By Mike Donoghue, Vermont News First
A Vermont judge has agreed that a lawsuit filed against Middlebury College officials for their controversial and unannounced decision to improperly remove the name from the historic Mead Memorial Chapel can proceed.

Dr. John Abner Mead, a former Vermont governor, to mark his 50th class reunion from Middlebury College, donated $75,000 in 1914 to build the iconic Mead Memorial Chapel in the middle of campus to honor his ancestors.

The college quietly removed the Mead name off the marble building on the morning of Sept. 27, 2021 for what it believed was his role “in promoting eugenics policies in the state that led to the involuntary sterilization of an estimated 250,” the lawsuit said.

Former Governor James H. Douglas, serving as a court-appointed special administrator of the Mead estate, filed a breach of contract lawsuit in Vermont Superior Court in Middlebury in late March against the college president and the Board of Fellows, better known as the trustees.

Douglas said Middlebury College got it wrong and succumbed to “cancel culture” conduct. The four-term Governor said he boycotted his 50th Middlebury College reunion in 2022 because he was upset by its baseless decision.

Retired Vermont Judge Robert A. Mello, known for his love of history, was appointed special to hear the civil case and recently filed a 7-page ruing rejecting a defense motion by the college to dismiss the lawsuit. 

The final outcome may center on whether the chapel naming comes under gift law, as suggested by the college, or contract law, as suggested by Douglas, the judge noted.

“Whether framed under contract or gift law, proof that a perpetual naming right was intended ultimately will have to satisfy an elevated standard of clarity to be enforceable,” Mello wrote.

“The court declines to catalogue the evidence referred to in the complaint that currently may point in one direction or the other. For now, the question is simply whether Governor Douglas has alleged that such a naming right was intended. The complaint is fairly read to include such an allegation,” Mello said. 

The college, among its claims, maintained only the Vermont Attorney General’s Office is allowed to intercede in the legal question. Mello said that is not how he sees it. He said it is not up to the AG in Vermont. 

“More to the point, Middlebury has come forward with no concrete authority that would compel Vermont’s Attorney General to take action in a case of this sort or require her to consider it. Nor has it convincingly explained why the Attorney General would have any interest at all in enforcing the disputed naming right ‘condition’ in this case,” Mello wrote.

The lawyer for Douglas said she was happy with the decision because “Middlebury College was the center of eugenics teaching in Vermont for more than half a century. It was in fact, a ‘Eugenics Factory,’ said attorney Brooke Dingledine of the law firm Valsangiacomo, Detora & McQuesten in Barre.”

“The Court’s decision denying the College’s motion to dismiss will allow the case to move forward so that we can demonstrate the College’s stunning hypocrisy and bad faith in scapegoating Governor Mead, a descent and honorable man, by using him as their fall-guy, while the College swept its own 50 years history of teaching Eugenics under the rug,” Dingledine said.

“Instead of apologizing for its racism against French-Canadians or for its role in teaching Eugenics for years after the horrors of the Holocaust were known to the world, Middlebury College chose to break its sacred promise to Governor Mead and has thrown him under the bus,” she said in an email. 

The college’s lawyer, Justin Barnard of the Burlington law firm Dinse, referred questions to Middlebury’s communications and marketing office.

“Regarding the current litigation, the court’s recent decision has postponed a ruling on the merits of the case until the parties have a chance to develop the factual record. We are confident that when the court does reach the merits, it will agree that Middlebury was fully within its rights to remove the Mead name from its chapel, according to college spokeswoman Julia Ferrante.

“It’s also worth noting also that Vermont’s courts rarely grant motions to dismiss, and therefore postponing a ruling on the merits at this early stage is not unusual,” she said.

Ferrante noted the college still supports the removal of the name.

“We stand by our decision to remove the Mead name from the chapel, which remains a central gathering place and focal point of our campus. Just like our community has evolved over the century since this emblematic building was dedicated, our understanding of the history of this building has evolved. As an educational institution committed to open expression, we continue to explore the complex dimensions of that history—and to teach and learn through it,” she said in an email. 

Douglas filed included nearly 300 pages of exhibits supporting his 79-page lawsuit in Vermont Superior Court in Middlebury.

He noted Middlebury College officials, in trying to justify their actions, got both the history of the building and its name completely wrong.

