The Oberlin Review April 14, 2023

The Oberlin Review

Senior Staff Writer

Throughout the spring semester, campus-wide initiatives have been implemented in order to reduce food waste. AVI Fresh, in collaboration with the Office of Environmental Sustainability, is piloting a compost service in Stevenson Dining Hall for breakfast, lunch, and dinner during the second week of Ecolympics — from April 17–23 — and in celebration of Earth Day.

Ecolympics is an annual twoweek community competition and event series aimed at reducing carbon emissions and raising environmental awareness. This year, individuals eating in dining halls can compost their uneaten food or food-contaminated paper products.

Food scraps that can be put in the compost bins include dairy, meat, and bones. Foodcontaminated paper products, such as napkins and wax paper, and anything with the Biodegradable Products Institute compostable label can also be placed in the bins. The finished compost is brought back to campus and used to enrich the soil through various soil blends and for special gardening projects.

“The Office of Environmental Sustainability staff/interns and members of the Resource Conservation Team are excited to work with AVI to fully staff waste stations in the dining room during Compost Week to

Oberlin College

Sustainability Manager Heather Adelman wrote in an email to the Review. “The College is committed to carbon neutrality by 2025. Waste management is a component of this work. The Oberlin College Environmental Policy Implementation Plan, adopted by General Faculty in 2015, sets zero waste as a goal. OES is working on a number of programs to reduce waste generation on campus as well as many initiatives to divert the waste that is generated away from the landfill and instead to reuse programs, recycling programs, and composting programs.”

The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association has also implemented a program dedicated to reducing food waste, starting this semester. OSCA now works with Oberlin Community Services to donate uneaten prepared food. Though OSCA typically composts all of its food, this new approach will provide meals to community members.

OCS regularly supplies disposable foil trays to OSCA. All cooked food not on baking trays — primarily beans, lentils, and rice — goes in disposable containers and are sealed with a lid. At the end of the meal, all tins that were not served are labeled by OSCA and picked up by OCS.

Food Programs Coordinator at OCS Liv Hanson spoke to the Review about the partnership.

“OCS had a food rescue program that got started around 2017 or 2018,” Hanson said. “OSCA has recently hopped on to the program. Local restaurants and entities can donate any leftover food that would otherwise appear in the trash. We’ve been working on this for the past few years. It’s a really great way to connect entities that would otherwise have some waste and to connect food to folks in our community that are food insecure.”

OSCA Food Coordinator and College second-year Elijah Freiman spoke with the Review about the history and current state of this effort.

Past OSCA members have tried to carry out a food conservation program but have been unsuccessful. However, according to Freiman, there have been recent updates.

“We’ve been able to implement it with varying degrees of success,” Freiman said. “It’s been most successful in Pyle Co-op. In general we throw out more of our food than donate it. It’s important to understand food waste as natural and inevitable but it’s important to have a food waste plan. Composting is great but food donations are better. OSCA does a pretty good job of limiting excess food, but we could do a better job of where we send excess food.”

Cal Ransom News Editor

On April 10 and 11, the Oberlin College Admissions Office and representatives from marketing firm Carnegie Dartlet hosted three workshops with a total of 61 current Oberlin students to gather qualitative data on the values and motivations of Oberlin students.

The Admissions Office brought in Carnegie Dartlet as its new search partner in February.

Assistant Vice President of Admissions Communications

Ben Jones, OC ’96, explained that these workshops are intended to help admissions get an idea of what types of students they should recruit and what kinds of students are likely to choose and stay at Oberlin.

want more of them. If we can really understand why current students are here and what makes them motivated and happy and all those good things, we can project that forward in how we recruit the next generation.”

Instead of looking at conventional demographics like GPA, hometown, or major, the workshops were designed to explore Oberlin students’ values. Mandy Summers, senior marketing and enrollment strategist at Carnegie Dartlet, explained that qualitative data can help Oberlin understand the similarities and differences among its student body beyond demographics.

“There are so many different types of students, so we’re not going to generalize,” Summers said. “We’re really just gonna try to come up with their

“We’re not looking to change anything about Oberlin students,” Jones said. “We just See Admissions, Page 2

Photo Courtesy of the United Nations

Melissa Fleming

AVI and OSCA pursue sustainability through food waste initiatives.

Photo by Erin Koo, Photo Editor educate students, faculty, staff, and visitors on what can be composted and what should go into the trash,”

Off The Cuff: United Nations Under-Secretary-General Melissa Fleming, OC ‘86 | 03

Admissions, Consultant Solicit Student Feedback

Continued from page 1

motivations, because we know people make decisions on emotion and not always on logic. Really understanding that emotion and where some of those values come from and motivations and what drives you is really what’s gonna help Oberlin understand its student body better.”

Different motivations are described through “personas,” which are represented by different colors. Students were asked to come up with three examples of types of students they see at Oberlin and then assign primary motivations to each type of student they created.

Heidi Fitzgerald, business operations specialist at Carnegie Dartlet, explained how a variety of motivations can result in the same decisions.

“We have this example — we have a green persona [or] personality attribute — that’s like the curious explorer,” Fitzgerald said. “Why might they pull an all-nighter the night before a

test? Maybe it’s not because they care about a high grade; that’s more of a blue [persona] thing. Maybe they just got so into their project, so curious to find out more, that they lost track of time. ... A maroon person might be interested in hard work and good ethics. Maybe a maroon person wouldn’t be pulling an all nighter because they planned better. So instead of saying surface level, ‘This is a person who pulls all-nighters, this is an academic person’ — those are three different personality drivers.”

After creating profiles of the different values and motivations present at Oberlin, Carnegie Dartlet plans to send a survey out to the general student population so that students can help confirm the results of the workshop.

Students will be asked to identify the profile they feel best describes them and provide more information on their preferences for communication.

“You’ll get a chance to say, do

you like to be communicated with [via] email? Is it twice a week? It’s a larger survey to get more information about how to best communicate with you all.”

From the quantitative and qualitative results, Carnegie Dartlet will provide recommendations on how Oberlin can reach students during the “search” phase, when the College proactively advertises to potential students who might be interested in enrolling.

“Our role in that really is to then just say, ‘Okay, if you have this group of students that’s overly involved, what does that really mean?’” Summers said.

“So for them, when we talk about communication, do they feel like they have enough information and they don’t really want to hear from you? And as Ben mentioned yesterday, it really is about the recruitment, too ... . They can definitely use the information to talk to current students, but when they’re talking to prospective students, it’s like, ‘Okay, the

over-committed students, what do they really like about Oberlin?’ It’s really an idea of what messages can they push out to the over-committed student to make them understand that they’ll fit in here.”

Jones believes that each student’s individuality presents both a challenge and an opportunity for Oberlin during this process.

“One thing that’s a challenge for Oberlin — and it’s a very, very good challenge, the reason that I love Oberlin — is that we don’t fall neatly into a handful of profiles,” Jones said. “Oberlin is all about individuality. When I’m recruiting for Oberlin, one of the things that I tell prospective students is there are places where a thousand different people come in, and then when they leave, they’re kind of all the same. Whereas at Oberlin, a thousand people come in and they leave as a thousand individuals who are just empowered by Oberlin to be the best version of themselves.”

Sustainable Infrastructure Project-Related Construction Closes North Campus Sidewalks

Karthik Ranganadhan Staff Writer

As part of the ongoing Sustainable Infrastructure Program, the College has been switching to geothermal energy as the source for the heating and cooling of campus buildings and upgrading the heating system itself to be controlled by water temperature.

“This work will account for the [C]ollege’s most significant carbon savings as it makes strides towards its goal of carbon neutrality by 2025,” the Sustainable Infrastructure Website reads.

During the week of April 3, the College began distribution construction and building conversion work around Severance Hall and on the northern side of West Lorain Street, covering the section between North Professor Street and Woodland Street.

R

April 14, 2023

Volume 152, Number 20 (ISSN 297–256)

Editors-in-Chief

Kushagra Kar

Emma Benardete

Managing Editor

Nikki Keating

News Editors

Alexa Stevens

Cal Ransom

Opinions Editors

Emily Vaughan

Hanna Alwine

Arts & Culture Editors

Dlisah Lapidus

Yasu Shinozaki

Poetry Editor

Gillian Ferguson

Sports Editors

John Elrod

Kayla Kim

Conservatory Editor

Delaney Fox

Photo Editors

Abe Frato

This work has entailed blocking off the Science Center doors that face Wilder Hall. Instead of crossing the Science Center quad, pedestrians should use the street crossings at North Professor or Woodland Streets.

During the week of April 17, the areas to the east of Barnard Hall and to the north and east of East Hall will be inaccessible, and the sidewalks will be closed while construction begins in these areas.

Construction during the week of Monday, April 24 will include the area between Barnard Hall and Severance Hall, in front of the eastward entrance to the Science Center. This will mean that all of the east sections of North Quad south of Bailey Hall will be under construction, and the sidewalks will be either closed or restricted.

All those who need to commute through the area can use the wayfinding maps available on the SIP website to plan their routes.

Erin Koo

This Week Editor

Eloise Rich

Senior Staff Writers

Ava Miller

Chris Stoneman

Celia Perks

Lyric Anderson

Maeve Woltring

Web Manager

Nada Aggadi

Production Manager

Isaac Imas

Production Editors

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E.J. LaFave

Gideon Reed

Jasper Swartz

Serena Atkinson

James Foster

Lia Fawley

Trevor Smith

Layout Editors

Erin Koo

Grace Gao

Katie Rasmussen

Molly Chapin

Illustrator

Molly Chapin

Distributors

Leah Potoff

Nondini Nagarwalla

Neva Taylor

Will Young

Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods.

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Kushagra Kar Emma Benardete Editors-in-Chief

Nikki Keating Managing Editor

United Nations Under-Secretary-General

Melissa Fleming, OC ʼ86, has served as the head of the U.N. Department of Global Communications since 2019. She earned her B.A. in German studies from Oberlin College, followed by an M.S. in Broadcast Journalism from Boston University in 1989. She has since worked as a radio journalist in Berlin, a spokesperson for the International Atomic Energy Agency, and a spokesperson for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees. She also served as a senior advisor on the Transition Team for U.N. Secretary General António Guterres between October 2016 and February 2017. Fleming returned to Oberlin for the first time since graduating to interact with students and give a lecture titled “From Oberlin to the World: My Journey with the United Nations.”

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

You graduated from Oberlin College in 1986. How are you feeling being back and interacting with students?

Well, itʼs been 37 years. As I was preparing my lecture today, I struggled to remember all of the steps on my journey to where I am now. But my Oberlin experience I really feel was fundamental to the trajectory of my life. I remember when I arrived here, and I felt really lonely because I didnʼt know anyone for the first time in my life. Iʼm sure itʼs the usual first-year experience, but I was just wondering what I was doing here. A couple of days later, as I was walking alone to one of my first classes, the director of admissions at the time stopped me and said, “Hi Melissa, how are you?” And I was like, “He remembered my name.” Then he started to ask me about Marblehead, MA, where I come from, and he knew the details of my life. Then I remembered, this is why I chose Oberlin — because I was not going to be a number here — and that feeling was going to have a huge impact on how I communicate later on. I communicate the statistics of human suffering. I can communicate about the state of our world. Thereʼs a saying, “Statistics are human beings with the tears dried off,” and what I needed to do was to infuse those statistics with

Melissa Fleming

United Nations Under-Secretary-General, OC ’86

stories — stories of history, politics, and more. And those would be the stories I would tell going forward.

Focusing on global communication, how do you think that different forms of media can be used to promote journalism and communication?

I think journalism is so critically important in a democratic and stable society. Unfortunately, it is under threat in our digital age. Social media platforms have pulled advertising dollars away from traditional media, and this has resulted in a collapse of local media. And yet we are in an age where those same platforms are not promoting news, but conspiracy theories, disinformation, and junk science. We need to move back and drive support for traditional media, because what it does is provide citizens with factual, trusted information and holds people and power accountable. Without that pillar, we have an information ecosystem that is totally out of balance.

How do you manage the vast network of U.N. communications around the world?

This campaign uses our resources in local languages for distribution, and also local media partners, social media influencers, et cetera. So thatʼs one approach to communications built into our strategy, which is based on what I call the three Ws of communications. These are “what,” “why care,” and “what now.” And the W we really focus on is “what,” and we do this really well because we distribute the facts.

We have reported on the latest climate science, the statistics of how many refugees are fleeing around the world, sustainable development goals, annual reports, and more. So we have a rich resource for almost anything youʼd want to know about whatʼs happening in the world. But the question is, if you want to communicate effectively, why do people care? Who is my target audience and why should they care about this? And if they should care about it, itʼs because you think that you need to bring them along. How am I going to tell the story in such a way that itʼs going to move them, itʼs going to make them feel and make them want to act? And the next question is, what now? What are you going to ask them to do? It is either a call to action to the reader, or the U.N. has a plan, or this has been solved somewhere else, so we can do it here.

In 2017 you released your book, A Hope More Powerful Than the Sea: One Refugeeʼs Incredible Story of Love, Loss, and Survival, which tells the story of Doaa Al Zamel, a Syrian girl whose life was upended in 2011. Could you talk about her story and how you discovered it?

Going back to the statistics and when I was communicating about refugees every single year, the numbers were growing, and they werenʼt growing by a hundred — they were growing by the tens of thousands. And the Syrian refugee crisis was a really dramatic time, with people fleeing and crossing the Mediterranean Sea. People taking these desperate journeys know that they could lose their lives. I realized we have to tell individual stories. One day I read a story in the Agence FrancePresse about this young teenage girl whoʼd survived one of the worst shipwrecks: 500 people had died. When she was rescued, she had two little babies, and she had been on the water for four days and four nights. One of the little girls pulled through, and both of them survived and resettled to Sweden. So her story, every single chapter of her story, told the chapter of the entire Syrian refugee experience — the peace and the beauty of Syria before the war and then the horrors of the war and the refugee experience. What drives people to put their lives in the hands of smugglers to cross the Mediterranean Sea? The incredible resilience of the human spirit

allows them to survive.

Has your work with refugees changed your perspective on the world?

