October 29, 2021

October 29, 2021

Established 1874

Volume 151, Number 4

Education on the Ballot for 2021 Isaac Kucher Production Editor Ella Moxley News Editor

for comment, stated on its website that its operations have been directly affected by supply chain disruptions, product shortages, and recruitment issues brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a direct result of the nationwide disruptions and shortages, although this is temporary, our menus are continually being adjusted to reflect inventory and delivery deficits,” the statement reads. “We appreciate your patience and understanding. Please know we are here to serve you.”

The U.S. is currently dealing with what economists are calling the “Great Resignation,” where people across the country are leaving their jobs, thereby causing nationwide labor shortages. In August, the U.S. saw a record number of people leaving the workforce — Oberlin is no exception.

To deal with the shortage of staff, AVI announced that it would decrease its minimum student work requirement from twelve to four hours to encourage more students who cannot commit to a large number of hours to work in dining locations.

Another challenge that AVI is currently facing is the global supply chain disruptions caused by backed-up ports and other logistical issues.

As a result, many students are frustrated to find empty shelves at DeCafé and other dining locations. They brought the concerns directly to the Campus Dining Committee on Thursday, Oct. 21, leading AVI to make changes in their operations. Additionally, Student Senate has taken up the issue and will act as a liaison between the concerned students, the College, and AVI. “This is a priority on our agenda,” said Darielle Kennedy, president of Student Senate. “We’re getting into action right now, setting up meetings with [Director of Student Life Auxiliary and Special Projects] Wayne Wood and [Resident Director at AVI Foodsystems] Caleb Crandall, who have been willing to work with us. We wanna come up with some actionable steps and wanna come up with some solutions that address these grievances that students have posed about what’s going on with AVI.”

Voters will head to the polls Nov. 2 to vote in Lorain County’s general election. Education has emerged as the primary issue on the ballot.

While the race for City Council is uncontested, five candidates for the Oberlin School Board are vying for three open seats, and two of the proposed tax renewals on the ballot concern funds for Oberlin City Schools.

School Bond Issues 39 and 40 are up for renewal. Issue 39 dedicates $1.3 million towards education technology for the District, while Issue 40, a 0.75 percent income tax, generates approximately $2.8 million for arts and music school programs, which are often less funded than STEM programs. Since both tax levies are renewals, they will not result in increased taxation.

“If [Bond Measure 40] wasn’t passed, we would have to look at [cutting] support staff, who are like the paraprofessionals that are essential,” said Melissa Linebrink, Oberlin City Schools marketing and communications consultant. “We would have to look at our art and music programs, our social-emotional learning, and athletics.”

This year’s race for School Board features five candidates with varying ties to the schools, all of whom have a stake in seeing the schools succeed.

Farah Emeka, OC ’97, prosecutor for the City of Oberlin, was appointed to the board last summer to fill a vacancy, and is a current member. During her time on the board, she helped Oberlin City Schools navigate the COVID-19 pandemic.

Rosa Gadsden, former School Board member, is the volunteer and outreach coordinator at Oberlin Community Services and has previously worked as an assistant teacher in a Head Start classroom.

Samuel Baker, an Oberlin firefighter and former substitute teacher, is married to Oberlin City Schools Psychologist Bethany Baker, and has three children enrolled in the schools.

Ronnie Rimbert, a Lorain County commissioner and former Oberlin City Council member hopes to advocate not only for Oberlin students, but also for those in Elyria and the surrounding New Russia Township.

Finally, Jo-Anne Steggall, an Oberlin City Schools parent and former community college instructor, aims to create policies that better reflect the realities of the classroom.

Debates in school boards across the country have recently been dominated by the debates over critical race theory. Last summer, conservatives launched an attack against schools teaching history through a lens of racial equity, labeling the practice as promotion of Critical Race Theory, a body of scholarship often taught in law school.

Oberlin City Schools stand out among other Ohio school districts in its commitment to teach an un-whitewashed version of U.S. history. In

See Petition, page 2

See Voters, page 3

Over 1,000 students signed a petition against AVI Foodsystems last week, expressing frustration at the long lines among other dining issues, in dining locations such as DeCafé and the Rathskeller.

Photo by Khadijah Halliday, Photo Editor

AVI Promises Change After Student Complaints of Long Lines, Empty Shelves Kush Bulmer News Editor A student petition that circulated last week calls for the College’s dining partner, AVI Foodsystems, to address student concerns about dining accessibility. The petition highlighted student complaints about a lack of food and workers across dining locations. In the wake of last Thursday’s Dining Committee meeting and Student Senate’s advocacy, AVI has decreased the mandatory minimum weekly hours for student workers and promised further changes.

Some of the major complaints voiced by students included skipping meals due to long lines, finding DeCafé fridges empty, and that the high cost of a single meal swipe does not accurately reflect the amount of food available per swipe. To address these issues, AVI revealed in an Oct. 28 Instagram post that it is reevaluating the Xchange program to ensure that students are provided a substantial meal, offering an entrée, side, and beverage for Meal Xchange, increasing to-go production by 50 percent, increasing to daily vendor deliveries, and that it has hired five new team members and will hire an additional six more next week.

College second-year Maya Yin Fahrer started the petition because she was having trouble managing her work with her eating needs. The petition quickly garnered widespread support, with over 1,200 signatures from students and parents, and many comments expressing support on her social media.

“I started it because I was hungry and I have a lot of jobs on campus,” Yin Fahrer said. “I’m doing a lot this year, and I just can’t do any of [it], because I’m taking so much time to eat. It was definitely self-serving to start. But after getting the response I got — there are people who are close to being hospitalized, who are relapsing into eating disorders, who are physically incapable of standing in line and are therefore skipping meals — the second I started getting comments like that, the tone definitely changed of what it was for.”

AVI, which did not respond to the Review’s requests CONTENTS NEWS

OPINIONS

THIS WEEK

ARTS & CULTURE

SPORTS

02 Winter Market Closes Due to Lack of Vendor Interest

05 Revitalized Campus in Critical Moment for College Traditions

08–09

15 Oberlin Football Wins First Game of 2021 Season

04 Off the Cuff with Professor Charles Peterson

06 Lack of Weekend Activities Burdens First-Year Students

10 Celebrating Oberlin Pianists’ Success in International Chopin Competition

The Oberlin Review | October 29, 2021

Oberlin Hall of Horrors

12 John Waters Wanders Over to the Politically Correct Capital

16 Track or Treat Returns for First TIme Since 2019

oberlinreview.org facebook.com/oberlinreview TWITTER @oberlinreview INSTAGRAM @ocreview

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Petition Prompts AVI to Address Dining Concerns Continued from page 1

In an Oct. 25 Campus Digest email, Campus Dining Services and AVI thanked the students who attended the Oct. 21 Dining Committee meeting. In response to these concerns, CDS plans to release daily updates that will follow its ongoing improvement process.

In an Oct. 28 Campus Digest, AVI called for students to apply for the paid position of Dining Ambassador, which would entail attending subsequent Dining Committee meetings and facilitating student involvement through social media. An Instagram post on the same day revealed AVI’s ongoing process in improving food accessibility and availability, citing its changes to the Xchange program, increases in vending, and new hires, as well as their existent sustainability commitment and hiring practices.

“I think they have a really good plan,” said Vice President and Dean of Students Karen Goff. “The

good part about it is that they immediately, after their conversations with students, began to implement things. ... This gives us a real opportunity to look at our practices, to look at dining. AVI is still fairly new to Oberlin and they transitioned during the pandemic and really are working out some of the wrinkles.”

Yet, many students are still concerned with the viability of AVI as the College’s dining partner. In voicing her wariness, Yin Fahrer referred to the Oberlin unionbusting of United Auto Workers during the tenure of the College’s previous dining partner, Bon Appétit Management.

“Our hiring of AVI started with union-busting and is now leading to not feeding people,” Yin Fahrer said.

“Food is not a luxury; food is a necessity and a lot of people are not getting it. I would make a plea to Oberlin and

AVI just to care about their students. I think this is the most hypocritical way that Oberlin could do anything in terms of marketing themselves as a community-oriented college that cares about not only their students, but the entire world. And we can’t even fix food scarcity on our own campus. It’s horrifying.”

In its Oct. 28 post, AVI stated that they have hired 13 full-time UAW members and 12 part-time UAW members.

Students who want to express concerns about AVI or other issues can fill out the Student Senate Constituentsw Survey or they can express their concerns directly to AVI at avifresh@oberlin.edu or through its text-a-manager number, 440-577-5304.

Winter Market Closes Due to Lack of Vendor Interest had customers who were concerned about shopping inside due to COVID-19, so the farm declined to participate.

“When it came down to figuring out covering the cost, … it just was not going to work because we don’t have a whole lot of extra money in the bank as far as the Market goes,” Reed said. “We’ve always sort of operated on a very tight budget so that we could keep the cost for our vendors to participate low.”

Not having the Market operate this year has left vendors searching for alternatives to sell their products. Peter Morris, farm manager of City Fresh, has pivoted to collaborations with Oberlin Food Hub and other outlets.

“It’s just a bummer,” Morris said. “We had grown stuff in anticipation for the sale of it this winter. So now to not have that guaranteed Saturday lined up, it makes it a little difficult, but I don’t think it’s anybody’s fault.”

For Reed, the closing of the Market is a financial and emotional blow. Reed sells soaps, sugar scrubs, lotions, and candles, and her family counts on the income she makes at the Market.

“I’m very disappointed for the other vendors who don’t have this opportunity to sell their things because there are several of them that depend on this income,” Reed said. “It is very disappointing. I felt like crap having to tell everybody, ‘We can’t do the Market this year cause they don’t have the people interested.’ It was a lot of work to put forth to try to pull the Market together and just a huge amount of disappointment when it kind of became a reality that we can’t do it this year.”

Community members also rely on the Market for accessible, local, and fresh foods. Chair and Professor of Rhetoric and Composition Laurie McMillin is a frequent patron of both the summer Farmers Market and the Winter Market.

McMillin expressed her sadness to see the Market closed this year.

The Oberlin Farmers Market will not take place this winter due to a lack of vendor interest.

Illustration by Holly Yelton, Staff Cartoonist

Ella Moxley News Editor The Oberlin Winter Market will not open this year after the Market was unable to recruit enough vendors to pay rent on a host facility. The Winter Market, an indoor farmers market that sells produce, meat, and other goods, normally runs from mid-October to midMay but last December, it was shut down due to COVID-19. However, organizers are hopeful that the Winter Market will be running again next year.

Since 2018, the Winter Market has taken place in the Oberlin Early

Childhood Center. In 2020, the Market was held downtown in an empty storefront. Normally, the Market pays OECC $80 per week in rent and $38 a month for operating insurance.

In order to meet these costs, the Winter Market needs to have six to seven vendors because most do not sell at the Market every single week.

Unfortunately, the Market lost two important vendors this year. According to Laura Reed, who serves as the Market manager, the person who normally sells produce at the Market is sick and could not participate this year. An additional struggle is that the farm that offers meat

The Oberlin R eview

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“I rely on these wonderful farmers for their eggs and meat,” McMillan said. “Their animals are pasture raised without added hormones and all that other stuff. I also love to be able to buy my produce locally. It’s been a luxury to be able to go a few blocks in summer or winter to get local greens — or at least to buy them from people in my community.

So yes, I will miss the Market, and, sadly, I will end up driving some distance to pick up food that has traveled even farther!”

