April 20, 2018 by The Oberlin Review

The Oberlin Review April 20, 2018

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 21

SFC Pivots to Ad-Hoc Fund After Board Rejects Fee Increase Roman Broszkowski News Editor

Tracy Tucker, the Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees Union President, reviews the mutual bargaining agreement signed by both the College and OCOPE. OCOPE recently won a settlement against the College for violating the contract. Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo Editor

NLRB Sides With OCOPE in Suit Against College Sydney Allen News Editor

The Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees union recently won a suit against the College with the National Labor Relations Board. The charges, filed in January, claimed that the College violated their mutually agreed-upon collective bargaining agreement by placing temporary workers, who make $14 an hour and receive no employment benefits or insurance, in OCOPE positions longer than is stipulated in the contract. The NLRB found the College in violation of the contract during arbitration. This is the third time in four years that an OCOPE grievance has reached the level of arbitration — the most extreme step in a four-part process meant to resolve discrepancies related to the contract, which is negotiated by OCOPE and the College’s Human Resources department and was recently updated in 2016. “We haven’t had to grieve these situations for quite a while because human resources effectively managed the hiring process,” said Diane Lee, OCOPE vice president and interlibrary loan specialist. “The College has stopped settling these grievances and forced us into arbitration, which costs us tens of thousands of dollars — particularly for the College. Lee added that forcing unions to take so many issues to arbitration is a common union-busting tactic, since it forces the union to expend valuable resources on the grievances. “It wastes an incredible amount of time because both sides have to pre-

pare, there is all kinds of documentation needed,” she said. “We’re wasting time we could be delegating to our jobs and helping students and faculty, … but we have to be taken from that to defend our contract.” Since the NLRB ruled with OCOPE, the College must both fix the discrepancies and post an NLRB statement around campus indicating the College’s failure to adhere to the union contract, which must be left posted for 60 days. “They are causing the College to pay out in arbitration, not only financially but morally,” OCOPE President and Politics Department Administrative Assistant Tracy Tucker said. “I mean, the embarrassment of having to post this NLRB charge — that’s more of a black eye to the College than anything — it’s the humiliation point of it.” Before this, OCOPE won a similar settlement for a grievance they filed in Februay 2017. The grievance came after the Voluntary Separation Incentives package — the faculty and staff buyout initiated in April 2016 that was meant to save the College money. 32 OCOPE members participated in the VSIP, and many of the vacated positions were not filled, which led to much of the work being distributed among non-union students, faculty, and other staff members — a direct violation of the bargaining agreement. “The part that really resonates with me is the money that’s wasted,” Lee said. “Because the College has lost in all three of these major actions, and I don’t think there is a single person in HR that didn’t expect that to happen. It’s not new language, it’s not new interpretations — it’s things we have agreed on for years.”

President Carmen Ambar maintains that despite the NLRB’s accusations, the College admits to no wrongdoing. “While we disagree with the factual allegations set forth in the National Labor Relations Board’s complaint, we continue to agree with the principle that sharing information with union leadership about the terms, conditions, and benefits of employment for its members in a timely manner is important,” Ambar said. “We also find affirmation by the NLRB’s settlement statement that notes nothing in the settlement agreement should be construed as an admission by the College that it unlawfully refused to furnish information to the OCOPE or that the College violated the National Labor Relations Act in any respect.” For some students active in the field of labor justice, the settlement was a welcome victory. “My greatest hope is that this victory can be a lesson for the College. If administrators had been able to recognize and admit their wrongdoings early on, the issues might have been resolved without arbitration,” College senior and SLAC co-chair Michael Kennedy said. He added that the incident should be a point of shame for the College, which prides itself on its liberal policies and activism. “Students, alums, and community members should be ashamed that OCOPE’s contract was infringed upon and that the administration did not take up responsibility for their errors until legally mandated to,” Kennedy said. “I hope this ruling pushes the College towards an approach of respecting and resolving the issues brought up by all employees.”

The Board of Trustees rejected the Student Senate’s proposal to increase the student activity fee by $63 per semester next fiscal year. The decision — made at a March 22 board meeting — also called for the Student Finance Committee to repropose the fee raise when the board begins discussions for FY 2020 funding allocations. Senate initially presented the fee increase to the board March 9. The Office of the Student Treasurer initially drafted the proposal so that the SFC could keep up with student organizations’ budget demands and to bolster the diminishing funding pool. Student Senate Chair and College junior Kameron Dunbar presented the proposal to the board, and he added that he was disappointed in the board’s decision. “I think the board didn’t make the right decision to decline the fee increase,” Dunbar said. “However, I understand that the pricing model had already been made for the year and changing even this small part would have disrupted students’ financial aid packages that had already been set, so I respect the decision.” The SFC and Senate’s reasoning behind raising the student activity fund was threefold. They first claimed that the fee had remained stagnant for at least four years. In that time, it had fallen behind the cost inflation student organizations had experienced since. Student budgets have also increased as student organizations have requested more funding. Underenrollment has also impacted the SFC, since the activity fee is drawn from tuition income. “We would not be able to meet student needs under our current funding model,” SFC co-chair and College senior Josh Koller said. SFC co-chair and College senior Alana Sheppard said that while the board’s decision didn’t put student organizations in any immediate financial danger, it would impact how SFC allocated money this spring budgeting session. “I think [funding levels] will stay the same for now, but student budgets will come under deeper scrutiny,” Sheppard said. Koller echoed Sheppard’s sentiment, saying that “[Deeper scrutiny] is positive and necessary, but any cuts won’t be drastic.” Both co-chairs agreed that the lack of additional funding does present a challenge, but that the SFC is tackling it by re-evaluating its funding and distribution See Board, page 3

CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

THIS WEEK

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

02 Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings Named VP Finance, Administration

06 DeCafé Anti-Theft Rules Mirror Stop-and-Frisk Policies

08-09 Midwest Asian American Student Conference 2018

10 Lamar’s Pulitzer Reminds Us There’s More Work To Do

15 Track and Field Dominate at All-Ohio

03 SFP, JVP Honor Israeli Apartheid Week

07 Students Should Engage in Attorney General Race

12 Season Two of Snicket Just as Grimly Humorous

16 Pro Athletes Destigmatize Mental Illness

The Oberlin Review | April 20, 2018

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Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings Named VP Finance, Administration Sydney Allen News Editor

Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings, the current vice president of Business Affairs at Otterbein University, was named Oberlin’s new vice president of Finance and Administration last week, pending the approval of the Board of Trustees during their June meeting. If the board approves, she will officially take over July 1. Interim Vice President of Finance and Administration Alan Norton came out of retirement last May after Vice President of Finance Mike Frandsen’s departure last year. A 10-person search committee has searched for a candidate to permanently fill the position since October. That committee was headed by President Carmen Ambar and consisted of deans, faculty members, administrators, and former Student Senator and College senior Josh Koller. For Vazquez-Skillings, Oberlin’s character and history of social justice are part of what drew her to the school. “The national reputation of the institution is very intriguing to me,” she said. “It seems like a really interesting opportunity to be at an institution that’s really focused on mission. … When I look at the way the organization is run — the engagement of the students — it just seems like that is part of the ethos here.” Vazquez-Skillings, a Cleveland native, graduated from Kenyon College with a Bachelor’s degree in International Studies

and Latin American Political History. She then obtained a Master’s in Public Affairs from the John Glenn School of Public Affairs at The Ohio State University. “I’m pleased that Rebecca is joining Oberlin at this exciting time,” Ambar wrote in an online statement. “In a pool of highquality candidates, Rebecca rose to the top not just for the depth of her experience, but also for her ability to think creatively with us as Oberlin responds to the rapidly changing landscape of higher education.” One of Vazquez-Skilling’s creative solutions in the past has been to partner with community organizations and businesses when approaching financial decisions — a strategy she hopes to bring to Oberlin. “I think the key is partnership and learning through your partners — whether [they] be partners in the business sector, partners in the K-12 sector, partners from the local government — and thinking about what opportunities lie in partnership and thinking about what you might glean from looking at other sectors and not just focusing on what the rest of higher education is doing, but learning from a broader base,” she said. “But even internally, partners through shared governance are also important. I think you get better outcomes when you engage broadly.” College junior and Student Senate Chair Kameron Dunbar said that VazquezSkilling’s leadership is much needed

as Oberlin heads into this time of fiscal austerity and budget changes. “I’m excited to welcome Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings to the Oberlin community,” Dunbar said. “In my time with Rebecca, I found her to have a deep understanding of the greater fiscal landscape of higher [education]. Her work will be challenging as she enters into this institution tackling a widening operational deficit. Though difficult, I look forward to seeing her work in developing a new budget model for Oberlin that depends less on direct student revenue, routine tuition raises, and an exploitative housing and dining model. Most importantly, I look forward to working with her on Student Senate in finding creative ways to engage the wider student body with Oberlin’s financial realities.” Dunbar added that Vazquez-Skillings will be the third woman of color to join Oberlin’s senior staff this year, which he said is a welcome and much-needed change in Oberlin’s relatively homogenous administration. “I’d also be remiss not to mention the hope I feel from the diversity of President Ambar’s senior staff,” he said. “Higher education is plagued by a lack of diversity in senior leadership, and it’s within our ethos to pioneer. Having women of color in senior leadership benefits us all; we should be grateful for this new era.” Vazquez-Skilling said she hopes to be helpful to students by leading the

Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings was recently named the new Vice President for Finance and Administration. Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

Finance and Administration office with accessibility and communications in mind. Many students took issue with how her predecessor, Frandsen, handled issues of College finances — particularly toward the end of the year when he announced a tution hike, Oberlin Student Ccooperative Association financial aid adjustments, and room and board changes in an email, sparking campus protests and anxiety. “I think being intentional is very important,” Vazquez-Skillings said. “When I was at Ohio University I had frequent meetings with the student newspaper. And I [currently] meet regularly with student government. I think student engagement is very important and constructive.”

Safety and Security, Student Health Will Move to Dascomb Gabby Greene Staff Writer Students returning to campus this fall should expect to see a new Office of Safety and Security and new Health Services Center housed in Dascomb Hall. With the closing of the dining hall, renovations to the space are expected to begin after commencement. Last year, Safety and Security officers expressed a need for a new space. After considering different spaces to move Safety and Security — including Carnegie Building — the administration chose Dascomb Hall as the final location. “We’re real happy about it, primarily because it’ll be so much more convenient for the students in a central location,” said Director of Safety and Security Michael Martinsen. “In the end, I’m glad that Carnegie didn’t work out, because this new place is more centrally located for people on the south side of the campus as well. They don’t have to walk as far to utilize our space. It puts us in a nice proximity to Wilder Hall, Mudd library, and the open space

areas.” Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo supervised the conversations concerning this move for Safety and Security and Health and Counseling Services. Once the construction plan and budget is finalized, construction companies will bid to renovate the space. “Student Senate has made the case for several years that the location of Student Health and the Counseling Center created barriers to access for students,” Raimondo said, “The campus shuttle that started this fall was an interim step designed to reduce the barriers created by distance. The opportunity to move these programs to central campus further addresses this concern.” Prioritizing Safety and Security’s relocation to Dascomb was a matter of accessibility for students and staff. According to Martinsen, the current house for Safety and Security on West Lorain Street is hundreds of years old. Besides the building’s age, there is only one bathroom on the second floor of the house, and the floor is not level. The building is

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also not compliant with Americans with Disabilites Act requirements. “One of the issues we’ve had over the years of being in here is that [the current Office of Safety and Security is] not handicap accessible,” said Assistant Director of Safety and Security Clifton Barnes. The building’s layout is also problematic for staff. Martinsen’s predecessor, former Director Marjorie Burton, “had some physical maladies that would have been a lot easier if she’d been on one floor or had something with a little more ADA compliance,” Barnes said. Martinsen hopes that the new space will come with new opportunities for Safety and Security. “I think it’s going to provide a more suitable environment for providing instruction to small groups of people,” Martinsen said. With new officers added to Safety and Security this year, staff hope the relocation will provide better avenues for training. In the new space, Martinsen plans to set up a table outside the building at different times dur-

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ing the week to answer student questions about topics like law enforcement, crime prevention, and fire safety. “Part of the plan was to have an area where we can do a little bit more on the way of training,” Barnes said. “We’re kind of limited with the conference room [in the current Safety and Security house].” The new space, Raimondo says, will increase safety. “Safety and Security will have sufficient room to support community members in crisis more effectively and will provide a safer, more functional environment for this 24-hour, 7-days-a-week operation,” Raimondo said. In the new space, there will be a wall separating the Offices of Safety and Security and Health and Counseling Services with the aim of maintaining privacy between the different departments. Martinsen, Barnes, and Raimondo view confidentiality as a priority for this new space — especially given the housing of multiple departments in the same building. Barnes’ current office is a walk-through between a conference room and other offices. This

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space, according to Barnes and Martinsen, limits the level of confidentiality Barnes can ensure to the students who meet with him. New renovations will include measures to increase confidentiality within departments as well. The current layout plan for the renovations include a conference room for mediation between students as well as smaller rooms to separate parties. The budget for the renovation has yet to be finalized. According to Raimondo, funds for construction will come from the pre-existing summer renovations budget. Martinsen hopes that the move will allow students to see the departments as a more accessible resource. “Students in the past who would think, ‘I don’t want to make a special trip down there’ maybe will be more likely to stop in [to the new offices] with any questions they have,” Martinsen said. Director of Student Health and Counseling Services John Harshbarger declined to comment on Health and Counseling Services’ planned move.

