The Oberlin Review March 10, 2023

The Oberlin Review

City Government Engages in Community Discussion on Equity in Oberlin

Isaac Imas Production Manager Nikki Keating Managing Editor

FEATURE

Aftermath of Earthquake in Türkiye, Syria Humanitarian Concern, Not Political | 8-9

On Tuesday, March 7, members of the Oberlin community gathered to discuss social equity in Oberlin. Facilitated by the City of Oberlin and the Center for Community Solutions, a non-partisan think tank based in Northeast Ohio, the discussion centered on the question “Is Oberlin a great place for people of all backgrounds?”

“It starts with an approach the City Council has taken related to a five-point strategy,” City Manager Rob Hillard said. “In other words, we’re approaching our process with consideration of city services, environmental sustainability, social equity, community development, and neighborhood enrichment.So we’ve developed a social equity working group that’s been tasked by the City Council to pull together strategies and raise the level of consciousness of this particular issue.”

The meeting included roundtable discussions on equity — defined as the fair and just treatment of all individuals,

regardless of race, age, sex, and other demographic factors — and the experiences attendees have had living in Oberlin. City Council Member Elizabeth Meadows, who is a member of the City’s Social Equity Working Group, attended the meeting to share her experiences.

“The thing about social equity is it’s like trying to look at our community, the way we operate with one another, the way the businesses operate with the citizens and so on.” Meadows said. “It’s just looking for those little cracks and kinks that need to be filled in and looking for things that need to be corrected. It’s not a matter of being able to put a Band-Aid on something. It’s a matter of being able to educate people as to what is inequity.”

The Center for Community Solutions focuses on health, social, and economic issues. They operate as a consulate and provide research services to develop advocacy agendas. Their three areas of expertise lie in applied research, nonpartisan

public policy and advocacy, and communications, and the company has worked within Cleveland and Northeast Ohio for over 100 years. After researching racial disparities in Lorain County, the City of Oberlin began working with the CCS to target Oberlin’s directly.

“We were hoping to hear directly from residents of Oberlin and ask them some probing questions about equity in this community,” Chief Operating Officer of Community Solutions Emily Campbell said. “I was so pleased to hear so many people willing to share their personal experiences with equity and their impressions of the community. And one of the great things about the conversation tonight is that we had some people who’ve lived in Oberlin for only a few months and some who have lived here their whole lives, so we really got a great variety of perspectives on how they experience the community.”

A report conducted in 2021

General Faculty Approves New Food Studies Integrative Concentration

Yasu Shinozaki Arts & Culture Editor

The General Faculty voted unanimously for the College to officially offer Food Studies as an integrative concentration this Wednesday. Food Studies examines the role of food in culture, economics, and environmental issues.

“It’s an interdisciplinary field,” Associate Professor of English and Comparative American Studies Danielle Skeehan, who plans to teach the first Intro to Food Studies course in fall 2023, said. “It uses methods from the humanities and humanistic social sciences to study food from a variety of cultural, historical, environmental, [and] sociopolitical angles.”

Oberlin has long offered food studies courses across the disciplines, but they were not formally connected. College second-year Elijah Freiman is designing his own Food Studies major and described the food-related classes offered as

disparate.

“There’s only one department that I’m taking more than one class in,” Freiman said. “[My credits] come from English, … from biology, from geosciences, from anthropology, [and] sociology.”

Chair of Sociology Greggor Mattson offers classes that will be incorporated into the concentration. His classes center the role dining and drinking establishments play in culture, particularly the role of gay bars in LGBTQ+ culture. He is currently teaching a StudiOC course with Associate Professor of French and Cinema Studies Grace An in which the pair discuss food through their respective academic disciplines.

“I’m bringing my sociological approach to place and labor and she is bringing a humanist approach to savoring and aesthetics and how do we make a meaningful life,” Mattson said.

The new integrateive concentration incorporates existing Food Studies classes

and also adds new classes. The General Faculty designed the Food Studies concentration plan to incorporate community involvement with academic learning.

“All the integrative concentrations include a required experiential learning component, and for food studies, we are particularly focused on collaborating with community organizations, and that can take a lot of different forms.” Jay Fiskio, professor of Environmental Science and Comparative American Studies, said. “So students may be working with global organizations, they may do internships, they may take a community-engaged course, or they may be doing research for different community organizations or food justice groups.”

Within Food Studies courses, professors often incorporate experiential learning.

“[An] and I were not interested

See Food, Page 2

Photo Courtesy of Mahmoud Meslat

Syrian volunteers stand by as heavy machinery removes debris.

A student works at the Johnson House garden. Photo courtesy of Cal Ransom

Editors note: This article contains references to and images of events and grief that may be upsetting or triggering for some readers.

See Oberlin Page 2

Maple Crew Gives Students Seasonal Opportunity to Engage

Saturday, March 11

12–2 p.m.: Nowruz Persian New Year Celebration in Wilder Hall

room 212

As the conclusion for the weeklong Nowruz Persian New Year Celebration, the Multicultural Resource Commons and the Office of Spirituality & Dialogue will offer attendees a catered lunch in Wilder Hall tomorrow.

1–4 p.m.: Big Parade Presents: Under the Sea workshop at the Oberlin Public Library

Local artist Sharon Henry will

UPCOMING

teach a course on sculpting using wire, fabric, coral, and flowers. Members of the community and students are invited to attend.

Sunday, March 12

2:30–3:30 p.m.: Dedication

Concert: Garth Peacock Memorial Organ in Fairchild Chapel Faculty, current students, and alumni will perform to dedicate Fisk Opus 161, the Garth Peacock Memorial Organ.

Monday, March 13

All day: “It’s All About the Dollar: Remembering Oberlin’s

2020 Layoff” Exhibit by the Student Labor Action Coalition in the lobby of Mudd Center.

From Monday, March 13 through Sunday, April 2, SLAC’s exhibit will be on display in Mudd Lobby. The audio-visual exhibit will detail the events of the mass layoffs perpetrated by the College in 2020.

Tuesday, March 12

4:30–5:30 p.m.: “Religious Writing and Proto-Nationalist Discourse in the Vida of Juana de Jesús (1662-1703)”

Dr. Catalina Andrango-Walker,

Associate Professor of Modern and Classical Languages and Literatures at Virginia Tech, will discuss the life of the Quiteña nun

Sor Juana de Jesús María y Joseph.

Wednesday, March 15

11 a.m.–2 p.m.: Black History

101 Mobile Museum in Afrikan Heritage House

The Black History 101 Mobile Museum holds over 10,000 artifacts covering Black history. The creator, Dr. Khalid el-Hakim, will give a one-hour talk on the development of the Black History

101 Mobile Museum.

Oberlin Community Members Gather to Discuss DEI

Continued from page 1

by the Center for Community Solutions stated that Lorain County was 85 percent white, 10 percent Hispanic/Latino, 9 percent Black, and 1 percent Asian. They also found consistent racial disparities in education, life expectancy, and other aspects of quality of life. For example, Black workers were disproportionately represented in lower-wage occupations. Education was also emphasized, as educational attainment for Black and Hispanic/Latino residents was lower than for white students.

“I think this lack of equity is because we are not, as a country, making sure that our populace is well educated,” Meadows said. “I think that one of the reasons we have such conflict and animosity in our country is because people don’t really know how our country came to be.”

While the 2021 report showed Oberlin being more diverse than more rural parts of Lorain County, the County overall charts Black people at a life expectancy of nearly five years less than the white life expectancy. The Center for Community Solutions has conducted research in education, justice, economics, and health outside of Lorain County as well and hopes to integrate Oberlin

into the larger conversations on solutions for these disparities nationwide.

“I will say that issues of social equity and racial equity, as well as issues of equity among people of all ages and people from the LGBTQ+ community, are conversations that are happening across this country,” Campbell said. “So it’s not a surprise to be asked by a place like Oberlin to participate in this kind of work.”

Tuesday’s meeting is part of an ongoing equity survey to be conducted over the next few months. These surveys will be combined with comprehensive data and research directed toward understanding equity and discrimination within Oberlin. This research will be presented to the City Council in June, and both the City and the Center for Community Solutions hope to gain as much awareness and participation as possible from members of the community of Oberlin.

“Raising awareness is really important to our community organization. From there, we wanna put in action steps,” Hillard said. “We don’t want to develop a report that sits on a shelf and doesn’t raise awareness. We want to do the things we discuss in the report.”

Correction

In “New Serial Productions Release Leaves Listeners Wanting More,” published March 3, 2023, the Review reported that The Coldest Case in Laramie was the first Serial release since the recent acquisition of the production company by The New York Times. It is correct to say that The Coldest Case in Laramie is the first Serial Productions show hosted by a New York Times journalist. However, several shows have come out since the acquisition (Nice White Parents, The Improvement Association, The Trojan Horse Affair, and We Were Three).

Food Studies Integrative Concentration to Feature Interdisciplinary Courses, Experiential Learning

Continued from page 1

in bringing academics [to the class],” Mattson said. “We were interested in entrepreneurs and people who were using their liberal arts background to make a life in the hospitality industry.”

Mattson and An brought Black River Café owner Joe Waltzer, OC ’98, in to speak to the class. The class is also set to go on field trips to a cheese factory, a winery, among other locations.

Skeehan hopes that as the integrated concentration grows, relationships with community businesses and organizations will be strengthened.

“[Community involvement]

Friday, March 3, 2023

is not the same thing as just inviting someone in to speak,” Skeehan said. “It’s more about establishing long-term relationships that are mutually beneficial. … The idea is to build relationships with community partners that actually allow Oberlin and Oberlin students and faculty to contribute in positive ways to their communities.”

While separate from Oberlin College’s new intensive concentration, Oberlin’s Food Studies partnership with Lorain County Community College also provides an opportunity for students to get involved in food

A Campus Safety officer on patrol of the Allen Memorial Art Museum observed black marks on the exterior north wall near the main entrance.

Officers were requested to transport an injured student from Philips gym to Mercy Health - Allen Hospital.

justice issues. Oberlin recently received a $1 million grant from the Mellon Foundation to expand the partnership, which aims to give students from both institutions the opportunity to learn about and get involved in addressing food justice issues in the community. The partnership works with local food justice organizations.

“Oberlin Community Services is definitely one of the main partners on the grant,” Fiskio said. “We’ve already begun talking with Frank Whitfield, who’s the mayor of the city of Elyria, to see how we can do food justice work in

Security Report

Saturday, March 4, 2023

Officers transported an ill student from Asia House to Mercy Health - Allen Hospital.

Sunday, March 5, 2023

The Oberlin Police Department informed Campus Safety that it had received a report of extensive turfing damage at the Weltzheimer-Johnson House.

collaboration with the City. … In the longer term, I think there are two things we really want to focus on: sustainable and ethical partnerships here in Lorain County.”

Skeehan, Fiskio, and other faculty planning the Food Studies concentration hope that it will give students knowledge that can be applied to real-world scenarios in their community.

“Social justice is built into the idea of food studies. You can’t do food studies without thinking about inequality and how food also structures ideas about race and gender and ethnicity and class.” Skeehan said.

Tuesday, March 7, 2023

Officers, Oberlin Police, and the Oberlin Fire Department responded to a gas smell at Firelands Apartments.

Wednesday, March 8, 2023

Officers on a routine building check located a kerosene lantern, containing kerosene, in Barrows Hall.

March 10, 2023

Volume 152, Number 17 (ISSN 297–256)

Editors-in-Chief

Kushagra Kar

Emma Benardete

Managing Editor

Nikki Keating

News Editors

Alexa Stevens

Cal Ransom

Opinions Editors

Emily Vaughan

Hanna Alwine

Arts & Culture Editors

Dlisah Lapidus

Yasu Shinozaki

Poetry Editor

Gillian Ferguson

Sports Editors

John Elrod

Kayla Kim

Conservatory Editor

Delaney Fox

Photo Editors

Abe Frato

Erin Koo

This Week Editor

Eloise Rich

Senior Staff Writers

Ava Miller

Chris Stoneman

Celia Perks

Web Manager

Nada Aggadi

Production Manager

Isaac Imas

Production Editors

Addie Breen

E.J. LaFave

Gideon Reed

James Foster

Lia Fawley

Jasper Swartz

Serena Atkinson

Sumner Wallace

Trevor Smith

Layout Editors

Erin Koo

Grace Gao

Katie Rasmussen

Molly Chapin

Illustrator

Molly Chapin

Distributors

Leah Potoff

Nondini Nagarwalla

Neva Taylor

Will Young

Published by the students of Oberlin College every Friday during the fall and spring semesters, except holidays and examination periods. For advertising rates, please contact edsinchief@ oberlinreview.org.

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Photo by Erin Koo

Ransom News Editor

Ari Henry is a third-year History major and Mellon Mays fellow studying misogynoir, a term coined by Moya Bailey describing the dislike of, contempt for, or ingrained prejudice against Black women. He focuses on misogynoir across social media platforms with Professor Meredith Gadsby. Henry created the Black Feminist Student Research Panel to showcase the work of Black researchers on Oberlin’s campus looking at topics around the experience of Black women.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Ari Henry

College Third-year, Mellon Mays Fellow

How did you get into doing research at Oberlin?

I used to hang back after class and talk to one of my professors a lot my first year. I told her that I wanted to be a professor, and she told me about the Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship. A similar thing happened with my advisor at the time — I told them I want to be a professor, and they told me about Mellon. They were like, “You know what, I will reach out to the coordinator of Mellon and I’ll tell them about you and we’ll see what happens.” Turns out the professor who I was friends with was the coordinator of Mellon, so my advisor reached out to the coordinator and then I got an email from the coordinator like, “Ari, your advisor just got done emailing me and was raving about you.”

