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Middlebury College

Middlebury College is a private liberal arts college located in Middlebury, Vermont, United States. Founded in 1800, it is one of the oldest liberal arts colleges in the United States. Middlebury is the first American institution of higher education known to have granted a bachelor’s degree to an African-American, graduating Alexander Twilight in the class of 1823. Middlebury was also one of the first formerly all-male liberal arts colleges in New England to become a coeducational institution, following the trustees’ decision in 1883 to accept women.
Drawing 2,400 undergraduates from all 50 United States and over 70 countries, Middlebury offers 44 majors in the arts, humanities, literature, foreign languages, social sciences, and natural sciences. Middlebury follows a 4-1-4 academic schedule, with two four-course semesters and a one-course January term.

In addition to its core undergraduate program, the college organizes undergraduate and graduate programs in modern languages. The Middlebury Language Schools offer instruction in 10 languages. The Bread Loaf School of English is a summer graduate program in English literature, and the Bread Loaf Writers’ Conference is one of the oldest in the country. The college also operates the C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad in 13 countries, on five continents. In 2005 the Monterey Institute of International Studies, located in Monterey, California became an affiliate of Middlebury College, and in July 2010 the Institute was integrated into Middlebury as a formal graduate school of the college.

Middlebury’s 31 varsity teams are known as the Middlebury Panthers and compete in the Division III NESCAC conference. The school’s colors are blue and white. Middlebury is one of the “Little Ivies.”

Middlebury College Rankings

Middlebury College Tuition and Fees

Comprehensive Fee ($52,120): The comprehensive fee is the sum of tuition, room, and board. There is also a billed student activity fee of $380 for the academic year.

Books ($1,000): This is an estimate of your expenses for textbooks and supplies for the academic year. Your actual costs may differ depending on the courses you take and the availability of used books. You will need to bring money with you for your books when you first arrive at Middlebury.

Personal ($1,000): This is an estimate of expenses for personal items, entertainment, and clothing for the academic year. It is a conservative estimate, which will require careful budgeting on your part. Most students choose to use the income from their campus jobs to provide these funds.

Travel (variable): This figure represents our recognition that you will incur costs to get here in the fall and to get back again in the spring. Students generally use a portion of their summer earnings to pay this expense

Schools of Middlebury College

Middlebury College News

College honors students for leadership and public service - Thu, 17 May 2012
MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—The 2012 Dean of the College Student Leadership Awards, Public Service Leadership Awards, and Student Government Association Awards – a total of 26 honors – were presented to Middlebury College students, advisors and organizations at a ceremony on May 8 at Atwater Dining Hall.
President Ronald D. Liebowitz greeted the gathering of students, faculty, staff and community members, and, in his opening remarks, said that Middlebury has a long-standing tradition of fostering student leadership in academic excellence, activism, community service, creativity and innovation, and spiritual and religious engagement.
Dean of the College Shirley Collado joined the president at the podium and asked all of the nominees to stand for a round of applause.
Student Leadership Awards
The Angels Award, for a sophomore woman of color who demonstrates leadership, scholarship and activism, was presented to Daniela Barajas ’14 of Houston, Texas, by Associate Dean Karen Guttentag and by three previous recipients of the Angels Award: Mukui Mbindyo ’11, Janet Rodrigues ’12, and DaVia Walker ’12.
The Barbara J. Buchanan ’62 Memorial Prize for a senior woman who represents Buchanan’s academic excellence and ideal of service was presented to Brittany Gendron ’12 of Severna Park, Md., and Janet Rodrigues ’12 of Brooklyn, N.Y., by Dean of the College Shirley Collado.

The First-Year Achievement Prize for academic excellence and the ability to relate well to others was presented to Karen Liu ’15 of New York, N.Y., by Dean Collado.

The Carri A. Smith ’98 Award for Outstanding Intercommons Council Member, which goes to a student who exemplifies the ideals of the commons system, a passion for the college and a commitment to student life, was presented by the faculty head of Brainerd Commons, Professor Roman Graf, to Supriti Jaya Ghosh ’12 of Seattle, Wash., and Nadia Schreiber ’12 of New York, N.Y.