Despite the disappointment, Reed thinks that because the Winter Market is such an important part of the Oberlin community, it will not be gone forever.

She is determined to reopen it in 2022 and has been looking into negotiating with the City for the use of the former Prospect Elementary School building for the Market. She is also looking for grants to help offset some of the management costs of the Market.

“As far as I know, there is no winter farmers-type market where you can access things that are produced in the community,” Reed said. “I think the community is gonna be sorely disappointed and sorely lacking this year because of [the closure]. And that is one of the reasons why I’m really intent on working to make sure that next winter or next fall when the outdoor Market closes, we do go into having our Winter Market.”

Morris argues that the success of next year’s Market partially hinges on greater interest from community members who can contribute to the Market. He hopes to see more people in Oberlin rally around participating in the local economy.

“It came down to not having enough vendors … so in general, I think that there’s this need for other members in our community to start doing crafty things or to start growing themselves to be a part of the Market if we wanna keep this going as a community,” Morris said.

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Security Notebook Thursday, Oct. 21, 2021

Photo by Loh, member of Clevelanders for Public Transit

Students, Activists Rally for Transit Funding Shannon Schulz Students from Oberlin’s Sunrise hub joined 14 other Greater Cleveland organizations last Sunday to demand increased federal funding for public transportation, which is part of the Build Back Better Act. The Build Back Better Act will direct $3.5 trillion toward housing, education, climate, and other social programs. Demonstrators protested last week as part of one final push before negotiation on the bill ends this Sunday. To Sunrise’s Ohio chapters, the most important player is Senator Sherrod Brown.

Starting around 1 p.m., the group walked from the Cleveland Public Square to Brown’s office and the Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority headquarters.

Their march marked the end of a sixmonth-long organizational effort to support the final legislation on a bill that will include public transit in

infrastructure funding.

“We’re making sure Senator Brown, our senator in Ohio who has a big role in the Senate, is urging other people and is making his voice heard [about] how important it is to pass [the bill],” said Courtney Horner, College second-year and Sunrise Oberlin event organizer.

The bill involves $10 billion of public transit funding for the country over the next ten years and is projected to create 10 million clean energy jobs. Horner is hopeful that the legislation will be a stepping stone to greater progress.

“We are fighting for electric buses,” Horner said. “The big thing is shifting jobs away from fossil fuel industries and into these other industries. If we have new transportation jobs, a lot of people who have currently worked in coal mines … can now be trained in these jobs pretty easily. That would also factor into mitigating climate change.”

This sentiment rang clear throughout the protest’s crowd of roughly 60 people. The group retained its energy as the temperature dropped and rain trickled down.

Demonstrators continued to sing, chant, and march. Despite the cold, College first-year Natalie Dufour had warm feelings about the rally.

“I think there were 10 or so different organizations there,” Dufour said. “We were all there for a common cause. And even when it started raining, … and it was not a very fun [physical] atmosphere, … the feeling was [still] incredible. No one left when it started raining; no one was like, ‘Oh, we don’t want to be here anymore,’ because everyone was there, united in this common cause to demand equitable public transportation. So it was really, really exciting to be there and to be a part of that.”

Voters to Decide Education Questions Next Week Continued from page 1

an Oberlin Community Candidates Night on Sept. 29, hosted by Dr. Alison Ricker, head of the Science Library and member of the League of Women Voters, candidates for School Board unanimously spoke out against legislation proposed by the Ohio State House to prohibit the teaching of “divisive concepts.”

“It makes absolutely no sense for our curriculum to be determined by legislators in the State House who are not familiar with the unique diversity of our community,” said Emeka. “It’s important for us to … see where we’ve made mistakes in our past when you refer to critical race theory, and learn from them so that we don’t repeat them.”

Steggall stated that uncomfortable questions have the power to broaden students’ horizons.

“I think divisive concepts are how we learn … and learning about each

The Oberlin Review | October 29, 2021

other is how education makes us all better people,” Stegall said. “I think it’s definitely important to teach true history. I would point to Mr. [Kurt] Russell, our State of Ohio Teacher of the Year. His Race, Gender, and Oppression class is one of the classes that the kids at the [Oberlin] high school really love.”

The broader Oberlin community hasn’t necessarily reached a consensus on how to grapple with sensitive issues like mask mandates and critical race theory. However, Oberlin City Schools Superintendent David Hall described the undercurrent of civility that ran through a meeting between public health experts and community members held on Oct. 19.

“I think three of our committee members stood up and said, ‘This has been a very, very healthy conversation,’” said Hall. “Whether they agree, whether we disagree — at

the end of the day, we all walked out together.”

Former President of Oberlin City Council Bryan Burgess urged College students to research the candidates and issues at stake in order to serve the interests of the Oberlin College community.

“The state of Ohio says college students can vote for local elections,” said Burgess. “Even if you aren’t here for the next election cycle — you’ve graduated, you’ve moved on — if you’re not here, someone just like you will be here. And so you are voting to represent not only your interests, but the interests of college students in general.”

Voters can view their registration status, precinct and polling location, and sample ballot at lookup.boe.ohio. gov/vtrapp/ lorain/vtrlookup.aspx.

Those who are interested can sign up to be a poll worker at OhioSOS.gov.

1:11 a.m. A Campus Safety officer on patrol around Warner Center observed two students walking through Wilder Bowl calling out the name of another student. Officers were informed that they were looking for a highly intoxicated student. The Oberlin Police Department assisted in locating the student. The student was located and transported to Mercy Allen Hospital.

12:57 p.m. Facilities staff reported a camera on the west entrance to Price House was covered with tape. Officers responded, photographed the camera, and removed the tape.

1:10 p.m. Officers were requested to assist an ill student who needed a transport from the Student Health Center to Mercy Allen Hospital’s emergency room. Transport was completed.

Friday, Oct. 22, 2021 11:47 p.m. The Oberlin Police Department received a report about an intoxicated student on the fire escape at Wilder Hall. Officers responded and located the student. The student was assisted from the fire escape and transported to Mercy Allen Hospital’s emergency room.

Saturday, Oct. 23, 2021 2:13 a.m. Officers and Oberlin Fire Department members responded to a fire alarm on the first floor of Price House.

The cause of the alarm was smoke from burnt popcorn. The area was cleared and the alarm was reset.

11:24 p.m. A resident of Price House reported an unknown person sleeping in their room on the first floor. Officers responded and woke the person, who apologized for mistakenly entering the wrong room. The student was identified and then left to return to their own room.

Sunday, Oct. 24, 2021 12:48 a.m. Officers assisting a student with a lockout in Firelands Apartments observed in plain view a bagged smoke detector. The bag was removed and it was explained to the student that covered detectors are a fire safety hazard.

12:57 a.m. Officers were requested to assist a student, ill from alcohol consumption, on the third floor of Burton Hall. An ambulance was requested and the student was transported to Mercy Allen Hospital’s emergency room.

6:30 p.m.

Officers, Oberlin Fire Department members, and a maintenance technician responded to students stuck in the elevator at Langston Hall. OFD members were able to assist the students from the elevator.

The elevator was turned off and outof-order signs have been posted until repairs are made.

11:27 p.m. Officers and Oberlin Fire Department members responded to a fire alarm at a Goldsmith Village Housing Unit. The unit was checked and cleared. The alarm was reset with no further problems.

Monday, Oct. 25, 2021 8:40 p.m. Staff from Azariah’s Café reported the theft of a mug from a shelving unit in the café. Officers responded and spoke with the manager, who stated that the mug was returned.

The manager requested no further action.

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Ne New wss OFF THE CUFF

Professor Charles Peterson on Teaching and Scholarship which was funded by Robert Lemle, OC ’75, the son of Gertrude B. Lemle. His mother was a really fantastic supporter of education, and he wanted to fund a center that would continue that sort of mission of teaching and learning.

So far I have been involved in the new faculty orientation week. I spoke with the faculty in terms of how best to organize syllabi here at Oberlin. I organized a panel talking about class organization.

I also participated in the faculty advising session, helping faculty think about the circumstances of this year’s incoming class, having spent their senior years within the context of “COVID-19 high school,” is how it’s being described. I also have a monthly luncheon where faculty come in and talk about their research and scholarship, or we discuss issues around teaching and pedagogy.

Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies Charles Peterson Photo by Tanya Rosen-Jones

Nikki Keating Associate Professor and Chair of Africana Studies Charles Peterson was named the new director of the Gertrude B. Lemle Teaching Center on July 1. The Center is the College’s teaching and scholarship center that helps faculty share their perspectives and teaching practices and connect to their students and scholarship. The Center works not only with faculty who are new to Oberlin, but also with experienced professors to strengthen their teaching.

Besides directing the Center, Peterson teaches in the Africana Studies Department and pursues his own scholarship in Africana philosophy and film and Africana political and cultural theory.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Can you tell me about how the center was created and what your duties are as director?

The job entails managing the programming and activities of the Gertrude B. Lemle Center,

What are your goals when you are working with professors?

We conduct workshops and discussions. The faculty will share various techniques or ideas. We’ll talk about issues and innovations within teaching.

All of that is on the table. But I really want to stress the change in the name. It used to be “teaching and learning.” Now it’s “teaching and scholarship.”

So I really want to stress and emphasize support of faculty scholarly efforts. I want faculty to become aware of what their colleagues are doing, the interesting work that’s being conducted. And I also want to talk about and support the ways in which teaching and scholarship go hand in hand so that faculty don’t have to lead split lives between teaching and scholarship. This is beneficial for students, beneficial for faculty, and beneficial for the institution where scholarship and teaching come together in mutually beneficial ways.

Can you speak more about how faculty are adapting to the unique conditions that the current incoming class is facing?

Remote learning isn’t everything we hoped it would be. So we’re thinking about, how do we understand where students are, in terms of skill development? And we have to be very real and

honest about where students come in. They may not come in where normally they would be in a pre-COVID-19 circumstance. I think we have to be very aware of students being reintroduced into a dramatically different social and cultural environment coming out of the relative isolation of COVID-19 into a vibrant, active environment with other students. I think these are important things for faculty to keep in mind to best serve and aid students in being who they can be.

How do you think that your position as an Africana Studies professor affects your position as director?

I want to weave together the basic mission of the Center, and I want to bring it together with some of the programming, some of the issues around questions of diversity on campus — not that that wasn’t already happening, but I want it to be a much more overt and conscious intention. I’m developing the Center’s programming connected to Black History Month. I want to develop programming that’s connected to Women’s History Month. Unfortunately, because of the late start of the semester in the year, I missed Latino Heritage Month. I don’t want instructors to think that their teaching is separate from these types of activities and programs.

And why does this affect Oberlin students?

I think it creates opportunities, developing programming that encourages and supports expansion in teaching that supports experimental and innovative approaches to teaching. And I think that directly affects students. The scholarship side of it is that vibrant teaching should be based in a vibrant scholarship environment. So the things that we’re thinking about and learning and exploring and researching, we want instructors to feel very comfortable bringing those directly into class. We want students to benefit from this great work that the faculty are doing all the time. And I think that improves the experience for students and powerfully informs their postgraduate lives.

Boosters Come to Campus While Staff Vaccinations Lag Eric Schank Senior Staff Writer On Wednesday, an ObieSafe update released information about new Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations published last week, which gave a description about who is eligible to seek a booster vaccine for COVID-19. Meanwhile, the College is seeking compliance with the vaccination mandate from staff members.

