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Published January 11, 2010 at 11:20 a.m.
What do you do after 13 years at the helm of Middlebury College?
Former prez John McCardell surprised everyone — including this alumna — when he dedicated himself to a controversial cause: convincing Americans we'd all be safer if the legal drinking age was lowered to 18.
Eloquent and distinguished, the Southern-accented McCardell made his case in an interview I did with him in August 2007. He went on to convince college presidents all over the country to join his so-called "Amethyst Initiative." Colbert Nation, too, toasted McCardell's efforts. His March 2009 appearance on "The Colbert Report" ranked as the third most popular episode of the year.
Where do you go from there? South. Specifically, Sewanee: The University of the South. McCardell announced last week he will be the institution's new president. That's gotta be easier than debating Mothers Against Drunk Driving night after night.
Does that mean "last call" for Choose Responsibility, McCardell's Middlebury-based nonprofit? Nope. Board member Barrett Seaman will take it from here. He's a former Time correspondent who wrote a book called, Binge: Campus Life in an Age of Disconnection and Excess.
File photo: Matthew Thorsen.
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Paula Routly
Bio:
Paula Routly came to Vermont to attend Middlebury College. After graduation, she stayed and worked as a dance critic, arts writer, news reporter and editor before she started Seven Days newspaper with Pamela Polston in 1995. Routly covered arts news, then food, and, starting in 2008, focused her editorial energies on building the news side of the operation, for which she is a regular weekly editor. She conceptualized and managed the “Give and Take” special report on Vermont’s nonprofit sector, the “Our Towns” special issue and the yearlong “Hooked” series exploring Vermont’s opioid crisis. When she’s not editing stories, Routly runs the business side of Seven Days — overseeing finances, management and product development. She spearheaded the creation of the newspaper’s numerous ancillary publications and events such as Restaurant Week and the Vermont Tech Jam. In 2015, she was inducted into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.
Paula Routly came to Vermont to attend Middlebury College. After graduation, she stayed and worked as a dance critic, arts writer, news reporter and editor before she started Seven Days newspaper with Pamela Polston in 1995. Routly covered arts news, then food, and, starting in 2008, focused her editorial energies on building the news side of the operation, for which she is a regular weekly editor. She conceptualized and managed the “Give and Take” special report on Vermont’s nonprofit sector, the “Our Towns” special issue and the yearlong “Hooked” series exploring Vermont’s opioid crisis. When she’s not editing stories, Routly runs the business side of Seven Days — overseeing finances, management and product development. She spearheaded the creation of the newspaper’s numerous ancillary publications and events such as Restaurant Week and the Vermont Tech Jam. In 2015, she was inducted into the New England Newspaper Hall of Fame.
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