Endquotes
“Diversity and inclusion— things that people had fought passionately for during the civil rights movement—made it possible for someone like me to attend medical school in the United States. It’s important to me that we maintain and grow that kind of opportunity for everyone.” Said A. Ibrahim ’87, the first Black medical school dean appointed at Thomas Jefferson University, in a Philadelphia Inquirer profile
“There was a whole other crew of people in the stadium that I was friends with in college; I had no idea they were there. They were on the other side of the stadium and stayed after to catch me, so it became this minireunion.” Mary Notari ’07 in Slate, discussing the response after being crowned winner of the Brooklyn Cyclones' annual Elaine Dance Contest—as in, Seinfeld's Elaine
“Understanding how these most basic biological systems first took shape will ... give us greater insight into how life works at the most fundamental level.” Popular Mechanics quoting Associate Professor of Biology Aaron Goldman, coauthor of a study exploring new ways to look at the origins of life on Earth
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“Renewable energy is becoming the smarter choice economically. Anyone who buys a building that isn't solar-powered is just wasting their money.” David Orr, emeritus professor at Oberlin College, quoted in a Newsweek article on ultra-sustainable building design
“Warmed by reassurance, schooled in the arts and wholly in love with the natural world, Gordon headed off to Oberlin College. On its faculty were professors who had fled antisemitism in Europe. Gordon worked as a secretary for one, a political scientist, typing his dictated thoughts and polishing his heavily accented English as she went. ‘The underground movement in Europe during the war became my standard of what people have to do to fight bad government,’ she would say later.” The Riverfront Times (St. Louis) on the activist life and times of Gloria Gordon ’44, who celebrated turning 100 in August 2023 by continuing to advocate for climate change
“Conservation is a very narrow field to begin with— and in that field, East Asian conservation is like the head of a pin. All of us have had to figure out how to do it on our own terms.” Tanya Uyeda ’88, the first full-time Asian art conservator hired by the Seattle Art Museum, quoted in The Seattle Times
“Sullivan is deep on all levels: touch, counterpoint, utter relaxation, swing, transparency of ideas, no matter how dense the texture. He takes you through the whole emotional spectrum, unabashed joy included. It’s completely rooted and completely original all at once. If you have the chance to hear him, don’t miss it. He is quietly revolutionizing jazz piano playing—actually piano playing, period.” Grammy-winning jazz pianist Brad Mehldau, posting on X after being wowed by a Sullivan Fortner ’08 performance
“The term [imposter syndrome] stems from the Seventies, when Pauline Clance and Suzanne Imes, two assistant professors at Oberlin College, in Ohio, decided to investigate what seemed to be a widespread phenomenon: women gripped by a sense of innate inferiority, their experiences of the workplace and society at large (everything from small talk to personal relationships) defined by a kind of self-sabotage that needed to be constantly negotiated.” The Independent (U.K.)