Ellen McKay (left) with Katie Pett '13 and Edna Tang '12
The Interfaith Cooperation Award of the Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life was presented to three leaders of the InterVarsity Christian Fellowship: Joyce Ma ’14 of Brooklyn, N.Y., Katie Pett ’13 of Saginaw, Mich., and Edna Tang ’12 of Santa Clara, Calif. Presented by Chaplain Laurel Macaulay Jordan ’79 and Program Coordinator Ellen McKay, the award goes to students who actively promote and facilitate interfaith understanding, communication or programming.
The Religious Life Innovation Award of the Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life was presented by Associate Chaplain Ira Schiffer to students who show unusual originality in the development of religious activities on campus. This year’s recipients were: Nadia Schreiber ’12 of New York, N.Y., and David Yedid ’15 of Port Washington, N.Y., for their work on Hillel’s Challah for Hunger campaign; and Patrick Hebble ’13 of Sudbury, Mass., Marc Delaney ’12 of Wading River, N.Y., and Matthew Johnson ’12 of Cranbury, N.J., for the “metafoodical” program they organized called “Kung Pao and Christ.”
The Spiritual Life Leadership Award of the Charles P. Scott Center for Spiritual and Religious Life was presented to Brenna Kearns ’12 of Apple Valley, Calif. The award for advancing the spiritual lives of others on campus was presented by Chaplain Jordan.
The Alexander Twilight 1823 Diversity and Community Leadership Award was presented to Sam Koplinka-Loehr ’13 of Ithaca, N.Y., for exemplifying Twilight’s leadership and determination in a way that transcends boundaries of race, class and gender. The award was presented by Jennifer Herrera, special assistant to Dean Collado and senior advisor for diversity.
The Franklin G. Williams 1913 and Sarah H. Williams 1912 Memorial Award was presented to Lindsey Hunt ’14 of Arlington, Va., by Dean Collado. It is awarded to a sophomore on the basis of natural kindness, perceptivity to the needs of others, and an abiding sense of personal responsibility.
Public Service Leadership Awards
The Public Service Leadership Awards were presented by Tiffany Sargent ’79, director of the Alliance for Civic Engagement, who credited Patrick Durkin ’79 for starting the PSLA program at Middlebury in 1993.
The John M. McCardell Jr. Public Service Award goes to a student or students whose efforts bring the college and the town of Middlebury closer together. For 2012 the award was presented to Jessica Appelson ’12 of New York, N.Y., Lea Calderon-Guthe ’12 of Chapel Hill, N.C., and Alice Urban ’12 of Millers Falls, Mass., for their extensive coordination efforts that enabled students to volunteer their time in the nearby communities hardest hit by Tropical Storm Irene.
The Bonnie McCardell Public Service Award is presented to a student or students for excellence in outreach in literacy, youth and family services, or the special needs of at-risk youngsters. It was presented to Emma Burke ’12 of Dallas, Texas, who started a new student initiative called NOM – short for Nutrition, Outreach and Mentoring – which hosts weekly dinners where student volunteers and community members cook and eat together, and where they can explore healthy and cost-effective meal ideas and techniques.
Ansally Kuria '12 with Tiffany Sargent '79
The Dana Morosini Reeve ’84 Memorial Public Service Award is bestowed on a student with spirit and determination from the heart that has far-reaching and effective public service. It was presented to Ansally Kuria ’12 of Nairobi, Kenya,for her work as both a volunteer at, and fund raiser for, the Nairobi Women’s Hospital’s Gender Violence Recovery Center. Will Reeve '14, the son of the late Dana Morosini Reeve and Christopher Reeve, helped present the award that honors his mother.
For exemplary service to the community, six additional Public Service Leadership Awards were extended to students. The recipients were: Samuel Miller ’12 of Needham, Mass., for his leadership in maintaining the tutoring program between members of the College’s cross-country team and students at Middlebury Union High School; Danny Loehr ’14 of Andover, N.H., for his service as a leader of MAlt (Middlebury Alternative spring break) trips and as a member of the board of Juntos, the student group that assists migrant workers in Addison County; and Quan Pham ’12 of Honolulu, Hi., for his role in the development of the Service Cluster Board, his work as a Community Friend, and his leadership on a recent MAlt trip.
