February 20, 1987

Twenty years ago this week, nearly 900 people showed up to observe a judicial hearing for the “Oberlin 59,” a group of nearly five dozen students who were being prosecuted for their involvement in a divestment protest two months earlier.

Two months after indicting students involved in the Dec. 6 divestment protest, Dean of Students George Langeler has dropped all charges against them.

The “Oberlin 59” were charged with disrupting the essential operations of the college, and a Community Board hearing to determine their fate got underway Monday evening. The hearing was held in King 306, and almost 250 people packed the room, which normally holds 158. But close to 900 people, including students, faculty, and outside media, hoped to witness the judicial proceeding, and the crowd spilled into the halls to watch the hearing on a video screen and listen to the WOBC-FM broadcast.

The hearing was to continue Tuesday evening, but after the GF vote Tuesday afternoon, it was suspended while Langeler conferred with the Community Board.  Supporters again crowded King 306 and the outside hallway but were forced to wait over two hours for Langeler to come to a decision.

When Langeler returned to the room, he said he would drop all charges against the 59 on the condition that they enter into mediation with him….

But in a unanimous vote, the 59 decided that they would accept nothing less than a total, unconditional dropping of the charges…

Langeler requested 24 hours to consider dropping the charges unconditionally. His decision, however, took over 36 hours….

In a letter to the 59 yesterday afternoon, Langeler wrote, “I am dropping charges at this time with no conditions I look forward to further conversations with you.”