Commencement 2019 by The Oberlin Review

The Oberlin Review May 24, 2019

established 1874

Volume 147, Number 24

Commencement Issue 2019: The Year in Review News

Opinions

Arts & Culture

Sports

Bakery Battle

OSCA Opportunity

Dazzling Dance

Masterful Manti

The lawsuit that Gibson’s brought against the College went to trial May 9 a year and a half after it was filed. Page 3

The AAPR proposed changes to the College’s financial relationship with OSCA. Page 17

Assesing AAPR

College Crises

Oberlin dance recognized for offering diverse, quality classes that encourage interdisciplinary learning. Page 25

Oberlin’s women and trans Ultimate Frisbee team dominated at the national championship in Texas. Page 34

Thriving Theater

Football’s Failings

After a year of research, the AAPR released its final recommendations earlier this month. Page 4

Oberlin is not the only liberal arts college facing a significant budget deficit — how must higher education adapt to remain financially solvent? Page 18

Theater department opens brandnew, top-of-the-line facilities for campus productions. Page 29

A varsity football player writes about why the sport needs to take mental health more seriously. Page 39

Entitled Elites

Memorable Music

Journalism Journey

Jesuit high school alums explain how Brett Kavanaugh’s education may have contributed to his sense of entitlement and abuse of power. Page 23

Festival celebrates 40 years of Jazz at Oberlin, brings The Spring Quartet and Esparanza Spalding to campus. Page 30

Moving on from her varsity career, a sports editor writes about her experience as a former athlete and why stories about sports matter. Page 40

Dining Disagreements Sparked by administrative miscommunication and limited meal plan options, students use multiple forms of collective action to protest Campus Dining Services. Page 7

CONTENTS

NEWS 02 COMMENCEMENT CALENDAR 12 The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

OPINIONS

ARTS & CULTURE 25

REUNION EVENTS 32 AND CONTROVERSIES SPORTS

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NEWS

May 24, 2019

established 1874

Volume 147, Number 24

Photo by Tanya Rosen Jones

President Carmen Twillie Ambar was inaugurated as the 15th President of Oberlin College on Oct. 5, 2018.

“Boldness. Tradition. Vision.” Jenna Gyimesi News Editor Oct. 5, 2018 In a historic moment, Carmen Twillie Ambar was inaugurated as the 15th president of Oberlin College on Oct. 5, 2018. The weekend’s inauguration events, spread out over three days, were inspired by themes of boldness, tradition, and vision. Ambar hopes that her own career also embodies these principles. “For me, the notion of trying to lead higher education and to be bold in our efforts to reimagine liberal arts is a part of how I thought about my own efforts,” Ambar said. “How can I make the courageous choice? ... How can I be on the cutting edge, to explore new ideas and new ways of thinking? How can I support other people who choose to step out of the norm?” The inauguration committee selected these themes to reflect Oberlin College’s values and Ambar’s priorities. “Boldness, tradition, and vision [fit] what President Ambar talks a lot about on campus,” said Jan Miyake, co-chair of the inauguration planning committee and associate professor of Music Theory. “Especially the theme of being bold. Inaugurations are one of the few traditions that we have kept at Oberlin College, and vision is what we need for the future. We thought the theme summed up something particular to President Ambar, her vision, and the way she views Oberlin’s history.” Ambar’s vision for the weekend was to collective-

ly celebrate Oberlin as an institution and recognize its successes in a diverse range of fields. “From the beginning, when the committee started this work, we agreed that this was not the celebration of an individual; this is the celebration of an institution,” Ambar said. “It is an opportunity for us to celebrate Oberlin’s legacy and also to celebrate Oberlin’s future. I just happen to be representing the institution in this particular way. I never thought about this as Carmen Ambar Day. This is about Oberlin and a chance for us to take our rightful place in leading higher education.” Events kicked off Thursday, Oct. 4 with Sir David Adjaye’s address in Warner Concert Hall. In 2017, Adjaye was knighted by Queen Elizabeth II for his services in the field of architecture. The same year, Adjaye was named as one of the year’s 100 most influential people in TIME magazine. He is commended for his extensive accomplishments and innovations on an international scale. The Inauguration Symposium later that evening highlighted the commitment to education shared by Oberlin faculty and community members. While the event featured a faculty panel, many community members also had the opportunity to address the crowd. After the symposium, guests proceeded to the Inauguration Concert in Finney Chapel. “The concert is in the style of a prism,” Miyake said. “A prism divides light into its component parts. There is no formal programming. Think of it as a pop-up concert inside and outside of Finney. There are a lot of people involved. [Conservatory] students, College stu-

dents, the [Oberlin] High School orchestra, as well as a dance troupe. We worked really hard to make it inclusive and representative of more than just the College.” The inauguration events sought to resonate with students as well as faculty members and guests. One event specifically focused on student inclusion was ’Sco Night with President Ambar’s Playlist. Students enjoyed dance tunes from the ’70s, ’80s, ’90s, and 2010s as well as President Ambar’s favorites from Kendrick Lamar and Beyoncé. President Ambar noted the difficulty she faced in crafting the playlist. “I have to say that this has been more difficult than the speech,” she said. Members of the ’Sco staff are appreciative of President Ambar’s willingness to connect with students in a student-oriented space. “The fact that she sees the ’Sco as a place for programming events is really meaningful for students, and ’Sco staff especially,” said College senior and ’Sco student manager Emma Broun. “She sees how important it is to connect with us.” Another student-focused inauguration event was the Undergraduate Research Open House, which showcased student academic work and offered an opportunity for students to express their thoughts on President Ambar’s inauguration. College junior Naeisha McClain, a student representative on the inauguration committee, noted the importance of student participation. See Inauguration, page 9

CONTENTS AAPR

CONVERSATION & CONTROVERSY

NEW BEGINNINGS

04 What is the AAPR?

07 Oberlin Professors Resign After

09 CDC Announces New Career Com-

Sexual Misconduct

munities Pilot

08 MRC Faces Staffing Shortage

09 Business Scholars Network

05 The Steering Committee

INSIDE THE COLLEGE 10 Sustained Dialogue Encourages Connection 11 Oberlin Remembers Hate Crime Victims

COMMUNITY NEWS 14 Oberlin Schools Consolidate Into One Building 14

Effects of Shutdown Ripple Through Oberlin

Cyber Attackers Breach Admissions Database Sydney Allen Editor-in-Chief March 8, 2019 A database controlled by the Office of Admissions and Financial Aid was the victim of a targeted cyber attack carried out by unknown persons on the morning of March 5. The attackers were able to collect information about prospective, current, and former students who enrolled during or after fall 2014. The responsible individuals specifically attempted to log into various accounts as a means of gaining access to the Admissions database. They attempted this five times before breaching the security system at 2:45 a.m. The hackers used a system flaw in the “reset your password” function on OCPass, which is provided by independent identity management software company Avatier. The problem has since been fixed. The hackers had access to the database for about four hours, until 6:49 a.m. when they were shut out of the system by Center for Information Technology staff, who were able to change the password of the hacked account. Access information for all admissions accounts has since been changed. “We can’t know for sure why they chose this database, obviously, but this was a human being or a group of human beings specifically trying to access this database — this was a targeted attack,” said Ben Hockenhull, director of CIT. CIT staff are still determining what specific data was accessed and if it was downloaded. The database in question contained names, birthdates, home addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, parent and guardian information, information concerning

admissions files, and, in some cases, Social Security numbers. The Washington Post has reported similar targeted breaches of Grinnell College and Hamilton College databases, which were followed by mass emails to current applicants, offering them their entire admissions packets, including admissions decisions and commentary from their personal admissions officers, for a ransom. Originally, the hackers’ emails asked the high schoolers for $3,890 — the equivalent of one bitcoin — but have since reduced the price to $60. The FBI was notified, but Hockenhull was not confident they will be able to identify the attackers. “I doubt we’ll ever be able to find out who did it,” Hockenhull said. “With stuff like this, people just disappear.” Scott Wargo, director of media relations, added that the attack was not due to negligence on Oberlin’s part. “It’s a tough situation because Admissions didn’t do anything wrong,” Wargo said. “It was a targeted attack, which is the frustrating part. We couldn’t have prevented it.” After an extensive search and review process, CIT has no reason to believe that any other systems or databases have been compromised and stressed that Oberlin’s financial aid information is in a separate database, which was not breached. President Carmen Twillie Ambar alerted 4,200 current and former students about the breach via email on March 7. Parents and prospective students also received notifications. In the email, President Ambar expressed her regrets for the breach and emphasized Oberlin’s commitment to confidentiality and cybersecurity.

“Oberlin College is committed to maintaining a secure computing environment and preserving the confidentiality of our electronic information,” she wrote. “We will continue to review and improve our security procedures to ensure that personal information is protected. We deeply regret that this situation has occurred and are aware of how important your personal information is to you. On behalf of Oberlin College, please accept my sincere apology for any difficulties this incident may cause you.” For some students, the attack is a frightening reality of living in the digital age. “I think it’s always scary to hear that your information [was] breached in a way you weren’t aware of or comfortable with, and it further highlights the susceptibility of Oberlin to instances like this in today’s day and age,” College senior and Computer Science minor Hayley Drapkin said. “I think that as this issue grows — and it has been growing over the past 10 years — as data grows more valuable, it’s more important on the side of the College to ensure all student, faculty, and prospective students’ data are safe.” Other students had different worries about the breach. “I was a little upset, a little shocked. I thought it was kind of hilarious at first, but the more it sits with me, the more I’m like, ‘Wow, this is really, really messed up,’” College junior Jack McKeown said. “Because they also lost [information of ] people who don’t even go here. … I actually sent a screenshot of it to all my high school friends.” In her email, President Ambar also provided links to numerous cybersecurity resources and said the College will provide free credit monitoring services to those who are interested.

Gibson’s Lawsuit Goes To Trial Against College Sydney Allen Editor-in-Chief April 26, 2019 After 18 months of negotiation and discovery research, the lawsuit filed by Gibson’s Food Mart & Bakery against Oberlin College and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo went to trial May 9. Gibson’s filed the suit in November 2017, accusing the College and Raimondo of libel, slander, interference with business relationships, intentional interference with contracts, deceptive trade practices, intentional infliction of emotional distress, negligent hiring, and trespassing. The trial is expected to last about a month. Judge John Miraldi of the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas will preside over the case. Oberlin Director of Media Relations Scott Wargo said that the College worked for months to reach a resolution with the local business to no avail. “The court has notified Oberlin College that … the Gibsons’ claims against Oberlin College and Dean Raimondo will move forward in court,” Wargo wrote in an email to the Review. “We are disappointed. Every effort to resolve this matter has been to no avail. We believe the evidence is clear. Neither Oberlin College nor Dr. Raimondo defamed a local business [nor] its owners. Colleges cannot be held liable for the independent actions of The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

students. Employers are not legally responsible for employees who express personal views on personal time. The law is clear on these issues.” The current tension between the College and Gibson’s began in November 2016 when a Black student attempted to make a purchase at Gibson’s Bakery and was accused of shoplifting. The student ran outside the store and Allyn Gibson, the son of shop owner David Gibson, followed him. Gibson allegedly tackled the student, and the two got into a physical altercation. Two of the student’s friends, who were both Black, saw the altercation and began hitting and pulling on Gibson to get him away from the student. A customer in the shop witnessed the altercation and called the Oberlin Police Department out of concern for the students’ safety. When the police arrived, they immediately arrested the three Black students and refused to take statements from some students and witnesses who were present. After the arrest, students organized a 12-hour boycott outside Gibson’s Bakery to protest what they characterized as racial profiling from Allyn Gibson, who is white, as well as the Oberlin Police Department. Charges were filed against the students involved in the altercation, and after a 10-month long investigative process, all three pled guilty to misdemeanor charges in Au-

The 2017 lawsuit filed by Gibson’s Bakery against the College and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo went to trial May 9, 2019. Photo by Talia Rose Barton

gust 2017 to avoid the uncertainty of a trial. As part of the plea deal, they also read statements recanting any racial profiling accusations against Allyn Gibson. The Gibson’s suit accuses the College and Raimondo of sanctioning and aiding students in the protest and boycott effort. The bakery claims its reputation was smeared and that it lost a significant amount of business since the protests.

Despite the rift, the College maintains it is committed to mending ties with Oberlin’s local businesses while supporting students in their exercise of free speech. “The College values its long relationship with the town of Oberlin and its businesses,” Wargo said. “We will continue our commitment to the economic uplift of the local businesses that make this community, county, and region a destination of choice.

The claims in this case conflict with the obligations of higher education to protect freedom of speech on college campuses. The College respects the rights of all individuals to express their personal opinions and to peacefully exercise their First Amendment rights.” Attorneys for the Gibson family did not return calls requesting comment. The trial is expected to conclude later this month.

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A Year of AAPR Nathan Carpenter Editor-in-Chief Anisa Curry Vietze News Editor May 24, 2019

What is the AAPR? In the spring of 2018, President Carmen Twillie Ambar proposed the Academic and Administrative Program Review. On March 9, 2018, The Board of Trustees approved the AAPR, which was charged with finding solutions to Oberlin’s expanding structural budget deficit. For the last year, the AAPR steering committee took a data-centered deep-dive into Oberlin’s budget, programs, student retention, and more. The 31-person steering committee included faculty, staff, students, trustees, and alumni. Oberlin also hired Stevens Strategy — an external consulting firm that specializes in higher education — to help with research and data compilation during the initial stages. The AAPR has gathered data in the past year from campus surveys, quality assessments, program reports, focus groups, interviews, public forums, and more. The identified areas of recommendation were made public on campus and online in late March. A series of open forums were held to answer questions and collect community feedback. A month later, the steering committee unveiled a draft of its final recommendations and opened a brief period of public comment. Ultimately, on Friday, May 17, the final recommendations were submitted to Ambar. “We believe these recommendations fulfill both the initial charge to the AAPR Steering Committee and the additional guidance provided by the Board of Trustees, as specified in the report,” wrote Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences David Kamitsuka in a memo to President Ambar on behalf of the steering committee that he chaired. “The recommendations are focused on enhancing student learning outcomes and supporting academic and artistic excellence. We also believe that this report and the process it represents fulfill the commitments we made to the Oberlin community last fall to conduct a process that is authentic to Oberlin, inclusive, transparent, and respectful of faculty oversight of the curriculum.”

Where are we now?

Students, faculty, and staff gathered in Dye Lecture Hall in March for a presentation on the first draft of the AAPR’s areas of recommendation. Photo by Meg Parker, Photo Editor

The final report that the steering committee sent to President Carmen Twillie Ambar’s office has been made available on the AAPR’s official website. Ambar is expected to approve the recommendations shortly, and send them to the Board of Trustees for final review. Pending the Board’s approval, the recommendations will be implemented via several different processes over the next several years. The General Faculty also voiced its approval of the recommendations, voting to endorse the AAPR’s final proposals at a Wed. May 15 meeting. Of 267 votes cast, 210 voted to endorse, 45 opposed the recommendations, 11 members abstained, and one vote was deemed invalid. No members of the General Faculty made formal comments or proposed amendments to the recommendations. Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences and AAPR Chair David Kamitsuka acknowledged the significance of the broad support that the recommendations received. “I am delighted that the General Faculty endorsed the AAPR Final Report, including the AAPR recommendations, by a resounding 4–1 margin,” Kamitsuka

wrote in an email to the Review. “That’s an unusual level of support for changes that are this significant, and it gives the recommendations important momentum as they go to the president and trustees for consideration.” Still, nearly 17 percent of the General Faculty voted in opposition, representing some of the controversy that has surrounded the AAPR in recent months. In particular, many faculty and other community members opposed the recommendations regarding employee compensation. More in-depth coverage of concerns with specific areas of recommendation is included in the spread below. Submitting the recommendations to President Ambar concludes the steering committee’s work. From here, a variety of faculty governance committees and campus offices will begin the process of tweaking and implementing the recommendations. Some of the changes could go into effect during the 2019–2020 academic year, while others will play out over the next several years. The implementation will be overseen and evaluated by an ad hoc committee. While the new committee has yet to be formed, Kamitsuka shared some thoughts about how it should be structured. “We feel that the broad-based representation found in the AAPR steering committee would be a good model for the ad hoc advisory committee as well,” he wrote.

Relationship With OSCA

College junior Cat Robinson, College first-year Lily Lansdell, and College junior Katherine Carson baking late at night in the Pyle Co-op kitchen. Photo by Meg Parker, Photo Editor

Jenna Gyimesi News Editor One of the AAPR steering committee’s key findings was that the College forgoes $1.9 million in annual revenue through its relationship with the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, a figure that has prompted conversations between the College and OSCA about the most cost effective ways to structure their relationship and best serve the roughly 590 students who eat and 180 who live in OSCA. OSCA’s current and future leadership — including 2018–2019 President Hannah Tobin-Bloch and incoming 2019–2020 President Gio Donovan — argued that conclusions should not be drawn from the $1.9 million figure alone. “There are so many ways that this supposed loss of revenue for the College does not represent the non-financial services that OSCA provides to the College that are impossible to quantify, nor does it take into account how big of an admissions draw OSCA is for the College,” they wrote in a joint statement to the Review. Tobin-Bloch and Donovan cited dining options for students with dietary restrictions, conflict-resolution skills, leadership opportunities, and a financially accessible dining and housing option — especially for those with undocumented need — as invaluable benefits for both current and prospective students. However, data collected by the AAPR leadership indicates that OSCA has fewer low-income students, fewer international students, students with less financial need, and fewer people of color than Campus Dining Services and Residential Education. OSCA officers countered that these figures might be misleading since the College only factored in documented need. “OSCA provides lower bills regardless of their status of documented need,” the officers wrote in the statement. “Many OSCA members could not attend Oberlin College if not for the at-cost benefits of being a member of OSCA — a cooperative model the College has graciously supported for 60 years.” Administrators maintain that they recognize OSCA’s

value and say there are no plans to discontinue their relationship with the co-ops.

New Academic Concentrations

Students working in the Science Center, where future global health classes could be offered for a proposed new academic concentration. Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Anisa Curry Vietze News Editor The AAPR also recommended the creation of two new academic concentrations — one in Business and one in Global Health. The AAPR believes that adding these concentrations would both attract prospective students to Oberlin and increase retention of current students. The AAPR cited data showing that more than a third of prospective students rated their interest in business to be at least a four out of five. Additionally, 42 percent of returning Oberlin students said they were interested in a Global Health program. Ron Cheung, professor and chair of the Economics department and a member of the AAPR steering committee, said that the business concentration would be a good fit for the specific needs of Oberlin’s student body. “We decided that a full-on major in business is not the way to go because it kind of doesn’t fit in well with the character of Oberlin,” Cheung said. “[In addition] Conservatory students are basically going to leave their Oberlin experience and become self-employed. Basically, you’re trying to market yourself.” Associate Dean of Students Dana Hamdan hopes that both concentrations could offer students the chance to integrate learning both inside and outside of the classroom as well as better prepare for life after graduation. “[These concentrations would] allow us to do something we have never done before, namely, to collaborate with curricular committees on how to be strategic in preparing our students to launch from Oberlin,” Hamdan wrote in an email to the Review. The AAPR recommends adding one faculty line for the Business concentration but does not specifically propose any new hires to support the Global Health concentration. If the proposed concentrations become part of Oberlin’s curriculum, faculty governance bodies — particularly the Educational Plans and Policies Committee — will have to make crucial decisions about how to best utilize existing resources as well as where new resources might be needed.

Employee Compensation

College plumber and United Auto Workers member Tom Wright works in Facilities Operations on campus. Photo by Meg Parker, Photo Editor

Sydney Allen Nathan Carpenter Editors-in-Chief Oberlin is considering eliminating over 50 staff positions — a decision which could impact up to 40 current

A Year of AAPR employees — as part of the AAPR’s recommendations concerning employee costs. One of the steering committee’s key findings in this area was that 63 percent of Oberlin’s operating budget goes toward employee compensation. The steering committee further suggested that Oberlin’s ratio of 2,850 students to 1,100 employees is unsustainable. In addition, the committee presented data indicating that Oberlin’s hourly employees earn up to 34 percent higher wages than comparable positions at peer institutions. At the same time, faculty make 11 percent less, and administrative and professional staff are about even. However, some union representatives have raised concerns about the source data for the hourly worker comparison, arguing that the discrepancy may be less than the AAPR indicated. OCOPE member and English departmental secretary Linda Pardee emphasized the stress created by the AAPR process, which has left many hourly workers wondering if their jobs are on the line. “I ended up taking last year off for medical leave because of the stress,” said Pardee, who was let go from her prior position at the College in 2017 before being re-hired. “If you look at short-term leaves or long-term leaves, I have a feeling they’ve gone up because people are very stressed.” Many also raised concerns that hourly unionized workers were not represented on the steering committee. Some of the union leadership feel it is unfair to discuss the future of hourly workers on campus without them in the room. “I can’t speak for the [United Auto Workers], but our request to participate was denied by the College because we have a collective bargaining agreement,” said Oberlin College Office and Professional Employees Union Vice President and Interlibrary Loan Specialist Diane Lee. Vice President for Finance and Administration Rebecca Vazquez-Skillings, a member of the AAPR steering committee, said that hourly employees did not sit in on meetings because of processes that occur between union leadership and the Department of Human Resources. “College employees that are members of the college’s bargaining units did not participate as members of the AAPR steering committee out of respect for the bargaining process,” said Vazquez-Skillings wrote in an email to the Review. “The steering committee was careful not to venture into conduct that might be considered negotiation.”

Changes to the Conservatory

else. The steering committee hopes that increasing college students’ access to the musical resources of a world renowned conservatory could fulfill the hopes of prospective and current students. In addition, fewer Conservatory students could allow for more individualized attention. Some Conservatory students, however, are wary of the changes to the Musical Studies major. “It seems like they are making it less rigorous and I think that’s a detriment,” said Conservatory senior Ricardo Guerra. However, double-degree junior and Conservatory Council of Students Secretary Amber Scherer is hopeful the major and other new programs will help integrate the College and Conservatory but expressed some concern over bridging the two divisions. “There are so many fantastic musicians in the College; they deserve the chance to access all the resources of the Conservatory,” she said. “Due to the cultural differences in the College and Conservatory as well as ideological differences — in my opinion, there is a higher proportion of conservative-leaning and Christian students in the Conservatory — I’m not sure whether the gap will ever be socially bridged. Musically, though, I definitely think the Conservatory and College can open up to each other more.”

Restructuring of Winter Term

number of professors on campus to lead and advise projects. The AAPR’s goal is to encourage as many as one-third of the student body to remain on campus during future Winter Terms. This would differ from prior Winter Terms, where very few students stay in Oberlin, leaving to pursue independent projects or internships. Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Elizabeth Hamilton suggested that a more robust advising program for Winter Term could bolster student experiences, including first-year students who may struggle to develop their first Winter Term project. “The ‘blank canvas’ is, for many, a golden opportunity, but for others, a truly daunting prospect,” Hamilton wrote in an email to the Review. “When there are so many possibilities, how does a person actually design a meaningful project? Some clearer guidelines and models will help students to make the most of this time.” The proposed changes could also increase faculty involvement in Winter Term projects as well as increasing financial support, and utilizing ExCos as a Winter Term resource. College first-year Serena Zets, ExCo committee member and student senator, expressed excitement about the idea but hesitation about its implementation. “Offering Winter Term ExCos would require committee members to overwork ourselves even more and stay on campus over Winter Term to maintain the program,” Zets explained. “Offering Winter Term ExCos seems like a thinly-veiled way to utilize the labor of the ExCo Committee and [its] student instructors to bail the College out from paying faculty to develop Winter Term intensives and stay on campus in January.” Another challenge the steering committee hopes to address is accessibility — currently, Winter Term opportunities are not evenly accessible due to lack of financial resources or family connections.

Additional Recommendations Students get their Basic Open Water Diving Certification in Oberlin’s pool as part of an on-campus Winter Term project. Photo Courtesy of the Office of Winter Term

Ella Moxley Senior Staff Writer The AAPR recommended changes to Winter Term that the steering committee says will make opportunities for the month more structured, accessible, and equitable. These changes could include increasing on-campus opportunities with new Winter Term courses and keeping a greater

The AAPR also recommended decreasing the amount of physical space that Oberlin uses. Data indicated that Oberlin spends almost $42 million a year to heat, light, and maintain buildings. In addition, Oberlin uses more space than other colleges; the College maintains around 1,000 square feet per student whereas the average for the Great Lakes Colleges Association peer institutions is around 818 square feet per student. Another recommendation is to boost resources for career development for students. This recommendation came after the 2018 Consortium on Financing Higher Education Senior Exit Survey showed that only 25 percent of Oberlin students looking for a full-time job secured one by the time of their graduation, in comparison with 48 percent of students at comparable institutions.

The Steering Committee Conservatory sophomore Josephine Lee and double-degree junior Phoebe Pan practice together in Bibbins Hall. Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Jane Hobson Staff Writer The steering committee has supported the creation of a revamped Musical Studies major and minor, and recommended that Oberlin increase College enrollment by 100 students while simultaneously decreasing Conservatory enrollment by 100 students over the course of the next four years. The enrollment shift was recommended partially in response to data showing that Arts & Sciences students bring in an average of $10,000 more in annual tuition revenue than students from the Conservatory. In addition, the steering committee argues that admitting fewer Conservatory students will make the Conservatory even more selective, which could increase its prestige. The AAPR cites that, in 2018, almost 80 percent of students admitted to the College who listed music performance as their primary interest enrolled somewhere The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

The AAPR steering committee, pictured above, engaged in a year-long, data-driven review that touched every part of campus. The 31-person committee included three students and 15 faculty. The rest of the committee was composed of professional staff and trustees. In late March, the committee released their initial areas of recommendation and put together a series of public presentations to introduce members of the Oberlin community to the data they collected. A second period for public comment followed the release of a draft of their final recommendations a month later. Text by Anisa Curry Vietze, News Editor Photo by Dana Hamdan

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CONVERSATION & CONTROVERSY

Oberlin Professors Resign After Sexual Misconduct Nathan Carpenter Editor-in-Chief May 24, 2019 Editor’s note: This brief is a condensed version of the Review’s previous coverage of the departures of Professors James David Christie and Robin Eubanks. A response to the tone of the original piece can be found on page 20 of this issue. Two long-time members of the Conservatory faculty — Professor of Organ James David Christie and Associate Professor of Jazz Trombone and Jazz Composition Robin Eubanks — resigned last August following allegations of sexual misconduct involving students. Investigations were conducted into both Christie and Eubanks. It was determined by a faculty panel that Eubanks was responsible for violating Oberlin’s sexual misconduct policies. Christie resigned before Oberlin could undertake a formal process, but the Conservatory still brought in Giffen & Kaminski, LLC, a Cleveland-based law firm, to conduct an investigation after his resignation. The firm concluded their process earlier this year. “Based on the number of credible and consistent reports of some current and former students, faculty, and staff, the investigators concluded there is evidence that Mr. Christie in all likelihood

grossly abused his position of trust and violated Oberlin College’s Discrimination and Harassment Policy, Sexual Misconduct Policy and professional code of conduct,” wrote Director for Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion and Title IX Coordinator Rebecca Mosely and Acting Dean of the Conservatory Bill Quillen in a Feb. 21 message to members of the Conservatory community. The allegations against Christie played out on a national stage, as publications such as The Boston Globe reported on alleged misconduct during his time at multiple institutions in addition to Oberlin. Both Christie and Eubanks were well-known in the ir respective fields. Christie in particular was renowned as an influencer who could open doors for organists early in their careers. However, many of his former students contend that this power had a dark side, and that Christie would leverage his outsized reputation in inappropriate ways. Following the resignations, Mosely’s office conducted climate assessments of the departments each professor had taught in. The findings of those assessments were shared with community members. Moving forward, Mosely and Quillen have committed to greater vigilance around issues of power and abuse in the Conservatory.

Organists on campus regularly practice and perform at Finney Chapel’s historic C.B. Fisk pipe organ pictured above. Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

“We are committed to making sure that this type of situation never recurs in the future,” they wrote in the same

Feb. 21 message. “We are sorry that for many of you we fell short of our values and our mission.”

Protesters Stand Against National Emergency

A group of concerned Lorain County citizens convened in the southeast corner of Tappan Square on Feb. 18 to protest President Trump’s declaration of a national emergency to procure funding for a border wall between Mexico and the U.S. The demonstration was organized by local activist group Lorain County Rising. The protest began at noon and lasted about an hour, drawing 40–50 demonstrators from Oberlin and neighboring areas. Attendees braved the 25-degree temperatures and intermittent snow to stand by the flagpoles on the corner of Main Street and East College Street. The rally included homemade signs and chants such as, “Hey hey, ho ho, Trump and his wall have got to go.” Many others expressed their support by honking at the group throughout the demonstration. “This is an important part of what a democracy is and how a democracy is defended,” said Oberlin resident David Finke OC ’63 about his motivation for attending the protest. During the demonstration, one protester held up a Constitution to rep-

resent the violation of Article I, which spells out the powers delegated to the legislative branch.Other protesters were motivated by apprehension about the wall more generally. “Walls are un-American and not useful,” said Masha Petersen, a participant in the protest. “Mexico is a partner in economy and culture and in so many other ways. We don’t need to go back into nationalism. It’s what led to World War I and World War II.” Finke noted that the group that had gathered in Oberlin was part of a larger group of people who have expressed dissatisfaction with the president declaring a national emergency. Protests occurred across the country over the weekend and on Presidents Day, Feb. 18, including protests at the Trump Hotel in New York City that prompted arrests. Text and photo by Ella Moxley Feb. 22, 2019

CONVERSATION & CONTROVERSY

Staffing Changes Raise Concerns About Future of MRC Jenna Gyimesi, News Editor Anisa Curry Vietze, Senior Staff Writer Nov. 9, 2018

Editor’s note: Since the publication of this article Zahida Sherman has been hired as the MRC’s new director. In addition, MRC Student Life Coordinator Khalid Taylor announced that he will leave the MRC effective June 15. Four full-time staff members resigned from positions at the Multicultural Resource Center between May and November 2018. The office was once staffed by five full-time staffers. By early November the MRC was run by Assistant Vice President Adrian Bautista in an interim capacity, Student Life Community Coordinator Khalid Taylor, OC ’17, and LGBTQ Community Coordinator Elliot Director, who later discontinued work Nov. 30. Toni Myers, former Director of the MRC, vacated their position in June 2018. Interim Director Anna Phung and Libni Lopez both left the MRC last October. Following these departures, students and MRC staff members raised concerns about the organization’s diminished capacity to provide support for students. “I think that almost every identity-based student organization was supervised by one of the members of staff,” Director said. “Even in terms of signing off forms, there aren’t going to be enough people here. Folks are going to have to find new advisors. … There

just aren’t going to be enough people to support them. I am genuinely concerned about access in the center.” The MRC provides a place for students to feel safe and welcomed. Staff members direct students to resources on campus and offer a support system for individuals who may be uncomfortable turning elsewhere. The MRC also engages in efforts to educate the community at large around issues of diversity and inclusion. “I would say that this space serves as an oasis and a bit of a stronghold for students to find sanctuary and find a place to be who and how they are unapologetically,” Taylor said. College senior EmmaLia Mariner highlighted the impact that the MRC and its staff have had in Oberlin. “You can’t understate the importance of that space,” Mariner said. “The people that worked there last year really have given their heart and soul to this school, and I really hope that those positions are open for more phenomenal staff members and that the staff members are supported in staying here.” College sophomore Gio Donovan is just one of the students worried about the future of support at Oberlin. “I genuinely fear that the MRC is not going to be a thing after this year anymore or that it’ll get absorbed by something else, like [the Division of Student Life],” Donovan said. Many students approached Bautista with concerns after he stepped into the interim director role. However, he is confident the MRC will continue to provide support and resources moving

Khalid Taylor and Elliot Director share a conversation in the MRC.

Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor

forward. “We are continuing to plan essential programs, supporting collaboration within the College, and serving as a campus-wide resource,” Bautista wrote in an email to the Review. Director resigned in part because he feels that senior administrators were not providing necessary support for the MRC and its staff to continue their work. “I think that we have seen support waning for the MRC and our vision and our agenda from the upper-level administration,” Director said. “I would say even in our basic requests, and needs for support, all of them are shut down. I don’t think that the MRC broadly, and personally as staff members that there

is support from directly overhead. It felt like it was time to step back because … I was not being supported in the way [MRC staff ] needs to be.” Bautista emphasized his commitment to providing MRC staff with both adequate resources and opportunities to offer input about the future of the MRC. He also noted that many MRC employees moved on to pursue important career opportunities. “We are happy to see MRC staff move from what might be considered entry-level posts to next stages in their careers, both at Oberlin and beyond,” Bautista wrote. “We want the MRC to be staffed by incredibly talented, dediSee Short-Staffed, page 8

Changing Meal Plans Incite Protests Among Students Keifer Ludwig April 5 and 12, 2019 In April, Oberlin students engaged in multiple forms of collective action to protest upcoming changes to Campus Dining Services’ meal plan options. The protests began with a 24-hour boycott of CDS on April 2. The boycott’s Facebook event received over 200 student responses. Controversy was sparked by two emails sent to students by the Offices of Residential Education and of the Dean of Students. These emails contained an error in which administrators told students to register online for meal plans that will no longer be offered in the 2019–20 school year. The mistake was announced in a March 19 email from Assistant Vice President of Student Life Adrian Bautista that contained corrected information about the meal plans that will go into effect at the start of the fall 2019 semester. This was followed by a more comprehensive email from Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo on Monday, April 1, the day before the boycott began. In the email, Raimondo wrote that these changes were being made to give “greater flexibility” to students. However, many student protestors cited a lack of flexibility and choice as one of their main concerns with the changes. “The reason we organized was out of concern about how low-income students were supposed to pay for a more expensive plan with less flexibility,” said student organizer and College first-year David Mathisson, organizer of the boycott and an additional protest outside of Raimondo’s office. “The email Dean Raimondo sent to the students … suggested that Fourth Meal was in danger, and while some concessions were included, accessibility to [how the] low-income students [would pay for the cost increase] was not included.” While other students expressed similar sentiments, Raimondo maintained that the changes are meant to benefit low-income students. The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

“The College plan represents a best practice in preventing food insecurity by ensuring that needbased financial aid covers access to at least three meals a day,” Raimondo wrote in an email to the Review. “A family’s estimated contribution — whether it is $5,000, $20,000, or $50,000 — remains the same even when costs increase.” College junior Yaxiong (Luke) Chen, another boycott organizer, disagreed. “The administration went back on its promises and simply imposed [these changes] on behalf of the student body,” said Chen. “[It] shows how arbitrary and undemocratic the administration can be.” The boycott was criticized by some because the unused meal swipes had already been paid for and had no impact on CDS financially. A week after the boycott, students planned a different kind of protest by setting up collection boxes to donate food from unused meal swipes to Oberlin Community Services, a local safety net and food assistance organization. Organizers of the food drive hoped it would have a bigger impact as many claim that CDS relies on students not using all of their daily meal swipes. “The swipes at the end of the day don’t carry over to the next day,” said organizer and Conservatory first-year Emmy Hensley. “So I felt obligated to use everything. And I was thinking, ‘Well, what do I do with all of this extra food? Because I’m not eating it.’ So I’ve been donating to OCS every week. But once they sent out that email with the whole administrative error thing, I thought, ‘That’s enough. We’re just going to do this.’” Hensley set up three food donation boxes around campus: one in the Conservatory lounge, another in the King Building lobby, and the last in Wilder Hall. Students were encouraged to use their excess meal swipes to buy non-refrigerated, packaged foods from DeCafé and leave these items in one of the three boxes. “I’m lucky if I even use three swipes a day,” Hensley said. “And I know they’re trying to emphasize food security, but four meals is really extensive. There

is definitely a surplus of food. We’re just wasting our money essentially.” However, Raimondo says that students who consider four swipes a day to be wasteful are confused about how CDS runs. “These assumptions are built on a couple of misunderstandings: that Oberlin or CDS ‘profits’ off of plan pricing, which is simply not true — any revenue CDS generates beyond expenses supports the operating budget, including the academic program,” Raimondo wrote in an email to the Review. “Many students also calculate a ‘per plate’ cost by dividing the cost by the number of meals and then compare those to costs to home cooking, fast food, or restaurant preparation — there is either no labor costs, or a reliance on parttime, minimum wage, no-benefit labor models. … To call for smaller or less expensive meal plans would require further job eliminations — something that many students have said that they do not want to see occur.” There was a significant response to the food drive. Hensley also tallied 230 individual food products donated on Monday night alone, and 243 on Tuesday. Even with these forms of collective action, many student organizers feel that it can be difficult to get the administration’s attention. “They are only half-listening,” College sophomore Robert Stott wrote in a message to the Review. “Kinda nodding and saying, ‘yes uh huh sure,’ and then pushing out half-solutions that end up being more destructive than constructive. ... We need more responsibility both on the administrations’ and the students’ side.” Raimondo also feels there is an issue with communication. “I am saddened that so many students still do not understand why the meal plans are constructed as they are,” wrote Raimondo. “I continue to wish that students who are concerned with dining would engage with Student Senate’s dining working group or the CDS dining committee. ... I always hope that protest, which is an important strategy for institutional change, comes after other forms of direct engagement, not as the first form.”

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CONVERSATION & CONTROVERSY

Short-Staffed MRC Moves Forward

Continued from page 7

cated new professionals who go on to graduate school or a next position that allows them to continue impacting the lives of many others.” The College also formed a diverse search committee made up of both students and staff to hire a new MRC director. The committee began reviewing applications in November. “I see how the administration is trying to make sure that we take the right steps to ensure that when we do find the right candidates,” said Conservatory senior Jason Arevalo, a student member of the search committee, before a new director was hired. “Hopefully, it will be someone who is sensitive to the needs of students, sensitive to what the MRC has been, and sensitive to bringing their own vision as well.” In a Nov. 7, 2018 email, search committee cochairs Assistant Vice President Adrian Bautista and Assistant Dean Chris Donaldson asked for students to share their perspective at listening sessions on Nov. 13 and 19, 2018. “We are committed to engaging in a search that has a high degree of student involvement and feedback as well as transparency,” Bautista and Donaldson wrote. Despite the search for — and ultimate hiring of — a new director, some feel the MRC is still in danger of being underfunded and understaffed due to the College’s financial situation. “We were met with a lot of expression of difficulty in reconciling the [multiple resignations] due to financial constraints at the College,” Taylor said. “A lot of situations of trying to advocate for more support was met with being told that we are in a deficit model.” Staffers also maintained that hiring a new director does not solve all of the center’s problems. “While I do think it is an important move to bring a director into the situation, I think that that cannot solve the larger issues at play,” Taylor said. “I have more questions than answers at this moment.” Director emphasized that students may have more influence than they realize in advocating for organizations like the MRC. “Students forget they have power here,” Director said. “Their voices in many, and maybe most, ways have the ability to outweigh the voices of staff and faculty if they use them. If there are needs that are … not being met, I think one of the most powerful things students can do is to use their voices individually and collectively.” Taylor noted that the burden to advocate for resources like the MRC should not fall entirely on those who use the center directly. “The very origins of this center come from the community wanting it to exist and making it clear the expectations and desires for it to be in existence,” Taylor said. “That is everyone’s responsibility, not just those who are marginalized.” Since the original publication of this article, the MRC has hired Zahida Sherman as its new director. Sherman began her role on Feb. 18 of this year. “People can expect that I will listen to them and hear their perspectives, hear their input, I’m very open to suggestions for programming or speakers and things like that,” Sherman said in a Feb. 22 interview with the Review. “I’m happy to be here, I’m excited to be here, and I’m very collaborative. I know that the school is gearing up for some tighter budgetary moves, and I know that brings a lot of unease. I will be as transparent with folks as possible through that transition. And it’s really important to me that the MRC serves this campus community to the best of its ability, even through these transitions.”

Arabic Courses to Be Offered Digitally Nathan Carpenter Editor-in-Chief March 8, 2019 Editor’s note: Throughout the spring semester, students voiced their support for the Arabic program through the #SaveArabic campaign. This student activism is largely not reflected in the piece below, which was published shortly after the announcement regarding Arabic programming was made. The perspective of several students on the changes to Arabic can be found on page 19 of this issue. Oberlin will change the way students take Arabic language classes starting next academic year. Moving forward, students will take intermediate and upper-level Arabic courses through the Shared Languages Program, an initiative of the Great Lakes College Association. The courses will be taught in a “digital classroom” with live group video sessions led by Hanada Al-Masri, associate professor of Arabic at Denison University. The Shared Languages Program is available to all 13 colleges and universities in the GLCA, including Oberlin. Gabriele Dillmann, GLCA Consortial Languages director and associate professor of German at Denison University, founded the program to increase access to language education for GLCA schools who face low enrollment in advanced-level language classes. “I thought, well, how about if several [GLCA institutions] offer courses [and] all of our students can take from all 13 colleges without paying extra tuition,” Dillmann said. “And so the Shared Languages Program was born.” SLP courses take place via the Zoom conferencing platform, which allows students from multiple campuses to come together in a digital classroom setting. According to Oberlin’s Acting Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences David Kamitsuka, who also chaired the Academic and Administrative Program Review, the decision to transition intermediate- and upper-level Arabic classes to the digital platform was made due to low enrollment. He clarified that, while the decision is not connected to the AAPR, its motivation — financial sustainability — is similar to the AAPR committee’s focus. “As much as Oberlin would like to support Arabic instruction under the traditional model, enrollment levels have not been sustainable,” Kamitsuka wrote in an email to the Review. “For example, in the last eight semesters of intermediate Arabic, course enrollment averaged four students per class.” Kamitsuka added that the ARBC 202 course offered this spring has only two students enrolled. However, College junior Simon Idelson, who is pursuing a Politics major and a Middle East and North Africa Studies minor, isn’t convinced that low enrollment justifies the transition to the SLP model. “I think [the low enrollment] is a fluke because the [intro] Arabic class last year was largely made up of seniors and juniors who were about to go abroad,” Idelson said. “I think three people who would have taken the Arabic class graduated, two people went abroad, and then two people went abroad again the following semester.” Current Visiting Assistant Professor of Arabic Basem Al-Raba’a, whose position has been funded through a four-year grant meant to evaluate student interest in Arabic and will not continue after this spring, agreed with Idelson’s assessment. Al-Raba’a also said that he had not received much communication about the mentor position or future course offerings since learning that he would not be returning to Oberlin. “I [am] not involved with the Shared Languages Program,” Al-Raba’a said. “The administration is making plans … without my knowledge. I heard only from the students that there will be offerings in second- and third-year courses.” Idelson is also concerned that shifting to a digital classroom model will compromise the experience of students interested in pursuing Arabic, Middle Eastern and North African studies, and politics. “First, just technically speaking, you learn much more in person,” Idelson said. “I’ve used Zoom be-

fore in previous Arabic classes, [and] there was lots of freezing — the connection was very bad. Maybe they’ve updated their technology, but it was very hard.” Idelson added that professor office hours and cultural or language-based programs on campus could become less accessible under the SLP model. However, Dillmann said that she finds that her digital office hours are more popular than her in-person ones. Kamitsuka added that opportunities for individualized attention for students studying Arabic will still exist at Oberlin. “We will support … instruction with a mentor on our own campus who can offer tutoring and opportunities for practicing conversation,” he wrote. Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Elizabeth Hamilton said that it’s not yet clear what that mentor position will look like. “The mentor’s position is yet to be designed, and its exact contours will depend upon the level of enrollment,” Hamilton wrote in an email to the Review. Al-Raba’a added that having an on-campus mentor is a vital part of the original agreements of the SLP. Al-Masri also emphasized the importance of mentorship. “I insist on two things for this program to be successful for all students, not only for traditional students,” she said. “First, [that] we have students transition into the SLP at the intermediate level and above, and, number two, they have to have a mentor on campus to address whatever issues come up.” From a teaching perspective, Al-Masri says that her experience with the SLP has been positive. “It really has proven to be as good as the traditional class — maybe even better because of the technology and because of all of the tools that we can use,” Al-Masri said. She elaborated that particular Zoom functions, including chat function and screen sharing options, have allowed her to become a more accessible instructor. College junior CeCe Longo, who enrolled in an SLP German course taught by Dillmann this spring, also reported that the platform had opened doors for them. “While it can be difficult to attend school online, SLP provides an opportunity to learn more about German culture and practice language skills not offered here, physically, at Oberlin,” Longo wrote in an email to the Review. “I would take an SLP class in the future. Learning about German business culture is not something I would have done at Oberlin.” Dillmann conceded that the digital platform will not allow students from different institutions to come together at campus-specific events, such as film screenings. While some in-person events and interactions can’t be replicated digitally, Dillmann noted that she is able to present a larger number of guest speakers to her classes. As the SLP continues to grow, Dillmann hopes that students at GLCA institutions will have expanded access to language courses that their college or university might not offer on campus. “I would like to expand options for our students both by offering them higher level courses and more variety in higher level courses in the languages that they are already studying,” she said. “Or if they want to study a language that Oberlin doesn’t offer … for them to have the opportunity to then study that language.” Idelson and other students still have doubts that the model will work for Oberlin. “The Arabic program and its events helps bring together students of Arabic descent and students learning about it, and actually makes a community — a very important community that further humanizes [that] region,” Idelson said. Al-Masri encourages Oberlin students to open conversations about their concerns before dismissing the SLP model. “I really, really understand their concerns … it’s just normal,” she said. “This is something that happens every time you try something new. My advice to [Oberlin students] is to try it first before they judge it.” Kamitsuka says that Oberlin will continue to explore options to expand Oberlin’s collaborations with the SLP moving into next decade.

NEW BEGINNINGS

CDC Announces New Career Communities Pilot

Sydney Allen, Editor-in-Chief Roman Broszkowski, Senior Staff Writer Dec. 7, 2018

Associate Dean of Students and Interim Director of the Career Development Center Dana Hamdan unveiled the pilot for a new Career Communities program in a series of four information sessions in December. The program launched this spring and allowed roughly 120 juniors and seniors to participate in a one-credit, co-curricular course that culminates in a funded internship this summer. “The Career Communities initiative makes it possible for us to address Oberlin’s ‘missing link’ — if you will — for supporting students in making the transition from college to career,” Hamdan wrote in an email to the Review. “The learning goals of the program are to help students (1) understand and articulate the transferable skills they have developed at Oberlin, (2) develop a professional network of mentors and potential employers, [and] (3) explore possible career paths through internships. This aligns with the Career Development Center’s larger strategy of supporting students [as they] prepare for life after Oberlin in educationally and developmentally

appropriate ways.” The info sessions, which ran from Nov. 29 to Dec. 5, pitched the program to students as an opportunity to workshop essential job skills and find direction for career plans. After outlining the program’s basic structure, Hamdan answered questions and addressed potential concerns. Many of those in attendance raised questions around financial accessibility. Hamdan explained that the program includes a guaranteed funded internship for each participant, which the Career Development Center secured through parents and alumni, as well as partnerships with local, national, and international businesses and organizations. Offerings include opportunities at Google, CBS Paramount, Columbia Pictures, Princeton Architectural Press, and the Project on Middle East Democracy. The program currently has four communities — Business, Finance, and Consulting; Non-Profit and the Public Sector; Arts and Creative Professions; and Entrepreneurship and Innovation. Each community accepted up to 30 students this spring. The plan is to roll out five more communities in fall 2019: Medical, Public, and Global Health Professions; Science and Technology; Education; Law and

Associate Dean of Students Dana Hamdan explains the Career Communities initiative at an information session Wednesday, Dec. 5 in King Building. Photo by Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor

Public Policy; and Professions in Music. This new structure marks a change from the initial Career Communities program pitched last semester. In September 2018, the communities were constructed around Wisr, a net-

Ashby Business Scholars Network Across the Nation

working platform used by the College, and featured an expert advisor with experience in the relevant industry. Now, the program has mostly moved off Wisr and will focus more on preparatory workshops. See Career, page 11

Inauguration Events Seek to Encourage Community Continued from page 1

Students in the Ashby Business Scholars Program visited Cleveland, New York City, and San Francisco this past Winter Term to learn more about career building, navigating the job market, and making alumni connections. In the process, they toured several companies, including Facebook, Google, and McKinsey. The business scholars program was established in 2004 by Bela Szigethy and Stewart Kohl, both OC ’77, and CEOs of the Riverside Company, a Cleveland-based private equity firm. Originally envisioned as an opportunity for Oberlin students to gain exposure to the world of business and economics, the program continues to enroll 12 of its strongest applicants in a seven-week course during the second module of fall semester. Participants learn the fundamentals of business and finance and are paired up with a professional development coach to help guide them through the process. Before the scholars embarked on their January trip, they spent a week on campus preparing for the fast-paced professional world. Text by Text by Jane Hobson Photo by Meg Parker, Photo Editor Feb. 8, 2019

The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

“[At the open house], there are students’ voices there,” she said. “How President Ambar has come into the College, what we see her doing, and how it is affecting students and not just administrators. How does a new president affect students and the future?” About 1,000 people RSVP’d to the Installation Ceremony, during which Ambar was inaugurated. The event was accompanied by a gospel choir, at Ambar’s request, as well as organ improvisations and live jazz. The weekend’s events concluded with the Mary Church Terrell Main Library Dedication, the Oberlin Homecoming football game, and the Patricia ’63 & Merrill ’61 Shanks Health and Wellness Center Dedication. Organizers hoped the events encapsulate all aspects of Oberlin, including athletics, academics, art, and dedication to creating change. College junior Justin Godfrey, a member of the Oberlin football team, was excited that homecoming weekend was connected to the inauguration. “I think that combining the inauguration with homecoming weekend celebrates student-athletes and academics,” he said. “We are combining school spirit with this monumental moment.” Miyake added that the event was particularly historic as Oberlin is inaugurating a woman of color for the first time in its 185-year history. “We have a lot to celebrate,” Miyake said. “Thinking about Oberlin’s history and where we are headed and reframing it in boldness. Frankly, you are present at a historic moment. She is our first president of color. There are not that many women of color in presidency in America. It’s a big deal.” For Ambar, the weekend’s events were a chance to reflect upon the values of Oberlin College and share her personal successes with her family. “My parents and my siblings [were] here,” Ambar said. “It’s always a nice family moment to get together and to enjoy each other in the context of this opportunity. The opportunity to celebrate Oberlin and connect with our students, faculty, and alumni, and celebrate the institution and also my family coming to be a part of the Oberlin family. It’s those pillars that make this weekend exciting for me.”

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INSIDE THE COLLEGE

Sustained Dialogue Encourages Connection

Students serve themselves at a dialogue dinner hosted at the home of Director of Religious and Spiritual Life David Dorsey last semester as part of the Barefoot Dialogue program. Photo by Maria Turner, Photo Editor

Anisa Curry Vietze Senior Staff Writer Nov. 30, 2018 The Barefoot Dialogue program, expanded this year as a presidential initiative, is an opportunity for Oberlin students to regularly meet for a meal and engage in intimate and vulnerable conversation. Dialogues are entirely led by students, as student facilitators plan each session to provoke thoughtful sharings from their peers. Multifaith Chaplain and Director of the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life David Dorsey, who started Barefoot, hosted his first dialogue group with a handful of students when he came to Oberlin six years ago. The group sat

OFF THE CUFF

around his dining table and shared a meal together twice a month while talking about spirituality. “It got its name, Barefoot, because really central to the work is choosing vulnerability,” Dorsey said. “Going with bare feet is sort of an exercise in vulnerability, and what really sort of clinched it for me is that Oberlin students go barefoot longer than any other student population I’ve ever been in, and I’ve been in warmer climates. So, it’s sort of like Oberlin students named it themselves.” The program has expanded since its beginnings in Dorsey’s home — although he still hosts regularly. Last year, there were four groups. This year there are eight with about 15 students each. Each group meets every other week, and discussions focus on a range of topics, including connection to land, the personal and cultural significance of Thanksgiving, the water crisis in Flint, MI, and the experience of displacement, among many others. Upperclass student facilitators provide a base for conversation by creating a prompt — known as a centerpiece — for the group to focus on. “[The centerpiece] is usually a piece of paper with text on it where we kind of start,” said College senior and student facilitator Sam Bailey. “But that can also look like songs, or art pieces, or stuff like that. Some groups have even done dance pieces.” Barefoot falls underneath the Office of Religious and Spiritual Life, but not all of the groups focus on religion or spirituality. This year, four of the groups were interfaith in nature, while the other four were secular. “From the very beginning, some of the most significant contributions in this work came from people who were not from a religious perspective at all,” said Dorsey. “My theological framework was always sort of set up to really expand on this work beyond religion.”

The program’s goal is to expose students to different perspectives and cultivate a community of people committed to respectful, yet meaningful, discussion. “The whole point is that you’re seeking meaning across difference and it’s a space for that, so that looks different than trying to reach a compromise or an agreement,” Bailey said. “Sharing your own personal stories on various topics in a really vulnerable way, where you’ve agreed on this space to do that. And then I can learn from other identities and people and backgrounds at Oberlin in a safe but brave space and then take what I’ve learned … and go back out into the world with that.” A majority of participants are first-years, and the program helps new students engage with people they wouldn’t otherwise encounter, especially early in their Oberlin careers. “I leave every dialogue having a shifted perspective or learning something new about myself,” said College firstyear and Barefoot participant Serena Zets. “On campus, I live in a program house, and I mainly associate with people who — at least identity-wise — are fairly similar to me. I’m involved in a lot of identity-based spaces and clubs, so I think Barefoot’s been really influential in introducing and exposing me to people that I probably wouldn’t have talked to otherwise. And I think it’s really cool that they’re all within my year. I can continue building those relationships for the next four years.” The groups meet at the homes of Oberlin faculty or staff who volunteer to host the discussions and provide a meal for participants. “We were interested in making our home more available for people in general and particularly for students,” said Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry and Barefoot host Will Parsons. “I won’t lie, it is a fair amount of work See Barefoot, page 11

Alan Jones, Fourth Meal Cashier

Alan Jones, 56, is a Campus Dining Services employee who works as a cashier and server at Oberlin’s Fourth Meal from 10–11:30 p.m. in the Rathskeller. Affectionately referred to as “DJ Al,” Jones is known around campus for his catchy playlists and welcoming attitude. For many students, Jones is a staple of Oberlin’s dining scene. Jones, originally from down the road in Lorain, has been working at Oberlin on and off for years. Last year, he had the opportunity to appear on Wheel of Fortune during the show’s Veterans Week. He spends his summers and early spring umpiring for Little League and youth baseball. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Sydney Allen, Editor-in-Chief Sept. 21, 2018 How long have you been working at Fourth Meal? Now let’s see … I kind of forget; it’s been four years, maybe five years, maybe six years. When I came out here we was at [Dascomb Dining Hall] at the time. And, when I came out here, I didn’t know I was gonna get into it. I never did anything like this before in my life, so I just needed a little extra money to help supplement. And Fourth Meal, it had music, but it was just dull, man. So we changed all that. I started talking with the kids and playing with them and dancing, and then making the line happy and stuff. And that’s how Fourth Meal went to the next level. I worked for a couple years [as a temporary worker] and left, and then got hired again as a 20-hour worker. As far as that, basically when it came to Fourth Meal, they didn’t have to worry ’cause they knew [they] had someone they could trust to keep everything going. I love you guys — y’all keep me young. What’s your experience in working at Fourth Meal and meeting students? My experience with Fourth Meal has been wonderful. I love to hear the kids say that I make their day or that, “I only come in for Fourth Meal because I know you’re gonna be here, and I’m having a bad day and it’s gonna be much brighter.” And there’s no greater feeling than hearing something like that. I’m here to give an hour and a half of enjoyment and relaxation. Y’all study enough. Y’all put all that in, but when y’all come to Fourth Meal, y’all here to kick it. When y’all come to Fourth Meal, y’all here to relax and enjoy. And then y’all go back

to that craziness. I’ve been through a couple graduations — my first class, I definitely went ’cause we had been together through the whole time and stuff. So you went to Commencement? [Yeah, it’s] been a couple years since then, and that was my first one I went to. That was my class — they came in with me and so it was beautiful. So I plan to go if I can, ’cause there’s always another class graduating and they’re like, “You coming? You coming?” Yes! I try to catch their events, too. You know somebody’s doing something. But like I said, this is like my second half, my second home. How do you choose what playlist you’re gonna play during Fourth Meal? OK, well, there’s certain things I like to do. Monday I like a little light rock, a little classic rock. Tuesdays I leave open. We don’t have steady set-up with the food right now so still trying to figure that out. Wednesday it’s Pink Floyd. Then it’s always funk Thursday, it’s always my day. I like to play a mix on Sunday. I’m old school, I love music though! So that’s what I do. Can you tell me a little bit about yourself outside of Oberlin? Where are you from? I’m from down the road here. I’m from Lorain. I lost my wife a couple years ago in July — July ’15 or ’16, and that was a big change. That kind of changed me a little bit. Then this past December, I had surgery, so I was out — I was away from y’all for awhile. So that’s why people were glad when I came back. But I got through all that. I lost four angels that year. I lost my

wife, my mom, my two aunts all in a matter of two years. For almost a full two years, I went through a lot of sorrow. But through that I managed to pick up another lady — another angel in my life — which is cool and stuff — and I still got you guys. When it first happened, coming here was a saving grace. ’Cause going home was a little rough — being alone was a little rough, so coming in here really, really made my day a lot better. And I told the kids that y’all keep me going. Other than that, I’m a serviceman. I was in the Air Force from ’80 to ’84; I was on Wheel of Fortune. It was for Veterans Week. Can you tell me about that? That was great! That was actually last year. They started the end of ’16. They had a tryout, and I went to the Cleveland tryout finals. I didn’t make it, but in the meantime, [I was put] into the veterans pool. In August of last year, I got a call. And it was from the lady of Wheel of Fortune, and she said, “I left you an email; we want you to come be on the show.” They told me in August. They said the taping was gonna be on Sept. 13. “Sony Studios, in LA. Be there.” They don’t pay for anything — you have to provide your own way. They give you a time and a place and a date. So, I said, “Yep, I’m coming. I don’t know how I’m doing it yet, but I’m coming.” ’Cause I had no clue. I had no clue. And plus, I was going through my sickness back then, so, really not doing well. But God is so good. A guy at work, him and his family, they took care of everything. They wanted to do something ’cause of me being who I am and after what I went

Alan Jones Photo by Malcolm Brainerd

through. You know, with my wife and everything. … They booked the plane, they booked the car rental, they booked me at the hotel, and everything. They said, “Do not even try to pay us back,” ’cause the only thing they wanted [me] to do is go and have a good time. [It was] a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It was on my bucket list; it’s off the list now. What do you enjoy doing with your time off, around here? I’m a big Cleveland fan, so I love the Browns, [the Cleveland baseball team], Cavs, and Ohio State. In the summer, I’m an umpire. I umpire from May through the end of July or August. Youth, high school, that’s my other love — I’m really good at it. I used to do all the high school and college games back in the day in the ’90s. But once I changed jobs, I couldn’t do the high school no more. I was off for a while, but I got hooked back at the end of the summer. And I miss it. I’m glad I’m back now. So that’s my thing I do when I’m not with y’all. Y’all get me through ’til the summer when I’m umpiring. [And that] takes me ’til I get back to hanging out with you guys!

INSIDE THE COLLEGE

Career Communities Hope to Better Prepare Students

Oberlin Remembers Hate Crime Victims

Continued from page 9

Students gathered in Peters Hall on Nov. 2, 2018 to honor those targeted by racist, anti-Semitic, and xenophobic attacks, including shootings at the Tree of Life Synagogue and Kroger grocery store, among other events. Rabbi Shlomo Elkan (center) spoke on the events and their impact. Students, including event organizers and College juniors Ezra Andres-Tysch and Leo Hochberg, hold candles to the left and right of Elkan. Event organizers not featured are College seniors Imke Hart, Chloe Falkenheim, and Roman Broszkowski, sophomore Caleb Knapp, junior Susannah Brodnitz, and first-year Phoebe M. A primary goal for the organizers was to spread a message of intersectionality, sending support to all marginalized people affected by violence and hate. Other speakers included community members, faculty, and President Carmen Twillie Ambar. Text by Gabby Greene, News Editor Photo by Pearse Anderson Nov. 9, 2018

Barefoot Dialogue Program Expands Continued from page 10

because, basically, we’re preparing a meal for 15 people every two weeks and then also making sure our house is clean enough to have 15 people there to come to visit, but we’ve enjoyed it so far. It’s really been a great opportunity for us to interact with students and in particular a great opportunity for me to interact with students that I don’t encounter on a frequent basis.” For the students, the welcoming environment — and home-cooked meal — are vital parts of the Barefoot experience. “You walk in and there’s food being made, steam rising from wherever the stove is, there are hosts right there at the door to greet people,” said College senior and student facilitator Martha Hoffman. “Slowly people filter in and

they get food, and it’s just this nourishing moment. […] And then facilitators present their centerpieces in whatever way they want to. Sometimes there’s humor and laughter and stuff, but then it sort of gets into this really exciting place of a lot of silence, which doesn’t happen a lot on campus.” The program is one component of an institutional effort to build community on campus. “One of the things that we’ve been seeing is that our students are feeling increasingly lonely and we want to be intentional in helping them build relationships with their peers,” said Assistant Dean of Students Eddie Gisemba, director of health promotion for students and Barefoot host. “Having difficult conversations is the way forward for us to better understand our backgrounds, our beliefs, our values, and our

life experience. It helps pave the way forward, not just for the institution, but I think the country as a whole. Expanding Barefoot has been a priority for President Carmen Twillie Ambar. This year, the program was launched as a presidential initiative for the first time. “Sustained dialogue has the power to help transform the ways we relate to each other,” Ambar wrote in an email to the Review, “The focus on listening deeply in order to understand another person’s thinking and experiences, rather than seeking to defend one’s own point of view, is a powerful commitment to relationship building in an increasingly polarized world. At this moment, sustained dialogue has the potential to be the next chapter in Oberlin’s long history of serving as a catalyst for positive change.”

Residents to Vote on School Consolidation Nathan Carpenter Editor-in-Chief Sept. 28, 2018 Editor’s note: Since this article’s publication, Oberlin residents voted in favor of Issue 11 by a 55–45 margin, approving the levy to consolidate the school district into a single building over the next several years. In November 2018, Oberlin residents voted on Issue 11, a controversial levy that proposes to consolidate Oberlin City Schools into a single building by winter 2025. Because it was approved, residents with a home value of $100,000 will see their annual taxes increase by $133 for the bond issues’ 37-year term, according to the school district. The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

The proposal was motivated by declining OCS enrollment as well as concern over the state of existing facilities. Currently, the district is composed of four schools — Eastwood Elementary, Prospect Elementary, Langston Middle School, and Oberlin High School. “We have too few students and too many buildings,” wrote Oberlin Board of Education President Anne Schaum in an email to the Review. “Our current situation is not financially or practically sustainable.” Total enrollment between the four locations is just under 1,000 students according to the district’s 2017–18 report card issued by the Ohio Department of Education. The proposed consolidation, which would take place in two phases, would eventually move all students pre-K–12 into a single facility.

Prior to the vote, OCS estimated that it would save $1.1 million annually once the consolidated pre-K–12 building is completed, according to a handout distributed to residents. Despite the potential savings for the district, some community members felt that the proposed consolidation and corresponding tax increase would create too high a burden on local residents to justify the project’s benefits. “When they say property tax increase, it’s very few of us,” said Sandra Redd, longtime Oberlin resident and former OCS parent. “It’s all in the rural areas, and it’s killing us.” Cheryl Butler, a longtime Oberlin resident who attended OCS and sent her children and grandchildren to OCS, felt that tax increases would disproporSee Issue 11, page 14

Before committing to a summer internship, participants met with their communities five times during the spring semester and worked with their peers as part of a one-credit, co-curricular module course. The five sessions covered the following topics, tailored to each community: discovering your path, connecting to your major, course selection, improving your communication skills, building your network, and articulating your value. The decision to revamp the program received strong support from President Carmen Twillie Ambar as well as students concerned about entering the job market. “The Career Communities initiative will help students articulate the connections between their academic and co-curricular learning and potential career pathways,” wrote President Ambar in an email to the Review. “It will do this by offering faculty and professional mentorship, and by providing timely opportunities for internships and cohort support that draws on the powerful tradition of ‘Obies helping Obies.’ The Career Communities initiative is designed to ensure that students find ways to translate the transformational learning they experienced at Oberlin into careers of leadership, service, and changing the world for good.” College senior Sadie Keller, a peer advisor in the Career Development Center, expressed similar sentiments, adding that the program could help students navigate internships and prepare them for the job market. “Obies naturally help each other; it’s just what we do,” Keller said. “The career communities feel like a long-needed institutionalized version of these values. My professional experiences have come from help from professors, the Career Center, and fellow peers. My [first] year I just assumed I’d have to figure it out alone. These programs are going to be a huge help for both individual student success and creating a more cohesive community.” President Ambar also sent a call to action for parents and alumni to help source potential internships. Many responded and assisted with the program. The program was created in part to address student concerns about finding jobs after graduation. In a September interview with the Review, Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo acknowledged that Oberlin has sometimes lagged behind peer institutions when it comes to advising. “[A] review of peer institutions demonstrates that Oberlin is leanly staffed in this area,” Raimondo said. “At a time when national discourse raises doubt about the value of a college education, Oberlin can play a leadership role by demonstrating how a liberal arts and/ or conservatory education are more important now than ever.” Hamdan explained that the Career Communities, in addition to the Peer Advising Leaders program and the Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources pilot program — which launched in February — were inspired by similar issues addressed in the College’s 2016 Strategic Plan and are part of an effort to offer students better and more cohesive advising. “Each program is designed to propel students forward in their educational experience,” wrote Hamdan. “The first-year Peer Advising Leaders program, the Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources program, and the Career Communities initiative for juniors and seniors all fit within Oberlin’s broader ‘connected learning’ initiative of bridging academic and co-curricular educational experiences.”

LOOKING BACK: EVENTS & CONTROVERSIES

FROM REUNION YEARS In honor of Commencement & Reunion Weekend 2019, I took a look back at past editions of The Oberlin Review to discover what the big events and controversies were from each of 2019’s reunion years. Featured here are excerpts from an article or two from each of those years. Layout by Mikaela Fishman, This Week Editor. Photos and text from Review archives.

