September 25, 2014 | Vol. 113 no. 3 | middleburycampus.com Tailgating Policy Sparks Student Backlash Petition to Reverse Decision Gains Support dent body wasn’t consulted in mation. By Claire Abbadi and Caroline any way. If I hadn’t heard any- However, college officials Walters thing about it, then it’s unlikely stand by the argument that that any student had,” Custer there is clear reasoning for their On Tuesday Sept. 16, just said. decision, including one incident days before the first football “Students--particularly those which Quinn refers to as the game of the season, an all- legally old enough to drink— do “tipping point”: the homecom- school e-mail was sent detailing not understand why that liber- ing game versus Trinity College. a new tailgate policy, in which ty is being taken away without “An unmanageable num- alcohol is prohibited at all ven- reason,” added Francesca Haass ber of students and alumni, I ues, including in the tailgate ’16.5 in a letter to Liebowitz. couldn’t tell you the exact num- area, as is amplified music. The “They are frankly insulted ber, but well over 100, were very email, signed by Dean of Stu- that the school chose to justify intoxicated,” Quinn explained. dents Katy Smith Abbott, Direc- this policy change with an email “I was getting phone calls tor of Public Safety Elizabeth that was, for lack of a better from Public Safety saying, ‘Erin, Burchard and Athletic Director word, bulls--t. If you are go- we are trying to clear the parking Erin Quinn and which cites en- ing to take away freedoms from lot and get people back into the sta- suring a safe, healthy environ- students, have the courtesy and dium so that they will stop drink- ment and consistency with the courage to do so in an honest ing. They are really drunk; they are NESCAC sportsmanship clause manner rather than couching it belligerent; they are swearing at us, as the main reasons, came as a in a vague NESCAC statement. but they don’t want to go into the shock to multiple constituencies Maybe you do have very legiti- within the College community. game.’” mate reasons, and I think the Though Quinn and President Quinn explained that prior to students would be very interest- of the College Ronald D. Li- SEE TAILGATE, PAGE 2 ed in hearing your arguments so ebowitz assert that the conver- that a real debate about student sation of changing this policy life on Middlebury’s campus can formally began last year, and take place,” Haass’ letter read. years before informally, the A petition entitled “Reverse all-school email was the first Changes in the New Tailgating time that students were looped Policy” was drafted through into the conversation, includ- WeTheMiddKids and received ing elected student officials like 2,507 votes, by far the largest SGA President Taylor Custer number of votes an SGA peti- ’15. Joe Flaherty tion has received since its for- “I was shocked that the stu- JusTalks Enters First Year SEminars College Socioeconomic By Caroline Agsten mandatory component of the two former facilitators. It lasts Beginning as a forum in 2011 first-year experience. This fall, for one hour with no outside dedicated to fostering conversa- JusTalks began its pilot Just- homework. Each week there is Diversity Disappoints Talks First Year Seminar dis- a designated session that each tions surrounding identity and By Philip Bohlman qualify for Pell Grants. Accord- cussion sections in five semi- class discusses and engages in diversity issues, “JusTalks” is On Sept. 8, The Upshot, ing to The Upshot, the College’s nars. relevant activities, such as film now being expanded into First a New York Times blog, pub- average percentage of grant- “It became clear that a one screenings, reflection writing, Year Seminars. lished a ranking entitled “The receiving freshman from 2012- day event in January wasn’t and article reading. The genesis of JusTalks be- Most Economically Diverse Top 2014 was 13 percent. enough to fully explore these “It’s a combination of show- gan with a group of students Colleges,” where Middlebury Dean of Admissions Greg subjects,” Kate McCreary ’15, ing students something and ask- who sought to combat the issue College placed 51st. Five NE- Buckles said in an email, “Mid- one of the JusTalks coordi- ing for their reactions, and then that, according to their website, SCAC schools, Amherst, Wes- dlebury welcomes any national nators, said. “We also heard connecting their experiences to postulates, “There is simply no leyan, Bowdoin, Williams and conversation that puts creating feedback from the administra- Middlebury,” McCreary said. time or space at Middlebury Hamilton were in the top 50, access to college at the fore- tion that suggested in order to The process began last spring within the confines of a twelve while Middlebury was