Head of School Kathy Giles addressed the Class of 2018 during the commencement ceremony on Monday, May 28. Here are excerpts from her remarks: Class of 2018, you have been invited to consider some important ideas this year. From the United States Constitution and impeachment to hot frogs, from the United Nations and diplomacy to chasing coral, from ground zero…
At our annual Prize Day ceremony, we honor the artistic, athletic, scholarly, and community-building achievements and efforts of our students. See below for a full list of this year’s recipients:
Rachel Carson’s urgent call in Silent Spring to research and recognize the effects of chemicals on living beings and their environments is heeded today by a new generation of scientists dubbed “Rachel’s grandchildren.” One such metaphorical granddaughter – Dr. Laura Vandenberg – talked about her own career and laboratory findings during Assembly on May 1; her visit was made possible…
Gathered for evening chapel on April 24, students and faculty returned to a common theme of previous chapels this year: the ethics of consumption. Having already explored this idea with regard to media and the environment, the community focused this time on its relationship with the animal world and welcomed the Massachusetts State Director of the Humane Society, Stephanie Harris,…
Energetic, charismatic, and articulate, Schuyler Bailar shared his personal experience as a transgender student-athlete on April 10, thoughtfully relating his story from childhood through adolescence before taking questions from his Terry Room audience. Invited to campus by Pascale Musto, director of multicultural and community development, Schuyler was the third guest speaker in the Spectrum Dialogues program, which provides a smaller…
The significant loss of coral reefs in recent years seems less often discussed than Earth’s melting glaciers, yet the devastation of this critical ecosystem is another sign of the damage wrought by climate change. Drawing attention to this less visible problem is one goal of the documentary Chasing Coral, which was brought to Middlesex by one of the marine biologists…
Coming on the heels of Black History Month, Middlesex’s annual Diversity Symposium on March 2nd and 3rd centered on questions directly related to the February tribute: How does the experience of blacks in America differ from that of other races? And though often considered separately, isn’t black history an integral part of the American narrative? What heroes and stories of…
To be given a primer on the United Nations – its founding, structure, challenges, and potential – by a former United States Ambassador to the UN is a rare opportunity, one that students and faculty enjoyed when Samantha Power discussed her diplomatic experience with them on February 22, 2018. “I have a special connection to Middlesex,” she noted at the…
Can diversity of belief and thought coexist with freedom of speech? Or must people choose between them, either limiting open discourse or preparing to be offended by different views? For international bestselling author and Muslim reformer Irshad Manji, diversity and free speech “go hand in hand – and are at their best when they coexist.” As Middlesex’s first Equity and…
On January 15, 2018 – the date that would have been the 89th birthday of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. – the Middlesex community remembered his courageous commitment to social justice and, at the same time, reflected on the civil rights issues and inequities that remain today. The full day of events featured three distinguished speakers: Dr. C.T. Vivian, who…