Reunited and it Feels so Good
BY ARIEL WHITWORTH

This weekend, dozens of alumni will be flying in from around the world to celebrate the Oberlin Student Cooperative Association’s 50th reunion. The celebration will last all weekend, from Friday to Sunday.

Alumni start the weekend with traditional Friday “pizza night” or Shabbat supper at their respective former co-ops. Throughout the weekend there will be various activities for alumni to enjoy, including seminars on OSCA’s history, founding and future. Alumni have ample time to discuss OSCA, their lives and their memories with current cooperative members. 
Kosher Co-op is hosting a Torah study on Saturday, and tours of the AJLC, OSAP and smaller cooperatives (such as the Sexual Information Center, Bike Co-op and the Good Foods Co-op) will be provided. Alums also have the option of showing off their cooking skills by helping with Saturday night “special meal” at a co-op.
Two of the largest events of the weekend include the all-OSCA picnic at Old Barrows for Sunday brunch and the Harkness nightclub, which lasts all Saturday night until the next morning. These events are traditions in themselves. The Harkness nightclub will feature a variety of acts from students and the alumni. 
Oberlin community members are excited about the upcoming event. “I’m psyched to sit back and smoke a joint with the alumni,” first-year Christopher Eaton, an OSCA member, said. 
Marta Johnson, a college first-year and Asia House member, said, “It’d be nice to have some funky old people around campus for a change. That’d be swell.”
Pyle-Inn Co-op started in 1950 as the first co-op ever in Oberlin. although this is not the same Pyle Inn located in Asia House today. 
According to the OSCA website, “They hoped that the co-op situation would allow the group to practice social ideals, prepare members for a future as ‘productive, resourceful members of a democratic society,’ and revitalize the concept of ‘Learning and Labor,’ the Oberlin College motto.” 
Pyle-Inn remained the only co-op for several years until demand for home-cooked food and less expensive dining/housing options became frequent enough for the College to add a second co-op, Grey Gables. 
In 1962, Grey Gables and Pyle-Inn joined to form the Inter-Cooperative Council, later to become OSCA. 
However, according to OSCA’s website the real victory was not until 1966, when Keep Co-op was added to the association after a sociological study came out proving that co-oppers had higher grades and were involved in more extra-curricular activities. This study helped make OSCA a long-term and prominent organization within the College community. 

Despite occasional struggles and hardships, OSCA retains its identity and is currently one of the largest student-run cooperative associations in the country.
Approximately 50 alumni have registered for the event, and more are expected to show up Friday evening. The bike co-op is loaning bikes to alumni who will be staying at the Oberlin Inn as well as various other nearby hotels. 
Junior Adrian Anagnost, OSCA’s alumni coordinator and a key organizer of the event, said, “Pulling it all together has been time-consuming and more than slightly stressful at times, but it’s incredible hearing all the amazing stories the alumni have to tell, both about their time at Oberlin and since then.”