<p>in response to a number of recent "hate-related" incidents on campus</p>
<p>“Hatred is like fire -- it makes even light rubbish deadly.” </p>
<p>Watching the live stream from the convocation, I was mostly proud to be an alumni. Panelists were students, faculty, admin, president - there’s tensions about the admin not having done enough/been involved early enough but there’s also a collective “we are together in this” vibe from most it seemed - that may have not been felt for quite some time. What I hope comes out of this discussion is some changes from the admin but also changes from the students - a few devisive comments/questions were pretty self-centered “this is my pain, you don’t share it” and “you people are priviledged” when all students of Oberlin are obviously priviledged in some way.</p>
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<p>Without further elaboration, the meaning of your statement is unclear, and so can be construed as untrue and mean spirited. (Not to mention, misspelled.) Everyone - students, faculty, staff at Oberlin is privileged to belong to a community which seeks to learn openly in an institution rich, both literally and figuratively, in learning opportunities. With this privilege comes the responsibility to examine privilege in all of its aspects. Many Oberlin community members are open to examining their varied privileges honestly. I hope this is what you meant. </p>
<p>The students and staff are reeling from these frightening incidents. They are hurt, angry, afraid. This is a tremendously scary series of events - an unrelenting series of hate crimes, implicit threats to life coming from an unknown source. The community is doing its best to come together. Young people are learning through a crucible of fire there. Staff are besieged from all sides, trying their best to support the community. Violent events bring out the best, and worst, in people.</p>
<p>Please, for the sake of everyone in the Oberlin community, suspend judgement and criticism until the crisis has passed and more information is known. Really - there is a need for support, not criticism at this moment.</p>
<p>I am just floored that my comments, after watching the convocation, could be construed as mean-spirited - that was not my intent. What would be mean-spirited is perhaps not considering all opinions including ones that are unlike your own in the discussion - that leads to division which is what the campus doesn’t need right now. A number of comments like mine were made at the convocation - how to approach the discussion is certainly a timely topic. Listen to everyone. That is all I am saying. And sorry for the spelling error but really, was the correction more for your enjoyment or to hurt me? I am a 49 yr old alumni - give me some respect.</p>
<p>amanda, as the parent of a prospective Oberlin student, I did not see anything mean-spirited in your post. I saw support and pride in your alma mater, and a desire for things to improve.</p>
<p>I’m yet another parent of a prospective Oberlin student. Thank you, Amanda, for your comments. I found them reassuring and not at all mean-spirited.</p>
<p>Ms. Ladybug, I certainly understand the pain and rage that so many are feeling. But have there really been “implicit threats to life coming from an unknown source”? What has been reported is ugly for sure, but unless you know more than what has been reported, I don’t think it rises to threats on anyone’s life. I think Oberlin students, faculty and administration are doing the right thing - to stand together and say that they will not tolerate hatred and intimidation.</p>
<p>Amanda - I’m a 56 year old parent - so what does age have to do with it? But, apparently I am the only 56 year old parent on this discussion board that takes exception to calling students “divisive” for calling attention to others’ privilege. Is it not the students right to call attention to others privilege?, and is it not just as much my right as yours to say that I find your comment, with lack of elaboration, divisive as well? Is it not OK to say that I take exception the throwaway end of your sentence, stating “all students of Oberlin are obviously privileged in some way”. I’m sorry, but I know Oberlin students too, and I know that not all of them are privileged. I suppose, however, we can chalk this disagreement up to the inadequacies of written communication, without the body language and the opportunity to clarify with continued spoken dialog the meaning and intent of what is written. So, my apologies if I misunderstood your meaning. You didn’t clarify much and your words could be misconstrued, as I said.</p>
<p>The voices that are most important to listen to are those of the students themselves:</p>
<p>[Classes</a> Cancelled for Reflection on Recent Events | Fearless and Loathing](<a href=“http://www.fearlessandloathing.com/2013/03/classes-cancelled-for-reflection-on-recent-events/#more-7416]Classes”>http://www.fearlessandloathing.com/2013/03/classes-cancelled-for-reflection-on-recent-events/#more-7416)</p>
<p>Please note the comment at the end of the article: the administration only decided to cancel classes after considerable pressure from the students of the Afrikan Heritage House: “It should be reported that the college very hesitantly cancelled classes and only after hours of pushing and demanding from those students in A-House. The administration did not take action. The community laid out their plans and demanded the administration listen to them; once the community threatened to blockade class, the college took their demands seriously.”</p>
<p>Re: implicit threats to life - one of the (many) hate crime incidents was a reported physical assault preceded by a race-based slur towards the victim. Another of the (many) hate crime incidents were pictures of KKK members in regalia, and a picture of a fist holding a noose with the caption “It’s not Illegal to be White … yet” with a link to a white supremacist website. And, just last night, students reported being harassed by motor vehicles. My daughter called me last night, very scared: “mom, people are posting on Facebook that they are being chased from the streets in cars”. (Today, the College security office posted official Clery warnings of these vehicular harassment events). Oh, and the latest poster to be displayed, with a swastika and the heading “filthy K***s”. Do you not think that people would feel physically unsafe, afraid of violence with such things happening? If you cannot wrap your brain around that, just try a little harder.</p>