I think one of the things that working with refugees changed for me was valuing the security I have and how we take ourselves for granted at home. We all try to say, “We want to get out of here.” But the thing that people value so much is a sense of belonging. I just started questioning the fundamental needs of human beings and how privileged we are not to be living in a war zone or having to flee suddenly. We have the ability to be able to make choices. You think about Maslowʼs pyramid of human needs. I started really thinking about that when I thought about refugees, because most of what we were able to do for refugees was satisfy the survival part. But what I saw in all the refugees that I met is that they all wanted self-actualization, and if it wasnʼt for them, it was for their children. The story that I told that I think exemplifies this is a young boy I met in a refugee settlement in Lebanon. I always asked refugees, “What did you take when you fled from your home? What was the one thing that you took that you couldnʼt leave behind?” And he went into his tent and came back with this silk-covered piece of paper. He lifted off the silk and he held up this piece of paper, and it was his high school diploma. He said, “I took my high school diploma because my life depended on it. Without education, I am nothing.”

New Course Offerings for 2023–’24 Year Reflect New Hires

Alexa Stevens News Editor

The course catalog for the 2023–24 academic year features several new courses, pending approval from the Office of the Registrar. The offerings include new first-year seminars, Music Theory courses, and more across departments.

According to Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences

Michael Parkin, many new visiting professors and tenuretrack professors, alike, have been hired for the coming academic year.

“We’re delighted to welcome many new visiting and tenuretrack professors next year,” Parkin wrote in an email to the Review. “They will bring with them a number of exciting new courses for students to take.

These new hires have occured across departments and have influenced course offerings accordingly.

“It looks like there are about 100 new courses at this point with a few more to be added soon,” Parkin wrote in an email

to the Review. “The vast majority of these are brand-new courses, although there are a few that have been reactivated after not being offered for a few years.”

Music Theory courses, along with courses in other musicrelated departments, are already open to students in the College of Arts and Sciences. The growth of these departments stems from the One Oberlin report, which recommended an increased availability of music-related courses for students in the College.

In accordance with the report, in December of 2019, five new interdisciplinary programs emerged: Music and Cognition, Music and Popular Culture, Interdisciplinary Performance, Arts and Creative Technologies, and Arts Administration and Leadership.

The Oberlin Center for Convergence, known as StudiOC, has also been a site for interdisciplinary learning. As part of the catalog for the upcoming academic year, students now have the opportunity to enroll in a set of StudiOC paired courses

that connect the Writing and Communication and TIMARA departments.

College third-year Hazel Feldstein has registered to enroll in this course cluster. As a student looking to complete the Journalism Integrative Concentration, she is particularly looking forward to the potential applications this course cluster carries for audio journalism.

“As someone who wants to do stuff in audio storytelling, I didn’t really know where to start, so having it mixed with this communications course is exciting because it feels accessible,” Feldstein said.

New courses are being introduced in other departments as well. According to Chair of History Annemarie Sammartino, this can be attributed to the hiring of new professors.

“There’s a lot of hiring at the College last year — a lot of tenure-track hiring, more than there’s been in recent memory, Sammartino said. “My guess is that there probably will be a lot of new courses across the College.”

Within the History department,

for example, there are three new faculty members joining the staff next academic year — one of which is a tenure-track hire, while the other two are two-year visiting assistant professors.

“I will say that [Caroline Newhall] is the first new tenuretrack hire in over five years,” Sammartino said. “Unfortunately in the History department, we’ve lost a number of faculty over the last few years, so now we’re really starting the rebuilding process. …I would say every year when we have a new visiting assistant professor come, we get new courses in the curriculum. But this is opening up some new areas in some interesting ways.”

One new course, to be taught by Newhall, is a 400-level course titled “Slavery, Law, and Warfare

in North America.” According to Sammartino, the course’s content will be related to Newhall’s second book project.

Some courses, such as incoming Visiting Assistant Professor Victoria Broadus’s 200-level course on the history of Rio de Janeiro and 400-level course on jazz in the Americas, have not yet appeared in the course catalog.

“It just takes the Registrar’s office a little while,” Sammartino said. “So if any of these courses sound interesting and you don’t see them in the catalog yet, feel free to get in touch with me. I can put you in touch with the instructor, they can give you more information about the class. They will be in the catalog for, at the absolute latest, fall add-drop, but probably well before that.”

Correction

Photo courtesy of John Seyfried Fleming spoke with editors of the Review.

In “Oberlin Rock Wall Supports Thriving Club,” The Oberlin Review, April 7, 2023, Cecilia Owen is incorrectly named as vice president and Aidan Cowie as president of the Oberlin College Rock Wall. Owen is president while Cowie is vice president. Additionally, Owen’s quotes are falsely attributed to Cowie’s, and vice versa. The Review apologizes for these errors.

Friday, April 14

7 p.m.–10 p.m.: El Centro Volunteer Initiative Art Gala in the Carnegie Building Root Room

Donated art will be sold to support ECVI, a non-profit that supports the Latinx community of the greater Lorain County area. The organization works to help support members of the local community achieve citizenship, access resources, and more.

Saturday, April 15

11 a.m.–6 p.m.: Oberlin Culture

Fest in Tappan Square The Multicultural Resource Commons presents a celebration of student and community members’ cultures. The event is set to feature student performances, food trucks, and a bouncy house.

7:30 p.m.: Open Iftar: Ramadan Sunset Dinner in Moffett Auditorium

Sponsored by the Muslim Students Association, the MENA Program, Oberlin Shansi, the Politics department, and the

History department, this multifaith event is set to feature Afghan food and hot tea.

Tuesday, April 18

4:30 p.m.: “The Women of Iran Have Risen Up: Should You Care?” in King Building, room 106 Iranian-American Jewish journalist and writer Roya Hakakian will present a lecture titled “The Women of Iran Have Risen Up: Should You Care?” She has written for various publications including The New

York Times, The New York Review of Books, and The Atlantic.

Hakakian will also lead a creative writing workshop on Monday at 4:30 p.m. in King Building, room 123, titled “Riveting Tales: A Workshop on Non-Fiction Writing.”

Wednesday, April 19

4:30p.m.: Dr. Lady J Discusses the War on Drag in Dye Lecture Hall

Sponsored by the Assemblies Committee and the Drag Ball Committee, Cleveland-based drag

performer Dr. Lady J will discuss the current political climate surrounding drag.

7–9 p.m.: Healthy Relationships workshop in King Building, room 327

Hosted by PRSM as part of its Consent Month programming, this workshop will explore healthy and effective communication and boundary-setting.

City Council Opts-in to National Settlement With Pharmaceutical Distributors, Manufacturers

Gideon Reed Production Editor

The Oberlin City Council approved an ordinance on April 3 that will allow the City of Oberlin to receive financial compensation from a 2022 national settlement in relation to the opioid epidemic. Several corporations from the settlement that were accused of irresponsible practices which furthered the crisis in the United States will be paying at most $21 billion in total to states and subdivisions who opt in. All participating states and subdivisions are required to use at least 85 percent of the funds to abate or reduce the impacts of the opioid epidemic through approved strategies, which are outlined in the settlement. Approved strategies include the training of first responders to use substances approved by the Food and Drug Administration for reversing opioid overdoses, the funding of evidence-based prevention programs in schools, and the collection of data to measure the effectiveness of

Cole Mirman

Macron’s

Comments Trigger Backlash

While returning from an official visit to China, French President Emmanuel Macron said in an interview that Europe should avoid becoming “America’s followers” and getting caught up in a conflict between the U.S. and China over the sovereignty of Taiwan. Instead, Macron advocated for Europe to become a “third pole” in international affairs, distinct from both Washington, D.C. and Beijing.

Macron’s comments — published just as China conducted military exercises simulating attacks against Taiwan — were criticized by politicians in Taiwan, Europe, and the U.S. for being too accommodating of China. According to Reuters, officials within Macron’s own government have criticized his comments.

In France itself, however, Macron’s comments have been overshadowed by the ongoing mass protests against his pension reform. When Macron visited the Netherlands on April 12, protestors confronted him over both controversies.

Pentagon Intelligence Leaked

Several photos seeming to show top-secret U.S. military documents have been circulating online. It is unclear when the photos were taken or how they

these abatement strategies within the state.

Jon Clark, law director for the City of Oberlin, reminded the City Council of OneOhio, a previous settlement that Oberlin opted into in 2021 involving companies that produced and distributed opioids. These are distinct settlements and the differences between them were explained by Clark during the City Council meeting.

“Council may recall that, in 2021, an agreement titled OneOhio was authorized to settle a number of lawsuits brought by manufacturers of opioids,” Clark said. “Those funds are now being distributed. This new settlement is substantially the same as OneOhio, although it is separate. It involves two additional manufacturers, Teva and Allergen, as well as three distributors: CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart.”

Thousands of lawsuits have been filed against the corporations who aided in the production and distribution of opioids, beginning with the Santa Clara County Counsel’s

WORLD

first made their way onto the internet. Although they were posted on a Discord server as early as March 1, the leaked intelligence did not receive significant media attention until an April 5 story from The New York Times

The documents contain information that would constitute highly-classified military intelligence — much of it related to the war in Ukraine — such as the Pentagon’s estimates of Ukrainian and Russian casualties and assessments of how the war is going. The included information indicates that the U.S. has deeply infiltrated the Russian military and has been spying on many U.S. allies, including Israel, South Korea, and Ukraine.

The Pentagon acknowledged that the documents seemed to be genuine but noted that it was still assessing their authenticity, stressing that some details appeared to be doctored.

On April 13, a 21-year-old member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard named Jack Teixeira was arrested in connection to the leaked documents. He is due to have his initial court hearing on April 14.

100 Estimated Dead After Military Airstrike in Myanmar

On April 11, Myanmar’s military executed an airstrike against Pazigyi, a village in the Sagaing Region in the country’s

2014 lawsuit against Purdue Pharmaceuticals and other distributors.

The City of Oberlin filed a lawsuit in 2020 against Purdue Pharmaceuticals, a company that manufactured the drug and had declared bankruptcy in 2019. Linda Slocum, president of City Council at the time of the lawsuit, said that the community was financially damaged by the crisis and wanted to recoup the money that was spent on the prevention of overdoses by first responders and on providing responders with medications used to reverse opioid overdoses.

“The epidemic has a price tag on communities,” Slocum said in an interview with the Medina Gazette. “We want to make sure we have our fair share for what it has cost our local communities.”

Ohio was one of the first states to file against pharmaceutical companies, doing so in 2017. Governor Mike DeWine, who was attorney general at the time, alleged that the corporations were irresponsibly flooding Ohio’s market with opioids.

“We believe the evidence will

northwest. Per the Associated Press, the attack is likely one of the deadliest so far in Myanmar’s ongoing civil war.

Myanmar’s military junta, which has been in power since the military coup in 2021, is waging war against the country’s many long-running insurgencies. The junta took responsibility for the airstrike, which was carried out because the village was conducting a ceremony opening an office for a local anti-coup militia.

At the time of the airstrike, the village was thronged with people attending the ceremony, which coincided with New Year celebrations. Witnesses reported that a fighter jet bombed the office and the crowd outside, killing dozens. A helicopter returned soon afterward and opened fire, killing still more. The United Nations strongly condemned the attack.

Zelenskyy Condemns Beheading Video

A video appearing to show Russian forces beheading a Ukrainian soldier with a knife recently surfaced on social media. Its authenticity has not been confirmed, but it sparked outrage in Ukraine, including a condemnation from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. In a video address Zelenskyy gave, April 12, he described the killing as part of a pattern and urged world leaders to act.

show that these companies ignored their duties as drug distributors to ensure that opioids were not being diverted for improper use,” DeWine said. “They knew the amount of opioids allowed to flow into Ohio far exceeded what could be consumed for medicallynecessary purposes, but they did nothing to stop it. And much like the drug manufacturers who continue to fail to do the right thing, these distributors are doing precious little to take responsibility for their actions and help pay for the damage they have caused.”

In 2021, a $26 billion national settlement was reached with the three largest opioid distributors — McKesson, Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen — and the manufacturer Janssen Pharmaceuticals, a subsidiary company of Johnson & Johnson. In Ohio, the payments began the following year and local governments were given over $8.6 million to combat the spread of the opioid epidemic. Oberlin received $4,522.47 in the first year of OneOhio settlement

payments. The 2022 settlement added three pharmaceutical chains — CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart — and two producers — Allergan and Teva — and totaled $21 billion. Both of these settlements require states and local governments to opt in if they wish to receive funding. Despite the payments being made to compensate for the damage caused by the opioid epidemic, none of the corporations themselves are not required by either settlement to acknowledge legal wrongdoing on their part.

“While the companies continue to strongly dispute the allegations made against them, they believe that the implementation of this settlement is a key milestone toward achieving broad resolution of governmental opioid claims and delivering meaningful relief to communities across the United States that have been impacted by the opioid epidemic,” a 2022 statement by AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health, and McKesson read.

Security Report

Thursday, April 6, 2023

An officer on patrol found the exterior restrooms by Bailey Field propped open, with one restroom sign missing and the other hanging from the wall.

Student reported the theft of several bags of hockey equipment from Hales Gymnasium.

Saturday, April 8, 2023

Officers and Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the first floor of Langston Hall.

Officers and Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm on the third floor of Fairchild House.

Sunday, April 9, 2023

Officers on patrol located vandalism in the construction conference room at Hales Gymnasium.

Officers responded to a noise complaint at a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit.

An officer on patrol observed an ambulance on the north side of Kahn Hall. An intoxicated student was being transported to Mercy Health - Allen Hospital.

Tuesday, April 11, 2023

Staff reported that a window on the west side of Hales Gym was kicked in.

Student reported the theft of their bicycle from a bike rack outside Langston Hall.

Wednesday, April 12, 2023

Officers and Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in Azariah’s Café at Mudd Center.

Student reported two suspicious males under a vehicle on Forest Street. Information was given to the Oberlin Police Department.

OPINIONS

College Financial Aid Policies Deprive OSCA Members of Full Benefits

Emma Benardete Editor-in-Chief

After three semesters of being on a meal plan with Campus Dining Services, I made the decision to start dining in Keep Cottage, a part of the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, this spring. During my time as an OSCA member, I have heard quite a few critiques of the organization. Some are smaller, mostly harmless misconceptions, like the idea that our food is “sad” and we eat nothing but beans and rice. Others are significantly more substantial: many people have pointed out a lack of economic and racial diversity in OSCA.

