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Iranian Baha’is Face Persecu tion: My Cousin’s Story
Iranian Baha’is Face Persecution: My Cousin’s Story
Gigi Ewing Managing Editor
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I am a Baha’i, a member of a world religion whose adherents strive for unity, peace, and social transformation. Because of the ongoing persecution of 350,000 other Baha’is in Iran, including my family members, I am unable to visit my homeland. Oppression of the Baha’is, Iran’s largest non-Muslim minority, intensified after the 1979 Islamic Revolution. Baha’i citizens in Iran have been denied education and jobs; they have been arrested, detained, and tortured, and some have even been put to death. Despite the Islamic Republic’s evident intention to eradicate and silence the Baha’i community, Iranian Baha’is are still deeply dedicated to their home, engaging in service and aiming to better the society that so intently tries to harm them.
The duality of knowing the pain inflicted by the Iranian government on the Baha’is while feeling such a strong attraction to what I consider to be my homeland has always been an internal paradox for me. But this tension sharpened in 2019 when Ministry of Intelligence agents first arrested and detained my cousin.
In October of that year, my cousin Soroush was arrested and the apartment he shares with his wife, Noura, was searched. Agents confiscated all of their Baha’i books to search for evidence of criminality but were ultimately unable to pin anything concrete on him. After holding him in prison while they tried in vain to find a reason to incarcerate him, the government finally released him but not without threatening to return.
They were true to their word. On April 6, 2021, Soroush was arrested again. Agents forcibly removed him from his car outside of his home in Shiraz. They raided his apartment again, searching for non-existent evidence of wrongdoing, but after their initial search in 2019 there was little left for them to confiscate. The agents returned the following day while Noura was at work and tried to break down the door of their flat with a crowbar. Noura’s family, who live in the same complex, let the officers in so as to minimize the property damage. Unable to find anything more than Soroush and Noura’s marriage certificate and a few prayer books, the agents — who at this point were already in violation of the original arrest warrant for the previous night — proceeded to search Noura’s parents’ home. During this illegal search, the agents took items belonging to Noura’s parents and sister. Raids like this are common for Baha’is in Iran, and confiscated belongings, including computers and other valuable items, are never returned to their owners, presenting a large financial strain on Baha’i families who already struggle under harsh economic conditions.
On Sept. 12, Soroush was sentenced to three years and three months in prison for his first arrest. He now awaits sentencing for the second. During his initial imprisonment, my sweet and gentle cousin was stripped down, beaten, and deprived of access to the bathroom. I cannot convey in words the depth of sorrow this knowledge gives me. Every day, I think about him. I hope he knows that he is not alone, that he is always in my heart and in the hearts of our beautiful family scattered across the world. I imagine a giant web — each member of our family with heartstrings pulling toward Iran as our prayers cross land and sea to reach him. I hope these ties of love bring him strength and healing.
Despite all of the abuse that people I love endure under the Iranian government, I cannot truthfully say I am angry. I do not hold any hatred in my heart toward the Islamic Republic nor would I ever wish a similar fate on its members. My overwhelming feeling is sadness and loss — of a homeland that loves me and my family as much as we love it; of more time hearing my cousin’s infectious laugh in our family Zoom calls. These relationships and this love is precisely what I understand the purpose of the Baha’i Faith to be, and it eternally confounds me that the Iranian government so desperately tries to silence Baha’is whose only motive is to form bonds of care and friendship. My strongest wish is to raise a chorus of voices to hold the Islamic Republic accountable for its treatment of Baha’is and of my cousin. So if you can, share this piece. Help me hold the Islamic Republic accountable for the ruthless and unjust persecution of its Baha’i citizens.
My cousin’s name is Soroush Abadi. He is my hero. His kindness, empathy, and wit shine through his spirit despite the brutality he has endured. Without fail, he is the member of our family to draw me into conversation when I am quiet, or bring levity and sweetness when spirits are low. With all the love I have in my heart for a strange land I am still honored to call home, I refuse to remain silent as the Islamic Republic of Iran tries to steal away his life and the lives of so many other honest and true Baha’is.
Soroush and Noura — we love you.