From there, I just applied. I ended up asking [Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies] Yveline Alexis if she knew anybody in the Africana Studies department who could mentor me, and then she led me to [Associate Professor of Africana Studies and Comparative American Studies] Meredith Gadsby.

How did you decide what topic you wanted to research?

I knew immediately that I wanted to do something within the realm of misogynoir, because it’s easiest to work with something that I care a lot about, such that I am constantly motivated to continue with it.

When I said that to the program coordinator, she was like, “Did I ever tell you I went to grad school with the person who coined that term?” Around 10 years ago, a scholar, Black feminist, and professor, Moya Bailey, coined the term to give language to the intersection of oppression Black women face on account of being Black and women. She specified that it was not supposed to be a compounding thing but rather specifically the intersection.

I just kind of got caught up thinking about how easy it is for people online to laugh at Black women when they’re in

pain and when they are very obviously suffering.

Can you tell me a bit about your research process?

I have three archives. One is a literary archive. Those are the people whose shoulders I stand on, who I cite in my work. Then I have my visual archive. Then I have an archive that is still visual but focused on text posts.

So that summer was just a lot of relentless archiving. I focused on 4chan because I wanted to get that over with first, ’cause I knew it would be the worst part of it.

Twitter is honestly probably the easiest one to archive from. I’ll also do TikTok, which is not as accidental as with Twitter, but sometimes if there’s a trend, then I’ll run into something in that case.

The videos in my TikTok archive are a very interesting strain of misogynoir, because it gets elusive when you get to more mainstream platforms. Once you hit the mainstream, you can’t say so explicitly what people on 4chan would say.

What made you want to bring this panel together?

When I first became a Mellon Fellow, they were really hyping up the conference that was gonna happen in October 2022.

We got to the conference, and the coordinators had given us a little tote bag and a program, albeit the program didn’t have the panel assignments, just the panel titles.

[College fourth-year] Kari Allen was like, “You and I are probably gonna be in the same panel ’cause the work we do is close.” There’s this one panel title called “Observations of the Black Feminine Experience,” and that was panel two. She was like, “See, panel two is gonna be us.”

So 10 p.m. comes and I’m in the car with my friends and somebody says, “Oh, they sent out the panel assignments.” Even though I already know where I’m gonna be, I just figured I’ll look anyway.

I see my name and Kari’s under “Studying Bondage,” and I think to

myself, “This does not make any sense.” Neither myself nor Kari have looked at enslavement.

We get to the presentation portion and Kari and I both have to kind of open with, “I’m not doing bondage. I’m sorry that I’m here, but I hope you like it anyway.” Kari was like, “No, I want you all to think about why they would’ve put me here, even though I’m not doing this.”

Once that happened, I could not find it in me to enjoy the conference.

[Professor of Sociology] Greggor Mattson, first, was quite apologetic, and then asked me if there was anything that I wanted to do to highlight my work here at Oberlin. That’s when I got the idea of doing something like the symposium that we had at the end of the summer but just for people who were like me. I talked about it with Kari, and she thought it was a good idea.

More or less, if you are a Black woman who would like to do something, you do it on your own.

Who did you invite to join the panel? What was your process in bringing it together?

Earlier, I said on my own. That’s not entirely true. I did have people helping me, like Professor Mattson, [Director of Musical Studies and Mellon Mays Undergraduate Fellowship Administrative Coordinator] Kathryn Metz, and [Office of Undergraduate Research Program Coordinator] Emily Spezia-Shwiff, OC ’21, as well. The technical aspect of it they handled, which I appreciate a lot.

The first person who I asked was a friend of mine, College third-year Bour Opoku. I thought of them first because the work that they do was just as taxing as, if not more than, the work that I do. The idea of them only getting to present one time just bothered me. So I was like, “Hey, you can do this with me and you can have as much time as you want.” The first time we all presented, we only had 10 minutes. This panel is two hours long, so we all get a lot more time to expand and we also get more time for questions.

GSFS Reproductive Justice Symposium to Showcase Student Work

Dlisah Lapidus Arts & Culture Editor

Today and tomorrow, the Gender, Sexuality, and Feminist Studies Department is hosting Oberlin’s first Reproductive Justice Symposium, an exhibition of student research and creative projects related to reproductive justice. Many of the students presenting their work took Lecturer Scott Branson’s “Abortion before and after Dobbs” course this semester and had the opportunity to present their projects at the symposium.

“The project for the class was to create something that students could present at the symposium, so this event is going to kick off with this presentation hall, where student work will be on display and they will have a chance to talk about it in an informal setting,” Branson said.

The symposium allows students to present their research in many forms, including zines, posters, videos, and online resources.

College first-year Mary Ann Montgomery will be presenting a zine in collaboration with College fourth-year Brandon Denton.

“The zine is titled ‘Not Government Property: Abortion, Dual Power, and Bodily Autonomy,’” Montgomery said.

“We focused on the possibility of establishing dual power and

medical autonomy in terms of abortion as well as broader struggles considering gender, sexuality, and healthcare.”

Montgomery chose to create a zine for this presentation because of the medium’s history as a facilitator of resistance.

“There’s such a rich history of zines and incorporating art and accessible language to advocate for a certain cause,” Montgomery said. “We really wanted to make this information accessible and also be able to cover a comprehensive range of topics.”

Following the student exhibitions, the symposium will include a roundtable discussion with researchers and advocates working in various fields related to reproductive justice.

“This discussion will include a variety of perspectives; a [healthcare] provider, an abortion doula, a journalist who’s been covering the struggles around abortion and connecting it to the attacks against [transgender] people, a criminal defense attorney who defends criminalized abortions, and a sexual health educator,” Branson said. “It’s gonna be a really great discussion. They will present their work and then we’ll have a conversation that I’m moderating, with questions from the audience.”

Tomorrow’s symposium will

include a number of pop-up classes taught by educators, Oberlin alumni, and other organizers and advocates. The Oberlin Multicultural Resource Commons was one of the Oberlin organizations invited to lead a workshop for the symposium.

MRC Associate Director NiK Peavy and LGBTQ+ Community Fellow Katie Graham are leading a workshop titled “Parenting with Pride: An Unconventional Guide to Having Children.”

“This workshop is about thinking of the large idea of reproductive justice — the right to choose to have a child or not have a child — and there is so much that goes into that,” Graham said. “When it comes to queer identities, it can get really complex and even if you’re planning on having a kid, there can be complications. There are a lot of inequalities, especially in queer parenting, and helping people work through them is something I’m really passionate about.”

The MRC workshop will introduce students to the reality that many people face when it comes to starting families and allow them to work through some of the challenges.

“The session will discuss the barriers to entry but also the barriers to success,” Peavy said. “So not only do you feel

comfortable going to a medical facility to do this, but also the rates of success may be lower than what you expect. This has been a great opportunity for me to do some of this research. When Katie brought this idea up, I thought it was interesting because — on college campuses especially — we mostly just talk about abortion rights, which is extremely important; especially here in the state of Ohio, it is something we need to be talking about. It is also important to talk about, if you want to have a kid, is this something you can do? Not only do you have the right to do so in your state, but also can you afford it? Are you mentally prepared? I think it will be really important to have that conversation, especially right now.”

Some other Reproductive Justice Symposium workshops and lectures include “So you want to be an advocate?” — led by Ohio Women’s Alliance Deputy Director Jordyn Close and Senior Campaign Manager Anastasia Martinez — and “So you want to be a sex educator in a post-Dobbs America?” led by Michigan-based sex educator and facilitator Tory Sparks, OC ’17.

“I know that there are probably a lot of Oberlin students who are interested in being sex educators

but are not sure what that path is,” Sparks said. “I want to bring some professional advice and guidance to help map out the field to folks who are interested in sex education as a career. This workshop is going to sort of combine that with questions of, what is the place of sex education in this world, with everything that’s happening with attacks on bodily autonomy and healthcare? And then what does it look like to become a sex educator? Who is doing that work?”

Sparks said they understand the panic that must be present on campus regarding reproductive rights.

“When I was on campus, there was so much going on about how to become an advocate in ways that were not for me, because I’m an educator and I’ve always been an educator,” Sparks said. “So, I want to have conversations with students about the many different ways to be involved right now. I was really excited to see that there will be another workshop called ‘So you want to be an advocate?’ because I think that works really well. There’s a lot of different things that people can do with their lives to try and solve some of this mess and build this better world that we can imagine — where we have autonomy.”

Ari Henry

Photo courtesy of Oberlin College Cal

City Council Plans to Use ARPA Funding to Improve Housing

Gregory Amenta

French Strikers Renew Pressure on Macron to Axe Pension Plan On International Women’s Day in Paris, tens of thousands of people marched in protest of the French Parliament’s proposal to raise the retirement age from 62 to 64, as reported by the Associated Press. Activists say that the law will exacerbate the current 15.8 percent annual salary disparity between French women and men. French unions have shown the most defiant resistance to the proposed law, organizing to partially shut down transportation by plane and train in major cities. The French Senate voted Thursday to pass the bill, which will then move to a mediation with the National Assembly. Macron still lacks a majority in the National Assembly, which is needed for parliament to turn the bill into law.

Iran Supreme Leader Orders Punishment for Schoolgirl Poisonings

Iran’s Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, called for the “harshest punishments” against the perpetrators of chemical

attacks against Iranian schoolgirls but did not indicate who was responsible, per Al Jazeera. In the past six months, several thousand Iranian schoolgirls experienced symptoms of chemical poisoning, and hundreds have been hospitalized. The poisonings may have been committed as backlash against protests led by female activists in response to the Iranian morality police’s deadly enforcement of dress codes.

Iranian leaders initially dismissed reports of the attacks as “mass hysteria,” but officials now seem to be formulating a res.

Thousands Protested Against Georgia’s Foreign Agent Bill Outrage against the nation of Georgia’s foreign agent bill, which was rejected by the country’s ruling party yesterday, led to the arrests of over 60 protestors, the injuring of dozens of police officers and several protestors, and the assault of a member of the opposition party by a progovernment parliament member. According to BBC World News, the bill “would [have] required non-governmental and media organisations that receive more than 20 percent of their funding from abroad to declare themselves

as foreign agents” or face punitive measures. Opponents argued that the legislation would have placed Georgia under the influence of Russia, which passed a similar law in 2012. Protestors claimed Russia was attempting to suppress the influence of Western organizations to prevent Georgia from joining the European Union. Russia invaded and annexed 20 percent of Georgia in 2008 to block the nation’s bid for membership in NATO.

Russian Forces Claim Victory at Bakhmut Yevgeny Prigozhin, head of Russia’s Wagner Group, a mercenary army privately contracted by the Kremlin, claims that Russia has taken the entirety of Bakhmut east of the Bakhmutka River — close to half of the city — as reported by Reuters. U.S. intelligence supports this claim. Ukrainian President Zelenskyy vowed not to give up the town easily and recently sent troops to defend the city’s western portion. The Wagner Group and Russian forces have been struggling to capture the town of Bakhmut since last July in the bloodiest battle of the Ukraine War.

ResEd To Implement Changes to Cohort System in Fall 2023

Yendi Kai Foo

Ava Miller Senior Staff Writer

On Feb. 6, Oberlin City Council authorized the allocation of $50,000 from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act to Providing Oberlin With Efficiency Responsibly, a grassroots environmental justice organization. These funds will provide financial assistance for Oberlin residents to weatherize their homes. Households that are eligible will receive financial assistance for structural repairs.

Signed into law March 11, 2021, ARPA provides $350 billion in additional funding for state and local governments. The funding provides an opportunity for local governments to cover temporary shortfalls until economic conditions improve and operations normalize.

POWER was founded in 2008 with a mission to increase the efficiency of homes and small businesses. The organization has a particular focus on Oberlin’s low-income community and priotizes efficiency in a variety of actions: combating climate change, reducing carbon emissions, mitigating residents’ vulnerability to fluctuating temperatures and energy costs, and supporting local jobs.

According to a 2016 housing study, Oberlin has a large amount of old, inefficient housing — more than 50 percent of Oberlin’s owner-occupied housing was built before 1960, and 36 percent was built prior to 1940. Many homes have structural issues that need to be addressed in order to perform weatherization work.

Under the ARPA guidelines, low-income households that have been impacted by the COVID-19

public health emergency are eligible for assistance. Home repair and weatherization are among the services for which ARPA funds may be allocated to impacted households.

POWER representatives feel that ARPA funding will enable them to support many more residents that wouldn’t otherwise be eligible. Oberlin Law Director Jon Clark and City Manager Rob Hillard have reviewed this plan and agree that it is an appropriate use of ARPA funds.

“I’m very surprised that the ARPA guidelines allow the city to fund an organization like POWER,” Gregory Jones, an advocate for the organization, said. “This boost allows us to expand services. In Oberlin’s houses, there are issues structurally and it’s a health and safety issue, especially if you’re a senior. Each little thing that we can come up with to make your home safer, comfortable, and cost-effective is what we’re all about. Even though our initial beginning was directed to lowand moderate-income people, it’s grown to the point where we have a sliding scale, and depending on the guidelines, income-wise, we can provide help.”

City Councilmember Kristin Peterson commented on the broader impact of ARPA funding.

“Carbon neutrality and energy efficiency are big picture goals for the City,” Peterson said. “Using ARPA dollars to help with home repairs, in addition to dollars already allocated for weatherization, makes home improvements more affordable and the homes more energy efficient.”

The Office of Residential Education is implementing several changes to reinforce the sense of community and modernize housing, many of which will take effect this fall. From Burton Hall’s conversion to a firstyear dorm to the combination of the Identity and LanguageBased Communities and Theme living into a “Multicultural and Thematic Experience,” there are several cohort changes coming in the 2023–24 academic year.

