The motto that graces thousands of Oberlin posters and viewbooks is usually meant as a rhetorical question. But on Saturday afternoon, a group of Oberlin alumni met to decide if one person can change the world and if one slogan can motivate the college.
Five alumni panelists from graduating years 1948 to 1990 sat center stage at Warner Auditorium to discuss the relevance of the slogan, "Think one person can change the world? So do we" with alumni, students, faculty and administrators.
The discussion was one of the first events dealing with the College's long-range planning process, a project that will continue throughout the year. The goal of the long range planning process, according to President Nancy Dye, is to develop coherent guidelines to steer College policy.
The five panelists included Bill Warren, OC '48, Mary Heller Cope, OC '56, Chuck Spitulnik, OC '73, Jacqueline Bradley, OC '76 and Peter Nicholson, OC'90.
The featured alumni also spoke about Oberlin over the decades and the ways it has changed.
They incorporated their thoughts on the slogan into short speeches which they delivered about their generation's experiences at Oberlin.
Four of the panelists strongly supported the College Admissions slogan. "You bet I do. If I can, so can anyone else," Cope said.
Nicholson, however, said that although he agrees that the slogan has collective value, "We're going to have to band together ... to move together as a team." He explained that his generation, the '90s, has another take on the slogan - that not one person can change the world, but a group can work together to change it.
Most of the conversation did not revolve around the slogan, however, but the alumni's years at Oberlin. Warren, OC `48, was the first to discuss his personal experience at Oberlin. "I can tell how I perceived it then and how I value it now," Warren said, and spoke about the turmoil the College experienced during World War II.
He described Oberlin as "a very civil society and culturally rich ... when one had time to leave the library."
But Oberlin was different from what Warren had expected. As an example, Warren mentioned that men had maid service but the women didn't during the time he was at Oberlin. He had expected more gender equity. He commented that the practice represented "accurate reflections of the time."
Next, Cope, OC'56, labeled her generation the "depression babies" - a generation distinct and opposite from the baby boomers. She discussed how she was from an affluent community and that she had desired to attend a college where she wouldn't "get more of the same thing." Cope said, "I wanted small, co-ed and not too close to home."
Cope saw Oberlin as representative of the "golden tropics of the left." She said that she viewed Oberlin as an "island away from society." She said that she had just begun to value the education she received at Oberlin several years ago. "We had well-known professors who liked to teach."
Spitlunik, OC'73, started his speech by saying, "I'm a baby boomer, and I'm proud of it." He told the audience how he came from a small town, where his high school teachers prophesied that he would become a Communist if he came to Oberlin.
Spitlunik also spoke about how his four years at Oberlin coincided with the Vietnam War. He spoke about protest of that war and how, after the Kent State incident, exams were canceled and students were offered a pass/fail option.
Bradley, OC'76, said, to describe Oberlin during her four years, "Civil rights, black power, affirmative action, reverse discrimination, apartheid, divesment, Fred Starr ..." She said that Oberlin is "reflective of the world at large, through recruitment efforts."
Bradley spoke about financial aid in her speech. She said that she was blessed in her first year at Oberlin with a "great financial aid package." However, her package the next year "sucked." In response to that package, Bradley said that she had demanded a better financial aid package, a dilemma that "taught me to fight for it."
The last panelist to speak, Nicholson, OC'90, said that his generation was a product of the `80s - "Reagan, in a word." He said that the issues Oberlin students dealt with included the College divestment in South Africa, AIDS and College internal structural growth.
Nicholson said that he feels "students have a comprehension, a sense of what should be right." But he also said, "Students don't seem to take the path not taken," explaining that some students don't know when to go or not go forward. "It's time to take bold steps," Nicholson said.
After the five panelists spoke, moderator Clayton Koppes, acting dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, opened the discussion to the floor. Audience members spoke about student issues, including co-ed housing and the relations between the College and the Conservatory.
Dan Spalding, a college sophomore, asked the panel about their feelings on co-ed housing. Cope responded, "It doesn't bother me very much." She said, however, that she felt opening rooms up to co-ed housing would "dramatically affect applications."
Nicholson said, "I don't think Oberlin is ready yet. We have to look at the broader picture."
An alumnus, who was a double-degree student at the college, brought up another issue. "There is a real tension between the Conservatory and the College. I feel there's a drive for the real musician, not the real student," the alumnus said.
Sharon Brato, another alumnus, responded, "The best musicians are whole people as well. Their experiences have the potential for [Oberlin Conservatory] to be the best music school because of the College."
John Copeland, OC '30, said to the crowd, "The panelists have done a good job. They jogged our thought processes, but we haven't solved any problems."
Diepiriye Kuku, a college senior, said, "The reason I came to Oberlin was because of the history. It didn't fake right and go left." He added, concerning the panel discussion, "It's amazing to know how this started."
Generations: An alumni panel discussed the nature of Oberlin on Saturday. The discussion centered on the informal College motto, "Think one person can change the world? So do we." (photo by Mike Oleson)
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