On Monday, Students for a Free Palestine, Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, and the Oberlin Democratic Socialists addressed a crowd of roughly 100 at a teach-in held in King Building. The teach-in came days before the Board of Trustees gathered on campus for its biannual meeting on Thursday and Friday. The three organizations informed students about the current state of several pressing issues including the safety of undocumented students, the war in Gaza, and labor relations between the College and unionized workers, and how these issues concern student relations with the Board of Trustees and the College administration generally.
The primary goal of the event was the preservation of institutional memory related to activist organizations and issues on campus, according to SFP Chair and College fourth-year Juwayria Zahurullah and ODS member and College third-year Natasha Dracobly. Dracobly also said the organizers wanted to educate students about the decision-making powers of the Board of Trustees.
“This is a group that exists and makes a huge amount of the decisions about our school and what we’re doing,” Dracobly said. “We don’t get a lot of information about them directly. I think that the state of information about the Board among students is pretty bleak, honestly, and sometimes when students have information, it’s misinformation or just a rumor. So I think it’s really important to have these kinds of events when the board is coming, to promote actual knowledge.”
The teach-in began with an introduction on the history and function of the Board as the governing body of Oberlin College and Conservatory. Then, members of the three organizations presented on advocacy opportunities relating to College governance and particular issues they feel are important to the student body.
Obies for Undocumented Inclusion provided an information session educating students on current concerns regarding the safety of undocumented students on campus amid the Trump administration’s nationwide deportation campaign.
SFP presented an overview of the history of divestment campaigns that have defined pro-Palestinian advocacy throughout the 21st century. The organization has been calling for divestment from companies that support Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory for over a decade; however, the campaign for divestment has intensified since the war in Gaza began in 2023. In the past two years, SFP has been involved in demonstrations calling for the Board’s commitment to divestment during numerous meetings. In spring 2024, SFP sent the Board a formal proposal supporting divestment from over 130 companies involved in maintaining Israeli occupation of Palestine. The Board turned it down.
SFP has since reaffirmed their commitment to divestment, despite the Board’s rejection. Zahurullah said that SFP members met with Investment Chair Sean Gavin on Wednesday to discuss ways in which the Impact Investment Platform could be used to enact positive change. The Impact Investment Platform uses funds from the endowment to make “socially conscious investments” and is guided by an advisory board consisting of students, faculty, and alumni.
Finally, ODS provided a history of the College administration’s labor relations. They mentioned recent controversies such as the outsourcing of unionized College staff in 2020 and the weakening of the Finney Compact, an 1835 agreement which gave faculty a large say in the strategic and operational decisions that the College administration would make. Revisions to the College bylaws in 2022 limited the authority of the faculty to academic matters and elements of student life related to curriculum while simultaneously affirming the power of the Board. The changes led to protests by students and faculty.
ODS is currently campaigning for greater transparency from the Board. Last April, they launched a formal petition to the College calling for the publication of meeting minutes for Board meetings and easier access to archived documents related to the Board. The petition was signed by at least 700 students, according to an Instagram post from the organization. Dracobly said that members of the organization had begun conversations with Senior Associate Dean of Students Thom Julian and General Counsel about how their aims could be achieved.
Dracobly emphasized her excitement that ODS, OUI, and SFP were able to work together to organize the event.
“I really, really hope we do more things like that in the future,” she said. “It was a wonderful example of what kinds of stuff we can do when we come together.”
College second-year Alisha Akhtar said the teach-in provided valuable information.
“It was a very well organized teach-in, and it was helpful to see how Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, Students for a Free Palestine, and Oberlin Democratic Socialists support one another,” Akhtar said. “I learned a lot about the buried history of all these organizations, and I got a lot of insight into how I can look into information myself. I feel more confident in my power as a student, and more equipped with resources I can use to fight back.”
The teach-in wasn’t the only event organized by student activists ahead of the Board of Trustees meeting. A group of students unaffiliated with SFP organized a “week of action” related to the Palestinian liberation movement and divestment campaign. The group held vigils every night; a teach-in Tuesday on the Boycott, Divestment, and Sanctions movement; a film screening; and other events.
