School Celebrates 50 Years in Spain

Author: Deborah Jones

When the C.V. Starr Middlebury School in Spain celebrates its fiftieth anniversary this weekend, it will be honoring not only a half-century of excellence in language and cultural studies, but also of progress and growth in both its own program and its host country.

Middlebury's program is the oldest American university program in Spain. The School opened in Madrid in 1951 with an enrollment of 21 graduate students in a small space in the International Institute for Girls in Spain Although the School quickly proved to be a success amongst language students seeking a credit bearing immersion program, its establishment was hardly smooth.

In addition to the usual challenge of finding suitable faculty and developing a curriculum compatible with the offerings of the School's first partner institution, the University of Madrid, political strife in Spain strained its founding. In the early 1950s there were few foreign-run institutions in Spain, and those that did exist were often propagandist toys of General Franco's authoritarian regime. The University of Madrid was heavily regulated by the government, which controlled everything from appointment of professors to course offerings. The late Stephen A. Freeman, the first Dean of Language Schools and Schools Abroad, reflected on the program's founding in his book "The Middlebury College Foreign Language School: The Story of a Unique Idea." He wrote, "The Middlebury Spanish Summer School, which had been a refuge for many Spanish men of letters exiled by the Franco government, could not now appear to endorse its policies at the University of Madrid … We now had to walk the fine line of cordiality toward the authorities and independence in the operation of our academic program."

The School quickly learned to work with its partner institution and around red tape, but political unrest continued to rock the region. In 1956, members of the Spanish fascist movement broke into and nearly destroyed the institute. Although the perpetrators were not university students, the campus was the site of disruptive and sometimes violent protests.

By the 1960s, the School had decided to manage its own curriculum and employ its own professors, who were recruited from local universities. Qualified students were still allowed to pursue direct enrollment at Spanish universities, but the new formula allowed the School to skirt the grip of the dictatorship and develop one of the world's most highly regarded programs for foreigners in Spain.

Today, the School in Spain operates in four locations: Logroño, Madrid, Getafe and Segovia. The School hosts about 50 graduate and 70 undergraduate students. Pupils are often Middlebury students or alumni, but the program also attracts participants from universities across the United States as well as other parts of the world.

The School hopes to highlight growing diversity for its fiftieth anniversary celebrations. Anticipating ongoing dialogue on the topic, the School has invited Twilight Artist-in-Residence and College Choir Director François Clemmons and his accompanist, Cynthia Huard, to perform a series of concerts at the School's satellite locations. The concerts will feature both Spanish folk songs and African-American spirituals.

Dean of Language Schools and Schools Abroad Michael Katz, noting the continuing emphasis on diversity, commented that such events are a "demonstration of what we are about and what we value."

Education and commitment to bettering one's country also appear to be key components of the Middlebury mission abroad. The School in Spain has chosen to confer an honorary degree of doctor of laws on Gregorio Peces-Barba Martínez, the rector of Carlos Tercero University in Madrid. Martínez, who founded the University, has also served as president of the Spanish parliament, published numerous books on human rights and is considered one of the seven 'fathers' of the Spanish constitution passed in 1978.

Kim Griffin, director of the School in Spain, noted that the program has some ambitions for the coming years. She hopes to make the Middlebury name more prominent in Spain by "[becoming] more involved with Spanish institutions by promoting collaborative work in research, teaching and technology." In the next decade, Middlebury's reputation in Spain will likely be fortified, Griffin explained, for its current curriculum of Spanish language and culture as well as new areas such as environmental science and technology in teaching foreign language.

The School in Spain's anniversary celebration will conclude with a gala dinner for students, alumni, faculty and guests on April 20. Attendees from the Vermont campus will include President John McCardell, Director of Off-Campus Study David Macey and Spanish Department Chair and Former Director of the School in Spain Roberto Veguez. The School's alumni may also have the opportunity to attend a special event in New York City this summer commemorating the program's fiftieth year.