Source: new.oberlin.edu
This past Monday, after a person was spotted strolling across the campus of Oberlin College wearing what appeared to be a hooded robe resembling those commonly worn by the K.K.K, school officials decided to suspend all classes and “non-essential” activities so that the report could be investigated, says student-run paper, The Oberlin Review.
During the suspension, students and faculty were rounded up to partake in a school wide discusion regarding the recent hate-related incidents to plague the historic college. Excluding the aforementioned sighting, a brief timeline, which recounts a few of the disturbing incidents is provided below.
Week of Feb 9th: Notes filled with “hate speech,” one of which contained a swastika were distributed among faculty mailboxes.
Feb 9th: Black History posters were vandalized. The culprit crossed out the word “Black” and replaced it with “N*gg*r.” “Year of the Queer” posters and a Chinese calendar hanging nearby were also vandalized.
Feb. 11th: Two signs containing hate speech were found near student dormitories. One sign read:
“Black History Month? N*gg*r Please!”
Feb. 12th: A note was found in the campus Multicultural Resource Center that read:
“N*gg*r + F*gg*t Center.”
Feb. 16th: “Whites Only” signs were found on water fountains and “N*gg*r Oven” was written inside of a campus elevator.“No N*gg*rs” was also etched across a bathroom door.
Mar. 4th: Multiple students reported being chased and called racial obscenities by suspects in vehicles between 9:30 and 10:30 p.m.
Oberlin student, Zack Pekarsky told the Los Angeles Times that many students feared for their safety.
“A lot of people were very actively concerned for their safety, physically,” said the Oberlin junior.
The recent occurrences at Oberlin College are somewhat ironic, considering the liberal arts college was among the first in the country to admit Black students back in 1835.
An update suggests that the figure seen walking across the campus in klansman attire could’ve possibly been a woman wrapped in a blanket. This however, has not been confirmed. Either way, it doesn’t take away from the other blatantly racist and discriminatory acts to occur on the campus lately.