Assistant Vice President and Dean of Residential Education and Student Life Auxiliaries Mark Zeno, alongside Director for Residential Education for Housing Operations Phillip Shipley, is currently spearheading a new, cohort-focused housing structure. The revised system designates residence halls for first-years, second-years, upperclassmen, and students living in ILBC or Theme housing. Both Zeno and Shipley identified the unusual placement of first-years across campus dorms as a direct result of the attempt to house the large classes of 2025 and 2026.

“We wanted to make sure the [first-years] live together in our first-year experience program and that they are bonding together,” Shipley said.

Burton Hall has been designated as a First-Year Residential Experience dorm for the 202324 school year. Shipley and Zeno mentioned that Burton was chosen to be converted into a FYRE dorm in part because it was the least-selected dorm to live in last year. Additionally, there would be virtually no changes to infrastructure, since the dorm already has many doubles. This change may lower the number of first-years in traditional dorms and instead cluster them into a shared dorm tailored to assist in the transition from high school to college.

The cohort model may expand to include second-years and upperclassmen in future years. Zeno explained that the cohort model will provide targeted support for students of all years — second-years in particular — with the goal of improving the student retention rate.

“Many of our other schools are following this similar trend, and … it [creates] a better experience for the students, too,” Zeno said, attributing the idea to a popular model that targets secondyears as the most critical group to support when it comes to retention.

ResEd is currently in the process of constructing new Village Housing Units and a new dorm

in an effort to more comfortably accommodate the growing student population. The newest Village Housing addition will be built on Goldsmith Lane by the start of the 2024–25 academic year. This complex boasts 60 beds and completely new, studentselected furniture. The following year, the new 400-bed dorm will be completed on Woodland Street with similarly modern furnishings. Both complexes are aligned with the Sustainable Infrastructure Program.

Another major change in the 2023-24 academic year is the combination of Identity and Language-Based Communities with Theme Living. Currently coined the Multicultural and Thematic Experience, this merger attempts to lower the burden placed upon ILBC Resident Assistants, who currently carry out more duty hours than any other RA cluster on campus. For reference, many ILBC RAs have duty thrice weekly, compared to some other clusters that have duty twice per month. This semester RAs were switched to a location-based rounds system rather than a sectional one, to begin alleviating the ILBC RA workload.

The switch has raised concerns about students who aren’t people of color entering identity-based spaces. Afrikan Heritage House RA Wyaé Stewart expressed her fears around changes in the RA rounds system.

“I fear for my residents,” Stewart said. “I am scared that a student who doesn’t understand some of our culture or experiences will come and call Campus Safety on a student without thinking of the implications and problems they are causing.”

Stewart also noted that, though all RAs are compensated equally, the job of RAs in the ILBC is far more involved than that of their peers and requires more than just physical labor.

“It’s emotional awareness … more [than] clusters outside of ILBC have to deal with, especially when it comes to a subject such as race and identity,” Stewart said.

Photo Courtesy of Cal Ransom

$50,000 will be distributed to POWER to help improve homes of those impacted by COVID-19.

Construction on Burton Hall was completed in 1947. It then served as a men’s dorm.

Photo Courtesy of Oberlin College Libraries

OPINIONS

Oberlin Financial Aid Must Cover Course-Specific Student Expenses

Cecily Miles Columnist

On its website, Oberlin College promises that it “meets 100 percent of demonstrated need for every student.” The College advertises the “expansive” nature of its academic program on its website and encourages students to “explore [their] interests and discover new ones.” However, many courses carry extra student costs for textbooks and other materials.

Given the multitude of student expenses that are not covered by Oberlin’s financial aid awards, the institution needs to update its policy as a means of “making an Oberlin education accessible to students from all financial backgrounds.” The variation of these expenses across different areas of study potentially bars students with greater financial need from taking courses that demand more expensive materials. When these classes are required for certain majors, this effect is heightened. Without necessary support from the College, students may be discouraged from pursuing majors that require these courses, which is in direct contradiction to Oberlin’s ideal of academic exploration.

One example is the cost of renting the IBM software SPSS Statistics, the latest version of which retails for somewhere between $50 and $100 for a 12-month subscription and, perhaps more pressingly, can be run only on certain — and generally fairly recent — Windows platforms and versions of macOS. Students with less expensive, older Mac computers that do not support the minimum operating system needed for the software are left with little choice but to either purchase a new, compatible computer or simply not take the courses for which the software is integral to the curriculum. Two courses involving this software are required for both Sociology and Psychology majors, presenting students pursuing these areas of study with a burden not faced by other students and threatening to discourage their pursuit altogether.

As of now, little infrastructure

Oberlin School Spirit Complicated by Communal Faults, Uplifted by Intentional Celebration of Success

exists to rectify this problem.

ObieCares, a fund that purports to “provide financial assistance to currently enrolled, high financial need students” whose needs are otherwise unmet by their financial aid package, is limited in its resources and thus is unable to reach many students who need its services. In order to be eligible, students must demonstrate that they are experiencing financial hardship that the College either deems “unexpected” or an emergency. The College gives “accidents,” “illness and related medical expenses,” and the “death of a family member” as examples.

These conditions are certainly dire and require institutional support; I do not disagree with prioritizing students facing them.

Among the situations that the ObieCares lists as ineligible for financial assistance, though, are “expected tuition and fees,” a category that is inclusive, apparently, of such varying expenses as books, computers, and software required for different courses. I take issue with this categorization; with syllabi only available shortly before each term, and as student schedules are often still in flux during the first week of Add/ Drop period, how can students be universally expected to know course-specific expenses ahead of time? The fact that students are often only made aware of these expenses in the weeks immediately preceding each semester only heightens the urgency with which they must receive this type of aid, as well as the fallout when it is not readily available to them.

The fact that Oberlin seemingly expects its students — disproportionately those with greater financial need — to predict these expenses contrasts the inherent spontaneity of the exploration that the College encourages students to engage in.

I recognize that resources do exist that are more broadly accessible to Oberlin students, inclusive of those who demonstrate need for them but do not qualify for such emergency support as provided by ObieCares. Mary Church Terrell Library, for example, has computers available for checkout

See Institution, page 6

SUBMISSIONS POLICY

The Editorial Board encourgages anyone interested in submitting an Opinions piece to email the Opinions Editors at opinions@oberlinreview.org to request a copy of the Opinions primer. Opinions expressed in editorials, letters, op-eds, columns, cartoons, and other Opinions pieces do not necessarily reflect those of The Oberlin Review staff. Submission of content to the Review constitutes an understanding of this publication policy. Any content published by The Oberlin Review forever becomes the property of The Oberlin Review and its administrators. Content creators retain rights to their content upon publication, but the Review reserves the right to republish and/or refuse to alter or remove any content published by the Review. It is up to the Editors-in-Chief whether to alter content that has already been published. The Oberlin Review appreciates and welcomes letters to the editors and op-ed submissions. All submissions are printed at the discretion of the Editors-in-Chief. All submissions must be received by Wednesday at 4 p.m. in the Opinions email for inclusion in that week’s issue. Full-length pieces should be between 800 and 900 words; letters to the editor should be less than 600 words. All submissions must include contact information, with full names and any relevant titles, for all signatories; we do not publish pieces anonymously. All letters from multiple writers should be carbon-copied to all signatories to confirm authorship. The Review reserves the right to edit all submissions for clarity, length, grammar, accuracy, and strength of argument, and in consultation with Review style. Editors work to preserve the voice of the writers and will clear any major edits with authors prior to publication. Headlines are printed at the discretion of the Editorial Board. The Review will not print advertisements on its Opinions pages. The Review defines an advertisement as any submission that has the main intent of bringing direct monetary gain to a contributor or otherwise promoting an event, organization, or other entity to which the author has direct ties.

Attending Oberlin often means emphasizing everything that is wrong with the world. Our student body is a socially conscientious group of people, which is as much a feature of our generation as it is of Oberlin’s long standing tradition of progressiveness. While our communal strength helps us better our world, the result of this mindset is an overwhelming preoccupation with the negativite aspects of it. When this philosophy is applied to our view of Oberlin as an institution, it reveals a uniquely problematic relationship between the student body and our “school spirit.” At many institutions, students have a broadly supportive spirit toward the efforts and investments of their institution, be that sports or financial success. Oberlin is, however, more complicated than that.

Those of us currently on campus live in the aftermath of a defamation lawsuit which cost the College tens of millions of dollars, a controversial series of governance decisions by our trustees, and acute pay limitations for faculty, student workers, and other campus employees. To be constantly confronted with these harsh realities of the way our school functions means that it can feel difficult to feel proud to be an Obie. These issues are ones that we, as a college campus, think about on a regular basis. Little room is left for positive commentary on the institution where we have chosen to live. The same goes for turning up to home games — the odds of Oberlin winning are often low, so most causes for celebration exist in whatever silver linings we can find or the sheer love we

have for our peers. As students entrenched in these everyday realities, we’re inundated with all our troubles; as the Editorial Board of the Review, we discuss and edit articles about the failings of our community on an almost weekly basis and find our minds focused on the faults. Our school spirit is negatively impacted by our knowledge and understanding of our institution’s imperfections. In this acknowledgement of our imperfections, however, we also should look for reasons to celebrate and be proud of Oberlin. Take, for example, the legacy of professors who have spent time educating here. bell hooks spent six years teaching at Oberlin College, and while it should be noted that hooks had a complicated relationship with Oberlin and educational institutions in general, it is still a legacy that students should be proud of. Presently, Oberlin provides us with incredible privileges and opportunities and these are worth acknowledging and celebrating. We have countless opportunities to participate in clubs, travel during Winter Term, and engage in research. Our school’s impressive musical history attracts both Conservatory students and College students alike. This is not to say we should praise Oberlin mindlessly, but that by placing value and finding joy in what we are able to accomplish, we create room for the development of a community we enjoy participating in. This does not diminish the validity of the critiques; rather, these achievements compel us to fight even harder to make the campus even greater.

At home, we grapple with this aspiration for what we could be and the limitations of what we are, but we don’t allow ourselves to wallow in negativity or hopelessness. Traditionally our desire for the betterment of the institution manifests itself in critique, but that alone can overshadow aspects that should be celebrated. Successes should not be overlooked in our mission for improvement. We believe that there is more room to emphasize faculty published in journals and books, students admitted to top post-graduate programs, or people embracing their dream opportunities amid our critiques and desires to better ourselves and our institution. We can celebrate the everyday oddities, spectacular charms, and fundamental beliefs of our school — all of which exist in the backdrop of our existence but get lost in the overwhelming loudness of everything else.

School spirit isn’t something that comes the most naturally to us at Oberlin — just consider how rarely we use the phrase on this campus. As yet another cohort of Oberlin students explores what our campus has to offer, we are reminded of the reasons we decided to attend Oberlin in the first place. Whether we came to Oberlin because of its progressive spirit, impressive music, study abroad opportunities or international reputation, we are all here for a reason. Constructing Oberlin College pride must work simultaneously to accommodate the complications that we all know exist, while considering the sheer potential and scope of victories in our community.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review Editorial Board — the Editors-in-Chief, Managing Editor, and Opinions Editors — and do not necessarily reflect the views of the staff of the Review

Time Limits for Minors on TikTok Insufficient in Curbing Social Media Addiction

Sahil Novetzke Columnist

Since its creation roughly two decades ago, social media usage has proliferated at a rapid pace. This has prompted concerns about its negative health effects on minors. Studies have linked excessive use of social media to feelings of isolation, hopelessness, and depression. In the past several years, there has been a steadily increasing bureaucratic assault on TikTok. Former President Donald Trump famously signed an executive order to ban TikTok, though it wasn’t effective. TikTok’s decision to limit screen time could be seen as an extension of this same understanding of social media as harmful. Earlier this month, TikTok made a press release announcing a new measure to limit screen time usage among minors. Under this new policy, TikTok users indicating their age as under 18 when creating a profile will be limited to 60 minutes of TikTok usage a day. After 60 minutes, us-

ers will be prompted with a password that they must input themselves. For users under the age of 13, guardians will have to input a separate password on their own devices.

Some may argue this decision on TikTok’s part is informed largely by science; however, others may be more inclined to label this as a strategic move to curry favor from lawmakers and civilians alike. In either case, it is my belief that TikTok pushes harmful content onto minors, relies on a sophisticated algorithm that targets youths, and has historically done very little to mitigate the negative effects of its content.

In theory, TikTok’s new measure will reduce these harmful effects. Less social media usage has been proven to boost mental health, productivity, and intelligence. A reduction in minors’ social media should be a good thing.

My own experience with screen time-limiting software is narrow. Like many young people, I faced very few screen time

restrictions in my later teens. My parents trusted that I would be able to monitor myself. They were only partially correct. At first, my usage was extreme, and I would spend most of my day on digital interfaces rather than engaging with the world. However, in experiencing firsthand the negative effects of social media on my mental health, I learned how to impose my own restrictions on social media usage. After the 60-minute time limit, TikTok users would have to input a password. What’s preventing minors from learning the password to bypass the time limit, or simply setting the password themselves? Also, though minors’ brains are not fully developed in many ways, they learn and retain information faster than any age group. What’s stopping them from registering their TikTok accounts with an earlier birthdate, effectively bypassing the screen time monitoring function?

