Students Deserve More Attention

To the Editors:

I would like to thank Nancy Dye for her recent letter to the Oberlin community on the financial condition of the College. I understand the fact that over the last few years, health care costs have risen dramatically while the value of the College’s endowment has fallen (after steadily increasingly for several previous years) according to the volatile nature of stock markets.

However, I still do not understand why the administration has chosen to eliminate nearly all its internship positions, especially when one considers that most interns earn relatively low pay and in most cases require only preventative, low-cost health care. Since the decision has been announced, it has been demonstrated that the labor of interns is both greatly appreciated by the Oberlin community and necessary to the operation of this College. While the Multicultural Resource Center and Theater Department have secured their interns for the short term, other interns (some of them Oberlin grads) still face unemployment at the end of this semester.

As a member of the men’s varsity soccer team, I am greatly disappointed that Adam Evans will not be our assistant coach next season, as the team had planned, because his position will be eliminated. This spring I have come to value Mr. Evans as a coach, as a role model, and as a friend. Like other interns, his presence adds to the lives of Oberlin students. It is sad that Mr. Evans is leaving, but it is outrageous that he will not be replaced.

Unfortunately, this particular administrative decision appears to many students to be part of a larger and disturbing trend. This College spends considerable resources polishing the image it projects to prospective students; it also spends considerable resources convincing its alumni to donate money to their alma mater. But to my frustration, it seems to me that Oberlin College pays comparatively little attention to students and their concerns while they are at Oberlin. For this reason, I must question whether this College is committed to providing a progressive and useful liberal arts education, or whether it would rather be strictly a successful business.

–William Singer
College junior