Oberlin College

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Coordinates: 41.292929° N 82.218576° W

Oberlin College
Motto:	Learning and Labor
Established:	September 2, 1833
Type:	Liberal Arts college
Endowment:	816,135,000 USD (2007)[1]
President:	Marvin Krislov
Staff:	1,058
Students:	2,850
Location:	Oberlin, Ohio, United States
Campus:	Rural
Mascot:	Yeomen (men's teams) & Yeowomen (women's teams)
Website:	http://www.oberlin.edu/

Oberlin College is a private, highly selective liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in by abolitionist Congregational Christians, and is home to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, making it the only top-ranked liberal arts college (#20 according to US News & World Report^{[citation needed]}) with a top-ranked conservatory. A study found that more 1999-2003 Oberlin College alumni receive doctorates than do alumni from any other liberal arts college in the country.^[2]

Oberlin College is a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and The Five Colleges of Ohio consortium, including Ohio Wesleyan University, Denison University, Kenyon College, and The College of Wooster.

Oberlin College's motto is "Learning and Labor". Its school colors are crimson and gold.

The newspaper of record is The Oberlin Review. There is also an "alternative" student-run newspaper called The Grape.

[edit] History

The Oberlin campus in 1909

Both the college and the town of Oberlin were founded in 1833 by a pair of Presbyterian ministers, John Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart. The ministers named their project after Jean-Frédéric Oberlin, an Alsatian minister whom they both admired. Oberlin attained prominence because of the influence of its second president, the evangelist Charles Finney, after whom one of the College's chapels and performance spaces is named. Its first president was Asa Mahan (1800-1889), who served as president from 1835-1850.

The college was built on 500 acres (2 km²) of land specifically donated by the previous owner, who lived in Connecticut. Shipherd and Stewart's vision was for both a religious community and school. For a more detailed history of the founding of the town and the college, see Oberlin, Ohio.

Oberlin has long been associated with progressive causes. Its founders bragged that "Oberlin is peculiar in that which is good." Oberlin was the first college in the United States to regularly admit African-American students (1835). It is also the oldest continuously operating coeducational institution, since having admitted four women in 1837. These four women, who were the first to enter as full students, were Mary Kellogg (Fairchild), Mary Caroline Rudd, Mary Hosford, and Elizabeth Prall. All but Kellogg graduated. The college was listed as a National Historic Landmark on December 21, 1965 for its significance in admitting African-Americans and women.^[3]

One historian called Oberlin, "the town that started the Civil War" due to its reputation as a hotbed of abolitionism.^[4] Oberlin was a key stop along the Underground Railroad, station number 99. In 1858, both students and faculty were involved in the controversial Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of a fugitive slave, which received national press coverage. This heritage was commemorated on campus by the 1977 installation of sculptor Cameron Armstrong's "Underground Railroad Monument," a railroad track rising from the ground toward the sky.^[5]

[edit] Pre 1950

Prior to 1950, most of Oberlin's students lived in large houses around town, some owned by the College, and others owned by individual landlords. Starting with the G.I. Bill and continuing with the Baby Boom, Oberlin's student body swelled during the years after World War II. The College's president, William Stevenson, decided to house this influx in large dormitories on campus. In Oberlin's own version of urban renewal, many wooden houses were torn down to make way for Dascomb Hall and its fraternal twin, Barrows Hall, both completed in 1956. Dascomb replaced the former residence of Dr. James Dascomb and Marianne Parker Dascomb, the first principal of the Oberlin Female Department. Dascomb Hall was specifically named after Mrs. Dascomb.^[6]

[edit] Introduction of co-ed dormitories

In 1970, Oberlin made the cover of Life Magazine as one of the first colleges in the country to have co-ed dormitories.

Historian Geoffrey Blodgett, a professor and graduate of Oberlin, pointed out that campus dorms were a cause of anger among students during the 1960's. Students reacted vocally against the new dorms of the 1950s (Dascomb, East, North and South), calling them expedient "slabs" of "sleeping and feeding space,"^[7] and this protest soon took on other controversies, including the Civil Rights Movement and the Vietnam War. Dascomb went from being the impetus for protest to the vehicle of social change in 1967 when it was transformed into a co-ed dorm during winter term of 1969. Hebrew House, as it was known, was set up as winter term project to operate similar to an Israeli kibbutz. In January 1969, with the approval of Dean of Students George Langeler, Dascomb became the first co-ed college dormitory in the United States. The experiment was a success, and now all but one of Oberlin College's dormitories are coed. The Baldwin Cottage dorm is open only to women and transgendered people.