Corrections: The Oberlin Review is not aware of any corrections at this time. To submit a corrrection, email managingeditor@ oberlinreview.org.

SFP, JVP Honor Israeli Apartheid Week

Security Notebook Thursday, April 12, 2018 12:51 p.m. A student reported the theft of their bicycle from the sheltered area at the Firelands Apartment Building. The bicycle was secured to itself at the time of the theft. 5:13 p.m. A student reported a missing scientific calculator from the computer lab in the Science Center sometime between Wednesday and Thursday afternoon. 11:45 p.m. A student reported the theft of their bicycle from the north side of South Hall.

Friday, April 13, 2018

Students attend the workshop Palestine 201: Hamas, Liberal Zionism, and Pinkwashing presented by Students for a Free Palestine and Jewish Voice for Peace. The event, held at 7 p.m. yesterday in the King Building, consisted of three short information sessions about Hamas, liberal Zionism, and “pinkwashing” — the idea that Israel uses LGBTQ activists for exploitative purposes. According to SFP members, the event was held in remembrance of the Land Day massacres that killed over 30 Palestinians and injured more than 1,500. The event was part of Israeli Apartheid Week. Other demonstrations included numerous visual art pieces set up in Wilder Bowl to draw attention to the plight of Palestinians. Text by Sydney Allen, News Editor Photo by Bryan Rubin, Photo Editor

Board of Trustees Rejects Student Activity Fee Increase Continued from page 1 model. “Not getting the fee has allowed us to rethink our structure and spend our money more thoughtfully,” Koller said. “We’re changing the ad-hoc policy to reflect this since we anticipate greater reliance on it.” The SFC plans to move more funds into the ad-hoc pool, which has stricter dispensation rules than the regular budgetary pool, in order to compensate for reduced funds. “[Greater ad-hoc reliance] is good because then we can analyze spending in greater detail, which is one way we plan on spending our money more carefully,” Koller said. In addition to adding more funds, the SFC also intends to change many of the rules around how student organizations interact with the ad-hoc process. “We want greater dialogue,” Sheppard said. “During the spring budgeting process we have no dialogue, but under ad-hoc — because groups are asking for funding for specific events — there is a much higher level of discussion and detail.” The SFC’s hope is that by funneling more student asks away from regular budgeting and into the ad-hoc system, the quality and success of individual events will increase, while SFC will be able to maintain tighter fiscal control. Sheppard laid out how ad-hoc currently works and how she hopes to change it. “Its general principles have been very rigid: that it cannot be used for additional events, nor can it be used for things SFC cut from an organization’s spring budget,” she said. “Now, we’d want it to be a more open process — maybe allow groups to ask for things that were initially cut if they can present a detailed need.” According to Koller, the ad-hoc fund distributes close to $120,000 on average years. This year, SFC is expecting student demand to exceed that. But even without the student activity fund increase, SFC remains optimistic. “Barring any unexpected shocks, I’m 95 percent sure that we’ll be able to cover adhoc requests this year,” Koller said. Sheppard agreed. The Oberlin Review | April 20, 2018

Student Senate welcomes the proposed changes to SFC’s structure, but some members remain deeply frustrated with how the committee operates. Currently, SFC distributes mainly to individual student organizations, mostly using the established budgeting process. “I think SFC has to do better and be more judicious,” Dunbar said. “Its structure is unresponsive and unrepresentative of student needs. This way of operating siloes communities and hinders campus wide events,” Dunbar said. “This isn’t what students want.” The SFC agrees that funding should be more reflective of student demand. “In the end, we’re here to make sure students’ needs are met,” Sheppard said. Both Koller and Sheppard referenced Campus Climate Survey data, which indicated student desire for more campus unity and campus-wide services as a way for SFC to tap into what students want. However, according to Dunbar, the SFC will need to do more than change strategies if it is going to improve. “In relation to raising the student activity fee, [the SFC was] unaware of their own bylaws and restrictions,” Dunbar said. “I had to read it to them.” Under article two of the SFC’s charter, the committee is not actually allowed to create a specific proposal for raising the activity fee. SFC must ask Senate to consider a raise, at which point student senators will craft and debate specific proposals before voting on which specific increase to present to the Board of Trustees. Instead, for the recent fee increase proposal, the SFC crafted the specific increase on their own and went directly to the Chair of Student Senate. This breach of protocol circumnavigated student elected representatives and falls outside the SFC’s responsibilities. Despite the friction between Student Senate and the SFC over correct procedure, Senate intends to present the SFC fee increase to the board again next fall.

10:50 a.m. Safety and Security officers were requested to assist with a Life Safety inspection at a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit. Officers found a bagged smoke detector and a hookah. The bag was removed from the detector and the hookah was brought to the Safety and Security Office. 1:50 p.m. Officers were requested to assist with a Life Safety inspection on the sixth floor of the Firelands Apartments building. A bagged smoke detector was found. A coat hanger and bag were removed from the detector.

Saturday, April 14, 2018 12:33 p.m. A student reported a broken window at a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit. A party attendee threw a can of beer, which hit a window and broke the interior pane of glass. Maintenance technicians responded and placed cardboard over the window until further repairs could be made. 1:20 a.m. Officers responded to a noise complaint at a Union Street Housing Unit and located an unauthorized party where residents were advising attendees to leave. Officers observed a large number of beer cans and liquor bottles, and a large hole in the south wall of the apartment.

Sunday, April 15, 2018 2:37 p.m. An officer on routine patrol of Keep Cottage observed an odor of gas at the northwest entrance to the stairwell. Maintenance technicians, members of the Oberlin Fire Department, and Columbia Gas of Ohio responded. A defunct pilot light on a stove was found to be the cause.

Monday, April 16, 2018 11:29 p.m. An officer was requested to assist with a Life Safety inspection at a Union Street Village Housing Unit. Upon arrival, an officer observed a bagged smoke detector. The bag was removed from the detector.

Tuesday, April 17, 2018 2:47 p.m. Staff at the Adam Joseph Lewis Center reported that a package received on April 11 had been tampered with. Three LIFX light bulbs had been taken from the package.

Ne w s OFF THE CUFF

Tyrone Wicks, S & S Officer Tyrone Wicks is an officer with the Oberlin College Office of Safety and Security. He has been in his position for just over a year. The Review sat down with Wicks to discuss the highlights and challenges of his job and what it’s like to be a Safety and Security officer on campus. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Interview by Lila Michaels Staff Writer How and why did you start working for Safety and Security at Oberlin? Well, I was born and raised here. This is my hometown, so I’m back in my hometown after I’ve lived in Florida and Texas. I started out in 1978 as a police explorer at the Oberlin Police Department when they started that, and that’s something that’s in conjunction with the Boy Scouts of America. It’s a coeducational opportunity that exposes you to different types of careers, and I actually did pursue that. After a stint in the military and some other things, I actually did go into law enforcement full time. I retired from there, moved to Texas, and now I’m back here, and I work at Safety and Security. What are your favorite and least favorite parts of your

job? I think my favorite part of the job is just getting around the campus. Oberlin has a really gorgeous campus, especially at night. I think the least favorite part of my job is when we have to deal with some pretty tough issues for students, and we have to make some decisions that may not be popular for us or for the students, but they actually have to be done. Do you have an examples that you’re able to share of times that have been tough? I think dealing with students that are having a really difficult time, and not being able to provide the type of support that I think they probably need because of extraneous circumstances that I have no control over, and not being able to provide the level of support that would really be great for the students. I think that’s something

the College sometimes wrestles with as well. How do we provide the maximum amount of support for our students? What is your best story from your time at Safety and Security? I think it’s some of the things that students try to cook and the way that they try to cook them. We live in an era of YouTube where you can probably learn almost any skill you want, and I think some people don’t actually try. We’ve had students try to make baked bread in microwaves and just things like that that are just harmless activities. It does cause a hoopla because you got fire alarms and all that other stuff. Generally they’re harmless activities, and they’re hilarious. The students have a laugh once you get them to calm down and say, “No, you’re not in any trouble. These are the kinds of things that happen.” That kind

Tyrone Wicks

Photo by Hugh Newcomb, Photo Editor

of thing is really funny and seeing students grow and learn and take some of the missteps that we took as kids is something we can all sit around and laugh about and think about. This is a great memory that you’re going to take forward, and someday you and some of the other alumni are going to sit around and laugh about these times, and it’s going to be really exciting. A lot of students get upset about that, and I tell them about the time that I was in college, and I actually did something that dropped out the power for a whole city block. So I say, “Once you top that, you can talk to me — but right now I think you’re in good shape.” I say, “As you can see I came out OK, so this is not a life-ending activity. This is just a small speed bump in the way. It’s part of really amazing experiences that you’re going to share later on with family and friends and your children.” I think there is inevitably going to be a somewhat mixed response to any security enforcement on a college campus. If you could say anything to Oberlin students from the perspective of Safety and Security, what would that be? I would say that we’re not a “gotcha” organization. We really seek to provide support. Even though we do have to provide documentation and reporting in a lot of instances, our main goal is to provide support, and we want to support our students in any way that we possibly can. I think when you’re in that type of role, one of the most exciting things to Safety and Security officers is when you are able to convince students that that’s where you’re at, so that they can feel comfortable in sharing things with us and knowing that we are an educational institution and that is a growing experience for you. Seeing random students who now feel like you’re not a “gotcha” organization, because we’ll walk through a quad, and students who don’t know you

will high-five you or wave, to me is probably one of the most exciting things that you have — when students are that comfortable and feel like they can advocate for themselves comfortably and not feel like you’re going to be oppressive or there is only going to be a one-way conversation, I really enjoy my conversations with students. One of my favorite situations like that where I can provide an example is we have a student who plays trumpet. Late one night I was closing up the Conservatory and he was in the last room practicing, so I went to tell him that he had to leave and he said, “Well, you know, I was just trying out some jazz.” He’s training in classical but he loves jazz, and I love jazz, so I said for a few extra minutes I’ll hear some jazz. He was just phenomenal at it, and we just had such a great time. What was great about that is feeling that I can advocate for myself for a few extra minutes, and everyone will win. I won; I heard some really amazing jazz. I see this gentleman almost every time I lock up the Conservatory, and it’s really great to hear some amazing music that’s coming out of there. Having students feel like they can advocate for themselves and feel comfortable doing it allows for both of us to have an enriching time. Is there anything else you would like to add? I think the thing I would say to everyone is be safe. Be safe, and if you see something say something. That is so important to what we do. If you see something that looks out of the way, please say something to us, because we really want to know. It is not an inconvenience for us to check things out. It is not a problem for us; that’s why we’re here, and we look forward to helping students in that way to protect the privacy and make sure that they’re safe.

Oberlin Community News Bulletin

Big Parade Workshop to be Held Tomorrow

Role of Positivity in Sociopolitical Activism

The third of four Big Parade workshops will be held tomorrow from 1–4 p.m. in the Big Parade space behind the Student Health and Counseling Center offices. The workshop will be led by Outreach Coordinator Claudio Orso-Giacone. Attendees will work with recycled materials to create collage-style masks and crafts. The final Big Parade Workshop will take place Saturday, April 28, and attendees will be able to finish up last-minute floats, puppets, and crafts before the May 5 Big Parade.

The Multicultural Resource Center will be hosting a panel on the Role of Positivity in Sociopolitical Activism as part of the ELEVATE series on Tuesday, April 24. The panelists include Director of the MRC Toni Myers, who will discuss “LGBTQ and Women’s Liberation Movements”; Dr. Sandy Placido, who will speak on “Healing and Positivity in Rebuilding Puerto Rico”; and Assistant Dean of Students and Director of Student Academic Success Programs Chris Donaldson, who will talk about the “History of Oberlin’s Students of Color.”

Oberlin Underground Railroad Center Project Enters Phase IIB The Oberlin Underground Railroad Center Implementation team will be accepting bids over the construction of the upcoming Oberlin Underground Railroad Center, a 2,175-square foot pavilion that will be near the Edison Street trail and bike path starting May 1. The construction will be Phase IIB of the three-phase project. The pavilion will include restrooms, bike racks, sidewalks, and drinking fountains. Moody-Nolan Architects of Cleveland estimate the cost at $377,500, with 80 percent covered by federal funding.

