I go? How will I get there? Money? Food? Clean clothing? These are all concerns that rush through my mind,” he said. But Stephens believes that college administrators are doing their best to act in the interests of students.Other students applied to remain on campus for health concerns. Marisa Edmondson ’20 is from rural Colorado and has severe asthma. This condition compromises her immune system, and makes her particularly vulnerable to Covid-19.Edmondson’s hometown is a two-hour drive from the nearest hospital, and her health condition posed a serious risk of possible contamination if she tried to fly home, she said. She considered living with friends in Rhode Island indefinitely when the school denied her request, but ultimately decided to road trip home to Colorado, where she will stay in quarantine with her parents.Jake Guaghan ’22, from Honolulu, Hawaii, was denied permission to remain on campus. In his petition to stay, Guaghan cited the length and difficulty of traveling home and the likelihood that he may be exposed to coronavirus while in airports.At the time of his petition — last Tuesday — he felt that it would be irresponsible to risk the possibility of bringing coronavirus back to an isolated locale. The denial of permission to remain on campus left Guaghan feeling anxious and scared, but not surprised.“Throughout my time here, I've realized that American students who don't live in the contiguous 48 are often forgotten by the school,” he said. Students from Hawaii and Alaska face many of the same challenges as international students, he said, but there are no institutional structures to assist these students.Owen Marsh ’20, from Scarsdale, New York, where there are multiple confirmed cases of Covid-19, has also been denied permission to remain on campus. After a middle school teacher in his town tested positive, many have been placed in quarantine.Those living in Scarsdale are only leaving their homes when it is absolutely necessary and are constantly maintaining a distance of six feet away from all other people, according to Marsh’s parents. He was surprised, he said, when he received an email alerting him that he would not be able to remain on campus.“I am lucky enough to have friends who have been willing to house me, but I don't know how long that will last, and I am sure that there are many much less fortunate than me,” Marsh said.As of now, Marsh plans to move from place to place and avoid returning home. He hopes to be back at Middlebury before May — but at the time, it is unclear whether or not that will happen.Gaughan’s plans changed constantly throughout the two days following the denial of his request to remain on campus. Ultimately, he has decided to go home. Given the escalating crisis, he is concerned that if he remains in the continental U.S., he would eventually be unable to return home.During his flight home, another passenger seated in the row in front of Gaughan fell ill. The passenger was quarantined mid-flight and required the assistance of emergency medical services to deplane.“While no one knows necessarily with what he is afflicted, I couldn’t help but think about how this type of scenario was exactly what I outlined in my petition to stay on campus,” Gaughan wrote in an email to The Campus on Saturday night.Returning home will also impact the lives of students beyond the possible transmission of Covid-19. Due to the six-hour time difference between Vermont and Hawaii, there is the possibility that Gaughan will need to take his online courses at 2 a.m.Chaudhary, the student from Dubai, expressed similar concerns. Dubai has a nine-hour time difference from Vermont. He is worried about how this will impact his ability to partake in classes that many professors are planning to conduct in a “video-chat” format.Chaudhary said he is anxious about the impact returning home could have in the long-term, especially because he is hoping to do an internship in the states this summer.Jiaqi Li ’22 is from China and, like Stephens, was granted permission to remain on campus. Li was concerned that flying home was not a viable option for her logistically or financially.“I love Middlebury College dearly and at present, I truly consider this my home, my only home. The news on Tuesday really made me feel as if my world is falling apart, when the support system I rely on is no longer feasible,” she wrote in the email she sent to her dean requesting permission to remain on campus.If Li’s request to stay had been denied, she felt that the best option would have been to explore housing options in Middlebury, off-campus, with the financial support of the college.“This is a scary time for all of us. I know many people were sad to leave for multiple reasons, and for some of us leaving has never truly been an option,” Stephens said.Editor’s note: Jake Gaughan and Owen Marsh are both Opinion editors for The Campus.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2020/03/approximately-175-students-allowed-to-stay-on-campus
What does it mean to be an activist at Middlebury?
(11/14/19 11:04am)
“Middlebury College has never been considered a hotbed of political activity,” reads an article published in The Middlebury Campus from November 2002. “Its own students describe the atmosphere as ‘sleepy,’ ‘detached,’ and ‘bubbled-in.’ Those who dare to shatter the quiet are a minority that is sometimes scorned for disrupting this remote paradise. ‘Protest’ is something that is debated; ‘activism’ is something that occurs elsewhere.”The author noted later in the article that this trend was already changing. Now, 17 years later, most students would likely disagree with the notion that Middlebury students are apolitical.In the past few years alone, student activists, leaders of campus extracurriculars, and campaign organizers have built websites to direct students to resources surrounding sexual health (go/sexysources); they have also successfully petitioned the college to become a “sanctuary campus” after President Donald Trump’s decision to rescind the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals. Notably, after nearly a decade of work, the student-led effort by Divest Middlebury culminated with Energy2028, a commitment from the college to divest its endowment from fossil fuels companies over the coming years.These success stories are the glossy stuff of press releases. But the long-winded road to change — enacted by an ever-changing student body amid a minefield of obstacles — is anything but straightforward.Isolation and insulation: Student activism in the “Middlebury bubble”The college’s location in rural Vermont can make some students feel disconnected from national and international political issues. Many students reference “the Middlebury bubble” to describe the seemingly impermeable membrane that blocks students from the “real world” and to some, seems to propagate homogenous ideologies.Annie Blalock ’20.5, current president of Feminist Action at Middlebury (FAM), said that Middlebury’s relative isolation may contribute to the feeling that students are confined in how they can respond to larger issues. Blalock joined FAM to combat this feeling of voicelessness.“As time passed during my first semester, I felt the weight of the Middlebury bubble every day [in] that new inhumane policies were introduced or protective legislation taken away,” Blalock wrote in an email to The Campus. “I turned to FAM to stay educated about current events and take action in an accessible, fun environment.”Madison Holland ’21 has been involved with the college’s branch of Amnesty International, an international organization that focuses on human rights, and Juntos, a campus organization that advocates for quality working conditions for local farm workers. She said she enjoys building relationships with members of the community through her activism.“It’s important to realize the broader picture, that that there are other people off campus with real lives and real stories,” Holland said. “Especially considering we’re only here for four years and there’s a world out there that we’re going to have to encounter eventually, so we might as well start now.”The college’s small size has other impacts as well: the activist community is very insular, according to Taite Shomo ’20.5 and Grace Vedock ’20, two students with long resumes of campus activism.Amongst other initiatives, Shomo and Vedock are the organizers of It Happens Here (IHH), a storytelling event that draws attention to campus sexual assault. They also helped coordinate The Map Project, which documents locations of incidents of sexual assault on campus with red dots on a map. Last spring, Shomo and Vedock helped organize the peaceful protest that was scheduled to occur during the Ryszard Legutko lecture that was set for Wed., April 17. The lecture and the protest were unexpectedly cancelled by administration due to “safety risks,” which were left ambiguous when first announced.“A lot of people who are leading activist charges, it’s the same group of people over and over,” Shomo said. “What I find very frustrating is that I think the Middlebury population constructs itself as aware and involved and liberal. But in my experience, when we have asked people to step up and be part of things, they’re not there.”According to Shomo and Vedock, the core group of activists — those who organize most of the major protests and campaigns on campus — is so small that students have created various group chats to connect with other students who are committed to using activism as a tool of social change.“Student activism is difficult for so many reasons. It takes so much time and so much emotional energy. Usually the people that are involved in certain initiatives have been directly affected by those initiatives, ” Vedock said. “If the burden is on the affected population to change the culture, it can be extremely bleak.”Vedock said that student activism can be “exhausting,” and Shomo said that doing activism takes energy away from friends, school, family and her own health. This is a common constraint that many students face when organizing changemaking efforts on campus: they are students first, with the primary goal to obtain a degree.With time already a scarce resource in college, it can be difficult to mobilize students for a particular campaign or event.“Students are stakeholders in so many different areas of campus, so I think that’s a struggle — not necessarily in getting people to voice their support but to act on that support,” Holland said. Student activists also must navigate the rules set by administration for student organizing, a process which Blalock said is “unnecessarily burdensome.” The consequences for violating college policy, however, can be serious. Prior to the visit of His Holiness the Dalai Lama to Middlebury in 2012, five students who dubbed themselves the “Dalai Lama Welcoming Committee” circulated a mock press release to students, faculty and media outlets announcing that the college would divest from industries of violence. The students were charged and ultimately found guilty by the Community Judicial Board during an open hearing and were given a reprimand, but were not subject to any official college discipline.In 2013, a student was suspended for one year for uprooting thousands of flags that were put in the ground as part of a memorial to commemorate the victims of 9/11. The student claimed that the memorial sat on top of an Abenaki burial site, and should be treated with respect.More recently, when students protested and shut down the 2017 lecture of controversial sociologist Charles Murray, the college punished 74 students with sanctions ranging from probation to official college discipline. Students were accused of violating the section in the Student Handbook that prohibits “disruptive behavior at community events or on campus.”