As of Monday, Oberlin has a campus-wide vaccination rate of 96 percent. However, at this point, only 84.5 percent of staff have turned in vaccination cards, compared to 98.3 percent of students and 95.4 percent of faculty.

According to Campus Health Coordinator Katie Gravens, faculty and staff are expected to either be vaccinated or have filed an exemption by the Nov. 1 deadline. The vaccine mandate does not apply to employees of dining and custodial vendors, AVI Foodsystems and Scioto, and the College does not keep track of the vaccination data for this group. “[Human Resources] is working with people who have not uploaded cards and have not filed an exemption,” Gravens said. “They go through the same process that we go through with students. And again, [vaccination] is required to be at Oberlin. For people that ultimately don’t comply, there will be sanctions.”

For students, the vaccination deadline elapsed Oct. 7, and the College is working with some students with extenuating circumstances on an individual basis, according to Gravens. Many international students, for example, are still in the process of receiving their doses because of varying availability of vaccinations in their home countries. Others received vaccines that have not yet been approved by the World Health Organization.

Overall, Gravens indicated that vaccination rates look positive, despite the lack of data on the vendors the College contracts with for dining and custodial services.

“We don’t have [vaccination] information, because

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we cannot require them to have it,” she said. “What we are doing is we are requiring them to test weekly for those who are not vaccinated. We work with AVI and Scioto, so that they then provide the test center with the list of vendors who should be testing weekly.”

Gravens says the ObieSafe layered healthcare strategy was created with multiple protection measures in mind, such as masking and social distancing, in order to mitigate any potential consequences of the relatively low vaccination rates among staff members.

“To me, it’s a little bit concerning, but having the faculty numbers up so high makes me feel pretty safe,” said College fourth-year Jesse Pearlman. “I don’t feel like I’m spending long periods of time in close quarters with staff members, such as dining workers. I feel like having professors and teaching staff at such a high number is really important.”

While the College is working on ensuring faculty, staff, and students have a first dose of the vaccine, this week, many students got the opportunity to get a booster dose of the vaccine they received earlier this year.

People who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, people 65 and older, and people 18 and over who have an underlying health condition or live in a high-risk setting are eligible to receive a booster. While students, faculty, and staff who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have clear eligibility for the vaccine, Gravens said the circumstances that constitute a “high-risk setting” are less straightforward.

After consulting with Lorain County Deputy Health Commissioner Mark Adams, Gravens determined that students living in a room with multiple occupants are eligible for booster vaccines. According to Gravens, Oberlin will be engaging in talks, starting next week, with the Ohio Department of Health to determine protocols moving forward.

Pearlman, who received the Johnson & Johnson vaccine, plans to get a booster and wonders why the College has not implemented a mandate for individuals for whom a booster is recommended.

“I see no reason not to mandate it,” he said. “If vaccines are already mandated and [Johnson & Johnson’s] is not quite as effective as the others, requiring a booster to raise the efficacy of that vaccine to the level of the others makes a lot of sense to me.”

College third-year Sander Ferrazza also questioned this hesitancy.

“If that’s what CDC is recommending, why not have it be mandated?” Ferrazza said.

At this time, Gravens says the College has not discussed making boosters mandatory, but it is already working on processes through which people would be able to upload a vaccination card for a booster. The College is also investigating the possibility of reopening a vaccination clinic on campus.

“Because we vaccinated about [600] people with [Johnson & Johnson’s] last year, we’d like to make sure it’s available to them,” Gravens said.

Currently, the Pfizer, Moderna, and Johnson & Johnson vaccines are considered interchangeable as boosters, though they have varying degrees of efficacy.

All three vaccines are also accessible to students at off-campus locations, regardless of whether or not the College reopens its clinic. Booster vaccines are available at CVS Pharmacy, Walmart Pharmacy, and Mercy Allen Hospital, which is in walking distance of the College.

“CVS has free COVID[-19] vaccines, and I just got my flu shot there,” Ferrazza said. “It’s actually kind of sad that I just saw the email, because I probably would’ve just gotten my booster right then.”

Gravens will continue to consult with local public health experts to ensure that the College is disseminating clear advice to students as CDC recommendations related to the vaccine evolve and the local public health situation shifts.

“We continue to have all those discussions, but I think we’re moving in a very positive direction right now,” Gravens said. “So I hope that means students see that they can really enjoy their experience at Oberlin, as opposed to feeling fearful.”

October 29, 2021

OPINIONS Established 1874

Racism and Assault Allegations: Ugly Side of Oberlin Yik Yak Kayla Kim Columnist

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Editor’s note: This article discusses anti-Black racism and sexual assault.

As a first-year at Oberlin, I’ve learned that there are a lot of things that aren’t explained at Orientation. I’ve learned where to find the womb chairs in Mudd Center and how to jaywalk between Wilder Hall and the Science Center without getting hit by a car.

I’ve also learned about Yik Yak, a popular app where you can make anonymous confessions that are only visible to people within a five-mile radius. I’ve seen humorous posts about topics that are quintessentially Oberlin: long lines at Stevenson Dining Hall, the elusive albino squirrel, and things that are probably best kept between friends. However, I have also noticed some more disturbing trends: posts making students of color uncomfortable, severe anti-Black racism, and posts exposing sexual abusers.

One such incident on Yik Yak involved white students complaining about being uncomfortable while walking through Afrikan Heritage House to get to Lord-Saunders Dining Hall. The Afrikan Heritage House is a living space and community for students who are part of the African Diaspora, and it’s worth noting that the main entrance to Lord-Saunders Dining Hall does not require anyone to pass through the dorms. When Black students expressed their own discomfort with the posts on Yik Yak, non-Black students were quick to mock and harass them in the comments.

While all posts related to this incident were downvoted, deleted, and unable to be screenshotted, I was able to get a screenshot of another concerning post. In this post, the user wrote, “So we’re not talking about how flex points are like being paid ‘store credits’ for picking cotton?” comparing the controversial Oberlin meal plan to chattel slavery.

In less extreme cases, I’ve seen students of color voice their frustrations about being talked over by white peers or experiencing microaggressions; yet, far too often, there are comments talking down to them and their experiences.

To be completely honest, I wasn’t very surprised to see this happening. I knew that Oberlin, as a predominantly white institution, would have these issues despite building its brand and reputation on being “inclusive” and “accepting.” Furthermore, as a person of color, I already knew that there are plenty of white “allies” who will say one thing to your face and another behind your back. It was comforting to know that the majority of the Oberlin community did not agree with these messages, with users quick to call out and downvote the people who made racist posts. Despite this, it’s still incredibly unsettling that people feel comfortable making these statements in the first place. Yik Yak gives people the ability to be anonymous and say whatever bigoted statements they would like with absolutely no consequences.

In addition to perpetuating racism on campus, people have also been using Yik Yak to call out sexual predators, specifically on the men’s athletic teams, and have used full names and social media handles to warn others. Most of these posts get taken down because Yik Yak does not allow posts with full names, but this does not deter people from continuing to discuss rape culture at Oberlin. While people post names with good intentions, this harms survivors emotionally.

Emma Hart, College third-year and founder and leader of Survivors of Sexual Harm and Allies, emphasized that conversations centering sexual harm survivors need to be held, but she also acknowledged the complexity of using social media to make allegations.

“When posting on social media, speak from your own experience,” said Hart. “When other people take [a survivor’s story] to debate or use as a form of gossip, … it’s retraumatizing for a survivor.”

Though I understand that there are laws, privacy issues, and regulations involved, learning about these sexual assault allegations from Yik Yak has been disturbing. It’s barely been a full month since I’ve been here, but because of these posts, I’m already having doubts about how well Oberlin truly supports victims of sexual assault.

With that said, it is important to acknowledge that the College has taken some steps See Troubling page 7 SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed submissions.

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

The Oberlin Review | October 29, 2021

Volume 151, Number 4

Revitalized Campus In Critical Moment for College Traditions For the first time since March 2020, the full student body is on campus.

For those of us who were at Oberlin during the past three semesters, when campus was “de-densified,” this can feel both overwhelming and invigorating. The campus once again feels full of life — some argue too full — and yet it’s also apparent that things are very different than they were the last time we all were in town.

The reality is, more than half of current students, both first- and second-years, have never experienced “traditional” college life. Secondyears, just like their first-year peers, are encountering for the first time a lively, full campus with events like concerts and Splitchers. For most of last year, the basic elements of the college experience — such as indoor dining, studying in libraries, and parties — were outlawed. First-years had their high school years irrevocably altered by COVID-19, and many are starting their college experience on shaky legs. In first-year seminars and Peer Advising Leader groups, first-years have expressed concerns about whether they are prepared for the academic rigor required at the collegiate level.

Underclassmen now have to navigate many aspects of Oberlin’s culture for the first time. Some traditions — such as attending “Organ Pump” in Finney Chapel or watching a movie at the Apollo Theatre — are easier to carry on. However, COVID-19 dealt a serious blow to the larger campus culture.

Student organizations are one of the primary drivers of Oberlin culture. While many clubs shut down during the pandemic, their hiatus was prolonged past the initial shutdown by the de-densified campus that continued through the summer. With fewer students on campus at a time, gaining quorum for smaller and more niche clubs proved to be a challenge. Now, clubs are reinvigorated — improv troupes that have not performed in years are holding auditions, student support networks are gaining momentum, and identity-based organizations have a higher membership.

But the lack of student institutional knowledge is creating challenges.

Clubs that had paused for months, and failed to recruit new members, are now lacking the knowledge that has historically been transferred from older students to newcomers. This ranges from logistical tasks, such as how to run officer elections or plan meetings, to traditions such as community dinners and social events. Larger goals often fall by the wayside. Many third- and fourth-years are burned out from running student organizations over Zoom, and new club leaders now feel that they are engaging in the daunting task of reinventing the wheel.

There’s also a noticeable disconnect between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen. While third- and fourth-years grew closer over the summer semester, when they were all living together on north campus, they have only spent a single, hybrid semester on campus with secondyears. This has resulted in fewer close friendships and meaningful interactions between upperclassmen and lowerclassmen.

As a result of this distance between class years, it’s become more difficult to pass on the culture of Oberlin. This isn’t just a loss for Oberlin’s student institutions, it also constitutes a devastating loss of a classic Oberlin tradition: peer mentorship. This Editorial Board has many alumni to thank, not only for supporting us through social pressures and academic opportunities, but also for teaching us how to love Oberlin. We can’t imagine having the same Oberlin experience without their support.

As we transition back into a newly revitalized campus, we are not only setting the tone for the academic year ahead of us, but we are rebuilding Oberlin’s culture for generations of Obies to come. Moving into the rest of this semester, we invite all the members of our Oberlin community to be more intentional about the culture and tone they are setting. The actions we take now will define Oberlin in the coming years.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-inChief, Managing Editor, and Opinions Editor — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review.

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Opi n ions

Pianos in Conservatory Contribute to Hearing Loss Walter Thomas-Patterson Senior Staff Writer Walking into the Conservatory’s Robertson Hall, I pause for a moment in the breezeway to enjoy the chorus of instrumental chatter filtering through the space. As a pianist, I appreciate the fragments of piano pieces that I hear, and I am struck by how vividly I can recognize a piece from an individual practice room, whether it be the feverishly fast right hand runs from Chopin’s Winter Wind étude or the thundering left-hand arpeggios of Rachmaninoff ’s Piano Concerto No. 2.

The clarity with which I hear music emanating from rooms in such a large building raises a question: just how loud are the pianos in Robertson, and do they endanger the hearing of pianists and those playing with pianists in Robertson practice rooms?