OPINIONS April 20, 2018

established 1874

Letters to the Editors

College Should Have Avoided Union Violations To the Editors:  Nearly 50 years ago, a group of Oberlin office and library workers showed the courage and foresight to organize a new labor union on campus, Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees, to address the glaring inequities they faced as employees. Today, OCOPE continues to play an essential role in bringing economic justice to its 164 members. In early 2017, OCOPE filed charges on the basis of unfair labor practice with the National Labor Relations Board, whose recently-issued decision ruled in favor of the union. Furthermore, an arbitration heard this past December also found that the College had violated its contract with OCOPE. Labor disputes are costly for both sides, and the College has undoubtedly spent a significant sum of money in mounting its defense. Oberlin’s administration has announced that the College currently faces a major financial crisis, dwarfing practically every other campus concern. In failing to honor the union contract, the administration has exacerbated rather than alleviated Oberlin’s financial woes. If they had only done the right thing all along, the College might have been spared the embarrassment of this expensive contradiction. – Phyllis J. Jones OCOPE member and OC alumna

Nation Would Benefit More From Political Unity Than Division To the Editors: Most of us in this part of Ohio root for the Cavs, Browns, or the Cleveland baseball team. Most people in New York, California, Texas, Boston, etc. root for their local teams. All year long there is a healthy exchange among sports fans from various parts of our nation. Occasionally, each area has its moments to

brag, though some areas seem to be a lot more favored than others. The division of opinions or the rooting for this or that team has many advantages to a thriving nation. However, there should never be any division among us as a people, a nation, as far as ensuring that the poor, especially, and others receive excellent healthcare, get a fine education, have good jobs, decent homes, feel safe, and are hopeful about the future. Very few of us can be superstars on professional sports teams, outstanding artists, or musicians, but we can all play very important roles just by challenging all politicians to focus far more on what unites us than on what divides us. God has imbued us with a desire to have children; and He perhaps has given the ability to care for our young children because it is during their first six years that it is easiest to inculcate into them the values, attitudes, and insights to face a challenging world. We should hope and pray that President Trump will begin working to unite us. But we must spend far more of our time and energy on focusing on the small but most significant things that made and make us a great nation. Surely there will be debate about how to proceed on this undertaking. But the basic goals that are nowhere in sight are the very ones on which we must focus. Trump’s base itself is suffering. Let our efforts be toward joining with them to ensure that our core values and needs are forever protected. The stronger and more frequent arguments are for the above bread-andbutter issues, the more united the poor and middle class will be in spite of their party affiliations. And that unity across party lines, however slight, will be significant. Though many of us will remain active for a world without nuclear weapons, for an America without AR-15s, for a country with fewer walls, etc., success in making us a more united America creates space for us all to root, as we do for our favorite teams, for this or that politician on issues where there is a great divide. The status quo of disunity is harmful. We must reach President Trump’s base on core and common issues. – Booker C. Peek Emeritus Associate Professor of Africana Studies

SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. at opinions@oberlinreview.org or Wilder Box 90 for inclusion in that week’s issue. Letters may not exceed 600 words and op-eds may not exceed 800 words, except with consent of the Editorial Board. All submissions must include contact information, with full names and any relevant titles, for all signers. All writers must individually confirm authorship on electronic submissions. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity, length, grammar, accuracy, strength of argument and in consultation with Review style. Editors will work with contributors to edit pieces and will clear major edits with the authors prior to publication. Editors will contact authors of letters to the editors in the event of edits for anything other than style and grammar. Headlines are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. Opinions expressed in editorials, letters, op-eds, columns, cartoons or other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of the staff of the Review. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to a contributor. The Oberlin Review | April 20, 2018

Volume 146, Number 21

Editorial Board Editors-in-Chief

Melissa Harris

Christian Bolles

Managing Editor Daniel Markus

Opinions Editors

El Wilson

Jackie Brant

Student Activism Must Work Toward Solutions After entering this academic year with significant under-enrollment contributing to a $5 million deficit, the Admissions Office has emphasized the importance of ensuring that Oberlin hits its enrollment goals. A large part of that effort, as President Ambar highlighted in a campus-wide email in February, has been in emphasizing the persuasive power of All Roads Lead to Oberlin — a program in which admitted students visit campus. This weekend is the third and final All Roads event, and compared to last year’s All Roads, which was littered with student protests against the 2017–2018 tuition hike and room and board changes, this year was significantly more successful. However, we must remain cognizant of our actions in regards to prospective students even as conditions worsen. A sudden and poorly-communicated April 18, 2017 email from then Vice President of Finance and Administration Mike Frandsen sparked last year’s All Roads protests. Although we supported current students’ work in informing admitted students of the conditions and costs that came with the announced changes, we saw fault — especially in retrospect — in the accompanying message students conveyed to prospective students: Don’t come to Oberlin. This message is one that highlights some of the shortfalls of Oberlin activism: protest the problem but fail to work constructively toward a solution. Obies are passionate about social justice and increasing accessibility, but the reality of this institution is that it depends heavily on tuition income. Deterring students from enrolling at Oberlin rather than working toward revising policies as well as irresponsible spending surely contributed both to this year’s drop in enrollment and the College’s ballooning deficit. Housing, dining, resources, and conditions on campus will not improve on their own, and without the income to rectify the problems we face, they will only continue to worsen. The financial deficit has indeed sparked very tangible consequences across campus. Dascomb Dining Hall is closing. Staff who we interact with every day, who work hard to provide us with food, keep our dorms clean, and maintain our facilities, are losing their jobs. All employees of the institution face salary freezes for the second year in a row. Our professors are given fewer opportunities to work on their research as the administration cuts back on research status grants. Our Student Activity Fund has less money in it than in previous years, so student organization budget allocation will likely become more stringent. Telling admitted students not to come to Oberlin directly affects the financial strains and realities we collectively face on this campus, and will only inflame the problems cited above. Too often, students protest against changes without actually envisioning a solution. The protests at last year’s All Roads programming certainly illustrate this, so we applaud the campus effort to create a more welcoming and productive series of All Roads weekends this year. Oberlin is projected to meet its enrollment goals next year. If students really want to protest effectively to support and improve the conditions and resources of workers, professors, and fellow students on this campus, we should not simply inform prospective students of the realities on this campus. Rather, we should also proactively work toward rectifying the obstacles we face. There are several ways students can act productively. Students should remain vigilant and engaged during the upcoming Academic Administrative Program Review, especially given the concerns that faculty members have expressed in recent weeks. Students can engage with administrators, asking questions and proposing solutions they feel are right for this campus. They can apply to serve on committees, and ask staff, faculty, and other students how they can best support each other. Ways to engage are many and incalculably more constructive than deterring prospective students from enrolling. We feel fortunate that many Oberlin students care for the people around them, including prospective students. While it is important to engage with admitted students honestly, discouraging them from enrolling works counteractively toward the big picture. Further drops in enrollment will only hurt current and matriculating students, staff, faculty, and administrators. Moving forward, let’s continue to build transparency, inclusivity, accessibility, community, and solutions to the obstacles this institution faces. In doing so, we preserve the values we consider integral to Oberlin while also welcoming the future generations of Obies who will carry on that legacy. Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Opinions Editors — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

Opi n ions

DeCafé Anti-Theft Rules Mirror Stop-and-Frisk Policies Kameron Dunbar Columnist In 2013, former United States District Court Judge for the Southern District of New York Shira Scheindlin ruled that New York City’s stop-and-frisk practice was unconstitutional. Specifically, she ruled that it violated the equal protection clause under the Fourteenth Amendment. What exactly was New York City’s stop-and-frisk? It was a New York Police Department policy that allowed officers to detain, question, and search pedestrians under the auspices of “reasonable suspicion” that the pedestrian was involved or implicated in a crime. Did it reduce crime? Unlikely. There’s little evidence suggesting that stop-and-frisk policing

tactics affect crime rates. While New York City has gotten safer since 2002, there are several existing variables that muddle any argument of stop-and-frisk’s effectiveness. Smarter usage of targeted response data and citywide efforts to remove lead from homes — thereby improving childhood brain development — is much more likely to be responsible for a safer NYC than stop-andfrisk policies. In short, stop-andfrisk perpetuates systemic racism by affirming the criminalization of Black and brown bodies. Between 2004 and 2012, 54 percent of NYPD stops were executed on Black people, 31.8 percent on Latinx people, and a mere, distressing 10 percent on white people. Every year, no fewer than 80 percent of people stopped were found to

be innocent of wrongdoing, New York Mayor Bill de Blasio reported. Why does any of this matter? Well, for one, injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere. Never forget that. With relevance to our campus, stop-andfrisk policy has made its way to Oberlin College by way of DeCafé. It’s no surprise that people steal from DeCafé; many probably know someone that does so frequently. Ease and opportunity, mixed with entitlement and a profound display of privilege, allows people to disassociate themselves from the very real effects of theft on an operation. This is bad, and I obviously vehemently object to stealing. However, the new anti-theft policy reminiscent of stop-and-frisk in DeCafé is not the solution. How does this new anti-

theft policy work? Students will now be issued a receipt with all purchases from DeCafé. Students will then — allegedly, at random — be required to present their items and receipt to a policy enforcer. Students found with items not on their receipt or lacking a receipt altogether will then be referred to the College for disciplinary action. This is a terrible move for Oberlin. While it may seem reasonable at first glance, NYC’s experience with stopand-frisk demonstrates clear faults with such a system. These types of discretionary policies are bound to be plagued by the nature of racism, which criminalizes POC while simultaneously facilitating a culture in which white people are distanced from criminality. I don’t know whose idea

this was, but, in blunt terms, it was a poor one and needs to be reconsidered immediately. One of the most damaging effects of stop-and-frisk in NYC was the fact that it alienated people from law enforcement and forced wedges into communities. Stealing by some Obies is a really bratty move. The New York Times reports that 70 percent of Oberlin families exist in the top 20 percent, meaning that most Obies can purchase their items without issue. Theft ultimately hurts DeCafé’s bottom line, and the effects of a hurt bottom line are often felt by DeCafé’s staff. For Obies with the means to make purchases from DeCafé, to steal is ultimately harmful to the institution and, as of recently, is beginning to put students of color at risk. Stop stealing, and stop stop-and-frisk too.

Savior Endeavor Presents Inaccurate Interpretation of Christianity Jason Arévalo Contributing Writer

I was walking by Peters Hall last Friday when I noticed an unfortunately familiar sight: a man standing upon a short ladder with a megaphone and a sign that proclaimed, “Our God is too holy to save an unrepentant sinner.” I’d be lying if I said that I was not angry, that I did not feel frustration, or even that my first instinct was one of love. See, I am a Christ-follower, but I too am flawed. In my sincere attempts to live up to one of our highest mandates, that is, to “love our neighbor as ourselves,” I too fall short. That being said, I do believe and hope that anyone who is pursuing a relationship with God would realize that our actions should be predicated upon a foundation of love — namely, one we come to know through our Creator. All this being said, occurrences like this trouble me. As someone who is actively involved with one of our

Christian organizations, the Oberlin Christian Fellowship, things like this are really frustrating because they do not reflect our hopes or values. If people like the man with the megaphone would make an effort to have a conversation with us, maybe they would become more aware of the presence of a Christian movement on campus. Instead, they come to campus assuming that nothing is happening — that we are all filled with hopelessness, darkness, and in need of saviors who come in trying to take credit for doing missionary work. However, this savior endeavor is flawed from its conception. If there is zero interest from this person in researching and encountering the Christian presence on campus (we weren’t notified of their intentions, they did not attempt to meet with us, and they came in as a stranger), zero interest from this person in trying to understand the Christian culture on this campus, and ultimately, ignorance of this culture’s needs,

then their actions were never going to work — though this is operating under the assumption that a person who undertakes a savior endeavor wants to bring people closer to God and make them believe that such actions will. However, I have no basis to assume this, as there is no evidence I can point to that would say that this person had any genuine interest in making a lasting, positive impact on this campus. I could be mistaken, but my opinion is that there’s no interest in speaking out of love here. There’s no interest in helping to bring people closer to God, but rather, it seems that people who speak like this are making an effort to attain self-righteousness. In other words, this seems like an effort to exploit, claiming to have religious basis for condemning others and to be justified in spreading hate speech. I hope this isn’t true. What I charitably hope is that people like this are simply misguided and unaware of how to efficiently, effectively, and accurately

communicate the whole and true Good News. John 14:6 says, “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life.” That being said, I want to say this loud and clear: this is what our Christian movement is about — it’s about love; it’s about truth; it’s about peace. In 1 Corinthians 13:1 it says, “If I speak in the tongues of men or of angels, but do not have love, I am only a resounding gong or a clanging cymbal.” Another Scripture, Philippians 4:8 states, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable — if anything is excellent or praiseworthy — think about such things.” Jesus died and rose not so we’d be eternally condemned or indebted to Him, but rather, so we would be free and accepted. The truth is, my God is loving, and even though there are imperfect people like myself, there are no conditions for that love.

