Middlebury Earns 2026 Carnegie Elective Classification for Community Engagement
The College was among 237 institutions to receive the community engagement award valid through 2032.
Middlebury Honors Class of 2025.5 at Feb Celebration
Midyear graduates celebrated with a ceremony on campus followed by the annual ski-down at the Snowbowl.
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New Frontiers Podcast: Big Tech and Its Populist Critics
The Rohatyn Center’s Mark Williams interviews Associate Professor of Political Science Gary Winslett in the latest episode of the podcast series.
Ski Down
Celebrating their midyear graduation, the Class of 2025.5 skied, snowboarded, sledded, hiked, and snowshoed their way down the Middlebury Snowbowl.
Study Abroad Photo Contest Winners
Chile and Morocco set the scene for the top three winners.
Prof. Jen Crodelle Awarded NIH and NSF Grants to Study Chronic Pain, Neuron Fun…
Jennifer Crodelle, assistant professor of mathematics and statistics, received a grant from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) in September to study why patients experience varying levels of pain relief from spinal cord stimulation.
Chapel Run
Nothing clears the mind like a brisk sled run down chapel hill…at night!
Sights and Sounds
Green Haven
Middlebury’s Bi Hall greenhouse is much more than a botanical laboratory.
Transcript
We’re on the sixth floor by hall right now. It’s a geography floor. It used to be computer science. So it’s sort of like there’s not a lot of connection there. So I often feel when people find the greenhouse, it’s very serendipitous. Like, who knew there was a greenhouse on the sixth floor of by hall? So once they come here, I like to think of it as sort of a secret garden. People often ask me, how do you choose the plants in here? And I would always say, first and foremost, my focus has been that I would like the students to walk in here and have their interests beaked in plants. That’s my mission statement, is to get people excited about plants. So doing that, I think it’s fun to have some economic botany. So I’ve got chocolate plant, I have a vanilla plant, I have a fig plant, I have bananas, plantains. Then I go with plants that are kind of special to me that I really love. There’s a redwood plant in here, and I actually have a picture of my husband and I in front of a redwood in California. In case you don’t know what a redwood looks like, it’s phenomenal. Probably our most interesting plant here is one called Amor Atu. And it is the largest flower in the kingdom. And when it flowers, it smells like rotty meat. I don’t know how this floor is gonna feel when we fill it up with this odor, but it will be a big event and very fun. There’s one called Queen of the Night, and she’s not very attractive all year long until she sends out a blossom that is huge. It’s probably eight inches across. It’s pink, it’s frilly soft in scented, but it comes out at night. And in the log book, it’s noted It’s probably eight inches across. It’s pink, it’s frilly soft in scented, but it comes out at night. And in the log book, it’s noted and she grows her babies right on the sides of her leaves. So these can just scatter ‘em on the soil and they’ll grow. And this is fun. When kids come in, I always send ‘em home with a paper towel with some mother, a thousand babies here, one plant that I have to keep on the table all the time, or people writing a log book that they’re missing. It is the mimosa. It’s also called Touch Me Knot. And when you touch the leaves, they close up and they recovers after about 10 minutes. And this is one of the most fun plants for kids and students to come and touch while they’re sitting here at the table. And the best thing about coming into the greenhouse is if you come in all the way and come around, you’ll see a little table. So I call that the hidden garden. And you are rewarded with a little spot to sit, uh, with your thoughts or your homework or whatever. The log books are quite amazing. So it’s a college composition notebook, the blue notebook, everybody remembers writing in. And I buy it at the bookstore. And I always write the same thing on the front, which is greenhouse log. Please share a comment, thought, reflection, and then it’s whatever you wanna write. And people are great about putting a date and pouring their hearts out. So if it’s in the fall, it’s filled with trepidation and angst being away from home homesickness. Um, and then you can kind of see that transition into self-discovery, um, telling what year the students are exam time is filled with self-doubt and stress. So much stress, so much stress, so much angst poured into these books. I feel like it has to be cathartic. What people are writing. Students really for some reason feel really comfortable pouring out some of their deepest thoughts. And I’m also struck by what a four year experience, how it changes people and especially at this age. And it’s really lovely to read. Some of it is filled with angst and is kind of painful to read, but you know that at the other end of it, they’re reflecting on the big things that have happened to them over these four years. And I, I love how that’s captured in the log book. And I feel like this place, sitting at the table with the babbling brook just allows people to pour out their thoughts and not censor themselves. And I love that it makes me want to come in here every day.
News and Announcements
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New Book by Febe Armanios an Award Finalist
Christianity Today recognized the book in its “Missions and the Global Church” category.
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Gregory Pask Wins National Teaching Award
The Society of Integrative and Comparative Biology presented the annual award.
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Director of Athletics Erin Quinn ’86 to Retire
Over his 36 years with Middlebury, Quinn became a national leader in college athletics.
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Middlebury Earns 2026 Carnegie Classification for Community Engagement
The College was among 237 institutions to receive the award.
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Essays and Commentary
Writing & AI
I used to identify as a writer. Now that’s changing.
By Paul Barnwell ‘04, MA English ‘13
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Vignettes and Portraits
J-term Classrooms
Winter term brings a feeling of endless possibilities. Some students travel the globe, while others hunker down for a deep-dive on campus. Here are just a few snapshots of what went on in classrooms this January.
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Building the Japanese Teahouse
Using only hand tools, and working in silence, students crafted a beautiful Japanese teahouse over the course of four weeks.
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The Geology of Rocky Planets
Four planets in our inner solar system—Mercury, Venus, the Moon and Mars—have rocky surfaces that can teach us a lot about our own planet.
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Botanical Illustration
What does it mean to truly see the natural world and create a faithful transformation of 3D natural forms to 2D?
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Leveraging Energy2028
How can Middlebury make the most of its seminal Energy2028 climate initiative as it enters the home stretch of the campaign?
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Features
In Conversation with Ian Baucom
Middlebury’s 18th president sits down for an extended interview with Middlebury Magazine
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Featured Events
Franklin Environmental Center, The Orchard-Hillcrest 103
Carol Rifelj Lecture Series: Russian Public Opinion, the War in Ukraine, and the Lingering Effects of the Soviet Collapse
Professor Will Pyle will draw on research that he has done over the past half decade on the shorter and longer-term consequences of Russia’s painful exit from communism in the early 1990s. More…
Mahaney Arts Center, Olin C. Robison Concert Hall
Caledonian Connections: a Concert of Traditional Music
Timothy Cummings, Middlebury College affiliate artist in pipes and whistles is joined by Jeremiah McLane, accordions, and cellist McKinley James for a performance of acoustic music that explores musical connections across the region of Caledonian orogeny, spanning Appalachia, New England, Québec and the Canadian Maritimes, Greenland, Ireland, Scotland, England, and even Denmark and Norway. Middlebury College students and Jeffrey Buettner also perform. Free and open to the public. More…
Middlebury Snowbowl and Rikert Outdoor Center
Winter Carnival Downhill and Nordic Ski Races
Lots of action at Rikert and the Snowbowl, with events starting at 9 a.m. More details are available on the campus calendar.
McCardell Bicentennial Hall 220
Biology Seminar: Hold the Salt: Salinity Influences Structure and Function of Streams Across North America
Assistant Professor of Biology Eric Moody and his research using ecological stoichiometry as a framework to study the causes and consequences of freshwater salinization in streams and rivers across North America. More…