My whole life I have only heard good things about O. Last year a friend took her child for a visit and was taken aback by the “anger” that seemed to be a part of the campus culture and campus ambiance. They left before the event was concluded. Maybe there’s something going wrong there.
Yes, there is something rotten in Oberlin.
For review:
^^^ is that the real pleading posted on the Scribd site? I find it bizarre and suspicious that the plaintiffs in the document referred to the eldest Gibson as “Grandpa Gibson.”
^ Perhaps Allyn W. Gibson was referred to as “Grandpa Gibson” (see Footnote 1) in order to distinguish him from Allyn D. Gibson, grandson.
The article doesn’t connect all the dots for me. All I could gleen from it was that there were protests and that, for some reason, the administration was held liable for things that were said or done by the protesters. I don’t see the nexus.
@JBStillFlying “^ Perhaps Allyn W. Gibson was referred to as “Grandpa Gibson” (see Footnote 1) in order to distinguish him from Allyn D. Gibson, grandson.”
Perhaps.
Affixing the seal of a court clerk or another officer of the court or fraudulently modifying a filed document seems a bit of an extreme act yielding no obvious advantage.
These articles are upsetting; in that they uninformed and hurtful too so many people just working to get a good education. I am currently a student at Oberlin, and experienced this whole thing. I thought the protests were stupid from the start, people were just upset about Trump winning the election and this became an unfortunate way to unify. The president of the college did send an email discouraging people from protesting, and was very much neutral in this situation. I don’t understand why so many people harbor such hatred for a school and student body they know very little about. Oberlin is a diverse school of talented and driven people, just looking to become educated. About 5% of the school are very loud and outspoken liberals, that do dominate some of the discourse. I could have gone to several great institutions but I chose Oberlin because I saw how much it prioritized comprehensive learning. The courses are rigorous and the students driven. This whole incident is stupid, Gibsons may have lost some business, but few students from the college even shopped there anyway. The people running it are just generally not very nice, and most of their products are expired. Can people please just leave Oberlin alone. I don’t understand why every incident at the liberal arts college must make national news.
I go to Oberlin and all of this is just hype from people who know very little about the actual situation. Only about 5% of the student body actually protested, many people objected and thought it was stupid at the time. Everyone was on edge about Trump and looking for something to unify over. Overall Oberlin has good professors and good students, and honestly they handled this situation as best they could given the information they had at the time. I am hoping this whole thing will blow over.
“These articles are upsetting; in that they uninformed and hurtful too so many people just working to get a good education. I am currently a student at Oberlin, and experienced this whole thing. I thought the protests were stupid from the start, people were just upset about Trump winning the election and this became an unfortunate way to unify. The president of the college did send an email discouraging people from protesting, and was very much neutral in this situation. I don’t understand why so many people harbor such hatred for a school and student body they know very little about. Oberlin is a diverse school of talented and driven people, just looking to become educated. About 5% of the school are very loud and outspoken liberals, that do dominate some of the discourse. I could have gone to several great institutions but I chose Oberlin because I saw how much it prioritized comprehensive learning. The courses are rigorous and the students driven. This whole incident is stupid, Gibsons may have lost some business, but few students from the college even shopped there anyway. The people running it are just generally not very nice, and most of their products are expired. Can people please just leave Oberlin alone. I don’t understand why every incident at the liberal arts college must make national news.”
Got a link to the email “discouraging people from protesting” with the headers and time stamp intact?
I just wanted to create this thread, because a lot of misinformation and strong opinions have been flying around. For those students and parents considering Oberlin, the school really has a lot to offer. I consider myself center-left and open-minded, and there are many other people like me here. I have been very happy with the quality of my education at Oberlin.
These article and opinions are upsetting; in that they are uninformed and hurtful too so many people just working to get a good education. I am currently a student at Oberlin, and experienced this whole thing. I thought the protests were stupid from the start, people were just upset about Trump winning the election and this became an unfortunate way to unify. The president of the college did send an email discouraging people from protesting, and was very much neutral in this situation. I don’t understand why so many people harbor such hatred for a school and student body they know very little about. Oberlin is a diverse school of talented and driven people, just looking to become educated. About 5% of the school are very loud and outspoken liberals, that do dominate some of the discourse. I could have gone to several great institutions but I chose Oberlin because I saw how much it prioritized comprehensive learning. The courses are rigorous and the students driven. This whole incident is stupid, Gibsons may have lost some business, but few students from the college even shopped there anyway. The people running it are just generally not very nice, and most of their products are expired. Not saying this is justification for their unfair treatment by some of the student body, but they are not the cute Mom and Pop store that has been depicted in the news. In conclusion, can people please just leave Oberlin alone. I don’t understand why every incident at the liberal arts college must make national news. There are plenty of awesome things happening here too!!! That don’t seem to garner the same kind of sensationalism.