between front.” However, he also sees a make it mandatory, JusTalks when members of the group week semester to have dia- peers Carleton and Bates. flaw in rankings’ methodology. would have to fit in with exist- reached out to professors who logues about matters of identity The ranking compared 100 “Personally, I have mixed ing structures at Middlebury. they thought might be interest- or diversity, race, gender, sex- colleges with four-year gradu- feelings about the emphasis on The idea to align with First Year ed in partnering with JusTalks. ual orientation, class, ability, ation rates above 75 percent. Pell grants as a way to mea- Seminars then came about.” “Most seminars have some personal history, privilege, and These colleges tend to be sound sure access. It’s a very blunt Each JusTalks seminar religion, among others. [These investments for the majority of instrument that The New York meets once a week and is led by SEE JUSTALKS, PAGE 3 are all] important personal and low-income students attending, Times in particular has seized societal issues for us to take according to the article. upon as a standard,” he said. time to deconstruct, to explore, The schools’ levels of eco- He cited international stu- and to reflect on.” nomic diversity were deter- dents that the college funds who In Winter Term of 2012, the mined using a College Access would otherwise be eligible for JusTalks leaders invited stu- Index, calculated using two Pell grants and undocumented dents to participate in this day- statistics. The first was the per- students who are also not ac- long event, which consisted of centage of the freshman class counted for in this way as exam- small group exercises and dis- who come from low-income ples of the faults in the system. cussions led by a student facili- families, measured by the num- Buckles prompted questions tator, run in a similar fashion to ber receiving a Pell grant. The regarding the credibility of the Midd Uncensored. The follow- second was the average net process. “Are students whose ing year, the event was limited price for students whose fami- families may make just a few to first-year students as a way lies earn between $30,000 and hundred dollars above the level for JusTalks to progress toward $48,000 a year. Of the schools of Pell Grant eligibility some- its initial goal of creating a pro- assessed, the College was how not worthy of ‘counting’ gram for first-years only. ranked 75th for percentage of as being socio-economically While these two winter freshman with Pell grants and diverse? Should we be select- events were attended on a vol- 33rd for net price. Generally, ing one candidate over another, untary basis, JusTalks is work- Photo credit households in the bottom 40 who may come from similarly ing on expanding to become a Joanie Thompson ’14 facilitates at JusTalks last J-term. percent of income distribution SEE COLLEGE, PAGE 2 MIDD ACTION FAIR STRESS AT COLLEGE INSIDE LOOK AT DJ DRAWS CROWD PAGE 15 SPOOKY PAGE 5 PAGE 17 inside 2NEWS | SEPTEMBER 25, 2014 Buckles Tailgating Policy Bans Alcohol CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 NESCAC TAILGATING POLICIES this point, the College had made some Rejects incremental changes to the tailgating More policy in response to what he calls “an in- creasing number of belligerent students and alumni at games.” Study’s One incremental change was the deci- strict sion to open the tailgate area only an hour and a half before kickoff to limit on-site Williams College: No alcohol allowed drinking. Likewise, College policy man- into the Weston Field Athletic Complex. Legitimacy dated that the tailgate area be cleared after kickoff and then again once after halftime, CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1 in attempts to limit alcohol consumption. Bates College: Alcohol allowed in fenced At the Trinity game, however, Quinn in area. No kegs or hard alcohol. Tail- disadvantaged circumstances, because instructed Public Safety to keep the stu- one would technically be Pell-eligible dents and alumni within the tailgate area, gating restricted by two hours before and one wouldn’t?” he said. despite the policy. game time. Middlebury is also one of the few “If they can’t handle them out there, schools that is need-blind in its admis- contained and isolated, then it will be far sions policies for domestic applicants worse inside the stadium. So I thought Tufts university: Tailgating with al- that also meets 100 percent of dem- how can we minimiZe liability, because cohol restricted to designated area. onstrated need. Middlebury also does we don’t have the people in the stadium to control them. That in and of itself is a no excessive quantities of alcoholic not practice need-affirmative policies, scene that is not acceptable,” Quinn said.