Lilah Drafts-Johnson – The Oberlin Review

Newton, Drafts-Johnson Lead Team to NCAC Championship

May 11, 2018

Many words have been used to describe the women’s track and field team: victorious, dominant, and inspiring are a few key examples. One word that is not in the team’s vocabulary is complacent. The team won its second straight North Coast Athletic Conference Outdoor Championship with a total of 228 points Saturday, a few months after winning its second consecutive Indoor Championship. A number of Yeowomen had career-best performances during the two-day contest. Head Coach Ray Appenheimer, who was ...

In The Locker Room with Lilah Drafts-Johnson, All-American Hurdler

February 16, 2018

College senior Lilah Drafts-Johnson is a two-time All-American and was the NCAC Indoor and Outdoor Sprints/Hurdle Athlete of the Year as a junior. Drafts-Johnson does more than just dominate on the track; she plays music, teaches Spanish, and looks for ways to bring the female athlete community together, as well as decreasing the athlete/non-athlete divide. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Last Sunday you helped put together an event called “Stronger Together,” the first of...

Women Finish First, Men Second in Track & Field Opener

December 8, 2017

After capturing the North Coast Athletic Conference Indoor and Outdoor Championships for the first time in school history last year, the Yeowomen picked up where they left off last weekend by winning the Fifth-Annual Spartan Holiday Classic at Case Western Reserve University. The men’s team, which was not as dominant as the women’s last year, began their asscent as they finished second in the meet. Monique Newton, Ana Richardson, Naeisha McClain, Jasmine Keegan, Maya English, and Cecelia Longo...

Word Choice Vital in Discussions of Misconduct

Lilah Drafts-Johnson, College Senior

December 8, 2017

Filed under Letters to the Editors, OPINIONS

To the Editors: As an avid reader of the Review, I was concerned by last week’s headline for the Dec. 1 story covering former Assistant Professor of Creative Writing Bernard Matambo’s resignation. It was not the first page headline, “Matambo Resigns Amid Sexual Misconduct Allegations,” but the second page headline, which read, “Creative Writing Department Loses Tenure Track Professor” that troubled me. While this headline is factual, I feel it deliberately capitalizes on a fear that is deeply felt by many students and faculty about the futures of various majors and departments: that we are losing tenure-track professors at an alarming rate, and that under the current financial climate, these positions wil...

Integration of Athletics, Academics Benefits Community

Lilah Drafts-Johnson, Contributing Writer

September 8, 2017

Filed under Commentary, OPINIONS

After seeing yet another Facebook comment thread feud between student-athletes and non-student-athletes this summer, I felt that it might be prudent for me to take the conversation to a more productive space. The dispute was the same as it always seems to be: student-athletes were frustrated by the stereotypes placed upon them, while non-student-athletes were frustrated by the space taken up by student-athletes at Oberlin and the adverse side-effects that sports culture often perpetuates. As I enter my fourth year of collegiate track and field, I am well aware of the various issues with athletics on our campus. However, the apathetic and dismissive stances that many Obies take toward sport, both on our campus...

Oberlin Races Ahead With NCAC Honors

December 11, 2015

The track and field team opened its winter season last Saturday in Alliance, Ohio, competing in the Purple Raider Toy Drive Invite. Oberlin was joined at the invitational by host University of Mount Union, as well as Walsh University and Malone University, both Division II. Oberlin fared well in its first meet of the year, with eight athletes recording top-five finishes, and two of those athletes earning North Coast Athletic Conference Athlete of the Week honors for their performances. Sophomore...