Kushagra Kar, Opinions Editor

December 4, 2020

It might not always seem like it, but there are more than enough reasons for foreign nationals to be invested in American politics. I’ve had the unpleasant experience of being discounted by domestic students in conversations about politics, and honestly, I cannot think of a rational reason to do that. Like it or not, the politics of the U.S. impact people all over the world. International students bring unique and valuable perspectives to conversations about politics in the United States. Our lives are still so pivotally impacted by your vote and your conversations...

Booker C. Peek, Emeritus Professor of Africana Studies

November 20, 2020

Donald Trump is our president and has every right to ensure that President-elect Biden was duly and fairly elected by the American voters. However shocking and painful it would be to those of us who voted for Biden — some almost 80 million — we should accept and respect the decision of our courts' final count if they found Trump to be the president-elect instead. On Nov. 8, 2016, once it was clear that Hillary Clinton had lost, outgoing President Obama and Mrs. Clinton both offered immediate congratulations to President-elect Trump, pledging their unqualified...

Khalid McCalla and Zoë Martin del Campo

November 13, 2020

These opinions do not reflect the views of  The Oberlin Review staff. However, we are amazing and knowledgeable about many things, so we’re glad that you trust us to settle these debates.    Question: Is water wet? If so, are fish wet? Here we go. Khalid and Zoë, about to tackle a question that has stumped even the greatest minds. Lucky for you, we are not among the greatest minds and so we can provide you with an answer. Kind of. Let’s get the easy part out of the way: Fish are wet.  Wet, according to Google, describes something that is...

Kushagra Kar, Opinions Editor

November 11, 2020

Editor’s note: This article centers the experience of the COVID-19 quarantine of one student, and is not necessarily representative of a universal experience of Oberlin College’s quarantine plan.  A small, dimly lit room in Fairchild House with a window overlooking the Adam Joseph Lewis Center suddenly found itself home to a wandering second-year, back from his travels around the country. The man — really just a boy of 19 — had fled the corn-bordered grounds of Oberlin in hopes of a self-declared fall break, two weeks of escape in which he found himself...

Khalid McCalla and Zoë Martin del Campo

November 6, 2020

These opinions do not reflect the views of The Oberlin Review staff. However, we are amazing and knowledgeable about many things, so we’re glad that you trust us to settle these debates.    Editor’s note: This article mentions the existence of sex.   Question: What's the best mythical creature to be: a witch, a vampire, or a werewolf? This one’s tricky. There are so many different forms of each of these. Are we talking the Wicked Witch of the West or Hermoine Granger? Edward Cullen or Nosferatu? Jacob Black or Wolfman? Each creature...

Khalid McCalla and Zoë Martin del Campo

October 23, 2020

These opinions do not reflect the views of The Oberlin Review staff. However, we are amazing and knowledgeable about many things, so we’re glad that you trust us to settle these debates.    Question: Which is the more happenin’ spot: Slow Train Cafe or The Local Coffee & Tea? Admittedly, neither of us are big coffee people and we have rarely frequented either of these establishments. Between the two of us, we’ve only been to these places a handful of times. No worries though, because we are committed to giving you a verdict — and this one...

Deljou Abadi, Director, Iranian Refugees’ Alliance, Inc.

October 21, 2020

Editor’s Note: This statement is part of a broader conversation about allegations brought against Professor of Religion and Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies Mohammad Jafar Mahallati. These allegations began with an Oct. 8 letter to President Carmen Twillie Ambar. Mahallati has denied these allegations. You can read the Review’s comprehensive news coverage here.  Dear President Ambar:  I am writing to offer new evidence (accessible via hyperlinks) supplementary to the statement made by Family Members of the Victims and Former...

Audrey Kolb, President, Friends of Westwood Cemetery

October 21, 2020

In his letter, Let Us Lift Our Memorials Above Ground, Mr. Brunberg raised some legitimate concerns about the maintenance of, and regulations around, section S of the Westwood cemetery; but they are concerns that the Friends of Westwood has been addressing since we formed in 2014.  Mr. Brunberg writes: “Our gravestones in Section S are sinking into the ground, obscuring the names of those who lived and died here.” Since 2014, Friends of Westwood has put on its schedule to clean gravestones twice a year throughout the cemetery. It is a huge job but it will...

October 9, 2020

Editor’s Note: This statement was originally sent in an email to President Carmen Twillie Ambar on Oct. 8 and was signed by 56 family members of the victims and former political prisoners, as well as 577 additional signatories. Professor of Religion and Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies Mohammad Jafar Mahallati has denied these allegations. You can read the Review’s comprehensive news coverage here.  Dear President Ambar,  We the undersigned are a group of former political prisoners in Iran, families of executed political...

Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies and Professor of Religion

October 9, 2020

Editor’s Note: This statement is in response to accusations made by Kaveh Shahrooz and Lawdan Bazargan. Read the Review’s news coverage here.  I feel deeply for the ongoing suffering of family members of the victims of violence against political prisoners. Summary executions are horrible acts and are indeed crimes against humanity wherever they happen.  During my years at Oberlin College, and because of my longtime anti-war activism, I have come under attack by a spectrum of war-lobby protagonists both in the U.S. and in the Middle East.  On Oct. 8,...

Booker C. Peek

October 2, 2020

Millions of Americans have to suffer through nightmares only to awaken and be tormented throughout the day because President Trump has a lawsuit and a Supreme Court primed to destroy the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. The president is not an evil, mean, or heartless person — nor is our congressman, Jim Jordan. They believe that they have a better plan. But where is their plan? Obamacare has been in existence for more than 10 years, and Trump has been president for almost four. Still, no better plan has been proposed in the richest, most advanced, and most...

Booker Peek

September 25, 2020

Our congressman, Jim Jordan, is our president’s staunchest supporter, besting Senators Mitch McConnell and Lindsey Graham. As a former wrestler and coach at The Ohio State University, Jordan demonstrates an unparalleled physical defense of Trump’s positions; some of which are particularly problematic. Trump claimed for more than five years that former President Barack Obama was born in Kenya. Trump has never apologized clearly to him. About the “Central Park Five” — five black and Latino teenagers now known to be innocent of a most heinous crime of...