Amidst the College’s backpedaling to reinstate intern positions, about 70 concerned students staged a silent protest outside Tuesday’s General Faculty meeting. The students, who held signs with slogans such as “I love the MRC —support faculty of color,” were rallying for broad ranging administrative changes, all of which were articulated in a list of demands presented to the faculty (see sidebar on page 4).
Faculty support for the students appeared strong. As professors filed up the stairs to the meeting in King 306, many gave thumbs up or offered words of encouragement. Other faculty seemed confused about the students’ objectives. Classics Professor Kirk Ormand stopped outside the meeting door with a bewildered look on his face as he asked the protesters :“So I’m in the dark. Are you asking me not to go in [to the meeting]?”
“No, go in and help us,” the students replied loudly.
Faculty inside the meeting made little mention of the scene outside. However, despite efforts to continue as planned, loud applause from the students outside stalled the meeting a number of times. After noise had died down, faculty discussed other proposals unrelated to the MRC. However, the final item on the agenda was Student Senate’s State of the Senate and Student Body Address, delivered by senior senator Christine Harley. The address touched on senate’s presence throughout the year, before turning to the intern cuts.
“Senate holds the concern that the administration’s measurement of the success of College policy relies less on decision-making processes that involve students and the College’s best interests, and more on decision outcomes that garner little criticism,” Harley read. The address also urged faculty to read the list of student demands presented at the meeting (see sidebar).
“She gave a balanced and entirely fair talk,” College President Nancy Dye said.
The student action was partly a response to what many students feel is a lack of administrative interest in real student input. “I wanted to do something. Its ridiculous that this [direct action] is the only way to do things. There should be other ways,” first year Yuki Shinomiya said.
Dye, who described the direct action positively as a “healthy protest,” insists that the administration remains committed to the MRC and the interests of people of color at Oberlin. “The MRC will certainly be well staffed, and will be a central part of the college, no matter what,” she said.
However, many students feel that the administration’s view of multiculturalism is at odds with that of the students. “I don’t think that [the administration] has people of color or the faculty in mind. They have there own interests in mind, and their idea of multiculturalism is one that benefits white people and not people of color,” Kobe Jackson, a senior who filmed the protest for documentary purposes, said.
This event coincided with a talk by Dr. Felix Padilla titled “The Struggle of Latino/a University Students in Search of a Liberating Education.” Noticing the demonstration, Padilla said; “I’m happy to see students out here. At least they are visible. When I was a student, this was life.”
With this protest following closely on the heels of a similar protest outside a SCOPE meeting two weeks ago, it seems that student activism concerning school policy is gaining momentum as students remain committed to making this a public issue.
As one student at the protest was overheard to say: “what they should have done was e-mail the Chronicle [of Higher Education].”