Post-Grad Careers Jeopardized by Three-Semester Plan
Arman Luczkow Opinions Editor
When COVID-19 first sent students scrambling back home in March of 2020, I was devastated. Although it had taken me a while to feel at home in Oberlin, by my second year I’d come to love the College. There wasn’t anywhere else I’d rather be. Now, as a fourth-year, that feeling seems beyond foreign. I envy the students in my year who managed to graduate early. Much of this sentiment can be attributed directly to the College’s poor decision-making. In choosing to implement a three-semester plan, the College took advantage of thirdyears, placing them under undue strain and, most egregiously, harming their ability to prepare for a career after graduation.
In the summer of 2020, Oberlin College found itself in the unenviable position of planning an academic year during a pandemic. They knew, presumably, that decisiveness was required. And so, through a rapid and unclear process, a decision was made to move to a three-semester plan. Crucial to this plan was staggering when students were on campus. Both second- and third-years would essentially be required to go to summer school. Yet only third-years would have a spring semester followed immediately by a summer semester — and then start their final year a month later.
The only logical reason to give thirdyears the worst schedule is that they are the least likely to transfer to another institution. For the most part, they’re too accustomed to Oberlin to leave on the basis of an unfair academic schedule. If first- and second-years were forced to do two semesters straight, many of them may have chosen to study elsewhere. Fourth-years never had to worry about that possibility; the College couldn’t have asked them to do a summer semester, since many of them had jobs, graduate schools, and other programs starting soon after graduation. And so, third-years were stuck on campus from January through September, sacrificing our most valuable career development opportunities for the College’s bottom line.
I know that for me, and for many students I’ve spoken to, the combination of the spring and summer semesters was too much. Once spring semester ended, I was exhausted. I’d started the semester in January with little energy, drained from over ten months of staying shuttered in my home, separated from my friends. The semester itself was hardly rejuvenating. The gut-punch, however, was starting the summer semester just ten days after finishing finals.
In some ways, summer semester was easier. I dropped some activities, had the chance to live in Village Housing with friends, and enjoyed the temporary rollback of COVID-19 restrictions. Yet the exhaustion never left. Spring semester was like driving too quickly on a bumpy, dangerous road. The drive was stressful, and the wear and tear on the car was immediate. Over summer semester, although the road smoothed out, and I was able to drive a little slower, I was still trundling along in the same beat-up car. The result was a semester of burnout, prolonged illness, and a dwindling ability to complete schoolwork.
This, alone, is frustrating. COVID-19 may have guaranteed that my third year would be subpar, but the College ensured it would be miserable. The most infuriating aspect of this, however, is not the burnout. It is the failure of the College to support us in preparing for a career after Oberlin. Summers are a valuable commodity for a college student; during the summer, we can get jobs to pay for tuition, internships to boost our résumé, or pursue other opportunities such as language intensives and study abroad programs. The summer after our third year is especially important since it’s typically when internships turn into job offers and when we work on fellowship and graduate school applications. Instead, we were tasked with preparing for life after college while inundated with coursework and exhausted by months of studies. None of this is in line with the supposed goal of college — preparing us for a career once we graduate.
The Junior Practicum, the College’s solution to the fall semester we spent at home, provided us with a one-month-long remote paid internship. While this program was largely successful, the Practicum internships were a replacement for opportunities lost to COVID-19 during our second year. They do not make up for the time we could have spent drafting important applications and working in-person this past summer, an opportunity afforded to most college students across the country.
Before COVID-19, a close friend of mine had a study abroad experience and a political internship lined up. These were two essential pieces to the puzzle of their future career, and they’d spent numerous months networking and applying for the programs. Due to COVID-19, both were canceled. Without a summer break, they haven’t been able to fill that gap on their résumé, and their fellowship applications have been thrown into jeopardy. There simply isn’t a substitute for opportunities of that caliber.
When I was preparing this piece, another friend of mine wondered what could be achieved by criticizing the three-semester plan. After all, why should the College ever have to do it again? Yet less than two years ago, we assumed the same thing — that we would always operate on a fall-spring semester schedule. For all we know, administrators may need to consider a similar plan in the future. If they do, I hope that they remember the toll it took on their students, faculty, and staff — and I hope they ask themselves if it was worth it.