To answer this question, I first drew on my past experiences as a musician. Having been a pianist and orchestral oboist in high school before focusing solely on piano at Oberlin, I encountered firsthand the dangers of loud music. As an oboist, I would sit directly in front of the brass section, putting me in especially close proximity to high-decibel sounds. In the hours after a concert or rehearsal, I remember the disconcerting realization that my ears were ringing, and there was little I could do but wait for the sound to dissipate.

I decided to meet with an audiologist, who conducted a series of hearing tests. The test results were a serious wake-up call. At age 16, I had mild hearing loss in my left ear — not enough to impact my life noticeably but enough to cause concern that I might incur more noticeable hearing loss in the future if I continued with my same habits.

My experiences as an oboist motivated me to become a dutiful user of earplugs while I played in ensembles, but I never seriously considered that my solo piano practice could be a threat to my hearing until I paused in the breezeway of Robertson and wondered, “Could my hours of piano practice every day also be damaging to my hearing?”

Curious, I tested the loudness of pianos in Robertson with a commercially available decibel reader on my phone. In a sample of 10 pianos, I received readings in the range of 80–100 decibels when playing on what I considered a mid-level dynamic.

The American Academy of Audiology recommends the use of hearing protection for any sounds over 85 decibels, and the Occupational Health and Safety Association says that sounds over 90 decibels can lead to permanent hearing loss without proper ear protection. The pianos in Robertson often exceed this level.

I wondered how they could have gotten this loud.

The reason has nothing to do with their quality but, instead, has everything to do with the frequency with which they are played. From the early morning into the late night, the dozens of pianos in Robertson are played nonstop, which impacts the mechanics of the pianos’ hammers over time. These felt-coated hammers, which hit the string to create a tone, gradually become more and more compacted with every strike. The harder the hammer, the brighter the tone will be, and thus the louder the sound the piano will produce.

The most direct solution to this problem is a thorough revoicing — the process of softening the felt of the hammers so that when they hit the strings, the sound produced is more muted. Considering that there are over 100 pianos in Robertson and a limited number of technicians, such an undertaking would be a considerable logistical challenge.

More importantly, I hope the Conservatory seriously considers addressing the problem not only through technical means, but also by going a step further and raising awareness about the problem of hearing loss for musicians as a whole. In my experience, the exposure to potentially damaging sound can seem like an unavoidable part of the relentless grind of practice, rehearsals, and lessons. It is a price to pay for dedication to the instrument.

The problem with this mindset is that it completely ignores the way music is profoundly connected to our health. Music is nourishing to our emotional and intellectual well-being, but at the same time, the choices that we make as musical artists linger in parts of our lives far from the practice room. Choosing to ignore one’s aural health in the practice room can lead to enormous consequences in the future.

In light of this, I hope the Conservatory seriously considers addressing the problem not only through technical means but also by going a step further and raising awareness about the problem of hearing loss for musicians in general.

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LETTER TO THE EDITORS We Demand Transparent Investigation of Mohammad Mahallati On Oct. 8, 2020, we sent a letter to Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar signed by hundreds of victims, survivors, and human rights experts at leading organizations. The letter alleged that, in his role as U.N. Ambassador for Iran, Mr. Mohammad Jafar Mahallati helped cover up mass killings that occurred in Iran during the summer of 1988. We asked for a fair investigation into the matter, but our letter remains unacknowledged by the College.

So, we were shocked to learn through an article in The Oberlin Review that the College claims to have conducted an internal investigation that exonerated Mr. Mahallati.

The result of the investigation is surprising for several reasons, the first being that Oberlin has refused to engage with us since we brought attention to Mr. Mahallati’s past. As an analogy, imagine a sexual assault investigation in which Oberlin refused to speak with the victim, refused to disclose its investigative process, and simply announced that the accused was not guilty. Would you consider such an investigation credible?

We should note that not only has Oberlin refused to meet with the victims to discuss the case, but lawyers, former hostages, victims’ families, and journalists say that they have been blocked on social media by President Ambar for raising the issue, no matter how respectfully. To continue the earlier analogy, would President Ambar have reacted similarly to hundreds of victims raising allegations of sexual assault? If not, why would she allegedly block people who have raised concerns about the role of an Oberlin professor implicated in the cover-up of a mass killing that Amnesty International and Canada’s Parliament have both determined to constitute a crime against humanity? Does President Ambar not believe that our lives matter?

Oberlin’s administrators further claim that “the College could find no evidence to corroborate the allegations against Professor Mahallati, including that he had specific knowledge of the murders taking place in Iran.”

This claim is shocking to us because the evidence is, in fact, overwhelming. Oberlin’s investigators must have exerted great effort not to find it.

The case against Mr. Mahallati is rather simple, and Oberlin does not have to take our word for it. It merely needs to consult readily available U.N. documents and Amnesty International reports. Those very documents are currently being used by Swedish prosecutors as the basis for a high-profile trial of a man implicated in the 1988 massacre.

The facts are as follows: Over the span of five months in 1988, Iran’s regime subjected thousands of political prisoners across the country to minutes-long “re-trials” — that failed to meet any international standards of due process — and were presided over by what prisoners came to call “Death Commissions.” Based on no more than a few questions about their political or religious beliefs, about 5,000 prisoners were killed that summer.

During the summer in which these killings took place, Mr. Mahallati was Iran’s U.N. ambassador.

In a detailed report from Amnesty International, the organization notes that it had issued at least 16 urgent action notices in 1988, starting on Aug. 16, alerting the international

community that mass killings were occurring in Iran’s prisons.

On Oct. 13, 1988, the U.N. itself reported that on July 28, 1988, “200 persons described as political prisoners … had been massacred in the central hall of Evin prison,” and that from Aug. 14–16, “860 bodies of executed political prisoners had been transferred” to a mass grave.

According to U.N. reports, in November 1988 — three months after Amnesty International publicized the mass murder campaign — Mr. Mahallati “denied the mass executions in a meeting with the U.N. Special Representative on the situation of human rights in Iran.”

Also in November 1988, The New York Times reported that Mr. Mahallati fought hard against a U.N. resolution that condemned Iran’s human rights record, including “a renewed wave of executions in the period July–September 1988 whereby a large number of persons died because of their political convictions.” According to the news report, Mr. Mahallati said that a report condemning Iran’s mass human rights violations constituted a “confrontation” with that country.

In an oral statement issued at the U.N. in December 1988 — again, four months after Amnesty International’s urgent alerts, months after the U.N. took note of the killings, and several months after thousands of families had spoken out about the execution of their loved ones — Mr. Mahallati made baseless allegations that reports of the killings were “misinformation” and an effort to “to make a propagandistic campaign in favor of a handful of foreign elements in Iran.”

In February 1989, in another oral statement to the U.N. intended to counter an Amnesty International briefing that laid out all the facts about the killings, Mr. Mahallati said that the Iranian regime had only executed “spies and terrorists.”

He continued to deny these killings, calling them “political propaganda against the Islamic Republic.”

As the timeline outlined above makes clear, many of the institutions focused on human rights in Iran were aware of the mass killings taking place in Iran’s prisons. Yet Oberlin’s investigators expect us to believe that Iran’s highest-ranking diplomat had no “specific knowledge” of the killings and made no inquiries before denying this mass crime. Can Oberlin’s risible finding be called anything but a whitewash?

We therefore refuse to accept Oberlin’s internal finding and will continue our campaign by all available legal means. Our demands are simple and logical: The College must publish who conducted its investigation and what evidence they considered.

Since the Collegehas shown itself unwilling to conduct a fair and transparent investigation into Mr. Mahallati’s past, we demand a neutral third-party investigator be appointed and that the investigator engage with the complainants.

The people of Iran have fought for over three decades to bring the perpetrators of the 1988 massacre to justice. They expect no justice from Iran’s regime. It is thus disappointing to find a liberal school that boasts of its commitment to justice behaving like that regime.

Thousands of victims of the single largest mass killing in Iranian history and their families need Oberlin to live up to its own ideals.

– Kaveh Shahrooz & Lawdan Bazargan On behalf of Oberlin Committee for Justice for Mahallati’s Victims

LETTER TO THE EDITORS I Endorse Jo-Anne Steggall for Oberlin City Schools Board of Education Having attended and participated in the Oberlin Community Candidates Night on Zoom, I strongly support the candidacy of Jo-Anne Steggall for one of three contested seats on the Oberlin City Schools Board of Education. I do not personally know, nor have I met, Jo-Anne Steggall. However, her thoughtful reflections, inquisitive investigation, and open, respectful demeanor during the Candidates Night speak volumes of her abilities both to work well with others — which is critical — and to move education in Oberlin City Schools forward in a positive, progressive, and inclusive manner.

Ms. Steggall is both informed and genuine in her candidacy, and I encourage you to vote for her for the Oberlin City Schools Board of Education on Nov. 2.

David Laczko, Oberlin Resident

Lack of Activities Frustrates First-Year Students Emma Benardete Contributing Opinions Editor As a first-year who has been at Oberlin for all of four weeks, I find it difficult to engage with my peers in an unstructured way. I’m never sure whom to text on a Saturday night or what I should suggest we do. Bowling? Backgammon? I would love, instead, to attend an activity that has been planned either by the Program Board or a student organization, with the assurance that other students will be there. After all, I’ve been told that one of the best ways to meet people in college is to attend on-campus events.

Unfortunately, despite the 175 student organizations that the College boasts on its website, it feels impossible to find events on weekends. Even though the College has an official channel through which to post events, many are not posted there. It seems as though only official departments, either academic or administrative, are permitted to utilize that space.

Thus, event postings tend to be spread out between various Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram accounts and the occasional set of posters on bulletin boards in various academic buildings, easily overlooked in the rush to get from class to class or overshadowed by the

numerous other posters about on-campus employment or career workshops for fourth-years. In order to find an event, you either have to go to the social media pages of the individual sponsoring organization or hear about it by word of mouth. The few postings that do exist are sometimes incomplete. This past weekend, I saw a posting about a trivia night that listed the time but not the venue.

When I’ve voiced my concerns, older students have told me that, at some point, I’ll get into the groove. It will become easier as time goes on, and I’ll learn the intricacies of Oberlin’s messy and over-complicated event-broadcasting system. While I’m sure they mean well, what I hear is that the way I’m feeling right now doesn’t matter. I’m hearing that my status as a first-year means I don’t deserve the security of knowing that I won’t spend every Saturday night alone.

I shouldn’t have to wait until something magically clicks and I figure it out.

The time at the beginning of my college journey, when I don’t yet have strong relationships with my classmates, is the time when it is most important for me to be able to find events and meet people.

Twine, an app designed by Oberlin students a few years ago, was supposed

to be a solution to this problem. The purpose of the app is to be a forum for organizations to post events, so everything can be consolidated and easily accessible. Unfortunately, that is not the case. Just over 50 of the student groups are actually on Twine, and many of their pages don’t actually list events.

Rather, they list only bygone social media accounts that haven’t been active in months or have since changed their handles, making them more difficult to find.

Other student organizations don’t use Twine at all. It takes combing through the individual list of organizations — which doesn’t appear to be updated on the College website’s clubs and organizations page — to find events, and even then it is sometimes exceedingly difficult.

The other problem with Twine is that many students, especially first-years, do not use it or even know that it exists. For something so crucial to the student experience, there needs to be better communication about its existence than a few posters on bulletin boards around campus.