“If we have to be afraid of being suspended because of engaging in protest, that’s a very precarious situation to be in,” Shomo said.While some students do not engage with student activism, many feel compelled to act, no matter the risks.“People don’t engage with activist activities for a variety of reasons — maybe you’re working a job, maybe your course load is so difficult — but for some people it takes an enormous amount of privilege to not be concerned about things or to just not think about things,” Vedock said. “When you’re engaged with these initiatives, you have to ask yourself: Who are you fighting for?”Changing the world … in just four yearsThough students encounter unique challenges when trying to create change, some have identified strategies that have proved repeatedly effective in moving their campaigns forward. Megan Salmon ’21 serves as president of Amnesty International and is the student activism coordinator for Amnesty USA, meaning she oversees all efforts by Amnesty chapters at universities in the state of Vermont. She said incentivizing students can be effective in persuading people outside of the core group of activists to show up to events.“Whether it’s a musical performance, or it’s interactive, or there’s food, or prizes — it gets them off the couch, basically,” Salmon said.Holland said coalition building can be an effective way to show that an issue is important beyond one group. Early this month, Olivia Pintair ’22.5 and Hannah Ennis ’22.5 organized the Milk with Dignity campaign at the Hannaford supermarket in Middlebury. The campaign was one of about 20 campaigns across the Northeast that was organized by Migrant Justice, a nonprofit that advocates for economic justice and human rights of farm workers.“Our organizing included… networking with other groups on and off-campus in order to get as many people as possible to attend the action itself,” Pintair wrote in an email to The Campus.According to Pintair, Middlebury Refugee Outreach Club (MiddROC), Juntos, Sunday Night Environmental Group (SNEG), a church group in Middlebury, and Standing Up for Racial Justice (SURJ) all “contributed in different ways to the action.” Some members of these groups made signs to display at the event, while others attended the rally. Pintair said activists from Migrant Justice were also present, leading chants in both Spanish and English. They also hand-delivered a letter to the manager of Hannaford at the protest, urging the supermarket to “ensure human rights for the farmworkers behind the company’s milk.”“I sometimes find student activism challenging on campus with how many different clubs and groups there are at Middlebury, each with their own specialty,” Ennis wrote in an email. “I was really inspired by the action and rally on Nov. 2 at Hannaford because of the way many different student organizations came together for this one cause. I hope to see more events in the future with groups working together.”Change is slow, Ennis said, and it’s important to “connect with people, create a network, and build outwards.” Students attend Middlebury for four years, but larger structural changes may take longer. According to Vedock, movements must “cultivate institutional memory” to have a degree of longevity.Divest Middlebury, a movement created to divest the college’s endowment from fossil fuels, has been able to sustain itself throughout several generations of Middlebury students. The movement can be traced back until at least 2012, when the students from the Dalai Lama Welcoming Committee pushed the issue into prominence.Many activists feel responsible for passing along information and resources to younger students, lest the movement die from lack of participants. Divya Gudur ’21, who has been involved in various environment-focused organizations such as SNEG, the Divest Middlebury movement, and Environmental Council, said that SNEG has a Google Drive folder filled with documents containing information from past events, and that they also have a reliable alumni network.“Over the recent years we have been more and more intentional about our recruiting efforts and have been working towards making sure that underclassmen feel like they have ownership in the organization and the campaigns,” Gudur said. “SNEG has often struggled with retaining activists not only because of burn-out, but also because there seems to be a dichotomy of you’re either all in or on the outside, and we need to make space ... for all levels of participation.”Students have also found they can build institutional memory by collaborating with a group of people who will remain at Middlebury much longer than themselves: faculty. Last spring, research assistants for the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies (GSFS) Department, Ruby Edlin ’19.5, Elizabeth Sawyer ’19 and Rebecca Wishnie ’20, gave a presentation titled “Collective Memory, Collective Action: Building a Digital Archive of Student Activism” which explained the ongoing efforts to build a digital feminist archive of campus activism. The project was supervised by Sujata Moorti, who was the chair of the GSFS department at the time, and Karin Hanta, director of Chellis House.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/11/what-does-it-mean-to-be-an-activist-at-middlebury
Unpacking unemployment: Wolcott on the U.S. job market
(11/07/19 11:03am)
We’ve all been there — sitting hunched over your desk at an ungodly hour in the night, cramming for the second of three midterms that week, probably thinking: “I quit college.”Today, some of the richest and most famous people in the world do not hold college degrees: Michael Dell, Beyoncé, Oprah Winfrey. These are three compelling arguments for why it might be better to skip college, eschew $140K in tuition and spend your time building the next Facebook. For those of us who have regretted our decision to go to college or thought about dropping out, know that Assistant Professor of Economics Erin Wolcott has done research on this very idea. While her research doesn’t “direct people to college or not to college,” it does say something about the current population that does not go to college and what they’re doing (or not doing) afterwards.According to the most recent American Community Survey in 2016, more than one out of every five men who do not attend college — about 7.1 million individuals — do not have jobs. In other words, only 78% of this population is employed, compared to 90% in the 1950s. Why is there such a high rate of nonemployment — which includes both unemployed people who are actively seeking jobs and those who are not — for men without a college education? To answer this question, Wolcott looked at different causes of unemployment in America.Supply and demand is the first concept we learn in economics; it illustrates the relationship between how much producers sell and how much consumers buy. Everything can be linked back to supply and demand. In the labor market, demand side factors affect how much businesses and employers are hiring (their demand for labor), as these factors transform what jobs are available and who is doing them. Wolcott’s 2018 paper highlights the most common economic explanation regarding demand: “automation and trade reduce[s] the demand for low-skilled workers.”Consider the General Motors (GM) and United Automobile Workers (UAW) strike, which lasted six weeks as company and workers negotiated wages and job security. GM workers feared for their jobs as the company made plans to close another factory and outsource to Mexico, where workers would provide the same labor for mere dollars. UAW workers are also fighting for security; since 1975, the number of UAW employees has dropped from 1.5 million to 400,000, as tech decreased the need for assembly line workers.Supply side factors, on the other hand, affect who enters the job market (the supply of workers). Wolcott writes: “Economists have traditionally pointed the finger at [demand-side factors]. More recently, economists have been blaming the supply side, such as growing welfare payments and better video games that glue more men to their couches.” True, video games are vastly improving – take Fortnite as an example, which amassed over 4.3 million concurrent viewers on YouTube during its explosive Season 10 finale. Does this mean that unskilled men prefer to sit at home and play Fortnite all day than to get a job? Or examining the other supply-side culprit, unemployment benefits — maybe it is more profitable to get welfare and disability insurance.The last factor causing nonemployment are search frictions, which make it difficult to match the workforce with available jobs. An example of a search friction? Online job postings. As college students, LinkedIn, Handshake and Indeed.com can make it easier to find jobs. Many older or uneducated adults, however, may not know how to use these sites, making it harder for them to find jobs.So, we have three possibilities for why one of five uneducated men aren’t getting hired: (1) society isn’t demanding these populations (demand), (2) they don’t want to work (supply) and (3) new tech and resources are making it difficult to find work.In her research, Wolcott built an economic model using employment, wage and other relevant data to encompass the three explanations for nonemployment to explore the extent of this causal relationship. She points to demand side factors — mainly tech and globalization — as the most significant reason for why so many unskilled men in America aren’t working: “It’s not because they’re choosing to play video games on average over a great job opportunity but because there aren’t job opportunities.”“This is the first step to understand what’s going on,” Wolcott said.Inequality is on the rise in America, breeding resentment and political polarity, and it is important to understand why. The next step is to start thinking about policies. While we aren’t about to become Luddites or stop global trade, economists have identified ways to bring people back into the job market, starting with education. Whether this will be making education cheaper, promoting vocational schools and apprenticeships or offering direct subsidies for specific institutions or courses, there are a myriad of potential solutions that will help make the labor market more inclusive and equal and bring millions back into the workforce.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/11/unpacking-unemployment-wolcott-on-the-u-s-job-market
From DIII to the NFL: Middlebury football alum finds coaching success in the big leagues
(10/03/19 10:56am)
