To the Editor:
I know the issue of censorship on campus has been being discussed for a while, and why continue to beat a dead horse, but I have just one thing to add. Oberlin College students get offended by some of the most menial things. My freshman year someone got offended when I used a picture of the pope on a flyer. If Oberlin College makes it their job to make sure none of its students ever get offended, this would be a pretty dull place. So the question arises: why are people so easily offended? Because people like to be offended, people like to have something to complain about, and by all means they should have the right to complain about and discuss anything they want. Complaining and discussion are good. Eliminating the events which spark those complaints and discussion is bad. By not allowing certain events to occur on campus we do not eliminate the source of offense, we just avoid the issue. It is much better to keep such issues out in the open, where they can be discussed. It is this discussion that resolves problems. Eliminating the events that lead to this discussion does not help solve the problem but, in fact, makes it worse. For these reasons it is ridiculous that we are even discussing censoring events that occur at Oberlin College. This censorship goes against the tradition and standards that Oberlin has upheld until now.
STOP CENSORSHIP.
Copyright © 1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 10; November 22, 1996
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