Also receiving Public Service Leadership Awards were: Yuan Kang Lim ’12 of Singapore, for volunteering hundreds of hours to support the food and housing programs of the Middlebury Community Care Coalition; Rachel Sider ’14 of Fort Wayne, Ind., for her tireless efforts to engage students to work together on behalf of the campus group Juntos, the Somali-Bantu ESL program in Burlington, and the national student organization J Street U; and Harriet Napier ’13 of Middlebury, for her involvement as a volunteer and board member at the John Graham Shelter in Vergennes for the homeless.
Student Government Association (SGA) Awards
SGA members Caroline Cordle ’12 and Vincent Recca ’12 presented the Student Government Association awards.
The Outstanding Campus Leader Award recognizes a junior or senior for innovation, motivation, initiative and perseverance, and the 2012 recipient was Rhiya Trivedi ’12 of Oakville, Ontario, for her involvement with the Sunday Night Group, her powerfully written articles for the Middlebury Campus student newspaper, and her work in starting JusTalks, a new program for first-year students.
Emerging leader Rana Abdelhamid '15
The Extraordinary Emerging Leader Award goes to a first-year student or a sophomore for outstanding leadership and involvement in the campus community. The award was presented to Rana Abdelhamid ’15 of Flushing, N.Y., for starting a chapter of Amnesty International on campus, and for her service to SGA as one of two senators elected by the first-year class.
The Baumgarten ’98 and Udzenija ’99 SGA Memorial Award honors a sophomore who personifies academic achievement, the passion for learning, compassion for others, and involvement in student activities. The recipient was Alison Lewis ’14 of Boulder, Colo.,for her service as a MAlt trip leader and as a peer writing tutor in the course “Writing to Heal.”
The Exceptional Advisor Award goes to the mentor of a student organization who delves into the work of the organization, improves quality, connects with students, and contributes significantly to the Middlebury community. Receiving the award for 2012 was Ashley Calkins ’06, who as the community engagement coordinator in the Center for Education in Action served as advisor to the Service Cluster Board.
The Extraordinary Initiative Award recognizes an exceptional program, cultural event, guest speaker or production that is conceived and carried out by a student or students. The 2012 recipient was Middlebury Hurricane Relief, the student-led organization that mobilized over 500 volunteers and provided nearly 2,800 hours of service to area residents who were affected by Hurricane Irene.
The Outstanding Leader of a Student Organization Award is presented each year to a student who has brought honor to a student organization through his or her leadership and selflessness. The 2012 recipient was Alice Urban ’12 of Millers Falls, Mass., leadership in promoting and propagating the growth of the Community Friends organization.
The Outstanding New Organization Award goes to a newly formed, SGA-recognized campus group that addresses a need or community issue that had not previously been supported. The 2012 recipient was Poor Form Poetry – an organization that inspired creativity and individuality by organizing poetry slam events on campus, and by participating in college-level poetry competitions across the country. Accepting the award on behalf of Poor Farm Poetry were: Rae Colombo ’13 of Mosgiel, New Zealand.; Anna Gallagher ’12 of Worcester, Mass.; Cody Gohl ’13 of Carrollton, Texas; and Maya Goldberg-Safir ’13 of Oakland, Calif.
The Outstanding Overall Achievement Award recognizes one organization for sustained contributions to the campus and student life. This year’s recipient was the Service Cluster Board, which oversees the service-related activities of other clubs at Middlebury. The Service Cluster Board allocates the funding so dedicated students can launch their own initiatives, and it encourages existing organizations to develop new leaders so initiatives will thrive from year to year.
In closing, Dean Collado thanked everyone who works so tirelessly to support Middlebury students in their leadership development, and to the graduates she said: “As you begin whatever new phase that follows your graduation, we know that you will take with you the personal tradition of leadership and community engagement that you have established here at Middlebury, and will make it part of the rest of your life.”
Recipients of the 2012 awards for leadership and public service
Photographs by Trent Campbell