25th Anniversary: 1994

10th Anniversary Cluster: 2008-2010

SMOKING AND STREAKING PUT HARKNESS ON THIN ICE WITH OBERLIN ADMISSIONS Jonah Kaplan-Woolner May 2, 2008 For over a month now, an unsettling incident and its resulting controversy have been smoldering just beneath the surface at Oberlin. According to the Oberlin Police Department incident report, on Thursday, April 17 2008, [a prospective student] “was at Oberlin College to tour the campus and sit in on classes. [The student] was supposed to stay the night at Harkness, but witnessed drinking and pot smoking and called her mother to come and pick her up.” [The student] called her mother [...] who called the OPD. The OPD then referred her to Safety and Security [who then raided the room where the incident occurred and found marijuana plants, bongs, pipes, and alcohol.] The episode came at a particularly dicey time for Harkness. Occurrences of Harkies streaking during prospie tours had ruffled feathers. Harkness has accrued a status that stretches over decades as a somewhat wild co-op. Maggie Wickenden, OC ’02, said that during her time as a student, naked Harkies were as common a sight as they are today. “I think Harkness has a reputation for being ‘out there’,” she said. [Harkness Housing Loose Ends Coordinator and College sophomore Avery] Harrison speculated that it is not OSCA as a group, but rather, certain individuals who feel that drugs and alcohol should be permitted in co-ops. “It’s unfortunate that these two incidents have brought that sentiment to light, and it’s meant kind of clash between OSCA and the College,” Harrison said. [However, he] saw the fallout of the streaking as an opportunity for Harkness to “rally and understand and self-evaluate.”

NANCY DYE NAMED NEW OBERLIN PRESIDENT Chelsey Johnson May 27, 1994 Nancy Schrom Dye was selected to become Oberlin’s first female president. Dye, though eventually the Board of Trustees’ choice for the presidency, was not received warmly on her first visit to Oberlin. “I found that in the public forum, she was very ill at ease––she was repetitive, she digressed,” [Professor of History Marcia] Colish said. “But in meetings with the faculty, she really came across much better. I was very taken with her.” Not all were so pleased with the choice initially, though. Senior Senator Michael Bastedo was upset that student opinion was apparently not a crucial factor in the decision.

Not being the front runner in student opinion didn’t seem to phase Dye. “I don’t see it as a problem,” she said. “Certainly it’s something I’ll want to address... but I feel confident, very confident, that Oberlin students and I will work well together... and have a very good working relationship.” [Dye] plans to place a high priority on solving the college’s budgetary and admissions problems, emphasizing the importance of keeping them in perspective. “Oberlin is by no means going into this difficulty with some sort of disadvantage,” Dye said. “This is happening to every college and university in the country ... it’s important not to say, ‘Oh, look what’s happening to Oberlin,’ and not contextualize it.”

SMOKING BANNED, EXCEPT IN ROOMS Geoff Mulvihill May 27, 1994

A November student protest and Senate legislation helped delay some aspects of an all-campus smoking ban. The ban, which was passed by the General Faculty on the recommendation of the General Faculty Council began Jan. 1 when smoking in campus buildings except for student dorm and co-op rooms became a violation of College rules. Director of the Student Union Michelle Gross predicts a decline in attendance at the ’Sco. Additionally, areas on the A-Level of the Mudd Center and in the Wilder Snack Bar formerly open for smoking were noticeably less crowded.

45th Anniversary Cluster: 1973–1975

30th Anniversary Cluster: 1988–1990

STUDENTS DENOUNCE OC DIVESTMENT PROCEDURE Chris Cook Sept. 16, 1988 Oberlin College recently met its divestment [from South Africa] deadline in accordance with last year’s trustee guidelines, but Senior Patrick Budhoo maintains the move is a “public relations scam,” a “smokescreen” which has failed to have any meaningful impact. “They’ve taken the teeth out of the whole idea of divestment as a form of pressure,” said Budhoo, alluding to a host of loopholes used by companies which remain in Oberlin’s investment portfolio. Under the current divestment policy, Budhoo said the College remains invested in companies which disinvest, and subsequently enter into licensing, franchising, subsidiary forming, managing agreements, and buyback arrangements with fully operating South African companies. President Starr said that the College’s divestment policy “has enabled us to feel disengaged.” In a statement from Abusua, the group said, “If the information that Abusua has received concerning Oberlin College’s apparent surreptitious strategy to restructure and retain an economic relationship with corporations in South Afrika is true, we deplore these actions, and consequently we believe we ... cannot trust that Administration in regard to its divestment policy.”

COMIC: JOE BLOWBERLIN Sept. 16, 1988

PRESIDENT FULLER RESIGNS C. S. Heinbockel and Carol Matlack Nov. 9, 1973 President Robert Fuller announced his resignation, effective February 2, 1973, in an open letter to the College community and the Board of Trustees yesterday. His administration, which began three and a half years ago on a note of idealism, but which had become embroiled in bitter controversy, has been the shortest in the College’s history. Despite strong campus reaction against a recent bylaw change giving the President authority over slot reallocation, as well as the threat of faculty unionization, Fuller said he had not resigned under pressure. “I never

envisaged my stay as more than about four years and, in view of the governance problems that turned up, it became especially difficult to make any further progress.” Fuller said he was “tired” after being a college administrator for seven years. Although he conceded that many of his original hopes, embodied in the Education Commission and the Governance Commission, had not been realized through legislative channels, Fuller maintained that he had “achieved what I was asked to do when I was appointed ... The arena of discourse has been shifted here in the last three or four years to matters of greater significance, and hence matters that produce greater tensions,” he said.

60th Anniversary Cluster: 1958–1960 50th Anniversary: 1969

CUSTOM-TAILORED NEWS

YEAR OF THE STUDENT Editorial Board May 30, 1969 This was a year of trial for the nation’s colleges and universities. On large campuses and small campuses, Ivy League universities and “party” schools, students were demanding a larger voice in decision-making. Students sometimes used excessive force in expressing these demands and already a frightening reaction is setting in. At Oberlin, the “radical” students have actually have been willing to work “within the system” when given an opportunity. One need only note the outstanding work of students in influencing educational innovations. Such students are seeking change not because they wish to destroy the College, as some fear, but rather because they love it. They want the College to be able to compete with the low tuition public universities and colleges located in more urban areas in attracting students, but, more important, they hate to see their college do what they believe is wrong, whether it be cooperating with the military recruitment or ignoring the problems of contemporary American society. It is to be hoped that faculty, administrators, trustees and alumni, even as they condemn excesses on the part of students, will also oppose excesses on the part of

Caroline Cowman May 2, 1958

The United States and Russia are wrestling for world supremacy. The results of the contest?––too often stamped TOP SECRET and officially “lost” in the catacombs of government bureaucracy, or released in abridged or tailored form to a public carefully shielded from the anxiety which might be produced by unadulterated fact. When a government denies a newsman like William Worthy access to the critical Communist China area, and puts pressure on magazines and broadcasting networks not to disseminate the information which he manages to gather, we wonder seriously about the Administration’s attitude. How can we exercise critical judgement when we are presented with only the official, custom-tailored version of the news?

THE ARTLESS ART L. Wayne Smith Nov. 1, 1957

police and public officials who seek to legislate out of existence student dissent. The response to student protests should not be repression but rather a willingness to listen to what the protesters have to say.

The large crowd of people which nearly filled Finney Chapel to hear Pete Seeger several weeks ago demonstrated a trend which is taking place all over the country. Folk music is becoming more and more popular. I would like to do a little on-thepage hypothesizing about what I consider to be the three main possibilities for the future of this vital form of expression. The first and most frightening possibility is that folk music might simply die out in spite of the present trend. While this hardly seems possible, one must consider the strong tendency of people, especially in the United States, to want to be entertained, to have their thinking done for them. Another possibility is that the present trend will continue and folk music will become so popular that it will be taken

up by the mass communication system as a BIG THING and will be commercialized right out of existence. The third and most optimistic possibility is the solution for which most folk musicians are striving. This is the universal understanding and appreciation of folk music as a means of communication and expression. If only because of the love and pain of its myriad singers, and writers, the folk song must be accepted as the artless art form closest to the hearts and minds of the people.

Ne w s

COMMUNITY NEWS

Sanctuary Space Established by First Church

First Church in Oberlin, pictured with a sign reading “Inmigrantes y Refugiados Bienvenidos,” which translates to “Immigrants and Refugees Welcome.” Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Anisa Curry Vietze Nov. 2, 2018 The First Church in Oberlin United Church of Christ opened a sanctuary space for undocumented immigrants beginning mid-October. It is a space where people marked for deportation can temporarily find shelter while they sort out their immigration status. Sanctuary spaces deter Immigration and Customs Enforcement officials since spaces like churches are considered “sensitive locations.” Immigration agents generally don’t conduct broad raids in such locations. However, if ICE agents get a warrant for a specific individual’s arrest, the

church can’t stand in their way. “That’s something that we learned very early on,” said Reverend David Hill. “You cannot tell people that you take in that you have the ability to completely protect them because, legally, you don’t. You’re just making it more inconvenient for ICE to come after them.” ICE’s official policy states they will not take enforcement actions at sensitive locations unless presented with “exigent circumstances.” “This church has a long history of being involved in justice issues — that’s a big part of what First Church is — and that goes all the way back to the earliest days of Oberlin,” Rev. Hill said. “It seems just natural for us to embrace the sanctuary issue.” John Gates is the chair of First Church’s Sanctuary Task Group. The group has spent months preparing for the space’s opening, which is at an undisclosed location and maintained by the church “Many of the people who are in danger of being deported have lived in the United States for many years,” Gates said. “They have families, and they have work, and some of them even own businesses. They have demonstrated that they are responsible citizens, good neighbors; they contribute to the community in which they live. … We think that we have a duty to step in [and protect these individuals].” Since April 2018, a number of speakers have spoken about immigration at First Church, including representatives of churches already providing sanctuary, a woman at risk of being deported, Emeritus Professor of History Steve Volk, and Professor of Comparative American Studies Gina Pérez. “Talking to First Church was great,” said Volk, who has been involved in advocating for Oberlin to become a sanctuary city in 2007. “Different [sanctuary] churches do different things, so some just tell the parishioners, ‘by the way,

we are a sanctuary church.’ First Church was so amazingly responsible and concerned with the congregation in general that they had a fairly lengthy process of education so that the congregation could be informed enough to vote on it. So I was delighted to be part of what was not just an open and welcoming process, but a very democratic one.” Hill added that the care and time put into the discussion was crucial to making this democratic process happen. “The congregation really had a chance to ask all of their questions,” Hill said. “What sort of legal jeopardy could this put the church in? Who would we take in? Would we just take in anybody? Would they stay here forever? How much is this going to cost? Will there be enough volunteers in the greater Oberlin/Lorain County area to support this?” The task group spent about three months preparing before presenting their plan to the congregation. “We needed to see if [everyone] would agree that this is an issue in which we should be engaged. It was a long process,” Gates explained. “There was a vote on it, and it was a unanimous vote that yes, we should do this.” Since the April 2018 vote, the church has worked on housing logistics. “The room is ready; at this point, we’re just waiting for someone to need sheltering in Lorain County,” Hill said. “I think the church is really blessed to be in this great community because we couldn’t do this on our own. If we end up housing somebody, that is just going to be a lot of volunteer tasks that are involved. But to be in a community that embraces issues like this and is in line with First Church, […] I think when the time comes that we are sheltering somebody we will be in good shape.” Rev. Hill also mentioned that once the need is there, there will be plenty of opportunities for Oberlin students to get involved if they wish to.

Issue 11 Proposes Single Building Consolidation for OCS Continued from page 11

tionately impact lower-income members of the Oberlin community, particularly given that Oberlin College and Kendal at Oberlin — two of Oberlin’s largest residential spaces — are exempted from paying property taxes. “A lot of people have moved out of Oberlin because of the taxes being so high” she said. “I don’t know how much longer I’ll be able to stay at my house.” Butler and Redd were not alone in their concerns. Debbie Walsh and Lorrie Chmura are both longtime Oberlin residents with connections to OCS as parents, and, in Chmura’s case, as a student. “I’ve supported the schools,” said Walsh. “In 27 years, I’ve voted on every levy but one for the schools.” This time around, however, Walsh opposed the levy to consolidate the school district; Chmura did too. They formed a group called Oberlin Concerned Citizens with the goal of distributing information to residents about the proposal and its potential impacts.

“Our goal is to provide alternative or more information than the school offers [about] the new school building,” Chmura said. Included in that alternative information were different approaches the district could take in consolidating its student population. Walsh and Chmura both agreed that enrollment has fallen low enough to warrant consolidation measures, but believe that solutions can be found within the district’s existing infrastructure. According to Schaum, however, other factors need to be considered. “The reality is that our current buildings are too costly to maintain and operate based on current and projected enrollment,” she wrote. “We can’t afford to do nothing and full renovation is as expensive as the proposed building project.” Jason Williams, OC ’05, agreed. Although a member of the Board of Education, he spoke with the Review in his personal capacity as a resident and father of three children, two of whom currently attend OCS.

The Oberlin R eview

P ublication of R ecord for Oberlin College May 24, 2018 Volume 147, Number 24 (ISSN 297–256) Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods. Advertising rates: $18 per column inch. Second-class postage paid at Oberlin, Ohio. Entered as secondclass matter at the Oberlin, Ohio post office April 2, 1911. POSTMASTER SEND CHANGES TO: Wilder Box 90, Oberlin, Ohio 44074-1081. Office of Publication: Burton Basement, Oberlin, Ohio 44074. Phone: (440) 775-8123

“It’s something that needs to happen,” Williams said. “We are in dire need of new buildings.” He echoed Schaum’s point that the renovation and maintenance costs associated with continuing to use existing facilities would cost essentially the same as the new building’s construction, and mentioned that safety considerations — including measures to regulate who can enter school buildings — should also be a factor in determining the best course of action for dealing with the district’s aging facilities. In 2017, Walsh was a member of the Oberlin Schools Facility Committee, tasked with researching and evaluating different paths to consolidation. The committee considered three options which proposed using existing facilities in order to make more effective use of space. The report, including all three plans, was presented at a June 2017 school board meeting. Walsh, however, felt that the committee’s work wasn’t taken

Editor-in-Chief Managing Editor News Editor Opinions Editor This Week Editor Arts & Culture Editor Sports Editor Layout Editors

Eastwood Elementary School is one of four Oberlin City Schools that will be closing in the next few years after Oberlin residents voted in favor of a levy to consolidate all schools into a single building. Photo by Patrick McBride

seriously by the district. “[The report] wasn’t looked at for a year,” Walsh said. “So those of us on the committee were really frustrated.” Schaum argued that none of the options presented by the committee would have ultimately been viable. “The current structures would require substantial in-

Nathan Carpenter Ananya Gupta Anisa Curry Vietze Jackie Brant Mikaela Fishman Katherine MacPhail Alexis Dill Sydney Allen Lily Jones

Photo Editor

Ananya Gupta

Production Manager

Devyn Malouf

Production Editors

Johan Cavert James Cato

Christo Hays

Editor’s Note: In the Commencement Year in Review issue, writers are credited with the positions they held at the time the articles were written. Many Review staffers have changed positions over the course of the academic year or for the Commencement issue. For a list of the past semester’s staff, please visit our website.

vestment to accommodate consolidation,” Schaum wrote. “The only two structures big enough to handle half of the district are Langston and the high school. Langston is the oldest building (originally built in 1923) and would require significant investment to address anticipated maintenance needed to accommodate six grades of students.”

Congratulations, Graduating Seniors: Editor-in-Chief Sydney Allen; News Editor Jenna Gyimesi; This Week Editor Mikaela Fishman; Web Manager Sage Vouse; Photo Editor Meg Parker; Business Manager Jared Steinberg; Production Manager Giselle Glaspie, Production Editors Madisyn Mettenburg, Lior Krancer; Distributors Elizabeth Altier, EllaDonnelly-Wright; Senior Staff Writers Roman Broszkowski, Julie Schreiber.

COMMUNITY NEWS

Effects of Shutdown Ripple Through Northeast Ohio Anisa Curry Vietze News Editor Feb. 8, 2019 As Americans across the country navigated the effects and complications of the partial federal government shutdown in January, many Oberlin residents attempted to manage the fallout right here in Lorain County. On Feb. 4, Oberlin City Council passed an ordinance extending its 2018 contract with safety net organization Oberlin Community Services, granting OCS $4,000 in extra funds to keep them afloat from February to March. The ripple effects of the shutdown continued to impact the lives of many different people around Oberlin long after the government eventually reopened. Those directly affected included recipients of food stamps, people trying to apply for unemployment checks, and employees of government organizations such as the Federal Aviation Administration — one of the major employers in Oberlin and Lorain County. The shutdown and accompanying uncertainty heightened food insecurity in Oberlin and OCS saw an increase in the number of people they serve as a result. “We’re responding to the need, whatever it may be,” said Kathy Burns, client services coordinator at OCS. “We’ve been very proactive, like, ‘OK, this is going on, this is how it’s going to affect the people we’re seeing, this is how it’s going to affect people that we probably have not seen before who are going to be new to receiving services.’” City Council believed that this increase in need called for special exceptions to the way that City Council typically gives out funding.

“The city actually gives out around $180,000 per year in community organizational funding,” City Council President Bryan Burgess said in February. “We take applications through the middle of January and then we make the awards in March, but the needs that OCS has are real now. We couldn’t wait until March. So actually what we did is we extended the 2018 contracts. We extended it through March and then gave them an additional $2,000 per month for February and March.” This ordinance was not typical for City Council, which normally only awards money from a fund for community organizations. “[The money] was direct taxpayer dollars,” Burgess said, “It’s unprecedented. Very often [we] will look to past experience, but the government’s never been shut down for 30 days before. There is no past experience.” Residents employed by the FAA worked through the shutdown without pay. “Everybody thinks of Oberlin College as the largest employer in the city; it’s actually the FAA,” City Councilmember Kelley Singleton said. “As far as income tax goes, they are our largest employer.” Many air traffic controllers and other FAA employees struggled to make ends meet as they worked without pay for most of January. “Everybody was pretty stressed about everything,” said Yvan Thornhill, an air traffic controller in Oberlin. “It was the topic of conversation all the time. About how long we can manage without getting paid and, you know, before bills are just overwhelming and whatnot.” As a result of the shutdown, recipients of the SNAP food stamp benefits program received their stamps multiple weeks ear-

lier than they were supposed to, getting their February stamps in late January. Recipients were notified via automated message that these were their benefits for all of February, but some still struggled to budget them effectively. “I think because food stamps don’t last people the whole month to begin with, when they were given these [extra] food stamps, it gave them the opportunity to say, ‘Oh great, I can go get more food for my family’,” Burns said. “You know, more milk, more meat, the things that people need, that sometimes you can’t always get at a food pantry.” The effects of these early stamps were only apparent to OCS with time. “Ironically, they had a whole bunch of extra money on their SNAP cards,” said Executive Director of OCS Margie L. Flood. “What that means is that’s going to be gone by the [middle of February] … so we are actually going to see more people coming in, but there’s a lag time. There’s been a lot in the newspaper about the ripple effects of the shutdown and I think that’s exactly what’s occurring for us, people were just starting to realize the impact of the shutdown recently. And therefore we’re going to be seeing the repercussions of all of that as we get farther into February.” During the shutdown, Slow Train Cafe pitched in by giving out free beverages to FAA workers who came in with their badge. The idea was sparked by a conversation between owner and manager Jessa New, OC ’01, and her husband. “We just started talking about how we have this pretty big FAA group in Oberlin and even though it’s kind of on the outskirts and we don’t see them all the time, they’ve been customers of ours pretty much since we opened Slow Train,” said

New. “They come in every morning and they’ve always been just really wonderful customers and great people and it just really sucks that they had to go through this.” FAA workers are now back to normal paychecks, but it is unclear if they will ever get all of the pay that they worked for during the shutdown. “We got some back pay, but they didn’t pay for everything for what we worked,” said Thornhill. “We’re still waiting to see. They keep changing how they’re going to pay us. So we’re kind of in limbo for right now. I can’t speak for everybody but for the most part I’m OK now.” Some Oberlin College students also saw the shutdown impact their Winter Term projects, including College sophomore Daniel Fleischer, who interned for New Hampshire Representative Annie Kuster. “For a good part of the month a lot of our day was just answering constituent phone calls, because people were calling a lot because of the shutdown,” said Fleischer. Other students, like College first-year Serena Zets, weren’t able to complete the same project they set out to. “I was initially supposed to intern at the Department of Justice Civil Rights Division at their headquarters in D.C., [and] since the entire Department of Justice was shut down for the entire month of January, I couldn’t do that,” said Zets. As for many residents of Oberlin, the full effects of the shutdown are still not necessarily clear. “It’s a wait-and-see kind of situation — the ripple effects, we could still be waiting for them,” said Singleton in February. “We can’t really count on Washington, at least for the foreseeable future, so we’ve got to take care of ourselves.”

Annual Security Report Sunday, Sept. 23, 2018

12:01 a.m. A resident of a Union Street Housing Complex requested assistance in dispersing over 150 uninvited individuals from their apartment. The area was eventually cleared with assistance provided by Oberlin Police officers.

Friday, Sept. 29, 2017

7:39 p.m. Campus Safety officers were requested to assist a staff member who was injured when the ceiling collapsed in an elevator at Stevenson Dining Hall. The individual was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Thursday, Oct. 4, 2018

10:18 p.m. Campus Safety and Oberlin Police officers responded to an intoxicated non-student at the entrance to the ’Sco. The individual believed he was at a downtown business and claimed he was looking for his brother. The individual was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

Friday, Oct. 26, 2018

5:40 p.m Student staff at Oberlin College Lanes reported the glass in the door to the bowling lanes was accidentally broken because a visitor fell into it. The glass was cleaned and the door boarded over.

The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

Thursday, Nov. 29, 2018

5:41 p.m. Officers were requested to assist a student who struck themself in the head with a piece of ice.

Monday, Feb. 4, 2019

1:03 p.m. A professor at the Conservatory reported the theft of a Baroque flute from a locked office in Robertson Hall. The flute was wooden with ivory accents and stored in a wooden box. The value of the missing flute was approximately $2,200. A report was filed with the Oberlin Police Department.

Sunday, Feb. 17, 2019

7:27 p.m. Officers were requested to assist a student who was experiencing shortness of breath at the Conservatory Library. The student said that they had smoked marijuana and then ran across campus to the library. An ambulance responded to check on the student, who declined transport to the hospital.

Saturday, March 9, 2019

1:26 a.m. A student reported that the door to the attic in Barrows Hall was open. Several people were in the room with alcohol and the smoke detectors were covered with plastic bags. The bags were removed, the alcohol was confiscated and disposed of, and the attic was secured.

Friday, March 22, 2019

5:14 p.m. An officer on routine patrol of the College ash dump reported that three individuals ran from a smokey area. Members of the Oberlin Police Department and Lorain County Sheriff’s Office also responded. The individuals were identified as students, and they stated that they were burning an old stuffed animal and a book. The sheriff’s deputy warned the students that open burning is prohibited in Ohio.

Saturday, April 13, 2019

11:13 p.m. Members of the Oberlin Police Department received several complaints of yelling, fireworks, and noise coming from the Arboretum and promptly informed Campus Safety. Campus Safety officers responded and located approximately 70 students dancing, drinking, and singing loudly. All were advised to leave the area. A keg of hard cider was confiscated.

Saturday, April 20, 2019

9:13 p.m. Officers were requested to assist a student who was ill from marijuana consumption in Wilder Hall. An ambulance was called and the student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment. 10:18 p.m. An officer was requested to assist a student who was experiencing side effects from consuming a marijuana edible. The student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital for treatment.

10:33 p.m. Officers were informed that a student had checked in to Mercy Allen Hospital because they were feeling ill from marijuana consumption. Officers transported the student back to their dorm later that night.

Security Report 2017–18 By the Numbers*

63 Fire alarms 26 Students “Ill from alcohol

consumption”

15 Bagged smoke detectors 8 Vandalized exit signs 6 Injured ankles 5 Broken Windows 3 Individuals stuck in elevators 1 Ant infestation *These totals are taken from consolidated reports, and therefore the actual number of instances may be higher.

OPI N IONS

OBERLIN HISTORY

Mary Church Terrell’s Accomplishments Should Be Highlighted, Not Overlooked Shannon Silberhorn Contributing Writer Feb. 22, 2019

Like any institution, Oberlin’s history and commitment to progressivism has both dramatic highs and sharp lows. Part of why I chose Oberlin as a high school student was that it was the first college to support women and Black students in pursuing higher education. As a College senior, I chose to focus my Religion capstone on Mary Church Terrell (1863-1954), who graduated from Oberlin in 1884, because I was interested in the way that our institutional history often excludes the contributions of Terrell and other Black female alumnae. In addition to renaming the main library after Terrell, I agree with Azariah Smith Root Director of Libraries Alexia Hudson-Ward that we should do more to educate students about her life in order to more fully understand our own history (“Oberlin Should Be Proud of Main Library Naming,” The Oberlin Review, Feb. 8, 2019). My capstone research focuses on the intersection of Terrell’s public and private life and how both her lived experiences and political work from Oberlin onward were influenced by her devotion to social justice. Terrell’s successes at Oberlin were impressive but lonely — her family could not understand her intense commitment to academics, and few of her peers were also Black women. As a successful Black woman who boasted a higher education at the end of the 19th century, Terrell was a societal outlier — a fact about which she was acutely aware. The Black women that graduated alongside her also had extremely successful careers, and yet have been similarly overlooked in our institutional history. Ida Gibbs Hunt and Anna Julia Cooper went on to become nationally recognized speakers and writers who promoted civil rights and Black women’s suffrage. Cooper, Hunt, and Terrell were also lifelong friends. Terrell responded to her acceptance into college by working to make education possible for everyone; she strongly believed in social uplift and the impact of education for Black communities. Not just an advocate for higher education, Terrell was a strong advocate for kindergartens, as she recognized how child care could threaten the need for two economic providers in many Black households. Her incredible work helped make Black women and their children — two of the most marginalized groups in the United States — visible through the National Association of Colored Women. Terrell helped found the NACW, whose main mission was to provide social services and education to Black families. Terrell also participated in women’s suffrage and the Civil Rights Movement despite being continually undermined and excluded because of her identity. As an activist, she fought for Black women’s right to vote, their right to better working conditions, and their access to higher education through scholarships. Most women’s activism at the time centered around white women and actively discouraged conversations about race and sexual violence. While Terrell was part of these groups of women, she distinguished herself by making sexual violence against Black women a significant focus of her activism. Terrell also made it clear to others that Black women were situated at an intersection of race and gender that made them incredibly vulnerable to sexual harm. While there are critiques of Terrell’s ideology of “racial uplift” — an adaption of white Victorian ideology — and of her participation in politics of respectability as an upper middle-class woman, Terrell was also constrained by the avenues of social activism at the time. She was functioning in a post-slavery society where

part of her efforts were focused on legitimizing her work to white society in order to gain protections for Black communities. While it is important to problematize this today, it is more meaningful to recognize that Terrell created a gateway for Black women to enter into activism, which allowed movements to become more progressive and evolve. In other words, this institution should be proud of Mary Church Terrell not just because of her loyalty to Oberlin, but because her life’s work fits in the nexus of the progressive politics and social activism that Oberlin inspires and promotes. The fact that the NACW and its work are invisible in our country’s history is not the fault of women like Terrell — rather, this invisibility is a direct result of the all-encompassing and prevailing influences of racism and sexism. Oberlin is a special place where we can advocate for our own alumnae and bring their accomplishments to light. We should do more work to make students aware of the leaders that have graduated from this institution and how their work has shifted our own history. There are other Oberlin graduates like Terrell, such as Cooper, Gibbs Hunt, and Mary Jane Patterson — the first Black woman in the U.S. to earn her BA — who were ahead of their time in regards to their impactful politics and work. All of these individuals should be celebrated alongside Terrell. Through my capstone research on Mary Church Terrell, I have become more aware of the ways in which scholarship limits or hides the complexities of women like her. I believe as an institution we can create more avenues to explore our history in order to examine and complicate the good and the bad of our institutional history. By doing this, we can continue to uplift figures like Terrell, who are deserving of recognition yet painfully overlooked.

Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor

EDITORIAL CARTOON

In Memory of Adrienne Jones, Pioneer of Africana Studies James Millette Emeritus Professor of Africana Studies Nov. 2, 2018 Editor’s note: Adrienne Lash Jones, emerita professor of Africana Studies — formerly known as the Black Studies Department — passed away Aug. 28, 2018 at the age of 83. Her husband, L. Morris Jones, died in 2015. The following was written in their memory. I was sitting at my desk at Denison University in 1991 when I received a phone call from Adrienne Jones. She identified herself as the chair of the Black Studies Department at Oberlin College and asked me whether I would be interested in paying a visit to the Oberlin campus to consider the possibility of an appointment in Caribbean history. We talked for a bit, and at the end of it all, she told me that we should talk again. We did, and she informed me that she had spoken with the dean at the time and had his support to invite me to visit the campus and be interviewed for a position. I agreed, and the rest is history. I came to Oberlin for one year, had my stay extended by another, and ended up as a tenured faculty member, teaching Caribbean history in the Black Studies department from 1991–2010. When I arrived on campus, Adrienne and I talked about the curriculum that was developing in the Black Studies Department and the role that Caribbean history was intended to play in it. She had a vision of the curric-

ulum focused on the African diaspora — particularly on Africa, the United States, and the Caribbean. My impression was that the department was already teaching courses that impinged on these areas but had not yet formalized an emphasis and a vision targeted on the diaspora as such. Caribbean history, for example, was not taught — though Caribbean literature was interrogated in courses offered by Calvin Hernton, himself a scholar and a diasporic man of diasporic repute. Additionally, Yakubu Saaka touched on African religions in the Caribbean and Brazil, where rituals and their offshoots first took root in the New World. Adrienne’s vision of the department focused on a mix of courses in history, politics, education, and fine arts. In addition, she was of the opinion that the curriculum should be bookended by two courses: an existing introductory course and a brand new senior seminar, which majors would complete in the second semester of their final year. The course was brand new, not only in the department but in the College as a whole. I well remember the opposition we received and the meetings we attended in order to get approval for the course. Many of the best and brightest were at those meetings, and it was only reluctantly — and in the spirit of experimental teaching — that the proposal was accepted. Since then, many other departments and programs have adopted the senior seminar as a closing requirement in their majors. In the period in which she was chair, Adrienne Jones

was foremost in conceptualizing and implementing some of the most important new directions in the department and in the College. To her we owe deep gratitude for shaping the curriculum of the modern African-American, and the lately-christened Africana studies. But Adrienne wasn’t done yet. She was also instrumental in conceptualizing and establishing the then newly-born Feminist Studies Department. She encouraged students and colleagues to actively participate in the department as well. Adrienne was Oberlin’s first female African American professor and a formidable presence on the campus. There is reason to believe that deans trembled at the sound of her feet marching into their offices, as she often did. She achieved a lot because of the strong personal influence that she wielded on campus. She was at her best stride with Sister Dolores Nevels at her side. Adrienne would have been delighted by the realization of her long-standing dream of an African American, Carmen Twillie Ambar, as president of Oberlin College. I suspect that a lot of what she was had to do with the joyful relationship that she shared with her husband, Morris. They were nice people. Morris and I always exchanged stories about Cuba. He loved the island, and so do I. My wife was born there, and Morris learned to speak Spanish on one of his visits to Cuba. All in all, Adrienne and Morris were wonderful people. We are lucky to have known them and enjoyed their friendship, and we will miss them greatly.

AAPR

OSCA: The Problem and the Opportunity John Petersen Contributing Writer May 10, 2019 “Oberlin’s relevance as an institution is more important today than it’s ever been.” So said President Carmen Twillie Ambar in the pages of the Review at the time she became our 15th President (“Off the Cuff: Carmen Ambar, President of Oberlin College,” Sept. 1, 2017). I think just about every student, alumnum, and faculty member strongly agrees with her on this point. At the same time, I think most of us have also been convinced that Oberlin College needs to tighten its belt in order to achieve financial sustainability so that we retain our ability to positively impact the world well into the future. So the question that the Academic and Administrative Program Review steering committee members and the rest of us have grappled with over the past year and more has been, what exactly is it that makes Oberlin special? What are the elements of this institution that we need to preserve and augment in order to retain our Oberlin distinctiveness? Members of the AAPR steering committee deserve credit and appreciation for tackling these questions. They produced a set of potential areas of recommendations designed to, in the words of the AAPR draft, “leave intact the fundamental and distinctive elements that make up Oberlin and an Oberlin education.” In my mind, the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association is one of this institution’s distinguishing features. That’s why I find myself perplexed by the recommendation that the College seek to “work with the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association and the Kosher-Halal Co-op to develop a financial relationship that eliminates the $1.9 million annual negative impact on Oberlin’s budget.” The report expresses a commitment to working collaboratively with OSCA to identify cost savings to accomplish this goal. However, I fear that the conclusion that this large of a sum can be saved represents an existential challenge to the future of OSCA and to OSCA’s ability to continue to contribute to Oberlin’s distinctiveness. While I am otherwise favorably impressed by the AAPR steering committee’s commitment to data-driven analysis, it is not apparent to me that data were gathered to assess the value of OSCA to the Oberlin experience, or to consider how OSCA might contribute to many of the report’s creative suggestions for enhancing the Oberlin experience in the future. As an example, with a multi-million dollar annual budget, OSCA is surely one of the largest student-run businesses among any small liberal arts college in the country. The fact that the business is cooperatively owned and operated is all the more remarkable. One of the investments the AAPR envisions is a new “integrative concentration in Business.” The report further recommends that a “co-curricular experience will provide an additional set of skills and career-oriented training” for students in this program. Yet nowhere in the report is it recognized that this is precisely what Oberlin student cooperatives have been doing at Oberlin since the 1940s! I’ll confess that I am biased. In 1983, when I visited Oberlin as a prospective The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

student, it was the co-ops that sold me on coming — I was flabbergasted that this unique ongoing experiment in grassroots democracy and entrepreneurship had not been featured in the College’s promotional materials. No other school then or now has anything comparable. I did well in my courses at Oberlin and benefited from excellent teaching. However, I still maintain that the most important professional skills I developed at Oberlin — skills such as how to facilitate a meeting, how to manage a budget, how to follow through on major projects, how to organize a disparate group of people to achieve a common goal — were developed and honed through my experiences in Oberlin’s co-ops. Many of my closest friends from Oberlin and many of the students I have worked with during my 18 years on the faculty here tell me the same thing. As former OSCA President Stewart Kohl, OC ’77, is quoted as saying in the Oberlin Alumni Magazine, “Co-ops touch the lives of a significant percentage of students who come through Oberlin. … If you were to list the institutions that really make a difference in the lives of students in their years at Oberlin, I think the coops would rank pretty darn high.” If the name “Kohl” sounds familiar, it is because of his enduring commitment to the College — he served as a member of the Board of Trustees for 12 years from 2003-2015 and stepped in at a crucial fundraising moment for Oberlin with a $5 million gift to complete the Jazz Studies building which now bears his name. Like Stewart, many former OSCA members have leveraged their co-op experiences in leadership positions in nonprofits, government, academia, business, philanthropy, and the corporate world. To be fair to the AAPR steering committee, their charge was to consider how Oberlin College might achieve sustainable excellence. The strength and also the weakness of OSCA is that it is not, in fact, Oberlin College; it is a student-owned and student-run cooperative business which makes its own decisions. This is what I believe explains the absence of a clear consideration of the unique current and future value of OSCA to the Oberlin experience. And I believe that the solution to this problem is a commitment on the part of both Oberlin College and OSCA to a rigorous assessment of OSCA’s value and the articulation of a clear and shared vision moving forward. I support a data-gathering process that surveys and interviews alumni and current students to determine the ways in which careers and life choices have been affected specifically by OSCA and the myriad ways that OSCA might be more fully integrated into College programming. I am convinced that OSCA has much to contribute to many of the proposals put forward in the AAPR report — a Business concentration, a Public Health concentration, capstone experiences in a variety of majors, Winter Term opportunities, ExCo courses, novel programming with Center for Innovation and Impact and LaunchU, better integration with Career Services, etc. I am not suggesting that discussions can’t include creative ideas for cost savings. But I worry that the assumption that $1.9 million can be recovered by the College from OSCA is not a very collaborative or cooperative place to start.

