January 30, 1999

Middlebury College Fetes Mid-Year Graduates with

Annual Ski-Down Celebration Jan. 30

Bachelor of Arts degrees from Middlebury College

will be received by 73 students from the Class of 1999 upon the

mid-year completion of their academic requirements at the liberal

arts institution in Vermont.

Although March graduates earn their degrees months

earlier than the rest of their classmates because they enter the

College a semester earlier, they must still wait until May to

receive their actual diplomas. To more immediately honor their

accomplishment, however, the College invites students to participate

in a special mid-winter celebration: a weekend of receptions,

dinners, speakers and a special address to the senior class by

the College president in Mead Chapel followed by a ski-down in

cap and gown in the nearby Green Mountains.

Following the custom initiated by mid-year graduates

over a decade ago, most students choose the College’s ski facility-the

Middlebury College Snow Bowl-for the site of outdoor festivities.

After skiing down Worth Mountain’s long-favored trail, the Allen,

led by a Middlebury College standard-bearer in a parade of blue

and white balloons, skis, ski-poles, snowboards, mortar boards,

flapping gowns and flying tassels, yahoos and hoorays, the skiing

honorees meet at the bottom of the slope for more cheers and hearty

congratulations from family, friends, and College faculty and

staff.

The College then looks forward to seeing its ski-down

graduates return to campus later each spring, when they join the

rest of their graduating class at the College’s official commencement

ceremony on the main campus in May.