Former DoS Meredith Raimon do Leaves Oberlin

Linda Slocum

Courtesy of Tanya Rosen-Jones

Eric Schank Senior Staff Writer

City Council President Linda Slocum has served Oberlin’s community as a member of City Council since 2016. Slocum chose not to run for reelection this fall. After working for 17 years as the Gifts Librarian and the Managing Editor of Oberlin College Press, Slocum retired from the College in 2012. A small reception will be held on Dec. 20 to celebrate Slocum and fellow outgoing Councilmember Mary Price.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you tell me a little bit about what you did before you joined City Council?

I worked at Oberlin College, actually. I was the Gifts Librarian in the Mary Church Terrell Main library, and I was also Managing Editor of the Oberlin College Press. Those were two part-time jobs that I put together for a full-time job. The reason I thought I might run for Council was because I’ve been a member of the League of Women Voters for a long time — since the 1970s — and I just realized there was some difficulty on Oberlin Council at the time. It was very split over what to do with the renewable energy credits that the City had accumulated, and I just thought that my experience in the League, my ways of looking at issues from all sides, and my approach to working with people might be helpful on Council.

What accomplishments are you the most proud of?

One of the things I’m most proud of is that from the beginning, I’ve encouraged cooperation among Oberlin City Schools and Oberlin College. I had said the perfect place for the City and the schools to work together would be in the new high school, to make it more efficient. Although they didn’t come to the Sustainable Reserve Program funds for money for their electric lights and things like that, they did decide to put in a solar array, and the City was able to help them out with around $250,000 that we were able to give the schools toward the array. I just think that’s the perfect example of what that money was meant to be used for, because that will also save the taxpayers money in the long run because the school will have less of an electric bill. In the end, it’s a winwin situation for everyone.

Could you describe some of the other challenges you’ve faced in the years you’ve served Oberlin?

Oh, well, that’s an easy one, right? It’s COVID-19. I mean, that’s always going to be the first part of the sentence, “Despite COVID-19, we accomplished this or that.” COVID added layers and layers of difficulty. It’s been very hard, and when I say COVID, that kind of includes what happened right after that with George Floyd and all the unrest during the whole Trump era. It was just very difficult. We had just started with the new Council in January. It was March, so the new Council hadn’t really gelled that well. We were just trying to get our rhythm and then this happened. It really was always the giant elephant in the room.

I can imagine. Well, I don’t have to imagine — We all have been living with that for the last two years.

Exactly. That was the good part, right? We all were in it together, and I think there were a lot of good lessons. I certainly realized there’s beauty around us. Just to walk in my own neighborhood is wonderful. I don’t have to travel to other places. There’s lots to learn: how do you help people? Who do you help? How do you help them effectively? And then what can you do legally? It gets really complicated. But I’m so glad. This has been such a privilege. I’ve learned a lot, and I’ve been really challenged. I hope I’ve grown in the job. I’ve done my best.

So what made you want to retire? It seems like you were going strong.

Can I say my husband? [laughs.] I retired from Oberlin College in 2012. I’d like to have more freedom to travel, visit my grandkids, things like that. Work does tie you down. I don’t think it has to, but I’m the type of person where it does take a lot of time and thought. It lives in your head a lot, so it will just be nice to clear that a little bit. I also think you should always leave a party when it’s going well, and I think we’re heading in such a good direction and accomplishing so much, so I think this is a good time to go.

Former DoS Meredith Raimondo Leaves Oberlin

Anisa Curry Vietze Senior Staff Writer

Former Dean of Students and Vice President Meredith Raimondo left Oberlin in October to begin her role as vice president for student affairs at Oglethorpe University. Raimondo has been on sabbatical since stepping down from her position at Oberlin in early April, six weeks before she was originally scheduled to leave. When Raimondo left this spring, communication from the College indicated she would take a sabbatical and then return to Oberlin as a professor in the 2022–23 academic year.

However, Raimondo will not be returning to Oberlin next fall. She cited her dedication to building intentional learning communities as the reason behind her decision.