Oberlin’s dining co-ops, founded in 1950 with the opening of Pyle Inn, were built upon principles of equity and social justice. OSCA as we know it was founded in 1962, when the first two co-ops, Pyle and Grey Gables, merged together. As OSCA’s website reads, “Throughout the years OSCA has engaged in social justice issues, taken stances on fair labor practices in agriculture, and created policies to reduce our environmental impact, as well as participating in boycotts and working to create partnerships with other like-minded organizations nationally and internationally.” Details of campus protests are often distributed through the OSCA network, and members are required to attend a workshop at a semesterly symposium on privilege and oppression. Given the history and ethos of OSCA, the lack of diversity in our membership is disheartening.

While OSCA must, of course, take responsibility for our lack of diversity and consider ways we can work to mitigate it, there are other important factors to recognize that are largely outside of the association’s control and contribute to the phenomenon, especially regarding the lack of class diversity. The College’s OSCA financial aid policy in particular has contributed to this lack of class diversity. In an effort to address facts presented in the One Oberlin Report, published in May 2019, the College adopted a policy

Visitors Should Treat Ohio Natural Beauty, History With Respect

Sionainn Rudek

of decreasing need-based financial aid for OSCA members at a level that fundamentally erases any cost-savings. For example, this semester, the most comprehensive meal plan, the GoYeo plan, costs $4,633, and an OSCA dining membership costs $2,575. A student on need-based aid who is dining in OSCA this semester therefore loses $2,058 of their tuition aid.

According to a statement released by the College, OSCA’s current rent contract, negotiated for a five-year term in 2020, stipulates that OSCA will pay a per-student fee to the College of 42 percent of the Gold Dining Plan for dining members and 89 percent of the housing fee for housing members.

The statement notes that the fees will “meet the College’s net revenue expectations for each student attending Oberlin,” and that the new contract “equalizes the revenue from room and board fees the College earns from all of its students, regardless of whether they belong to [a] co-op.” In theory, then, the College’s budget should no longer be negatively impacted when its only source of replacement revenue from a given OSCA member is the exemption that OSCA pays for them. Students on need-based aid are arguably paying twice for the right not to participate in College-owned housing and dining: once with their OSCA fee, part of which goes toward the exemption and again with the cut to their financial aid. It is a cruel irony that, for a student paying full tuition like myself, the $2,058 per semester that I am saving by dining in OSCA is far less significant than it would be for a low-income student, yet I am the one that gets to reap the benefit.

The College’s justification for decreasing aid dollar for dollar seems to be that, as dining or housing cost decreases, financial need decreases. However, that fails to factor in the work that members are expected to contribute to their co-ops. As part of our commitment to accessibility, OSCA has a “time aid” policy, allowing students who work campus jobs to subtract from the usual five-hour weekly commit-

See OSCA, page 7

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Before I came to Oberlin for college, my mother made a point to remind me of our deep roots in the state of Ohio. She was born in Hillsboro, a small town in the southern region of the state. Her maternal grandfather was the city mayor, and I remember her telling stories about him going out every Saturday to collect coins from the parking meters. I presume it must have been one of his civil duties as the elected official, though it still makes me smile to think about. Her relatives on her father’s side were farmers; they cut off chicken heads and lived in an old farmhouse. These are the stories I associated with Ohio as a child growing up out of state, long before setting foot in Oberlin as a wide-eyed first-year navigating communal living and introductory film classes.

I remember telling my high school friends in Pennsylvania about my big move to Ohio and being met with grimaces and offhand corn references. I have noticed a tendency for outsiders, myself included, to view Ohio with a sense of disdain, lamenting about the flatness and never-ending expanses of farmland, the politics and the rural lifestyle, the weather and ecological monotony. I am writing to ask students from other regions, as guests in this landscape, to shift toward a more nuanced and less judgemental mindset that defies the narrative outsiders have created about Ohio. As a white, transmasculine outdoor enthusiast who has benefited from settler colonialism, white privilege, and male-passing privilege, I acknowledge that my experience of Ohio can and does greatly differ from others’ experiences. While I carry certain privileges and biases that shape my experience of Ohio’s

ecology, I hope to approach this topic with as much grace and expansiveness as I can.

The name “Ohio” comes from the Iroquois word “O-Y-O,” translating to “the great river,” in reference to the Ohio river.

Originally home to Native peoples predominantly belonging to eight Indigenous nations — the Chippewa, Ottawa, Delaware, Iroquois, Miamis, Mingo, Shawness, and Wyandots — Ohio is home to many culturally significant sites including earthworks such as Serpent Mound, Fort Ancient Earthworks, and Newark Earthworks, Hopewell burial mounds, and Miamisburg Mound. Today, the Cleveland American Indian Movement represents a major Indigenous activist group in Northeast Ohio that has worked to remove Native names and logos from schools statewide and promote Indigenous Peoples’ Day celebrations. In 2017, the City of Oberlin abolished Columbus Day and became the first city in Ohio to celebrate Indigenous Peoples’ Day as a city-wide holiday.

According to Thomas Fairchild Sherman, author of A Place on the Glacial Till, before settler colonialist powers crossed the Appalachian Mountains and entered into what is now referred to as southern Ohio from Virginia and into northern Ohio from New England, the land nurtured a sea of old-growth forest. Many Native peoples had been killed by European diseases by this point in time, and those who survived were harmed and displaced by the ecological, social, and political turmoil of Spanish, French, and English settlement. By the early 1800s, settlers from New England had begun to move into the woodland of Lorain County with the intention of developing farmland. Nearly half of the forests were cut down in less than 50 years, and

by 1940, a mere 7 percent of the state maintained the original forest ecology.

Ohio has come to be known for being made up of farmland and cornfields, but this was not always the case, and fortunately, it is increasingly not the case. Today, about 30 percent of Ohio’s land area is forested again, though many of those forests are relatively young, restored lands. While national and state parks have their own slew of political and ecological issues, Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Mohican State Park, and Findley State Park, located not too far from Oberlin, are all beautiful spaces within the borders of Ohio that too often go unnoticed and unappreciated for their ecological splendor.

The geology of this area is another relatively unknown asset of Ohio. Sherman notes that many of the most spectacular fish fossils found globally originated from the Devonian shale found in the Black River and Rocky River. These are both major water bodies just east of the Vermilion River, which began its own watery march after the continental glacier retreated from northern Ohio. For over two millennia, people planted crops and lived along the riverside, and the Vermilion River came to be utilized as a transportation route between Lake Erie and various villages in southern Ohio. The rock found in this area is striking in and of itself as well, reflecting the constant geologic change of Ohio. Popular geological landmarks include Hocking Hills State Park, Nelson-Kennedy Ledges State Park, and Rockbridge State Nature Preserve.

I ask that visitors of this place, like myself, think and speak about Ohio with intention and recognize the beauty around us. But be careful; once you open your mind to Ohio, it might steal your heart.

NATO Expansion to Shift Balance of International Relations on World Stage

Gautami

Kunde

Russian President Vladimir Putin’s mission to restore lost glory poses a serious security threat in Eastern Europe and beyond. In May 2022, just months after Russia invaded Ukraine, Sweden and Finland moved to join NATO. If Putin truly does see himself taking up some historic mission of expansion, he would move beyond the current borders of Ukraine. Acceptance into the military alliance would end the two countries’ diplomatic position as non-aligned nations but is vital for European security in the foreseeable future.

Sweden and Finland have played a role on the world stage as neutral countries. In the wake of the Second World War, the United States and the Soviet Union emerged as great powers entangled in the Cold War. As a country that borders Russia, Finland was allowed to stay out of the Soviet fold and exist as a democracy as long as it remained neutral. The last thing Russia

wanted was NATO members on its borders. When the Soviet Union fell, Finland developed a close relationship with NATO as an ally, but not a member.

Today, with the threat of an aggressive Russia bringing troops westward, it was a logical step for Finland to join NATO fully. On April 4, Finland became an official member of NATO, doubling the border NATO has with Russia.

Finland intended to join “hand in hand” with Sweden, but Sweden’s entry has been stalled. Historically, Sweden has used its position as a non-aligned nation to take paths of action on the world stage that other nations could not consider due to their alliances. Sweden was the first Western nation to support African liberation movements, helping former Portuguese colonies in Africa attain independence. In the long term, joining NATO could compromise Sweden’s ability to take an independent path in foreign relations. Admittance into NATO is con-

sensus-based, which means that Sweden will need the consent of every NATO member to join. Turkey and Hungary are the two NATO members preventing Sweden’s ratification. Sweden has a history of taking Kurdish refugees, particularly political refugees. Turkey and Sweden have different definitions of Kurdish terrorists, leading Turkey to claim that Sweden has given refuge to terrorists and demanded their extradition. Sweden does not classify the group these Kurdish people belong to as a terrorist organization, and refuses to extradite these members. Sweden’s actions are characteristic of its foreign policy to date as a non-aligned nation. There is an African proverb, “When elephants fight, it is the grass that suffers.” In a world order characterized by great power conflicts, Sweden’s independence allowed them to pay attention to the grass. The Kurdish people are considered one of the largest ethnic populations

See Russian, page 7

Proposed House Bills Threaten Public Education Office of Spirituality and Dialogue New Approach to Religious Life Inadequate

Ohio public education is under threat. Public education is one of the hallmarks of democracy, and it ensures all citizens have the opportunity to learn and to build stable lives. Through many legislative maneuvers, our state legislators aim to move public education and our tax dollars into the hands of private and religious schools. This will especially affect children from hardworking rural communities and lower-income families. Here is a sampling of the legislative bills now being considered:

Elliot Diaz

One skill I have gained from a liberal arts education is the ability to identify generalizations that obscure more complex realities.

On March 3, The Oberlin Review published an article about the changes to the newly-renamed Office of Spirituality and Dialogue (“Office of Spirituality and Dialogue Implements Changes to Religious Life in Oberlin,” The Oberlin Review, March 3, 2023).

I have been involved in religious life at Oberlin for all of my time here, yet I was shocked by these changes — and I was not the only one. I was therefore troubled by the presence of phrases throughout the article such as “promoting student voices” or “studentcentric.” If my classmate were to use such general statements in a seminar, I would immediately ask: “Which students?” I would like to state for the record that the students referred to in the article certainly did not include me. After asking around my social circle, I troublingly couldn’t find anyone I know who it did include. It is concerning that my peers who have been consistently and publicly active in politically progressive Jewish religious life and JudeoIslamic interfaith work at Oberlin — some, like me, for the last four years — were not contacted nor included in whatever formal or informal evaluation process may have occurred.

This structural reorganization of the OSD without any prior public notification of evaluation, a formal committee, or clarification of which students were consulted and when is highly unusual in the context of my knowledge of the Office’s recent history. As a history senior project, I am writing a short history of Jewish student life at Oberlin, including its relationship with the OSD. I would like to make a comparison between the present reorganization of the OSD and what was arguably a smaller reorganization: former President Nancy Dye’s 1995 Ad Hoc Committee on the Jewish Chaplaincy. According to archival records, President Dye created this committee to study and give recommendations regarding the Jewish chaplain position. This committee, composed of publicly-named individuals, held “22 meetings with groups and individuals,” “invited and received a good deal of mail” from current students and alumni, and submitted “a lengthy and detailed report” of its findings to President Dye. This report and committee illustrate that Oberlin had formal, public channels of evaluation and institutional recommendations for the religious life in the College. Current students and alumni deserve that same transparency and accountability.

The Review article states that “OSD has been moving away

from community religious leadership and chaplains to focus on highlighting student voices and religious perspectives.” OSD, during my time at Oberlin, never aided in the community religious leadership I was involved in. For instance, it did not help when the Oberlin College Hillel board was informed right before reading period in the spring semester of 2022 that we would have to move out of our room, Wilder 216. I wish I could provide a more personal perspective of the Office before the changes occurred. However, considering I took two academic incompletes in spring 2022 to preserve and care for Jewish life on campus, my experience is that the OSD has been woefully unengaged with the needs of Jewish students for a long time. Its change of name seems to affirm that it does not value specific religious needs.

There used to be a student-centered, multifaith space on campus: Kosher Halal Co-op. Despite its current inactive status, KHC remains extremely important to me. Its shutdown felt to me like the College did not support or value what truly was a studentcentered, student-run community.

Frankly, Cleveland Hillel Foundation staff and Oberlin alumni have been the source of my religious support for the last four years. When I encountered a lack of kosher-for-Passover meals in DeCafé last spring while Talcott Hall was closed, Oberlin College Hillel made sure I had something to eat. This year, OSD was able to find funding to cover the cost of a Judeo-Islamic interfaith kosher-for-Passover and Halal Iftar meal that I hosted at my home Sunday, April 9. I hope I provided a space for Muslim students on campus to break their fasts with home-cooked food in a pop-up interfaith community — similar to the home I found as a first-year within KHC. I am very appreciative of OSD’s help in this area and have hope that this may be the beginning of positive change. But without recognition that religious students often require specific resources and have needs unable to be fulfilled by a universalist approach, real change cannot occur.

Considering that Jewish students are estimated to constitute about 20 to 30 percent of Oberlin’s student body and Jewish religious groups are some of the most active religious groups on campus,

I am puzzled that there is no pluralistic individual with advanced knowledge of Jewish practice who has been hired by OSD to support such a large, active, and diverse community. I have been a leader of that “student-centric” and “student-led” community, and without KHC and a full-time Hillel rabbi, it has been an increasingly lonely and burdensome title to bear.

Senate Bill 1 and House Bill 12 strip the State Board of Education of its powers and transfer them to a new department controlled by the governor and the Senate.

Senate Bill 11 and House Bill 11 propose a universal voucher program that will take state funding from public schools and give the funding to non-chartered, non-public schools and home schools.

House Bill 1 proposes a flat income tax and ends graduated taxes according to income and the rollback of local property

taxes, making it more difficult for communities to fund public education, libraries, and local government.

The League of Women Voters of the Oberlin Area, a nonpartisan organization that studies public issues, encourages you to contact your legislators and urge them to support public education and oppose these bills.

On behalf of the Board of the League of Women Voters of the Oberlin Area,

Deb Cocco

Oberlin’s School Spirit Dependent on Dissent

Cecily Miles Columnist

A previous Review article makes reference to Oberlin students’ “knowledge and understanding of our institution’s imperfections” as a complicating factor — and even a hindrance — to their feelings of school spirit (“Oberlin School Spirit Complicated by Communal Faults, Uplifted by Intentional Celebration of Success,” The Oberlin Review, March 10, 2023). I, respectfully, disagree.