<p>These are violent acts. These are implicit threats. Students and community members are afraid, some more so than others. The administration is taking action, as should be the case. The students are there to learn and practice the best ways to take responsible political action in all its various forms. But, the administration bears the ultimate responsibility for action, as they, not the students, are in the position of power to stop the perpetration of these criminal acts and protect the community from further harm.</p>
<p>Again, read the students voices themselves:</p>
<p><a href=“http://obiemicroaggressions.■■■■■■■■■■/[/url]”>http://obiemicroaggressions.■■■■■■■■■■/</a></p>
<p>Please, stand in solidarity against this violence. It is despicable. And, the administration does owe the students a strong, protective response and a full explanation of what concrete action steps they have taken thus far so that the students can feel safe, and of how they will continue ongoing swift action to protect the community from this violence.</p>
<p>oberlin alum michelle malkin as written a couple articles on this</p>
<p>As the parent of a prospective student, with plans to visit Oberlin in the near future, I have a question. Is the general feeling that the racist activities at Oberlin are the work of one individual with serious problems or is it a more pervasive thing?</p>
<p>Ms. Ladybug, </p>
<p>Thanks for your comments. I wholeheartedly agree.</p>
<p>Nevermind. I just read all of Ms. Ladybug’s post and I see that it is more than one individual.</p>
<p>Rupert: Really, until the actual perpetrators are definitively caught and brought to justice and their true identities are publicized, it seems to me foolish not to consider all possibilities. Apparently, some news outlets are reporting that the Oberlin City Police have made a statement that two students are under investigation. Marvin Krislov has a statement on the Oberlin Website today where he stresses that there is an active investigation underway with multiple law enforcement personnel involved, that in order to cooperative fully with the law enforcement investigation, no details can be disclosed, and specifically making an appeal for people to share any information / tips which might pertain to the investigation with the College security office:</p>
<p><a href=“https://oncampus.oberlin.edu/source/articles/2013/03/06/we-stand-united[/url]”>https://oncampus.oberlin.edu/source/articles/2013/03/06/we-stand-united</a></p>
<p>It’s also theoretically possible that the perpetrators are staff, not students. And, if you let your imagination theorize about who would have motive to perpetrate a series of vicious homophobic, anti-semitic, and anti-black hate crimes, well, neo-nazis come to mind. According to the SPLC, there is one of each of the following organized groups with active units outside of Cleveland: neo-nazi, white supremacist, KKK, and a general hate group. </p>
<p>So, really, if you think about it and consider all possibilities, it could be as small as some totally cowardly students who think they are having fun at the College’s expense, to a planned series of attacks by an insider affiliated with a larger group with intent to carry out further attacks. Until such time as law enforcement finishes the job, it’s anyone’s guess.</p>
<p>Everyone affiliated with the College has an urgent need to know who is responsible as soon as possible so speculation and fear can end. And, now is the time to support everyone, including the beleaguered Administration, to solve the mystery of these crimes so justice can be done and students, staff and families can re-group and pick up the pieces.</p>
<p>What the Oberlin Student Newspaper has gathered about the facts of the case as of today:</p>
<p>[Campus</a> on High Alert, Student Organizers Targeted](<a href=“http://oberlinreview.org/article/campus-high-alert-student-organizers-targeted/]Campus”>http://oberlinreview.org/article/campus-high-alert-student-organizers-targeted/)</p>
<p>This just in today’s 3/7/13 news:</p>
<p>[Oberlin</a> College: FBI Will Investigate Racist Fliers, Bias Incidents](<a href=“HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost”>HuffPost - Breaking News, U.S. and World News | HuffPost)</p>
<p>“Spokesman Scott Wargo says the college approached the FBI with “significant concerns” about the incidents, which began the first week of February. He says the FBI notified Oberlin on Thursday that it would begin investigating.”</p>
<p>I hope parents of prospective students place these “incidents” in proper perspective, and not let it influence their opinion of Oberlin College. These types of incidents are extraordinarily rare at Oberlin. There are few colleges in America that don’t have similar types of “incidents.” Example, at Lehigh University, the election of President Obama in 2008 triggered direct harassment of black students by their right wing white classmates ON CAMPUS! Forget about outside agitators and hate mongerers. How about being afraid of your classmates? I live close to that campus and read all about it. Talk about campus churn, hastily called student and administrator peace meetings. There is much, much worse stuff happening. After all, this is America. I watched a video tape of Black Students at Bowdoin complaining about the racism on campus from fellow students. </p>
<p>Before deciding that Oberlin must not be such a great place because of these, frankly, relatively tame “hate incidents” (I say that and I’m black) and encourage your child to look elsewhere, dig deep into the archives of other college newspapers and local town/city news and you’ll uncover all sorts of stuff and much of it will not be all that old. It’s just not in the news right now. It’s forgotten, just like these incidents at Oberlin by outsiders will be in a couple of years. </p>
<p>My D is a senior at Oberlin. She loves the school and has never experienced any issues from students or townies, on campus or off. A year or two ago, someone was painting anti-gay and anti-black slurs on benches and buildings, sparking the usual campus uproar, with exclamations of “how could this happen here?” The perpetrator turned out to be a black, gay Oberlin student. I’d call it an unfortunate example of self-hatred that can occur anywhere.</p>