It’s also necessary to ask why the College is so out of touch with the reality of student life. How could administrators forget how essential the final college summer is to securing a post-graduate career? Or was that consideration outweighed by the necessity to keep students from transferring? Either way, it’s disheartening to feel that the College is sabotaging the careers of its own students, rather than supporting them as it is supposed to.
Now that classes have started, I will admit that my desire to graduate as soon as possible has diminished. Although campus is overwhelmed by students, and COVID-19 restrictions can’t be rolled back fully, the College feels energized in a way I haven’t felt since before the pandemic. I’m excited to be taking classes, meeting new people, and working late hours in the Review office. I just wish that I wasn’t also scrambling to salvage my post-graduate plans, feeling that my years of hard work may not be enough.
A Comprehensive Oberlin Bucket List
Ashley Xu
This Week Editor
At first glance, Oberlin College may feel small, but once you dive in, there are multitudes of unexplored corners that many people don’t even realize exist. From the depths of the Conservatory, to the Arboretum to the second floor of Apollo Theatre to the far reaches of the athletic fields, Oberlin spans a sizable distance and offers plenty for curious minds to explore. Students, both new and returning, have been itching to embrace all the activities and dimensions of Oberlin campus that were previously inaccessible due to COVID-19. Half the student body can finally experience a somewhat normal campus for the first time.
If you’re at a loss for what to do now that you’re on campus, you are not alone – this list is a great place to start! Below is a compilation of some highlights, many of which are endearing, quirky, and quintessentially Oberlin.
Curl up in a “womb chair” in Mudd Library
Spot an albino squirrel in Tappan Square
Take a womb chair for a spin (literally). Eero Aarnio Ball Chairs – or “womb chairs,” as affectionately named by Oberlin students – are large, spherical chairs that envelop the sitter. They are a popular study (and nap) spot on campus. Take a stroll through Oberlin’s beautiful Tappan Square. Admire the leaves changing color in the fall, and the snow in the winter. Try to find one of the cute, elusive albino squirrels. (The albino squirrel became Oberlin College’s official mascot in 2019.) Location: Tappan Square (67 North Main Street)
Location: There are four womb chairs on the second floor of Mudd Center, and others are scattered throughout other floors in the building.
Lie on the Finney Chapel stage during an organ pump
Before COVID-19, students would look forward to the first Organ Pump of the year at midnight on Halloween. Organ majors from the Conservatory would get up on the stage in Finney Chapel to perform on the four-story organ. The organ housed in Finney Chapel is one of Oberlin’s 32 organs, one of the largest collections in the world. Once COVID-19 restrictions on campus start to ease, be sure to check out an organ performance.
Weekly Events
Saturday, Oct. 9
Faculty Recital I, 1:30–3:30 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or live webcast
Symposium I, 4–5:30 p.m. // David H. Stull Recital Hall or webcast Faculty Recital II, 7:30–9:30 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or webcast TGIF celebration, 4:30-6:30 p.m. // Science Center
Student Org. Event: OSlam poetry
Listening Party, 10:00–11:00 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or webcast. Sunday, Oct. 10
API (Asian and Pacific Islander) Fall Welcome Event 12–1:30 p.m. Wilder Bowl Music, Sports, and the Enduring Influence of Ancient Greece:
Faculty Recital III, 1:30–3:30 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or live webcast Symposium II, 4:00–5:30 p.m. // David H. Stull Recital Hall or live webcast Faculty Recital IV @ 7:30–9:30 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or live webcast Tuesday, Oct. 12
Faculty Recital: Francesca dePasquale, violin; Scott Cuellar, piano; and the Verona Quartet
// Warner Hall or webcast
Wednesday, Oct. 13
Empathy Café, 4–6:30 p.m. // Robert Lewis Kahn Hall
Thursday, Oct. 14
Eat tater tots at The Feve
Try the iconic and crispy Feve tots. A staple restaurant in downtown Oberlin, The Feve serves a diverse variety of dishes and boasts an Oberlin staple: their Long Island ice teas. Students love to go there to take an occasional break from campus dining. A classic must-have meal for first-timers is a burger and their famous tater tots.