Middlebury is used to celebrating Bills kicker Steven Hauschka ’07, who transferred from Middlebury to go to NC State in 2007. But there’s another Middlebury alumnus who has found his way to the NFL — not as a player, but as a coach.This season, Drew Petzing ’09 has begun his sixth year as a coach with the Minnesota Vikings, his first as the wide receiver coach. His former coach Bob Ritter ’82 still remembers him as the hard-nosed upperclassman who would volunteer to work in the office when injuries kept him off the field.Petzing played as a defensive back on the Middlebury football team his first two years before he was sidelined by injuries which ended his playing career. However, the DB’s injuries may have been a blessing in disguise because his time off the field is what opened the door to his coaching career.When he suffered his initial injury at the start of his junior year, he essentially took on the role of an extra assistant coach, spending inordinate amounts of time working in the office and watching film with the rest of the coaching staff. The following year when he was injured again, he took on the role of an official assistant coach, receiving a salary for his work —and perhaps taking the job a little too seriously at times as Ritter remembers.“I went to school with his dad,” Ritter said. “I used to have to pull him aside and say, ‘Drew, you have to go to class. Your dad’s gonna kill me if you don’t graduate on time.’”Petzing’s love for the game continued to blossom even after he finished his time at Middlebury. Petzing spent six years coaching at the collegiate level, three of those at Ivy League institutions. After graduating from Middlebury in 2009 with a degree in economics and a minor in math and philosophy, he began working at Harvard as a volunteer student assistant. Next, he worked at Boston College in 2010 as a recruiting graduate assistant and later as the defensive graduate assistant in 2011. In 2012, he coached outside linebackers at Yale. 2013 was the year Petzing finally made it to the NFL, working as a football operations intern for the Cleveland Browns. The following year he transitioned to Minnesota, the final stop of his career thus far. He worked with running backs in 2014, one of them Jerick McKinnon, who put up 538 rushing yards, good for third among NFL rookies that year. From 2015–2017, Petzing mainly helped wide receiver coach George Stewart and the offensive coaching staff as well. He helped to foster the young talent of Stefon Diggs who led the team in receptions and receiving yards in 2015 despite missing the first three games of the season. In 2017, Petzing had the honor to be a part of a Vikings team that dominantly finished the season at 13–3 and earned a berth in the NFC championship game. In addition to Diggs, Petzing coached the talented Adam Thielen who put up 1276 yards and 91 catches, sending him to the Pro Bowl. In total, in 2016–2017, Diggs and Thielen combined for 3,995 yards, the most for two teammates that season. In 2018, Petzing worked alongside quarterback coach Kevin Stefanski, the same season that Vikings QB Kirk Cousins came in and set a franchise record with 425 completions.Ludicrous as it may sound, Pretzing’s injuries may have been a blessing in disguise because his time on the sidelines is what opened the door to his coaching career.Now, in 2019 Petzing is looking to be a part of a Super Bowl run. The Vikings are off to a 2–1 start, and have a talented core in Kyle Rudolph, Kirk Cousins, Dalvin Cook, as well as Diggs and Theilen.Petzing, who now lives in Minneapolis with his wife Louisa, has climbed the organizational ranks one step at a time. One thing has been clear about Drew Petzing for a very long time. From being a student-coach at Middlebury to working towards becoming wide receivers coach on the Minnesota Vikings, Petzing has never run from work in any shape or form. He made contributions on the field as long as he could and then continued to take different coaching jobs which have amounted to his crucial job title today. It’s a model of resiliency and ambition that should be admired.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/10/from-diii-to-the-nfl-middlebury-football-alum-finds-coaching-success-in-the-big-leagues-2
Women’s Lacrosse Clinches Seventh National Championship Title
(05/26/19 9:58pm)
Ashland, Virginia —While the 90-degree weather proved to be hot, the Panthers were even hotter, as the third-ranked Middlebury women’s lacrosse team defeated the seventh-ranked Salisbury Sea Gulls 14-9 in the NCAA Division III championship. This is the team’s seventh national championship title in program history and first since 2016, having previously capture the title in 2004, 2002, 2001, 1999 and 1997. After defeating Wesleyan 16-8 the previous day in the semifinals, the Panthers’ winning streak of 22 games is the longest in the nation and is tied with their 2016 record for the most wins in a single season.Middlebury reached the semifinal against Wesleyan with their opponents having knocked off 2018 national champions Gettysburg in a surprise 10-7 upset. Emma McDonagh ’19 led the game’s scorers, with five goals. Jane Earley ’22, Henley Hall ’19 and Jenna McNicholas ’19 scored two goals each. Julia Keith ’20 spent all 60 minutes in goal with 5 saves to add to her already impressive record of 98 saves so far and a 6.39 goals-against average.The team’s appearance in the Final Four was the third time in the last four years and the 25th time since 1994. Last year, the Panthers’ run for a national title was cut short with a narrow 11-9 defeat against Gettysburg. This was Wesleyan’s first appearance in the Final Four, having knocked out previous national champion Gettysburg 10-7. Middlebury entered the Final Four with 300 goals and having previously defeated Wesleyan 11-6 in the regular season over spring break.Seventh-ranked Salisbury reached the NCAA tournament through an at-large bid and a record of 15-2 in the regular season, losing only to Middlebury and Washington and Lee. The team defeated Tufts 14-11 in the second semifinal of the day.Middlebury showed their dominance right from the beginning, with Casey O’Neill ’19 winning the first draw control and passing the ball to Erin Nicholas ’21 (a previous national championship winner this past fall in field hockey). The first two goals were scored by two-time NESCAC Player of the Week Earley and Gracie Getman ’21, both off free position shots. McDonagh, Hall and Nicholas contributed to the team’s success in the first half, with Salisbury tallying another two goals. The Panthers were at an 8-4 lead in the first half with Keith having deflected five shots.Salisbury picked up their scoring in the beginning of the second half, having put in three goals in an eight-minute span after Earley scored first less than a minute in the period. Halting their streak, McDonagh scored her second goal of the game, bringing the score to 10-7. Kirsten Murphy ’21, McDonagh and Hall scored another four goals combined, while the Sea Gulls’ Courtney Fegan score her second goal of the game. With just over three minutes left in the second half, both teams retired indoors for a 90-minute lightning delay with Middlebury on a six-goal lead. In the final three minutes, Salisbury’s Emma Skoglund scored her second goal of the game, but Middlebury held possession in the final minute as the Panthers won the title game 14-9 to a cheering set of fans and parents on the sidelines.Head Coach Kate Livesay '03, named NESCAC Co-Coach of the Year with Tufts’ Courtney Shute, achieved her second win as head coach, with her team having previously won the national title during Livesay’s first season coaching. Additionally, Livesay coached the 2012 Trinity team to a NCAA Division III championship during her time there and won championship titles in 2001 and 2002 as a student-athlete under legendary coach Missy Foote. She earned her 200th career win earlier this spring with a victory over Bates in the NESCAC Quarterfinals and was named NESCAC Coach of the Year four times at fellow NESCAC school Trinity.In a press conference following the game, Livesay praised the team's first goal scored by Earley. "Today's game was a battle," she said."I do think we came in really composed, started out the game strong, took an early lead which really set us at ease."Keith spent all 60 minutes in goal with nine saves to add to her current total of 107. "I think that all those saves are credited to the entire defense," she said. "It’s just awesome to be part of a defense that you can completely trust."Rising star Earley, the team's second-highest goal scorer with 51 goals on the season, said that winning a national championship was a dream come true. "Our seniors this year were so welcoming and led us by example," she commented. "I want to do it again."McDonagh and her fellow senior teammates were among the 2016 national championship squad. "I’m just so happy that this team gets to experience it," she said. "Everyone on this team is so impactful."Former captain Georgia Carroll ’18 commented on the team’s incredible season. “After our loss to Gettysburg last year, watching Middlebury win the national championship feels like the closure of a year-long wound,” she said. “I feel so proud to be part of the Middlebury lacrosse family — today and every day.”At the end of the championship game, McDonagh was recognized as the tournament's most outstanding player, while captain Sara DiCenso '19, Keith and Earley earned spots on the all-tournament team.The Panthers finished their season with a 22-1 overall record and a total of 330 goals, a new program record. 85 days prior to the national championship victory, the team experienced their only loss of the season, falling to Bates 11-10 in double overtime. Since then, the team has won all their games across tough NESCAC conference competition and some nationally-ranked teams over spring break. This record-breaking season included the most goals in a single season in program history.This year, Livesay was assisted by Katie Ritter for her second season and Amy Patton for her first season. "All of the classes bring something special," Livesay said. "It just felt like a lot of things came full circle today." In her eyes, Coach Patton "invigoratedus and gave us a new confidence in ourselves and in hard moments." With her coaching staff, Livesay felt that her players were poised to walk away with the national championship trophy.“There are ups and downs but this is a really resilient crew that I just knew I could count on showing up and giving their best.”This story will continue to be updated.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/05/womens-lacrosse-clinches-seventh-national-championship-title
Women's Lacrosse Advances to National Championship
(05/25/19 5:57pm)
