Midwest Chick's Place

 Good grief, the place is a mess.  

In addition to Oberlin making the news (again) for granting tenure to an Iranian professor who apparently covered up Iranian mass executions while he was an ambassador to the UN back in January, one of their alums finally has the attention of the Department of Education, which is now going to investigate Oberlin for institutional antisemitism.

Title VI complaints could conceivably cost an institution federal dollars.

Melissa Landa’s complaint (here) includes:

The students’ stories, professors’ statements and alumni Facebook posts captured in this document illustrate the reality of antisemitism at Oberlin College. Many individuals connected with the school have embraced the view that Jews, whom many simplistically classify as “white,” are incapable of being targets or victims of racism and bigotry.   

As a result, antisemitic speech, harassment and bullying of Jewish students are, at Oberlin, normalized and generally accepted. This is the case even in instances in which comparable bigotry or overt racism directed at any other group would unquestionably result in interventions and rapid institutional responses. Antisemitic assumptions and slurs are simply part of Oberlin’s campus life. Further, complaints about antisemitism are categorically and disdainfully derided as “smears” by “uncritical defenders of Israel.”  

 Not surprising from Ms Landa:

For many years, Jewish students at Oberlin have been targeted, ostracized, and harassed for their Zionism. They have faced hostility from student groups like Students for a Free Palestine and have heard Israel delegitimized and mischaracterized as an apartheid state by professors such as Mohammad Jafar Mahallati and the former Dean of Students, Meredith Raimondo. I, along with other alumni, have expressed our concerns to President Ambar, who has dismissed us, directing us to the campus rabbis to discuss our issues. We chose to discuss them with the Office of Civil Rights instead.

As a reminder, Meredith Raimondo is the one who, in essence, caused the Gibson Bakery problem and cost the college tens of millions of dollars.  Her inaction could cost them millions of dollars more.

Wouldn’t it be ironic if she is integral to the college finally closing?