I've worked in Oberlin for almost a year and a half, and really enjoy driving through the college campus area each day on State Route 511 during my commute. There's always something interesting to see, whether it's the beautiful architecture of the historic campus buildings, or the students themselves, who often dress in a throwback, 'hippie' fashion right out of a 1970s time warp.
It's never boring, and all quite different from commuting to Cleveland, which for decades was a daily study in frustration for me on I-90. I don't miss that drive a bit – and I believe my blood pressure is lower as a result.
When did I first become acquainted with Oberlin? Back in the 1960s, my family spent a lot of time at Findley State Park (just south of Wellington on State Route 58) both swimming and camping, so we passed though Oberlin a lot. Oberlin College was my first glimpse of what 'going to college' looked like, and it left a big impression on me. Of course, when it came time to apply for a school, Oberlin was out of the question (I was only looking at affordable state schools) and it was off to Ohio State for me.
Anyway, I'm quite fond of Oberlin now, with its quaint charm and abundant history – so the small grouping of ads below caught my attention. They appeared in the Lorain Journal back on June 4, 1963.
Of the group, only Gibson's and the Inn remain.
ReplyDeleteThe opening of the Big Box Store at Rts. 20 and 58 clobbered the downtown merchants, like so many towns in the same predicament. All the places to buy (new) "standard issue" clothing shut down almost right off the bat. A shame, really. But that's the way the world seems to work.
Still... It's a unique place, that's for sure. For such a small skool, it sure produces lots of people that change the world. https://edurank.org/uni/oberlin-college/alumni/
And please, no rants about it being a pit of liberalism. I worked there for several years, and I can tell you that it's just not true. The college is operated in a fiscally conservative manner and the students and faculty run the gamut from liberal to conservative. They were some of the most wonderful people I've ever met.
If I have any criticism, it's that they tend to over-think issues and over-react to things (ala Gibson's). A wise, old, conservatory professor explained it to me this way: "Oberlin is the reverse of a hula. In a hula, every little movement has a meaning. At Oberlin, every little meaning has a movement."
Wonder where the students and the Dean that egged the students on are now?Are they still spewing their hatred for the innocent?Did the students even graduate?I'm glad Gibson's prevailed.If there ever was a David vs Goliath story this was it.The truth shall always set you free.
ReplyDeleteThe best Oberlin College story will always be the students that were protesting something (I don't recall what the issue was) in downtown Cleveland and a local news station tried to interview one of them and the student didn't have a clue what he was there to protest. He simply said he was there for the extra credit. Regardless of your political beliefs, that is hilarious. Our educational system at its finest.
ReplyDeleteI agree Oberlin is a very beautiful little town. There just never seemed to be very much to do there.
The students who started everything by shoplifting are gone. The dean has moved on, I forget where, but still in academia. I met a person who was on the trial jury who told me that each time the dean avoided answering a question they figured it was another 10k added to the settlement. The Gibson dad and son are dead.
ReplyDeleteFor sure it was a flippin' mess. Thing is, the whole thing probably could've been avoided by a sincere public apology. The students have the right to (peacefully) protest anything they want, and they do, but the college should've stayed the heck out of the whole mess. I suspect they've learned that very important and expensive lesson.
Being an uninformed protester isn't the sole domain of college students. They were probably there for the beer and the sex along with the extra credit. Good a reasons as any to show up!
As far as finding something to do:
https://www.oberlin.org/community-calendar/
https://calendar.oberlin.edu/calendar
Everytime I go by the college and see the students walking around I wonder if they even take life seriously.They all seem to have that 1970's "Billy Jack" style hippy mentality about them of "Love thy neighbor"(unless the neighbor is trying to stop a crime from being committed then you cry foul and make up some racist story about thy neighbor).Then they start to rail against "The Man and The System".I still think this type of thinking goes back to the baby boomers and free love of the 1960's.They all wanted to be different from their parents and then each generation just gets a little bit worse than the previous generation to where they ended up stealing from Gibsons and making all those false accusations.
ReplyDeleteThey're kids. Almost all of them are wonderful, talented, smart, and caring. I know many of them take life too seriously, I think, that's why things we old farts dismiss are important to them. And you're painting with a very broad brush. You act as if every, single one of them was involved in something that only a handful out of 3,000 students were.
ReplyDeleteI hate to think but those kids who made all of these false accusations against Gibson's are going to turn into actors or lawyers or doctors or who knows what else.Are these the types of people that you would want working for you?I don't think they'll be putting on their resume that they were involved in false racist accusations against a model upstanding business,do you?
ReplyDeleteHow funny you are…
ReplyDeleteIt was a mere handful of students out of thousands attending and hundreds of thousands who’ve graduated. They might go on to win Nobels and Pulitzers or cure diseases. Or compose music. Or make ice cream. Or fix cars. Or become a politician who votes in such a way that retirees have enough money to eat.
I’ve lived in Oberlin for 30 years *and* worked at the college. How much experience do you have with the people who live, work, and study here? What you’ve read in the paper, watched on some slanted cable news network, or saw while driving thru town?
I agree with you, Don. I worked at Oberlin College for a short time, and what it's really like there is NOTHING like what the locals (outside of Oberlin) think it is. It's amusing, the dissonance. Don, you did a great job describing the college and its students.
ReplyDeleteTheresa