The Dean Knits

What does a tired dean do at night? Now there’s a burning question. When she’s not attending a university function, preparing a class for the sociology courses she teaches, doing research, or thinking about the College and its future, the dean is often knitting. Born in Lowell, Massachusetts, the American “cradle of the industrial revolution,” and historically home to some of the country’s first and biggest textile mills, Dean Miller comes from a long line of weavers. In fact, when she was a child, her father was a loom fixer, a craft he is still happy to tell you was among the most important in the mill, for if the looms didn’t work, no one worked. This year, she’s turned her attention to hats. She has knitted a variety of styles, which are available for purchase on the first floor of the Davis Center at Grow Vermont, the student-run business that specializes in Vermont products. All proceeds benefit the faculty and students of the College. If you are on campus for Homecoming/Parents Weekend, do stop in and try on a hat and, if it suits you, wear it home; you’ll be supporting the College as well as the entrepreneurial efforts of the students who operate Grow Vermont.