[edit] Sports teams

The school's varsity sports teams are the Yeomen and Yeowomen. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the North Coast Athletic Conference. Oberlin's football team was the first team coached by legendary coach John Heisman, who led the team to a 7–0 record in 1892. Oberlin is the last college in Ohio to beat Ohio State (winning 7-6 in 1921). Though in modern times the football team was more famous for losing streaks of 40 games (1992–1996) and 44 games (1997–2001), the Yeomen have enjoyed limited success in recent years. The college also hosts several club sports teams, including the Oberlin Ultimate team. Oberlin Ultimate was founded in 1976 and is often among the top 10 teams in its region.

[edit] Student Cooperative Association

The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, or OSCA, is a non-profit corporation that houses 175 students and feeds 630 students in multiple sites. Its budget is nearly $2 million, making it the third-largest of its kind in North America,^{[citation needed]} and by far the largest relative to the size of the institution whose students it serves.^{[citation needed]}

OSCA is entirely student-run, with all participating students working as cooks, buyers, administrators, organizers, and every participant is required to do at least one hour per week of cleaning, making sure that no one is valued above others. Most decisions within OSCA are made by Consensus. Oberlin bans all fraternities and sororities (although for generations the presence of underground African-American fraternal organizations has been rumored),^{[citation needed]} making the co-ops the largest student-organized social system at the college.

[edit] Academics

Of Oberlin's 2,800 or so students, roughly 2,200 are enrolled in the College of Arts & Sciences, a little over 400 in the Conservatory of Music, and the remaining 150 or so in both College and Conservatory under the five-year Double Degree program.Average SAT/ACT scores for advanced classes is around 27 - 29^{[citation needed]}. Standard class scores are between 19 - 20.^[8]

[edit] College of Arts & Sciences

Peters Hall, home of the language departments.

The College of Arts & Sciences offers over 45 majors, minors and concentrations. Based on students graduating with a given major, its most popular majors over the last ten years have been (in order) English, Biology, History, Politics and Environmental Studies. Sciences are considered strong for a smaller liberal arts college, especially Chemistry and Neuroscience.

[edit] Allen Memorial Art Museum and Mudd Library

The Allen Memorial Art Museum, with over 12,000 holdings, was the first college art museum west of the Alleghenies and is held on par with those at Princeton, Harvard, and Yale.^[9] The Oberlin College Library System is one of the largest undergraduate library systems in the nation, containing over 2 million volumes and 3,500 print subscriptions in five separate facilities (Main Library, Art Library, Conservatory of Music Library, Science Library and Carnegie Storage), a large Special Collections department with strengths in Oberliniana and anti-slavery material, and 62 staff. In addition to the breadth of its holdings, it is recognized for its quality: the library received the Association of College and Research Libraries Award for Excellence in 2002, and in 2006 Director of Libraries Ray English was named the ALA's "Academic/Research Librarian of the Year".

[edit] OhioLINK consortium

Oberlin students and faculty benefit by Oberlin's membership in the OhioLINK consortium, providing access to 12,000+ commercially licensed online journals, 130 databases, 18,000+ ebooks and rapidly growing digital media collections. The OhioLINK Central Catalog represents the library holdings of 87 libraries in the state, including the State Library of Ohio, plus the Center for Research Libraries. The collection is nearing 10 million unique records representing 27.5 million holdings in the system, and undergraduates account for the larger percentage of OhioLINK online borrowing - the process by which any enrolled student can readily request the loan of books and other items from any other library in the system.

[edit] Experimental College

The college's "Experimental College" or ExCo program, a student-run department, allows any student or interested person to teach their own class for a limited amount of college credit. ExCo classes by definition focus on material not covered by existing departments or faculty. Many courses supplement conventional disciplines, from languages and areas of cinema or literature, to musical ensembles, martial arts and forms of dancing. Other ExCos cover an array of topics, in the past ranging from Aquariums^[10] to Wilderness Skills.^[11] Due to the nature of ExCo, while some staple courses are continued for years, the overall number and selection of classes offered varies dramatically from semester to semester.^[12]

[edit] Winter Term

Another aspect of Oberlin's academics is the Winter Term during the month of January. This term was created to allow students to do something outside the regular course offerings of the college. Students may work alone or in groups, either on or off campus, and may design their own project or pick from a list of projects and internships set up by the college each year. Projects range from serious academic research with co-authorship in scientific journals, to humanitarian projects, to learning how to bartend. A full-credit project is suggested to involve five to six hours per weekday.^[13]

[edit] Culture

[edit] Political activism

Students passing through the Memorial Arch in front of Peters Hall. The arch is dedicated to the memory of missionaries from Oberlin who were killed in the Boxer Rebellion.