My disagreement does not pertain to the entirety of the article. In fact, I agree with its primary argument in favor of institutional pride. I agree that the seemingly overwhelmingly negative attitude of Oberlin’s student body should not overshadow our acknowledgement and celebration of the school’s achievements, and I agree, too, that our awareness of the institution’s faults should not prevent us from appreciating its progressive spirit.

But the article seems to posit that students’ critiques of the College and their feelings of pride are inherently contradictory. While it concedes that the two might exist simultaneously, the suggestion is still that our negativity takes away from the fervor of whatever level of school spirit we might have otherwise had.

I do not think that these qualities are mutually exclusive. I see our refusal to ignore our institution’s faults as integral to the very progressivism that the Editorial Board asserts we should be celebrating. Our progressive spirit finds its base in an impulse and desire for social change, and critique — of our institution or otherwise — is critical to its enactment.

How can we improve our institution or change the world if we

don’t identify areas, such as Oberlin’s treatment of its employees or its misguided fiscal ventures, in which such change should take place? And if a student’s frequent engagement in critique and protest of the College’s policies is for the purpose of bettering their institution, how can it be said to detract from their school spirit?

As an Opinions columnist, I frequently level my own criticisms against the College. I don’t write negative articles because I lack school spirit; I do so because I care about the institution that I chose to be my home for four years.

One of the articleʼs proposals for how we might improve our school spirit was to remember the reasons why we chose to attend Oberlin in the first place, “whether we came [here] because of its progressive spirit, impressive music, study abroad opportunities or international reputation.” Oberlin’s uniquely progressive spirit — embodied by, among other things, its history of student activism and faculty engagement from its inception — is one of the primary reasons I chose the institution and one of the characteristics by which I feel that Oberlin is distinguished from other schools.

For example, when faculty and students gathered earlier this academic year to protest amendments to the bylaws that previously gave faculty their unique position of governance over the institution, they did so to protect the College from a policy that was abhorrent to Oberlin’s history and that would eventually be implemented by a branch — the Board of Trustees — extrinsic to its campus culture. I hope to — and am inspired by other students’ attempts to — hold the school accountable to the progressive ideals of social justice and academic exploration that drew me here.

I consider our frequent critiques — and, yes, negativity — to be a manifestation of our unique school character and a celebration of its own kind: weird, yes, and certainly overzealous at times, but can’t the same be said of the pep rallies and relentless merchandising that take place at the other institutions that the Editorial Board suggests we should mimic — and which do take place, if to a lesser extent, on our own campus as well?

Personally, I would like to opt out of the “broadly supportive spirit” that the Editorial Board identifies in other student bodies “toward the efforts and investments of their institution.” This is not because I think that the efforts and investments made by Oberlin College are so horrible as to preclude my support for the institution itself. While Oberlin’s recent indiscretions, such as the Gibson’s trial or the low wages paid to its employees, might be especially problematic, I do not believe that Oberlin is unique in its flaws.

I sincerely doubt that any institution is perfect, and I suspect that “broad” support, without qualms or critique, for the acts of any imperfect institution might be better characterized as blind.

I agree with the Editorial Board that students should feel pride for their institution where it is due, and I appreciate its concession that we might do so at the same time as we criticize Oberlin’s faults. I encourage Oberlin students, however, to see their criticisms not as a detractor from our support for the College but as an expression of support in and of itself. I see no better way to express my pride in my institution than by seeking to advance its best qualities through both affirmation and dissent.

Students’ criticisms of the College indicate an enduring school spirit.

Photo by Erin Koo, Photo Editor

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor

The Office of Spirituality and Dialogue.

Waning of Liberal Arts Indicative of Shifts in Higher Education

Sahil Novetzke Columnist

On April 2, The New York Times published an opinion piece by Bret C. Devereaux, a teaching assistant professor at North Carolina State University, titled “Colleges Should Be More Than Just Vocational Schools.” The piece covers the ongoing efforts made by university administrators and politicians across the political spectrum to defund the humanities, addresses the perception that liberal arts as a discipline is only made accessible to the privileged few, and argues for the necessity of liberal arts curricula and values in all educational contexts.

The debate about the future of liberal arts education is a contentious and nuanced one, encompassing issues such as accessibility, economic disparity, elitism, classism, and ideological conflict. The data is clear — liberal arts programs are being cut from both public and private institutions nationwide, and an increasing number of students are seeking careers at vocational schools and in STEM fields, resulting in low enrollment rates in many departments within the arts and humanities.

Devereaux’s argument within this debate hinges on the idea that a liberal arts education produces “good” citizens who are “better equipped to lead and participate in a democratic society.” He also counters the myth that a liberal arts education is not financially viable, providing data that shows a lower unemployment rate for history majors than for economics, business, and communications majors. Art history and philosophy majors also have relatively high mean incomes across the country, with robust projected job growth.

Still, students entering higher education, bearing their futures in mind, are opting for vocational and STEM schools at rising rates, and funding for the liberal arts is decreasing in response. According to an article published in Insider, Marymount University, a private Catholic institution in Virginia, eliminated nine of its major offerings, including English, art, and sociology. Many schools around the country have done the same, eliminating some of the most popular liberal arts majors.

It isn’t just schools that are aligning with the anti-liberal arts mentality. Politicians and community leaders alike are urging students to choose vocational schools over the liberal arts. In 2014, then-president Barack Obama said, “Folks can make a lot more, potentially, with skilled manufacturing or the trades than they might with an art history degree.” Even key liberal political figures have been advocating for the pursuit of a vocational education over a liberal arts one.

Despite the many benefits of the liberal arts educational model, there are a few undeniable pitfalls. According to The Economics Review, “a vocational education is more likely to offer immediate guarantees than a liberal one.” Vocational education requires less training and offers more immediate results because students are trained extensively in one particular field. By contrast, liberal arts students graduate from college as generalists in their designated

field, an old model of education based on the assumption that students in higher education are preparing for post-graduate degrees.

Still, critiques that the liberal arts system is classist are valid. Vocational education is much cheaper than an education in the liberal arts, and the admissions process is much less rigorous. In a data comparison of tuition for vocational schools and colleges from Research.com, the average cost of private not-for-profit and public four-year colleges was about twice as much as the average cost of private not-for-profit and public two-year trade schools.

Most liberal arts college applications ask students to respond to several essay questions and several short-answer questions on top of the regular application requirements such as testing and high school credentials. For many, especially those whose literacy and high school careers have been deeply affected by their economic status, applying to liberal arts programs is simply not feasible.

Devereaux acknowledges this, but he seems to believe that the liberal arts have since shifted and have become accessible to all. This is not the case. For students who need money immediately after completing school, liberal arts degrees are often not viable.

According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the median annual salary for a liberal arts major was $50,000 in 2019, compared to $61,640 for technical and trade school graduates in 2021. The return on investment for liberal arts students is significantly higher than for non-liberal arts college attendees, but the immediate returns of the latter may outweigh those of former for people who do not enter into higher education with economic privilege.

The position against the liberal arts is not universal. The South China Morning Post produced an opinion piece supporting the integration of liberal arts values and curricula into Hong Kong STEM schools in order to allow students to pursue “soft skills” while still aligning with Hong Kong’s STEM-focused curricula. The integration of liberal arts into STEM, vocational, and non-liberal arts curricula is an important step in turning students into well-rounded, creative, unique citizens with specializations in certain fields. This idea is important to both educational models.

Ultimately, the shift in higher-education liberal arts schools to a more accessible and less elitist model must first come with a dramatic alteration of the class system in the United States. This is not an educational problem, but an economic one. The conservative suggestion that inequality can be solved by getting rid of liberal arts programs, thereby reducing elitism, will only exacerbate class differences. Access to liberal arts curricula should not be contingent solely on removing elitism and expanding the curricula of both liberal arts and non-liberal arts schools but should rely heavily on targeting wealth disparity at the legal and state level. Still, it’s naive to think that the issues articulated in Devereaux’s article will simply dissipate without first addressing economic stratification in the United States.

OSCA Financial Benefits Limited by College Policies

ment of contributions to dining operations. Policies vary between co-ops, with Keep’s time aid policy stating that for every five hours worked, a, co-op member is exempt from one cook shift, and every additional three hours of work qualify for an additional hour of time aid, but everyone in the co-op is expected to work one crew shift per week. Thus, each member is contributing labor to the co-op which, for a full-pay student, would be offset by a lower dining cost, but for students on need-based aid is entirely uncompensated. Additionally, many co-op positions require a significant time commitment, meaning students who have to take timeaid are not able to take advantage

of everything their co-op has to offer, an issue which would be mitigated if everyone in OSCA, regardless of financial aid status, was able to benefit from the decreased cost. Keeping this in mind, it makes a lot of sense that lower-income students would be far less likely to join OSCA.

It’s also worth noting that, while for some people, like me, joining OSCA is simply a fun way to get involved in a campus community. The benefits of co-op dining for other members are far more important. One of the core tenets of OSCA is accessibility, and we have policies in place to make our programs as accessible as possible. We take dietary restrictions and cross-contact incredibly seriously, and we have numerous precau-

tions in place to keep allergens separate. Clarity Dining Hall, the designated allergy-friendly spot on campus, is free of only the top allergens and is only open during very specific hours of the day (11 a.m. until 2 p.m. and then 5 p.m. until 8 p.m.). Co-ops avoid cross contact of all ingredients, accommodate any food sensitivities or allergies that members note, and use a save-plate system which allows members to ensure a plate will be available for them at any hour of the day. The College’s financial aid policies surrounding OSCA not only dissuade low-income students from enjoying the OSCA experience, they also potentially deprive students of a safe and accessible food source on campus.

Russian Invasion Prompts Involvement of Historically Neutral Nations

without a homeland, and many of the nations they are spread across — including Iran, Iraq, Turkey, and Syria — are unstable and embroiled in conflict. Many are postcolonial nations that suffer from instability due to imperialism and conflicts between great powers. Sweden’s foreign policy to date is admirable and necessary on the world stage, but with the threat of Russia, European security has to take precedence for the foreseeable future.

I met with Eve Sandberg, professor of Politics, to ask her what she thinks of the recent expansion of NATO. She believes that the expansion of NATO is vital

for the security of Finland and Sweden.

“Russia does not observe international norms of sovereignty and neutrality, so Finland is wise to join NATO,” Sandberg said. “NATO should allow Finland to join, even though Putin will use it to rail against the West.”

She also noted that Sweden would be a stronger addition to the alliance.

“Sweden would be a much stronger addition; they have a huge armaments industry,” Sandberg said. “To have [Sweden] committed to directly sell to NATO countries would be a good thing, as the U.S. has low levels of munitions at this point.”

In light of the Russian invasion

EDITORIAL COMIC

Molly Chapin Staff Illustrator

of Ukraine, an expanded NATO is vital for European security, but it may come at a cost. The age of neutral countries seems to be coming to an end. Finland has become a NATO member, and Sweden is in the process of joining. Even Switzerland is forming a stronger defense relationship with NATO, as the Swiss defense minister recently joined a NATO meeting. Both countries will see changes in their foreign policy, as all of Europe probably will in light of the invasion. European countries seem to be prioritizing security and defense, and only time can tell what implications this will have on the diplomacy of traditionally neutral countries.

Continued from page 5

Continued from page 5

Dining Options Provide Distinct Student Experiences

Eloise Rich This Week Editor

For some students, the vast array of food options offered at dining halls such as Stevenson or Clarity are adequate. But others seek creative freedom in what they cook and eat by opting to have a reduced meal plan or to join one of the five dining co-ops.

Considering that Oberlin requires students to be on some form of meal plan throughout their enrollment, whether the provider is AVI Fresh or Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, it’s imperative for AVI and OSCA to consider student voices.

College second-year Bry Woodard acts as a link between students and AVI. As the Housing and Dining Chair for Student Senate, she meets with AVI staff weekly and takes note of student and staff opinions on operations and food offerings.

“It’s important that we have that open relationship with [AVI] and that they’re willing to put in the steps and believe the same [as students],” Woodard said. “They’re not just coming in and completing the nine to five, but they actually want us to be happy with the options.”

Woodard enjoys the food from Stevenson — especially the salmon — but has received an abundance of student feedback pointing to the lack of options that dining halls like Stevenson offer, particularly for those with dietary restrictions.

“A lot of [student] feedback is about not liking the options, and some of it is hours and accessibility,” Woodard said. “For example, there aren’t a lot of vegan and vegetarian options in spots like DeCafé and [Rathskeller], so we’re working on trying to figure out those quicker options so people with any restrictions can find food.”

For vegetarian students like College third-year Sahib Kaur, many dining spots on campus often provide them with only a handful of options. For some students, this lack of selection isn’t inherently bad, just something they have to adapt to. At Aza-

riah’s Café, Kaur tends to get a latte and avocado toast. At Umami, it’s the tofu bowl. At DeCafé, she selects from the arrangement of boxed salads.

“I think if I was vegan, it would be a lot harder,” Kaur said. “I’m not super picky, so that helps, but it is hard because sometimes it gets tiring eating a lot of similar or [the] same foods every day.

I spend a lot of time between Wilder [Hall] and Azzie’s, and sometimes DeCafé or Umami don’t really have vegetarian options, so I sometimes have to work pretty hard to make sure I’ve got varied diets.”

Like many students, Woodard and Kaur have busy schedules. Whether they are involved in athletics or are members of a variety of organizations, busy students sometimes do not have time to sit down to eat at a traditional dining hall like Stevenson, a critique Woodard often receives from the student body through Senate forms.

One way in which some students respond to this challenge is by cooking independently.

Oberlin’s reduced meal plans facilitate this for students, as does the availability of ingredients at DeCafé, although the selection is somewhat limited. One student, College fourth-year Abhisri Nath, prefers to prepare meals for herself at her apartment in Firelands due to the convenience of cooking from home and her nutritional needs.

“I do frequent Stevie the most in terms of College food, but even when it comes to the food in Stevie, on certain days, the spread according to my nutrient needs is not enough,” Nath said.

