Truth, lies, philosophical differences

We are writing to inform you about several detrimental decisions that the administration of Oberlin College made while the majority of the student body was not on campus.

On June 15, Deb McNish, director and associate dean of Residential Life and Services, was fired, despite rumors of her voluntary resignation which may be currently circulating throughout the student body. The administration stated at the time that the reason behind this decision was "philosophical differences." President Dye, along with other administrators, approved Dean Cole-Newkirk's decision. The College has fired Ms. McNish, who has been a valuable member of the Oberlin College Community for seven years. Ms. McNish, during her seven year tenure at Oberlin, has actively supported students personally, academically and politically. Could her philosophy of student advocacy, support and student self-determination be that which was at odds with Dean Cole-Newkirk's? If so what does this mean about Dean Cole-Newkirk's support of students and her philosophy for the management of the Student Life and Services division?

Also on June 15, Dean Cole-Newkirk promoted Barbara Mehwald, former area coordinator of Dascomb, South, Fairchild, Baldwin and Talcott halls, to Ms. McNish's position. The logical progression for filling this position would have been to promote or appoint Yeworkwha Belachew (Y.B.), assistant dean of students/Residential Life, who worked directly under Ms. McNish for six years. Ms. Mehwald has worked in Residential Life for five years, under Y.B., who supervised and trained her. And although Ms. Mehwald contends that Y.B. was never her supervisor and they "never met" to discuss her job performance, there exists documentation which supports the contrary. By appointing Ms. Mehwald to the position of interim Director of Residential Life, the administration has essentially demoted Y.B., who has committed 19 years of her life to Oberlin College and been a tremendous source of support for students, especially low income students, students of color and first generational students.

Dean Cole-Newkirk said at a meeting with RCs on Sunday, Aug. 17 that Y.B. went on leave before Deb McNish was fired. Her story has changed again and now she's saying that Y.B. left before Barb Mehwald was appointed interim director. How can this be when Barb Mehwald was notified of her new appointment the morning Deb McNish was fired? It can't be and wasn't the case. Y.B. worked directly under Deb McNish and did not go on leave before the identity of the interim director was announced. Those of us who were here over the summer and saw how shocked the Residential Life staff were when Deb McNish was suddenly fired know Y.B. took a leave of absence on June 20, five days after her colleague and friend was called in from her vacation and fired, days after Charlene Cole-Newkirk announced to the Residential Life staff that Barb Mehwald would be interim director of Residential Life.

This sequence of events has shocked many of us here on campus. We have been searching for answers, but neither Dean Cole-Newkirk nor President Dye have been able to provide reasons as to how they feel these decisions will benefit the OC community. These decisions have jeopardized the stability and continuity of the Res. Life staff and have made us strongly doubt the OC administration's guiding philosophy and their commitment to the student body.

Oberlin College has a long history of forcing the resignations of and firing staff members like Deb McNish who put the welfare of students above the bureaucratic concerns of the administration. Dean Cole-Newkirk also has a history of making decisions which have not been beneficial for students and the OC community. Letting these decisions go unchallenged will set a precedent for how much power the administration can exercise without being held accountable to the student body for their decisions. The administration's actions have gravely jeopardized the stability of the OC community and the staff's ability to provide honest support for students.

Are we challenging the integrity of Dean Cole-Newkirk and other Oberlin College administrators? Perhaps, but mostly we want truthful answers to our questions, and ask that the administration be accountable to us for decisions that affect students so deeply.