<< Front page Commentary November 21, 2003

Editorial

Oberlin protesting in practice?

Frontpagemag.com’s ludicrous account of Oberlin College culture, while hardly worth its salt as a published article, raises several avenues for campus discourse. Aside from the warped portrayal of Oberlin values (according to The Grape, writer Jean Pearce scoured back issues of the Review and Grape to constitute her “research”), the scathing portrayal of Oberlin politics is certainly worth examining. While the Review backs the accuracy of our reporting, we feel that a realistic representation of campus must include much more than our weekly pages.

In the article, titled “Radical Activist U: Oberlin College,” Pearce states that “Oberlin is the place to get an education for future radical activists.” It is only fair then to point out that Oberlin is also a place where some of the world’s best Western musicians come to mature, a place where the sciences flourish and a place where ideology is as diverse as the campus ruckus over safe space.

In assuming Oberlin students are all radical activists in training, we should be aware of a number of protests and demonstrations that Obies will be participating in during the next few days.

As we write, Oberlin students have joined thousands of other activists in Miami to protest meetings discussing the Free Trade Area of the Americas, a series of agreements that would virtually end export tariffs between North and South American countries. Protesters contend that this will speed up the job flight that has already tightened the job market and weakened American unions.

At the same time, protesters will be traveling this weekend to Ft. Benning, GA to participate in the annual protest against the Western Hemisphere Institute for Security Cooperation, formerly the infamous School of the Americas. Though the details are debatable, it is clear that the school’s stated mission of teaching Latin American military personnel democratic values is often undermined by the U.S.’s political intentions. The critical School of the Americas Watch noted that 10 of the school’s graduates during the last fifty years later became Latin American dictators. Supporters of the school point to the fact that students receive significant training in human rights and that terrorist connections to the school have been overblown. It isn’t just “radical activists” from Oberlin who think otherwise.

In England, several Oberlin students abroad participated in a protest coinciding with George W. Bush’s arrival Wednesday. This might be the first evidence of Oberlin students being “un-American,” as concluded in Pearce’s article, but does that make us a hotbed of “anti-American” sentiment?

Oberlin has always been a place where students have sought out ways to be active and engaged in politics at a national and international level, and occasionally at a civic level as well. Does this make us radical activists? And more to the point, does this define us?

Sometimes we embarrass ourselves in our zeal to express our outrage or opposition. Last year’s budget cut protests and Day X activities proved that we can be counterproductive in our actions. For the segment of campus that actively involves itself in protests, these mistakes were all made in the name of a good cause. There were other protests, in D.C. and New York, that had widespread appeal and seized national attention. Campus activism is a mixed bag, and certainly many of the organizers would be the first to tell you that.

Does participation in protests represent everybody at Oberlin? No. Should it be considered an integral part of Oberlin College? Absolutely.

Typical of the Conservatory, the Science Center, and the art museum. Which, by the way, have nothing to do with radical activism.

Then again, protesting doesn’t exactly equal “radical activism” either.

Editorials are the responsibility of the Review editorial board—the Editor in Chief
and Commentary Editor—and do not necessarily reflect the view of the staff
of the
Review.

   

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