A very bad "joke" at Oberlin

[Anonymous]

I'm not sure why this reflects on Oberlin...students -- young adults -- do strange and impulsive and provocative things. This could happen anywhere. It seems like, OP, you are trying to have your child go to school in a bubble where nothing will touch him that is out of the ordinary, racist, provocative, critical, etc.

Part of the college experience is learning to deal with dissent and experiences that are new, strange, or outside one's cultural norm. You can't choose his playmates.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why this reflects on Oberlin...students -- young adults -- do strange and impulsive and provocative things. This could happen anywhere. It seems like, OP, you are trying to have your child go to school in a bubble where nothing will touch him that is out of the ordinary, racist, provocative, critical, etc.

Part of the college experience is learning to deal with dissent and experiences that are new, strange, or outside one's cultural norm. You can't choose his playmates.

PP what you say is true about playmates...but as a parent...we can certainly have some input on the "envrionment". Seems like the envrionment at this school is one where I'd rather not have my DC even as they enter adulthood.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
DD looked at Oberline. Family "was on the fence" about whether to proceed.

Friend sent us the attached which is not at all favorable. Is this what this school is all about or is it just another example of some flake at a SLAC going off the deep end?

Seems like we see alot of this nonsene at the SLACs?


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/student_fesses_provocative_around_gPua3u7QkUlvOmTsVcWU0O

Obviously an exception not the rule, but I would never send my DC to a cloistered college town for the four years that there are expected to transform from a young adult (many in this are coming from sheltered environments) into a functioning member of the "real world." For the vast majority of people who hope to have jobs one day, the "real world" is urban, diverse, crowded and competitive.

Ok. But what about the students at Towson (urban, diverse, etc.) who thought it was a good idea to come up with a White Student Uinion and who advocate segregation? Or the number of "big" schools whose students have parties with racial stereotype themes. Small town SLACS do not have the monoply on misguided and backwards thinking. Where there are college students, dumb decisions will be made. You cannot protect your child from that.

[Anonymous]

If you think Towson University is "urban" you REALLY don't know what urban is - which sort of proves the point doesn't it?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If you think Towson University is "urban" you REALLY don't know what urban is - which sort of proves the point doesn't it?

I would not call it "urban" in the way you are using it - I would call it suburban, but it certainly is not isolated or rural.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:If you think Towson University is "urban" you REALLY don't know what urban is - which sort of proves the point doesn't it?

I would not call it "urban" in the way you are using it - I would call it suburban, but it certainly is not isolated or rural.

Yes, there is indeed a middle ground between rural and urban. For most American students "suburban" life is very familiar and not a growth experience.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
DD looked at Oberline. Family "was on the fence" about whether to proceed.

Friend sent us the attached which is not at all favorable. Is this what this school is all about or is it just another example of some flake at a SLAC going off the deep end?

Seems like we see alot of this nonsene at the SLACs?


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/student_fesses_provocative_around_gPua3u7QkUlvOmTsVcWU0O

Obviously an exception not the rule, but I would never send my DC to a cloistered college town for the four years that there are expected to transform from a young adult (many in this are coming from sheltered environments) into a functioning member of the "real world." For the vast majority of people who hope to have jobs one day, the "real world" is urban, diverse, crowded and competitive.

What rubbish. No one needs to live in an urban area to thrive.

Says the person on the DC area website . . . [sigh]

What a bunch of fake open-minded people on this DC web-site... [sigh]. Your statement about urban living is incredibly close-minded and provincial. All walks of life attend colleges in small college towns. Your holier than though attitude is exhausting... [sigh]

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I'm not sure why this reflects on Oberlin...students -- young adults -- do strange and impulsive and provocative things. This could happen anywhere. It seems like, OP, you are trying to have your child go to school in a bubble where nothing will touch him that is out of the ordinary, racist, provocative, critical, etc.

Part of the college experience is learning to deal with dissent and experiences that are new, strange, or outside one's cultural norm. You can't choose his playmates.

PP what you say is true about playmates...but as a parent...we can certainly have some input on the "envrionment". Seems like the envrionment at this school is one where I'd rather not have my DC even as they enter adulthood.

You're making a huge leap from one incident to an entire environment.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
DD looked at Oberline. Family "was on the fence" about whether to proceed.

Friend sent us the attached which is not at all favorable. Is this what this school is all about or is it just another example of some flake at a SLAC going off the deep end?

Seems like we see alot of this nonsene at the SLACs?


http://www.nypost.com/p/news/national/student_fesses_provocative_around_gPua3u7QkUlvOmTsVcWU0O

Obviously an exception not the rule, but I would never send my DC to a cloistered college town for the four years that there are expected to transform from a young adult (many in this are coming from sheltered environments) into a functioning member of the "real world." For the vast majority of people who hope to have jobs one day, the "real world" is urban, diverse, crowded and competitive.

Hmm, right. That explains all those failed Princeton alums I know.

Princeton University is NOT a SLAC and Princeton is not exactly cloistered ( commuting distance to New York). But other than that you make an excellent point.

[Anonymous]

NP here. No, Princeton isn't a SLAC, but it's as suburban as it gets. DH went there and my sister lives there now. The "cloistered SLAC poster" and others in this vein, including OP, have an ax to grind, which often leads to hyperbole and useless generalizations. But what else is new on this forum?

[Anonymous]

Suburban yes, but Princeton, NJ is hardly a remote hamlet.

[Anonymous]

I went to a similar SLAC, and I would say that this sort of thing may happen more there because the "over-reaction," as the young hoodlum put it, is much more intense there. I think it can be tempting for students to do things like this when the liberal (and sometimes overly earnest) student body is so likely to freak out about it. It's more fun to taunt someone if you know you will get a reaction. If the campus is not that small or liberal, you won't get that much of a reaction.