From the President
one of the most important aspects of my job as president is to ensure that Oberlin’s way of being in the world—particularly with regard to race and equity—continues to be a part of how we lead higher education. One of the overriding reasons I came to Oberlin was to contribute to this institution’s impressive legacy. Institutional ambition and legacy were much on my mind when I created the Presidential Initiative on Racial Equity and Diversity. The PI, as we now call it, is a way for Oberlin to advance our values on campus while preparing students to make a difference in the world and to further society’s ability to embrace honest conversation about race, equity, and inclusion. This is both a challenging and historic moment. As a nation, we are torn along lines of culture and color and the disparate experiences these monikers suggest. Progress toward equity is sometimes obscured and at other times feels like it is in reverse. The world our students are entering is more complex and, in some ways, less welcoming than the one that greeted me more than 30 years ago. We recently marked 10 years since the killing of Trayvon Martin, who lost his life while walking at night through a Florida community. He was 17, younger than all but a few of Oberlin’s students. The PI report and its numerous recommendations represent solid steps forward in Oberlin’s drive to make a difference in a slow arc toward racial equity. It complements the strong work already taking place across campus in areas such as athletics, the conservatory, arts and sciences, and student affairs. The new Center for Race, Equity, and Inclusion, derived from the PI’s work, is Oberlin’s most ambitious DEI construct in several years. It will be instrumental to Oberlin’s ever-growing commitment to DEI on campus and will allow the college to participate in the national conversation on race and prepare our students for the world. It will have an executive director who will oversee programs for undergraduates, faculty, and post-doctoral fellows. An advisory committee will serve the center and its executive director. Many campus diversity efforts, including the Multicultural Resource Center, will be connected with the center. I am also creating a position in human resources to shore up hiring practices with respect to race, equity, and inclusion. To measure our campus culture with respect to DEI, Oberlin is participating in the National Assessment of Collegiate Campus Climates, a survey through the Liberal Arts College Racial Equity Leadership Alliance (LACRELA), a coalition founded by Oberlin and five other colleges in 2020. Each year, the survey will focus on either students, staff, or faculty. We are analyzing the data from our students who evaluated the degree to which they feel like they matter and are affirmed. These survey results will help us respond even more effectively to the concerns students raise about our campus climate. The staff survey will be conducted in this spring, and the faculty survey will occur next year. Our work in the conservatory has already produced significant results, including a mentoring program sponsored by the Oberlin Alumni Association of African Ancestry (OA4); the reimagined theory curriculum and ensemble program that supports decentering the canon from the Western tradition; the approval of a tenure track faculty position in African American and African diasporic music; a new interdivisional minor in African American music; and creation of the James R. ’58 and Susan Neumann Postdoctoral Fellowship in Jazz History. I offer this update to reinforce for you Oberlin’s institutional resolve and the personal commitment that I and many others have to this important quintessentially Oberlin work. Oberlin is a complicated place that evokes strong feelings. Our graduates fan out around the globe, many to enjoy fruitful careers, and find happiness and fulfillment. We are grateful to hear from many of you regarding Oberlin’s value to society. The PI and our DEI work is this generation’s opportunity to build upon Oberlin’s legacy and to prepare students to do what they are destined to do: Go out and change the world for good. carmen twillie ambar President, Oberlin College
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Vol. 117 No. 1 Editor Jeff Hagan ’86 Art Director Ryan Sprowl Senior Designer Nicole Slatinsky Photography Projects Manager Yvonne Gay
Executive Director, Office of Communications Kelly Viancourt Vice President for Communications Josh Jensen
The Oberlin Alumni Magazine (ISSN 0029-7518), founded in 1904, is published by Oberlin’s Office of Communications and distributed to alumni, parents, and friends of Oberlin College. Editorial Office 247 W. Lorain St., Suite C Oberlin, OH 44074 Phone: 440.775.8182 Fax: 440.775.6575 Email: alum.mag@oberlin.edu www.oberlin.edu/oam Oberlin Alumni Association Dewy Ward ’34 Alumni Center 65 E. College St., Suite 4 Oberlin, OH 44074 Phone: 440.775.8692 Fax: 440.775.6748 Email: alumni@oberlin.edu www.oberlin.edu/alumni POSTMASTER Send changes to Oberlin College, 173 W. Lorain St., Oberlin, OH 44074 TA N YA R O S E N -J O N E S ’ 97
Building on our Legacy