Location: The Feve (30 South Main Street)
Photos by Ashley Xu
See a planet through a telescope at the Observatory and Taylor Planetarium
Do you want to touch art? Be a conservator! 12:30–1:30 p.m. // StudiOC Allen After Hours: Who Gets to Conserve Art and Material Culture?, 5:30-7:30 p.m. // AMAM
Ride a sled down Mount Oberlin
Take a peek through one of six telescopes atop the Observatory viewing deck, and listen as Astronomy professors and majors lead guided tours of the night sky. In the case of inclement weather, the Observatory closes and the Planetarium opens. Weather permitting, both are open on the first and third Fridays of each month. Through the rest of 2021, open hours are Oct. 15, 7:30–9:30 p.m.; Nov. 5, 7–9 p.m.; Nov. 19, 7–9 p.m.; and Dec. 3, 7–9 p.m. (Visit Oberlin.edu/events) to see all future viewings. Go to Afrikan Heritage
House’s Lord-Saunders
Location: Peters Hall (50 North Professor Dining Hall for a Sunday meal Street), across from Mudd Library (Tip: of fried chicken Mount Oberlin, as it is humorously known, enter from the southwest entrance fac- Sunday nights at Lord-Saunders Dining Hall on is a small man-made hill behind Shanks Health ing Warner Center, and walk to the South Campus have always been popular. Sunday and Wellness Center. After the first major snow- top of the staircase.) fried chicken nights started in 2016 after students fall, you can find students bolting to the hill and sled- from ABUSUA, Oberlin’s Black Student Union, gathered ding down in groups. Fun fact: Mount Oberlin, at ap- outside of Afrikan Heritage House to protest the food Cam proximately 846 feet above sea level, used to be the tallest pus Dining Services serves in Lord-Saunders. Students urged point in Lorain County, until a local trash heap surpassed CDS to prepare more traditional African-American meals. its height. Now, on Sundays, Lord-Saunders Dining Hall serves various intentionally-prepared Southern comfort food
Location: in the fields past the tennis courts, including collard greens, corn on the cob, fried chick past Shanks Health and Wellness Center, en, garlic bread sticks, meatloaf, and rice. Sunday and behind the football field night dinner at Lord-Saunders is served from 5–7:30 p.m. Location: Afrikan Heritage House (126 Forest Street) on South Campus, by the Conservatory Conservatory
Friday, Oct. 15 Fridays at Finney: Oberlin Orchestra and Contem porary Music Ensemble 7:30 p.m. // Finney Chapel
Observe the Night Sky
Observatory and Taylor Planetarium
The Bike Co-op is a student-run bike shop that offers low-cost or free bike service repairs to students. You can also volunteer for shifts, learn how to fix bikes, and even build your own! In past years, the Bike Co-op was open for several hours on weeknights and weekend afternoons, with Women and Trans Nights on Tuesdays and POC nights on Thursday. The co-op has struggled to stay afloat during the pandemic, but they are opening soon. Hours: TBD.
Location: On the opposite end of parking lot of Stevenson Dining Hall, in the basement of Keep Cottage
Eat in a Co-op
Try a meal made with love from a co-op kitchen! Swing by during mealtime (lunch or dinner) to discover how co-op food tastes compared to Campus Dining Services. If you are not a part of the co-op, you may eat up to three meals there before you are required to work a crew shift. The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) is a student-run organization that offers an alternative dining experience to the meal plan. Co-ops are groups of 30–150 students that plan out meals and divide cooking and cleaning responsibilities. Approximately 15 percent (400 students) of the student body is a part of OSCA. Many students find it to be a more affordable and nutritionally balanced option. Harkness House, Keep Cottage, Tank Hall, and Third World Co-op all provide dining and housing, while Pyle Inn only provides dining. Location: various buildings on campus
Visit the Allen Memorial Art Museum and Participate in Art Rental
Music, Sports, and the Enduring Admission to the AMAM is free to all. This nce of Ancient Greece: fall, the AMAM Art Rental will occur on Oct. , 1:30–3:30 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall 16 from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. For the uninitiated, the or live webcast Art Rental program takes place each semester and is , 4–5:30 p.m. // David H. Stull Recital Hall or webcast an opportunity for Oberlin students, faculty, staff, and , 7:30–9:30 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or webcast community members to rent a piece of art from the muse, 4:30-6:30 p.m. // Science Center um for $5. Art Rental has been a defining feature of Oberlin’s Student Org. Event: OSlam poetry @ 8–9:00 p.m. // Cat in the Cream , 10:00–11:00 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or webcast. culture, and in the decades the program has been held, no pieces have ever been damaged or lost. Keep in mind that in years past, dedicated students have camped outside the AMAM Sunday, Oct. 10 he night before the Art Rental, waiting in line for the
API (Asian and Pacific Islander) Fall Welcome Event, morning, so be sure to snag a spot in the queue. For12–1:30 p.m. Wilder Bowl mer highly sought-after Art Rental pieces include Music, Sports, and the Enduring works by Marc Chagall, Salvador Dalí, Pablo nce of Ancient Greece: Picasso, and Andy Warhol. , 1:30–3:30 p.m. // Warner Location: Allen Memorial Art MuseConcert Hall or live webcast um (87 North Main Street) , 4:00–5:30 p.m. // David H. Stull Recital Hall or live webcast Faculty Recital IV @ 7:30–9:30 p.m. // Warner Concert Hall or live webcast
Tuesday, Oct. 12 Wednesday, Oct. 13
, 4–6:30 p.m. // Robert Lewis Kahn Hall
Get Some Cat Therapy: Meet the Kittens in Take a public tour of Welt Ginko Gallery & Studio!
