Febs celebrate with ski-down ceremony

Author: Zamir Ahmed

Decked out in caps and gowns and braving the falling snow, wind and cold, the 110 students of the class of 2006.5 skied, snowboarded, snow shoed and slid down the Snow Bowl on Feb. 3 in a celebration to commemorate the end of their Middlebury careers. Cheered on by family, friends and members of the College community, the students gathered at the bottom of the slopes to receive honorary scrolls and pose for photos with their classmates one last time.

The ski-down celebration capped a weekend-long slate of events to celebrate the graduation of the Febs, who will earn their degrees upon the mid-year completion of their academic requirements on Mar. 1.

On Feb. 2, the Feb class gathered in the Center for the Arts for a reception held in their honor by President of the College Ronald D. Liebowitz. At the reception, the class heard from Adrian Benepe '78.5, commissioner of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation, who delivered the February Celebration Address.

In his speech, Benepe spoke to the class about preserving friendships made with fellow Febs, classmates and members of the College community, especially professors.

"Keep in touch with MiddleburyÖthrough the connection you have made to each other, and to this place," said Benepe. "The friendships you have made here may be the most lasting of your lives. Your life may take you far awayÖbut chances are that you have been touched by this college and its people. And that touch lingers, even at the most random moments."

Benepe also invited students to "take a chance" in their professional careers, citing his work in the non-profit and government sectors as a rewarding experience.

"You have your entire life ahead of you to worry about making the right choices," said Benepe in the address. "This time immediately after college is a great time to take chances. If you are lucky, you will end up making money in something you enjoy. If you are very lucky, you will have a job that you enjoy that also makes other people's lives better."

The Feb celebration continued on Feb. 3 with a ceremony in Mead Chapel, where Jeffrey King '06.5 and Scott Guenther '06.5 addressed the class as student speakers.
In his speech, Guenther spoke about the challenges Febs face at the College and how these challenges make the class unique and improve their education.

"Unlike the suffering in this world that leaves scars and haunting memories, our suffering may actually leave us as better individuals," said Guenther. "Suffering while at Middlebury is a sign of willingness to open oneself to knowledge. Knowledge, after all, is why we are here today and why we came here four years ago. We have been taught to think and to know, but more importantly we have been asked to understand.

"To understand embodies something much deeper than knowing fact," continued Guenther. "To understand carries with it a sense of honesty, an awareness of the boundaries of our knowledge. We have become brighter minds and better people than when we first arrived because we have suffered for our willingness to understand, and we have chosen to understand nevertheless."
Although the Feb celebration brings to a close the collegiate career for the class of 2006.5, students will not receive their diplomas until after Mar. 1 with the official completion of their academic requirements, a complaint echoed by Guenther in his speech.

"What most shows our taste for suffering is that when we walk across this stage to shake hands, receive a cane and officially commemorate our time at Middlebury College we will not even receive a diploma," said Guenther. "That, my friends, is suffering and maybe, just maybe, we've started to enjoy it."

Students from the graduating Feb class will be allowed to participate in the typical graduation ceremony seen on college campuses, having been invited back to the College to march in the May graduation ceremony for the class of 2007.