(I'm passing along an email which the Class of 1968 reunion committee sent to President Ambar on August 9, expressing their concern regarding Title IX procedures in sexual misconduct cases at Oberlin.)

Dear President Ambar:

We hope you and your family have been able to enjoy a well-earned vacation together, and you were all able to relax, separately and together.

We are circling back to you again about our concerns in regard to Oberlin College/Conservatory’s Title IX processes and policies.

We can only imagine how many “medicine balls” you have to juggle, but, at the same time, we feel a great sense of urgency about moving forward on these Title IX matters.

Back in May, you stated in an email that you would “recount” the policy changes in this area to us “soon.” Are you able to suggest a time this month when you can do that with the four of us co-signers?

Second, recognizing the complexity of sexual harassment cases, we would like to be a part of a task force to re-define these policies and procedures.  Such a task force should include alumni faculty, staff, the trustees, and students.  We recommend that our classmate Susan Reese, who has considerable experience and expertise with such cases, be a member of this task force.  If such a task force already exists, could you please add her?  We know you value the contributions of alumni.  This would be a vital and meaningful collaboration for us and for you.

Finally, we hope that as part of the policy review, that you have brought this matter before the General Faculty for their consideration.  If not, we recommend that a full set of recommendations come before them by the end of January’s Winter Term.

Why do we feel this is so time-sensitive?  Because we think in the current legal and social climate, Oberlin’s practices are open to attack in the courts.  As we indicated in our May 22 email, we also think that the existing policy and its practices are not consistent with the basic notions of fairness and respect for individual rights that are at the core of our College.

Please get back to us as soon as you can.

Best regards,

Susan Reese
Paul Safyan
Gideon Schein
Richard Zitrin

(Following up on the August 2019 post above, I'm now passing along an update posted on the Class of 1968 reunion website.)

Many of you may have seen articles or heard on the news about new rules issued by the Department of Education that affect the manner in which cases of sexual misconduct are to be handled in institutions receiving federal funding -- which includes practically all public and many private institutions.  

The emphasis in these new rules is on granting more rights to the accused in these cases.

You'll recall that a group of your classmates and their friends had recommended some changes along these lines to the College/Conservatory over the past two years.

While our group has not studied these new rules in detail, we have discussed the news reports.  At this time, we are choosing not to become involved with Oberlin's legal team and Title IX office, unless we are asked.  Those within the Oberlin College and Conservatory will have to decide on what approach to take with these rules. Under the present, very trying circumstances for all institutions, our group doesn't think the time is right for our input.