Oberlin students have a reputation for being radically liberal and/or progressive. Oberlin has a thriving LGBT community, and most students are well informed about the intricacies of gender politics. The college was ranked as the eleventh most politically active by the Princeton Review, in 2005^{[citation needed]}. The college also received an A among so-called "hipster ivy leagues" in Robert Lanham's homage to the eponymous subjects of his 2003 Hipster Handbook, second to The Evergreen State College which received an A+.

Student unrest following the arrests of protesters on the lawn of then-President S. Frederick Starr's home on April 13, 1990, and his ongoing struggles with the faculty, were major factors in his eventual departure from Oberlin. Recent activism among the student body has resulted in a campus-wide ban on sales of Coca-Cola products^[14] and a vote of no confidence in the college's president at the time, Nancy S. Dye, in May 2005.^[15] This vote, as well as similar actions by the faculty, likely played a role in her resignation in September of 2006.

A sampling of the school's past commencement speakers reflects its reputation for embracing diversity, ranging from Archbishop Desmond Tutu, Martin Luther King, Jr. and Jesse L. Jackson to figures as varied as Pete Seeger and Robert Frost; even Adlai Stevenson appeared, a month prior to his death.

Conservative blogger Michelle Malkin attended Oberlin, showing the politically diverse voice of the campus.

[edit] Music

Conservatory of Music at Oberlin College

The top-ranked Oberlin Conservatory of Music is located on the Oberlin College campus. Conservatory admission is rigorous, with over 1400 applicants worldwide auditioning for 120 seats. As a result, the quality of Oberlin's artistic community is high. Students benefit from over 500 performances yearly, most free of charge, with concerts and recitals almost daily.

In addition, Oberlin has a myriad of musical opportunities available for amateur musicians and students in the college. The Oberlin Gilbert and Sullivan Players (OGASP) perform one Gilbert and Sullivan operetta each semester. The entirely student-run Oberlin College Marching band (OCMB), founded in 1998, performs at football games throughout the year. There are a number of a cappella groups, including the Obertones (all-male), Nothing But Treble (all-female), and the Offbeats (co-ed). In addition, students in the college can form chamber groups and receive coaching through the conservatory. Student composers also provide a demand for musicians to perform their work.

The college radio station WOBC, and the party circuit (including the popular on-campus venue, The 'Sco) contribute to the campus music scene. Many alumni have pursued careers in popular and indie music, including members of the bands Come, Deerhoof, Liz Phair, Josh Ritter, Songs: Ohia, The Sea and Cake, Tortoise, Trans Am, Sleepytime Gorilla Museum, and the Yeah Yeah Yeahs. Due in part to both this and the school's proximity to Cleveland, the college attracts touring artists with a frequency nearly unparalleled among institutions of its size.

Oberlin College is also home to the steel drum ensemble Oberlin Steel, which has performed at venues including Central Park, New York's Lincoln Center, and the Lincoln Memorial.

[edit] Art

Oberlin's museum has a unique art rental program. At the beginning of every semester students camp out in front of the north gate of the college's Allen Memorial Art Museum to get first pick of original etchings, lithographs and paintings by artists including Renoir, Warhol, Dalí, and Picasso. For five dollars per semester, students can hang these works on their dorm room walls. The program was started in the 1940s by Ellen Johnson, a professor of art at Oberlin, in order to "develop the aesthetic sensibilities of students and encourage ordered thinking and discrimination in other areas of their lives."^[16]

[edit] Events

Oberlin annually holds a Safer Sex Night and the Drag Ball, school-sponsored parties. The former originated in the 1980s as a response to the AIDS crisis, and features costumes, dancing, workshops, and free safe sex supplies provided by the Sexual Information Center.^[17] The latter is the last event of Transgender Awareness Week. Two of the largest events on campus each year, they draw large crowds of students, as well as criticism from social conservatives.

