Middlebury College Top Questions

I wish that athletic events were more popular, I wish we all got behind the sports teams. The truth is though, that some of those kids are pricks, so we don't generally like to go support them when they need us. I met all my closest friends in class. What do we do? In the winter we go skiing, fall and spring is hiking. The social life is difficult when you don't have an I.D, but you should learn that alcohol does not equal fun anyway and go take a hike. One of my friends spent a whole semester not drinking to see what would happen. He had the best semester of his life. Every Friday and saturday there are world-class classical music groups, independent films or theatre shows, usually at low or no cost.

Um...I don't know. Riddim is a big hit, I guess. Otters, too. Excuse me, The Otter Nonsense Players. Frisbee. WRMC=the cool kids. I'm into stuff at the Museum (of Art) but it seems to be a pretty private endeavor. That is to say, my friends don't ever see what I do there because we work with local school groups and it's a pretty small number of students that are in the program. I'm really into it, though. There are so many freaking events on this campus that it is absolutely impossible as a human to see them all. That's why when people say there's nothing going on on campus its total baloney. Uh, dating scene? What is "dating scene"? I met my closest friends by living in Battell (=worst/best freshman housing) so proximity certaintly played a part. Oh, and in classes, actually. Or at lunch. I was awake at 2am on Tuesday, for the first time in ages. I was making a birthday card for a pal. And waiting to come down from a Smarties-induced sugar high. Last weekend I was so worn out, that I watched a movie and passed out early. Oh, but Saturday I went to an on-campus concert and partied w/ some friends in their suite. Sometimes I go to parties but I just don't drink. If I don't want to I just don't. Or if the beer is bad. Middlebury is, for some people, very "work hard, play hard" so some kids party allll the time. As in, Wed-Sun. That's rare. More like Thurs-Sat. There are certaintly some bonifide alcoholics who think that it's just what college is supposed to be about. I go to shows in Burlington or even Albany, or I go to friends' houses who happen to live nearby. Otherwise...I stay on campus.

VIVA LA MILL!!!

The student environmental community is powerful on and off campus. Many of us now hold leadership oistions in domestic and international NGOs and institutions.

students in dorms usually leave their doors open. athletics are well attended. Theatre is fairly well supported by the town community and friends of theatre majors. Casual Dating is tricky but I suggest trying it. spend some semesters with a girlfriend or boyfriend and spend some without. Just don't let it hold you back. We get some great guest speakers. Tony Kushner and Robert Putnum were the best while I was there. Bill Clinton was a great graduation speaker. fraternities are almost nonexistent. there are social houses. I never really enjoyed their parties though. except for the MILL. Tuesday night awake at 2am you're either writing a paper or watching a movie with your friends. or some random shenanigans like driving to the 24 hr McDonald's or the Denny's in Burlington. People Party on Thursday, Friday and Saturday. Thursday's always been my favorite. There's a nice little music scene. lots of concerts. lots of orchestras, dance shows, sports events. An improve group. Lot's of student produced theatre. You can find stuff to do.

The social scene could be improved upon. I think the school knows this, though. Recently, there was a huge hubbub over one of the most popular alternative “social houses” on campus. A bunch of drugs were found and heads were thrown, and it was a big mess. Things like that happen a lot – where the somewhat conservative administration seems to clash with a burgeoning liberal student body. That’s annoying. I wish sometimes our administration would treat us like the Oberlin/Wesleyan admins seem to treat their students – let them be. Let them be weird and stupid and crazy. It doesn’t seem like that happens often.

Tons of clubs, tons of activities, and the school does a great job of encouraging students to get involved. Social life revolves around campus. There is a lot of partying, but there are also people who don't drink/smoke.

