Off the Cuff – The Oberlin Review

OTC: Sydney Allen, Review Editor-in-Chief

May 10, 2019

College senior and Review Editor-in-Chief Sydney Allen is a classic Obie with a wide range of interests. Throughout her tenure as a writer and editor, Allen has covered a broad range of campus and community news, including the launch of the Academic and Administrative Program Review, controversy about Gibson’s, and much more. When she’s not editing articles in the Burton Hall basement, Allen can be found on the field as a member of the varsity women’s lacrosse team, working with students a...

Off The Cuff: Manu Karuka, OC ’00

May 3, 2019

Manu Karuka is an assistant professor of American Studies at Barnard College and author of the book Empire’s Tracks: Indigenous Nations, Chinese Workers, and the Transcontinental Railroad, which was released in March of this year. Karuka was a double-degree Oberlin student who graduated in 2000 with majors in Composition in the Conservatory and South Asian Studies in the College. After Oberlin, Karuka earned a Ph.D. in American Studies from New York University. Karuka delivered a talk at Oberlin about...

Off The Cuff: Rabbi Megan Doherty

April 26, 2019

Rabbi Megan Doherty, director of Hillel and Jewish Campus Life, is approaching the end of her third year at Oberlin. Hillel and Jewish Campus Life build community as well as provide various religious and cultural programs for students and community members, and Rabbi Megan works alongside students to cultivate a welcoming environment for all. She has previously worked at the Slifka Center for Jewish Life at Yale University and the Mishkan Ha’am Reconstructionist community in New York. Additional...

OTC: Anderson Flen and Major Joe Womack, Africatown, Alabama

April 19, 2019

Anderson Flen and retired Marine Major Joe Womack are both natives of Africatown, Alabama — a community with a rich and unique history dating back to the 1860 landing of the Clotilda, the last ship to illegally bring enslaved African people to the United States. Since then, many historians, anthropologists, and journalists have chronicled Africatown’s story, including Zora Neale Hurston in the recently released Barracoon. Earlier this week, Flen and Womack visited Oberlin to present alongside a...

OTC: Susan Orlean, Author, Journalist

April 12, 2019

Susan Orlean is an award-winning, bestselling author and journalist. Orlean has been a staff writer for The New Yorker since 1992 and has contributed to publications including The Boston Globe, Rolling Stone, Vogue, and Esquire, among others. In October 2018, she published The Library Book, which tells the story of the 1986 Los Angeles Public Library Fire that destroyed 400,000 books and damaged 700,000 more. She interweaves this story with the history of the American public library system, as we...

OTC: Nick Petzak, Director of Fellowships and Awards

April 5, 2019

For the 10th year in a row, Director of Fellowships and Awards Nick Petzak has led Oberlin to be recognized as a top producer of Fulbright Scholarship students. The Fulbright Program, which historically has a percentage award rate in the low 20s, sends students to over 140 countries to engage in research and teaching opportunities. Besides success with the Fulbright scholarship, the Office of Fellowships and Awards has also been highly successful helping students land awards including Truman, Goldwate...

Off The Cuff: Jorge Heine, Former Chilean Ambassador

March 15, 2019

Jorge Heine is an experienced politician, educator, and author. He is a former Chilean ambassador to China, India, Bangladesh, South Africa, and Sri Lanka. Heine is also a former Chilean Cabinet Minister and is currently a Public Policy Fellow at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars in Washington, D.C.. Additionally, Heine has contributed as a consultant to the United Nations, sits on the editorial board of various publications, including Global Governance, World Affairs, and Diploma...

OTC: Kathleen Stephens, Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea

March 8, 2019

Former U.S. Ambassador to the Republic of Korea Kathleen Stephens spoke yesterday on “Militarization and Demilitarization on the Korean Peninsula” for the 2019 Global Issues Symposium. The symposium has spent all of February and March exploring the theme “Militarization of Global Politics, Economy & Society.” The talk was part of a panel titled “Militarized East Asia.” In addition to her work in South Korea, Stephens has also worked in China, the former Yugoslavia, Portugal, and No...

Rosa Brooks, Georgetown Law Professor

March 1, 2019

Rosa Brooks is a law professor at Georgetown University currently focusing on issues related to police brutality. She was the keynote speaker at Oberlin’s 2019 Global Issues Symposium, giving a Feb. 15 lecture titled “How Everything Became War and the Military Became Everything: Tales from the Pentagon.” In 2016, she published a book under the same title which discussed hyper-militarization in the United States. Brooks has served as counselor to the Under Secretary of Defense for Policy in ...

OTC: Zahida Sherman, Multicultural Resource Center Director

February 22, 2019

Zahida Sherman stepped into her new role as director of Oberlin’s Multicultural Resource Center on Monday, Feb. 18. Most recently, Sherman was an assistant director of Black Student Success at the University of the Pacific. She has also worked as an associate development coordinator for Diversity and Inclusion at Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP in Los Angeles, and as an assistant director of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Kenyon College. Sherman earned her BA in anthropology fro...

OTC: Krista Long, Owner of Ben Franklin’s

February 15, 2019

Krista Long, an Oberlin native, is the owner and operator of Ben Franklin and MindFair Books. She is a highly active member of the Oberlin community. In addition to owning two small businesses, Long has children who went to Oberlin public schools. She has also participated in Cleveland 101, an orientation program that introduced incoming first-years to the area and taught them how best to navigate the Oberlin and greater Northeast Ohio community during first-year orientation. This interview has...

Kaitlyn Rivers, Chair of Black Scientists Guild

February 8, 2019

College junior Kaitlyn Rivers is Biology major interested in marine science and conservation. Originally from Florida, Rivers is also the chair of Oberlin’s Black Scientists Guild, a campus organization dedicated to supporting Black students in STEM fields that have historically been dominated by white scientists. As chair, Rivers hopes to build community between Black science students at Oberlin, help them connect with alumni, and help them explore career possibilities. In honor of Black History...