Oberlin.news

On Friday afternoon, a group of about 25 students protesting outside the Board of Trustees meeting at The Hotel at Oberlin were met with police and pepper spray. Students wearing face coverings and keffiyehs gathered around the Hotel, banging pots, pans, and drums, blowing whistles, and chanting calls for divestment from Israel. When protesters attempted...

On Monday, Students for a Free Palestine, Obies for Undocumented Inclusion, and the Oberlin Democratic Socialists addressed a crowd of roughly 100 at a teach-in held in King Building. The teach-in came days before the Board of Trustees gathered on campus for its biannual meeting on Thursday and Friday. The three organizations informed students about...

Citizens living near the EDL natural gas plant say that they are still experiencing noise disturbances despite efforts by the company to mitigate these issues. The plant, which recycles methane gas from the local landfill and converts it to renewable natural gas, has drawn criticism from residents on Oberlin’s east side since it became operational...

Across the country, many Americans see their nation and world in crisis. Last weekend, Oberlin students, faculty, and distinguished speakers came together to discuss what this crisis actually is, and some possible paths forward. The conference, titled Capitalist Crisis and Democratic Socialism: A Working Conference, was organized and sponsored by the Politics department and the...

Students for a Free Palestine has increased efforts in fundraising for families in Gaza since 2024. Over the past two years, the group has shifted its focus from public demonstrations to fundraising efforts that send money directly to Palestinian families in Gaza. With humanitarian aid blocked and the cost of basic goods in Gaza soaring,...

This Wednesday, the City of Oberlin organized a workshop at the Oberlin Public Library where a sizable group of community members and students shared their thoughts on the direction of the City’s next Climate Action Plan. Since 2011, the City has been operating off a series of plans intended to guide the City’s response to...

On Wednesday, Oberlin students and community members gathered at the Cat in the Cream to hear from candidates running for Oberlin School Board, City Council, and Municipal Court. Organized by OC Votes, the Community Candidates Night was intended to help voters learn more about who is on the ballot, and to encourage Oberlin students to...

During Oberlin’s annual homecoming reunion, several alumni will be serving on a panel titled Living Oberlin Values: Making Lifelong Commitments and Careers this Saturday at 10:30 a.m. in the Root Room of the Carnegie Building.  The panel will feature alumni who graduated between 1965 and 2015 and have made considerable contributions to the fields of...

Pamela Yates and Paco de Onís visited Oberlin this week for the screening of their film, Borderland: The Line Within, at the Apollo Theatre. Over the course of their time in Oberlin, they visited classes, spoke with students, and hosted a Q&A following the film’s showing. “The screening of Borderland: The Line Within is meant...

Council  Disbands Green Acres Development Committee Council voted unanimously to disband the Green Acres Development Committee. In spring 2024, the temporary Green Acres Development Committee was created by motion of Council. This committee met regularly to plan and discuss the building of single-family homes and a public park facility on a 15-acre unused lot. On...

Trump Deal Paves Way for Ceasefire, Hostage Release; A Second Flotilla is Intercepted  On Thursday, Hamas and Israel approved Trump’s plan to allow a ceasefire and the release of the remaining hostages held in Gaza. 250 Palestinian political prisoners will also be released, as well as 1,700 other people detained in Gaza. In the time...

As generative AI infiltrates our academic spaces more and more, liberal arts schools face a particularly troubling threat. Other types of institutions may be more focused on career preparation and, consequently, accept the experience of education as a means to an end. In that case, generative AI programs may be a welcome addition to the...

Last Thanksgiving Day, my friend and I had made entirely too much food. We were expecting 15 guests, but only about five actually showed up. It would be a shame to throw away all this food, we thought, and I had just remembered that dining halls closed early that day. So, in a move motivated...

Eric Adams’ mayoral career could be summarized using many words. Some of these include “failure,” “corruption,” and “misadventure,” but the word I would use is “downfall.” Upon securing the Democratic nomination on June 24, 2021, Eric Adams touted himself as the “future of the new Democratic Party,” but by September 2025, he announced the end...

