Trustees meet to discuss diversity

With diversity as the focal point of Board of Trustees meeting, the College hopes the administration and Board are on the same page.

Board members heard reports from a number of top administrators about their commitment to diversity.

Secretary of the College Bob Haslun said the trustees were very receptive to the reports and intrigued to the point of wanting the topic placed on future agendas.

The importance of such discussions lies in what College President Nancy Dye sees as her commitment to increasing diversity at Oberlin.

"The feeling was that the board ought to hear how important it is and what it is. They need to be on the same wavelength as us and know why we think it is important," Haslun said. "I think that's something we accomplished."

The discussion went past noon on Friday. Afterward, they broke up into committees. The four member retention committee met with students Friday and Saturday afternoon to discuss its importance and problems.

The trustees also met with student senators over lunch the first day. The involvement of students with the trustees was a feature Haslun said the trustees liked very much. "They sure had a fun time. They came back very excited," Haslun said.

Sarah Fineberg, a senator junior, was part of the discussion. "Some of the students talked about their experiences. Others talked about how Oberlin can be improved, but we were careful about that," she said. "We would need a wider student forum for that."

The forum was a chance for some of the trustees to learn about student life at Oberlin. "One asked if there were phones in all the rooms," Fineberg said.

In addition to discussion of diversity the other committees met as well. The investment committee reaffirmed their commitment to the stock market at their meeting. The fluctuations in the market have depressed the endowment a few million dollars, Haslun said, but the College is in it for the long haul, so the committee members decided to just keep an eye on it, but to leave the money alone.

The Buildings and Grounds committee approved the schematic designs for the Science Center which was their final sign-off on the plans.

The new Director of Allen Memorial Art Museum Sharon Patton was welcomed to the board on Saturday. The trustees then heard reports on some capital projects such as the Environmental Studies Center, the Conservatory pool and the renovations of the art museum. The meeting ended with a report on the capital campaign.

"In general I thought it was a very good meeting. The trustees went away feeling good about the College and we went away feeling good about the trustees," Haslun said.

The board will meet again in December to work on next year's budget.