OSCA elects new president

Junior Tickey Makgopela elected president of student cooperatives

Oberlin will be buzzing with the news of the first African-American woman ever to be elected as Oberlin Student Cooperative Association (OSCA) president.

Junior Tickey Makgopela has been elected as the new OSCA president for the upcoming academic year. She will be perhaps the first woman of color and certainly the first African-American woman to be elected as OSCA president in Oberlin history.

Makgopela said, "I'm very excited and very scared because the duties of president are vague, but the main reason I came to Oberlin was because of OSCA. I strongly believe in cooperative living and I've been in a Co-op here since my freshman second semester."

The duties of which Makgopela spoke include acting as the loose-ends coordinator and sitting on OSCA committees. The committees include the Personnel, Facilitation, Long Range Planning and Accessibility. The position requires a 20-30 hour per week time commitment.

In order to become OSCA president, candidates must hand in a letter of support to the OSCA board and post it in all OSCA dorms. Three days are given for voting, whereby the elected candidate must receive at least 75 percent of all votes.

Boarding with a Co-op saves a student about $1,600 per year. "For low income students in general, it's cheaper to live and eat in OSCA, so for me, it makes sense financially," Makgopela said.

She added that although there are other minority and low income students such as herself, "most tend to avoid Co-ops. There is a stigma against most of them."

The OSCA Accessibility Committee, which Makgopela said works to increase OSCA's accessibility to minorities and students with disabilities, meets once a week. Current OSCA President senior Jennifer Carter said, "The debate on increasing diversity amongst the Co-ops is a big ongoing one with the Committee."

Makgopela reminisced about an important experience that occurred her first semester at Oberlin while she was eating in Campus Dining Services (CDS).

"I lived in Afrikan Heritage House my first two weeks at Oberlin and then moved out into Burton. When I chose to live and eat in Harkness my second semester I was asked, 'Why are you, as a woman of color, eating in Harkness?'" Makgopela recalled. "A couple of people who were my friends actually ceased to acknowledge my existence after that."

Despite the unpleasant experience, Makgopela continues to eat in Harkness. "Each Co-op is different and you go where you are comfortable. I've eaten in every single Co-op and I like Harkness mostly because of the people. I've been in Harkness for two-and-a-half years now," Makgopela said.

Due to the makeup of students, Makgopela said, each Co-op holds its own personality.

Carter agreed with that assessment. "Harkness has traditionally been seen as the 'hippie' dorm-you know, the drum beatings on the lawn, the vegan food, etc., and many minorities may not relate to this," she said.

She added that the Accessibility Committee raised the issue of feeling comfortable eating in different Co-ops. "The Committee brought up the question of, 'Is it right to pressure people to eat in places where they may not be comfortable?' Places like Third World Co-op may offer a place for healthy re-identification and why would we want to draw people away from that?" she said.

According to Carter, "The Committee has come up with several theories behind the lack of diversity in many Co-ops. One theory is that some Co-ops have traditionally been so white that minorities may feel more comfortable in a Co-op such as Third World Co-op. Another theory is that many Co-ops are vegetarian which may be really different and difficult for international students."

Makgopela had a theory of her own. "People should eat where they want to eat and everyone is welcome everywhere," she said.