Worker Recs Must Address Living Wage Editorial Board May 10, 2019 At their core, the recommendations that the Academic and Administrative Program Review’s steering committee submitted to President Carmen Twillie Ambar are a vision of Oberlin’s future that is informed by its past and present values. Sure, it’s a vision developed by a 31-person steering committee, but that committee is broadly representative of many different parts of the Oberlin community, and the draft of the final recommendations they shared publicly in early May highlight many values shared by all Obies. It’s worth noting that a majority of these value-driven proposals have received broad-based support from campus constituencies, including the offices and faculty governance committees that would be at the forefront of implementing the recommendations and guiding them to success. Historically, this kind of consensus has been difficult for similar initiatives to build at Oberlin, and the steering committee’s efforts to reach out deserve recognition. However, this type of unity has yet to be achieved when it comes to the AAPR recommendations regarding employee compensation — and for good reason. The steering committee did not adequately address the concerns that many employees, predominantly hourly union workers, expressed about the future of their employment at the College. Specifically, the lack of attention to the issue of a living wage is a gaping deficit in the AAPR’s work. It’s true that the terms of union employment are negotiated through the process of collective bargaining, and it would be improper for the steering committee to interfere in those conversations. However, it’s also important to note that endorsing a living wage would be a statement of values, not an infringement on collective bargaining — and would apply to more than just union staff. Many administrative and professional staff draw lower salaries than unionized workers and are also at-will employees, meaning they are not protected in the same way that unions and tenured faculty are. Incorporating a commitment to a living wage into the AAPR recommendations would provide long-term assurances for those employees as well. While wages for hourly workers and salaries for administrative and professional staff are configured differently, the same commitment can be extended to both kinds of positions. Throughout the review process, the steering committee compared current and future employee salaries to the salaries of similar employees in comparable markets. In particular, the AAPR laid out that Arts and Sciences faculty at Oberlin make 11 percent less than their peers in their relevant market, while the wages of Oberlin’s hourly staff are 34 percent higher. These numbers are used to recommend that Oberlin bring its employee costs in line with relevant markets — this recommendation is, on its face, reasonable, but ignores the reality that competitive markets, especially for hourly employees, do not make the kind of commitments to their workers that a progressive institution like Oberlin should make. Those figures also reveal that comparing the wages of Oberlin’s employees to some kind of baseline figure — whether that baseline be the average compensation offered by our peers or some calculated living wage metric — was well within the AAPR’s purview. If comparing current wages to a living wage would interfere with collective bargaining, then comparing current wages to the wages of our competitors should represent an interference, as well. However, we do understand that the steering committee is limited in the degree to which they can comment on union issues, and that’s why we’re not asking them to identify a specific living wage figure at this time — those sorts of evaluations should rightly be left to the bargaining process. We’re merely asking the steering committee to articulate Oberlin’s commitment to the wellbeing of its employees — a commitment that should also extend to non-union workers, however those figures need to be framed. What we call for, essentially, is a general statement of values, the likes of which are already used heavily throughout the AAPR’s draft recommendations. For example, the steering committee included a brief paragraph expressing its commitment to positive relations between the College and the city of Oberlin. That paragraph included no numbers, and it didn’t need to — that wasn’t the point. The point is that the steering committee identified town/gown tensions as an issue they care about, and said so. They can do the same when it comes to a living wage. Over the past year, the AAPR steering committee achieved a lot. They proposed a path out of our financial challenges that does not involve cutting any academic departments or programs, an outcome that seemed inevitable last spring. To the contrary, new programs and areas for growth have been proposed, which together provide exciting options for Oberlin’s future. This path has been built on an articulation of Oberlin’s collective values. We call on the steering committee members to maintain Oberlin’s commitments to its workers through publicly endorsing a living wage for all workers — both unionized and administrative and professional staff. If we as an institution are unable to use this language that simply recognizes the humanity of all of our community members, what does that say about the path we’re on? Let’s take this moment to have courage and stand by all community members, even as financial uncertainty continues.

Opi n ions

INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Higher Education Shifts Spell Trouble for Small Liberal Arts Colleges Editorial Board Feb. 8, 2019 Small liberal arts institutions like Oberlin are in trouble. This has become clear in recent years, as many — not just Oberlin — have faced significant financial challenges, some even forced to close their doors. Earlham College, for instance, was forced to cut a staggering 12 percent of costs and suspewnd its football program in a single year. After contemplating merging with another institution and potentially refraining from accepting students for the class of 2023, Hampshire College has ultimately decided to try to survive the 2019-2020 academic school year through alumni donations and will be paying its interim president a salary of $1 in an effort to remain financially solvent this coming year. Ohio’s own Antioch College — which has been kept afloat for the last eight years primarily through alumni donations — will also struggle to balance its budget unless it can address significant enrollment shortfalls. Fortunately, Oberlin isn’t staring down the brink of bankruptcy like other schools — at least not yet. However, our challenges are severe and, if left unaddressed, could become unsalvageable. It was for this reason that President Carmen Twillie Ambar assembled the Academic and Administrative Program Review steering committee, tasked with assessing Oberlin’s spending patterns to ensure the institution’s financial solvency. While Oberlin certainly faces individual challenges,

some of the factors contributing to our budget deficit are shared by small liberal arts schools across the board. For decades, the number of high school graduates rose consistently. Beginning in about 2006, however, the figure began to hover around 3.5 million graduates per year, according to The Chronicle of Higher Education. This plateau in high school graduates means that colleges and universities are increasingly competing for the same applications — the pool of prospective students isn’t growing. Further, only about one-sixth of those graduates at most are interested in receiving a four-year private education, and even fewer have the test scores or income available to meet Oberlin’s academic standards and price tag. Beginning in 2026, the average number of high school graduates is projected to decline nationwide — particularly in the Midwest and East Coast, due to decreasing populations and flattening birth rates. Unfortunately for Oberlin, students from those areas make up the majority of our student body. As tuition rates have generally exploded in recent decades, many of those available graduates will also likely question the value of a college degree relative to its cost. This drop further foreshadows a higher education landscape even more competitive than it is now — one where thousands of schools compete for a dwindling number of interested applicants. For schools like Oberlin, that pool will be further drained as state schools promote niche programs,

pre-professional tracks, and honors colleges that promise to mirror the private liberal arts experience for a fraction of the cost. For some students it simply doesn’t make financial sense to attend a college that will cost upwards of $280,000 for four years at sticker price — regardless of how nice the All Roads swag is or how clean the new bathrooms in Langston Hall are. It’s important for students and other community members to understand this landscape and how it will impact the future of private liberal arts schools. The challenge now in front of us is how to distinguish Oberlin from the pack — a significant ask as the number of competitors grows and the number of potential applicants shrinks. We need to be able to make a case for Oberlin that reverberates off campus as well as on it. President Ambar’s administration is keenly aware of this need, and work is already underway to boost Oberlin’s marketability and create clearer pathways for students to connect their interests and passions with future career opportunities, all while reaping the benefits of a small, tight-knit campus. Oberlin’s doors aren’t about to close, and the language of financial ‘crisis’ likely creates more hysteria than it’s worth. However, these are the questions we need to be keeping in mind now. Why Oberlin? Many of us intrinsically know the answer, even if we might struggle to put it into words. Now is the time to begin to articulate that vision, as we collectively set sail into uncharted waters.

Tokenization of Low-Income Students Harmful, Must Stop Continued from page 22

how we’ll get home for breaks or if we’ll be able to afford the bills we help with at home. Every single semester on my first day of school, professors would lose me as soon as they start talking about books, access codes, lab materials, and such. In my head, I would think of all the offices I’d have to visit in order to get books while everyone else moved on to thinking about the lecture. Please lend your books to low-income students once you’re done with a class. I cannot stress this enough. Starting my second semester, I have offered

EDITORIAL CARTOON

my books to other low-income students to borrow for the semester. Most people sell their books to other people. Have you thought of lending them instead to people who won’t be able to afford them otherwise? And no, books on reserve aren’t always the best option. If you have a friend who is low-income and having a difficult financial time and if you or your parents can afford it, invite them for dinner to their favorite spot, or offer the option of financial assistance. But don’t think of yourself as a hero and please be extremely mindful of the way you approach these type of discussions.

Push the school and yourself to educate the student body about low-income struggles. I could honestly write for hours about my frustrations with most of you. Don’t act like you can relate to our struggles. I’ve been hungry and I’ve had light, water, gas, phone, and other important services cut off throughout my life due to lack of payment. I’ve been homeless, I’ve been humiliated, and my mom continues to be humiliated. So please understand that your “broke” struggles are not the same as low-income struggles. We do not have a safety net. We are the safety net. Be proud of us. We are doing so

much. Whether we finish school here, elsewhere, or if we don’t finish school, be extremely proud because this system is not made for us and we deserve praise. We often need reminders that we belong here. Remind us more than anybody, thatnwe belong. Lastly, share resources and connections that you grew up with. Advice on interviews, how to network, email writing, resume help, and other things like this are all new to many of us. I hope this small list is something you take seriously. There are many more things I have in mind, but I would end up writing a book.

By Athina Apazidis

INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE

Letter to the editors President Ambar: We’re Still With You An Open Letter from Arabic 102 Editorial Board Oct. 5, 2018

Editor’s note: While most of the articles in this issue have been updated since their original publication to reflect any changes and the general passage of time, this editorial has been largely unedited to preserve the mood of the moment. The inauguration of President Carmen Twillie Ambar as Oberlin College’s 15th president gives our community a moment to reflect both on the first year of Ambar’s presidency and the collective challenges and opportunities now in front of us. In some ways, it’s hard to believe that it’s only been a year. President Ambar assumed the reins at a time of great turbulence, true, but she has stepped fully into the moment, and her commitment to tackling the challenges Oberlin faces has not wavered. She’s become an integral part of this campus — certainly to the point where it feels like she’s been here for a while. Whether she is conducting the Oberlin orchestra, being a regular face around Philips gym, sharing her playlist at the ’Sco, holding regular office hours, hosting student organizations in her basement, or presenting the school’s budgetary and financial decisions campus-wide, President Ambar has committed herself to transparency, visibility, and learning what it means to be an Obie. Her commitment does not just extend to students. Last summer, President Ambar and her administration reaffirmed their faith in faculty governance. Following faculty uproar in spring 2018 over their role in the ongoing Academic and Administrative Program Review, the administration changed course and strengthened the role faculty will play in important academic decisions (“Faculty Body Should Follow Junior Faculty Lead Through AAPR,” The Oberlin Review, Sept. 28, 2018). Furthermore, President Ambar has committed to developing strong ties between College and town communities that have often found themselves at odds. Beginning with the arrival of first-year students in August 2018, her office collaborated with the Dean of Students Office and the Peer Advising Leaders program to launch a Discover Oberlin campaign, which encourages students to shop at locally-owned businesses. Another town-gown initiative was the “Community 101” panel that all new students attended during their orientation week. The session focused on being a good neighbor and developing successful partnerships between College students and other community members. While it was not terribly well-received, the effort matters, and is indicative of the fully immersive approach Ambar has taken throughout the inaugural year of her presidency. There have certainly been bumps along the way. Campus frustrations have mounted over changes to student spaces and eliminations of professional staff. Early in her presidency, President Ambar fielded complaints about the quality of campus housing and the functionality of the Office of Residential Education, and her administration continues to be criticized for the state of Campus Dining Services. When the AAPR was announced, there was considerable campus pushback against President Ambar’s consulting firm of choice, Stevens Strategy — particularly after a faculty letter circulated outlining concerns from faculty members at other institutions who had hired Stevens Strategy (“Stevens Strategy Poses Potential Threat to Job Security, Program Funding,” The Oberlin Review, April 13, 2018). In those moments when trust has been threatened or fractured, President Ambar has not shied away. Instead, she has tackled concerns head-on, being more visible in the face of controversy, not less. It’s a remarkable and intentional approach — especially in comparison to the end of former President Marvin Krislov’s administration, which was marked by a lack of transparency around difficult decisions. We — students, faculty, staff, and other community members — have put President Ambar through a lot. We’ve held her administration’s feet to the fire. But what makes her leadership so effective is that she wouldn’t have it any other way. She wants to be held accountable and understands that tough times can only be endured by communities, not individuals. Following the inauguration festivities, we’re not turning down the pressure. We will continue to scrutinize President Ambar’s decisions and to tell her when we think she’s messed up. This is our collective duty, and we understand that a sustainable community keeps a close eye on its leaders. But as we write this while President Ambar hypes up the crowd at the ’Sco, our message to her is this: Thanks for being here. Thanks for becoming one of us. The past two years have been hard, and the coming years will be harder, but we’re still with you. Congratulations on your inauguration — we look forward to the many years of principled leadership ahead. The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

March 15, 2019

On Feb. 22, the Review published an article announcing that the Arabic teaching assistant position would be cut next year (“French and Arabic Teaching Assistant Programs Reduced”). This was quickly followed up with another article explaining that, due to concerns over its long-term sustainability, Oberlin’s Arabic program would be cut and replaced with an online Shared Language Program (“Arabic Courses to Be Offered Digitally,” The Oberlin Review, March 8, 2019). As first-year Arabic language students, this decision saddens us. We strongly believe that this path will seriously harm Arabic study and related fields at Oberlin. However, as much as we have been upset by the decision to cut the Arabic program, we have been even more disheartened by the misinformation that has dominated the campus conversation so far. We, the students of Arabic 102, want to set the record straight and make our case for why Arabic must continue at Oberlin. First, and probably most confusing, has been this decision’s relationship to the controversial Academic and Administrative Program Review process. We understand and want to make clear that this decision is unrelated to the AAPR. However, what has frustrated us us and some professors has been that the desire to eliminate the position of Arabic professor has neither been explained nor justified beyond saying that the program’s underlying grant has expired. Lack of funding is certainly an understandable concern, but we would have appreciated the chance to work with the administration to find a sustainable funding solution instead of being dealt a fait accompli. Second, the administration claims that they are cutting the on-campus program due to low student interest and enrollment in the language. They have pointed repeatedly to the Intermediate Arabic level, which two fantastic and dedicated students enrolled in this spring. Yet this represents a half-truth. In addition to the two Intermediate Arabic students at Oberlin, three more students studied Arabic abroad, and several more have taken upper-level Zoom courses through Oberlin’s Shared Languages Program. Furthermore, the administration has entirely neglected to mention that the Beginning Arabic level enrolled 13 students this semester and that nine of us are committed to taking the Intermediate Arabic course next year. The other four students are graduating but have expressed the sentiment that, if they had another semester, they would also continue. The slow winnowing of enrollment as students reach the upper levels of the language program is also symptomatic of a lack of resources allocated to the Arabic program. Students don’t feel like they should invest time into learning a language if upper-level courses in that language don’t exist. This is especially true considering the burden of running an entire department is placed on its sole professor, Basem Al-Raba’a. Professor Al-Raba’a, alongside our wonderful teaching assistant Hawraa Sana, has put an incredible amount of effort into building our department up into what it is today. Their dedication and passion for sharing their knowledge of the Arabic language, in addition to the culture of the Arab world as a whole, is remarkable. The College’s logic for cutting the Arabic department — that they shouldn’t invest in teaching the Arabic language because fewer people are taking the higher levels — is therefore circular. Instead of simply leaving things the way they are, the College should look at ways to increase Arabic language learning, thus maintaining higher levels of interest. Third, we are concerned by the implication that SLP classes will be equivalent to a classroom setting for Arabic education. We do not believe that digital classes will be a sufficient alternative to the classroom experience. Learning a language involves making mistakes, and having a tight-knit community allows us to be vulnerable during our learning process. In addition, having an instructor in the same room with us to encourage and support our journey has made all the difference. The personal, face-to-face connection between instructor and student cannot be replaced by talking to someone through a screen so early in our Arabic education. Learning about culture not only provides the foundation and background knowledge for language learning but also fosters love and passion for that language. One of the most important parts of the Arabic 102 class is Conversation Hour, where we learn about different elements of Arab culture. The SLP was initially integrated into Oberlin’s language curriculum as a supplement to the Arabic program, leaving our one professor with more time to teach content courses, therefore enriching the Middle East and North Africa Studies program. However, the College’s current plan would see the SLP completely replace Arabic classes on-campus. This is particularly detrimental because the SLP does not and cannot offer introductory Arabic. This means that this could be the last year of introductory Arabic at Oberlin. Ironically, the SLP is itself supported by an external grant that is set to expire within the year; thus, this proposal is just a symbolic concession to students in an effort to quiet concern. For these reasons, we strongly oppose the Arabic program changes. We want to work with the administration to preserve Arabic in a sustainable form. Despite the array of harmful misconceptions surrounding these changes, we urge the Oberlin administration and community to join us in working to reach a real solution for the benefit of all. - Roman Broszkowski Willow Tomkovicz Anna McLean Charlie Thompson Anthony Gao Thomas Rice Kellianne Doyle Abby Bentley Molly Marshall Charlotte Apter Bethany Gen Gio Donovan Katie Hillebrand

Photo by Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor

Opi n ions

CAMPUS CULTURE

SASA Celebrates Diwali Students Must Show More Respect for Hourly Employees with Unique Gusto Marisa Kim Contributing Writer April 19, 2019 Dear Obies: I do not wake up at 6 a.m. every Wednesday to clean up your messes. I have worked for Campus Dining Services in Wilder DeCafé since my second week on campus. I worked as a stocker last fall, and as a line clerk this spring. In that time, I’ve witnessed a consistent trend at Oberlin, which can best be encompassed by a recent exchange. The checkout line in DeCafé is always longest during the 10-minute transition periods between classes. Such was the case on Wednesday, April 17 when — just a few minutes before 9 a.m. — the line had wrapped around the store to the beverage fridges while I was manning the sole open register. Whilst trying to escape the line as quickly as possible, a student spilled his coffee all over the checkout area. After swiping his card for a board meal, I expected the student to return with napkins. When he didn’t, I asked him to clean up his mess so that I could take care of the rest of the long line. He came back, tersely dropped a handful of napkins on the pool of coffee, and swiftly exited the store. He didn’t say a word, but it was clear he expected me — or another CDS employee — to clean up the pile of soggy brown napkins. This level of entitlement amongst Oberlin students is nothing new. Way back in October 2018, I came across a post in the Oberlin 2022 Facebook group. A Stevenson Dining Hall student manager detailed her and other student workers’ frustrations with having to stay late to clean up messes left by students. She brings up a crucial point: “Many of your student workers in CDS come from marginalized backgrounds and work out of necessity,” she wrote. “Leaving your mess because ‘someone else will take care of it’ perpetuates the idea that women, people of color, low-income students, and other historically oppressed groups are obliged to work for you!” More than six months and 120 “likes” later, Obies still are not getting it. Having worked in food service for the past two years, I’m used to the frequent curt exchanges and casual discourtesy that come with

customer interactions. And certainly not all those who pass through the checkout line are rude or disrespectful — many students are perfectly polite and kind. You could say, “It’s just one spilled coffee.” But it’s not just one spilled coffee. A mess not only takes up physical space, but it requires everyone in line behind or around you to avoid your mess. It requires a CDS employee to take time away from the task they are being paid to do in order to clean up something you could have more quickly cleaned yourself. It’s the same way in a classroom. If you are in a place of privilege and take extended time to weigh in, you don’t leave time for other students to speak and share their opinions. This pattern of thoughtlessness and entitlement carries from DeCafé and Stevenson Dining Hall into the classroom and other prominent campus spaces. However, the burden of this entitlement does not exclusively fall upon other students. In fact, it’s the local hourly employees on this campus who carry the brunt of the consequences. I work a mere six hours a week, and I’m incredibly privileged to have scholarships, financial aid, and my parents to cover tuition. For hourly employees who work late nights and come back before the sun is even up, long hours are necessary to pay the bills and support their families. Furthermore, it’s not only students who lack the proper respect for hourly employees, but the administration at large. As has been highlighted by other Review opinion pieces, unionized workers are disenfranchised by the Academic and Administrative Program Review process, as there are no union representatives on the steering committee and not a single one of its 52 consultative outreach meetings has been with unions. Both students and administrators need to understand that hourly employees are simply not our disposable shadow servants meant to clean up our messes. Every student must recognize their positionality on this campus and actively make an effort to not monopolize space. It’s not enough to just express support or feign empathy for CDS and other hourly employees — there must be tangible action from each and every student.

Ananya Gupta Managing Editor Nov. 9, 2018 On my third Diwali at Oberlin, I ate one of the best Campus Dining Services meals I have had in my three years on campus. Diwali is the Hindu festival of lights, a celebration of the triumph of good over evil in the battle between Lord Ram and the demon Ravana. Stevenson Dining Hall exceeded all expectations with their Diwali-themed vegetarian/ vegan station featuring chana masala, yellow basmati rice, and paneer butter masala. Particularly since the closure of the India Garden restaurant in Feb. 2018, this meal was surprisingly soul-satisfying, abetting some of the homesickness I typically feel around that time of year. Despite perhaps unintentionally appropriating international cuisines in the past, CDS went about Diwali the right way. Eric Pecherkiewicz, Oberlin’s campus dietician, reached out to South Asian Student Association members for our input on the menu, recipes, and titles, which resulted in the first time I have had a somewhat authentic South Asian meal at a CDS dining hall. I was especially delighted that they successfully recreated the Sooji ka Halwa dessert item. I’d like to thank CDS for their initiative and hope we will see them collaborate more with other cultural organizations in semesters to come. This respectful display of our culture garnered massive support from all of SASA as we united in one of Stevenson Dining Hall’s private rooms to eat together. Granted, some of us felt like the red chili powder and salt proportions had been tampered with, but I am prepared to let it go. After spending the first 17 years of my life in a Hindu household in North India, I took Diwali celebrations for granted. It was only after coming to Oberlin that I felt the need to recreate my Indian experiences in a foreign country. For the past two years, SASA has celebrated Diwa-

li at Lewis House. We dress up, dance, cater food, and burst firecrackers. Each time it is a great community bonding experience, particularly with the Campus Safety car that circles the house every half-hour, squinting their eyes disapprovingly at the crackers. However, each year, we have deliberately celebrated only the secular, cultural aspects of Diwali at Oberlin, in an effort to prevent any discomfort among members. This never bothered me, because the secular aspects were the only parts that mattered to me when I was in India, though my family also adhered to the religious traditions of the holiday. But in Oberlin, I feel the void of my mother singing prayers, the incense, and the rituals that I’ve unconsciously associated with the festival my entire life. Diwali doesn’t feel the same without my grandmother telling me the same religious stories over and over again, reprimanding me when I touch the food before it is offered to the idols, and then placing oil lamps on every entrance of our home to invite in Laxmi, the goddess of prosperity. I’ve celebrated two years of Diwali without folding my hands together even once or thinking about the origin of the day at all. So this year we tried something different. SASA celebrated Diwali on Nov. 9 and Nov. 10 at Lewis House and, for the first time in my memory of the organization, we performed an all-inclusive, non-required Hindu puja, or prayer ceremony. While Saturday was the same Diwali we all know and love, I was excited to have the opportunity to share the religious traditions of the festival on Friday. My desire to engage with the more religious side of my culture is strange and unsettling because it doesn’t come out of a sense of duty, familial pressure, or a particular inclination toward gods or Hinduism. This prayer is just a part of the day’s ritual for me. An aspect I think is important to share, a legacy I don’t want to forget.

Review Fails To Report Misconduct in Socially Responsible Manner Olive Hwang Production Editor Sept. 14, 2018 Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of sexual misconduct and rape culture. A brief about the events discussed in this article can be found on page 6 of this issue. In the fall, the Review reported on the resignation of two Conservatory professors following allegations of sexual misconduct (“Oberlin Professors Resign After Sexual Misconduct,” Sept. 7, 2018). Among the accused was James David Christie, former chair of the Organ department and world-famous musician. The allegations, however, were obscured by the article’s insensitive and dismissive tone. As a member of the Review team, I was deeply disappointed by the way this story was covered. It is our job to present the news in a manner that is both factual and socially responsible. The topic of sexual misconduct is definitely one we should be covering. However, the article presented the subject with such flippancy that it was difficult for readers to walk away with anything but shock. Had I seen this piece prior to publication, I would have flagged it for drastic revisions. However, now that it has been circulated, I feel compelled to address the harm it has done. I hope this response will serve to spark positive dialogue in light of what’s happened. We absolutely need to talk about the power held by James David Christie. The relationship between a Con-

servatory student and a teacher is built on trust. As a world-renowned organist, Christie had substantial leverage over his students. He was able to grant students oncein-a-lifetime opportunities. In such a position, it would be difficult to find a reason not to trust him. Additionally, many victims fear retaliation for reporting sexual misconduct. In a field where social connections are vital to success, young musicians may find themselves faced with a difficult choice: Either they come forward and risk countless career opportunities, or they keep quiet in an attempt to make a name for themselves. Finally, to some extent, Christie’s prestige serves to shield him from alleged wrongdoing. Who is the public inclined to believe — the beloved prodigy or the individuals supposedly trying to tarnish his reputation? Journalistically, it makes sense to describe Christie’s occupation and authority at the Conservatory in a piece about his resignation. However, there’s a not-so-fine line between detailed context and obvious deflection of sexual misconduct allegations. Nobody is attempting to deny that James David Christie is a talented organist. But that is irrelevant to whether or not he has inflicted harm on multiple individuals. Perpetrators, more often than not, are our friends, family members, mentors, or partners. They are individuals we deem “normal,” or even “amazing.” Of course, it’s difficult to reconcile a person’s admirable qualities with their deleterious actions. That’s classic cognitive dissonance. And this makes it all the more important that we consciously try to hold perpetrators accountable, regard-

less of who they are or what they have accomplished. Sometimes, the devil just doesn’t need another advocate. Scroll through the comments section on any online article about sexual assault and you will see what I mean. Victim-blaming and gaslighting are pervasive in our society. The attitudes upheld by the Review’s coverage in September are commonplace and part of a broader pattern If we don’t recognize this, then we are only furthering a culture that alienates survivors. Regardless of what the author intended it to be, the Review’s article perpetuates attitudes that deter survivors from coming forward. I believe the Review has a certain obligation to cover the important issues of this campus, including sexual misconduct allegations. But we can do so without invalidating the struggles of those who have been through trauma. We can keep the Oberlin community informed while still holding ourselves accountable for the way we report controversial incidents. The biases in this piece are woven into our everyday lives. Whether you are a journalist or not, I urge you to ask yourself: Are you fostering an environment where people feel safe coming forward after being victimized? If you have been affected by issues related to those discussed above, the Nord Center of Lorain County can provide you with free and confidential services. For emergencies, call the 24/7 Crisis Hotline at 1-800-888-6161. For non-emergencies, call the Sexual Assault Services Hotline at 440-204-4359.

DISABILITY JUSTICE

Inadequate, Poorly Maintained Facilities Prove Unsafe, Inaccessible For Disabled Students Zoe Luh Contributing Writer April 19, 2019 My most poignant memory from orientation week in the fall of 2018 was calling my best friend crying because I thought I would have to leave Oberlin. Classes hadn’t even started yet. There was no academic pressure, and there were many opportunities for social exploration. The reason I thought I had to leave Oberlin was because of its lack of accessibility. On the third day of orientation, I remember entering Hall Auditorium for the mandatory play, The OC. Even though the building isn’t as old as others on campus, it wasn’t designed with the needs of people like me in mind. As soon as I entered Hall Auditorium, I could smell mold. Mold is an environmental toxin that has especially adverse effects on people with chronic illnesses and suppressed immune systems. For me, extended exposure to toxins like mold triggers an inflammatory response, causing a relapse into my chronic illnesses and requiring a leave of absence. Staying for the entire production simply was not an option. The stress and frustration of missing mandatory events because I could not physically be in the space was overwhelming. More frustrating than that was the sense of isolation I experienced when I realized how few of Oberlin’s dorms were environmentally safe for me. How could I help my newfound friends understand that it was unsafe for me to hang out in their dorms, especially when there is little awareness of, or nuance about, disabilities on this campus? These are situations that no student should have to navigate in the first place. Students should not be placed in unsafe situations or have to justify their needs in order to be safe. The most recent threat to my ability to attend Oberlin was applying for housing next year. As stated on its website, the Office of Residential Education requires all stu-

dents with less than six semesters in residence to live on campus. Exemptions are possible, but ResEd maintains that Obies “with physical or medical conditions and or disability can usually be accommodated in college housing and dining.” So what happens when the housing options provided by the school aren’t safe? My first choice for housing would be somewhere on South Campus because that is where the majority of people of color are located. However, that isn’t an option for me because those buildings are generally not well-maintained enough to meet my health needs. This difference in building maintenance seems intentionally racialized since it is mostly POC-designated dorms that seem less maintained. Because I am not able to live with my of-color community, I was placed in Langston Hall, which on paper seemed to fit my disability needs. However, upon walking into the space, I could smell mold and knew it would not be safe for me to live there. I was told by ResEd that there had not been recent complaints of mold — although I’ve since heard otherwise from people who transferred out of the dorm because of that exact problem. Living with an administration that forces disabled students to put emotional labor, time, and often money into “proving” their disability is insulting and unbelievably painful. The actions and inactions of this school force disabled students into uncomfortable and unsafe situations, often requiring us to re-examine and re-experience our trauma. Whether intentional or not, Oberlin constantly sends the message that disabled students aren’t accepted, believed, or wanted. From exclusive building designs to the racialization of space maintenance, to the lengthy process of obtaining accommodations, students with disabilities must use our energy — which is already quite limited for those of us with chronic illnesses — to constantly advocate for ourselves and prove our existence and validity.

We need to explore the idea that historically marginalized voices have not been believed or respected when they point out injustices and dangerous situations. There is a certain irony in the dismissal of voiced injustice on a campus that claims to be radically liberal and social justice-oriented. I have begun to document the buildings on Oberlin’s campus that violate the Americans with Disabilities Act. I understand that many of these buildings are permissible by legal standards due to grandfather clauses. However, just because something is legal doesn’t mean it’s moral. Laws need to change, and so does Oberlin. I also can’t help but notice the contrast between the rhetoric used to attract prospective students and the reality of student life. In actuality, a portion of Oberlin’s student population cannot live comfortably or safely in College housing. For a socially-conscious school, Oberlin fails to understand or act upon the nuances of disability and race, as well as the intersection of these identities. Our social justice legacy did not end with Oberlin’s racial integration. It also includes the continuous harm caused to disabled students of color who are put in potentially dangerous situations by our institution daily. Instead of carelessly throwing around the word “accessibility,” let’s work to educate ourselves on the nuances of disability and push for changes that make our campus safer. I suggest the administration begin by providing safe housing, respecting the needs of disabled students, and taking universal design — as well as accessibility that includes a wider range of disabilities — into account when making long-term plans for Oberlin’s finances. To students who claim allyship: Please, work to actively support your disabled friends. Educate yourself, so disabled peers don’t end up in dangerous or uncomfortable situations.