“I am really passionate about doing leadership work in the field of student affairs, because of my interest in cultivating holistic learning environments where students can thrive,” Raimondo wrote in an email to the Review. “As much as I loved the time I spent in the classroom at Oberlin, this is the work I want to spend the rest of my career doing.”

Raimondo began her time at Oberlin as a professor of Comparative American Studies in 2003 and was one of the first tenure-track faculty hired for professorship within the department. Following her time as a professor, Raimondo worked as associate dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, special assistant to the President for equity, diversity, and inclusion, and Title IX coordinator. Raimondo was named dean of students in November 2016 after serving in the position on an interim basis for several months. During Raimondo’s tenure as dean of students, the College dealt with significant challenges, including a structural budget deficit, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, and the Gibson’s Bakery lawsuit — in which Raimondo is a defendant.

“Dr. Raimondo was a much beloved and highly respected teacher who taught queer studies and classes about AIDs and other health epidemics,” said Professor of Comparative American Studies Wendy Kozol. “Her student-centered pedagogy along with her warmth and generosity both in and outside the classroom made her a much sought-after professor. I remember long lines of students waiting to see her during office hours and just about any other time.”

Raimondo says that she’s excited to work at Oglethorpe because of its diverse student community and opportunity to build an equitable and inclusive environment for learning. Still, Raimondo will miss Oberlin.

“Oberlin is a very special place — at its best, the model for what an engaged learning community can be,” Raimondo wrote. “I hope that students will continue to cultivate kindness, gratitude, and dialogue across difference as a part of their passionate commitments to social change — this is the kind of leadership the world desperately needs.”

Oberlin College Updates

COVID-19 Update

Ella Moxley News Editor

Ohio Updates

Between Dec. 6 and Dec. 12, the College’s internal testing documented four COVID-19 cases among students. During the same period, the College was also notified of four new COVID-19 cases from outside testing sources.

Yesterday, the College held a booster clinic at Hales Gymnasium. All 480 clinic appointments were booked. Students who have received their booster shot can reupload their vaccine card to the Student Health Portal, and faculty and staff can upload theirs via a form on Oberview.

COVID-19 continued to spread on many college campuses this week, prompting Cornell, Georgetown, New York, and Princeton Universities to host more final exams online and close early for winter break after experiencing upticks in cases.

Oberlin has not experienced a similar rise in cases over the last reporting period. President Carmen Twillie Ambar reassured students that the College is continuing to modulate its COVID-19 approach according to guidance from public health officials.

“We need to move away from concern about cases and begin to focus on whether there were any serious illnesses or hospitalizations as a result of COVID,” President Ambar said in an ObieSafe video update to the campus community on Tuesday. “As always, we will continue to evaluate all of our policies and approaches with guidance from global, national, and local healthcare professionals.” Ohio continues to experience a rise in COVID-19 cases. Between Nov. 18 and Dec. 16, the state of Ohio recorded 177,593 new cases and 6,545 hospitalizations. Currently, there are 783.2 cases per 100,000 Ohio residents, up from 718.5 last week and 601.1 two weeks ago.

High rates of COVID-19 cases are stretching hospital resources across the state, with hospitalization rates reaching near record levels for the entire pandemic. About 47 percent of COVID-19 cases are located in the greater Cleveland, Akron, and Canton areas.

On Tuesday, Cleveland Clinic announced that the hospital was nearly at capacity with 786 people hospitalized with COVID-19. Most patients are unvaccinated.

According to the Ohio Department of Health, the rise in COVID-19 cases is likely not caused by the newly discovered Omicron variant. From Nov. 21 to Dec. 4, 99.5 percent of cases were of the Delta variant while just 0.5 percent were of the Omicron variant.

Health officials are urging Ohioans to get vaccinated as soon as possible to avoid further upticks in cases that might occur as people travel and gather for the holidays.

Currently, 58.95 percent of Ohioans have received their first dose of a vaccine and approximately 54 percent of residents have completed both doses.