College volunteers recognized by United Way of Addison County - Fri, 11 May 2012
Samantha Wasserman ’14 and Mackenzie Walsh ’14 each received Youth Service Awards at the United Way of Addison County Celebration of Community on May 2. The two volunteers were recognized for their individual contributions to the local community.
In addition, the Center for Education in Action’s civic engagement director Tiffany Nourse Sargent ’79 and community engagement coordinator Ashley Calkins ’06, and student leaders Ali Urban ’12 and Jessica Appelson ’12 were recognized for work coordinating Middlebury College volunteers during the Hurricane Irene relief efforts.
Wasserman was recognized specifically for her leadership as a student coordinator for EIA’s Community Friends program, which connects college students with the greater Middlebury community by providing friends, mentors and positive role models to local school children. She became involved with the program as early as her first year at Middlebury, and has been an active recruiter in helping to grow the program.
Walsh is the program coordinator for Page One Literacy, a student organization also advised by EIA. As an active leader, she maintains communications with local schools and designs 4-6 week literacy programs for fellow Middlebury students to teach. Her behind-the-scenes work ensures the sustainability and positive impact of the organization in the community.

CEO, social architect, community leader and visionary Bill Strickland to deliver commencement address May 27 - Thu, 12 Apr 2012
“With his potter’s hands, Bill Strickland is reshaping the business of social change. His Pittsburgh-based program offers a national model for education, training and hope.”
--Fast Company
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. ― William E. “Bill” Strickland Jr., an at-risk youth who went on to win a MacArthur “Genius” award in 1996 for his work with the disadvantaged in inner-city Pittsburgh, will deliver the 2012 Middlebury College commencement address on Sunday, May 27. Strickland is the president and CEO of Manchester Bidwell Corporation and its subsidiaries, Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild and Bidwell Training Center. He is recognized as a visionary leader whose organization, which now serves as a national model, provides professional training to adults, and educational and cultural opportunities to students, while fostering creativity, responsibility and hope. He will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. Sarah Bright Alturki, Frederick M. Fritz, Martha Siegfried Fritz, Christoph Wolff and David Wolk will receive honorary degrees as well.
“Where others see obstacles, Bill Strickland sees opportunity,” said Middlebury College President Ron Liebowitz. “He and the Manchester Bidwell Corporation offer children and adults the chance for a better life, and his vision for changing the way we think about our country and our communities is profoundly inspiring.”
Strickland’s life changed when he learned the art of pottery from a high school art teacher and mentor in his native Pittsburgh. While still in college in 1968, he founded the Manchester Craftsmen’s Guild, now known as the MCG Youth and Arts Program, which serves about 3,900 young people each year through classes and workshops in areas such as ceramics and design. It is also home to a Grammy-winning record label and a world-class jazz performance series. According to Strickland, the arts are critical to creating an atmosphere of culture and respect that will energize even the most troubled students.
Strickland assumed the leadership of the Bidwell Training Center in 1972, a time when unemployment remained high in Pittsburgh and other Rust Belt cities as the steel industry declined. Partnering with local corporations and businesses, the center has successful job placement rates in diverse areas, ranging from health care to the culinary arts. Its positive work has attracted the attention of several presidents, including President Obama, who named Strickland a member of the White House Council for Community Solutions in 2010.
Strickland is working to replicate the Manchester Bidwell business model throughout the country ― there are sites in San Francisco, Cincinnati, Grand Rapids and Cleveland. He is also the author of the 2009 book, “Make the Impossible Possible: One Man’s Crusade to Inspire Others to Dream Bigger and Achieve the Extraordinary.”