“Sometimes, in terms of carbohydrates, I only see different forms of potatoes — sometimes it’s fries, sometimes they’re roasted — and I just don’t think that’s enough for me. I also like to eat a lot of leafy vegetables, and I don’t get that often at Stevie. I really appreciate the food on those days, but other than that, it just doesn’t suit my dietary needs. Also, the way I season stuff is according to me.”

For Nath, one of her favorite things to make is a chicken curry

characterized by creative improvisation of ingredients that she’d never find at Stevenson.

“You’re supposed to have it with a flatbread, something like a roti, but if I’m too lazy to roll that out, I go to DeCafé and use my Flex [Points] to buy tortillas or something like that,” Nath said.

Not only is utilizing DeCafé in such a way convenient, it is also cost-efficient. Nath finds it difficult to get groceries in Oberlin at a reasonable price, especially given that she doesn’t have a car. The nearest option she can walk to is IGA, which is notoriously more expensive than farther stores like Walmart and the new ALDI.

Second-year Maya Angles, a member of OSCA who spent this past year living and dining in Keep Cottage and started as a head cook this past semester, significantly values the ability to utilize co-op ingredients to cook for themselves outside of dining times.

“On AVI, it was really miserable trying to scrounge up my own pots, and then I had to buy

all of the ingredients I needed, and I’d always end up with extra of something — I still have a bag of flour from when I was on AVI that I just haven’t used since,” Angles said. “In co-ops, for personal cooking, you can tap into a larger resource and not feel wasteful.”

One of the reasons Angles joined OSCA after their first year was for their health.

“I really disliked campus dining services when I was a [firstyear] — it gave me a lot of [gastrointestinal] grief,” Angles said. “One of the big changes is choice, whether it’s choice of the time you eat or of what specifically you’re eating. In terms of choice, OSCA is quite limited, admittedly, but I actually find that helpful because I do well with very set meal times, which OSCA has. I thought the lack of food variety was going to be a difficulty for me in the beginning, but I think it actually makes me somewhat happier because I’m sharing the same experience of eating the same thing as the people around me. So, there’s a lot of choices at Stevie but the choices are objectively not great.”

Some of Angles’ favorite things to eat in Keep are a bulgogi-style tofu crumble, a range of chickpea dishes prepared in different ways, and even lentils.

“Cooking is a really fulfilling part of my life because I get to express a lot of creativity,” Angles said. “There is definitely a barrier in co-ops for some people, especially with timing and cancellations, because some people really don’t like having to go to a different co-op to eat a meal, because you don’t necessarily know what they’re serving because you can’t get their menu in advance.”

Perhaps AVI and OSCA aren’t as different as many Oberlin students may perceive them to be. Everyone craves input as to what they eat and when, and perhaps neither option provides a perfect solution. Still, it seems students find ways to make whichever meal plan they are on work best for them.

A group gathers around a table to eat in Clarity Dining Hall.

Photo by Erin Koo, Photo Editor

The Review is hosting its second annual art contest! All forms of visual art are accepted, from paintings and comics, to sculpture and pottery, to photography. We will feature the winning piece, anonymously selected by staff, in the This Week section, accompanied by a brief artist interview.

Students share a golden hour meal at Stevenson.

Photo by Erin Koo, Photo Editor

Two types of congee were served at Keep. Photo courtesy of Eloise Rich

The other week, Stevenson offered French onion soup and herbed potatoes.

Photo courtesy of Molly Chapin

ARTS & CULTURE

Stonewallin’ Blends Fantasy, Comedy in Examination of Contemporary Issues

Lucy Curtis Staff Writer

In the mainstage theater production Stonewallin’, mountains engulf the audience. The stage consists of nothing but a couple pedestals, and the theater is framed by screens depicting smokey purple hills: an artistic yet realistic rendition of the landscape.

The first few moments of the play feel gravely serious — dim lighting, the cast members silent as they step up to the pedestals. The closest platform is mere inches from audience members, blurring the line between actor and audience. The actors themselves — rather than crew members — push a gravelike monument out on the stage. It soon became apparent that this was to be the main prop.

However, those first few weighted moments didn’t set the tone for the rest of the play. Very quickly, the production takes a humorous turn. The first scene is funny, both in the actors’ performances and dialogue. Arguably, the entire show is a comedy. Humor is threaded throughout and executed well. There are some purely lighthearted moments, such as an actor holding and pointing to a pear when talking about the city of Paris. Other moments are more deadpan; a grim sort of sarcasm in the face of ignorance, or even prejudice. However, the play never seems to make too much light of serious issues — the director and

playwright, Visiting Assistant Professor of Theater Kari Bar clay, walks a careful line to pro vide comic relief without being insensitive.

There are a lot of competing big-picture topics in the pro duction — performative activ ism, colonialism, appropriation, and the conflict between Black Lives Matter and All Lives Mat ter. More nuanced, interperson al matters appear as well, such as boundary setting and gender identity. All of these discussions are framed within the context of removing a statue with racist roots. It may seem from this de scription that putting so many subjects together might be overwhelming. Often, works that try to grapple with too much at once fall short of any real message. However, Stonewallin’ is adept at weaving its various themes together. The storyline is compelling and the political points never feel forced. Barclay combined a wide range of themes with powerful execution.

That said, some of these themes are difficult to address. They’re lofty and multifaceted. It’s difficult to figure out what’s right or wrong. Morally gray areas are brought up tactfully, such as a scene between two main characters as they are establishing terms of their relationship — one sets a boundary that she doesn’t want a romantic relationship with a man, while the other argues that they are not actually a man, but nonbinary. Both sides of the issue are presented as val-

id, with neither character being framed as a villain or victim. This allows the audience to truly reflect on the points made, rather than being forced into supporting one character or the other.

MRC Culture Festival Focuses on Community Building

show off what they care about.”

Brown wanted to make sure the festival not only honored students’ and community members’ cultural identities, but also provided entertainment and activities that allow everyone to have plain old fun together. From an obstacle course to a bouncy house to a Tinikling dance workshop facilitated by the Filipinx American Students Association, the festival will provide countless opportunities for attendees to choose their own adventure. Participants can browse around the student activities field, or battle friends with a hand-crafted lightsaber.

laboration with our students and student orgs are doing together.”

One of the student organizations that will be featured at the Culture Festival is AndWhat!?, Oberlin’s all-female and trans hip hop group created by Black women for Black women and allies. College fourth-year Chilly Wallace, AndWhat!?’s co-chair, has been a member of the group for the entire duration of her College career. She has found that AndWhat!? empowers its members to find joy in an essential form of expression that they would not be able to access through class listings.

Maeve Woltring Senior Staff Writer

Oberlin’s Multicultural Resource Commons will be hosting its annual Culture Festival tomorrow.

Ideated and organized by Ava Brown, OC ’22, the MRC’s 2023 BIPOC Fellow, this year’s Culture Festival will feature 16 student organizations, 15 local businesses, and a partnership with the local middle school. The festival will offer a staggering array of activities and performances — some rooted in cultural tradition, while others are a bit more outside of the box.

Founded in 1995 by Oberlin’s first female president, Nancy Schrom Dye, the MRC seeks to support, uplift, and provide a

space of comfort for marginalized students, particularly those within BIPOC and queer identity groups. The MRC, situated on the second floor of Wilder Hall, is hosted by Brown and Katie Graham — the MRC’s LGBTQ+ Community Fellow — who exude warmth by creating a welcoming atmosphere for students when they visit.

After the MRC’s year-long shutdown post-COVID, and the organization’s total staff turnover, Brown aims, more than anything, to revitalize an organizational focus on forging spaces and creating events where students and community members can find catharsis through shared expressions of joy. Though her fellowship spans only 10 months, Brown hopes her

commitment to positive community growth will continue to be reflected through the MRC’s organizational goals.

“[The] Culture Festival was an idea that I had when I was going through the interview process for this job,” Brown said. “Oberlin is such a nuanced community, and there’s a lot of different passions and things that people really care about. I wanted there to be a fun, involved space for people to showcase those things, whether it be lightsabers and cosplay or digging more into your roots as an individual; we have someone who’s doing a research booth showing off their research on their culture in Indonesia. I just wanted to make a space where people could feel confident and

MRC Associate Director NiK Peavy, who began their post this past November, stressed that the festival reflects a novel moment in the MRC’s institutional history. In the wake of COVID-19, this year’s festival aims to provide spaces and opportunities for town-gown community building.

“This is like the first time that we’re having this large cultural celebration that invites the whole campus and Oberlin community as well,” Peavy said. “I’m really excited that Ava is doing a lot of fun, quirky things that may have not happened in the past, so we can set that tone to make this more integrated in the College community. I don’t want this to be something that the MRC is putting on, I want this to be something that the MRC in col-

“The Dance department just now started giving a hip hop class, which is like — who’s to say it doesn’t belong in a Dance major?” Wallace said. “But also [with] the Dance department being a very white space, AndWhat!? gives opportunity to people who aren’t represented in the dance world.”

At the Culture Festival, AndWhat!? will be performing choreography titled “Comfortable in my Own Skin” to a Beyoncé soundtrack. In many ways, the theme mirrors the Culture Festival’s ultimate goals: to uplift, to find and create joy, and to reclaim space and practice in a way that benefits marginalized communities on campus.

The

a.m. to 6 p.m.

Culture Festival will take place on April 15 from 11

The MRC is hosting its annual Culture Festival this weekend.

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor

See Stonewall, page 6

The Theater Department presents its Mainstage production Stonewallin’ this weekend.

Photos by Abe Frato, Photo Editor

Equally important as the writing is the acting, which is excellent. With just a five person cast, it is essential that every character be played skillfully.

Karol G Makes Music History with New Album, Mañana Será

Marta Reyes

Colombian singer and songwriter Karol G recently found herself topping U.S. music charts.

According to Luminate and Billboard, Mañana Será Bonito racked up a whopping 94,000 album-equivalent units in the U.S. alone, as of March 10.

Thanks mostly to streaming, the album claimed the number-one spot on the Billboard 200 for the week of March 11, 2023. It is the first all-Spanish language album by a female artist to ever reach this peak, as well as the first by a Colombian artist. Previously, Bad Bunny had been the only artist to clinch a number one spot with the all-Spanish albums El Último Tour Del Mundo in 2020 and Un Verano Sin Ti in 2022.

“It is a very unusual feat,” Director of Musical Studies and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Administrative Coordinator Kathryn Metz said. “Even in English, a whole album that’s cohesive and goes to the top of the charts is not a thing people do easily. It is such a rare combination, even more so with a Spanish [language] female artist.”

Mañana Será Bonito is the perfect case of the right place and right time. The only other artist to achieve a similar phenomenon is Selena Quintanilla Peréz, often referred to just as Selena, at the height of her career in the mid1990s. Factors like globalization and Latinx people being the largest minority population in the U.S. have combined to create Billboard history.

A few of Karol G’s tracks, including Bonito travel across various genres including her usual reggaetón and urban Latin, re -

gional Mexican music, ballads, and R&B. Metz attributed the number one spot to the extensive coverage of genres, an overall cohesive message of women’s empowerment, and straight to the point songs. Karol G has mastered many genres and has her number-one spot to show it.

Since its creation, reggaetón has been an extremely male-dominated genre. However, in recent years, Karol G has established a female voice in reggaetón. Her tracks often promote women’s empowerment through anthems focused on “girl power,” in contrast to the female objectification common in the genre.

“It’s good there aren’t just male artists carrying the reggaetón genre to a new audience,” College first-year Kimberly Rodriguez Arroyo said. “I think it’s paving the way for female artists; it could even help the genre become more mainstream globally.” Arroyo is from Puerto Rico, where reggaetón was first popularized and is an avid reggaetón listener. With Mañana Será Bonito, Karol is promoting a new form of reggaetón worldwide to audiences unfamiliar with the genre.

“The new phenomenon is that artists like Karol G and Bad Bunny do not have to switch to English or translate their songs in order to capture audience attention in the United States,” Associate Professor of Hispanic Studies Sergio Gutiérrez Negrón said. Earlier Spanish language artists, like Shakira and Selena, had to translate songs to an extent in order to even make a dent in U.S. charts. However, Latin music has become so popular that people are listening even without understanding

the lyrics. This effect began with the huge hit “Despacito” by Luis Fonsi featuring Daddy Yankee. Consumers are open to picking up some of the language, many singing along in broken Span-

Cleveland Film Festival Highlights Ukraine

Katia Chapin

The Cleveland International Film Festival’s theme this year was LOOK CLOSER, inviting audiences to “seek out connections to diverse cultures and perspectives,” according to the festival’s website.

The 47th iteration of the festival took place in Cleveland’s Playhouse Square from March 22 to April 1. It showcased 121 feature films and 199 short films that represented 67 countries and included a partnership with the Odesa International Film Festival, allowing for screenings of films that could not be shown in Odesa due to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The festival was followed by an online version, CIFF Streams, which occurred from April 2 to April 9.

Films were organized into several categories, which spotlighted films by or about members of marginalized groups, including Black, Latinx, Indigenous, Asian, disabled, queer, Jewish, and Ukrainian cinema. Related competitions included the Local Heroes Competition for films made about or by Ohioans, and the International Narrative Competition, designed to expose viewers to stories from around the world.

For many Cleveland residents, the festival’s inclusion of Ukrainian films in partnership with the Odesa International Film Festival upheld the CIFF’s commitment to showcasing films

that tell a wide array of stories and give voices to those usually excluded from similar festivals.

Cleveland has a large Ukrainian population that has only grown since the full-scale invasion, as refugees have settled in northern Ohio. Many of the Ukrainian film screenings had Ukrainian community members in the audience. However, the films stuck with non-Ukrainians as well.

“I don’t have words to describe what was shown in the film, but the important thing is that it was shown,” Zach Nelson of the Northeast Ohio organization Global Cleveland said of the documentary 20 Days in Mariupol

At the end of the film, which is a narrated collection of one journalist’s footage of the siege of Mariupol, Nelson described how everyone left in silence, still processing what they had seen.

For the filmmakers, the festival’s choice to include many Ukrainian films and to uplift Ukrainian stories was a critical one.

“Each and every one of us became a soldier in our own field of expertise, and these are the soldiers on the cultural front,” filmmaker Polina Buchak, whose film premiered at the festival, said. “I’m so thankful that [the festival] highlighted Ukrainian stories and created a space for us to spread our message and to connect with an international audience to show what a Ukrainian is, what a Ukrainian sounds like from so many angles

and perspectives.”

