Middlebury College

Middlebury College Introduction

Middlebury is among the finest liberal arts schools in the country. It also happens to be in one of the most beautiful settings. Prospective students are often taken by the million-dollar views and resort-worthy amenities, and that feeling of awe doesn’t wane over four years of study. The landscape, hemmed in by the Adirondacks to the west and the Green Mountains to the east, is a constant source of inspiration. As the sun sets over the jagged and usually snow-capped Adirondacks (or rises over the aptly named Greens), Middlebury students can’t help but pause to ask themselves: Do I reallyget to go to school here?

In this idyllic place, students sample from a curriculum steeped in the liberal arts before honing in on a particular area. “Breadth and depth” of educational experience becomes something of a mantra. That could mean a chemistry major with a passion for Victorian literature or an English major with a knack for astronomy. Such unlikely combinations are the essence of the Middlebury experience. To think: A bookworm who relishes an afternoon of skiing at the college-owned Snow Bowl; a standout athlete who edits the arts section of The Middlebury Campusnewspaper; or an environmental activist with a jazz show on 91.1 WRMC-FM, the college radio station. These are the students who populate the College on the Hill.

Versatility

So-called Midd-Kids place a premium on this brand of academic and extracurricular balance. They also value close student-professor interaction; they’re all but guaranteed small class sizes and accessible professors. Speaking of which: Celebrated creative writing professor Jay Parini shoots hoops at Pepin Gymnasium most weekdays during lunch hour; President Ron Liebowitz, who also teaches geography, routinely dines with students at Ross Dining Hall; other professors grade papers at The Grille, a social hub on campus that serves up everything from fair trade coffee to “love me tender” chicken sandwiches. Still others bring their kids skiing at the Snow Bowl. No Middlebury experience would be complete without such informal interaction with faculty mentors. In fact, you’d be hard pressed to locate a Middlebury student or alum who doesn’t count several professors (not to mention administrators) as personal friends.

When most students write a thesis, their advisor simply approves their topic in the beginning and then six months later reads it and throws on a grade. At Middlebury, my advisor met with me weekly, read every draft and was continuously giving me feedback and advice on how to make it a better paper. — Chesley Thurber, ’04, an international studies major who studied abroad in Italy and was a senior editor at The Campus newspaper

Location

The campus’ location in rural Vermont fosters an uncommon sense of community. Burlington, Montreal, and Boston are all within striking distance, but most students’ social life is centered on Middlebury, which makes for a lively oasis in the rolling hills and pastures of northern New England. The stats bear it out: ninety-four percent of students live on campus, and a quick glance at the weekend lineup is enough to convince even skeptics that there’s a lot going on.

Resources

And despite the historic New England town that is the college’s namesake, the campus’ modern resources rival those of much larger schools. Sports Illustrated has called Middlebury a “wellspring” of success at the Division III level, thanks in part to athletic facilities that are the envy of D-I institutions. Add to that a state-of-the-art, $40 million library that opened in 2004 and an equally impressive science center constructed in 1999, and you begin to sense the investment the college has made in its students.

Yet, throughout the development of the Middlebury skyline, the college has retained the unique, close-knit character that most students cite as their reason for coming in the first place. Not surprisingly, alumni cite the same reason when explaining why Middlebury will always seem to them a second home. Welcome to Middlebury, Vermont, and welcome to Middlebury College.

Middlebury students agree: There’s no place quite like here. Middlebury students value the beauty of the campus, the depth of the academic resources, and the wealth of extracurricular opportunities to keep life frenzied and fulfilling. Similarly, they value the diversity of experience and background that their peers bring to seminar discussions, quick coffee breaks at The Grille, or intense late-night conversations in the dorms. Upon graduation, they can’t help but look back nostalgically at all things Middlebury—even the winters.