Senate Must Maintain Integrity of Social Media Presence

Devyn Malouf Production Editor

Oberlin Student Senate’s Instagram page (@oberlinsenate) is, overall, what you might expect of a college student governance group’s social media account; the page primarily features students’ accomplishments and activities, events happening on campus, student senator bios, pictures of Oberlin’s campus, and the like. That’s part of the reason why the account’s Tuesday night Instagram Story felt jarring, and not reflective of how Senate seems to — or should — want to present itself. The story went as follows: It started off with “Senator Sightings” in Mudd library — pictures taken from afar of various student senators spotted in Mudd library doing work and chatting with friends, as many students do

on a typical Tuesday night. The story quickly moved from Mudd library to Lupita’s, where photos featured three Oberlin students were toasting “$1 margs” in the first shot, flipping off the camera in the second shot, displaying five empty margarita glasses in the third shot, and sipping on more margaritas in the fourth and fifth photos. It is not confirmed if the students featured in the photos are of legal drinking age. I was so appalled and shocked by this display that I had to double-check what Instagram account posted the story — I could not believe that a page that represents Oberlin College and Conservatory would propagate such an image. This is not the kind of content that should be representative of Oberlin student life, and especially not the values of one of our stu-

dent governing bodies. For one, I do not feel it accurately reflects the drinking culture on campus. While Lupita’s dollar margaritas are an honored tradition for some, they are not for many. In my experience, the majority of Oberlin students are not out getting trashed on a Tuesday night. For one of our Student Senators — someone who is supposed to lead and represent the student body — to promote such images is not only inaccurate, but inappropriate. More broadly, however, is this really what we want Oberlin College and Conservatory to look like on social media — especially at a time when part of our financial security for next year is going to be determined by decisions that will be made in the next two weeks? We are in the middle of All Roads Lead to

Oberlin — with our final, and therefore most important, All Roads days happening yesterday and today — so prospective students and families will look closely at Oberlin and will use any bit of information they come across to narrow down their list of potential schools in order to make their college decision easier. Something so irresponsible and uncharacteristic of Oberlin College culture as Senate’s post should not play any role in helping prospective students make that decision. Unfortunately, it could. Senate’s Instagram page is a public account, so any prospective student interested in politics or policy or getting involved with student governance could come across it and be left with an impression of Oberlin students’ priorities and habits — espe-

cially in terms of academics versus alcohol — that is not reflective of the majority of the Oberlin student body. On a personal note, I work for admissions, along with a staff of more than fifty other students who have been working tirelessly all year to recruit a class of 2022 that will uphold the values of Oberlin College and Conservatory, and will feel safe, welcome, and included if they decide to make Oberlin their home. The timing of this post — as well as the overall sentiment — felt like a bit of a slap in the face in that regard. It made me feel extremely uncomfortable, as the Oberlin that was represented in that story is not the Oberlin I attend. @oberlinsenate: Please be more mindful of what you post on social media.

Students Should Engage in Attorney General Race Nathan Carpenter Columnist

Almost immediately following President Donald Trump’s election in November 2016, political commentators and activists — particularly those on the left — turned their attention toward the 2018 elections. We now find ourselves just six months out from those elections, in which every seat in the U.S. House of Representatives, several key seats in the Senate, and many vital state-level offices will be fiercely contested. As usual, Ohioans find themselves in the thick of the political fray. Many key elections will take place in the state this November, including those for the governor’s mansion, where term-limited Governor John Kasich cannot seek reelection, and for progressive Senator Sherrod Brown’s seat, which will be hotly contested — as his frequently apocalyptic fundraising emails remind us. Those races are important and deserve energy from organizers and volunteers as we continue to grapple with how to best resist Trump on the national and state levels. However, there is another statewide race that voters — especially Oberlin students and residents — should be paying attention to: Kathleen Clyde’s campaign for Ohio secretary of state. Electing a progressive candidate like Clyde to secretary of state has the potential to improve Ohio policy in tangible ways, particularly as it pertains to voter enfranchisement and election protection. It’s hard to vote in Ohio, and that’s not by mistake. As I have previously argued in the Review, Ohio’s current secretary of state, Republican Jon Husted, has engaged in intentional efforts to disenfranchise voters who tend to lean blue, especially communities of color and students

CARTOON OF THE WEEK Melissa Harris, Editor-in-Chief

(“Voting by Mail Removes Barriers to Polls,” Dec. 2, 2016). The elimination of the Golden Week — a period of time in which voters could both register to vote and submit a ballot during the same visit to the Board of Elections — was one glaring example of targeted voter suppression carried out by Husted. Husted has also ordered significant voter purges over his time as secretary of state, eliminating over two million voters from the rolls under the pretense of inactivity since he assumed the office in 2011. This practice has been challenged to the Supreme Court, and oral arguments in Husted v. A. Philip Randolph Institute were heard in January 2018. The Court’s decision is still pending — if Husted wins, he or a Republican successor will be able to expand this practice and continue to disenfranchise Ohio voters. Further, the secretary of state is a member of Ohio’s apportionment committee, which oversees redistricting efforts following every 10-year census. The next census is not until 2020, but several of the folks who will have the power to make Ohio’s district lines more equitable could be elected this year. Currently, Ohio’s districts are a mess and skew conservative, as Oberlin students and residents know well, given that they are represented in the House by Republican Jim Jordan, who could not care less about Oberlin. A lot of recent activism in the state has focused on rectifying this issue — electing progressive candidates to the seats which comprise the apportionment board would be a significant step in that direction. Given all the work necessary to undo the damage of recent years of Republican leadership in Ohio, it is difficult to understate the importance of Clyde’s candidacy. It’s not particularly constructive to say that one race is more important

than another, especially when there are so many that demand our attention, but if such a ranking were developed based on both importance and competitiveness, the race for secretary of state would fall near the top. Even beyond the general reasons to support a progressive candidate for secretary of state, Clyde’s personal qualifications for the position are outstanding. During her time in the Ohio House of Representatives, she has regularly championed voters’ rights through a civil rights lens. She has gained not only an extensive knowledge of many of the issues that plague Ohio voters, but has developed effective solutions to address them. If Clyde’s time in the State House is viewed as an audition for the job she is now seeking, she has performed with great competence and energy. This Monday, April 23, Clyde will hold a fundraiser in Oberlin at the home of local constituents. More information about the event can be found on her website or through the

local activist group Lorain County Rising. All Oberlin students who care about the future of voter rights in Ohio should strongly consider attending if they are able. The current political moment is one unlike any other that current Oberlin students have experienced. It is fraught and uncertain. It is scary. It demands action, often in so many ways that it is easy to become overwhelmed. Supporting Kathleen Clyde’s candidacy for secretary of state kills several proverbial birds with a single proverbial stone. Her potential to expand access to the polls across Ohio could open the door to further civil rights victories in the future. In a moment which has already challenged so many of us in so many difficult ways, this race and this candidate provide Oberlin students and community members with a concrete opportunity to articulate our values and come together to support a more equitable and accessible Ohio. Let’s take advantage of it.

Oberlin Should Focus on Sustainability in Future Legacy

Johan Cavert Contributing Writer

This article is part of the Review’s Student Senate column. In an effort to increase communication and transparency, student senators will provide personal perspectives on recent events on campus and in the community. The General Faculty Council has decided who will serve on the Academic Administrative Program Review Steering Committee, which will soon be announced to the rest of the campus. At such a critical moment, it is important to make time for nuanced reflection about the trajectory, values, and vision of our institution — something Student Senate has focused on this semester. During the student-trustee forums last month, one trustee convincingly asserted that Oberlin was not facing anything as dramatic as bankruptcy or financial ruin. Instead, he made clear his concern that Oberlin was threatened by a The Oberlin Review | April 20, 2018

possible crisis of mediocrity. He made it clear that we have reached a fork in the road and must choose a path that will define our legacy. Oberlin has long been recognized for its excellence in academics, music, and activism. However, the financial difficulties the school faces and the national threats to small liberal arts colleges puts our right to call ourselves “excellent” in doubt. If the requisite changes are not realized, in six years Oberlin will encounter a financial deficit of roughly $52 million. The AAPR will prevent this and achieve fiscal solvency. What is worrisome, however, is the chance that hasty or incommensurate actions will negatively affect Oberlin’s ability to excel in the fields it has earned its recognition. President Ambar has voiced these same sentiments. In her presentations to constituent groups, she argued that Oberlin needs to be bold and embrace this testing time as an opportunity. A restructuring of Oberlin is a worrying prospect,

but it should also be inspiring. Times like these call for visionary ideas and creative solutions. They necessitate that all Obies step forward to help craft the future of this institution. Student Senate has also thought extensively about what the student body can do to make our vision of the future a reality. The College has a chance to reposition itself as a school that excels in particular areas and is lauded for its exemplary successes. Oberlin has long been recognized for its stellar accomplishments, but at this juncture, we have the chance to picture the precise ways we want Oberlin to shine. Many of our peer institutions stand out for specific programs and are able to foster an identity around particular focuses. Middlebury is known for its language education, Macalester for its emphasis on internationalism, and Kenyon for its sub-par memes. Oberlin too has the chance to make itself known by embracing a comprehensive campus philosophy.

Sustainability is one such ideal that the campus should fully embrace as we move into a new era. This buzzword has a dual connotation, and both of its meanings are central to the Oberlin we should attempt to create. Sustainability implies financial longevity and self-sufficiency, a stable endowment, and the preservation of an environmentally-conscious Oberlin for future generations. Unfortunately, there may be a tendency to dissociate these two objectives in the wake of the current budget malaise. Though short-term cuts to environmental initiatives may look promising, they will be made at the expense of longterm gains. All parties must be aware of this issue and should actively work to counteract it. What is Student Senate doing to advocate for sustainability? The Capital Projects and College Infrastructure Working Group is setting out to foster communication between the administrators and the student body while presenting creative student

solutions that will enhance the long-term environmental and financial success of the school. Any new dining and housing arrangements should embrace sustainable and environmentally conscious options. Investments in these areas will pay off in the longrun and prevent future feelings of contrition about missed opportunities. Though frightening, reimagining what Oberlin will look like in the future necessitates the creation of a bold vision: a campus that is actually carbon neutral; buildings that are livable, affordable, and environmentally responsible; and a campus climate that encourages individual acts of environmentalism rather than nihilism and apathy. If the AAPR chooses sustainability as one of its guiding tenets, this college will be sure to prioritize both long-term success and the ethical principles it has always acclaimed. Is Oberlin really facing a crisis of mediocrity or is this instead an opportunity for sustainable growth?

Schedule of MAASC Events: MAASC Presents: Opening Speaker, Eric Tang

Eric Tang is an Associate Professor in the African and African Diaspora Studies department and incoming Director of the Center for Asian American Studies at the University of Texas at Austin. His book, Unsettled, covers the experiences of Cambodian refugees as they resettle in the Bronx borough of New York City, and examines how their challenges persist due to anti-refugee and immigration sentiments. He will be discussing how even in this climate of reaction, we continue to build refugee resistance. King 106 10:30 a.m.–11:45 a.m.

MIDWEST ASIAN AMERICAN STUDENT CONFERENCE 2018 building bridges not walls: activism and immigrant experiences Layout and Text by Lucy Martin, This Week Editor

Casual AF Lunch Time

Multicultural Resource Center 12:30 p.m.–2 p.m.

MAASC Presents a Lecture by Kevin Escudero: “Not Solely a Latinx Issue: Asian Undocumented Immigrant Activism and Cross-Racial Coalition Building Efforts”

The 20th biennial Midwest Asian American Student Conference of 2018 seeks to bring awareness to the experiences of Asian immigrants. It focuses on how immigration policies have affected Asian immigrants, their activism in the face of systematic oppression, and ways to foster collaborative activism with other ethnicities against current policies. Asian Americans are often presented as “model minorities” — successful, educated, and apolitical — and then put on a pedestal as a goal for other minorities, with any systematic oppression they face considered exceptional.

Brown University Professor Kevin Escudero has served as a Special Advisor to the Provost for Undocumented and DACA Students. During his tenure he offered workshops and trainings on how to support undocumented students. His interests include immigration and refugee studies, law and society, and critical human geography. His book, Organizing While Undocumented, follows undocumented and formerly undocumented Asian, Latinx, and queer activists’ use of their intersectional movement identity. King 106 2:30 p.m.–4 p.m.

MAASC & As I Am Present: “Art in Movement: Immigration and Home”

Explore immigration and the experiences of immigrants in an art and poetry workshop, where you can produce pieces that could be published in this semester’s issue of As I Am. King 101 4:15 p.m.–5:30 p.m.

Pinkcaravan! and Ruby Ibarra ft. Hypno

Pinkcaravan!, Ruby Ibarra, and Hypno provide a fun night of hip-hop, rap, and jazz music. Pinkcaravan! is a rapper from St. Louis whose song lyrics cover a wide range of topics, from the intricacies of emotions to candy and cocoa butter. Ruby Ibarra was born in the Philippines and established her passion for hip-hop while growing up in the Bay Area. She released her debut mixtape “Lost in Translation” in 2012, which has garnered over 50,000 Soundcloud streams and almost 100,000 digital downloads since its release. Ruby Ibarra’s performance is sponsored by MAASC and the MRC. Hypno is an Oberlin band — featuring College junior Kai Joy rapping, Conservatory senior Jane Lincoln on keyboard, Conservatory junior Jacob Swedlow on drums, and College junior Dani Pacheco on bass — that incorporates jazz and rap into its music. The event is free, but because the performance is by and for POC, they will be given priority for the concert. Cat in the Cream 7 p.m.–10:30 p.m.

Friday, April 20

La Casa Hispánica is sponsoring a Languages Talent Show that will feature students presenting their talents in languages such as Spanish, French, Arabic, and Italian. King 106 6 p.m.–9 p.m.

Oberlin Conservatory organists play the Finney organ in the latest installment of Oberlin’s traditional Friday Night Organ Pump. Finney Chapel 11:59 p.m.–1:30 a.m.