Two Ukrainian films won awards at CIFF. Pamfir, a film about a former smuggler and his family, won the George Gund III Memorial Central and Eastern European Competition. 20 Days in Mariupol won the Greg Gund Standing Up Competition, “a celebration of activism and the fight for social justice,” according to the festival’s website.

In Ukraine, film is a tool to spread the truest experience of Ukrainians in the midst of so much disinformation.

“We have this huge machine of Russian propaganda,” filmmaker Lesya Kalynska said. “And what do we have in Ukraine? Independent filmmakers. How do you fight with independent filmmaking against such a machine?”

Her film, A Rising Fury, which screened at the festival, tells the story of a couple’s participation in the 2014 Revolution of Dignity and the war in Ukraine’s east. Kalynska and her team created the film from footage collected over a period of eight years in Ukraine.

Kalynska, who was born in Ukraine, filmed the Revolution of Dignity while participating in it and has seen the effect her film has on its viewers.

“Cinema can do something that news cannot: cinema takes you where you’ve never been before emotionally,” she said. “Films educate so people can live the lives of somebody else and feel it.”

ish or just translating the lyrics themselves. Audiences will continue to expand in the U.S. beyond just Latinx populations.

“The Latinx consumers in the United States are eager to see

their music being represented, so we will continue to see these number ones, we will continue to see Karol G and Bad Bunny headline huge festivals like Coachella,” Negrón said.

Stonewallin’ Mainstage Theater Production Facilitates Important Conversations

Continued from page 9

Brooke Lynlee (Marsha Lyons) and College first-year Rowan Kozinets (Tommy Jackson) are superb main characters. Lynlee’s acting is spitfire, and Kozinets complements that energy. College fourth-year Tony Singfield (Elijah Lyons) has a sort of mediator role in the play and captures the nuance of the character well. College fourth-year Olivia Bross (Mamaw Jackson) and College second-year Ana Morgan (Stonewall Jackson) are notable as well — they play characters with not only big personalities, but questionable viewpoints at best. I imagine it would be difficult to portray characters with disagreeable attributes. Despite this, Bross and Morgan inhabit their personas well — providing comedic, realistic, and disturbing moments in the play.

The show as a whole felt quite intimate. Stonewallin’ took advantage of the Irene and Alan Wurtzel Theater by having moments where characters got up close and personal with the audience. One scene in particular stands out: actors directly addressed the audience, shouting a string of humorous insults. Resounding laughter often echoed in the theater, perhaps the best sign that the audience was enjoying the performance.

The play had an experimental take on inter-character intimacy. A scene that started out as a simple kiss took a somewhat absurdist turn, morphing into an elaborate dance with mating calls that resembled those of birds. An argument can be made that this scene felt out of place. Aspects of it were jarring, such as the flashing lights and change in background music. On the other hand, is it fair to expect everything to remain realistic in a play about a statue coming to life?

On a technical note, some scene changes were disorienting. It seems that they were meant to keep the audience straight in the moment, but with minimal set pieces, it was sometimes hard to keep up. At one point, it was slightly unclear whether a scene was a dream, or an actual event in the play. Actors fluidly brought and removed their own stage props, whereas a typical stage crew would have provided a more clear marking of scene changes.

As a whole, the production was entertaining and thought-provoking. It was funny without lacking substance. It was pertinent to current day struggles without being despairing. The program describes it as “a spell to guide us through panic in the face of hate” — and it accomplished just that.

Photo courtesy of The New York Times

Karol G recently released her fourth studio album, Mañana Será Bonito.

Chabad Opens New Student Lounge

“STOP Throwing Out Your Pomegranate Peels!”

STOP Throwing Out Your Pomegranate Peels! the woman in the video says, and they go on an immaculate baking sheet in her immaculate kitchen, splayed facedown in slashed bursts of red. after the oven, and the blender and the coffee filter, they’re tea — antioxidant-rich tea, enjoy! — and then, again, she’s saying, STOP throwing out your pomegranate peels! my pomegranate peels, I think, and I consider it, the effervescent life where pomegranate peels are something I have, and concern myself with, and have time to make tea out of. I know how to make tea out of the peels, when we’re done — a tiktok lady showed me, I’ll say; the fruit is ripped grinning-wide, I’m cross-legged on the floor with you eating in luxurious dripping handfuls, no spoons, our fingers stained and mouths red as if, or because, we tore each other’s lips. you’re going to laugh

and say, not tonight my love, please. next time. and because this is the languid life where we have pomegranates and time to spare: out go the peels through the window, and stars kiss them as I’m kissing you, and not you or I or the window or the stars or the peels — or the unmade tea, are wasted, as you lead me to bed and scattered, uneaten seeds form their own constellation across our kitchen floor

Peter Fray-Witzer is a third-year Comparative Literature major at Oberlin. His poetry has been published in Laurel Moon, The Plum Creek Review, and Two Groves Review and has been shortlisted for the Letter Review Prize for Poetry. Aside from writing, his hobbies include riding his bike way, way too fast on the Oberlin streets and sidewalks. In “STOP Throwing Out Your Pomegranate Peels!” he explores the idea that uniquely modern concepts can inspire poetic work, even though the genre can sometimes trend toward more “classical” themes.

Lila Agigian Sanchez

Recently, Chabad at Oberlin opened a new student lounge on the second floor of the guest house in the backyard of Chabad house. Equipped with Wi-Fi and stocked with coffee, a kosher nosh station, books, and even a foosball table, the lounge serves as an off-campus location for students to study, spend time with friends, and hang out in a comfortable space. Jewish students struggling with mental health have expressed interest in a quiet area to unwind at Chabad, and have appreciated the opportunity to watch Netflix or take a nap on the lounge’s couch. Rabbi Shlomo Elkan also plans to use the space for Chabad’s leadership board meetings and other informal programming to further acquaint people with the new area.

During the creation of the lounge, Elkan took student comfort into account. He noted that some students feel they may be imposing on him and his family by spending extended time at Chabad, and decided a space outside of the main house would be beneficial. The Chabad house has always strived to create a comfortable and open space for all Jewish students regardless of their background, and Elkan hopes this new study spot will further that mission.

He also emphasizes the importance of identity spaces on campus, noting that the Chabad house is one of the only uniquely Jewish spaces at Oberlin. According to the Anti-Defamation League, Jewish students across college campuses have reported feeling increasingly unsafe expressing their identity, “with one in three students personally experiencing antisemitic hate directed at them in the last academic year,” common incidents consisting of “offensive comments online or in person, and

damage or defacement of property.” Similarly to other identity-based spaces, Jewish spaces provide comfort, community, and culture for those looking to connect more deeply with others who share their heritage or religion. Chabad hopes that Jewish spaces will become a normal part of campus life. According to Elkan, Jewish spaces like the lounge “bind students together and allow them to connect over the simple fact that they are Jewish.”

It is important to note that while the lounge serves as a Jewish space, there is no definition of Judaism that a student must abide by in order to be welcomed. Chabad is not just a venue for religious programming, but a place of joy and refuge for Jewish students. The lounge is there for any Jewish student on campus, regardless of what the label “Jewish” means to them. Elkan wants people to know that there are no defined parameters or expectations for students engaging with Chabad. Within the lounge, people have the freedom to pick up a book and read, meet friends, or just swing by to grab coffee.

Although the lounge is brandnew, Elkan says creating this area for students has been on his mind since he and his family moved into what has been the Chabad house of Oberlin for the past thirteen years, but COVID-19 and other factors slowed the process.

“When we first looked at the property, the character and uniqueness of the space prompted us to buy it,” Elkan said. “That space felt like a good hangout space to us.”

Now, the student lounge is fully open and welcomes visitors during all hours of the day, and Elkan hopes everyone will take advantage of this new space. In Elkan’s words, “it is just a place to be.”

Oberlin DJs Experiment, Create Atmosphere at Campus Events

Yasu Shinozaki Arts & Culture Editor

At parties, in co-ops and houses, events at the Dionysus Disco, and many other gatherings, DJs at Oberlin are an unsung presence keeping the music running, sustaining the mood, and giving attendees the courage to dance. In the past year, the number of DJs has increased considerably. According to some of these DJs, the necessary skills are relatively easy to learn, and Oberlin has many people with a love of music who wish to share it with others. DJs usually work for no pay, instead drawn to take gigs as a means of participating in and contributing to the atmosphere at parties and other gatherings.

“Itʼs like curating the vibes,” Conservatory second-year and DJ Kayla Shomar-Corbett said. “Itʼs like Iʼm in charge of whether or not people like the party that they’re at … And I like that because I know I can do a good job of getting people dancing and reading the crowd. Itʼs also a lot less social pressure than having to attend a party, because I donʼt really like to talk to anyone.”

While DJing may be easy from a technical perspective, many DJs put considerable thought into what music they play at events. Each event has a different mood and audience.

“I look at what people are wearing, usually,” Shomar-Corbett said. “I feel like sometimes Iʼll look at someone and Iʼm like, ‘Oh, theyʼre on TikTok, so Iʼll play a TikTok viral song.’ But if I look at someone and theyʼre wearing something cottagecore, Iʼll be like, ‘Oh, they probably like Grimes and Phoebe Bridgers.’”

Double-degree third-year Orson Abram also felt that reading the room was important, and that adapting to different audiences was part of the fun.

Student DJs bring energy and diverse music to campus events.

“Thereʼs a lot of ability for spontaneity,” Abram said. “Iʼm a Percussion Performance major amongst other things. And [in Percussion Performance] thereʼs so much in written notation that you have to follow … that DJing just doesnʼt have. … I like working with this kind of model of playing music.”

DJs also alter the music they play. For instance, College secondyear Benny Alexander makes his own music and sometimes performs sets that are entirely original. Other DJs manipulate and combine existing tracks using control systems that allow for alterations in pitch and tempo and the addition of overdubs such as drums or bass. Abram said that he often takes music he enjoys listening to and speeds it up until it becomes danceable.

“I know a lot of people kind of just have a playlist and do transitions, but thatʼs not really my style,” Shomar-Corbett said. “I like it when people donʼt realize what the song is, and then the chorus comes in and theyʼre like, ‘Oh my God!’ I think itʼs really fun.”

The music played by DJs varies greatly. Classic house tunes and popular songs that people can sing along to are frequently played, but

many DJs have personal interests they want to share. Abram said the music he plays varies greatly, from house songs to ’70s African disco to J-pop.

“I think for me, a big part of the lack of genre just comes from my experience growing up with the YouTube algorithm, kind of just going on hourlong searches through all this music,” Abram said.

College third-year Ava Sato said she listens to the club music coming out of Detroit, Baltimore, and New Jersey for inspiration. According to Sato, building up a music library is one of the more challenging parts of DJing. DJs must listen to hours of music in order to decide what they want to put in their sets. An hour-long set, she says, typically requires a minimum of 25 tracks.

The increase in the number of DJs at Oberlin makes it harder to find opportunities to play, but the environment is far from competitive. DJs often share gigs and perform one after another. Abram said he was excited by this trend.

“Hopefully the school starts to bring more DJs from outside of Oberlin to kind of parallel [the popularity of DJing], because itʼs a meteoric rise and Iʼm grateful thatʼs happening.”

A new student lounge was recently opened on the second floor of Chabad at Oberlin’s guest house.

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor

POETRY

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor

Student Researchers Shed Light on AMAM Objects

Tate van der Poel Senior Staff Writer

The Allen Memorial Art Museum’s “A Spotlight on Student Research” event on Tuesday, part of its monthly Tuesday Teas, highlighted both the breadth and depth of research opportunities in the arts and humanities. Tuesday Tea events typically invite attendees to engage with specific pieces in the AMAM’s collection in the form of a talk given by a curator or faculty member. Sometimes, though, Oberlin students lend their guidance and perspectives to the talks, as was the case this past Tuesday. Six student researchers gave brief presentations on works in the museum, including beadwork of Indigenous Cheyenne origin, a Keith Haring autograph card, and a pair of reclining nudes by Henri Matisse and Amedeo Modigliani.

“A Spotlight on Student Research” has historically been an annual event featuring a presentation from a single student researcher. This year, multiple students were first nominated to present by their professors or faculty advisors, then had to apply with a research abstract. College third-year Cecil Pulley’s presentation was titled “What’s in a Name?: Keith Haring’s Signature as Modern Relic.”

“[This presentation explores] why we think about artists the way that we do and whatʼs potentially problematic about some of the frameworks of art history,” Pulley said. “A lot of what Iʼm figuring out is why I think Haring has been made to be this martyr figure of contemporary art because he died of AIDS.”

Each presentation was around five minutes long and followed by a single audience question, culminating in a panel discussion with the six student researchers.

“The format of the talk was great, as it forced me to slim

down an 80-page paper into its barest bones,” College fourthyear Ursula Hudak wrote in an email to the Review. “This actually helped a lot to focus my paper; a lot of my talk’s script is now in my paper’s introduction.” Hudak’s presentation was titled “‘I dreamed I was liberated in my Maidenform bra’ — Reclining Nudes in the AMAM Bissett Collection.”

“[The presentation examines] a possible connection between the sculptural quality of these two reclining nudes by Matisse and Modigliani and their collectors, the Bissetts, being co-founders of the Maidenform company, whose products sculpted the female form,” Hudak wrote to the Review College fourth-year Elf Zimmerman’s presentation, “Cheyenne Beaded Pouches in the AMAM Collection,” built off of research they had completed in previous Winter Term projects focusing on the College’s ethnographic collection.

“When [the Oberlin College Museum] closed, all of the different collections went off to their respective departments,” Zimmerman said. “And then the ethnographic items mostly went to the Anthropology department, but a few of them were selected to go to the Allen. They just got split for arbitrary reasons — who gets to decide whatʼs art and what’s not; all sorts of fun questions there.” Zimmerman’s research established the tribal origin and varying original functions of differently-sized beaded pouches that made their way to the AMAM collection after the dissolution of the Oberlin College Museum.

Some of the student researchers were already working at the AMAM prior to being selected to present. Fudi Fickenscher is a College fourth-year Art History major and student assistant to

Ellen Johnson ʼ33 assistant curator of modern and contemporary art Sam Adams. Parker Niles is a Collegefourth-year Religion major and gallery guide at the AMAM.