Middlebury College Academics

The First-Year Seminar

For all of the campus’ natural beauty and showcase facilities, students discover Middlebury’s actual heart and soul in much more modest environs. It looks something like this: a classic seminar room with a full professor (no TAs here) and fifteen or twenty students clustered around a table, all engaged in a spirited discussion of that day’s material. The curriculum sets the standard for close student-professor interaction early on. Writing-intensive first-year seminars, a rite of passage for all incoming students, enroll no more than fifteen students and often focus on a subject rooted in the professor’s own research interests. Professor of Russian Michael Katz, a noted translator of Russian literature, teaches a course entitled “Art of Translation” that interrogates the artistic and technical role of the translator and challenges students to try their hand at the craft, drawing upon previous knowledge of a foreign language. Other seminars confront the political ramifications of September 11, explore the history of Tibetan and Buddhist art, or analyze The Da Vinci Code.

Students in first-year seminars are often situated in the same dormitory halls to foster friendship and academic collaboration outside the classroom. The first-year seminar professor also serves as students’ academic advisor until they declare a major, but students often stay in touch with their first-year mentor throughout their undergraduate careers.

Class Size

Although class size averages just sixteen, students occasionally contend with larger lecture sessions, particularly in popular introductory courses. In a Middlebury student’s vocabulary, however, large class means anything over forty, a label that would surely confound peers at other schools who are accustomed to sports-arena seating in lecture halls. Even in the rare instance that class sizes edge toward forty or more, students typically divide into discussion sections once a week during which the professor meets with about twenty students at a time for a more interactive consideration of course themes.

Spectrum of the Liberal Arts

Middlebury’s well-deserved reputation for foreign language study doesn’t begin to capture the scope of its academic strengths. The college offers more than 850 courses in more than forty majors and encourages students to sample widely from the curriculum (breadth) before developing particular expertise in one discipline (depth). To guide students through the curriculum, the college requires at least one course in seven of eight core areas, including literature; the arts; philosophical and religious studies; historical studies; physical and life sciences; deductive reasoning and analytical processes; social analysis; and foreign languages. Before graduation, students also satisfy regional distribution requirements by studying the cultures of North America, Europe, Asia, Africa, or Latin America, and comparative studies. A caveat that allows students to satisfy two distribution categories with AP or IB scores keeps most from grumbling about the imposed structure. In fact, most students ultimately find the requirements quite flexible because one course may count toward multiple distribution areas.

For a school of only 2,420 students, Middlebury offers a considerable number of interdisciplinary programs in addition to the enduring lineup of liberal arts departments. The International Studies (IS) major, for example, combines foreign language study, regional specialization, time abroad and a disciplinary focus, which may range from political science to economics to sociology. IS majors often deliver a mouthful when asked for their major. Think: European studies with a human geography focus, paired with Italian language mastered during a semester abroad in Florence. In this sense, the IS department draws on Middlebury’s longstanding reputation for foreign language instruction and fuses it with other aspects of the curriculum to create a wildly popular program.

Working in international public health in Latin and South America, my language skills have been one of my most valuable assets. The fluency I gained both at Middlebury and while studying abroad in Segovia, Spain, has set me apart from my co-workers and enhanced my contributions to our language-intensive work. — Thomas McMennamin, ’04, neuroscience and Spanish double-major and varsity swimmer originally from Portland, ME

Middlebury also pioneered the interdisciplinary field of environmental studies, launching the first undergraduate program in the country in 1965. The department remains a staple of the undergraduate curriculum and draws about fifty faculty members across twenty-six departments to offer a wide range of courses. Like IS majors, ES students also select a disciplinary specialization after completing a prescribed list of core classes. As one of the most popular departments at the college, ES attracts environmental chemists and economists, geologists, and literary analysts, all of whom tailor their coursework to suit their particular interest under the ES umbrella.

In keeping with its history of academic innovation, Middlebury’s curriculum is ever-evolving to accommodate with the diverse research interests of its students. The IS department recently added regional specializations in African studies and Middle Eastern studies, while the language division added first-year Portuguese and Arabic to its slate of offerings.

