<p>Over the past few decades, the quality of the faculty and academic program across the liberal arts curriculum has risen...and the institution's reputation seems to be finally catching up. It takes time to change perceptions, however.</p>
<p>So how about the announcement this week by the Dept of Energy that Middlebury is now the first liberal arts college to win entry into the Dept's Solar Decathlon Competition? This require engineering, hard science (physics, chemistry), architecture, and, for a small place, remarkable ingenuity and persistence to make it in.</p>
<p>Have a read at what was, as all reports say, a huge longshot for Middlebury students. But it relects the quality of the student body, its resourcefulness, and the institution's support.</p>
<p>See: Middlebury</a> selected for Solar Decathlon 2011 | Middlebury </p>
<p>and, from the president of the College's perspective: </p>
<p>Ron</a> on Middlebury Middlebury wins entry into the 2011 Solar Decathlon</p>