NOTES FROM THE DESK

Author: Caroline Vial

After selecting "February" earlier this semester in response to an e-mail from the administration that asked students in the '05.5 class whether they were planning on marching in graduation this spring or next February, I was left in wonder: May graduation is right around the corner, I am witnessing the intensifying light at the end of the college tunnel for my senior comrades, and yet, what will be left for us Febs, come February?

The persistently nonchalant attitude of my early undergrad years led me to believe that Febs would never really be at a disadvantage in their graduating ceremony - at least, by the time that I graduated. Many facts have since then have pointed me to a different conclusion.

The leaflets that lure prospective students with dreamy descriptions of our mid-winter celebration as the "Hallmark of a Middlebury winter" make sure to describe how many different types of snow frolicking is possible: "on skis, snowshoes, or sleds at Middlebury's own ski area, the Snow Bowl!" One may ask, "What could ever take away from the romantic prospects of spending a February afternoon parading down a ski slope in caps and gowns?" What they discreetly leave out, in an "invitation" to receive our diplomas in the following May, is that Febs simply aren't allowed to have equal recognition at their own time of graduation.

Surely, we will have dropped the same gallons of sweat from slaving over comps, finals and theses. On the other hand, there is too little time between the moment students hand in their projects or take their last exams and the Feb graduation, for there to be diplomas on "celebration" day.

President Liebowitz has hinted that there will be some gradual changes regarding future Feb graduation ceremonies, which includes the rumor of diploma substitutes, in order to give the ceremony a more authentic feel and, hopefully, a more rewarding one. My question is: Will you please, at the very least, give symbolic diplomas to the graduating class of 2005.5?