Oberlin College
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Oberlin College is a small liberal arts college in Oberlin, Ohio. It was founded in 1833, and today has a student population of approximately 2,850. It is home to the Oberlin Conservatory of Music, a distinguished music school. Oberlin is frequently recognized as one of the best liberal arts colleges in the United States.
Oberlin was the first college in the United States to accept African-American students regularly (1835), and was also the first coeducational institution. The first four women to enter as full students were Mary Kellogg (Fairchild), Mary Caroline Rudd, Mary Hosford, and Elizabeth Prall. All but Kellogg graduated. Oberlin has long been associated with progressive causes; both students and faculty were involved in the controversial Oberlin-Wellington Rescue of a fugitive slave in 1858. One historian called Oberlin "the town that started the Civil War."
The school's varsity sports teams are the Yeomen. They participate in the NCAA's Division III and the North Coast Athletic Conference. Oberlin's football team was the first team coached by legendary coach John Heisman, who led the team to a 7-0 record in 1892. In modern times, however, the football team was more famous for losing streaks of 40 games (1992-1996) and 44 games (1997-2001).
Oberlin College is a member of the Great Lakes Colleges Association and The Five Colleges of Ohio consortium, including Ohio Wesleyan University, Denison University, Kenyon College, and The College of Wooster.
Oberlin College's motto is "Learning and Labor" (see College seal, below). Its school colors are officially crimson and gold, though more often than not maroon and white are used.
The Oberlin Student Cooperative Association, or OSCA, is a non-profit corporation that houses 175 students and feeds 630 students.
Oberlin College was also the final location in the movie Eurotrip (2004), where Scotty meets up with Meike again in their new dorm room following their travels in Europe, and his friend Cooper calls him to ask how he is.
History
Both the college and the town of Oberlin were founded in 1833 by a pair of Presbyterian ministers, John Shipherd and Philo P. Stewart. The ministers named their project after Jean Frederic Oberlin, an Alsatian minister they both admired. Oberlin attained prominence because of the influence of its second president, the evangelist Charles Finney.
The college was built on 500 acres (2 km²) of land specifically donated by the previous owner, who lived in Connecticut. Shipherd and Stewart's vision was for both a religious community and school. For a more detailed history of the founding of the town and the college, see Oberlin, Ohio.
Notable alumni
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- Alison Bechdel 1981, cartoonist (Dykes To Watch Out For)
- Eric Bogosian 1976, novelist/playwright (Ararat)
- Avery Brooks (honorary degree: 1996), actor (Uncle Tom's Cabin, American History X)
- James Burrows 1962, producer/creator of Cheers
- Tracy Chevalier 1984, novelist (Girl with a Pearl Earring)
- Yvette D. Clarke 1986, New York City councilwoman representing the 40th district (Kensington, Prospect-Lefferts, Ditmas Park and other areas).
- Henry Roe Cloud, Native American political leader
- Stanley Cohen 1945, Nobel laureate (Physiology and Medicine, 1986)
- Carl Dennis, Pulitzer-winning poet (Practical Gods)
- Danny Elfman, rock musician (Oingo Boingo); pop musician (The Simpsons theme); Oscar-nominated film score composer (Beetlejuice, The Nightmare Before Christmas, Army of Darkness and many others)
- Lee Fisher 1973, former attorney general of Ohio
- Kim France 1987, editor of Lucky magazine
- Myla Goldberg 1993, novelist (Bee Season)
- William Goldman 1952, novelist (The Princess Bride) and Oscar-winning screenwriter (Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid)
- Elisha Gray, an inventor of the telephone
- Jerry Greenfield 1973, co-creator of Ben & Jerry's ice cream
- Richard N. Haass 1973, president of the Council on Foreign Relations and former Director of Policy Planning for the US Department of State.
- Al Haig, jazz pianist
- Charles Martin Hall 1885, co-discoverer of the electrolytic process of producing aluminium (and accidental originator of the American spelling of "aluminum")
- Jon Hamilton, NPR science correspondent (and editor emeritus of the Oberlin Review)
- Ed Helms 1996, correspondent on The Daily Show
- Bill Irwin 1973, clown (Pickle Family Circus), writer/director (Mr. Fox: A Rumination), actor (Northern Exposure)
- John Kander 1951, of the musical theater team Kander and Ebb (Cabaret and Chicago, among others)
- Daniel Kinsey 1935, Olympic champion (110 m hurdles)
- H. H. Kung, Chinese banker and politician
- John Mercer Langston 1849, early civil rights activist
- Romulus Linney, playwright
- Michelle Malkin, journalist (Los Angeles Daily News, Seattle Times), author (In Defense of Internment), political commentator
- James McBride 1979, journalist (Boston Globe, The Washington Post), author (The Color of Water), musician
- Josh McPhee 1998, political artist
- Robert Millikan 1891, Nobel laureate (Physics, 1923) for measuring the charge of the electron
- Eduardo Mondlane 1953, Mozambican political leader
- Adam Moss 1979, editor of New York Magazine
- Amy X. Neuburg, classical and pop singer
- Thisbe Nissen 1994, novelist (Out of the Girls Room and Into the Night, Osprey Island)
- Liz Phair 1989, singer/songwriter
- Jane Pratt 1984, creator of Sassy and Jane magazines
- Willard V. Quine 1930, philosopher and logician
- Daniel Radosh '91, journalist and blogger
- David Rees 1994, cartoonist (My New Fighting Technique is Unstoppable, Get Your War On)
- Josh Ritter 1999, folk singer/songwriter
- Carl T. Rowan 1947, journalist
- William F. Schultz 1971, Executive Director of Amnesty International USA
- Lorenzo Snow, Mormon prophet, fifth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
- Roger Wolcott Sperry 1935 and 1937, neurobiologist and Nobel laureate (Medicine, 1981)
- William Grant Still, composer
- Lucy Stone 1847, feminist and abolitionist
- Anna Louise Strong 1905, activist and author
- Julie Taymor 1974, theatrical and cinematic director (Frida, Titus, Broadway's The Lion King)
- Jen Trynin, rock singer/songwriter
- John Vinocur, foreign correspondent (The International Herald Tribune)
- Moses Fleetwood Walker 1881, first African-American player in baseball's major leagues
- William Drake Westervelt 1871 and 1874 (honorary degree: 1926), Hawaiian historical writer
- Thornton Wilder, author (The Bridge of San Luis Rey), playwright (Our Town)
- Franz Wright 1977, Pulitzer-winning poet (Walking to Martha's Vineyard)
- James Zemaits '90, head of Sotheby's 20th-century-design department
External links
- Oberlin College Website (http://www.oberlin.edu/)
- OberWiki (http://www.oberwiki.net/)