To complicate the issue further, it’s unclear what TikTok’s mo -

Oversharing, Excessive Openness About Mental Health Can Cause Stigmatization

People Must Self Regulate on Social Media

Continued from page 5

tives are to begin with. As a social media company, wouldn’t it be in its best interest to maximize user in-app time? It makes more money if more people use its app for longer, so what’s influencing it to employ this policy now? Sure, it may be a morally just, well-guided idea to better the world, but it also may be a PR ploy. After all, TikTok operates on one of the most discreet, clever, manipulative, and complicated algorithms in the social media sphere and has been involved with arguably the most large-scale scandals of any social media platform in recent years. For example, an intensive study conducted by the Center for Countering Digital Hate in the U.K. found that the TikTok algorithm intentionally pushes self-harm and eating disorder content to the forefront of teenagers’ feeds, recommending videos promoting intense weight loss, glorifying razor blades and sharp objects, and discussions about idealized body types and suicidal ideation. Even assuming TikTok’s decision is in the best interests of its users, it’s still not necessarily effective. According to worldwide statistics from 2022, TikTok was only the sixth most-used social media app of the year. TikTok limiting its screen time usage for minors will only limit a small amount of potential screen time. Many other popular social media sites, such as YouTube and Instagram, have, at most, only minor screen time monitoring functions. Several years ago, Ap-

ple developed the Screen Time function to monitor usage for everyone, not just minors, but its efficacy in changing habits is somewhat questionable. I’ve been a part of many conversations in which people have bragged about having the highest average daily phone usage, so it seems like Apple’s Screen Time initiative may have backfired.

If we’re being really honest, the responsibility to monitor screen time in relation to a child’s health should fall on parents, and once a child reaches the age of majority, it effectively becomes their own responsibility to self-regulate and preserve their mental, physical, and emotional health. To me, TikTok’s new measure in some ways represents a sort of inevitable dystopian future — one in which social media and technology creates problems, tries to solve them, and likely fails. Trends in data suggest people will only become more reliant on social media and technology in future years.

So, while on-off measures to curb screen time, like TikTok’s new feature, may help, there’s always the possibility that we’ll never go back to a time when people are unable to regulate their own technology usage, when children ages 8–14 are spending between six and nine hours a day on average on screens. Social media is contributing to poor mental health, mostly among young people, at an increasing rate per year. So, personally, I’m in favor of any measure to reduce it.

Institution Should Offer More Comprehensive Aid Packages

Continued from page 5

Selena Frantz Columnist

A few weeks ago, I had an interesting discussion with my parents, both of whom grew up during the 1980s and ’90s. I was telling them about a conversation I had with some people at a party around what kind of mental health medications we were on. When I told my parents this, they were shocked. They told me that when they were my age, discussing mental health in such a public space was considered taboo. At first glance, one could easily imagine that the era of keeping quiet about mental health is worse in every way than the openness with which we treat the subject now. However, extremes in the other direction — an era of too much radically open discussion — can have drawbacks as well.

Discussing mental health with people whose boundaries you are familiar with can be beneficial. However, oversharing to people who did not consent to hearing the details of your mental illness can become problematic. Not everyone is comfortable hearing about potentially triggering experiences, especially in spaces that are not intentionally focused on mental health. There is a difference between discussing a bad day and mentioning specif-

ic details of self-harm or suicidal ideation. This does not mean that someone who is feeling like a danger to themselves should not reach out. Rather than reach out to a classmate, though, this is information best communicated with a loved one or licensed professional.

Something important for us to consider is that if only the negative side of mental health is discussed, nobody will ever talk about the positive steps they have taken. It is much less common to hear college students discussing their methods of healing and the good experiences they have had. By hearing about other people’s successes with their mental health, students might feel like they can get better, too, one small step at a time.

I do understand that some people’s way of empathizing is to commiserate and share their own experiences. However, unless you explicitly know that the person you are speaking to is comfortable with that, it can often make the person feel worse. Hearing, “Oh, that’s nothing,” in response to a painful experience can make someone feel like they are just being dramatic in relating their suffering. On the other hand, it is important to recognize the benefit of a more open culture surrounding mental health: sharing information about being medicat-

ed can normalize a common and often unavoidable experience. I remember watching certain crime TV shows from the early 2000s that treated individuals taking medication for mental illness as lunatics, one missed dose away from snapping. Even though I live in a time when medication is more freely spoken about, when I rewatch these shows, I can’t help but slightly feel like I am some sort of monster, just because of my imperfect mental health that requires treatment. Hearing people talk so openly about their meds nowadays helps counteract this feeling. However, there is a difference between being open about medication and sharing experiences in spaces where that may be harmful. Simply saying that one is currently taking certain mental health medication normalizes needing extra support to function. However, when discussing the dosage or side effects of these drugs, be aware of who you’re speaking to.

I am grateful to grow up as a member of a generation that practices so much transparency in regard to mental health. However, I do believe that there is a limit to this openness, and that, perhaps, we should take a cue from the situational awareness of previous generations, and apply that awareness to our own interactions.

to all students. However, these are almost exclusively loaned for short term use of four hours or for overnight loans, generally from 10 p.m. to 11 a.m. While a helpful service, repetitive short-term borrowing — especially given that all user data and documents are erased after the computer restarts or shuts down — is hardly sustainable for long term use. In order to offer students the full breadth of the Oberlin education, Oberlin must offer more comprehensive support. If the College truly aims to meet “100 percent of demonstrated financial need,” as advertised on its website, the financial support that Oberlin provides must be inclusive of the expenses that required course materials demand, in addition to standard tuition and fees.

I do, however, acknowledge the logistical challenge that this type of aid poses. Given the varying nature of these student expenses — and that my goal in this proposal is to level the playing field among students of differing financial situations and areas of interest rather than further unbalance it — I do not think that the allocation of a standard sum to cover these needs among all students is the solution. While laptops writ large and most required textbooks might reasonably be counted as universal and expectable expenses that the College presumably already accounts for in its assessment of tuition cost and financial need, more cutting-edge technology and outstandingly expensive course materials, such as SSPS or certain textbooks, should not.

I propose that these resources be allocated from departmental budgets specifically to students

taking the courses for which they are required, for the duration of, but no longer than, their enrollment in the course. By operating at a more localized institutional level, the College will better ensure that sufficient resources are provided, as department heads will have a better idea of the specific needs for the courses included in the curricula over which they preside. This measure will, therefore, also ensure that more funds than necessary are not distributed by branches of the College that lack this awareness.

The additional proposed loans may require an expansion of certain departmental budgets, an act which I recognize would be no small feat but will, in my opinion, alleviate a burden on the part of Oberlin students far greater than whatever is incurred on the part of the College. Where these expanded funds might not be allocated, I would advocate that department heads prioritize the provision of necessary resources in the expenditures from their budgets and that they be granted greater discretion and mobility to do so.

Regardless of this minutiae, these loans would be cost-effective for the College, as these purchases have potential to be used across many semesters by each new cohort of students taking the courses for which they are required and would be effective in providing students with greatly needed relief. Any such measure accounting for the current hole in Oberlin’s financial aid coverage will be instrumental in making the College a more accessible and equitable institution.

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor Excessive openness about mental health may cause unintended harm.

Maple Crew Gives Students

Seasonal Opportunity To Engage with Land, Community

Opinions Editors Decide Everything

Emily Vaughan Hanna Alwine Opinions Editors

We’re back with another installment of “Opinions Editors Decide Everything!” This time, we’re talking about everything centering spring break — from sun protection to pet photos, we’re leaving no stone unturned.

Should I wear sunscreen even though it’s literally March?

Emily: Yes, yes, yes, a million times, yes! If you need to ask yourself, the answer is yes. I get that you might want a tan, but there are so many self-tanners out there that can give you the same effect with none of the sun damage or risks associated with ultraviolet light.

Hanna: According to the plethora of TikTokers on my “For You” page, I should be wearing it daily — carrying it around in my tote bag, along with chapstick, the latest Colleen Hoover novel, and a moleskine notebook. So, should I wear sunscreen? The answer is decidedly yes. Will I wear sunscreen? This is another question altogether.

VERDICT: You should, but we can’t force you to.

How can I make everyone else at this beach/subway car/cafe think I’m super cool and sexy and smart and mysterious?

Stephenie Meyer, while looking bored out of your mind and nonchalant.

Hanna: First off, I’m thinking sunglasses. You can’t go wrong with a pair of shades. Round, square, heart shaped, oblong — as long as your eyes are covered, you are guaranteed an air of mystery. Next, I would suggest a large coat. Whether you go with trench, jean, or puffer, it is vital that you have as many pockets as possible, so passersby know you have the capacity to hide an array of trinkets on your person. I agree with Emily that some sort of reading material is essential to this ensemble, though I am more inclined to go with the trusty newspaper. Hold it up in front of your face and lower it every so often to look around shiftily. Nothing says sexy and cool like dressing up as a spy.

VERDICT: It’s all in the attitude.

When is an appropriate time to get out of bed during break?

Emily: I feel like time is sort of fake during breaks. Getting up at 6 a.m. to take a sunrise hike? Cool. Going to bed at 6 a.m. after watching all of Lena Dunham’s Girls on your parents’ Apple TV? Also fair.

What are some of the most ob noxious Instagram captions you can use?

Emily: I honestly think there are almost too many to list, but here are a few to get you started: “In paradise;” “Sun’s out, buns out;” “Already missing it;” any cliche thing like that. If you’re in New York, saying “Best city in the world” instantly adds you to the list of Worst People on Instagram.

Hanna: Don’t post about your spring break on Instagram. No post. No captions. No problem.

VERDICT: We’re judging you regardless.

How many pictures of my pet is too many?

Emily: The limit simply does not exist.

Hanna: I have nothing more to add.

VERDICT: Post all of them. How can I make my hometown seem super cool and fun to my friends from New York?

Hanna Alwine Opinions Editor

Since coming to college, I have found it harder and harder to spend time outside. My days are packed. I run from activity to activity with barely enough time to do my laundry or eat breakfast, much less think about making time to take a walk or sit in the sun. It doesn’t help that college life is not necessarily conducive to a traditionally healthy lifestyle. College students around the country are notoriously malnourished, pallid, and just a little bit ill. On top of that, the image of students who spend their days and nights locked in dimly-lit rooms, surrounded by books or standing in front of chalkboards in an attempt to solve complicated equations, is a common one. A university schedule is just not built to accommodate the leisure time necessary for connecting with the natural world — but it should be.

Oberlin, however, has led me to outdoor experiences that challenge the popular indoor narrative. I recently had the opportunity to work as a member of the Maple Crew, which gives Oberlin students the seasonal opportunity to help David Dorsey, multifaith chaplain and director of the Office of Spirituality and Dialogue, and June Dorsey collect sap from the maple trees in Tappan Square and a few other locations around town. Maple Crew shifts involve collecting sap and bringing it to the “Sugar Shack” on David’s property as well as participating in “boiling shifts,” where students watch over the sap as it turns from sugar water to syrup.

Coming back from Winter Term, I was expecting the brutal Ohio winter I’d heard horror stories about. I had imagined myself huddled in my dorm room, heat on full blast, swaddled in blankets, gloved hands shaking as I struggled to turn the pages of my

textbooks. Instead, I found myself discovering a part of Oberlin’s outdoor community that I had never seen before and didn’t even know existed. As I walked from Tappan Square into the town to collect maple syrup, I exited the Oberlin College community and entered an entirely new world. I had lived in Oberlin for almost eight months, yet I had no memory of walking down these streets.

On campus we live in a bubble, one that is difficult to see from the inside. It is incredibly easy to get wrapped up in collegiate life. Though writing essays and reading papers and doing math and learning the chemical compounds in a cup of vinegar are all important for academic success, the connections that we gain from exploring the world around us are fundamental for a well-rounded education.

I appreciate the opportunities Maple Crew has opened up for me to get in touch with the land and with my neighbors. I value the reminder it gave me to put a pause on my academic studies and get outside, to greet the trees with a large plastic syrup bucket in hand, to find nature and a community I didn’t even realize was out there.

As Oberlin students move out of college and enter the real world, it is important that we know how to find and create these enriching experiences for ourselves. Our habits in college inform how we interact with people around us after graduation. Figuring out how to make time in your day for wonder, excitement, and connection in a world increasingly dependent on technology and devoid of work-life balance is essential to producing good work and good ideas. The future of academia should not be a group of people sitting in a dark room staring at a screen, but rather passionately exchanging ideas over pancakes and maple syrup in

sun.

Emily: I think that there are a lot of different ways to do this. I’d recommend making sure that you’re carrying a tote bag that has a logo from a random, hyper-specific thing like the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association or WOBC-FM that obviously has a “the girls that get it, get it, the girls that don’t, don’t” kinda vibe. A water bottle covered with similarly obscure stickers would complete the set. Finally, you need to be reading something really, really cool, like the Twilight series by

Hanna: Personally, I say don’t. I’ve said it once, I’ll say it again: Break is for beds. Part of being home is having the leisure to do absolutely nothing. Pretend you are an ailing 16th century monarch. Pull the blinds. Prop yourself up on as many pillows as possible. Have a devoted sibling bring you your meals. Say things like, “My poor nerves” or “Oh, the consumption.” Lean into your leisure time. Remember, all that awaits you after break is a twin XL dorm bed.

VERDICT: We don’t know, tbh.

EDITORIAL COMIC

Molly Chapin Staff Illustrator

Emily: I ask myself this every time I go home for a break. I’ve decided on going to the old Carnegie library in my city and parking myself in the original reading rooms and stacks for an afternoon and taking pictures there. I’m not really sure though. I’m going to New York City for spring break.

Hanna: Show them what they’re missing. Take a picture of the gas station mozzarella sticks that you’re ordering on your Friday night out on the town. Pose with the first cow you pass on the country roads to the nearest drug store. Take a video throwing a rock into a river or pond or your closest body of water. Vlog your trip to the local diner. Can you find Grandma Sal’s Famous Biscuits and Gravy in New York? I didn’t think so.

VERDICT: They’re from New York. They’re judging you regardless.

the

Photo by Erin Koo, Photo Editor Bags gather maple sap in Tappan Square.

Aftermath of Earthquake in Tü rkiye, Syria

Humanitarian Concern, Not Political

Editors’ Note: This article contains references to and images of events and grief that may be upsetting or triggering for some readers.