Far and Away: The Culture of Study Abroad

Middlebury transforms into an oasis of foreign cultures and foreign tongues each summer as the college’s nine language schools convene for their annual sessions. The language schools’ signature language pledge governs all interaction, both academic and social. In short, it says not to speak English for the duration of the program under penalty of expulsion. The same intensity of foreign language instruction comes through during the academic year (sans the no English ever part), and it motivates more than half of the junior class to take leave of Middlebury for either a semester or a year to pursue coursework and travel abroad. Many choose to immerse themselves in the language (or languages) they studied at Middlebury, often drawing on Middlebury’s network of twenty-six C.V. Starr Schools Abroad with sites in Argentina, China, France, Germany, Italy, Mexico, Russia, Spain, Brazil, Chile, and Uruguay. Others opt for non-Middlebury programs in destinations as varied at the United Kingdom, New Zealand, Niger, and Turkey. The common ground in study abroad: Virtually everyone does it. In fact, students who remain on campus for all four years often find themselves explaining why they didn’t seek personal and academic enrichment abroad.

A Home for the Sciences

Middlebury remains ahead of the curve with the Grille, new dorms, McCardell Bicentennial Hall, and the new library. This consistent adaptive environment works perfectly with the permanence of the surrounding mountains. — Doug Burdett, ’87, English major, member of the English Department at the Upper School of the Brunswick School in Greenwich, CT, and son of Peg Stearns Burdett, ’50, and Bruce Burdett, ’50

Middlebury’s facilities keep pace with its enterprising academic culture. Just where the campus gives way to rolling farm fields, McCardell Bicentennial Hall stands as a monument to Middlebury’s commitment to the sciences. Completed in 1999 in time for the college’s bicentennial anniversary, the building garnered numerous accolades from architectural groups but produced some distress among environmentalists and local residents who thought the imposing edifice overpowered the landscape. However, no one could argue with the Bi-Hall’s well-equipped laboratories, or with the fact that the building confirmed Middlebury’s ever-present commitment to the sciences as a vital component of liberal education. McCardell Bicentennial Hall houses the geography, psychology, chemistry, and biology departments, among others, in addition to the Armstrong Science Library and a rooftop observatory that regularly opens its doors to members of the local community, scientists and nonscientists alike. And to capture the western exposure to the Adirondack mountains, Bi-Hall boasts what’s rumored to be the largest single pane of glass in the state of Vermont. The scale of Bi-Hall’s academic resources is similarly impressive, with state-of-the-art laboratory space and lecture halls wired with the latest bells and whistles.

Winter Term

No Middlebury experience would be complete without the academic experimentation and winter-induced revelry of J-Term. As the temperatures take a Vermont-style turn in January, Middlebury students embark on the “1” component of the “4-1-4” academic calendar. The one-month interlude between the fall and spring semesters provides much-needed reprieve from the competing pressures of a full course load, freeing students to immerse themselves in a new discipline or to deepen knowledge of an established one. J-Term classes meet for at least ten hours per week and span the academic spectrum. Some are offbeat, others are traditional courses crammed into a four week-period. For example, students who begin a first-year language and hope to continue it in the spring semester must study that language over J-Term as a bridge between classes. Others may opt to jump-start their major requirements by taking a compressed version of organic chemistry or first-semester psychology in J-Term. But just as often, students take an academic risk and dabble in a yet-unexplored area of the curriculum. History majors take a dance class in the mechanics of movement, cotaught by a physics and dance professor. Neuroscience majors enroll in a crash course in local politics. And biology majors take a poetry writing workshop led by a noted faculty poet. To ensure a broad range of course offerings, the college draws on faculty talent as well as outside scholars, authors, and experts in crafting the academic lineup each year.

Although J-Term courses can be surprisingly demanding, students inevitably spend less time in the classroom. They migrate en masse to the college-owned Snow Bowl for an afternoon of skiing, or borrow snowshoes from the Middlebury Mountain Club and forge a fresh path in the snow-blanketed landscape. The Office of Campus Activities and Leadership also fields many workshop offerings during the J-Term. Recent examples: A student-taught Norwegian language and culture class, an introduction to wine tasting (yeah, ID required), figure skating 101, and tap dancing for beginners.

