Conversations around the ethics of student-submitted course evaluations have surfaced after anonymous posters were put up around campus urging students to boycott filling out their evaluations. The posters argue that inherent implicit biases may cause unfairness and inequity in the evaluations, particularly toward professors who identify as women or LGBTQ+, as well as professors of color. “Due to our implicit and internalized biases, we hold minority professors to disproportionately higher standards than we hold their majority counterparts,” the poster read. “This bigotry fosters an atmosphere in which marginalized people must work substantially harder to earn the same amount of recognition, opportunities, and...

Friday, Dec. 6, 2019 1:14 a.m. Campus Safety officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the Talcott Hall basement. No fire or smoke was observed in the area. An electrician responded to replace the detector. 7:55 p.m. Mercy Allen Hospital staff requested transport for a student to their East Hall dorm. Officers responded and the transport was completed. 10:44 p.m. Officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm in the Talcott Hall basement’s mechanical room. Steam from the HVAC system was found to be the cause. A work order was filed. Saturday, Dec. 7, 2019 3:52 p.m. Officers and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a fire alarm at a Union Street Housing Unit. S...

The Experimental College Committee’s compensation was increased by the Office of the Dean of Arts and Sciences last month, from $6,000 to $7,000 for the 2019–2020 academic year. In October, the five-student committee announced that they would need to reduce the number of ExCo courses to 50, due to changes in the way committee members are paid. The increased finances will mean that ExCo will be able to maintain its typical offering of approximately 70 courses in the spring. Members of the ExCo Committee met with their advisor, Associate Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences Elizabeth Hamilton, over the past month to discuss this. “The ExCo Committee met with Dean Hamilton and basically remade our case,” s...

Under the leadership of Assistant Professor of History and Comparative American Studies Tamika Nunley, a four-student editorial board is launching On Second Thought, a research journal designed to publish “unorthodox” historical research by Oberlin students. The journal’s origins lie with Nunley, who envisioned On Second Thought as an opportunity for students to explore and expand the conventions of historical writing in a less demanding setting than undertaking an honors thesis. She hopes it ...