Eloise Rich This Week Editor

Türkiye and Syria are in no way perfect countries, a sentiment shared by their citizens. Both nations are often characterized by tyrannical political regimes. However, in the aftermath of the Kahramanmaraş earthquake, attention to humanitarian issues and the lives of the people impacted take precedence over politics. The earthquake did not just destroy buildings, it devastated the lives and culture of Turkish and Syrian people.

It has been over one month since the earthquake, with a death toll surpassing 45,000 in Türkiye and 5,900 in Syria as of March 1. There have also been 10,000 aftershocks reported in the three weeks following the initial earthquake.

The Oberlin population is not unaffected by casualties. Mahmoud Meslat, visiting instructor of Arabic who has taught at Oberlin for the last 12 years, is Syrian-American. His humanitarian efforts, alongside those of his friends, family, and colleagues, all come from his same core belief: In times of crisis, politics must take a back seat.

“There is no place for politics when it comes to human dignity, … to taking care and making a difference in a child who lost his or her dad and mom, [or] when we look at how many people are suffering now,” Meslat said.

He has also worked with the

U.S. government to temporarily lift sanctions against Syria.

“Sometimes, regulations and obstacles are like a fence in front of us, so we can’t move anywhere,” Meslat said. “I tell [the U.S.], ‘You have to lift this sanction, let’s get those victims out of the rubble, let us bury our loved ones instead of them staying buried in cities.’ [The U.S. tries], but sometimes that takes time … by the time they get there, it’s too late for a lot of people because they have to be there [within] 24 to 48 hours to save lives.”

Meslat’s family also conducts philanthropic work in Syria, where they are housing nearly 60 orphaned children.

“We cook for them, provide shelter for them [in] one of my grandfather’s big houses,” Meslat said. “We try our best to make rooms [and] beds, trying to have blankets and clothing for them, as much as we can. … I am grateful for a lot of support — those children need care [and] family, and we get to be their family. Whatever it takes, me and my family are going to be parenting those kids, some of whom are one year old. It’s a very sad situation, but it’s a good cause — if I can make a difference anywhere, I will.”

Despite Syria’s tumultuous political history, Meslat views the earthquake almost as a unifier among Syrian people, because its scope extends beyond political matters into questions of how to save as many lives as possible.

“I wanted to send a voice to tell the children of Syria, all

the people of Syria, that we are with you and we will not forget about you,” Meslat said. “We will do everything that we can to make sure that your suffering is heard by the administration, by local political figures, by the churches, by the mosque, by the synagogue, because we all unify here when it comes to tragedy like this. I am grateful to a lot of religious leaders in the community who reach out and call asking me about my family — if they are safe, if they are okay.”

Meslat is not the only member of the Oberlin community working to help Turkish and Syrian

citizens. College second-year Zane Badawi, who is Palestinian and co-chairs the Muslim Students Association, and College fourth-year Ada Ateş, who is an international student from Türkiye, have worked tirelessly alongside several other students to raise awareness and send aid.

Badawi worked with the MSA Feb. 23 and 24 to co-sponsor a bake sale with Students for Free Palestine to raise funds for Doctors Without Borders Syria, Rahma, Ahbap, and AKUT Search and Rescue Association. In the process of sending proceeds from the fundraiser to the

Volunteers work together to help reach people in

man in Syria unboxes

In the stairs leading up to the Art Library, there is a unique mosaic directly from the impacted region in Türkiye.

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor

Photo courtesy of Ada Ateş

organizations it was meant to benefit, Badawi directly encountered government corruption.

“The fact is, the government is very separate from the people,” Badawi said. “The government of Syria steals a lot of humanitarian aid that comes in. … If you connect with people on campus who are from these regions, you can come to have a view of the people of a country that’s separate from their government. It’s important to have sympathy, because at the end of the day, the people who are being affected by that corrupt government are suffering. … Taking a geopolitical stance and saying, ‘I have trouble wanting to help these people because the government is corrupt,’ or, ‘I don’t agree with their ideology,’ is unhelpful.”

Ateş echoes the idea of collectivism and the experience of catastrophe, particularly as it pertains to the Turkish people, and notes that it is not only an individual’s loved ones who are impacted by the earthquake, but rather entire cultures and communities.

“Just because we’re here or our immediate families were not affected does not mean we’re not suffering, because the Turkish economy was already bankrupt, so people in Türkiye don’t have water to drink, and many people are dying from hypothermia,” Ateş said. “It’s really frustrating, because [Oberlin] didn’t care; it was just our individual efforts. … We tried to talk to the Conservatory to try and hold a benefit concert, but it’s a lot, especially [while] dealing with grief. … I feel like people don’t really care because of the political situation Türkiye is in, or how it’s portrayed in the media, but I feel like an earthquake is the least political event that can happen.”

Ateş and a handful of other Turkish students were awake when the earthquake struck; it was 4:17 a.m. in Türkiye, and evening in Oberlin.

“We decided to post on social media because we figured it was going to take a while for Western media to pick it up,” Ateş said. “I feel weird about just trying to care about assignments right now, when I just want to go back home and literally volunteer. The first day I wanted to buy a plane ticket [and] go back

and help take people out of the rubble.”

Ateş emphasized her overall disappointment with the College’s lack of response to the earthquake, which has left her and other Middle Eastern students and faculty responsible for spreading awareness and organizing fundraisers. For Ateş, this sense of the College’s indifference toward humanitarian disaster extends as far back as 2020, when there was a 7.1-magnitude earthquake during her remote semester in Türkiye.

“In 2020, no one reached out to me to ask if I was okay, so it

feels like they don’t really care,” Ateş said. “[Nearly] 50 thousand people died [in the Kahramanmaraş earthquake], and no one even asked if our families were there. What if they were there, or I was there, or something happened to [other Turkish students]? Would the College acknowledge that? … It’s so hard for me to see a region who has fought so much to keep their traditions for all those years being destroyed within minutes. It’s so hard to see all those videos where people are suffering and crying for help, and I just can’t do anything.”

in the debris.

humanitarian aid organizations.

A man sits, defeated, at the foot of destruction.

Volunteers look at the destruction after the earthquake together.

Photo courtesy of Mahmoud Meslat

Photo courtesy of CNBC

Photo courtesy of Al Jazeera

Photo courtesy of CNBC

ARTS & CULTURE

Funny

Girl on Broadway to Conclude After Controversial Run

James Foster Production Editor

Last week, Funny Girl released a statement announcing the closing of its run at the August Wilson Theatre. The run has been tumultuous to say the least. In February 2022, it was announced that Funny Girl, the life story of famed Ziegfeld Follies star Fanny Brice, would be revived on Broadway later that year. Beanie Feldstein, comedy superstar, would play Fanny, starring alongside Broadway favorite Ramin Karimloo and Glee legend Jane Lynch.

Although the announcement of Feldstein’s run was met with warmth, many critics questioned her ability to sing the notoriously challenging score. The original Broadway production of Funny Girl was led by one of the greatest singers and actors of all time, Barbra Streisand, and many believe that only she can do the role and score justice. Feldstein’s comedic talent was lost when it came to her singing ability which, although good, was not up for the task of performing such a challenging score for eight shows every week. Critics bashed her performance, and she announced in early July that she’d be departing the show July 25, two months earlier than expected. In an Instagram post, Feldstein said, “Once the production decided to take the show in a different direction, I made the extremely difficult decision to step away sooner than anticipated.” It soon became clear that the “different direction” was the decision to replace Feldstein with Lea Michele. When the revival was first announced, the only actor on anyone’s mind to play Fanny was Michele, and for good reason. Michele was the star of Fox’s TV show Glee,which had a massive following of theater kids — and adults. Michele’s character Rachel Berry was a dramatic and self-interested prima donna, but was arguably the most talented member of McKinley High School’s Glee Club. As Berry, Michele sang multiple songs

“Legacies to Live and Die For”

Andy Roshal

from Funny Girl, including “I’m the Greatest Star” and the timeless “Don’t Rain on My Parade.”

In the show, Berry ultimately realized her dream to play Fanny Brice in a Broadway revival of Funny Girl, and as it turns out, Michele shared that dream. Michele had stated for years that she wanted to play Fanny Brice and even told Andy Cohen on Watch What Happens Live in 2014 that she’d be playing the role on Broadway since Glee creator Ryan Murphy had obtained the rights. However, funding fell through, and Michele’s hopes were dashed.

Then, in 2020, Michele was accused by Black actor Samantha Marie Ware, who appeared in the final season of Glee, of traumatic microaggressions due to Ware’s race. Michele apologized publicly and repeatedly affirmed that she has put herself through “an intense time of reflection.”

Many saw Michele’s return to Broadway as her redemption arc — a chance to prove to the world that she was no longer the diva of before, but instead a wife and mother seeking to showcase her talent and fully embody the role of Fanny Brice.

However, before Michele took to the stage, a new superstar assumed the role of Fanny. Julie Benko, the standby for Fanny during Feldstein’s run, was given the opportunity to be Fanny for eight shows a week for one month leading up to Michele’s debut. Benko had already wowed critics in her performances on the nights that Feldstein was out, and the announcement that she would assume the lead role was well-received by the public. Benko continued to amaze while performing on the rigorous schedule.

“There is no harder job in the theater than playing Fanny Brice eight times a week,” Benko said in an interview with the Review. “You spend every moment of every day recovering from it and amping yourself up to do it again. It’s just a huge strain vocally, physically, emotionally,

… you name it. The challenge is what also makes it so rewarding, though.”

No matter how challenging her role was, Benko seemed to play it with ease while adding her own twists to the role, to much acclaim. Now, as the alternate for Brice, Benko finds that she has the ideal schedule.

“Now that I’m the alternate, I kind of have the best of worlds,” she said. “I love having a set schedule so I can plan my week around my performance. I know when I can take a break from the disciplined eating I have to do to protect my voice and let myself have some pizza and a cocktail or something — though I do try to be careful most of the time, just in case Lea ends up needing to call out.”

I was fortunate enough to see Michele in Funny Girl last October. I went into the show with high expectations, given the golden reviews Michele had received so far, but nothing could have prepared my ears for what I was about to hear. Alongside Karimloo, who was grounded and the perfect complement, Michele put on the best vocal performance I have ever heard live. Her belted versions of “I’m the Greatest Star,” “Don’t Rain on My Parade,” and “People” were literally show-stopping — the crowd stood on their feet to clap mid-act numerous times throughout the show.

Her acting was also top-notch, and she fully embodied the role of Fanny. Tovah Feldshuh, who played Brice’s mother, was hilarious, and her comedic timing and wit was unmatched. The supporting cast, including Broadway and TikTok star Amber Ardolino, was sublime, and I left the theater in awe of what I had just witnessed.

Although her hire was controversial and the drama preceding it was hard to ignore, Michele embraced the role of Fanny with open arms and a creative mind and has continued to blow audiences away. She may have been difficult, but boy, can she sing.

After “The Blue Terrace” by Terrance Hayes

I come from a long line of tiny Ukrainian women, Their eyes sharp and blue, their hands calloused and yellow. I once told my grandmother her hands were soft but she winced and told me stories about how hard her hands used to work when she was young; the mountains she climbed, the children she fed, the hours she spent practicing piano.

I come from Mongolian rapists and their terrified wives, from a Cossack girl who sold herself into serfdom to be with her lover, from my Jewish grandfather who still has that scar on his stomach; if you ask, he will tell you the story with a proud, twisted smile. My grandfather wasn’t much of a fighter until he saw a young Jewish boy being hunted on the streets of Odessa and he knew this was his chance to save a life that wasn’t his own for once.

I wasn’t much of a fighter myself until I joined the long line of battered women who don’t speak to their mothers and knew that I would fight tooth and nail to let some legacies die. I come from my father’s side of the family too, Belarussian Sephardic Jews who survived so much only to turn against each other and continue the pattern of violence. We don’t talk about them unless we have to.

I come from wives who scream at their husbands because that is the only way their mothers were heard. I come from children who witnessed horrors and lived long enough to tell the tale only to stay silent for fear that they would be next. I was a silent child once and still am, some days. Most days I talk too much, trying to make up for my family’s centuries of silence. We are here, I say. We are real. We survived, despite each other. Please believe me. But I come from a family that doesn’t believe its children when they say, he hurt me. You hurt me. I hurt you. We’re working on that. We’re trying to get better.

I come from Holocaust survivors and amateur musicians and geologists and colorful Russian slippers, my Babushka’s тапки*. My mother took in a stray cat when she was a child and loved it to death.

I promise someday I will love my own children to life. L’chaim.

*тапки (tapki) = slippers

College first-year Andy Roshal is a prospective Creative Writing major and German and Linguistics double minor. They mostly write poetry and memoirs. In this poem, Andy explores the complexities of their Jewish and Slavic heritages and all of the beautiful and painful experiences their family has lived through across generations. They recognize the incredible strength of their family’s story of survival, and hold hope for collective healing.

POETRY

Photos courtesy of Funny Girl on Broadway

Julie Benko stepped into the role of Fanny Brice before Lea Michele joined the production.

Maeve Woltring Senior Staff Writer

Jennifer Blaylock is a Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow and visiting assistant professor of Cinema Studies. Her academic work and research span the fields of media technology, audio-visual archives, postcolonial and decolonial theory, and African studies. She has published a wide array of articles in various media and cinema studies publications, and she is currently working on a book manuscript titled: Making Media New: Race in African Media History. Drawing particularly from her 2021 article, “‘Who wants a BlackBerry these days?’ Serialized new media and its trash,” Blaylock reflects on relationships between “new media” marketing, seriality, and anti-colonial media counter movements within the African continent.

This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

Could you tell me a little about your background? What drew you to interrogate the intersections between fields that may seem disparate but, as your research shows, comprise a fuller picture of societal phenomena such as racial capitalism?