Under a sunny sky and 80-degree temperatures in Ashland, Virginia, the third-ranked Middlebury women’s lacrosse team defeated the eighth-ranked Wesleyan Cardinals 16-8 in the NCAA Division III semifinals. The win extended the Panthers’ winning streak to 21, the longest in the nation, and earns them a spot in tomorrow’s championship game against Salisbury. In the day's second semifinal, Salisbury defeated Tufts 14-11.The team traveled to the semifinals for the third time in the last four years and the 25th time since 1994. This was Wesleyan’s first appearance in the Final Four, having knocked out previous national champion Gettysburg 10-7. Middlebury entered the semifinal with 300 goals and having previously defeated Wesleyan 8-7 in the regular season.With 90 seconds into the game, the Cardinals’ Johanna Copeland scored a goal off an assist from Abigail Horst, her 28th for the season. The Panthers did not let this 1-0 lead sit for long, with Jane Earley ’22 and Erin Nicholas ’21 scoring three goals together in the span of 90 seconds. Earley was the only first-year on any all-NESCAC team selection, having scored a spot on the second all-NESCAC team and having been named NESCAC Player of the Week twice in the regular season. While Wesleyan scored another two goals in the first half, the Panthers extended their lead to 8-3 by halftime, with Jenna McNicholas ’19, Emma McDonagh ’19 and Kirsten Murphy ’21 contributing to the team’s success in the first half.The second half included goals by McDonagh, Casey O’Neill ’19, Gracie Getman ’21, McNicholas, Henley Hall ’19 and Kate Zecca ’20 as the Panthers freely substituted players on and off the field. Zecca, a non-starter, had scored nine goals and two assists so far in the NCAA tournament. While Wesleyan answered Middlebury’s dominant plays with five more goals of their own, including one in the last minute, the Cardinals’ record-breaking run in the NCAA tournament was ended with Middlebury’s 16-8 victory.Julia Keith ’20 spent all 60 minutes in goal with 5 saves. Keith is the fourth-best in the country in terms of her goals-against average, standing at 6.28.Middlebury's 316 goals this season constitutes a new program record, exceeding the previous mark of 312 set in both 2016 and 2018. Over this year's spring break, Middlebury defeated Salisbury 11-6.Earley was among the game’s highest scorers, with two goals and one assist. “Jane Earley is someone you want on your team when the game is on the line,” head coach Kate Livesay said earlier in the championship weekend. For senior captain McDonagh, having scored five goals in the semifinal, she and her fellow seniors are striving for a repeat of 2016’s NCAA Division III championship victory. “I think ever since our seniors missed graduation because they were in the national championship we’ve had it in our minds that that’s what we want to do too,” she said to the media following their win against Franklin and Marshall in last weekend’s regional final. “We’re on a roll and I think that our senior class is going to put everything out that we can but this whole team is so dedicated.”The championship game will be streamed on NCAA.com here, starting on Sunday at 2 p.m.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/05/womens-lacrosse-advances-to-national-championship
One Third of Respondents Broke the Honor Code
(05/02/19 10:00am)
!function(e,t,s,i){var n="InfogramEmbeds",o=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],d=/^http:/.test(e.location)?"http:":"https:";if(/^\/{2}/.test(i)&&(i=d+i),window[n]&&window[n].initialized)window[n].process&&window[n].process();else if(!e.getElementById(s)){var r=e.createElement("script");r.async=1,r.id=s,r.src=i,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,0,"infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js");!function(e,t,s,i){var n="InfogramEmbeds",o=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],d=/^http:/.test(e.location)?"http:":"https:";if(/^\/{2}/.test(i)&&(i=d+i),window[n]&&window[n].initialized)window[n].process&&window[n].process();else if(!e.getElementById(s)){var r=e.createElement("script");r.async=1,r.id=s,r.src=i,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,0,"infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js");Students overwhelmingly supported the statement that “it’s possible to do well academically without cheating at Middlebury.” Nearly nine in 10 respondents agreed to some degree with the prospect of succeeding without cheating. Still, over 35% of respondents also admitted to having broken the honor code, and 57% said they have never broken it. !function(e,t,s,i){var n="InfogramEmbeds",o=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],d=/^http:/.test(e.location)?"http:":"https:";if(/^\/{2}/.test(i)&&(i=d+i),window[n]&&window[n].initialized)window[n].process&&window[n].process();else if(!e.getElementById(s)){var r=e.createElement("script");r.async=1,r.id=s,r.src=i,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,0,"infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js");There was an overwhelming skew towards STEM-oriented classes when students identified their hardest class they have taken at Middlebury. Mathematics was most frequently listed as the hardest department students have taken a class in; the Computer Science, Political Science and Chemistry departments were also named by more than 10% of total respondents. Traditional humanities courses were less frequently perceived as difficult.!function(e,t,s,i){var n="InfogramEmbeds",o=e.getElementsByTagName("script")[0],d=/^http:/.test(e.location)?"http:":"https:";if(/^\/{2}/.test(i)&&(i=d+i),window[n]&&window[n].initialized)window[n].process&&window[n].process();else if(!e.getElementById(s)){var r=e.createElement("script");r.async=1,r.id=s,r.src=i,o.parentNode.insertBefore(r,o)}}(document,0,"infogram-async","https://e.infogram.com/js/dist/embed-loader-min.js");The Zeitgeist survey also looked beyond students’ academic qualms and into issues they may face in the classroom. Students were asked how many times in any given week they feel they are unable to express their opinions. As a whole, roughly one in seven respondents reported feeling unable to speak freely more than three times in a given week; over half of respondents reported withholding their opinions one to three times a week. Students who identified as social conservatives reported dramatic differences in their willingness to express opinions in class. 48% of social conservatives withhold their opinions four or more times during an average week, compared to 14.5% of the student body as a whole. Most saliently, 17% of social conservatives reported withholding their opinion more than 10 times a week, compared to a mere 2% of the overall population.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/05/academics
Polish Alumnus: Legutko ‘a ruthless politician that contributed to Poland’s downfall’
(04/25/19 9:45am)
Editor’s Note: The below letter has been widely circulated among members of the Middlebury community. It was reprinted with permission on the Campus website on April 17, 2019.Dear Middlebury Faculty,Those of you who do not know me – my name is Thomas Gawel, I graduated from Middlebury last May. I majored in International Politics & Economics with Russian and minored in Film & Media. I was raised in rural Poland and had the opportunity to intern at the European Parliament two summers ago. Currently, I’m working towards my JD degree.When I first saw that Mr. Legutko was invited to speak on campus, my reaction was not outrage. It was, quite honestly, a mere surprise. Perhaps Mr. Legutko is recognized in academia, but, in reality, he is one of the most unremarkable and boring political figures that Poland has ever produced. Why would he be worth flying into VT to give what is likely going to be a very boring self-promotion lecture, I do not know.Leaving the issues that many students and some faculty rightfully raise aside, I want to point your attention to another one. What I personally find surprising about this event is that some of you fail to recognize that Mr. Legutko is a hypocrite. He represents Law & Justice, a party that works tirelessly to destroy what is left of Polish free media and rule of law. This party has fired virtually all journalists from public media, placed its former MP as the president of the largest Polish TV network, and daily feeds ruthless propaganda to millions of unaware Poles. They have illegally taken over the Constitutional Tribunal and the Supreme Court, for which there are procedures pending against the country at the European Commission. They did so to bypass the Constitution and transform young Polish democracy into a very dangerous hybrid of economic socialism and nationalism/xenophobia.[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]You cannot and should not separate Mr. Legutko’s scholarship from his words and actions as a career politician.[/pullquote]Yes, they won democratic elections. But they illegally reached for much more power than they had the mandate for, and, one day, they will be held accountable. Hundredths of thousands of Poles took to the streets over the past three years to protest this mockery of a government. This is a single best proof of how problematic Law & Justice is.If you want to shake hands and take smiley pictures with Mr. Legutko while he promotes his book, go ahead. But, if you do so, at least acknowledge a whole part of his ‘legacy’ that shows his lack of basic integrity. Mr. Legutko is not an innocent scholar whose work is a prophecy; he is a ruthless politician that contributed to Poland’s downfall. If you do not think that you owe this truth to all Middlebury students, you should at least realize that you owe it to me and other Polish students, past or future.You cannot and should not separate Mr. Legutko’s scholarship from his words and actions as a career politician. Your open letter to students, Mr. Callanan, paints a very positive picture of this unfortunate guest. But it is a very incomplete picture. Students should be told that the man that will lecture them about drawbacks of liberal democracy is working tirelessly to destroy one, just across the ocean. I find it outrageous that you would leave such an important part of Mr. Legutko’s ‘legacy’ out of your letter.My country is going through quite a turbulent time; by giving Mr. Legutko a platform to promote his book, you legitimize the destructive party and government that he is associated with. As a Middlebury alumnus from Poland, I am truly hurt that you showed such level of insensitivity and ignorance.I am all for Middlebury inviting speakers that hold views different than those of the campus majority. But you could at least seek speakers who are not bigots and hypocrites.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/04/polish-alumnus-legutko-a-ruthless-politician-that-contributed-to-polands-downfall-2
Ski Patrol: The Unsung Heroes of the Snow Bowl
(04/18/19 10:00am)