Students whose vision of college life looks something like Times Square should think twice before packing for Middlebury. But for those who crave the thrill of winter sport, an active and passionate student body, and a landscape ripped from the tourist brochures, follow signs for central Vermont.

Middlebury College Admissions

To Choose and Be Chosen

If there were a formula that guaranteed admission to Middlebury, somebody would have cracked it by now. The committee considers a range of factors in making its ultimate decision, tilted to favor individual over empirical gauges of potential. But as a rough guide, Middlebury recommends that candidates complete the following college preparatory coursework to prepare for its rigorous academic expectations:

• Four years of English
• Four years of foreign language
• Three years of laboratory science
• Four years of mathematics and/or computer science
• Three or more years of social science
• Some study of art, music, or drama

Middlebury is among the few colleges that do not require the SAT for admission. Instead, the college allows applicants to designate a representative sample of standardized tests from among the SAT, ACT, AP, and International Baccalaureate exams that reflects their abilities in three areas—one qualitative, one quantitative, and one in an area of the applicant’s choice. The policy suggests a whole-person view of the admissions process, one that anticipates the very ethos of the college applicants who vie to attend.

In that spirit, Middlebury welcomes varied perspectives on a candidate’s ability beyond what is reflected in the usual portfolio of high school record, standardized test scores, and teacher recommendations. The college evaluates supplementary materials such as dance and theater videos, artwork, or music compilations. Those clues—as well as those gathered through an interview and admissions essay—often prove more illuminating than any class ranking or standardized test score.

Because Middlebury receives far more applications from qualified applicants than it can possibly accept, Dean of Admissions Bob Clagett has been known to send a note to prospective students explaining the difficult task before the Admissions Committee each year. He concedes that Middlebury turns away many applicants who would otherwise make significant contributions to the college community. Denial from Middlebury isn’t a vote of no confidence in one’s academic ability, according to the Admissions Director. It’s a reflection of ever-escalating applicant volume at a college that’s established itself as among the nation’s finest.

Students’ Backgrounds

Middlebury received 6,204 applications for admission to the class of 2010 and accepted 1,506 students, 1,339 to start in September and 167 to start in February. Of those admitted, thirty-eight were school or class presidents, thirty were publications editors, 194 were team captains and one was an oboe player. And despite a healthy supply of Vermonters and New Englanders—4.3 percent and twenty-four percent, respectively—the pool of admitted students also included representatives of thirty-six countries and forty-seven states.

Of course, age-old stereotypes die hard. Like many elite New England colleges, Middlebury was historically regarded as a haven for well-to-do, white Northeasterners. The college still contends with a reputation for rural seclusion and homogeneity, but new initiatives are accelerating the ever-diversifying student population. The Posse Program, now in its eighth year, handpicks standout students from urban settings and grants them the scholarships and institutional support they need to transition successfully into Middlebury’s vibrant, if isolated and decidedly new, environment. And as the college continues to become a better version of itself through infrastructure improvements and curricular advancement, it inevitably attracts an increasingly varied population to its bucolic campus.

The college wants students from Nepal and North Dakota. It wants logrolling champions and competitive fly-fishers and cross-country skiing enthusiasts, not to mention standout ice hockey goalies and aspiring poets and all-state orchestra participants. The bottom line: Middlebury College wants students with broad-based interests, experiences, and backgrounds who will seize opportunities to propel and invigorate campus life—and themselves—across four years of study.

Decisions, Decisions

Regular applications are due December 15th. For candidates who know Middlebury is their first choice, the college offers a binding, Early Decision program that telegraphs one’s commitment to Middlebury and offers the promise of early notification from the Admissions Committee, which may choose to accept, reject or defer a decision until the usual April 1 deadline. Early decision applications are due November 15th.