Disabled Student-Athletes Must Have Accessibility Needs Met Jackie Brant Opinions Editor May 3, 2019 In light of the Academic and Administrative Program Review and financial stress at Oberlin College, there has been a lot of student concern surrounding physical accessibility. We know that there will be necessary cuts in order to secure the financial longevity of the institution. However, one thing that cannot be sacrificed is accessibility for disabled students. Resources for disabled students are already slim. Despite the genuine efforts, care, and concern that the staff of Disability Resources provides, the department is drastically under-resourced. Some academic buildings and dormitories are not up to code, and others are entirely inaccessible to those with physical disabilities. Work orders are often not completed in a timely manner, which can be a serious threat to the well-being of all students, especially those who are disabled. Additionally, parking lots that are within an accessible range of major buildings — especially dorms — are almost nonexistent. Because of the variety and scope of these concerns, certain aspects of accessibility are often overlooked or ignored altogether. One group that often gets lost in this shuffle are disabled athletes. This includes not only varsity athletes but also club and intramural athletes, students who take athletic classes, and anyone who participates in athletics recreationally at Oberlin. It is no secret that current conceptions of disability and accessibility often The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

lack appropriate scope, nuance, and intersectionality. Many people — especially those outside of Oberlin — have very specific pictures in mind when it comes to disabled people, most commonly involving some sort of visible physical impairment. Sadly, these misconceptions are what keep some students, including disabled athletes, from receiving the accommodations they need to thrive on campus. While many people at Oberlin do have a nuanced understanding of disability and accessibility, the vast majority of Americans have a very black-andwhite view of the subjects. Many people do not believe that disabled people can be “real” athletes. Disabled bodies are commonly thought of as less than or not equal to abled bodies; this then feeds into the thought that disabled bodies simply cannot do activities — such as athletics — that abled bodies can. When disabled athletes perform on the national stage — such as Shaquem Griffin, an NFL Seahawks linebacker with only one hand — it is treated like a miracle or an enormous feat, despite the fact that there are plenty of highly successful disabled athletes. Because of this attitude, not much thought goes into the accommodations and accessibility needs for disabled student-athletes, which, unfortunately, can cause some disabled student-athletes to internalize the misconception that disabled people cannot be athletes. After suffering from severe chronic back pain for eight years, I was finally diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis, a degenerative arthritic condition affecting the spine. When I received the news,

I was immediately concerned about my ability to continue playing collegiate soccer. I have been playing the sport since I was four and did not want to give it up. Ultimately, my doctor gave me the OK to continue playing; however, I was told that I could not lift weights as I had, and I would have to remove myself from play if I began to have a flare-up. I continue to play with the knowledge that I am heavily susceptible to spinal fractures and spinal injuries. While I acknowledged that my condition fit common definitions of disability, the fact that I continued to participate in athletics gave me cause to reject the idea that I was disabled. At the time, it did not matter that I frequently struggled to walk from my car to my dorm, or that I often woke up in the middle of the night due to pain. It took me a while to accept that I am disabled and that I deserve accommodations regardless of my ability to participate in athletics. And while I acknowledge that there are times when lacking a visible disability gives me more control over how others perceive me, I still suffer from the condition that I have; I am justified in asking for accommodations that will make my life more manageable. As it stands right now, however, student-athletes are not getting the accommodations they need. Both the administration and students have failed to recognize the ways that athletics programs and facilities are not accessible to students. This is unacceptable for a number of reasons. Firstly, the introduction of YeoFit — a health initiative implemented by the College this past year — is aimed at getting all Oberlin

students involved in athletics; however, disabled students are left out of this program because many of the classes offered through YeoFit do not consider the needs of students with physical limitations. Secondly, working out is often key for many disabled people’s mobility and overall health. For example, many arthritic conditions, including my own, require consistent, low-impact activity in order to avoid stiffness and spinal immobility. Additionally, there are places in Philips gym that are highly inaccessible. Currently, the weight room is often overcrowded — which can be intimidating for disabled athletes, especially ones that are not varsity athletes — and there is not much walking room. To solve this, priority hours for disabled students could be implemented. There could also be athletic classes offered specifically for students with disabilities that not only accommodate their specific accessibility needs but aim to directly cater to them. Campus Dining Services should ensure that student-athletes with dietary restrictions related to disabilities have plenty of options to properly fuel their bodies. There are plenty of accessibility concerns that must be addressed at Oberlin College. However, these things can only be addressed when students voice their dissatisfaction or concern. Developing a more comprehensive understanding of disability would not only help all student-athletes at Oberlin realize and ask for the accommodations they need, but also help ensure that Oberlin becomes adequately accessible for all disabled students.

Opi n ions

STUDENT ACTIVISM

The Voices of Students Activists, Senators Matter More Than Ever Serena Zets Contributing Writer March 15, 2019 Editor’s note: This article is in response to a situation that occured between student activists and members of the Board of Trustees. Serena Zets was the Student Senate communications director during the time this happened, and issued a response on behalf of Student Senate condemning the actions of the student activists. Zets has since resigned from Student Senate. I was frustrated, appalled, and saddened by the actions of my fellow students in response to the Student Senate statement regarding the direct action taken at the Board of Trustees Luncheon on Friday, March 8. I acknowledge that Senate’s March 11 criticism of the action played a part in derailing campus political dialogue. In my role as communications director, I personally accepted a significant amount of the fallout over Senate’s statement, but I am unsure why this was a burden that I had to bear. While it was my job to deliver the message to the student body, I was not its sole author. If you read the entire statement carefully, you will notice that every single senator signed the statement. I wonder why I received such direct criticism — often from people that I don’t know well or have never even met. I wonder why I was referred to as a “cop” on social media when I’ve dedicated years of my life to racial justice organizing that has combated police and state violence in Pittsburgh. I wonder why students claimed that I’m an opponent of student activism when I came to Oberlin and ran for Senate to continue and amplify my work as a student activist. I wonder why some claimed I acted as a pawn of the administration when my most extensive conversation with President Carmen Twillie Ambar took place when I was a prospective student in April 2018. I wonder why

countless people felt that it was OK to approach me about Senate-related issues no matter how inappropriate the setting. On this campus, I have carried multiple identities — Senator, student, and organizer. However, these identities are often ignored when we continuously try to force ourselves into compartmentalized boxes in order to fit in on this campus. When we divide ourselves along these lines, we cultivate a narrative that antagonizes student government and student organizers alike. Such a tactic negates the idea that people can be a part of both camps. This false dichotomy causes us to lose sight of our mutual goal — a student platform in the Academic and Administrative Program Review process that incorporates demands from all sides. What I was forced to realize in March is that a lot of people claimed to know me without taking the time to learn my story. This experience was part of a larger phenomenon in which the labor of women and femmes of color is both undermined and consumed, but not appreciated. Thus, since so many people think that they know me, I wanted to utilize this platform to reintroduce myself on my own terms. I am Serena Zets, I use she/her/hers, and I am an 19-year-old first-year. I identify as a queer multiracial Indian American woman and survivor of sexual violence. In Pittsburgh, I served as a racial justice organizer whose campaigns focused on uplifting marginalized student voices, supporting survivors of sexual violence, and fighting against police violence and militarization in schools. In addition to direct organizing, I also worked as a freelance journalist covering social justice movements for five years. For much of my life before Oberlin, I carried the identities of community organizer and political journalist. It seemed to be an intentional choice on behalf of Student Senate to utilize its only woman of color as its communications director and public face. Placing a student who carries that identity into that position not only mis-

represents the racial and gender makeup of Senate but also forces that student to carry an emotional burden for all of Senate’s actions while working for minimum wage. It hurts to be called “intimidating” and “unapproachable” by older white students that I considered my allies in the fight for bettering this institution. I came to Oberlin because I understood it to be a space in which my voice and perspective would be valued. However, after this experience, my voice felt commodified and exploited. My emotions feel policed. My actions feel surveilled. I understand that an elected official might have these expectations placed upon them. However, forcing these expectations onto a first-year student of color who is new to the institutional and campus politics of Oberlin feels irresponsible and dangerous. In many ways, I was thrust into a position I did not ask to be in and inserted into a complex spectacle that predated my arrival onto this campus. If Oberlin wishes to live up to its legacy of inclusion, its community must better understand and support the needs of the students that it works so hard to tokenize and idolize. In my words, I hope that you hear not only my frustration, but also my passion and hope for a better Oberlin. I ran for Senate because I believe that it has the potential to be an effective channel for student advocacy, but — as a community organizer myself — I know that it is not the only channel for advocacy. I value direct action and public pressure on institutions. Furthermore, I believe that amplifying student voices is the only way our demands will be taken seriously. I regret that the conversation surrounding this particular action and its response took a polarizing course. It’s a daunting yet critical time to be an Oberlin student, let alone an organizer and/or senator. I thank you for your time, and I look forward to working with you and being in conversation with you in the future. Let’s unite our resources and our power to work together and reclaim an institution that must answer to us.

Grape’s Editorial Reflects Dogmatism, Low-Income Students Tokenized for Outrage Politics of Oberlin Students Oberlin Students’ Benefits Jackson Zinn-Rowthorn Contributing Writer Sept. 21, 2018

I was disheartened when The Grape chose to publish a flippant and brazenly misleading piece shoring up support among first-years for the boycott of Gibson’s Food Market & Bakery that has been ongoing for more than two years. The Gibson’s controversy is complex, subjective, and highly personal. The events were tragic and traumatizing. Newcomers to Oberlin ought to have a much fuller picture of the conflict than The Grape’s article offers before coming to any conclusions. The author side-steps any substantive engagement with the facts of the case by suggesting that because of the lawsuit and because they once worked at Gibson’s, they must be careful to avoid “libeling” their former employer. Their caution is reasonable on the surface, and yet, when the article gives an account of the origin of the boycott, it is reductive to the point of being deceitful. I don’t think the article was meant to falsify — more likely, it was just ill-considered and under-informed — but nonetheless, publishing a piece this lacking in context and nuance was irresponsible. Writers should feel obliged to discuss serious issues affecting our community honestly and in good faith. I was especially disturbed by the line chosen as the pull-quote by the editors: “I’m not going to tell you not to shop at Gibson’s, but I will tell you that the social implications of being seen at Gibson’s are much worse than most other [first-year] faux pas I can imagine.” Is this really the sort of discourse we want to encourage? Threatening social blacklisting — a very real problem on this campus — to anyone

who acts contrary to a prevailing set of ideas? As the “Support Gibson’s” lawn signs that have sprouted up around Lorain County remind us, this boycott is not like the abstracted, at-a-distance activism typical of college campuses. Our actions on this front have a direct and dramatic impact on the lives and livelihoods of dozens of people in the greater Oberlin community. These people are not caricatures. They are not merely the sum of their worst inclinations. They are our hosts — when they push back against us, we owe them our sincere consideration. As students, most of us inevitably leave Oberlin behind. But the residents of the town remain. They inherit our legacy. I understand that dedicated proponents of the boycott like the author of the article in question are motivated by a genuine commitment to justice. But if we want to continue down this path, we have to ask ourselves — what does justice look like? What are our long-term goals? Why did we enter a boycott in the first place? Trump was elected the day before the protests started — did shock and dismay affect our judgment? The chance that Gibson’s will have to close its doors for good is more significant than most of us seem to realize. Do we really want that, if it means alienating hundreds of our neighbors? There are no easy answers to these questions, but they demand our engagement. I encourage anyone so inclined, especially underclassmen, to talk to the Gibson family and its employees. Ask them about their motivations for the lawsuit. Talk to students, and ask about their motivations for the boycott. Read the reports. Read the coverage in The Grape and the Review. Then come to an informed decision.

Laura Franco Zapata Contributing Writer Sept. 21, 2018 At the beginning of my fourth and final year of college, I felt particularly reflective about my time at Oberlin and how blessed I was to have made it so far while being what academia deems an “at-risk” student. Being a low-income and first-generation college student made my experience at Oberlin differ hugely from that of my affluent peers. Sadly, identities such as being low-income are not often talked about, leaving students like myself feeling lonely and misunderstood in a school known to have a generally close-knit community. Perhaps we don’t talk about these issues because low-income students at Oberlin only make up around 1.2 percent of the student body, or maybe most students just don’t understand what it’s like to go through life with financial insecurity. Regardless of the reason, I find most students at Oberlin to be extremely toxic to low-income folks. Now, I can only speak for myself, but here are some of the reasons why and how you — yes, you — might be hurting low-income students, and how you could be helpful in many ways you might not have thought about. During my time at Oberlin, I came across several discussions where demands were made to the College and the well-being of low-income students was mentioned as a strong point for why the school should listen to the student body. The most recent I can think of was the discussion about dining changes. Every single time there was a discussion of such sorts, I noticed one or more low-income students intervene to clari-

fy that Oberlin, in fact, offers us stellar aid. In my time at Oberlin, I did not have to buy any books with my hard-earned money, and I was able to afford what little the school and government aid did not cover by working a couple of jobs during the school year. So, whenever people would write petitions, and they mentioned the accessibility issues regarding low-income students, I couldn’t help but feel tokenized. Yes, the dining plan and many other issues can and do affect low-income students in very real ways, but let’s be honest: Do Obies really care about low-income students, or are they using us to win a fight? To me, it seems like the latter. So, what are some real ways to be an ally to low-income folks at Oberlin? Based on my own experiences and some conversations with other low-income peers both here and elsewhere, I’ve included examples of ways that you could help. Stop trying to hide your class guilt in thrifted clothes. Please, just stop. Think of the resources you are taking away from people who depend on them. I have yet to find someone with a valid reason why they do this, especially when you all walk around with $3 shirts, $5 pants, and expensive shoes that cost more than my mother has in her bank account — anything more than $150. Leave front row seats open in classrooms. Many of us have so many things to worry about daily that we need to be in the front to actually focus (Will my family be able to pay rent this month? Will my mom finally buy herself snow boots so her feet stop hurting in the winter?). Outside of that, we worry about See “Tokenization,” page 18

POLITICS

Wind Farms Pose Health, Procedural Justice Concerns Nathan Carpenter Editor-in-Chief April 12, 2019 At a March Republican Party fundraiser, President Donald Trump made headlines for yet another bizarre, unprompted statement, remarking that the noise from wind turbines has the potential to cause cancer. As many scientists, journalists, and politicians on both sides of the aisle immediately pointed out, there is no evidence to corroborate this claim. Several Democratic presidential candidates chimed in, mocking Trump’s ignorance. Iowa’s senators, both of whom are Republican, weighed in against the president as representatives of a state significantly invested in wind energy. Even Kellyanne Conway’s husband, George, got a piece of the action, adding “Windmill cancer survivor” to his Twitter bio. While the president’s statement was false, the idea behind it — that living near wind farms is unpleasant — is a little more complicated, and the resulting outrage was frustratingly sensationalist and likely comes at the expense of productive dialogue. The pushback obscured a truth that politicians and major media outlets do not often discuss — that wind turbines are, in fact, linked to harmful health outcomes for communities that live near them, and often implemented without much, if any, resident input or oversight. In 2013, Gwen Ottinger, now an associate professor of Politics at Drexel University, published an article entitled “The Winds of Change: Environmental Justice in Energy Transitions.” In it, she writes about Wind Turbine Syndrome, a condition experienced by many people who reside in close proximity to wind farms. The symptoms of WTS — which result from the noise, shadow flicker, and low-frequency ground vibra-

tions associated with wind turbines — include “nausea, vertigo, tinnitus, sleep disturbance, and headaches.” According to Ottinger, complaints about these health impacts are largely brushed off by green energy supporters, politicians, and industry leaders. Residents have also expressed concern that previous studies have not accurately or fully assessed the health impacts of wind farms. Before I read Ottinger’s article last summer, I had never encountered the idea of WTS, or indeed any documentation of the potentially negative impacts wind farms can have on the communities around them. However, as I began to talk with people about this issue — particularly residents of Oberlin and other communities across the Midwest where wind energy has exploded in recent decades — I discovered exactly what Ottinger contends: These harmful impacts are widely understood by those in rural areas who are directly affected, but not usually discussed or validated in the dominant literature or media narratives. This denial of local knowledge and community testimony about the sometimes-detrimental impacts of wind farms is telling. It reveals that we have a lot of momentum behind the implementation of wind energy, to the point that even staunchly conservative Senator Chuck Grassley of Iowa will go to bat against his own president to defend them. For Grassley and Joni Ernst, Iowa’s junior senator, wind energy represents a significant economic force across their state. If there’s one truth about modern America, it’s that politicians, businesspeople, and other leaders will stick their necks out for whatever is padding their bottom line. The danger of this growing economic momentum is that we lose the opportunity for a nuanced approach to a green energy transition. This transition is vitally important, but also will reinforce existing racial and

socioeconomic inequities if made poorly. It’s easily conceivable that the same communities marginalized by our current energy system — largely low-income communities and communities of color — will continue to bear disproportionate burdens if we don’t also make significant structural changes to how and where energy facilities are implemented. In her article, Ottinger references “procedural justice” — the idea that residents should be involved in all stages of implementing technologies like wind farms in their communities, as well as the monitoring and regulation of processes after they have been implemented. She advocates for “thinking on a community scale” to address the incidence of WTS and move toward a system that prioritizes both green energy and equity. The uniform outrage about Trump’s cancer comment — while factually correct — suggests that we still have a long way to go in acknowledging the nuances of procedural injustices that have created environmental hardships for communities across the country, sometimes masked in the name of sustainable and renewable energy. Fortunately, awareness is rising that climate change needs to be tackled through a people-focused lens that acknowledges how histories of marginalization and oppression have inequitably distributed environmental benefits and hazards. However, this lens is most commonly applied to situations where a community has been polluted or otherwise injured in stark, visible ways — let’s take this moment to recognize that the same lens can and must be applied to progressive environmental policy as well. Climate change is forcing us to redefine how we live in so many ways. Let’s view that as an opportunity, and use it to combat the structural inequities deeply imbedded in our current energy system.

Understanding Kavanaugh’s Flawed Jesuit Education Kam Dunbar Mattie Gittings Contributing Writers Sept. 28, 2018 Editor’s note: This article contains discussion of sexual misconduct and sexual assault. The motto “Ad majórem Dei glóriam” — which translates to “for the greater glory of God” — is a beloved trademark of the Jesuit schooling experience. Our respective alma maters, Fordham Preparatory School and the University of Detroit Jesuit High School & Academy, instilled in us this vision of living a life for others. Another graduate of an all-boys Jesuit school, Judge Brett Kavanaugh, was nominated for the Supreme Court on July 9, 2018. Watching the weeks of coverage culminating in the Sept. 27 hearing — where Dr. Christine Blasey Ford detailed how Kavanaugh, in the midst of his Jesuit education, assaulted her — was gut-wrenching. Watching the world attempt to destroy Dr. Ford’s credibility affirms everything that feminists and assault prevention advocates have highlighted for decades. Kavanaugh and his band of boys from high school have drawn national attention to a dangerous truth of their high school experience: They abused a synthesis of privilege, power, and brotherhood through masculinity. The idea of brotherhood is core to the Jesuit schooling experience for boys, creating a community that permeates every part of a young adult’s life. Your brothers are with you in class, after school at Robotics or a soccer game, and on the weekends. You grow with them, experience difficulty with them, and by the end of your four years, love them unconditionally. A stark reality is that women often carry the burden of this unconditional brotherhood. It is the persistent presence The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

of subtle misogyny that taints the virtuous educational missions of these historic institutions. As more details developed around Kavanaugh’s alleged sexual assaults, it became more apparent that he and his boys lived comfortable lives. They attended a high-powered institution in the heart of the nation’s capital, drank heavily before they even touched the ACT, held the popularity that comes with playing sports, and spent extravagant weekends performing all kinds of misdeeds. They also openly disparaged women in the most public of settings — cruelty to women feeds the brotherhood. Kavanaugh boldly slut-shamed women on his own yearbook page. He joined many of his other classmates in identifying himself as an “alumnus” of a woman at a local high school. At a 1982 party, Dr. Ford reports that Kavanaugh attacked her while his buddy Mark Judge drunkenly laughed. As other commenters have identified, the laughing is what’s important here. Judge and Kavanaugh laughed and enjoyed it. They bonded over it, were fed by it. The brotherhood strengthens at the expense of women. Kavanaugh is a running example of what happens when we allow young men — especially those who are wealthy, white, and starkly aware of their privilege — to live fearlessly and recklessly, simply because they’re men. Many examples come to mind of instances when we each witnessed sexism manifest in our own Jesuit institutions and sat silently by. At Fordham Prep, a young librarian had to resign after she received constant, covert harassment from her young male students. At UDJ, students would often remark on the appearances of young women teachers, and, at worst, make crude comments attempting to strip them of agency over their own bodies. In another instance, two students

reported “Eiffel towering” a young woman from a different high school; news made its ways around the school and became a topic of conversation for a week. Potentially even more pervasive at these schools is the culture of intellectual superiority that positions men as more sophisticated. Students were less willing to challenge men than women — they often made cruel jokes regarding women teachers’ weight, intelligence, and permission to teach at and be in an all-boys school. Some might argue that acts of misogyny and inappropriateness in the mentioned academic settings are isolated instances. Others might question the similarities between UDJ, Fordham Prep, and Georgetown Prep — Georgetown Prep, Kavanaugh’s alma mater, being considerably richer, connected to D.C. elites, and a boarding school. Individual bad actors shouldn’t represent an entire philosophy of education. Just because some bad boys did some bad things doesn’t mean that the whole brotherhood is corrupt, right? Wrong. These are not isolated instances; they exist in an ecosystem that feeds off the degradation of women. Jesuit schools, single-sex education, and the brotherhood may not be the origin of these challenges, but they are certainly incubators. Furthermore, it is our inability as men to tackle difficult questions head-on, out of fear of damaging the coveted brotherhood, that stops us from identifying our complicity and allows these grave ills to live in perpetuity. The brotherhood isn’t stronger than our communities standing together and saying that enough is enough, that boys won’t be boys. The dignity of women should be non-negotiable at any point in young development or life. Brett Kavanaugh seems to be a man who lived out the five “grad at grads” — virtuous pillars of values ideally devel-

oped at the time of their graduation. He represents respected values — a family man, strong in faith, with a deep community. But he also represents the notso-hidden social and developmental realities of the Jesuit preparatory school experience. As America experiences a long-overdue reckoning on the realities of patriarchy, masculinity, and womanhood, Jesuit institutions with missions like UDJ’s and Fordham Prep’s should not shy away from problems in their own communities. In fact, we should be leading the way. Helping reinforce the non-negotiable dignity of women in all facets of their experience, and calling ourselves out when we fall short, is essential to making sure we fulfill the word of God and our basic duty as responsible people on this earth. We must battle patriarchy in all manifestations — whether that be misogyny, homophobia, or elitism. So many women — courageous, bold, and brave beyond our conception — are leading a brigade towards a society where women are treated as equal, autonomous, respected individuals. Men should let women speak without reservation, and at this point in 2018, all good men must feel compelled to vocally and passionately reject the same supremacist institutions from which we continue to benefit. Institutionally, Jesuit schools across the nation must deeply consider the realities, both intentional and otherwise, of the experiences their young men are having, and at whose expense. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, remarked, “He who goes about to reform the world must begin with himself, or he loses his labor.” If we are to really continue building Men for Others, we must start by building men for women. No more silent good men. Good men aren’t silent.

OPINIONS

May 24, 2019

established 1874

Volume 147, Number 24

Students watched live performances at a party for abortion access. The event was organized by Oberlin students in a response to the recent passage of anti-abortion bills in Ohio and Alabama. All proceeds were donated to Ohio’s Women Have Options fund and Alabama’s Yellowhammer fund. Photo By Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor

Solidarity Vital in Confronting Anti-Abortion Legislation Editorial Board In recent weeks, reproductive rights have come under attack in numerous states across the country — most notably Alabama, Georgia, and Ohio. Ohio’s “heartbeat bill,” one of the first to be passed in 2019, bans abortion after six weeks into a pregnancy and makes no exceptions for cases of rape or incest. Furthermore, doctors who do not test for a heartbeat or proceed with abortion procedures if a heartbeat is detected could be charged with a fifth-degree felony, punishable by up to a year in jail and a $2,000 fine. Although Ohio’s is far from the most restrictive abortion law in the county — Alabama’s makes even fewer allowances — it still drastically limits abortion access. Many of these bills have been passed in southern states, and all have been passed in red states with large rural populations, such as Ohio. In discussions about this legislation, there is a tendency to look down on the residents of these states as having backwards politics. This perspective creates an unfair narrative of personal responsibility — implying the states with restrictive abortion laws are simply less enlightened than more progressive regions. While this narrative hasn’t dominated campus discourse, it has come to Oberlin — especially since many students are originally from liberal or coastal states with significantly more progressive political outlooks, and complaints about living

in Ohio are generally prevalent around campus. Students are afraid of what the heartbeat bill and other similar bills might mean for their health and reproductive rights — and rightfully so. However, it is important that students recognize that every state’s popular support for abortion bans is less than 25 percent, and that we do not misplace our blame on the very populations that these bills affect the most. Many of these places, including Ohio and, more locally, Lorain County, have diverse populations. Many also have large low-income populations. While college students are certainly affected by the threat of abortion bans — it is estimated that 45 percent of people who get abortions are college students — local low-income folks and communities of color are also extremely likely to be impacted. Even before the abortion bans were passed, these individuals already had limited access to health care because of high insurance costs and racism institutionalized in the health care system. The heartbeat bill is especially concerning for these groups, as health care is notably more expensive and often inaccessible for women of color, and the financial stress of forced pregnancy will threaten the livelihoods of many low-income people. Further, many of the victories for reproductive rights in Ohio can be attributed to the hard work of people from these

communities. Women of color and individuals from low-income backgrounds have been an integral part of the fight for reproductive rights for years through organizations including the Women Have Options Fund and Pro-Choice Ohio which prioritize vulnerable communities. These organizations and many other local grassroots efforts such as the Oberlin Doula Collective have focused not only on abortion rights, but also on access to adequate contraception, maternal health, and treatment for reproductive cancers — all of which have been historically more inaccessible to women and trans people of color. These communities continue to bear the brunt of the most restrictive reproductive rights laws that the United States has ever seen. For these reasons, we must be careful and deliberate in how we place blame. The fault for these deadly laws does not lie with the general populations of Ohio, Alabama, or Georgia. The fault lies specifically with the state legislatures who drafted and proposed these bills and with the governors who signed them into law. Given the broad-based support for abortion rights across the country, these legislators are generally not acting on behalf of their constituents. Especially in Ohio, the reality of gerrymandered districts that result in an outsized number of Republican legislators plays a large role in unrepresentative legislation. We cannot lose focus of these facts as

we fight against abortion bans — activism and conversations must be framed around this important information and context. Now is not the time to fall prey to easy anti-Ohio rhetoric; now is the time to recognize that we — temporary and permanent residents alike — are all in this fight together. Early this week, students organized a very successful fundraiser for abortion access, which included live music and raised more than $2,000 to support prochoice advocacy in Ohio and Alabama. Donations will go directly to people seeking abortions. This is a great example of how we, as temporary residents of Oberlin, can productively fight against these bans while positively affecting the community around us. Fundraising for organizations such as the ones above, as well as national groups like Planned Parenthood, is a great way to ensure that abortion is as accessible as possible for the people who need it most. Many Oberlin students ultimately go home to places where abortion access is not so limited. However, many people in this country do not have the opportunity to simply move away from these laws. It is imperative that students continue to be active in the fight for reproductive rights, even if we are from places where these rights are more secure. We owe it to our fellow residents in Ohio and elsewhere who have fought for the rights now being taken away from them.

CONTENTS OBERLIN HISTORY 16 In Memory of Adrienne Jones, Pioneer of Africana Studies

AAPR 17 OSCA: The Problem and the Opportunity

INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE 18 Higher Education Shifts Spell Trouble for Small Liberal Arts Colleges

DISABILITY JUSTICE 21 Inadequate Facilities Unsafe, Inaccessible for Disabled Students

16 Mary Church Terrell’s Accomplishments Should Be Highlighted, Not Overlooked

17 Worker Recs Must Address Living Wage

CAMPUS CULTURE 20 Review Fails to Report Misconduct in Socially Responsible Manner

STUDENT ACTIVISM 23 Wind Farms Pose Health, Procedural 22 Low-Income Students Tokenized for Justice Concerns Oberlin Students’ Benefits

POLITICS 23 Understanding Kavanaugh’s Flawed

Jesuit Education

May 24, 2019

ARTS & CULTURE established 1874

Volume 147, Number 24

Dancers rehearsing for Louise Wurzelbacher’s senior dance installation, Symbiotic Tendrils: An Organismal Installation, which premiered in Warner Main last month. Photo by Meg Parker, Photo Editor

Dance Department Ranked Among Nation’s Top 25 Programs Kate Fishman Arts & Culture Editor Oct. 5, 2018 I took a movement class in the Dance department for the first time during the fall of 2018, the first semester of my sophomore year. Before then I’d thought I was done with dance, but dancing at Oberlin has made me fall more in love with it than ever. When OnStage Blog released its annual college dance program rankings in August 2018, Oberlin’s department (which last spring had just 16 majors and 15 minors) was among the country’s 25 best. Coming in at lucky number 13, Oberlin was highlighted for its emphasis on somatic studies, utilizing “both theoretical approaches and movement practices to increase kinesthetic awareness and an understanding of what creates optimal physical performance.” Ann Cooper Albright, Chair of Oberlin’s Dance department, finds interdisciplinary scholarship invaluable. “[Dance studies] is starting to blend [two things that] used to be much more distinct, which is scholarship and practice,” she said. “One of the things that’s great about our department is that all of the faculty teach across ideas.” Nonetheless, it’s surprising to see Oberlin’s tiny department ranked among such esteemed programs as The Juilliard School, The Ailey School, and New York University’s Tisch School of the Arts. Unlike traditional dance conservatories, Oberlin does not outline specific tech-

nique requirements, nor does it require an audition to declare a major; the only required auditions are those determining placement in advanced technique classes. The lack of formal auditioning is easily perceived as a disconnect from the traditional standards of a good dance department, but more and more it seems to be a strength in producing passionate and self-directed dancers at Oberlin. “We don’t have an ideal dancer that we’re trying to create,” Cooper Albright said. “What we have is a whole group of people just really curious about what is possible. It means that people who’ve never danced before and start dancing in college can major. It means that people who have lots and lots of experience outside of college can come in and grow. There are people in the department who end up majoring who would never have thought they’d major in dance. … We’re not really thinking about the answers. We’re really about forming the questions.” Additionally, Oberlin offers an array of classes in African and African diasporic dance forms each semester, including capoeira, West African dance, and samba. This variety in non-Western forms is highly unusual for a program of its size, and allows Oberlin’s dance department to cater to a range of student interests and cultivate exploration. Visiting Assistant Professor of Dance Alice Blumenfeld joined the faculty this year teaching flamenco. Meiver de la Cruz, a Visiting Assistant Professor of Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies, has taught Raqs Sharqi belly-dancing classes at Ober-

lin and will be receiving her doctorate in Performance Studies for a dissertation that is the first ethnographic history of Arab-American dance practices in the U.S. College junior and Dance minor Rosemary Shin said that her ability to connect with faculty is one of the aspects of the program she treasures most. “Because I’ve taken classes with almost all of them, I find that I’m close with each of the professors in different ways,” Shin said. “They create that environment.” “My goal is to offer a program that is personalized, community-oriented, and relevant to the complexity of modern life,” wrote Assistant Professor of Dance Alysia Ramos in an email to the Review. “From [the various faculty and their expertise in different professional, scholarly, and choreographic areas] the students here get a rich and varied curriculum, personal mentoring, and vital connections to the professional field. We also have wonderful facilities, opportunities for independent projects, and collaborations with the Conservatory that are unmatched in other programs.” “I’m especially pleased that the department was graced by this outside recognition, because it will hopefully help validate our existence at a time when there is a sense of competition among Oberlin College departments for a shrinking pool of tenure-track positions,” Cooper Albright said. The interdisciplinary nature of Oberlin dance also makes it unique. During the 2017-18 school year, despite the small number of majors, a remarkable 473 stu-

dents enrolled in department courses. “One of the things I always say is that I love the fact that the people in my classes aren’t just dance majors, that they also bring in their perspective for economics or neuroscience or English or a language,” Cooper Albright said. “This is part of what we’re doing, and we’re not shutting that off.” Shin approaches things from a pre-med perspective. “As someone who wants to be in the medical field, [Body Re-Education with Jennifer Shults] just changed my perspective on the body and health as a whole,” she said. Even for those who have chosen to pursue dance more intensively at Oberlin, the ability to apply the discipline in a variety of ways is crucial. “My dance work usually intersects other mediums like sculpture and film,” wrote College senior and Dance major Sophia Attebery in an email to the Review. In looking for college programs, Attebery was drawn to Oberlin’s “unconventional pedagogy compared to classical conservatory training.” Contact Improvisation, the class that I’m currently taking, has done the same for me. I leave every class, no matter how exhausted or stressed I’ve been, feeling empowered. It’s made me think much more about our psychological relationship to touch, and about the courage it takes to depend on others through both connection and resistance. As Cooper Albright says, “Put the body in the world.” And that’s what I hope to do.

