Students Propose Day of Awareness

Author: Alexandra Bottemanne and Melanie Mac

We propose that Middlebury College support a day of awareness concerning the country's current situation and our relationship to this situation as world citizens.
Let us be clear -- we are not asking for the College to take any stance, formal or informal, for or against the U.S. government's possible military action in Iraq. Instead we are asking, in the words of Student Government Association president Ginny Hunt, that we "engage in discussion and action here on our campus" ("Anti-War Petition Rejected by SGA," The Middlebury Campus, March 12, 2003).
To our dismay, we find that given the academic rigor of our school and our commitment to being dedicated and engaged students, our immediate academic responsibilities demand the majority of our time. This leaves us with very few occasions for consistently educating ourselves on larger world issues -- whether be it scrolling through the New York Times online or attending a lecture focused on international diplomacy.
The College's Mission Statement affirms that "education takes place both within and beyond the classroom." We agree. And in critical times such as these, it is perhaps more important to place our focus and our energy "beyond the classroom," which means engaging ourselves in our immediate world responsibilities. We don't want to wait for the book to come out when we can really delve into the situation right now.
We ask that you, our college administration, uphold the values that make us proud to be a part of the Middlebury College community -- a community that "expects its graduates to be thoughtful, ethical leaders able to meet the challenges of informed citizenship," accorading to The Handbook. By granting this day of awareness, the College would reaffirm its commitment to nurturing a spirit of compassionate, informed world citizenship among all community members. To reiterate, what we are asking for is not political -- we are not proposing that the College make any statements. We are asking that the College give us the best education it can by allowing us to focus, for just one day, on a topic that is paramount to our future.
In our minds, this day of awareness would entail, in the place of classes, time to express or manifest our sentiments, thoughts and questions concerning this pressing international situation -- in whatever form they may take. This would be a gift of time, time that is not normally available within our range of scheduled responsibilities. Please consider this as a very reasonable way of addressing and acknowledging a situation that cannot be ignored.

Alexandra Bottemanne is a joint history and religion and French major from Savannah, Ga.
Melanie Mac is a sociology-anthropology and French double major from Detroit.

Editor's Note: This proposal was submitted to the Middlebury College administration on March 17, 2003, and is currently under review.