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In her book “Mother, Creature, Kin,” local Rochester, Vt. author Chelsea Steinauer-Scudder weaves threads of motherhood, ecology, and spirituality together to explore what it means to raise a child in a world facing profound environmental and existential challenges. On April 8, Steinauer-Scudder visited the Ilsley Public Library to read and discuss the book.
On Jan. 17, The Middlebury Snow Bowl hosted a Fostering Inclusive Recreation Experience (FIRE) event at the bowl for the second year in a row, providing BIPOC students with free transportation, ski lessons, equipment rentals and passes for a night of skiing. FIRE is a student organization with the mission of reducing barriers to outdoor sports for marginalized groups at Middlebury. The club leads outdoor trips year-round that involve hiking, backpacking, ice skating, fishing, skiing and ice climbing.
Members of the Middlebury community gathered in Dana Auditorium on Jan. 14 to experience a collection of short films that transported them across the world and into the lives of a wide range of remarkable storytellers. This year the films featured stories from outdoor landscapes everywhere from Mexico, California, Sweden, Japan, Zambia and beyond.
In an era marked by climate change and unprecedented environmental disasters, the topic of climate has been notably absent from this year’s presidential campaigns. Although the majority of Americans support some form of action, climate change is one of the most politically divisive issues in American politics and one of the least important issues to voters — only 21% of voters cite it as being a very important factor in their vote in a recent Gallup poll.
While only seven percent of Middlebury graduates go on to pursue careers in government, law and policy, those who do have a considerable influence on the direction of federal, state and local policymaking.
Alumni of one of the college’s most popular departments lead Supreme Court confirmation battles, lobby legislators in Montpelier and run political campaigns in the tightest of battleground districts. Some are political junkies; others are avowedly apolitical. This week, The Campus spoke with 10 former Panthers who are shaping the course of American politics and government in the 21st century.
Welcome to Talking Trash, a new series uncovering the hidden journey of post-consumer waste at Middlebury. From food scraps and compost to recyclables and landfill-bound trash, we’ll trace the path of discarded waste after it leaves the hands of our community, revealing the impact of our waste habits and the systems managing them.
This past summer, our basement flooded. We had rented a house with five friends here in Middlebury, and were looking forward to Vermont’s sunny days, swimming holes, cookouts and hikes in the woods. Instead, we were met with wildfire smoke, monthslong rainfall and flooding. Carrying wet, moldy furniture up and out of the swamped basement to a nearby dumpster, we wondered — “Is this what it means to live in a climate crisis?”
As the academic year comes to a close, the student body begins to pack up and head home for the summer. But each year as people take their belongings with them, many things inevitably get left behind.
The Middlebury Sustainability Solutions Lab tries to minimize the negative effects of move-out week, and student interns are working on waste management projects throughout campus to neutralize the college’s environmental impact. The lab’s main focus during move-out week is to communicate with students and the administration.
As a month-long celebration of Earth Day, Middlebury Athletics took on the “Green Initiative,” a sustainability challenge spearheaded by the Student-Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC). The program harnesses the competitive spirit of Middlebury’s student-athletes, who have battled this month to see who can pick up the most trash on campus, or which team can get the “perfect sort” of collected waste. More notably, each team has brought their own unique angle to sustainability.
Educational Integration, Justice
Terry Tempest Williams, celebrated author, naturalist, and social justice advocate, will give the 2024 Middlebury College Commencement address on Sunday, May 26.