The Feb Program

Among countless boxes to check and blanks to fill in, Middlebury applicants will confront the “September preferred” and “February preferred” dilemma. The so-called Feb program emerged in the 1970s as a novel way to fill beds vacated by students studying abroad in the spring. It’s evolved into a fixture of the Middlebury community, offering a fresh infusion of energy and talent at midyear. As the second semester begins and students grow wary of the sometimes-arctic chill, a vivacious group of 95 “Febs” energize the campus, bringing with them varied experiences amassed during a gap semester between high school and college. Febs swear by the experience. They say their time at Middlebury was enriched by travel, work, or study completed in the fall before launching their college careers. They also enjoy a lively camaraderie born of being midyear transplants to Vermont, often broadcast to the larger community by T-shirts bearing lettering such as “Febs— Curiously Strong (inscribed on an Altoids container) and “Febs come later and last longer,” among other less suggestive slogans. The Feb experience culminates four years later in a winter celebration for the new midyear graduates, a ski-down process in mortarboards and gowns at the College-owned Snow Bowl, and of course, someone always wipes out on the slopes while donning traditional cap and gown.

Transfer Students

In addition to Febs and “Regs,” as September students are often called, Middlebury enrolls five to ten transfer students selected from a pool of 200–250 applicants. All students hoping to matriculate at the college must complete the Common Application and a Middlebury-specific supplement. Application deadlines for transfer students are March 1 for fall admission, and November 15 for spring admission. A few weeks after dropping the package in the mail, don’t be surprised if Clagett sends a detailed letter about the admissions pool that year in addition to acknowledging receipt of the material.

There’s a phenomenon called the Middlebury Sibling. It happens like this: The elder chooses Middlebury, proceeds to rave about the experience, and so the younger chooses Middlebury as well. I know. It happened to my family. My younger sister, Jill, applied Early Decision to Middlebury and launched her career as I completed mine, and so we became the latest sibling pair of Midd-kids.

Middlebury College Financial Aid

A Genuine Commitment

Middlebury cushions the shock of its $44,330 comprehensive fee with an admissions process that is separate from the financial aid process. Need for financial aid has no effect on the admissions decision, and the college has a commitment to meet each student’s full demonstrated need as calculated by the Office of Financial Aid. Even though additional expenses ranging from textbook bills to travel to and from Vermont may push price north of that figure, students and families can take heart in Middlebury’s unwavering commitment to providing students with a financial aid package to put the cost of attendance within reach. Financial aid packages—typically combining grants, federal and institutional loans, and work—remain consistent over four years, provided that family financial circumstances do not change. The college requires the FAFSA in addition to its own financial aid supplement by January 15.

To calculate a family’s expected contribution, the office evaluates family income and assets and then extends a financial aid offer based on need. In a recent academic year, forty-three percent of first-year students and forty-two percent of continuing students received need-based aid, and the average first-year grant totaled $27,471. Middlebury’s reputation for solid financial aid packages is often credited with attracting a student body that includes representatives of more than seventy countries It’s worth keeping in mind, though, that Middlebury distributes aid dollars based only on need—there are no athletic or academic scholarships awarded through college channels. Students may still apply for outside scholarships to offset their college expenses.

Help Wanted

Whether for extra cash or to satisfy a financial aid condition, many students turn to on-campus job opportunities ranging from monitoring the music library to researching for a professor to sorting recyclables at the recycling center. Marcus Hughes, who transferred to Middlebury for his sophomore year and praised the college’s commitment to aid, said he found two jobs within forty-eight hours of arriving on campus, one working in an administrative office and the other monitoring the fitness center. Other students venture into town and land jobs waiting tables at nearby restaurants or working in any of the string of boutiques that line Middlebury’s tourist-friendly Main Street. Both on campus and off, the job market is flexible enough to accommodate all students who wish to work during their college experience.

