Oberlin students visited Cleveland’s University Circle neighborhood last weekend to engage with the city through a free bus trip provided by the College. This trip was an expansion of the new Connect Cleveland initiative, founded in fall 2018 as part of Oberlin’s first-year orientation. “We created Connect Cleveland in response to the desire among current and prospective students to have internships, work opportunities, and recreational possibilities in a more urban environment,” President...

We must turn our gaze outward. That was President Carmen Ambar’s message as she prepared to ship a group of nearly 1,000 people — including first-years, Peer Advising Leaders, staff members, and volunteers — to Cleveland for the inaugural Connect Cleveland trip during New Student Orientation. The pilgrimage was part of Ambar’s initiative to build stronger ties with the Northeast Ohio community. In a massive 20-bus caravan, students connected with local organizations and alumni all over the city, visiting a total of 39 different sites, including the public radio and television broadcaster Ideastream, the Cleveland Museum of Art, an urban farm, and a Cleveland food bank, to name a few. The goal was to help st...

The IRS recently granted nonprofit status to The Syndicate for the New Arts, an organization devoted to transforming the way contemporary music gets presented and experienced in Cleveland and throughout the Rust Belt. Founded by Joshua Rosner, OC ’14, the nonprofit builds connections in the Cleveland music scene by hosting touring artists and initiating collaborations with existing institutions such as restaurants, museums and schools. Syndicate musicians also highlight work by local modern composers and Cleveland and Rust Belt artists whose careers have gone unrecognized. The Syndicate’s new nonprofit status qualifies it for key grants to support free programming. Additionally, as collaborator double-degree fifth-year...

Content warning: This article contains a racial slur printed in full. The word is part of an artist’s stage name. Mick Jenkins’ most recent record, the widely acclaimed The Waters, is known for its submerged, atmospheric production and intricate wordplay. Hailed as one of the best mixtapes of 2014, The Waters established Jenkins as a preeminent Chicago MC. Jenkins is currently touring with Saba Pivot, Noname Gypsy and a budding rapper affiliated with the Joey Bada$$-helmed Pro Era collective, Kirk Knight. Chicago has been central to the development of hip-hop as a genre since the early 1990s. In the ’90s, Chicago offered Twista; in the early 2000s, the city produced Kanye West and Common. Today, as hip-...