In addition to its ongoing search for a new dean, the Office of the Dean of Students is currently undergoing another big transformation. All four of the Multicultural Resource Center community coordinators are departing this year, leaving emptiness not only in the administration of the MRC but also in the hearts of the colleagues and the students who knew them.

Nina Sanchez, the Latino/a community coordinator, graduated in 2000 from Colorado College, where she was a co-chair of El Movimiento Estudiantil Chicano de Aztlan. Katherine Eubank is the Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender community director and also an Oberlin graduate from the class of 2003. Tracy Ng, the Asian/Pacific American community director, also graduated from Oberlin in 2003 and La Trina Jackson, who is the Africana community director, graduated from Oberlin in 2001. Associate Dean of Students and MRC Director Eric Estes expressed his regret that the four of them were leaving. He said, however, that “turnover in these positions is typical.

“The fact that these amazing four community coordinators have remained intact for so long as a dynamic team is a testament to several factors including the talent and dedication of these particular women and the increased status and support of these positions by the administration,” Estes said. “In the past, most community coordinators stayed for only a year — in some cases less.” 

Currently there is a search committee formed that is dealing with the recruitment and interviewing process for candidates for the positions.

“The search committees have identified exciting, highly qualified finalists both in terms of their academic knowledge and activist track record,” Estes said.

He added that all finalists will be on campus between May 4 and 18.

“We hope to announce the new staff before the end of final exams. I think everyone involved in the process is excited about the eventual outcome.”

However, everyone who has worked with the current coordinators will surely miss them. On Wednesday at the Edmonia Lewis Center there was a picnic in honor of the leaving members of the MRC.

The coordinators also shared the nostalgia.

“As a student, the MRC and its staff, especially Rachel Beverly, were vital resources for me, academically, politically and personally,” said Eubank. “As a Community Coordinator, the MRC and its extensive community has continued to support and encourage me to grow in more ways than I could have imagined on my first day in this job.”

Yet she said that after having spent the last six years at Oberlin and “[my] 18 years before that in a small town in New Hampshire, it’s time for [my] to try out living in a city for a while, which is why [I] will be moving to Chicago in July.” Despite the need to move on, however, she still does not want to part with Oberlin community.

“If I could transplant this job and these people to Chicago, I would in a heartbeat, but I’ve been told that’s not likely,” she said. “I am certainly sad to leave the MRC, but I am confident that Eric and next year’s staff and students will continue to do the amazing work that I have seen in the last two years.”

Ng also described her connection to Oberlin and the MRC with very warm feelings.

“The reason that I chose this job was because there were a number of things that I felt needed work and strengthening while I was a student, including an understanding of the MRC’s relevance for the entire campus,” she said.

Ng would like to move from working in higher education to working with younger students who still need to push to get to college.

“I entered Oberlin in 1998 and the first day I decided that I didn’t want to stick around. Seven years later, I’m beyond ready to leave Oberlin and try a new place,” she said.

“I have greatly valued Kate, Nina, Tracy and Trina for their dedication, energy, sense of social justice and strong commitment to students,” Estes added. “They have accomplished amazing things over the last two years as a team. I will miss them a ton as colleagues and friends.”

Over the past year the MRC organized many events that proved to be successful among the community, such as the Working Our Way Home conference, My Name Is My Own series, the Indigenous Women’s Series and the Trans 101 training.