David Gibson, co-owner of Gibson’s Bakery, succumbed to pancreatic cancer last Saturday; he leaves behind a grieving and loving family of a wife, two children, and “Grandpa Gibson,” who is approaching 92, a special man still full of warmth, respect, and kindness — traits David himself embodied to the end. David’s sense of fairness, level-headedness, and endless search for the truth will be sorely missed. I join all who knew David in sending heartfelt condolences and prayers to his survivors as they mourn his passing. David is in Heaven, a most secure place where there is nothing but peace; a garden with beautiful flowers; a majestic eternity in which all knowledge resides and all questions are answered cor...

On Tuesday, Oberlin College announced it would appeal the June jury verdict that sided with Gibson’s Bakery and against the College and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo. The appeal comes after the College was denied a retrial at the county level last month. The College currently faces a $25 million judgment after a Lorain County jury found the College and Raimondo responsible for libel and intentional infliction of emotional distress following a student-led protest against the bakery in November 2016. To represent them at the appellate level, the College has hired a legal team that includes Washington, D.C. First Amendment attorneys Lee Levine and Seth Berlin, as well as Cleveland appellate a...

Judge John Miraldi of the Lorain County Court of Common Pleas ruled Tuesday that Oberlin College and Vice President and Dean of Students Meredith Raimondo would not be granted a new trial in the lawsuit filed against the College and Raimondo by Gibson’s Bakery. In June, a Lorain County jury ruled in favor of Gibson’s, initially awarding $44 million in damages. This figure was later capped at $25 million under Ohio law. The College and Raimondo requested a new trial or remittitur in the same court where the initial verdict was made. A remittitur is a ruling by a judge to lower the amount of damages awarded by a jury; in this case, the College alleged that the level of damages awarded in June were “excessive.” I...

To the Editors: I’m writing to disagree with almost everything in Booker C. Peek’s recent opinion column, “Oberlin, Gibson’s Should Settle Out-of-Court” (The Oberlin Review, Dec. 1, 2017). I laughed at Peek’s opening comment that the lawsuit “has the potential to be earth-shattering.” Really? Let’s maintain some perspective here. This is a tempest in a teapot, a tiny incident at a small college. Potentially earth-shattering would be President Trump’s brinksmanship with North Korea, or the increasing severity of tropical storms fueled by global climate change. Those are earth-shattering issues that Oberlin and its students should be addressing. Peek also writes about the damage of a financial settlement. Ma...