Middbriefs

Author: Derek Schlickeisen

Language School accused of Arab-nationalism

Franck Salameh, an adjunct professor who taught at Middlebury's Arabic School in the summer of 2004, published an opinion piece this August in several online news outlets charging administrators and faculty with "a restrictive Arab-nationalist view" of the Middle East.

In the critique, Salameh alleged that the Arabic School's curriculum disregards the cultural and linguistic contributions of the region's ethnic minorities, including Kurds, Jews and Armenians. He also charged that maps used in several courses did not include the nation of Israel and that the Middle East was instead referred to as the "Arab fatherland." Because of the slanted curriculum and campus atmosphere, Salameh said, a number of Jewish students at the school experienced discrimination.

Michael Geisler, dean of the Language Schools and Schools Abroad, countered in a memo that the summer curriculum includes courses in a number of the region's minority dialects, including Egyptian, Moroccan and Palestinian. Geisler also called the charges of discrimination inaccurate, citing an investigation by the College. "He claimed that Jewish students were discouraged from holding prayer services," wrote Geisler, "but they were in fact supported by Professor Mahmoud Abdalla, director of the School of Arabic."

Geisler wrote that while the College refuted Mr. Salameh's claims, the school would continue to make a strong effort to ensure balance in the summer Arabic curriculum. Citing a "dearth of qualified teachers of Arabic," Geisler emphasized that the College recruited faculty from all over the world and could not guarantee that their individual opinions would create balance. Instead, these professors "carry with them the perspectives, biases and ideological convictions representative of their home countries," he said.



Middlebury third in student-athlete rankings

The National College Scouting Association (NCSA) grades Middlebury third in its 2006 rankings of U.S. colleges based on the balance between athletics and academics for student athletes.

The NCSA's "Power Rankings" take into account factors such as student-athlete graduation rates to determine how well colleges in each of the NCAA's three divisions balance their academic curriculum with the requirements of varsity sports. In addition, the rankings factor in the schools' U.S.News & World Report academic ratings and the U.S. Sports Academy Directors' Cup ranking of athletic department strength.

"The purpose of the rankings is to encourage student-athletes and parents to take a comprehensive approach to choosing a school based on its overall merits," said NCSA Founder and CEO Chris Krause.

Middlebury College ranked third in both the Division III and overall rankings, behind Williams and Amherst Colleges.



Russian School to honor philanthropist

Middlebury College's summer Russian school has been named the Kathryn Wasserman Davis School of Russian in honor of the philanthropist and Russian scholar.

President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz announced that in honor of her upcoming 100th birthday, Davis would donate $2 million to "100 Projects for Peace," a program through which students - including those attending Middlebury - who participated in the Davis United World College Scholars Program could design grassroots projects for peace.

The projects, which will be implemented during the summer of 2007, challenge in particular students at the Middlebury Language Schools and the affiliated Monterey Institute for International Studies "to use the institutions' combined expertise in language acquisition and policy studies to recruit and train future potential peacemakers."

The Davis United World College Scholars Program finances the education of over 1,000 international students at Middlebury College and 75 other participating schools.