Oberlin Welcomes All Roads Visitors

Welcome back from break and welcome to the mad dash to Commencement!

After a mild winter, spring is busting in Oberlin. As I looked outside of my office window this week, I’ve seen students congregating in Wilder Bowl to read, talk, study, throw Frisbees, kick a soccer ball, or simply stretch out in the grass for a respite.

At the same time, the pace of campus life is accelerating as the end of the academic year nears. In a seasonal Oberlin ritual, our admissions staff sent out acceptance letters this week to a select group of high school seniors from across the country and around the world. They will, we hope, choose to become the Class of 2020.

As we do each year, we will begin welcoming those admitted students and their families to campus for our All Roads Lead to Oberlin events. The first event of this year is on April 8.

We typically get many compliments from our visitors on how friendly, warm, and open Oberlin’s students, faculty, staff, and residents are. It is not just the campus community but also the broader community that makes such a positive impression.

Given the recent events in our world, country, and those here on campus that have challenged us, we sometimes forget what a remarkably caring community Oberlin is. I encourage the community to reaffirm the values that make Oberlin a great place to live, work, study, and learn: openness, kindness, generosity, and empathy. We believe we can create a better world, we strive to make a positive difference, and we are dedicated to fighting discrimination of any sort and to working to understand each other. We pursue our goals with love, hope, and idealism.

Those are the core values of our community. As I said, Oberlin’s people are very welcoming. So many parents of prospective students, as well as other visitors, have told me how friendly and helpful our students, faculty, and staff are. I’m proud that we greet admitted students and their families as if they were already members of our community. That’s a huge factor in helping students trying to decide if Oberlin is the place where they will live, study, work, play, and thrive starting this coming fall.

Introducing Antoinette Myers, Interim MRC Director

I’m pleased to announce that Antoinette “Toni” Myers has accepted a one-year appointment as interim assistant dean of students and director of the Multicultural Resource Center. Toni earned a BA from Scripps College with majors in politics and Latin American studies and master’s from Stanford University in educational policy, organization, and leadership studies. Toni was the Africana community coordinator at Oberlin in 2013 and 2014 and more recently worked in the Office of the Vice Provost for Student Affairs at Stanford. In the summer and early fall of 2014, Toni served as a high-level consultant at Scripps College, working with faculty, staff, and students on capacity building related to diversity and inclusion efforts. Toni is currently an admissions associate and outreach coordinator for The Urban School of San Francisco.

Career Advice for Graduating Seniors

A reminder: I am willing to meet with any graduating senior to brainstorm about career plans and jobs. All you have to do to prepare for a meeting with me is speak with career center staff, fine tune your résumé, and prepare a brief description of your career goals.