Saturday, April 21

Monday, April 23

The Oberlin Korean Student Association presents their 2018 OKSA Banquet: A Night Out in Seoul. The event will feature street foods, games, snacks, and K-dramas. Tickets are $3 at Wilder desk and $5 at the door. Asia House, 6 p.m.–9 p.m.

The presentation “Gender and Revolution in Central America: A Talk by Ilja Luciak” examines the interactions between politics and gender in Nicaragua but with a broad focus on Central America. King 306 12 p.m.–1 p.m.

Wednesday, April 25

Thursday, April 26

Jonathan C. Slaght presents “From Tigers to Owls: Endangered Species Conservation in the Russian Far East.” He will discuss the area’s ecosystem and conservation projects to protect the region’s unique wildlife. AJLC Hallock Auditorium 4:30 p.m.–5:30 p.m.

All in for Oberlin! is a series of events sponsored by the Oberlin Annual Fund to encourage 1,500 peope from the Oberlin community to donate to the college. If this goal is met, all donations will be matched with a donation of $100, up to $150,000. The `Sco 9 a.m.–9 p.m.

Schedule of MAASC Events: MAASC Presents: Opening Speaker, Eric Tang

MIDWEST ASIAN AMERICAN STUDENT CONFERENCE 2018 building bridges not walls: activism and immigrant experiences Layout and Text by Lucy Martin, This Week Editor

Casual AF Lunch Time

Multicultural Resource Center 12:30 p.m.–2 p.m.

MAASC Presents a Lecture by Kevin Escudero: “Not Solely a Latinx Issue: Asian Undocumented Immigrant Activism and Cross-Racial Coalition Building Efforts”

MAASC & As I Am Present: “Art in Movement: Immigration and Home”

Pinkcaravan! and Ruby Ibarra ft. Hypno

Friday, April 20

La Casa Hispánica is sponsoring a Languages Talent Show that will feature students presenting their talents in languages such as Spanish, French, Arabic, and Italian. King 106 6 p.m.–9 p.m.

Oberlin Conservatory organists play the Finney organ in the latest installment of Oberlin’s traditional Friday Night Organ Pump. Finney Chapel 11:59 p.m.–1:30 a.m.

Saturday, April 21

Monday, April 23

Wednesday, April 25

Thursday, April 26

A r t s & C u lt u r e

ARTS & CULTURE April 20, 2018

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 21

OMTA Musical Merrily Rolls Along with New Production Kate Fishman

Staff Writer Oberlin Musical Theater Association is producing Stephen Sondheim’s Merrily We Roll Along as their spring semester musical — a show non-theater enthusiasts may recognize from its charming, dysfunctional portrayal in the recent film Lady Bird. The musical, which will continue into the weekend, is a story of friendship — specifically, the friendship between three creators — moving chronologically backwards. There’s Franklin Shepard, an aspiring composer turned movie producer; Charley Kringas, his collaborator and a lyricist turned writer; and their friend Mary Flynn, a writer who wrote one book and then never wrote again. “You’re seeing how their lives are, already knowing what the consequences are of the choices that you watch them make during the scene,” College senior and co-director Julia Butterfield said. Merrily We Roll Along flopped when it first debuted in 1981, running for only a few weeks on Broadway. However, “it became a cult classic, and it’s changed a lot,” in the words of College sophomore and co-director Abigail Bowman. The general consensus from the cast is that this musical is an unconventional one, marked by the quirky, innovative nature of Sondheim’s music and lyrics. “Embarrassingly, this was one of my favorite shows of all time before this,” said College first-year Connor O’Loughlin, who plays Franklin Shepard. “I was in Heathers last semester, and I was really busy and it ate up a lot of my time, so I was like, ‘I’m not going to do musical theater next semester unless it’s Merrily We Roll Along’ — and then it was Merrily We Roll

OMTA presents a quirky, innovative take on George Furth’s book Merrily We Roll Along with music and lyrics by Stephen Sondheim. Photo by Sarah Herdrich

Along.” “What’s interesting to me is that even though it feels like a lot has changed at the beginning of the show — which is the end of their lives — not a lot about them has actually changed,” Butterfield said. “They’re all still driven by the same thing.” To hear her tell it, the cast of Merrily was quite a driven group themselves. “One of the great things for me about this whole process is that everybody in this show was so great to work with,” she said. “They all really seemed to enjoy coming to rehearsal and enjoy working with each other and working on this material. And a lot of them knew this show before and had a deep love for it — and then some of them didn’t, and now I think they really love it. … That’s been really rewarding for me in doing this, is seeing how people have

poured so much love into this show.” Last year, Butterfield directed Assassins — also a Sondheim composition — with College junior Alex Ngo as music director. She and Ngo decided to continue their Sondheim trend with this musical, and it’s been an exciting project for them. For Ngo especially, as music director, the process was very involved. “I was rehearsing six or seven days a week [between the cast and the pit] for the last three months or so, and just making sure that everything comes together individually with the music and the cast, and also ensuring that when you put them both together it is seamless,” Ngo said. “Even in this show, my ability to teach music and assess how things are sounding has improved a lot, as well as general things like time management and

planning rehearsals.” It was vital that these musical components came together efficiently, as much of Merrily rides on the power and intrigue of sound. “It’s all kinds of wacky harmonies and wacky notes, with just immaculate lyricism,” O’Loughlin said. “Really topnotch stuff.” College first-year Gina Fontanesi, who plays Ru/Girl Auditioning/a cameraman in her first-ever musical, would encourage audiences to treat the lyrics and themes of the music with special care. “The music isn’t super beautiful, but once you start to learn it or you hear it over and over you really understand the nuances in the language used … and the way [the story] goes backwards starts to make sense,” Fontanesi explained. “While watching, you should really pay attention. … You’ll [realize] this is complicated, but really well done.” The process of putting on the show was an undoubtedly complex one, especially since OMTA is entirely student-run — a feat compounded by the fact that this particular show was done without an advisor. “This is completely done by students, and I think it’s amazing,” Bowman said. “We even built the stage that people are going to be dancing on.” The cast and crew sees this performance as a real labor of love. “Sometimes it’s easy to see why it failed [initially], because it’s really hard to get right,” Bowman mused, “but I think with this production we have it right.” Performances will take place in Wilder Main on April 19, 20, and 21 at 8 p.m. Tickets are $3 in advance or $5 at the door.

Lamar’s Pulitzer Reminds Us There’s More Work to Do — the historic whiteness of the musical academy. It sends a message that finally, genre There are a lot of things I boundaries aren’t a good never thought I would see in my enough reason to exclude music lifetime. Most of them have not from consideration. happened yet, which is good, Lamar’s win is also because I hate to be wrong — heartwarming because it humanity has yet to colonize feels like proof of something Mars, time travel has not been that I’ve always felt, standing invented (thank the Heisenberg in opposition to the musical Uncertainty Principle for that snobbery that continues to one), and the Cleveland Browns dominate most academic haven’t gotten any better. discussions of music theory One of the things on my list and criticism. There is so much did happen recently, however: great music in the world; to Kendrick Lamar won the me, Kendrick Lamar, Roomful Pulitzer Prize for music. of Teeth, Alabama Shakes, and It’s about time. Beethoven all go together. They The prizes for music, all make (or made) incredible established in 1943, have never music, without which life before been awarded to a wouldn’t be the same. For composer or artist outside the so long, it seemed like the classical or jazz genres. Awards academy would never come to for jazz have only been given that realization. out twice, and it should come And the truth is that it as no surprise that classical still hasn’t — at least not and contemporary classical here at Oberlin. The Pulitzer are largely white-dominated Foundation is the exception to genres. the rule, even if they got it right. For some lovers of music, Go into any music theory or myself included, Lamar’s win aural skills classroom at Oberlin is an affirmation on all fronts. on any given day, and you’ll hear First and foremost, awarding almost exclusively the usual the prize to Lamar for DAMN. suspects: Bach, Beethoven, uproots — at least for now Strauss, Liszt, Mozart, Daniel Markus Managing Editor

Schumann ( maybe even Clara, if you’re lucky), Brahms, Haydn, Monteverdi, Ives, Messaien — and the list goes on. Dead white man upon dead white man, with the occasional alive white man or white woman thrown in. In one of my first Conservatory classes, before I even became a double-degree student, my professor passed out sheets of paper with three questions on them. The first was easy — name five male classical composers. I rattled off five of the names above. The second was harder. It asked for the names of five female classical composers. I managed one — Hildegard of Bingen, a 12th century composer whose name I only knew because she had been a focal point of a class I took in the History department (read: not the Conservatory). The third question, though, was the hardest — name five classical composers of color. I drew a total blank, as did almost everyone else in the class. I’ve finished my core classes in the Conservatory now, and sometimes I wonder how well I would do if I took the test again. Probably better — with time comes knowledge — but I’d still

struggle. I’d guess most students currently in those classes probably would too, because we don’t teach about non-male and POC composers with any intention. And in doing so, we structurally perpetuate the long history of oppression in music. Lamar’s win is then, of course, a massive achievement, especially for folks whose ears perk up at the sound of the word “Pulitzer.” That matters, as it places Lamar in an elitist conversation where his name isn’t often mentioned. But academically, it’s not much of anything. The fact that the Pulitzer Foundation’s jury, full of the brightest composers, music critics, and academics of our time, was perceptive enough to figure out that Kendrick is one of today’s great musical minds is, well, not that surprising. It also matters that in the classrooms where we teach students who may well become the great composers, critics, and scholars that sit on future Pulitzer juries, we don’t say Kendrick Lamar’s name — and the names of so many others — as much as we should, if at all. But we could. Popular music,

which is very diverse, offers us that. Our professors could, if they chose to, teach harmonic analysis, part writing, scales, and many of the core concepts students need to know by using popular music. If our excuse is that there is no popular music made by women, queer folks, and people of color that contains teachable chord progressions, then forget “hard enough” — we aren’t looking at all. And if there’s a time, it’s now. We are at what feels like a cultural zenith, where queer, female, and POC visibility is immensely high. If you don’t believe me, just ask Beyoncé, who made history last Saturday as the first Black woman to headline Coachella, and did so with a stunning set (go watch it, seriously). I hope something changes, but I’m not optimistic. After all, people may well argue that with Lamar’s Pulitzer, we’ve established his validity, and that there’s no need to change the academy. But that’s not really how things are. All that has changed is that a small committee of people did something that should have happened a long time ago.

ON THE RECORD

Stephanie Wiles, Yale Art Gallery Director

Stephanie Wiles, currently the Richard J. Schwartz Director of the Herbert F. Johnson Museum of Art at Cornell University, has been appointed the Henry J. Heinz II Director of the Yale University Art Gallery, beginning in July. She has spent the last 20 years working at several university museums, including a stint as the director of Oberlin’s Allen Memorial Art Museum from 2004 to 2011. She is acclaimed for her expertise in old master drawings, prints, and British and American art, and has brought works from the likes of Rembrandt, Van Rijn, and Sol LeWitt to Oberlin. Wiles came back to Oberlin last Monday to give a talk, titled “Transforming Perspectives Through Art,” in which she spoke about the role of museums in shaping and challenging student learning perspectives on various subjects, often through technology and innovative thinking.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Interview by Ananya Gupta Arts & Culture Editor Can you tell me about your background and how you got into art? I was a modern languages major in college, but I always loved art. I think [it happened when] I went on my study trip abroad in college, when I went to Vienna to study German. I fell in love with the Kunsthistorisches Museum — the biggest museum in Vienna — and paintings, and just kind of realized that that was my calling. I was always an artist myself, but not a great artist. So when I was graduating college I thought about all my favorite museums, and the Morgan Library I loved because I loved drawing, and so I wrote a letter out of the blue to the drawings and prints department and took a two-year position typing catalogue cards, and that was the beginning of my career. Can you tell me about working in Oberlin? How did you get your job at the Allen, and what was it like working here? I had spent so much time in New York City at the Morgan Library that I’d never really thought about going to a college or a university museum, but when I was having my first child, we realized that our jobs were so busy that we might want to try something else. A job came up in Wesleyan and I went there, and it was great and I learned to teach. But I really wanted to work in a museum again that had

paintings and sculptures, and the Oberlin job just came up out of the blue. I knew nothing about it except for what I knew about the collections, but I had never been there in person. I only knew from looking at books and seeing how great the collections here were. So I took a trip out before I applied for the job just to see what it was like, and when you see the museum you just fall in love with it. So here, I really got excited thinking about contemporary art, which I never had an opportunity to do at the Morgan Library because they didn’t do contemporary art then, [but] now they do. And I can say that the faculty and the students here were so fantastic. We came up with all these great ideas together and really transformed what the museum did. Oberlin students are great. You’ve been to a lot of universities over the course of your career. What attracts you to university life? It was Oberlin that really made the difference. I love working with objects, so I wanted to be in a museum, but I love the teaching part of it. I think I wouldn’t have realized, without Oberlin, how many different ways a collection could be used in opening people’s eyes to culture and science and technology. So I have to give credit to Oberlin for all of that. What do you think about all the people who attended your talk today? Why do you think

more students weren’t a part of it, and what message would you like to give students about your lecture? I think the people who came are people I knew from when I was here, so it was kind of like old-home week. This is a really tough time in the semester — it was the only time I could come. Students are really feeling overwhelmed. I have a daughter in college who is texting me endlessly about how she’s never going to get all her work done. So honestly, I’m glad they weren’t here if it meant they were in the library working. But I think the takeaway for students is just [to keep] an open mind, not just about art — but, I mean, I was talking about that because I’m working on [it] … but objects of all kinds might make you look at the world a little bit differently. You might just have a different inspiration that you’ve never had before that might take you down a different path, [which] might even make you a better person. I really do feel that with everything that has been going on in the world, in politics and the #MeToo movement, I really think we can’t do enough to keep ourselves open and empathetic, and I believe that art can do that when we look at it. Careers in the humanities and arts are becoming difficult to find. How did you become so successful in your career, and what advice would you give to students? [There are] actually a lot

Stephanie Wiles, recently appointed Henry J. Heinz II Director of the Yale University Art Gallery. Photo courtesy of Yale University

of jobs in museums, not as curators necessarily, but in communications — and there’s a lot of new interesting work being done. I’ve seen that humanities students who have learned to think critically, who can write, who can express themselves, and no matter what field they go into, those skills are really important. We need humanities students in this world. We need them because they’re going to be the ones who come with the open minds, who are going to [bring] a little bit more of a broader education. I feel like [if ] you go and work in [a] tech company [with] communications as an English major, and I think you’re going to be bringing more to those tech people than they would be bringing to you. And that’s just my belief in the humanities. It’s something that really makes us human, and really helps us understand our whole person and our whole being, not just our job. Getting a job is important, and there are jobs out there, believe it or not, in foundations and others, but there are a lot of museum jobs, and I think we’re trying to open it up to people from other fields, too. You don’t necessarily have to have the art history major.

