A quick glance through Fussers can have even the most eagle-eyed reader seeing double.
A good number of Oberlin faculty and staff are married to each other, although Assistant Director of Admissions Tammy Dowley-Blackman claims the arrangement is not exactly a stroll in the park.
"It's not like we talk on the phone all day. We both lead professional lives," Dowley-Blackman said.
Dowley-Blackman (OC '90) and Mark Blackman (OC '89), director of the Bonner Scholars program, met while they were students here at Oberlin. After Oberlin, both ventured out to take advantage of career opportunities in New York, Philadelphia and Cleveland.
Now back at Oberlin, even though they work on the same campus, "It's no different that any other position in our professional careers. Our jobs are completely different and even though we get to do some programming together, our jobs don't overlap," said Dowley-Blackman
Dowley-Blackman said the rumored statistic stating that 60 percent of Oberlin students marry each other is "inflated."
"In those particular cases, marriage occurs after Oberlin, when people meet later on in life and happen find out that they are both Obies. That statistic was more true during the '30's, '40's, and '50's, when students went to college to find spouses. As times progressed, that statistic became less and less significant," Dowley-Blackman said.
Another woman who wished to remain anonymous added that she thought it was ideal to work at the college with her husband. She said it not only made her marriage richer, but that it helped to be able to be so close to him that she could get to him whenever she wanted. She commented that "Valentine's Day should be a happy occasion."
"Most people walk around campus moping and depressed about not having a Valentine. Students need to understand that Valentine's Day, even though it's supposed to be about love, is basically a great way for Hallmark to makes lots and lots of money," she said.
She did not think that her marriage would be as "mature" as it is has become had she decided not to come and work at the College. "It's a lot of fun and we have a lot more respect for one another because we get to see each other in some of the ways that others see us," she said.
Clayton Koppes, whose domestic partner is Bill Norris, chair of the Sociology department, said that, "Wonderful romances have developed here at Oberlin. There are many romances that have developed within the faculty."
Koppes said the faculty isn't quite as coupled off as it was forty years ago.
"I think that single people are more attracted to urban institutions," Koppes said.
Copyright © 1998, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 126, Number 14, February 13, 1998
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