Editorial Man, we love college

Author: [no author name found]

From our vantage point as journalists, college life tends to become distilled into an admittedly predictable collage of "big moments." As such, a retrospective of the past year would inevitably be highlighted by the College's two national championship victories - congratulations are in order again to the women's cross country and men's rugby teams - as well as by a stunning portrayal of Shakespeare's "Twelfth Night," brilliantly brought to life in a 1920s setting; by the (quite literally) groundbreaking undertaking of the Cross Street Bridge; and by the final conclusion to the renovation of McCullough. Of course, the most significant news story of the 2009-2010 academic year, and the one that we found most challenging to cover, was the financial crisis and its repercussions. We struggled to understand what was happening at Middlebury and beyond, and we struggled to convey that understanding to our readership. Something tells us those particular challenges are not yet behind us.

Equally striking, though, is a topic that we did not touch, despite its immediacy to most of our lives: the social scene on campus. In past years, this issue has dominated our editorial discussions as we have sifted through a wealth of op-eds on the subject - some of them ranting against the injustices of the alcohol policy and some of them bemoaning the lack of substance-free events on campus. In many ways, our silence can be taken as a sign that campus social life has, indeed, improved in recent months.

A primary reason for this has been the resurgence of social houses. Prescott, Tavern, KDR and the Mill have all dedicated themselves to providing students with social opportunities beyond the dangerous activity of pounding shots in a crowded dorm room. Stop by any of these locations on a Saturday night, and you are likely to encounter a basement packed with (relatively) rowdy co-eds - a visual testament to the social houses' revival.

The superblock system, in its first year, has also served to increase the social opportunities on campus, offering new answers to the ubiquitous "What are we doing tonight?" question. Events such as Brooker House's weekly fireside dinners show that the superblocks are committed to more than just providing students with another place to drink. Next year, with the addition of a senior-populated Fletcher House to the system, the superblocks will likely enjoy even more success.

That social life at the College appears to have improved is not an excuse to rest. Virtually every candidate for SGA president this spring advocated loosening the restrictions associated with kegs. Increasingly, both students and administrators have begun warming to the idea - and so have we. Dispensing with these restrictions will not only enhance social life in a more environmentally friendly way; it will also help to move Middlebury's drinking scene out of the closet and into safer, more easily monitored public venues.

Because of our location and the rigors of our curriculum, Middlebury's social scene may never meet the expectations of some of its students. Still, Middlebury has taken great strides this year, and we hope that social opportunities on campus continue to grow and diversify - for drinkers and non-drinkers alike.