MIDDLEBURY, Vt.—Middlebury College is one of 71 colleges and universities profiled in the 2007 edition of Making a Difference Colleges, an annual guidebook that measures colleges on their commitment to healing the Earth and its inhabitants.
Miriam Weinstein, the author, looks for schools that have “an ethic for service, concerns for peace and social justice, [and] an environmental focus,” both in and out of the classroom.
“While doing a college search with my eldest child,” Weinstein says, “I scoured the college guides and wondered if we were living on the same troubled planet! ... The good news is that the answer is yes, there are wonderful colleges committed to the environment, peace, social change, and service.”
According to the guide, Middlebury’s Alliance for Civic Engagement is “the nexus of campus activism.” The alliance works with faculty members to develop new ways of using coursework to create visible change in the community, such as organizing voter registration drives, serving in the community’s emergency services, or working in the public schools with people from diverse backgrounds. The alliance connects the College to the community – via service projects and internships -- for the betterment of all, the guide says.
Middlebury’s emphasis on language education and international studies helps students make a difference on the global level. “Sixty percent of students prepare themselves for lives as global citizens by studying abroad ... and the college consistently ranks among the top small schools sending graduates to the Peace Corps.”
Weinstein asserts that “Middlebury is second to none in its commitment to the environment” with its undergraduate major in environmental studies, “Green Grants,” a recycling center that diverts twice the percentage of waste of its peer institutions, use of lumber from sustainable forests, and local-food initiatives.
Middlebury “teaches skills and strategies for leadership and activism,” the 2007 guide says. “Students put on events to raise awareness of AIDS, racism, homophobia, dilapidated prisons, and the rights of indigenous people—problems that could be forgotten in Middlebury’s idyllic setting if not for the activity of the student body.”
Tiffany Sargent, director of the Alliance for Civic Engagement (ACE), explained how Middlebury was selected for Making a Difference Colleges: “Inclusion in the guide stems from the recognition received by the Carnegie Foundation through the ‘Community Engagement’ classification process. As illustrated in both the College’s strategic plan and the new Middlebury Initiative [a $500 million fundraising drive subtitled “Liberal Arts, Global Action”], this commitment is deeply embedded in the institution. ACE is proud of its role in fostering and facilitating these efforts. It’s great to have so many students involved!”
Published by SageWorks Press of Fairfax, Calif., the guide includes some of the nation’s best-known institutions, such as Yale, Stanford, Wesleyan, Swarthmore, and Cornell, as well as so-called “hidden treasures” like Juniata, Stetson, Earlham, Naropa, and Eugene Lang College.
Five of the 71 schools in the guide are from Vermont, more than any other state except California and New York. The five Vermont schools designated as “making a difference colleges” are the University of Vermont and Green Mountain, Middlebury, Sterling, and Woodbury Colleges.