Whether a student is an Atwater devotee, a Ross regular or a huge Proc fan, chances are they have enjoyed some delicious ice cream, apples or eggs in the dining halls recently. From Cabot Creamery cheese to Vermont Coffee Company coffee beans, the dining halls at Middlebury are stocked with more local food than many students may realize.
Climate awareness. Environmental advocacy. Green initiative. Whatever you choose to call it, it is near impossible to disentangle Middlebury College from the environmental movement. Since creating the nation’s first environmental studies department in 1965, Middlebury has long been at the vanguard of conversations on climate change and environmental systems. Now, with $7 million in donations from the Erol Foundation and NextWorld Philanthropies, Middlebury looks to take the next step forward with the expansion of the Climate Action Program.
How does one tackle an anxiety-inducing, over-saturated and apocalyptic issue like climate change with wit, heart and a commitment to action? The answer for the team behind “Look, Dream, Begin” — the 28th-Annual First-Year Show performed at the Hepburn Zoo this past weekend — was a bold, theatrical extravaganza.
Vermont has recently faced unusual and severe weather events, from a late-May frost that significantly reduced the crops of commercial apple orchards to the record rainfall and flooding in July and August that caused significant damage locally, which have challenged the established sentiment of the state as a “climate haven.” In the face of these challenges, Megan Mayhew-Bergman, assistant professor of English and director of the Bread Loaf Environmental Writers’ conference, has founded a new company to help companies fight the climate crisis.
Many Middlebury alums have carried a commitment to sustainability directly into their professions—often with national and international impact.
When dawn broke over the Santa Lucia Mountains, I could hear the waves breaking against the cliffs of the Big Sur coastline as the stars began to fade away. As the sun started to bring pastels to the sky, bringing out the mountains’ contours, I sat up on my sleeping pad to be confronted by the vastness of the dark blue Pacific. The weather held, revealing a welcome sight of sun in between the season’s atmospheric rivers that rendered most of Big Sur inaccessible through the semester. My classmate and I were the only people on the trail that day. Our trip took us through the low brush and wildflowers that littered open hillsides and across the path of a bobcat on the prowl. It was a 40-minute drive back to campus, just in time to catch the Sunday pickup soccer game at the Middlebury Institute of International Studies (MIIS).
The Sustainability Solutions Lab interns presented their final projects in August at the Kirk Center in front of faculty and staff advisors who guided them through research and implementation phases.
Some projects were new while others advanced existing initiatives aimed at helping Middlebury meet its long-term sustainability goals. Past SSL interns have been instrumental in the creation and evolution of Energy2028, greening of athletics, advancing sustainability abroad, sustainable design and construction, sustainable living, and an on-campus student consultancy—127 projects in total since 2017.
100% Renewable Energy, Campus Energy Conservation, Divestment from Fossil Fuels, Educational Integration, Justice
Middlebury’s new Energy2028 plan builds on a history of thinking holistically about sustainability. In 2007, then-President Ron Liebowitz signed the American College & University Presidents’ Climate Commitment, and the campus achieved carbon neutrality within ten years - a story shared in this video. The college has won numerous awards for its integrated approach to sustainability, including campus operations and curriculum. The new integrated plan also includes ambitious targets for using the college endowment’s investment strategy to fight climate change.
100% Renewable Energy, Campus Energy Conservation
Middlebury College recently began construction on a 298-bed, 87,000-sq.-ft. residence hall to house first-year students starting in fall 2025, following a groundbreaking ceremony June 26 at the Vermont campus.
