The Oberlin Review
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   2005-06
Commentary May 26, 2006
Commencement Issue

Not the Administration’s Paper

This is not the administration’s paper.

I have worked at the Review since my first week at Oberlin — three years ago — and before I leave it in the hands of my successors, I’d like to make that absolutely clear:This is not the administration’s paper.

It’s ours. We have our own office, our own equipment, our own style guide. We make our own rules. If maintenance needs to get into our office for something as simple as fixing the phones, they have to call me to let them in. It’s not like your dorm room where a simple shout of “ResEd!” is an open sesame to your private space. They need our permission.

Of course, when there’s an especially tough decision to make, we go to some trusted faculty members for advice. But no one in the administration has the power to tell us what to do, nor have they ever tried. Our headlines, our content, our successes and our mess-ups are all us. No one can censor us, motherfucker.

If I seem defensive, it’s only because our independence — and our loyalty — has been called into question as of late. While I was on the radio show of the lovely Alli Katz — editor emerita of our esteemed competitor The Grape — the current editor-in-chief of the same publication dared to claim that his paper represented the view of the students and ours solely that of the administration. Then, on the most recent incarnation of Oberlin LiveJournal’s anonymous forum, the Review was again accused of acting as the administration’s mouthpiece, with an added twist: Those posting were upset that most of the Review articles failed to interject an opinion of their own.

Let me explain something: Despite what you may have learned from cable news networks, there is not supposed to be opinion in news. It’s objective. If you would like our opinion, however, all you’ve gotta do is turn the page to our Commentary section. Our editorials are almost always anti-admin.

We stuck up for you this year, Oberlin. We advocated for SPACE when the College was gloating over the godsend Jazz facility gift and you were still practicing in basements and performing in the ’Sco. We reminded the administration that two professors on leave and one without a renewed contract does not satisfy your demand for a MENA studies program. And we supported Senate’s referendum-tested proposals for all-gender housing and LEED certification when the faculty barely bothered to show up to vote.

At their best, our editorials helped end discrimination with the recent adoption of all-gender housing and pushed to the College to get Pyle’s oven fixed. At their worst they conflated departments and prompted a city council member’s resignation. But we always apologized for our mistakes, our goals were always genuine and we always wrote with you in mind. About a sixth of our editorials rallied against ResEd. Whether for more off-campus housing, more transparency, cleaner and safer housing or just plain better services, we were whiny, articulate, persistent and pissed-off about housing. How anti-administration is that? How could that come from anything but the voice of the students?

And as far as news coverage goes, c’mon, you know we’re looking out for you. Your professor’s position gets cut? Front page. Your dorm floods? Front page. Your study away program gets reinstated? Your oven gets busted? OSCA may be in trouble? On the front page.

Of course we quote the admins — how else are you gonna know what they’re saying? — but the issues we’re addressing are always yours.

We are not the administration’s paper. We’re here for you. We might not discuss your sex life or your drug habits — wouldn’t you rather us not? — but we print your letters, we follow your news tips, we research your problems and we lobby for your interests. We might not be the broad who taught you all your best moves, but we’re the girlfriend you can bring home to Mom (we’re 65 percent female!) — the one who gives a knowing, sympathetic look when Mom asks about your plans for summer.

We know, we know — and we’re on your side.
 
 

   

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