Picture this: It’s Sunday morning. You snooze your alarm three times at 11:00 before you get the courage to brave the -2-degree winds and make the journey through the snow to find the nearest open dining hall. You take your time, kicking your legs up and preparing for some “Sunday Scaries.” This may be the life of an average Middkid. But for a volunteer ski patroller? Quite the opposite.Ski patrol: the heroes that we didn’t know we needed until we had them. They are not only students, but also masters of the mountain. Not simply athletes, but qualified medics. Not just “sendy” (as senior President Kaitlyn Francis coins them), but professional.The day on the job for a patroller starts with a harsh 7 a.m. breakfast. In the spirit of camaraderie, the goal is to get there as timely as possible in order to make sure that no last-minute stragglers slept through their alarms. The squad then makes their way to the Middlebury Snow Bowl with a prompt 8 a.m. arrival. After slapping on some boots and other gear to protect them from the freezing temperatures, they find out their two to three responsibilities for the next eight hours in the office. Some of these include the coveted top hut duty (sitting pretty at the top of the mountain waiting to jump on any type of accident) and Sheehan duty (skiing to the left side of the mountain by Sheehan lift). Emily Kohutnicki ’20 claims that her duty of choice is the “top hut duty” (hot tub top hut). She loves this role because it’s where she can “really spend some time with fellow patrollers and get to know both new and old friends.”The process of joining the squad is no easy task; it requires strong mental and physical capabilities. A prospective patroller has to be both a skilled and experienced skier, as well as pass written and oral exams that earn you a role just below that of an EMT, a certification known as Outdoor Emergency Care (OEC). Current members of patrol teach the class every Sunday for three hours during the fall semester, so if you’re not 100% committed, your spot on the Bowl looks pretty bleak. It is as if you are taking a fifth class, which is a huge sacrifice for a goal that is by no means promised, even if you pass the challenging standardized tests. The course even entails a midterm involving practicals, which are scenarios of injuries that are set up by the patrollers which students then must respond to flawlessly. If you thought a midterm was a lot for an extracurricular, then you will be shocked to hear that they even have a final exam given by the National Ski Patrol (NSP), where they must earn at least an 80%.The journey does not stop here. Next, your ski abilities are put to the test, and the Vermont conditions are anything but a walk in the park. Only students with the highest scores are admitted to the mountain, and from here on physical aptitude is carefully examined — may the best skier win. With the patrollers only having a few slots open, there is no margin for error and your skills must be executed without any blemishes.So, after reading about the arduous process, why join patrol? Veteran skier Kohutnicki commented that she joined because of the social aspect and the people she found. “Being an intimidated freshman living in Coffrin with only a handful of others, I wanted to find a way to meet new people and find friends with a common interest – skiing, duh,” said Kohutnicki. “Some people are pre-med students who ski [who] wanted to combine academics with pleasure, but I just thought the idea of responding to injured skiers on the mountain could be fun and fulfilling.”Although this process seems as if it would produce a cutthroat and hypercompetitive atmosphere, most who experienced this overwhelming process emerged with a different perspective. Kohutnicki commented that she did not find the environment to be too competitive. Even though they were competing against each other for six or seven spots, students would study with one another and veteran patrollers jumped at the chance to help with lingering questions. One would think that the ski test would be even more intimidating, being a more athletic contest, but it was more of the same positive and encouraging energy.Old-timer Francis said that her favorite aspects of ski patrol are the people and the culture. “We all love spending time together on and off the hill, and there is a strong culture of “sendiness” and a “love of skiing,” Francis said. “Ski patrollers have become some of my best friends at Middlebury which makes volunteering as a ski patroller not feel like a job but rather just a blocked-out time chunk to spend with people I love being around.”But it is definitely not all fun and games and the squad knows how to balance fun and professionalism. Francis commented on one of the more dangerous aspects of the job where quick action is key. “It’s definitely intense when we get a call about anything head or C-spin related where we would need to backboard, since these types of injuries can be really serious and especially with spinal injuries there isn’t room for error on our end,” Francis said. “But we do so much training throughout the fall when we teach or take the OEC class and on-hill in the winter that responding becomes almost automated. Having drilled in practice, responding to accidents doesn’t feel scary since I definitely have always felt super prepared by all the training we do.”One of the most exciting days for patrollers is their claim to fame on Winter Carnival, when Middlebury hosts multiple schools to race down the Bowl. For some, this is a weekend in which many students use to enjoy the finer things at Midd, but this is the day in which patrollers must be most active. With rowdy students crawling their way to the top of the Bowl in Converse, the patrollers are only drunk with excitement. Despite being on duty, Francis claims that Winter Carnival is one of her favorite days of the year. “It is so much fun to be on skis and feel part of the skier hype as well as the energy that the silly people bring up from campus,” she said. “I really love getting to see everyone who comes up to the Bowl and being able to get right into the roost mosh pit, but then ski down and watch my friends racing from the bottom. It’s actually a pretty great day to be in the office, bopping around on skis.”Graduating this spring, Francis has been able to develop her leadership and organization skills while in charge of the ski patrol squad, since all of the group’s educational, fundraising, scheduling and social operations are run by the students. “I really appreciated the opportunity to take charge of these different elements and am so grateful to the group for being so willing to volunteer for various jobs,” she said. “We were a small group this year which means that the class and fundraising efforts needed all hands on deck, which was stressful at times but in the end I think improved all of our leadership and communication skills.”Community building has been at the heart of Francis’ time on ski patrol and one of the highlights of her Middlebury career. “It is pretty rare to be able to post in a GroupMe about a sunrise skin and have more than a dozen people immediately be up for the challenge and early morning,” she said.We saw winter come and go. New waves of fresh-faced patrollers entered the scene as “washed up” seniors take their last runs down the mountain, dressed to the nines in their unmistakable bright blue jackets with their radios weighing them down. These are truly the unsung heroes of the Bowl, protecting the community one run at a time. Now, all we can do is wait for another Vermont winter of “sendiness.”
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/04/ski-patrol-the-unsung-heroes-of-the-snow-bowl-highly-trained-and-super-chill-student-squad-rocks-the-slopes
The Excellent Mediocrity, Mediocre Excellence of Franz Schubert
(03/21/19 9:58am)
Schubert’s piano pieces for four hands are so mediocre, in a sense, as to be especially excellent.Piano masters Alexander Melnikov and Andreas Staier, hailing respectively from Russia and Germany, performed a wide selection of these pieces by Franz Schubert last Friday as part of the Mahaney Performing Arts Series.Mediocre is the wrong word, by far, to be using for these pieces and yet, I struggle to select a more appropriate one: they fall between extremes, occupying a high middle ground of art. A somewhat appropriate description comes from the TV Show A Good Place in which Manny Jacinto’s character explains a “scale from one to thirteen [where] eight [is] the highest. It goes up and then back down like a tent.”The Schubert pieces played were an eight, middle of the road and yet the best. The problem here is that Schubert is not Bach. His pieces are not dramatic like, say, Bach’s Prelude and Fugue No. 2 or his Toccata and Fugue in D minor. Nor is Schubert Debussy. His music is not dreamlike and ephemeral like Nuages or Clair de Lune. The comparisons could go on; he’s no Liszt or Mozart either. Schubert’s pieces here were not deeply moving per se but nor were they light and frivolous. They were not overwhelming, they did not transport one to a different state, but yet they were consistently intriguing and engaging. As I was trying to find a proper adjective, I considered both “pretty,” and “nice,” — because they were. Although there is no cause to diminish them as such. The pieces were beautiful and seemingly nothing more.There came a point when this quality started raising particular questions about the state of Schubert’s art. What was the point of such music? It didn’t seem to come from any deep emotions. No anguish or true love stemmed from them. Did they stem from fears? Joy? Awe? Or were they simply playthings for Schubert to share with his friend and student the Comtesse (countess) Caroline von Esterházy? They were too good to be shallow pieces written without emotion and yet not raw enough to be deep personal expression.Again, I found myself circling around a middle ground — and yet, they were excellent.There was certainly a range. Some pieces were light and very much felt like a plaything for a Comtesse. Take the first piece, the third of Six Grande Marches in B minor. It slid around, sometimes a light, at times flowery tune punctuated by deeper, stronger interludes. The first of the Ländler also had a prominent sense of levity through much of it. It could easily be an exercise written simply for the amusement of two flirtatious pianists. And yet the second Ländler was much more ominous, more mysterious. The third, exhilarating, producing much the same feeling as one gets when cruising along a sunny road in summer.Take this in contrast to the closing piece, on the other end of the program: the Fantasia in F Minor. This piece was, of all the night’s program, the most dramatic. Dedicated to the Comtesse, whom one friend called Schubert’s “ideal love,” the piece has a definite sense of wistfulness. This is raw, especially in comparison to the tighter pieces earlier in the program. Still, it seems to restrain the possible outflow of emotions that one might find with a different artist. That is to say, one neither shakes nor swoons upon hearing it, but one is nonetheless entirely engaged.Ultimately, I cannot answer any of the questions or contradictions raised above, perhaps a musicologist of higher degree would be better addressed, but there is something I find intriguing about the idea of Schubert’s mediocre excellence. He clearly had the technical genius with which he could have unleashed the same shivering chills, bone rattles and heart wrenching emotional catharsis that other composers have left us. Equally possible (although as the vanguard of the budding Romantic spirit, perhaps only anachronistically possible) was his potential to create immersive soundscapes that release into the imagination a Bacchanal flood like the later impressionists.But he doesn’t. Instead, he produced music that is so simply well-crafted that no other quality distracts from its excellence. The music, and not the effect that it produces, pulls in the listener’s attention. The listener can’t help but acquiesce.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/03/the-excellent-mediocrity-mediocre-excellence-of-franz-schubert
