Alison Ricker, Head, Science Library; Co-President, League of Women Voters of Ohio
September 28, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
National Voter Registration Day has just passed, and I was gratified to talk to and register Oberlin College voters and help them prepare for the 2018 midterm elections. If you intend to vote in Oberlin and have not updated your voter registration (i.e., if you changed dorms or moved since the last time you voted in Oberlin), please do so before the deadline: Tuesday, Oct. 9. Voter registration is offered at the Science Center Library any time that the library is open. I will make the last mad-dash delivery of voter registration forms at 5 p.m. Oct. 9.
On-campus students: Please look for the internet utility bill from the College, which should have arrived in your OCMR box this week. Off-campus students: Please fol...
Jim Clarke, Resident of Cuyahoga Falls, OH
September 28, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
On Nov. 3, the Oberlin Yeomen football team will compete against the Hiram College Terriers in Hiram, OH. Few spectators may realize the contest will be the 61st meeting between the two competitors since 1895. Those who bother to read the game program or listen carefully to the announcer may note that the all-time rivalry currently stands tied at 30–30. Even so, few people within either of the two college communities will be overly excited about which competitor takes the lead in this hard-fought rivalry beginning back in the Gilded Age.
The Oberlin College administration disregards the significance of the Hiram College football rivalry by choice. Hiram officials have reached out to the Oberlin administration twic...
Kameron Dunbar, Sadie Keller, and Janet Wu
September 24, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
Last spring, President Carmen Ambar called on the Oberlin community — students, staff, faculty, and alumni — to think critically and creatively about the institution’s present and long-term stability. Speaking candidly, she outlined some of the challenges facing Oberlin and similar institutions.
To respond, President Ambar announced Oberlin’s Academic and Administrative Program Review, an 18-month initiative that seeks to address both immediate financial needs and the long-term direction of the College and Conservatory. Of the 31 members of the AAPR Steering Committee, 16 are faculty and three are students. As the student representatives, we are committed to transparent communication and community input. But...
John Elder, OC ’53, Member of the First Church Green Team
September 21, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
Combining a poet’s artistry, a translator’s empathy, and an investigative journalist’s persistence, Eliza Griswold makes the deeply divisive issue of fossil fuel extraction grippingly real. We are very fortunate that the recipient of many prestigious awards is including Oberlin on her tour to talk about her rave-reviewed new book Amity and Prosperity: One Family and the Fracturing of America. National Book Award winner George Packer calls it “a morally complex and beautifully written story … about what binds and tears apart a community and a country.” The Green Team of The First Church in Oberlin United Church of Christ invites you to attend her presentation this Sunday at 4 p.m. in the First Church Meeti...
Kate Pilacky, Associate Field Director, Western Reserve Land Conservancy Oberlin Field Office
September 14, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
I want to express my sincere thanks to the Bonner Center for Service and Learning, Oberlin College Grounds, and the first-year students and their supervisors for the hard work they put forth for the Day of Service on Sept. 1. Western Reserve Land Conservancy, with assistance from Oberlin College, has been working on the Kahn Woods and, more recently, the Keep Cottage Meadow for several years, restoring and enhancing wildlife habitat and creating an area for students to observe and enjoy nature on campus grounds. On Sept. 1, students and community members planted over 70 native flowering plants to provide habitat for pollinators and add beauty. If you are looking for a nice place to enjoy nature on campus, I encourage y...
David Booth Beers, P ’11, West Hartford, CT
September 14, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
Regarding The Boston Globe article about the resignation of Organ Department Chair James David Christie from Oberlin and at the College of the Holy Cross:
As the parent of a gifted organist who studied with David Boe, Jack Mitchener, and others at Oberlin, I had several occasions to interact with Christie; the first when we looked at Holy Cross and he gave us the brush off — I saw and heard from many students that “the great man” was domineering, imperious, and narcissistic — all the qualities of a Harvey Weinstein. The fear and dread he instilled in his students was an open secret and obviously contrary to the tenets of a liberal arts institution like Oberlin. I have NO doubt that everyone knew of this alle...
