Latest stories

President Baucom, save Battell Hall from demolition

By David Gross | February 27, 2025

For 75 years, Battell Hall has served as the first home for freshmen on campus. To many, the transformation of Battell’s adorned ivy into glowing embers is the cherished harbinger of fall’s arrival. It’s no surprise that Battell graced the cover of the ubiquitous Princeton Review’s “The Best ...

---

Tolerance and forbearance in hosting outside speakers

By Sarah Stroup | February 20, 2025

In 2017, controversial speaker Charles Murray came to Middlebury a few weeks after the inauguration of President Trump. Our liberal campus was feeling quite raw. Minorities were under scrutiny by a new presidential administration. In that environment, a group brought a speaker to Middlebury to talk ...

---

Coming down the mountain: What should Winter Carnival mean to Middlebury?

By The Editorial Board | February 20, 2025

Their neon ski goggles glint against the snow and their cowboy hats are pulled snug over their beanies. Glitter freezes to their cheeks as they grip their numb fingers around the cans tucked into their jackets. It seems like everybody who knows everybody is at the Snowbowl on the third Saturday of February. ...

---

SPECS Panther Column — “Loitering for the purpose of prostitution” laws and modern legislation

By Emilia Zenker | February 20, 2025

Loitering for the purpose of prostitution (LPP) is a violation or misdemeanor in many state governments and municipalities across the U.S.. These laws define this charge as wandering or remaining in public spaces for long periods of time with the intent of selling sex or promoting prostitution. While ...

---

Time for an academic reckoning?

By Vyas Nageswaran | February 20, 2025

“There are no solutions, only trade-offs.” The immortal words of economist Thomas Sowell apply as much to college administration as they do to public policymaking. When it comes to academics, I believe it is high time that Middlebury confronts this reality.

---

J-Term: the good, the bad and the ugly

By The Editorial Board | January 23, 2025

Winter in Vermont is not for the faint of heart. J-Term at Middlebury represents a break from the usual academic schedule, yielding the freedom to try something new in academics or extracurriculars — but you may also find yourself cowering indoors from the cold with little to do.

---

IDK about these IDs!

By Lucy Schembre | January 23, 2025

Around 9 p.m. on Sunday night, as I traversed the windswept tundra forming between E Lot and the Chateau, I was devastated to realize that I had left my wallet — along with my one and only Middlebury ID card — inside my room. Clutching my cardboard box from the Grille to my chest in a fruitless ...

---

SPECS Panther Column - Sex and Stress

By Liz Crawford | January 23, 2025

At some point in time you may have heard that sexual activity can be a de-stressor. For example, NBC News published a 2008 article titled “More sex, less stress,” declaring to their audience that by having sex, they can reduce the undesirable buzzword of “stress.”

---

Donald Trump has been re-elected. What now?

By Phoebe An | January 23, 2025

Like many, I watched in stunned horror as Donald Trump crawled his way back into the highest office of our nation. I had hope in the American people: that they would not re-elect an impeached ex-president and convicted felon who had attempted to undermine our democratic process in a spectacle of populist-driven ...

---

My weight loss journey

By Joshua Garson | January 16, 2025

At my heaviest weigh-in, I clocked in at 311 lbs. I had a BMI of 45.6, which categorized me as morbidly obese. Today I weigh 196 lbs, a 115 lbs weight loss. I can confidently say for the first time in my adult life that I am healthy. People often ask me how I found success. Usually, I tell them something ...

---

The new Latin honors system is the right step. But it won’t fix grade inflation.

By The Editorial Board | January 16, 2025

Last month, the Faculty Council passed significant changes to the college’s graduation honors system that will go into effect at the beginning of the 2025-2026 school year.

---

SPECS Panther Column - An analysis of “Heartstopper” season 3

By Aiden Levy | January 16, 2025

SPECS Panther is a mascot for SPECS (sex positive education for college students) and serves the Middlebury community. As a part of Health & Wellness Education, SPECS Panther seeks to educate and spark independent dialogue, not be the end-all be-all resource on campus. We encourage Midd Kids to ...

---

Resilience in Port Elizabeth: My Journey with I Protect Me

By Ruthie Brown | December 5, 2024

As a second-degree black belt and an International Global Studies major with a Global Gender and Sexuality concentration, I am interested in exploring how martial arts have the power to transform lives through empowerment and community-building. This past fall, that passion carried me over 9,000 miles ...

---

Five years adrift: Why hasn’t Middlebury replaced the commons system?

By The Editorial Board | December 5, 2024

It’s time to rethink how we organize our social life. For decades, Middlebury’s social fabric was held together by structured environments — first by fraternities, until 1991, and then by the commons system, until 2019. Much of the fragmentation within the student body can be traced back to the ...

---