Campus News – The Oberlin Review

MRC Program Supports Trans Students

November 16, 2018

The Multicultural Resource Center launched new programming this week for the College’s third annual Trans Week of Action. Beginning last Sunday, students and staff organized events aimed at providing safe spaces and resources for trans students. The programming ends on Trans Day of Remembrance this Sunday with a vigil honoring trans folks affected by hate. “The Trans Day of Remembrance vigil is something we do every year, since it’s a national event and there is already so much erasure of a...

Karega Sues College, Claiming Discrimination

Sydney Allen, Editor-in-Chief

November 16, 2018

Filed under Campus News, NEWS

Joy Karega, a former assistant professor of Rhetoric and Composition at Oberlin, filed a lawsuit against the College last Friday claiming breach of contract and employment discrimination on the basis of race and retaliation. The lawsuit, filed with the U.S. District Court in Cleveland, seeks $855,000 in damages. In February 2016, The Tower, a conservative, pro-Israeli magazine, posted a series of alleged anti-Semitic posts found on Karega’s personal Facebook page, sparking national and local controversy. Karega was placed on academic leave that month and was ultimately fired November 2017, following a nine-month review process. Her termination initiated a national conversation around academic liberties and free...

Sophomores Guided Through SOAR

November 16, 2018

The newly-created Sophomore Opportunities and Academic Resources program will offer sophomores academic and career advising tailored to their specific interests. Participants will be paired with a SOAR leader — a junior or senior knowledgeable and experienced in their major — who will guide them through how to declare a major, create an academic plan, and pursue job and internship opportunities in their field of interest. The program will kick off with a two-day retreat on Feb. 1 and 2, and pa...

MRC Faces Staffing Shortage

November 9, 2018

Four full-time staff members resigned from positions at the Multicultural Resource Center within the last six months. The office was once staffed by five full-time staffers. The MRC is currently run by Assistant Vice President Adrian Bautista, who is serving as the interim director, Student Life Community Coordinator Khalid Taylor, OC ’17, and LGBTQ Community Coordinator Elliot Director, who will discontinue work Nov. 30. Director, the most recent staff member to resign, submitted a resigna...

Project Unbound Fundraises for Human Trafficking Victims

November 9, 2018

Project Unbound, an Oberlin-based anti-human trafficking organization, will host their annual fall fundraiser for the Human Trafficking Collaborative of Lorain County on Friday, Nov. 16. The event will be the group’s second in as many weeks; they held a workshop yesterday titled “The Neurological Impact of Slavery.” “This is the first and only fundraiser [we have done] for the Collaborative, as a way of supporting our partner,” said College senior and History major Kellianne Doy...

Students, Alumni Present Ambar Tom Reid Petition

November 9, 2018

Nearly 40 students, alumni, faculty, and community members crowded into President Carmen Ambar’s office Monday afternoon as part of a delegation meant to show support for former Associate Director of the Student Union Tom Reid, OC ’80. Reid — who had worked at Oberlin since graduating — was let go over the summer as part of a wave of staff reductions due to budget problems. His elimination was met with disapproval by students and community members who valued Reid’s contributions to the C...

Student Participation Reconsidered by College Faculty

Nathan Carpenter, Editor-in-Chief

November 2, 2018

Filed under Campus News, NEWS, Recent Stories

Editor’s note: Editor-in-Chief Sydney Allen is a member of the Sophomore Experience Advising Task Force. She was uninvolved with the reporting of this story. Oberlin College faculty will vote next Wednesday on whether to allow student representatives to attend their regular meetings as voting members. The vote will impact eight students who sit on five different committees. Students have technically been voting members of the committee for over 40 years, though they have rarely attended the meetings in recent years. The issue was initially raised by Nathan A. Greenberg Professor of Classics and Presiding Officer of the College Faculty Kirk Ormand. However, according to Ormand, he hadn’t intended to bring the q...

Leadercast Conference Highlights Female Entrepreneurs

Sydney Allen, Editor-in-Chief

November 2, 2018

Filed under Campus News, Community News, NEWS

The Oberlin Business Partnership, in collaboration with the Office of Innovation and Impact, sponsored the second annual Leadercast Women’s conference this week at the New Russia Township Lodge. The event was designed to promote female leadership in entrepreneurial fields and featured a number of speakers, panelists, video broadcasts, and group discussions. The event featured a live presidents panel with Oberlin College President Carmen Twillie Ambar and Lorain County Community College President Marcia J. Ballinger, sponsored by the Women’s Fund of the Community Foundation of Lorain County. The panel moderator, Tiffany Tarpley from Cleveland’s NBC Channel 3, highlighted the novelty that the two college presidents...

Oberlin Prepares for Re-accreditation

Amber Scherer

October 12, 2018

Filed under Campus News, NEWS

Oberlin College and Conservatory will be evaluated for re-accreditation on Oct. 15 and 16 to determine if the education provided by the College meets both internal goals and quality levels set by the U.S. Department of Education. This will be the College’s first evaluation in 10 years. The federal government appoints accrediting agencies to oversee colleges and universities in different regions. Oberlin College’s regional agency is the Higher Learning Commission (HLC), a Chicago-based organization entrusted with accrediting collegiate institutions from Ohio’s eastern border all the way to New Mexico. According to Conservatory Dean Bill Quillen, re-accreditation is a “a peer-driven process.” Accred...

UndocuWeek Promotes Awareness

October 12, 2018

UndocuWeek strives to raise awareness and increase community engagement with issues faced by undocumented students. The Multicultural Resource Center and Obies for Undocumented Inclusion have sponsored a series of events and lectures from Oct. 7–13 that unite Obies in efforts to support undocumented students. Student immigration activists are concluding this year’s UndocuWeek this Saturday, Oct. 13 with a 5K Dream Run. Proceeds will go to the Undocumented Student Scholarship Fund,...

“Boldness. Tradition. Vision.”

October 5, 2018

Carmen Twillie Ambar was inaugurated as the 15th president of Oberlin College in a historic moment today. The weekend’s inauguration events are spread out over three days are inspired by themes of boldness, tradition, and vision. Ambar hopes that her career also embodies these principles. “For me, the notion of trying to lead higher education and to be bold in our efforts to reimagine liberal arts is a part of how I thought about my own efforts,” Ambar said. “How can I make...

Conservatory Thefts Prompt Security Concerns

October 5, 2018

After at least six thefts inside Conservatory practice rooms and lockers, Campus Safety will be increasing its security presence in the Conservatory complex with more rounds and potential additional security measures. Over the past few weeks, at least four students returned to their practice spaces after brief intervals to find money taken from their wallets. Students also reported that their lockers, which often house personal belongings and instruments costing up to tens of th...