A message from our new Interim Dean of Students, registration details for March Open House, updates from the farm, spring Semester highlights and more!
Last month, we welcomed Dr. Scott Brown to our community as the Interim Dean of Students. Dr. Brown brings extensive experience having recently served as Dean of the College at Dartmouth College, Vice President and Dean of Students at The College of Wooster, Associate Vice President and Dean of Students at Colgate University and Interim Associate Vice President and Dean of Students at Northern Arizona University. We are happy to share a brief reflection on his first 30 days at Sterling College.
When I received the invitation to join the Sterling community as the Interim Dean of Students for this spring. I leapt at the chance.
Why? Although I have had the good fortune to work in a wide variety of campuses in my 35 years in higher education — Sterling is special. As a newcomer to the community, I can reflect on a couple of things.
First, a Sterling education is important, unusual, and desirable. Especially now. The clarity of our compelling, living mission of “ecological thinking and action” is defining as an aspiration and reinforced for every student, every day. It is a marvel to see the creativity to deliver our timeless mission in a timely way.
Second, I have been at student centered places before, but nothing like Sterling. Extraordinary care. I have never been to a place that was as plugged into students’ lives, thinking about the students’ total experience on and off campus, in the classroom, on the farm, in the field, and out of doors. The world truly is the classroom at Sterling. Every single person, from the president, to faculty, to the staff, wakes up thinking about students and how to make sure they have a transformative experience.
Lastly, the Sterling community. I have never seen a community truly work to meet its rhetoric with reality. The commitment is explicit and structural: regular Community Meetings, All-College Meetings, and a Community Council where we are all in the same room and invited to share. And the entire community breaks bread together with three meals each day with ingredients grown right on the Sterling Farm. This literally and figuratively nourishes us with great food and food for thought. (By the way, the food is so delicious and inspired, I am glad I have not taken a “before” picture as I am enthusiastically gaining weight like a new farm animal!).
I have to say thank you for the warm welcome I have received. So, if you see me, please share more about your story, any advice you have for me, your hopes for the Sterling community, and how we can work together to make it so — together.
With Appreciation, Dr. Scott C. Brown
Join Us For Open House This March
Are you or someone you know curious to learn more about Sterling College? Please join us for Open House on March 22nd from 10:30am - 2:00pm. Accommodations and travel support are available.
Open House includes a tour of campus visiting residence halls, classrooms, and the Sterling College Farm. Visitors will participate in short workshops relevant to Sterling College's A.A. and B.A. in Environmental Studies.
These faculty-led workshops will delve into some of our concentrations such as Ecology, Environmental Humanities, Outdoor Education, and Sustainable Agriculture and Sustainable Food Systems. We hope to see you there!
Get ready for an exciting summer! We are launching an experiential Pre-College Program designed for rising juniors, seniors, and recent high school graduates.
Students can earn 3 college credits in Environmental Field Studies while living on Sterling College’s campus in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.
Program participants will experience field-based lessons ranging from ecology to sustainable agriculture to outdoor education, character development through service learning, and adventures like rock climbing, mountain biking, and paddling.
Students kicked off the semester with Gear Repair, Wilderness First Responder Training, Community Building Through Winter Recreation, Field Mammalogy, Data Analysis, Black River Sketches, and Winter Expedition.
Temperatures have been dropping into the single digits, but students layer up and brave the freezing temps to learn skills in response and assessment, survival, techniques to manage soft tissue and musculoskeletal injuries, measuring snow pack, shelter building, packing for winter conditions, and more.
Gear Repair students held a free repair event at Craftsbury Public Library where students and faculty were able to repair 38 items in just 3 hours! Newly mended coats, tents, backpacks, snow pants and ski-boots were returned to their owners and kept out of the landfill.
Excitement is building on the farm as lambing season approaches! Our ewes are expecting, so we’re eagerly awaiting the arrival of some new lambs in the coming weeks. Here at Sterling we lamb for wool and meat production, which supplies our Fiber Arts Program and our kitchen. Shearing will take place later this month.
The return of longer daylight hours has also brought an increase in egg collecting — our hens are laying up a storm. In addition to our egg production, we’re planning ahead by raising chickens for next year’s laying flock, and ordering meat chicks for the coming months.
Our garden’s storage crops are still making their way into the kitchen, while we gear up for seed starting. The winter deep cleaning is in full swing, with a focus on tidying, sharpening tools, and preparing to prune the fruit trees. The first spring greens from the hoop house will be on the menu soon, too!
Later this month, students in the Whole Farm Planning course will roll up their sleeves to update and refine our enterprise budgets, taking a deep dive into the numbers behind all the farm’s activities. It’s a busy time, but full of promise for the season ahead!
We will be offering our CSA share in the next few weeks, so please keep an eye out and if you'd like to sign up in advance email us at farm@sterlingcollege.edu
Alumni Spotlight
Evan Ahern Landon graduated from Sterling College in 2020 with a focus on Environmental Humanities and Ecology.
As a Natural Resource Specialist Park Ranger for the Army Corps of Engineers, Evan’s first responsibility is to maintain and operate a network of dams regulating the flow of water into the Connecticut River. These dams were built in the early to mid-twentieth century in the years following the historic flood of 1927. Evan operates and maintains these pieces of critical infrastructure.
Recently, Evan shared more detail with us about his work and how it impacts the natural resources around us.
Say hello to our Faculty in Sustainable Agriculture & Livestock Manager, Azsa Greiner. Azsa has an M.A. in Agriculture from Colorado State University and a B.S. in Wildlife Management from Northland College.
Before coming to Sterling, Azsa Greiner lived with her family in northern Wisconsin for 15 years, where she ran her own farm focusing on small livestock, meat production, and raising show-quality Nigerian Dwarf goats. She discovered that raising quality animals and being a part of the local food economy was one of the most rewarding and exciting aspects of animal husbandry.
Sterling College offers free tuition to Alumni interested in enrolling in up to one 4-credit course each calendar year.
Examples of courses available are Gear Repair, Field Mammalogy, Wilderness First Responder and many more. Visit our course catalog to learn more about what we offer and contact the Registrar to request enrollment in a course.
On February 14th, students head out for a 4-day winter backpacking trip in Northern Vermont to practice new skills in off-trail navigation, low-tech camping, building wood fires, treating water, drying clothes, and staying warm. Students learn the importance of teamwork, thoughtful action, and engagement with the natural world. On February 17th they return to Campus for a celebratory dinner.
Wish them luck and check out our stories on social media as we share updates!
Sterling acknowledges that the land on which we gather, also known as Vermont, is the traditional and unceded territory of the Abenaki people. We also learn in and from a range of landscapes that belong to other indigenous peoples.
As we seek deep and reciprocal relationships with nature, we respect and honor the place-based and cultural wisdom of indigenous ancestors and contemporaries. These words are offered as a reminder that must be matched with acts of respect and repair.
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