An anonymous donor has made a gift of $50 million to Middlebury College. The historic gift was announced by Middlebury President John M. McCardell Jr. on May 6. According to the Chronicle of Higher Education, it is the largest gift ever received by a New England liberal arts college. "This gift is given in recognition of what has been accomplished at Middlebury under John McCardell, in support of the direction in which the College is heading, and with confidence in Ronald Liebowitz, the newly appointed president, to help the College achieve its goals," said the donor. The $50 million is a challenge gift that requires the institution to raise additional matching funds.
Following receipt of the $50 million challenge, another anonymous donation of $10 million, which will be applied toward the fulfillment of the challenge, brought the announced total to $60 million. For more about the gift see /about/pubaff_port/news_releases/news_2004/Fifty+Million+Dollar+Gift.htm.
At the donor's request, the name of Bicentennial Hall, the College's science center completed in 1999 as part of the institution's 200th anniversary celebration, will be changed to John M. McCardell, Jr. Bicentennial Hall.
A group of additional donors has contributed $5 million to establish an endowed professorship named for McCardell when he retires, and to establish a scholarship named for both John and his wife Bonnie McCardell.
The Middlebury College Board of Trustees met on campus on May 7 and 8. Included among actions taken at the meeting were the following:
- Four faculty members were awarded tenure: Gloria Gonzalez Zenteno (Spanish), Kathryn Morse (history), David Stoll (sociology & anthropology), and Martha Woodruff (philosophy)
- Selected the architect for renovation and reconstruction of Starr Library and Proctor Hall—the Boston-based firm CBT/Childs Bertman and Tseckares
- Passed a resolution approving the College's carbon reduction initiative
- Recognized trustees whose terms on the board had expired: Peter Bijur, Drue Gensler '57, Frank Sesno '77, J. Lea Simonds '69, Mary Wendell '69, Churchill Franklin '71, and John McCardell
- Appointed and reappointed trustees: reappointed trustees are Marna Whittington, Ken Wilson; new trustees are Steve Peterson '88, Elisabeth Robert '78, Deborah Thomas '75; alumni trustees are Bill Delahunt '63, Linda Whitton '80; charter trustee is Rick Fritz '68
- Elected officers: Rick Fritz, chair; Ron Liebowitz, president; Betty Jones, vice chair; Jim Davis '66, vice chair; Betsy Etchells '75, secretary; Robert Huth, treasurer
Ross Lieb-Lappen '07 and Meghan Young '07 co-chaired Middlebury's first "Relay for Life" this month, raising more than $80,000 for the American Cancer Society, significantly exceeding the expected target of $25,000. When Lieb-Lappen and Young met last fall, they discussed their personal connections to cancer, and decided to act. Lieb-Lappen had worked on "Relay for Life" in his hometown of Cohasset, Mass., for several years. The outdoor, overnight event is held throughout the United States and in foreign countries.
Following months of organizing and planning, the relay was held April 30-May 1. Participants solicited pledges from supporters for weeks in advance. As organizers, the two students had to arrange for a location with a track where participants could walk throughout the night (the College's Dragone track was reserved); arrange camping sites; supply entertainment, food, educational materials about cancer; and organize publicity.
In recognition of their work and the success of their efforts, Lieb-Lappen and Young were named outstanding emerging leaders at recent College ceremony.
Also in the fund-raising volunteer mode, alumna Diane Mott '57, of Goshen, Vt., reports that the Middlebury College football team was instrumental in the success of this year's walk for the Multiple Sclerosis Society, held on April 17 in Middlebury. Team members walked, raised money, put up signs, worked rest stops, checked on walkers, and supplied food, contributing significantly to the success of the event. Mott, the organizer, credited coach Bob Ritter for mobilizing team members to participate. Another Middlebury student, Alajandro Miranda '06, was head of the volunteers.
Margot Bennett '05 has been selected as one of two young adults nationwide to participate in the Spence-Chapin Korean Summer Internship program this summer. Interns, who are selected from among Korean adoptees, visit Korea for a month.
Bennett will spend time in Seoul touring the city and its cultural heritage spots, and then travel to the Ehwa Baby's Reception Center, an orphanage in Naju, where she will work with Korean children and visit area cultural sites. She will also travel in South Korea for a week.
Spence-Chapin Services to Families and Their Children is a non-sectarian, not-for-profit adoption agency.
The Northeastern Loggers' Association (NELA) recently awarded Middlebury College the 2003 Outstanding Use of Wood Award. NELA Vice President Jack Frost Sr. honored Middlebury at the Annual Loggers' Banquet in West Springfield, Mass., in a ceremony attended by nearly 200 members of the Northeast's forest products community. Over the past seven years, Middlebury College has used more than 375,000 board feet of locally harvested and green certified Vermont wood in campus construction and furnishings. Green certified wood has been harvested and processed through ecologically sensitive means.
Middlebury Magazine is also a recent prize winner. The magazine received the gold medal for best college and university general interest magazine from the Washington, D.C.-based Council for the Advancement and Support of Education (CASE).
The magazine also won a merit award from the Society of Publication Designers for an image by New York City-based photographer Bob Handelman of Middlebury College students playing water polo, which appeared in the fall 2003 issue. Middlebury Magazine was one of only five college and university magazines recognized in a field dominated by more than 100 commercial titles such as National Geographic and Vanity Fair.
The women's lacrosse team and men's tennis team have each captured Division III national championships this month, bringing to 22 the number of national titles won by Middlebury in the past decade. For more on athletics see /athletics.
On May 23, 553 graduates received their degrees at commencement ceremonies held outdoors on Middlebury's main quadrangle. The grads and more than 5,000 of their friends and family members witnessed the spectacle. More about commencement in the June MiddNews.