Pandemic Stories

A year ago, it was thought that coping with COVID-19 would require withdrawing $31 million from the college’s endowment, but now that estimate has been reduced by 45%. In June, ObieSafe policies began to be lifted as recommended by the Ohio Department of Health, and campus life began to return to normal. There were 839 students on campus for “summer semester” classes, and more than 900 new students are expected to enroll in the fall, making the incoming class the largest in Oberlin’s history!   Details are in this article from the Oberlin Review. Classes begin October 4.

President Ambar's Chief of Staff told the story of Oberlin's leadership planning from March through November of 2020. It is dramatic and detailed. Read it at https://inside.oberlin.edu/oberlin-2020/   Then, looking forward, in August 2021 Ben Jones interviewed President Ambar. Watch it at https://vimeo.com/588389938/45c693f5f7

A Civil Rights Memoir

Matthew Rinaldi has published Fire at the Freedom House, which he’s worked on for over a decade.

It begins with the trip by Oberlin students to Mississippi with OACR during winter break in 1966, which one reviewer calls “very relevant” to current-day issues. “The Black residents of small-town Mississippi, working at the direction of the Mississippi Freedom Democratic Party, overcame difficulties as they struggled with some white volunteers from the North to integrate businesses and do the work of voter registration.” Many Oberlin classmates are included. 

The book can be ordered directly from any bookstore, and it’s also available from Amazon.

Congratulations

Walt Galloway received the Alumni Medal for outstanding and sustained service to Oberlin College in a video presentation during the 188^th Anniversary Commencement Exercises on May 14, 2021. More details are at https://www.oberlin.edu/alumni-association/alc/awards (click on Walt's + symbol).

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