President Ronald D. Liebowitz delivered his first president's address to new Middlebury students at the College's opening convocation on Sept. 12. Speaking about the role of liberal arts in society, Liebowitz said, "A liberal education has a moral dimension to it. That dimension defines an obligation on the part of the individual to give to society, to share the fruits of what one has learned with society at large." Liebowitz said a liberal education provides confidence, but that "Confidence to engage the world seriously comes less from the subjects you will study, and more from the way you learn while you are here. The ability to write clearly, to speak and argue persuasively, and to think in a disciplined manner represents the most crucial set of skills you will learn here in preparation for what you will face following graduation," he said. For the full text, see: http://www.middlebury.edu/about/president/addresses/first-year_convocation_2004.htm.
Stephen Donadio, Fulton Professor of American Literature, spoke to the convocation audience on behalf of the faculty. He paid tribute to Professor Emeritus of Classics Eve Adler, who died on Sept. 5, stating that Adler exemplified a life of scholarship in which the excitement of learning was foremost in everything she did. He urged students to make time for reflection as they learn. Twilight Artist-in-Residence Francois Clemmons led the singing of "Gaudeamus Igatur" and "Gamaliel Painter's Cane," and performed a song based on a poem by Emily Dickinson. The ceremony ended with the singing of the alma mater and a recessional.
The 580 members of the Middlebury College class of 2008 who arrived on campus on Wednesday, Sept. 8, come from 40 foreign countries and 48 states. The first-year students took part in orientation events through Sunday, Sept. 12, ranging from convocation to dinner with President Liebowitz. Among the 580 members of the class of 2008 are:
Htar Htar Yu: Born in Rangoon, Myanmar, she lived in hiding in the jungle for the first eight years of her life because of her family's involvement in the Burmese pro-democracy movement.
Kolbe Franklin of Charlotte, N.C.: Franklin continued to help an Argentinean orphanage where she worked during the summer of 2002 by founding a nonprofit organization shortly after her return that she called Amigo a Amigo. She plans to expand her foundation to other Argentinean orphanages in the future.
Ian Burgin of Ashfield, Mass.: His passion is tinsmithing. Burgin, who received training from one of the last tinsmiths in New England, owns his own business and sells his goods at craft fairs.
Tristan Axelrod of Washington, D.C.: An expert tchoukball player, Axelrod, in the summer of 2003, became the first American to represent the United States at an international tchoukball competition when he competed at a tournament in Italy. Tchoukball--pronounced "chook ball"--is a Swiss game that closely resembles handball.
This fall, the student organization PALANA on the Hill moved to the second floor of a renovated Carr Hall, former home of campus safety and the health center. The building now features an academic floor, a residential floor and social/administration floor. Ten students live on the residential floor, three faculty offices and a classroom are located on the academic floor and the social/administration floor features staff offices, a conference room, a social space and a large kitchen. PALANA, stands for Pan African Latino Asian Native American.
Remember the BioBus? It carried a group of Middlebury students across the country during the summer of 2003. This fall, a new biobus--BioBus II--has hit the road. Thirteen Middlebury students driving a larger used school bus are setting out for a semester-long trip that will take them to California and back. Unlike the original biobus, which was fueled by vegetable oil obtained from fast food venues en route, BioBus II runs on commercially available biodiesel fuel. Along the way, the bus will make scheduled stops at schools, colleges and universities, where the crew will give presentations about biodiesel fuel as an increasingly available, economic and environmentally friendly alternative to regular diesel oil.
The 13 Middlebury students on the bus have taken a leave from their studies this semester to make the trip. The group formed a nonprofit organization named Project BioBus and obtained several sponsors to fund their trip. Middlebury College is one of the sponsors. Follow the progress of BioBus II, and learn about the students aboard at www.projectbiobus.com.
As a first-year student arriving at Middlebury last year from a fishing family in Sitka, Alaska, Camille Padilla '07 could tell right away that the salmon she was being served in the College's dining halls was farm-raised. She asked Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette to consider serving wild fresh salmon once a month. Biette surprised her by suggesting that it be featured all year round, and he asked Padilla to make the arrangements.
She put Biette in touch with the sales manager at the Bellingham, Wash.-based Seafood Producers Cooperative, which has a plant in Sitka. "After talking with him, I realized we could cut out the middleman, buy direct, and spend only slightly more money for fish that is healthier for our students and the environment," said Biette.
According to Padilla, once people get a taste of wild salmon, they will not go back to farm-raised salmon. She hopes that Middlebury's decision will encourage other schools to make the switch. More information about "green dining" at Middlebury is available at /offices/enviro/initiatives/green_dining.htm.
Log on to www.middlebury.edu and check out the College's revamped Web site. The redesigned site is intended to be a more effective tool for communicating with prospective students, alumni, parents, donors, and the general public, and to make it easier for departments to use the site for their own communications needs. BigBad, a Boston-based Web design firm, worked with the College on the new design and structure for the site.
Political Science Professor Eric Davis will once again this year offer a series of live interactive Webcasts on the presidential election for alumni, parents and friends of Middlebury. The programs will be on Wednesdays Oct. 13, 20, 27, and Nov. 3, beginning at 8:30 p.m. Eastern Time. The Webcasts will be archived for those who are unable to view them live. Information about registering for these Webcasts will be posted on the College's home page during the week of Oct. 4.
Allen Hoffman '06, Chris Hornig '05, Chris Lizotte '06, Erin Romig '06, Tara Taylor-Ide '05 and alumna Sarah Davies '03, were among a crew of 16 who spent the summer with Pieter Broucke, associate professor of history of art and architecture, on an archeological site in Messene, Greece, where they worked on excavation of a Graeco-Roman heroon (a mausoleum). Broucke, who believes the site is most likely a memorial for the Greek hero Aristomenes, said their goal is to reconstruct the building. He has been working at the site since 1992.