The Initiative Creeps Up on Homepage

Did you catch the slight change on the Middlebury homepage last week?

The right corner box featuring “My Midd Experience” has started interspersing four profiles linked to the Middlebury fundraising campaign: The Middlebury Initiative. While this means little to most students, one can argue that the Middlebury homepage screen real estate reflects the goals and importance of various parts of the college. Previously, The Middlebury Initiative’s leaf-logo-bearing banner was relegated to the bottom of the homepage. Now, it is strangely creeping up to the top.

Is there something the College is trying to tell us and the outside world? President Liebowitz has been blazing by raising $286.815 Million of the $500 Million needed to complete the capital campaign in just about a year’s time. The $500 million campaign was reportedly the largest ever (when announced) by a liberal arts college. We’re over the half mark, but how far should we be? The Campaign is set to take five years, but apparently around $200 Million was raised in the “silent” round before the campaign was even announced. Perhaps that means in the one year since the kick-off event, only around $86 million has been contributed. Is that enough?

MiddBlog wants to know: Should students take an interest in the finances of the College? Does it even matter to current undergraduates?