Sarah Bright Alturki, who attended Middlebury’s Arabic School, will receive a Doctor of Letters degree. A native of Ohio, she is an educator and philanthropist who has lived for more than 40 years in Saudi Arabia. With her husband, Khalid Ali Alturki, who served as a Middlebury trustee from 1977-1987, she founded the Dhahran Ahliyya Schools, which now have about 1,750 students in pre-kindergarten through high school. Alturki is the deputy president and serves as head of the girls’ section, with more than 800 students. She is also co-founder and deputy president of the Educational Book House, a nonprofit publishing company that specializes in books in Arabic that contribute to the renewal of Arab education. She founded and still works closely with the Early Childhood Center, which prepares teachers, develops and publishes teaching materials, and employs consultants who offer training at pre-schools all over Saudi Arabia.
Rick Fritz '68
Frederick M. “Rick” Fritz, a member of the Middlebury class of 1968, will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. A Middlebury trustee since 1999, he will step down as chair of the board in June after serving in this role since 2004 and continue as a full member of the board. He and his wife Martie have three sons who attended Middlebury – Jay graduated in 1995, Matthew in 1997, and Ben in 2000 – and two of their daughters-in-law are alumnae as well. Fritz earned a bachelor’s degree in economics from Middlebury in 1968, and an MBA from the Amos Tuck School at Dartmouth in 1970. He served as a lieutenant in the Army from 1971-1973. He spent most of his professional career at the Bank of Boston, which he joined in 1970. Fritz served as head of commercial banking in London, and was president of the private equity and venture capital group from 1985-2002. He retired from the Bank of Boston in 2003. He currently serves as president of Miles Lumber Co., based in Arlington, a fourth-generation Vermont family business selling fuel oil and building materials. Fritz is also a member of the board of governors of the Monterey Institute of International Studies, and of the board of directors of Middlebury Interactive Languages.
Martie Fritz
Martha “Martie” Siegfried Fritz will receive a Doctor of Humane Letters degree. She earned an associate degree from Colby-Sawyer College in 1967 and a Bachelor of Science from Boston University in 1969. A former elementary school teacher, she serves on the board of trustees of the Belmont Hill School in Belmont, Mass. A longtime supporter of museums, she has been a senior associate and guide at the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston, and is a board member at the Henry Sheldon Museum in Middlebury and the Concord Museum in Concord, Mass. She is a member of the Friends of the Middlebury College Museum of Art, and of the Middlebury Arts Council. In Florida, she is chair of the Friends at Loblolly, a group that helps families in need in Martin County, working with local agencies and overseeing a college scholarship program.
Christoph Wolff
Adams University Professor at Harvard University, Christoph Wolff will receive a Doctor of Arts degree. Born and educated in Germany, he studied organ and historical keyboard instruments, musicology, and art history at the Universities of Berlin, Erlangen and Freiburg, earning a performance diploma in 1963 and a doctorate of philosophy in 1966. He taught the history of music at Erlangen, Toronto, Princeton and Columbia Universities before joining the Harvard faculty in 1976 as professor of music. He was William Powell Mason Professor of Music from 1985-2002, before becoming Adams University Professor. He has served as chair of the music department, acting director of the university library, and dean of the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences. He has written widely on the history of music from the 15th to the 20th centuries. His most recent books are “Johann Sebastian Bach: The Learned Musician” (2000), which has been translated into eight languages, "The Organs of J. S. Bach: a Handbook" (2012), and "Mozart at the Gateway to His Fortune: Serving the Emperor, 1788-1791" (2012).

