MiddNews
A monthly update of news and events on the Middlebury campus
At 8:30 a.m. on Sunday, May 22, steady rain fell on the Middlebury campus as commencement planners and grounds crews completed the set-up for the 10 a.m. ceremonies. Low clouds scudded overhead, propelled by a raw north wind. Commencement would begin in an hour and a half, and it was certain to be a wet one.
It was. Though showers turned to drizzle as the procession stepped off, the cold wind persisted. Then, at about the time name readers had nearly completed the sociology graduates, the rain came back and continued through the recessional.
Middlebury commencement crowds have grown too big to squeeze into Kenyon arena, so there is no longer a rain venue. Despite the cold rain and gray skies, though, the scene on the ground was festive and cheerful. One shivering woman leaving the grounds after two and a half hours of soggy ceremony noted that a nice-weather commencement would be nowhere near as memorable as the foul-weather one she had just attended. Graduates' spirits were not dampened, even if their regalia were.
Commencement speaker Rudolph Giuliani delivered remarks about leadership to the 544 graduates and their families (read the transcript at /about/pubaff_port/addresses/giuliani_2005.htm). Student speaker Tom Stults entertained his classmates with his humorous and thought-provoking remarks (see /about/pubaff_port/addresses/students/stults_2005.htm). Honorary degrees were conferred, names were read, and rain ponchos of Middlebury blue were donned and doffed at various points during the proceedings. Lunch followed. And commencement 2005 passed into history.
On Friday and Saturday, April 29-30, the soccer field east of Alumni Stadium was transformed into a tent city for 24 hours. It was the second annual Relay for Life at Middlebury College, and it was spectacularly successful. More than $175,000 was raised for the American Cancer Society, surpassing last year's impressive total of $80,000.
Organizers Ross Lieb-Lappen '07 and Meg Young '07 reported that some 1,248 people attended the event and 838 people formed 76 relay teams. Vermont Governor James Douglas '72 spoke at opening ceremonies, and, on Friday night, 1,249 luminarias were lit in honor of individuals whose lives have been affected by cancer. Teams of walkers (and the occasional jogger) tromped around the outside of the field on a path that became increasingly sodden over the course of a night of April showers. Supporters and other team members populated the area, where some curled up in tents and others slept in the open.
Robert S. Clagett, who is currently senior admissions officer and associate director of financial aid at Harvard College, has been named dean of admissions at Middlebury. As dean, Clagett will be responsible for undergraduate admissions policy and for overseeing the operations of the admissions office.
Middlebury President Ronald D. Liebowitz said, "Bob Clagett will help guide Middlebury's sustained effort to seek and attract the brightest and most talented students from across the country and around the world." Clagett will assume his responsibilities at Middlebury in July.
Middlebury College has received a $22,500 grant from the United States Department of Energy to construct a wind turbine. The project is part of an initiative that will assist the State of Vermont as it explores the technology necessary for wind-generated electricity.
Upon completion of construction in early September, the turbine will be open to the public. Area schools will be invited to tour the turbine facility, and the data it collects will be available for schools to include in curricula on renewable energy.
The Middlebury College Recycling Center will use as much of the wind-powered electricity as it requires for operation at any given time. Electricity not utilized by the center will be fed through the grid and used elsewhere on campus.
Two Middlebury students were recognized for research projects on a Vermont theme in 2004. Lauren Throop '05 received the Andrew Nuquist Award for her senior thesis "A Multi-Dimensional Analysis of Wind Energy Potential at Middlebury College's Worth Mountain." Erin Grimes '05 received the George B. Bryan Award for her project titled "Academic Duality: The Middlebury College Russian School from 1945 to 1955."
According to Professor of Physics Richard Wolfson, who nominated her for the award, Throop's project is "a physics-based wind energy assessment of Worth Mountain, location of the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, that found it marginally suitable for large-scale wind energy … and a study of the impact of wind turbines on bird and bat populations."
Grimes identified previously unknown materials and conducted personal interviews for her project which "makes a significant contribution to understanding the role of the Russian School from its founding and through its first decade in the early Cold War years," according to Middlebury Professor of History Travis Jacobs, the project's supervisor.
Middlebury Professor of Film and Media Culture Ted Perry reports that 2005 honorary degree recipient Donald Sutherland told him that his favorite recent film project was a role in a film called "Aurora Borealis," directed by Middlebury alumnus James Burke '84.
Finally, a personal note: Over the past seven years it has been my pleasant duty to compose and send this newsletter to you each month. It has grown in readership, if not in size. When the letter was launched as a mailed document in 1998, I set a size limit of two sides of a single sheet of paper. My motto was and is "All the news that fits, I print." Over time, we have moved to a largely electronic distribution, though a few printed copies are still mailed to readers and distributed on campus. The list of MiddNews recipients now numbers somewhere in the neighborhood of 18,000 readers.
Initially, I had no expectation that MiddNews would receive much in the way of feedback from readers. I have been surprised and gratified, therefore, to hear from so many of you. MiddNews has acted as a conduit for your questions, comments and complaints, as well as a gratifying number of compliments. It has also served as an avenue to connect interested readers with some of those who have been the subject of MiddNews items.
In the middle of June, I will leave Middlebury to become associate vice president for college communications at Franklin & Marshall College in Pennsylvania. Among the things I will miss most about Middlebury is gathering news to pass along to readers of MiddNews and, particularly, receiving your comments. MiddNews will pass into other capable hands. Thanks for your interest, your appreciation and even your criticism and complaints. This connection with you has been a thoroughly rewarding experience for me.
Phil Benoit
Director of Public Affairs
June 10, 2005