“This position has afforded me a lot of opportunities to do art-historical research,” Fickenscher, who presented “Assemblage in Afro-Caribbean Arts and Identities,” said. “I had noticed at the Allen, thereʼs this work by Renée Stout, who is a DC-based artist and created this work about Haitian vodou and one of the spirits. I was really taken by that, and when I started writing the wall label for Sam [Adams], I realized I had a lot of theory behind it and a lot of knowledge about Haitian vodou. So I was able to sort of enter through that.”

Niles’ position also gave them closer access to AMAM staff.

“I think because I was already working there, I definitely had a little bit more access than the average person,” Niles said. “But that being said, I think the Allen is very open for student collabo

rators and student researchers. And thatʼs what they want. They definitely want more students to be doing this.” Niles’ presentation, “Material Matters: Sacred Himalayan Sculpture and its Implications in the AMAM Collection,” stressed the importance of “trying to understand that a lot of the objects in many museums’ collections are not just quote-unquote ‘fine art’ but continue to be sacred objects, objects of worship, … so itʼs important to ask those questions about what is the proper care of these objects.” The student perspectives shared on Tuesday, particularly those of Zimmerman and Niles, exhibit shared values between students and the AMAM. The AMAM has attempted to set itself on a revived trajectory in recent months, establishing a new five-year strategic plan complete with updated mission, vision, and values statements. “The Allen already has a lot of initiatives itʼs working toward, which I really respect,” Hudak wrote. “The current movement towards writ-

ing museum labels that reflect the nuances in a pieceʼs history and interpretation is really important to me.”

Providing a platform for thoughtful, researched student input and critique of the institution is a critical aspect of progress for the AMAM. Hudak offered advice for students interested in exploring student research opportunities.

“Take classes in topics that really interest you, and if you write about something youʼd like to explore further, let your professor know!” Hudak said. “You can usually make it into a larger project. Finding a mentor in your chosen department is also very helpful, as they can help you plan a private reading and let you know about opportunities to share or publish your research.” Research experience can help students look toward their careers or graduate degrees as well as reaping the benefits of knowledge creation. Students could even help to transform the institutions around them.

10. Lost clownfish

12. Suggestion, in slang

14. Get out of the way!

16. Brief overhead visit

20. Linguist Chomsky

21. Someone at your destination may ask for this (abbr.)

22. Nonprofit known for sponsoring keynotes

23. Spoiled, as food

24. Gizmo

26. Pincered pest

27. Home in the woods

28. What a superhero wears

29. Burden

32.Gained entry

34: Careless

31. Not a comedy

33. Oberlin literary and art magazine The __ Review

38. Notions

39. Meat, in Tijuana

40. Color after sunning

42. Something laid by a hen

43. With 42-across, a Christmas drink

46. Digital marketing technical skill, for short

35: Intense anger

36: Cogito __ Sum

37: Barbie’s beau

41: Wonder

44: Singer Yoko

45: Two-wheeled mode of transit

47: Numerical worry of many students

48: Acid

49: Wrongdoing, religiously

50: Ante synonym

52: Subway dwelling rodent

53: Route

Answers to last week’s crossword:

1. Window portion

2. Pipe unclogger

4. Christmastime church song “__ Maria”

5. Small bit

6. Crete’s highest summit

“Hello”

Photo courtesy of the AMAM

Students presented their research at AMAM on Tuesday.

Emma Benardete, Editor-in-Chief

CONSERVATORY

Sullivan Fortner Jr.

Jazz Piano Teacher, Performer, OC ’08

music and the more I got into the New York scene — you hear all of these big name people, you know, Danilo Pérez, Geri Allen, all the people that Associate Professor of Jazz Percussion Billy Hart talks about, people that Dan Wall talks about — and it’s like, whoa, they know our teachers, they studied with them. I sometimes feel like I don’t belong here. But the cool thing about being in the role as a teacher is that I actually get to be a student again. That faculty concert we did back in February was kind of surreal for me ’cause it took me back to my first year. I’m not necessarily a teacher as much as I am an older student hanging with some younger students and my teachers. And we just sit there talking about stuff that my few years of experience has taught me, and I’m just passing it on. I’m definitely honored to be here.

What are the differences between teaching and touring, and have you faced any challenges in maintaining your touring life while teaching here?

too, but it’s okay. Nobody else knows all this, nobody cares. All the important s**t was there. If you screwed up, doesn’t matter. You’re just making music.

So teaching and then going out and playing gigs makes me want to go back and practice, in a cyclic kind of way. They definitely feed each other.

What’s your favorite part about teaching?

I think my favorite part about teaching is saying something and watching you guys just look at me like the wheels on the bus are spinning. You know what I mean? Almost like, “I’m not sure if I buy it.” And then you’re like, “Wait a minute, maybe there’s something to think about.” That’s my favorite thing — when there’s a dialogue, and then you guys are feeding off of something that I say, and you don’t like it at first, but then you get it.

archive that y’all have. But beyond the recordings, any teacher that you want to study with, no matter what discipline, take advantage of them. I never did any of that. There’s more to being in school than being in the practice room and playing with people. Explore different things, explore the reasons why you play.

Were the connections you made at Oberlin impactful on your career?

That’s 90 percent of the battle, really — being aware of the resources that you already have and finding those people you really connect with. When I started playing with Roy Hargrove after college, that was really just an extension of playing with Theo Croker, OC ’07, at Oberlin. Theo was always tough on me at school, in a good way. He played a big role in preparing me for New York.

Sullivan Fortner Jr., OC ’08, is a Grammy-winning, world-renowned jazz pianist with numerous other accolades to his name. This spring he returned to Oberlin to fill in as Associate Professor of Jazz Piano while his former teacher, Associate Professor of Jazz Piano Dan Wall, is on sabbatical. On the days when he’s not teaching private lessons, leading improvisation workshops, or coaching small ensembles, Fortner continues to perform internationally and record music, notably with jazz vo -

calist Cécile McLorin Salvant. In this interview, Fortner reflects on his experience teaching at his alma mater.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What’s it like to work alongside your former teachers? Do you ever feel out of place as a faculty member who is a younger musician and also an alum?

It’s strange, ’cause these people are like masters. They’re heavyweights, you know? And over the years, the more I understood this

One of the hardest things for me is “teaching brain,” where you’re constantly in analysis mode. And in some ways that’s really healthy, because as you sit back, you guys come in with a bunch of questions and I’m like, “Okay, well, how do I answer this? What is it that I do? Can I even do this?” So when you spend a lot of time in that mindset of constantly analyzing and breaking things down, when it’s time to actually get on stage and play, it can be a difficult thing because you gotta let all that go and just play. It’s hard for me to play without breaking myself down

If there’s one thing that I learned from my teachers, it’s that a lesson has never been a lecture. It’s never been about spitting out this information, giving you these sheets, come back and get my packet done next week. It’s more like, “Okay, what do you have to show me? What are the questions that you have?” And that leads into a whole dialogue and sometimes an argument. And hey, we’re not supposed to agree.

Is there anything you wish you did differently or pursued more when you were a student here?

If I had to do it all again? Try to get your hands on everything that Oberlin has to offer. When I was a student here, I didn’t use the Conservatory Library like I should have. We didn’t have the

Do you have thoughts about eventually becoming a fulltime Jazz professor, at Oberlin or elsewhere?

I really like teaching. It’s definitely been fun for me. I mean, there’s still a lot of things that I want to do before I settle down in a place like this. My dream is to come here after like 30, 40 years of touring and do what Dan did. Take my wife and my kids, get a little farm, raise some chickens. I’ll have earned some more stripes by then, not just a couple gigs at Smalls or playing as side man, but when I’ll actually have something strong that I can offer. But it wouldn’t be a bad idea to drop in to Oberlin every now and then. If something happens or if they ask me to, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to just spend a few days back at home.

Oberlin Crimson Collective Holds Second Roundtable Discussion

Delaney Fox Conservatory Editor

This Sunday from 2–4 p.m., the Oberlin Crimson Collective will host its second annual roundtable discussion titled “Our Community” in StudiOC. The Collective welcomes students from any major in the College or Conservatory and students of all gender identities to attend.

The Crimson Collective, officially the Oberlin Femininity in Black American Music Collective, is a student organization that centers the voices of gender minorities who perform Black American Music both in the Oberlin Jazz department and in the professional world.

“Our mission is to make a safer space for gender minorities in Black American Music,” Conservatory second-year and Crimson Collective co-president and co-founder Gabi Allemana said. “That’s what this discussion is doing. It’s shining a light on what happens to us all the time and how we can change things so we can feel encouraged to stay in this industry.”

When referring to “jazz” as an idiom and industry, the Crimson Collective prefers to use the term Black American Music which encompasses ‘jazz’ and other music created by Black people in America.

“We use the term Black American Music instead of ‘jazz’ because the word ‘jazz’ has a racist history, and we feel that Black

American Music honors the history of this music more appropriately without confining it,” Conservatory third-year and Crimson Collective co-president and co-founder Marley Howard said.

Last spring, Crimson organized a roundtable similar to the one scheduled for Sunday. Allemana emphasized the need for the roundtable tradition to continue annually as the dynamics within the Jazz department change.

“I think it’s important to keep the conversation going as people come in and out of the department,” Allemana said. “These issues don’t go away after one talk.”

Last year, Howard and Allemana presented personal statements describing their experiences as gender minorities in Black American Music performance spaces.

“It was honestly pretty nerve-wracking,” Allemana said. “We were making ourselves very vulnerable from the start. It was a really hard thing to do.”

Rather than putting the spotlight on gender minorities within the department — a spotlight with potentially traumatic repercussions — the Crimson board wants the roundtable to be more of a conversation.

“I think we want to emphasize that this year’s roundtable is all about hearing everyone’s ideas,” Allemana said. “Even if you’re not a gender minority, you’re not

just indifferent, neutral, you’re part of the conversation.”

Howard also pointed out the significance of the roundtable as a medium of discussion.

“Everyone and anyone is encouraged to speak,” Howard said. “This is an opportunity for us to all sit down and for every single one of us to hear what each other are thinking, an opportunity that we don’t get anywhere else. We are in-person, and we have to look everyone in the eye. They’re not easy conversations, but I think they’re really necessary for us to grow as a community and as a department.”

While the discussion will mainly focus on experiences specifically within the Oberlin Jazz department, Howard, Allemana, and College Liaison of the Collective Olive Badrinath all commented on how the intended audience of this event extends outside of the Jazz department.

“I work a lot of jazz events at the Cat [in the Cream] and have not been treated well at times,” Badrinath said. “It’s hard to know people and then also be disrespected by those people or have them disrespect the space. … I think there are a lot of other people who are part of the Oberlin jazz community peripherally who help put on these shows, who keep people performing and playing music, and this roundtable is important for them too.”

This conversation also pertains to the

wider Conservatory community, as issues of gender justice exist in musical spaces outside of the Jazz department.

“I think that even the problems we have in this community, the Oberlin ‘Jazz’ department, are pretty prominent in every other music field too,” Allemana said. “It might be a little different from what the classical department experience is because they have more of a gender diverse program, but these problems are everywhere.”

Howard also acknowledged that not all students who engage with Black American Music major in Jazz Studies and that this conversation still applies to them.

“I think if you care about this music — if you appreciate or perform Black American Music, you should be going,” Howard said.

Ultimately, the Crimson Collective roundtable is a learning opportunity. Through the discussion, the Collective hopes to educate the Oberlin Black American Music community about the reality of gendered power dynamics in the field and on how to improve the reality for gender minorities.

“We want everyone to leave with the tactics necessary to approach any situation involving gender in the ‘jazz’ world,” Allemana said. “This is just as important as your jazz music theory class. You have to learn how to interact with people in an equitable way.”

Lyric Anderson Senior Staff Writer

Sullivan Fortner Jr.

Photo courtesy of John Jiang

Men’s Tennis Wins 7-2 Against Wooster in Conference Matchup

On Wednesday, April 12, the men’s tennis team played the College of Wooster Fighting Scots. The Yeomen led the match 2–1 into the singles play. The team then won the second and third doubles matches against Wooster. Fourth-year Sean Billerbeck and third-year Rohan Gold beat their opponents 8–2. Another doubles pair consisting of fourth-year James Dill and second-year Grant North clutched a victory of 8–4 over the Wooster team.

In singles, Billerbeck fought a tight match against his Wooster opponent but eventually won in a tiebreak of 7–6 (7–5). After the tie, Billerbeck also won 6–1 in the second match. Firstyear Shawn Lisann also won his opening set 6–1 in opening position, then won the next match because of a withdrawal from Wooster.

In an email to the Review, Shawn Lisann expanded upon his thoughts on the season.

“Our best tennis is still ahead of us,” Lisann wrote. “Everyone on the team plays an important role, and it’s awesome that everyone comes prepared to compete every day. As a [first-year], it’s been awesome learning from

everyone else on the team. We’ve got great leadership from our upperclassmen. The team is awesome.”

Second-year Sebastien Naginski also earned a victory over the Scots, winning his first set 6–3 and then falling 2–6. Naginski was able to secure his seventh win of the year, as he won 6–4 in his third set. Both Dill and fourth-year Samuel Topper were victorious. Dill beat his Wooster opponent 6–2, while Topper beat his opponent by matching 6–4 counts.

In an email to the Review, Topper commented on the season and his match on Wednesday.

“The season has gone pretty well so far,” Topper wrote. “This is the best team that weʼve had during my time here, and I really think we can make some noise at conferences this year. My match was fun today — I played a really consistent player who had a good backhand. … I struggled with my serve at the start of the match, but settled in nicely in the second set. It felt great to get a quality conference win in my last home match of the season.”

Topper is one of the few fourth-years who will graduate in the spring, so this is his last season playing with the team.

“My hope is to be able to fully enjoy the rest of my time being

able to play college tennis,” Topper wrote. “My goal is to play at the level that my coach and my teammates know that I’m capable of playing at.”