David Wolk '75
David Wolk, president of Castleton State College in Castleton, will receive a Doctor of Letters degree. He was born and grew up in Rutland, and received a bachelor’s in political science from Middlebury in 1975. He became president of Castleton State in 2001 after intertwined careers in education and government. He has also served as Vermont’s commissioner of education, as a Vermont state senator, and as former Governor Howard Dean’s chief of policy. At Castleton he has overseen an increased involvement by the college in the local community and an expanded commitment to civic engagement and service learning. New construction has included residence halls, an enlarged and renovated science center, and a renovated fine arts center. In 2008 the college bought and renovated the Spartan Arena in Rutland Town, offering recreational and cultural opportunities to the broader region. During the 2009-2010 academic year, the college completed the Castleton Student Initiative, a $27-million project to improve and expand the Campus Center and athletic facilities. Project 2012, now under way, includes a 162-bed residence hall, designed to achieve LEED certification.
The Middlebury College commencement ceremony will be held outdoors regardless of the weather on the main quadrangle behind Voter Hall on College Street (Route 125) at 10 a.m. on Sunday, May 27. More than 5,000 family and friends are expected to attend.

2012 fellowships and awards - Fri, 18 May 2012
Student earns National Science Foundation fellowship
The National Science Foundation (NSF) is an independent federal agency created by Congress "to promote the progress of science…” The NSF Graduate Research Fellowship program recognizes and supports outstanding graduate students in science, engineering and mathematic disciplines who are pursuing research-based advanced degrees.
One Middlebury senior has won this highly coveted fellowship.
Moria Robinson: Paraphrasing from an article by the EarthWatch Institute, according to Moria, at 10 years of age her mother gave her a butterfly net. Very quickly, these tiny denizens of the natural world captured her with an unexpected tenacity, and she knew that she would one day join the ranks of scientists, authors, and photographers who have dedicated their lives to this incredible group of organisms.

Moria has indeed joined this remarkable rank of scientists. As a field biologist, Moria studies butterflies and moths and their role as ecosystem engineers. She studied abroad in Mexico, and participated in research projects in Costa Rica, Ecuador, California, and Arizona. Though a recent February graduate, Moria has amassed a long roster of professional accomplishments in field biology. She has given presentations at a number of conferences and symposia, and received grants and awards to support her research on the topic of biodiversity, with a special lens on butterflies and moths. Her stunning photographs have been widely published, recently in Middlebury Geographic. Also at Middlebury, she was awarded the Ward Prize for Writing, and has been a teaching assistant for the Biology department. Moria is further distinguished as the second Middlebury student in recent history to be awarded an NSF during the senior year. Moria will commence a PhD program at the University of California, Davis in Entomology and Population Ecology in fall, 2012.

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The Thomas J. Watson Fellowship Program enables seniors of unusual promise to engage in focused independent study and travel abroad after graduation.

This year, two Middlebury seniors have been awarded the prestigious Fellowship.

Hidaka (Rhiya) Trivedi is an Environmental Studies major from Toronto. For her project titled "Cooking Two Birds With One Stove: Slowing Climate Change and Building Empowerment Across the Developing World With Stove Technology," Rhiya will travel to Guatemala, Bolivia, Malawi, Mozambique, and India, exploring programs to stem cooking-fire-produced black carbon, which has proven to be a serious environmental and respiratory health hazard. She will focus on programs that offer stove distribution and the historic challenges to successful programs. Rhiya believes that unprecedented potential exists for previously disempowered nations to take back the climate.

Zaheena Rasheed (graduated in February and will not be present) is a political science major and Davis United World College scholar from Maldives. Zaheena’s project, titled, "Profiles of Courage and the Craft of Nonviolent Action," will bring her to Chile, South Africa, Serbia and Egypt to study people all around the world who are embracing disciplined nonviolence. She wants to help Maldivians, herself included, find the courage to speak up for their rights and stay vigilant as new issues emerge in democratic transition. She will spend her Watson year in four countries that have waged very successful nonviolent movements against entrenched dictatorships: Chile, South Africa, Serbia, and Egypt. There she hopes to experience firsthand the day-to-day organizational and operational considerations of a nonviolent movement, and to be inspired by and document stories of individual courage.

Five students earn U.S. Department of State Critical Language Scholarships
The United States Department of State’s Critical Languages Scholarship program provides fully funded, group-based intensive language instruction and structured cultural enrichment experiences. CLS program participants are expected to continue their language study beyond the scholarship and apply their critical language skills in their future professional careers.
The scholarships are highly competitive. More than 5,200 students applied for the 631 awards. The following Middlebury students have been awarded these scholarships for summer of 2012:
April Dodd ’13, Russian
William Mackey ’12, Indonesian
Rachel Sider ’14, Arabic (Morocco)
Connor Wakayama ’14, Russian
Rachel Woods ’14, Russian

Two Middlebury students awarded Udall scholarships
Sam Koplinka-Loehr '13
(4/12/12) Two Middlebury students have been awarded scholarships by the Morris K. Udall and Stewart L. Udall Foundation.
Abigail Borah ’13, a conservation biology major from Belle Mead, New Jersey and Sam Koplinka-Loehr ’13, an independent scholar from Ithaca, New York earned the awards.
Udall scholarships are awarded nationally to “sophomore and junior level college students committed to careers related to the environment, tribal public policy, or Native American health care.” Established by Congress in 1992, the Udall Foundation will award 80 undergraduate scholarships of up to $5,000 this year.