Tears, numbness, purple under your eyes. It can be comforting. What more could you want than to blast Mitski’s “Liquid Smooth” for the 20th time that same evening? Everything is too much. It hurts to move. Friends reaching out sound like nagging voices. Staying under this dusty blanket for the 70th hour sounds like a...

All eyes are on Spotify following CEO and co-founder Daniel Ek’s announcement that he will step down from CEO to executive chairman, effective Jan. 1, 2026. Ek explained to Forbes that he wanted time to focus on other ventures, including his investment holding company Prima Materia. In June, Ek announced he’d led an investment of...

What is taste? Is it a penchant for sour over sweet, an obsession with a particular discourse, or something bigger than that? Taste at Oberlin can be hard to pin down — it’s a microcosm of interests and niches, ranging from folk music to Hildegard von Bingen. How do so many of us to have...

1. Jazz musician ___ Lateef 6. K–5, abbr. 10. “I’ll save you a ___!” 14. When a football may be hiked 15. China-based web marketplace 16. Potatoes to go with a breakfast glass of chocolate milk 17. What crazy cattle might cause? 19. Suffix with kitchen 20. Children’s author Asquith 21. Furniture wood 22. “And...

Clinched with a hat trick by third-year forward Michael Dolton, the Oberlin College men’s soccer team claimed a 3–2 victory over Capital University last Wednesday evening at Fred Shults Field. The non-conference win pushed the Yeomen to 3–7–1 on the season and provided a much-needed momentum boost heading into their weekend match against John Carroll,...

Sophia Chouinard (she/her) is a second-year from Portland, Maine, majoring in History and Religion. She wrote this poem in a poetry class her first year at Oberlin and felt it showed her style well, while being a challenge to write. Sophia hopes to become a history teacher.

Nestled just off South Professor Street between Bibbins Hall and the Central Unit is the beloved koi pond, a staple of the Oberlin community that has served the town for decades. Year round, even when winter arrives and the pond freezes over in beautiful Snowberlin fashion, the koi continue to inspire a serene joy in...

Associate Director of Conservatory Audio Services and Associate Professor of Recording Arts and Production Andrew Garver, who has been nominated for a Grammy, and double-degree second-year Riley Newfield, who is studying Recording Arts and Production, sat down to discuss one of the Conservatory’s newest and least-spotlighted departments. These interviews have been edited for length and clarity....

William Shakespeare’s As You Like It, directed by College fourth-year Evelyn Walker, opened Thursday evening. The comedy follows the disputes of a divided pair of brothers, a woman disguised as a man, and a complicated entanglement of romances. After only a month of rehearsals, the director, cast, and crew have prepared an impressive show that...

  “Desperation. Yeah, I’d say desperation.” That is how double-degree fifth-year Martin Kent would describe Oberlin’s seemingly unbreakable bond with The Feve’s weekly Long Island Night.  Oh, Long Island Night.  At a school of 3,000 students, in a town with just one bar and a diligent force of Campus Safety officers, there is bound to...

On Monday, D.T. Max, staff writer for The New Yorker, gave the Jesse Floyd Mack Lecture in Hallock Auditorium at the Adam Joseph Lewis Center for Environmental Studies. The 90-minute talk focused on Max’s experience writing literary journalism for The New Yorker and included time for attendees of the event to ask questions at the...

If you were to put a marble in the middle of Oberlin’s campus, it probably wouldn’t go anywhere. This part of Ohio is as flat as a map on the wall. Curiously enough, there are a number of Obies who are dedicated rock climbers. After hearing what they have to say, you’ll be surprised how...

Last winter, I noticed that the College had been neglecting a campus green space. I wrote a letter to the right person, and now real change is happening. By telling you how I made this happen, I hope you’ll feel inspired to voice your opinion and make your own changes to campus. I also hope...

This Monday, Dr. Jorge Lucero, Anthony J. Petullo professor of Art Education and senior associate dean for faculty affairs at the University of Illinois, presented his lecture on conceptual art, “No Wasted Moves: On the Pliability of Teaching as a Creative Practice.” The talk featured a presentation of Lucero’s own artistic practice and philosophy of...

