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OSCA members tell their tales

Students share stories of co-ops and race

by Hanna Miller

Issues of diversity within OSCA exploded at a discussion held on November 24.

After two hours of discussion on race, approximately 15 members of Oberlin Student Cooperation Association (OSCA) wrote their greatest hopes on strips of paper which were inserted in balloons and promptly popped.

Meeting participants read the newly coined aphorisms aloud.

"Down with corporation, up with cooperation," read one strip.

"OSCA can be a place to eat or one of the most important things in your life," read another.

Most students who gathered in Wilder Hall seemed to agree with the latter half of the statement. The collective balloon burst marked the finale of a meeting attended by members of OSCA organized to discuss issues of diversity within the organization. According to sophomore Dan Spalding, OSCA treasurer, the percentage of people of color within OSCA is not representative of the College's population.

The meeting was attended primarily by white students. "I wish there was more diversity in this room," said one participant.

Many participants took the opportunity to expound on definitions of community and diversity.

One participant shared a tale of family and rural living to provide a definition of community. The student told the story of a high school band in which apathy had run amok until the arrival of a new band leader who transformed the program into the best in the state. "It's difficult to make music if no one cares about one another," the student said. "It's hard if you already have an established community to change it." Participants had some trouble deciding if there was an OSCA community, and what such a community might be.

"What is a community?" asked a student who introduced himself as a triple-passport holder. "Sometimes I don't think such a thing exists."

Diversity proved no less nebulous for participants.

"I think we need to rethink diversity," said one participant. A student suggested diversity was not solely a question of skin color. Some questioned why OSCA needed diversity, and why students who might be targeted to join a co-op need OSCA.

Feelings of guilt were prominent throughout the evening.

"Sometimes I feel a certain amount of shame for being white," said a participant.

Another participant recalled attending an anti-racism workshop at a conference sponsored by North American Student Cooperative Organization (NASCO). "The leader of the workshop said, `Why don't you invite these people to dinner?' Why don't I feel comfortable doing that?," the student asked.

Some proposed that OSCA was hostile to change. "People are very satisfied with the status quo," said one participant. She alluded to a proposal which would have established a substance free section in Harkness House, and cited the proposal's rejection as an example of maintaining the status quo.

Discussion was finally curtailed in favor of creating `balloons of hope.' The fortune cookie messages suggested that discussion will continue. "There's always more than one chance," read one strip.

Junior Jen Carter, president of OSCA, said she was pleased with the meeting, but she is looking forward to having another chance to tell stories. "There just wasn't enough time," Carter said.


Oberlin

Copyright © 1996, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 11; December 6, 1996

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