Postgraduate
Vermont Law School Scholarships
Two recent Middlebury alumni have been awarded full scholarships to attend Vermont Law School. Earlier this year, Vermont Law School and Middlebury signed an agreement guaranteeing admission to qualified Middlebury graduates. The scholarship program is an additional initiative by Vermont Law to reach out to undergraduate institutions. Marie Horbar ’09 and Nora Greenglass ’03 are the recipients of the scholarships.
Two Watson fellowship winners announced
(3/20/12) Two Middlebury seniors have been awarded the prestigious Thomas J. Watson Fellowship to pursue a year of travel and study outside the U.S. Zaheena Rasheed ’11, a political science major and Davis United World College scholar from Maldives, and Rhidaya Trivedi ’12, an environmental policy major from Toronto, were among the 40 fellows selected from a pool of 700 candidates.
Rhidaya Trivedi ’12
For her project titled "Cooking Two Birds With One Stove: Slowing Climate Change and Building Empowerment Across the Developing World With Stove Technology," Trivedi will travel from Central America to Africa to India, exploring programs to stem cooking-fire-produced black carbon, which has proven to be a serious environmental and respiratory health hazard. She will focus on programs that offer stove distribution and the historic challenges to successful programs. "Unprecedented potential exists for previously disempowered nations to take back the climate, and for me to believe again that a world without anthropogenic climate change is possible," said Trivedi in her project proposal.
Zaheena Rasheed ’11
Rasheed's project, titled, "Profiles of Courage and the Craft of Nonviolent Action," will bring her to Chile, South Africa, Serbia and Egypt to study people all around the world who are embracing disciplined nonviolence, from Egyptians in Tahrir Square to Americans on Wall Street. "Despite studying nonviolent movements extensively, and recognizing that nonviolent campaigns demonstrate higher rates of success than violent campaigns, I am only beginning to understand the skills and courage it takes to organize nonviolent action," says Rasheed. "I want to help Maldivians, myself included, find the courage to speak up for their rights and stay vigilant as new issues emerge in democratic transition. I propose to spend the Watson year in four countries that have waged very successful nonviolent movements against entrenched dictatorships: Chile (1988), South Africa (1994), Serbia (2000) and Egypt (2011)." Rasheed says she hopes "to experience firsthand the day-to-day organizational and operational considerations of a nonviolent movement, and to be inspired by and document stories of individual courage."
Check back here for more news of fellowships as they are announced.

