On Wednesday, students of Middle East and North Africa Studies learned that Dr. Dorothy Washburn, OC ’67, had finalized her donation of $2,170,000 to fund an expansion of the Arabic language program. The donation will create an endowed lectureship position for a full-time lecturer to teach classes in introductory and intermediate Arabic, as well as an advanced seminar.

Previously, only one year of introductory Arabic was offered — ARBC 101 and 102. Students had some opportunity to study Arabic while abroad or pursue courses through other universities over the summer, but Arabic language education at Oberlin was in short supply.

“It was a very limiting thing, limiting the ability of our students to advance their Arabic and then pursue careers related in which they could use their Arabic language,” Zeinab Abul-Magd, Nancy Schrom Dye Professor of Middle Eastern History and chair of the MENA Program, said. 

The donation comes after years of advocacy on the part of MENA students and professors at the College. 

College fourth-year Asquith Clarke II studied Arabic during his first year of college. He quickly fell in love with the language and was inspired by his Arabic professor, Mahmoud Meslat, who left the College the next year. 

Clarke, with Abul-Magd’s help, took up the campaign from Raavi Asdar, OC ’21, who had gathered signatures to stabilize Arabic education at the College when he was a student. Clarke first wrote to President Carmen Twillie Ambar and other administrators in April 2022.

“It breaks my heart knowing that this beautiful language that I’ve begun studying last semester ends with the Arabic 102 class I’m currently taking this semester,” Clarke wrote in his 2022 letter, requesting to meet with administrators. “I believe there’s a great need and desire for the language of Arabic to be advanced and learned in this college, but that desire can’t be fulfilled with the lack of classes and inconsistent support of the Arabic program compared to other languages offered.”

Clarke then met with Elizabeth Hamilton, associate dean of the College of the Arts and Sciences, as well as other administrative representatives, who informed him there was not sufficient interest shown by the student population to justify advanced language classes and a full-time professorship. 

“[Hamilton] pretty much told us that we would need to express interest — it seemed in the past that enrollment numbers were going down … and they said it was out of their control,” Clarke said. “They said the best way to show interest was waitlists — that so many people applied to the class, that there [weren’t] enough spots … but it was hard to do that, because no one is going to want to enroll in two classes if they know that there’s no third and fourth.”

Among the advocates for an Arabic language program was Washburn herself. Last year, she published a letter to the editor in the Review (“College Should Reinstate Arabic Professorship,” The Oberlin Review, Nov. 15, 2024) arguing for the reinstatement of an Arabic professorship. 

“I am distressed to learn that now only first-year Arabic is being taught, and only by a temporary graduate student,” Washburn wrote. “Mastery of Arabic requires years of study and immersion to gain competency and facility in reading, speaking, and writing in order to successfully use this expertise and knowledge in many career paths. … We owe it to Oberlin students to provide instruction in the principal languages to prepare them to find their place and purpose in the world.”

Clarke and other students continued to advocate for Arabic language Winter Term intensives, study abroad programs, and cultural events, but there was no progress on creating a full-time professor position for the language. Abul-Magd said that after those years of fighting for the department, she and her students had “lost hope” — until Washburn’s donation arrived. 

“I found [Washburn] in my office hours, standing at the door of my office. I didn’t know her — I was just sitting in my office, expecting students to come and ask questions, and then this lady was standing in front of my door and asked me about Arabic,” Abul-Magd explained. “I told her, the situation is that we only have one year, because the College doesn’t have money to hire somebody to teach more than that. And she said, ‘What if I have the money? What if I would like to donate?’ And I told her, ‘Come on in!’ She sat in the seat, and then she mentioned millions. And of course, [it] was mind blowing! I mean, somebody is talking millions for Arabic!” 

The timing also had some complications. With continuing conflict in Palestine, increasingly contentious relationships between the U.S. and some Arabic-speaking countries, and the Trump administration’s eye on colleges and universities that promote cultural diversity, some at Oberlin worried the donation could be seen as overly political. 

“We were worried that this donation might be interpreted by some parties outside the College as for political purposes,” Abul-Magd said. “But the thing is that Dr. Dorothy Washburn has nothing to do with the Middle East! … Dr. Washburn has nothing to do with politics, and she has no connection to either side. She made the decision only based on her deep belief that languages are so important, and especially for her alma mater, she would like students to be culturally advanced and connected.” 

After meeting with students and MENA faculty, Washburn decided to donate $2 million to create an endowed professorship position, securing a full-time lecturer to teach the yearly introductory and intermediate courses, as well as an advanced seminar anticipated to be in literature or translation. The College intends to conduct a national search for the best permanent candidate, which will take some time. 

Wanting the program to expand immediately, Washburn contributed an additional $170,000 to hire a temporary full-time lecturer during the search. Accordingly, intermediate Arabic and new subject courses will be available for the 2025–26 school year as the permanent hiring efforts are ongoing. 

For Clarke, who spent four years at Oberlin advocating for the Arabic program but never got to take an intermediate or advanced class at the College, the donation is triumphant yet bittersweet. 

“My first year, I already knew that if something was to change, if something good was going to happen, I would probably be graduated by the time I could get any of the benefits — but honestly, it wasn’t about me getting the benefits,” Clarke said. “I’m happy now that someone was able to see the value and that we have the funds, and that we can find ways to stop it from getting cut again. I’m hopeful. I hope that next semester, and next year, people will be able to get the Arabic experience — the love of Arabic — that I had my first year.”