MiddNews - April 2007
A monthly update of news and events from Middlebury College
Record Apps
A record number of students applied for a spot in the Middlebury class of 2011. Nearly 7,200 prospective students vied for approximately 600 spots, a 38 percent jump in applicants since 2005. During the same time period, the College has seen a 72 percent rise in the number of applicants who identify themselves as students of color.
For more, see: http://go.middlebury.edu/middnews?200704admits
In Solidarity with Virginia Tech
The day after the horrific events at Virginia Tech in mid-April, the Middlebury community gathered in Mead Chapel to reflect on the tragedy.
For more, see: http://go.middlebury.edu/middnews?200704vpi
Emergency Planning
In other news relating to the events in Virginia, the College has been working on its emergency policies and procedures, and President Liebowitz recently updated the community on those plans.
http://go.middlebury.edu/middnews?200704emergency
Affiliation Update
Last week, Middlebury President Ronald Liebowitz and Monterey Institute of International Studies President Clara Yu issued an update on the Middlebury-MIIS affiliation.
To read it, see the Middlebury-Monterey section site at the president's office web site.
Peace Props
Three proposals authored by Middlebury students were among the winners selected by the Kathryn Wasserman Davis 100 Projects for Peace program.
Established by Davis, a noted philanthropist and internationalist, on the occasion of her 100th birthday, the program will donate $10,000 to each project as a means of encouraging students to create and implement innovative ideas for building peace throughout the world in the 21st century.
For more, see: http://go.middlebury.edu/middnews?200704peace
Tuition Rises
In early April, President Liebowitz announced that the Board of Trustees had approved a comprehensive fee for the 2007-08 academic year of $46,550. In addition, the president announced that the College had accepted a student-proposed activity fee of $360, which would bring the total mandatory fees at Middlebury next year to $46,910.
Around the same time, the College announced that Middlebury had implemented a new policy which would reduce the loan portion of a student's financial aid package. Beginning with the class of 2011, the College will decrease the loan portion by up to $10,000 by graduation.
Comp Sci Kudos
A team of three computer science majors captured first place in an annual collegiate competition conducted by the Consortium for Computing Science in Colleges Northeast region.
The Middlebury team of Anna Blasiak '07, Kevin Chirls '07, and Jeff Wehrwein '08 was the only squad to successfully solve all seven problems within the allotted three hours.
For more, see: http://go.middlebury.edu/middnews?200704computer
Responding to Hate
The College has held a "town meeting in the McCullough Social Space to discuss hate speech on campus and the Office of Institutional Diversity has organized a display in the library on the same topic after homophobic graffiti was discovered in College dorms on two occasions.
In hosting the town meeting, President Liebowitz stated that he hoped that the conversation would not only deal with the issues of harassment and hate speech, but would also enable people to "address the broader question of why members of a community like ours would resort to such expressions of disrespect and hate."
In arranging the library display, Dean for Institutional Diversity Shirley Ramirez stated her hope that "these images and words will inspire [people] to contribute to promoting respectful and open exchanges across all lines on the campus."
Feature Film
Senior Evan Dumouchel's senior work, a film titled Portraiture, is one of 25 films featured in MTV's contest Best Film on Campus. If Dumouchel's film ascends to the top five, it will be screened at the Tribeca Film Festival.
For more, see:
http://www.bestfilmoncampus.com/filmmaker/default.aspx?filmmakerID=327
New News Blog
We know you love these monthly MiddNews updates, but if you want your Middlebury news daily rather than monthly, you should check out the Communications Office's new blog: http://middleburynews.blogspot.com/
Updated regularly, the blog will help you keep your finger on the pulse of all that's happening on campus.
Searching for One Good Midd
The Alumni Relations office is looking for an assistant director for alumni relations. If you or someone you know would be interested in the position, let us know!
Assistant Director for Alumni Relations
Educate and engage alumni volunteers in our chapter network. Develop and execute strategies to increase alumni participation in a variety of events off-campus. Assess potential for alumni outreach overseas and develop guidelines for this work. Serve as a coach and spokesperson for Middlebury while building relationships with alumni and identifying volunteer leaders. Alumnus/alumna preferred.
For more information and to apply, please go to: http://go.middlebury.edu/jobs?175786
Game Time
The spring athletic season enters the home stretch. For up-to-the-minute sports news, check out: http://www.gomidd.com