CONTENTS Dance Guggenheim Award Latest Step in Albright’s Storied Career 26

MRC Colors of Rhythm Celebrates POC Creative Expression 26

The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

Visual Arts 27

Art Rental: A Photo Essay

Art Exhibition “Counternarratives” Sparks Conversation 27

Theater & Film

Music

Student Life

Oberlin Emeritus Professor Recognized for Grafton Productios

Spring Quartet Wows in Highly Anticipated Celebratory Concert 30 One Song, One City Unites Community Around Music

Video Highlights Womyn, Femmes of Color on Campus 29

’Sco Scenior Reminisce, Appreciate Campus Community Space 31

Comic

A r t s & C u lt u r e

DANCE

Guggenheim Award Latest Step in Albright’s Storied Career Kate Fishman Arts & Culture Editor May 10, 2019 If you have ever attended an Oberlin Dance performance or a Contact Improvisation jam, then chances are you have encountered Professor and Chair of Dance Ann Cooper Albright. On April 9, Albright was awarded a fellowship by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, one of the most prestigious grants available for work in the arts. This particular accolade is historically awarded mid-career. There are typically over 3,000 applicants for the award every year, whose work is then reviewed by peers in their field. Albright was one of 168 candidates selected to receive a grant in 2019. The Guggenheim rewards people with careers that exhibit thoughtful and impressive trajectories, and those with ambitious ideas for future projects. “The thing that’s different about a Guggenheim, which is kind of interesting, is that it also requires a career narrative,” Albright said. “And the career narrative is pretty hard to write, actually. It’s not, like, easy, it’s not just … ‘Here’s my CV.’ It has to have some kind of conceptual depth to it.” Albright’s career treads two lines often presented as opposing — body and mind. Winning the Guggenheim validated her belief in the fortitude of these intersections — the foundation’s president told her that he appreciated how her work combines theory and practice. This assessment was icing on the cake for her. “Somewhere along the way, philosophy and dance leaned into one another, beginning a duet that would lead to a life spent thinking and moving,” she read to me from the career narrative she had written.

In conjunction with the College’s shift to “job readiness,” Albright’s approach to dance has encouraged her students to think critically in her classes. “She told us that the skills we’re learning [in class] are for when you’re 45 and you get fired from your job the same week you get divorced,” College junior Zach Arfa, a Dance minor, wrote in an email to the Review. “Learning to survive and navigate in disorientation and suspension are critical to dealing with huge life changes. [Albright] is incredible at connecting the physical practices we learn to the real life implications that they have.” These real-life applications were critical for another longtime student of hers, College senior Charlotte Andrews. “[Albright] emphasizes the importance of falling and risk-taking physically, but also in all components of one’s life,” Andrews wrote in an email to the Review. “Because of [Albright], I trust myself to be able to improvise and land safely when I fall on the dance floor, but she has also helped me improvise and land safely in the face of rejection letters for summer internships, finding new possibilities where I thought there were none.” In addition to chairing the Dance department, Albright is the president of the Society of Dance History Scholars and the creator of Oberlin’s Girls in Motion program, which has been active for 14 years. She’s also a frequently-published scholar, a mother, and an active teacher in the studio each semester. Albright has authored seven books, five solo endeavors and two collaborative anthology works. Albright’s most recent book, How to Land: Finding Ground in an Unstable World, was released just last year. Analyzing technological disembodiment in a post-9/11 world, Albright examines

the phenomenon of falling in our culture and the effect it has on our experience of our bodies. In a review, MacArthur fellow Liz Lerman describes the book as a “startling awakening to the possibilities of living more deeply with our body as guide, host, and generator of sensation and ideas.” This book also includes movement exercises for readers to try out, which Albright tested with her Varsity Contact class last year. And as anyone who’s taken a class of hers knows, Albright’s philosophies are the underpinnings of the movement skills she teaches. “After taking several of her classes, it was such a joy to read the fully fleshedout and articulated versions of the ideas she teaches,” Arfa wrote. “For me, the book feels very personal because I can imagine her telling me those things, and I can feel her words resonate through my body and the practices she’s taught me.” Applying for a grant was a practical choice for Albright — she had a project she wanted to work on. Albright’s next project will, as some of her others have in the past, focus on a particular figure — in this case, the dancer and writer Simone Forti. Forti is renowned for creating improvisational structures now lauded as groundbreaking, and combining improvisational dance and sound with critical thought, analysis, and written word. Albright is interested in the lessinvestigated aspects of Forti’s life and history — she plans to call the project Simone Forti: Improvising a Life. The Museum of Modern Art in New York bought Forti’s dance constructions that she wrote about in handbook she published in the ’70s, such as the huddle. The huddle is a contact improvisation score where dancers form a kind of football huddle and then climb out of it

and on top of it, rolling off to rejoin the huddle once more. “That’s a score millions of people do, but somehow now MOMA owns it,” Albright said. She sees these conundrums over staging rights as an interesting lens through which to examine the ownership of dance art and improvised movement. “The history of Simone Forti’s work is woven into my body and my scholarship,” Albright explained in her proposal to the Guggenheim Foundation. “This project draws on my extensive teaching and writing about contemporary improvisation as an ephemeral form of dancing that can nonetheless be described, historicized, and theorized. While I was living and studying in New York City in the mid-’80s, I frequently took workshops with Forti. I have hosted her twice at Oberlin, once for a monthlong workshop on ‘Logomotion,’ and most recently for a short residency in December 2015.” The Guggenheim, as the practice of writing does, affords the opportunity to look back and become aware of how the past moves us into the future. That wasn’t lost on Albright. “For me, the significant thing about the Guggenheim — besides the fact that it’s a once-in-a-lifetime grant, you can’t get it more than once — the thing that’s really sweet for me is that they take an ad out in The New York Times and they publish who they gave the Guggenheim to,” she said. “And my parents were such avid New York Times readers. I just think back and think, ‘Oh, they would have been so happy to have their daughter’s name in The New York Times.’ That made it real.” Albright will be on sabbatical from Oberlin during the next academic year, working on Simone Forti: Improvising a Life.

MRC Colors of Rhythm Celebrates POC Creative Expression

College sophomore Blessing Bwititi and College first-year Evans Muzulu dancing with the African Students Association at Colors of Rhythm. The 23rd annual showcase shined loud and proud at Finney Chapel on April 10, highlighting students of color and the organizations they represent. The event invited all to come and share in the variety of art forms expressed, including dance, song, spoken word, and storytelling. The theme of this year’s Colors of Rhythm, “Freedom in this Village,” was chosen to honor E. Lynn Harris, who was a prominent figure in Black gay male literature for more than 25 years.

In every act, individuals celebrated their freedom to express their culture in an inclusive and welcoming space. Historically a showcase of student activism on campus, Colors of Rhythm celebrates performers of color who are usually disenfranchised from mainstream campus culture. The event foregrounds cultural dance forms and expression that Oberlin classes do not regularly cover. OCTaiko, African Students Association, dance company And What!?, Japanese Student Association, and South Asian Students Association all performed, among others. As a POC-centered event, all mem-

bers of the audience were encouraged to cheer and respond to the various acts. “I need noise, I need yelling, I need clapping,” said emcee and College junior Brian Smith as he prompted the crowd to support the artists who came on stage. This statement was met with a huge chorus of applause and cheering, which was sustained throughout the event, filling Finney Chapel with supportive energy. Text by Imani Badillo, Staff Writer Photo by Jules Greene April 12, 2019

VISUAL ART

Art Rental: A Photo Essay Originally founded in 1940 by art historian Ellen Johnson, OC ’33, the Art Rental program gives students the opportunity to hang works of art created by the likes of Pablo Picasso or Salvador Dali in their college homes for only $5 a semester. Oberlin’s Art Rental program is a major draw for many prospective students who are deciding where to pursue their undergraduate degree, a cherished memory for countless alumni, and a treasured tradition for current students. The process no longer requires people to camp out — instead students must return to the Allen Memorial Art Museum throughout the night for check-ins to keep their spot in line — though camping is still an option for students who opt to do so. All in all, art rental is a fun, cost-effective way to spice up a dorm room. Text by Katherine MacPhail and Kate Fishman, Arts & Culture Editors Feb. 22, 2019 Above: Nina Fox + art (College senior) Photo by Meg Parker, Photo Editor

Above: Juna Keehn’s art (College senior) Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Above: Brian James + art (College senior) Photo By Meg Parker, Photo Editor

Above: Juna Keehn’s art (College senior) Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Left: Charlotte Andrews’ art (College senior) Photo by Mallika Pandey, Photo Editor

Above: Lauren Brown + art (College senior) Photo by Meg Parker, Photo Editor

Art Exhibition “Counternarratives” Sparks Conversation Emarie De La Nuez Nov. 2, 2018 In the fall, students walking past Mudd Center or the Allen Memorial Art Museum may have noticed enlarged markups of The New York Times front pages posted on the buildings’ facades. These works, installed the last week of October by Brooklyn-based artist Alexandra Bell, were meant to showcase the consequences of how news is portrayed by major news and media outlets. “I first encountered Alexandra Bell’s work on Instagram over a year ago, as I was starting my position at Oberlin,” said Allen Memorial Art Museum Ellen Johnson Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Andrea Gyorody. “I found her work to be both timely and poignant, and immediately began thinking of ways that her work could appear on campus.” Bell introduced Oberlin to her “Counternarratives” project on Oct. 29, 2018 in a lecture in Hallock Auditorium, which focused on how issues around race and violence are reported in the media. Bell, who holds a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University, confronts the problematic notion of holding media to be an absolute truth. “Counternarratives” utilizes walls in public locations to mount redacted, annotated, and edited newspaper clippings, alongside versions she creates that provide a different truth and perspective. “Is there a way something can be factual, but not completely true?” Bell asked the audience during the lecture. Oberlin was the site of two of Bell’s pieces — the one located at Mudd critiqued media coverage of the fatal shooting of Michael Brown in 2014, and the other, posted at the Allen, evaluated journalistic shortfalls around coverage of the violent far-right protests that erupted last year Charlottesville, VA. Bell’s artistic process begins with transferring articles that appeared in the print version of The New York Times — the artist is a self-proclaimed “news snob” — into Adobe InDesign. In doing so, Bell hopes to glean a more thorough understanding of the article’s content, as well as replicate the arduous process of creating and The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

consuming print media. From there, she annotates the articles, examining their role in perpetuating dominant narratives. One facet of media coverage that Bell explores in her work is what she called “the placement of whiteness.” Whiteness is often afforded invisibility — meaning it is uncommon that white people are described by their race — when all other races and ethnicities are almost always pointed out. Bell often critiques the way information is presented by major news outlets. For example, in the piece on Michael Brown, Bell examines why Michael Brown and Officer Darren Wilson were, in their side-by-side profiling by The New York Times, given a false equivalency. She questioned various facets of the coverage of the fatal shooting, asking why Wilson’s profile — when reading from left to right — is first. Furthermore, Bell tackles the issue of how Black males are often demonized in the news. These portrayals of an entire demographic of people have allowed for discriminatory policies and court rulings that have made Black males five times more likely to be incarcerated than their white counterparts. Historically, Bell argued, Black people were not allowed to participate in the creation of news narratives — through, for example, objective interviews — rather, they were discussed as chattel. The journalistically-trained artist cross-referenced an article from the 1830s discussing the sale of slaves with more contemporary pieces. “You can see the reverberation of this animalistic language [today],” Bell stated, referring to the historical use of words such as “demon” or “brute” to describe Black people in the media. For the Michael Brown piece, entitled “A Teenager with Promise,” Bell replaced the side-by-side profiles and grainy photos of both subjects with a large-scale image of Brown’s graduation photo, with the titular phrase serving as the headline. According to the artist, this was an intentional move to highlight Brown’s age and innocence. Bell said that the ages of Black males are often ignored by the media, in favor of reports of previous criminal acts or negative personality traits. For example, The

New York Times infamously referred to Michael Brown as “no angel.” “The media [doesn’t] see them as kids,” College senior Hanne Williams-Baron, who attended Bell’s talk, said. “[They] always talk about [Black males] smoking weed or selling drugs, and this takes away their innocence.” One aspect of printed news that Bell discussed was the significance of being “above the fold.” When the newspaper is folded, the reader only sees the images and headlines above the fold — thus, the layout of print media has exceptional power to define or perpetuate a certain narrative. Bell’s piece entitled “Charlottesville” depicted the transformation of the headline of The New York Times article by minimizing the original large photo of a young couple and enlarging a poignant photo of the car that rammed into the protestors. Bell also tackled the importance of layout with her other work “Olympic Threat,” which focused on The New York Times article, “Accused of Fabricating Robbery, Swimmers Fuel Tension in Brazil,” which instead of using a photo of the white swimmers, who were also implicated in the issue, used the photo of famed sprinter Usain Bolt, attached to another article on the page. This allowed for a word-image association between robbery and male Blackness to occur. “You [can’t] put a headline like that and put a Black man there,” College sophomore Ivy Miller said. “People need to watch and think about what they are doing.” Bell has begun to transition away from “Counternarratives.” Most recently, she released a non-public artistic project that focuses on the media coverage of the “Central Park Five,” the five Black teenagers who were wrongfully convicted of raping a white woman in Central Park in 1989. There were 28 other assaults that week — two of them on white women, two on Asian women, and 24 on Black and Latina women — yet, according to Bell, print media was utterly captivated by the case in Central Park. See “Counternarratives,” page 31

A r tw s s& C u lt u r e Ne

ON THE RECORD

Graduating Senior Ti Ames, Director of “The Brothers Size” Ti Ames is a graduating Africana Studies and Theater major. In March, they directed The Brothers Size for their senior capstone project. The play follows two brothers in the Louisiana bayou, Oshoosi and Ogun, who are reunited after Oshoosi is released from prison, and whose relationship is complicated by the appearance of Elegba, Oshoosi’s old prison mate. The play explores West African Yoruban spirituality and the Orishas, who are the personification of forces in nature and human endeavors. Their spiritual roles have been translated through different cultures and are prominent in many religions. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Katherine MacPhail Arts & Culture Editor March 8, 2019

Ti Ames

What has your approach been to directing this play? When I became an actor, acting was very much based in Western doctrines and Stanislavski-type methods. For this show, I decided to go in a different direction. We’re doing something called Soul Work and call and response, which is very much rooted in Black aesthetic. These two different principles work very similarly and they work together. The term Soul Work was coined by Dr. Cristal Chanelle Truscott. Her idea is that Western theater is all based in individual work and asks, “What do I want? What do I need in order to keep going in the show?” Soul Work asks, “What does my community need?” It goes from an individualistic view of a show to a community view of the show. So it takes a little bit from this idea of action and reaction in Stanislavski, but the call-and-response kicks back on that. I don’t have any set actions or objectives for my actors. I told them, “You can have a basic understanding of what’s going on here, but unless you’re actually sitting there and receiving what the other person

Photo courtesy of Ti Ames

is giving to you, there’s no possible way to give anything back. So your action and objectives will change every single show, every single time we run the scene. If it happens to start forming into a general idea that kind of continues, sure, let’s go with that. But if something new happens, which every single run of the show [it does], run with it because you now have a new call that you have to respond to.” What important issues do you think this play addresses? There’s so much! I mean, first of all, you’re talking about Black queer masculinity, which is something that is not talked about a lot, period, wherever you are. When most people think about Black queer people, they think about Black gay men who are more feminine-presenting. And those are great and wonderful people, but we don’t talk about the other facets of Black queerness, especially when it comes to men. So it’s nice that this show really hits that on the head, talking about what it means to be a Black man, raised as a “traditional” Black man with very masculine qualities, who was forced to be strong

every day of his life, and to be an example for everyone in his life. The show is also based a lot on speaking stage directions out loud. Sometimes a character will say “the law runs up on him,” or something like that, which … shows how the law is everywhere. Being Black in America is not a fun thing, especially being Black and queer in America; you’re automatically a target. What role have music and dance played in this show? A massive role! We have an amazing music director, [double-degree senior] Eli Heath, who’s graduating this year, and this play is part of his Africana honors project. He is a white man who I love dearly, who understands what it means to be a white person in a Black space. A lot of his role has been figuring out what the live music in the show is going to sound like. He works with Khalid Taylor, [OC ’17], and [Conservatory first-year] Anthony Anderson, who are doing most of the singing and the dancing in the show. We also have [College senior] Nani Borges working with us, and she is an amazing choreographer. She’s also in the show as an ensemble member. With Eli, Nani, and Khalid — who’s also choreographing — we’ve created something that we like to call the counterpoint melody. It started on our first

day of actual rehearsal after the read-through when I just asked Khalid and Anthony and [College junior] Jaris Owens to start the prologue of the show, which is like an invocation or incantation. And I was like, “Just play around and see what comes out of your mouth, we’re just gonna record it and keep track of it and if we like it we’ll keep going with it, and if we don’t, we’ll scratch it and we’ll start something new.” And Khalid came up with this melody that gets stuck in my head every single time we do this. Eli picked it up and just started creating music based off of it. How has Yoruba Spirituality been a part of this show? [College junior] Miyah Byers is our dramaturg. She’s also my assistant director and she’s also in the show. She has done so much. She did a lot of work researching Yoruba and figuring out how we can carefully and respectfully approach the show when it comes to spirituality. Yoruba is a very, very serious spirituality. There’s a difference between religion and spirituality being that religion is something that you do and spirituality is something that you are. We have to be very careful when dealing with Orishas because we have to be respectful of the fact that this is not something that we do every day. Nani Borges is the only person who practic-

es Yoruba in our cast, so a lot of questions go to her. We dedicated the space to the Orishas and we have little offerings to each of them in the corners of the room. When we first walked into this space a couple of weeks ago, we blessed the space with Florida water, which is something that’s used for a lot of spiritual ritual and African aesthetics. We blessed it to communicate to the Orishas: “You’re welcome here. This is your space.” We want to respect them and respect their place in the show. We also respect the fact that there are some things we can’t do because we don’t want to be sacrilegious or offensive. Personally, and this might sound kind of crazy, I’ve seen the power of Orishas, and they don’t play around. So it’s nice to be able to dedicate the show to them. All of us may not believe it to the same extent, but we respect it, and that’s the most important part. And I would hope that the audience would also do that even if they have no idea what Yoruba is. I hope people understand that there’s more out there than we — the hegemonic majority of Oberlin College — understand. We don’t talk a lot about Yoruba, Black queerness, or about things that are really hard to talk about. And this show puts it right in your face so you can’t ignore it anymore. I would love for people to walk away and talk about it.

Oberlin Emeritus Professor Recognized for Grafton Productions The Ohio Arts Council awarded Phyllis Gorfain, professor of English emerita, its 2019 Ohio Arts Administration Award on May 15. Gorfain was nominated for her role in founding Oberlin Drama at Grafton, a theater group that operates within the Grafton Correctional Institution located about 20 minutes east of Oberlin. ODAG helps produce inmate-acted plays inside Grafton, providing incarcerated people the opportunity to engage with theatrical works in collaboration with Oberlin students and volunteers. While ODAG’s official mission focuses on preparing inmates for successful reentry to society, Gorfain elaborated that this is only one part of the group’s goal. “Our goal is deep personal and social change,” Gorfain said. “Zero recidivism will follow from that … one of our goals is that by doing this program, people will … contribute to the society as returned citizens and, as we put it, to be able to go home and stay home. So we can put it in terms of recidivism and there’s nothing wrong with that, but it’s too narrow a goal. In other words, our goal is much more immense.” ODAG works towards this social change by providing Grafton inmates with a nurturing environment where they can feel vulnerable and safe while pursuing new experiences. “The reception is [always] so positive,” said College senior Abby Bordin, who volunteers with the group. “New guys will come to the first rehearsal after that show and say, ‘Hey, I saw the show, and I want to be a part of that.’ I hear that so much more than I hear anything that’s mocking or in any way putting down anything that’s happened. It’s wonderful, and I think that goes to show there are so many subtly dehumanizing stereotypes about people who [are] in prison.” Text by Roman Broszkowski, Senior Staff Writer Photo courtesy of Phyllis Gorfain Feb. 8, 2019

THEATER & FILM

New Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Annex Offers Top-of-the-Line Performing Spaces, Needed Facilities

The new Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Annex opened to students this year. Photo by Ananya Gupta, Managing Editor

Katie Lucey Arts & Culture Editor Sept. 14, 2018 Hall Auditorium received an upgrade this past Fall that will revolutionize the future of theater at Oberlin. The renovations and expansions of the Eric Baker Nord Performing Arts Annex are finally coming to fruition. For some, this project represents a decades-long desire to improve both the quality and quantity of performance spaces on campus. “There are some faculty that consider this project yet another iteration of ideas that have been gestating for 25, 30 years,” said Managing Director for Theater, Dance, and Opera Eric Steggall. However, plans for this particular project, which also include

much-needed renovations to Hall Annex, began about six years ago. Construction took over a year and a half. The new building is situated between Hall Auditorium and the Peter B. Lewis Gateway Center, which houses the Office of Admissions, StudiOC, and The Hotel at Oberlin. Though the basic function of the new space is to provide a much-needed third performance space to complement Hall Auditorium and the Kander Theater, the new performing arts annex presents an additional range of opportunities for members of the College, Conservatory, and community at large. Among the space’s new offerings are an attractive metal-faced exterior, a brand-new lobby, a costume shop, a scene shop, and rehearsal spaces. The building also contains new bathrooms for

patrons and two new dressing rooms for performers. For those familiar with the prior behind-the-scenes facilities of Hall Auditorium and Hall Annex, these updates are nothing short of monumental. The crown jewel of the project is the Irene & Alan Wurtzel Theater, a highly-adaptable performance space that can house an audience of 250–300 people. This addition provides a performing space that is sized midway between 501-seat Hall Auditorium and 75-seat Kander Theater. Additionally, the array of theater setups and possible performance styles provided by the Wurtzel opens up new learning opportunities. “The curricular challenge of moving, acting, and designing in a space that is so fluid really challenges us as a department to grow and to embrace new technologies and methodologies,” Steggall said. “It gives the students the opportunity to create a different skill set, one that is highly contemporary in the industry right now.” Incoming students now have the advantage of sharpening their theatrical knowledge as well as their acting, directing, designing, and technical skills in a brandnew space that is on par with some of the most prestigious venues in the country. “I love theater and am used to working in terrible, awful spaces. I think no matter what, I’d be happy working there, and this place is so nice,” said College first-year Thandiwe Seagraves. “It’s amazing, because [Senior Technical Director Joseph Natt] was talking about how he’s been working on this project for six years, and now that it’s coming to fruition, it’s exciting to be here.”

The first official performance in the new Wurtzel Theater, the musical Cabaret, composed by John Kander, OC ’51, took place on Dec. 6, 2018. Since December, the theater has housed the mainstage shows What We Look Like, written by BJ Tindal, OC ’16, and Body of Bourne, written by John Belluso, as well as a showcase of student directed one-act plays. Older students have also enormously benefited from the new resources. “I’m excited,” wrote College sophomore Alex Scott, who acted in Cabaret this past fall, in an email to the Review. “The costume director showed me some pictures, and I’m glad to be in my first ever Oberlin mainstage there.” Additionally, the project will play a vital role in attracting a diverse group of prospective students interested in pursuing theater in college. In light of the College’s recent financial troubles, the addition of the performing arts annex, as well as the Patricia ’63 & Merrill ’61 Shanks Health and Wellness Center, to Oberlin’s repertoire of on-campus offerings cannot be understated in regards to recruiting more students. “We are certainly excited by the new facilities and the wonderful productions that will follow right next door thanks to the theater expansion,” Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Manuel Carballo wrote in an email to the Review. “Along with the renovation in the Health and Wellness Center, we can highlight that Oberlin continues to improve and work on its programs and facilities. We hope to be able to showcase these spaces to our visiting families for years to come.”

Video Highlights Womyn, Femmes of Color on Campus Levi Dayan Sept. 7, 2018

Much of Oberlin’s student activism centers on promoting racial equality. However, no matter how much effort is put into making the school a more inclusive space, many students struggle in navigating certain aspects of Oberlin simply because they are Black at a predominantly white institution. Kiéla Nelson, OC ’18, addressed this issue on Aug. 15, 2018 when she released “Nice 4 What,” a music video soundtracked by Drake’s “Nice for What” that features Oberlin womyn and femmes of color celebrating their presence on campus. “It’s so hard being at Oberlin as a Black or Brown person,” Nelson said. “I’m not even trying to be pessimistic — it was a great experience being here — but I didn’t even know what it was really like to go to a predominantly white institution, to not be at the top of my class, to not have all the opportunities that other people had. I struggled.” Nelson’s work was informed by her experiences as a Black womyn/femme at Oberlin and the support she received from other POC on campus. Nelson says many of the womyn and femmes featured in “Nice 4 What” — which has more than 24,000 views on Facebook and over 1,600 views on YouTube — were a bedrock of support for her during her time at Oberlin. “Everyone who showed up to our shoot was a person of color, so I ended up not even intentionally having a video with just POC,” Nelson said. “I wasn’t mad, obThe Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

viously — but that kind of speaks to my experience. The people in that video, and the Black community, and the community of minorities on the Oberlin campus are the main people who helped get me to where I am. That was my support system.” Nelson’s inspiration stemmed from learning that Drake’s music video was directed by a fellow 22-year-old woman of color, Karena Evans. “I was like, I can do this,” Evans said. “She’s 22, I’m about to be 22, there’s no reason I can’t do this.” Nelson used the project to document her life on campus, showing the people and the places who motivated her to keep pushing forward despite the struggles she faced in school. “I went around to people who I know have helped me get through these past four years, those people who are womyn and femmes, also people who I’ve just seen … these beautiful people walking around me who inspire me to keep moving on,” she said. “[The video shows] people being at peace with themselves, people standing in front of things that they think are beautiful, or standing in front of places where they have felt at home.” Nelson’s process for making “Nice 4 What” was, in many ways, simply putting a lens to this community. “A lot of those shots I just literally went to the West African dance rehearsal, I just got a lot of shots there because [it] was a community of women [who] like to dance,” she said. The video, edited to feel like a vintage home videotape, is a celebration of the Black community at Oberlin, who often feel cast aside on Oberlin’s predominantly

Students at Oberlin, including video’s Creative Director Kiela Nelson, OC ’18, (Third from Left), perform in “Nice 4 What” music video. Screenshot from “Nice 4 What” video

white campus. “The thing is, Black and Brown people are on this campus doing the dang thing every single day, but it is hard to find recognition for our work and our presence outside of our own communities,” said College junior Miyah Byers, the lead videographer for the video. “I hope that current and prospective Black and Brown students at Oberlin see this video and become inspired by the truth and joy that it contains. I hope they see that there is a community for them to find a footing in. I hope they see that there are Black and Brown people not only making it through here, but thriving here.” This message certainly rings true. “Nice 4 What” represents femmes of color on screen as a distinct, vital, and vibrant force within the Oberlin community. During her last semester at Oberlin, Nelson served as the creative director for

the wildly successful “Sankofa Remix’d: Reclaiming my Fly” fashion show. After a whirlwind four years, she moved on to work as a dance teacher in Chicago. Nelson is also performing in CLR, a singing trio that stands for “Creative Life Restored,” with Oberlin double-degree fifthyear Dianna Hope and Andre Cardine, OC ’18. “I want to inspire young people everywhere to accomplish what they want to do regardless of what anyone says,” Nelson said. “I’m going to continue to use my community in my projects. I will continue to do what I can do with no budget — I spent zero dollars on ‘Nice 4 What.’ In the future, when I have money to get amazing editors, I’m going to take the world by storm.” After seeing what was accomplished with this video, there’s no reason to believe otherwise.

A r t s & C u lt u r e

MUSIC

Spring Quartet Wows in Highly Anticipated Celebratory Performance

Esperanza Spalding performed for a sold-out house in Finney Chapel on April 17. Photo courtesy of the Oberlin Office of Communications

Carson Dowhan Senior Staff Writer April 19, 2019 Every year, Oberlin College brings outstanding musical artists to campus. This year, students were ecstatic to hear that Esperanza Spalding would perform with The Spring Quartet on April 17. Their show was part of a three-day festival marking the Conservatory Jazz Studies department’s 30th anniversary. College junior George Hawk was thrilled that a fellow member of the student acapella group ’Round Midnight ran into Spalding at the Hotel at Oberlin. “’Round Midnight does an arrangement of one [of ] her songs called ‘Judas,’ so it was great to see her perform,” he said. Tickets for the Spring Quartet became harder to secure as showtime approached — students scoured Facebook pages trying to find a way into the event. Such excitement was not surprising, considering the lineup featured Jack DeJohnette on drums, Joe Lovano on saxophone, Leo Genovese on piano, and Spalding on bass and vocals. “It’s impossible to choose just one musician who I enjoyed the most, as they each brought something engaging and brilliant to the stage,” said College senior Nia Burger. “Sometimes when you see a show where several individually famous musicians collaborate, their styles don’t mix

well, and you can see a dissonance between their musical personalities — that was not the case for the Spring Quartet. Their individual talents and styles were only amplified by one another, which is part of what made the concert so incredible.” Jack DeJohnette is a multi-award-winning collaborating artist. His ECM Records bio affirms he has an “unchallenged reputation as one of the greatest drummers of all time,” and is the recipient of a National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellowship in 2012 — the highest honor for jazz musicians. DeJohnette’s career has spanned decades, and he has performed with acts such as John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Thelonius Monk, Chet Baker, Betty Carter, and many more. He sat onstage with his drum kit on a raised platform — making his playing visible to all — and his masterful technique and skill established him as a powerhouse of the show. DeJohnette controlled the floor, adding jaw-dropping depth and rhythmic dynamics to the original pieces. Joe Lovano has been lauded by JazzTimes and the Jazz Journalists Association for his tenor saxophone playing. He’s been nominated for more than 14 Grammys, winning one for his 52nd Street Themes. Lovano’s musical résumé includes performances with Woody Herman, John Scofield, Ravi Coltrane, and many others. Throughout the performance, Lovano stood between

Spalding and DeJohnette, producing lightning-speed solos. The saxophone was the quartet’s core melodic instrument — Lovano danced between thoughtful melodies and playful runs. He frequently disappeared to the side of the stage to listen to other solos or shout in excitement while leaning on the bass amp in the back. Leo Genovese was turning heads on piano all night — audience members in the balcony found themselves peering over the side to get a better look. A graduate of Berklee College of Music, Genovese has performed with accomplished musicians such as Hal Crook, Darren Barret, and Chris Creek. He and DeJohnette had phenomenal performative chemistry. Genovese’s style on the piano played like a mouse running back and forth over the keys, while DeJohnette accentuated certain phrases and chords with crashes. “I thought the pianist was particularly good,” double-degree sophomore Claudia Hinsdale wrote in an email to the Review. “His playing was uninhibited but not in a way that felt chaotic.” It was Spalding, however, who piqued the interest of most students at the performance. She was the youngest of the quartet and had already reached #4 on The New York Times’ list of the best albums of 2018. While her beautiful voice was only showcased for one song of the night, her eloquent phrasing on Milt Hinton’s 1790 Italian upright bass textured the auditorium with its low timbres. “Though this wasn’t explicitly Esperanza Spalding’s concert, I would have liked to hear her sing more,” Burger said. “She has a wonderful voice that could have complimented many of the other tunes. I could see her vocalizing alongside her bass playing even when the mic was turned away from her and I was dying to hear what she was singing to herself.” Witnessing just one of these outstanding musicians would be a treat — the four of them together made for a night to remember. They formed an impressive team, expertly listening to and playing off of each others’ musical choices. Their appreciation for one another was visible in their sways, grins, and nods. The palpable excitement on the stage was matched by the gathered audience, who sat forward in their seats and followed every solo and song with resounding applause. An evening with such titans of the Jazz genre was the perfect way to close out the festival, which also featured a collection of films, panels, and a faculty performance. “This celebration of the Jazz Studies degree can be thought of as a tribute to the faculty, staff, and students who made Oberlin’s Division of Jazz Studies a world leader in the education of jazz musicians over these past three decades and more,” wrote Acting Dean of the Conservatory William Quillen in the event pamphlet.

One Song, One City Unites Community Around Music Roman Broszkowski Senior Staff Writer April 26, 2019

In an effort to strengthen bonds between College and city communities, Oberlin’s Yeworkwha Belachew Center for Dialogue and the Office of the Ombudsperson created a series of music listening and sharing sessions called One Song, One City. The bi-monthly meetings, which began in March 2019 and were held at the Oberlin Public Library and the Lewis House, brought community members together to discuss the historic and emotional contexts of songs that attendees care about. Conservatory junior Griffin Woodard, who started the program through his work as a community relations intern for the Office of the Ombudsperson, explained that the purpose of the series is to facilitate interactions between Oberlin residents who may not otherwise meet. “I believe that these little exchanges are powerful,” Woodard said. “If you met someone that you didn’t know before … through this program and you met them over this song, in a little way that’s strengthening our whole Oberlin scene, our whole Oberlin community.” Woodard was inspired to begin the pro-

gram by a similar series called One City, One Book, which began in 1998 in Seattle, Washington. Originally called “If All of Seattle Read the Same Book,” One City, One Book attempted to create community engagement through a citywide book club. Since its inaugural year, the idea has grown increasingly popular, and cities across the country have adopted the model as a method for community building and literacy promotion. Although Woodard initially considered directly replicating the literature program, he decided instead to go in a more musical direction. “I’m first and foremost a musician,” he said. “So I realized that it’s not really going to be possible for me to continue working on [a reading program] because I don’t even have the drive to do that. So I meditated upon how to do it with music instead.” While listening to John Coltrane’s “Love,” Woodard came up with the idea of holding group listening sessions for music that spoke to individual community members. “I was listening to [‘Love’], and it made me want to share this music with people,” he said. “It touches me so deeply that I’d like to bring that to other people.” Members’ stories connected to specific

pieces of music are a key part of the sharing sessions. “The concept of telling your story, that’s what we really want to do,” Woodard said. “I learned that from a fellow YBCD mediator who advised me about this program, [Religious and Spiritual Life Affiliate] Meeko Israel— [he told me] that telling each other stories needs to be part of it because that’s the way we can really reach each other.” College senior Chloe Falkenheim agrees. “It’s very refreshing to talk about music in terms of how it connects to us personally, which is different from a lot of academic discussions in classrooms here,” she wrote in an email to the Review. Ombudsperson Kimberly Jackson Davidson credits Woodard’s goals with the program’s success so far, including the decision to shift from books to music. “As the final plans to launch a small scale pilot of what would have been One Book, One Oberlin, Griffin proposed that we consider shifting to music instead,” Davidson wrote in an email to the Review. “I believe this suggestion on his part was motivated by cautions that were being expressed about the ability of a book discussion to be a draw in Oberlin, where there are so many book discussion groups. I

think his own passion for music and conversations with his friends and mentors might also have prompted him to think in this direction. I really appreciated the fresh consideration of what can draw people together from disparate experiences to listen to and value one another.” While different from other One City, One Book programs, Oberlin’s One Song, One City series represents one of many community-building programs that Davidson’s office and the YBCD have pursued in recent years. “When I entered the office in the summer of 2016, Oberlin College had experienced two to three really challenging years in terms of campus climate,” Davidson wrote. “The nation was being rocked by tensions spurred by police violence, and we were enduring an acrimonious presidential election campaign. I kept hearing the question regarding … how can [the Center for Dialogue] be involved in improving communication in ways that are proactive and that do not wait for full-blown conflict to arise. … As I hired student interns to work in the office, I engaged them in conversations about projects the Center might take on that would not distract from its mission of conflict resolution, initiatives that would make space for enhancing communication in our community.”

