Middlebury's JC Tradition Spans Half of a Century

Author: Caroline Stauffer

It seems ironic that the "junior counselor," program at Middlebury was implemented in 1958 as "a constructive alternative to hazing."

In the first 100 years of the College's history, hazing was a "neutral" term, according to Dean of Advising Karl Lindholm '67. Even the faculty found the idea of having upperclassmen plan activities for first-years beneficial, maybe even serving to curb the ego of an especially conceited high school grad.

In fact, Lindholm can recall such "hazings" as being dragged out of bed by his Junior Fellows, as male junior counselors were called in the 60s, to learn the Middlebury school songs.

Thus, the tradition of upperclassmen having an impact on the adjustment of first-years to life at Middlebury has been around for almost half a century.

Nearly 50 years after the program was initiated, junior counselors still exist at Middlebury.

While their purpose of support for first-years remains the same, the selection process continues to be revised, and whether their duties have changed is debatable.

Junior counselors are trained to deal with issues such as emergencies, roommate conflicts, self-harm and alcohol.

This fall, the group arrived back on campus on Aug. 26 for training on campus and at Bread Loaf.

A summer article in USA Today suggests that the role of residential advisers and junior counselors in campus' across the United States has become increasingly complex.

"RAs (Residential Advisers) are the front line people out there who, on a day-to-day basis, are asked to address a series of problems, challenges and issues that those of us who were RAs 20, 30 and 40 years ago never dreamed about," Jack Collins, president of the Association of College and University Housing Officers International states in the article.

Lindholm, who was a junior counselor on the fourth floor of Hepburn from 1965 to 1966 along with College Psychologist Gary Margolis, refutes this opinion.

"I was here just at the beginning of the really heated Vietnam period. The job was never more challenging than in the early 70s. There were a lot of mixed up kids and drugs were really big time. Others would argue that today's students are more stressed out, but I'm sometimes inclined to not go along entirely with that," Lindholm said.

Brainerd Commons Dean Andrea Baier maintains a similar opinion. "There may be more 'closed door' drinking now, but at the heart of the program we are teaching junior counselors to keep students safe. I don't know if the role of junior counselors has changed that much."

"The selection process has changed quite a bit though the selection criteria," Lindholm said. "It's been a nice tradition and worked very well for us."

The main difference in the selection process is that certain students were asked to be junior counselors when the program first began while today there is an application process.

"When I was here, to be selected was a great honor. You were asked on the basis of whatever set of values were in place if you would like to be a junior counselor and nobody ever turned the offer down," Lindholm said.

The selections were made by the Dean of Men and the Dean of Women, who consulted with the two honor societies that existed until the end of the 1960s - the all-male Blue Key and the all-female Mortar Board.

In the 1970s, when Lindholm was in charge of the selection process, applying to be a junior counselor involved a short interview with the deans and former junior counselors. He estimates that there were usually between 90 and 100 applications for 25 to 30 positions, saying that "many students were crushed not to be picked."

While there are fewer applicants now, possibly due to the vast numbers of juniors who study abroad, Lindholm says, "My experience has been that junior counselors are still a very conscientious, capable and important group."

Students apply to be junior counselors in late winter or early spring of their sophomore year, according to Baier.

Another key difference is that junior counselors are now selected by Commons Residential Advisers (CRA's), who are in charge of collecting applications, scheduling interviews and making final decisions. Applicants are interviewed by the CRAs as a group over the course of 10 days, according to Baier.

Prospective junior counselors can indicate their commons of choice, but they are ultimately issued an assignment.

According to Benjamin Hayes '03, Cook Commons CRA, there were "far fewer applicants" this year in particular, although the number of residential adviser (RA) applicants remained "pretty average." Because of the decrease in applicants, a "select few sophomores" are among the current group of 37 junior counselors. In Cook Commons, there are two sophomore junior counselors.

Having sophomore junior counselors "seems to be working well," according to Hayes.

"Having effectively just finished my freshman year, I am not very far removed from the uncertainties and stress of being a first-year and may therefore have a slightly different perspective than the Junior JCs," Brainerd Commons Junior Counselor Sarah Little '06 said. "At the same time, I am very close to the same age if not younger than some of the first-years, which puts me in an interesting position in situations in which I need to exert my 'authority.' I feel very lucky to have this experience as a sophomore given that I am planning on studying abroad next year. It has also given me the opportunity to meet a lot of new people in all the classes, for which I am very grateful."

According to Baier, if allowing sophomores to be junior counselors this year is successful, the positions may be open to all sophomore applicants next year. "The tradition is that the position has always been for juniors ... but it makes sense to reevaluate," Baier said.

Other options being considered are opening the position to seniors and allowing juniors to serve for only one semester.

"As a JC, I have assisted with first-year orientation as well as a few commons and dorm events," Little said. "However, the responsibilities of a JC center more around small things like support and encouragement of the first-years on our halls and even trivial responsibilities such as lending out the vacuum. Most of my energy so far has gone into getting to know the girls on my hall and making them feel welcome both at Middlebury and in Stewart."

Lindholm described the benefit of being a junior counselor as "satisfaction."

"First-years are fun to be around," he said, "but they do need some direction. Junior counselors occasionally do some very important work with kids in distress."

Junior counselors also remain unpaid. "I think you could never pay them enough," Lindholm said.

Baier agreed, "Their role is just invaluable. They are not only dealing with their own academic demands and interests, but volunteered to be junior counselors in addition," she said.

While upperclassmen have always had a role in helping first years adjust to Middlebury, the process has evolved significantly from accepted hazing to having sophomores serve as junior counselors.