Ross Peacock, Assistant Vice President, Institutional Research and Planning
September 14, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
Oberlin College is seeking comments from the public about the College in preparation for its periodic evaluation by its regional accrediting agency. The College will host a visit Oct. 15–16 from a team of peer reviewers representing the Higher Learning Commission. The team will review the institution’s ongoing ability to meet HLC’s Criteria for Accreditation. Oberlin College has been accredited by HLC since 1913. Comments must be in writing and must address substantive matters related to the quality of the institution or its academic programs. Submit comments to HLC at hlcommission.org/comment or mail them to the address below. All comments must be received by Sept. 18, 2018.
Public Comment on Oberlin College High...
Booker C. Peek, Emeritus Associate Professor of Africana Studies
September 7, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
To the Editors:
Last week, America paid tribute to Aretha Franklin and John McCain, who both strove to make America greater than ever by unceasingly underscoring the need for us to embrace differences and engage with those whose views differ from our own. We are one people, one nation, and one world, in spite of the fights we may have on any given day.
This Thursday, a new National Football League season starts. Many players want to bring an end to police brutality against blacks, and last year many did not stand for our National Anthem as a sign of protesting this violence.
They have a right to do as they please, but there are consequences. One has been that their action has taken most of the attention off their go...
Ellen Greene Bush, American Promise Ohio
September 7, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
To the Editors:
Many Americans feel strongly about getting big and dark money out of politics. A recent survey by The Democracy Project found that 77 percent agreed that “the laws enacted by our national government these days mostly reflect what powerful special interests and their lobbyists want.” Only 17 percent chose the alternative statement: “The laws enacted by our national government these days mostly reflect what the people want.”
The American Promise Ohio group asked the two candidates for the U.S. House, Ohio District 4, to support the goal of a 28th Amendment to the U. S. Constitution to “1) secure fair, free elections by limiting the undue influence of money in politics; 2) protect the rights of al...
Caitlin Kelley, Michael Kennedy, Eliza Guinn, Dylan Palmer, and Mirella Gruesser-Smith
May 11, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
Editors Note: The following letter is a petition for Oberlin College to terminate its contract with Bon Appétit and to hire its own managers to run CDS. At the bottom of the letter, there will be a link to the petition and a link to personal accounts of current and former CDS workers.
All of us at Oberlin, whether we are students, professors, staff, or administrators, have the same goal: making Oberlin College the best it can be. But the management of Oberlin dining services is not the best it can be. We call on Oberlin to adopt self-management to properly manage Campus Dining Services, improve the dining experience, and reduce wasteful spending.
WHAT IS SELF-MANAGEMENT?
Oberlin College followed a national trend...
Donn Ginoza
May 4, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
To the Editors:
Oberlin students are familiar with the poster featuring the slogan: “Think One Person Can Change the World? So do we.” Changing the world is on the minds of the current generation of students. A recent Pacific Standard survey found that two-thirds of college students intend to change the world, and more than one-third think they will have an impact within five years. The slogan speaks to the idealism and energy that incoming students now bring to Oberlin. The survey researchers also note that liberal arts colleges produce a disproportionate number of leaders because they produce inquiring, less self-certain, and more concerned citizens.
Admittedly, one person changing the world seems presumptuous. A vide...
John H Scofield
May 4, 2018
Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS
To the Editors:
I write to express my concern about the misleading and false claims being made by Oberlin College with regard to The Hotel at Oberlin. I understand that our nation has a President who lies on a regular basis and the public is apparently unwilling to hold him accountable. But is the College no different?
A recent article in the Spring 2018 issue of the Oberlin College Alumni Magazine claims that “The hotel … is one of only five U.S. hotels to have qualified for the rigorous LEED Platinum certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. Its heating and cooling systems rely on a geothermal well field …” These claims are also posted on the Hotel’s website, www.thehotelatoberlin.com. Nearly...