Middlebury College Students

After about 8 P.M. an eerie calm descends over downtown Middlebury, save for the bustling (and alumni owned) Neil & Otto’s pizza shop and the local pubs. Don’t worry. A short stroll up the hill to campus reveals a different picture entirely. En route to a WRMC-91.1 FM-sponsored indie rock concert, you pass the French House on Franklin Street hosting a reception with hors d’oeuvres—and yes, all dialogue would be inFrench—that will later give way to a party, most likely after the faculty members call it a night. A little further up, conversation spills out of an open dormitory window on Old Stone Row, where students have gathered before heading to a midnight show in Hepburn’s Black Box Theater. Then comes the pulsating sound of a McCullough—campus lingo for a dance party in McCullough Social Space, a former gymnasium transformed into a performing-cum-dance party venue attached to The Grille, the two-tier social hub that serves up chai latte and late-night quesadillas (surely there’s a healthy crowd there, too). Continue past The Gamut Room where the African-American Alliance is sponsoring a slam poetry event featuring some of Middlebury’s best, who enjoy celebrity status on campus. And then, out of breath and probably semi-frostbitten, you arrive at Coltrane Lounge and the sounds of the indie favorite The Decembrists surround you. Middle of nowhere, eh?

Because virtually all students live in college housing, campus life centers on— surprise!— campus. The result: a hotbed of activity amidst a patchwork of farms in a classic New England town. It’s hard to be bored. You’d actually have to try.

Greek à la Carte

Of course, no one could have taken that late-night stroll on a Saturday night without hearing a light rumble coming from a wooded grove on the far side of campus. Ever lively, social houses clustered in that area regularly throw parties open to the entire college community. In the early 1990s, the college banned single-sex fraternities and sororities and severed their national affiliations. So began the transition to a social house system regulated by a council of students, faculty, and staff as opposed to being beholden to national Greek networks. The result is a system that largely replicates the Greek experience of close-knit, extended-family-like houses that know how to throw a good party and how to support the community through volunteer service. Students may pledge a social house— which are all coed—after completing one semester at the college. Although each house has its own building, some members may opt to continue to live in the dorms while remaining active in house affairs. For some students, the social house system proves a key ingredient in their extracurricular and social life at the college. They may pledge a house, ascend to house leadership, and find a circle of friends through their involvement. Others treat the social houses as a destination for partying on a weekend night. Still others rarely interact with the social house system and seek out social options elsewhere. The basic outlook: It’s there if you’re interested, but not omnipresent if you’re not.

A Commons Way of Life

No description of Middlebury’s social landscape would be complete without mention of the Commons System. Upon arrival at Middlebury, students automatically become members of one of five Commons based on their residence hall assignment. Each Commons has its own dean, faculty head, self-governing council, and culture—or so the college hopes will ultimately be the case. The system becomes more firmly entrenched in campus life with each passing year, but as a product of 1990s innovation, it continues to find its stride. The Commons reflects Middlebury’s prevailing belief that liberal arts education takes place continuously. The Commons System strives to foster close student interaction within a framework that includes support from an accessible dean and engagement by a faculty head who frequents Commons events and routinely invites students to his or her home. As a practical matter, the Commons dean serves as the go-to person when students are struggling with personal problems and is always available for informal counseling on academics or other topics.

The Commons also have considerable financial resources at their disposal, and they’re regular sponsors of lectures, visiting performers, outings, and social events. Brainerd Commons takes students apple picking in the fall. Cook Commons hosts a cookout on Battell Beach (the field behind Cook-affiliated Battell Hall) in the spring. And Ross Commons throws a Viva Ross Vegas party in its newly constructed dining space that readily converts to a nighttime venue.

A Community of Joiners

If you’re an environmental activist pining to campaign against gas-guzzling SUVs, there’s the Environmental Quality activist group. For those who prefer a policy-oriented approach to promoting, say, energy efficiency in the dorms, there’s an Environmental Council of students, faculty, and staff with similar concerns and policymaking authority. And if environmental awareness isn’t your extracurricular focus, choose from more than 150 extracurricular options on campus, which are displayed at a campus-wide activities fair twice annually.

Middlebury students live at the edge of their abilities. And although most teeter at the brink of being overwhelmed by the collision of academic, social, and extracurricular pressures, they wouldn’t have it any other way.

Take off with African running choir Mchaka-Mchaka and chant traditional songs while running across campus at night, or help to build the symbolic closet the Middlebury Open Queer Alliance and Ally Group construct on the quad each year to mark Coming Out Week. The spectrum of extracurricular opportunity is broad, and includes everything from the campus Progressives to the juggling brigade to cultural groups like the Alianza Latinoamericana y Caribena and African-American Alliance, which enrich Middlebury life with regular cultural revues, speakers, and artistic performances.