Middlebury College, Vermont Law School sign agreement - Mon, 14 May 2012
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. –– Vermont Law School (VLS) and Middlebury College have signed an agreement that guarantees qualified Middlebury students and graduates admission to VLS.
Both institutions will benefit ― VLS administrators anticipate an increase in the number of strong applicants and Middlebury students will have a wider range of opportunities following graduation.
The agreement is one of several steps that VLS has taken in recent years to expand coordination with undergraduate institutions. Those efforts also include full scholarships for one or two students from Middlebury and five other schools. There is no limit as to the number of Middlebury students or alumni who may apply to VLS.
“The agreements are good recruiting tools for these undergraduate schools and they keep VLS on the radar of pre-law advisors and faculty and top students who may be interested in law school,” said Kathy Hartman, VLS’s associate dean for enrollment management.
“It’s a natural fit given Middlebury’s strong environmental studies program and student involvement in sustainability issues as well as VLS’s ranking as the No. 1 environmental law school in the country,” said Nan Jenks-Jay, Middlebury College dean of environmental affairs. “As students are thinking more in advance about attending graduate and professional schools, these collaborative institutional relationships become attractive options for them.”
The agreement also applies to students who have completed graduate degrees from one of Middlebury’s programs or schools, including the Monterey Institute of International Studies, Middlebury Language Schools, and Bread Loaf School of English.
“For example, it’s an ideal match for Monterey graduates in the international environmental policy program,” added Jenks-Jay. “What we are really doing is providing additional opportunities for all of our students following graduation.”
VLS has signed similar agreements with 11 undergraduate schools and another two are in progress. The contract with Middlebury is unusual since it includes students and alumni of the undergraduate college as well as those who have completed Middlebury’s graduate programs. The agreements are intended to improve coordination between VLS and undergraduate schools whose students are interested in attending law school. Under the agreements, students and graduates at the undergraduate institutions are guaranteed admission to VLS if their GPA and LSAT credentials are equal to or stronger than the median for VLS’s entering class. Their undergraduate files must also contain no evidence or concerns about their character that would make them inappropriate candidates for law school. Ten students have enrolled at VLS under the agreements since the program started in 2004.
VLS has similar agreements with Assumption College, Burlington College, Champlain College, Green Mountain College, Lake Forest College, Middlebury College, Northland College, Schreiner University, The Sage Colleges, Wilson College and Woodbury College (now the Woodbury Institute of Champlain College). Agreements are in progress at Dartmouth College and Hampshire College.
VLS also started an Environmental Law Scholarship program with six undergraduate institutions in fall 2011. The “feeder school” program provides a full-tuition scholarship to one or two top students or graduates from six schools each year who have a significant record of environmental and public service, a GPA of 3.65, and an LSAT score of 160 or higher. The program includes candidates for a law degree, an environmental law and policy master’s (MELP), and a joint law-MELP degree. The participating schools are Middlebury, Dartmouth, Oberlin, Lake Forest, Hampshire and Colorado College. The first students in the Environmental Law Scholarship program will enroll in fall 2012. Middlebury and the other participating schools determine which of their students to nominate for a scholarship. Vermont Law School has the final decision on whether or not a scholarship will be awarded.
The inaugural Middlebury scholarship recipients are Marie Horbar, a member of the class of 2009, and Nora Greenglass, a 2003 graduate. After her time at Middlebury, including a post-grad year as the assistant crew coach, Greenglass earned a Master of Environmental Management from the Duke University Nicholas School of the Environment. She then began her current job at the Woods Hole Research Center in Massachusetts, where she had interned during the previous summer. As a research associate, Greenglass focuses on climate policy and the interactions between land use and land use change, climate change, and sustainable development. She hopes to continue studying those interactions at Vermont Law School and says, “I am especially interested in the tools and pathways available to help decision makers formulate robust policies that are good for both people and the environment.”
Horbar moved to Washington, D.C., after graduating from Middlebury, and dove right into the law and policy of national environmental issues, interning first with Sen. Patrick Leahy and then with Rep. Peter Welch. For the past two years, she has been at the United States Institute for Environmental Conflict Resolution, where she works on complex environmental mediations involving federal, tribal, state, local and nongovernmental interests. She describes her work as fascinating and says it is "often an example of the important role that environmental law and mediation together can play in balancing competing interests while protecting the rights and needs of the less powerful.” With the knowledge and experience she gains at Vermont Law School, Horbar says she hopes to “work for environmental protection and social good in her home state of Vermont and beyond.”
Vermont Law School, a private, independent institution, has the top-ranked environmental law program and one of the top-ranked clinical training programs in the nation, according to U.S. News & World Report. VLS offers a Juris Doctor curriculum that emphasizes public service, a Master of Environmental Law and Policy degree and two post-JD degrees, the Master of Laws in Environmental Law and the Master of Laws (LLM) in American Legal Studies (for foreign-trained lawyers). The school features innovative experiential programs and is home to the Environmental Law Center and the South Royalton Legal Clinic. For more information, visit www.vermontlaw.edu.
This story was updated on May 9, 2012, to include information about the first Middlebury participants in the Environmental Law Scholarship program.

- Mon, 07 Jun 2010
DISPATCHES
From middmag.com

- Mon, 11 Oct 2010
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Stuff for Sale
Middmag Update - Sun, 05/20/2012 - 12:01pm
A group of enterprising seniors stake out a Senior Yard Sale on the patio outside Atwater.
Bark Break
Middmag Update - Sat, 05/19/2012 - 3:21am
It's exam week and a pack of furry stress busters are here to help.
Professor Pundits: Base Hit
Middmag Update - Thu, 05/17/2012 - 9:05am
Romney's base is coming to life, and what will Obama's same-sex marriage pronouncement mean in the election?