Notes from the Desk

Author: James Kerrigan

Sports culture was a defining school quality as I considered which colleges would be good fits. Athletic prowess and fan dedication helped a school climb my own power rankings of desirable places to spend my next four years. I fantasized about camping out in Krzyzewskiville for weeks in anticipation of the Atlantic Coast Conference showdown between Duke University and the University of North Carolina and about tailgating with 90,000 of my closest friends on a Saturday morning of a Big Ten football game. But what sort of athletic involvement could I expect in the hills of Vermont?

I can remember the sense of pride as the Panther flag raced around the perimeter of Kenyon Arena when Middlebury scored their first goal during my first hockey game followed by a confused mumble of "cheer boys cheer." This experience was not unique. During the Middlebury Amherst football game on Fall Family Weekend, the bleachers were packed and students filled the bordering banks of Youngman Field to cheer the Panthers to victory throughout the game's waning minutes. It was a dream photo for the College catalogue and a reminder that the sports culture can still be vibrant, albeit on a much smaller scale. Although Panther teams may not be involved in the game of the week on ABC or ESPN, Middlebury's small size has its own significant advantages. Middkids are student-athletes, not athlete-students - the classroom is their primary playing field unlike at many larger universities. Above all, there is an unquantifiable closeness between athletes. Whether it is the basketball point guard sitting next to you in a history lecture or the soccer goalie living across the hall or a cross-country runner that shared a table at yesterday's lunch, Middlebury athletes' involvement in college life is not limited to Saturday's action between the lines.

A college's sports culture ought not to be judged by the number of tickets sold or the decibel level of a given stadium, but rather by the overall character and integrity of all the teams that make up its athletic department.