The Dean's boiling water for a stew

To the Editors:

It seems that WWF wrestling superstar, The Rock, isn't the only one cooking. The dean, Mr. Peter Goldsmith, is in the kitchen as well. However, what he is cooking is surely not the same "jabrone whooping" dish as The Rock, but something else entirely. The dean's dish definitely smells like a stew, possibly a melting pot stew. The smelly evidence is twofold. The recent changes at the MRC and The dean's evident plans for the Associate Dean structure at Oberlin.

Students founded the MRC to address the needs and concerns of marginalized communities on this campus, due to a 1992 racist incident. However, due to structural changes, I fear that the administration is co-opting its institutional integrity and may in the end compromise its mission. The MRC used to have two separate Directors, Assistant Deans Julia Nieves and Shilpa Davé, who oversaw the program and reported to Associate Dean Ken Holmes. Upon Ms. Nieves' and Mr. Holmes' 1998 departures, Ms. Davé, assumed sole responsibility for the MRC and reported to Associate Dean Joe DiChristina. When Ms. Davé resigned this summer, The Dean evidently made the decision to fill the vacancy at a lower level. Consequently, two current Community Coordinators were selected, but instead of reporting to an Associate Dean, they report directly to The Dean. Hence, he now has the upper hand in determining the future of the MRC. This is problematic given The Dean's statements about ethnic-based program houses during his all-campus interview and their implications for his views on multiculturalism and the MRC.

There has been considerable flux in Oberlin's Associate and Assistant Deans in the past several years. Three years ago, two Assistant Deans, both of whom focused on marginalized communities, left. The administration decided not to fill the vacancies. Two years ago, another vacancy went unfulfilled when Assistant Dean Nieves, left. Over the summer, one Associate Dean, Mr. DiChristina, and another Assistant Dean, Ms. Davé, left. Lower level replacements will fill these two positions. Oberlin seems to be shaping up for a major restructuring for financial reasons, according to the administration. Consequently, this is even more intriguing given The Dean's comments, appearing in an April 9th Review interview, concerning possible structural changes and other changes he envisions for Oberlin. "My hope is that with a slightly different structure we might begin to address [various] issues." One of the possible structural changes The Dean alludes to is a revamping of the Associate Dean structure along "Dartmouthian" lines. (Dartmouth has a Dean of each academic class.) While Oberlin's Associate Dean structure is not very common, it does facilitate close relationships between students and administrators, which I fear The Dean's alleged proposal will curtail. This information throws new light on recent events and his disinclination "to come into a new environment with a lot of elaborate plans," and it makes me want to go "Hmm."

Now, the two smells together combine to form a curious odor. A weakened and Dean-controlled MRC and the absence of the multicultural-oriented Assistant Deans call into serious question Oberlin's commitment to a strong, proactive multiculturalism. Instead of chopping vegetables for the salad, is The Dean boiling water for the stew? In addition, how can marginalized communities trust a senior administration that has been whitewashed and structured to facilitate its own needs instead of the students'? No matter how much of a cultural relativist The Dean is, how effectively can he safeguard the interests of marginalized communities? What role does our illustrious President play in all this? Is she an unwitting accomplice? Unfortunately, I fear she is not. (Remember all that controversy about the Dean search procedure.) I would if she is a student of Machiavelli?

Do not just assume that he is making a salad, because according to him "I'm focusing my attention for the next few months on a couple of things, I'm learning about Oberlin and listening to students." Well Dean, you might be learning and listening, but remember we're watching and we haven't forgotten the old adage, "Actions speak louder than words."

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Yahya Ibn Rabat, College fifth-year