Feb Celebration Planned for Mid-year Graduates
MIDDLEBURY, Vt. – A Middlebury College rite of passage will occur on January 30–31 when 131 undergraduates complete their academic requirements and participate in the 2015 February Celebration. Though not a formal graduation ceremony—“Febs” and their families are invited back to campus in May to participate in Commencement—the February Celebration is a beloved tradition recognizing the contributions of the College’s mid-year graduates.
On Friday, January 30, students and families are invited to the President’s Reception from 4:30 to 6:30 p.m. at the Mahaney Center for the Arts. Scott Barnicle, dean of Atwater Commons, will be the guest speaker at the reception.
On Saturday morning, January 31, students will process in academic regalia to Mead Chapel, where President Ronald D. Liebowitz will address the “Feb” class at 9 a.m. Nicholas Hemerling, a theatre major from Lafayette, California, will be this year’s student speaker. As part of the ceremony, each member of the class will be presented with a replica of Gamaliel Painter’s cane on behalf of the Alumni Association. Painter was one of the founders of the College.
Following the ceremony at Mead Chapel, festivities will move up the mountain to the Middlebury College Snow Bowl, where members of the class will ski or snowboard down the Allen trail—dressed in their caps and gowns—in the annual spectacle known as the “Feb Ski Down.” Non-skiers will also join the fun, either hiking or snowshoeing down the mountain with their classmates. The Ski Down is scheduled for noon.
The celebration will conclude back on campus with a family luncheon from 1:30–3:30 p.m. in Proctor Dining Hall, with students, families and friends invited.