Spreading the Jive
How the National Craze Came to Oberlin

by Holly Matyas '02

As members of the Oberlin Swing Society hustle to set up the sound system, a group of people cautiously enters Hales Gym. Swing Society member Sarah Hall '02 greets them with an enthusiastic smile and proceeds to explain and demonstrate one of the basic swing steps, the jitterbug. A moment of panic sweeps through the group. A chorus of "Could you show that again?" echoes through the gym. Hall and her partner, David Karpf '01, show the basic jitterbug again in slow motion. Before long, dozens of couples cover the dance floor. Some are experienced dancers, others beginners, but they are all smiling and laughing and dancing together.

Oberlin's swing scene has come a long way in a short time. When Karpf arrived at Oberlin in the fall of 1997, he met a group of about a dozen people who held informal swing dances in the basements of Noah and Burton and decided to give it a try. "I've always liked the image of it. It just seemed so cool," he said. "Ballroom is a scary social dance. Salsa is more difficult to pick up. But once you learn the basic swing step, you can watch people and make up moves."

Karpf began publicizing the informal basement dances, and his friend, Kevin McShane '00, set up the first "Dress to Impress Swing Nite."

A dance was held during the fall 1998 orientation, and Joshua Hartshorne '01, president of the Oberlin Swing Society, was one of the first-year students there who became hooked on swing. Wishing to secure more appropriate dance spaces, with real sound systems rather than personal boom boxes, Hartshorne organized the first meeting of what would become the Oberlin Swing Society that October. The following spring, he and other dedicated swing dancers submitted a charter proposal in order to become an officially recognized student organization.

Difficulties finding space in the fall of 1999 tested the group's determination, but the Swing Society did not give up. Members wrote letters to parents of Oberlin students in an effort to gain support. They emphasized the community nature of swing, said Sarah Scannell '00. "One of the things that Josh and I stressed when we were meeting with people, trying to get either money or a charter, was that swing is a physical exercise that takes a certain amount of skill, commitment, and time," she said.

Finally at the end of 1999, the Oberlin Swing Society became officially chartered, giving it access to equipment from the audiovisual department and a stronger voice when applying for space.

Society members still work at "spreading the jive." For example, vice president Lily Matini '03 is responsible for establishing connections with the swing scene outside Oberlin. Her efforts have allowed members of the Swing Society to compete in local com-petitions and participate in an intensive workshop in Cleveland taught by Steven Mitchell, one of the country's leading Lindy hop instructors.

In addition to teaching basic swing lessons before each dance, Swing Society members taught winter-term projects for the past two years, and this year, they taught a basic swing EXCO (Experimental College) course that drew over 140 people to its first meeting. All swing events are open to faculty, staff, and members of the community as well as students, and most are free.

King Building Sports "Smart" Classroom

After a year of planning, King 235 has a new look and a new function -- the room is the College's first wireless computer lab, complete with 20 new Macintosh iBooks.

Gary Kornblith, professor of history and director of the Oberlin Center for Technologically Enhanced Teaching, uses the room for his course, The Industrial Revolution in America.

"We use the iBooks just like textbooks. They are part of the class, not the focus of the class," he said. "We can open and close them easily, without disrupting the flow of the lecture."

The computers also facilitate group work on in-class assignments, Kornblith noted. What role will computers play in the classroom of the future?

"Wireless laptops will probably become standard equipment for students," Kornblith predicted.

"They'll end the distinction between computer work and noncomputer work."