Assaulters’ Presence on Campus is Not Acceptable

Dear President Dye:

I am writing to express my frustration with the recent Community Board decision to revoke the expulsion of the two students currently charged with aggravated burglary and assault in Lorain County Court. I am shocked and angered that any student who would physically assault another student in his sleep can be allowed to remain on campus.
Although I know that the Rules and Regulations cannot be ignored, I strongly feel that anyone suspended for endangering another student should be forced to leave campus immediately. Although I understand Dean [of Students Peter] Goldsmith’s point that the College needs a “very good” reason to keep a student out of class, physical malice seems like as good a reason as any. I cannot think of anything worse for a survivor of any kind of assault than having to face his or her attackers on a daily basis around campus.
This case particularly bothers me because a student was attacked for expressing ideas. In Goldsmith’s letter to the Oberlin Community in this year’s Rules and Regulations he writes that “Our intention is to create a social environment that facilitates learning and, with it, the free and open exchange of ideas.” He also writes that “members of the College community remain beholden to the laws of the City of Oberlin (as well as those of the state of Ohio) that govern the behavior of its citizens, even while we attempt to hold ourselves to a still higher standard of compassion and mutual respect.” The students in question are currently charged with felonies.
I will graduate from Oberlin in a few weeks, and these events leave me with a rather sour view of this school as an instituion. It truly saddens me that free expression at Oberlin has been so seriously limited. When a member of the administration has to ask a student journalist not to be “inflammatory” for his own safety, something is really wrong.
On a more personal note, my mother teaches pre-school to children aged two to four. One of the first lessons they learn is that when involved in a conflict you should “use your words and not your hands.” I must admit that I find it funny that an institution of Oberlin’s caliber will bestow degrees on students who have not yet mastered behaviors normally taught at the pre-kindergarden level.
I know that many students share my exacerbation. I ask you to either arrange a time to meet with concerned students or to write a letter to the College community so that we can better understand your take on the matter. We are interested in what you think about such an important issue.

–Beth Posniak
College senior