You talked a lot about the intersection of technology in your work, could you explain that for readers? [We’re] really always trying to think, “What are the new tools?” Technology is only just presenting us with new tools to look at things in new ways. We’re trying to expose students to this, to understand they’re only tools, and ... these tools are going to help move their knowledge along and deepen and further it, so it’s really good to be aware of the kind of tools that are out there — and that’s what we can do. We can bring it to their attention, and then they can take something that they are inspired by and run with it and know way more than I would know, probably, by the time they get finished. So technology is important, but it’s only a tool. I think you come back to your question about how important thinking is and what the humanities can do for you to make sure you use those tools in the most creative and innovative ways possible. Is there anything else you would like to add? Just that it’s great to be back here. Everybody, go to the Allen [Memorial] Art Museum and start looking in a new way.

Fairchild Chapel Welcomes Cellist, Composer, Teacher Tomeka Reid Chloe Falkenheim Tomeka Reid is a Chicago-based jazz cellist whose improvisatory style sits between — and beyond — jazz and classical music. With her debut album Tomeka Reid Quartet available from Thirsty Ear Recordings, she displays her trademark penchant for novelly introducing the cello into musical spaces where the instrument is not typically featured. The quartet, featuring Reid on cello, Jason Roebke on bass, Mary Halvorson on guitar, and Tomas Fujiwara on drums, will take the stage in Fairchild Chapel at 8 p.m. tonight. The Foster/Bennett Duo, a saxophone and percussion duo from New York, will open the show. “Everyone in that group is just such a sick musician, improvisor, and composer,” College senior Danilo Powell-Lima, an organizer for the event and member of the Modern Music Guild, wrote in an email to the Review. “It’s really a supergroup of the bosses in the field.” Reid is also an esteemed composer, having been commissioned by the Chicago Jazz Festival and the Chicago Jazz Ensemble. Several reputed publications such as The New York Times and The The Oberlin Review | April 20, 2018

Chicago Tribune have also taken notice of her — the Times refers to her as “a New Jazz Power Source.” Reid received her Bachelor of Music from the University of Maryland, College Park, and her master’s degree in Music from DePaul University. Beyond her spectacular skill, Reid is also celebrated for her work as an educator. She spent seven years teaching middle and high school orchestra at the University of Chicago Laboratory Schools, and taught string improvisation workshops in the U.S. and Italy. In addition to the Chicago Jazz Ensemble, Reid also performed with the Association for the Advancement of Creative Musicians’ Great Black Music Ensemble, Dee Alexander’s Evolution Ensemble, Nicole Mitchell’s Black Earth Ensemble/Strings, and Mike Reed’s Loose Assembly, among others. Reid’s quartet is a fan favorite among Conservatory students, particularly those interested in jazz, experimental, and improvisatory music. “This quartet is definitely a more jazzoriented group, ... like an avant-garde jazz type of deal,” Conservatory senior Matthew Frerck said. “[There is] a lot of kinda swinging stuff, but it’s a little more adventurous than just a straight-ahead

group. Mary Halvorson is a really creative guitarist. She does a lot and has really interesting and unique language on her instrument that no one else really has, [including] great textures.” Double-degree junior Camie VogleyHowes is one Oberlin student who follows Reid’s music. With a unique individual major in Jazz Performance on the violin, they are inspired by musicians Steff Smith and Lee Jenkins, as well as contemporary string players like Reid. “There’s really so much to learn from Tomeka and other creative string players that are improvising and playing in a non-European, classical context,” VogleyHowes said. “I found there to be a legacy of string players who perform improvisational music, [but] I’ve had to find them on my own because they don’t teach about them at Oberlin. I really wish that there was more acknowledgement of string players that contributed to improvisational styles.” Reid is an inspiration for both Black and female musicians. Particularly since women, especially Black women, are less common in jazz and classical music ensembles, she is an important spokesperson and role model for these communities.

“I heard her debut album and loved it,” Powell-Lima said. “Then I saw her perform in New York City as part of this festival. She was leading this giant string septet [including] bass, drum, three violins, [and] two cellos, and the piece was dedicated to a Black man killed by law enforcement. I can’t remember who it was because this kind of thing happens all the time, but I was pretty moved by the piece and I was already interested in bringing her here.” The Modern Music Guild, one of the longest running student organizations on Oberlin’s campus, is proud to present Tomeka Reid and her quartet. Bringing Reid to campus particularly illustrates the organization’s reach beyond Oberlin, as several fans from Cleveland and even Columbus plan to attend the performance. “They have some of the most unique voices on their instruments,” PowellLima said. “They are doing a saxophonepercussion duo, but their take on that lineup is radically different from the history of those instruments. Writing about music is already hard, and what they do is insane, so you really are just going to have to be there.” Tonight’s performance is free and open to the public.

A r t s & C u lt u r e

Season Two of Snicket Just as Grimly Humorous Lucy Martin This Week Editor Victoria Albacete Production Manager Editor’s Note: This article contains spoilers for season two of the Netflix series A Series of Unfortunate Events. It has been 14 months since we left the Baudelaire orphans anxiously clustered on a bench outside the principal’s office at Prufrock Preparatory School at the end of season one of A Series of Unfortunate Events. The second season, which premiered March 30 on Netflix, opens with the three Baudelaires sitting on the same bench, equally as nervous as before — but Sunny is inexplicably at least a year older. They’re promptly installed in the latest of their temporary homes and, because it is a boarding school and presumably a safer space, we begin this season’s journey with slightly more hope than we ended the last. This hope, however, is misplaced. Over the course of season two’s 10 episodes — which mirror books five to nine of Daniel Handler’s middlegrade series, from The Austere Academy to The Carnivorous Carnival, in pairs — we follow Violet, Klaus, and Sunny as

they continuing running from the nefarious Count Olaf and his gang of oddly endearing henchpeople. From jogging in circles for hours at night at the academy, falling down elevator shafts from a penthouse, and being accused of committing murder to setting a hospital on fire and nearly being fed to lions, the events of the Baudelaires’ lives only become more heartbreaking as they discover more about their parents’ involvement with the mysterious organization known as VFD. This season brings several new characters into play in the form of both competent and slightly inept members of the VFD trying to help the children and dastardly villains doing their best to steal the Baudelaire fortune — or, strangely, a precious sugar bowl. Highlights include Nathan Fillion as the dashing (and later dead) Jacques Snicket; Kitana Turnbull as a very pink, very irritating Carmelita Spats; and Usman Ally as the surprisingly sympathetic Hook-Handed Man. Malina Weissman, Louis Hynes, and Presley Smith — who play Violet, Klaus, and Sunny, respectively — do an excellent job of building on their character development and bringing more nuance and

depth to their performances in season two. Each episode is drenched in dramatic irony, as the ever-delightful yet dolefully morbid Lemony Snicket (Patrick Warburton, wellknown by ’90s kids for voicing Kronk in Disney’s The Emperor’s New Groove) pops up intermittently throughout each episode to warn us of tragic events to come. This season also features plenty of flashbacks about Snicket’s own involvement in the VFD, including a love affair with the mysterious Beatrice to whom he continuously writes poetic yet depressing notes to introduce each episode. Yet, though forewarned, we’re really only along for the ride as Klaus, Violet, and Sunny — despite their desperate desire for answers and a safe home — are continuously outsmarted by Count Olaf through means so ridiculous that even he’s surprised that they work. This is one of the series’ weaker plot points, as the adults’ obliviousness and complacency in the face of Olaf ’s increasing notoriety become less and less believable. This can get frustrating, as by the end of the season we are still left with more questions than answers, though we have finally discovered what VFD

stands for — Volunteer Fire Department — and its mission to put out both real and metaphorical “fires” around the world. The eye tattoo, commonly used to reveal Count Olaf in disguise, turns out to be the organization’s identifying symbol. Unfortunately, we only realize this when Jacques Snicket is misrepresented as Count Olaf and killed with a crowbar by the real Count Olaf in a crow…bar. Wordplay and situational irony like this are commonplace and provide witty moments of levity in an otherwise dark and twisted tale. This season’s plot creates an effective emotional rollercoaster; it peaks at highs like the Baudelaires’ friendship and budding crushes on Isadora and Duncan Quagmire, but reaches new morale lows as librarian-turned-VFDsuperspy Olivia Caliban is fed to lions shortly after Jacques Snicket’s untimely and unfair death. It is clear that despite any tentative optimistic moments, the lives of the Baudelaire orphans can always get worse. Though the episodes in this season average about a 45-minute runtime, the season as a whole passes quickly, especially as the Baudelaires spend two

episodes resolving each location’s main storyline — and if you’re like us and binge watch, it’ll only take you three days to get through the whole thing. While high stakes and the characters’ quick wits create a fast-paced atmosphere, it often feels rushed; the Baudelaires leave a location just as they and the audience are beginning to get comfortable. If the writers did this intentionally to maintain a connection between audience and characters, then bravo. If not, it disrupts the flow of the narrative and leaves the audience feeling slightly off-balance until the season culminates in a real doozy of a cliffhanger. Consistent highlights throughout the season include the vibrant, flashy color found in episodes like The Carnivorous Carnival and The Vile Village, which are a high contrast to the heavy use of gray-toned scenery in, for one, The Hostile Hospital. Musically, the show’s theme song, with vocals by Neil Patrick Harris, is as creepily humorous as ever, a fitting complement to a series that is just that. Despite repeated warnings to the contrary, we didn’t “look away” from season two of A Series of Unfortunate Events. You shouldn’t either.

Skybar Features Clothesline Project

Part of Consent Month at Oberlin, the Clothesline Project is a form of activism through visual art, addressing topics of sexual and gender-based violence. Visual art and graphic messages on t-shirts showcase stories and messages of solidarity while providing a voice for assault survivors. With the motto “Break the Silence of Violence,” the Clothesline Project is a worldwide initiative. Art is uncensored, intended to begin the healing process for survivors and memorialize victims of sexual violence. Presented by the Nord Center, the exhibit is on display in the Science Center and McGregor Skybar until the end of April. Text by Ananya Gupta Arts & Culture Editor Photo by Devin Cowan Staff Photographer

CROSSWORD

Big Problem

Across

Puzzle by Daniel Markus Managing Editor 1

Down 1. Play _____ 2. Home to the world’s highest peak 3. Maintain 4. Contributes 5. Oberlin bagel topping 6. Auto-immune disorder afflicting Selena Gomez and Nick Cannon, among others 7. CO(NH 2)2 8. The best around, informally 9. E.g. Prozac 10. Strongly attracted 11. The Tide, on a scoreboard 12. Biblical character 13. Jeans company founded in Salina, Kansas in 1889 21. Research center, abbr. 22. Takes too much, abbr.

