Oberlin, Dealing with Real-Life Bigoted Trolling, Does Exactly the Wrong Thing
Feeds moron's ego by cancelling classes and having "Day of Solidarity"
Famously liberal Oberlin College in Ohio is dealing with some bigoted incidents of racist and homophobic vandalism mysteriously appearing on campus. (Trigger warning: The linked timeline from college newspaper The Oberlin Review starts with a "trigger warning" about hate speech language.)
Whoever (if it's only one person) is responsible is obviously a massive tool (especially if it's a fraud, because really, how many racists hang out at Oberlin?). Today's response to another incident, as noted this morning at Reason 24/7, is just stupid. Via New York Magazine:
Oberlin College in Ohio canceled classes today in favor of "A Day of Solidarity" after someone in a KKK-style hood and robe was spotted near the school's Afrikan Heritage House, the latest in a string of bizarre "hate-related incidents."
They cancelled classes because of a guy in a hood. Instead, here's the schedule of their events for the afternoon directly from the college president:
12PM | Lord Lounge, Afrikan Heritage House
Teach-in led by Africana Studies Department2PM | Wilder Bowl
Demonstration of solidarity3:30PM | Finney Chapel
Community convocation: "We Stand Together" (previously scheduled for Wednesday 3/6 at 12PM)
How utterly useless. Do they actually think whoever is responsible for the incidents cares at all about the college's solidarity? A look at their events calendar shows that they even cancelled some special guest classes for their music students.
Everybody knows that trolls feed off responses like this. Could they possibly have given this guy much more of an ego boost than to essentially wasting thousands of dollars in students' tuition (Oberlin's tuition for this academic year is $44,512) by cancelling classes?
