Student Trustees hold forum

Asian-American Studies and career preparation discussed

The impact of long-range planning on issues such as Asian-American Studies, Oberlin's student body and student advising were discussed at the student trustee open forum held Thursday. Although only a handfull of students attended, a wide range of opinions were expressed.

Class trustees, Hannah Richman OC'95 and Gail Drakes OC'94 led the forum. It was also attended by Trustees Victor Stone OC'42, Amy Gittler OC'72 and Leo Ramera OC '65.

Conversation revolved around current issues affecting students and how those issues could be incorporated into the College's long range planning process.

The formation of an Asian-American Studies Program was addressed by many of the attending students. Senior Jeff Cabusao said that many schools are beginning to see the importance of race relations in education, and that it was encouraging to see Oberlin's administration open for discussion.

Jenny Lin, a junior, said that she wanted to build up the continuity of the program. She said, concerning the new courses in Asian-American Studies taught by two visiting professors, "In a lot of ways it is exciting that we have all these new professors." Lin added, however, that she was concerned about the stability and future of the discipline at Oberlin.

In response to Stone's question about how how multiple cultures and subjects could best be incorporated into as broad a field as Asian-American Studies, senior Alison Ching said, "That's definitely a subject up for debate."

Richman said that due to the college's focus on strategic planning, this is an opportune time to address these issues. Raising these concerns now, when the College is debating long-term-plans, could begin the process of turning these departmental goals into realities.

The concept of strategic planning was also extended to the individual goals of students. A basic concern was expressed over the informality of student/advisee relationships and the lack of information given by the college to students regarding how to prepare for their future.

Cabusao said that the Office of Career Services prepares students for the job market, but that options such as how to prepare for application to graduate schools are not given enough attention. Senior Diepiriye Kuku said that the focus of the science departments is on graduate school and that there is not a lot of advice on how to connect science to careers outside of medicine.

Another issue, brought up by Kuku, was that of the newly renovated Peters Hall. He voiced the concern that although it is not the official purpose of the building, Peters is being presented as the center for the campus' international programs. He said a problem in this perception is that Africa and African cultures are not included inside Peters. Kuku said that the buildings exclusion of Africa and the low numbers of incoming African American students are related.

Kuku also mentioned the lack of African language classes. He mentioned that the only option is a recently formed ExCo and compared that to the fact that other schools are offering classes in African languages.

Also discussed was the general character of Oberlin's student body. The College's drop to 24th in U.S. News and World Report's annual college ranking raised the question of exactly what kind of student Oberlin is attracting and how the design of the academic programs could be reviewed and possibly improved. Much of the discussion focused on what Oberlin stands for as an academic institution and what kind of student it wants to attract.

The long range planning theme of the meeting was summed up by Kuku who said, "We have to decide what Oberlin is and what it is for."

The Board of Trustees will meet on Saturday morning. According to Secretary of the College Robert Haslun, the meeting will not be action orientated, but will concentrate on discussion of long range planning.