1. Plural word commonly treated as singular 5. Stoppers 10. Teen hangout 14. Manipulated 15. Every dollar is worth .81 of these 16. Burn soother 17. Take heed of 18. Skewer 19. Way out 20. Synonym for 40. Across 23. Energy drink that comes in a blue bottle 24. Put off 28. Trolleys 32. Official gem of Oregon 35. Legalese for “this document” 37. However, in a text message 38. E.g. ParaGard and Mirena 39. A really hot place 40. An acronym for the words in this puzzle’s shaded squares 42. Famous feature of Angelina Jolie’s 2012 Oscars dress 43. Like some points 44. Where to host a video game party, abbr. 45. Case 47. “__________ the watchtower / Princes kept the view” 49. Even more strange 50. Like some old memes 51. Toast topping, informally 53. Regular portion 61. “It’s __________ you.” 64. Type of recliner 65. For a circle: π r2 66. A member of OSLAM, say 67. Full of vigor 68. Tyrant 69. Align (with) 70. Wrinkles 71. Tortoise’s counterpart

25. Hit one outside the lines 26. Slightly bitter vegetable 27. One who naps 28. Famous train 29. Revile 30. Nipple ring 31. Something to keep in mind 32. A cool ride, informally 33. 1989 film starring “Weird Al” Yankovic 34. Entre _____ (between you and me) 36. Norwegian capital 41. Mom’s mom 46. Overshadow 48. Constellation found between Cancer and Virgo 51. Ibuprofen alternative 52. Subjects of still-lifes 54. Barça rival 55. Country home to Bamako

56. Former Ugandan president 57. Sworn before taking office 58. Major in astronomy? 59. Soon to arrive 60. Button found on some scales 61. USPS competitor 62. Hawaiian dish made from mashed taro root 63. Senator Cruz

THE UNFORTUNATE OWL: Pants

Paddy McCabe

The Oberlin Review | April 20, 2018

Sp ort s IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Mike Mancini, Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications

Mike Mancini came to Oberlin College after being appointed as the Sports Information Director on Dec. 31, 2007. Now, as Assistant Director of Athletics for Communications, he keeps statistics and publishes previews and recaps for all 21 varsity teams at Oberlin on GoYeo, the Athletic Department’s website. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Interview by Alex McNicoll and Alexis Dill, Sports Editors

How did you end up at Oberlin? What do you do? I’ve been here for 10 years now. I graduated from the University of Akron and then was working down at the University of North Florida. Then I went back to Akron to get my Master’s [degree], and the Oberlin job became open, and I’ve been here for over 10 years. I’m basically the Oberlin athletics public relations guy. I manage GoYeo; do all of the press releases with my assistant, Michael Durkin; keep all the statistics at all the home games; oversee the videos — any type of communications effort comes from our office. Our job is to promote our student-athletes. What inspired you to get into sports communications? My undergrad is in mass media communications, so in college I did a lot of radio and TV stuff. I went that route, and obviously that’s a very tough route to get into professionally. I didn’t really know much about sports information and athletic communications at the time, but when I was graduating and went to Florida Atlantic, they needed someone to do the play-by-play for women’s basketball on the radio as an internship, so I went down there and figured out what this stuff was all about. From a big-scale perspective, there are so many aspects of this job, like providing information to the media. When you’re watching a game at

Photo courtesy of Mike Mancini

Mike Mancini.

a Division I level or a bigger level, it’s like, “Well, how did the announcer know that?” That [information] would come from my office. That would come from someone in athletics communications or sports information. How do the broadcasters prepare for the game? How are they getting their information? That would all come from our office. That’s how I figured out about this industry a little bit more. GoYeo was recently upgraded into a more appealing and accessible site. What were the motivations behind the changes? We did a redesign, and that’s just to keep up with the latest trends that you’ll see on websites. Our website now, in the latest redesign, is a responsive website, which means it will look the same on your tablet and phone — any device you have — instead of having a separate mobile website. The website now is more mobile-friendly, which is a big thing. We have a little bit of a video component on there. We also wanted to promote our “Storytellers” and our “Athletes Among Us” videos a little bit more. We made those [features] more visible — brighter and more visible. We’re just trying to find the best way to showcase all the information that makes it easy for someone’s mom and dad or grandma and grandpa to follow along and find the information they’re looking for in a clean, easy type of web

layout. What are your favorite parts of the job? How have you been able to connect to coaches and student-athletes? Obviously it’s sports, and it’s fun — that’s what keeps you in it. The hours are long. I’m here when the games are. It’s not just one team or two teams — we’re here for all [21] varsity teams that we have. It can get busy, but it’s fun — It’s not like I’m digging ditches. I think that’s what keeps you around. It’s a college athletic scene; what’s not to like about that? That’s what we’re all kind of here for, and I think that’s why I do what I do. Connecting with athletes and coaches is kind of like when you get that ‘thank you’ — when they’re appreciative. Sometimes people — a lot of firstyears — will come in and have no idea what GoYeo is or who is doing this or that. Building those relationships over those four years with student-athletes is pretty cool. For someone who might arrive as a freshman, they might have no idea who I am. Then by the time they leave, they’re like, “Hey, Cini, what’s going on?” We’re talking about whatever, and it’s like we’ve built a type of friendship with some of the studentathletes you get to cover and see. That’s a pretty cool thing, and I think they learn to respect you. It keeps you young and in the mix a little bit.

You’ve been here for over a decade. What are a couple of your favorite memories? Some of the best games, events, or stories you’ve had the honor of covering? Baseball winning their first [North Coast Athletic Conference] Championship [in 2015] was pretty cool. That’s one of the teams I’m pretty close with. That was really fun. Just recently, the women’s basketball playoff run was really awesome, and I got to go to the NCAA Tournament with them. Every year I get to travel to Tucson with the baseball team, which is a good opportunity to get out of the cold weather and do all that stuff. My assistant usually goes [to Florida] with softball, and it’s not exactly a break week for us, but it’s fun. I would say those for sure, and then obviously the success we’ve had in track and field and cross country has been fun to cover. What Coach Appenheimer and that program has been able to sustain over the years has been pretty remarkable. I just think there is a lot of hard work that a lot of people don’t necessarily see that goes into what our coaches do and what our staff does and everything that kind of makes this place go. Over my 10 years, there has been an upward trend. All of the teams have just gotten better and better. It’s a lot more writing about winning now than it was when I first started, and I think that’s pretty cool.

NBA, Adam Silver Need to Address League’s Tanking Problem Alex McNicoll Sports Editor

Tanking is no secret in the NBA. Teams like the Chicago Bulls or the Sacramento Kings openly sit their top veterans in an attempt to “develop young talent,” but in reality, they are intentionally losing to get a better pick. It’s not a new phenomenon. The Philadelphia 76ers did it for three or four years to get Joel Embiid, Ben Simmons, and Markelle Fultz. Even the San Antonio Spurs did it so they could draft Tim Duncan first overall in 1997, and he helped them win five NBA Championships. But tanking is a serious problem that kills the competitive nature of basketball, and commissioner Adam Silver must find a solution, no matter how drastic it may be. At the end of the 82-game regular season, the top 16 teams compete to play in the finals, while the remaining 14 wait for the NBA Draft to retool. While LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers and James Harden of the Houston Rockets get another crack at the championship, simply

missing making the playoffs wasn’t bad enough for one anonymous NBA owner. Per ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, an NBA owner “berated” his coach for playing hard and beating a .500 team late in the season. The Phoenix Suns, Sacramento Kings, Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, and Orlando Magic are all bad enough to care about getting late season losses, but that owner’s reaction is still egregious. The Minnesota Timberwolves and Denver Nuggets had to battle for the final playoff spot in the Western Conference on the last game of the regular season, but they may not have been tied at all if their opponents actually tried to win. The 76ers had the most jarring tanking stretch from 2013–2016, posting an abysmal 47–199 record. While they did get three franchise players and create one of the NBA’s most memorable slogans through their “Trust the Process” era, they still remained competitive in the trade market, making shrewd deals that sped up their rebuild. On the other hand,

teams like the Kings — who haven’t been competitive in over a decade — have simply become a place for NBA careers to die. What’s more embarrassing than teams stuck in tanking limbo are the ones who try to be good, but still lose more games than teams that are outright tanking. The Brooklyn Nets and New York Knicks, who have failed to make the playoffs for several years now, traded away most of their picks. Although the Knicks finally had a firstround pick for this draft, both they and the Nets have been atrocious in years when they can’t actually benefit from their poor play. Both of these teams, and the aforementioned tankers, usually hide behind the rationale of giving their younger players extra minutes — despite it seriously hurting their chances of winning. Charlotte Hornets Head Coach Steve Clifford denounced that strategy. In an interview on Wojnarowski’s podcast, The Woj Pod, he pointed out that if young players get extra minutes to play, it may help them

develop as players. However, if they’re playing in games where the coach expects them to lose and don’t have veterans on the court to guide them, then they aren’t getting good NBA experience. Instead, they’re just hurting their development, and creating a losing cycle. While Clifford is no Greg Popovich or Phil Jackson, he has had a respectable career with the Hornets, managing to make the playoffs without toptier talent. His is a team that would benefit from getting a top three draft pick, and his insight on how tanking teams manage their top prospects that they sacrifice so much to get is a testament to why teams need to compete. Even if they do end up with a franchise player, they would need to give him a chance to win. The Suns, who have the highest odds of landing the number one pick after going 21–61, will likely end up with an alluring pick like DeAndre Ayton or Luka Doncic, but there’s still no guarantee that those players will pan out. Even picks who land in ideal situations to develop,

such as Darko Milicic on the Detroit Pistons in 2003, are not a lock to dominate. For every Stephen Curry or Ben Simmons, there are at least a dozen guys who end up like Alex Len or Kwame Brown. Whoever ends up with the first pick might even get the next Anthony Bennett. No matter how good a rookie is, it’s tough for a 19-yearold to be expected to bring a franchise from terrible to great all by themself. Unless a team drafts Michael Jordan or LeBron James, no one player can turn the franchise around. Instead of tanking teams and letting a carousel of coaches and former busts bring them to the bottom of the standings, teams need to prioritize winning. Even if they come in last place, planting the seeds for a winning culture is far more valuable than increasing lottery odds. Look at Oberlin’s sports program. Whether commissioner Silver makes lottery odds for all nonplayoff teams the same, or does something as simple as fining teams for unnecessarily benching players, he needs to start doing something.

Women’s Tennis Drops Kenyon Game Ahead of Championships

Seniors Mayada Audeh, Jackie McDermott, and Sarah Hughes were honored Saturday for their contributions to the women’s tennis program throughout their four-year careers. The team dropped the first match to Kenyon College and dominated Ursuline College in the second match. Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

Jane Agler Staff Writer The women’s tennis team celebrated their three seniors’ final home game last Saturday, facing off against both their North Coast Athletic Conference rival the Kenyon College Ladies and the Ursuline College Arrows. While the Yeowomen dropped their first Senior Day matchup against the Ladies 8–1, they quickly rebounded, handily de-

feating the Arrows 9–0. “We wanted it too badly, we were trying too hard [against Kenyon],” Head Women’s Tennis Coach Constantine Ananiadis said. “Sometimes you have to just play your game and not let [the fact] that there is a Kenyon jersey on the other side affect you. We [know] that they are good and that they are doing really well this year. I think we [were] getting the jitters out, [because] we will [likely] play them at the con-

ference tournament.” Against the Ladies, the Yeowomen quickly fell behind, losing their first two doubles matchups. Senior pair Sarah Hughes and Mayada Audeh faced off against a Ladies pair that featured No. 4 regionally-ranked Diana Aboubakare. While Hughes and Audeh managed to steal a few sets, they ultimately lost 8–3. Sophomore combo Rainie Heck and Delaney Black competed in the second doubles draw and were

unable to win a game against their opponents. However, senior Jackie McDermott and sophomore Lena Rich pinned down an 8–4 win — the only win of the day against Kenyon — and added a point to their side of the scoreboard. Hughes, who has anchored the Yeowomen thus far and once again played in the top spot, was later matched against Aboubakare in the top singles spot. She managed to fight a tight match, winning four games in the first set and five in the second, but fell to her opponent 6–4 and 7–5 in the end. Audeh and Heck, both of whom would later pair up to take on Ursuline in the third flight doubles, drew the No. 2 and No. 3 match-up singles against Kenyon. Audeh was unable to win any games against her opponent and lost 6–0 in identical sets, while Heck was able to swing three games in each set in her favor but lost 6–3 in both. “Kenyon has a really good team this year, so that was tough,” Audeh said. “I think we played okay, but they were playing really well. Kenyon was one of the strongest teams we played all season. … We were all [a little] nervous because Kenyon is in our conference and are our rivals.” The day turned around for the Yeowomen as they faced Ursuline, who are still in the beginning stages of setting up their