It is also possible that this is not merely an issue of failure to communicate events to students. Rather, it could be that there is a lack of events themselves.

Many clubs choose to meet during the week, when students are swamped with homework or just exhausted from long days of classes. There seems to be a large number of weekend concerts, at least one or two each week, but standing and watching someone perform is not an effective way to get to know people.

If, in fact, Oberlin is lacking weekend events and they are not merely communicated poorly, that is something that must be addressed. Program Board, venues, and student-led organizations must make an effort to sponsor engaging events or meetings on the weekends.

This doesn’t have to cost money. An open mic night or a scavenger hunt in town would be invaluable in alleviating first-year blues. If you can, move your club’s weekly meeting from Tuesday evening to Saturday. Host a Jeopardy! night about topics relevant to your club.

As the year progresses, it will be less important to have structured events on weekends, but one month into the school year, when new students are just getting to know each other, we desperately need things to do on weekends so we can connect with one another and enjoy our first weekends on campus.

Find times over the weekend, plan some fun activities, and most importantly, please advertise them on Twine.

Troubling Posts Prevalent on Oberlin Yik Yak Continued from page 5 to combat the issue; all first-years are required to take a training about consent, and there are resources on campus for survivors, such as the College’s Preventing and Responding to Sexual Misconduct program and student-led SOSHA. Despite the frequency of these incidents, I hesitated to write this article for a number of reasons.

First, it’s hard to find the culprits because all Yik Yak posts are anonymous. There is a very real possibility that someone who doesn’t attend the College but lives around the area is launching racist attacks to get a reaction out of people. Additionally, I highly doubt that this one article will stop the barrage of anti-Black racism at Oberlin.

Regardless, this is an issue affecting our community as a whole, and if we want to create a safe environment for marginalized students, we can’t just downvote these posts, comment a snarky comeback, and call it a day.

Hart and I talked about further action steps, specifically about conversations regarding sexual harassment. For the men’s athletics teams, a group specifically mentioned on Yik Yak, she stated that they need to “accept responsibility … and apologize [to survivors] rather than to immediately center their image.”

The Oberlin Review October 29, 2021

Screenshot courtesy of Kayla Kim, Columnist SOSHA is also using the momentum from Yik Yak allegations to work on bringing awareness to sexual harassment on campus. They hosted an open forum on Oct. 28, and they are planning to bring an action list to the Oberlin administration. At the beginning of the school year, SOSHA also wrote a letter in the Student Labor Action Coalition’s Disorientation zine discussing sexual harassment on Oberlin’s campus.

While the anti-Blackness on Yik Yak and the posts of sexual assault allegations are not comparable situations, they speak to a concerning pattern of social media usage at Oberlin, as well as an overall troubling culture. There is still a lot of work to be done as Oberlin continues to grapple with these posts, but I hope that this article and SOSHA’s advocacy will increase awareness of these issues in the Oberlin community.

Below is a non-exhaustive list of resources available for students on campus.

SOSHA is an advocacy organization that provides support for survivors of sexual assault. If you need to talk or if you wish to join their contact list, email contact.sosha@gmail.com. They regularly post updates on Instagram @oberlin_sosha.

PRSM is an organization under the Title IX office dedicated to responding to sexual assault and educating the Oberlin community about topics regarding sexual assault prevention. Email them at prsm@ oberlin.edu The Multicultural Resource Center provides support for students of color, LGBTQ+ students, and first-generation students. Email them at mrc@oberlin.edu. They are on Instagram as @obiemrc.

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You go to Long Island Night only to find hundreds of underclassmen waiting in line.

OBERLIN HALL Your Best Friend Transfers to Vassar.

As the weather gets colder, Obies coz Azariah’s chai latte. After the sun se falls across campus. Pots and pans ness House kitchen, the antibiotic in the Arboretum, and the ghosts empty halls of Hales Gymnasium. from across campus, we’ve compile horror stories for you.

Text by Anisa Curry V Illustration by An Layout by Ku

You see someone barefoot at Stevie. And at Mudd.

And King.

You get canceled by th

There’s a girl in your Politics class who can’t stop talking about Marx. She wears a Canada Goose jacket when it snows.

L OF HORRORS

zy up with their friends over cups of ets and darkness falls, an eerie mist start inexplicably rattling in Harkc-resistant bacteria start festering of athletes past glide through the To uncover the spooky goings-on ed some brief but haunting Oberlin . Read on… if you dare.

ResEd tells you there’s no housing left, and you have to live in Elyria.

Vietze and Gigi Ewing nisa Curry Vietze ushagra Kar

he Oberlin meme page.

You find a nose ring in the OSCA beans. The owner puts the piercing right back in.

A r t s & C u ltu r e

October 29, 2021

ARTS & CULTURE Established 1874

Volume 151, Number 4

Celebrating Oberlin Pianists’ Success in International Chopin Piano Competition Yuhki Ueda Production Editor This past month, three Oberlin pianists participated in the 18th Chopin Piano Competition, an international competition held this year from Oct. 2–23 in Warsaw, Poland. Among the participants and prizewinners of the competition were Oberlin-Como Fellow Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu, who won first prize; Conservatory second-year JJ Jun Li Bui, and Conservatory thirdyear Kai-Min Chang, all of whom are students of Oberlin Professor of Piano Dang Thai Son. The competition, organized by the Fryderyk Chopin Institute, was originally scheduled for 2020 but was postponed until this year due to COVID-19.

In all rounds of the competition, participants were required to prepare repertoire solely by Fryderyk Chopin. Participants who passed the preliminary round in July of this year moved on to stage 1, which took place in early October. People who passed the second and third stages were able to progress to the final round. The pool of candidates progressively dwindled throughout the course of the competition. Last week, the select few who reached the final round had the chance to perform either Chopin’s Concerto No. 1 in E minor, Op. 11 or the Concerto No. 2 in F minor, Op. 21 with the Warsaw Philharmonic Orchestra at the National Philharmonic concert hall in Warsaw.

Among the 17-member competition jury was Dang Thai Son, a Vietnamese-Canadian pianist and Oberlin piano professor. Dang participated in the 10th Chopin Piano Competition and won first prize and a gold medal in 1980, the first time that a major international competition was won by an Asian pianist. He explained that his love for Chopin was inspired by his mother, who is a pianist herself. He remembers hearing her play some pieces

by Chopin one night, after which he fell in love with the music.

“In the silence of the night, she played a bit of Chopin, a Nocturne and Mazurka, and I fell in love with this music when I was about 8, 9 years old,”

Left to right: Oberlin-Como Fellow Bruce (Xiaoyu) Liu, Professor of Piano Dang Thai Son, and Conservatory second-year JJ Jun Li Bui pose for a picture taken after the Gala Award Concert ahead of their debut at the 18th Chopin Piano Competition in Warsaw. Kai-Min Chang also participated in the competition but isn’t featured in the photo.

Courtesy of Dang Thai Son Dang said. “And then in 1970, she was invited to the Warsaw Chopin Competition [as] a guest. And then after this, she brought back complete music scores, recordings, and talked about the competition. So I, day and night, had Chopin, and I had nothing else. I had no Mozart, no Beethoven, no Bach.

I had only Chopin. And I loved this music. I was passionate about this music.”

As the youngest finalist in the competition, sixth-prize winner Bui sometimes felt overwhelmed by the large scale of the event.

“Of course, it’s a really big moment in my life,” Bui said. “It takes a lot of work to get there, and of course, luck, too.

[It’s] such a big competition that feels kind of overwhelming at times. And I think that it’s good to try to be humble and not to let it get too much to your head. And … focusing on music during [the] competition is very important, because a lot of people might get too distracted with the publicity and all the cameras. I think relaxing and focusing on your music is so important.”

Bui hopes to take a break from competing and plans to focus on his studies now that the competition is over.

“I just kind of want to focus on my studies a bit, because I’ve been away for such a long time,” he said. “It’s a good thing to relax and not [do] competitions for your whole life. It’s because I think sometimes competitions can kind of get to your head and then music kind of just becomes like a competition. … I think music competitions are just a way to open doors for your career and as a musician, as a pianist, but I don’t think [they should be] your whole life.”

The success of these Oberlin pianists in the competition has been a source of inspiration and celebration among Conservatory faculty and students alike. Professor of Piano Robert Shannon followed the three Oberlin participants very closely during the competition, along with several other pianists he already knew, and named the competition as a historical moment for the Piano Department.

“I think it’s a really important event [for] the Oberlin Piano Department,” Shannon said. “I’ve been around the Oberlin Piano Department since 1967, and we’ve never had this kind of representation in the Chopin Competition.

We never had a faculty member whose student won first prize. And this event was watched by literally millions of people. It’s an unprecedented kind of exposure … certainly for Xiaoyu and JJ, and especially [for] Professor Dang. I really congratulate Professor Dang for his incredible teaching.”

Double-degree third-year Allison To also noted the inspiration and positive influence watching the competition has had on her.

“Watching the competition was extremely inspiring,” she said. “All the pianists’ dedication and hard work really shined through [in] their performances. It was such an amazing experience to be able to listen to the competition virtually and to hear the beautiful music of Chopin being performed by people all over the world.”

AMAM Acknowledges Histories of Displacement Kushagra Kar Editor-in-Chief Editor’s note: An article on this topic was initially published in the Review on Oct. 15 and erroneously included several inaccuracies. This article has been rewritten to reflect these corrections. The Review deeply regrets this error.

On Sept. 15, the Allen Memorial Art Museum launched its Dis/Possession project, which explores the way that museums interact with Indigenous histories, art, and communities. The yearlong project began with its first set of installations, which investigated the ways that canonical American art propagates harmful settler-colonial myths.

Assistant Curator of European and American Art Alexandra Letvin and As-

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sistant Curator of Academic Programs Hannah Wirta Kinney created the project as an introspective look into the AMAM itself, examining the inherently exploitative nature of modern museums.

“The fall semester focuses on an American context,” Letvin said. “So for those works, we’re really asking the question of, ‘What role does canonical American art play in histories of dispossession?’ Then in the spring, we turn to a more global context and think more broadly.”

Dis/Possession operates on a statement of guiding principles written by the AMAM staff in 2020 that analyzes the role of museums in the problematic telling of Indigenous peoples and their stories.

“The AMAM exists — and has been able to grow and thrive — as a direct result of histories of dispossession,” the statement reads. “We recognize the role that images and museums have played in the erasure of Indigenous peoples and their stories, and seek to counteract this through our work.”

According to Letvin, this acknowledgement impacted the curation of Dis/ Possession.

“For us, the plural ‘histories’ was very important because for museums, it’s not just about one type of material,” Letvin said. “We wanted to probe more deeply into our institutional history and our collecting practices and our curatorial practices and educational practices.”

Letvin and Kinney deliberately chose the three works currently on display for

their inadvertent erasure and dissociation from Indigenous history.

Arguably, the most famous work currently on display for Dis/Possession is Andy Warhol’s screenprint “Sitting Bull,” from his 1986 Cowboys and Indians series. The piece takes a photograph of Hunkpapa Lakota leader Tatanka Iyotake “Sitting Bull” and reimagines him through layers of bright colors and emboldened contrasting lines — typical Warhol fare. The original photograph of Sitting Bull was taken sometime in the 1880s, when he was best known for his victory over General George Custer at Little Bighorn.

