Charfauros McDaniel’s Teaching Needed at Oberlin

To the Editors:

Last week it was made public that Professor Antoinette Charfauros McDaniel has been appealing the College’s 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 week’s 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 College’s 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

December 6
February 2002

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