On Saturday, around 100 people gathered on the corner of North Main Street and Lorain Street to protest the Trump administration. The mostly older crowd carried signs with slogans such as, “Democracy not Dictatorship,” “Alexa Change my President,” “No One is Safe in a Fascist Country,” and others, addressing a wide variety of political issues...

Almost every week of the semester thus far, someone has written an Opinions piece in the Review about how the current campus dining plans and structures are failing them and the larger Oberlin community. Students have cited overpaying for their meals, losing out on community spaces, and struggling to make sense of and navigate new...

Ye, the artist formerly known as Kanye West, has been floundering as of late. Politically, personally, artistically — he’s in a bad place. His newest studio album, Bully, was slated to be released last Friday after a series of unexplained delays, but once again it’s been pushed back — this time until November. For a...

On June 12, 69 games into the regular season, the New York Mets held the best record in baseball. Sitting at 45–24, the Mets had the lowest ERA in the league despite not having a clear frontline starter. And Juan Soto, the franchise’s $765 million investment, was off to a slow start.  Public opinion assumed...

Dear President Carmen Twillie Ambar,  We are writing to express our concerns regarding Oberlin College’s Year of AI Exploration. We recognize the reasoning behind the administration’s choice to take agency and “explore the impact of AI on all aspects of our campus,” but we are concerned by the lack of transparency and student input on...

Zoe Jagiela (she/her) is a third-year Creative Writing major. She has studied poetry at UVA, Kenyon College, the University of Iowa, and here in the beautiful town of Oberlin. When she’s not writing poems, she’s usually talking with her mom on the phone, complaining to her girlfriend about everything, and playing Fortnite.

For the 2023-24 financial year, President Carmen Twillie Ambar received $554,146 filed under Bonus and Incentive Compensation in Oberlin’s tax documentation, bringing her total compensation from Oberlin College to almost $1.5 million. The claim was filed in Oberlin’s Federal Tax Form 990, which covers tax-exempt organizations and is available as part of public disclosures. Since...

Bethpage Black is a challenging course on Long Island, NY, open to any regular golfer daring enough to face it. But this past weekend, the course roared like a stadium and felt like a state fair. The first time the Ryder Cup was hosted on New York’s most feared course delivered everything this event and...

Lab Coats Not Required is a new Oberlin Science Café series aimed at increasing the accessibility of science communication within the Oberlin community. Held at Slow Train Cafe and the Oberlin Public Library every other week, this series features informal presentations about science by students and faculty at the College. College third-years Ben Deacon and...

ACROSS 1. The Corrections author Jonathan  8. _______ Garcia Marquez (100 Years of Solitude author) 15. Fish that’s being reeled in 16. Support: var. 17. What many Americans do on Thanksgiving 18. Lowest in fat 19. Windows applications? 20. Teeny-___ 22. Two-___: half-price opportunity 23. Line parts: abbr. 24. “What a pity!” 25. Major city...

To the Editors: My name is Janet Garrett. I am a member of the Oberlin Board of Education. I am unequivocally endorsing Farah Lillian Emeka for Oberlin Municipal Judge. Farah’s primary job is prosecutor in the Oberlin court. I have become familiar with Farah in her work as our School Board president, and I want...

Dr. Luke Herrine, OC ’10, is an assistant professor of law at the University of Alabama and was named a 2025 Marguerite Casey Foundation Freedom Scholar for his role as a legal architect behind mass student debt cancellation. He devised legal strategies that helped trigger the cancellation of hundreds of millions of dollars in public...

The Opinions section is calling for writers! As students, between the rush of assignments, club meetings, hangouts, and more, four (or five) years on campus rush by in the blink of an eye. If you’re wondering how to make a meaningful impact that might outlast your physical presence, you should consider writing for the Opinions...

  “I have been interested in death since I was a little kid,” Bee Herbstman says. “It’s always been something that’s been weighing on me, [this] consistent weight on my shoulders, is this fear of death that I’ve always had.” Bee Herbstman, College third-year, leans back in a library swivel chair and looks up at...

Averi Williams is a second-year Data Science and Environmental Studies major on the women’s soccer team. Last week, the team hosted Leukemia Awareness Night during their match against Muskingum University to support Williams after her recent diagnosis.  This interview has been edited for length and clarity.  What did Leukemia Awareness Night mean to you personally,...