According to Kinney, Warhol’s depiction strips Sitting Bull of his importance to Lakota history and portrays a mainSee AMAM, page 12

On the Record with Creative Writing Professors Lynn Powell and Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers

Lynn Powell

Photo Courtesy of Lynn Powell Director of Oberlin Writers in the Schools and Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Lynn Powell has published three books of poetry: Old & New Testaments, The Zones of Paradise, and, most recently, Season of the Second Thought, as well as a book of nonfiction, Framing Innocence. Visiting Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Elizabeth Lindsey Rogers, OC ’07, is the author of two poetry collections: The Tilt Torn Away from the Seasons, one of The Boston Globe’s Best Books of 2020; and Chord Box, a finalist

for the Lambda Literary Award. When Rogers was a student at Oberlin, she took a nonfiction workshop class with Powell that quickly spurred a mentor-mentee relationship. Now, the two are close friends and colleagues. This past Monday, the two professors gave the Creative Writing Program’s first reading and Q&A at Dye Lecture Hall.

Professor Rogers, you were in Professor Powell’s nonfiction workshop when you were a student at Oberlin. I

was wondering if the both of you could speak on your experience as student and teacher and how that evolved into a friendship and a professional relationship.

ER: If I’m remembering correctly, we actually met at a poetry reading in late 2005 called Poets Against the War that was held at the Cat in the Cream. Lynn read something and I read something, and afterward Lynn came up to me and said, “I don’t know you and you’re Southern.” People from the South at Oberlin have a way of hearing one another’s accents and sort of finding one another.

I had been hearing wonderful things about Lynn from other people, and it just turned out I had one more 300-level workshop to take — this would have been the spring of my junior year. I was hoping to take nonfiction anyway, so it was great that we’d already made a connection before I even came into her class. After that, I just found myself inspired to work really hard in her class. She was so attentive to everyone and brought so much energy into the classroom. I thought, “Wow, this person is really giving it her all.” So that’s kind of how things started. In some ways I think we were drawn to one another by virtue by having grown up in similar places — me in North Carolina, Lynn in Tennessee.

LP: I vividly remember Elizabeth as a student because she, too, was giving it her all. We had a great workshop group, but even within a great workshop group, there are people who, you know, it’s a priority but it’s not their highest priority.

But I felt with Elizabeth, writing was her passion. The students all had to enlarge one of their essays at the end of the class into a 25 page essay. Maybe the earlier draft had been ten pages and they had to deepen it, open it up, and make some discoveries. Pretty soon, Elizabeth had

already done that. She could have turned in her portfolio two weeks early, but she used that extra time as an opportunity to rewrite the whole thing, starting from scratch.

ER: Lynn wasn’t here my senior year because she was in the Netherlands, and after I graduated, I went to China on a Shansi fellowship. I think in some ways that distance was good. We stayed in touch and we started to become friends.

LP: Over Elizabeth’s senior year and the next two years, I don’t remember really being in touch except when Elizabeth was getting ready to apply for MFA programs and started writing to me from China. Elizabeth ended up going to the same university I had gone to, just out of total coincidence, but it gave us things to connect around. And then I think the friendship started building from there.

Professor Rogers, could you speak on Professor Powell’s mentorship during the writing process of your second book?

ER: With my second book, The Tilt Torn Away from the Seasons, I had a difficult publication process. I had the book chosen from a contest and then taken by a publisher who turned out to be really difficult to work with. The editor-in-chief did some things that were unethical, and I began to worry about trusting my book with this particular press. I made the decision to pull the book when it was under contract, which is not something that people often do. I thought, “Okay, I’ve got to start sending off this book again because I need to find a different publisher. I need to do something to this manuscript to make it new so I have the energy to send it out.” Lynn helped me come up with a new structure for the book based on some echoes See OTR, page 13

Students Celebrate Halloween with Giant Mechanical Pumpkin Ride Gigi Ewing Managing Editor Ella Moxley News Editor Students got into the Halloween spirit this Wednesday with Program Board’s Get Wilder Halloween night.

The event included a giant mechanical pumpkin ride, cupcake decorating, a costume contest, and more.

“It’s lovely,” College fourth-year Chris Schmucki said. “It’s everything I expected and more — everything I expected and less, actually.”

The highlight of the evening was the mechanical pumpkin set up in Wilder Hall Main. Students got in line for a chance to ride the moving pumpkin and many competed to see how long they could stay on as operators increased the speed of the ride.

“I think I lasted 20 seconds,” Schmucki said. “It’s not about balance. It’s about your hands, ’cause [the pumpkin has] this stem, and it really hurts your hands, and I feel like that’s when people give up.”

Many first-years in costumes rang-

The Oberlin Review | October 29, 2021

ing from devils to cheerleaders attended the event ahead of their first Halloween ’Sco event — Halloween Splitchers — which took place immediately following the Get Wilder Halloween night.

In addition to Oberlin Halloween first-timers, many fourth-year students who were not on campus last fall due to the College’s three-semester plan also attended the Program Board’s celebration. Many of these students were excited to experience their first — and last — Halloween on campus since 2019.

“I always love when we have mechanical things to ride on campus,” said College fourth-year Harper Ross. “That’s super fun. It’s great just to be able to all be together again and wear costumes out. It doesn’t really matter that people have masks. Just seeing that people are all dressed up and able to be together after the last, separated Halloween and not being on campus... just feels like a really great way, as a fourth-year, to end my Halloween experiences.”

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A r t s & C u lt u r e

John Waters Wanders Over to the “Politically Correct Capital of the World”

This past Thursday, the Oberlin Film Co-op invited writer and filmmaker John Waters for a performance of his live show False Negative and a screening of his 1988 film Hairspray at the Apollo Theatre.

Courtesy of Sam Blieden Kathleen Kelleher Production Editor On Thursday night, the Oberlin Film Cooperative hosted writer and filmmaker John Waters at the Apollo Theatre. Waters performed his oneman show False Negative prior to a screening of his 1988 commercial hit film Hairspray. The event was open only to the Oberlin student body and was completely free to attend.

Waters, known for his transgressive, cult-status comedy films, is also

an actor, visual artist, and more recently an author. In the ’70s, Waters wrote and directed Pink Flamingos, Female Trouble, and Desperate Living, which became known as his “Trash Trilogy,” featuring postmodern comedy, surrealism, and “campy” characters, including drag queen Divine.

Waters’ 1988 film Hairspray was his runaway hit and was developed into a Broadway play.

“I’m excited,” Waters said. “I haven’t been to a college in two years, I don’t think.”

Waters described fitting in Oberlin on his current tour.

“I just got back from … Pittsburgh, where I did a Halloween show, and I was in Brooklyn where I did a podcast,” he said. “And then this coming week, I’m coming to see you. And then I go to two Halloween shows in Minneapolis … and then 17 Christmas cities. So yes, I’m back on the road in the middle of a pandemic.”

Waters’ appearance at the Apollo was organized by College fourthyear Sam Blieden, a Film Co-op board member and self-described fan who describes Waters’ talk as her “dream event.”

“John Waters is one of my favorite directors,” Blieden said. “I absolutely adore his movies and who he is as a person. I was talking to [Professor of English and Cinema Studies] William Patrick Day, … and he had mentioned to me that John Waters came to Oberlin in the ’90s — someone just wrote him a letter, and was like, ‘Hey John, you wanna come?’ As a member of the Film Co-op, I was like, ‘Oh, we’re trying to book new people; what if I try to get John Waters to come?’ So I do some research, and I find his booking agent, and it was a slow process from April to August, when things started to go rapid fire. At first we weren’t sure if we were gonna be able to get the money, and then we got the money!”

Day attended Waters’ talk at Oberlin back in the ’90s and described it as remarkably personal.

“It was actually completely organized by students,” Day said. “It was not a College-sponsored event. … He came in and he did a talk in the ’Sco because that was the only place they could put him; they couldn’t get any of the other College places for him. I don’t think the College fully understood who John Waters was. He did a really fantastic speech, and he went on for about an hour. It was smart and funny and all that stuff. What was really striking to me about that — it was a long time ago now — he really engaged with the students. Not only the people in the ’Sco during the question and answer period, but the people who brought him; he was really responsive to them — really paid a lot of

attention to them. I’m really glad he’s coming back.”

As the primary organizer, Blieden was responsible for everything from driving Waters to and from the Cleveland airport to arranging and publicizing the event.

“Obviously I’m a big fan, but I’m a chauffeur for the evening,” Blieden said. “Just making sure it all goes smoothly, which is my main goal as the showrunner of the event. You just want it to work out and everything to be in order.”

While Waters has not directed since his 2004 film A Dirty Shame, he certainly hasn’t slowed down. Instead, he’s been working on personal projects and has developed a prolific career as an author with such works as Carsick, which details his experience hitchhiking across America, and Role Models, an autobiography told through descriptions of some of Waters’ favorite personalities.

“I feel really excited about seeing him,” Day said. “But I kind of wonder — he had moved into his more commercial phase in the ’90s and we all saw that stuff, and I keep wondering how students understand John Waters, because he’s a writer now — much more than a filmmaker.”

Blieden says her personal favorite of his films is Cecil B. Demented, a satirical film about “cinema terrorism” that pokes fun at Hollywood as an industry. Waters said that part of False Negative imagines what “cinema terrorism” might look like today.

“I think the first film I saw of his was Pink Flamingos, and I love a lot of schlocky movies, and the comedy and absurdity and the satire of his films, I just really fell in love with,” Blieden said. “None of his movies are longer than 90 minutes, … and they’re kind of transgressive in what they do, and I can rewatch them endlessly because they’re just so fun.”

In his return to Oberlin, Waters hopes students are ready to engage with him. When asked why they should come to the show, Waters took a moment to respond.

“Maybe they need a laugh at something that they’re nervous about laughing about,” he said.

Dis/Possession Reflects on AMAM’s Curatorial Practices Continued from page 10 stream and popularized version of Indigenous figures.

“The Warhol transposes this image of Sitting Bull, who was a revolutionary leader for the Lakota and was very aware of his image and how it worked in the American press,” Kinney said.

“And he had a lot of agency in how his image was reproduced, but Warhol then appropriates it and turns [him] into this pop [art] icon — in the same style that he does soup cans and Mickey Mouse and all of these kinds of things. So, how does this really take away from the agency that Sitting Bull had as an individual and as a leader?”

Questions and critiques like these, however, are rarely asked by museum staff and patrons; works of art are rarely placed in the limelight for their problematic connotations. To that end, the curatorial process was unusual for Letvin and Kinney.

“We are approaching works in a way

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that’s very unusual for curators, and we’ve been struggling with that a lot,” Letvin said. “Usually when you go to a museum and you read a label, the label starts by telling you what you’re looking at, and it encourages you to look at something. It suggests, in a sense, that what you see is what you get: ‘If you look really closely, you will understand.’

What we have been trying to do in this installation is to push beyond that and say, ‘These images present one version of history; what were the choices that were made by the artist in presenting that history?’ We can now recognize [these choices] as being quite violent, they can be very harmful. So how can we adjust our practice and how we talk about these works, how we write about them in labels to encourage visitors; to not just think about what you see, but also what you don’t see?”

This process also involved a lot of introspection for Letvin and Kinney, who found that learning about personal lim-

itations and naming them became integral to the process.

“I would say the other thing that I’ve been coming to realize with this is when I talk about it, and I say the things that I don’t see, or the things that I haven’t seen, really comes from my perspective as a white woman who has been trained in Western art history,” Kinney said. “I don’t see particular things because I was never taught how to see those, but other viewers might come in and see these works in a very different way. So coming to terms with my own blindness to these issues, I think has been a really important part of the process.”

