Hypocrisy Rampant at Oberlin

To the Editor:

Isn’t it interesting that:
–There is no full-time staff person for Sexual Assault Prevention Education that dedicates all his/her time to this cause.
–A student was expelled for burning leaves outside a dorm, but other students weren’t expelled for physically assaulting another student (does race matter here, how about sportsphobia? I think Oberlin has your back, athletes). 
–Afrikan Heritage House used to be in Baldwin and Talcott
–The fight for Asian American Studies has been going on at Oberlin for over 30 years, and instead of the administration doing something about it to meet student’s needs and concerns, we are losing Asian Pacific American Professors (three alone this past year).
–Latino Studies, Native Studies, Queer Studies are absent at this liberal institution.
–“Black Feminist Thought” isn’t cross-listed as a Women’s Studies class.
–There is a pattern of this College not giving amazing professors of color tenure...say bell hooks for example.
–The President of this College has final say in issues dealing with sexual assault, including being the only person to whom appeals go to (after making the initial decision in the first place) –– this is unusual, doesn’t happen at other colleges.
–There was approximately $8,000 worth of damage done to Zeke, in the form of vandalism. This damage included ceiling tiles and lights destroyed, a woman’s bathroom really messed up, and large graffiti spelling Zeke as if it was written in Greek letters, and saying things like, “Zeke says fuck reslife,” and perhaps most frightening “[ResLife female staff person] is a whore.” Haven’t heard a thing about it in terms of people being held accountable.
–When a black man was found guilty of assaulting a student, there was a BIG picture of him on the front page of the Review, next to a headline that said “Stabber Found Guilty.” When a black man was assaulted this year, and the perpetrators are white males, the picture on the front page of the Review was of a door open –– not three big scary white males. Hmmm….
–Rape is acceptable to the administration if it happened to a non-student, even though it happened on campus, at a campus event, by campus security.
–There is an East Asian Studies Program and not a South Asian Studies Program.
–There were more people at a meeting that people thought was about ‘sportsphobia’ than there were people at “Take Back the Night” (an event for survivors and allies of sexual and domestic violence).
–Animal Rescue gets more money than Sexual Assault Support Team –– I don’t think Oberlin is a bubble (it represents the real world); in the U.S. there are more animal shelters than battered women’s shelters.
–White students feel comfortable doing African dances that many times are art forms dedicatory and commemorative to slavery. 
Isn’t it interesting that this list doesn’t even begin to address the institutionalized racism of Oberlin College nor the lack of support for survivors of physical and sexual violence? 
Isn’t it interesting that I and others tried to have a meeting about this –– YES, PRECISELY THIS, but 300 people bombarded it, didn’t respect the agenda, in fact silenced our own, yet said we silenced them. I haven’t written to the Review all year, but I’ve been trying to fight this crap all year. I am angry. Yeah, its been an interesting year, don’t you think?

–Julie Dulani 
College first-year