Admissions philosophy at Oberlin College has been guided by the historic 1835 resolution of the college's Board of Trustees: "The education of the people of color is a matter of great interest and should be encouraged & sustained in this Institution." Maintaining faithfulness to a founding principle, enlarging its purpose so as to foster both cultural and racial pluralism, and adapting it to the changing mission of the modern institution has been the function of the Office of the Secretary and, after 1928, of the Office of Admissions. Prior to academic year 1928-29, the admission of new students to Oberlin College was carried out by a committee of the faculty, the bulk of the work being done by Secretary of the College George M. Jones (1870-1948), Assistant Secretary John E. Wirkler (A.B. '03), and Assistants Anna Gertrude Ransom (d. 1954) and Ruth Easton (d. 1957). As the process of selection evolved to include not only consideration of a student's scholarship record but also of his personality through interviews, Secretary Jones requested relief from admissions work.

In the fall of 1928, President Ernest Hatch Wilkins appointed William Harlow Seaman (A.B. 1924) to the post of Director of Admissions. During his twenty-year tenure, Seaman initiated a number of practices which have since become routine. He instituted the Oberlin College High School Days, which brought local high school students to the Oberlin campus. He traveled extensively, interviewing prospective applicants to Oberlin and meeting with Oberlin alumni. The "Modern Oberlin" view book, the annual "About Oberlin" pictorial book, the biennial Freshman Handbook, and a number of other illustrated pamphlets were published by the college under Seaman's supervision.

On Seaman's death in March 1948, Assistant Director W. Dean Holdeman (A.B. 1938) was made Acting Director of Admissions and Veterans' Counselor. Robert Lodington Jackson (d. 1989) replaced Holdeman as Director of Admissions in 1949, serving until 1973. Jackson presided over the record-setting application figures of the late 1950s, which continued into the sixties and early seventies. (Freshman applications increased from 1,000 in 1950 to over 3,100 in 1972.) In 1957, Jackson foresaw that the rising tide of applicants could result in restricting enrollments, a prospect he did not welcome. Instead, he advocated an orderly, gradual expansion of freshman enrollments which would preserve Oberlin's standards of education and yet allow Oberlin to remain responsive to the needs of society. Jackson initiated an intensive program of Ohio recruitment, visiting schools regularly to make students aware of Oberlin; the program was abandoned in 1973, but has recently been reactivated. In 1967, the Committee on Admissions and Relations with Secondary Schools was established to report to the Board of Trustees on several issues, including the decline in the volume of male applicants to Oberlin, admissions policy in general, admissions office procedures, recruitment, publicity, financial aid, and entrance requirements. Through their work on this committee and on the full Admissions Committee, the faculty assumed a greater role in making admissions decisions. Faculty began to interview students and were encouraged to make high school visits.

Following the peak numbers of applications in 1972, the number of applications from freshmen began to decrease gradually. Maintaining size and quality in the face of the declining 18-year- old population, dropping SAT scores, mounting tuition costs, and the move to coeducation at a majority of Oberlin's traditional competitor schools became severe challenges for Oberlin and for liberal arts colleges nationwide. As a result, Oberlin began to step up its recruiting efforts. In April 1972, the position of Dean of Admissions was created, and English professor Lawrence Buell (Ph.D. Cornell 1966) briefly held the post. The office now enjoyed representation on the important decision-making committees on campus; moreover, the Dean could spend his entire time attending to the needs of the various constituencies served by admissions. The Admissions Office was now recognized as one of the most important agencies of the college for projecting to potential students an accurate picture of Oberlin.

Robert Jackson resigned as Admissions Director in 1973 and became the college Registrar; he was replaced by Associate Director of Admissions Carl W. Bewig (A.B. 1962). Bewig expanded the role of students, faculty, staff, and alumni in the admissions process in an effort to increase Oberlin's "yield" rate, that is, the percentage of accepted students who elect to enroll. He strongly supported the principle of need-blind admissions. In the spring of 1975, Oberlin purchased for the first time the names of 13,000 high school junior males through the College Board's student search program; yield rates improved, and in 1976, the college purchased the names of 20,000 men and women who would receive publicity. New specialized publications were sent to high school guidance offices, such as those describing science at Oberlin, housing and dining, and black student life. Through close collaboration with Oberlin's Office of Institutional Research, Bewig made use of a growing body of statistical information relating to the applicant's decision-making process and perception of Oberlin. Outside consulting firms were contracted to refine Oberlin's image and marketing strategies. Attracting and enrolling minority applicants, mandated by the General Faculty in 1971, became a prime focus of the work of admissions staff over the next decade. Minority recruitment included targeting not only black prospective students but also Asian, Spanish-American, Native-American, and students from Appalachia.

Carl Bewig resigned his position in 1986. Elizabeth DeLaHunt, reporting to the Provost, served as Admissions Director from August 1986 to January 1987 when she took a terminal leave of absence. President S. Frederick Starr named Registrar Douglass S. Gardner to the post of Acting Director of College Admissions. In August 1987, Gardner assumed the newly created position of Dean of Enrollment Planning, reporting to the President. Gardner's duties involved supervising the work of the admissions directors of the College and the Conservatory, the director of financial aid, and the registrar; developing better ways of assessing the effectiveness of recruiting and admissions procedures, and coordinating strategies for student recruitment. In his report to the President for 1987/88, Gardner described the creation of a computer system designed to rank areas of the country by unmet admissions potential. He reported on a record number of applications for the third consecutive year: 4,630. Minority enrollments were up to 22% from 14% in 1983.

With the appointment of Douglass Gardner in 1987, J. Leon Washington, formerly Associate Director of Admissions and Coordinator of Minority Admissions, became Director of Admissions. His goals for the office included increasing minority and athlete enrollments. After two years as Director of Admissions, J. Leon Washington resigned. He argued, in a hearing before the Ohio Civil Rights Commission, that Oberlin College had unfairly diminished his authority by creating the position of Dean of Enrollment Planning. The Commission ruled in the college's favor. Thomas C. Hayden became Director of Admissions in August 1989. Hayden was later promoted to vice-president for admissions and financial aid, and, in November 1992, S. Frederick Starr appointed Debra Chermonte as Director of Admissions. Upon Chermonte’s promotion to Dean of Admissions and Financial Aid in February 2000, Paul Marthers rose to fill the vacancy as Director of Admissions.

DIRECTOR OF ADMISSIONS

William Harlow Seaman, fall 1928-March 1948
W. Dean Holdeman (acting), March 1948-1949
Robert Lodington Jackson, 1949-1973
Carl W. Bewig, 1973-August 1986
Elizabeth DeLaHunt, August 1986-January 1987
Douglass S. Gardner (acting), January 1987-August 1987
J. Leon Washington, August 1987-August 1989
Thomas C. Hayden, June 1989-July 1992
Debra Chermonte, November 1992-February 2000
Paul Marthers, February 2000-

DEAN OF ADMISSIONS

Lawrence Buell April 1972-1975

DEAN OF ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID

Debra Chermonte February 2000-

DEAN OF ENROLLMENT PLANNING

Douglass S. Gardner August 1987-June 1992

VICE-PRESIDENT FOR ADMISSIONS AND FINANCIAL AID

Thomas C. Hayden July 1992-1996