Latest word on the street is that Middlebury at Mills is slated to open next summer with all of the Arabic School and part of the Spanish School in Oakland, CA at Mills College. A branch of the Hebrew School may also open there with a joint program with Brandeis University, but that is unconfirmed.

Spanish is a logical choice for a California campus because of the opportunities to explore the rich cultural heritage of Spanish speakers in the San Francisco Bay Area. The Arabic School, on the other hand, seems like a purely practical move since it is the program that is in highest demand and needs the most room to grow enrollment. The plan appears to be that by moving the Arabic School, the Chinese School (the second highest in demand) would be able to expand into the space left behind on the Middlebury campus.

It’s curious that the Chinese program was not selected to move to Mills because the San Francisco Bay Area has a very high population of both Chinese immigrants and people of Chinese heritage. Although much of the Chinese population in the Bay Area speaks Catonese and not the Middlebury-taught Mandarin, the cultural and language-based opportunities are numerous. An Arabic and Hebrew School combo is a good idea in theory. In practice, however, the language pledge would prevent the two schools from holding meaningful dialogue.

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Last summer, MiddBlog broke news on the Middlebury-Monterey Language Academy (MMLA) way before the string of glossy brochures rolled off the presses and President Liebowitz slipped the MMLA announcement into a regular email about personnel.

This summer, MiddBlog brings you news on Phase Two of the language empire’s expansion (queue Star Wars music): Middlebury College appears to be opening a second campus of the famed summer language schools at Mills College in Oakland, California in 2009. MiddBlog is going on record with this rumor even though VP of Language Schools Michael Geisler, who admittedly is a busy man, did not reply to emails requesting comment or confirmation.

Either way, the devil seems to be in the job postings which list, “Middlebury at Mills” as a commitment for language school staff to be hired this year. It’s not surprising that Middlebury has been looking for a second language school site to help ease the burden on our tiny Vermont campus which hosts 1,350 students during the summer. Coordinating limited capacity dining halls, facilities, and dorm rooms during the summer is a challenge. The number of students applying to hot programs such as Chinese and Arabic have skyrocketed the past few years, with even some genuine Midd undergrads getting turned away by their own school. An expansion certainly gives Middlebury more breathing room.

But questions and details remain: What does the “language pledge(TM)” (yes, that’s trademarked) look like in a metropolitan area with 4 million people? Will students go? What languages will open at Mills? How much will language school in Oakland cost? For reference: the MMLA tuition costs $4,000 for four weeks. Language schools currently run $8,406 for 9 weeks and $6,368 for 7-weeks.

The MiddBlog reader who emailed in this tip on the language school expansion expressed “serous reservations about the College’s focus on operations beyond the undergraduate liberal arts college (the Language Schools, Monterey, Middlebury–Monterey Language Academy, etc.).” Writing further, “As the Middlebury keeps adding affiliates far away from Vermont, are we diluting our fundamental identity?…It’s not a new sentiment on campus, but I believe President Liebowitz’s focus on these auxiliary elements is ultimately disconcerting.”

Last year, I characterized the opening of the MMLA as a “strong, strategic move” to hook high school students on Middlebury College. This year, I’m not so sure what Middlebury at Mills means. Clearly, Middlebury is building the language brand. That’s great. We should be promoting Middlebury wherever we get the chance. But expansion of the coveted language schools is more than some leaf logo branding and promotion, it represents a foundational move for the college that requires real resources. I have no doubt that President Liebowitz, VP of Language Schools Prof. Geisler, and many others have put a lot of thought into this, and I look forward to hearing more about the plans in a formal announcement to all students.

MiddBlog asks: Would you attend language school at Mills? Do you agree or disagree with our tipster that “focus on auxiliary elements [of the college] is ultimately disconcerting?”

[got a tip for middblog? middblog@gmail.com]

UPDATE: President Liebowitz has confirmed MiddBlog’s report.