Commencement ceremony to see changes

In an e-mail to students, faculty and staff in January, Old Chapel announced that the 2011 Middlebury College Commencement Weekend will see two changes to its program. Baccalaureate will now include recognition of national honors, and graduates and their families will be able to participate in informal colloquies with the Honorary Degree recipients.

Vice President for Administration Tim Spears explained that the decision to recognize national awards at Baccalaureate is part of a longer reorganization of the way in which graduating seniors are honored.

While national awards were previously recognized at a separate event, the incorporation of these awards into the Baccalaureate ceremony will allow for the attendance of the entire student body.

The new recognitions, which will be in addition to the traditional Baccalaureate programming, will be for honors such as national fellowships.

The event will still be held in Mead Memorial Chapel, and will be simulcast to other locations on campus for family members who are not able to attend.

In addition to the changes to Baccalaureate, the College will be offering informal discussions with the Honorary Degree recipients, the names of whom have yet to be released.

“The central goal here is to take advantage of having these great visitors on campus and give people a chance to listen to them, ask questions, talk to them,” Spears said.

While 2010 commencement speaker Nicholas Kristof and his wife Sheryl WuDunn gave a more formal presentation last spring, Spears added, the events this spring will involve more “give and take with the audience.”

Although the details have yet to be decided, Spears envisions that the events will begin with a brief introduction of the speaker and some opening remarks, followed by a longer question and answer session.

Several of these colloquies will be held throughout the week, though it remains unclear how many students will be able to participate. Participation will not, however, be restricted by major or extracurricular involvement.

Evan Masseau ’11 is looking forward to the increased potential for interaction with the speakers.

“It could be exciting to meet with our honorary degree recipients. It will give us a chance to hear more from them about the accomplishments our school chose to honor,” he wrote in an e-mail.

As for the changes in general, some students do not feel affected because they have little with which to compare the experience, this being the first Middlebury graduation for many.

“I thought the e-mail was funny because they wrote it as if we had already experienced a Middlebury graduation. This is our first time, so any changes ... well, we wouldn't know, would we?” Alena Giesche ’11 wrote in an e-mail.