Date Restrictions

The College has designated certain times of the year as periods when campus facilities are deemed unavailable and cannot be reserved. 

Consequently, events cannot be scheduled during these periods. These are periods when standing College events occur which take priority over ad hoc events; when College staff is unavailable to support events on campus because of peak workload; or when College staff is unavailable to support events on campus because of planned downtime in support services departments. Support services departments include, but are not limited to:

• Facilities Services - Trades (i.e., electrical needs), Custodial, General Services (i.e., space set-up and equipment needs;
• Dining/Catering - food and beverage service, alcohol license;
• Media Services - audio visual needs, recording or live-streaming services;
• Public Safety - building unlocks, traffic control.

This policy outlines Designated Blackout periods and Greyout periods. Additionally, special College celebrations or commemorative events that only occur in one year (e.g., the dedication of a new building) may be designated as a Blackout period for that year. The Department of Event Management maintains the list of specific dates for all Blackout and Greyout periods each academic year.

Please note: blackout and greyout periods may not apply at certain times of the year to the following auxiliary spaces: Kirk Alumni Center, Hadley Barn and Lawn, Twilight Auditorium, Bread Loaf campus, Middlebury Snowbowl, and Rikert Outdoor Center. 

Blackout Periods

Scheduling of events on campus is prohibited for all groups, both College and non-College groups. Small College meetings and department meetings, of less than 25 participants, are permitted in the following spaces if they are otherwise available: Mitchell Green Lounge, Hadley Barn and Lawn, Adirondack Coltrane Lounge, Axinn 229, Kenyon Lounge, and MBH 148, 216, 331, 430, and 530. Small departmental meetings can only be scheduled if they do not require support from the aforementioned service providers.

• Fall Orientation Days
• Thanksgiving Recess
• December Holiday Break (the day after the last day of fall semester, through January 1)
• Martin Luther King, Jr. Day
• Senior Week (starts after last exam of spring semester week)
• Commencement/ Reunion/Start of Language Schools session
• Day of Language Schools Commencement
• Week after Language Schools Commencement (7-day period following commencement)
• Presidential Inaugurations

Grey-Out Periods

Scheduling of non-College events or events by non-College groups is prohibited. Scheduling of small College events on campus by College groups is allowed (if support services are available). 

• February Orientation Days
• Last Week of August
• October Break
• Fall Family Weekend
• Clifford Symposium
• Homecoming
• Winter Term Break / Spring Term Orientation
• Winter Carnival
• NESCAC/NCAA Championships
• Campus Preview Days
• Spring Student Symposium
• Last week of June (7 calendar days preceding the opening of the six-week Language Schools)
• Trustee Weekends