My most poignant memory from Orientation Week was calling my best friend crying because I thought I would have to leave this school. Classes hadn’t even started yet. There was no academic pressure, and there were many opportunities for social exploration. The reason I thought I had to leave Oberlin was because of its lack of accessibility. On the third day of orientation, I remember entering Hall Auditorium for the mandatory play, The OC. Even though the building isn’t as old as others on campus, it wasn’t designed with the needs of people like me in mind. As soon as I entered Hall Auditorium, I could smell mold. Mold is an environmental toxin that has especially adverse effects on people with chronic ill...

 Course registration is obviously not the highlight of anybody’s college experience — and it’s especially bad at Oberlin. Course selection starts with a mess of overloaded but mandatory courses thanks to a large number of highly specific requirements. Faculty replace prerequisites with consent barriers so that qualified students are held at the mercy of overworked professors’ ability to respond to emails.  Then, when students are unable to get into the courses they want because of consent barriers, they are forced to enroll in courses they aren’t actually going to take. That forces students with later registration times to enroll in classes they don’t plan to take, ultimately occupying spots in classes...

The Office of Residential Education sent an email to all rising juniors March 19 notifying students that previously promised meal plan options would no longer be offered. Instead, the office planned to limit them to more expensive meal plans that provide fewer options to students. Concerned about the impact on low- and middle-income students, a small group of passionate student activists planned a boycott in response. Later that day, because of the accessibility concerns, I joined as an organizer. I created a food donation plan to ensure every participant would get enough to eat during the boycott, regardless of income. I’d like to thank Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo and the Dean of Students...

On Friday, March 8, a group of around 40 students gathered in Tappan Square. Our plan was to disrupt a trustee luncheon and read a statement expressing our concerns about the Academic and Administrative Program Review, the current budget crisis, and a general lack of transparency and meaningful incorporation of student voices in decision making processes at Oberlin. When we arrived at The Hotel at Oberlin, we were immediately surrounded by Campus Safety officers and administrators, who blocked access to the stairs leading up to the luncheon, causing the “accessibility” concerns raised in Student Senate’s March 11 email. I was able to gain access to the luncheon and read our statement in full to the attendees,...