Last summer, as Congress debated the Tax Cuts and Jobs Act — better known as President Trump’s Big Beautiful Bill — Oberlin worked with a group of fellow small colleges to lobby for an endowment tax rate that did not adversely impact them. When the bill finally passed, it included a provision that exempted schools...

For the 2025-26 academic year, Oberlin College has taken Fairchild House offline, and, on behalf of the Conservatory, Facilities Operations has converted some of its spaces into practice rooms for students. The change, which comes on the heels of increased Conservatory enrollment, is aimed to help stymie overcrowding in Robertson Hall, which houses most practice...

Last Saturday night, Oberlin was treated to back-to-back performances from folk pop band The Army, The Navy at the Cat in the Cream, and freak folk singer-songwriter June Henry with folk punk iconoclast Cyprus Hartford at The ’Sco. The Cat in the Cream was illuminated by warmly-colored curtain lights, packed to capacity from the start...

On Wednesday, Sept. 17, Lydia Mitchell, assistant coach of Oberlin women’s soccer, was announced as a recipient of the Women’s Sports Foundation Tara VanDerveer Fund for the Advancement of Women in Coaching.  The percentage of female head coaches in NCAA women’s sports has dropped from 90 percent in 1972 to 42 percent as of 2024....

I was tabling in Mudd when a member of the Communications Office came in to take pictures of the new bookstore setup in Azariah’s Café. I asked, “Came to see how atrocious it is?” He was naturally taken aback by my disdain and the vocal support of another student tabling nearby. I boldly wagered the...

Last month, Amtrak unveiled new high-speed trains on the Northeast Corridor, a rail line that connects Boston and Washington, D.C., in conjunction with other commuter networks. These trains, dubbed NextGen Acelas, have maximum operating speeds of 160 miles per hour and boast more capacity than the Acela Express trains previously used for the route (similarly...

As generative AI becomes increasingly ubiquitous and advanced, institutions at various levels are reevaluating their policies on how to work with this tool, or questioning if they should at all. Since President Carmen Twillie Ambar’s announcement of the Year of AI Exploration at Oberlin this fall, the Studio Art faculty, staff, and students have raised...

This fall, the Oberlin Music Theater department began its first semester of classes. The program has enrolled its initial first-year class and accepted many transfer students from other institutions. At least 80 percent of students transferring into the program came from Baldwin Wallace University, a private school located in Berea, Ohio, only about 20 miles...

On Sept. 18, award-winning pitcher and fan favorite Clayton Kershaw announced he was retiring at the end of the season. The left-hander made the announcement during an emotional press conference at Dodger Stadium.  He said he was at peace with his decision after his long run with the organization. He then pitched 4.1 innings against...

In my four years at Oberlin College, I’ve witnessed the school’s dining options be significantly modified in ways that do not serve the interests of the students. From the removal of the Rathskeller’s cozy, pub-like seating, to the quiet disappearance of the Biggs GoYeo smoothie bar, to the face-to-face service at Azariah’s Café being replaced...

Oberlin’s vibrant, diverse fashion climate comprises opinions ranging from declarations of a “clog epidemic” to citations of improper vest use. Among contradicting opinions, an unspoken rule exists: wear things with confidence. From College third-year Elke Zigmont’s perspective, clothing should be experimental but make sense; it should bolster one’s identity and not distort it. “A lot...

The B.A./B.F.A. program held a kickoff party on Thursday, Sept. 18. It began with an information session hosted by professors in the practicing arts and attended by students who had questions about the program. This was followed by a celebration for the start of the program, attended by not only staff and students, but also...

Oberlin College and Conservatory has been awarded a grant of up to $20,000 from Truth Initiative, a national nonprofit devoted to ending tobacco use, to strengthen its 100 percent tobacco- and vape-free campus policy. Oberlin is one of 15 institutions nationwide chosen for this round of funding. College officials say the grant will support efforts...

Once, I was sitting at the table tucked under the main staircase of Peters Hall, typing away on my computer, when a stranger sat down across from me. Yes, they’d asked if they could. Yes, I’d consented because it seemed unreasonably rude not to. No, they did not want to speak to me any further....