On Flags in Ross Dining Hall
(03/21/19 9:57am)
On a red piece of cloth (two units tall, three units wide) are five yellow stars. What the stars mean, no one can really agree upon, but that is no pressing matter. The flag does not need to mean anything in and of itself in order to stake a claim to 3.7 million square miles of territory. However, that flag, which represents only the government of the People’s Republic of China, now seems to be imposing itself upon the most mundane forms of personal expression.Recently, a minor on-campus controversy has emerged on the matter of flags. Middlebury College’s Student Government Association (SGA) has been considering hanging a set of national flags in Ross Dining Hall, each one representing a country to which a current student belongs. The idea is not original to Middlebury — Colgate University’s Curtiss E. Frank Dining Hall is one example of a college cafeteria which already represents its students’ diverse national origins this way. Yet, the initiative has nonetheless received criticism among certain Middlebury students. Their complaint? That Middlebury’s SGA has dared to suggest hanging Taiwan’s flag.[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]The initiative has received criticism among certain Middlebury students.[/pullquote]The controversy over Taiwan began in the aftermath of the Chinese Civil War as conflicting claims to power arose between the People’s Republic of China and the Republic of China (Taiwan). Since the war, each government has recognized the other as illegitimate. Consequently, on an international level, the issue has only become more complex over time. In 1971 the Republic of China’s seat on the UN Security Council was given to the People’s Republic of China. Later in 1979, Congress passed into law the Taiwan Relations Act which gave Taiwan a degree of de facto recognition by the government of the United States, although the U.S. has maintained a strictly informal recognition of Taiwan since. Internationally, seventeen countries exclusively recognize the Republic of China while fifty-seven countries (including the United States) possess informal relations with Taiwan.Clearly, regardless of the stance of the People’s Republic, Taiwan is a country with de facto sovereignty as well as a good degree of formal and informal international recognition. Those students, then, who feel the hanging of the flag of the Republic of China is illegitimate, are advocating for the effective elimination of a country’s nationhood. By insisting that the flag of the Republic of China be excluded from the rafters of Ross Dining Hall, they seek to define for the college (and, more importantly, the community) which countries are permitted to exist. This perspective seemingly suggests that the issue at stake is the political sovereignty of the People’s Republic of China. Yet this view necessarily suggests that Middlebury College, an educational institution of 2,500 people in Vermont, somehow possesses the ability to determine which government of China is legitimate. That is nonsense.Even setting aside the issue of the Republic of China and the People’s Republic of China, there should be no reason for students to feel attacked on any grounds. Take that red, five-starred flag. If the flag of the Republic of China was hanging, would it be any smaller? If the flag of Tibet was hanging alongside it, would the flag be any less red? Would the five stars dwindle to four or to three? No, not at all. The only situation under which student supporters of the People’s Republic of China would lose the representation of their national identity would be by removing the flag they believe represents them — a proposition which no student has publicly endorsed. These students would undoubtedly feel attacked by such an act, yet they intend to do the same to students of other national identities.[pullquote speaker="" photo="" align="center" background="on" border="all" shadow="on"]Students attending a college are not and should not be diplomatic agents of a foreign government.[/pullquote]There are very real issues related to political jurisdiction in China. Whether the flag of the People’s Republic hangs alone or with the Republic of China and/or Tibet should not be interpreted as an attack on people’s civic identities. This would matter to the government of the People’s Republic of China on the grounds that their authority depends on symbolic gestures. However, students attending a college are not and should not be diplomatic agents of a foreign government. They are individuals with their own specific traits. The idea that some students should be able to decide which flag represents another person’s national identity is wrong on these grounds and many others.It is not my intention to cast judgment on the geopolitical conflicts related to China. While I am no fan of the human rights abuses, denials of basic human liberties and oppositional posturing of the People’s Republic of China, none of those factors should matter in the assessment of this issue. There is no reason why the individual rights of students should be violated because of political controversies which have no direct impact upon daily life at the college. Before the end of my time at Middlebury, I hope to see a wide assortment of flags representing all the national origins of students who attend the college.George Werner is a member of the Class of 2021.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/03/on-flags-in-ross-dining-hall
Internal Review Shows College Lags Behind Peers
(01/24/19 10:59am)
Results from a 2017 faculty and staff survey reveal that Middlebury lags well behind its peers in almost all measures of employee satisfaction. Most notably, faculty and staff gave low marks to communication within and between departments as well as confidence in senior leadership.The consulting firm ModernThink, which has administered similar surveys for colleges and universities across the country, conducted the Middlebury survey in October 2017. 1,046 faculty and staff members across both the Vermont and Monterey campuses took part in the survey — a response rate of 68 percent.The survey comprised 60 core belief statements included in all ModernThink surveys and seven custom statements provided by the college itself. Faculty and staff responded to each statement expressing their level of agreement on a spectrum from “strongly agree” to “strongly disagree,” creating 67 distinct indicators. For example, one indicator asked respondents to react to the statement: “Our review process accurately measures my job performance.” Grouping responses to each statement into positive, neutral and negative categories, the report — if taken at face value — conveys an overall positive image of job satisfaction at Middlebury.The Campus obtained the complete survey results, significant portions of which have not previously been released to the student body and general public. In particular, these fuller results include a benchmark that allows for comparison between Middlebury and other baccalaureate colleges that have been surveyed by ModernThink.Administrators delivered key survey findings at a staff meeting in Dana Auditorium in January 2018, led by then-Interim Provost Jeff Cason, Vice President for Human Resources Karen Miller and ModernThink representative Richard Boyer. While the presentation disclosed Middlebury’s low-performing areas, including perceptions of senior leadership and the effectiveness of communication structures, it juxtaposed Middlebury’s results only with ModernThink’s 2017 Honor Roll of small colleges and not with the national average for baccalaureate colleges.The honor roll benchmark includes only the highest-performing schools surveyed by ModernThink, numbering nine total in 2017, including institutions such as Mississippi University for Women and New York Chiropractic College. In other words, the presentation exclusively contrasted Middlebury’s performance with those institutions with the very highest levels of staff satisfaction in the country while failing to disclose that Middlebury also consistently performed below the national average for colleges of its kind. Middlebury did not simply fail to reach the highest standard, it also fell short of the average benchmark.Only five of the 60 core belief indicators met or exceeded Middlebury’s peer group average, with 27 falling into the “Red Flag” and “Acute” classifications defined by ModernThink. “Acute” is a category of performance below “Red Flag,” denoting positive response rates lower than 45%.A college news release published several weeks after last year’s presentation begins by stating that “a majority of faculty and staff have a positive overall working experience, value the sense of community engendered by Middlebury, enjoy a high degree of ‘job fit,’ and appreciate the flexibility and autonomy their jobs afford.’” The release does not discuss how Middlebury’s results compare to the national averages.Responding to the survey, the college has developed a four-pronged action plan that addresses the onboarding process for new hires, compensation, the Annual Performance Summary tool and performance management. It includes timelines for each of these areas, hoping to complete all of them by the fall of 2020.According to Bill Burger, Middlebury’s vice president for communications and chief marketing officer, the survey results have also informed how the administration has conducted the workforce planning process.“It has certainly underscored the importance of communication on this, and I think we’ve made an effort to communicate more,” he said. “Although my guess is you can never be sufficient in that — there will always be some people who feel they haven’t been communicated to enough.”Burger said that Middlebury is also looking more closely at compensation rewards and incentives, in response to low scores in those categories.“A lot of staff didn’t feel there was appropriate recognition for work well-done and that work well-done wasn’t rewarded appropriately in terms of compensation,” Burger said. “So we hope that through this (workforce planning) process we will emerge so that we can be not locked into the annual 2 percent or 2.25 percent increase that goes to virtually everyone, but that we’ll have more flexibility to reward people for a really exceptional performance.”Still, only 45 percent of respondents expressed confidence when asked if they expected senior leadership to take action based on the results of the survey.“The administration does not seem to want to listen and they do not seem to care. If you say something, it is held against you,” said one staff member who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution. “You are underappreciated no matter what you do.”By the numbersA total of 1046 respondents took the survey, with the response rate standing at 68 percent. The majority of respondents work in Vermont and are staff (either exempt or non-exempt).In the Overall Survey Average, Middlebury performs below the average for Baccalaureate Colleges. 