The Future of Oberlin

Mary — What happened to my friends that I consider my family has been devastating. And some, I had asked a lot to talk and they won't... they just can't. I have one friend that won't even drive through Oberlin. ...Some of them it's just been rough on them They went from total security, now their health insurance totally sucks. But they definitely showed that they are going after them too, they're not stopping at us. And they're not done yet. 

Jack — My impression of the school has totally changed from the day I started till the last day I worked there. I believed at one time that they had social justices and labor--and relations with the community. Now, I think that the place is strictly nothing but a business. They don't care about employees. They don't care about the students. They don't care about the staff, the teaching staff, because they're cutting them left and right.

Anon — Definitely mismanagement on the part of the college. They could have definitely been more transparent, the Board of Trustees has not been transparent at all. President Ambar was hired specifically just to do what she did, as much as she says she's an institutionalist. This is what she does, goes from college to college doing whatever has to be done. Is that what oberlin's about? Without regard to, "oh, you're about the institution." But, is Oberlin really all about outsourcing of labor in the middle of a pandemic? And, greatly reducing over 100 families quality of life for generations to come? 

Anon — Of the new hires that AVI has hired. The turnover rate has been substantially very high. What AVI would do is when, because we have a 90 day probationary period when you're first hired, where the union cannot be involved with disciplinary or whatever issues until the 91st day. …And so, they would work, you know, 60, 70, 80 days, and then they'd be let go for whatever reason. 

Marsha — Nobody is safe. Everybody’s replaceable. You don't have that job security. I mean, if they could do that to people that's been at the college for 35 years, you're not safe, you know? I feel like the college isn't a family-oriented work environment anymore, now it's all about the dollar and it comes down to just business.

Jeff — You know, it just felt very slap in the face, it was right at the beginning of covid, we didn't know what this was going to be, everybody was scared--and I will say for the students, that were at Oberlin College and then continue to be there now, we should make note that Oberlin College decided to fire very professional and very knowledgeable people who were good at cleaning and knew the spaces and had a relationship with the students; they decided to fire those people during the plague, during Covid. So if any of the students out there are feeling like Oberlin's got their back, uh, you might want to think again.

Michele — I love the students. I really do. But. The board of directors and how they run the place now. I think they're running it into the ground. It's not what it used to be. I mean I'm born and raised in Lorain so Oberlin College was always like the prestige place for someone to get a job, to work. If you got into Oberlin College you really had a good job, you had a good future and they ran it into the ground. That's not the case anymore.

Mary — I've been very active around students for the last two years. I run them to doctors appointments. I've sat with some in surgery because their parents couldn't fly in. whatever. Took some to Cedar Point, picked them up. And you hear them talk about, "I don't have any tenured professors. They're all part timers. They're just there because it's a stepping stone." Because, honestly, who would want to teach there? Who would want to have their career at Oberlin? And I'm sure one time Oberlin for professors, that was the golden ticket. But how much longer if this happens?

Anon — [Is there anything you wanted to talk about in regards to working at the college now?] I mean, aside from the multi-generational negative impact that this will have on a hundred or so families, just the college not wanting to actually be open to dialog. And when I say dialog, I don't mean contract negotiations, benefits and that, just not wanting to be open to new ideas unless it came from someone that was already in the room. The college is definitely--. When the college announced that they were wanting to start a business degree program because they took a survey of prospective students or first year students who would be interested in a business program, no one that I worked with thought that was a good idea because you don't go to Oberlin for a business degree, you go to business school for a business degree. You go to Oberlin for nontraditional degrees and [a] nontraditional path in life, and [there are] a lot of missed opportunities that the college's failed to take or failed to listen to. It's primarily a 1% college; [it's] made up of the 1% income earners in this country to get jobs at 1% corporations. But, if the college thinks that they can pivot to business degrees, Harvard, Dartmouth, [and] Berkeley, they've got a couple hundred years on them. And so, the college really needs to be able to think on where they are and what kind of resources they have at their disposal. They're in the middle of the Corn Belt in Ohio, they own a organic farm outside of town. So, why have they not been using that for an agriculture (ag) program to get with local farmers in the area to do soil remediation, things of that nature with the environmental college. They could be growing their own food instead of having a third party vendor, whether it's AVI, Bon Appetit, Aramark. Taking the responsibility for themselves and having total oversight, but that goes back to being responsible and definitely [to] outsourcing, outsourcing blame, outsourcing jobs, whatever. But if they really wanted to, that would be a wonderful use for the George Jones farm and strengthening partnerships with the local community because there was always a town and gown divide with the college because it's a very rural area once you go south of Oberlin. Once you go north it becomes a little more suburban or industrial in Lorain and Elyria. But there are some people in the surrounding areas that won't drive through Oberlin City because of the preconceived notions that Oberlin is so liberal and what have you. And so I would talk to them, or people would talk to them, "Well, have you ever met any of the students at Oberlin?" "Well, no. Why would I?" And so both sides are digging in, the college wants to be a business program, it wants to be making money, whatever. And, you know, the rural locals hate it because it's a rich business program serving people from the West Coasts and the East Coast. So it's definitely not being able to think outside the box and take ideas.

Pat — [Is there anything you think, in the future, that can be done about these sorts of mass-layoffs?] Make them illegal.