<p>Again, this is America. Unfortunately, this stuff happens all over this country. But it doesn’t happen as often at Oberlin as it does at other schools. It happens so often at other schools it doesn’t even make the local news. At Oberlin, a single “N” word scrawled on the inside of a toilet stall sends people rushing into the streets in emotional turmoil. Okay, a slight exaggeration, but I hope you get my point.</p>
<p>One of the interesting dynamics that I’ve noticed is the tension between unity and diversity. I guess this is being reconciled as “let’s stand united for diversity” – but the conflict doesn’t disappear by saying that. In the end, many (I don’t know HOW many, but it seems to be TOO many) people have their own idea of what kinds of diversity matter and which kinds can take a back seat. And that’s fine. We’re all doing this, more or less. It’s just that when we do that and take positions as though our filter is the one everyone else should be united with, that sort of alpha-posturing is at odds with the idea of being united. That sort of righteousness actually creates barriers when people should be building bridges.</p>
<p>I see this with positions that I’m inclined to agree with…advocated by people who get overly aggressive about shoving that view down and making others bend to it. I agree with the substance of the commentary and I still feel put off by the approach. I’d like to see more listening – the unappreciated half of “discussion” that many people assume is the responsibility for the other people in the room. I even understand the idea that people want to convey their passion for their position. That’s still no excuse for not listening to the other views. When someone is so passionate that they won’t hear someone else out before staking their ground, it’s difficult to respect where that person is coming from because it looks and sounds like they arrived at their position by putting on blinders and ear plugs.</p>
<p>This is how allies alienate each other…not just at Oberlin but all over. And it’s a shame. You get people who are very united on the substance actively working to differentiate themselves…to the point where they prefer to focus on the differences. It just takes a small number of toxic people to build wedges where bridges are needed. And tense moments, like the ones going on at Oberlin, are like a dog whistle to these people. The task of the majority of people is to not let the toxic, divisive people control the conversation or drive the discussion.</p>
<p>If someone says something that might be worth taking offense to, it might be better to hear them out and finding where there’s common ground (if any) before carpet-bombing. Why kill off your allies? That just makes your real enemies stronger, more threatening, more enabled, and satisfied that they’ve plotted the correct course. I look at some of the divisions created at Oberlin right now and imagine the back-slapping going on among the people who are directly responsible…and that makes me go a little bit berserk because those are the people who I have REAL issues with and want to give a piece of my mind.</p>
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<p>Um, in the case of the incidents that have transpired at Oberlin, the “toxic, divisive stuff” is hate crimes. Dyer, if the thesis of your argument above is that the focus should be on combatting “the people who are directly responsible”, I agree with you. I’m not sure why you did not explicitly name organized hate groups as one of the “real enemies” in your rather general commentary. Some of the materials found on campus are linked to organized hate groups. Hate crimes can rise to the level of Federal civil rights violations, which is presumably why the Oberlin Administration has brought in the FBI to investigate.</p>
<p>The NYT has also again reported on the ongoing story today:</p>
<p><a href=“Ohio: F.B.I. Enters Inquiry at Oberlin - The New York Times”>Ohio: F.B.I. Enters Inquiry at Oberlin - The New York Times;
<p>The NYT brief links to the 3/6/13 article in the Oberlin Review, the student newspaper. The students themselves have, IMHO, provided the most detailed reports of the incidents to date. If you read the Review article carefully and the associated comments, it appears that there has been circumstantial evidence uncovered that ties the hate speech to organized hate groups. The whole mystery of who has perpetrated all the instances of hate crimes, and why, is yet to be solved - whether or not it is all a hoax, perpetrated by students or other actors for self-aggrandizing or other ulterior motives, or actions perpetrated by members of real hate groups for the purpose of injuring those they hate, spreading hate to a wider audience and gaining more notoriety, has yet to be revealed.</p>
<p>The Oberlin Administration sent an e-mail update to the parents today, repeating verbatim the Safety and Security update that was posted in the “Source” on the Oberlin website on Thursday. I can only speculate that the fact that the Administration is choosing to update the parents of the security measures in place on campus is indicative that the Administration and the law enforcement bodies who are investigating are still finding enough cause for ongoing safety concerns that extra security measures are still in place on campus.</p>
<p>“I can only speculate that the fact that the Administration is choosing to update the parents of the security measures in place on campus is indicative that the Administration and the law enforcement bodies who are investigating are still finding enough cause for ongoing safety concerns that extra security measures are still in place on campus.”</p>
<p>My take on this was that the administration was merely reassuring parents that Oberlin takes the safety of their community seriously. My daughter tells me she has never felt unsafe at Oberlin.</p>
<p>I think that Oberlin has handled these incidents exceptionally well, but I would like to respectfully disagree with the above poster that </p>
<p><em>There are few colleges in America that don’t have similar types of “incidents.”</em></p>
<p>I think it is rare, and that is one reason it made the news.</p>