Charfauros
McDaniels Teaching Needed at Oberlin
To
the Editors:
Last
week it was made public that Professor Antoinette Charfauros McDaniel
has been appealing the Colleges decision not to rehire her
after the spring semester of the year 2002. There was a lot of emphasis
placed on the fact that she did not meet the deadline to submit
her dissertation. Although there was a lot of talk about rules,
regulations and Ph.D.s, more important factors were overlooked.
In last weeks edition of the Review it was stated that it
was owed to the students to have professors with Ph.D.s. I thought
that what the college owes its students are good professors who
have a passion for teaching, a dedication to the subject and commitment
to the students. Unfortunately, such a combination is rarely found.
Professor Charfauros possesses these exceptional qualities and many
others. It seems that the College wants to recruit professors who
focus on publishing and scholarly work with no regards to the classes
taught and the students in those classes. Professor Charfauros is
a well-respected scholar but she is also much more. Professor Charfauros
is a professor who provides Oberlin College with a much-needed teaching
style. The classes she teaches are always full for a reason. She
teaches subjects that are usually lacking at Oberlin College, such
as the history and sociology of Asian Pacific Americans as well
as education and race. At a time when Comparative American Studies
is fighting for a place at Oberlin College, it is crucial to keep
these courses as well as the knowledgeable and passionate professor
who teaches them. Furthermore, Professor Charfauros is an accessible
professor who is engaged in many activities, including the East
of California conference which was held in October.
Not only is Professor Charfauros a fine educator and mentor but
she is also one of a limited number of Asian American professors
who actually teach on Asian American issues. It is a shame that
Oberlin College has had such a poor retention rate of these kinds
of professors. Just last year Professor Moon Ho Jung (professor
of Asian American history) left Oberlin College. It seems that the
fight for CAS will be even more prolonged if there are no adequate
teachers for the major. Even now, Oberlin is already searching for
a professor to take Professor Charfauros place next year.
The requirements asked for deal with scholarly work and involvement
on committees. It fails to take into account the students and their
needs. On the page for the search there is a reference made to Oberlin
Colleges progressive past. Why does Oberlin love to keep referring
to its past? We are here and now and want to see what is currently
being done.
The College is searching for applicants that will add to the diversity
of the faculty but this seems very contradictory since the College
is letting go of an amazing professor who happens to be a woman
of color. As such, Professor Charfauros has overcome many obstacles
to get where she is and continues to fight battles every day. Just
as students of color have societal discrimination to contend with
as well as pressure to graduate while becoming politically involved,
faculty of color face similar pressures. Some of these professors
choose to become involved with the students and to help promote
those ideals which Oberlin College seems to take great pride in
professing. Unfortunately, too often their efforts go unnoticed
or are not deemed as something noteworthy for their careers. This
does not give many professors incentive to become involved and yet
teachers like Professor Charfauros continue to do so. Professor
Charfauros classes, scholarly work and personality speak for
themselves. She is an incredible professor and hopefully will be
allowed to stay so that the words diversity and progressive
do not become that just words.
Viviana
Westbrook
College junior
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