Posse Retreat Places Diversity On Common Ground

Author: Athenia Fischer

This past weekend about 80 students, including both Posse Scholars and regular students at Middlebury who later became honorary "Posse Plus" students, went on a wilderness retreat. Professor Catherine Wright, mentor of Posse 3, organized the Posse Plus Retreat. The students, faculty and staff were asked to come to the retreat by invitation by the Posse Scholars. Throughout the weekend, we talked about issues of awareness starting from how aware people are of the world, then of the United States, then of Middlebury and finally of the individuals that came on the trip.

The Posse Program was started by Debby Bial while she was doing her dissertation at Harvard University. One day, while visiting a prestigious liberal arts college like Middlebury, she learned that a young man from the city had dropped out of the school. She approached the young man and asked why he had left. The young man said, "Well, if I had my posse with me maybe I would have stayed at school." Back in the 1980s the colloquial term for a group of friends was 'posse.' So, Debbie Bial sent a group of students from New York City to Vanderbilt College. This spurred the beginning of the Posse Program.

Posse Scholars themselves are no more different than any other students on campus. However, they have been trained with 10 to 12 other Posse students for eight months prior to coming to Middlebury College. The training that the scholars receive helps them to build bonds with each other and inspires them to consider what they could potentially do once they do get on campus. Posse Scholars and later Posse Plus students become one. Once you go on a Posse Plus retreat, you are trained to take on issues with an open heart and mind, which is all Posse really requires of us.

During this retreat, professors and staff from all areas of the College, such as the Office of Academic Support, deans and faculty heads of the Commons, Commons Residential Advisers (CRAs) and even Acting President Ronald Liebowitz came out to indulge in the hot topics of discussion spurred by the Posse Scholars. The retreat's focus was basically about how people's levels of awareness and how they might increase it. It was the best experience that I have ever had at Middlebury College. There were people there from all backgrounds ethnically and socially and they were willing and able to talk openly about how aware they are or how unaware they are of racism, social class and sexism on campus.

However, the best part of the entire weekend was when we came back to Middlebury, got off the bus from the retreat and walked to Proctor to eat. Most of the 80 people that went on the trip sat together at some pushed together tables, all the while listening to some music playing from a radio. People talked about how they did not want the weekend to end and how beautiful it was to see all of us sticking together like one big family. Comments were filled with words of nothing other than respect and awareness toward one another. The conversations were nothing like some of the lip service conversations that usually go on at Middlebury's tables.

When I say 'lip service' I mean no disrespect to anyone, but that is merely what it is. People pass by with "Hello's" and "how are you doing's," all said in an effort to be friendly but with no true intention to get to know anyone or anything about a person. That night in Proctor was unlike anything that Middlebury has ever seen before. It was such a great feeling that we as a group decided to continue the conservation by eating together every Sunday at 6 p.m. So, if you want to become part of the diversity at Middlebury and become aware, please come and join us at this Sunday. You can find us by looking for the happy, diverse faces sitting together.