Students Speak Out Against Death Penalty

Activist-minded Oberlin students surrounded Wilder's front steps Tuesday afternoon in a speak-out condemning the death penalty. The crowd proceeded to march to the Cox Administration Building, attempting to encourage President Nancy Dye to submit statements favoring moratoriums on the death penalty to both President Clinton and Ohio governer Bob Taft.

Members of the Campaign to End the Death Penalty, Amnesty International and the International Socialist Organization (ISO) have combined to form the Oberlin Coalition for a Moratorium on the Death Penalty. Coalition members were busy last week urging over 1,000 students, staff and professors to sign a petition supporting a moratorium.

Sophomore Aaron Manheim began the speak-out in front a sparse crowd. He stated the reason for the proposed moratorium as the high amount of innocent captives serving time on death row. Quoting the American Bar Association, Manheim referred to the death penalty as a "haphazard maze of unfair practice."

Senior Gillian Russom emphasized the petition's representation of Oberlin's feeling toward the death penalty. "Nearly half of the Oberlin College population has taken a stand on this," she said.

Russom urged audience members to take a vocal anti-death penalty stance, saying, "If we don't put on the pressure, they're going to keep executing people because they're poor or black."

Senior Jeannie Kwon added that Campaign members aim to "put a face on these people politicians call monsters."

Sophomore Jennifer Glazer characterized the death penalty as a basic violation of human rights, calling it cruel and inhumane punishment. She said the U.S. remains one of the only nation still using the death penalty and that it executes the fourth highest amount of people per year, trailing only China, Iran and Sudan.

Russom explained that eight of 13 prisoners recently released from Illinois' death row are black, describing it as a "sickening example of racism in our society. The gap between rich and poor ends up translating into who lives and who dies."

Following eight student speakers, the gradually increasing crowd broke into an anti-death penalty chant and marched from Wilder to Cox, where Campaign members attempted to confront Dye. The result proved anticlimactic as Dye was out to lunch, but the Campaign members retorted with the request that Dye respond by the following Thursday as to whether or not she favors a moratorium.

Dye said she would not issue statements favoring a moratorium out of apprehension for speaking for the entire Oberlin College campus. "This is not because I or other people aren't sympathetic to the cause. I personally agree with the issue, but we don't really have the process whereby the institution, as opposed to individuals, would say, 'this is what Oberlin College thinks on the issue.'"

Dean of Students Peter Goldsmith expressed surprise that students turned to the institution to speak for them. "The history of this institution is encouraging individuals to speak for themselves," Goldsmith said.

He referred to the potentially problematic nature of establishing a precedent of institutional position-taking. He said, "There are practical problems with who has the authority to speak on behalf of the institution."

Dye implied that student activism is best served by creating an atmosphere nurturing individual speaking rather than having an institution speak for individuals. In a letter sent Thursday to Campaign members, Dye suggested that Oberlin's Student Senate conduct a referendum on the issue. "If students endorse these (anti-death penalty) sentiments it's entirely appropriate for Senate to draft a letter to Governer Taft and President Clinton to say the student body has passed a referendum."

Dye and Goldsmith both expressed support for the present vibrant activist spirit on campus. "When one thinks of the core of Oberlin's identity, it's hard to imagine Oberlin College without a significant degree of activism," Goldsmith said.

Russom expressed disappointment that Dye was unwilling to sign the petition favoring a moratorium. "I think if Oberlin wants to continue to be a place advertising itself as an institution wanting to change the world, it should be willing to take progressive stands," she said. Russom emphasized that the Campaign's crusade against the death penalty has yet to end. The campaign will pursue the recommendations of Dye and attend the Senate meeting Sunday to ask for their help in administering a referendum, which they expect will happen in two weeks. In the meantime, Russom hopes for Campaign members to conduct a debate as well as a teach-in. "We're willing to use the referendum; it's a great way to show the level of student support on the issue," she said.