To the Editors:

Many public and private universities provide free public access to their financial portfolio. Students are able to view the investments of their respective institutions upon request. This information has enabled students to hold their schools accountable on various levels and urge them to be socially and ethically responsible with their tuition and endowment.

It would be a historic and powerful statement for Oberlin College to operate as an educational institution with full financial transparency of its investments. In 1987, Oberlin College disclosed its financial portfolio to the student body, faculty, staff and public.

This one-time motion toward transparency can and should serve as a precedent for the College to open its books again, and to keep them open indefinitely. The process of actually making the financial portfolio transparent can take many different forms. When the College commits to transparency, the logistical aspects can be addressed. For now, it is the commitment to transparency that we seek.

We would like to take this opportunity to invite the class trustees to support this student-led initiative calling for full financial transparency for Oberlin College now.

A coalition of individual students and student organizations is being formed around this issue at this time. We look forward to being in contact with the trustees in the near future. Thank you for your time and consideration.

--Rebecca DeCola
College senior

--Zoe Chace
College senior

--Vivek Bharathan
College senior
Student Senate Liaison