Force Oberlin To Make Change

To the Editors:

I am resigning from Student Senate because I have realized the insignificance of the organization in the context of global realities. While I sat at a computer in Africa I was amazed at the concentration senators had on the most trivial of issues. While senators debated the wording of a poster for the upcoming election, people were and are starving all over the world. While senators were so intensely concerned with the importance of their microcosm’s functionality there were and are young people working land instead of going to school. I can no longer participate in an organization that is about “me” when there is a larger “us” dying.
It is not solely the senators’ fault. Oberlin is no longer the school it claims to be. The administration, faculty, and staff consist of individuals after the almighty dollar rather than participating in the enrichment of young minds. Who are we fooling? Oberlin was only Oberlin by FORCE. No one offered to build an Afrikan Heritage House or Third World House. These were fought for. No one readily recognized the inequalities and ineffectiveness of a predominantly Western academic structure, thusly establishing an East Asian Studies program, a Comparative American Studies program, and an African American studies program. These programs were fought for, and some are still being fought for. And who can forget or overlook the railroad tracks gracing the lawn of Baldwin as if Oberlin established the Underground Railroad and is itself responsible for the freeing of the slaves? Oberlin became Oberlin because the students forced it to be so, and don’t think Oberlin isn’t aware of this. Why else would financial aid be cut and inner-city recruitment be close to non-existent? Because, frankly, the poor and the disadvantaged are the ones most likely to force Oberlin to be Oberlin.
These are the students Oberlin no longer wants and its financial aid, recruitment, and curriculum structure reflect this sentiment clearly. Student Senate last semester took a vote of no confidence in the Dean of Students.
It is no surprise that the senators of color (the poor and/or the disadvantaged) were the ones mostly pushing for this vote. It will not surprise me if the Senate falls victim to the deceit of the Dean of Students, as most of these students are no longer on Senate. This is where the student body comes in. You all have a responsibility to force Student Senate to represent you and your concerns. Again, I say FORCE. This will not be offered and surely not advertised. All students must ensure that their voices be heard by forcing Oberlin to listen.
So as our school president smiles and accepts her million dollar raise, the Multicultural Resource Center will dissolve, program houses will cease to exist, and tuition will rise another seven percent, all the while the student body will remain in pathetic apathy. This school is your school. FORCE it to be.

–Ni’Ja Whitson
College Senior