Off the Cuff – The Oberlin Review

Josh Voorhees, Political Journalist

November 16, 2018

Josh Voorhees, an American political journalist and senior writer for Slate, delivered a lecture on Monday titled “Blue Waves and Red Walls: Making Sense of the 2018 Midterm Election.” Voorhees has taught in London, has covered national politics in Iowa City, and is now based in Northeast Ohio. He specialized in covering national and international political campaigns and has been published in Politico, Greenwire, The Scientific American, E&E News and the New York Times. This interview ...

Josh Keating, OC ’07, Slate Editor

November 9, 2018

Josh Keating, OC ’07, is a writer and editor at Slate magazine focusing on international news and foreign policy. He returned to campus in October to meet with students, faculty, and staff and to discuss his new book Invisible Countries, which investigates ideas around nationhood, borders, and what defines a country. Keating has been interested in geography and borders since childhood, when he followed global news events like the fall of the Berlin Wall. Over the course of his research f...

Peter Staley, Activist

November 2, 2018

Peter Staley, OC ’83, is an HIV/AIDS–LGBTQ rights activist who was a prominent member of AIDS Coalition to Unleash Power (ACT UP) and the founder of Treatment Action Group (TAG), which formed and eventually split from the Treatment and Date Committee of ACT UP. Staley is a main figure in the Oscar-nominated documentary How to Survive a Plague, which details the history of ACT UP and the AIDS crisis. Staley returned to Oberlin for his talk, “Radical Homosexuals: How ACT UP Changed the World.�...

Off The Cuff: Karen G. Fleming, Professor

October 12, 2018

Karen G. Fleming is a Biophysics Professor at Johns Hopkins University. She frequently speaks at universities across the nation about fostering a more supportive environment for women and people of color in the STEM fields. In recognition of her work, Fleming received an award from Johns Hopkins Diversity Leadership Council in 2015. Fleming visited Oberlin last Wednesday to present her talk, “#WeCanBeBetter: Bystander Intervention as a Tool for Achieving Equity in STEM,” which details ...

Johnnetta Cole, OC ’57

October 5, 2018

Oberlin alumna Johnnetta Cole, ’57, delivered the opening remarks at the Inauguration Ceremony of President Carmen Twillie Ambar earlier today. Cole was the first female African-American president at Spelman College and also served as the President of Bennett College. She has been the director of the Smithsonian Institution’s National Museum of African Art and was awarded the Legend in Leadership Award for Higher Education from the Yale Chief Executive Leadership Institute earlier this...

Eliza Griswold, Journalist

September 28, 2018

Award-winning journalist and poet Eliza Griswold visited Oberlin Sunday, Sept. 23 to discuss her book Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America, which focuses on the impact of fracking on a small community in southwestern Pennsylvania. In addition to her work on fracking, Griswold has reported from the field on the “War on Terror,” written about the Christian-Muslim divide, and published a book of poetry. She spoke at Oberlin at a time when northeast Ohio — similar to ...

Alan Jones, Fourth Meal Cashier

September 21, 2018

Alan Jones, 56, is a Campus Dining Services employee who works as a cashier and server at Oberlin’s Fourth Meal from 10–11:30 p.m. in the Rathskeller. Better known as “DJ Al,” Jones is known around campus for his catchy playlists and welcoming attitude. For many students, Jones is a staple of Oberlin’s dining scene. Jones is from Lorain, Ohio, and has been working at Oberlin on and off for years. Last year, he had the opportunity to appear on Wheel of Fortune during the show’s Veteran...

Anabel Barrón Sánchez, co-founder of LOIRA

Lila Michaels, Layout Editor

September 14, 2018

Filed under NEWS, Off the Cuff

Anabel Barrón Sánchez is the co-founder and vice president of the Lorain Ohio Immigrant Rights Association and a case worker at El Centro de Servicios Sociales. Sánchez was born in Mexico and came to the United States at nine months old as an undocumented immigrant. Since then, she has been turned away while trying to re-enter the U.S. several times, held in detention by Border Patrol, forced to wear an ankle monitor, and was faced with deportation by U.S. Immigrant and Customs Enforcement. She is a Lorain County community leader advocating for immigrant rights. Sánchez visited Oberlin College last Tuesday to speak on immigration, race, and sanctuary in Ohio. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. ...

OTC: Tré Quarles, OC ’18

September 7, 2018

Gabby Greene: What brought you back to Oberlin? Tré Quarles: When I was given the opportunity that I could work here over the summer, I thought that was a great idea as far as having set employment for a certain amount of time after graduation, which isn’t always certain. I do love Oberlin and I love working here; I love the community, I love the vibe, and I like seeing how it changes, but also how it maintains its spirit throughout time. I also would be interested in getting a permanent posi...

Off the Cuff: Melissa Harris and Christian Bolles, Editors-in-Chief

Sydney Allen and Nathan Carpenter

May 11, 2018

Filed under NEWS, Off the Cuff

College seniors Melissa Harris and Christian Bolles are the outgoing Editors-in-Chief of The Oberlin Review. Harris has been involved with the Review since her first semester at Oberlin, when she started out her journalism career as a staff writer. Since then she has worked as a Review Production Editor and News Editor and has interned for publications such as The Chronicle Telegram and Homeland Security Today. Bolles got involved his sophomore year at Oberlin and served as an Arts & Culture Editor before his tenure as EIC. Bolles is most known for his movie reviews. They were interviewed by the incoming Editors-in-Chief, College junior Sydney Allen and College sophomore Nathan Carpenter. This interview has be...

OTC: Mike Keith, Oberlin College Transportation Department

May 4, 2018

Mike Keith has worked at Oberlin College for the past seven years. He started out as part of the custodial staff in Dascomb Hall, and has since moved to transportation services for the College. During his time at Dascomb Hall, Keith was known for being a warm and enthusiastic member of the community and for going out of his way to welcome students. He has been dubbed by many students and signs off his emails as “Dascomb Mike”. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Where are...

OTC: Ilja Luciak, Professor and Author

April 27, 2018

Professor Ilja Luciak is chair of the Political Science department at Virginia Tech University. He is the author of After the Revolution: Gender and Democracy in El Salvador, Nicaragua, and Guatemala and The Sandinista Legacy: Lessons from a Political Economy in Transition. His work been published in several academic journals throughout Europe, North America, and Central America, and he has served as an invited election observer in El Salvador and Nicaragua. His research currently focuses on gender an...