zheimer/Johnson House Venture downtown for some Designed by renowned American architect kitten therapy after a stressFrank Lloyd Wright, W-J House embodies ful day. From the outside, Ginko Wright’s creative style of incorporating beauty Gallery looks like an ordinary art and environmental consciousness into his architec- supply store, but as many in the Obertural works. lin community know, the back room W-J House reopened Sept. 5, 2021. Open houses are of Ginko’s houses abandoned and stray held on the first Sunday of each month from April to Novem- kittens. Ginko’s store owner, Liz Burgess ber, from 12–5 p.m, with presentations on the history of the fosters the kittens until they can be house occurring every hour. Admission is $10 for adults adopted through a local animal rescue, and free for Oberlin College students and individuals Community Action to Save Strays. On under 18. Be sure to register in advance! any given day, you can find students Faculty Recital: Francesca dePasquale, violin; huddled in the back room cradling Scott Cuellar, piano; and the Verona Quartet, 7:30 p.m. Location: Weltzheimer/Johnson House kittens. Ginko Gallery is open // Warner Hall or webcast (534 Morgan Street) Tuesday through Saturday from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Location: Ginko Gallery & Studio, 19 South Main Street
Do you want to touch art? Be a conservator!, 12:30–1:30 p.m. // StudiOC
Allen After Hours: Who Gets to Conserve Art and Material
, 5:30-7:30 p.m. // AMAM
Fridays at Finney: Oberlin Orchestra and Contemporary Music Ensemble, 7:30 p.m. // Finney Chapel Observe the Night Sky, 7:30-9:30 p.m. // Observatory and Taylor Planetarium
Go to Afrikan Heritage House’s Lord-Saunders Dining Hall for a Sunday meal of fried chicken
Sunday nights at Lord-Saunders Dining Hall on South Campus have always been popular. Sunday fried chicken nights started in 2016 after students from ABUSUA, Oberlin’s Black Student Union, gathered If you’re up for a challenge, try to do all of outside of Afrikan Heritage House to protest the food Cam- these in your first semester. Or, slowly check them off pus Dining Services serves in Lord-Saunders. Students urged as you continue on your Oberlin journey. This list can CDS to prepare more traditional African-American meals. get you started on venturing out and appreciating the Now, on Sundays, Lord-Saunders Dining Hall serves beauty and personality of Oberlin. various intentionally-prepared Southern comfort food including collard greens, corn on the cob, fried chicken, garlic bread sticks, meatloaf, and rice. Sunday night dinner at Lord-Saunders is served from Location: Afrikan Heritage House (126 Forest Street) on South Campus, by the The Oberlin Review | October 8, 2021
Watch a movie at Apollo Theatre
Now that the Apollo has reopened, there are screenings happening daily, typically with two showtimes per movie each day. Tickets are $4 with the exception of shows after 6 p.m., which cost $6 for adults. A notable landmark in Oberlin since 1913, Apollo Theatre is the go-to, walking-distance theater in downtown Oberlin. Location: The Apollo Theater (19 East College Street)
