Oberlin's President Says No

cobrat
Sun, 24 Jan 2016 18:09:43 +0000

As a Star Trek geek, I rather like the idea of an academic building named after Avery Brooks.

I can see Hawk now, walking on campus, dealing with the racist townies (one sneer and watch those racist run!), protecting the students from microagressions (take off that sombrero now, before I shoot it off!), and finally, pummeling some sense into that culture appropriating food service…

While watching Avery Brooks perform his one-man act on the life of Paul Robeson during my undergrad years, got a chance to chat with a few older alums who were his Oberlin classmates.

While not confirmed, they recounted one reason why he left for Rutgers* was because he was forced out of Oberlin by admins who felt he was too adamant about protesting in favor of Civil Rights and against the Vietnam War. While embraced wholeheartedly by recent admins as an alum who made good, those alums noted he wasn’t regarded very kindly by Oberlin admins during the time he and they were undergrads there in the late '60s.

There seems to be conflicting information on whether Brooks came back to graduate from Oberlin as Rutgers also regards him as an alum who completed both his undergrad and MFA degrees there in the early to mid-'70s:

http://www.oberlin.edu/alummag/oampast/oam_sum97/Features/brooks.html

http://www.alumni.rutgers.edu/s/896/index.aspx?sid=896&gid=1&pgid=513

Keep in mind that Oberlin regards anyone who spent at least a semester as a matriculated student as an alum eligible to join their alumni association.