57 percent of responses were positive, 25 percent were neutral, and 14 percent were negative. The percentages do not total to 100 percent because of a “not applicable” option in the survey.The survey also groups statements into categories. In each sectional average, Middlebury consistently falls below both its peer group and the Honor Roll benchmark.Breaking down the data into specific statements, the college also fails to meet the national benchmark in each of the individual indicators. Each indicator is plotted with the benchmark score on the x-axis and the Middleburry score on the y-axis. Thus, the 45 degree line represents any point that reaches the benchmark value. Any point below the line represents an indicator not meeting the Baccalaureate average.There is a stark contrast between perceptions of supervisors/academic leaders and senior leadership. Senior Leadership was amongst one of the three poorest-performing categories — the other two being Communication and Faculty, Administration & Staff Relations.Faculty and staff expressed a uniform lack of confidence in senior leadership. Only 45 percent of respondents gave positive feedback when asked if they expect senior leadership to take action based on the results of the survey.Looking forward, morale remains low with workforce planning looming on the horizon. Only 39 percent of respondents expressed confidence in the institution moving forward as a whole.Graphics by Bochu Ding, using data from ModernThink.Nick Garber contributed reporting.For full staff issue coverage, click here.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/01/by-the-numbers-internal-review-shows-college-lags-behind-peers
Notes from the SGA President: Winter Term Ideas
(01/24/19 10:55am)
I hope everyone’s J-Term is going well! Through the snow, negative degrees, and Sabai Sabai being delivered, it has definitely been a memorable one.I don’t have many updates since J-term is usually the slow part of the year, but I do want to share some ideas I have been thinking about.1. Events for students who don’t want to drink or go out. Choosing not to go out should not mean a lonely night in—which sometimes it does. If you have any ideas to improve the quantity or quality of events, feel free to reach out!2. Ways to convince, incentivize, or even beg students to bring back their dining hall dishes. Dining spends so much money on the collection, cleaning, and throwing out of dining hall dishes every semester. That’s money that can improve the quality of foods and even increase the types of foods we have access to in the dining halls.3. Accessibility in the classroom. Whether it how books are purchased or how students experience lectures, we can continue to make strides in making sure all students have equal access to their education.The past several months serving as you SGA president has definitely been rewarding, and I can’t wait to see what next semester has to offer! As always, let me know if you have an questions or concerns.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2019/01/notes-from-the-sga-president-winter-term-ideas
Musicality and Dissonance in Gareth Cordery’s Jr. Recital
(11/15/18 10:55am)
This past Friday evening, I had the great pleasure of hearing Music and History major Gareth Cordery ’20 perform piano pieces by Ludwig van Beethoven, Frederic Chopin, Leos Janacek and Aaron Copland in Robison Hall. Beginning with Beethoven’s “Piano Sonata No. 18 in E-Flat Major” (commonly referred to as “The Hunt”), moving on to Chopin’s “Ballade No. 1 in G Minor,” continuing with Janacek’s suite “In the Mists,” and finishing with Copland’s “Piano Variations,” this concert provided a diverse array of pieces running the gamut from classical to romantic to modern. From the beginning, Cordery showed himself to be in complete control of these pieces, performing with a rare zeal, the apparent ease of which belied his intimate familiarity with the music.Perhaps one of the most wonderful aspects of a student concert is that the performers are far more likely to comment on their work for The Campus! I first asked Cordery about how he went about designing the program.This concert was notable for the differences between each piece, whereas most concert programs, including one he is preparing for a future recital, try to note the thematic similarities between pieces. For example, the last article I wrote featured an all-Bach program, and the upcoming concert by the Jupiter Quartet on November 30 will feature string quartets by French modernists Ravel, Debussy and Dutilleux.The Beethoven piece, though it has some formal features which put it on the edge of the classical piano sonata tradition, including four fast movements and some thematic instability in the first movement, sounds far different from the Chopin piece, and both of these 19th-century works felt tame in comparison to the rhythmic anomalies in “In the Mists” and the grating dissonances in Copland’s variations.I also asked about the program notes, which I found detailed and intelligent, for they balanced historical details with formal characteristics. Especially for the Janacek and Copland, pieces with which I was unfamiliar, I found the written notes helpful for understanding the musical notes. Cordery wrote the program notes himself, abridged from his longer research papers on the pieces.The performance itself was impressive for the creative choices Cordery made in preparation for the concert: he performed without notes. When I asked what led to this decision, he replied that not only is it expected that a musician would have the music memorized before the concert, but that performances with sheet music inhibit his musicality because the act of turning them over distracts the audience from the sound.The Copland variations exhibited the most powerful playing of the night, and, especially in the final chords, showed why it is valuable to play pieces people may not have heard before. These variations are a loud, angry set which take a certain degree of careful control to manage properly. The dissonances create a foreboding sense of dread, a feeling compounded by the contrast of the overlapping overtones of low notes and the sharpness of the high notes.Cordery’s notes include some information on the mix of influences Copland used in the piece: Schoenberg’s 12-tone methods, Stravinsky’s neoclassicism and the American contribution of jazz. One of the most interesting parts of hearing a piece like this, and reading about its sources, is the idea that someone like Copland knew these sources and knew to combine them into something unique. The influences affecting Beethoven and Chopin were limited to what they heard and saw in their lives, just like those that inspired Copland, but the latter’s experiences translated into a piece that sounds completely different than his predecessors’, showing how he received the great diversity of inspiration which makes his music great.Cordery was concerned about putting this piece on the program. “I will admit to worrying about the Copland; it’s relentless in its modernity, but the “Piano Variations” are an important and consequential piece,” he said. “I think it’s important that everyone gets a chance to hear it at least once.”I wholeheartedly agree with him; it was a bold choice to program this rarely heard piece and I count myself lucky to be able to hear it in a place like Robison Hall. The final part of the variations, a coda consisting of the repetitive drone of dissonant chords, gives way to one special moment at the end. Cordery played the final chord more loudly than he had all night, and his use of the pedal combined with the spectacular acoustics of the hall allowed the overtones of the deepest keys to play uninterrupted for more than 30 seconds. Usually, like in the Beethoven for example, the final cadence lasts for 2-3 seconds, if that. Having just heard a Beethoven piece, the radical change between the two provoked a meditative state for the duration of that final chord, one where I felt I could focus on hearing the notes and just the notes, just like one hears the final ringing of the carillon bells in the late evening.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2018/11/musicality-and-dissonance-in-gareth-corderys-jr-recital
Dancing in the Rain, Field Hockey Crushes Colby 5-2
(11/01/18 10:00am)
After a decisive victory on Saturday, the field hockey team advances to the NESCAC semifinals, where they take on fifth-ranked Trinity at home.Middlebury got off to a great start against Colby, scoring three goals in the first half. Less than four minutes into the game, senior Grace Jennings intercepted a pass and charged up the field, blowing by her opponents before finding the back of the net to make the score 1-0. The Mules retaliated shortly after to tie it up, but Meg Fearey ’21 buried a pass from teammate Erin Nicholas ’21 on a penalty corner to regain the lead. About ten minutes later, Marissa Baker ’20 marked her seventh goal of the season to put the score at 3-1 going into halftime.Colby struck first in the second half, cutting Middlebury’s lead to one goal, but the teams were called off the field immediately afterward due to a weather delay.“During the rain delay, we talked over the game like we would at halftime,” said Baker. “But the radar wasn’t looking good and we knew were going to have a lot of time to kill, so for an hour and a half we blasted the speakers and had a dance party. On our team, dancing is our way of staying loose and amped.”Down the hallway, Colby’s speakers died, which led the team to ask the Bowdoin women’s soccer team to join their dance party. The resulting locker-room dance battle made it onto the NESCAC barstool Instagram and now has almost 10,000 views. “I think that’s a really special moment,” continued Baker. “What more can you ask for out of sports?”Back out on the field, still 35 degrees and raining, Erin Nicholas ’21 marked her 12th goal of the season and Jennings scored for the second time in the match to stretch Middlebury’s lead to 5-2. Meg Collins ’19.5 finished with three saves, while Middlebury dominated shots 19-7 and corners 10-3.“We were very excited for the start of postseason and the opportunity to play Colby again,” Nicholas said. “Earlier in the season, we played on their home field, a slower field turf, so it was nice to get the chance to play them on our faster AstroTurf. Everyone stepped up and was focused on our team strategy in order to help secure the win.”Playoffs bring an added level of excitement to the field, when every game could mean elimination. But the approach remains the same. “We knew that on any given day, any team in the NESCAC can win, so we focused on playing our game and maintaining our structure and intensity throughout,” Nicholas said.If all goes well on Saturday, the Panthers will compete for the NESCAC Championship on their home field on Sunday. In preparation, the team will continue to develop its game in order to be ready for anything. “Our goal is to improve our own game so that we can execute and perform no matter which team we face out on the field,” said Assistant Coach Lauren Schweppe.Come out to support the defending national champions on Saturday at 11 a.m.!
