off the cuff – The Oberlin Review

Off the Cuff: Clarence “Ryan” Warfield, Oberlin Police Chief

February 16, 2018

Chief Clarence “Ryan” Warfield is the recently appointed city of Oberlin Chief of Police. A native of northeast Ohio, Warfield, a former sergeant from the city of Elyria, brings an impressive skill set to the position including specialties in interrogation, voice analysis, body language study, youth violence training, and death scene investigative skills. He also served as a police academy instructor in the martial art of Krav Maga and worked with the Lorain County Drug Task Force. Although ...

OTC: Rebecca Mosely, Title IX Coordinator

December 8, 2017

Rebecca Mosely serves as the Title IX coordinator and director of Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion at Oberlin College. She develops and administers policy on discrimination and harassment and handles issues concerning equity policy and concerns. Before taking on this role a year and a half ago, Mosely served in the Office of Residential Education for 11 years. She earned her bachelor’s degree in French education and a master’s degree in student affairs and higher education from The Ohio State Un...

Gar Alperovitz, Historian and Professor of Political Economy Oberlin

November 17, 2017

Gar Alperovitz came to Oberlin as one of the speakers in The State of American Democracy: A National Conversation, a three-day, non-partisan discussion about the state of democracy in the U.S. The conference examines how the U.S. ended up in its current polarized state, and how we can bolster the resilience, fairness, and stability of our democratic institutions. Alperovitz is a historian, political economist, activist, writer, and former government official. He was the Lionel R. Bauman Professor of...

OTC: Linda Slocum, Vice President Of Oberlin City Council

November 10, 2017

Linda Slocum has lived in Oberlin for 27 years and served one term as vice-president on Oberlin City Council. She graduated with a B.A. from Ursinus College and a M.A. from the University of Massachusetts before working as the Gifts Librarian & Managing Editor of Oberlin College Press for 17 years. She has been a part of the League of Women Voters, Oberlin Community Services, and Family Promise, an Interfaith Hospitality Network. She is married to Dr. Harold E. Slocum, and together they have th...

Vershawn Ashanti Young, Rhetoric Professor

November 3, 2017

Vershawn Ashanti Young is an associate professor in the Department of Drama and Speech Communication at the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario. Young is a pioneer in the field of sociolinguistic code-meshing and has written books about African-American English, intercultural communication, about performances of masculinity, and representations of race in art, film, and literature. He held a talk at Oberlin called “Making Black Lives Matter in Digital Spaces: Race, Justice, and Literacy In...

Mohammad Jafar Mahallati, Religion Professor

October 6, 2017

Mohammad Jafar Mahallati is the Presidential Scholar in Islamic Studies and Nancy Schrom Dye Chair in Middle East and North African Studies at Oberlin College, where he has been teaching for a decade. Prior to his arrival at Oberlin, he received his Ph.D. from McGill University. He has taught at Columbia, Princeton, Yale, and Georgetown, and has worked with Search for Common Ground, the Middle East Institute, and the Center for Strategic and International Affairs. From 1987–89, he served as Ira...

Jim Barnhart, Executive Chef at The Hotel at Oberlin

September 29, 2017

Jim Barnhart, a native of Grafton, Ohio, took culinary classes at Lorain County Joint Vocational School during his high school career after finding himself disinterested in typical classroom settings. He worked for The Wyndham Cleveland at Playhouse Square and The Ritz Carlton Cleveland before landing a position at The Hotel at Oberlin last year. He currently resides in Elyria with his wife and two daughters. In an attempt to generate revenue, the Hotel has made several renovations in the past few ...

Paul Sidhu, Dave’s Cosmic Subs

September 22, 2017

Paul Sidhu, 29, is the owner of the Oberlin branch of Dave’s Cosmic Subs, a sandwich restaurant franchise founded in Chagrin Falls, Ohio, by Dave Lombardy in 1997. Sidhu, a Cleveland native, launched a “soft opening” of the restaurant last Saturday to a high influx of College and community members. The restaurant, located at 55 E. College Street, has a ’60s rock-n-roll theme, and is known for its sub sandwiches and craft beers. This interview has been edited for length and clarity. Can you tell me a li...

Melvin Briggs, León Pescador, New Student Senators

September 15, 2017

León Pescador and Melvin Briggs were recently elected as student senators, winning in a pool of 23 candidates. They are entering Senate as the Board of Trustees is considering incorporating a student trustee, the College faces a financial crisis, and a new president takes over. Briggs is a sophomore from Holly Springs, NC. He will serve as the Treasurer and Chartering Liaison this academic year. He decided to run for Student Senate after recognizing a clear divide between athletes and non-athletes ...

Off the Cuff: Manuel Carballo

September 8, 2017

Manuel Carballo is the new vice president and dean of Admissions and Financial Aid for Oberlin College. He arrived at Oberlin Aug. 15 with his wife Brooke Escobedo, who works in the Dean of Students office, and his four-year-old son, Julian. Carballo comes to Oberlin from Middlebury College in Vermont, where he served as the coordinator for multicultural recruitment and associate director of Admissions for six years and the director of Admissions for another six years. He graduated with a bachelor�...

Off the Cuff: Carmen Ambar, President of Oberlin College

September 1, 2017

Today, Carmen Ambar became the 15th President of Oberlin College. With a bachelor’s degree in Foreign Service from Georgetown University, a master’s degree in Public Affairs from Princeton University, and a law degree from Columbia University, Ambar was previously the 13th President of Cedar Crest College. Yesterday, President Ambar sat down with the Review to discuss her connection to Oberlin, thoughts on the College’s financial situation, and hopes for the future. This interview has bee...

Off the Cuff: Liz Burgess, Owner of Ginko Gallery

April 28, 2017

Liz Burgess, OC ’73, is the current owner of Ginko Gallery, an art and arts supply store downtown. Burgess opened the shop with two friends after graduating from the College in 1973. In addition to art supplies, the shop also features studio space for resident artists and an exhibition room to showcase local artists and their work. For many students, the main attraction is the back room where Burgess regularly cares for numerous abandoned kittens. Over the years, students have made a tradition...