If anything, Middlebury students over- rather than under-participate in extracurricular life, producing a somewhat frenetic environment that motivates every student to embrace a variety of extracurricular pursuits.

The Arts Beat

The Center for the Arts (CFA) is to music, dance, and theater what Bi-Hall is to the sciences. The architectural gem slightly removed from the hustle and bustle of central campus houses numerous havens for the artsy set, including an extensive music library, concert hall, and dance studio. The Museum of Art also makes its home in the CFA, as the campus shorthand goes. The Museum has featured a traveling exhibit of treasures from Iraq, and a special installation of story quilts from the New York City-based artist Faith Ringgold, in addition to a permanent collection well worth a visit. Students make tracks to the CFA regularly to see theater performances at Seeler Studio, cabaret revues, and classical music concerts from groups such as the Emerson String Quartet in the acoustically refined Concert Hall, or special exhibits on view at the Museum.

Of course, the art world extends beyond the CFA in the form of student-directed shows in black-box Zoo theater in Hepburn residence hall, student visual art installations at the Johnson academic building, and student-produced films at Dana Auditorium. Middlebury is also a hotbed of a cappellaperformance, with at least half a dozen groups delivering regular performances to capacity crowds. Other artistic contributions enrich the social fabric at the college, as well. Slam poetry, break-dancing, the “On Tap” troupe, “Riddim” world dance and regular cultural shows add intrigue to Middlebury’s social scene and give students many choices when considering how to spend a weekend night in rural Vermont.

Middlebury probably has more theater per capita of any college around. And I’m not talking about “You’ll never believe who he went home with last night” drama. With five performing spaces, there’s an unparalleled opportunity to perform, direct, or simply take in a piece of theater at Middlebury. — Laura S. Rocklyn, ’04, English and theater double major and a former arts editor of The Middlebury Campusnewspaper, stage manager, and frequent performer in student and faculty shows.

Middlebury College Athletics

Cheer, boys, cheer for Middlebury’s here, 
Fight, boys, fight, fight with all your might, 
Cheer, boys, cheer, for Middlebury’s here, 
It’s going to be a hot time in the cold town tonight 
Hey, hey, hey!

— Middlebury College Fight Song

Make no mistake—Middlebury fields some of the most competitive teams in the New England Small College Athletic Association (NESCAC), and athletics are a way of life for a considerable majority of Middlebury students. Whether skiing the slopes of the Snow Bowl, competing in Ultimate Frisbee, or joining a demanding (but very rewarding) varsity inter- collegiate team, athletics figure prominently into the Middlebury experience.

The Panthers field thirty NCAA varsity teams that draw twenty-eight percent participation from the student body—and almost 200 athletes compete in more than one varsity sport. To document Middlebury’s athletic success in recent years, look no further than the trophy case: Middlebury has won national championships in men’s hockey, women’s lacrosse, men’s lacrosse, women’s cross-country, women’s hockey, field hockey, and men’s tennis.

Athletics also provide a rallying point for the community. The men’s ice hockey team enjoys special status among spectators, luring full houses as it perennially advances toward championship matches with age-old rivals. Students, faculty members, locals, and dining hall workers sit side by side in Kenyon Arena to cheer on the team, periodically shouting the College Fight Song to invigorate the players on the ice.

Students who do not join varsity squads frequently take advantage of Middlebury’s full slate of intramural athletics, including crew, rugby, Ultimate Frisbee, and many others. The Middlebury Mountain Club—billed as the largest club on campus—also provides a recreational outlet for students wishing to hike, ice climb, or snowshoe in Middlebruy’s rugged surroundings. Whatever athletic option Middlebury students pursue, it tends to be characterized by a refreshing balance with academic and other cocurricular commitments.