Track and Field Dominate at All-Ohio Alexis Dill Sports Editor

Under Head Coach Ray Appenheimer, Oberlin’s track and field athletes have consistently broken school records and earned personal bests by avoiding complacency and encouraging each other to be the best possible athletes, teammates, and leaders every single meet. On Saturday, the No. 12 Yeowomen continued their dominance by placing first at the All-Ohio Championships with a grand total of 124 points. Seniors Lilah Drafts-Johnson and Monique Newton highlighted the day, combining for 48 team points. Their efforts earned them North Coast Athletic Conference honors for the week. Drafts-Johnson — who earned conference recognition for the second week in a row — keeps improving every weekend. In the 200-meter, she crossed the line in 24.94 seconds, a career-best time and the eighth best time in the country. She also has the best time in the country in the 400 hurdles. Newton also had one of her best performances to date, tossing the discuss 154-05.00 feet and the shot-put 47-05.25 feet. Those marks are first and second in the country, respectively. Sophomore Jasmine Keegan had a solid day in the throwing events, taking fourth in both the discus (136-08.00) and shot-put (39-04.50). In the hammer throw, senior Ana Richardson placed first with a toss of 168-00 feet, which is sixth in the nation and just four feet and six inches short of the school record mark. Sophomore Grace Finney, who was the NCAC Field Athlete of the Week after her performance at the Bob Kahn Invitational, earned a top-three finish in the pole vault, clearing 11-08.50 feet. Last weekend, Finney set the school record The Oberlin Review | April 20, 2018

as she cleared 12-00.00 feet. That mark leads the conference and is 13th in the nation. If Finney can clear a similar mark at the NCAC Championships in two weeks, she should advance to nationals for the first time in her career. “Right now I am trying to focus on staying consistent, keeping my form in meets, and moving onto bigger poles so that I can go for higher heights,” Finney said. “Conference is a good, competitive meet with a lot of positive energy from the whole team, so I know the most important thing will be to show up ready to compete and execute my technique.” The women’s distance runners also earned the team points, as sophomore Joy Castro-Wehr had a first-place finish in the 10,000-meters with a time of 42:02.08. First-year Heidi Scott, who performed for the first time at the collegiate level, impressed with a time of 42:02.08 — good enough for fourth place. Sophomore standout Shannon Wargo, who competed at nationals last spring, came in third in the 1,500-meter race with a time of 4:41.70, a season-best. The men’s team finished 15th overall with 20 points, but a handful of athletes had season-best performances. Junior Grant Sheely has his sights on a conference championship in the 3,000-meter steeplechase and a chance to compete at nationals. On Saturday, Sheely proved he is up for the challenge by finishing the event in 9:13.77 seconds, a first-place time that is just 1.46 seconds slower than the school record. Sheely’s time is currently the sixth-best in the country. “I am super excited about my position right now and am really looking forward to improving it,” Sheely said. “I am not satisfied yet. I am going to keep working and keep fighting to cut seconds off my times. I look forward to racing again and am very aware of how few races I have

left to accomplish my goals.” In the hammer throw, junior Hank Sinn earned five points with a fourthplace toss of 166-11.00 feet. Junior Jahkeem Wheatley came in fifth place in the pole vault with a season-best leap of 1400.75. Appenheimer said that the way his athletes build off of each other’s successes represents the way Oberlin functions as an institution. “Oberlin is an aspirational place,” Appenheimer said. “The people who come here do so to work toward the best versions of themselves. That’s one of the things that makes Oberlin so special. Being surrounded by aspirational people, wanting to be challenged and to challenge everyone around you seems like it’s woven into the tapestry of this place. Our team is just one example of this on campus. Monique and Lilah feed off Grace and Grant’s hard work and achievements, and vice-versa. We’re lucky enough to have 85 student-athletes there every day who are committed to this and to one another.” Sheely agreed that watching his teammates succeed is what drives him, but ultimately credited his coaching staff. “Watching our amazing athletes like Shannon Wargo win a mile or Lilah Drafts-Johnson win a 400m hurdles, or even Jahkeem Wheatley win a pole vault gets me so amped up and makes me want to achieve what they just did,” Sheely said. “But I would be nowhere without Coach Ray who reins me in and makes me practice patience. He never lets me off the hook, keeps me focused, and keeps me running smart.” Track and field looks to continue breaking records and gaining recognition in the conference and the nation as they compete in the Kenyon College Spring Invitational tomorrow.

newly-founded tennis program. The first-year and senior partnership of Maja Shaw Todorovic and Hughes found their footing in the first flight of doubles, beating their opponents 8–0. In the number two and number three flights, the scoreboard reflected the same score of 8–0 to add to the Yeowomen’s surmounting lead. The first through sixth flights of singles also reflected identical scores match after match, all of which were 8–0 straight victories. Not a single point was scored on the Arrows’ end throughout their visit. Looking ahead, Hughes explained that the team is placing a strong emphasis on staying healthy, especially towards the end of the season. “We are all just trying to get our bodies healthy for the [Allegheny Gators] match,” she said. “We are all feeling the effects of this long season and are all individually fighting some [injuries], so I think we just need to take this week and [use it to] take care of our bodies.” The Yeowomen will next compete against the Allegheny College Gators in Allegheny tomorrow at 1 p.m. Next Saturday, they have their last non-conference matchup against the Ohio Northern University Klondikes before competing in the NCAC Championships from April 27 to 29.

NCAA Must Address Mental Health Continued from page 16

aren’t crazy or weird to be struggling with depression,” Love wrote. The most decorated Olympian of all time, Michael Phelps, recently admitted that he had suicidal thoughts several times throughout his career. “I think [mental illness is] something that nobody’s really talked about in the past because we’re supposed to be this big, macho, strong person that has no weaknesses,” Phelps told CBS News. “We’re supposed to be perfect. And for me, I carried it along for so long and never really talked about it. … Part of that was probably just a fear of rejection.” While professional athletes are not obligated to share their own personal struggles with the rest of the world, athletes like DeRozan, Love, and Phelps are setting a precedent for rising athletes. They’re changing the way that fans view professional athletes, and in turn, amateurs are changing the way that they view themselves. These stars prove that seeking help is not a weakness, and mental illness does not make you any less of a player or team leader — rather, experiencing emotions makes you human. If a young athlete struggling to find themself hears their favorite player say that it is OK to feel overwhelmed sometimes and need extra support, then that kid is going to be more likely to feel encouraged to seek help. Confessions by star athletes offer an important lesson. We must remember that at the end of the night, when players leave the arena or the stadium, sometimes their inner demons keep them up at night too. We should all cut ourselves some slack, no matter our age or the level we are playing at. After all, we’re only human.

SPORTS April 20, 2018

established 1874

Volume 146, Number 21

Pro Athletes Destigmatize Mental Illness Alexis Dill Sports Editor Editor’s Note: This article contains mentions of mental illness and suicide.

Senior Sydney Garvis was named North Coast Athletic Conference Women’s Lacrosse Player of the Week after scoring nine goals and collecting a team-high 17 draw controls in the team’s two wins against conference foes Allegheny College and DePauw University. Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

Yeowomen Remain Perfect in NCAC After Beating Bishops Alex McNicoll Sports Editor The women’s lacrosse team defeated the Ohio Wesleyan University Battling Bishops 16–4 Tuesday, bringing them to 9–3 for the season and a perfect 5–0 in North Coast Athletic Conference play. The win followed a 20–3 victory against the DePauw University Tigers last Saturday, as the Yeowomen currently sit at number two in the conference. Head Coach Lynda McCandlish affirmed that the Yeowomen have taken this season game-by-game in their pursuit of a conference championship. “I think the goal of every year is to improve every game, every day, and every practice. I think our team has done a good job of that,” McCandlish said. “After games that we feel like we could’ve played better, we’ve put in the work and went back to the drawing board to see where we could’ve done better.” Against the Battling Bishops, the Yeowomen jumped to a 3–0 lead within the first seven minutes, including a goal from senior midfielder Natalie Rauchle. Rauchle has been a focal point of the Yeowomen offense since joining the team. Currently, she leads the NCAC in goals (63) and points (76), and is making a strong case to repeat as an Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches’ Association Great Lakes All-Region First Team select. She tacked on another four goals before the halftime break, giving the Yeowomen a 7–3 lead. In light of scoring her 200th career point in the Yeowomen’s April 7 game against the College of Wooster Fighting Scots, Rauchle had her team to thank for her career accomplishment. “It makes it really special that I was able to share it with the women on the team right now,” she said. “They’re definitely a huge part of how I was able to get to where I am now, and it’s definitely representative of the program we’ve built.” After the first half, the Yeowomen’s defense stifled the Battling Bishops, holding them to just one goal over 25 minutes while scoring nine more of their own. Also contributing to the scoring barrage were senior midfielder Sydney Garvis and sophomore midfielder Eliza Amber, who netted two of their own.

Garvis, who co-captains the team with Rauchle, won NCAC Player of the Week for her efforts against the Tigers and the team’s 20–14 win over the Alleghney College Gators. “I was really proud to be named NCAC player of the week,” she said. “It’s the first time I’ve earned the honor, and I was really excited when I found out. I feel like a lot of the work I’ve been putting in has paid off in really great team wins like against Allegheny and DePauw. There is no way I could have done this without my co-captain Natalie Rauchle on the draw and our entire team working really hard.” Garvis’s nine combined goals against the Gators and Tigers have been demonstrative of the Yeowomen’s dominance over conference teams this season. Outside of Rauchle’s superstar performance, the Yeowomen have seen outstanding seasons from Garvis, Amber, and first-year midfielder Leah Crowther on their way to a perfect 5–0 conference record. However, just like last season when they started the year on an eight-game winning streak and reached the postseason 13–1, it won’t mean anything if they can’t overcome the Denison University Tigers, who beat them in the championships last year. “One of the challenges we faced in the championship last year was the time it took to adapt to their defense,” Garvis said. “We got down early and couldn’t come back. Since then, this season, we’ve worked hard to learn quickly and make changes as an offensive unit to adapt to whatever we team we face. By the time we play Denison on [April 28], we’ll be prepared.” Denison is still a long way off, as the Yeowomen first have to prepare for tomorrow’s matchup against rival Kenyon College Ladies on Bailey Field at 1 p.m. After that, they have another game against the Hiram University Terriers before playing the Tigers the last weekend of April. “The mentality of this season is the same as it is every year,” McCandlish said. “We want to win a conference championship. In the past we’ve been close, but we just take it every year and every game, and right now we’re focused on our Kenyon game tomorrow. Then we’ll take it game by game after that.”

Shooting hoops in the driveway and kicking around a soccer ball in the backyard as a kid, I never thought that being an athlete at a high level could be so taxing. My sports heroes had glamorous lifestyles, driving expensive cars and gracing the covers of Sports Illustrated. It never occurred to me that the biggest and strongest opponent that many collegiate and professional athletes ever face is mental illness. According to Daniel Eisenberg, an associate professor of health management and policy at the University of Michigan, 33 percent of college students experience symptoms of mental illness. Although 30 percent of those students get help, only 10 percent of student-athletes do. The problem is that mental health is stigmatized in the sports world, and athletes who do speak up don’t always have access to proper resources or treatment options. Had Madison Holleran felt understood and instilled with the confidence that she needed to be healthy, she might have graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with a double degree. She might have broken records and won championships as a mid-distance runner. Instead, she took her own life in winter 2014, leaving family members, friends, and teammates with many unanswered questions. On the outside, Holleran appeared to have it all. “Madison was beautiful, talented, [and] successful,” ESPN journalist Kate Fagan wrote. But Holleran’s self-esteem plummeted as she struggled to keep up with the demands of being a student-athlete at one of the top schools in the country. “She was a perfectionist who struggled when she performed poorly,” Fagan wrote. “She was a deep thinker, someone who was aware of the image she presented to the world, and someone who often struggled with what that image conveyed about her.” Many student-athletes don’t speak up when they suffer, fearing that being associated with mental illness implies a level of inadequacy on their teams. Typically, toughness is associated with collegiate athleticism. Student-athletes wake up at the crack of dawn to lift weights while other students sleep, they come in clutch when the odds are stacked against them, and they overcome injuries and setbacks regularly. For many of them, it isn’t an option to admit that mental illness is too big a burden to battle alone. When a baseball player makes an error on the diamond, he’s expected to shake it off. When a star volleyball player isn’t having a good day, she’s supposed to forget about herself and raise up her teammates. Stoicism and selflessness benefit athletes in competition, but may harm them individually. Collegiate athletes are susceptible to depression and anxiety due to the increased number of stressors they are exposed to. Student-athletes dedicate several hours a day to their craft, and when they’re in season, they miss class regularly. Even so, athletes are expected to put as much time into schoolwork as everybody else. They don’t have time to rewind and reflect on other issues going on in their lives, because by the time they leave work or the library and call it a night, the alarm goes off, and it’s time to do it all over again. It’s easy to fall into an exhausting and dull routine. According to the National Collegiate Athletic Association Chief Medical Officer Brian Hainline, “The number one health issue facing student-athletes is mental health.” The NCAA must be proactive, not reactive. Over the past several years, the organization has taken steps to support mental health. Hainline declared mental health a top priority of the NCAA in 2013, and in the following three years, two comprehensive guides to mental health challenges were published. However, more can be done. Every athletic department in the country should have a sports psychologist or counselor on staff. Student-athletes face unique obstacles and should, therefore, have easy access to someone who specializes in the mental health of athletes. Counselors should be as reachable as an athletic trainer. In order to utilize these resources, student-athletes must be in an environment where they feel safe and comfortable expressing themselves. Many professional athletes are normalizing the admittance and acceptance of mental illness by sharing their own personal fights. In February, DeMar DeRozan, the star shooting guard for the Toronto Raptors, opened up to the media about his experiences with depression, unknowingly paving the way for other professional athletes, including Cleveland Cavaliers All-Star Kevin Love. A few weeks after DeRozan stole the headlines, Love revealed in The Players’ Tribune that he had suffered a panic attack during halftime in a game against the Atlanta Hawks in November. “Just by sharing what he shared, DeRozan probably helped some people — and maybe a lot more people than we know — feel like they See NCAA, page 15