Middlebury is the first American institution of higher education to have granted a bachelor's degree to an African-American, graduating Alexander Twilight in the class of 1823.[4] Middlebury was also one of the first formerly all-male liberal arts colleges inNew England to become a coeducational institution, following the trustees' decision in 1883 to accept women. Middlebury has an acceptance rate of 17% and was listed as the seventh-best liberal arts college in the U.S. in the 2015 U.S. News & World Reportrankings.[5][6]
In addition to its core undergraduate program, the College organizes undergraduate and graduate programs in modern languages, English literature, and writing. The Middlebury College Language Schools offer instruction in 11 languages. The Bread Loaf School of English is a summer graduate program in English literature, and the Bread Loaf Writers' Conference is one of the oldest writers' conferences in the country. The College also operates 38 C.V. Starr-Middlebury Schools Abroad in 17 countries across 5 continents. The Middlebury Institute of International Studies at Monterey is a graduate school of Middlebury College. The Institute enrolls graduate students in the fields of international environmental policy, international relations, international business, language teaching, and language translation and interpretation.[7]
Middlebury's 31 varsity teams are known as the Middlebury Panthers and compete in the Division III NESCAC conference.
Founding and 19th century[edit]
Old Chapel with the Green Mountains in the distance
Middlebury received its founding charter on November 1, 1800, as an outgrowth of the Addison County Grammar School, which had been founded three years earlier in 1797. The College's first president—Jeremiah Atwater—began classes a few days later, making Middlebury the first operating college or university in Vermont.[8] One student named Aaron Petty graduated at the first commencement held in August 1802.[9]
The College's founding religious affiliation was loosely Congregationalist. Yet the idea for a college was that of town fathers rather than clergymen, and Middlebury was clearly "the Town's College" rather than the Church's. Chief among its founders were Seth Storrs and Gamaliel Painter, the former credited with the idea for a college[10] and the latter as its greatest early benefactor. In addition to receiving a diploma upon graduation, Middlebury graduates also receive a replica of Gamaliel Painter's cane. Painter bequeathed his original cane to the College and it is carried by the College President at official occasions including first-year convocation and graduation.
Alexander Twilight, class of 1823, was the first black graduate of any college or university in the United States; he also became the first African American elected to public office, joining the Vermont House of Representatives in 1836. At its second commencement in 1804, Middlebury granted Lemuel Haynes an honorary master's degree, the firstadvanced degree ever bestowed upon an African American.
In 1883, the trustees voted to accept women as students in the college, making Middlebury one of the first formerly all-male liberal arts colleges in New England to become a coeducational institution. The first female graduate—May Belle Chellis—received her degree in 1886. As valedictorian of the class of 1899, Mary Annette Anderson became the first African American woman elected to Phi Beta Kappa.
The College’s centennial in 1900 began a century of physical expansion beyond the three buildings of Old Stone Row. York and Sawyerdesigned the Egbert Starr Library (1900), a Beaux-Arts edifice later expanded and renamed the Axinn Center, and Warner Hall (1901). Growth in enrollment and the endowment led to continued expansion westward. McCullough Hall (1912) and Voter Hall (1913) featured gymnasium and laboratories, respectively, adopting Georgian Revival styling while confirming the campus standard of grey Vermont limestone, granite, and marble.[9]
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