STUDENT LIFE

’Sco Seniors Reminisce, Appreciate Campus Community Space Kate Fishman Arts & Culture Editor Feb. 15, 2019

The Dionysus Disco — or the ’Sco, as it is colloquially known — is one of the most notorious and beloved spaces on Oberlin’s campus. Dionysus was the Greek god of the grape harvest, fertility, theater, wine, ritual chaos, and religious ecstasy. I don’t know about harvesting grapes or fertility, but anyone who has turned out for a Wednesday night Splitchers has participated in a kind of ritual chaos and can attest to the religious ecstasy characrteristic of this hallowed ground. It follows, then, that the energy behind the counter surpasses even that of the patrons who come flowing through the doors. If you know a student who works at the ’Sco, then you know that the staff love their jobs. Many of the staff members got their jobs when they were first-years or sophomores because they wanted to be more involved on campus. For some ’Sco senior staffers, it’s been a crucial part of their entire Oberlin experience and is more than a customer service job — it has taught them how to create an inclusive community. College senior Dan Nerenhausen, who started as an attendant but worked his way up to project manager, is well aware of the multiple purposes of the venue. “The interesting part about being an on-campus bar is you have to balance being a space for underage people and for people who can drink,” he said. “[Around] 75 percent of the people on campus at any given time can’t legally drink, and you can’t get away with fakes there because it’s all student IDs.” So, the staff gets creative. Events at the ’Sco range from musically mosh-able to thought-provoking, from unabashedly quirky to deeply cultured, from weirdly specific to purely fun. Just take a look at the calendar on its website — there’s something going on nearly every night of the week, illustrated with an intriguing picture. It follows that there’s something for everyone — the beloved Queer Beers, Professor Beers, TGIF, and, yes, Splitchers. There are also several weekly musical acts from campus groups and groups booked by the Student Union Programming Committee. There are also unique events like ABBA Trivia and Bob Ross Paint Night. They ensure the return of semesterly fan favorites like Senior Night and the Coverband Showcase. The ’Sco screens the Grammys, the Oscars, the Superbowl, and major political events like the State of the Union. They hosted a Melanin Monday series during the month of February for Black History Month,

COMIC

The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

and they’re also the location for Oberlin’s bi-weekly talk show Good Talk. “I think it’s the most unique campus job in terms of what you’re doing and how much control you have over the space,” Nerenhausen said. As a manager, he and others attend weekly meetings to plan events, decide what products to order, and organize advertising. They also deal with student bookings (request a booking via sco@oberlin.edu). Then, on the night of the events, “You’re bartending, you’re setting up every night — and it varies based on the event. So you could be stocking beer or setting up for an ABUSUA ball or something really interesting like that. But then throughout the night, you’re just managing operations. For Splitchers, there are like 450 people in there, so it’s a real college bar atmosphere. But then you also have nights where it’s classical music or a concert.” It’s also a true customer service job, not unlike working in Campus Dining Services. “Strangely, I think it is the hardest parts of the job that make it a great place to work,” wrote College senior and ’Sco manager Olivia Ercilla Antrobus in an email to the Review. “Of course I like music and concerts, but one does not have to work at the ’Sco to enjoy those events. When the lights come on at the end of a Splitchers, and you find yourself cleaning up beer spills from 1–2 a.m. in Wilder basement, you develop a weird bond with the rest of the staff. … Having the same people help you out night after night also helps cement that bond.” Nerenhausen and Ercilla Antrobus both enjoy the people-watching that comes with working at a place like the ’Sco. While Nerenhausen affectionately describes much of the activity out on the dance floor as “cringy,” he also loves the people he meets by way of being the guy behind the counter. He likens it to bartending at a local bar in a small town with a bunch of regulars. “Commencement is … always a blast to work,” Ercilla Antrobus wrote. “I wish I had the dance repertoire of some of the alumni.” When asked if he would miss his job, Nerenhausen replied without hesitation. “For sure,” he said. “I mean, I could picture myself bartending outside of school. But as a bartender at a real bar, you don’t have control over the space. You’re just doing what management decides. So I think that aspect is super unique. And there is an onus on the ’Sco to be ‘the space’ on campus, because there are [sometimes] such limited social opportunities at Oberlin. People really do look to the ’Sco, as much as they trash it sometimes, to have those events that are popular or that are the key events of the semester … I’m going to miss it so much.”

The senior ’Sco staff, from left to right: Dan Nerenhausen, Julie Schreiber, Olivia Ercilla Antrobus, Maya Blumenberg-Taylor, Emma Broun, and Meg Parker. Photo by Katie Ryan-O’Flaherty

“Counternarratives” Addresses Bias Continued from page 27

In this endeavor, Bell hopes to evaluate how people with social capital and money “get the top billing” in the media. For example, during the time of the attacks, Donald Trump paid $85,000 to take out a full-page advertisement calling for the death penalty. Bell’s captivating lecture left the students in attendance with a new analytical lens, one that challenges the “dominant narrative.” “[I am more] aware of potential biases of journalism in the news,” Miller said. When it comes to a news publication like The New York Times, it’s

important to recognize its audience — largely composed of upper-class, educated people. Ultimately, Bell’s lecture and art presented an opportunity for students and community members to ruminate on the responsibility of major print publications to provide objective news for all people, not just the people who have historically consumed the news. “Above all else, I knew that [Bell]’s work, being publicly sited on campus, would spark conversations and debate in a way that objects in the museum sometimes fail to do,” Gyorody said. “I trusted that the entire campus community would benefit from the presence of her work, and from her talk and lunch with students.”

Alexandra Bell and others install “A Teenager with Promise” outside Mudd Center on Oct. 30. The work critiqued major media coverage of the 2014 fatal shooting of Michael Brown. Photo by Maria Turner

Clair Wang, Staff Cartoonist

9 10 11 12 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12

May 25

May 24

AM TORAH STUDY AND DISCUSSION WITH RABBI MEGAN DOHERTY 10 a.m. Wilder Hall, Room 215

PM GRADUATING SENIORS' ART EXHIBITION 10 a.m.–5 p.m. Baron Gallery, 65 E. College St. & Fisher Gallery, Clarence Art Building, 87 N. Main St.

(also occurs at the same time on Saturday and Sunday)

SATURDAY

FRIDAY

THE OBERLIN REVIEW OPEN HOUSE 3–4 p.m. Review office, Burton Basement 044

A PEEK THROUGH THE PORTAL: OBERLIN HERITAGE CENTER HISTORY WALK 3–4 p.m. Begins at the northwest corner of Professor and College Streets $

OBERLIN LAMBDA ALUMNI & MRC COLLOQUIUM/LAVENDER GRADUATION CEREMONY 4:30–6 p.m. AJLC, Hallock Auditorium An event for LGBTQ alumni and graduates. All are welcome

CHAMPAGNE SOCIAL FOR GRADUATING SENIORS AND ALUMNI 6:30 p.m. Wilder Bowl

SENIOR PARENT AND ALUMNI HEISMAN CLUB HAPPY HOUR 6–9 p.m. Knowlton Athletics Complex, adjacent to football stadium

CINEMA STUDIES SCREENING: THE BEST STUDENT FILMS OF THE YEAR (PROGRAM A) 9:30 p.m. Apollo Theater

ORGAN PUMP: LATE NIGHT MUSIC AND ANTICS 11 p.m. Finney Chapel

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION AND TOURS 9:30– 11:30 p.m. Peters Hall, Observatory

30TH ANNUAL ALUMNI BOWLING “FUN RAISER” 10 a.m.– 12 p.m. College Lanes

ELISHA GRAY: THE EDISON OF OBERLIN COLLEGE 10:30 a.m. Science Center, Perlik Commons Faculty talk with Roderic Knight, Emeritus Professor of Ethnomusicology

RHINOS RUGBY OBERLIN ALUMNI GAME STUDENT 12 p.m. COOPERATIVE North Athletic ASSOCIATION Fields ALUMNI PICNIC 12 p.m. OBERLIN ULTIMATE Tank Hall, 110 ANNUAL ALUMNI E. College St. GAME ACADEMIC AND 1–3 p.m. North ADMINISTRATIVE Athletic Fields PROGRAM REVIEW (also occurs at the UPDATES AND BIKE RIDE same time Sunday) DISCUSSION TO KRIEG’S 1:30–3 p.m. FROZEN OBERLIN DANCE Science Center, Dye CUSTARD SHOWCASE Lecture Hall, A162 WITH BIKE 2:30 p.m. CO-OP Warner CHOREO HIPMECHANICS Main Space HOP DANCE 2–4 p.m. PERFORMANCE Keep 3 p.m. OBERLIN Cottage, rear Wilder Main Space THEATER SHOWCASE (also occurs at the 3:30 p.m. same time Sunday) Irene and Alan $ Wurtzel Theater

OBERLIN CONTRA DANCE WITH LIVE MUSIC 2–5 p.m. Hales Gymnasium Beginners welcome!

INTERNATIONAL STUDENTS, FAMILIES, AND FRIENDS RECEPTION 4–5 p.m. Peters Hall

CONTACT IMPROVISATION JAM 7–10 p.m. Warner Main Space DOCUMENTARY: THE FOREIGNER’S HOME 8 p.m. Apollo Theatre

THE GRAND PIANO EXTRAVAGANZA 8:30 p.m. Warner Concert Hall $

OBERLIN GRADS SHARE THEIR PERSPECTIVES ON HIGHER EDUCATION 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. Science Center, Dye Lecture Hall CHABAD GRADUATION CELEBRATION 12:15 p.m. Chabad House, 111 N. Pleasant St.

PERMACULTURE WORKSHOP 10 a.m.– 12 p.m. George Jones Farm, 44333 Rt. 511 East

CHILDREN’S PIZZA DINNER AND MOVIES 5:30– 8:30 p.m. Wilder Hall, Rooms 211 and 215

SOUL SESSION 9–11 p.m. Afrikan Heritage House, LordSaunders Lounge

OBERLIN ARCHITECTURE HISTORY WALK 5–6:30 p.m. Begins at the southeast corner of Tappan $ Square

NEWMAN CATHOLIC COMMUNITY MASS 5 p.m. Fairchild Chapel

DOCUMENTARY: THE FOREIGNER’S HOME 8 p.m. Apollo Theatre

GRADUATING CONSERVATORY STUDENTS RECITAL PART I 8 p.m. Finney Chapel

CINEMA STUDIES SCREENING: THE BEST STUDENT FILMS OF THE YEAR (PROGRAM B) 9:30 p.m. Apollo Theater

OBERLIN SWING SOCIETY DANCE 8 p.m.–12 a.m. Hales Gymnasium Beginner lesson taught from 8–9 p.m., dancing from 9 p.m.– 12 a.m.

ACAPELLA CONCERT 10:15 p.m. Finney Chapel Featuring the Acapelicans, Nothing But Treble, Obertones, and ‘Round Midnight $

SUNDAY

5K FUN RUN AND WALK 8:15 a.m. Tappan Square, Memorial Arch

May 26

May 27

ACADEMIC PROCESSION FORMS 9 a.m. Faculty: Finney Chapel, Graduates: Sidewalk in front of Peters Hall, Main Stage Participants: Cox Building

PRESIDENTIAL ADDRESS AND CRIMSON AND GOLD CONVOCATION 10:30 a.m. Finney Chapel Hear President Ambar deliver the State-of-the-College Address, as well as the reunion class gift totals, alumni association awards, and an organ recital. OPEN HOUSE: THE FRANK LLOYD WRIGHT HOUSE 12–5 p.m. Johnson House, 534 Morgan St.

CLASS OF 2019 FAMILY SOCIAL 12–1 p.m. Wilder Bowl

MULTIFAITH BACCALAUREATE CELEBRATION 1:30 p.m. Finney Chapel

WESTWOOD CEMETERY WALKING TOUR 1:30–3 p.m. Westwood Cemetery, 455 Morgan St. OBERLIN COLLEGE TAIKO DRUMMING 3 p.m. Tappan Square, Clark Bandstand

PANEL AND DISCUSSION: THE STUDENT EXPERIENCE TODAY 3–4:30 p.m. AJLC, Hallock Auditorium

$ ($) SCHOLARS AND SETTLERS HISTORY WALK 5 p.m. // Begins at the southeast corner of Tappan Square

MEDITATION WITH JACQUES RUTZKY, AFFILIATE FOR THE OFFICE OF RELIGIOUS AND SPIRITUAL LIFE 11 a.m.–12:30 p.m. 280 Elm St. Enter driveway side door and go up to the attic/meditation hall.

UNCOMMON AND UNUSUAL: STAFF PICKS FROM THE LOCKED ALLEN MEMORIAL ART MUSEUM COLLECTION 1–3 p.m. Venturi Art Building, Clarence Ward Library, top floor

UNDERGROUND RAILROAD AND ABOLITION HISTORY WALK 3–4:30 p.m. Begins at The First Church in Oberlin, 106 N. Main St. $

CHILDREN’S PIZZA DINNER AND MOVIES 5:30– 8:30 p.m. Wilder Hall, Rooms 211 and 215

MONDAY

OBERLIN BAROQUE CHAMBER MUSIC 5–6:30 p.m. Fairchild Chapel

CAMPUS ILLUMINATION AND ICE CREAM SOCIAL 7–10 p.m. Tappan Square

OBERLIN IMPROV EXTRAVAGANZA 4:30–6 p.m. Cat in the Cream Coffeehouse

OBERLIN BIKE COOP BBQ 4–6 p.m. Keep Cottage, rear

OCIRCUS! FAMILYFRIENDLY SHOW 4 p.m. Hales Gym

OBERLIN COLLEGE COMMENCEMENT 9:30 am Tappan Square The ceremony features commencement speaker Lisa Jackson, former EPA administrator and current vice president of environment, policy, and social initiatives at Apple.

CHABAD GRADUATION CELEBRATION LUNCH 12:15 p.m. Chabad House, 111 N. Pleasant St.

Commencement & Reunion Weekend

CALENDAR Layout & Text by Mikaela Fishman, This Week Editor

KEY:

TEEN OBERLIN 6–8:30 p.m. Wilder Hall, The ’Sco

INDICATES A TICKETED EVENT

RECEPTIONS, GRADUATIONS, CEREMONIES LECTURES & PANEL DISCUSSIONS

GRADUATING CONSERVATORY STUDENTS RECITAL PART II 8 p.m. Finney Chapel

ARTS EVENTS & PERFORMANCES SOCIAL GATHERINGS & MEALS RELIGION & SPIRITUALITY ATHLETICS & DANCING

JAZZ AND STEEL DRUM PERFORMANCE Immediately following Campus Illumination Finney Chapel, steps

ASTRONOMICAL OBSERVATION AND TOURS 9:30–11:30 p.m. Peters Hall, Observatory

MOVIE SCREENINGS TOURS ILLUMINATION AFTER PARTY 10 p.m.–1:30 a.m. Wilder Hall, The ’Sco

Please note that this calendar of events is not exhaustive. To learn about additional events, for more information about the events listed below, and to find information about tickets and pricing, please refer to the official Commencement booklet. These can be picked up from the Alumni Office at 65 E. College St., viewed online at bit.ly/CommencementBooklet, or downloaded in app form from oberlin.edu/alumni-association/reunion.

Sp ort s

CLUB AND COMMUNITY ATHLETICS

Club Aikido Heads Toward Fifty Years

Preying Manti Win National Title

Alex McNicoll Contributing Writer April 12, 2019

In the basement of Hales Gymnasium, just below the basketball court, Club Aikido members can be found rolling and falling on mats for a couple of hours every weekend during the academic year. While most know only of its takedowns and classic all-white uniforms, Aikido — often translated as “the way of harmonious spirit” — is a Japanese martial art centered around conflict resolution. The club has fostered a tight-knit community at Oberlin for nearly 50 years. “It tends to be a very all-inclusive martial art,” Club Aikido President and College junior Liam Hefta said. “It’s not intense in the same way you might find boxing or karate, where there is a lot of sparring. If you’re looking for more blending motions and harmonious actions, Aikido is just that. The day you get attacked by a clan of ninjas is a sad day indeed, but you’re probably tripping and falling once every week. It’s good to learn how to take care of yourself.” Founded in 1974, Club Aikido is one of Oberlin’s oldest organizations and the oldest college-level Aikido club in the country. Sessions typically take place on weekend evenings, which makes scheduling tough but ensures that those who do show up are dedicated members. “The club is a bit small, but it’s got a fun and safe learning environment so that anyone of any age or experience can join,” said College junior and Club Aikido member Sean Kuo. “I like to go mainly to enjoy the sport and have some fun with the friends I’ve made.” Each meeting begins with a bow-in; then, after plenty of stretching and warming up, students practice holds and falls. Afterward, students stretch again and then bow out. Unlike some other forms of martial arts, Aikido is based on balance and defense. Success does not depend on size or physical strength, and the focus is as much on non-actions as it is on actions. Currently, the club draws anywhere between 10 and 20 members to its weekly meetings. Member experience ranges from complete beginners to years of martial arts practice, and most interested participants attend the Aikido ExCo or Winter Term Intensive before showing up to the club meetings. “Most people come in through the ExCo,” said Club Aikido Treasurer and College sophomore Claire Bodger. “It’s fun, and it’s active, and most people decide they want to continue it at club classes that are a little more advanced. We’re trying to promote ourselves now. I think if people see Aikido being practiced, they’ll think, ‘this is the coolest thing I’ve ever seen.’” The ExCo, which usually attracts 12 to 13 students, is one way students can enter the world of martial arts at Oberlin. While some students prefer the Taekwondo ExCo or join the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu club, Aikido’s established presence on campus and peaceful philosophy make it easier for people who are new to martial arts to enter the fold. Students who participate in martial arts often have crossover between the organizations, including Hefta, who is also a member of the Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu Club. There is also a strong faculty and staff presence in the martial arts scene: The Aikido ExCo is regularly taught by Joan L. Danforth Curator of Asian Art Dr. Kevin Greenwood. Aikido does not enter tournaments or competitions with other schools, but it nonetheless creates a space for teamwork, community, and self-improvement like any other club sport would. “While martial arts are rooted in violence, we try to build a space in which we can practice in a safe, peaceful manner and to teach people introspective techniques,” Bodger said. “There aren’t really Aikido competitions, so in place of that we bring in incredible world-class teachers in senseis — usually two a semester — so we can learn from the best.” This semester, renowned Aikido teacher Hiroshi Ikeda — who holds the rank of 7th dan from the Aikikai and has his own dojo in Boulder, CO — visited Oberlin to conduct a seminar. While the seminars offered cover advanced materials, students interested in learning Aikido at Oberlin are encouraged to sign up for the ExCo next semester or to go to club meetings.

The Preying Manti, Oberlin’s women and trans Ultimate Frisbee team, won the 2019 national championship title in College Station, TX, with a 13–7 win over the No. 1-seeded Bates College on May 18. Oberlin overcame the odds, as they entered the game as the sixth overall seed. They returned to campus to a surprise celebration organized by the Flying Horsecows — the men’s team — and the Preying Manti’s B team. “The Preying Manti symbolize Oberlin’s mission of learning and labor with a drive for social justice,” said Double-degree senior and captain Abby Cheng. “This team of Obies has strived this year for equal contribution from each player toward a united goal — winning nationals. It feels like a fairy tale, as if every moment for decades has led up to this win. We know that there is a community more immense than one can conceive of who has been rooting for us all along and that we are just a small representation of a community of champions.” Text by Alexis Dill, Sports Editor Photo courtesy of Cecilia Tannous-Taylor May 24, 2019

Jump Rope League Showcases Young Talent Continued from page 35

was extremely generous in providing funds and transportation for OB Jump in its early years. This helped to cover the costs of cross-country travel that was required for them to attend tournaments where they could be competitive. After he passed away, though, OB Jump became largely reliant on parent funding. This past February, OB Jump won a $5,000 grant from the Cleveland Clinic after recording the most exercise out of six different public school sports teams in the larger Cleveland area, each of which was monitored for movement via tracking devices. The grant money is going directly toward funding OB Jump’s trip to nationals in Raleigh, NC. “This grant is huge for us, because it costs about $700 per kid to travel,” Mentzer said. Over the past nine years, Mentzer has built OB Jump on the foundational ideology of developing life skills through jump rope. The most significant achievement a jumper can make on her team, according to Mentzer, is developing a sense of leadership, responsibility, and confidence. “Building leadership is one of my main missions for this team,” Mentzer said. “When I see my older kids start to teach my younger kids, I get a huge sense of pride.”

For their part, the students appreciate the low-stakes atmosphere and supportive community. “I like to jump because it’s a fun thing to do, a lot of my friends are in it, and I get to meet new people,” said Brianna, a fifth grade member of the team. Mentzer is particularly proud of her cohort of jumpers competing in the freestyle section of nationals this year. For the first time in OB Jump’s nine-year history, students developed their competitive routine without her help. “I just pulled myself out, sat back, and watched,” Mentzer said. In addition to building character, jumpers on OB Jump become great athletes, developing cardiovascular strength and remarkable physical abilities. Mentzer recognizes that the benefits of jumping rope, such as improvements in coordination, timing, and rhythm, are unique to the sport and transcend the gym floor. While her long-term goals mainly focus on the health, well-being, and the character development of her athletes, Mentzer has high hopes for the future of the sport of jump rope. “We want jump rope to be an Olympic sport by 2028,” Mentzer said. “Not a junior Olympic sport — the real Olympics. And by that time, the girls in this gym right now will be exactly the right age.”

Well-Rounded Students Find Homes on Cross Country, Track Continued from page 36

This academic year was their best yet, as they won all three championship titles — cross country, indoor track and field, and outdoor track and field — in the same academic year for the first time ever. Shortly after arriving at Oberlin, many student-athletes in the program take on leadership positions in a variety of extracurricular activities, pursue interests outside of their sport, and start to engage with their broader Oberlin community. Their college experience does not ride on how they perform on any given day, because they know that their sport isn’t all that defines them. “If a student-athlete is at a school they enjoy and are getting what they want out of their college experience, they are going to be their best athletic selves,” said Associate Head Cross Country Coach and Assistant Track and Field Coach Izzy Alexander. “The top runners on our team have improved a great deal since high school, in no small part due to them being in a college environment that suits them — an environment [in which] they can thrive.” In the past decade, a handful of the country’s best cross country and track and field athletes have competed for Oberlin. Joanna Johnson, OC ’11, was a seven-time All-American between the two sports; Carey Lyons, Emma Lehmann, and Kyle Neal, OC ’15, were each twotime All-Americans; Geno Arthur, OC ’16, was a three-time All-American; and, more recently, Monique Newton, Ana Richardson, and Drafts-Johnson, all OC ’18, each earned several All-American honors.

“They loved being at Oberlin College, and as a result, that joy, comfort, and reassurance permeated into their successes on the track,” said Associate Head Track and Field Coach and Recruiting Coordinator John Hepp, OC ’07. A native of Columbus, GA, College junior and All-American thrower Naeisha McClain had never heard of Oberlin before receiving her first phone call from Hepp. According to McClain, Hepp had more to say about the institution itself than the track and field program. Perhaps Hepp is aware of all that Oberlin has to offer because he was a student-athlete here himself. He won 12 total varsity letters as a member of the football and track and field teams from 2003–2007. “Our approach to recruiting with the cross country and track and field programs has always been the same,” Hepp said. “We want to recruit student-athletes who, first and foremost, fit Oberlin College. We want to find individuals who not only share and appreciate the things that make Oberlin College the singular and extraordinary institution that it is and has been for 185 years, but who are also passionate about continuing to compete in the sport that they love at the collegiate level.” McClain hadn’t considered any non-Division I schools until she met Hepp. “Every single [Division I] campus that I visited and coach that I talked to made me feel like the only interesting part of me was my athletic component,” McClain said. “It was like everybody was

trying to parade their huge weight rooms and their huge locker rooms off to me, and then we would go out to a fancy dinner. But for two hours, we would just talk about track. When I visited [Oberlin], [it] was the first time that I sat in a classroom and was taken to academic buildings that interested me. Coach Hepp was recruiting me for athletics, but also made me feel like that was not the only thing that I had to offer.” According to McClain, Hepp finds what a recruit is interested in and does his best to appeal to those interests. He even attended a high school rendition of Beauty and the Beast last year because a recruit was acting in it. Alexander admitted that recruiting the best student-athletes is challenging, because if they can get into Oberlin, that means they can get into other high-ranking academic schools as well. “We’ve had athletes on the team who chose Oberlin over Bowdoin [College], the University of Virginia, Colby [College], and Middlebury [College], and we’ve had recruits choose Williams [College], Duke [University], the University of Chicago, and Northeastern [University] over Oberlin,” she said. It becomes especially tough to land a sought-after student-athlete when Division I and II schools entice them with scholarship offers. “It takes a certain amount of maturity and big-picture perspective for 17- [and] 18-year-old [kids] to understand the benefits of attending a school like Oberlin versus being a face in the crowd at a larger institution where they [might not]

continue competing,” Hepp said. McClain said choosing Oberlin was the best decision she has made and will undoubtedly set her up for success in her post-college life. At Oberlin, McClain has had the chance to be more than just an athlete: She is a village assistant, an assistant student treasurer at the Office of the Student Treasurer, an officer on the Student Athletic Advisory Committee, a board member for the Heisman Club, president of the Class of 2020, a Bonner scholar, and a Mellon Mays Fellow. Student-athletes don’t come to Oberlin with hopes of becoming a professional athlete. They come to Oberlin because they know they are more than just an athlete — they are scholars, musicians, artists, environmentalists, humanitarians, and leaders. Spending four years on this campus allows them to grow in all aspects of their lives. “For every article or story that is written about achievement in their sport, we are even more proud as a coaching staff about things like Lilah being one of 29 spring sport athletes [across all divisions] awarded an NCAA Postgraduate Scholarship this summer, Monique earning a competitive Coro Fellowship in Public Affairs this year, having Conor Narovec, [OC ’15], in his second year of medical school at Harvard, or seeing Calista Diehl, [OC ’16], earning her Ph.D. at MIT,” Hepp said. “Those achievements are a direct result of students who took full advantage of the resources and opportunities provided at Oberlin, and they have and will continue to have a lasting effect on this program for a long time.”

Young Athletes Build YeoFit Knocks Out Grand Opening Life Skills in OB Jump Julie Schreiber Senior Staff Writer April 19, 2019

College senior Olivia Shin brought a friend to a cardio boxing class taught by Head Softball Coach and Wellness Coordinator Sara Schoenhoft Sept. 13. Shortly after the Pat ’63 & Merrill ’61 Shanks Health and Wellness Center opened in late August, an initiative called YeoFit kicked off. YeoFit offers an assortment of free drop-in classes to students, faculty, and staff. Throughout the year, the center was bustling with eager students looking to try extended yoga, spinning, TRX training, or one of the many other class offerings. Text by Alexis Dill, Sports Editor Photo by Gianna Volonte Sept. 14, 2018

Three nights a week, the walls of the indoor gym at Prospect Elementary School echo with the sounds of school kids laughing, playing, shrieking, and jumping. These are the sounds of OB Jump, Oberlin’s official competitive jump rope team. OB Jump is made up of students from both Prospect Elementary School and Eastwood Elementary, Oberlin’s two public elementary schools. The 16 members of the team practice weekly, compete nationally, and work just as hard as any other athletes in town. “These kids are the best athletes in the City of Oberlin,” OB Jump coach Jenny Mentzer said. “They can jump for two hours straight — how many athletes can pick up a jump rope and jump for more than one minute?” Mentzer, a physical education teacher at both Eastwood and Prospect, started OB Jump nine years ago with the help of two former jumpers. Mentzer, who has instructed physical education for 18 years, grew up doing every sport she could; jump rope, however, was not one of them. Because of this, Mentzer has incorporated jump rope into her class, and has been able to learn the sport alongside the members of her team. Rather than facing their competition with aggression, members of the team, as well as most other jumpers, are encouraged to learn from each other. Mentzer instructs her team to enter each competition with a list of five new tricks they would like to learn that weekend, to watch their competition, and to try to learn as much as possible. Out of all the sports she has worked with throughout her career she believes jump rope produces the most camaraderie. “This is not a sport of keeping everything to yourself,” Mentzer said. “It’s a sport of saying, ‘Oh my gosh, can you show me how to do that trick?’” Helen, who is in seventh grade, said she loves the challenge of perfecting a new trick. “I love jump rope because you can learn new things all the time,” she said. While OB Jump demonstrates success on and off the gymnasium floor, the team, like many public school clubs, has faced its fair share of funding challenges. According to Mentzer, the former superintendent of Oberlin Public Schools John Schroth See Jump, page 34

The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

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VARSITY SPORTS

Student-Athletes Shine at Sharing Stages

College senior and men’s lacrosse captain Elie Small. Alexis Dill Sports Editor Nov. 16, 2018

On the evening of Saturday, Nov. 10 in the Birenbaum Innovation and Performance Space, I realized what I love most about Oberlin: its tendency to foster creativity and collaboration, and the way bright and energetic students can express their diverse backgrounds, interests, and talents. That night, College and the Conservatory students, both athletes and non-athletes, as well as parents and administrators, came together to celebrate some of Oberlin’s most musically-inclined varsity athletes at the fourth annual Sharing Stages. A number of student-athletes took the stage, including Conservatory first-year and baseball player Ian Ashby, double-degree sophomore and distance runner Claudia Hinsdale, Conservatory junior and sprinter Jacob Britton, College junior and former tennis player Lena Rich, and College senior and men’s lacrosse captain Elie Small. Music and athletics have more in common than one

might think. Athletics molds participants into leaders and insists that only those who work hard and dedicate themselves to their craft will succeed, and the same holds true in music. A baseball pitcher must be in total control of their body; if their arm motion or stride is centimeters off, the pitch won’t move the way it’s meant to or cross the plate where it should. In many ways, throwing a baseball is like playing an instrument. Likewise, running is all about rhythm. Your breathing patterns must harmonize with the pumping of your arms and the bending of your knees, or else you can’t possibly run your best. Athletes and musicians learn to master repetition, anticipation, and their own bodies in relation to others. “Whether it’s trying to find the right chord or lyric to finish a song, or working to improve my shot or skills, music and lacrosse both require working hard and persevering,” Small said. “Music has taught me [that] you need to put your hours in and practice to grow and even maintain your skills. Lacrosse has taught me similar lessons. Your performance on the field is a result of the reps you put in on the field and in the weight room.” Small became interested in music after watching his older brother play guitar, and he began playing and writing songs at age six. He also plays the piano, drums, and mandolin. “Music definitely influenced my decision to come to Oberlin,” Small said. “I really wanted to be in an environment surrounded by talented musicians, and to have the opportunity to take music courses in the Conservatory.” The singer-songwriter has produced five albums. His latest, Dancing in the Fire, came out in September 2016 and features the song that Small performed Saturday, “Lego Girl.” “The inspiration behind the song is that I believe too many people live their lives by a set of prewritten ‘Lego’ directions, whether it’s waiting a certain amount of time before texting a guy back after a date, conforming to musical and fashion trends, or trying to build the perfect life on social media,” Small said. Hinsdale, a Technology in Music and Related Arts major in the Conservatory and Environmental Studies major in the College, joined Small in performing a piece she created herself called “Phase Canon.”

Track & Field, Cross Country Rely on Strong Recruiting

As a TIMARA major, Hinsdale has developed a wide set of skills and the ability to follow her own artistic trajectory, which can include acoustic and electronic composition, installation, instrument building, live performance, mixed media, and a multitude of other practices. Her piece, which she performed with Conservatory first-year Noah Hellman, who played alto saxophone, and Conservatory sophomore Jeremy McCabe, who played percussion, was based on an interface she made in a program called Max. She drew inspiration from a 36-voice Renaissance piece and wrote her piece with live vocal performance in mind. “The piece was in some ways a structured improvisation,” Hinsdale said. “I planned out a trajectory I wanted the piece to follow, but trusted the musicians to use their intuition and let it develop organically.” After Oberlin, Hinsdale said she wants to do research that will integrate both of her degrees and weave her interests together. “That could be in the form of acoustic ecological research or making music based on biological patterns, data, and phenomenon,” she said. “I also think ecological engineering is really cool, and I’d love to connect that to the engineering of spaces in which music is performed.” Rich, who spent the summer touring nationally and playing country music, performed the song “Guidance” from her album Something in Between, which is available on all online platforms. She shared the stage with Ashby, who plays the bass in the Conservatory and is the son of Associate Professor of Jazz Arranging and fivetime Grammy Award-winning producer Jay Ashby. The younger Ashby also performed alongside Britton, who played the vibraphone. Perhaps students attend Oberlin because it allows them to be everything they want to be. Hinsdale doesn’t have to choose between running, music, and biology. Oberlin gives her the resources and opportunities to mix all three together to create a unique product. Small doesn’t have to miss out on being captain of a varsity sports team or a member of Student Senate, because his college experience has taught him how to balance all of his interests without becoming overwhelmed. As my own time left here dwindles down, I hope to make it to as many concerts, performances, and athletic contests as I can, and never stop appreciating the beautiful collisions that only occur at a place like Oberlin.

