Lack of Support for Campus Literature Disgraceful

To the Editor:

One of the things I love about Oberlin is the abundance of student activities. There is a club, publication, or group to meet anyone’s needs. If there isn’t one, you can start it (with the recent exception of SECURE, but that’s another issue altogether). The unfortunate effect of having so many groups is limited funding per activity and the ensuing budget wars that erupt each spring. SFC works extremely hard to evaluate each group’s budget, and to pare out the funds as fairly as possible. I do not envy the students of SFC that job, and am certainly not trying to belittle their work or decisions. However, Enchiridion, Oberlin’s only general-interest literary magazine, had its budget significantly slashed for next year, and I’d like to inform the community of the possible consequences.
Enchiridion evolved from The Plum Creek Review in the fall of 1997. The Plum Creek Review was Oberlin’s standard literary magazine for decades and published one 90-page issue of student poetry and prose a year. Its purpose was to bolster the literary community on campus, encourage creative writing, and provide a showcase for student work. In the fall of 1997, my first semester at Oberlin, Plum Creek changed its name to Enchiridion. The staff decided to publish two 40 to 44-page issues a year instead of one longer one, to use more dynamic layout and to include student artwork and photography. We also decided to more actively encourage literary events on campus. Otherwise, our purpose remained the same.
Since my freshman year Enchiridion has continued to evolve and change with the campus. However, we have remained true to every aspect of our charter. In the last four years we have sponsored numerous readings, open mics and poetry slams. We have co-sponsored events with Spanish House and the Free Mumia Coalition. Each semester we have published, during exam week, a 40 or 44-page magazine with student work. Aware of our financial restraints we have never tried to increase the length of our magazine or change any aspect of printing that would come with a higher cost. Each year we have received enough in our budget that with a little ad hoc or appeal money, we could publish both of our magazines, arrange publicity for submissions and help to sponsor a few events. Beyond that we have always looked elsewhere for money.
With next year’s budget, however, we have barely received enough to publish one magazine of our usual length. Cutting down the presence of Enchiridion so substantially will adversely affect the declining literary climate at Oberlin. Our magazine, along with As I Am, Nonmo and The Voice has helped to create a space for student writing at Oberlin. Now that The Dial is defunct, and especially now that The Voice has acquired more of a blatant political affiliation, Enchiridion is Oberlin’s only literary magazine open to all students, judging work on a purely aesthetic basis. A basic literary magazine is a staple of any college, and at a place with the plethora of activities Oberlin has, one should be able to exist. The current budget would cut our yearly pages to less than half of what The Plum Creek Review used to publish in its annual issue.
With the advent of the Oberlin Community of Writers, the start of the larger, open-enrollment introductory Creative Writing classes and the formation of the new female spoken word group, literary life at Oberlin seemed to be flourishing. However, with the disappearance of The Dial and the evident lack of financial support for literary publications on campus, I am less optimistic. More than two thirds of Enchiridion’s staff will graduate this year. The remaining three members will be busy trying to recruit new staff and learning how to put out the magazine alone. I worry that they will not have the time or resources to find ample funding. What is the point of so much writing happening at Oberlin if there is no place to publish it?
It is my understanding that Enchiridion has been criticized for rejecting too many submissions. If we have to publish half as many pages per year, how can we possibly showcase more student voices? 
I ask that concerned members of the college community write to SFC in support of our coming budget appeal. Enchiridion cannot survive the current cuts in funding and hope to remain an adequate representation of student work.

–Beth Posniak
College senior
Enchiridion staff member