I was constantly supported not only by my coach in my academic ventures, but also by my professors in my athletic competitions. Middlebury breeds a healthy coexistence of academics and athletics. — Thomas McMennamin, ’04

Middlebury College Alumni

In October of my freshman year, my new friends and I decided it would be a grand idea to hike along Long Trail of Vermont and pitch a tent next to a mountain pond. We did just that, but the temperatures took an unexpected turn for the worst overnight and we awakened to a snow-coated trail and iced-over pond, shivering beside each other. Somehow, this encapsulated the Middlebury experience. Somewhat chilled, but joined in a rare solidarity of academic pursuit and extracurricular enrichment that you carry with you into the professional world. It forever links you to those who shared in it, whether past or current students. (Oh, and in case you were worried, we lived to complete our undergraduate careers.)

If brought together in one location, all of Middlebury’s living alumni wouldn’t fill Boston’s Fenway Park, Major League Baseball’s smallest stadium. But—to invoke the well-worn cliché—they make up in quality what they lack in quantity. A Middlebury degree signifies a special bond with all who came before and all who come after. That much is clear from any alumni mixer in any city nation- (or world-) wide.

Middlebury alumni are found across industries and across the world. Consider that the Governor of Vermont, the White House senior at BBC News, a gold medalist Para-Olympian, an opera singer, a financier, an entry-level management consultant, and a Peace Corps volunteer are all linked by their Middlebury degrees. The strength of the alumni network shines through when students are looking for internships or jobs. With the help of the resourceful Career Services staff, students are linked into a web of contacts that yield superb opportunities to develop professional skills.

Prominent Grads

• Julia Alvarez, Author of How the Garcia Girls Lost Their Accents and In the Time of the Butterflies
• Ari Fleisher, Former White House Press Secretary
• Felix Rohatyn, Financier and Former Ambassador to France
• Jim Douglas, Governor of Vermont
• Frank Sesno, Former CNN Senior Vice-President and Washington, D.C., Bureau Chief
• Aditya M. Raval, White House Producer, BBC News
• Eve Ensler, Playwright, The Vagina Monologues
• Chris Waddell, Para-Olympic Gold Medallist
• Adrian Benepe, New York City Commissioner of Parks and Recreation
• Paul R. Aaronson, Executive Managing Director, Standard & Poor’s
• Sabra Field, Woodcut Artist and Designer of the Best-Selling UNICEF Card and U.S. Postage Stamp
• Donald Yeomans, Senior Research Scientist, NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, and expert on asteroids and comets
• James Davis, Founder of the New Balance Athletic Shoe Company
• Rep. William Delahunt, Congressman from Massachusetts
• Rep. Frank Pallone, Congressman from New Jersey
• William Burden, Opera Singer
• Charles Moffett, Vice Chairman of Impressionist, Modern and Contemporary Art, Sotheby’s
• John Martin, Former CEO, Taco Bell
• Jacqueline Phelan, Three-Time National Championship Mountain Bike Racer
• Hon. Robert T. Stafford, One of Only eighty-three Americans Elected by One State as Governor, U.S. Representative, and U.S. Senator

Middlebury College Faculty

The first-year seminar program is a microcosm of the larger Middlebury experience—meaningful relationships with professors who both awe students with their academic prowess and then meet them at The Grille to confer about an assignment over coffee. Therein lies one of the college’s defining qualities: Middlebury is first and foremost a teaching institution, and although faculty members have impeccable scholarly credentials and make significant contributions to their fields, they remain committed to the core mission of instructing and interacting with students. That commitment extends to the upper ranks of the college leadership. The president, vice-president for academic affairs, dean of the faculty, and secretary of the college all began their careers as professors and continue to teach. And Middlebury’s last president, who was drawn from the faculty, recently opted to return to a full-time teaching position in the history department after thirteen years at the helm.

Carnegie Foundation Classification

Baccalaureate Colleges — Arts & Sciences

General Characteristics

Highest offering	Doctoral degree
Calendar System	Four-one-four plan
Years of college work required	N/A
Variable Tuition

Special Learning Opportunities

Distance Learning
ROTC — Army / Navy / Air Force	— / /
Study Abroad
Weekend College
Teacher Certification