Katherine MacPhail and Anisa Curry Vietze

November 20, 2020

In the final full week on campus, President Carmen Twillie Ambar reflected on a challenging year for the country and for colleges across the nation. The College shifted to a three-semester model, de-densifying the student body’s presence on campus; established a Presidential Initiative for Racial Justice and Equity; and became one of the founding members of the Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance. Between all of this, President Ambar also co-edited the book Junctures in Women’s...

Gigi Ewing, News Editor

November 20, 2020

Concerned members of the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association have organized a group called “No OSCA? No Oberlin” to advocate in support of the nonprofit. Due to safety concerns around COVID-19, OSCA has not been operating cooperative living or dining spaces during the fall semester. NONO members fear that the College could attempt to shut down OSCA operations or raise OSCA prices, hindering financial accessibility.  The group’s formation comes in the midst of ongoing negotiations between...

Alexa Stevens, Production Editor

November 20, 2020

Some Resident Assistants are pushing for hazard pay to compensate for an increased risk of viral exposure as they help enforce COVID-19 safety guidelines. However, according to Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo, the U.S. Department of Labor’s definition of hazard pay does not apply to RAs’ roles. RAs at several colleges and universities, including the University of Iowa, the University of Michigan, the University of Vermont, and the University of Pennsylvania, have demanded...

Katherine MacPhail, Anna Farber, and L. Joshua Jackson

November 13, 2020

Eight years ago, Tappan Square spontaneously erupted into celebration after President Barack Obama was elected to a second term. While Joe Biden’s election to the presidency this Saturday prompted boisterous celebrations on many campuses across the country, Oberlin’s public spaces did not see the same festivities.  Student reactions ran the gamut from relief and joy to anger and fear, and in some cases, numbness. However, the election also left many students motivated to organize — both...

Anisa Curry Vietze, Editor-in-Chief

November 13, 2020

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine warned in a press conference yesterday that colleges and universities might not be allowed to welcome students back to campus in January if COVID-19 cases do not decline in the coming weeks. The warning comes as cases are skyrocketing in Ohio, with 68 of Ohio’s 88 counties in a “code red” level of “very high” exposure and spread — including Lorain County. “Unless we dramatically slow the community spread of the virus, our higher education institutions may...

Olive Hwang, Production Editor

November 13, 2020

Oberlin College is one of six institutions collaborating to form the Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance. This partnership aims to facilitate the sharing of resources and strategies to address issues of racial inequity in higher education.  “When I announced the Presidential Initiative [on Racial Equity and Diversity], the Oberlin community embraced the concept and recognized its important role during these challenging times,” President Carmen Twillie Ambar wrote in a Nov....

Ella Moxley, Gigi Ewing, and Walter Thomas-Patterson

November 20, 2020

In response to rapidly rising COVID-19 cases in Lorain County, Oberlin City Schools have extended remote learning until Jan. 19, after which they will shift to a hybrid model. This change extends a taxing period of online learning for students, families, and teachers who are facing both academic and emotional challenges. Currently, only a small number of students who cannot participate in remote learning attend face-to-face instruction. In January, students in grades 3-12 will attend school one...

Anisa Curry Vietze, Editor-in-Chief

November 20, 2020

Even in a typical year, many businesses in Oberlin financially plan around College breaks and summer vacation — slower moments when students aren’t around to pick up a desk lamp at Ben Franklin or a latte with oat milk at Slow Train Cafe. This year, in which students were unexpectedly sent home in late March and will now stay home after Thanksgiving, businesses that rely on student patronage took the hit.  “It’s really not possible to operate the way that we intend to operate if the students...

Drew Dansby, Production Editor

November 20, 2020

Recently, Lorain County has seen a surge in COVID-19 cases; however the county’s two prisons have been hotspots for the virus for months. Due to their overcrowding, overworked staff, and insulated environments, Grafton and Lorain Correctional Institutions are seeing high COVID-19 positivity rates. Inmates’ families and activists say that the prisons have been largely unresponsive to their concerns about the growing infection rates. At Grafton Correctional Institution, 31 staff members have...