President of the College

Applying to the Fund for Innovation’s winter round? Drop in to workshop your application with Presidential Fellows in Innovation Naila Jahan ‘15 and Michael Dola ‘15, who will be going over app basics as well as strengths and weaknesses, and will be available to provide feedback on your draft proposal. They will be available from 4-6pm, feel free to stop by as your schedule allows. Contact: Naila Jahan at njahan@middlebury.edu or Michael Dola at mdola@middlebury.edu

Jacqueline Royster, dean of the Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts at the Georgia Institute of Technology and professor of English in the School of Literature, Media, and Communications, will speak about how evolution, rather than revolution, may be the most strategic route for the liberal arts during these extremely fluid times. Royster focuses her research primarily on the rhetorical history of women of African descent. She is a widely published author of articles and books about literacy studies, women’s studies, and cultural studies.

Courtesy of the President’s Office – FREE 9-hole Captain and Crew (4-person scramble) Check-in: starting at 3:45 p.m.* Shotgun start: 4:30 p.m. Dinner: in Kirk following golf Open to all faculty, staff,¬ and retirees. Please contact Valerie Costello (vcostell@middlebury.edu), Phil Cyr (pcyr@middlebury.edu), or MariAnn Osborne (mosborne@middlebury.edu), to register your team.

Central College Lawn (located in the vicinity of Munroe and Voter Halls)

Please come prepared for all weather conditions (warm coats, rain gear, hats, sunscreen, etc.) and wear shoes appropriate for damp, uneven, grassy terrain.

A tent, to provide sun or rain protection, will be located behind the seating area. A live broadcast of the ceremony will be provided in Wilson Hall in the McCullough Student Center (directly behind the rain tent) and Mead Chapel (up the hill) for those who wish to be inside.

Mead Memorial Chapel
President Patton will address the senior class.

All are welcome to attend. Seating is available on a first come, first served basis. A live broadcast will be provided in Wilson Hall, in the McCullough Student Center, and in Dana Auditorium, in Sunderland Language Center. Mead Chapel is not air conditioned. For guests who prefer a more comfortable setting, Wilson Hall and Dana Auditorium offer cushioned seating and air conditioning.

Google Ventures founder and CEO, and Middlebury alum Bill Maris (‘97) has had quite an unpredictable career.  Currently he invests in startups at the epicenter of science, technology, and medicine.  He oversees $2.4B in capital, and has funded more than 300 companies in the GV portfolio, including Uber, Slack and Nest. In this talk, he’ll share his perspective on how he went from Vermont to Silicon Valley, and how entrepreneurs and innovation will shape our future. 

Guest Speakers: Ben Rudin ‘09 and Jessica Teets, Associate Professor of Political Science

This event will feature a moderated dialogue on some of the biggest challenges faced today by colleges and universities across the U.S. around questions of speech, diversity, and inclusion.  One of the principal questions at stake in this discussion turns on how First Amendment law should guide speech policies at private colleges and universities. Panelists include

Katha Pollitt is a leading feminist voice in the U.S.  She writes the award-winning column “Subject to Debate” for The Nation magazine. Her latest book is Pro: Reclaiming Abortion Rights; she is also the author of two books of poetry and several collections of essays.  Her book Learning to Drive (2007) is now a motion picture.

In light of Martin Luther King Jr.’s commitment to nonviolence, Holistic Life Foundation founders Ali Smith, Atman Smith, and Andy Gonzalez discuss how their work teaching contemplative practice in underserved schools in the Baltimore area is reducing disciplinary problems among students. “The Holistic Life Foundation is doing some of the most positively transformative work happening in our country’s inner cities.