Meeting to address issues of multiculturalism held

The hunger strike at Columbia University, multiculturalism and the faculty were all discussed at a meeting held last Friday in Wilder.

The discussion was sponsored by the Coalition Against Oppression (CAO). Ten students and two administrators - Deb McNish, director of Residential Life, and Yeworkwha Belachew, assistant dean of students - were present. Sophomore Matt Borus, who helped create CAO, gave a brief overview of Columbia University's hunger strike held to demand ethnic studies, and then went on to speak about Oberlin's need for a more pluralist attitude.

The CAO was formed in response to anti-gay legislation that was drafted earlier this semester in Utah. Michael Bunuan, a college senior, said he feels that the Columbia hunger strike shows Oberlin that fighting for ethnic studies is "not just an Oberlin thing, it's a nationwide thing."

Bunuan said that the new History Department position, which will be filled by a specialist in Lesbian, Gay and Bisexual and Asian-American history, is significant because both the lesbian, gay and bisexual and Asian-American communities are working toward establishing interdisciplinary departments at Oberlin.

Borus said the position "can be seen as a step. If [the administration] sees that as solving the problem, then that's not good, but he is a specialist coming in ... and that's a good thing."

The subject of Oberlin's faculty and class content incited discussion. One student said that professors generally try to integrate new material thinking that "your simple token author will suffice." He also suggested having different focuses for English majors. In particular he brought up the two courses about Shakespeare that are offered, saying, "Okay, he's a good writer, but ... "

Borus said that some, but not all, of the faculty are "not particularly up to date." He added they have the "feeling that they've earned their stripes as progressives and don't need to progress anymore ... That's not true of every prof."

Junior Julianne Donnelly, another founder of CAO, said of the faculty, "It would be wonderful if more teachers here started attending more speakers, especially student discussions - which are fiery, but so much needed to be heard."

During the meeting, Bunuan also talked about the Multicultural Resource Center (MRC). He said, "No one knows what they do, and those who do [participate in activist activities] often get burned out." He said that the MRC often receives little empathy or support from the campus.

The end of the meeting brought no specific ideas about what to focus on for the rest of the semester and another meeting was scheduled for today.

CAO's vision statement was formed at its first general meeting. According to Donnelly, "two of our most central tenets have been that it is crucial to work always with an awareness that all oppressions, though they have important differences, are deeply interrelated, and that in order to be effective, our action needs continuity and intense critical thought."

She stressed that the group is still forming and that "it is crucial for those communities who are still underrepresented in our group to have power in determining our direction."

Donnelly said that during the last few weeks of the semester CAO wants to focus on "connecting with as many different communities as possible"