A project like “Dis/Possession” also serves as an investment in a dynamic historical conversation. For the AMAM, this meant developing a series of public programs and dialogues. The deliberate inclusion of a chorus of voices to develop this project really demonstrates the inherently conversational and ongoing nature of land acknowledgement.

According to Kinney, there is an implicit finality in museum installation — curators get the final word; the final interpretation. “Dis/Possession” is unique in that it relies on the viewer’s voice, and the conversation is ongoing.

“I would say that often exhibitions are planned and presented as the final idea, right?” she said. “So we are taking a different model, which is we don’t have it all figured out. This installation [is about] the conversations that we have with students in classes, in the dialogue groups, and we’ve been connecting with academic departments and offices around campus who are interested in land acknowledgements. The installation serves not to be the final statement, but to be the reason for a conversation —it’s the provocation.”

“Dis/Possession” will be on display in the Northwest Ambulatory of the AMAM till Aug. 7, 2022; however, the works currently installed are expected to change by spring.

’Sco Welcomes Maximum Capacity for Coco & Clair Clair Concert Jenny Rowlett Last Friday night, the ’Sco welcomed iconic Atlanta pop duo Coco & Clair Clair and easily reached its new 300-person capacity. While many students have expressed disappointment over the ’Sco’s meager Splitchers attendance, the concert’s stellar turnout suggests campus attitudes toward the ’Sco are changing, reaffirming its integral role in College nightlife.

Hailing from the suburbs of Atlanta, singers Taylor Nave and Claire Toothill originally connected over Twitter and decided to formally found Coco & Clair Clair after singing together at a house party. Shortly after, the duo began publishing original music over SoundCloud, where lo-fi hits like “Bugs” and “Pretty,” which flaunt rarefied celebrity lifestyles and wild nights out in East Atlanta, first started attracting media attention. One of their most recent singles, “Pop Star,” was released in 2020 and has become a

favorite on TikTok. While the young artists mostly label their discography as pop music, they’re wary of confining themselves to one genre. In an interview with Pure Nowhere, the band defines their music as “demon glam rock,” but Toothill quickly interjects, saying, “We don’t hold back; … sonically, it’s pop but with the energy you typically get in rap. It’s a mix.”

The duo’s nonconformity seemed to resonate with Oberlin’s value of breaking out of societal labels.

College third-year Tali Braun, who started booking artists as a promoter for the ’Sco this summer, observed that many students were thrilled when they learned that Coco & Clair Clair were coming to campus.

“I heard a lot of buzz the day before, which was super cool,” Braun said.

It was the first concert this academic year that took place in the ’Sco, and students turned up in droves. At one point, the staff even had to send students away.

At least 400 people attended the event over the course of the night.

Another ’Sco promoter, College fourth-year Joaquim Stevenson-Rodriguez, told the Review, “We had a much better turnout than expected. We were expecting quite a big show, but the line around the corner before the doors opened was a nice surprise.”

Inside the concert, students danced with their friends and met new people. Students enjoyed listening to Coco & Clair Clair and singing along to their songs with friends.

“Their song ‘Pretty,’ I think is one of their most popular songs. My friend and I didn’t realize we knew all the lyrics randomly, and [the event] was super fun,” Braun said.

College second-year Lila Liebeskind had a different experience at the concert.

“It was pretty wild,” they said. “I think a couple people fell over. There was a [mosh] pit and a lot of tall people

were in it, so it felt kind of intimidating.

I don’t think I actually heard their music over the sounds of other people.”

Even if the music couldn’t always be heard, Stevenson-Rodriguez said, “[It was] nice to see so much energy from the crowd, Coco & Clair Clair, and to watch them feed off of each other.”

Whenever musical groups are brought to campus to perform, students often do not see the work that goes on behind the scenes. ’Sco bookers are responsible for securing hotel accommodations for the artists, making sure the green room is set up, reserving the venue, and coordinating with concert sound.

Since many first-years and second-years are new to the ’Sco, the staff hope that the lively and fun atmosphere that the ’Sco had before COVID-19 will continue to come back as the year progresses. The ’Sco has an event next Saturday featuring Kari Faux, a rapper from Arkansas.

Atlanta rap duo Coco & Clair Clair performed for a packed ’Sco on Oct. 22.

Photo by Joaquim Stevenson-Rodriguez

Creative Writing Professors Discuss Origins of Their Careers Continued from page 11 and through lines that she was seeing.

Her suggestions for the structure were much more sophisticated and smart than what I had previously been doing, and I feel they added so much to the book and made it more cohesive.

I feel like a lot of what Lynn does in nonfiction teaching is help people figure out how to structure things. I feel like that’s so much of the work — it’s not just how you tell the story, but also how you structure the story. How do you make sure the important stuff comes to light? I see a lot of parallels there.

How much of your work from the beginning of your life as a writer enters your published work — enters the truth that you are able to access now, as distinguished writers in the world?

How much do you feel like you’re actively collecting and repurposing The Oberlin Review | October 29, 2021

truths and pieces of thought and work that you have with you from when you first started?

ER: I was interested in writing from a young age, and I think to some extent I was always doing it on my own. I had two older sisters who were taking up a lot of space because they were older and more assertive than I was. I think it was sort of my way of retreating into myself as the youngest child. As a teenager, I was a really serious musician and also a dancer.

Those pursuits are much more outward and much more visible because you’re always doing performances and working with other people. That’s the kind of the direction I thought I was headed in college; I got here as a double-degree student. I was in the Conservatory for classical guitar, and then decided pretty quickly that I didn’t want to be a concert musician. I have terrible stage fright and

I was like, “Why am I going to put myself in a position where I’m going to be doing this all the time and I’m going to be graded on it?” I loved studying music. I loved thinking about music and playing with people, but it wasn’t for me. I started writing again after that as a different way of trying to be expressive. I’d always been very interested in language, so it was kind of a natural progression. All my musical knowledge and training informed my writing as well, in both direct and indirect ways.

LP: I think writers mature at different ages. Someone who’s gone to Oberlin has been part of a real writing community and is experienced in workshops.

As a college student, I had known one poet and taken one creative writing class.

When I set out for graduate school, I had never been north of the Mason-Dixon line and had rarely been out of Tennes-

see. I had a lot of growing up to do and a lot to learn about the literary and academic culture I was entering.

The poems I wrote in college and graduate school were not mature work for a variety of reasons. Yes, they were feisty, and a little racey. And a few of the poems were published in journals —one of the little poems even made it into my first book. But overall, it was not sophisticated work. I hadn’t looked at those poems in decades when I found them in an old file, dug them out, and read them just out of curiosity. At first, I was horrified.

But the more time I spent with the work, the more I could see the inklings of the poet I am now. I could see the beginnings of my preoccupations in both style and subject. I even wrote a playful poem in homage to that old work, “Poem Beginning with Lines by Lynn Powell age 22,” which I read at our reading on Monday.

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Belle Smith: College Fourth-Year, Women’s Soccer Goal-Keeper IN THE LOCKER ROOM

College fourth-year Belle Smith has been playing soccer for the past decade and just finished up her final season as a collegiate athlete, playing as goal-keeper for the women’s soccer team. As she moves on to the next chapter of her life, she reflects on her experience as a member of the Oberlin women’s soccer team and looks forward to having some much-needed time off from the sport. After graduation, she plans on pursuing graduate school and traveling around the world.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Zoe Kuzbari Sports Editor I know playing soccer has been a big part of your life. How has the game impacted you and helped you learn about yourself ?

Being a goalie in soccer is honestly one of the most stressful and anxiety-inducing positions on the field, and you don’t have a lot of success. We don’t really win games; we just keep the team in the game. I’ve been playing this position exclusively since I was the slowest 10-year-old on my team, so I’ve had a lot of time to learn how to manage that anxiety and create my own definition of success.

That has definitely carried into my day-to-day life; I am not too critical of myself and can brush off daily anxieties pretty easily.

Your game this past Tuesday was a tough loss against Kenyon College, and I know you needed that game to clinch a spot in the North Coast Athletic Conference tournament.

How are you feeling about it all?

I unfortunately had to sit out of the Kenyon game due to an ankle sprain that happened the night before.

Obviously it was devastating to not be able to play in that last game, but I found so much joy and pride in watching second-year Zoe Maddox step up and crush that game with 11 saves. I found peace knowing that my senior game last weekend, in front of my family and friends, was my last time wearing the Oberlin jersey. I’m taking the ankle sprain as sort of a sign to “pass the torch.” I’m excited to let my body rest for a while and recover.

What do you think the future looks like for the Oberlin women’s soccer program? The five fourth-years graduating, are all core players on the team. Who do you think will step up to the plate next year and take on these leadership roles?

Over the last four years, the [third and fourth-years] on our team, including my class, have done an amazing job fostering a community of educated players through a number of workshops on diversity and inclusion within the Athletics department and the broader campus. I’m hoping, along with the rest of the class of 2022, that this culture only grows deeper and continues indefinitely.

Play-wise, it seems like the team has a lot of momentum going forward into the next season, so I can’t wait to watch them win more and more. I see Camille Franklin and Maia Minson leading that charge in 2022 as fourth-

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years along with the starting center backs, second-year Brynn Adams and first-year Sofia Mitchell and keeper Zoe Maddox.

What are your plans for soccer and for the future, after you graduate?

I’m definitely taking a much-needed break from soccer. I’ve been playing this sport with little to no breaks for 16-plus years now, so I’m looking forward to seeing what life is like without an upcoming season looming over my head. I’m sure I’ll find my way back to it somehow. After graduation I’m hoping to go to grad school and travel. Soccer is a huge sport internationally, and I have a year of eligibility left, so that kind of works out.

What have been some of your favorite memories with the team?

Does your team have any traditions that you will especially remember?

Funny enough, most of my favorite memories of the team aren’t from games or practice but from spending time with everyone on the team.

They’re all my best friends so hanging out together constantly is something I’ll for sure miss. When we’re in season, it’s definitely like you have a big family that you’re stuck with 24/7. You see each other every day, eat together, work out together, travel together, and sometimes live together. We have lots of little traditions that are really cute, like holding hands when we walk out to the field, that I’m sure will continue on. I’ll miss having all my best friends around me for soccer and hanging out after practice. But hopefully I’ll convince them to hang out with me even if we’re out of season, and I’m “retired” now.

Belle Smith, stands in a goal.

Photo courtesy of Belle Smith

Previewing Women’s Basketball Season Continued from page 16

Belle Smith, fourth-year on the women’s soccer team, poses for team media day.

Photo courtesy of GoYeo

ups against Wittenberg and DePauw University circled on their calendar.

“DePauw is typically the best team in the conference so it’s always exciting to match up against them, because it’s just a different level of competitive energy. We always play them close but haven’t been able to come away with the win so we are hoping to get that done this year,” Spanier said.

“Wittenberg is also a pretty good team and a fun, competitive matchup.”

In addition to the Nov. 9 home opener, significant dates for the Yeowomen include the NCAC home opener against Ohio Wesleyan University on Dec. 8 and two matchups against defending NCAC champion DePauw University on the road Dec. 11 and at home Feb. 12.

Fourth-year Rowan Smith on the women’s basketball team, dribbles up the court.

Photo courtesy of GoYeo

Oberlin Football Wins First Game of 2021 Season

Oberlin football’s offensive line waits in presnap formation.

