Were the Oberlin Hate Crimes Hoaxes? Sure Doesn’t Look Like It.
Oberlin College has seen no fewer than seven alleged bias incidents in the last month — five separate acts of racist and homophobic graffiti, one robbery, and a sighting of a figure in a klan robe. The college cancelled classes this Monday for a series of all-campus events relating to the incidents, and as many as a third of Oberlin’s undergraduates are said to have attended a rally against hate that afternoon.
Recently, however, some have alleged that the whole string of incidents may have been invented.
On Tuesday, Michelle Malkin accused the college’s students of “manufacturing hate crimes hoaxes.” Similarly,an article in the Daily Caller declared that, “given the liberal culture at Oberlin,” it is “highly unlikely that the student perpetrators were motivated by racial (or anti-gay or anti-Semitic) animus.” It’s far more plausible, that writer suggests, that “the students who vandalized the campus wanted to call attention to the horror of hate crimes by committing faux hate crimes themselves.”
As I was writing this story Peter Wood, president of the conservative National Association of Scholars, chimed in with a similar allegation, saying that “the racial and anti-gay provocations scrawled on several posters and notes
Recently, however, some have alleged that the whole string of incidents may have been invented.
On Tuesday, Michelle Malkin accused the college’s students of “manufacturing hate crimes hoaxes.” Similarly,an article in the Daily Caller declared that, “given the liberal culture at Oberlin,” it is “highly unlikely that the student perpetrators were motivated by racial (or anti-gay or anti-Semitic) animus.” It’s far more plausible, that writer suggests, that “the students who vandalized the campus wanted to call attention to the horror of hate crimes by committing faux hate crimes themselves.”
As I was writing this story Peter Wood, president of the conservative National Association of Scholars, chimed in with a similar allegation, saying that “the racial and anti-gay provocations scrawled on several posters and notes
In their public statements on Monday, Oberlin administrators presented the decision to cancel classes and hold a campus-wide series of teach-ins and rallies as their own decision. But a student timeline of the events of Sunday night and Monday morning portrays it as a student demand that administrators originally refused to meet.
Only after students began organizing to shut down the campus, they say, did the administration agree to the cancellation.
The timeline, written by “students of the Africana community” and posted on the website of the Oberlin Review student newspaper late this week, was based on “time-stamped text messages and status updates as well as minutes from the emergency meeting” late Sunday night. It shows, the authors say, that the Day of Solidarity “was advocated for and organized by students.”
According to the timeline, a resident of Oberlin’s Afrikan Heritage House saw an unidentified individual walking on campus “in what appears to be t
Cooper Union Is Still Tuition-Free
In a victory for students, alumni, and faculty, and a startling reversal for administrators, the Cooper Union board of trustees this week announced that they will retain the college’s free tuition policy while they continue to evaluate Cooper Union’s financial situation.
A vote on a proposal to impose tuition was widely expected at Wednesday’s meeting, with many expecting the trustees to break with the college’s history of free access to all undergraduate admittees. But months of increasingly strong and well-organized opposition from student activists, Cooper Union professors, and alumni groups appear to have made an impact.
Cooper Union has been tuition-free since the 19th century. Today, with fewer than a dozen free colleges and universities remaining in the United States, the struggle to keep Cooper Union on the list drew national attention.
Public opposition to the tuition policy has been led by Cooper Union undergrads. Though they are not in the administration’s crosshairs themselves — the college has never contemplated imposing tuition fees on currently
A vote on a proposal to impose tuition was widely expected at Wednesday’s meeting, with many expecting the trustees to break with the college’s history of free access to all undergraduate admittees. But months of increasingly strong and well-organized opposition from student activists, Cooper Union professors, and alumni groups appear to have made an impact.
Cooper Union has been tuition-free since the 19th century. Today, with fewer than a dozen free colleges and universities remaining in the United States, the struggle to keep Cooper Union on the list drew national attention.
Public opposition to the tuition policy has been led by Cooper Union undergrads. Though they are not in the administration’s crosshairs themselves — the college has never contemplated imposing tuition fees on currently