The Yeomen have come off of a 3–0 spring break record. They hope to use the momentum from their 7–2 win during this matchup for the rest of the season. Next, the Yeomen take on Wittenberg University Saturday, April 15

Cleveland Cavaliers Poised For Success in 2023 NBA Playoffs

John Elrod Sports Editor

The Cleveland Cavaliers look to make some noise in the playoffs as they begin their first round series with the New York Knicks this weekend. The team only made the play-in round last season, so it will be the Cavs’ first playoff series since they lost to the Golden State Warriors in the 2018 Finals. It is also the first playoff series the team will play without LeBron James since 1998 — proving that Cleveland has entered a new era of quality basketball.

The Cavs locked up the fourth seed in the Eastern Conference, compiling a 51–31 record and finishing with the best defensive rating in the league. The team picked up a number of quality wins during the regular season including three overtime victories over the Boston Celtics — the second seed in the Eastern Conference. The Cavs found suc-

cess through a balanced lineup that leans on four standout starters.

The most notable player for the Cavs is guard Donovan Mitchell, who may have had the best season in team history by someone not named LeBron James. Mitchell averaged a team-leading 28.3 points per game in his first year in Cleveland after getting traded from the Utah Jazz in September. Mitchell was consistent, but also had a number of standout individual performances. He had 13 games in which he scored 40 points or more, including a single game franchise-record 71. In many of the Cavs’ wins this year, Mitchell showed an ability to take over games in the fourth quarter and play much bigger than his 6 foot 1 inch frame, finding ways to score from beyond the arc and inside the paint. While Head Coach J.B. Bickerstaff will lean on Mitchell — who will be playing in his sixth straight playoffs — to lead the team; he will

have a very good supporting cast to help him.

Guard Darius Garland was the heart and soul of last year’s Cavs team, but he has adjusted to playing with Mitchell swiftly. He put up 21.6 points per game and a team-leading 7.8 assists and shot 41 percent from three — the best mark of his career. Like Mitchell, Garland has the ability to score at the rim, but his passing also makes him dangerous. Look for the 23-year-old to make his mark in his first career playoff series.

Forward Evan Mobley — an NBA Defensive Player of the Year candidate — is already making a name for himself as a 21-year-old in his second NBA season. Mobley, who stands at 6 foot 11 inches, has a ton of athleticism and smart footwork which allows him to be highly impactful on both ends of the floor. While he shines on defense, grabbing rebounds and blocking shots, he also has an ability to go off on offense. Mobley averaged 16.2

points per game and most notably put up a career-high 38 points in a victory over the Eastern Conference first seed Milwaukee Bucks Jan. 21

Alongside Mitchell, Jarrett Allen is the only other Cavs starter with playoff series experience as he appeared in the 2019 and 2020 NBA Playoffs with the Brooklyn Nets. He is similar to Mobley with his ability to make an impact on offense and defense but he makes his home closer to the rim. A true center, Allen was the team’s leading rebounder and shooting percentage leader, scoring most of his points on dunks and layups. Allen will want redemption after his last season when he missed time with a hand injury and was not in full form for the play-in games.

While Mitchell, Garland, Mobley, and Allen are Cleveland’s stars, a number of other players will have an opportunity to make an impact. Defensive specialist forward Isaac Okoro will likely

round out Bickerstaff’s starting five and will look to continue making life hard for the opponent’s scorers. Guard Caris LeVert — who has had an up and down season — has the ability to score in bunches and will look to get hot on offense coming off the bench. Veteran guard Ricky Rubio can also make an impact with his in-game smarts and ability to share the ball while Garland gets some rest.

The Cavs will look to get some redemption on the Knicks in the first round after going 1–3 against them in the regular season. Like Cleveland, New York has a very balanced roster and is led by forward Julius Randle and guard Jalen Brunson who each average at least 24 points per game. Guard RJ Barrett, who averages 19.6 per game, will also be a player the Cavs will need to keep in check. Cleveland will look to defend its home court when the series begins tomorrow at 6 p.m. at Rocket Mortgage Fieldhouse.

Celia Perks

Senior Staff Writer

The men’s tennis team held Wooster in check last Wednesday.

Photos by Erin Koo

Oberlin Dominates Wooster, Lourdes at Home Meet

Last weekend, Oberlin’s track and field teams took on both The College of Wooster and Lourdes University in a home meet. Though this event was far smaller in size than previous competitions this season, the Yeomen and Yeowomen used it as an opportunity to play on home soil and put up some terrific numbers in preparation for the All-Ohio Championships.

Though all members of both rosters performed at high levels, the hurdlers and sprinters were the definite highlights of the day. Fourth-year Chilly Wallace dominated the women’s 100-meter hurdles. She won first overall in the race with a time of 15.57 seconds, marking her first victory of the outdoor season.

“I feel really good about my performance this weekend,” Wallace said. “I’m happy to have qualified in conference for all of my events on the first try. [I even qualified] in the 200, which is an event I’ve only ever done [once before during] my [first] year.”

The Yeomen and Yeowomen had multiple winning relay teams as well, closing out the entire meet with back-to-back wins in their respective 4x400 races.

“We blew [the 4x400] out of

the water,” second-year sprinter Cole Fuller said. “Once [fourthyear] Simon [Lowe] was ahead of everyone at 150 meters in the first leg, I knew this was our race to [win]. As long as we kept our distance away from the competitors, we were chilling. It was also amazing to see our national rankings sitting in seventh after the race. I’m very excited to see if we can maintain, possibly better it, later this season.”

Fuller and Lowe were accompanied by second-years Kambi Obioha and Sam Fechner in their success. Third-year Myranda Montoye, second-years Camila Ciembroniewicz and Sage Reddish, and first-year Clara Smith guided the Yeowomen to victory as well.

However, the 4x400 race was not Fuller’s only relay of the day. He had already run the 4x100 earlier that meet, an event that ended in far more dramatic fashion. In attempting a hand-off in the third leg, Fuller ended up falling to the ground and diving, thrusting the baton to Fechner.

“I took one for the team in the 4x100 — I knew our exchanges were smooth, and I needed to keep that up,” Fuller said.

Despite his stumble, Fuller performed at a very high level.

“We’re now competitive in the conference,” he said. “It’s very ex-

citing to see what’s to come with this group.”

When looking at Oberlin’s overall running results from last Saturday, one thing is certain: Both teams show a lot of promise for the outdoor season.

“As for what I’m looking forward to, I’m excited to see how I continue to improve given that I’ve started off so strong, but also my teammates,” Wallace said. “The outdoor season has just started, and there have already been lifetime bests and conference qualifiers. Who knows what else is in store for Oberlin track and field?”

Wallace’s optimism for the future of Oberlin’s track and field athletes is a sentiment shared by many on the team.

“The team showed up for each other and there were a lot of PRs and conference qualifiers [throughout the meet],” thirdyear Eliza Medearis said. “We’ve been a pretty strong team in the past, but we lost a lot of seniors last year. It’ll be a lot harder to get the conference championship this year, but I think we can do it.”

Despite the loss of experienced teammates, Oberlin’s track runners don’t seem to have missed a beat. Tomorrow, the teams will travel to Delaware, Ohio to compete in the All-Ohio Championships.

Chris Stoneman Senior Staff Writer

Oberlin’s track teams had a successful home meet last Saturday. Photos courtesy of Bry Woodard

One Year Since Racist Experience at Rose-Hulman, Softball Players Find Improved Support

Kayla Kim Sports Editor

One year after a racist experience at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology, the softball program has undergone several changes, including a new head coach and the utilization of the Multicultural Resource Commons.

As previously reported in the Review, (“Oberlin Softball Players Face Racism from Rose-Hulman,” The Oberlin Review, May 20, 2022), Rose-Hulman players yelled racial taunts at V Dagnino, OC ’22, and third-year Mia Brito during a double-header in Terre Haute, IN. Since the article’s publication, Rose-Hulman confirmed the attacks to the Tribune-Star in an article published June 8 and suspended two players indefinitely from the team. Additionally, it stated that the entire team participated in educational workshops from Rose-Hulman’s Center for Diversity and Inclusion.

“This type of hurtful behavior is unacceptable and does not represent the institute’s values or commitment to treat others with respect, inclusiveness, and sensitivity,” Rose-Hulman’s statement read in the article published by the Tribune-Star. “We have contacted Oberlin College to convey our apologies and continue to stay in close communication with their athletic department.”

Coaching Changes Within Softball

With end-of-year evaluations resuming on Oberlin’s softball team for the first time since the pandemic restrictions shut the Athletics department down entirely for two years, players voiced their concerns at the end of the season about former Head Coach Sara Schoenhoft’s response to the Rose-Hulman incident. Fourthyear Lalli Lopez, who was indirectly affected, said they did not feel comfortable going to Schoenhoft about concerns that they had.

“[It was] just a general feeling of not being treated like an individ-

ual and more like a softball player or just like an athlete,” Lopez said. “So it just felt like a really odd relationship where I couldn’t go to her for any problems that I had.”

Brito stated that if there weren’t major changes, she was sure that many of the softball players from that year would not have continued. She also noted that other teams, such as swimming and diving and track and field, stood up for softball in their evaluations.

“We just kind of all had a general understanding that if we had our same coaching staff as we did last year, this year we were going to quit — I would’ve quit,” Brito said. “A couple others would’ve quit and it kind of would’ve been like that chain reaction. … We would’ve all quit — every single one of us. There would not have been a team.”

However, both Brito and Lopez emphasized that they still had respect for their old head coach and understood that Schoenhoft was in a difficult position.

“It was a tough situation,” Brito said. “It doesn’t take away from the fact that we were affected and that it needed to change.”

After receiving the evaluations, Delta Lodge Director of Athletics and Physical Education Natalie Winkelfoos hired Head Coach Julie Pratt, who came from Case Western Reserve University. Pratt started in the role July 2022.

“We are always looking for someone that can be a fit for Oberlin that has a competitive drive, experience with recruiting in a highly environment, and can work well within our department and campus community,” Winkelfoos wrote in an email to the Review. “Coach Pratt came to us with an outstanding coaching resume and high-quality referrals from people that are well respected within our industry.”

In addition to Schoenhoft’s departure, former Assistant Coach Lindsay Mapes, who worked at Oberlin since summer 2021 and who Lopez cited as a supportive figure after the Rose-Hul-

man game, left for a new job and was replaced by Lauren Dockrill. Dockrill worked as a volunteer in the fall and was later promoted to a full-time position in January 2023. Brito said that while the team dynamic was weakened after the Rose-Hulman incident, Pratt has acted as the “glue” of the team and sees the members as people first and softball players second. Lopez also added that the Rose-Hulman game is not what defines their relationship and that Pratt focuses on looking toward the future.

“With our new head coach, I definitely feel so loved and supported,” Lopez said. “We just haven’t talked about it because we just [want to] leave it in the past and just focus on being a new team. … That’s not at the center of what she talks about with us. I am 100 percent certain that she has our backs no matter what.”

In an email to the Review, Pratt expressed her gratitude to the Oberlin community for allowing her to coach and reaffirmed her commitment to the softball program both on and off the field.

“We have a great group of student-athletes who have welcomed me with open arms,” Pratt wrote. “I cannot express how excited I am for this opportunity to be on the field with this team every day. … With our coaching staff’s leadership, structure and support, we work to prepare our student-athletes for gamedays, academic [perseverance], and the grit required for life after college.”

Schoenhoft now works as the associate director of campus recreation at Oberlin and maintains that she did her best to support her players after the incident, especially after navigating two seasons heavily restricted by the pandemic.

“I have always cared deeply about my players both as humans and student-athletes,” Schoenhoft wrote in an email to the Review. “There have been multiple instances over the course of my career where I provided support far beyond support [what] would

be expected of a coach. I am sorry that some players didn’t feel that support last year. I poured every ounce of myself into the softball program and was able to transition into my new position knowing that I gave my absolute best effort to leave the program better than I found it and make a positive impact on the lives of my student-athletes.”

Finding Improved Support On Campus

While the three athletes initially had difficulty finding support on campus immediately after the Rose-Hulman game, Brito utilized the MRC, which had a full staff for the first time since 2020. This fall, she reached out to Assistant Dean and Director of the MRC Scott Hwang to take action if a similar incident happened again, and now works as a program assistant. In this job, she is working to archive stories of marginalized students at Oberlin and working on outreach programs with Assistant Dean for Inclusion and Belonging Chris Donaldson, OC ’97.

“The communication between [Student Athlete Advisory Committee] and the MRC is a lot more than it’s been in the past,” Brito said. “Chris Donaldson especially works with Black men and Latinx men which are minority populations in the athletic community, so just having those open spaces for specifically those people is really valuable. Events that we are working on to push out in the future or more open lines of communication is something that we haven’t had in the past, which has been really helpful.”

Along with the MRC’s work in providing support for non-white student-athletes, Winkelfoos has worked closely in making sure to offer a more effective response if a similar event were to happen, and says that she remains in contact with Rose-Hulman’s head coach.

“Nothing can prepare a person for the unpredictable experience our students and staff had that day at Rose-Hulman,” Winkelfoos wrote. “It was an ugly inci-

dent that impacted two campuses and many people. Everyone navigated the situation the best they knew how at that moment. Unfortunately, we can’t ensure this won’t happen again but we can promise to do our absolute best to protect and support our student-athletes. We worked with our Athletics Diversity and Inclusion Designee Liaison to the Office of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Ana Richardson, OC ’18, to create a process if something like this would, unfortunately, happen again.”

In addition to administrative changes, both Brito and Lopez have credited their teammates for supporting them and respecting their boundaries when it comes to discussing the game, even if they can’t directly relate to what happened.

“A lot of my teammates are white, so they obviously have not experienced racism in the way that Mia or [I] have experienced it,” Lopez said. “But this [was a] really eye-opening experience for them too because they saw firsthand. Afterwards [they were] like, ‘Hey, I’ve got your back now. I’m here for you. I know what to look for now in order to prevent it ever happening to you again. God forbid it does happen again, I’m going to be there for you.’”

Ultimately, one year later, both players are encouraged by the steps taken by the Athletics department, their teammates, their coaching staff, and the MRC in healing and moving on from the game. Brito is appreciative of Winkelfoos’ actions and is hopeful that Oberlin is one step closer in better supporting non-white athletes.

“The general Oberlin community [still has] a lot to go, and I don’t know if we’ll ever be completely there in terms of what we could be doing or should be doing for people of color,” Brito said. “But I think we have made very huge strides since where we were last year, which is awesome. The athletic community has completely turned itself around.”

The past year has brought significant change to the softball team.

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor