February celebration will span two days, Feb. 1–2

MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – A Middlebury College rite of passage will occur on Feb. 1–2 when 95 undergraduates complete their academic requirements and participate in the 2013 February Celebration.

Family members and friends are invited to participate in the activities that start on Friday, Feb. 1, with a reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. in the Mahaney Center for the Arts. Jay Parini, the D.E. Axinn Professor of English and Creative Writing and author of the best-selling novel “The Last Station,” will be the guest speaker at the reception.

On Saturday morning, Feb. 2, beginning at 9 a.m. in Mead Chapel, President Ronald D. Liebowitz will address the “Feb” class. Ben Orbison, a graduating senior with a joint major in theatre and English, will speak to the gathering. In addition, Marna Whittington, chair of the board of trustees, and Suzanne Daley ’96, president of the alumni association, will present a replica of Gamaliel Painter’s cane to each of the seniors. Painter was one of the founders of the college.

At noon on Saturday at the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, most members of the class will ski down the Allen trail – dressed in their caps and gowns – in the annual spectacle known as the “Feb ski down.”

The 2013 February Celebration will conclude back on campus with a family luncheon between 1:30 and 3:30 p.m. in Proctor Dining Hall, with students, families and friends invited.