I can talk more specifically about the origin of BlackBerry Babes, and maybe it’ll explain some of the other stuff. The article came out of work that I was doing as a graduate student at UC Berkeley when I was getting my PhD. I was studying with a professor named Linda Williams, who was just finishing her book On The Wire and was focused on this concept of seriality. A lot of scholars at the time were interested in how the serial was taken up by primetime television, in how popular critics were talking about The Wire in relation to Charles Dickens. Williams was interested in how this form of literature, that had to do with serial from an earlier period, was being compared to these prestige television shows. She taught a class on serials, and later did a conference on the concept of serial where she invited

Jennifer Blaylock

Mellon Postdoctoral Fellow

scholars and graduate students from all over to apply.

I had been doing work in African cinema, thinking particularly about Nollywood film. It just wasn’t really talked about in the department at UC Berkeley, and there wasn’t a lot of knowledge about the form. In the 2000s and 2010s, Nollywood film — Nigerian cinema — and also Guinean cinema and West African cinema practices, were created in this serialized form. So I had the idea to take this concept of seriality and think about it in the context of particularly Nigerian cinematic practices and see what happens. I applied for Williams’ conference and didn’t get in, but I still decided to write the paper anyway. That’s sort of the origin of it. I was interested in this particular film, BlackBerry Babes, because I saw this relationship between the phones and the film.

Regarding your article on BlackBerry Babes, I was struck by your definitions of the term “new media” and how it serves to calcify and perpetuate societal binaries. Could you speak on this and on the contexts and research that lead you to this definition?

I think the term that scholars are using instead of new media is digital media, but for a time it was new media, when they were talking about computing and other forms of moving images in the digital realm. A lot of historians pushed back on this idea of new and were really interested in interrogating, “Okay, well, what does it mean to be new media, and how are things that we’re qualifying as new actually drawing on longer histories?” There was a suspicion of that emphasis on “new,” I think particularly because of its relationship to marketing. You gotta get the new one, the new technology, the best technology.

A lot of media historians were interrogating that relationship between marketing — not only as a marketing device, but the way the “new” also perpetuated ideas that the next media technology was the best or better. Historians

of media tried to interrogate the idea that there’s progress, that just because it’s new doesn’t mean it’s necessarily creating a better society or making things more convenient. One of the things that I tried to do in the article was subtly push on the way academics are also invested in newness when they come up with theories. I was trying to point out how that’s also our way of selling and perpetuating ideas — particularly in concepts of time — which is part of classifying locations and spaces.

In your course “Theory and History of Global Cinema,” you interrogate the ways in which cinema can foster a kind of global solidarity. Could you expand a bit on this theory, as well as the aims and scope of that course in general?

That course is a lot, because it’s the whole history of cinema — over a hundred years — and then also history and theory, and it is global. I take an approach to the history of cinema, which is basically that cinema from the beginning is a global enterprise. It’s a global process. A lot of scholars have linked cinema to modernity — the concept of modernity arising from the 1800s to the 1900s when cinema was sort of born. Cinema is emblematic of these rapid changes in industrialization and urbanization. Throughout the course, we think about the relationship between the global North and the global South, but we also look between countries across the global South and how strategies of filmmaking and aesthetics can be revolutionary and were shared for anti-colonial, anti-imperial, and anti-neocolonial projects.

Could you talk a little bit about your upcoming projects — the book and articles you’re currently working on?

The book project is coming out of my dissertation; the BlackBerry Babes is the last chapter of the book. The book takes a look at different media technologies when they are “new” to the African continent and kind of

interrogates discourses about these technologies. I start with gramophones, and I move through radio, cinema, television, and mobile phones. I take a postcolonial approach to seeing the continuities of discourses that began in a colonial period and how they continue into international discourse — the relationship between cinema for colonial development projects and how that has resonances with later approaches to media technologies. I also do work to show the legacies of these colonial — and by colonial I also mean white supremacist — ways of talking about technology.

I try to show how Africans were also countering that discourse

through new media use. That particularly comes out in a discussion of Ghana television. The first director of Ghana television was Shirley Graham Du Bois, OC ’34, which is pretty cool. She was a very strong Pan-Africanist, like her husband W.E.B. Dubois, and a socialist. As a director, she was really radically trying to think about how the new medium of television in Ghana could break down the way that new technologies had been synonymous with capitalist forms of consumption. She was really interested in how to make this new technology work for Pan-African Black liberation. So I use that history to sort of counter the way legacies of a colonial discourse happen.

Black History 101 Mobile Museum Exhibit Comes to Oberlin Elementary School

Alexa Stevens News Editor

As part of a national tour, the Black History 101 Mobile Museum was on display at the Oberlin Elementary School gymnasium March 6 and 7. The exhibit includes, per the museum website, “non-traditional museum spaces such as classrooms, conference rooms, libraries, galleries, and even living rooms.”

The exhibit featured approximately 300 artifacts. The mobile museum is part of a project founded by Dr. Khalid el-Hakim, who has collected more than 10,000 artifacts commemorating Black history in the U.S. The collection in its entirety represents a variety of categories, ranging from the trans-Atlantic slave trade to recent moments in Black pop culture.

“Shackles, a whip, and cotton were on display as part of the Black History 101 Mobile Museum inside the Oberlin Elementary School gymnasium,” Marketing and Communications Consultant

for Oberlin City Schools Melissa Linebrink wrote in a press release.

In addition to the three-dimensional artifacts documenting the trans-Atlantic slave trade, the collection also included personal letters and public documents, including a wanted poster that had been posted in search of escaped enslaved people.

el-Hakim was present at the exhibit earlier this week and spoke to visitors about the meaning behind some of the displayed memorabilia. As part of the school district’s Comprehensive Literacy State Development Grant, all OES students received a free copy of el-Hakim’s book, Khalid and Khalilah’s ABCs of Black History

Also present was Oberlin community member and retired Oberlin City Schools orchestra teacher Harriett Thomas.

“Each year, the school adopts a book to give to each of the students, and so this book, The ABCs of Black History, will be distributed to all of our students,” Thomas said. “As a matter of fact, all the elementary students will be re-

ceiving this book [Mar. 3].”

Thomas worked to organize the event and allocated a portion of the Lorain County Community Foundation JB Thomas Fund, for which she is the fund advisor, toward its actualization.

“I was made aware of the museum in August 2022,” Thomas told the Review. “After I read about it, I thought this would be a really good project that would benefit our students in the Oberlin schools and the community. I contacted Mr. Khalid el-Hakim and we began to work on bringing the museum to Oberlin.”

According to Development Officer of the Community Foundation of Lorain County Laura Malone, Thomas reached out to the Community Foundation to facilitate the fund’s allocation.

“Harriett spoke with us, but also spoke with the Oberlin School District to help collaborate with us in having this project come to Oberlin,” Malone said. “The Black History 101 Mobile Museum is not its own nonprofit tax-exempt entity, so we needed the collabo -

ration of the Oberlin School District to be able to transfer those funds from the donor-advised fund to the school district and have the school district pay for the cost of having the Black History 101 Mobile Museum here for this visit.”

Prior to the event, Thomas described the display setup.

“The items are all gonna be displayed at the Oberlin Elementary School, and we’re gonna have 12 tables that will be set up in the form of a U-shape,” Thomas said.

“The students will have the opportunity to pass through the museum and view all the artifacts. Everything will be in the new Oberlin Elementary School gymnasium and they’ll be able to come through and view the items there.”

During the day on Monday, the exhibition was shown exclusively to OES students, but in the evening, it became open to the broader public. Langston Middle School students were invited to view the collection Tuesday morning, and Oberlin High

School students viewed it later that afternoon.

The museum display occurred just after the end of Black History Month and, according to Thomas, served as an appropriate concluding event to OCS’s month of commemorative events.

“This is pretty much the culmination of our Black history projects this year,” Thomas said. “We also have talking posters, which are available at the schools. The students have been able to view these talking posters which were purchased for each of the schools as a set of 12, and they’re 12 famous people in Black history. You download an app and then you can point the app at the picture, and then it comes up on your phone … and it talks and gives you the history. That’s something that our students have really been excited about. We have another project [that] we did at Langston Middle School and Oberlin High School, the Locker Door Decorating Contest, and we just finished picking the winners for that.”

Photo courtesy of Tanya Rosen Jones

Jennifer Blaylock

Relationship Between Music and Identity is Reductive

Nikki Keating Managing Editor

“You haven’t seen [insert popular media here]???”

I think it’s time we deconstruct the problem with this question. Whether it’s the film buff who’s cornered me at a party or a friend I’m grabbing lunch with, the question seems to sneak its way into any conversation. It’s often followed by, “Are you even Black? Queer? A real fan?” etc. if I haven’t seen the specific media they are highlighting. The real question that needs to be addressed, though, is much deeper: When did we start defining our identities by certain media pieces?

The idea that media can correlate with someone’s identity is not one I disagree with. Take Boyz n the Hood, a movie that speaks on race, police brutality, generational trauma, and more. Many members of the Black community, myself included, resonate with the themes in the film and appreciate that it encapsulates a part of the Black experience in America. While I love and appreciate the film, though, I do not use it to validate my Blackness, nor does watching it set me apart from my Black peers who haven’t. Being Black isn’t a question, and it isn’t something that can be confirmed based on what movies you have or “OMG you haven’t seen.”

I see the point of assigning certain media to certain identities. It can be a way to express one’s identity discreetly and also a good way to find those who share your interests. I cannot deny the joy I feel when someone has listened to the same artist as me or watched a movie that

Alexa Stevens News Editor

correlates with our shared identity. However, when we assert that someone is not something because they haven’t consumed that specific media, it only creates more division within the community. It doesn’t give space to all different types of identity and shrinks our ability to explore the subsections within our identities. It creates a criterion that completely limits how we view ourselves.

I’ve been repeatedly faced with the “You haven’t?” question in my own life. As a teen, I felt insecure about my queerness and was looking for ways to explore how it felt and looked to me. It was around the same time as the popular TikTok trend #doyoulistentogirlinred, and I was often chastised for never listening to her myself. Suddenly there was a popular way people saw and interpreted queerness and, more importantly, a popular way people defined others as queer. But I didn’t relate to a white Norwegian singer-songwriter, and I certainly didn’t feel represented in my queerness when listening to her music. Nonetheless, I felt like I needed to add her to my playlist and Tinder profile. And while I don’t think there is anything wrong with listening and relating to girl in red, I did it because I wanted to fit into social media’s new perception of what queerness was, not because I really enjoyed or connected with her music. I don’t think that girl in red — or any artist, film, or media — should be used to define who is queer and who isn’t. Upon realizing that there are so many ways to be queer, I started branching out and exploring what queerness and queer music looked like to me. I ended up finding music that resonated

with my identity, listening to artists like Janelle Monáe and Niña Dioz. Whether you listen to girl in red or Janelle Monáe, there is no “right” relationship to queerness — as long as you don’t shame others for not being exactly like you. The issue of stereotypes plays into this as well. When a white person scrunches up their nose and says, “You haven’t listened to Tyler the Creator’s new album?” or “You’re not a Drake fan? Are you even Black?” I can’t help but side-eye them, because no one but me should define my identity. Even if I were a Drake fan, it wouldn’t make me any more or less Black. Say I did like girl in red; that wouldn’t make me any more or less queer. Deciding to like and consume something is a choice that I make, especially when it directly coincides with who I am. That choice should not affect how others see themselves nor set any standard for how people should present themselves. Furthermore, someone assuming that I like Drake or Tyler the Creator asserts that they want me to fit a certain stereotype of what Black people listen to. When I challenge that assumption, people can’t help but feel uncomfortable that I don’t fit the narrative they’ve laid out for me. So what do we do? Well, the first thing is to stop asking that question — or even just frame it differently. It’s not a question of “You haven’t?” — it’s “Hey, have you seen this? I think it’s really cool.” Center the question around yourself, because the point is to see if you have something in common. You don’t have to ostracize someone to do so, and you might just make a new friend.

CROSSWORD

ACROSS

3. With “on,” how one might cool down hot soup

4. Asphyxiate

5. Like a language with etymological roots in Latin

7. One who converts others to a religion

11. Round, often inflated objects used in sporting events

12. Six, in Latin

13. To smash, as a grape

16. To electronically shake rhythmically

17. Thin sleeve, as for a tank top

DOWN

1. Endearing matriarchal nickname

2. What you might call a rhinoceros

4. Cellular division

6. Appliance used for puffing corn

8. Dual-bladed cutting device

9. A stone fruit that grows on certain palm trees

10. Name of the social media website used by students in Victorious, with “the”

12. To remove, as paint from a wall

14. Card game similar to solitaire, for two

15. A type of songbird, when followed by “mouse”

Answers to last week’s crossword:

Editors’ Note: This crossword is meant to encourage conversation on sex positivity and double-entendres in writing about sex. We hope that this dialogue will spotlight how we talk about sex, the language and rhetoric we emphasize in these conversations, and how we grapple with any latent discomfort we may feel when discussing sex.

Photo courtesy of Wondaland Studio

Janelle Monae released the album “Dirty Computer” in 2018.

“The Birds and the Bees”

Rehearsal Culture in Jazz Department Presents Challenges

Lyric Anderson

Fresh out of two back-to-back rehearsals for a friend’s upcoming junior recital, Conservatory second-year double-degree Jazz Studies majors Martin Kent and Harrison Fink load their instruments into a car and drive to Peters Hall. On the way over, they spitball different songs to play for the gig and agree on a rough setlist after some debate. After an hour of setup and sound checking, they play a few hours of background music for a Purim celebration. For many Jazz students, this represents a typical Monday night.

One has to ask: With an abundance of talent across the Conservatory, why do these extra gigs consistently feature students from the Jazz department? Well, for one, Jazz students share a collective knowledge of tunes, unlike any other musicians in the Conservatory. In the spring of their first and second years at Oberlin, Jazz students have a final exam of sorts called a jury. These juries are the culmination of learning the same 50 jazz standards during their first year and another 43 their second year. The students must have internalized these songs to the point where, when a faculty member calls any one

of these standards, students can play the melody and improvise over the chord changes — with or without a supporting band.

Kent has found this shared musical catalog to be essential for playing gigs.

“We all know the repertoire,” Kent said. “Really, at any given moment, we can not only play a tune but alter it and make it our own.”

This shared repertoire, combined with a training in improvisation, makes jazz musicians uniquely equipped to pick up gigs, particularly those with little to no rehearsal time needed. In my experience as a Jazz Studies major, a gig rehearsal usually goes as follows: I receive an email from the Conservatory gig-referral service stating that a local store, restaurant, or College event is seeking live music. After sifting through my contacts for a bassist — they are few and hard to come by this semester — I assemble my group and a “when2meet” is sent out. Sometimes, finding a time when everyone is free to rehearse takes longer than the rehearsal itself. We eventually run through mutually agreed-upon tunes in a Kohl Building ensemble room and we’re ready to perform in an hour or less.

Junior and senior recitals, on the other hand, can require long and frequent rehearsals; students may begin rehearsing well over a month prior to a recital. In this instance, the focus shifts from getting paid or having fun to further developing one’s artistry and musical voice. For first-year double-degree Jazz Drums, Jazz Voice, and Creative Writing major Ruby Laks, a recital is a hard gig to turn down.

“It’s an honor, in a sense, to be asked by a junior or senior to play on their recital,” Laks said. “If they think I can help to achieve their artistic vision, I don’t want to say no.”

Laks has now committed herself to playing on seven of her friends’ recitals, each with their own slew of original compositions and jazz standards, many of which have complex and lengthy arrangements. With one individual song alone in a recital needing an hourlong, weekly rehearsal, Laks easily spends three or four hours a day, every day of the week, rehearsing — not including her registered, for-credit ensemble meetings. That doesn’t even account for the time Laks must spend practicing all these tunes independently. As one can imagine, this rehearsal-heavy lifestyle comes at a cost.

Jazz students rehearse in a Kohl Building ensemble room.

“You’re cutting corners somewhere,” Laks said. “You’re making time by staying up later, which then affects your physical and mental health. … Or you’re spending less time on your schoolwork.”

Another aspect of this rehearsal culture is compensation, or lack thereof, for all the hours of preparation. You’ll never get paid to play on a recital, despite it being the most time-consuming and musically-demanding gig. Ironically, the more casual and impromptu gigs usually result in a paycheck. It seems, though, payment may be seen as more of an added bonus than a requirement for those in the Jazz department.

“As a student, payment isn’t the main incentive for me to take a gig

— I’m here to connect with other musicians as much as possible,” third-year College Musical Studies major and jazz bassist Nathaniel Coben said. “Of course, then you’re setting lower standards for yourself as a professional, which we’re all trying to be.”

Overall, Jazz students work tirelessly to create music and connect with the musicians around them. This is a gift for the Oberlin community, and regardless of how much they’re getting paid or the incomprehensible amount of hours spent in the ensemble rooms, you’ll never witness a jazz gig with expressionless faces or low energy, which really speaks to the essence of jazz music as a whole.

Bernstein’s Candide Satirizes Narratives of Hope and Optimism

and relaxed atmosphere.

Both casts’ interpretations of Candide energized their respective performances. Although Candide has the same level of sophistication as a 1950s Disney prince, Conservatory fourth-year Jared Cohen knows to break this facade whenever he is in search of his lover, Cunegonde — his heartbreak about her deception in Act II is a raw and devastating moment. He walks a fine line between melodrama and genuine despair, to spectacular effect. Conservatory fourth-year Nathan Romero, who plays Candide in the Friday/Sunday cast, beautifully captures the emotional immaturity, relentless optimism, and faith in the human spirit that his character displays.

or screams of happiness.

Another role that I particularly enjoyed, and a character I wish had more of a role in the opera, was the Governor, played by Conservatory second-year Travis Guillory. Guillory has a powerful, commanding voice and a seamless falsetto blend that is well-suited for the love ballad he performed for this role. His increasingly loud demands for quiet from Cunegonde and the Old Lady were memorable.

Kayla Kim Sports Editor

Editors’ Note: This article contains mentions of murder and transphobia. It also features spoilers.

Associate Professor of Opera

Theater Jonathon Field will close out his storied career at Oberlin with a production of Leonard Bernstein’s Candide, performed with a double cast from March 9–12 in Hall Auditorium. The opera follows the titular character, the nephew of a Westphalian baron born out of wedlock, after he is banished from his comfortable and affluent life. Guided by friends new and old, he travels around the world seeking refuge and searching for his lover, Cunegonde, whom he hopes to wed and lead a simple life with on a farm.

Like the many oceans that

Candide navigates to Spain, Buenos Aires, and Venice, the plot gets quite turbulent. Characters are revived from the dead, found across the world with little explanation, or appear seemingly out of nowhere, as is the case with the Old Lady, Cunegonde’s maid. Candide stumbles across a massacre in his home, and the apparent slaughter of Cunegonde, right after two ensemble members appear, throwing confetti while revealing placards of the location — a recurring and comedic trope. Candide’s romance with Cunegonde rivals that of a middle school on-and-off situationship, only this time throwing Orientalism, war, and accidental murder into the mix.

Despite this, the ensemble guides the audience smoothly through the show, even with the technical notes shouted from the directors and the occasional rushing that I noticed during

dress rehearsals. When the plot stalls or over-accelerates, the ensemble provides the energy and emotion fit for the scene or satirical bit — gleefully singing during a hanging scene or while sending Candide away on a ship doomed to sink, for example. Their level of commitment made me forget that they had been rehearsing every day since the beginning of January. If any of them were sick of the jokes, they certainly didn’t show it.

The ensemble also had more musical theatre components than I expected. For instance, the costumes were not as sophisticated as those designed for previous operas performed at Oberlin. The various colored button-downs paired with Converse sneakers, as well as long skirts with stockings, were more reminiscent of a high school show choir than a traditional Oberlin opera, but the casual style added to the comedic

That said, I don’t think Candide and Cunegonde had good stage chemistry in either cast — they seemed more like close friends than a couple. This may have to do with the lack of time they actually spent together on stage, and the sparse narrative buildup of their relationship: in their first scene together in Act I, they kiss after Candide shows Cunegonde a “physical experiment” from their science lesson.

But Conservatory third-year Isabella Lopez and Conservatory fourth-year Morgan Wolfe, who played Cunegonde in the Thursday/Saturday and Friday/Sunday casts respectively, were stars in their own right. The aria “Glitter and Be Gay,” during which Cunegonde lies in distress after selling herself to both a rabbi and a priest in Paris, is incredibly technically challenging because of the high coloratura and the stage presence required of the performer. As she plays with jewels and poshly confides in the Old Lady, Lopez and Wolfe transition with ease from singing a high E flat to dissolving into sobs

There was a good amount of humor and satire, but there were two parts of the show that I did not enjoy. While many deaths in the show are over-the-top stabbings or drownings, the hanging scene happens very suddenly. While there is no blood or gore, the sight of a character getting hanged mid-sentence may be disturbing or upsetting for audience members. In another moment, the Governor falls in love with Maximilian, Candide’s cousin, who is disguised in women’s clothes. Their plan to marry falls through after the Governor touches Maxmilian’s crotch area. The former reacts angrily, and later sends Maximilian to a seminary. This gag was in poor taste, especially in the context of the uptick of transphobic laws introduced across the country, and while it acted as a catalyst for a plot point, I’m disappointed that it wasn’t altered or replaced. Overall, however, Candide was witty, charming, and incredible to watch. While the plot can get confusing, the ensemble guides the audience through their adventures and unwitting search for optimism and hope. The cast and crew have “grown their garden” together, and especially for Field and the fourth- and fifthyears involved, it is an honor to see it finally blossom for the Oberlin community.

The cast of Candide travels the world in Hall Auditorium.

Photo by Abe Frato, Photo Editor

Photo by Erin Koo, Photo Editor

Kayla Kim Sports Editor

Second-year Nora Holder is a fly and breaststroke swimmer who is working on an article series called “Happy as Her.” Through this, she hopes to share her life as a trans person. Her first article focuses on her experience as a trans athlete and is expected to be released on her personal website March 17. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

What made you decide to write your article series?

I have a decent following on social media, and I’ve always talked about my experience being trans. There are a lot of things a cis person cannot understand about trans people, no matter how much I explain, but I can still speak about my experience. I always journaled and wrote to myself, and then I started taking writing courses. My professor encouraged it, and I worked on one piece to show her. She told me, “You should present these. You should publish these in some form, whether it be through a blog or a personal project.” I decided I wanted to commit to that.

Can you describe a little bit more about your first article and how your time at Oberlin influenced that?

My first article is about being an athlete and a trans woman. While I am not medically transitioned, I’m still representing as a trans athlete, and my name is still labeled as Nora. At Oberlin, it’s been a very wonderful experience, and I write about that in the article — about how I came in very anxious and concerned that I wasn’t gonna be accepted. I don’t compete with the women’s team, but I still participate with them in our social events and am a representative with them. So it’s been a very good experience and, again, is why I’m really happy I’m a part of Oberlin Swim and Dive.

It was very weird for me because, in general, I didn’t transition until I started at Oberlin, so there’s only one person here who

Nora Holder

knew me before my transition. Everyone’s getting this impression of me so it doesn’t feel weird, especially since Oberlin is a very queer campus, but it becomes whiplash when I go back home because I’m in the South. It’s not exactly the safest place to be, let alone be trans, with all this negative media publishing.

What are your future articles?

There’s a very serious issue with trans fetishization I experience on a day-to-day basis. I thought it would be important to write on that, but it’s going to be various things that some people are afraid to speak on. There are also just general everyday lifestyle things, like what I do to learn makeup, how I dress, general things that are just a serious point of my life that I never share.

What kind of challenges have you faced as a trans athlete?

I’m not medically transitioned, but on deck I still just appear normal beyond my makeup that I’ll wear. I can still hear these comments though. For instance, when we went to conference, one of my teammates heard very transphobic comments being made by an athlete. It wasn’t directly at me, but it still impacted me. And of course, with trans swimmers, everyone heard about Lia Thomas and would come to me and say, “What’s your opinion on this?” It was extremely mentally taxing to constantly hear how demonized I was gonna be when I started publicly transitioning.

It’s the whole reason I haven’t started hormones, and I write about that and how it’s so mentally jarring to me. Even though I’m not on hormones, I’m not a “threat,” it still mentally impacts me even now. You heard about Lia Thomas 24/7 last year, and it sucks to see the difference in responses over time because in 2016, North Carolina pushed a very transphobic bathroom bill, and everything pulled out, including the NCAA and filming for the show Outer Banks. And here we are in 2023 with even worse bills being pushed, and we’re not see-

Second-year, Swimmer

ing pullouts or anything. We’re just seeing, if anything, a lack of acknowledgement. It’s bleak, unfortunately, and that’s why I wanted to write about it because no one actually asks trans athletes how they feel about this stuff. They just take it from some cis straight dude who didn’t care about women’s sports until two weeks ago.

What do you want people, whether they’re trans or cis, to take away from your articles?

It’s essentially closure with other trans people to know that they’re not alone. I remember when I started transitioning, I felt extremely lucky, and I slowly started meeting more and more trans people who are like me and experience crazy things. One of the articles is going to be me meeting all these trans people. I met this trans woman who is a retired school teacher. She’s 80 now, and she started her transition when she was 40. It was just this whole sense of seeing someone that had lived their life and was happy.

I’m only speaking from my own experiences. But for cis people, I want them to come into the articles with a sense that they’re not gonna fully understand a trans person. I can’t understand what it feels like to be cis, but there is an extent where you can read up on people’s experiences and at least acknowledge that they’re real. The problem I see with social media is a lot of cis people just want to dunk on transphobic legislators. The main goal of my articles is for people to read up on a few of my experiences and realize that instead of just going to dunk on transphobes, they should reach out, be supportive, and check in on their trans friends when all of this stuff has been happening. Hopefully, the goal is to change people’s perspectives. No trans people are actually reporting on these feelings outside of trans communities. If I can reach out to even one or two people who are transphobic and it changes their mind, I think that’ll make me content with what I’ve done.

Nora Holder just completed her second season on the Swimming and Diving team. Photos Courtesy of Dave Hilbert

OHS Should Plan to Build Home Stadium Amid Broader Infrastructural Developments

John Elrod Sports Editor

In 2021, I reported on the lack of an outdoor stadium for Oberlin High School’s athletics teams. A year and a half later, there are still no plans to build one. Given that Oberlin City Schools are working on amassing funds for a 6–12 school, it’s understandable if a stadium is not necessarily at the top of their list of priorities. Still, I think it’s important to detail why having a home stadium is important so it doesn’t get forgotten in the process of Oberlin Schools’ updating of their facilities.

As a high school senior in October 2018, I played my final soccer game at Oberlin Phoenix Field — a small stadium that had been home to Oberlin High School’s football and soccer teams for decades. Not only was that my last year as a high school athlete, but the stadium’s last year in operation as well. In September 2019, it was leveled to make way for the construction of Oberlin Elementary School.

Since then, the sports teams that played there — football, boys’ soccer, and girls’ soccer — had to find new places to play. The football team has played at the College’s Knowlton Athletics Complex at a cost of $1,000 per game. It’s not a bad deal, and the players get to play at a top-of-theline college facility built not even a decade ago. The soccer teams, on the other hand however, have been dealt a bad hand.

Next year, OHS will have a group of senior soccer players who have never played a game at a real home stadium of their own.

Since the 2020 season, both boys’ and girls’ teams have played all their home games on a low-quality patch of grass with removable bleachers at the very back of the OHS campus. It’s the same spot we used as a practice field during my playing days. Even for practice, it was a very poor surface that had weeds and crabgrass growing all over the uneven ground.