Student-Athletes “Dive-Into” Spring

Alexis Dill Sports Editor Nov. 17, 2017

It was one year ago that Lilah Drafts-Johnson, OC ’18, clutched her first-place trophy while being mobbed by teammates and coaches. She had just run the 10th fastest 400-meter hurdle time in the event’s history at the NCAA Division III Women’s Outdoor Track and Field Championships, and could finally call herself a national champion — a promise she made to herself three years earlier. Two days later, it was her Oberlin College diploma that she held with pride. After four years of balancing classes, track, and several extracurriculars, the Latin American Studies and Politics double major graduated with Honors. To the disbelief of many, Drafts-Johnson was not heavily recruited as a high school athlete, and was waitlisted before being accepted into Oberlin. Halfway through her first season, she quit training for the triple jump to join the sprinters and instantly realized that if she put in the effort, she could set herself up to accomplish lofty goals. During her second year, Drafts-Johnson took seventh place at nationals in the 400-meter hurdles with a time of 1:02.86 — 3.52 seconds slower than the time that would earn her a national title two years later. One of the fundamental reasons why Drafts-Johnson was so successful as a student and as an athlete — and why many other student-athletes at Oberlin succeed — is because she loved her school, what she was doing, who she was doing it with, and because she was motivated to improve herself every single day. It takes more than sheer athleticism to become your best self at Oberlin, which is why the cross country and track and field programs have dominated their North Coast Athletic Conference competition and made a statement in Division III the past several years. Their coaching staff recruits student-athletes who are driven, curious, and passionate in all areas of their lives. See Well-Rounded, page 35

The Student Athletic Advisory Committee hosted its first Dive-Into Spring Semester event at Carr Pool on March 1. With an entry fee of $2, Oberlin students and community members alike were able to jump into the pool while watching the on-theme feature film of the night, Finding Nemo. Popcorn and floaties were provided, allowing attendees to snack and drift through the water, turning Carr Pool into an aquatic drive-in movie theater. SAAC’s intention for the event was to foster a strong relationship between varsity athletics and the greater Oberlin community. SAAC made this the mission of other projects and events throughout the year, and we can look forward to more programming next fall. Text by Jane Agler, News Editor Photo by Gianna Volonte March 8, 2019

IN THE LOCKER ROOM

Chris Broussard, OC ’90, Sports Analyst, Former Oberlin Varsity Basketball Player When Chris Broussard, OC ’90, began his journey as a student-athlete in 1987, he didn’t know what he wanted to study or do for a living. He was only sure of two things: He loved writing, and he loved the game of basketball. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in English, Broussard went on to write for several publications, including The Plain Dealer, the Akron Beacon Journal, The New York Times, ESPN The Magazine, and ESPN.com. He now covers the NBA as a sports analyst for Fox Sports and regularly appears on FS1’s “Skip and Shannon: Undisputed,” where he debates happenings in the sports world with commentators Skip Bayless and Shannon Sharpe. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Julie Schreiber, Senior Staff Writer Feb. 22, 2019 Aside from basketball, what were you involved in on campus? What do you remember most about your time as a student-athlete? While I was at Oberlin, I was a writing tutor and I wrote for the Review sparingly. I was never on staff, but I probably wrote about four or five articles, all of which I believe were [about] the basketball team — and since I played on the basketball team, I had to use a pen name. I was also on a ton of school-wide committees that helped make student and administrative decisions about the College. I was a DJ at WOBC. I had a hip-hop radio show for my second, third, and fourth years called Bring The House and I DJ’ed every Saturday night from 8–11 p.m. Did you always know you wanted to be a professional sports correspondent? How did your Oberlin experience lead to that career? When I got to Oberlin, I really didn’t know I’d end up on the career path I got to. I started as an Economics major because I didn’t know what I wanted to do and my father worked in business, so I figured, “Hey, I’ll try business just like my dad.” So I took Intro to Economics my [first] year, and that was the end of that. I did pass, but barely. I came up with a formula: something I enjoyed plus something I was gifted at. I enjoyed sports, obviously, and I was always gifted at writing — I used to work as a writing tutor and also rap at a lot of shows at Oberlin, so I landed on sports writing and thought, “Let me try this.” Why did you decide to switch to broadcast journalism after years of experience in print? When I was leaving Oberlin, I had to make a decision to pursue print or broadcast journalism, and the experience and opportunities I had were in print, so I chose print and fortunately did well. The way I mor-

phed into a broadcaster was after working for some time at the Indianapolis Star, [The] Plain Dealer, and [The] New York Times, when I started getting some TV opportunities. The opportunities were local at first, but then ESPN caught on, and in 2004, I was invited to write for ESPN The Magazine. It was specifically a writing contract, but it included a little bit of TV appearances. At that point, I wasn’t really thinking about making a career out of broadcasting, but at ESPN, I started getting on TV more and more, mostly due to the information I had about the [NBA]. And if you were comfortable in front of the camera and had charisma, you started to morph into more of a TV personality. So the more TV appearances I made, the less writing I did, because time and location conflicts became more of a problem. By the time I left ESPN in 2016, I was doing a little bit of writing, but my main focus was on TV and radio. Fox offered me the opportunity to be an analyst and a commentator, which appealed more to me than chasing the news, which is what I had been doing. Is there anything you miss about print journalism? Honestly, I don’t really miss print. It was fun and great for me, though. I really enjoyed it. I was able to cover historic events in the MLB, NBA, and NFL. I reported at Michael Jordan’s last game, at LeBron James’ first game, and I was there when LeBron brought Cleveland its first championship in 52 years. The best part of my print journalism career was writing for ESPN The Magazine because that lifestyle was best suited for a family. When I was a beat writer, I was traveling all the time, and that was tough on my family, but when I wrote for the magazine, it was leisurely. I wrote an article maybe once every two or three months, but you work on that article all the time. I was also able to travel all the time. I went to various parts of Africa, Europe, Kuwait, Paris, Rome, Spain. It was

Chris Broussard

Photo courtesy of Chris Broussard

great. One thing I did really like about print journalism was that it helped me stay in touch with my college friends. As a beat writer, I was traveling around the country, and everywhere I went, I had a different Oberlin friend to see and stay with. It definitely helped me stay close to my college friends after graduating. So that was really fun. What is your favorite part of your current job? What is the most rewarding? Today, radio is a lot of fun. TV is fun as well, but when you’re on the radio, you have more room to expand on your point. My show is two hours long, so we get a lot of time to expand on our thoughts. My favorite thing about the job now is that I get to really let my personality come out. On ESPN, people definitely caught a glimpse of my personality, but as a reporter your personality can’t always shine through, because you have to be giving out information. Now, I’m able to showcase my personality and share some of my own views on various topics in the world of sports.

Former Sprinter Finds New Directions in Sports Journalism Continued from page 40

the time I got home most days, it was dinner time or later, leaving me barely enough time to complete daily chores and homework from a full schedule of AP courses before falling asleep after midnight. Unlike my public high school, attending college isn’t free, and paying my own way through this expensive institution through a series of time-intensive jobs has forced me to sacrifice even more than I did in high school. And I am not a special case. Numerous athletes on campus hold leadership positions and jobs and still pursue other interests on campus aside from athletics that force them into severe time constraints. Athletes go to a D-III school like Oberlin to have the opportunity to compete in their sport alongside passionate teammates while simultaneously getting a high-quality, interdisciplinary education alongside focused classmates. This is my final year at Oberlin, and also the first time in eight years that I have not competed as a track athlete. Because of my workload, I felt unable to commit the time and energy to track that I wanted to while also paying my term bill on time (and let me dispel this old myth now: athletes at D-III institutions do not, in fact, get paid to play or receive any type of scholarship for being an athlete. The sole motivation to be a D-III athlete is the love of the sport). By working as one of the Sports Editors at the Review during the fall semester, I tried to maintain my roots in Oberlin athletics. The decision not to do track this year was a hard one, and while I am beyond sad to have lost a The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

direct connection to one of my most supportive communities, I was excited about the prospect of getting to know other sports teams on campus on a more personal level. This year, the Review took a more in-depth look into who athletes are as people outside of athletics, and what it means to them to be part of Oberlin College athletics — because while ‘athlete’ may be one identifier they bear, it is not their full story. Through more in-depth “Inside the Locker Room” pieces, narratives from athletes themselves, and pieces from non-athlete students who attend games or have had experiences — positive or negative — with athletics, we attempted to shed more light on all that encompasses athletics at Oberlin College. We believe that an important part of this work is acknowledging that the athletic community isn’t perfect. There are genuine concerns that students have about athletes that we need to talk about, but these issues can sometimes be lost when tossed in with the voices of students who hold baseless notions of athletes. In this vein, we wrote our articles this year with the goal of touching on athletes and athletics in a more personal light. We worked to dispel false narratives while calling athletes to voice in on the ones that hold true. We provided a platform for discourse between those inside and outside the athletic community so that we could address the stigma surrounding athletics on campus. By doing so, I hope we helped prevent and will continue to prevent incoming first-years from feeling alienated for sharing their love of their sport and team.

Ify Ezimora Photo courtesy of OC Athletics

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Columns

The Rising Star of Asian Athletes in 2018 and Beyond Jane Agler Sports Editor Feb. 22, 2019 During the Champions League soccer match on Feb. 20, when Tottenham Hotspur’s winger, Son Heung-Min, netted a beautiful cross into the goal of the opposing Borussia Dortmund, I paused to reflect on 2018’s athletic feats. I should note in saying so that I am a die-hard Arsenal F.C. fan – Tottenham’s sworn enemy. Arsenal didn’t even compete in this year’s Champions League and so I didn’t even have a logical reason to watch this match at all. But I adore Son Heung-Min, although the expectations of our respective fandoms dictate that I should detest him with my whole being. Still, I am Korean-American, and Son Heung-Min is the captain of the Korean national team — as well as the pride and joy of the entire nation. Second, Son Heung-Min served as a perfect example of Asian athletic excellence throughout 2018, but his contributions have largely gone unnoticed. In some ways, 2018 was the most rousing year of Asian representation in media and in popular culture that the United States has yet encountered. Or rather, I should say, more Asian representation than our community has been granted in previous years. The film industry finally opened its doors to Asians in film and released two hits that featured Asian-American leads, Crazy Rich Asians and To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before; Sandra Oh hosted the Golden Globes and became the first Asian woman to be nominated in the “Outstanding Lead Actress” category at the Emmys; K-Pop boy band BTS broke into the music scene and won the hearts of teenagers both domestically and internationally; and Hasan Minhaj became the first Indian-American to host a weekly comedy show. All these feats, as well as those that I haven’t mentioned, make me proud to be an Asian-American today. But I’m here to bring attention to the presence of Asian success in another realm of media that, unfortunately, does not have strong Asian representation either: professional sports.

As a passionate sports fan, I’ve had to confront the harsh reality that many of the athletes I idolize do not look like me. I was brought up to revere Michael Jordan of the Chicago Bulls, Marshall Faulk of the St. Louis Rams, Yadier Molina of the St. Louis Cardinals, and French national team captain and Arsenal striker Thierry Henry. It wasn’t until 2012, when Jeremy Lin, then of the New York Knicks, introduced himself to the world that I realized what I had long been searching for as an Asian-American sports viewer. It wasn’t just that he was an Asian athlete — otherwise I would have felt that distinct feeling of fulfillment that I associate with trailblazers like Yao Ming and Ichiro Suzuki. No, I had long been missing an Asian athlete who could transcend their peers and become a star and cultural icon. Jeremy Lin put up 38 points against Kobe Bryant and the Los Angeles Lakers on Feb. 10, 2012, in the midst of one of the most frenzied three weeks that the NBA has ever seen. At Madison Square Garden, spectators shrieked, “Lin!” in the stands and wore his number on their backs with the same magnitude of support that fans had previously harbored for other NBA legends, albeit primarily due to the pure unexpectedness of Lin’s domination. After the sensationalism faded and the world moved on to the next NBA fad, I remember wondering when I would ever feel the same way I felt about Jeremy Lin. I wondered if I would next see an Asian athlete with the star-status of someone like Serena Williams, Tom Brady, or Russell Westbrook. The short answer, for the most part, is that I’m still looking. Lin might’ve been the closest figure we Asians have had during his three-week “Linsanity” stint. Even then, the phenomenon of Jeremy Lin was tainted by the fact that part of his general allure was simply because he was Asian. But 2018 saw figures who instilled hope in me that we will get Asian athletic icons one day in the near future. As I touched on before, Son Heung-Min is certainly gaining acclaim after his impressive performance last year. In addition to being an essential part of the Tottenham rotation, he led South Korea to win the 2018 Asian

Games, which subsequently excused him from mandatory military service. Without this potential interruption to the peak of his career, the world of soccer will be seeing the 26-year-old contributing even more on the pitch in years to come. Right now, he is the ninth-leading goal scorer in the English Premier League, with 11 goals and five assists. Shohei Ohtani, one of the most talked-about baseball players of 2018, is also making a name for himself in professional sports. His rookie season began with high hopes from fans and critics alike — hopes that he ultimately fulfilled, in my opinion — before ending with an injury that resulted in Tommy John surgery. Despite this setback, the 24-year-old will still be serving the Los Angeles Angels as a designated hitter for the upcoming 2019 season, a role that he is more than prepared to take on. Ohtani was able to show prowess as both a pitcher and a batter, finishing his rookie season with a 3.31 ERA and .273 batting average. Perhaps the most triumphant athletic performance by an Asian athlete in 2018, however, was provided by Japanese-American women’s tennis player Naomi Osaka. At both Wimbledon and the French Open, Osaka reached the third round. However, it was her performance in the 2018 U.S. Open that solidified her status as one of the best athletes in the world, as she managed to beat Serena Williams to win her first Grand Slam title. Osaka is now the number one women’s tennis player in the world after clinching her second Grand Slam title at the Australian Open this past January. 2018 forced me to confront that Asian representation in sports matters to me. I can no longer be satisfied with the lack of Asian faces on teams and in competitions. Crazy Rich Asians showed the world that Asian visibility in films is important for elevating voices that otherwise might not be heard, and I believe sports serve the same purpose. Athletes have platforms with influence and the ability to make change, and Asians deserve such a platform. Through figures like Naomi Osaka and Shohei Ohtani, the world should be forced to reconcile with the fact that we are here, in this country and beyond, and we have voices and experiences that are powerful and worth listening to.

Reflections on Rejection, Soccer, and Life After Oberlin Julie Schreiber Senior Staff Writer May 24, 2019 Earlier this year, I applied for a fellowship from the Watson Foundation, an institution that provides yearlong fellowship that gifts recent college graduates $30,000 to travel the world studying a topic of their choice. About a month before I heard back, I had my first dream about it. It’s probably better described as a nightmare, actually. I walked down a hallway plastered with pictures of the 40 Watson winners from six different countries — my task was to scan every square inch of the walls, searching for photographic confirmation that I had indeed been one of the chosen. I did not see my face. A few nights later, I dreamed that I arrived sorely underdressed to the Watson group interview — an event that does not exist — and my fellow interviewees, adorned in suits and blazers, laughed at my Nike sweatpants and Birkenstocks. As a senior in college with finals, graduation requirements, and job prospects haunting me every day, my conscious life was plenty anxiety-producing — and my subconscious world of nightmares was making it all the more stressful. Institutions like ours are places where students are encouraged to dream, and that’s where my idea for this ambitious project came from in the first place. The Watson encourages its applicants to pick an area of study that interconnects their expansive passions and interests. My choice was soccer, the world’s most popular sport. Our institutions also create a culture of anxiety around building résumés

and applying to prestigious fellowships and graduate schools — a reality that set in for me as all my peers and I considered our post-grad opportunities. As a field hockey player, soccer was an interesting choice for me. Some days, it even felt like an abandonment of the sport that guided me through high school and brought me some of my best memories and friends of college. When conceiving my project, I wanted to articulate a connected web between my love of sports, my passion for studying Spanish, my interest in travel writing and journalism, and my steadfast belief that sports can communicate on global issues like racism, sexism, and corruption more effectively than well-developed human rights institutions can. But in the many days I spent connecting the dots of my life into this project, it became clear that soccer was the only game that could fulfill this role. The application process flew by relatively quickly. By the time Thanksgiving rolled around I was ready to shelve the experience in the back of my mind and spare myself unnecessary anticipatory nerves, knowing the decision date was still four months away. Unfortunately, that’s not how my brain works. I’m still not entirely sure why I was so determined to actively avoid thinking about my application during my waking hours. Maybe I was afraid of impersonal rejection after putting my heart and identity into a project that was meant to embody “my life.” Or maybe I was afraid of what winning the prize would actually mean – spending the next year entirely alone. I especially did not want to confront bad planning on my part; it was equally realistic to expect to win a fellowship as it was to prepare for

nothing at all, which is what I did. But one thing remained clear: As much as I tried to keep the Watson out my head, it always crept back in, especially when I could least control it. Finally, in the spirit of exposure therapy, I picked up a book about soccer as a last-ditch attempt to at least have some peace of mind. The book was called The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup — edited by Matt Weiland and Sean Wilsey, it is a compilation of the best soccer writing of 2006, assembled to prepare fans for the upcoming World Cup statistically, culturally, and geographically. Factually, the book was 13 years old and pretty irrelevant, but compositionally it spoke volumes. Each chapter told the unique and profound story of every country that had qualified for the tournament, and as I flipped through it, I learned of the parallels between soccer and ethnic violence in Angola and Croatia; I read stories about interactions of soccer and tourism in Costa Rica, and I absorbed a history of soccer and gender discrimination in Italy. My own project had been designed to study soccer and racism in England, soccer and sexism in Argentina, and soccer and nationality in San Marino, just to name a few. Through Weiland and Wilsey’s book I felt like I was reading my project come to life. Some of the quotes were almost carbon copies of sentences I had threaded together for my own proposal. That book did for me what nothing else could. It showed me that the world I dreamed of being a part of, the world I had designed for myself in my Watson proposal, did, in fact, already exist. Even without the fellowship, I could keep my love of

sports and storytelling. The Thinking Fan’s Guide to the World Cup is co-authored by 32 people, none of whom were Watson winners, but here they were, doing exactly what they — and I — dreamed of doing. I learned on March 15 that I would not be a Watson winner, and that night I slept like a baby. In the coming months after graduation, I’ll seek out various adventures that, to me, all relate back to my Watson proposal, in explicit and implicit ways. In June, I’ll travel with my family to France, to watch five games of the FIFA Women’s World Cup. We’ll get to see my favorite soccer player of all time in action, Megan Rapinoe. Following that trip, I’ll continue in the spirit of adventure down the Colorado Trail with my cousins for five weeks, hoping to accomplish athletic feats, meet interesting people, and collect countless great stories along the way. Post-grad life really kicks in in August, when I’ll move to Chicago and use my passions and Oberlin education to work as an intake coordinator and program manager for the National Immigrant Justice Center. And who’s to say what comes after that? I can still live by the values woven into my Watson proposal; the only missing piece is soccer. Maybe that’s because it’s not the sport itself that drew me in; rather, the project was inspired by the culture that soccer creates, the communities it brings together, and the ways it pushes the envelope on important issues by nudging people to change. As long as I can keep finding stories, pockets of powerful communities, and unique manifestations of the human spirit, I won’t be shaken by bad dreams anymore.

From the Perspective of Nonbinary Athletes Finding Solace A Battle With No Direction Adams Bellows Dec. 7, 2018 I used to look at my reflection in windows when I ran by, focusing on my stride — how my legs moved past one another, how my feet landed — but I could never bring myself to look up at the rest of my body, knowing I couldn’t look at my chest without sending myself into a mental spiral. It was already hard enough competing on a women’s varsity athletics team, showering in a women’s locker room, and being included in groups referred to as “ladies” and “women” when I was not a woman and was not comfortable with how my body looked. Existing in athletic spaces means choosing between a woman’s space or a man’s space — there is no space for me. I am a non-binary, transmasculine person who participates in women’s cross country and track and field because there is no gender category that fits me in the sports world, so I must compete according to my sex assigned at birth. I also never could have predicted how my gender would change over the course of my college career; the young woman who first came to the cross country team four years ago was happy to find a group of cool people to run with. In the years since then, I have become more and more grateful for my team as my relationship with competitive running has gotten more and more complicated. When I was talking to Women’s Track and Field Coach Ray Appenheimer as a high school recruit, one of the first questions he asked me was if I loved running. My answer was a definitive yes — this was one of the few things I felt confident about as a 17-year-old. Cross country and track shaped me in a number of ways, including how I understood my gender. Running helped me conceptualize how I see myself not only as an athlete, leader, and friend, but also as a trans

person. Without the boundless support from my teammates and coaches, I would not have had the confidence to come out as trans, let alone freely express my gender. Coming out is an ongoing process that involved a number of challenging conversations and respectful corrections between myself and my teammates, my teammates and my coaches, and myself and my coaches. Our conversations over the years touched a number of topics, from explaining what it means to me to be nonbinary, to helping my coach understand why I wanted to get top surgery — a gender-affirming procedure in which a person’s breast tissue is removed in order to reduce chest size or achieve an entirely flat-chested appearance — to the safety precautions we had to take after my surgery. Thankfully, I had coaches who were willing to have these conversations with me, understanding that happy athletes compete better and that happy people make a better team. To say that everything is perfect is a myth and a lie. There is always work to be done — ways to improve, and challenges to overcome — but that’s athletics. I cannot express the gratitude, love, and appreciation I feel for my team and my coaches for the work, time, and effort they have put into helping create an environment that legitimately includes me. However, please do not mistake my gratitude for contentment. The work put in by me, my team, and my coaches is immense and has taken several years; we are in the midst of a process. We are still working to consistently create an environment where gendered language is not used, where people’s names and pronouns are respected, and where everyone’s questions and concerns are listened to. Our work toward inclusion is like all the other work we do as a team: We work hard, work together, and never let ourselves be satisfied.

Leo Ross Dec. 7, 2018 I don’t remember exactly when I realized I might be trans. It was a sort of slow collection of micro-epiphanies coalescing into a broader identity. My realization was informed by self-exploration while I was held up by the social rejection of gender variance. I’m not entirely convinced that I was born into the “wrong” body; rather, I was born into the wrong society. As a result, my body and my understanding of it has morphed throughout the years. It bends and shifts as my landscapes and environment have altered. My perception of femaleness is constantly rearranging itself. I’m not completely opposed to my body, but like an ill-fitting dress, the problem isn’t necessarily the design, it’s the way people view you in it. I want the dress tailored, certain fabric taken away, maybe some other small details added. And while Oberlin has provided a near-perfect atmosphere to explore my identity, the nuances of my identity start to break down when I enter the realm of collegiate basketball. I’m a member of the women’s basketball team. It’s a team that I absolutely adore. Last year was my first at Oberlin; we went on to win the conference championship for the first time in program history. The program’s intensity didn’t waver in my second year. What changed in that time were my pronouns and my understanding of my sex and gender. As I prepared for another grueling season, both physically and mentally, I was acutely aware that I had to prepare myself for persistent misgendering for two hours a day, six days a week, for five months. A few months after the conclusion of my second season, I had yet to be disproven. To members of the coaching staff, athletic trainers, equipment room employees, referees, and opposing teams, my pronouns were she/her/ hers and I was a woman. To be exceptionally clear, most of these people were open and willing to get better at using they/them pronouns; it’s simply a process that takes a long time. But the toll was significant, and maintaining a sense of self was hard work. If a film session or practice was particularly riddled with she/her, I would say they/them over and over again in my head until it felt sufficient. Some days, I don’t have enough mental energy to combat the misgendering and I succumb to being a woman. I have yet to find an

effective strategy, one that refuses to concede the existence of my gender while simultaneously acknowledging the importance of team over individual. Honestly, I’m scared that with the passage of time, the latter will overwhelm the former. For now, I resign myself to being a member of the “women’s” basketball team, trusting that my teammates and I will make enough space for my trans identity. On a larger scale, my identity is complicated not just by Oberlin-specific interactions but by the sport itself. Basketball is male-dominated, and relies heavily on biology to create deep fissures between men and women. Sexism within the sport has conflated inability to perform certain movements with a fundamental lack of skill. Subsequently, the female body is assumed to be inferior, a replica of the male body that fell short. In my case, it constructs my body as inescapably female, which directly challenges my self-perception in which I fight to see my anatomy as a combination of female and male. This contradiction creates a dynamic that is inconsistent with my understanding of identity. I’ve experienced repeated instances of blatant sexism and misogyny in basketball, which has led me to develop a sense of pride and resiliency as a woman in sports over the years. Because womanhood, in this case, has been forcibly assigned to me, it intermingles awkwardly with my transness. To be read as a woman in sports — and to identify as such to a certain extent — and read as trans outside of it is to be endlessly confused. And so as I traverse the worlds between athletics and greater Oberlin, my body is perpetually in flux. It wavers in and out of femaleness, seen and unseen, trans and cis. I feel pressure to provide a tangible solution, but frankly, I’m at a bit of a loss. The reality is that the public existence of non-binary/trans athletes in sports is so new that the system has no idea how to handle it. We unapologetically disrupt the sexist architecture that demands a separation of bodies. The institution of sports has no incentive to deconstruct this power dynamic, leaving non-binary/trans athletes to wander aimlessly in the middle. With this in mind, I’m inclined to let time work its magic. As general attitudes toward non-binary/trans people improve, athletics will hopefully follow suit. And yet, I’m not entirely convinced the inclusion of non-binary/ trans athletes in collegiate sports is a waiting game. But for me, as of right now, it’s a battle with no direction.

The Brotherhood Needs to Step Up — For Everybody Khalid McCalla Sept. 21, 2018 “Rub some dirt on it.” As a young football player, every bump, scrape, and bruise was met with this response or one similar to it: “Shake it off and get back out there.” In a sport like football, this sentiment is inevitable. You’re going to get hurt. It’s part of the game. You’re expected to take it in stride and continue to help the team. You’re expected to rub some dirt on it. But what happens when the pain you’re feeling can’t be reached by a handful of dirt or pushed aside for the sake of the team? Football takes pride in its masculinity. Every year, teams across the country are formed with only the biggest, strongest, and fastest young men in their region. The violence of the game is what attracts many players to it in the first place. From day one, a single harmful and unassailable truth of the sport is ingrained in the mind of every young football player: “Men play this game. Not boys, not girls. Men.” One of the most toxic qualities of modern-day masculinity is emotional repression, and while the rest of The Oberlin Review | May 24, 2019

the world has begun to acknowledge this, the football community remains painfully behind. Information on mental health is not nearly as widespread as it should be, and this is especially true within football. This deficiency puts football players at an immediate disadvantage when it comes to seeking help and managing mental health challenges. How am I supposed to explain to my coach what is going on with me when I haven’t been given the tools to fully understand it myself? Recently, discussions about Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy have highlighted issues of mental health in football, but unfortunately these conversations always seem to come too late. Since it can only be confirmed through an autopsy, CTE diagnoses come after death — sometimes by suicide and almost always tragically early. Current and former players — and not just professionals — experience depression, cognitive impairment, memory loss, suicidal thoughts, and a host of other symptoms for years as a result of their football careers. As a community, we know these facts, yet no one seems to speak up soon enough. The desire to maintain football’s status as a man’s sport has crippled the community’s ability to create

mental health support systems. There is a belief within the community that non-physical pain isn’t real pain — even among those who deal with serious mental health issues. Despite the fact that football teams across the country claim to be a brotherhood, players remain uncomfortable bringing their issues to teammates and coaches. Men do cry. That’s OK. Men can feel sadness. Men can feel lost. Men can be depressed. That’s all OK. What’s not OK is how the football community ignores the needs of its young men. As a community, we need to honestly assess where our priorities lie when it comes to the health of our players. Health extends beyond the physical, and this is a long-overdue realization in football. Honestly, it’s simple — there is no reason that anyone in a community of millions should ever feel that they have to suffer alone. Rest in peace Evan Hansen, who passed away in September, and condolences to his family, friends, and the entire Wabash College football community. If you or someone you know ever needs help, please visit suicidepreventionlifeline.org or call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Take care of yourself. We love you.

SPORTS

May 24, 2019

established 1874

Volume 147, Number 24

Women’s Basketball Gets New Bling

Members of the 2018 North Coast Athletic Conference Championship women’s basketball team were honored in a ring ceremony during intermission of the men’s basketball game following the Yeowomen’s first conference victory of the season on Dec. 5, 2018. The Yeowomen had an exceptional season in 2017-18, earning a 21–8 record overall and a 13–3 record in conference play. This year they finished at 15–11 overall and 10–6 in conference play. College seniors and captains Alex Stipano and Liv Canning led the way, earning an NCAC honorable mention and second-team honors, respectively. Text by Alexis Dill, Sports Editor Photo couresy of OC Athletics

From the Locker Room to the Copy Room: A Sports Editor’s Journey Ify Ezimora Sports Editor Sept. 7, 2018 Competing as a track athlete for the past eight years has heavily shaped the way I navigate the space around me and the way others regard me. Coming from a public California high school of more than 2,700 students, participating in athletics as either a competitor or spectator was a communal activity. People showed up at games and made the drive to support their classmates, friends, and loved ones in competition. Athletes on campus were not only committed to being high-achieving students, but they were also immensely dedicated

to their teams, winning accolades for their high school and devoting more than 15 hours a week to practice. Several-hour car rides to meets, long and difficult practices, carpools home, and coaches who acted not only as role models and mentors but also family, shaped a track experience that, for me, was one of the few things that allowed me to make it through high school amidst the violence and mental illness occurring in my personal life. So when I arrived in Oberlin in the fall of 2015 for first-year orientation, realizing how resented athletics can be here was jarring. Throughout orientation, I cycled through different groups of first-years, always feeling small and compelled to disappear when conversations in Stevenson

Dining Hall about favorite television shows shifted when the appearance of a student in a varsity jacket sparked belittling comments about athletes and athletics. Nearly every day that week I heard something to the effect of: “‘I came to Oberlin because I thought we didn’t have athletics,’ ‘I hate jocks,’ ‘Isn’t Oberlin a Division-III school? Doesn’t that mean they suck?’” When I shared that I was an athlete, I was met with incredulous responses like, “Really?” and, “Why would you ever?” To think that sharing something so integral to my existence could instantly distance me from people I had never met, who I thought I was bonding with, was upsetting. And while some students at Oberlin have genuinely valid reasons for

disliking their athlete peers, the vast majority of students who expressed their dislike of athletes to me my first year rooted their opinions in biased judgments and unfounded generalizations. All year, I heard comments about how student-athletes only get into Oberlin because they played sports and that our grades are unfairly inflated. I knew that, at Oberlin, this was not the case. Being an athlete both in high school and in college, I’ve made sacrifices in how my time is used. High school demanded my commitment from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m., followed by about two hours of track practice daily, one to three hours of yearbook work, and all-day track meets on Saturdays. By See Former, page 37

OBERLIN ATHLETICS 2018–2019 BY THE NUMBERS Men’s Soccer: 1–16 overall, 1–8 NCAC

Men’s Cross Country: 23 of 33 with 651 points at NCAA Regional Championship Women’s Cross Country: 28 of 32 with 593 points at NCAA Championships

Women’s Soccer: 6–10–2 overall, 3–4–1 NCAC Football: 2–8 overall, 2–7 NCAC

Volleyball: 8–15 overall, 2–6 NCAC

Field Hockey: 1–17 overall, 0–14 NCAC

Men’s Swimming and Diving: 8 of 10 with 457 points at NCAC Championships Women’s Swimming and Diving: 7 of 9 with 495 points at NCAC Championships

Men’s Basketball: 13–13 overall, 9–9 NCAC Women’s Basketball: 15–11 overall, 10–6 NCAC

Baseball: 17–21 overall, 7–11 NCAC

Men’s Tennis: 9–13 overall, 3–1 NCAC

Softball: 12–22 overall, 4–12 NCAC

Women’s Tennis: 9–14 overall, 3–1 NCAC

Men’s Track and Field: 4 of 9 with 93 points at Outdoor NCAC Championships Women’s Track and Field: 1 of 8 with 211 points at Outdoor NCAC Championships

Men’s Lacrosse: 5–10 overall, 2–6 NCAC Women’s Lacrosse: 6–9 overall, 5–3 NCAC

CONTENTS CLUB AND COMMUNITY ATHLETICS VARSITY SPORTS 34 Club Aikido Heads Toward Fifty 36 Student-Athletes Shine at Shar-

Years

ing Stages

Young Athletes Build Life Skills in OB Jump

Track & Field, Cross Country Rely on Strong Recruiting

IN THE LOCKER ROOM 37 Chris Broussard, OC ’90, Sports

Analyst, Former Oberlin Varsity Basketball Player

COLUMNS 38 The Rising Star of Asian Ath-

PERSPECTIVES

38 Reflections on Rejection, Soccer,

39 The Brotherhood Needs to Step

letes in 2018 and Beyond and Life After Oberlin

39 From the Perspective of Nonbina-

ry Athletes

Up — For Everybody