[edit] Athletics

[edit] Football

Oberlin played its first football game in 1891, going 2 and 2 that season. In 1892, they were coached by John Heisman; Oberlin went 7 and 0, beating Ohio State twice by scores of 40-0 and 50-0 and the University of Michigan. They outscored opponents 262 to 30.

Oberlin was one of the founding members of the Ohio Athletic Conference in 1902, along with Case, Kenyon College, Ohio State, Ohio Wesleyan University and Western Reserve. The league commonly was known as the "Big Six." Ohio State joined the Big Ten in 1913. Ohio State's all-time highest margin of victory was a 128-0 thrashing of Oberlin in 1916. Oberlin is the last in-state school to defeat Ohio State. The Yeomen upset the Buckeyes 7-6 at Ohio Field in Columbus in 1921.

The Oberlin teams of 1994 to 2000 have been rated the fifth worst college football team of all time by ESPN.com's Page 2. In 1994, Oberlin lost all nine games of its season scoring only ten points and giving up 358 points. In 1995, the Yeomen were outscored 469 to 72. In August 1996, Sports Illustrated featured Oberlin in its annual College Football Preview as the worst team in Division III. After four winless seasons from 1993 to 1996, Oberlin opened its 1997 season with an 18-17 victory over Thiel College sparking post-game jubilation with fans rushing the field. The victory garnered national attention as ESPN featured it on SportsCenter. Oberlin would not win again for years. Swarthmore College and Oberlin scheduled a 1999 matchup, with both schools nursing long losing streaks, just so one of them could end their streak. Oberlin lost 6-42 and continued a 40-game losing streak, ending it with a 53-22 victory over Kenyon College at home in October 2001.^[18][19]

Since then the team has enjoyed modest success, staying competitive in most matches and going 5-5 (with better than .500 records in conference) in 2003, 2006, and 2007.

[edit] Ultimate

Oberlin has both a men's and a women's Ultimate team, known as the Flying Horsecows and the Preying Manti^[20] respectively. The Horsecows have made trips to College Nationals in 1992, 1995, 1997, and 1999. The Manti qualified for Nationals for the first time in 1997. Both teams also maintain a tradition of emphasizing the spirit of Ultimate.

[edit] Notable alumni

Main article: List of Oberlin College alumni

Oberlin has graduated three Nobel Laureates and six MacArthur Fellows. Alumni have achieved success in a variety of fields and include the mayor of Washington, D.C.; the co-founder of Ben & Jerry's; the physicist who measured the charge of an electron; the first African American major league baseball player; a former executive director of Amnesty International; a Tony- and Emmy-winning director; a professional wrestler; a lesbian cartoonist; as well as musicians, playwrights, novelists, and activists and commentators spanning the political spectrum.

[edit] In popular culture

On page 327 in the book, and in the 1998 movie version of Toni Morrison's 'Beloved", Kimberly Elise's character Denver exclaims:"She says I might go to Oberlin" (slightly different in the movie). As Morrison's book revolves around characters who have living memories of slavery of being enslaved and of real loss that haunts them greatly, so college was a rather lofty, yet attainable idea, so high were people willing to climb.

Robert Downey Jr's character Roger Baron in the 1989 film 'True Believer' attended Oberlin College.

Oberlin was mentioned in the popular 2004 American movie Eurotrip as the school that the main character attends at the end of the film. It is a joke referring the fact that the plot of the movie has the main character trying to find a girl in Berlin, Germany only to be united with her at the college in Ohio, which sounds like "Oh Berlin." Humorously, the campus portrayed in the movie bears little resemblance to the actual Oberlin campus, including a lake that is conspicuously absent in real life.

The protagonist in H.P. Lovecraft's horror short story The Shadow Over Innsmouth spends his senior year at Oberlin.

Oberlin features prominently in the novel The Color of Light by William Goldman, an alumnus of the college.

Richard Orloff's play Vietnam 101: The War on Campus depicts the turmoil that occurred on the Oberlin Campus in the 1960s and 1970s as a result of the Vietnam War.^[21]

[edit] References

[edit] External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

Oberlin College

• Oberlin College Website
• Oberlin College Student Senate
• Oberlin College Library
• Oberlin College Archives
• Oberwiki, the Oberlin wiki
• Oberlin College Marching Band
• Oberlin College Press

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