To the Editor:
I would like to briefly express my frustration at the scheduling of lectures and guest speakers at this college. I don't know how many times I've heard a professor announce a lecture which I was absolutely excited to go hear and had been let down because the lecture was scheduled for 4:30. It seems that the convention around here is to scedule lectures and guest speakers for 4:30 time slots and, frankly, it's very frustrating to me. Why? Because, along with many others at Oberlin, I'm involved in athletics. Everyone should know that at 4:30 all varsity and club athletics meet for a couple of hours before dinner; why are lectures still sceduled for 4:30? I'm positive that many of my fellow student-athletes here at Oberlin would agree with the fact that there is nothing more frustrating then missing an interesting lecture due to practice.
You may ask, don't academics take priority over athletics? I mean, what are we here for-to play sports or to learn? The answer is, of course to learn, but it is my opinion that the realm of learning, especially at a liberal arts school, does not extend to academics exclusively. Athletics is a opportunity to learn trust, teamwork, and self-satisfaction which I believe cannot be taught in a classroom environment. Going to practice everyday and learning these values from my teammates is an essential part of my education, the education of my teammates, and the education of all other athletes here at Oberlin; ask any of them. Sure, I could skip out on practice to go hear about Marxism, but I am part of a team. By missing practice to go to a lecture that is important to me I am letting down my teammates by placing myself over others who depend upon me as a teammate, therefore violating trust placed in me by my teammates.
By scheduling lectures at 4:30 Oberlin is in effect excluding athletes and neglecting their importance in the grand scheme of education at Oberlin. I do not like missing lectures which are important to me because of athletics, but I have no choice and it frustrates me to no end. I would like to propose that Oberlin schedules lectures at many different times. Lectures shouldn't be solely at 7:30 either because other non-athletic groups meet then. Athletics, obviously, isn't the only realm where values such as trust, teamwork, and self-satisfaction can be learned. I propose that Oberlin develop some sort of rotational schedule where lectures meet at all different times from 4:30 to, say, 10pm. As the system stands now, (and I speak for sciences and humanities alike) most lectures are scheduled for 4:30 and organizers should know that when they schedule lectures for 4:30 they are automatically excluding nearly 200 student athletes. I would like to see this change.
Copyright © 1997, The Oberlin Review.
Volume 125, Number 21; April 18, 1997
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