OC to Close Community Affairs Office
By Ariana Cohen-Halberstam

In December, when Assistant to the President for Community Affairs Daniel Gardner leaves Oberlin College, the office will close its doors. Gardner’s position, which was created in 2000, was central in strengthening the town-gown relationship.
The collaboration that Gardner helped create was instituted as “The Oberlin Partnership.”
At the time of its establishment, the Oberlin community was in turmoil – there were fires in a number of houses, the Ohio school board declared that Oberlin public schools were in an ‘academic emergency,’ the Oberlin Medical Center was on the verge of shutting down, and the Bayer plant was on its way out (which resulted in many people losing their jobs).
Oberlin College understood that it was necessary to use its available resources and to take action.
“Oberlin College has come to a deeper awareness that Oberlin the town and Oberlin the college are inextricably bound together.
Not only do we value positive town-gown relationships but we also realize that ours is a symbiotic relationship, a relationship of mutual dependence.
In a nutshell, as goes the community, so goes the College,” Gardner said in April 2000.
What has followed since is a significant alliance. Gardner has helped implement many influential programs in which the College assisted in bettering education, economic development, housing and recreation for Oberlin community members.
Being that Oberlin’s public schools live under the shadow of the College, it was astounding that they should be in a state of despair.
Thus, a team of Oberlin College staff, including Gardner and Diana Roose, created a formal partnership with Oberlin schools.
Now, there are focus groups, or “Listening Sessions,” in which the College, school officials and community members get together to discuss issues prevalent to the Oberlin school board.
The Oberlin Partnership set up full tuition scholarships for graduates of Oberlin High School. Twenty-seven students out of Oberlin High School’s graduating class of 85 students applied to Oberlin College last year, and six of those students enrolled this past fall. This program and the steady improvement within the public school system have made Oberlin College “a real possibility” for Oberlin High School students, according to Gardner.
This program is reciprocal. It “effects Oberlin school students and benefits the College to have Oberlin students attending,” Jeff Cummings, Director of the Main Street Program, said. This program in itself helps to strengthen the rapport between the College and the city.
Gardner also helped in getting the Ohio Main Street Program started in Oberlin.
Oberlin was named as one of three important supporters of this program. This brought a lot of media attention to Oberlin and also affirmed the fruition of the Office of Community Affairs’ labors.
The effort to improve the city of Oberlin has also been translated into trying to develop business downtown.
In fact, Gardner worked steadfastly with the Main Street Program in drafting a grant for $400,000 from the state of Ohio.
Splash Zone, a new amusement park in Oberlin opened on Memorial Day weekend of last year. Oberlin College helped fund Splash Zone because it felt that Splash Zone would be profitable for the Oberlin community.
Projects like this were not possible before the College had an office for community outreach. “Before, it was very ad hoc,” Gardner said. Oberlin community members now have a college representative with whom they can discuss issues of concern.
“We can’t just approach Nancy Dye. To have Dan be the middle person has definitely helped,” Cummings said.
While the College’s history in Oberlin community affairs goes in waves, the past two years have created some reassured stability. “Dan was kind of a tidal wave…[he] raised the level of commitment from the college,” Cummings added.
Yet, what is to happen once Gardner leaves is still uncertain. Although the College seems altogether confident that its previous efforts will be continued, Gardner’s position is definitely not going to be filled in the immediate future.
Gardner has sat down to discuss what he sees for the future of Oberlin College’s relationship with the town. He has thus left the blueprints for his successor to follow.
Gardner is excited for the collaboration between the community and multiple Oberlin staff and student members continue.

The decision to leave was “a difficult decision to have made,” Gardner says. Yet, he began “realizing that this work was never going to be entirely done” and that in fact, it is a “lifelong endeavor, and not the lifelong endeavor [I] personally imagined for [myself].”

Gardner is confident that during his time here he has helped “put the structure in place” and that the “process of building trust with the community” will continue.