MIDDBRIEFS

Author: LIZ CAMPBELL AND KATHRYN FLAGG

Power outages disrupt campus dining services

Middlebury College retail dining services lost power on two separate occasions last week, disabling dining operations for several hours. Both power outages occurred just before lunchtime, leaving many students, faculty members and visitors to the College without dining options.

On Thursday, Sept. 29, severe wind and rain swept across Addison County and other parts of Vermont, uprooting several trees and causing a power line on campus to snap just before lunch. Unfortunately, this power outage was connected to all retail dining services, and so all were shut down for the afternoon until the power line could be repaired.

Similarly, when a transformer on campus failed on Saturday, Oct. 1, the Kirk Center at the Ralph Myhre Golf Course, the Grille and Alumni Stadium lost power. Although there were many visitors on campus for athletic events, Dining Services had already cooked hot dogs, heated up in thermal holders, for the game and sold bottled water in place of the soda machines.

All dining retail operations had to close for several hours on both Thursday and Saturday in order to protect the people from potential danger in the building and to preserve refrigerated and frozen food and drinks.

Director of Dining Services Matthew Biette remarked, "When these things happen, we need to close down for safety's sake. We need to get people out of the buildings, and we need to keep our refrigeration closed so that the temperature won't climb quickly."

Despite these precautions, all dining operations were running smoothly again several hours later on both Thursday and Saturday.



McKenna made vice president for College communications

In an e-mail to all Middlebury College faculty and staff on Monday, President Ronald D. Liebowitz announced the appointment of Michael McKenna as vice president for communications at the College. "I am excited about the opportunity to help tell Middlebury's story," said McKenna in a press release Monday, "and to help the institution do a better job at getting the word out about its world-class academic programs."

McKenna was selected for the position after the conclusion of a nationwide search that lasted several months. He will begin his work in the communications department at the College in November, joining a team of "talented professionals who already produce some of the best communications materials in higher education," according to Liebowitz.

"They, and we, are looking forward to having Mike's guidance as the College refines its communications with its many audiences, from members of the Middlebury community to the wider world," he continued.

McKenna, in the press release to the College, acknowledged the skills of the professionals he will join in the communications department. "I'm proud and honored to join this first-rate team," he said.

McKenna, previously CEO, president and chief creative officer at the global advertising, design, interactive and productive agency Marsteller, comes to the College from New York. The 1973 graduate of Wesleyan College brings with him experience in the field of higher education, having worked in admissions at the College of the Holy Cross in Massachusetts and as assistant director of alumni relations and development at Wesleyan.

McKenna has also worked as a reporter for United Press International and in the field of corporate communications at The Gillette Co. and BBDO in Boston and Young & Rubicam, Citigate and Marsteller in New York City.

For the last three years, McKenna has served as a Wesleyan trustee and as vice chair of the university relationships subcommittee and a member of the facilities planning subcommittee.

"Middlebury is extremely fortunate to have someone with Mike McKenna's broad experience joining us as we set out to better inform the world of Middlebury's strengths, contributions and dynamism," said Liebowitz.