The building was never named for Mead, a Rutland physician and industrialist, former Vermont Governor, and Middlebury College Trustee, Douglas said. It was for his ancestors.

“Ironically, Middlebury College, while erroneously recounting the history of the Mead Memorial Chapel, claiming it was dedicated to John Abner Mead instead of by him in honor of his family ancestors, has obliterated any memory of the monumental selfless acts and altruistic contributions he made to his nation, state, county, town, church” and his college, the lawsuit noted.

Judge Mello in his decision directed the lawyers to confer within the following two weeks and develop a schedule for the case for the court to consider. He also urged the two sides to include mediation in the proposed schedule.

“Middlebury argues that no naming right, much less a perpetual one, was contemplated at all. Governor Douglas argues instead that the circumstances imply it, and he seeks the opportunity to develop more evidence in support of it,” Mello wrote.

When the lawsuit was first filed, Douglas agreed to a defense request to have extra time to file its official response to the court. The college said it needed time to do more research on the case. Douglas said at the time he hoped it would give Middlebury time to find the true history.

“The vile accusation conflates historical events that occurred two decades apart declaring Mead responsible for legislation enacted 19 years after his Farewell Address and more than a decade after his death,” Douglas said in court papers.

The lawsuit said Middlebury College has unfortunately and erroneously branded Mead “a eugenicist and proclaims that he is responsible for the tragic sterilization of Vermonters and Native peoples.”

The Mead estate seeks to have the college restore the proper name to the library. If the college refuses, the lawsuit seeks to have compensatory and punitive compensation provided to the Mead estate based on the huge financial benefit the college has received for more than 100 years from the conditional gift.

The lawsuit said the building, which cost $73,373, is worth more than $2.2 million in present value.

Middlebury President Laurie L. Patton, who has served since 2015, recommended the name removal to a subcommittee of the full Board of Trustees during the summer of 2021. The Prudential Committee voted unanimously to adopt Patton’s recommendation, the college said at the time.

Patton and George C. Lee, the chair of the trustees in 2021, issued a statement to the community explaining their actions the day the sign was taken down. 

“We want to stress up front that this was a process involving deep reflection and discussion. No issue like this should be undertaken lightly or often,” it said in part while retelling its understanding of the gift and Mead. 

Douglas, a 1972 Middlebury graduate, is one of the most prominent alums for the liberal arts college, which had more than a $1.5 billion endowment in 2021, the lawsuit said. The Springfield, Mass. native served as a Vermont legislator representing Middlebury for three terms fresh out of college and became House Majority leader. He became an aide to Gov. Richard Snelling and served 12 years as Vermont Secretary of State and 8 years as Vermont State Treasurer. He was elected Vermont Governor from 2003 to 2011.

When Douglas ended his final term as Governor in January 2011, Middlebury College named Douglas as its “Executive in Residence” — a post he has retained. He instructs academic classes and does independent studies with Middlebury students. Middlebury had said earlier this year it planned to use Douglas again this fall and Douglas has said he plans to be on campus. 

The lawsuit, at last word, has had no known impact on his contract.

Mead, a Fair Haven native, was at Middlebury College when he interrupted his studies to enlist in the Union Army with the Vermont Regiment (1862-63) and participated in various battles, including Gettysburg. He returned to graduate in 1864, taught high school briefly, and received a master’s degree at Middlebury in 1867. He began his medical studies at UVM and eventually earned a medical degree at Columbia University in 1868. 

Mead practiced medicine in Rutland from 1870 to 1888 and also served as Vermont Surgeon General. He was offered the post as chair of the medical department at the University of Vermont.  He was elected to the Vermont Senate, later served as Rutland City’s first mayor and was then elected to the House.

He became Lieutenant Governor (1908-1910) and then Governor (1910-12). Mead returned to Rutland to become a bank president and later president of Howe Scale and was a director of the Rutland Railroad. He served on the board of trustees of Middlebury, UVM and Norwich University and received honorary degrees from each.

Mead, a Vermont delegate to the Republican National Convention in 1912, was seriously considered for the vice-presidential nomination for President William Taft, the lawsuit notes. It includes a picture of campaign memorabilia from the possible VP run.

Mead, who died at age 78 at his Rutland home in 1920, is buried nearby in a family plot in Evergreen Cemetery on West Street. 

A version of this story first appeared in the Caledonian-Record newspaper in St. Johnsbury.