On weekend days, Middlebury provides some great entertainment options, including concerts, films and readings from some of the most prominent authors and journalists. The Center for the Arts always has something cool going on, too. On weekend nights, students drink a lot. Seeing as we're in rural Vermont, which has nothing much to do in the way of "nightlife", this makes sense. Students drink and smoke pot in each other's dorm rooms, at big off-campus parties, in "Social Houses" (Middlebury's version of frats/ sororities), and in language houses (French, Spanish, etc.) where theme parties are thrown almost every weekend. When they turn 21 (or not), students can also go into town and drink at any of the three skeezy bars the town offers. None of these bars offers a "club" atmosphere per se, but one of them, Angela's, does have a wicked/awkward karaoke night. Once students are drunk, hooking up is big, but so are typical college "marriages", where couples stay joined at the hip for years on end. Apparently, Middlebury has one of the highest marriage rates for its alums...something like 60{4a082faed443b016e84c6ea63012b481c58f64867aa2dc62fff66e22ad7dff6c}. The students, generally, are ridiculously attractive, fit, and smart. There's a running joke that people have to submit a photo in order to get accepted to Middlebury. In the winter months, it gets cold, so most do choose to sleep with someone else to keep warm. (Zing!)

What are the most popular student groups/organizations/clubs/teams on campus? I think the outdoors club probably has the most members. Aside from the stuff I’m involved with, I don’t really know. Tell us about the campus group you’re involved with. WRMC is the campus radio station, and though it suffers from being associated exclusively with all those things I keep mentioning – hipsters, the Mill, Proctor lounge, alternative kids – it’s a great community. There are always people hanging out in the office [aside from DJs], the concerts are well-attended, and the board members are a close-knit crew. We throw great parties. The programming is generally pretty diverse and cool. Do people in dorms leave their door open? You could. How popular are athletic events at [College]? Concerts? Campus theater? • What’s the dating scene like? • Athletics – not sure. Concerts – usually well-attended and lots o’ dancing. Campus theater – productions often sell out. How did you meet your closest friends? Either on my Freshman hall, or smoking outside Proctor. Is it easy to meet new people? I think so. Regardless of all the judgmental bitching I’ve done about the general student body, people are generally friendly…like, I frequently get to know people who are in my classes who I might not otherwise be friends with. If you’re awake at 2am on a weeknight, what are you doing? Probably working, but possibly partying. Do any big events or traditions happen each year / semester? Sepomana is the one I look forward to most – it’s the biggest annual concert sponsored by WRMC. And How often do people party, and what’s an average party like? Depends on the year [freshman, soph, etc]. People party hard on the weekends and usually on Thursdays, too. J-term is like, all-night every night. The parties I go to are heavy drinking, heavy pot-smoking, silly costumes and face paint, dancing, making out in dark corners, passing out in dark corners, etc. The parties I don’t go to are probably essentially the same, except without the silly costumes. Describe a typical weekend. Party, wake up, go to brunch, discuss last night’s party, do some work or watch a movie or go skiing or something, party, wake up, go to brunch, discuss last night’s party, do some work or watch a movie or go skiing or something. But I mean, that’s my impression of a typical weekend – I did other stuff, too. Like on Saturdays we used to drive out to this newly paved hill and skateboard down it and then tie a tow rope to the back of a car and get towed back up the hill. Or we went hiking or swimming when it was warm. What can you do on a Saturday night that doesn’t involve drinking? Go to a party and not drink? Go to a play or a concert. See a movie. Do any or all of those things in Burlington. How important is fraternity/sorority life to you? To your campus? Tell us more. The social houses aren’t really fraternities or sororities, though some more closely resemble frat life than others – I mean, if you’re looking to get roofied at a toga party, you can always go to ADP. I was a Mill member, which I talked about a bunch already – it was the more alternative social house. My review of the Mill isn’t totally glowing, either, however. There was a LOT of pot being smoked in that house. The Mill as an institution wasn’t totally important to me – it was more a place to hang out with friends than a real frat/sorority club type thing. How often do you go off campus? What do you do? Occasional jaunt to Burlington to go shopping or just get away. A lot of smaller trips to local swimming holes, hiking spots, off-campus houses, etc.