I know that building a stadium that would likely cost upwards of $1 million in tax dollars would present many obstacles. Still, it would make a major difference in how high schoolers experience sports.

Some of the best experiences of my teen years were playing night games under the lights at the old stadium — something OHS soccer players don’t get to do with the current situation. Part of the fun of high school sports is that it can create an atmosphere that goes beyond the actual competition. Although OHS only has roughly 350 students and competes in the smaller divisions within Ohio high school sports, those night games at a real physical stadium encouraged adrenaline, excitement, and passion from anyone that played under the lights.

Having a home stadium isn’t important only because it creates a thrilling atmosphere for the athletes. It also serves as a spot for students to hang out and watch their classmates try to accomplish something. The old stadium was right next to the school’s parking lot, and students involved in other school activities on weeknights would sometimes come over and catch the end of our games.

Even though the football team plays at the College’s facility, the fact that there’s no stadium at the actual high school affects how football games serve students

socially as well. In Ohio, Friday Night Lights is almost as much of a thing as it is in Texas. Even in a small town like Oberlin, students and townspeople make an effort to go to the football games, whether as something social to do with friends or to take advantage of $1 popcorn.

The reason I worry that the issue of a stadium will go by the wayside is because of how athletics facilities have been disregarded historically.

While I valued my experiences at the old Oberlin Phoenix Stadium, it wasn’t in a great state in its final years. It hadn’t been updated recently, and the upkeep of the field was not always the best.

Other outdoor OHS teams have also had issues with their fields.

Since Oberlin Schools’ construction projects began, the baseball and softball teams have relocated to the Oberlin Recreation Complex, which is run by the City of Oberlin. For the teams, it’s actually a huge upgrade. For years, these teams each had a field at the school that was often in a brutal state. The outfield of the old baseball field was often unkempt with high grass, and the infield was not always raked in time for games. There were instances when players had to help prepare the field themselves. The softball field was also often in poor condition and didn’t even have a permanent home run fence.

I understand that many of these issues have to do with lack of resources. I went to Oberlin schools from kindergarten through high school and saw every day that it wasn’t just sports that were underfunded.

If you don’t have the money to renovate a field, then you can’t renovate it. If you don’t have the money to take care of a grass surface, then you can’t take care of it. However, providing sports teams with the bare minimum is going to have negative consequences over time. Every other school in OHS’s athletic conference has a football stadium, and some have soccer-specific stadiums as well. You risk young athletes going to other schools if your facilities are the worst in the area.

I’m not blaming administrators or the school board for this issue. The schools are still trying to amass funds through current tax bills to build the new 6–12 school facility, and I understand that comes first.

I just think we need to keep in mind that sports facilities — and most importantly, an outdoor multipurpose stadium — make a difference. It made a difference to me and to OHS alumni I talked to on the record for my 2021 article. Right now, OHS athletes are going through all four years without playing a home game in a stadium or on the school’s campus, and that can’t be permanent. As Oberlin community members, voters, and taxpayers, all I can ask is that you consider how you can help prevent that for the future.

Teams Use Warm Up Shirts to Raise Awareness for Social Causes

Editors’ note: This article contains mention of gun violence. Many high school, college, and major league sports teams have utilized shirts and other items to show support for certain causes. Whether this is a representative color or an article of clothing with a meaningful message, teams can help uplift their communities with their jerseys.

On Feb. 15, Michigan State University suffered a school shooting that left three students dead and five wounded. Three days later, the University of Michigan basketball team, the Wolverines, played against the Michigan State Spartans, and decided to show their support through their warmup shirts. Before the matchup, the Wolverines both on the court and in the stands sported T-shirts with the phrase “Michigan Basketball Stands With MSU.” Michigan was able to show support to MSU and acknowledge their difficult time with this kind message. Similar to how Michigan wore shirts to support MSU, many teams at Oberlin also participate in sending messages to serve a greater purpose. Teams such as women’s basketball, men’s basketball, and men’s soccer have all shown meaningful displays of support. For example, the men’s basketball and football teams often participate in pediatric cancer awareness fundraisers by donning yellow shoe laces during the game.

“Whether it’s fundraising for various cancer research, promoting unity through our gear and slogans, or just creating an atmosphere where students feel comfortable talking about their mental health, we are constantly looking for ways that our program can help in any way we can,” said Basketball Head Coach Shiva Senthil.

Oberlin College Athletics strives to show how it stands for various causes such as cancer awareness, racial injustice, and mental health. They are also constantly looking for new ways to showcase future messages throughout the team including both coaches and players.

“Coaches have worn patches on their arms to raise support in the fight against muscular dystrophy,” newly instated Head Football Coach John Pont said. “As I

get to know our team better and the causes that are important to them, we will develop our plans for future messages, actions, and activities.”

Another example is the women’s basketball team. The team has an annual “gold game” wearing gold and yellow shoelaces, in a partnership with the Go4TheGoal Foundation, to raise awareness to support and raise money for pediatric cancer.

“It is something small but has a huge impact as we have a major fundraiser and ask everyone to donate what they can,” second-year captain Bryana Woodard said. “Since we are the players they are watching, it makes it impossible for them to separate the cause from the game when we wear the laces.”

Oberlin coaches participated in the National Association of Basketball Coaches sponsored “Coaches vs. Cancer” weekend to show support for the American Cancer Society. This participation not only helps bring awareness to cancer but also helps promote healthy living.

“We wore sneakers in an effort to raise awareness for the fight against cancer,” Senthil said. “There are just so many ways that athletic teams here and across the country try to show support.”

Women’s Basketball Head Coach Stephany Dunmyer wore themed

warm up shirts to highlight a specific cause called “Play4Kay,” the Women’s Basketball Coaches Association’s breast cancer awareness initiative. The team also has current warm up shirts that say “Together We Rise” on the back.

“This is to show our team’s commitment to and support of our athletic department’s DEI work and commitment to create an inclusive environment for all,” Dunmeyer said.

One of the core values of this team is to create an environment of inclusion. With these shirts, the women’s team is able to stand with important causes. Oberlin College Athletics works each day to emanate the core values of many teams. These include leadership, resiliency, inclusion, and being overall good people. The warm up shirts, colored laces, and participating in fundraising events are just a few of the ways that Oberlin continues to show support for the surrounding community.

“The ideas we have for the future include charity games that create fundraising opportunities to support various causes, working with local youth organizations to create a partnership with them, or anything else,” Senthil said. “We are always on the look to see how we can make a positive contribution to our community.”

Celia Perks Senior Staff Writer

Oberlin womens basketball team wearing “Together We Rise” jerseys. Photos Courtesy of Dave Hilbert

“Together We Rise” jersey signify DEI work within the athletic department. Photos Courtesy of Dave Hilbert

The OHS football team has competed at Knowlton since 2019.

Photo Courtesy of Asa Haslage

Despite Early Losses, Softball Optimistic for Season

Chris Stoneman Senior Staff Writer

This past weekend, Oberlin softball took a road trip to Raleigh, NC to compete in the Grand Slam Triangle Classic. The Yeowomen played four games against Greensboro College, Shenandoah University, William Peace University, and Ferrum College over two days. Despite losing all of these games, there were a lot of great performances across Oberlin’s roster and valuable lessons to learn going forward. Two of the four games were lost in extremely close fashion, with Greensboro besting the Yeowomen 4–2 and William Peace barely eking past with a 2–1 final score.

First-year pitcher Hailey Alspach was a definite highlight of the weekend. Alspach was electric in her collegiate debut against Greensboro. With a total of 62 strikes on 106 pitches, she ended striking out an impressive five at bats and only walking two in the entire game. Alpasch was also clutch later on in the weekend, holding the William Peace Racers to only two runs in their Sunday matchup.

“Even though we didn’t get the results that we were hoping for last weekend, we have already seen a ton of improvement compared to last year,” she said. “We have become an aggressive offensive team with a greater knowledge of how to handle certain defensive situations. Moving forward in the season, the team is really excited to see what we will be able to accomplish with everything we have learned. Hopefully, we’ll be able to show that this team is better at competing than last year and come out with more wins than before.”

Although the results were far from what the Yeowomen were hoping for, young players like Alspach have the team hopeful for the future. Third-year pitcher and first baseman Alaina Di Dio is extremely optimistic about the rest of softball’s season.

“Although the outcome wasn’t what we had hoped for, we did a lot of really good things as a team,” Di Dio said. “We are coming out of the weekend knowing what we need to work on to win these close games and are ready to get back to work before our upcoming spring break trip to Florida. It is a long season, and the games this weekend were only the beginning. Overall, our team is feeling determined and excited for a new era of Oberlin College softball.”

The new era of Oberlin College softball shows a lot of promise.

Newly appointed Head Softball Coach Julie Pratt joined Oberlin after two years as assistant coach at Case Western Reserve University, and her veteran knowledge of the game and 26 years of experience coaching at the collegiate level may steer the Yeowomen in the right direction. She believes the team gained valuable experience in North Carolina

“I saw a lot of great moments in each game,” Pratt said. “We have returned to campus having a list of things to work on to prepare us for our next competition. We are learning a new style of play and our thought and game knowledge showed in each game.”

Clearly, the Yeowomen have a lot of potential going forward this season. Hopefully, they can harness it and turn the year around in their favor. The team hopes to find success in its next game at home this Monday, March 13 against Albion College.

Favorites, Underdogs to Back in March Madness

John Elrod Kayla Kim

Sports Editors

John’s Picks

Favorites:

Men: Kansas

Kansas is a certified blueblood men’s college basketball program. It might not be the most creative move to pick the Jayhawks to have tournament success in the year after they won March Madness, but they are poised for another run. Led by forward Jalen Wilson and guard Gradey Dick, Kansas finished in first place in the best conference in men’s basketball — the Big 12 — and had multiple wins over ranked teams. Most of its trouble this season has come on the road, so it should be able to excel in neutral tournament arenas where Kansas fans will show up in droves. Back Bill Self’s squad to win a second NCAA championship in just as many years.

Women: South Carolina

Dawn Staley’s squad has been the definition of unstoppable this season. After an NCAA championship in 2022, the South Carolina Gamecocks ran

the table in the regular season and Southeastern Conference tournament, compiling a record of 32––0. South Carolina is led by senior forward Aliyah Boston, who nearly averages a double-double with 13.3 points and 9.7 rebounds per game. Senior guard Zia Cooke, averages 15.3 points per game, and, alongside Boston, she will bring a ton of NCAA tournament experience. Expect South Carolina to complete its perfect season.

Underdogs:

Women: UNLV

The UNLV Rebels are 31–2, have won 22 straight games, but just broke into the Associated Press Top 25 last month. They’ve gone undefeated in the Mountain West Conference, which is not particularly strong, but the team proved it can take care of business and won the MWC Tournanment last weekend.

UNLV has a lot to prove, with no wins over ranked teams this season but the Rebels will have opportunities to make a name for themselves in the tournament. Expect Las Vegas native Desi-Rae Young, who averages 18.2 points and 10.2 rebounds per game, to be an X-factor this March.

Men: Memphis

The Memphis Tigers — coached by former NBA star Penny Hardaway — have never been ranked this season. Despite that, they still finished second in the American Athletic Conference and posted a solid 23–8 record on the year. Memphis hasn’t lost by more than eight points all season and came within one basket from beating Houston and Alabama who are ranked No. #1 and No. #4 in the AP rankings. It has yet to actually pull off a huge win this year, but don’t be surprised if Memphis gives top teams some trouble in the tournament.

Kayla’s Picks

Favorites:

Women: Iowa

Not to state the obvious, but Caitlin Clark is a force to be reckoned with. Memorable moments throughout the season included a three-point buzzer-beater against Indiana and the Big Ten Championship against Ohio State, where the two-time Big Ten player of the year scored or assisted 68 out of the 105 points made in the game. Another important player is Monika Czinano, who set

a field goal percentage record in the Big Ten and is ranked 2nd all time for scoring in program history. Iowa is currently projected to be the No. 1 seed, and although it had a frustrating loss to Creighton University in the second round last year, the Hawkeyes are bound to shake things up.

Men: UCLA

Although Jaylen Clark, one of the top defenders in the country, is out with a leg injury, the UCLA Bruins still have potential to go far throughout the tournament. After all, they’ve gone to the Sweet 16 and the Final Four in the past two years. The team still has players such as senior Jaime Jaquez Jr, and freshman Adem Bona, who is the first UCLA player to earn Pac-12 Freshman of the Year. If Mick Cronin strategizes effectively, then they’re going to go far.

Underdogs:

Men: Northwestern

After five consecutive years of finishing below .500, Northwestern is coming off of one of its most dominant seasons yet. Primarily thanks to their defense, the Wildcats are now the third-ranked team in the Big

Ten, the best in program history, and broke their 0–18 losing streak against AP No.1 teams with a win against Purdue. Additionally, for his efforts in rebuilding the program, Head Coach Chris Collins was selected as Big Ten Coach of the year. If selected, the Wildcats could make it even further into the tournament than their historic 2017 March Madness run.

Women: Washington State Seventh-seedWashington State University won the Pac12 Championships, a league ruled by Stanford University, for the first time in program history, upsetting teams such as No. 5-seed UCLA, No. 2-seed Utah, and No. 3-seed Colorado. Key contributors include Charlisse Leger-Walker, who was named the tournament’s MVP thanks to 23 points and seven rebounds made, Bella Murekatete, who scored 21 points and made four rebounds, and Head Coach Kamie Elrtidge, a former All-American at Texas who transformed the program from a 9–21 finish her first year to two back-to-back appearances in March Madness. This time, the Cougars could make it past the first round.

The softball team gained experience in weekend trip to North Carolina. Photos Courtesy of Dave Hilbert