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2018/11/dancing-in-the-rain-field-hockey-crushes-colby-5-2
Professor's Debut Film Screened Worldwide
(10/11/18 10:00am)
“A little irresponsible” is how Film and Media Culture Professor Ioana Uricaru describes her decision to move to the U.S. in 2001 to study film and television production at the University of Southern California. She did not have any friends or family in the U.S., and naively she thought the university would provide housing for her. Moreover, she did not have the money to pay for the expensive program.Luckily, she found a room to rent online while she was still in Romania, her home country. She became friends with the landlady Tracey, who picked her up at the airport three days before school started, and stayed with her for a couple of years. During her first year in Los Angeles, Uricaru sometimes found herself in a far from ideal situation. At some point, Tracey told her that she had to make lemonade, because “when life gives you lemons, make lemonade.” That is where the name of Uricaru’s debut feature film comes from. “Lemonade” centers on Mara, a 30 year-old Romanian immigrant and single mother working on a temporary visa in the U.S. who marries an American man. When she applies for a green card, things start to become difficult, and she is forced to confront various obstacles.“I wanted to make a film about a Romanian woman who immigrates to America, because that’s what I know,” Uricaru said. “That’s what I lived through.”When she heard the overly-optimistic American expression that seems to suggest any trouble can be turned into something positive, she was puzzled and found it “really stupid and almost offensive.”Later, she started to realize that the idea behind the saying is one deeply rooted in American culture — the belief that one can always find a way around hardships as long as one makes the effort. Yet that may not be totally aligned with reality, as the challenges faced by Mara in the film show.Uricaru’s own story as a filmmaker and an immigrant perhaps can be seen as one of making lemonade out of lemons. Her father is a writer, her mother teaches Romanian, and Uricaru grew up in Cluj, a city in Transylvania, in a house full of books and a love of literature and fiction. At the same time, she grew up under the Communist dictatorship of Nicolae Ceaușescu. Control over media is just one of the many repressive aspects of the totalitarian regime, and going to the cinema to watch movies became one of the very few things that Uricaru enjoyed and needed in order “to escape the bleakness of everyday life.”The reality of the dictatorship also influenced Uricaru’s choice in what to study in university, and she considered the range of options to be very narrow.“A lot of possibilities were just out of the question, because many of the humanities were not just ideologically influenced, but [also] ideologically controlled,” she said. “You couldn’t do literature, or history, or philosophy — anything like that — and have a good feeling about it.”The sciences were what remained. For young Uricaru, going to a large city after university to work was also important. A degree in science and a potentially high-level research job in laboratories seemed to be the way to achieve success in Communist Romania, where the government would assign graduates their jobs.Uricaru graduated from University of Bucharest in the Romanian capital with a Masters of Science in Biochemistry. The degree, however, did not land her a job in a lab. When she was still a student at the university, violent demonstrations against the totalitarian regime led to the overthrow of the government and the execution of Ceaușescu, ending the 42 years of Communist rule of Romania. What followed was a painful transition to capitalism and democracy.“Although I was a student in biochemistry, I felt that this is the last chance that I have to maybe do something else,” she said. “So I started thinking about it, and I realized that I still wanted to do film.”The only film school in Romania, National University of Theatre and Film, was harder to get in than one might imagine. The school would only accept about seven students each year for the directing track, and there was a rumor that only those with private ties could get in.Despite not knowing anything about film production, Uricaru believed it was the last chance that she had to pursue her passion. She took the admissions test twice, first when she was still in her fourth year of the biochemistry program, then when she had finished her science degree.She compared the test to the kind of reality television show in which people try to survive on an island. It was probably a little less dramatic, but there were multiple rounds of stressful competition over the course of one week that eliminated the number of applicants from 120 to seven.“I thought … if I don’t get in the second time, then forget it, I’m just going to become a scientist,” she said. “But I did get in the second time.”The offer was not something she could turn away, and she started her journey toward becoming a filmmaker. Later, she continued her studies at USC and paid for the tuition herself through — unexpectedly but perhaps not surprisingly — a teaching assistantship in the university’s biology department.“So in the end, it was good that I did the degree in biology. It was useful,” she said, laughing.It was also useful in the sense that filmmaking is as much a process of artistic creation as analytic, scientific organization. Uricaru possessed skills and experiences for both, and the duality of their combination resonates with both “Lemonade” and her identity.“Lemonade” is a Romanian film and is mainly produced by a Romanian company, while it is also set in the U.S. and focuses on this country of immigrants, making it somewhat similar to an American indie film.“I’m now a permanent resident, so I’m kind of an American now too. And if I ever get an American citizenship, I will keep my Romanian citizenship,” Uricaru said. “So I’m going to always be both. I like the film to also be both.”The film depicts the struggle of balancing two identities as an immigrant in the U.S., and the events in it all came from real-life stories that Uricaru gathered through extensive interviews with young Romanian immigrants with children. They told her different stories, but all of them expressed a similar sense of “ambivalence between what they left behind and the new country.” Uricaru found that they somehow saw themselves as “the sacrificial generation,” and that they were doing everything for their children, who were either born in the U.S. or came here early on.The immigrants she interviewed had some discoveries of their own, too. When she told them that she was looking for a little boy about eight or nine years old, who speaks Romanian to play Mara’s son character in the film, they all responded that their children could speak Romanian, which turned out to not be the case when she met the children.“The parents lived in this kind of illusion almost, because they spoke Romanian around the house, [and] the child seemed to understand, but actually the child didn’t speak it,” Uricaru explained, adding that many parents had since told her they started to try encouraging their kids to speak the language more.Uricaru was interested in this feeling of not fully belonging in either place and the constant self-questioning of whether the decision to emigrate was a good one. As for herself, she found it difficult to tell if that is something she still wonders about. What was more important was that she make a “very conscious effort” to spend time in Romania and do work there so that she stays in touch.If the style of her film can be an indicator of whether or not she has stayed in touch, it seems that Uricaru has. According to media production specialist Ethan Murphy, “Lemonade” is “very much in the style of new wave Romanian [cinema].” One of the film’s producers is Cristian Mungiu, an established Romanian filmmaker whose achievements include a Golden Palm at the Cannes Film Festival.Mungiu is among a group of new Romanian filmmakers who have been exceptionally well-received in the last 15 years.To show me the Romanian films she considers to be masterpieces during our interview, Uricaru stood up from her office chair and reached for a few DVDs, including “The Death of Mr. Lazarescu” (2005) and Mungiu’s “4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days” (2007). The films have come to represent what people call “Romanian minimalism” — the idea that the individual story and detail of everyday life are emphasized, as opposed to the focus on the national and the collective under the Communist regime.“It’s really a contagion,” she said, referring to the filmmakers who continue to produce excellent films. “So I’m very proud to be a Romanian filmmaker at this time, I think it’s great.”In the one-hour talk with Uricaru in her office in Axinn, the fact that she is a professor dedicating a lot of of her time teaching two classes in one semester almost faded into the background.Finne Murphy ’19 is an English major taking Uricaru’s screenwriting class, and she appreciates how hard she pushes students to make their screenplays even better. Murphy, not unlike Uricaru, grew up with a writer father.“[My father] has a MFA in screenwriting, so my whole life he has been writing scripts. I grew up learning it, but I’ve always wanted to write fiction,” Murphy said. “But since being in this class, I kind of wish I was a Film and English double major, or that I had started this sooner.”This is now Uricaru’s seventh year at Middlebury — producing “Lemonade” took eight. She shot the film in Canada during her year on sabbatical and completed the post-production while teaching, flying to Europe during one semester, Thanksgiving and winter breaks.After its Canadian premiere in Montreal (where it was also shot) this week and before its Romanian premiere next week, “Lemonade” will reach Middlebury audiences as well. The film will be screened this Saturday as part of the Hirschfield International Film Series. Uricaru and Mălina Manovici, who plays the film’s protagonist, will be in attendance for discussion after each screening. The film will also be shown in Burlington on Oct. 18 at the Vermont International Film Festival.Editor’s note: Finne Murphy is an Arts & Academics editor.
https://www.middleburycampus.com/article/2018/10/professors-debut-film-screened-worldwide
- « First
- ‹ Previous
- 1
- 2
- 3
- 4
- 5
- 6
- 7
- 8
- 9
- Next ›
- Last »
