Last year, I went back to my home state of Kentucky to revisit the Kentucky Derby for the first time in a few years (“Review Editor Revisits Kentucky Derby Roots,” The Oberlin Review, May 10, 2024). This year, I decided to take two newcomers, News Editor Layla Wallerstein and former Bulletin Editor Eloise Rich, into the infield at Churchill Downs to see what it’s like from an out-of-town perspective. This is our recollection of the day. Did you have any past experiences with the Derby? LW: I had no experience with the Kentucky Derby. I actually barely even knew what it was. I had heard...
Yankees outfielder Aaron Judge has taken his game to new heights yet again — a remarkable accomplishment for a man who already stands at 6 ‘ 7’’. The reigning MVP is fresh off a season where he led the league in home runs with 58 and RBIs with 144. When Judge was called up to the big leagues in 2016, he was a boom-or-bust prospect. Judge had ”light tower power” but struck out at an alarming rate. In his stint at the end of the 2016 season, Judge had 84 at-bats and struck out 42 times. Judge returned in 2017 and slugged his way to one of the most dominant rookie seasons in baseball...
Tennis has long been considered a “gentleman’s” sport, one associated with sportsmanship and class of the highest level. Like any sport, tennis requires years of training to become great, and a special talent to be one of the best. However, some players have been found guilty of using other means to conquer the tennis mountain and become the No. 1 player in the world. Top Tennis Athletes Jannik Sinner and Iga Świątek, both at the pinnacle of the sport, have faced allegations of doping, the consumption of illegal substances to enhance one’s performance in competition. In the last two...
While most athletes rely on well-timed meals and hydration to fuel their performance, Oberlin men’s tennis player Zain Makada has spent the past month navigating a very different kind of discipline: fasting from sunrise to sunset for Ramadan, the holiest month in Islam. Observed by an estimated 2 billion Muslims around the world, Ramadan is a time of spiritual reflection, increased prayer, and charity. Central to the observance is the daily fast, which begins at dawn and ends at sunset. For Makada, a second-year and active member of Oberlin’s Muslim Student Association, that means juggling...
Two seasons ago, the Denver Nuggets were on top of the NBA world. Former Head Coach Michael Malone proudly held the Larry O’Brien Trophy after swiftly defeating the Miami Heat in five games to win the franchise’s first-ever NBA championship. On Tuesday, the Nuggets flipped the NBA world upside down. Malone, the all-time winningest coach in Nuggets history, was fired. The success he had two years ago no longer mattered; all that mattered was the present. The decision to fire Malone came with three games remaining in the regular season. Currently, the Nuggets are the fourth seed in the Western...
Two months ago, Roseanna Smith received the news that every woman dreads — she had breast cancer. For Smith, Oberlin football’s chief of staff, special teams coordinator, and running backs coach, it was not the first time that cancer had directly impacted her life. Just six months prior to her own diagnosis, her father was diagnosed with multiple myeloma, an incurable cancer, after falling and breaking his femur. While the fall and diagnosis were the start of the most difficult six months of Smith’s life, she entered her own battle against cancer with the knowledge that she had an army...
Hwaejin Chung is a second-year majoring in the 3–2 Engineering program with a minor in Spanish. After his first year at Oberlin, he returned to Korea to serve his mandatory 18 months in the military. Upon returning this fall, Hwaejin has a newfound sense of pride in his home country and has since reconnected with lacrosse, a sport he would not be playing at Oberlin if it weren’t for a lacrosse helmet in the background of a Zoom call. The sun had fallen under the mountains hours before Hwaejin Chung reached the final checkpoint. His feet were swollen, his uniform drenched in sweat, and 45...
From selling baked goods at Mudd Center to handing out pies for Pie a Rugger, the Oberlin College Rhinos are often seen orchestrating fundraising efforts to support their season. The Rhinos are a women’s and trans club rugby team that have established themselves as one of Oberlin’s most prevalent club sports teams. Along with the Flying Horsecows, Oberlin’s competitive club frisbee team, and the club volleyball teams, the Rhinos are part of a higher echelon of club sports that competes against teams from other schools and ventures on larger tournament trips. While being a part of a travelling...
Bringing together students from different , majors, and athletic backgrounds, Oberlin’s club soccer meets multiple times a week to play the world’s sport. The club’s practice times and locations are dribbled around by scheduling conflicts; a scrimmage can occur on the sun-drenched North Fields, where midges and gnats are kicked up by the hundreds; head indoors to Williams Field House for 7-on-7 turf scrimmages; and even run late into the night on Bailey Field, where the stadium lights illuminate every pass and shot. Regardless of location, attendance, or insect population, Oberlin club...
At the end of every semester in Oberlin, the Cat in the Cream holds an event that radically departs from the usual concert, Conservatory recital, or trivia night. The metamorphosis is subtle yet striking; excited parents, siblings, and grandparents from the Oberlin community fill the seats to face a stage populated by young girls and boys, who, along with an Oberlin instructor, perform a choreographed routine they have been practicing all semester. This is Kids in Motion: an Oberlin ExCo that sends College students into the classrooms of Langston Middle School and Oberlin Elementary School to offer...
In a display of unyielding determination, the Oberlin men’s open Ultimate Frisbee team soared to victory at the Division III Ohio Valley Regional Championships, earning a spot in the National Championship. The journey to this moment was paved with countless hours of sweat, sacrifice, and unwavering dedication. The weekend prior, the Flying Horsecows faced many disappointing defeats at Sectionals: plagued by injuries and illness, they finished with a 0–4 record in the Miami, OH competition. However, looking forward to a redeeming performance in Butler, PA, the Flying Horsecows entered the...
Kyle Baxt is a second-year majoring in Economics with a Business integrative concentration. In his sophomore year of high school, he underwent brain surgery to heal a Chiari...
Natalie Winkelfoos is in her 12th year as the director of Oberlin Athletics. During her time at Oberlin, Winkelfoos has been named the Division III Administrator of the Year...
JJ Gray is a second-year Economics major on the men’s basketball team and the co-chair and founder of the Asian Student-Athlete Group. Last week, Gray was awarded North...
Kevin Farner is in his second year at Oberlin College as the Campus Recreation Coordinator and the only full-time employee of College Lanes, Oberlin’s on-campus bowling...
Nate Thompson is a third-year Financial Economics major. He is the co-captain of the Oberlin Men’s Soccer Team. He recently partook in the Ashby Business Scholar Program...
Second-year Meaghan Kramer is a forward/midfielder on the field hockey team. An international student from the Netherlands, she is planning on double majoring in Biology and...