OK there is no need for hostility. But I am saying that the college did not condone the protesting, and was put in a difficult position. I would assert that email is a discouragement from protesting.
“We understand from our conversations with Mr. Gibson that his family and employees are committed to providing safe, fair, and respectful treatment of all patrons of their establishment moving forward. In all its business relationships, the College expects that its vendors will put into practice these core values, and we hope that this resolution will allow our broader community to envision strategies to resolve conflicts without violence.”
This is basically saying “we do not think Gibsons is at fault” in diplomatic terms. I really do not want to get into a cyber debate about this I am just trying to say that the college did not condone the protests, and many of the students were against them. None of the professors even acknowledged the protest. It was really operated by several uninformed students. Additionally the business was not even that affected because students rarely shopped there anyway. I just think that this was a stupid incident that was blown way out of proportion and I am trying to bring it back to its reality on this forum. As someone who actually experienced the whole thing, who has shopped at Gibsons and continued to (they have a good beer selection), who witnessed the protest, and who received emails from the college.
Oberlin didn’t suspend their Gibson’s order until November 14th, 5 days after the shoplifting incident, and reestablished their order on January 20th. On what date was this letter sent? In any case the letter seems to imply that the Gibson’s were the party primarily at fault. “We understand from our conversations with Mr. Gibson that his family and employees are committed to providing safe, fair, and respectful treatment of all patrons of their establishment moving forward” implies that they had not provided this in the past. Nowhere in this letter is there an acknowledgement that Oberlin or its students (including the students who were arrested) were in any way in the wrong.
" . . . . . This whole incident is stupid, . . . "
$44 million dollars - whether or not it is the final
sum - is not a trivial matter
" . . . . . Gibsons may have lost some business, . . . ."
Indeed. The court’s verdict reflects that occurrence.
" . . . . . few students from the college even shopped there anyway. . . . "
Enough so to provide at least part of the shoplifters reflected in the OPD statistics.
" . . . . The people running it are just generally not very nice, . . . . "
All anecdotal but many in the community are on the record with contradictory reports.
" . . . . . and most of their products are expired. . . . "
That’s problematic. When did you conduct your survey? Before the protest or afterwards? What was the date(s) of your examination and specific percentage of expired products?
Why are you so opposed what I am saying? Of course I don’t have a survey of the expired food at Gibsons. It has always been that way, and I have shopped their my entire time at Oberlin. I am honestly just trying to share the actual first hand facts of what I have experienced, because these sensationalist news sources and even the Jury do not seem to have an actual grasp of the reality of the situation. I don’t hate Gibsons and I don’t unwaveringly support Oberlin, I am just a student who is trying to bring this back to reality. I think it is unfair how people group the student body, and refer to the institution so generally and brutally with such bizarre relish, when they have very little understanding of what actually happened and what is currently happening at Oberlin.
I understand what you are saying, but this was a diplomatic approach to subsiding the protests. This letter is clearly directed toward participants of the protest, as a way of saying that Gibsons is not at fault. You must understand it was hard to know what had actually happened at the time. It was not as clear as it is now.
Continuing my attempt to disperse misinformation. Oberlin enrollment was actually up last year. It was down the year before, and that gained the the national spotlight for reasons that I do not understand. Again, the media seems to always be looking for the bad things. There have been two Truman Scholars from Oberlin in the last two years. Countless Fulbright recipients, I believe 5 students this year going to Google for software engineering. I know a student going to Harvard, and another going to CalTech for PhD, and several going to Julliard for masters, these are just a few names to mention. These are facts that I do not want to be clouded in this whirlwind of sensationalism.
" . . . . Additionally the business was not even that affected because students rarely shopped there anyway. I just think that this was a stupid incident that was blown way out of proportion . . . . "
If few students actually shopped there the above comment would still seem to ignore the prior relationship that the plaintiff had with Bon Appetite before the protests.
And again, a duly constituted court of competent jurisdiction has recently indicated a position contrary to that expressed above to the tune of $44,000,000.00.
If people are dismayed with the college and those associated with it it may be in part due to their failure to embrace the gravity of this matter.
MODERATOR’S NOTE:
The thread is getting a bit too debate-y between a few posters. Make your point and move on; don’t continue to hammer your point please.
That letter is damning and is probably part of the reason for the jury’s verdict and award. Oberlin made it sound like Gibson’s was at fault.
Was the full text of the letter removed by the moderators? I can’t find it anymore.