Zoë Martin del Campo Contributing Sports Editor Oberlin football has been itching to make its first win of the season under the new leadership of Head Coach Steve Opgenorth with one of the largest rosters that the team has had in recent years. Last Saturday, the Yeomen achieved this goal with a score of 31–28 against Hiram College.

Before the game against Hiram, Opgenorth asserted that a good mindset was key for the team to put forth its best effort.

“The guys had a really good week of practice, showed up with the right mindset, and played well,” he said.

“It’s that feeling after a win that keeps you coming back for more. It was a win that was well-deserved for a crew that is continuing to get better week by week, and they were able to come together on Saturday afternoon against Hiram.”

In 2019, Oberlin football beat Hiram 7–0. Third-year wide receiver Brian Colarusso said that the players were

Photo courtesy of Amanda Phillips

conscious that, even though they beat Hiram in 2019, Oberlin would still have to work for this win. Team members are looking forward to the rest of the season.

“Our mentality was that we were fully prepared and expected to win the game, but we all knew it was going to be a battle,” he said. “Words can’t describe that feeling when you’ve been working so hard as a football family and finally get to reap the fruits of your labor. I was really proud of all my teammates for the effort and heart they displayed. We won as a full team on Saturday, and we are happy but not satisfied.”

Going into the game, the team received a lot of support from fans and family who were anticipating the win. College fourth-year Yanni Sarrimanolis, who walked onto the football team, believes that this support made a difference in terms of boosting confidence and morale.

“I think the biggest thing is we had a lot of support going into the game from other people at Oberlin,”

Sarrimanolis said. “A lot of weeks people don’t really reach out. But this week, there was an especially high level of support from friends and family and other classmates. Winning at the end just feels awesome. It feels great to be a part of a changing organization and it’s awesome to represent Oberlin in that way.”

The football team was able to get ahead early on in the game against Hiram because of its strong defensive line. Third-year quarterback Chris Allen Jr. had an exceptional game, completing 24 of 36 passes for 247 passing yards and scoring four touchdowns. The offense also made significant movement and was able to support the team when there was a lull toward the middle of the game.

While this is the first game that the Yeomen have won this season, there have been some other close games, including the one against The College of Wooster in which Oberlin lost 28–24. Nevertheless, the team has continued to leave it all out on the field, and the losses have taught them how to overcome challenges and keep moving forward.

“I think as a team we learned how to finish the job and seal a victory in the fourth quarter,” Colarusso said. “The goal is always to win, and while we have competed in many close games this season, we haven’t been able to piece it all together and secure a win.

Personally, I learned the importance of persistence and never quitting. In times of adversity, if you keep working hard day after day, eventually something good is going to happen. I think this win also gave the young guys some confidence as they won their first college football game.”

Opgenorth believes that the challenges the team has faced has brought its members closer together.

“The greatest teacher is adversity,” he said. “We certainly have found our fair share in the fourth quarter, lost some close games, but I’ll be honest — I think it’s probably brought us closer together. We have a coachable group

Illustration by Clair Wang On Oct. 23, the Oberlin College football team secured its first win of the season against Hiram College. With a score of 31–28, the victory also marks the team’s first conference win. The Yeomen are no longer “Yeo and 7” but 1–7. Starting quarterback Chris Allen Jr. had a remarkable game and was named North Coast Athletic Conference Offensive Player of the Week, and Head Coach Steve Opgenorth gained his first win since his arrival in Oberlin. The team plays again next Saturday, Nov. 6, against the DePauw University Tigers.

The Oberlin Review | October 29, 2021

that’s always willing to learn something new.”

Opgenorth added that this growth mindset is applicable to all aspects of life both on and off the field.

“They’re learning something new,” he said. “They’re learning something about each other and the game every day. One of my favorite quotes is, ‘You’re either growing or you’re dying.’

And our guys have proven that they’re growing, and it’ll show up in life, in football, and in everything else that they want to accomplish. We wanted to win and we continued to get better as the season progressed.”

Looking to the rest of the season, the Yeomen have two remaining games to close out 2021. Besides technical skills, Sarrimanolis thinks that continuing to have a positive attitude and atmosphere going into games will enhance performance.

“Trying to replicate the atmosphere we had going into the Hiram game is key, and making sure that we’re all positive,” he said. “You don’t want to get down on yourselves before the game even starts. The biggest thing was just the support we had from other community members as well and just reaching out to people for support. It really boosted morale, and having great leadership made a difference. It starts at the top and trickles down. Our coaches were positive, our leadership was positive, and we ended up pulling out a win.”

With the remainder of the season, the Yeomen are starting to prepare for their offseason practices but are still focused on aiming high for the last two games.

“We’re not quite focused on the postseason yet,” Sarrimanolis said. “We’re still turning things around here, Coach Opgenorth is trying to rebuild a program, and that’s what we’re going to do. It’s been an upward trajectory throughout the season. Obviously not as many wins as we’d like but we’ve been playing well, so we’re focused on those last two games.”

Colarusso believes that this is just the beginning for Oberlin football and what it can and will accomplish in the future.

“My goal for next season is to reach our potential as a football program and win as many games as possible,” he wrote. “As a team our goal should be to limit our missed opportunities and make more game-changing plays.

Personally, my goal is to be the best wide receiver in the conference and the best teammate I can be.”

The team is excited to continue to hone their skills and grow as players after the season is over.

“Based on what I’ve been hearing from coaches and players alike, everybody is really excited to do the little [things] that we need to do to change the program and develop as a team and individual players,” Sarrimanolis said. “No one is bummed out that we’re going to continue to work hard, which is awesome.”

Opgenorth said this is just the start of the program he is trying to rebuild.

“It’s been a storybook fall season,” he said. “I couldn’t be more proud of our guys out there. The win on Saturday — but certainly the resolve and fighting nature of the team — shows that no matter how old they are or where they are in their college football career, Yeomen football is on the rise.”

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October 29, 2021

SPORTS Established 1874

Track or Treat Returns for First Time Since 2019

Volume 151, Number 4

2021–22 Yeowomen Basketball Preview John Elrod Contributing Sports Editor

A young Spiderman participates in a Track or Treat event.

River Schiff Senior Staff Writer Since 2013, the Oberlin College Student-Athlete Advisory Committee has hosted Track or Treat, an annual event that brings together the local community for Halloween-themed fun and connects the College’s athletic teams with Oberlin families. For the first time since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, young children from the Oberlin community were invited back to campus, joining varsity athletes on Kahn Track for games at stations set up by each of our teams. The event, which took place last night, was an opportunity for College students and faculty to stay involved with the town’s residents through family-friendly fun.

Track or Treat brings a greater connection between the town’s youngest residents and Oberlin’s athletes. For Vice President and Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid Manuel Carballo, Track or Treat has been an opportunity for his family to interact with students in an event catered specifically for them.

“This is always a fun event around Halloween time and we look forward to it every year,” he said.

Women’s basketball Head Coach Stephany Dunmyer, says that this event is something her family also looks forward to. She enjoys seeing all the teams gather together and work the event as an entire community.

“My family loves how involved all the teams are and how interactive [the event] is,” she said.

“Seeing all the athletes in costume and playing with the little kids is always awesome and so sweet.”

Carballo knows that his son, who refers to the College students as his friends, cannot wait for more College events to start happening again, from Track or Treat to dinners at the Afrikan Heritage House to shooting baskets during halftime of basketball games.

“My son loves to see his favorite Oberlin athletes

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Photo courtesy of Mads Olsen

off the field/court and get to interact with them in a fun environment,” he said. “It is also great to see other faculty and staff with their families and to interact with friends from town.”

Senior Associate Director of Financial Aid Val Kepner shared many of the same sentiments.

“My kids absolutely loved attending Track or Treat, especially when they were younger,” she said, looking back to before the event was interrupted by the global pandemic.

“They liked the games and interacting with the athletes along with getting treats. It was nice that it wasn’t too spooky for them as well,” Kepner said.

“I think the community will embrace it and will be excited that Track or Treat is back!”

Oberlin town resident and parent Laura Slocum says that events like Track or Treat definitely help to foster a more inclusive environment between the town and the College.

“It’s incredible to be able to come to events like this,” she said. “We’re not a community when we’re only half of a community. The College is a part of this town and the town is a part of the College.”

With the onset of COVID-19, many normal events put on by the Athletics department and the SAAC had been cancelled — including last year’s Track or Treat. Since lockdown, Carballo’s 2-year-old has not gotten the chance to go trick-or-treating, a tradition which many people hold as their favorite childhood memory.

“These events provide fun and safe activities while also helping restore a sense of normalcy in these crazy times,” Carballo reflected.

Carballo hopes that the return of Track or Treat marks a turn in the current state of events and provides an opportunity for kids to get back what they have missed.

As Dunmyer reflected on this year’s Track or Treat, she said it was one to remember and a perfect night for the kids.

“This was perfect and just what my family needed. It was the best one yet.”

With November around the corner, sports fans across the United States anticipate the beginning of the college basketball season. For their first game in nearly two years, the Oberlin women’s basketball team will face Alma College on Nov. 9 at Philips gym to mark the return of college basketball to Oberlin.

With the combination of the 2020–21 season being cancelled due to COVID-19 and the team mostly consisting of first- and second-years, the squad will come into the season with little college game experience. Head Coach Stephany Dunmyer credits the strong group of young players but knows leadership from the more experienced players will be crucial to the team’s success.

“We have three [fourth-years] and two [thirdyears] who have experienced a season with outside competition and with a full practice and travel schedule,” Dunmyer said. “Those five will need to show the way and help our first-years and [second-years] with the transition to a full college season.”

Fourth-year Rowan Smith recognizes this responsibility but also believes the younger members of the team are a special group.

“Luckily, I think we’ve already been given some pretty mature [first- and second-years],” Smith said.

“So far I think they’ve all adjusted pretty well to practices and learning plays. I think my class really wants to focus on our team culture and connection.

We’ve been building a great team culture and hope that once we leave Oberlin that standard will always be held on our team for years to come.”

Smith says specific goals for the season include securing a home playoff game but also for every member of the team to join the voluntary ‘10,000 Shot Club.’ This means each player would put up at least 8,000 game-like shots and make 2,000 free throws on their own time outside of practice and games over the course of the season.

“We all have white boards on our lockers, and at the beginning of each week we write down what our commitment to the team will be for the week,” Smith said. “The commitments are what we plan on doing for that week in order to help our entire team be the best we can and reach our overarching team goals. An example would be something like, ‘Getting up 200 shots every day after practice this week.’”

Fourth-year Sammy Spanier recognizes how special it is to get to compete after last season’s cancellation.

“The pandemic has definitely put a lot of things into perspective and reminded us not to take anything for granted, so to be able to play the sport we love in front of our friends and family will be extra special this year,” Spanier said.

With the first game coming up in less than two weeks, preseason training is in full swing. Dunmyer, who is entering her third year coaching the Yeowomen, is using this time to implement different strategies to prepare the team for competition.

“Our biggest focus so far has been on the offensive end of the floor — teaching various actions and establishing our two main offenses,” Dunmyer said.

“In the next week, we will shift our focus to the defensive end of the court. We have players with great basketball instincts so we want to put them in positions to be able to read the situation and play basketball. Getting that chemistry on and off the court has been a big focus as well.”

The Yeowomen start the season with five non-conference matchups but begin North Coast Athletic Conference play on Nov. 27 at Wittenberg University. Smith and Spanier have the matchSee Previewing, page 14